Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: April 23-29, 2018 -- It's almost unfair how many quality reviews showed up!

Are you all trying to kill me?! I've read some quality reviews in my time, but this week was full of them! That made choosing my top three a difficult chore indeed, and I freely admit that some of my choices probably came down to mood. Hit me up on a different day and the order might change slightly.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for making my job so tough this time around. Keep doing that, please!

Side notes: Overdrive had one review in the running this week that actually made its appearance last week, when he was judge. That brings the total number of reviews for this week to 10. I tend to write up comments about each review as I read, which is what I did this week, so I'll share the comments I had on even those reviews that didn't place, starting immediately below and in no particular order.

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DoReMi Fantasy: Milon no DokiDOki Daibouken (SNES) by Follow_Freeman

This is my favorite review I've yet read from Follow_Freeman, with polished writing on the grammatical side and some witty asides that keep things interesting. Some of the little quips fall slightly flat, I felt, but then there are those that really tickled my funnybone. Here's one I liked a lot: "I, for one, know of only eight ways to kill a man with a bubble blower, yet Milon seems to have everything under control if the gameplay is any indication." It's a line that acknowledges the apparent absurdity of the protagonist's weapon, but also seems to say "Let's keep things moving along, folks." So it worked really well, I thought. I'm not sure the score really fits the text, though. This reads like a fine example of a 4/5 game, with no damning criticisms leveled against the game and even comments that it's "one of the best platformers of the era" (an era generally acknowledged as the best treatment the genre ever got). Score aside, I don't have any huge nitpicks, though. It's a shame this game wasn't released in the United States until it arrived on the Wii U Virtual Console... where it is likely to yet again receive little of the recognition it apparently deserves.

Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation: Time After Time (PC) by EmP

It's hard to know how to rate this review, because it wisely makes the most of its source material. What else can you do with a visual novel, anyway? The story sounds genuinely intriguing, and it can be tempting to say "Well, all he did was summarize an interesting story, so he shouldn't really be in top-three contention." But that's not fair, because we've all read boring PR descriptions of stories we knew almost had to be far better than that. EmP does a good job of describing this game in a way that doesn't seem to spoil anything, but also makes me want to maybe go through the game myself and enjoy it personally... even though he freely admits there is a lot of silly digressing. So my final verdict is that this is a strong review of what sounds like an unexpectedly solid game. I enjoyed reading it!

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus by JoeTheDestroyer

This is a solid review for Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, a game I also have played and also liked. I don't have a lot to say about the text, because while I thought it was effective, I much preferred the review for The Punisher that Joe also contributed this week. But if you happen to be looking for a solid write-up of the game, quite some time after it was originally released (my own review was written when everything it didn't couldn't help but be new and exciting), you should find what you seek right here.

Blaster Master Zero by mariner

It's good to see the site offer a second opinion on another Switch game, and from a fellow fan of retro games. I liked the experience a bit more than mariner did, but I can appreciate his points against the game's revival. Bosses really did get to be a pain, for precisely the reasons he mentioned, and the final boss in particular is just a tedious torment. The precise angle this review took--damning the original with faint praise, and then showing how that praise seems set to become genuine in regards to the new entry--was very effective, I felt. It describes the game in terms that should make sense to new players who never played the original, offers reassurance that the new version is mostly faithful to the original, and allows for some nice discussion about why all of that matters.

One Must Fall 2097 (PC) by darketernal

This was an interesting review for a game I hadn't heard of, and I enjoyed the discussion of the game's mechanics. I was less enamored with the point about the game being unique for being a fighting game exclusive on a platform that didn't really get those, because that doesn't impact my actual interest in playing it today. Fortunately, the aforementioned gameplay discussion painted the picture of a fighting game that I might have found interesting even if it were on consoles and competing with some of my other faves. The customization sounds like it could add some longevity and strategy to a genre not always known for either of those things. Some missing commas here and there made for slightly rougher reading than I would have liked, but overall darketernal's writing was smooth as usual and this was a joy to read. Thanks!

