Game reviewers favoring indie games?

[Deleted]

Am i the only one thinking this?

I'm kinda tired of scrolling down the lists of highly rated pc games and only seeing 2d-platformers or indie games with focus on emotionel storytelling.

I'm saying this as someone who has actually watched several playthrougs of these games and enjoyed them.

But i think the recognition goes to far in some cases.

Examples.

The Witness: 10

It absolutely booggles me how this game is getting the reviews its getting. Its a decent little puzzle game and thats basicly it. Its mostly about solving 2d puzzles on a little board. Its clever i guess but its extremely niche. To me giving this game a 10(like for example IGN did) is like movie critics in some places. The more weird and out of place it is the better it is apparently

Firewatch: 9.3
Decent game aswell. But 9.3 on IGN? Most likely higher scores elsewhere?

Pony Island: 9
really?

Undertale: 10

I even like this game. But i understand its also very niche. Like cmon its clever and all but... 10? Masterpiece? Fuck graphics?


I'm afraid that if this trend continues then more and more developers will turn to this indie, crowd funded, never gets out of beta thing and the grand scale games with insane graphics are going down the toilet because they arent indie enough for these review'ers.

[Gheld]

Value for the money is also somehting worth considering. Like the shorter indie games usually only cost like 5-10 dollars. Vs. AAA titles on next gen now costing 80+ dollars in some cases and sometimes providing you with less than 10 hours worth of single player content, and about 100 dollars worth of DLC at launch if you want access to all of the hats.


So on a pure value perspective, all the AAA games in the last 5 years other than maybe GTAV deserve an F-

[Deleted]

Value for the money is also somehting worth considering. Like the shorter indie games usually only cost like 5-10 dollars. Vs. AAA titles on next gen now costing 80+ dollars in some cases and sometimes providing you with less than 10 hours worth of single player content, and about 100 dollars worth of DLC at launch if you want access to all of the hats.


So on a pure value perspective, all the AAA games in the last 5 years other than maybe GTAV deserve an F-

Oh i am talking PC games btw. I dont really care much about consoles and their extremely overpriced games. Because yes, you are right, they are overpriced

Also the games i mentioned:

The Witness = 37 Euro on steam

Firewatch = 20

Undertale = 10 and is reasonably priced

Pony island = 5

[GennGreymane]

Am i the only one thinking this?

I'm kinda tired of scrolling down the lists of highly rated pc games and only seeing 2d-platformers or indie games with focus on emotionel storytelling.

I'm saying this as someone who has actually watched several playthrougs of these games and enjoyed them.

But i think the recognition goes to far in some cases.

Examples.

The Witness: 10

It absolutely booggles me how this game is getting the reviews its getting. Its a decent little puzzle game and thats basicly it. Its mostly about solving 2d puzzles on a little board. Its clever i guess but its extremely niche. To me giving this game a 10(like for example IGN did) is like movie critics in some places. The more weird and out of place it is the better it is apparently

Firewatch: 9.3
Decent game aswell. But 9.3 on IGN? Most likely higher scores elsewhere?

Pony Island: 9
really?

Undertale: 10

I even like this game. But i understand its also very niche. Like cmon its clever and all but... 10? Masterpiece? Fuck graphics?


I'm afraid that if this trend continues then more and more developers will turn to this indie, crowd funded, never gets out of beta thing and the grand scale games with insane graphics are going down the toilet because they arent indie enough for these review'ers.

Yes, fuck graphics.

[primalmatter]

Reviews are biased. Best you can do is find one with tastes like yours and follow them. Odds are if they are printing something or a major site what they are paid decides their opinion more often then not.

[Gheld]

Oh i am talking PC games btw. I dont really care much about consoles and their extremely overpriced games. Because yes, you are right, they are overpriced

And PC Games are going the same direction. They all raised prices too.

So yeah... AAA developers for PC also deserve a thumbs down.

EDIT: Just an example...right now with all of the DLC, on steam, it's over 105CAD for Xcom 2. That's bullshit. the biggest most expensive currently available DLC was a day 1 dlc.

[unbound]

Perhaps because most indie development is by game developers that care for their craft more than money?

Perhaps because most of the AAA development is the same thing rehashed with minor tweaks only?

Perhaps because most AAA developers refuse to take risks? (e.g. Starcraft II still uses bi-level platforms in lieu of 3D terrain 12 years after the release of Starcraft when many other smaller shops have been doing 3D terrain in their games the same year Starcraft came out)

Perhaps because most reviewers are involved in more than one or two genre of games and are looking at games for better quality than graphical quality?

[Deleted]

Yea.. seems like that. I personally think all those retro indies deserve a 1/10 rating.

[Deleted]

Perhaps because most indie development is by game developers that care for their craft more than money?

Perhaps because most of the AAA development is the same thing rehashed with minor tweaks only?

