The point (well, not his, which is about the absurdity of publishers using it as an actual official measuring stick) is that different people like different things. For some people a visual novel or walking simulator can be a 10/10 “game” for the story. For me, it will never be better than a 0, because I cannot enjoy a game without compelling gameplay mechanics. That’s an extreme example, but the point that different people put massively different value on different elements, many of which many players literally don’t care even a little bit about.
An 8/10 isn’t objectively a worse game than a 9.5/10. It’s the average of a small handful of opinions, mostly from people who played the game at surface level and not like an actual player would, that’s heavily and inconsistently influenced by a variety of practices by publishers trying to get their grades pumped up. Game reviewers are almost never actual journalists with journalistic ethical standards. They’re not being “less than honest”, but they’re inherently influenced in ways outside their awareness that break the core premise of a score.
Most reviews (including games) shouldn’t include scores at all. They should break down the different elements of a product, the strengths and weaknesses of each part, and let people draw their own conclusions.
The point (well, not his, which is about the absurdity of publishers using it as an actual official measuring stick) is that different people like different things. For some people a visual novel or walking simulator can be a 10/10 “game” for the story. For me, it will never be better than a 0, because I cannot enjoy a game without compelling gameplay mechanics. That’s an extreme example, but the point that different people put massively different value on different elements, many of which many players literally don’t care even a little bit about.
An 8/10 isn’t objectively a worse game than a 9.5/10. It’s the average of a small handful of opinions, mostly from people who played the game at surface level and not like an actual player would, that’s heavily and inconsistently influenced by a variety of practices by publishers trying to get their grades pumped up. Game reviewers are almost never actual journalists with journalistic ethical standards. They’re not being “less than honest”, but they’re inherently influenced in ways outside their awareness that break the core premise of a score.
Most reviews (including games) shouldn’t include scores at all. They should break down the different elements of a product, the strengths and weaknesses of each part, and let people draw their own conclusions.
I liked what you said about breaking things down by elements. That might be a better way of judging things.