Jimquisition: Dragon's Frown

[Chessrook44]

I never gonna get the crying of low scores in a system where the numbers means next to nothing. Can someone tell me the difference between a 8.5 and a 9.0?

0.5.

No, really, I'm not trying to be clever. In all honesty there's no difference between them except one is slightly higher.

....ok maybe I'm trying to be a little clever.

Ok, what criterias are the difference between 8.0 and 9.0 then.

Still pretty much the same thing. Really, different places judge things differently. Some reviewers put everything on a four-point scale, wherin even a 7 is not that great and 6 or lower is WORST GAME EVER. Which I personally think is due to school where anything less than a 65% was an F... but I digress.

It's rare when you see a reviewer that actually considers 5 to actually be "Average". Most ofter 8 is Average, more or less. Or 4, if it's a 1-5 star rating. It's really quite frustrating, and why number-based ratings systems aren't really always that great.

So yeah. All I can really say is "The difference is one point. What does that one point mean? F@*$ if I know."

 

[yellowmage]

So this Danielle Riendeau is the One Chosen by the Planet? All for a dissenting opinion on a popular game? Man, Sephiroth must be kicking himself right now! He didn't have to kill Aerith and summon Meteor, he just had to say Final Fantasy VI was crap!

 

[karma9308]

I was laughing through most of the video thanks to the opening. I think the epic music helped.

I don't know whether to praise you for saying things like this, or just feel sad that people don't seem to understand basic common sense.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I realize people go looking for excuses about bias and politics and shills to devalue reviews they don't like both positive and negative, but given Dragon's Crown is a game that came to the light of the internet by way of controversy, it may be more valid here. To me, criticism is about trying to acknowledge what a work is trying to be and determining how well it meets that goal, which is different from simply being critical which is going on about how you don't like some aspect due to your own hangups. Being fair to a product is about being able to take a step back and say, this might not be made for me and I shouldn't act like it should be. I fully understand not liking the art style, but unless it's poorly executed or would be detracting to someone not offending by it, it should not be given much credence in your review or score. Feel free to op/ed something, but a review should be about what it wants to be, not what you want it to be. Note, this applies the opposite way. Please watch how much you gush over something that hits all your personal like buttons as reviews aren't helped by drooling fanboys trying to elevate flawed works to ideal status.

 

[Fappy]

I like how Dynasty Warriors is finding its way into every video now.

I don't know if you're framing your argument to include it or it just fits perfectly into every discussion about the industry XD

Also, agreed on all points made. Part of the reason why I hate review scores is due to how people misuse them.

 

[Luminos564]

Oh Dragon's Crown, you just never seem to catch a break. First it's a bunch of people crying foul over the overly sexual depiction women and now your fans are foaming at the mouth over some random person from Polygon giving you a 6.5/10. Perhaps it was a good thing that I took Yahtzee's comment on scores to heart ("I don't believe in scores because I believe a complex, personal opinion can't be represented numerically"). No offense to you Jim, I am aware you personally enjoy using scores.

But people really ought to stop giving a flying rat's ass over one lower score than the majority, especially for a game like Dragon's Crown. I already knew I was going to buy and love the game from the first time it was announced those few years ago. No score would ever deter me from buying it or detract from my enjoyment of it. If games are to be "art" then they are to be subjective. Some will like it, others will hate it. Hell, Kamitani never even raised a fuss when people raised an eyebrow over his artstyle before (he once mentioned his wife and editor were "aghast" when he drew Momohime fighting a giant squid for Muramasa) and likely only raised an issue with Schrier over the "14-year old boy" insult.

So bottom line, just like what you like (within limits of course). Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to wait out the last 16 hours before the game is in my hands XD.

 

[medv4380]

So... the game scored 6.5/10, or 65%, in one review. It scored more than half marks. And this is a *bad* thing?

This is why numerical quantification of a subjective opinion is useless.

60% is a failing grade for a reason. Average is considered by many, including the educations system, 70%. Very few people think of 50% as average. So, yes, a 6.5 is considered a very bad score. Also, if you take a random sampling of game reviews you'll get somewhere around 7 to 7.5 as the average score. Right or Wrong, it is how a lot of people think.

 

[Mumorpuger]

As much as I think the actual art is amazing (the hand drawn sprites really look great), the fact they they hypersexualized the female aspects of the game aren't helping us. Although I'm aware of the exaggerations also given to the male characters, it doesn't matter: it still gives ammo to anyone or any media outlet who wishes to portray us as basement dwellers who get our rocks off through video games. The "video games are nothing but sex and violence" crowd.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

The facehugger attacks once again. Jim, I fear that you never may escape Aliens: Colonial Marines.
... ever.
(Loved your Lets Play of the DLC by the way. :3)

*ahem*

Now onto the topic at hand. It does feel that the gaming community is spoiled (In my opinion), games as you said that people complain and demand a '10/10' (Whatever 10/10 is these days. It feels like 10/10 should be impossible to achieve). It is annoying that the single bad review is gaining all of the press now instead of the praise.

Now in my opinion, the character design is the thing that turns me off this game. Call it satire, parody of how we portray gaming/RPG characters but ...

