Topic: Reviewing our reviews!

[S-U-P-E-R]

I always try to make my reviews better and better each time I write one, but I don't particularly seem to get much feedback other than "good review" or "u suk ham hams unite rox!!11" so I thought I'd post a thread looking for feedback on writing technique, what works, what doesn't, etc. Which reviews of mine do you think are best, and why? Who is your favorite reviewer?

Check it out, you can sort reviews by reviewer:
http://www.planetgamecube.com/reviews.cfm?order=StaffLastName

Looking back, a couple of my favorites are the Doom II, Final Fight and Ham Ham Heartbreak ones, particularly for the jokes I got away with. If I had to adjust any scores months/years after reviewing them, I don't think I'd tweak any more than a half point (except Ninja Turtles and Crystal Chronicles, they became way less fun after I reviewed them). And maaaaaaaaaaaybe I'd bump Naruto 3 up to a 10, since I think it's more or less the best game on GC (or at least in the top 3).

What goes on my head when I write a review? Sometimes I try something different or just have fun with it, which is usually only possible when a game is particularly good/bad/insane. I try to improve my writing every time, usually by stealing from oldmanmurray.com.  We don't operate to a very strict rating guide, so the numbers are pretty much gut feelings. (I feel that 7.5/75% is average, and the average game is still reasonably fun. 60% is still fun. 50% is apathy inducing, and anything less than that is tragic.)  I usually pretty much disregard the graphics/sound/control rating when I give the overall score. I don't have a formula, but I usually just think of the overall as the entertainment value. Mostly the sheer fun, but I also consider the lastability and at least figure in a little bit how much the game costs. If you have your own ideas, well, you may as well share 'em in this thread.

[miedo]

My scale usually runs on an average being five and quality lack usually brings it lower then that.  Like I can live with problems on the presentation, and I'll never drop a score below a six if the only problems I have are with presentation, unless it affects gameplay, sort of like in Chaos Theory for the DS.  Annoyances in gameplay usually kill the score the most for me.  I hate fixed cameras in action games, and the closest I've come to being able to live with it was in God of War.  Except their freqent camera changes caused a cheap death during traps a few times.  Basically, five means the game does nothing really for me.  Lower then that shows quality reduction and a lack of fun.  Higher then that means I had fun a few times (5-6) or I enjoyed it quite a bit, despite the flaws (7-8) or I love the game, and it shows no real flaws (9-10).

[Karl Castaneda #2]

Ok, children, I'm going to talk to you about my review of Killer 7.

Killer 7 was the HARDEST GAME I HAD TO REVIEW EVER. I got through the game in about a week's time, but it took me an extra two days to write that damn little review you guys read. Why, you ask? Probably because I wrote it a hundred times, before realizing I was leaving important things out about halfway into each "session." Also because it took me at least 24 hours just to process the ending and figure out all of the little details (if you've beaten the game, you know what I mean). Hell, Killer 7 is STILL on my mind these days, just because of that story - sometimes I think about re-reviewing it. Not because of the score (because I STILL think it's 9-worthy, I don't care what Game Rankings says), but just because I want another crack and that titanium-tough piece of hardness that I call my Killer review.

[Jonnyboy117]

My review philosophy is to make sure I include:

1. What I think about the game;
2. What I think most people want to know about the game;
3. Whether the game is fun and worth buying.

I try to avoid rewriting the manual or rehashing our preview coverage more than is necessary to explain my opinion.  As for scoring, I put very little emphasis on the numbers.  I never write them and try not to even think about them until the rest of the review is already written.  That way the numbers are based on the review text and not the other way around.

The first paragraph of a review is the hardest part to make interesting.  The last paragraph of the review is the hardest part to write, period.

Extremely good games are fun to review because you take such joy in sharing your wonderful experience.  Extremely bad games can be entertaining to review, but I tend to feel guilty if I go overboard with my descriptions/insults, so by the time I mitigate those and stay within the confines of professionalism, those reviews are usually just depressing to write.  Average games are usually not very interesting to review, unless the game is particularly bizarre or its quality is much higher or lower than everyone was expecting, in which case explaining that situation tends to be quite an interesting challenge.  I'd point to Rebel Strike as a game that I was very disappointed by, but its review was fun to write because I got to dig deep into my observations of the game to explain why it's a disappointment, and I felt that my explanations of the game's problems were creative and very understandable while not stooping to base insult.

[KDR_11k]

They could include a mention of what system the game is for. For some reviews without screenshots you often have to guess.

[Pryopizm]

I just put up my first review for PGC yesterday and, I'll tell ya, writing a review for a sports game. . .not easy.  There's so many modes in many of these games that I almost felt overwhelmed--as if I needed to review every aspect.  When writing the review I asked for a lot of help and tips because all I had was a list of things in a totally random order.  The most difficult part, for me,  wasn't writing the intro or the end, but rather connnecting all the aspects so that they would flow easily and logically for the reader and it's at that point that I simply had to stop thinking and start writing, copying and pasting when necessary.  

In the end, I'm happy with it, but it was definitely not a solo project.  The PGC staff has been incredible in helping out this newbie and helping me in a myriad of ways.  And so, this post is less of an explanation of what I went through and more of a thanks to everyone for helping me through it.