Why You Shouldn’t Trust Most Game Reviews, Including Some of Ours

The community’s trust in game reviews is probably at an all-time low, especially when it comes to online media publishers, which also includes us. That is completely justified, and there are several reasons why.

Gamers need to use discretion, but it’s not as simple as one might think. There are numerous variables to account for, and we’ll start with how game reviews work, especially under the influence of other factors.

The Nature of Game Reviews

The point of game reviews is to encourage consumers to try out the game or discourage them from trying a bad product. There are times when it snowballs out of control through word of mouth or social media, leading people to believe a headline or score without reading the game review’s context, regardless of whether it’s positive or not.

On the other hand, people can also have a different opinion and believe that the review is terrible, forever disparaging a brand, person, or platform. Game reviews are still opinionated pieces at the end of the day, but good or bad, they help the consumer make a decision.

As a game reviewer, there are a lot of factors that can impact a game review outside of the game itself. One such example is the time constraint most of us face. We rarely have the time to sit back and play these games at our own pace. Instead, we often need to speed through them and can miss crucial dialogues or even miss out on great cutscenes.

For games that receive a review, the outcome can vary significantly, as it largely depends on the reviewer. But what should you look out for when consuming these game reviews, and how do you get a clear answer of whether you would like a game or not?

How You Should Be Interpreting Game Reviews

The main way to interpret game reviews is to look at the key points of the reviewer themself. All reviews highlight specific aspects of the game that players loved and disliked.

Some can agree or disagree on them, but if they pointed out those aspects, that’s most probably what drew them to the game or what they look for in games of that genre.

For example, if a reviewer talks highly of the lore or story for a game like Path of Exile 2, that’s what pulled them most to it. However, most fans of the series care most about the gameplay mechanics and level design, making a review that focuses on the narrative slightly irrelevant to a big chunk of the community. The same could be true for games like Metaphor: ReFantazio or Elden Ring.

The reviewer should always make these points abundantly clear to give the reader a proper direction in the review. In the end, it all boils down to what you look for in a game and whether those aspects were brought up in the review.

Another aspect to keep in mind is the challenge that a game offers. One person may find a game challenging while another finds it too easy. So again, we expect the reviewer to mention what, exactly, made the game difficult. Was it a lack of mechanical skill, or something unintuitive, offering the illusion of difficulty through poor game design?

You could also check the reviewer’s past games to make sure they enjoy the type of game they’re reviewing. If someone’s never played a soulslike before, for example, their first dive into Elden Ring won’t exactly be a flawless experience.

This is the main reason why streamers and YouTube content creators are more trusted in reviews. It is because you know their game preferences and you have a baseline to connect their take or review to what you look for in a game.

Personally, I find this more effective than looking at the review aggregate score of a game, especially for those with unique preferences. While it is still generally a good idea to look at a review score consensus of a game to find out if it’s good, especially something like Steam reviews, you always want to look at all the angles and judge for yourself.