Super Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai has taken to his Famitsu column to discuss the hot topic of video game reviews and scores. Source Gaming has translated the entire interview with Mr. Sakurai and you can read that here.
“There are a lot of game reviews out there, but when I’m looking at games to play, I won’t avoid a game based on somebody’s review. The reason is because it’s difficult to communicate the good points unique to a certain game using a number or somebody’s impressions. Reviews are particular to the experiences and thoughts of each individual, which they can express as they like. I’m mostly OK with general overviews. But when you judge a game using ratings and numbers, I think you often lose sight of what makes that game special.
Especially with user reviews, the writer bought that game because they wanted to play that game. When somebody writes a review, they take the time to do so because they have something they want to say. Sometimes reviewers list out all the things they didn’t like, take an overly critical tone, and reduce their score by an unnecessary amount.”
I agree with him. This is a good example of why reviews shouldn’t be taken at face value. However, I do think there’s something to be said, when multiple reviewers arrive at the same conclusion.
http://segmentnext.com/2017/05/12/igns-prey-review-is-everything-thats-wrong-with-reviewing/
lol that article you linked to was basically IGN saying what most 1 Star reviews say on Amazon.
Exactly. I honestly feel that if you have to rely on a review to tell you whether a game is good or not 100% of the time then you’re not gonna have fun or you’re gonna miss out on games that could be potentially good in your eyes.
This exactly this. So many good games are dismissed by gamers all from a simple score. Usually I find the ones that are scored the lowest often end up being the most unique or fun.
I prefer either recommend or don’t recommend. That’s it, no point system which I think is dumb because there’s no way to give official points to something that’s subjective
quite right. I mean look at the scores for federation force those should al be 0. ;)
agreed sakurai…this is why I play the games and judge for myself rather than listen to a “this game got a 55 on metacritic, ITS TERRIBLE!” or how haters are like “ZELDA BOTW GOT A 93, DAMAGE CONTROL TIME GUYS, GIVE IT 0’S AND GIVE OFF A DUMB COMMENT! (I did not play it and never will because it sucks!)”
I mean seriously…a game that got a good review, is just a score, same with a bad review. Its really all about you, not them. And by the way…that did actually happen about zelda breath of the wild. It’s hilariously bad with the haters…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm0RplycJQM&t=462s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90iQzAthn8w&t=67s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfK2CHdxoM
Just laugh at the stupidity.
Those videos made my day.
Sometimes it’s deserved, like the last two Metroid games.
No
Yes.
You’re the prime example of what Samurai says. One person shouldn’t be determined the quality of a game.
No, but an entire fan base deriding a game should be a bit of a clue. Federation Force did so badly I haven’t seen new games get stocked anywhere since it first came out.
I say that’s good and teaches Nintendo a well earned lesson.
Federation Force is just a spin off, not Prime 4.
And it’s not what you do when the last good game was in 2007. Notice how no one really bats an eye at Prime Pinball or Zelda Triforce Heroes in the same way?
Because the fan base are whiners
Having higher standards =/= whiners.
Every Nintendo fan has high expectations, which explains why people always complain after every Direct.
Idk, last Direct express the Arms one was pretty good (I didn’t watch the Arms one).
Before not express. Damn auto correct.
The Direct before the Arms one
Yes. The one where PayDay 2 came out of nowhere.
Yeah, that. That Direct wasn’t that great, but not bad either. People just expect huge announcements to be revealed that could be at E3 instead. People always have big expectations, and when it doesn’t meet their standards, they get disappointed.
My original points wasn’t about Directs though but the games themselves. Metroid fans are tired of Nintendo’s crap and so are a good number of Paper Mario fans. Then we have what Nintendo did with Star Fox Zero.Another Remake but this time with that extremely awkward control scheme. I really hope all this changes in the future.
A spin off shouldn’t be treated as a main entry. Paper Mario is getting way too different, so I can see about that. And Star Fox Zero was indeed a disappointment.
And a spinoff shouldn’t be the first game made when the last entry that was actually good was released almost a full decade prior. It just pisses off the fans who have been waiting more than long enough for a new main game. Seems like a big fuck you.
They do that with Mario all the time, nobody complains. Nintendo fans has lots a double standards.
Because Mario gets major releases much more frequently. For everyone who doesn’t want Mario + Rabbids they have Mario Odyssey just a few months later.
The last main entry was 3D World in 2013. The Rabbids crossover is a spin off. Heck, there’s more Mario spin offs than main entries. Just because one IP gets a spin off doesn’t mean they hate the fan base.
And throughout the entire lifespan of the 3DS and Wii U each of them got two main games which is pretty much the expectation. 4 years is much shorter than a decade too. You seem to be purposely ignoring that point to try and make it like Metroid fans are wrong to be pissed and should take whatever crap with the title of “Metroid” that’s shoveled at us. Sorry, but no. I’m not a mindless fanboy.
It’s a double standard you fanboys like to put. You guys are the reason why we don’t get other spin offs aside from Mario and Pokemon. In fact, Japan has a lot of Zelda spin offs that were never released outside.
Jesus fucking Christ you’re retarded. Are you not getting that no one would’ve cared if we were still getting main Metroid games and the last good one wasn’t a decade ago this August? Of course not. You’re the fanboy here willing to take whatever is shoveled at you and is incapable of seeing exactly why Metroid fans are pissed. Zelda gets plenty of spinoffs here. It’s just that Tingle isn’t a greatly loved character outside of Japan. No one gave a shit about Triforce Heroes because the 3DS already had A Link Between Worlds and the N64 remakes. Not to mention Breath of the Wild was on the way. I guarantee you that if a major Metroid was shown off no one would’ve cared that much about FF.
