Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week [May 20 - 26]

Aye, you people. You're killing me! Look at all of you, writing such awesome reviews and making it hard for me to decide who should place and win and such. Oh, one of these days I'll show you all and declare some random review on GameFAQs the winner just for shits and grins.

Of course I'm kidding. Eight reviews submitted this week, near as I can tell, yet only seven qualify. Before we get into those, I'd like to present...

The Golden Conflict of Interest Award

This goes to me, because I can't pick myself to be amongst the top three. That would just be silly. Instead, I'll just plug my EvilQuest review right now.

We have some new folks in our midst this week. Please welcome gotenibehe and JujuZombie. No, our latter new arrival didn't submit anything that qualifies for this week's ROTW, but her Alien Crush review is live. Go, read it. NAO.

I had a tough time deciding who places this week, and especially where they place. I will say before getting into the top three that holdthephone knocked my socks off with his Mirror's Edge review. You should all read that too. Notice I've hyperlinked it for just such a reason.

Without further ado, the winners are:

THIRD PLACE:
overdrive's The Mist review

As a Stephen King fan, this one resonates with me. Again, you take this game apart effortlessly and without descending into a petty rant. You've taught me that, even though I do want to get into text and graphic adventures some time, I don't want to get into this one. It's a very smooth read that gets the point across very well, although I feel like I wanted to know more about just how bad the vocabulary is. Like, I'm almost willing to play the game to find out.


a very close SECOND PLACE:
honestgamers's Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland review

A very tightly written, very smooth, and very detailed review. It's a no-gimmick piece, and I mean that in a good way. Jason doesn't waste any words or lose us with rough patches or awkward phrasing. He just brings his good ol' writing chops and effortlessly lays the game right out for you. It's a pleasure to read. I flew through it because it read so easily.


REVIEW OF THE WEEK:
Suskie's Diablo III review

I got a bit worried at a few points in the review. First, I thought, "Oh Mike, don't get preachy on me." Then I thought, "Oh Mike, don't get ranty on me." Did it get a little ranty? Maybe, but not without reason. Suskie draws from that aggravation and gives us a technically sound review with some punch behind it. He brings up some great points, but what I liked especially was the comment about making excuses. This game has been a blast for many people, but based on some of the isolated incidents of bad experiences (on more than capable machines, to boot) I've heard and read about, it's great that someone gives a voice to the few this game doesn't work for. I think you defended your argument well and didn't get offensive. You didn't go a great deal into the game, but I think your chief argument, against the DRM, told us why. Great job!

That'd be it for ROTW. I would like to add in closing that my Atlantis review still hasn't been upgraded to Featured.

Thank you everyone for posting such great reviews this week, and congrats to the winners!

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

Good job on a timely and thorough RotW topic, Joe! You did a great job, even though you didn't choose my review to win the week...

Congrats to Suskie, who beat me, and congrats also to Overdrive... who I beat. Mwa ha ha ha ha!

Oh, and I featured your review. Sorry about that.

"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

No problem. And thank you!

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

Thanks for getting this up so quickly, Joe. I feel bad that this is twice now that you've had to disqualify yourself. If I'd had better 'net access over the weekend, I may have been able to work something else out with regard to that, but ultimately, it's probably better for the community that this was done when it was. You're very quick, and your enthusiasm is quite refreshing.

Congrats to the winners! And it's nice to see some new faces around here.

[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

Thanks a lot, Joe. I really didn't expect a rant like that to win, though of course my argument was that the gameplay didn't warrant in-depth dicussion given how broken the experience was for me, so I'm glad that point came through. Thanks for the win and congrats to Jason and OD for their placements as well.

You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.

Thanks for the recognition, Joe. If you want to get a good grasp on the parser without actually enduring the game, I found a blog that gives spoilers for the whole game while illustrating how the limited vocab really cripples you. As a middle schooler playing this in the late 80s, I didn't have a fucking chance...

http://gamingafter40.blogspot.com/2010/10/adventure-of-week-stephen-kings-mist.html

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

Good work on entering the RotW fray in solid form, Joe.

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Thanks, everyone!

OD:
Egads! It is awful! Makes me glad they never did a Dark Tower text adventure.

Or did they? God, I hope not.

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