Eric Neigher splatters some paint around to see if The Unfinished Swan is art or game in this video review.
It seams to me that the real point of the game is the experience focused on being immersed in, and exploring, a world and its story, rather than involving gameplay. simple and simplistic, yes there is a difference, but maybe the view is not completely honest here, and is missing the true aim of the game. This game, simplistic is done on purpose. I'll have to read a lot more player reviews for a better well-rounded and honest review, from those who get what's actually going on here.
I can't believe this review! The Unfinished swan is an amazing game with a great sense of wonder as you discover the world and follow the story. The video didn't even mention how the gameplay elements never overstay their welcome as you are introduced to new ways of playing in each chapter; keeping the game fresh. 9/10 for me!
I can't believe this review! The Unfinished swan is an amazing game with a great sense of wander as you discover the world and follow the story. The video didn't even mention how the gameplay elements never overstay their welcome as you are introduced to new ways of playing in each chapter; keeping the game fresh. 9/10 for me!
how is this game guys, i have some extra credit on psn and im torn between this and bionic comando rearmed
I hate gamestop, kevin vanord why don't you get a life
gamespot suck now and i am taking my business to IGN
in the meantime i will come here and offend you idiots occasionally
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3 Like And they say games can't be "art".- I also don't think this review is very good. I think it misses the point. Look at Journey. They only thing you do in that game is Run, Jump, and Chirp. You can't attack, or throw anything. There is no dialogue and that game is amazing. I really think this game is really an experience more than it trying to stump you with puzzles and complicated gameplay. It's an art piece and a children's book with some nice messages.- For $15 this is a great play. I feel like they are reviewing this as a retail game and it's not! Not saying everyone has to like it because that just won't happen. I just feel bad that this review will represent this game and I don't think it should. It seems like no one can get enjoyment out of this game which isn't true.
@FusionRain Other sites have given this a 9, i typically like Kevin Van Ord's reviews, but here I think he was missing the point and got it wrong.
@monicker Yeah he said at the beginning that he is subbing;. I do think the point was missed as well.
@FusionRain Yeah, I misspoke, I wasn't sure if he was reading someone else's review or reviewing in his place. Nonetheless I think they are unnecessarily hard on this game, especially after jizzing all over themselves on Journey. These two games should get similar reviews. U.S. is great little game for the price, yeah it's a little short and the game play simple, but the exact same thing can be said for Journey. I enjoy Journey, what there was of it, very much, but it was light years from being as good and innovative as people are claiming it is. U.S. was short sweet and most importantly fun. It also had better graphics than Journey. Remember, I'm not knocking journey, just saying, call it what it is, don't make sound like more that it is, and don't pan similar games for failings game you praise have. This is just another inconsistency that annoys me about this site.
3 Like @monicker @FusionRain Kevin is doing this review as a substitute. Someone else reviewed the game, he's just reading along.
1 Like @FusionRain Its hard to compare this with Journey, though. While I really appreciated the initial game style and mechanics of Unfinished Swan (I mean, navigating the first level alone was worth the money just for the uniqueness of it), Journey was much more about creating feelings of isolation and wonder, which gave huge emotional impact to the sudden arrival of a companion. The innovative communication system of chirping, and the sudden loss of these micro relationships had a significant impression on your post gameplay feelings.
Unfinished Swan is a solitary experience as well with an interesting 'drop in' style companion, but cannot replace the joy of Journey with the static relationship you have with the AI Swan.
I really enjoyed both games, but other than some surface comparisons, they are not in the same league. Unfinished Swan is great initially, but in the long run leaves little lasting impression. Which is a shame, because it has a lot of potential. I look forward to the next offering.
1 Like @nait2k4 I didn't mean to compare the games as to compete. I meant that games like these are very simple but they are all in all about the experience.
Looks interesting, but it probably wouldn't hold my interest for that long... Well, at least it's somewhat original.
2 Like I think most professional reviewers are jaded. They play so many games they become numb and are influenced by previous games they play and expect more of the same. They can't see the forest for the trees and are therefore ineffective in their work. They rarely represent mainstream opinion. I think that's why Gamespot changes their reviewers every few years. It's simply a case of burnout.
