Is it me, or has game scoring criteria gone right out the window?

How the hell did a game like Journey get a 10? I'm sorry but something like gameplay and replay value need to factor in, and since the beginning of game critiquing it has. So, I ask you, "Is there a criteria anymore?" It seems like a lot of reviews are arbitrary and banal. The Journey review I just read went on and on about feeling and art -- where was the game at?

If I may be so bold, and this is coming from an artist, art is only half the game. What I got from the review was something like, "Well... Hmm.... there's jumping, and more jumping, some floating, you have a scarf thing... You extend the scarf thing, and there's ribbons and some other things..." Besides that, I think boring platformer that only lasted 2 hours is what I got from it, and I don't even know if that was in the Gamespot review; it read like someone really needs to get out of the office or house and see the world.

Guys, I have travelled the world in the real sense, and I have seen exhilarating vistas, so excuse me if I find that lackluster in a video game. I suppose to people who will never get out of the house or experience a real life at all would find Journey spectacular, but I digress. I imagine if the game had any sort of real criteria, the base PS3 version would have gotten a 5, and the PS4 a 3 for trying to refry -- er, re-sell us the exact same game with higher frame rate and resolution.

Welcome to mediocrity...

First off, this will get lengthy and will probably piss off a vast majority of fanboys. So whatever you have to say in this game's defense, save it.

Secondly, I am a Final Fantasy Fanboy to the core. I have been playing these games since FFVI came out in North America. RPG's that are turnbased (or almost) and smart, as well as frenetic pull me in. Not to mention the storylines of most of the FF series captivate me so much.

Now that I have cleared the air, I need to let my feelings be expressed about my bad experiences with FFXI and my worries about FFXIV. When FFXI came out I got it the day it released for PC in North America. I was absolutely taken in. I mean... A Final Fantasy... MMORPG! What a treat! At first I was willing to overlook the fact that it was 11.95 USD a month (or roughly) plus 1USD per character slot.... "Ok, so I won't create extra characters," I thought. I thought wrong. As I got higher and higher in level, and leveled other jobs within that character, I began noticing my increasing need for alternate gear (not to mention any FFXI player worth his salt knows how to macro gear in and out for certain situations) for the myriad of jobs I had recently leveled past 30. My mog house (storage) was filling up so fast, I couldn't even make it work when I completed the Moghouse expansion quests. I had to make alts!

So I did; I made alts... and more alts to keep up with my demand for gear. By the time I had most of the jobs in the game post 30 I had 4 mules worth of gear, and my moghouses on each character were full. I was already paying 25USD a month by then. Anyone who has a job, goes to college, and pays bills understands that money is not something you just dump down anything. I had enough at that point. It was time to make a reality check. Do I need this game? Could I use that extra money for something I need? No and Yes, to both questions respectively. Needless to say I no longer play FFXI. It just isn't worth it to me. I play one MMORPG at a time. Right now I don't play any. I used to play WoW for 12-15 (I can't remember atm)USD a month. I thought that was pretty reasonable. Anyone who doesn't think saving 10 bucks a month is a lot, is not low-middle class in the US or has never lived on their own here lol. If you're of a different opinion, that's cool. I'm not here to upset you; merely to point out that for people like me living in the States, FFXI's payment plan is a joke.

My fear is that FFXIV will be the same way. They have already stated numerous times that they have a job system (the Armoury system) that allows you to change classes. This is the reason why they have made each additional character 3USD to make. If they have an unlimited amount of storage space for each character, I don't see too much of a problem. Then again, isn't there? I like playing characters that look different. I don't always want to play a Desertfolk, Lalafell. I would like to try the other races too. Sadly, if I do play this game I won't even want to make two characters. It's a shame really.

The problem with this kind of payment plan is this: We all know that 12-15 USD per month makes companies filthy rich. Look at WoW and it's millions of subscribers and do the math. They are making a killing at Blizzard. I'm fine with the flat rate. But to go and add on fee after fee, it just starts to stink like a savings and loans bank to me. I already owe people money for rediculous reasons... Why the hell should I start adding to the misery?

As long as it's a flat rate of 12.95 USD or less. But, as it is the extra character fee is putting me off :( .

Cross platformplay =yes.

The delay is the fact that SE is trying to get around the fact that PS3 has 256mb of RAM. I would imagine that they want to get the engine to take more resources from the cell, so march 2011 isn't so bad of a wait. As far as the pricing goes: since every other mmorpg out there is a flat monthly rate and doesn't charge for extra character slots per server like FFXIV will, I will probably be playing Star Trek online or Knights of the Republic when that comes out. Sorry fanboys, but I was paying in excess of 25 USD a month on FFXI to keep up with gear demands. I have one character with several high level jobs and with all the gear I needed I had to have alts to mule back and forth to.

As a smart consumer I won't touch a mmorpg that isn't a flat rate at least... not anymore lol.

