Patreon button  Steam curated reviews  Discord button  Facebook button  Twitter button 
3DS | PC | PS4 | PS5 | SWITCH | VITA | XB1 | XSX | All

Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: August 7-13 -- Done while taking a break from my real job

Add a new post within this thread...

board icon
Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: August 16, 2017 (10:49 AM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

This is a bigger week than I had previously and than I think most of us loyal RotWers have had in a while. Eight reviews minus one (my latest Kemco review, yo!) equals seven for me to read through and arrogantly dismiss…I mean, praise to the heavens and beyond!

In the theme of that bizarre concept of praising others, I'll give a bit of mention to Venter and Zydrate. Jason did the smart thing when reviewing Namco Collection #573407643890820483986347903285684903248286 (I mean, there are more Namco Collections than ports of Final Fantasy…and I thought no one whored themselves like Square) and focused the brunt of his review on the one game that isn't in every other one of those collections, focusing on how it's fun, but a bit of an inconvenience to actually play due to needing multiple Switches. Zydrate gave a super in-depth look at some MMORPG that was crazy long, but gave a lot of good information about all the myriad ways in which that game was loaded with so many minor inconveniences to become a major hassle to actually play. Not knowing what you're supposed to be doing combined with it being tricky to do anything -- a real winning combination, that!

EDIT: So, after this was done, Nightfire brought to my attention that he'd done a review during his week that was supposed to be included in this week, but my dumb ass forgot to even look, even though I've looked every single time I've done one of these things. So, we have two options here.

1. I'm including my critique of it, while tying him for a place (as it's not really fair to take away a person's place due to a mistake that was 100% me) and EmP can figure out how to make that fit into his overall points total deal.

2. EmP can summarily ignore #1 and determine that NF's review gets moved up to next week's judging in order to not disrupt the system as it is.

Either way, this one's on me for being careless while putting this together.

THIRD PLACE

Eric Kelly's Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star (Switch)

First off, thank you for including a summary of the franchise. This week also had a BlazBlue review that fell a bit short of glory in my eyes, particularly because I had no clue what BlazBlue was and, while the review had a good technical description of it, I was still clueless as to the backstory, characters (other than some names) and motivation for why everyone was fighting. Your summary got me, a guy who knows nothing about Fate/Extella into things. After that, you gave a strong review of the game, pointing out similarities to Dynasty Warriors to give me a comparison point as far as gameplay goes, and then describing the flaws concisely. Good review that helps out people like me who don't have an inherent knowledge of the subject matter.

---

SECOND PLACE

EmP's Expeditions: Viking (PC)

I dug this review a lot. If one wanted to really break down this week, there was a spirited multi-review battle for third place and a two-man bout of fisticuffs for first. This was a strong and comprehensive review to what seems a complex game, which worked for and against you a bit. It worked for you because you said a lot in a fairly short review (I think you used fewer words to describe this complex game than I did for my latest review of a simple 15-hour Kemco one) and it was an engaging read. On the less positive side, that led to it feeling like you were jumping from point to point incredibly quick, so compared to Joe's review, I felt my head spinning while trying to process all the information. The sort of thing where I think the review could benefit from being a bit longer, giving you more time to expand on a few things. Like, take the next-to-last paragraph as an example. You go from passive battle skills to passive camping skills to needing scouts, cooks, blacksmiths, etc. because you might be paying through the nose if you use merchant-types in town. Not to sound negative, as this is a very good review; I just wanted more of it and felt it could have been lengthened a bit in order to expand on some of these functions without coming close to being overly-wordy.

AND

Nightfires's Woolfe: The Red House Diaries (PC)

This was a pretty kicking review that I got into and was easy to read. You do a good job of explaining the premise of this game, humorously mentioning how the fairy tale got turned into something completely different in translation. While I can understand the annoyance of how the villain has no motivation other than "evil guy whose actions get Red to take action", overall, I thought this seemed to be a pretty fun game until I got to the end and pretty quickly understood why you only gave a 2/5. It is kind of a shame, isn't it? You have a game that should have been pretty good, but due to lack of finances, it wound up being incomplete and the developers went bankrupt. If I have a qualm about this (and since EmP got a nice long spiel about my qualm about his review, you aren't getting off easy!), it's that I might want to emphasize that issue early on, as it's the biggest flaw of a low-rated game that, in comparison, the early-review complaints about the flat story and meh dialogue sort of pale when compared to. Maybe that's just my personal preference, but it seems the most important part of the review got saved for the very end.

