Do Video Game Reviews Still Matter?

Do Video Game Reviews Still Matter?

I don't think so personally. It's easier to go watch gameplay.

Only to those that matter, ergo, not you.

They never did. The fact fanboys use it as a shitposting tool proves that

Mass Effect 3 was genuinely good though, aside from the ending which was passable. Best gameplay of the series by far, and puts the janky garbage combat they shipped in ME1 to shame, where your party members would frequently stand in the line of fire unless you explicitly directed them not to

No. Big video game reviewers aren't enthusiasts.

They unironically became more serious after shitstorms like pic related, now no one gives AAA shit a free pass just because.
But the answer is still no, they mean very little.

No, especially not from traditional sources as these are usually paid off and fail to give any unique perspective or critique of a game. People can use so many other means to judge a game without needing to read or watch a review and decide whether it is in line with their specific tastes.

Video game reviews matter more to publishers than people.

Scores get used for shitposting purposes, but I don't think anyone takes the opinions of "professional" video game critics seriously.

Me1 was a hybrid rpg.
Me3 was a poor man's GoW with some obnoxious "choices".
Sorry you can't get the difference.

>look up review for video game
>"This review contains heavy spoilers, do not watch/ read if you haven't played the game! :)"

Uhm what's the fucking point then?

How was it like God of War?

Naw, most of these reviews are written by people who travel to a review event in a nice hotel with catered food and an open bar, and at least one time that was documented strippers, for a few days. Their reviews are largely influenced by the entire trip and not just how good the game is, so it's all pretty fucked up. This is how most AAA games are reviewed, lesser studios/publishers just have to send in a review copy to the gaming site a few weeks before release and hope they mention it.

Movie scores don't matter, so why should games?

Only as support for an ad campaign.

I know this sounds corny but I usually check MC, User Score and Steam Score to see if the game worth buying or not. That and some gameplay/trailers.

Oh user you card.

I hate scorefags so much and reviews would be much improved if scores were gone and replaced by a summary.

They're still a useful barometer, you just have to know how to scale the modern score. 9/10 means passable, 8/10 is a pile of hot garbage, and anything less than that is literally unplayable.

They give you an idea about thr quality of the game. It doesnt mean you will like it. It probably is just more likely that you will.

No, and never should. Watch gameplay, make your own judgement, listen to someone give you a few reasons why they like the game. A stok phrase of "Awesome game" and a high score on an arbitary ladder never meant anything.

Opinionated people want to make their opinions heard by others. That's all. I really hate that shit

That would be bad for posters and billboards. And for publications since it would require their readers to actually read. Are you trying to destroy this glorious industry? If you take away the sizzle what's the point of a steak? You absolute mad man.

I don't care about boring generic summaries, descriptions of game mechanics and ratings, but I like to read occasional essay-like analysis which goes deeper in the subject matter and talks a lot about theory, because I can also learn something from it. For the rest, it's better to just watch a gameplay on YT. Call me pretentious as much as you want.

I think summaries are all you need anyway.

>Gameplay is OK
>OST is great
>Story is good
>The game runs like garbage
These are the only kind of things I need to know along with some general knowledge about what kind of game/series it is and which studio is made it.

You're pretentious and stupid. But at least you're not a scorefag.

Metacritic scores don't matter and never have. There are only a handful of sites and magazines who are actually qualified to review video games. Most of them are just "fans" who come up with arbitrary scores for no real reason and will never give a major IP less than 8/10.

Your opinion means nothing to me, so all is good.

Reviewers give safe scores to AAA games because they might catch flak

My opinion means so little to you that you decided to announce how little it means? That's not just pretentious, that's narcissistic, you dummy.

You got me, user. I don't know what to say as a response.

Only when it's a game I like/hate, and make my opinion a fact.