Every reviewer who's ever put pen to paper to write their opinionated prose has a flavor as unique as the games we play. So what's in a review and what makes it worth reading?
I've been writing reviews fairly consistently for the last five years and oftentimes find myself experimenting with what works and what doesn't. I've written reviews spanning pages, reviews a paragraph long, reviews both clever and humorous, and reviews as straight-laced and stone faced as the evening news! Yet the results are always the same: If there's a holy grail of reviewing rhetoric I've yet to find it.
So what is it that separates the good from the bad from the ugly? Is it a detailed analysis of game features such as graphics, sound, gameplay, or creativity? Is it a summary of the good versus the bad like some biblical judgment day put to prose? Or is it a few chosen words mixed amongst a collage of pictures and video? Everyone has their opinion and I'd love to hear what you have to say. So what is it, what's in a review?
to finally purchase a system and a single title that revolutionized what I thought a game could be, "Final Fantasy VII." Cut scenes a plenty with graphics I'd only imagined in a fevered stupor, a story that stuck with you longer than that childhood stalker, and characters with more depth than a death match between Aristotle and Socrates! What days of splendor and what nights filled with endless rapture! But what really got me, what literally stopped me in my rampaging boss killing battle frenzy, was when I left Midgar for the first time. In my childhood naivety I honestly believed the whole game took place in that single location. I had no idea there was such a thing as a world map with tons of locations as big, or bigger, than Midgar as my confusions about having 3 cds in a box were answered. Yet, travelling on foot was only the beginning. Airships, submarines, and chocobos oh my! Final Fantasty VII truly was a fantasy that kept on giving and giving with exploration, story, music, and depth for hours on end. Yup, I logged over a hundred guilt free hours of pure Sephiroth pwnage in a title that swept the bounds of gaming right out from beneath me.
hallowed halls of gaming as a moment for the ages? Years after the days of the original Playstation's glory had been sapped and surpassed, with another gap in consoles and on a platform that downright lacked RPG's, there came a godsend: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic on the original Xbox. With Bioware at the helm, KOTOR blended action with story flawlessly, introduced the gaming world to the "Old Republic" era of the Star Wars universe all while creating a standalone masterpiece in the process. The dialogue options were witty and unique while generating rational responses that made each choice of the vernacular personal and oddly gratifying. Yet the story remained fluid and viable regardless of the decisions I made and I'd often find myself letting loose a shrill laugh that would have made good old Palpatine proud. Oh, but the moment itself? It came through a culmination of choices made manifest amidst the hum and sizzle of lightsabers clashing on the grandest stage amidst the stars. The ending of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic was one that touched me beyond the physical senses and remains a standard in video game story telling unmatched. KOTOR was, and is, my favorite game ever because of it.
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