---

REVIEW OF THE WEEK (aka: Overdrive Place)

Joe's The Guest (PC)

EmP might have delved into the epic Nordicness that all good metalheads base their lives around, but this review got me just a wee bit more. It just read so smooth and focused. Starting off with the premise and the unreliable narrator style of the protagonist with his hallucination issues, then going into the puzzles, then mentioning that some of them are the derivative stuff that you get in ever puzzle game, then finishing by mentioning how this game is a bit too short to actually be memorable, as longer and better games have pretty much anything that's good in this game. It was just a short, easy read that kept my attention. And considering I tend to never play point-and-click sorts of games and, frankly, get pissed off when a game I'm playing tosses in elements of them, the fact I dug this review enough to give it the gold says a lot about the writing.

---

And back to a time-consuming work project. Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! Those are so much fun!!!! So! Much! Fucking! Fun!


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

board icon
Author: JoeTheDestroyer (Mod)
Posted: August 16, 2017 (01:00 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

Apparently I'm Zydrate now. Thanks for the win and I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Grats as well to our placers.


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

board icon
Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: August 16, 2017 (02:16 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

Curse me and my lack of attention to what changes I need to make from month to month to my template when I do these things!


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

board icon
Author: JoeTheDestroyer (Mod)
Posted: August 16, 2017 (02:17 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

XD

Hey, at least you didn't forget one of EmP's reviews for ROTW or accidentally delete multiple forum/chatter posts.


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

board icon
Author: Zydrate
Posted: August 17, 2017 (06:46 AM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

MMO's are really easy to make long reviews out of. Protip!


My Tumblr (Don't worry, I just talk about games)
My Steam Profile

board icon
Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: August 17, 2017 (07:32 AM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

Joe:

No, but I did forget to check about last week, when Nightfire had one that became eligible for this week. So there MAY be an edit!


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

board icon
Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: August 17, 2017 (12:21 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

Okay, I did a revision, but if EmP wants to save Nightfire's review I forgot about until next week, so we don't have annoying things like ties for second place, I'll understand. And that way, he'll get an unprecedented TWO critiques, in all likelihood.

Zyd:
Yeah, I get that idea. It definitely seemed you had a lot to say and it didn't get tiresome. While I'm not a MMORPG person, I've played my share of super-vast RPGs and, when reviewing them, I have to stop myself from going completely crazy about how many details get mentioned. It's a struggle writing for those games a lot of the time because I have to decide what is really important and what was expendable.


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

board icon
Author: Nightfire
Posted: August 17, 2017 (12:32 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

Very interesting critique. In the first draft of my review, the details about how the game wasn't finished actually comprised the second paragraph. I can't remember why I moved it to the end, but it just worked out that way. I guess it goes to show that our first instincts about something usually tend to be correct, eh?

Thanks for the inclusion. I'd be fine getting critiqued twice, though I'm good with whatever you guys decide.

All in all, a great week with great submissions.


placid like acid

board icon
Author: jerec
Posted: August 17, 2017 (04:19 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

I'm up next week, so the powers that be should let me know.

I'll try not to make a botch of it. So far there's just one review by Pickhut, so you have until the end of the 20th if you want some of that sweet, sweet Jerec judgement.


I can avoid death by not having a life.

board icon
Author: EmP (Mod)
Posted: August 18, 2017 (09:22 AM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

This is quite the pickle. Quite the pickle, indeed.

First off, let me decree that from this day forth, OD's full title will for Forgetful Rob "Rob" Robington.

Secondly, as any choice I make in life is entirely motivated by spite (and because having 2x second places will screw up the ludicrously over complex scoring method I've used thus far for the Site King score), Nightfire is now eligible for Jerec's rota. Who will not get away with having just one review to read (but may very well get away with only having two).

So it shall be.


For us. For them. For you.

board icon
Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: August 18, 2017 (02:08 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

Now Jerec, you don't want to pull a Rob, do you? I have a review held over from the week I did for your week. Shelterra the Skyworld. Another Kemco one. I'm sure you're thrilled!


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

board icon
Author: jerec
Posted: August 18, 2017 (02:52 PM)
Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums...

I've added both holdovers to my RotW template (which also includes removing all traces of the previous topic). Pretty soon, you're going to be calling me Perfect Jerec "No Mistakes" Jerecson.


I can avoid death by not having a life.

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998 - 2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.