Frostpunk (PC) by Zydrate

Zydrate's review alerted me to another game I hadn't heard of--and a recent release at that--while comparing it to City Skylines and then revealing how the experiences aren't particularly alike. I don't know if the game's marketing calls it "roguelike," but this review made an argument for that interpretation that I found extremely effective. Thanks to detailed descriptions, I can imagine myself playing the game and having a good time, especially if the promised quality of life enhancements come along and work as advertised. One thing that held this review back from placing in the top three, however, was its tendency to make minor grammatical errors from paragraph to paragraph. There were numerous issues with subject/verb disagreement, and various other minor issues. They weren't enough to get in the way of my understanding, nor were they enough to make the review ineffective. But in a competition of the sort RotW is and especially during a week like this one, they were enough to disqualify it from a stronger showing.

Metal Gear Solid (PSX) by wolfqueen001

"Oh, great, another Metal Gear Solid review," I couldn't help but find myself saying as I started reading. I've heard so much about this series, and enjoyed it relatively little when I played it for myself, that you're immediately fighting to keep my interest when you decide to review a game within the franchise. wolfqueen001 does a commendable job of describing the game's mechanics, and her writing was free of any obvious grammatical errors that might have jumped out at me and gotten in the way of any of that. Yet the text didn't venture far enough off the well-worn path to really hold my interest. I get that she thought the story was awesome, but the twists and turns that made it that way weren't presented in a way that resonates. The stealth action sounds as bad in the written descriptions as I remember it being, the boss battles crazy. But there's a disconnect between what the review is describing and the conclusions it seems to come to. Did the game really score 4/5 almost entirely on the basis of its story and a few stolen moments of enjoyment as enemy bones cracked? Maybe playing into that a bit more would have made for a more compelling read. Anyway, none of my problems with the review were huge. None of them stand in the way of this being a competent review. I hope a lot of readers find and enjoy it.

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Third Place: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy) by overdrive

Sneaky overdrive swoops in from last week to snag third place, with a Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins review that covers all of the basics in fine form. His writing throughout was lively and insightful, and he describes in careful detail those elements that allow the second Game Boy Mario platformer to stand apart from its generally disappointing predecessor. His principle point, that the game is a "legitimate" Mario effort, comes through beautifully, amid text that makes the reader want to play the game again... or perhaps for the very first time.

Runner Up: God of War (PS4) by Phazonmasher

This review starts with an assumption the critic had that time proved wrong, which is an effective way to open a review that had no trouble selling me on the quality of a game I haven't played. God of War, throughout this review, sounds like a joy to play, thanks in no small part to effective description of the combat elements that make the experience so strong. The bit about camera work is probably the most interesting camera description I've read in a game review for at least a decade, as well. And there was some great description of the game's narrative and how that ties into the gameplay. All in all, it was a terrific read that seems to do justice to a simialrly terrific game.

Review of the Week: The Punisher (PS2) by JoeTheDestroyer

This review really worked for me. There are numerous approaches a review can take. This one settles on reminding players how many licensed games suck, and showing how this particular game bucks that trend. There are other forks in the road when reviewing games too, though. Do you get really technical and write to a particular audience you may or may not even understand, or do you go with the more general approach? This review wisely takes the latter route. By not falling into the trap of making excessive comparisons to games his audience may not have played and instead realying on succinct but effective descriptions of the gameplay mechanics, Joe essentially writes a review that can cater to either group. He also keeps the writing lively, so I flew through the review and came away with what feels like a working knowledge of how the game functions, what I might not like about it, and what I might love. Which maybe isn't much, because I'm kind of tired of anti-heroes getting too much attention these days... but this was a terrific review regardless.

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Thanks again, and have a great week, everyone!

"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

I really need someone to help me do editing runs. I actually did edit two or three of them post-publishing but I must have missed a few.

Hope it was a fun read, regardless.

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Thanks for the feedback, Jason. I'm sorry my review for a tired game didn't quite appeal to you, but such is life. :P Congrats to the winners! I'm actually keenly interested in the new God of War, so I'll have to check that one out later.

[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 for the placement and kind comments. One correction: I had TWO reviews from last week, not one!!!! I mean, I doubt Alphadia Genesis 2 (ie: Kemco Review #359385) was as good as SML2:6GC, but it does exist!

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

Was Freeman's review on your week? I thought his dropped Monday? No matter; feedback is always appreciated.

I would say I'm glad to get the VN review behind me, but I have another up next. I really struggle with them; I remember Zig using them as a foundation for a conveyor belt of excellent reviews, but I don't know how he pulled it off. Happy enough to know it's readable.

Congrats to OD, Zach and Joe. A tough week to come out with points, to be sure.

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