Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week - April 24 - 30. Includes bonus rant.

Sorry I'm late with this one. Been travelling all around the place for work for the past week. I thought about having a crack at this from the hotel, but TV always seemed to be the better choice.

So, there were 7 reviews posted this week. An overdrive review from last week makes 8. Jason and Rhody both submitted two each, so there's really only 6 elligible reviewers. Nice and easy.

I'm going to eliminate Jason's Puyo Puyo review right off the bat - not for being a boring puzzle game review, but for that introduction. Thanking me for clicking on the link and begging me to endure a boring review is really setting the reader up to find you boring. It's like when someone writes something and then shows it to someone else but before they do, they say something negative about it, like it's crap or it's stupid or whatever. When presenting something you've created, it's best to have a neutral or positive opinion of your own work, and let the recipient decide for themselves. Sorry, I got a bit ranty. I was told in high school not to do this, and given your catalogue of writing over the years, one of your reviews was the last place I expected to see it.

Ahem, moving on. Rhody's Walking Dead review is quick and insightful recap on yet another part in a frustrating story. Are you contractually obliged to review and play these? I've got more to say about your Persona 5 review.



Before we get to the top 3, here are some honourable mentions. These were all really good reviews, and it was once again tough to put them in order of best to not best. JacquesLeSauve paints a descriptive picture of Devil Daggers, although some of the sentences are weirdly worded and a bit long, forcing me to re-read parts of it. Venter's Wonder Boy: The Dragon Trap review is good, but I feel like maybe you're pumping out too many reviews too quickly, since this one felt it could be tightened up a bit. Still, I enjoyed the perspective you took (and how it differed from pickhut's perspective last week). Eric Kelly delivers a good review on Bulletstorm's PS4 remake, which summarises the story and premise, but I left the review feeling more like I got the technical specs of the game rather than an opinion, but this could be because I don't know much about the original Bulletstorm.

These criticisms are minor and picky. It isn't easy judging these reviews - I'm remembering why I gave it up before...

Anyway, moving on.


Third Place
Miniature Garden by Usagi

Reviewing visual novels is no easy job, and this review does a fine job of dicussing the plot, the characters, the mechanics, to give me enough of an idea of what to expect, but without giving everything away. You obviously have an understanding of the genre and the usual tropes/conventions - it definitely lends you the credibility to sell the reader on this title. Good job.


Second Place (AKA Overdrive place)
Illusion of L'Phalcia by Rob Robbington

Rob further cements his place on this site as Android RPG reviewer with yet another Kemco review. You make it sound intriguing, with how the game has improved on previous titles by the developer, yet it's also stuck in a similar formula. I liked the discussion about the overly nice guy RPG hero, which we've all seen enough of, and I like how that flowed into the "Ladies and gentlemen, meet you heroes!" line. I also laughed/groaned at the piece of the map being hidden in plain sight in a tunnel between two towns.


Review of the Week
Persona 5 by Rhody Tobin

Okay, so this week there were six reviews in the running, and I felt that five of them were of around the same level of high quality, I feel like this review stood out as the clear winner as I read through them. Persona 5 has been enjoying excellent critical response lately, and rightly so. It's an amazing game. This is the first review I've read that actually brings up some of the negative aspects of the game - such as the script, and the fact that the characters aren't quite as memorable as Persona 4's (which I happen to agree with). This is a review that doesn't go on for too long, but provides plenty of balanced praise on a game that a lot of people have been waiting a long time for. But dude, what's up with the Yosuke hate?



And there you have it. I'll be back in a month with another RotW... probably... maybe...

I can avoid death by not having a life.

Rhody may have had the best review, but the real winner this week is Jerec and his brilliant use of Overdrive Place. Jolly good, well played.

Good effort, gang. I'll be back in the mix next time!

For us. For them. For you.

Gratz to the winners. Patient Usagi finally made placement! Good show.

I also agree that Jason's Puyo Puyo review was a little too self-effacing.

placid like acid

I'm so pleased with the placement and kind words that I'll be forgiving of this horrible, horrible attempt to slur the good name of Overdrive Place by labeling it anything other than the week's best!

Especially since, as others have said, I can fall into a bit of a rut with these KemcoReviews, so I'm glad I was able to do one that didn't have that "same ol same ol" sort of feel to it.

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

Thanks for the topic, and congrats to those who placed this week!

"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

Thank you for the acknowledgement, it means a lot. :)

Read my reviews here or via Lunar Productions