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Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: Oct. 8-14, 2018

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Author: Masters (Mod)
Posted: October 16, 2018 (01:27 PM)
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So I offered in passing to help Jason out because he's got a lot on his plate and he was uncharacteristically late with one of his RotWs, and he actually took me up on it. These are the sorts of offers that are made to sound good, not to be cashed in. But anyway, here I am. If you were hoping for some sweet Venter love this week, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

And while I haven't been inundated with reviews as Rob was last week, I still got hit with a solid ten submissions, and it's mostly Joe's fault, to the tune of four reviews. Seriously, Joe, what the hell? Fortunately for me, I'm not all about providing feedback for everyone who submitted (not that anyone necessarily cares for my take in particular), because it seems folks are generally indifferent about receiving feedback anyway. People want to check in to see if they win, or at least place, and then it's on with their day, chest-beating or bitterly cursing along the way, as the case may be.

Anyway, let's do this.

The Review of the Week goes to Gary Hartley's Spec Ops: The Line. If you're a good writer, and Gary obviously is, picking this game is almost cheating -- there's so much to work with. It's brilliantly conceived and it gets people talking; even dummies manage to say some pseudo-intelligent things where this game is concerned (I hope that's backhanded enough for Mr. Snide to revel in). Gary starts off fussing about how to start off, which is a natural state for anyone who has played Spec Ops, but ends off with a clarity of vision that matches that of the subject matter. An easy pick, just as Joe's Doom reboot write-up was last week. Both game and review are highly recommended.

Speaking of Joe, second place belongs to JOE'S CORNER in general, and to his Penumbra: Overture review in particular. If you didn't know, October is Destroyer Month, so we get about 6,000 reviews from the horror master. This week saw the entire Penumbra trilogy covered in impressive fashion. I read them all back-to-back and they don't seem samey or phoned in and that's a serious feat. They're all easy flowing pieces of ideal length with the usual Joe aplomb which entertain on entry without dilly-dallying in getting to the nitty gritty. Interestingly, the second review (of Black Plague) feels the weakest despite having the juiciest material to work with (it's the best of the games); the third (Requiem) is the most consistent, but Overture has the highest highs (the strong opening) and that gives it the nod for me.

I know what you're thinking: what of Joe's Doom review? It's a nice review, but it has a much more difficult task ahead of it: to convince us why the old classic still holds up today and to say as much in a manner that's fresh. I think the latter point was achieved, but the former not as conclusively.

Third place then, goes to Venter's Fart game review, Sigi: A Fart for Melusina. The intro is a bit cringe in a way that's unusual for a Venter effort, but then the review settles down into a rather ideal treatment of a small indie title. It tells us what the game is all about and weighs in on whether or not that's a good thing in a way that is both succinct and smooth. Full disclosure: Zydrate's review which is much larger in scope (and in size) was vying with Jason's for this placement. Her review is full of personality and does a good job covering a much more difficult game to cover; however, it takes a good long time getting going and is laced with meta references and general bloggery which is fine, but is effort and significant word count lost on non-fans of both the game and the writer.

So that's that. Hopefully Jason's back on his feet so to speak, and retakes the reins of his thankless monthly project.

Happy Tuesday!


I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

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Author: EmP (Mod)
Posted: October 16, 2018 (01:35 PM)
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"Gary didn't win this week; his clever game choice did"

Thanks, Marc!

I don't disagree, though. It's been nice to write about games with an actual substance to them as of late rather then one note indies or 32X fare. Things I shall return to very shortly.

Appreciate the win, nonetheless, and the timely topic. The Line is a special game; we may never see its likes again and all you slackers should be playing it.

Props to Joe, who may never sleep, and to Jason for their worthy placements. Good work to Zyd as well for running it so close.


For us. For them. For you.

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Author: honestgamer
Posted: October 16, 2018 (08:09 PM)
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Thanks for taking care of the topic, Marc, and for your kind comments on my review too! I'm not back on my feet quite yet, as my next few days remain incredibly busy, but hopefully things will settle down again by the time I'm up next for a topic.


"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

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Author: Zydrate
Posted: October 16, 2018 (08:17 PM)
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Aw, was proud of my review. Was hoping for more than a "yea, it's a bit bloggy" in terms of feedback. Alas.

I also lacked anyone to give it a proper editing run to crisp out the rougher edges, so that did me no favors.


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Author: Masters (Mod)
Posted: October 17, 2018 (10:44 AM)
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Aw, was proud of my review.

You should be proud of it, it's very good. Nothing about this little topic would suggest otherwise.

Was hoping for more than a "yea, it's a bit bloggy" in terms of feedback. Alas.

In fairness, I did say more than that.

I also lacked anyone to give it a proper editing run to crisp out the rougher edges, so that did me no favors.

