Castle Paradox

Meatballsub · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:17 am Post subject: I challenge thee!

Let's face it; despite the fact that CP is not as popular as it used to be, it still houses the largest OHR game list today. A lot of the games aren't worth a crap, but a lot of them are good.

The problem I see is this; lack of reviews. There are a lot of games out there that one should avoid. There are also games that have not been reviewed that are quite a gem.

I am making it my mission to review one or two games that have not been reviewed on the list each month. Whether they are complete garbage or full of awesome, it really does help sometimes to see other's opinions on particular games.

I challenge everyone who has the time to submit at least one review of a game that has yet to be reviewed here. Regardless of what others do, I am going to do my best to push out a review or two each month and help the community get a better idea about games before they download them.

If it helps, we could think about "claiming" games in this topic so others will know not to review that particular game. Although, two reviews of one game may not be such a bad idea after all. Regardless, when I decide what game(s) I'm going to review for this month(or next, have already submitted two for this month really), I will post them here so others will be aware.
_________________
MOCBJ Software - My Games
The Hamster Wheel - OHRRPGCE Information Database

Moogle1 · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:36 am Post subject:

The best source for new reviews nowadays is Hamsterspeak. Hamsterspeak's reviews are great. They only lack one thing: indexing. It's hard to find the review you wanted without resorting to some Google Fu.

I think it'd be nice to cross-post the Hamsterspeak reviews to CP or SS after the issue launches, but I guess that's up to the authors. I get the feeling that the best reviewers are reserving their content for Hamsterspeak. That's one of the things that makes the magazine great, but to the detriment of the other community sites.
_________________

Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:37 am Post subject:

Hmmm. I issued a similar challenge in the Bamtastic forum regarding the song list.
You have a point too. I've only reviewed 3 games. I planned on reviewing at least a few more, but somehow never got around to it.
Although you have to admit, it's hard not to get distracted when you're staring down the barrel of a loaded thnikaman...
_________________
Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

Meatballsub · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:41 am Post subject:

I have thought about cross-referencing mine before, but just never pulled the trigger on it. I assume that you don't mind it on SS, so I will have to get with IM and see if he minds me doing that on here. You are right though, there is some good content in the Hamsterspeak magazines.

Another problem is that SS does not have very many older games on it, so not everything can be cross-referenced. I suppose the games that are on there can be though.
_________________
MOCBJ Software - My Games
The Hamster Wheel - OHRRPGCE Information Database

Inferior Minion · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject:

Rya.Reisender · **Snippy** Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 821

The reason why I didn't write any reviews is because I think the rules are too strict. I think last time I checked them they said something like you are not allowed to just write "the graphics are above average", but what else should I write if there's nothing interesting with them in particular...
_________________
Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:54 pm Post subject:

Meatballsub · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:55 pm Post subject:

The Wobbler · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 2221

Rya.Reisender · **Snippy** Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 821

Yeah but the more you need to talk about them the more trouble it is to write them.

If I want to give constructive criticism for the developer, I'd rather post in his release thread rather than writing a review. As it was stated earlier these reviews should mainly be there for players who want to know which game is worth playing.

For example I really love Catacombs and it has no rating at all yet and is extremely unknown, but if I want to tell the people what's so special about it I could only say that it's a sort-of roguelike with good battle balance and the Grief game feeling. I don't really want to say more about it.

Most games I like are often rather generic JRPG with a good gameplay balance, acceptable graphics, acceptable music and some unique features. It's hard to think about "Hm what else could I say so the review gets accepted?".

Then I rather write a free text review in a forum post.
_________________
Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Newbie_Power · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1762

RedMaverickZero · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:29 am Post subject:

One neat thing about Slime Salad is (when Moogs has time) you can pretty much link to any review written about a game posted up there. Like I know there are probally 6 reviews or something like that for Halloween Quest, and I think one of them comes from Hamster Speak.

But to Rya, yeah, when I started reviewing I had a hard time getting my reviews posted because they weren't as descriptive. I think Chaos Nyte was in charge back then and he'd blatantly tell me, Dude your review sucks, if you want it posted revise it. And I'm kinda glad I did. If the graphics were good, I mentioned parts that proved that statement. Like in animations. Generalizing and saying they're just okay isn't that fair to the author (I'm not picking a fight here). They worked pretty hard on the graphics, and in the review is where their talent is recognized. My point being, just leaving a one lined answer won't help the reviewer to make the best game he/she can make. Read some of the older reviews and you'll see what I mean. Hopefully that helps.
_________________
---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70%

Rya.Reisender · **Snippy** Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 821

Yeah but I differentiate between "telling the creator how his game is like" and "telling potential players how the game is like". If I'm talking to the creator I'd go into details to explain him how he can improve his skills.
However, a players just needs to know one these three things about graphics:
1. "They suck and make you want to instant quit the game"
2. "They are acceptable but not special"
3. "They are so awesome and unique, it's worth to download this game just to see them!"
Many players that read a review just want an evaluation of the game really quick, in fact at least most people I know who buy game magazines often skip the whole paragraphs about a game and just read the short "Score and score description" at the end including me.

Of course the game creator himself doesn't just want to hear "Man your graphics suck" he wants to hear something like "They suck because they have no dimension at all, you should try making it more dimensional, here's a good guide how to do it: <link>" and stuff like that. But since the point of this thread was "There need to be more reviews so players that come along can actually find the good games" I still think it'd help a lot if it was allowed to post any review you want. I mean you could split the reviews into "unapproved" and "approved" reviews.

By the way, extending the top 5 lists on CP to top 30 lists would help a lot already.
_________________
Snippy:
"curt or sharp, esp. in a condescending way" (Oxford American Dictionary)
"fault-finding, snappish, sharp" (Concise Oxford Dictionary, UK)
1. short-tempered, snappish, 2. unduly brief or curt (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Newbie_Power · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1762

Pepsi Ranger · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:13 am Post subject:

I said this before in an earlier thread somewhere, but I think it bears repeating:

Reviews written specifically for the gamer are only helpful when the game is finished. Demo reviews need to cater to both parties. It's a waste of time to write two separate reviews for two separate groups.

Think about why it's better this way.

To Rya:

About details, consider who your audience is. Are you writing for gamers or artists? Gamers tend to have shorter attention spans than artists, and likewise, don't need anything more than a couple selling points, so a short review is okay for them. Artists enjoy reading helpful critiques as much as playing, so if you're writing for the designer (the artist), be detailed. Again, who you write for should depend on whether you're reviewing a finished game or a demo.
_________________
Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Tightfloss Maiden

Currently Updating: Chapter 2