Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW // 12th November – 18th November // Shuffle Mode Selected

Usually, this would be a Joe week, full of Joe comments and Joe placements. But, like a sap, he’s decided to care for another living thing and so had to turn to the person least likely to bond with something else. Some grumpy soul with an irrational hatred of other people and no tolerance for pets. But I couldn’t find Marc in time, so I guess I’ll do it.

Quiet week is quiet while the site winds down from the traditional October horror flood the site suffers from. There’s a few hold over reviews from Joe, but these are reposts of reviews with minimal changes that ran in a RotW mere weeks ago, and thus do not count. Also, I’m annoyed that all the links I placed on site, twitter and steam are now all dead ends so would disqualify them, regardless. That leaves a collection of Cptretroblue reviews, a couple of Jason hold overs, a retort from Hasty on why that one ever runner is good, a sporadic Will review about how he can really put words out about building giant robots and last gasp entries from Freeman and Masters. Okay. I can do that. Onwards, then:

ALMOST CLUB

CANABALT: HASTY

Hasty makes an interesting opening by talking about how something doesn’t need to reach X levels of complexity before it can be considered a game. For the most part, I agree and it’s a good point well made. In fact, the review does start very strongly. But as it progresses, the point seems to slip away from you a bit.

It really loses a lot of momentum once the long list of game modes comes along because the review suddenly becomes, well, listy. Maybe you’d have been better served using selective examples - a couple of the best and couple of the worst, perhaps. I think it’s a tough call to make, especially when you’re trying to a/ justify the difference between a free flash game model and a new retail version and b/ argue against a 2011 review, the author of whom is missing, presumed weeb.

Also, why is “turn you into a fine mist” inside quote marks? Why?! You use that to list the game modes just a paragraph later. It makes no sense.

DOGGY DASH: FREEMAN

“Oh, good”, said me, judger of reviews. “Freeman’s snapped under all that Smash stuff and fled to casual gaming. I can probably dismiss this one.” Turns out, no. No I can’t.

Because while most of us would dismiss Doggy Dash as a joke, Freeman treats it with respect and comes out the other end with a very polished and focused review. There’s no weird asides, no grabbing at the low hanging fruit of mockery. There’s even a really good paragraph talking about the game’s history when roping in a quick summary of Diner Dash.

I will have to bring the Golden Joe award out of retirement, though. This is the award given out to the review who overused the hell out of the game’s title in their review. You nailed that. And you’ve done a great job squeezing interest out of a subject matter many - myself included - would have dismissed.



THIRD Armored Core Nexus [PS2] by WilltheGreat


Christ, Will.

Will really likes robots. Look at him go!

I’ve said somewhere before that this is a realy love letter review; Will knows this series and very clearly is fond of talking about it. I played AC4 enough to write a review on it, then never returned to the series. So, in a lesser review, a lot of what Will goes on and on and on and on about might be lost even on me. But he spends the words making sure you understand. Man, does he.

The joke I’m making is that the review is very long.

But it’s rarely uninteresting; at least to me with my small series entry point. Will’s review isn’t a high scoring praise-fest, but he cares about what he’s writing about. That shines through here more so than any of the other reviews this week.

Figuring out placements has been super close going and this, Hastys and Freemans have cycled in and out of the placings on numerous occasions. Screw you, Joe!

SECOND 1917 [PC] by Masters

Marc’s got an unfair edge on a lot of us when it comes to shooters because he’s played all of them. Yeah, even R-Type 2 (but not ALLTYNEX Second, the scrub!). But he’s able to address all those wasted hours being annoyed at Thunder Force II’s awful overhead missions and Elemental Master’s annoying bullet/background blending into a voice of authority. He can usually sum up these games if few words, which is a real talent because he invests so little page space in making sure we know that he knows more than us. The majority of this review is that.

It does start to tail away at the end, where it becomes “the graphics are, the music is”, but, by then, it’s made the most of its source material. Marc even manages to fit his OK Cupid byline in the review as his closing line. That takes skill.

WIN Zero Gunner 2 for Nintendo Switch [SWH] by HonestGamer

Jason posts two very different reviews, and the best by far was for Zero Gunner 2 for Nintendo Switch, which is a ludicrous name and should be derided by all. I’ll pause briefly and allow you to do so.

…

I think what I like most about this review is how Jason takes a completely different angle than most of us. This site sees its fair shares of shooting reviews (I even used to do a fair number before bloody Golding started swooping in and stealing all my review codes), and the one thing in common the Masters, the Lerouxs, the ODs, the Picks and the Zigs had is that they all consider themselves decent twitch players. So, when they talk about the games, they (we, I guess) talk about them as if the audience has the same kind of involvement.

Jason does not consider himself a particularly strong shooter pilot. And that changes the perspective. It opens the review right up for a broader audience and is able to talk about how inclusive the game might be for people of his ilk.

Brilliantly, he still manages to ensure the reader know he’s not a complete scrub by noting his familiarity with the publisher right at the start. As seems to be this week’s trend, the wrap up is pretty weak, but I don’t care. I’m already preparing myself for the onslaught of people sending angry messages because they’ve not been included on the people who are good at shooter list.

For us. For them. For you.

Thank you for the praise, EmP; I pride myself on being able to explore a unique angle if needed. The year's almost over, though, so I'd better bring out the big gun reviews if a normal user is to make it into the top three (no offense).

Good week with a lot of variety; I specially congratulate Will on his review. I like passionate writing!

Thanks for the topic, EmP, and for rightly judging my review the best of all the eligible reviews. Mua ha ha ha ha! *gasping cough*

But seriously, it has been a while since I came out on top in one of these topics, and that's something it feels nice to do on occasion. I'm glad you enjoyed the review and I hope it does point some casual shooter fans to a game I happen to like a lot for reasons outlined in the review.

Congratulations to the others who participated. Will, it's good to see you in the mix again, I hope not for the last time in the near future. Let's keep making it tough on the RotW judges to choose a top three, 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'm very displeased with this topic, with Gary's egregious findings. But congrats to Venter, I guess.

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

It was risky writing that review for several reason: First I wrote it during a jam session (I wasn't jamming), so I wound up re-writing it later. And... I had a chip on my shoulder about it. That does not serve objectivity very well.

The two points you mentioned triggered my "writer's senses". I could have explained the flavour text - which is what it was, so yeah... I knew that was going to be an issue. Glad to see I was right. So, that's a win?

Choosing the best examples of each mode was my first thought... I really need to stop ignoring those.

Thanks, EmP. :)

Look, the only time I'm not wrong is when I'm right, so...