The review didn't strike me as unpolished. My take on this RotW thing is that the OP (here, me) has an idea of what an ideal review might look like. The extent to which you muse about previous work and the way in which you bandy about concepts from other games in the canon adds to the charm, but also contributes to the 'bloggy feel' and to the considerable length of the review. That made it a tiny bit less ideal than some of the other submissions in my view, is all.


I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

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Author: Zydrate
Posted: October 17, 2018 (06:57 PM)
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Typically when people do editing runs they find a lot of syntax errors and redundancies, as I tend to ramble. "However" was a big one this time around and I had to remove like two or three because it was plaguing a few parts of the review. That's the kind of thing I mean when I say unpolished, but thank you :)


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Author: JoeTheDestroyer (Mod)
Posted: October 18, 2018 (12:18 AM)
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Hey, thank you for getting this topic out quickly. Yeah, sorry about the twenty some-odd reviews. I'll have quite a few more coming out as the week advances.

And I do get sleep, Gary. I work late, so I'm usually up late. However, I've learned to take strategic naps throughout the day (not while my spawn are running amok, of course; I wait for them to go to school first).

The Doom review was written an age ago and retweaked. I suppose I could've worked harder toward proposing that it still holds up, but I chose the nostalgia course. I guess that was lazy on my part. Thank you, though, for second place on Overture. I had the hardest time rewriting that one because the original RoG posting was pretty rough. I'm glad it worked out.


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

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Author: Follow_Freeman
Posted: October 18, 2018 (06:47 AM)
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Ah, you underestimate the value some of us hold for constructive criticism, as well as your ability to provide it, mister Masters. I'm particularly eager for feedback, as my Smash 64 review is a prelude to something of significantly larger scope in the near future. Did I not succeed in making a compelling case for the inherent underlying strengths of the design at work in that game, or was there some other reason I did not make the cut this time around? Looking forward to hearing some helpful advice soon (I did use the site function that indicates so, after all)!

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Author: Masters (Mod)
Posted: October 18, 2018 (09:55 AM)
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Freeman, while I don't profess to be an expert on your 'HG career arc,' I have noticed a shift from more straightforward reviews of obscure games (which I liked a lot) to more ambitious projects. My impression is that you're carefully selecting games that you have a lot to talk about, and then proceed to cover them from all angles. As you yourself have mentioned, they are often researched and cited. Even when they're on the shorter side, they touch on a lot of things, make a lot of comparisons, and give us a lot of background information, history, context, etc.

This kind of bloggy (to borrow Zydrate's word) essay is fine as an approach to game reviews. But like I told Zydrate, not everyone is going to want to wade through reams of colour and 'interesting asides,' which, while it lends credibility to your voice and gives existing fans of the game a lot of food for thought to sink their teeth into, is lost on the more casual newcomer who might say, yeah yeah, about the game already, is it any good?

I won't pretend that I don't have a ton of those kinds of reviews in my catalog. Some of them are my favourites, and they regularly fail to properly cover the game in question until five or six paragraphs in because I'm too busy waxing poetic and autobiographical and making literary references that probably only exist in my mind. (I was mocked mercilessly on our much livelier forum for much of this at the time, but it didn't stop me.)

Anyway, those reviews were criticized for being overly self indulgent, and there's no way I can say that they're not, but who cares? Those types of comprehensive odes to special games in my life are more for me than for anyone else. When I re-read them there's a satisfaction in knowing I've turned the subject matter inside out and captured a snapshot in time which is personal to me. But when you're thick in that kind of territory, you have to be cognizant of the likelihood that much of the love and goodness you're pouring in won't 'do it' for the majority of people.

This was very long-winded and hasn't answered anything, I know. To the point: I thought your review showed off your obviously considerable technical writing ability as most of your reviews do, and there are two solid paragraphs about how the game plays, especially in contrast to other titles in the series (forgive me as I'm writing this from memory). A lot of the other paragraphs to a non-fan feel like nice-to-know passages and the review might have been better served had you expounded on the parts which more directly speak to your in-game experience.

Spread vs laser -- the battle wages on. My two cents.


I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

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Author: Follow_Freeman
Posted: October 18, 2018 (12:35 PM)
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Your answer wasn't long-winded at all, Masters; it was deeply insightful, and I'm very grateful for it! I'm actually kind of glad to hear that it was my approach, not my execution, that hasn't appealed to everybody, since I'd like my reviews of games that everyone already knows a great deal about (and probably already likes) to forgo introductions in favor of focusing less on what is good than why it's good. Naturally, this can be lot to digest, but I'm hoping this will fill a niche that can get overlooked in favor of fun, anecdotal reads. It's good to know what my next goal should be now; to make this in-depth method as approachable as my lighter reads of more obscure, novel games.

And don't worry, man; I learn a lot from your long reads! Your description of the writing process behind those kinds of reviews captures how I feel perfectly, too.

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