Hello everyone, my name is Spirit and I don't like video games...
Hi, Spirit. I'm Mido, and I suppose it's not the games themselves I don't like; but rather the overall realm of video game critique (if that is even the right way to put it).
I tend to be rather forgiving towards video games, perhaps even to a fault. Usually, I find myself often giving mediocre-to-bad games the benefit of the doubt based on things I do find redeeming about the experiences. Either that, or the elements considered lackluster by audiences do not tend to bother me as much. I suppose, to pull it back to the first point I made:
I think gamers in general tend to be too hard on games.
I sometimes get the impression that some audiences observe only a couple of things that they consider to be flaws in a specific game and then suddenly the whole game is bad. While this sometimes can certainly be the case depending on the weight of such flaws, I hardly believe that this is the case most of the time.
Dynasty Warriors 9 is a game recently that has been reviled by fans and most critics alike, and for reasons that I understand. The game is certainly not very polished, and the voice acting does reach so-bad-it's-good levels. Nevertheless, my brief experiences with it gave me the impression that the game was simply average. Undeniably flawed, but not the worst thing out there.
Ace Attorney: Justice for All has generally been considered by fans to be one of the weakest titles in the series, some even attributing this to one case alone; and personally, I find this unfair (although perhaps my perspective is due to the fact that my favorite case in the main series happens to be in this game). While I stand by what I've said thus far, I would be lying if I said my perspective isn't hypocritical.
If anybody talked with me in early-to-mid 2013, I would have been ranting about how
Gears of War: Judgment was a horrible game. Looking back now, while I still maintain that the game unnecessarily changed the traditional control scheme of the series and cut the Locust almost entirely out of multiplayer for no good reason save for one mode (that was admittedly kind of fun), the game had its strengths. The new weapons were cool, and the campaign was decent among other things. Another game I have criticized for years is
Skyrim, which after playing it again with its DLC earlier in the year, I have a greater appreciation for it while also reinforcing some of my earlier thoughts on it. I still consider it a step down from its predecessor, but it is nonetheless a great game deserving of praise.
All things considered, I should mention that I don't think gamers being difficult to please based on their own respective standards is a bad thing at all. Each of us has our own set of personal tastes and expectations that gives each of us a unique perspective. These different perspectives allow us to learn from what each of us sees in a video game, good or bad. Being challenged by those perspective allows us to evaluate our own stances, adjusting or reinforcing said stances as we see fit. Ultimately, I think that the8thark states this sentiment much more concisely:
I am aware fun is a subjective term.
Higher expectations. Being more difficult to please. These characteristics embody those who expect better from the medium that we all enjoy; and expecting better is good. While I tend to be mostly forgiving towards video games and not the most difficult to please, a critical eye is nevertheless an important part of the puzzle.