Perhaps because most AAA developers refuse to take risks? (e.g. Starcraft II still uses bi-level platforms in lieu of 3D terrain 12 years after the release of Starcraft when many other smaller shops have been doing 3D terrain in their games the same year Starcraft came out)

Perhaps because most reviewers are involved in more than one or two genre of games and are looking at games for better quality than graphical quality?

I disagree with this.

There are so many indie games on steam that go directly down the toilet once they are crowd funded or they get the early pay to play thing done and never come to an actual release.


Also the graphics are only one of the things. To me they mean something depending on what game i play(as i said i very much like undertale).

Brushing off graphics liek they dont matter though. I think thats very narrow-minded

[Jotaux]

Yes, its an incredibly incestuous industry. It wasn't until recently that they even started to disclose relationships to the game developers in their reviews.

[Gheld]

I disagree with this.

There are so many indie games on steam that go directly down the toilet once they are crowd funded or they get the early pay to play thing done and never come to an actual release.

Most of the AAA developers are aiming directly for the toilet these days.

"ooh look at the pretty graphics. Push "F" quicktime event to advance all 3 hours of game play. "

[Independent voter]

All the triple A games are kind of the same. These indie games are doing things a tad bit differently. If you're a reviewer and you play your 30th Call of Duty clone that week, and suddenly your given some radically different indie game, you're going to notice.

I'm still playing Fallout 4.

[Deleted]

Most of the AAA developers are aiming directly for the toilet these days.

"ooh look at the pretty graphics. Push "F" quicktime event to advance all 3 hours of game play. "

I actually see quicktime events in many of the endie games aswell.

The only AAA game i've seen quicktime events in recently is Tomb raider.

I dont think they are necessarily a bad thing though. Just has to fit to the game.

- - - Updated - - -

All the triple A games are kind of the same. These indie games are doing things a tad bit differently. If you're a reviewer and you play your 30th Call of Duty clone that week, and suddenly your given some radically different indie game, you're going to notice.

I'm still playing Fallout 4.

See this is what weirds me out. I think most of the dark-gothic-emo 2dplatformer indie games look and feel 99% the same.

Where as i see a very large difference between Fifa 16 and Fallout 4(just two random recent AAA titles).

[Gheld]

I actually see quicktime events in many of the endie games aswell.

The only AAA game i've seen quicktime events in recently is Tomb raider.

I dont think they are necessarily a bad thing though. Just has to fit to the game.

- - - Updated - - -



See this is what weirds me out. I think most of the dark-gothic-emo 2dplatformer indie games look and feel 99% the same.

Where as i see a very large difference between Fifa 16 and Fallout 4(just two random recent AAA titles).

But what's the difference between Fifa 16, fifa 15, fifa 14, fifa 13, fifa 12 etc.

[Matchles]

I just find it kind of hilarious that after years of game reviewers facing accusations of giving AAA games favorable ratings and being "bought," they are now being accused of bias towards indie games, the creators with the least power, money and influence in the industry.

Everything that goes into a review of a game is extremely subjective. No one is going to agree with a reviewer 100% of the time.

[nextormento]

Some reviewers get easily tired of mainstream. They'll see niche titles as fresh and develop a favorable bias towards that.
I don't think that's a bad thing per se, but it certainly calls into question the very act of scoring.

[Deleted]

But what's the difference between Fifa 16, fifa 15, fifa 14, fifa 13, fifa 12 etc.

They are sequels to eachother. Thats a different thing. There are indie games with sequels aswell

[Deleted]

See this is what weirds me out. I think most of the dark-gothic-emo 2dplatformer indie games look and feel 99% the same.

Where as i see a very large difference between Fifa 16 and Fallout 4(just two random recent AAA titles).

Well, I cant say Ive actually played any of those indies, those graphics just put me off.. but yea, AAA titles can be very varied and fun, loved Fallout 4, Anno 2205, XCOM 2 and some of the older ones like Black Flag or Civ 5. All very different games with different gameplay.

[Deleted]

I just find it kind of hilarious that after years of game reviewers facing accusations of giving AAA games favorable ratings and being "bought," they are now being accused of bias towards indie games, the creators with the least power, money and influence in the industry.

Everything that goes into a review of a game is extremely subjective. No one is going to agree with a reviewer 100% of the time.

I am not accusing anyone of being bought. I am calling out a fact that indie games are getting very high reviews latelely and i am asking if its fair.

[Gib Lover]

I just find it kind of hilarious that after years of game reviewers facing accusations of giving AAA games favorable ratings and being "bought," they are now being accused of bias towards indie games, the creators with the least power, money and influence in the industry.

Everything that goes into a review of a game is extremely subjective. No one is going to agree with a reviewer 100% of the time.

That's not entirely true though. The small indie devs get EXTREMELY close to the reviewers/journalists. Yes, AAA titles used to and still do buy reviews. But that doesn't make buddying up with the reviewers any better than just writing a check for an easy 9/10.
Game journalism and reviews are terrible as a whole, I can't think of one I trust.