Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week July 22 - 28: Final Mossy Mahjong Saga Deluxe

Thanks to antibiotics, I'm hopefully on the path to wellness. I've had a rough week, and it's only halfway done. I thought I was going to hit the hay early tonight, but I ended up getting a second wind while at work. Lucky for me, 'cause now I can finish this week's ROTW!

I was torn on who should go where. One review had a great intro, another gave you the feeling that you had just played the game, while one review gave an impressive history lesson.


CaptainRetroBlue - Final Fantasy
A lot of us rag on the "life story" intros, but I think there's a way they can work--and yours definitely does. It sets up one thing important about games like Final Fantasy: they offered people single player roleplaying experiences (though playing a tabletop game vs. a console RPG is quite different, the latter can capture the barest essence of experiencing the former), which is great for people who might not be able to get a group of folks together and set up all of the required equipment and books for a D&D night. Your intro illustrates that very clearly, and I dig it.

You get a lot of info for this review, with only the segment regarding the classes getting kind of list-like. Otherwise, this is a good piece with a great intro.


Honestgamer - Archlion Saga
Jason entering the Kemco Khallenge? Don't do it, Jason!

You did an effective job of selling me on this game. I'll play the occasional streamlined RPG, and this one sounds alright. There really isn't much for me to crit there. This is a solid piece with a wealth of information that's very readable.


THIRD PLACE
Honestgamer - Pure Mahjong
You're right on the money about mahjong in general. I enjoy a good mahjong/taipei title now and then, because they cleanse the ol' palate.

What impresses me about this review is that you gave the game a fittingly low score, but you manage to remain restrained throughout the whole thing. There isn't a hint of vitriol here; this wasn't a bash review, despite the low marks the game received. You were never mean or unfair, or even snide. You gave all the appropriate criticisms with professionally, and sometimes that's hard to do.


SECOND PLACE
EmP - Virtua Racing Deluxe
Another 32X game? Geez, it's almost like you're trying to review them all or something.

Once again pulling from history and hard data, you make a strong case for a port that was likely overlooked. You also didn't just list this as dry information, but really talked up the game with lively language and terrific descriptions. My knee-jerk reaction to the Time Warner portion of the review was like, "Uh, so you're just reviewing another game within this review, huh?" Honestly, though, I kind of liked that part as well.


REVIEW OF THE WEEK
Pickhut - Moss
I had no idea what Moss was, except that it looked neat and starred a mouse. This review took me through everything I needed to know and even offered up some stellar descriptions and examples. Having the video in the review was also nifty, because it brought all of your descriptions together. You didn't rely on the video to do the work for you; you offered a lot of information, and the video was a good supplement.

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That's all I got.

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

I'm glad to hear you're on the road to recovery, Joe! Thanks for the topic, and for the comments on my reviews. It sounds like I accomplished what I set out to do with those reviews, so that's always nice to hear. Congratulations yet again to EmP on his review, with probably my favorite tagline of all time. And good job to pickhut, who scored another win while covering a game I've wondered about since its release. You're in a good position to be the next Site King, if you keep this up! Finally, thanks to CaptainRetroBlue for weighing in on a personal favorite from my childhood. This was a fun week all around, even if the volume wasn't optimal. I continue to love seeing the variety of games we cover at the site, and the attention to quality!

"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

Thanks for the RotW! I was struggling a little bit with the final draft, so it's always nice to know someone got a lot out of a review. Moss was a title I've been very curious about even before I got a PSVR, but when I actually got one... I went straight for the "usual" first-person shooter-style titles; an aspect I brought up in the review itself, since I think it's something VR users (and non-VR users?) could possibly relate to.

A good job to everyone else that submitted this week. I figured someone else would get RotW, since there was definitely good content here!

I head spaceshit noises.

I've peaked with that tagline, I think. All downhill from here!

Thanks for getting the topic up and grats to Pick for the win and to Jason and Cpt for keeping the run of good reviews up. I'd call for a volume increases, but it's my week up next, so maybe don't do that just yet?

For us. For them. For you.