Forums > Contributor Zone > Just a bit late! OD hits up the 10/4-10 RotW

I started this RotW on Sunday, but due to being a smidge hung over from having a bit too much fun on Saturday, the actual finishing/posting of it came a bit later. Good sized turnout this week, being what that we had ourself a contest deadline as well. That also played a role in the lateness, as all you people probably deserve a bit more than grumpy antagonism, which is about all I could emotionally muster. And then I spent the week during things like getting a new car. That was kind of important due to needing things like reliable wheels to maintain things like continuing employment. But here we are with this thing anyway. Just a few days late, but still nice and spiffy and all that crap.

As usual, we have rules. That is all.



THIRD PLACE: Minerva: Metastasis (PC) by Lewis

It was a tight battle between you and Disco for third place. Both of you had aspects of your reviews I loved and aspects I didn't like so much. Your negative was that to me, this review seemed a bit cumbersome at times as illustrated by how it took about five paragraphs or so for me to really have more than a really vague idea of what exactly you seem so excited about. However, you do make a great case in this review and, to be honest, some of that cumbersomeness plays a role in that. Your second paragraph about the trickiness of reviewing mods does do a good job of setting up the actual review of the game and you consistently do a great job of illustrating how well the dude who made this game did of using the source code to make his own creation that actually has vision and creativity. Focusing on that was a nice touch, as I've played a lot of Doom WADs where my main reaction was that it was okay, but didn't really have much creativity attached to it, so to illustrate the creativity used in the creation of this game really helped in making your review stronger.

SECOND PLACE: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP) by Chacranajxy

This was a pretty kickass review —  possibly my favorite out of the ones of yours I've read. I used to own the PSX version of this game and definitely agree with you on how much the series has evolved since this combat-heavy dungeon-crawler that, to be honest, didn't have much personality. This review is just a well-organized machine that gives the background on the game, paints it as a decent (if not THAT great) game and then give the reader a list of some BIG flaws that ensure this game is pretty much a mediocre experience where a few good ideas aren't enough to make up for its issues. Everything flows smoothly and I can't find anything major to complain about. As a side note, I still remember where I gave up on the original Persona. It was a forest maze where I was looking for some half of some chick's personality or bizarre claptrap like that. I was getting beyond bored with the game and just muddling through this dungeon......and got into one of many battles. Against some enemy that wasn't just invulnerable to bullets, but reflected them back. As I found out when my first character's machine gun fire decimated my entire party. It was a big dungeon without save points. I lost a good hour of exploring thanks to that. I never played it again.

OVERDRIVE PLACE: Warhawk (PlayStation) by zippdementia

It might just be me, but when confronted by an abysmal game, I love the tactic of doing a narrative review where you describe your experience with the game.....at least if you're a good enough writer to pull it off. Fortunately, you were up to the task with this game, which was the best of the week as far as combining information about the game with a humorous, entertaining style. It read quickly and easily, but I felt I'd learned all I needed to know about the game itself, as opposed to being entertained by the writing, but unsure whether the game was bad or if you were just cracking on it for the sake of entertainment. It's a fine line to walk sometimes between factual info and whimsical conversation, but you do a great job of it here.



I also have to give a tip of the hat to Jerec, whose choice-laden review of a game I think he had to know would be selected for him by EmP and Blu after the TT made me laugh. Both because he got the game picked for him and because of the way he tackled it. And that's that. Rejoice, ye who won recognition. Shed bitter bloody tears, ye who didn't.

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Cheers, OD.

I can avoid death by not having a life.

There's a big smile on my face right now, which I have to thank you for, OD. It's replacing the look of extreme fear which has been there all week as I realize just how much work I'm going to be doing for my final paper... and how little time I have to do it in.

I took a lot of time to write this one. I rewrote the thing at least four times trying to walk that line you describe. Really, I've been trying to put to use everything I learned from the TT tournament (thank you judges and worthy opponents!) and from the people who took me up on my critique-trading offer a little while back (thanks to the few that did!).

I didn't expect this to win. There were a lot of really good reviews this week. Thanks for reading, OD, and I'll try to keep on pleasing. There's a lot of people to look up to, here. I've got good mentors.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."