@jethja @blindley @telanstus Very well put, and I agree with you completely. With all that in mind though, I think the review is perfectly reasonable, given that many people will be of a similar nature in intelligence and proficiency in the skills needed to succeed in a Dark Souls game. This review is for those people.
@telanstus @blindley For anyone of medium intelligence, playing the game for 25 hours is way more than enough effort than should be required for understanding the core mechanics of a game. And you might argue that this reviewer is not of medium intelligence, but the mere ability to write an intelligible article (even if you disagree with it, you cannot justifiably argue that the article is not intelligible) like this one disputes that argument. Unlike books, games are interactive, they have the ability to teach you how they work. You shouldn't need to play a game for 25 hours before you understand it, and you shouldn't need to consult any sources outside of the game itself.
@telanstus @blindley@rogerpenna No, the metaphor does not apply. When someone writes a book in Spanish, the intended audience is Spanish speakers, not non-Spanish speakers. However, if the grammar and sentence structure of the book makes the book incomprehensible even to many Spanish speakers, then Spanish speakers certainly have the right to blame that on the author. And if a game is released in a particular region, and many gamers in that region have difficulty figuring out the core mechanics, then it is absolutely the fault of the developer.
@telanstus @rogerpenna Actually, it's not like that at all, considering Beowulf was written about 1000 years ago, by a person who lived 1000 years ago, to be read by people who lived 1000 years ago. While Dark Souls 2 was made this year, by people who are alive now, to be played by people who are alive now.
@spikepigeo @blindley People base their purchases off of Kevin's reviews because they've found, over time, that his tastes align with theirs. That's not the case for you, apparently. So you can feel free to ignore his reviews, and instead find another reviewer who you do agree with. I, on the other hand, find that I agree with him much more often than not. And so I take his opinion into account. Unfortunately I didn't have the patience to wait for the review and instead I put my trust in the legacy of good will that has been built up by the quality of the Elder Scrolls series. That was a mistake. The review is not poor, and reflects my experience quite well.
If you try it for yourself, you don't really need a review, do you? Unfortunately, not everybody has the time or the money to try every single game. That's why reviews exist.
@normanislost @m_dorian There are rare users who give good reviews. But you have to seek them out individually. The aggregate score is, of course, completely useless, since there are so many users who rate on a binary scale. 10 meaning they liked it. 1 meaning they didn't. Or, instead of judging the game on its own merit, they'll give a reactionary score to counter the score of some other reviewer they don't like.
@uchihasilver @nyran125tk I think its a great idea actually. There already is a review of the game from someone who is a fan of the genre (Kevin). I tend to agree with Kevin's tastes. So if, for example, Kevin were to review a game in the FPS genre (something that holds no appeal for me), and gave it a very positive score, I would be inclined to check the game out, even though I otherwise would generally ignore it. This is the same thing. If someone has the same tastes as Chris (i.e. they are not a fan of JRPGs), then seeing a positive review of a JRPG from him might incline them to give the game a try, even though it's the type of game they would normally ignore.
@Martyr77 When a series has such a strong track record as FF did up to and including 12, it's hard not to give the next installment a chance, despite what reviews might say about it.
@jonny_dutch @Silv3rSt0rm82 @hella_epic Most who call themselves "hardcore fans" or "true fans", and refer to certain FFs as "real FFs" and others as not, are idiots.
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