When people will realize that these reviews are supposed to be "objective"
(help you make a choice of buying or not a product), and not the "reviewer personal opinion".
By your logic if I was a reviewer, I would (had the right to) give a 2/10 to almost every racing game since I hate most of them and find them to be boring as hell.
"screw the gameplay, the graphics, the story, the atmosphere.Is a racing game;
is a 2/10." <---- Yep, very objective.
I downloaded the game last night. Not too disappointed as I was sick of playing Tokyo Jungle. The first 2 hours walking around made me want to explore everything but as he said in the video review the game doesn't add much....well..that "something" you wish to get over a certain period of time playing. Kind of a sense of accomplishment, finding a painting just doesn't seem to cut it. I still however do wish to progress in order to finish the game and hopefully see a good ending. Since I haven't payed full price (ps+ member) I would recommend this game if you are a Playstation plus member but I would not pay full price for this game.
1 Like Might not be all that long I heard it was only two hours, worth 14.99 on launch day? I still say yes, I'd rather spend 14.99 each on this and Okami ($30) than twice that, $60 on Halo 4 or some other extreme cash grab.....
Problem with reviews is it's all just individual points of opinion..
Metacritic gives an average user rating score in the 80's which probably does the game better justice.
Then again.. It is a PSN exclusive.. and this is Gamespot.. *conspiracy*
Ooooo!
@warhawk-geeby There aren't any user scores up on MC (at the time of this writing). If you mean critic review averages, that's in the 70s, though I acknowledge it may have been in the 80s when you wrote your comment.
1 Like ign gave this game 9 or 9.5...they also gave many other indies on the ps3 the same scores...those games on gamespot also got 9's yet this received 6.5.... inconsistencies are very questionable in the professional avenue of reviews
@obsequies this isn't a matter of questionable reviewing more like more critical reviewing. ign gives too many 9's....gs consistently rates much harsher
2 Like @obsequies dude there are people on metacritic who gave this game 50. tell that to them too. this is a personal opinion and it is up to you to take it as a fact or accept it as a singular opinion. they may not always be fair but its much better than simply giving an excellent score because you, as a viewer, feel it deserves it.
4 Like Always whining bout low scores. The media at large is always far too generous with their numbers/stars rating systems. I think its refreshing to see at least some people treating their system a little more appropriately. Unfinished Swan is a "fair" game. There are aspects of it that are great, others that are unrealized and boring. As a whole, its only fair. Its not bad. It's worth playing. But its nothing great
@foxrock66 So if the world media says one thing and lets one media outlet says the complete opposite, the latter must be the most accurate since it provides a much more "refreshing" take than the others? If five people tell you that Anthrax is toxic and one person tells you it's not so bad whose advice will you ultimately take?
2 Like @Slim_Lyrics Your analogy is pointless here. Your comparing what is fact (anthrax being poisonous) to what is opinion (a review).
2 Like relax everyone, they clearly nerfed the score on this beautiful game so they can do a feedbackula section on it.
5 Like I'm not sure people even read the review. The reviewer talks at length about how the games strength is its story telling but that that emphasis on story telling is held back by the simplistic gameplay. If you have played the game and have a different opinion that's fine, but then why are you looking at this review? If you haven't played the game yet then how can you make any judgement abou the review score or what is in the review? Such is the problem with the modern review system everyone wants everything to be good. While this isn't a problem in and of itself an attitude has formed in gaming that review scores are the only things that matter and that anything under an 8.0 is terrible. The leads to people not reading the reviews and drawing their own conclusions but to people simply comparing one sites score to that of another in the hopes of justifying how they feel about a game. Perhaps gaming sites should move more towards what a site like Engadget has done where products no longer receive scores only lengthy text reviews. This in turn requires the reader to actually read the reviews to understand how the author felt about something rather than relying on a simple distillation of a complex opinion into a number.
@JOYRIDEME I don't get what people are freaking out about. Plenty of games I've loved received 6s for their review scores and often rightly so. That didn't reduce my enjoyment of those games in the slightest.
