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Will You Watch/ Read Reviews Before Playing/ Buying?

Y2K3

Lushier than Mercy!
Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Location
Newfoundland, Canada
I might. I won't go looking for them, but since I usually wait before buying a game, something is bound to pop up around these parts. And here is where I would read them. I'm usually not a fan of reviews, because I tend to disagree with them a lot, but I figure here would be a good place to look, if I were to go anywhere.
 

February Eve

ZD District Attorney
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Location
USA
If I know I already plan to buy a game (or any other kind of media), I generally don't read the reviews. It's actually less because of the opinions given and more because of spoilers. I tread the spoiler line carefully when I'm really anticipating something - I may watch a couple trailers to whet my appetite but even though most reviewers are good about trying to avoid the major spoilers, I want to discover even the little details on my own. So no, I don't plan on reading the reviews until after I've played the game.

Afterward, though, I do often seek them out - sometimes I know I like an aspect of a game but the review helps me articulate why. Or other times it helps me appreciate another feature. I would also read a review if I was undecided about a game - but that doesn't apply to Skyward Sword. :)
 

NorthApple

GIVE ME THE APPLE!!
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Location
UK :D
Normally, I'm all over any reviews I can find on the run up to a release, not so much because I need to know/see an opinion before I decide something's worth getting (though sometimes that is pretty useful), but more because I eat up every scrap of "new" information as diligently as pacman eats up all those dots. However, it's taken me this long to realise (call me slow) that rather than this actually satisfying me, it just makes it more difficult for me to actually enjoy the game once it's out... partially because of the hype it builds up, partly because, like FE said, the sheer volume of unwanted spoilers I run into.

Recently, I've gotten into the rather fun habit of picking up older, cheaper preowned games having only read the barest bit of information before hand... and surprise surprise, I end up loving and enjoying the games way more than if I'd actually read up on them first since, I only start spotting flaws when/if I'm looking back with a critical eye XD

So this time around, I think I'm gonna go for the latter approach with regards to Skyward Sword, in an effort to make it more enjoyable :33 Official trailers, adverts at a push, but that's it.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
I will most likely get SS on release date as soon as the store opens. So no time for someone to write a review. (Unless it releases earlier in Japan of course).
Most professional review sources get copies of the game ahead of time, so they will actually have a review ready as early as a month before the release date.

It's also often these same professional review sources that offer up really nice, intellectual, serious reviews of games. :bleh:


Well, never read a review before, so why start now?
Reviews can help you find out more about a game. They can tell you stuff you may not have known about it that you might want to know ahead of time before you play it.



Like some of the people who've already posted, I rarely have let reviews deter me from a game I'm interested in, but I do read them all the time, although generally only those from Game Informer, because they can tell me a lot about a game that I'd like to know or tell me about a game that I otherwise might not have been interested in.

In the case of Skyward Sword, a review does not matter to me. I will be getting the game regardless of anything. Whether I read a review beforehand is merely a matter of which I received first: my copy of the game or the issue that has its review. :bleh:
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Location
Florida
Nope. I've never read a review to help push me towards or away from the purchase of a new game. I find reviews to be rather useless to me. This is mainly because I know that people have their opinions, and I know that even if one game has a lot of bad reviews, I might still end up liking it. If I find the game to be interesting, I'll give it a try. Normally I end up liking it anyways. It's happened to me with Zelda, it's happened to me with Metroid, it's happened to me with other game series. Skyward Sword will be no different, especially since it's in a series that I already like.
 

Hero_in_Green

Hero of Time
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Location
Canada
I only read reviews after I beat a game to see what others think...Many people like video games I may not like and therefore WILL write biased reviews. For example, many people praise Final Fantasy. For me, it never really hit home and I don't like it BUT i still acknowledge that its a great game. Another example is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. For hardcore fans, it "didn't feel like a Castlevania game". For me, someone who didn't really play Castlevania, I absolutely LOVED it. So everyone's opinion is different on games. There hasn't been one zelda game I didn't like because they all had a unique quality about them (and stop referencing the CD-I games...They were NOT licensed by Nintendo therefore their not canonical!). Skyward Sword will probably have its own sparkle to it and I'm not saying this because I love Zelda, I'm saying this because every Zelda game has touched every video gamer who's ever played the series. Reviews tend to skew a person's view on a game before they play and it's not right until that someone actually plays that game for themselves. The video game industry will never please everyone but if they please half the population I think that's enough. So just chill out, wait till the game comes out and form an opinion of your own instead of taking on the opinion of another person! :)
 

Cuju

私はカウントダウンを実行します。
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Canada
I'm going to read the bottom section of the IGN review were it has scores for sound gameplay and other things. I trust IGN because they are slightly biased (?spelling?), it's just that they will give SS bonus points for being an Oot prequel, and I don't mind, I love Zelda!
 

Raven

Former Hylian Knight
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Location
Halifax
I'll end up buying and playing it no matter what but I'm not sure if I'll read a review before that. I usually only read reviews by chance. If it's a game I'd like to know more about before I consider buying it, than sure, but since I already know I want SS reading the review is totally optional. It's like a spur of the moment thing. If i see the review from 1up I might be tempted to check it out, even though I would rather not spoil anymore suprises for myself. It's gunna be tough but I'm gunna try to keep myself from looking at all those screenshots they'll be taking for their reviews.
 

Turo602

Vocare Ad Pugnam
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Location
Gotham City
Well I always look at reviews before buying or just to see what others thought so I know what to expect before going in like a headless chicken paying 50-60 bucks for a game I'm not even sure of. But this is the Legend of Zelda and I am Turo602, big time and long time fan of the Legend of Zelda series. Seeing as I already pre-ordered the latest installment in the Legend of Zelda series, Skyward Sword, reviews won't change my decision to purchase it. Mainly because it's Nintendo and because it's the Legend of Zelda. Not once have they let me down so I know I can trust them with giving me something that I'm paying 50 dollars for that is worth much more. I'll still look at reviews like I always do, just to know what professionals thought the game lacked or didn't lack and to also see if this will take the number one spot like Ocarina of Time with a perfect score of 10. But when I pop that disc in for the very first time, then we'll see I think of the game, and that is what matters more then someone's opinion. It's all about what you think of it. Just because someone else says the game sucks or the game is good, doesn't make it true until you make that decision yourself.
 

Sgt. Backwash

JEALOUSY
Joined
Jan 3, 2011
I'm probably going to look at the "closing comments" section of a review, but I'm not going to actually read the whole thing.

Also, I encourage everyone to NOT watch the inevitable Game Trailers review. They have a history of putting spoilers in- sometimes they've literally shown final bosses in their reviews. Not saying that's going to happen here, but if you're worried about spoilers I'd get my info somewhere else.
 

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