Bevendre

When reviewing a created work, I think something that’s often forgotten across mediums is that pieces from different genres can’t really be held as comparable to one another at raw base value.  The point of a review is to judge how successfully a piece accomplishes what it set out to do, not necessarily how revolutionary or unheard of its advances are, or how present aspects are that it made no claim of having.

One cannot judge a movie marketed as a budget romantic comedy for its use of visual aesthetic or cinematic setpieces because Avatar came out.  One cannot judge a movie marketed as a popcorn fluff explosion fest for the way that it demonstrates the human condition and the faults of modern capitalism because Oscar-bait movies have come out doing just that.  If a movie markets itself as one thing, especially if it does so heavily, then it should be held up to its marketing and the expectations therein, and compared with other films that have proved successful in that genre.

The same is true for books, and in today’s world, video games.  One cannot judge a linear platformer or shooter that takes 5-6 hours to finish for a new player along the same grounds as they would judge an epic 80 hour RPG.  The genres are so staunchly opposed in intent, motive and marketing that they are virtually incomparable.  That, I feel, is where a lot of corporate/professional reviewers, and a large mount of upset gamers fall into a pitfall.  Because the video game market has become so saturated with new releases people neglect to look at a game for what it is and what it directly portrays itself as.  Many people hold everything in the medium on a flat scale with little to no variation for presentation type or genre, and personally I find that approach fundamentally flawed.  

People are more than welcome to have their opinions and preferences on what they enjoy in a game, or any medium, but if a game, movie, what have you does not fall into those parameters, that does not mean that that piece is inherently bad.  Just because a piece does fall within the realm of one’s preferences does not make it inherently good, especially if nostalgia is involved.  A review, and criticism in general is meant to highlight the aspects of the piece that are generally well done, and the aspects that need polish, whether they are the aspects that one looks for in particular or not.  How heavily the various aspects of creation should also not be held at a concrete flat line, but left adaptable based on how well the medium accomplishes its intent and fulfills its marketed promises.