WingedKagouti on 2/5/2023 at 16:47
Quote Posted by chk772
Maybe Steam should do it like Amazon, and only allow reviews after 20 hours of gameplay, minimum.
If you set any specified amount of time required to allow a user review for a game, there will be several games too short to review, while for others it will be "not enough time to understand the game" (at least according to fans).
A 5-15 minute impression is at least as important as a 20 hour one. If the game is rubbish in those 5-15 first minutes I do not hold much hope for the remainder of the game. I'm not saying developers should put the best stuff into the first 5-15 minutes, but rather that they should make sure they give the player a "good" experience in that timespan, making them want to stick with it for longer.
Also remember that Steam only allows refunds for games played less than 2 hours. If people can't give a review after playing less than that, the review system automatically gets skewed towards those who will stick around for anything. If a game is refund material for someone after having spent 30 min - 1 hour, their voice should also be heard.
chk772 on 2/5/2023 at 16:59
Well, I got a first impression with the first 1 or 2 hours, but, I can hardly judge the whole game, which was my point.
Imagine game reviewers only play the game for 5 or 10 minutes, and then give their verdict. ;)
So, we have a lot of people now with a lot of negative reviewe, because they played the game from less than an hour to less than 2 hours. Which a lot of people, as it's typical these days, will rely on. That's bad. They really have to consider such review systems.
WingedKagouti on 2/5/2023 at 17:02
Quote Posted by chk772
Well, I got a first impression with the first 1 or 2 hours, but, I can hardly judge the whole game, which was my point.
Imagine game reviewers only play the game for 5 or 10 minutes, and then give their verdict. ;)
I would hope you're just being facetious with that last bit and actually understand the difference between "for work review" and "customer giving their opinion after use".
chk772 on 2/5/2023 at 17:04
Most people don't understand that difference these days. Because they base their buying decisions on average Joe's 10 minute play time review.
Which is pretty stupid, of course, but, that's how it is.
heywood on 2/5/2023 at 17:35
You can't play for just an hour or two and say you know the game. That's like evaluating Fallout 3 without ever leaving the opening vault. A negative review after an hour or so of play means "it didn't immediately grab me", which could be a problem with the game or it could be one person's lack of interest. It seems like early Steam reviews are often filled with players who weren't really the target audience for the game, who give it a negative review because it's not the kind of game they like to play. I prefer to hear from folks who are fans of the genre and/or studio, and who have put enough time into the game to have learned the gameplay and systems.
chk772 on 2/5/2023 at 21:38
Quote Posted by heywood
You can't play for just an hour or two and say you know the game. That's like evaluating Fallout 3 without ever leaving the opening vault. A negative review after an hour or so of play means "it didn't immediately grab me", which could be a problem with the game or it could be one person's lack of interest. It seems like early Steam reviews are often filled with players who weren't really the target audience for the game, who give it a negative review because it's not the kind of game they like to play. I prefer to hear from folks who are fans of the genre and/or studio, and who have put enough time into the game to have learned the gameplay and systems.
This.
Well, about 4 hours in, I can safely say that the story telling is not up to par with what I'm used to from Arkane. It's really pretty weak in that regard. The game world is nice, no complaints there. There are some interesting gameplay mechanics, like, the different ways to kill the vampires, or UV light to kill those fog spewers. Stealth is pretty basic, much more basic than in Dishonored, it's more like the stealth system in Far Cry, which obviously was an inspiration for Harvey Smith, as I read. The interaction with the NPC's is pretty poor. Most of the time, if you try to talk to them, they "Hmm..." you. And, even if they have something to say, it's rather a one-liner.
So far it's good, albeit rather mediocre for a Arkane Studios game, so, I kind of get the lower ratings on Metacritic. But, those review bombers on Steam, they're surely wrong. But, again, what can you expect from that crowd.
samIamsad on 3/5/2023 at 02:39
Heartbreaking, as I'd love to support talent such as Arkane. But I'm absolutely so not going to buy this.
All the pre-release stuff already looked pretty generic (in particular by Arkane standards) anyway. But even without technical flaws and patched AI/gun- and gameplay: This is the AAA gaming industry at its absolutely most cynical. A studio once built around deep systems, world interactivity and (environmental) storytelling is being wasted on a pretty generic "shoot on sight!" CoOp looter shooter, Fortnite-compatible (character) art (to draw the crowd) and all the other flashy industry trends.
I get how they ended up being here, sure. But that's still as if the blockbusting movie industry were to ever burn the likes of del Toro, Scorsese, Tarantino et all on creating waves of most generic Marvel blockbusters (and Assassin's Creed tie-ins) for eternity. If the aim of the gaming industry ever was to surpass Hollywood, congratulations. Today they've done it.
This isn't hate. Buying this would simply send all the wrong market signals out there. I'd rather buy Arx Fatalis a 50 times over. Oddly enough, the Microsoft aquistion may prove to be blessing though. It seems ZeniMax really didn't know where to go with Arkane post Dis2/Prey. Well, Microsoft have already shown that they even support small, more experimental projects, such as recently Obsidian's Pentiment or Grounded. At least for the time being.
Renault on 3/5/2023 at 02:56
I had to laugh when near the beginning of the game, you approach a building and a giant help window appears, saying PLAY YOUR WAY. It then describes in detail 3 or 4 different ways to approach the situation (instead of letting us figure it out on our own). It's like it's trying so desperately hard to be an immersive sim.
Not trying to be overly critical though, I played for a couple of hours and actually had some fun with it. But yeah, this is a different Arkane than the one we fell in love with.
I also had to chuckle a bit when one of my team members barked over the radio that I should look out for some safe houses to secure. Oh damn, we've been Far Cryed.
Aja on 3/5/2023 at 04:47
Don't forget to make moral decisions that matter!
chk772 on 3/5/2023 at 09:11
Quote Posted by Brethren
I had to laugh when near the beginning of the game, you approach a building and a giant help window appears, saying PLAY YOUR WAY. It then describes in detail 3 or 4 different ways to approach the situation (instead of letting us figure it out on our own). It's like it's trying so desperately hard to be an immersive sim.
Welcome to 2023. ;)
Gotta hold the kids' hand. They will get lost otherwise.
To be fair, IIRC, even good old Dishonored gave you such hints though.