Because the fanboys never give the game a chance at all, then soon will become a hidden gem among collectors. It’s nice to have spin offs, or else main entries will soon become dull and a rehash. (Which is something Nintendo always get crap for) Every game deserves a chance, and being judgmental about it won’t do anything and make yourself look bad. Looking back in history proves this. A game released once thought to be bad will eventually become a must have for collectors. Federation Force will soon be that.
How could the main series become dull when the series was on hiatus for so long? Are you tired from these mental gymnastics yet? Do you not understand that no one would care this much if we still got main series games? Of course not. Nintendo could release a box of dog shit and you’d say “give it a chance.”
The game is heavily underrated. Not a master piece, but it was still good. And at least Nintendo does care for Metroid otherwise they wouldn’t have released it at all.
Not enough to give the fans what they’ve been asking for for almost a decade though. They didn’t even develope the spinoff themselves.
Next Level Games are pretty good. They previously made the Mario Strikers series and Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon, which all games are decent and have a nice reputation. Federation Force may not be the best game they made, but not their worst either. Besides, they’re relatively new to the industry since they’re not even 15 years old as a company.
There was leaked art of another Metroid game they were working on that would’ve featured Seamus and was 2D. THAT’S what should’ve been released. I didn’t even mind the art style they went with.
It did looked very cool, but things happens during development. Things always change.
Changed for the worse imo and pretty much every other Metroid fan agrees.
Again, it’s not bad once you actually play it. The demo was pretty mediocre, but the game itself is much better.
Also the last good Mario wasn’t a decade ago. You seem to constantly ignore that crucial little detail.
no federation force was wasn’t bad just not what people wanted. the fanbase is just whining. I want a prime 4 as much as everyone eles but im noot taking it out on federation force
Exactly! Federation Force is just a spin off.
I daresay I actually tried the Blast Ball demo from way back when… if that didn’t impress me, the full game sure as hell wouldn’t.
Blast Ball is just a minigame. Nothing to do with the main game. Try again.
Oh, but it does- not only do the mechs you play as function exactly the same way in both campaign and Blast Ball modes (painfully sluggish), but the final boss IS a game of Blast Ball, and an insulting one at that.
Try again.
Soccer is the same as space exploration? You got to be joking.
You clearly didn’t actually read my comment with a response like that.
It’s not the gameplay that’s the same- it’s the mechanics which are universal, in all modes. Your mech moves way too slow in both the campaign and BB- so slow in fact that moving is actually boring. You move even slower when you put the thrusters on! When even moving feels like a chore in a game, you’ve done something very wrong.
Do you even know what the final boss of FF is? For those who care, it’s-
SPOILERS BELOW- VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED
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Samus Aran has been captured by the Space Pirates, brainwashed, and enlarged with foreign technology. You win the battle by shooting her Morph Ball to send it careening into energized walls to damage her. What do you do in Blast Ball? Shoot a big ball into a small goal. It’s the exact. Same. Concept. And it’s still slow as hell. What makes it so insulting is this character you’re battling is the same character who has single-handedly destroyed 4 planets and a satellite, taken down creatures 50 times her size, and has been on the brink of death numerous times on her missions and bounces back every time. And she gets captured by lowly grunts. This scenario is not believeable in the slightest.
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Enlightened yet? Do you now see one of the many real problems this “game” has?
Wow, slow paced = bad
Yeah, even for a spin off, a small change ruined your experience. Well too bad for you. Still not a legitimate reason. Keep trying, you look so bad when you.
If the game is too slow paced for you, play an actual shooter, like Gears of War, Call of Duty, or pretty much any shooter. All you do is complain. Grow up.
Wow. Here I am, explaining problems from a logistical and lore-wise standpoint, and you stoop to insults and personal attacks. Good thing this isn’t a real debate, or you’d lose horribly.
Also, it couldn’t “ruin” an experience I didn’t have. I tried the demo, found massive problems just within it, and know those problems transfer to the full product. I know what I like and what I don’t, and I don’t mind saying it aloud. You’re the one that seems to have a problem with opinions, however well-founded.
You have no idea. Just saying. Sakurai is right when it comes to reviews.
I have no idea? You’re the one who blew my opinion out of proportion; just one look back will prove that.
Because a spin off is the same as a main entry. Why would you expect Federation Force to be like Prime 4? If you really have that high expectation, then you’re just disappointing yourself.
When did I ever say I expected FF to be Prime 4!? Now you’re just putting words in my mouth, which is an unwise thing to do as it’s one of my biggest pet peeves. And, how could I expect this to be like Prime 4 when such a thing doesn’t exist yet? For all we know, Prime 4, when it becomes a thing, could blow us out of the water like how the original did.
Of course Prime 4 will blow FD away because it’s a main entry, not a spin off.
You guys are the silliest of peoplez. wow, I started a war here…lol
Did you guys have fun arguing with that guy? I wasted my time on the fool, too, once. If someone defends something as horrible as FedshitForce, you know the person is either an idiot or a troll. No matter. It’s just one idiot, or troll, compared to thousands of others that know FedshitForce is trash.
More like millions.
This is why I mostly go by the reviews written on this site. Collete’s reviews avoid the pitfalls he refers to.
I might be a little bias, but I believe it’s true all the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjyWXiZrSlQ
One of the prime reasons I hate reviews