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cobaltnineHello there, those brought here by Em Short's Listing on her blog of those of us reviewing the games.
I've been reading some of the other blogs, but frankly, I've been doing it at work and I'm not able to bookmark when I want to cross-reference. So far, I haven't found anyone I disagree with on major issues, but then again, I'm not reading reviews for games I haven't played yet.
I am very strongly trying to force one review (minimum) daily. Part of this is because I'm leaving on a trip Nov 1st and I'd like to get all my voting done by then - in meatspace as well as the comp. That's why I got an absentee ballot.
TRUFAX: 3/3 federal elections I've been eligible to vote for: absentee ballot.
Let's move on.
I think it's time to make a grading schematic. Something along the lines of:
1 point : not being a virus, having music, or happy seizure lights.
1 point : not being really broken
1 point : allowing the use of common IF terms, such as 'x' and 'i' and 'read'.
1 point : having a solvable puzzle
1 point : no stupid fucking mazes or time-saps or recurrent hunger triggers
That's how you get a five. So far, no fives. Above a five, I have to care about the characters and prose or I get some sort of feeling other than boredom.
Minus points are very possible. In fact, already according to my sketchy schematic, Anchorhead, which I loved, is not able to have a perfect score. This is because I never beat it. There is a timed puzzle at the end, which, no matter how many times I copied exactly what a walkthrough said, no matter how much I did in advance to make me take less steps, still got me killed two steps from victory.
Channel Surfing was a very linear game. I was repeatedly frustrated with the lack of implemented things mentioned in the description - I couldn't sit in the damn chair in the main room - and at least once even mentioned someone (as 'scenery', I guess) in a room description even after the character leaves. There was little opportunity for me to do anything but engage in CYOA-format conversation, which led to predictable results, which brought me to the next scene.
Apparently there were multiple options available at the end, but I hadn't saved before getting to that point, and I wasn't going to go through the game again to see the possible different endings. In fact, I didn't even read the ending. Dude, seriously: TL;DR.
I grok that you're not a fan of mass-media. Fine with me; I'm not a fan of it either. But railing against it in depreciated media, the type which only holds a certain kind of people as its devotees, is definitely preaching to at least the congregation, if not the choir.
On slightly more further reflection, there is, as is mentioned in The Gaming Philosopher review of it, potential here.
Kiddo, you're young, and it shows. Man, if I'd written a game at your age, it would be a scathing rip on religion. I didn't, though, but take it to heart that I'm being cruel and long-winded because I can see myself back in college in the same place. I was a little, black-hearted protester back in college, in the same place. (Heart still black, protests still attended, but tact comes with age.)
Additionally, the medium is the message - this is IF, and IF isn't great for this sort of writing. That's what your LJ is for. Terse this shit up.
Rating: 4, for not being broken, but boring.
I've been reading some of the other blogs, but frankly, I've been doing it at work and I'm not able to bookmark when I want to cross-reference. So far, I haven't found anyone I disagree with on major issues, but then again, I'm not reading reviews for games I haven't played yet.
I am very strongly trying to force one review (minimum) daily. Part of this is because I'm leaving on a trip Nov 1st and I'd like to get all my voting done by then - in meatspace as well as the comp. That's why I got an absentee ballot.
TRUFAX: 3/3 federal elections I've been eligible to vote for: absentee ballot.
Let's move on.
I think it's time to make a grading schematic. Something along the lines of:
1 point : not being a virus, having music, or happy seizure lights.
1 point : not being really broken
1 point : allowing the use of common IF terms, such as 'x' and 'i' and 'read'.
1 point : having a solvable puzzle
1 point : no stupid fucking mazes or time-saps or recurrent hunger triggers
That's how you get a five. So far, no fives. Above a five, I have to care about the characters and prose or I get some sort of feeling other than boredom.
Minus points are very possible. In fact, already according to my sketchy schematic, Anchorhead, which I loved, is not able to have a perfect score. This is because I never beat it. There is a timed puzzle at the end, which, no matter how many times I copied exactly what a walkthrough said, no matter how much I did in advance to make me take less steps, still got me killed two steps from victory.
Channel Surfing was a very linear game. I was repeatedly frustrated with the lack of implemented things mentioned in the description - I couldn't sit in the damn chair in the main room - and at least once even mentioned someone (as 'scenery', I guess) in a room description even after the character leaves. There was little opportunity for me to do anything but engage in CYOA-format conversation, which led to predictable results, which brought me to the next scene.
Apparently there were multiple options available at the end, but I hadn't saved before getting to that point, and I wasn't going to go through the game again to see the possible different endings. In fact, I didn't even read the ending. Dude, seriously: TL;DR.
I grok that you're not a fan of mass-media. Fine with me; I'm not a fan of it either. But railing against it in depreciated media, the type which only holds a certain kind of people as its devotees, is definitely preaching to at least the congregation, if not the choir.
On slightly more further reflection, there is, as is mentioned in The Gaming Philosopher review of it, potential here.
Kiddo, you're young, and it shows. Man, if I'd written a game at your age, it would be a scathing rip on religion. I didn't, though, but take it to heart that I'm being cruel and long-winded because I can see myself back in college in the same place. I was a little, black-hearted protester back in college, in the same place. (Heart still black, protests still attended, but tact comes with age.)
Additionally, the medium is the message - this is IF, and IF isn't great for this sort of writing. That's what your LJ is for. Terse this shit up.
Rating: 4, for not being broken, but boring.
