Games

[icycalm]

http://thatgamecompany.com/games/journey/

I was summoned to Jim Sterling's review by these comments:

Invalid review until more more capable reviews come out, due to the fact that these guys made flower, basically a flight sim for retards.

@ Tristrix
You suck and you have no idea what a video game is, http://insomnia.ac/reviews/playstation3/flower/

http://www.destructoid.com/review-journey-223030.phtml

and ended up skimming it for a bit. It's surprisingly well-written, and the bits that I read at least are reasonably well-argued, but he didn't quite sell me on the game. At least not on the 9/10 rating. At best, I'd say 3/5, which, if that's indeed what I'd give it, would be quite an achievement for the people who made Flow and Flower, and for "indie" bums in general.

We'll see. I am sure I'll tackle it at some point. It's going on the "indie" scene list in any case.

On another note, I really hope they price this sort of stuff at 5 to 10 bucks... Certainly no more than a goddamn movie!

[icycalm]

Here's what I am guessing my review would revolve around, if I were to write it just by the impressions I have of the game right now.

Arkham Asylum got two stars, and it's basically as much of a "journey" as Journey, the only difference being that I am controlling fucking BATMAN in hunting down the Joker in an insane asylum (and swinging off ceilings, etc.) instead of a fagot with a scarf in an empty desert. When you make a "game" of this kind, i.e. something that's barely even a game, you review it roughly along the same lines that you'd review a movie: the graphics/sound/atmosphere, etc. So, given my impressions so far of both games (i.e. screens, etc. — I haven't played either of them), I'd say I'd prefer Batman. And if Batman got two stars, Journey should get AT THE MOST that much, and then only if there's something to the co-op gimmick.

And there you have it, another icycalm review written merely from screenshots. We'll see how it fares against the real one then.

[icycalm]

I just read the full review. It's terrible. The skimming tricked me because style-wise it's well-written, but I just assumed that the substance of his criticisms would be in the parts I skimmed, whereas in fact there's no substance. None at all. On top of which he's being extremely insulting to videogames as a whole (check, for example, his conclusion). And the first comment under the review is from our very own labcoatdisaster, congratulating Sterling for convincing him. I mean, if he can be convinced by such vacuous tripe, what value could his praise of Insomnia have? Is he going to be convinced all over again when my one-star review of the game goes online? Let's wait and find out!

[icycalm]

http://culture.vg/reviews/in-depth/jour ... 2-ps3.html

I was going to say "Look! Insomnia reviews 'newer games' too!", but then I noticed Destructoid's review was published almost three weeks ago (before the game was even released, lol), so I guess Insomnia will have to continue being merely the best site for reviews of "older games" :(

Perhaps if I one day manage to become as good a reviewer as Jim Sterling, Sony would give me early review code too. But I have a long way ahead of me to accomplish this, so ganbatte ne, Alex-chan!

[Agentx]

How is it Jim Sterling can on one hand identify that "Lazy, Boring, Ordinary, Art Games" with nothing to them are complete shit, but on the other hand somehow get something more out of Journey? It's great if he honestly enjoyed it, but it sounds an awful lot like the very sort of thing he's deriding. Journalism means being flexible I suppose.

[movie]

According to IGN, Journey is the best game of the year:

http://www.ign.com/wikis/best-of-2012/Best_Overall_Game

[icycalm]

http://www.learntocounter.com/forums/in ... 5#msg51585

can i be hurts or die in journey? i herd alot of good things about this game, it being ign goty and all that. i here also that there are monster stone dragons that hurt you and strong winds that slow u down. i was wondering if u can die in the gaem because the n it coud ruin the expereince for me. beucase i dont want to get hurt or gaem lose i just want to enjoey the ride. otherwise its too distressing and i wory i mieght suck.

We need an entire site written like this.

[icycalm]

LameSpot too lol:

http://www.gamespot.com/best-of-2012/game-of-the-year/

Meanwhile, the most linked review of the game is still my one-star one, even though it's not visible to non-subscribers. It was put on Pastebin the day after I posted it, and it's been getting linked off there ever since. So no matter how many retarded awards you give it or how many pseudo-museums you stick it in, the game's eventual fate is still in safe hands, which is to say mine.

As for proper game of the year, it's probably something like Binary Domain/Diablo III/Max Payne 3, etc. It's too hard to tell yet; it was a year rich in almost-great games, but no clear standout great ones. Whoever pretends to have already played all of them and be able to tell is a hypocrite anyway, so his "opinion" should be laughed at by default. The last year for which I am fairly certain of its GOTY is 2010 (Vanquish), and 2011's is still uncertain for me, with a number of contenders. Professing to know which was the best game in a year before the year is even out is downright fraudulent, especially with an art as complex and time-consuming as this one. (Only with novels this can be said to be worse.)