Topic: People taking reviews WAY too seriously

[Crying Freeman]

This never occurred to me more than with the bashing IGN receives for giving popular franchises good scores and with the 64 vanias. I know the two 64s have their fans, myself included, but after AVGN's review, EVERYONE seemed to hate it, even those who haven't played it. Don't get me wrong, nobody's opinion is wrong. But when someone hasn't played a game, they can't judge it outside of what they see.

Two of my friends in highschool were the only other huge retro gamers in my class, and whenever I brought up the 64 CVs, one would say how they sucked because AVGN said it did, even though he's never played them, and the other said they're pretty good, and he has played them both.

Other people say the same, but they don't get AVGN is comedy and is sarcastic. When he said "Music sucks, there isn't any", people REALLY BELIEVE THE GAME HAS NO MUSIC. I mean, common.

[theANdROId]

Preach it brother!

I completely agree, though I think there are some legitimately awful games out there that deserve everything they get from reviewers like AVGN.

But then I enjoy reading the letters to Game Informer magazine when people freak out about a review.

[Crying Freeman]

Preach it brother!

I completely agree, though I think there are some legitimately awful games out there that deserve everything they get from reviewers like AVGN.

But then I enjoy reading the letters to Game Informer magazine when people freak out about a review.

So true, like Super Pitfall. And yes, letter and comments on IGN or GameInformer etc. can be hilariously childish 

[X]

I used to dislike the 64 titles myself because back then Castlevania SotN was still a hot topic and a hot game. many were expecting a new 2D vania after it but instead were treated to CV64/LoD. It was some years later that I played CV64 and was pleasently surprised by it. Sure the controls were difficult and the camera was the most notorious killer out of all the enemies in the game, but it captured the atmosphere spot-on and the music compositions themselves assisted greatly in bringing out the full feel of the games. An especially after playing through LoI and later CoD I can say that CV64/LoD got it right and many of us just didn't see it at the time. I like CV64/LoD even more now since LoS left a bad taste in my mouth.

[zangetsu468]

Avgn has a decent knowledge of video games and their history but from what I've seen he's not a particularly good gamer. I'm not being critical but if you watch his videos, Mike and bootsy (who can beat battletoads) seem much better at mastering games. I think what frustrates me with his reviews is that he sometimes bases a bad review on a decent game due to his frustration with it imo.

[Crying Freeman]

Avgn has a decent knowledge of video games and their history but from what I've seen he's not a particularly good gamer. I'm not being critical but if you watch his videos, Mike and bootsy (who can beat battletoads) seem much better at mastering games. I think what frustrates me with his reviews is that he sometimes bases a bad review on a decent game due to his frustration with it imo.

Very true. CV64 can be used as an example, if you remember in the Castle Center he didn't know how the place the mandragora or nitro and simply said it was a gemebreaking flaw when it wasn't at all. I don't think it's very hard to find your you just press action in front of the walls while having the items equipped.

[zangetsu468]

Very true. CV64 can be used as an example, if you remember in the Castle Center he didn't know how the place the mandragora or nitro and simply said it was a gemebreaking flaw when it wasn't at all. I don't think it's very hard to find your you just press action in front of the walls while having the items equipped.

Yeah true. I mean you had to have BOTH as well for the thing to blow + you had to have broken the magic seal prior. I think it's fair to say that classic CV was always a trial and error based series (like more games were back then). You had to actually master traversing and completing certain parts of stages.

AVGN gets frustrated and sometimes bags good games because of it, but aside from that I find his reviews unbiased for the most part. I'll admit he's an entertaining reviewer.

[Crying Freeman]

Avgn is very entertaining, his new stuff is getting better than the in between old and new vids he's made. And yes... CV is very trial and errir. Once you learn how to kill Medusa heads, or that the holy water stuns bosses, the game becomes mush easier (specifically the first one)

[theANdROId]

First time I saw CV 64 was at a friend's house, that section where you have to blow up the walls.  He read, out loud, the warning about not jumping.  He then proceeded to exit the warning and turn around and jump over the box in his way!  He had a habit of just jumping around as he walked, and I ended up finding this section hilarious as he played!

[TheTextGuy]

I always found the AVGN more focused on humor and accentuating the negative than presenting a structured critique, but I still think his videos are really funny and informative.

Also, I really am confused by the negativity Castlevania 64 has; it's far from perfect, but it's playable and it has its fair share of good ideas.

[JR]

Avgn has a decent knowledge of video games and their history but from what I've seen he's not a particularly good gamer. I'm not being critical but if you watch his videos, Mike and bootsy (who can beat battletoads) seem much better at mastering games. I think what frustrates me with his reviews is that he sometimes bases a bad review on a decent game due to his frustration with it imo.

This is true...it seems like a lot of "angry" game reviewers do this (Armake21 immediately comes to mind). Whether it's having a genuine hard time with the game, or if it's exaggeration for humor or to support the basis of their review, who knows, but I've noticed that these guys usually aren't very good at all at the game they're trashing.

[zangetsu468]

Exactly. If he trashed any current fighters or Fps people would call him a scrub, so why not these games?

I appreciate that a) he's choosing to play arguably more difficult games b) the difficulty and learning curve of these games may be harder to master than our current gen. However, his gaming skill doesn't seem to be above average and I'm only judging by the gameplay he places in his reviews.

Bottom line is the games he reviews were released when games were a niche hobby. So of course the audience they attract will be niche, subsequently meaning within this there will be fewer people who are really awesome at these games at least compared with today's game enthusiasts playing today's games.