Resident Evil 6. 6/10

[ninjainspandex]

I assure you if the game was terrible it wouldn't be one of the best selling game franchises of all time. Sorry for derailing the thread.

I'll direct your attention to Hanson, the Backstreet Boys, and other acts of the late 90's.

taste in music much like video games is very much so subjective, what would you say if someone who hates RPGs and thinks the genre is trash reviewed your most beloved RPG?

[Gamerforlife]

I mean, what really qualifies someone to be a professional reviewer or critic?

Making a convincing, accesible argument about why a certain piece of art is or isn't interesting or well made is good criticism so I would wager a good reviewer would be someone who consistently makes good convincing arguments to explain why art is or isn't interesting.

Exactly. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, not all opinions are of equal validity or value. Good criticism is good argument. Good argument derives from melding strong critical thinking skills with experience and expertise into communication that resonates with the audience.

What makes an argument good is rather subjective though isn't it? I mean what one person views as a good argument another might view as weak and easy to tear apart.

I like the idea though that critics or reviewers should have experience or expertise about what they are discussing. My most frequent complaint with reviews that I read is a sense that the reviewer isn't knowledgeable about the subject. The IGN review for Double Dragon Neon that upset a lot of people was clearly written by someone with little experience about, or love for, the beat 'em up genre. Hence it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. He wasn't qualified to write that review

[dsheinem]

What makes an argument good is rather subjective though isn't it? I mean what one person views as a good argument another might view as weak and easy to tear apart.

There are some mostly "non-subjective" things about argument such as the importance of clarity, of supporting claims, etc. But yes, argument is largely subjective. This is why audience is important. The trick is to convince the people that you want to/need to convince that you've made your point well.

[Pulsar_t]

[MrPopo]

I assure you if the game was terrible it wouldn't be one of the best selling game franchises of all time. Sorry for derailing the thread.

I'll direct your attention to Hanson, the Backstreet Boys, and other acts of the late 90's.

But they are good at what they do and should be judged next to other kinds of like acts...no?

Fair enough. My point was that sales are not a measure of quality. To use another example we have that thread on Jersey Shore which mostly consists of people describing how terrible it and similar shows are. Yet they are popular enough to warrent more and more seasons.

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012- ... ng-a-child

[Gamerforlife]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012- ... ng-a-child

I actually read their review, and it makes me curious to play the game in the way that one feels the need to stop and look at a car crash LOL. I'm sort of intrigued by this big, huge mesh of different ideas slapped together. I'd imagine at least some of the crap they threw at the wall for this game might have actually stuck

The review seems to most positive on the Leon and Ada campaigns. Maybe Capcom should follow Square's example and give us Resident Evil 4-2 LOL

[Erik_Twice]

What makes an argument good is rather subjective though isn't it?

I don't think saying that an argument is good or bad takes you very far, arguments are valid or not. Now, a valid argument can be inelegant, difficult to parse and a pain to read so finding the correct way to say something is also incredibly valuable in criticism.

[ice445]

If you think about it though, what is being a critic really all about? Isn't it essentially just a job where you get paid because someone decided that your opinion is more important than everyone else's? I mean, what really qualifies someone to be a professional reviewer or critic?

Your opinnion is more important if you are a qualified critic. That includes having vast knowledge of what you talk about (whether it's wine, movies or video games) and expertise (you know how to write a review, you know how to analyze and review the product in a professional and objective manner). A person who has played RPGs ever since the days of Ultima 0 and Wizardry 1 and played (or atleast extensively tried out) allmost all of RPGs that have ever been released and really knows how good RPGs work (game mechanics wise), what are the high peaks of RPG storytelling and writing and so on is more qualified to review a RPG than a person who has played Final Fantasy VII, X and XII and Skyrim. A person who knows the genre well is better qualified to make a statement about a games quality than a person who has very little comparison points (=hasn't played many games of the genre) and weak understanding of the genre as a whole.
So pretty much what RyaN said

One would hope that, regardless of personal preference, a critic at least has a very broad knowledge of what makes good game design. That's really the only requirement in my eyes.

You can't say that all video game reviewers these days are "professionals", but there are incompetant people in most careers starting from teachers and cops, so that doesn't give you the right to delegitimize the career as a whole.

My ultimate point is that FPS games haven't really gone backwards. Sure, the days of uber complex mazey levels and no hint system are gone, but that's not really a bad thing in my opinion. Not that I want my FPS games to be like CoD where it's just a braindead trigger fest, but I'd rather not get lost constantly.

Have you ever played System Shock 2 or Deus Ex?

Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time. You know what's funny though? The proper modern sequel to it, Human Revolution, was also absolutely fantastic. So no, FPS games are not going backwards. If you seriously think they are, you're probably playing the wrong games these days.

[Erik_Twice]

I can't think of any game past Half Life 2 that rivals Doom and with the exception of TF2 which was released five years ago, I do not think there has been a decent multiplayer shooter since UT and Quake died.

Perhaps you have some suggestions.