It hurts me seeing a bad review like this for such a great game, by such an awesome dev! I think touch arcade underestimate the power they hold over the fortunes of a game. I understand when people say a review is just an opinion. But here, it was a bad opinion that could damage the sales of and future updates of this great game. Maybe even future output from devs. To give it such a bad score on how big this game should have been seems strange. Surely TA know better than anyone how hard it must be for small devs to create premium games now! This games art, music and mechanic are flawless. To downgrade it so badly of the length of the game and replay ability seems harsh, seeing as a game like monument valley was 5 stars for presentation and mechanic ignoring length! I love TA. But I hope people read pocket gamers 9/10 review for this gem instead!
I'll go one notch further, I don't even think it's fair to say the reviewer downgraded the score for how it *should* have been, merely how they wished it had been, which is a huge pet peeve of mine for any review, regardless of subject. You review the product that is, not the product you wished it was or, worse, imagined it was. If the game experience actually suffers because feature X is missing, it is fair to downgrade it, but if it is only a matter that the game would have arguably been better with feature X, not fair to lower the score. Seems the reviewer was suffering from the same Veruca Salt syndrome as plagues these forums. Given that you can only rate between one to five full stars, a 3.5 means the game is merely a step above being decent enough that it's worth playing for the target audience. I'd argue the polish and originality of this puzzle centric platformer makes it better than that.
Yes, bad score from TA, this game comes in my top ten for game of the year 2015, that's for sure. It's pure video gaming greatness.
The moment I've seen the 3,5/5 I knew it's Carter Dotson's review. Well, what can I say? I'd rather say nothing, I've been already blocked on Disqus by Eli for expressing my opinion in the comments so I keep it to myself. That being said, this game deserves 5 stars without any doubts. Nitrome, don't let this review affect you in any negative way, you did a great job.
Right now im still debating with myself whether to add this to my GOTY2015 list, but one thing's for sure. This is a friggin good game deserving of at least a 4/5. What i dont like about the review is that it wants the game to be expanded. Sure a game can easily be expanded, but that expansion should be a different review. The review should focus on the what-the-game-offers, and not the what-else-have-yous. It's clear Carter likes the game, but felt the game lacked in replay value or length. That is understandable, but the fact that he likes the game felt like 3.5 is too low for how he described it. I wonder who reviewed Monument Valley? Im guessing it wasnt carter, coz that may not look like a 5 to him maybe.
Does anyone at TA moderate reviews? Surely a head honcho looks at these reviews and says good job or thats junk, change it - as is this case with this review.
I dont think so. From what i understand, Eli is a firm believer that a review is one person's opinion, and is not a representation of everyone else's. That it could not coincide with everyone else's because it is the reviewer's point of view. That's a pretty fair point i think, but of course fans of the games that dont get bright reviews will whine non-stop, so basically finding ways to stop those makes sense. Disagreeing with a review is one thing, bashing a review or the reviewer is another.
That is bad practice. I write reviews for a music mag called musical mathematics. Even though my review is completely my style and opinion, I still have to send it to the editor, Who reads it over, and if he feels it is right, he posts the review. (my opinion is one thing, but he is more experienced than me and will not post a review if he feels it is not generally right. Or he will at least feedback to me with areas he has problems with to change.) My day job is an advertising creative, no matter how correct I think my idea is, I still have to go through my boss and a client before it ever sees the light of day! So I don't agree that a review here can just get posted without any vetting, as it is an opinion. If that is the case, why did me (and many others) get blocked from the TA disqus, for sharing our opinions on other games!?
So when writing reviews, is it still your review if your editor wants you to change your score just so the score appeals to the public? Doesnt that sound political? In both jobs you mentioned, im pretty sure your editor is trying to control and filter whats goes out to the public. But it seems to defeat the purpose of having you make a review. Id understand if the editor wants to change the writing style, or maybe the point of interest where you should focus or something like that, but i still believe that the overall review or viewpoint must come from you. Plus, i think the gaming industry and its audience can make use of some brutal reviews more than others. Im not sure why you guys got blocked on disqus. I believe anything in the line of "i disagree with the review because" are valid posts, while "this reviewer doesnt know games" isnt. Im sure you see the difference given your background... Which is pretty cool by the way. Especially the music review, sounds awesome! EDIT: oops i just realized were way off topic. LOL
To put this thread back on topic, I have to agree that this game deserves a little higher in terms of the score. While I agree the game is short, that is really its only flaw in my opinion. The game has great mechanics, sweet visuals, and a surprisingly simple, yet complex soundtrack. I like it a lot and so does basically everyone that I know that has played it. In terms of the review, I don't typically knock a persons opinion as it its theirs but looking at the review objectively, it is really hard to take serious. The author praises it to high heavens then complains about things that aren't there. Not to forget the many spelling errors and the overall poor grammar make it very hard to understand how that got posted in the first place. I get censorship is a fine line but everyone needs some type of review. Anyway, this is a great game not to be missed by anyone. I'm not one to buy games on the whim without some type of pedigree or connection to a console game or property that I know but this was a great purchase. Definitely better than the last game that I purchased (the awful WRC Game).
