Forums > Contributor Zone > MOTO '10 Results

Team Zig

Zig:

Suskie: You know, I remember the last time I judged a contest that Zig participated in, I was sort of at a loss for words, because his writing is very good, and very consistently so. I feel like I'm always saying the same thing. You're detailed and thorough. You avoid rambling by cutting out any tidbits that aren't necessary -- something I have trouble doing -- yet you nonetheless paint a full picture of the game. You're funny when you need to be (the line about the guy in the mask rescuing girls from trees, and how "evil people don't do that," made me laugh), but you don't go overboard in that regard. Your work is grammatically flawless from what I can tell. And what I like about this review in particular is that it combines two of your biggest strengths, which are (a) reviewing games you like, and (b) reviewing games with histories that you're well-versed in. I loved your recent God of War reviews, for example, because I was fairly unfamiliar with the series at the time, yet you did such a great job contrasting the old and new variations in the series' formula that I walked away not just with a clear picture of the game you were reviewing, but of the franchise as a whole. I think you do reference the Windows version of Utawarerumono a few times too many, to the point that it almost becomes the focus, and I feel you perhaps should have spent a bit more time discussing the game's mechanics rather than comparing the two versions. But that's a small complaint, and this is otherwise a colorful and entertaining review, as always.

Obscurity: I suppose this is obscure enough, but this is one of the few games used in this contest that I've actually heard of. So you break even.

90 + 0 = 90

Zipp: Well, geez. Another great Zig review. Feel free to skip to the end of this obligatory critique because it’s obligatory. Seriously, there is simple nothing to criticize here. I think this is the reason Zig banned himself from the ROTW. He’s already an accomplished reviewer with awell established style that no longer comes out feeling at all forced, as it did in some of his earlier work.

This piece nails the reader by starting with the back story of how this game came to be. It gives just enough information that you would know whether or not you’d like to game and levaes enough unsaid that you are genuinely interested in picking it up. Which I’m sure I’ll do one day. This happens every time I read a Zig review.

The only slight complaint I have is that I would have liked a slightly more serious introduction to the story. While what’s there is hilarious, I really am curious to know what kind of story lies behind a game that was intiially packaged as hentai, or at least as having hentai involving furries. 93

Obscurity points: Here’s how this is going to work for all the obscurity points. Listen up, I’m only explaining it once. First comes the HG check. If it hasn’t been reviewed on HG, you get 2 points. Then comes my personal check. If I don’t know the game well or at all, you get up to 3 points. Then comes the wiki (and general web) check to see how many other people know it. This is worth up to 2 points. Finally, the amazon check lets me know how easy it would be to purchase. Sometimes, if Amazon doesn’t make sense, I do some other random search. This is worth up to 3 points. These can be taken away by the same values.

HG: 1 point
Personal: 3 points
Wiki: 0 points
Amazon: 3 points

+ 7 = 100

Jerec: I rolled my eyes and thought to myself “not another hentai title” but then you subvert that expectation hard. What follows is an interesting comparison with this (I assume) less smutty version of a hentai game, with greater emphasis on turn-based strategy. My mind wandered a bit from time to time, since most of the review is a comparison to the original, which I haven’t heard of either. But I can’t fault the writing at all. Everything is clearly communicated and I could see this game being fun if I understood Japanese. I haven’t heard of Flight Plan, either, and since I tend to like strategy RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea, I really feel like I should have. I know I’ll never play this game, but what I did get from the review has made me want to look up the company to see what else they’ve done. 90.

Obscure Modifier: Okay, so I haven't heard of Utawarerumono, but then, I've rarely heard of anything you review. Utawarerumono has a fairly detailed wikipedia entry, though. From what I can gather, it's also on PC and PSP. There's a manga and an anime, so it's obscure in an import sort of way. Is it obscure in Japan? I don't know. +6

Overall: 96

CD: Here we have an interesting comparative review of two different version of the game - two completely different versions. The PS2 version is given lots of detail and the PC version is given enough detail to make really interesting comparisons between the two games. Combat system was pretty well explained and the different characters involvement in battles and the story were well presented. I believe this review deserves an 85.

Rarity +6: I knew about the series as I have all the DVDs but I never knew about this game. You can still go to the web site for the game but it looks like it has not been touched since for a long time. This game gets a +6 for rarity.

Total for Zig - Utawarerumono: 91

Zig2:

Suskie: So, are you also Zig, or what? You know, you could have paired yourself up with EmP if you had planned on working by yourself. He's all alone! Have pity! But anyway. Yeah, remember how I said you're at your best when you're reviewing games you like? Well, your HTML assault of a Death Crimson review illustrates the importance of having something substantial to talk about, and being passionate about it. I don't blame you for trying to find ways to make a review of such a simple-sounding game more interesting, but I click on this review and I'm bombarded with images, colored fonts, hyperlinks, capital letters everywhere, the whole shebang. Predictably, there's not much meat to this review, and I can understand that, but that doesn't make it an impressive contest entry. I'm impressed by good writing, not by screenshots that you seem to hope will make fun of themselves. By the way, if you're actually someone else, I apologize.

Obscurity: A game that's "legendarily bad" isn't a good choice for MOTO, but I admit I didn't know anything about this game, so one point for you, I guess?

60 + 1 = 61

Zipp: I’m really torn on this one. This isn’t really a review, in my opinion. It’s a blog entry. It’s a brief spattering of information about a bad game. It’s a collection of screenshots with some text telling us to look at the screenshots. Yeah, the pictures are laughably bad. But I never like it when a review relies on its pictures to say what it wants to say.

On the other hand, what seems to be bad about this game is the graphics. So how else are you supposed to get that across? Also, I do enjoy the gimmick in the beginning, where Melty Blood is compared via screenshots to Death Crimson.

Still, I can’t give this the same kind of score I gave your doppleganger. It goes back to the forced Zig style I don’t appreciate as much and doesn’t feel as legitimate an entry as the first game. Sorry.

30

HG: 2 points
Personal: 3 points
Wiki: 2 points
Amazon: 2 points

+9 = 39

Jerec: I really liked this profile on a little know developer, and the worst game for the Saturn. The writing is sharp, it’s kind of like you’ve invited me over to have a look at this game, showing me first-hand how bad it looks, how bad it plays, while being all knowledgeable. And we’d be having a good laugh about it. And then we’d probably go play something better. It’s a very casual, very entertaining review. Zig2 is better than Zig. There, I said it! 96

Obscure Modifier: Haven't heard of Death Crimson, either. There's a wiki stub for the Dreamcast sequel, but no page for the first game, allowing me to find out very little. I'm unable to find much more about this, so you get a +10

Overall: 106

CD: I have seen strange monsters in games before so the orbs with lips would not necessarily make this a bad game. Other than the monsters, the wire frame introduction and the bad FMV I am not sure why the game was so bad. Six monsters coming at you all at the same time does not sound too bad but the review was written in such a way that even though I think we lack some hard evidence here the review does a good job of convincing us the game is bad. I think we all need to get the game and see just how bad it really is. I like the review and it was well written but I didn’t get a lot of information on the game play so I give this an 82.

Rarity +7: Seems pretty rare to me. Not much to find with Google searches on Death Crimson produce lots of pages on the sequel. There is one for sale at Play Asia and it is used. I think this one is a +7.

Total for Zig2 - Death Crimson: 89

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Team Bitchslap

OD:

Suskie: You know, I was reading these first two paragraphs and quietly thinking, "Oh what the fuck is this." And then I kept reading and I was like, oh. Clever bastard. That's actually neat for two reasons: You fooled me into thinking you were doing the whole clichéd narrative-review routine, AND you came up with a gimmick that ties into the whole dream world aspect of the game. Nicely done. I remember I judged another review of yours once where you talked about an RPG that was bland and generic, and I told you that it was well-written but that you didn't really seem to have much to say. You've found an interesting way to sidestep that problem in a review that essentially has the same thesis (it's a simple, easy 8-bit platformer) with a little creative writing. This still isn't a spectacular review or anything, but it's concise and inventive, and I admire that.

Obscurity: I think I've heard the name before? Maybe?

86 + 5 = 91

Zipp: Why red?! Is it because you are an artist and it is your favorite color? Aside from the red, this is a really good review which overal leaves me little to criticize. A couple of things: though you state that this world isn’t bizarre and tripped-out, I do happen to see, on the first couple of screenshots, an evil moon screaming in Japanese and a samurai attacking a turtle with spotted eggs. That’s pretty bizarre, as is your self described notion of a man with a jet plane for a body. So you didn’t sell me on that assertion.

Really, that’s my only big complaint, though it ties into a general feeling that you aren’t telling me much about the setting or what the platforming is like. You mention underwater areas and some jumps that help if you have that jet body thing, but I don’t feel that I could use this review to accurately describe to someone else what exactly this game is like.

Still, I think you’ve hit most of the right areas with good descriptive critique. The only thing I can say is that I wanted a little bit more description to frame the game, more explanation of how this game isn’t trippy, and a lot less RED.

72

HG: 2 points
Personal: 3 points
Wiki: 2 points
ROM download: -2 points

+5 = 77

Jerec: I can identify with the zoning out while playing games. I think it was Tales of the World (ugh) on PSP, and every time I’d play it, my mind would drift off and I’d imagine things were more interesting than they actually were. This Cocoron game sounds like it has an interesting premise, and boring gameplay. And that’s about it. It’s a very short review, with a hooking intro and enough details to tell me what to expect without boring me. I don’t know. I like the fact that the review is short, but it does end very suddenly. I just sort of scrolled down, expecting to see a couple more paragraphs, but there weren’t any. I would have liked to learn more about the levels themselves, and how they fit this dream theme. All I got was that there were six of them and they were short and easy once you assembled an optimised character. 73

Obscure Modifier: Haven't heard of it. And there is barely any info to be found, apart from a Something Awful review, but they tend to go for that obscure stuff, too. +10

Overall: 83

CD: I thought the opening was pretty inventive and it held my attention until the hero construction part. I liked reading about the equipment and weapons you could use to outfit your avatar. Those items were detailed quite nicely but I would have liked to have seen more about the games levels. A few lines about the Castle level, the Fairy Forest or the Milk Sea would have been interesting. As far as the review went it was well done but I think a bit more could have been added as a result I will give this a 75.

Rarity -3: There is a lot of information about the game but other than ROMs I can’t find much else. So while it seems the game is well known and fairly easy to download the original seems to be pretty rare. I am going to go with -3 for this solely on the basis of how easy it is to download the ROM and how much information is available on the game.

Total for OD - Cocoron: 72

Genj:

Suskie: Good review, Genj. Loved your take on the story that you couldn't understand. Great example of a writer spicing up his review with something that didn't need to be there. It doesn't technically add anything to the review, but the fact that you're going out of your way to make the review more entertaining is a huge plus. I'd say your recent reviews haven't been as mechanically tight as some of your past efforts, and this review showcases a few examples: missing commas, "2" instead of "two," "&" instead of "and," etc. Nothing huge, though, and while this doesn't sound like a difficult game to tear apart, you do so capably and without getting carried away. Very solid review. By the way, there is actually a mobile game called Doom RPG. Look it up -- it's excellent.

Obscurity: Yep, never heard of this. Sounds archaic and retarded.

82 + 10 = 92

Zipp: This isn’t supposed to happen. We’re supposed to get bad reviews in our tournament so that it’s easy for us to criticize them and score on a bell curve. I dig this review’s jive and it’s one of my favorites ever from Genj. Genj has a touch of sarcasm to his writing that works really well here. The Kafka reference is something I wouldn’t have thought would work, but it does. That alone is worth my vote.

No complaints. I was tempted at first to take off points again for clarity in fleshing out what you mean by bad level design, but you actually illustrate this quite clearly with your talk of narrow corridors and stupid key quests. Well done. I suppose the only thing I could mark down on is that the review isn’t very ambitious, bashing a game that is fairly easy pickings. But I’m not going to be too much of an ass about it.

95

HG: 2 points
Personal: 3 points
Wiki: 2 point
Amazon: 2 points

+9 = 104

Jerec: You get points for the line “Have you ever been given someone’s key ring and you end up trying every key to open a door? That’s Crime Crackers.” That is one succinct way to sum up a game, and something everyone can identify with. The rest of the review is good, but not great – there’s a few grammatical glitches that hold this review back. Most of the review is pretty bland to read, to be honest. Except the second paragraph where you talk about the characters and start making stuff up because you can’t understand Japanese. That paragraph, and the line I quoted above were the only times I sensed you were into this review. But that’s enough. It’s probably hard to get excited about reviewing a game like this. 64

Obscure Modifier: Of course I haven’t heard of Crime Crackers, being a Japanese only PS1 launch title. A quick google search turned up no reviews (other than this one). IGN and Gamespot have the game on their listings but there’s no info to be found. +10

Overall: 74

CD: At first it was hard to believe Media vision could have made a game like this but I guess everyone is entitled to one mistake. We get lots of information about game play but unfortunately not much about story, but I can forgive that because my Japanese is non-existent too. Overall very well done with only a couple of minor bump: “You’re only hope is to mash both shoulder buttons ‘to’ initiate a defensive stance.” Adding “to” here would help and in “These bosses have far too much HP” “many” would probably have been a better choice in this sentence. A nicely done review much deserving of a good solid 75.

Rarity +8: There is not much about this game at all. There is only a page or two from Google searches. Play Asia shows out of stock and out of print. This game pulls down a +8.

Total for Genj - Crime Crackers: 83

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Team Not-Obscure-at-all

True:

Suskie: More than any other entry in MOTO this year, your take on Sports Champions really makes me struggle to differentiate the review from the reviewer. This is a good write-up, but it also showcases a few of the True tendencies that I'm starting to grow a bit weary of. First of all, do you realize that you award a LOT of perfect scores? I can't really complain about that since it just comes down to your opinion (I guess you just really love everything), but I would suggest backing off from the forceful tone that you often employ in reviews like these. You know, the whole "BUY INTO THE HYPE! GO GET THIS GAME RIGHT NOW!" thing. You also have a habit of getting over-dramatic, as you yourself have acknowledged, and there's a bit of that here (you use line breaks a bit excessively), but much of your discussion on both the games in this package and the hardware itself is extremely thoughtful and not the least bit over-the-top. I also liked how you essentially acknowledged that you're also reviewing the Move itself, which was unavoidable and ultimately appropriate. Again, my problem is with the "buy into the hype" line at the end; especially coming directly after a Wii bash, you sound like a paid Sony exec. Basically, what I'm saying is that this review tries a bit too hard, and it didn't need to. This game sounds fun and your review effectively portrays that. You don't give your descriptive side enough credit, and you give your dramatic side too much.

Obscurity: I love how your intro centers on this game's "obscurity," as if this isn't the flagship title for a major PS3 peripheral that's only a couple of weeks old and inspired by a gaming pop culture phenomenon. Yeah, get the fuck out of here.

75 - 10 = 65

Zipp: This is exactly what I wanted out of a Sports Champion review. I wanted to know about the game and I wanted to know about the Move. Mostly about the Move, actually, but the game sounds fun, too.

I think you choose good examples to describe the Move’s abilities and your comparison to the Wii is enticing because you are using a pre-existing system to show everyone what the Move can do... and then you show how the Move adds on to that system and does it better.

You spend a lot of time on Archery, which is surprising but not necesarily bad, especially since you use the opportunity to highlight the capabilities of the move once again. The other games you kind’ve gloss over in this regards; even Bocce we just get rules and no real idea of how it handles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you didn’t launch into an individual critique of each game. But maybe the one sentence you did loan to them could’ve touched back on controls a bit more.

The one game I was dying to know more about (and I think most readers would agree) is the gladiator one. Sword fighting is always on everyone’s mind when a movement system is involved and the few examples you give didn’t sate my interest. I wanted to know more about how the game controls: does it limit you to controling just attacks? Are those attacks limited to specific moves? Does moving around your living room change your character’s position? These are fairly simple questions and maybe they were implied by some of what you said, but I would have liked more specifics.

In any case, this was a very ambitious review that you handled well. I approve. On the other hand, this was not a very good choice for an obscure tournament. You’re going to get dinged hard on that.

88

Obscurity -8 (I still give points for games HG has not yet reviewed)

80

Jerec: Sports reviews usually bore me to tears. But I might need to rethink that generalisation. Stuff like FIFA bores me to tears. I did enjoy reading about this collection of sports games, such as the little known Bocce, or Archery and whatever. I have to admit I haven’t been following this whole PlayStation Move hype wagon as closely as others, and I didn’t actually realise this was a Move game until you mentioned it very late in the review. I’d spent a good portion of the review wondering how the controls work. 75

Obscure Modifier: I think you misunderstand this obscure tournament. Bocce might be obscure, but that’s just one small game in a larger package, one that’s been fairly well known since Sony started hyping up their PlayStation Move. -10

Overall: 65

CD: Excellent review of both the games and the Move controller. I noted this was rewritten from when it was first posted and the rewrite did a world of good for this review, very nice work indeed. I only picked up one little thing: “Not so, loyal Truep.” I am thinking the “p” does not belong or something is not quite right in this sentence. Practically perfect in my view, I am giving this a 95.

Rarity -10: Well this is a brand new game only just released. While I can agree the games are not common the game itself is common and the Move hardware is currently available with Sports Champions in a bundle. Sadly this gets a -10 for rarity.

Total for True - Sports champions: 85

Nightmare:

Suskie: Dude. Are you kidding me with the line breaks? One-sentence paragraphs and the like are fine if used cautiously, but you kinda got carried away here, don't you think? It's really hard for a piece of writing to flow when you're constantly trying to make every sentence stand out. Combine that with this running theme about fate and the threads of the universe or whatever, and I feel like the Wachowski brothers wrote the opening title cards for a historical epic about the fall of the Roman Empire or something. Anyway, the review itself is... Jesus, dude, what do you have against substantial paragraphs? You actually seem to go way out of your way to incorporate so many line breaks that you effectively cut some ideas short just so you can continue them in the NEXT paragraph. This results in too many fragments as well. I like stylistic fragments, but again, only when used in moderation. Anyway. I can tell you've got a lot of potential as a writer since you obviously won't settle for just a regular old boring review, but you took it too far in the other direction, with a rambly and pretentious piece of writing that tells me a lot about the setup but very little about the game itself. Which isn't surprising considering Shadow of Destiny is an adventure game -- I'm guessing there isn't much actual gameplay to discuss -- but this review exemplifies why I hate adventure games and, more importantly, why I hate reading about them.

Obscurity: Never heard of this, but it's also an adventure game, and that's kind of cheating.

50 + 4 = 54

Zipp: What is this? Team unobscure? Although in this case I’m glad it’s not too obscure because this game sounds awesome by your description and I think I’ll go pick it up once I’m sure I’m not going to bounce any checks.

I passed this review up when it came time for it’s shot at ROTW. It stands better on its own here, but my reasons for passing it up remain. Mainly, you don’t really give me a good idea of what exactly you’ve convinced me to buy.

For instance, I had to go onto Amazon to find out there are some significant differences between this version and the PS2 version. I had to go to wiki to figure out exactly what kind of game this is (your intro is misleading, it lead me to believe this was an action game) You didn’t even mention one of the game’s major selling points: the incredible amount of very different endings.

You still managed to sell me on it, but you had sold me just with the intro alone. I believe you could’ve lost some of your prose near the end and gone a little bit deeper into some of the interesting mechanics. You start to do this with describing the puzzles. I wanted you to take it further.

72

Obscurity -5

67

Jerec: This review had me hooked from the first line to the last. Fate is such an interesting topic, and it poses a lot of difficult questions about life. You make me really want to play this game, because of how interesting you make it sound. I loved the example of convincing a gardener 400 years ago not to plant a tree, and how little things like that can change everything. Shadow of Destiny sounds like a game that really explores cause and effect, and does it well. There were a few awkwardly worded sentences that sometimes broke the flow of the review, sometimes the sentence structure just seems backwards, and I can’t always tell if it’s written like that on purpose or not, but they did get distracting. Minor issues, really. I still enjoyed this review. 80

Obscure Modifier: Unfortunately for you, I have heard of this game. It goes by Shadow of Memories in PAL regions, and I’ve seen it for sale plenty of times in the last 9 or so years. Maybe it is obscure in America, but I know it as a bargain bin PS2 title. But I’ll grant you that I didn’t know about the PSP port, and it probably only got a limited release by the looks of it, so... -6

Overall: 74

CD: I liked this review when I first read it and offered some suggestions. I am not sure if Nightmare made any changes but nevertheless this review about a pretty complex story is really well done. This one earns a score of 95.

Rarity -4: I found a lot of information on this game but I was a bit unclear if this was for the PSP or the PS2. Either way there is still a lot of information on both versions. This one gets a -4 for rarity.

Total for Nightmare - Shadow of Destiny: 91

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Team Dork

Will
:

Suskie: It took me a second to figure out what I didn't like about this review. At first I thought it was the excessive screenshots, but nah, I'm cool with those. But by using so many, you've found a sneaky method of getting away with writing an incredibly brief review! I enjoyed this review quite a bit. It sounds like an exciting game with goofy imagery, and having good source material is a huge plus when it comes to writing a contest entry. I actually like this review so much that I wish there was more of it. You're just in and out, without really elaborating on what seems like a potential gold mine of material. If these paragraphs didn't have so many screenshots squeezing them in, they'd probably look quite small, and you're limiting your energetic tone by keeping the review so brief. I'm intrigued, and I desperately want to learn more about this game. That's the sign of great writing, for sure, but not the sign of a great review.

Obscurity: I've seen ads for this on Steam.

82 - 3 = 79

Zipp: This review is like a mix of Zig 2 and Nightmare’s review. It does the same things right and it does many of the same things wrong.

I do think the screen shots get put to good use here. I don’t need them to understand what you’re talking about (though it does make it more believable). The pictures of actual space combat are hard to follow, but I already get what’s going on from your description, so it’s not a problem.

But then that’s it. The review ends before I’ve really had a chance to get settled! The genre cue says it is a turn based strategy, but I didn’t pick up on that at all from the review. Nor do I get a sense of how exactly the game is laid out. I get this image in my head of Oregon Trail, where you are moving along a map and occasionally encountering events. That may be totally wrong, but the review doesn’t tell me one way or the other.

Pretty much what you’ve done is describe a setting. You do a great job of it, but I’d like to know more.

69

HG +2
Personal +3
Wiki 0
It’s on Steam -2

Obscurity +3

72

Jerec: This was a surprise - a fun little first-person description of the game from a genuine captain. This sounds like a quirky, odd sort of game, just going by the screenshots. But there seems to be some depth to the space combat and the encounters. Maybe a little. If I had one complaint about this review, it’s that there are too many images, making the review look really cluttered. Cut back about half of them, or add more text... as it is, it’s a very crowded screen. 78

Obscure Modifier: Hard to find any information about the game itself, once you weed out all the hits for the definition and historical use of the word flotilla. In fact, aside from this review, all I can find is the game itself. +10

Overall: 88

CD: Very good review told to us from a very interesting perspective and because of that it made for a very interesting read. There are just a couple of things to point out however. This is minor but it is a Rookery of Penguins not a flock of Penguins and “They way you're used to it, it's the guy with the biggest gun and the thickest armor” “they” is not the correct word here. All in all this review gets itself an 85.

Rarity -6: The second hit on Google is the home page for this games developer. It is a unique game but does not appear to be rare. This is getting a -6.

Total for Will - Flotilla: 79

WQ:

Suskie: I'm doing these in order, and I've already witnessed quite a few bizarre attempts to spice up one's writing -- some more successful than others -- so it's refreshing to read a review that's just, you know, a review. Overview, plot, gameplay, flaws, conclusion. This isn't a groundbreaking review or anything, but it's straightforward and it gets the job done, so what more can I ask for? And while I'm not a great proofreader, I couldn't spot a single error in this thing, which, again, is a relief after some of the slightly spotty grammar I've seen in a few other entries so far. My one suggestion is to maybe throw in a few more examples of the zaniness you find so appealing. I remember when Zig judged my Alpha Protocol review and suggested that I intentionally add spoilers to demonstrate how the plot changes depending on your actions, and that's when I realize: No one's going to just take your word for it. You need to back this up with solid evidence. I walked away thinking this sounded like a fun game, but not necessarily a funny one. Still, this is a strong review.

Obscurity: Never heard of this. It's quite recent, but also sounds low-budget, like you said.

85 + 5 = 90

Zipp: I think that first paragraph should be your last paragraph. Your second paragraph is a much stronger opening. Other than that, there’s really not too much to say here. You’ve hit all the right notes. I might like a few more puzzle examples or maybe a little bit more of Will’s crazed enthusiasm in describing a game that you seemed to find very fun.

I think you’ve come a very long way in your review writing this year. Your only hang-up (for me) is that you tend to write like you’re delivering an essay to school. Everything is a little too clean and a little too stacatto. Mess it up once in a while, let your grammar get a little drunk, and just write! I’ve seen you do it before. It’s awesome.

Anyway, I’m very pleased by this review.

83

HG +2
Personal +3
Wiki 0
Facebook page, only 343 fans (less than my film, beotch): +1 points

Obscurity +6

89

Jerec: There’s not much depth to Puzzle Bots by the sound of it. The game isn’t that long, and the humour and wittiness of the story is supposedly the selling point, but it’s not really conveyed. The examples are kinda scarce, more an overall description of the characters and settings, and their personality types, rather than any specific wit. So it hasn’t really sold me at all on the game. I also didn’t know until quite late what type of puzzle game this was, as I was wondering if it was a Tetris type game with story interludes (like Kibry’s Ghost Trap or something similar). As I said, there’s not much depth to the game, and the review just sort of scratches the surface and I didn’t walk away with much of an impression of the game at all. 55

Obscure Modifier: I hadn’t heard of this before, it seems to be one of those web games. I can’t really tell how popular it is in terms of web games, so you get a +7

Overall: 62

CD: I liked the details that were put into the review about the different characters and robots in the game, but at the same time I felt it missed the mark on telling what the story is about. It was not clear to me why the robots were doing what they were doing. I am sure there were a lot of different reasons for different puzzles but a hint at the overall plot would have been nice to know. The review certainly made the game sound fun and interesting so I will award 80 for this review.

Rarity -6: Unfortunately the very first hit in Google is the home page for this game. Sorry to say I do not think that makes the game rare. Because fun and funny puzzle games are not common I am giving this a -6.

Total for WQ - Puzzle Bots: 74

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Team Them

DE:

Suskie: Ctrl + F tells me you use the word "then" six times in this review. Of those six, four should have been "than." Get on that! That's about all I have to say, really. I must not be a very good judge, because I have no trouble rambling on forever about things that I like, yet I run out of words quickly when it's time to compliment someone. This is a well-paced review of perfect length that use a lot of colorful and clever wording ("stab-hungry" made me smile) and makes a beautifully seamless transition between story and gameplay. My only issue, other than a few grammatical mishaps, is that calling the nameless hero "Bob" feels like a missed opportunity. Come on, you can do better than "Bob." Otherwise, excellent stuff.

Obscurity: Never heard of it.

88 + 9 = 97

Zipp: I was really pleased to scroll to the top of this review after reading it and find that it belonged to you, DE! I think this is one of your best works for the site (I may have said that previously about one of your Final Fantasy reviews). You manage to give a strong preview of this game and touch on all the right elements to build up its Arabian influnces and feel, which I think you correctly peg as its main selling feature. I’m a little confused as to whether this plays top down or first person, a confusion that a few choice words could’ve cleared up, but now we’re getting into miniscule shit. The only other thing I could say is that I’d like a little bit more of a grab in the introduction, but again... I’m nitpicking.

Good job.

92

HG +2
Personal +3
wiki -2
instant download -2

+1

92

Jerec: I didn’t like this review. The writing seemed really... unpolished, and you spent 80% of the review just describing the story (which seemed pretty boring), leaving one small paragraph for what I assume is combat, levelling up and all that jazz, then another one for talking to people. The bit where you talk about finding a way past the efreet was probably the only good bit of the review. 50... HOLD IT! I also took off 10 points every time you used “then” when you should have used “than”. 20

Obscure Modifier: I haven’t heard of it, it has a wiki page, though not a very detailed one. Hmm, it’s a +7

Overall: 27

CD: Hard to say if the game was titled Al-Quadim or Al-Qadim but fortunately I have the game so I can tell you for sure what the name on the box is. There is no “u” in the name and sorry to say the “u” is in the name everywhere in the review and that I feel is a major mistake. There are a couple of places where the sentences needed to be cleaned a bit, for example “Take, for example, a powerful efreet, a genie-like creature made entirely out of flame who guards the path into the dungeon you’re sent to find an incriminating piece of evidence from.” Another “to” in “sent to find” would have been good. Overall this review only garners a 65.

Rarity -4: Well rare then or rare now? Not so rare when it first came out and you can download this from abandonia. However finding the original box could be a problem. Still not very rare I don’t think. I have to give it a -4 for rare because you can get the game on Amazon.

Total for DE - Al Qadim: The Genie's Curse: 61

DoI:

Suskie: Again, the more I like a review, the less I have to say about it. Especially if it's one like this, which is well-written and remarkably straightforward. It's also brief, and I admire it when a reviewer can squeeze everything they want to say into such a small space. I have trouble doing that. Unlike Will's review, I don't get the sense that you're leaving anything out or merely providing a summary; you jump right into the heart of the game (its loneliness) and I leave this review feeling I have enough information to make an educated decision as to whether or not I want to check it out. My only issue is the second-to-last paragraph. It sounds like you're spending a lot of time basically saying that you wish there was more exploration, but you never actually say that directly and I'm left to puzzle out exactly what you mean. Whatever it was, though, you acknowledge that it's not really an issue, and the game still sounds cool to me, so you've succeeded.

Obscurity: Seen this on Steam.

85 - 1 = 84

Zipp: I don’t agree with this line:

”Something about a teleporter accident in a sci-fi universe that left your title character stranded and alone in the galaxy, but that one sentence is all that you need.”

Personally, I would’ve liked a little bit more than that to frame what is a very unique game.

The writing here is not bad and the descriptions are engaging, but I’m kept from really getting into the review by a giant gap of knowledge. I have no frame of reference with which to understand the game you are describing. You mention jumping and puzzles and taking pictures with a camera and an obscure setting and plot... I’m glad you mention these things, because they seem to be what makes this game unqiue. What’s missing are enough details to tie them together. Even a little bit more mention of the setting would’ve helped that.

That said, you grab my interest enough that I’ve gone out and read a little more to get those details from elsewhere.

68

HG +2
Personal +1
Wiki -2
The well-publicized answer to “Night Game” -1

+0

68

Jerec: Saira sounds like a fascinating game. You really hooked me in on that sense of loneliness, being “the only person of consequence”. I prefer reading about little-known indie games which I can easily find (once I know about them) than some import that went out of production 15 years ago. Anyone who stumbles upon this review while browsing the site will want to check this game out, I know I do. Your descriptions give me a real sense of the game that I probably wouldn’t get on the download site. Your familiarity with Nifflas lends credibility to the piece, you’re obviously familiar with this guy’s work and you recommend this title. Great review

93

Obscure Modifier: Not easy to get information on this one. +9

Overall: 102

CD: This review had a really good opening. I could feel the emptiness of the game in the descriptions given in the first few paragraphs. The second to the last paragraph however took me out that mood and I see that it was a lead-in to the last paragraph but unfortunate that it sort of broke the flow of the writing. This review was very well done and I believe it deserves to get an 85.

Rarity -2: Nicklas may not be well known but I had no problem finding his web site and the games he has been a part of. So in my mind I don’t believe the game is rare rather it is not well known. I believe that gets it a -2.

Total for Dol - Saira: 83

---

Team Abandonment Issues

EmP:

Suskie: First of all, props for not reviewing an adventure game. I expected you to, for some reason, so thank you for saving me that hassle. Now then: "Gird-formed"? Did you mean "grid"? Because "gird" is actually a word (much like bird), but I don't see how it works in that context. Yeah, I'll go ahead and assume it's a typo. There were a few others that I spotted, but I already forget where they are so they obviously weren't huge. I guess get WQ to proofread it? Anyway, this is quite a well-written review, though I have one big problem with it: You make this game sound too cool. I can see that you wanted to love Winter Voices and that you're frustrated with how it turned out, but the thing is, your descriptive writing in the first half of the review is so strong that I still kinda want to play this. You don't really discuss any of the game's crippling flaws in great detail, and as such, it's the game's positive aspects (like how the girl is watching her father die and battling her inner demons, or whatever) that stick with me. I get the feeling you meant to convey the game's promises and then sting us with its disappointing inability to live up to its potential, but you don't quite follow through on that.

Obscurity: Haven't heard of it, though it is a recently-released game.

79 + 6 = 85

Zipp: Boy, this one really makes me sad. I hate to see a cool idea ruined. There’s nothing worse than a bad tactical game, though, because then what you get is a bad game that takes FOREVER to play. I felt similarly about Myrtran Wars. I’m a little confused as to how you attack or what kind of different characters you can build if you’ve got all these various choices for stat spending. Some more info on that would have been nice. Otherwise, this is a good read.

82

HG +2
Personal +3
Wiki +2
Easy download 0

+7

89

This is an overwhelmingly convincing review. There’s something a reader can identify with (even for a game he’s never played) when the reviewer wanted to like the game, really tried to, and can appreciate the few things it does right, but not all the stuff it doesn’t. And now I’m disappointed it’s not much good, because Winter Voices sounded like an interesting idea. But the execution sounds awful. Thanks, EmP, for steering me away from a game I probably wouldn’t have played anyway. Was this an assigned game that you had to review? 85

Obscure Modifier: You’re not going to like this, EmP. But I have heard of this game, only because of this news item from last month (http://www.honestgamers.com/news/5856/article.html). I remembered the game because it was an episodic RPG and I wanted to see how it turned out. So technically, I only heard about the game because you did this news article. Outside of Honestgamers there’s not much to be found. -5

Overall: 80

CD: The game was well explored and well explained warning us of the journey of verbosity that exists in the game. I know I sent EmP some things to look at and I was happy see those were checked however, there are a couple of things I noticed: “There’s a unique atmosphere going on in the icy, forgotten village [where] you start your adventure” probably should add “where” and “your character can shrug of not only cruel jibes” probably change “of” to “off”. I think review earns an 83.

Rarity -7: The very first thing on the list in my Google search happened to be the home page for this game. In fact there were a number of places listed with information on this game. I must therefore conclude the game is not really rare and so it gets a -7.

Total for EmP - Winter Voices: 76

---

Team Team

Espiga:

Suskie: Oh, I see NOW you've decided to show up. You'd probably experience pangs of guilt if you left Schultz all by himself, but you certainly wouldn't mind deserting me, would you? Anyway, good perky review, a few clever lines, snazzy intro, incredibly short, doesn't sound like the game provides much to talk about, blah blah blah. I have nothing interesting to say about this review. I'm going to give it an 82 because that sounds about right, but actually I'm going to give you a 90 because your game is really obscure. I'd have to say at this point that a sliding obscurity scale that goes to 10 is a bit much. Maybe just five? Because I don't think this review deserves a 90. I could lower the default score to a 74 and then you'd come out at 82, but your review is of higher quality than the 74 implies. FML

Obscurity: Oooh, look at the big Turbo reviewer.

82 + 8 = 90

Zipp: What an intro! That was the kind of intro that, like the game you describe, shifted seamlessly into a middle and a conclusion, so that the review kind’ve ended before I was aware what had happened. Then I went and looked at some of the screenshots and confusion hit. What is this guy with an eyeball hanging out? What’s this winged goddess? What about this swimsuit picture? I wish you had explained where such things fit into this game. I suspect it’s those cutscenes you briefly mention, but it still seems like there was a lot of unused material here. Still, good writing deserves a good score.

84

HG +2
Personal +2
Wiki +2
Amazon +2

+8

92

Jerec: I’m really glad reviews like this are kept short. Don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable read. Very tight writing. This is how obscure imports should be reviewed. Just a brief summary of the game, what you’d expect to see, why it’s nothing special. That way we walk away feeling just a bit more informed, but not overwhelmed with information we’re never going to need. If this were some current game being reviewed, I’d complain about the brevity, but for this sort of game, the length is perfect. There is one sentence that goes for half a paragraph that my mind started to wander off in, though. 83

Obscure Modifier: Yeah, this is pretty obscure. +10

Overall: 93

CD: Fairly short and right to the point. Fast to read and all the information you could ask for. The review even had an opening that wrapped around to the closing. Very well thought out and presented and therefore claims a score of 90.

Rarity +8: There was some information on the game but Amazon Japan only had 13 for sale and 12 of those were used. I felt this was a pretty rare game and so it earns a +8.

Total for Espiga - Kaizou Chounin Shubibinman 3: Ikai no Princess: 98


Schultz:

Suskie: Aha! All those instances during TT in which you put us down for using too many italics or telling too many jokes or whatever and now I get the chance to tell you that your review doesn't have enough personality! JUSTICE! Seriously, you're almost mechanically flawless here (aside from the fact that you italicize some game titles but not otherwise), yet this review would be improved by either cutting it a bit shorter or making it more... I don't know... alive? It's a pretty long review, which is fine if you can hold the reader's attention, and you barely do that. It feels like kind of a sensory overload, but not an in HTML assault sense. It's just a big fucking wall of facts, you know? It's almost all description, and I can picture you reading it in a monotone and gasping for a quick breath in between paragraphs.

Obscurity: Heard of it, but it's on the Apple II so there you go.

70 + 4 = 74

Zipp: I think this is the single most ambitious review of the tournament, if only because you’ve choosen a game that makes my eyes glaze over just from thinking about the concept. I’ll admit I still have no idea what you’ve been talking about by the time the review is over, but then I’m absolutely not a programmer. Then again, some of your descriptions are confusing. If the robots move in preset ways, how do they get through mazes? If you can reprogram them, how does that work exactly? What is all this about shoving robots inside of each other? Clarification early on would help to ground me when trying to work out the deeper aspects of the game that you get into.

The graphics and some of the concepts remind me of think quick, but now I’m being obscure.

In any case, I think your reviews tend to come from a programming perspective. You have a very unique set of reviews to your name, both because you look at old and obscure games and because you come at them from this highly critical adult angle that seems to question their place in the greater gaming history and sometimes even in society. It’s utterly bizarre and I like that.

What I don’t always like is that you sometimes write with words that, and please forgive me for saying this, are a little stale or occasionally too technical to be visually stimulating. Does that make sense? I suppose what I’m asking for is a little more imagery in your reviews. That’s tough with the games you choose, but I think you can pull it off. To put it another way, when I read your reviews I often get an image of you sitting in front of your computer, playing the game. I’d prefer to get an image of the game itself.

Those are my critiques. In short, I like most of what you’re doing here, but I don’t think you’ve mastered the technique yet.

62

HG +2
Personal +2
Wiki -2
Freeware -2

0 extra points

62

Jerec: This review reads almost like a walkthrough. Here’s the tools you use, here’s what you do. Not having the game open in front of me while reading this, the next paragraph becomes harder to follow. I’m not getting a sense of the overall game here, or how fun it is. I’m getting a technical description of what to do, and my mind is just letting this info pass right through because it can’t find it useful. I feel like I should download an Apple II emulator, and a rom for this game just to understand what you’re talking about. Unfortunately I got so bogged down in technical info by the end of the third paragraph that I just gave up, so if there’s any critical analysis of this game after that, then I missed it. Definitely not an accessible read for someone who’s unfamiliar with the game. Fine if this is a FAQ, but not for a review. 30

Obscure Modifier: I haven’t heard of it, but there’s a wiki article which is fairly informative. These sorts of games seem to get a fair bit of coverage simply because they are old and obscure. +6

Overall: 36


CD: I was not sure what to make of this review. Sometimes it read like a walkthrough and sometimes like an article in Scientific American. It was quite well written and did have a lot of information about the game, at times to much however. I felt the review could have been cut by a quarter and still been effective but it was well written, and so earns a 75.

Rarity -6: There is quite a bit of information on the game. Even in the review it was admitted that YouTube has videos on the solutions to the game. Still though it does seem to be fairly rare so I believe it earns a -6.

Total for Schultz - Robot Odyssey: 69

---

For us. For them. For you.

SCORES

Zig = 377
Zig2 = 295

TEAM = 672

OD = 323
Genj = 353

TEAM = 676

True = 295
Nightmare = 286

TEAM = 581

Will = 318
WQ = 315

TEAM = 633

DE = 277
DoI = 337

TEAM = 614

EmP = 330
BelI = 0

TEAM = 330

Espiga = 373
Schultz = 241

TEAM = 614

So, that would mean victory to Team Zig OD/Genj -- OR DOES IT? In a twisty turn of events, information on the individual known only as Zig2 recently came to light on the HG message boards:

ZIPP: I AM ZIG2!

Judges can’t compete in tourneys. That’d be a ludicrous stretch of the rules. Therefore Zig2 is DISQUALIFIED FOREVER

That brings about the birth of a dramatic new team -- TEAM MAKESHIFT!

Zig = 377
EmP = 330

TEAM = 707

Congrats to TEAM MAKESHIFT for this controversial win.

Now, to flee!

PS:
Masters = 0
Felix = 0

TEAM = FAIL

---

For us. For them. For you.

Thanks for these critiques. Yes, I had a feeling some of the stuff I critiqued others for in the team tourney were in my reviews. Sometimes that's the best way for me to learn, though...it's weird, being potentially hypocritical like that reminds me of doing other stuff. Or makes me realize I can worry about certain details. I think we all have phrases/"methods" we fall back on, and they're different for everyone, and I've ID'd a few of my own.

I don't think I ever really clarified that, in the absence of other shortcomings in competing reviews that seemed equally enjoyable, I generally went in for minor stylistic stuff. Hope this is better late than never.

I knew I was walking the walkthrough line and it's happened before & will happen again. I think I have a lot of other stuff to fix, too. So thanks for helping me work through this. It was a review I put off for a while because I worried about the stuff you all mentioned, but it's weird--once someone mentions it other than myself, I get ideas how to cut things down.

Another irony here is that my last year's obscure review was too walkthrough-y, and I resolved to change that. Oops.

Thanks everyone for giving me a lot to work with. I wasn't sure where to go.

---

My principal said, 'Emo, Emo, Emo.'
I said 'I'm the one in the middle, you lousy drunk!'
-- Emo Phillips

I am amazed at how close some of the scores were from the different judges. We all had good suggestions and most of the reviews were really interesting.

Congratulations to the winning team.

Thanks to everyone for letting me help out in judging and if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

Also congratulations to everyone who participated for an very interesting contest.

to aschultz:
You have an eye for detail and I appreciate that in your reviews. Your review was good but I really needed to watch some YouTube videos to really understand some of what you pointed out about the game. It is a complex game and you covered it well - maybe to well?


Oh, yeah and thanks to EmP for handling MOTO - Good job.

---

Age is a condition not a state of mind.

Dear Gary: What, no clever intro or anything? Just going right into the results, I see. Ahd how did you put those results together? Haha. You were lazy! Not only are they not ranked, but it actually looks like OD's team had more points than Zig's (by 4). Unless you're factoring in individual scores, too, somehow. I also would've thought you'd make a separate list for individual scores, too. I was kind of curious as to how I did amongst everyone else (and I'm too lazy and incompetent to do math / spacial reasoning like that in my head). I'm sure you'd like to see yourself there, too, seeing as you did quite well. XD And we all know your clever ploy to depose Zig2 and usurp victory for yourself is invalid. =P

P.S. I'M VERY SORRY FOR MISSING YOUR TYPOS. Please forgive me in all of your shining wisdom (HAH!), merciful leadership, etc. But at least I caught most of them! ...I think. XD

<3

Hahahahaha. In all seriousness, thanks for putting this together. I know from experience (as does anyone really) that putting these things together is a pain in the butt. I think Brevity took me like 4 hours to put together... Or maybe just one hour. Either way, it was a lot. Granted, I also wanted to make it look nice, but still... I also didn't have as much to work with. =x

STOP TALKING

TO THE JUDGES: An equally important thanks goes to you all for doing this thing, and Suskie for finally finishing. =P As always, I appreciate the feedback, and am quite pleased that to see that I think my teammate and I did better than expected. I want to say especially to Zipp that I think your obscurity scoring system is brilliant and I wish more judges had used something like that (especially CD and Jerec, whose scales could make certain games vary wildly just for one little thing).

As for the review itself, I was quite happy with it when initially subbing it. It had been considerably rehauled, so I no longer felt as much shame with it. And I'm glad to have spared all four of you the horrors of the first draft.

Anyway, thanks again for everyone's effort with this. It's much appreciated. This had some really good turnout, considering everything that's been happening recently.

---

What espiga does in his free time
[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

Actually...

Zig = 377
Zig2 = 295

TEAM = 672

OD = 323
Genj = 353

TEAM = 676

So wouldn't victory go to Team OD regardless of the somewhat-secret-identity of Zig 2?

---

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

It is a complex game and you covered it well - maybe to well?

Don't feel you need to be -too- diplomatic. If I can't take critiques that say I missed the point, I shouldn't enter contests :).

I think I tried to cover the wrong thing so it probably didn't matter if I covered it well. People probably want to read sooner about how you fiddle around with the insides of robots and the main fight isn't against an enemy but against your own clutter or misconceptions. How it's engaging enough, the physical impossibility of stuffing each robot inside the other doesn't matter. How it's neat to find that fourth robot, but anyone smart enough to solve the puzzles will dread probably NEEDING that robot later. That was obvious to me after reading the critiques.

Speaking of getting off focus, this may belong more in a critique topic.

Dang it. Did I forget to add there were a lot of other reviews I enjoyed? I did. Guess I forgot to put first things first, again.

---

My principal said, 'Emo, Emo, Emo.'
I said 'I'm the one in the middle, you lousy drunk!'
-- Emo Phillips

(especially CD and Jerec, whose scales could make certain games vary wildly just for one little thing).

Meaning?

Now I enjoyed reading your review but I was puzzled at the overall plot of the game. I guess it just was not clear if there was a story of just robot explorers bumping into puzzles - or were they trying to escape from the Doctor? I also thought you could have included a bit more about the children stealing the robots. I thought you kind of just tossed that out and really didn't say much more about them. If you thought that would have been a spoiler then you could have left out "that Dr. Hugo’s snotty little children find after stealing the robots" and gone right to the puzzle description.

---

Age is a condition not a state of mind.

Yay to TEAM MAKESHIFT! Time for Emp and I to booze it up at our victory party. That Zig2 guy can just go fall in a hole somewhere.

Thanks to the judges for the judgements. Clearly a lot of time, effort, and thought went into them, and that is appreciated.

//Zig

---

Unlimited Zig Works!

1. The OD-Genj team finished with four more points that the Zig Duo, so we win.

2. Team Makeshift is only an element of EmP's imagination.

3. Thanks, Genj! You carried me to a win in this competition!

WE WIN!!!!!


Oh, Zipp...I suck at html. I wanted to differentiate the dream narration from the rest of the review. I picked a review where I had colored text. It was Monster Party. I used red there. I copied-n-pasted the code for colored text. Therefore, I used red here. Not a particular complicated thing. And a pretty lousy story, too. But I still won!!!

---

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

Thank you all for judging this one. There were a lot of reviews for you to go through and most of you did so in a timely manner. Ha ha.

And I am going to mention this, mainly because all four judges said basically the same thing: I hope that--because I used Sports Champions--you don't think I believe you to be of lower intelligence, or that I was trying to be sneaky. I full well knew I was going to take a massive hit on the obscurity factor, but like I stated when I posted it I had Untold Legends lined up, and Sports Champions came out a couple days later. Time constraints only permitted one, and I didn't think a whole lot of people were going to rush on here to see a review for Untold Legends. Sports Champions seemed far more relevant and much better for the site in terms of the bigger picture, but I didn't want to bail in the contest completely. I knew going into this my game wasn't even in the realm of obscure, and wasn't using the Bocce as an excuse. Hopefully, it brought traffic regardless. That's why I'm okay with placing dead last.

---

If I Die Young, May It Be Noble. If I Die Old, Let It Be Peaceful. And If I Am To Live Forever, Please Bless My Loved Ones With The Same Miracle.

I wrote a thing for my obscure modifier but it was somehow left off.

Looking at the scores with this in mind, it'll all make a sort of sense.

"Okay, I'm a fairly mainstream gamer. I like my Final Fantasy and Zelda and I rarely venture out into the unknown. So if I haven't heard of your game, you get an automatic +5 for the Obscure Modifier (-5 if I have heard of it), and then the rest of the points are granted depending on how difficult it is for me to find more information about it."

---

I can avoid death by not having a life.

CD: I didn't have any problems with your (or anyone else's) comments regarding the review itself. I merely referred to how you graded obscurity, which, if looking at all the games in question and how you rated it, sometimes didn't seem as fair or make as much sense. For example, you slam my game, EmP's game and a few others for having a home page on google. While having a home page certainly isn't a good thing to have when it comes to obscurity, google isn't necessarily the best source for determining obscurity either. That's because you can find almost anything on google when you search for it, especially if you search like I do (I put quotations around the keywords, often the title of games).

Frankly, I kind of wish there had been some sort of guideline for how to determine obscurity, since obscurity is a little bit easier to objectify than, say, horror, but ultimately it does come down to someone's opinion and/or interpretation and experience, so it's still really complicated.

Don't get me wrong, though. I really am grateful for and appreciate the time and effort you and the rest of the judges put into this thing. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with how things turned out (and not just with myself or my team), so I think you guys did a good job.

To put any ambiguity to bed, I understand completely where you're coming from with regard to how I approached my review. The truth is, though, any "story" behind that game is really quite shallow and just meant to create a resaonable transition from one puzzle to the next. It's supposed to be amusing, which is why it's done that way to begin with (or at least I think so), so it's really kind of hard to elaborate on without just telling you everything that happens. Haha. Really, when it comes right down to it, the robots do what they do because they're bored, and whatever happens to happen around them, well... happens, I guess. XD If that makes any sense.

Zipp: I did want to say something else besides complimenting you on your great idea for rating obscurity. I'm acutely aware, and have been for a while, that my writing style has shifted more towards an academic structure for reviews. It makes me really sad, to be honest. Like, I can't even remember a review I wrote recently that didn't fit this profile (though maybe my .hack and MGS2 ones do... Maybe Fantasy Wars, too, but I'm not sure (though I'm plenty happy with that one anyway, so it's fine).). In any case, varyiing my style just isn't as easy as it used to be. I'm not sure why, but I can only hope that as I finish with school, I can learn to challenge myself that way again. I'm glad you like that part of me, though, and I'll keep trying to lure it out again. But these things can't be forced.

---

What espiga does in his free time
[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

Frankly, I kind of wish there had been some sort of guideline for how to determine obscurity, since obscurity is a little bit easier to objectify than, say, horror, but ultimately it does come down to someone's opinion and/or interpretation and experience, so it's still really complicated.

I can agree with that. Even in the older MOTO there were no guidelines. The only real basis I had for obscurity was older MOTOs and the way those were judged to be rare. Some of those older ones were way out of whack which did not help. So I did not use a system I made myself I extrapolated a system based on several other MOTOs I could find (and I thought were fair).

In your case I was familiar with the game (my friend has it, and I played a bit of it), I was able to find lots of information on it and it was on sale for $5.00 all last month on the indie site. So including all that I thought I was fair. I hope you understand where I was coming from.

---

Age is a condition not a state of mind.

1. The OD-Genj team finished with four more points that the Zig Duo, so we win.

I must admit I'm a little surprised that Zipp would mark himself down quite so much, but I'm glad Emp did the only sane thing in the end by declaring himself (with me!) the victor.

//Zig

---

Unlimited Zig Works!

ZIPP: I AM ZIG2!

Judges can’t compete in tourneys. That’d be a ludicrous stretch of the rules. Therefore Zig2 is DISQUALIFIED FOREVER

This is blatant falsehood! Zippdementia is a fake account created long ago for the sole purpose of eventually impersonating me, Zigfried2 (two)!

These results are absolutely shocking. Shocking! I expected a combined score of 440, nothing less would do (well maybe 439 would be ok), and I am so outraged that I am tearing down my review in protest. I am also ceding all intellectual rights to Zigfried (one) so that he may someday incorporate my wonderful ideas into a full review of his own.

oh and emp u can't disqualify me forever because I AM CLOSING MY ACCOUNT FOREVER hahahahahahaha

//Zig2

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Thanks to the judges for volunteering their free time to provide quality commentary. Congratulations to everyone who participated.

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This is blatant falsehood! Zippdementia is a fake account created long ago for the sole purpose of eventually impersonating me, Zigfried2 (two)!

Pretty much, yeah.

To OD: Well, it could have been worse. You could have picked fushcia... fuscia... fucia? How the hell do you spell fuchsia?

To WQ: I know what you mean. I think my best reviews have been written in between classes, when I had very little time to polish them and think about them but was just forced to write. Now if only I could/ just CREATE that situation on call. I'll get back to you on that.

PS. I'm glad you liked my obscurity scale.

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

"I am an artist. My favorite color is FUCHSIA!!!"

....hm. It just isn't the same.

//Zig

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Unlimited Zig Works!

I feel betrayed, Zipp.

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I can avoid death by not having a life.

Thanks to the judges for taking the time out to critique all of us. Also thanks to them for giving me the second-highest individual score. I was a little worried about the review because of how short it was, but it seems to have gone over well enough! I rushed through the game in about an hour and a half or so one night and reviewed it the next morning. That's how I roll when I'm not paired up with Suskie who I enjoy ditching all the time when I put my mind to it.

Also, thanks to Aschultz for being a Pretty Cool Guy. (tm)

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Your girlfriend's name ends in .jpg

I enjoyed reading the critiques and the scores for this contest, so go judges, I guess!

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...

Since WQ asked for it:

1. Zigfried (377)
2. Espiga (373)
3. Genj (353)
4. DoI (337)
5. EmP (330)
6. Overdrive (323)
7. Will the Great (318)
8. Wolfqueen (315)
9. True (295)
9. Zigfried2 (295)
11. Nightmare (286)
12. Dark_Eternal (277)
13. ASchultz (241)
Last. BELISARIOS (0)
Last. Felix (0)
Last. Masters (0)

These above rankings are based on Emp's math skills, so they probably shouldn't be trusted at all.

//Zig

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Unlimited Zig Works!

Ahh well, I don't agree with some things that were said, but one should be grateful to people that they took their time judging, so thanks.

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Idemo do dna....tugo ti i ja.

Darketernal should have at least one more point... EmP didn't factor in my obscurity score if you look above...

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