As unpleasant as it may be we're just going to have to accept the fact that cups of D just aren't everybody's cup of T.

As this guy says ... big bosoms are not not my thing.
BUT WAIT. I can just choose another character, the elf right?
Yeah true.

I guess I can't make my final opinion up until I played the damn game.
So I remain neutral on the subject.

Basically ... I agree with what you said.

...
...
Also I think "The Last of Us" deserves a seven.
[sub][sub]Just to troll people, I actually haven't played the game so once more I remain neutral on it.[/sub][/sub]

Funny thing about the characters, from the reviews I've seen(even the positive ones) they sound like the lesser example of the games problem with titillation. I am getting the game soon, but I'd probably just be getting my hopes up to expect it to not be there in plenty.

As for todays topic, too games that have gotten A LOT of positive acclaim recently that I have played are Bioshock Infinite, and The Last of Us.

However, I did find one person who was able to give some really interesting criticisms of both games that I can't really argue as invalid. Campster, who makes the show Errant Signal.(Warning: If ya haven't played the games yet, he pretty much spoils everything about the games.)
That said, even though I actually agree with the criticisms, I still love both games just the same, if not more so now.

As for Dragon's Crown? I'm getting it with a friend, so hopefully that will help me enjoy the game more when I get it.

As always, thank God for you, Jim. =w= b

 

[MB202]

It's one thing when I find someone who disagrees with me on something. You can't make something for everyone, or something that everyone will enjoy. But then there are times when someone hates something, and I literally can not understand where they are coming from. I try as hard as I can, but I literally can't see their point of view, and that's when I start to get like the people who throw a hissy fit, just because someone doesn't "want to join in the party", so to speak. Either that or I just leave. It still bothers me, but at least I'm not constantly at odds with it.

 

[Tony2077]

well since the dw stuff i tend to ignore all reviews they may not like the game/series but i do
the only thing stopping from getting dragon's crown is does it have a decent length and decent sp

 

[WildFire15]

The way I see it, if you can't criticise something you say you love, you don't really love it. I love the hell out of City of Heroes even now it's shut down but I still have a list of criticisms for it (all the instanced missions were fairly repetitive, there were plenty of defunct zones and with all those instances the world felt fairly empty a lot of the time, not to mention a freaking high reward trial for level 1-5. level 10 - 15 would make sense but that trial was easy to power level and did a disservice to everything else in the game). How, after all, can you improve something without criticising it?

Speaking of 'not everyone has the same tastes as the majority', I don't care for The Last of Us and thought Uncharted 2 was massively over hyped. Not bad by any means, just not this legendary piece of software it's made out to be. On the other hand, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts was a hell of a lot of fun for me, if mainly as a construction toy. It could have used some more interesting challenges as supposed to lots of races and collecting missions and a bit of platforming would have been nice.

 

[Fappy]

I like how Dynasty Warriors is finding its way into every video now.

I don't know if you're framing your argument to include it or it just fits perfectly into every discussion about the industry XD

Also, agreed on all points made. Part of the reason why I hate review scores is due to how people misuse them.

Well that depends on if there is a "correct" use of them and if youre already sitting on it then it would be nice to have that proper use of scores presented as part of your argument, would that be possible maybe :U?

It's simple, really. Reviews are meant to inform consumers and help them decide whether or not to buy a product. It's not supposed to act as a means for people to validate their interests. Different sources of review represent different outlooks and not everyone's going to agree on what does and doesn't make a good game.

 

[JudgeGame]

Wait... This was actually a thing? People actually got bent out of shape enough over a single review, and do so on a regular enough basis, that Jim felt he should do an episode about this? ... Fantastic.

Yes what an odd world we live in that if someone doesn't agree with you on something, they feel offended and dedicate all their time to explaining why you should agree with their opinion.

Explaining is the euphemism we use nowadays for anonymously threatening to kidnap someone's children and burning them alive in an abandoned shed. This also happens on a regular basis.

Captcha: Stay safe. Thanks Internet.

 

[Luminos564]

As much as I think the actual art is amazing (the hand drawn sprites really look great), the fact they they hypersexualized the female aspects of the game aren't helping us. Although I'm aware of the exaggerations also given to the male characters, it doesn't matter: it still gives ammo to anyone or any media outlet who wishes to portray us as basement dwellers who get our rocks off through video games. The "video games are nothing but sex and violence" crowd.

Funny thing about "ammo" in any medium: if people want to find things to be offended by, they will go and find it. Very, very easily in fact and no matter how grandiose or minuscule it is. I would also point out that Dragon's Crown is only in this "spotlight" because it is new. I imagine when the next entry in Grand Theft Auto or Saint's Row comes out they'll get the same claims of how "they're glorifying sex and violence". This isn't a new thing at all. Before games, it was movies. Before movies, it was books and paintings. It just doesn't end.

 

[LordMonty]

I want to get this game but my TV is bust(so cannot use ps3 atm) and its not on pc yet/not sure if ever? but will get it at some point soon haven't even read any reviews but know they're mostly positive and this looks like my sort of game... oh and i'm cool with the art style and boobs

 

[Windu23]

The Escapist gave the game a 3 out of 5. Which makes it an average score. Where's the outrage there?