what do you want in reviews

Hi
I am interested in what you are looking for when you read a review.
I reckon I have done 300 at least by now (here and in a past life) and while I know what I think is useful, do I actually tell you anything that you find useful?
I have never liked ratings and we don't do them here anymore, but let me know what is good, bad or indifferent in a review. In other words, what tells you what you want to know in order to decide to play it (or at least bump it up your list).

Honestly, I like your reviews as they are mate. They're succinct, balanced, if you like or dislike aspects of them you tell us why, and you give enough plot details to have a reasonable idea of the game's story-line without risking spoilers. Overall ratings have, to me, become less and less important over the years and in my own reviews I stopped bothering with them years ago.

So for me, the only thing I'd like you to do is keep on doing what you're already doing!

Flotsam I agree with CaptainD. Your reviews give me the kind of info that really does help me make a decision on whether a game is right for me. I don't like lots of dialog but I do like to know how difficult it is to navigate in the game. It's also important to know how difficult the puzzles can be and what kind they are (timed,etc).

Your reviews cover all the things I need to know to decide on a game.

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into your reviews!

I always look for your reviews before I even think of buying a game because we have similar likes and dislikes. For example your reviews on the three Bout games completely coincided with my own likes and I wasn’t disappointed in all three, in fact they were the most enjoyable games I played since the first two Syberia games.
I remember your review commented on the excellent accents they used in the games coupled with the humour and the amount of movement etc all of which appealed to me and I will never forget the lady dragon desperately reading a book on how to be ferocious, or zombies, mummy, daddy and their baby, Monty Python couldn’t have done them better.
You do a great job keep it up.

flotsam, my only complaint in your reviews is that you don't have a twin to help you! GameBoomers is blessed to have you!

Ana

The things that I look for in a review is whether it is point and click or mouse controlled, whether it is first person or third person, and whether it is a thriller or has a dark theme to it. I don't like being scared very much or have disturbing issues. I think everyone here does a great job of reviewing games and I always look forward to reading them!

I agree with all of the positives that have been mentioned here. Your reviews are always a useful and enjoyable read. I would also reiterate what has already been mentioned in that it is very helpful to know whether there are any timed sequences or parts of the game that require fast reflexes. As the definition of an "adventure" game becomes ever broader in terms of what is included, it becomes more important than ever that players know all that the game entails. Moderating the Hints forum, I am seeing more and more players who thought they were buying a traditional adventure game, only to discover that they need a saved game in order to get past a certain point or points within the game for the above reasons.

I really appreciate getting the information that we do from your reviews and always look forward to reading them.

I strongly second all the points made in this thread, flotsam

I'm not a reader of reviews for the most part but I ALWAYS read those YOU give us because they actually tell me what I want to know !!

I read the reviews and appreciate your details. I do miss the rating system, particularly if I'm about to spend $20 or so and deciding between two games.

I agree with Marian.

I am of course biased here, since I was very happy with my own review. But I would like to applaud this kind of review, cause it describes the game, and give you the facts. I have read some really horrible ones, where it's like the personal opinion completely takes over and everything is then coloured by that. It's fine to have opinions, obviously, but it's the most fair to be as objective as possible.

But perhaps some reviewers are trying to be as critical as possible, like it gets them extra points or something. Again, if something is bad, that should be told, but it's possible to be both critical and still present the facts in a somewhat gentle fashion.
Not sure I'm making sense here LOL, but anyway, as most here have said you want to know the basics.

As to scores, it can be hard to put just one score for the whole game. I've seen variations where there are different scores for different parts of the game. That seems fair I think.

Thanks everyone, and for the kind words.
I will keep on doing what I am doing, and ensure that the points raised are addressed (subject to how many G&Ts I have had when I write the review!). Things I also try and cover are language, save at will, controls etc.
I always try and watch the posts after a review, so if you have any questions not addressed, make sure to post.

If it aint broke, don't fix it !!

I like your reviews.

Maybe you could add a couple of bullet points at the end with info on what you liked and liked less with the game?

Thanks for asking, flotsam. I can say what i certainly do NOT want in a review,
and unfortunatley it is something i run across from to time, even when the review has been
written by an experienced reviewer, which is: Hints or solutions to a puzzle without a spoiler
warning before. It is totally beyond me how an experienced gamer/reviewer can not know that there
is a certain group of ambitious gamers who are driven by the desire to solve a game
without any help whatsoever. How is it possible to not realize or care to spoil a game
for those gamers. How can someone be that thoughtless???

As an example review of 'Longest Journey' (warning: spoiler will follow):

In one review on a famous adventure site there was a sentence like (i don't remember the exact wording):
'While some puzzle were a bit abstruse like using a metal ring to repair yyyy at location xxx'
Sorry, such a reviewer disqualifies himself totally. I will never, ever read another review from
such a person.

Having said this, i really appreciate the job you reviewers do. Very often, it is helpful
to get an idea whether one could like the game or not. So thank you for that!

I'll second that one, being possibly one of the oldest players on this forum? (I am 70 now). I used to enjoy shooters, but all that fighting and jumping and "Action" stuff is beyond these older fingers now, and I can't handle the stress of timed sequences anymore.

I always appreciate knowing the gore level as well. For personal reasons, I avoid games with heavy levels of abuse, torture, etc. Not that everything has to be rainbow unicorns (I don't go for that extreme, either. heh heh). I love the Barrow Hill and Lost Crown games and they got pretty creepy.