Untitled post

I think your review needs to effectively communicate the transformation. If you look back at what changed for you--and how, and why--then a review that examines that could make for an entertaining, informative and insightful read. You have a lot of points where it could fall apart with such an approach, but if you really nail it, there's some great potential.

That's an interesting angle, but I don't really know how to approach it from that direction. I liked the game from the start (I would have put it at an 8/10 if I had stopped halfway through), even though I was horribly frustrated by the challenge of the game, but I feel that many of my frustrations would have been alleviated if I had more experience with the franchise in general. By the end of the game, the enjoyment I got from the tension and the battles vastly outweighed any annoyance that came from repeating certain areas. I suppose that comes down to arguing that the game had a relatively high learning-curve. Mentioning how my inexperience with the franchise may have led me to be more frustrated is an important point. Perhaps I can expand on that further. However, it's hard for me to find a particular moment in the game, or a particular level, that I think really struck me as "wow, this game is awesome". It was, like I said, the whole package, the whole conglomeration of firefights and locations, that really made me love the game so much.

So it's greater than the sum of its parts. That's a valid approach for your review, too, though more difficult. :-D

I've had several similar experiences - with games that I hated but then enjoyed after I spent more time with them. I think that it would be honest (and effective) to translate your "switch experience," so to speak. I haven't seen many reviews that are start with one view and end with the opposite, but those that do it and can do it well are on the top of my list as among the best reviews. Good luck on it, whatever you choose to do.