I went with Lightning as rav, Fang as com (sen as secondary for bosses and tough mobs), and Hope as med/ravager. You can ace the game with this setup as the guide suggests. Before getting all of your characters and access to party setup however, you should keep lightning as a commando, Hope as ravager and everyone else pretty much what they started out with. Sahz and Venille will be your synergist and sabotuers respectively, but you really won't need them too much until after you beat the game and you get access to very tough missions. Until then Sahz and Venille are very good ravagers as a focus role. When you DO get access to party setup, save the CP on those guys (including Snow) for maxing out the below roles for each. I get the CP to all 9's then max them out during the final stages of the main game. The game doesn't end when you beat the story btw.

Sahz = synergist, Venille = saboteur (she's the only one that can use "death"), Snow = Sentinel (he is the best at it).

Lightning = ravager (mostly due to her final skill "army of one"), Fang = commando (her final skill "highwind" is just awesome!)

Hope = medic (someone has to be the medic and he's the odd man out. His magic stat is through the roof though, and his final attack "Last Resort"is ravager based and it's pretty cool,so up until you beat the game you will want to hybrid him as med/rav)

If they make another FFVII spin-off I'll never buy a Square title again... :lol:

I was a fan back when FFIV was the game to play. Don't get me wrong; FFVII was really nice for it's time. Honestly though, I am sick of seeing Cloud everywhere I go :( . If there were a remake at all, I would want to see Chrono Trigger or Xenogears again. Too bad Namco has the rights to the Xeno franchise... SE blew it with that one. Xenogears was easily one of the best RPGs I have ever played.

For the most part I want FFXV... XIII was way too closterphobic for me. I yearn for the days that rpgs aren't just about the storyline, and pay more attention to gameplay, features and content.

It's 12.95 USD a month plus 3 USD for each additional character. 1 USD to make an avatar that sells crap for you... There is no Auctionhouse to sell things to other players to make money. Unless you buy the 1 dollar avater shop vendor (which allows you to sell things even when you're offline), you're SOL! lol. It releases March 2011 for PS3. I will probably have a killer PC rig by then, because I'm enrolled in 3d graphics in college, and there are literally a TON of better MMORPGs out on the market. I will probably not be getting this for PS3 or PC. :?

I find that 12.95 and then an extra 3 dollars a month for additional characters is crap! SE has their heads up their behinds for this one..... again :x

One thing I will say about most MMORPGs... The best ones are almost always pay to play. Honestly, 12 or 15 bucks per month is really not that bad, if the only online game you play is that MMORPG. I believe in paying people for their hard work (people have to eat too, and supporting a server based game is a full time job.lol).

But, I will have to admit, I wish that price per month was more like 5 USD per month instead the current pricing.

To the OP: You will probably want to avoid this game dude... Since you don't like the pay to play thing, I doubt very much that this will be worth the investment. Best advice I could give to you in particular is play PnP games from now on.:lol:

Something I wanted to edit in, but alas cannot lol.

I think the OP wants to stress corperate responsability here. A corperation should be responsible for the life cycle of their hardware. If said lifecycle under "normal" use and maintanance doesn't live up to a certain standard, then it needs to be recalled. In the response from Sony the support specialist argued that Sony cannot say one way or the other (basically) that there is a 40% or more failure rate in the system after 2-3 yrs of normal usage. If enough "reported" incidents" were brought to Sony's attention on the low life cycle of the system (in almost half it's customers), then the corperation is obligated to upgrade or fix the problem for it's customers.

Warranty or no, it's bad buisiness to tell your customers to "take a hike" so to speak, when almost half of your customers are returning hardware just after the warranty expires. In all fairness, if that is indeed the case at SCE (simply a corperate negligence and faulty hardware), then that company's corperate ethics are in question. If that be the case it is the duty of the consumer to express concern.

Bat it around all you want, get emotional or w/e, facts are facts. If the poll here on GS is right, then those people have a responsibility to say something to SCE and report it, so they can do their own estimate of the problem (or at least be made aware of it). If all else in the corperate jungle fail, there is getting the word out to the public and media exc... Since nothing is being done everyone will assume it's isolated (including SCE), and there is nothing inherantly wrong with their system.

[QUOTE="Raging_Melody"]Electronics are known to break no matter how good you take care of them; I wish it didn't have to be that way but things are not meant to last forever.2eachhisownmask

I agree. When you overclock 3yr old tech (minus maybe the cell processor, but that's most likely overclocked too.. idk) you need outstanding cooling, I am actually surprised more people don't get the YLOD thing (knock on wood). A 2yr warranty is for factory clocked merchandise, not something that is pushed beyond its factory limits.

OCing a PC without proper cooling would cause the same thing to happen. 2yrs later, boom. No more PC; IF you get THAT lucky lol. This is encouraging me to get an aftermarket cooling system to add to my 250gb PS3. I got it months ago, but pretty soon I want to invest in one. Sorry for your troubles OP, and good luck with your campaign againsts corperate nonsense. If you need another voice, message me.

I would buy a Playstation 16 if I am alive that long LOL! :lol: