Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week (01/22/12 - 01/28/12)

This was a fantastic week, and I'm not just saying that. January may be a dead month, but there were some great review contributed over the last 7 days and I encourage everyone to check them out. Below are my picks for the top three.

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Eternal Eyes (PlayStation) by JoeTheDestroyer

Joe submitted two great reviews this week. Both of them are retro reviews and both of them are good reads, but I liked this one slightly more. It's hard to explain why, except that in particular I enjoyed the bits that demonstrated just how much of a budget game it really is. The discussion of mislabeled spell effects was particularly appropriate and interesting, plus the description of the game elsewhere in the review gave me a good idea what it might be like to play. I actually own this game, but I've never gotten around to playing it. I'm not sure that this excellent review will hasten the arrival of that distant day when I finally sit down to play some Eternal Eyes.

Final Fantasy X-2 (PlayStation 2) by SkylerBunderson

This was a well-written review that covered some important details about a game that I would imagine a number of readers have forgotten even exists. The main thread woven throughout the review--the point that the game is neither as bad nor good as it is often represented--felt a bit forced at times, but it was referenced enough that at least it was presented consistently and with plenty of supporting facts. The bit about a pregnant Lulu looking the same as she did in the previous game (along with a few other examples) was also well chosen and gave the review the sense of authority that it needed. Solid word choice and sentence structure throughout also made for a pleasant read.

Scarygirl (Xbox 360) by overdrive

This was a tough week, and this review wins out for minor reasons. All three of this week's reviews left me feeling that as a reader I was in the hands of a writer who knew what he was talking about. All three were smoothly written, so that it was easy to go from beginning to end without stumbling across awkward phrasing or poorly supported points that tempted me to skip straight to the end. This review just put all of those points together in a manner that felt the most natural to me, and that slight edge was enough to net it the top spot on a close week that might well have gone very differently if someone else had put together the topic. But someone else didn't rank the review. I did! And so overdrive is teh winn4r!!!1

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Thanks, everyone, for pitching in and making this such a great week. It was a joy to read about such a wide variety of games. I learned about titles I otherwise wouldn't have known anything about. Writing like we saw this week has always been a huge part of what makes it a joy to visit HonestGamers every day. I hope to see more like it from each of you.

Next week, it looks like wolfqueen is the judge. Make her work as hard then as you made me work tonight!

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

HOLY CRAP!!!! I won an RotW???? Is this 2007 or something? At least it feels like that long since I won one...

The crazy thing is that I wrote that review over four days. I just could not find a hook and was second-guessing the way I was phrasing everything. I probably got as frustrated writing as I got playing the game. That I wound up putting together something you liked enough to put at the top is awesome!

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

The self-scrutiny must have done you some good. This was one of your strongest reviews in a long time, a real pleasure to read (and informative to boot, I know as someone else who has played the game). Now let's see you win twice in a row!

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

YAY! Rob won!

Thanks for the placement! I also had a hard time writing the Eternal Eyes review. I think I went through about three different versions of the review, one of which making too many references to generic brands.

Congrats on your placement as well, Skyler. You pretty much hit the nail on the head with FFX-2, and the reason I don't much care for it. I don't think it's a terrible game, but I could never finish it because it was.....well, just not fully enjoyable.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

Thanks, Jason, for getting this out so quickly. Congrats to the winners!

[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