What do you disagree with Yahtzee on?

[EvilRoy]

Everything he complained about in the Mirror's Edge review is the BSiest of BS. EVERYTHING. From the complaints of the bloom (what bloom?) to the "inability to know where your feet are" (??????) it's all fail.

Still a funny review, though.

As a guy who bough M.E. on sale some time after its release I actually found those two things to be among my primary gripes with the game.

During some of the outdoor sections, I would have my monitors brightness turned to about 35%, the ingame brightness option set to minimum and I was still getting headaches from the blinding walls. Made worse by the fact that turning my monitor brightness down any further made it too hard to see where I was jumping or whether or not what I was seeing was the right path.
It might not have been a problem for you, but I actually ended up never finishing thanks to the combination of missing jumps and getting headaches from overly bright environments.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Yahtzee doesn't like Pokemon, Valkyria Chronicles, or the World Ends with you. I love all three. Also, I like multiplayer more than Yahtzee does, but then again I have many only friends to play with.

 

[lacktheknack]

Everything he complained about in the Mirror's Edge review is the BSiest of BS. EVERYTHING. From the complaints of the bloom (what bloom?) to the "inability to know where your feet are" (??????) it's all fail.

Still a funny review, though.

As a guy who bough M.E. on sale some time after its release I actually found those two things to be among my primary gripes with the game.

During some of the outdoor sections, I would have my monitors brightness turned to about 35%, the ingame brightness option set to minimum and I was still getting headaches from the blinding walls. Made worse by the fact that turning my monitor brightness down any further made it too hard to see where I was jumping or whether or not what I was seeing was the right path.
It might not have been a problem for you, but I actually ended up never finishing thanks to the combination of missing jumps and getting headaches from overly bright environments.

Have you tried adjusting your contrast? It wasn't a question of "I'm immune to blinding walls", I literally HAD no blinding walls.

 

[FrostyFinn]

Also, the share button is still mostly a mystery, and Sony have said that it won't be mandatory or a huge push with the console's games. Same thing with the touch pad on the back.

Also, does it really matter that we haven't seen the console itself? I don't think that seeing a glorified Blu-Ray player would assuage any of these fears, and, let's be honest here, who gives a shit what the console is going to look like? We've seen the specs in action (tech demos, the press conference videos), and we have an idea of what direction they want to go with the games. Nobody remembers a console because it looks pretty. They remember consoles because of the games on it, and the games are what define consoles.

Like, fuck. It's just a cavalcade of logical fallacies and deliberate ignorance of press coverage.

Did you actually read my post? At all? Just wondering.

No I just looked at the fancy letters next to your picture and guessed. -_-

As I mentioned (in that large block of text you're addressing, in fact), a console's appearance isn't what defines it - games define consoles. I don't think it's a valid point, period, to complain about not seeing something that only functions as a platform for a type of media. We know that the PS4 will play video games, and the video games are the important thing here. I maintain that physically seeing the console will serve little to no purpose other than to confirm the specs.

I agree. The games will always be first priority, but this is Yahtzee we are talking about, and nitpicking and exaggerating to make a point (as mentioned several times in this thread you are posting in, in fact) is what he does. Should he seriously condemn the PS4 because he can't see it? No. Is he still looking forward to its release, albeit with somewhat lower expectations, most likely.

Also, the car analogy is imperfect. You buy a car and then use that car, period. You don't buy a car, then buy toy cars and put them in the car in order to be able to do something other than admire the paint job.

Most analogies are imperfect unless they are extremely limited in scope. You can still understand the point of the analogy even if you can't drive in reverse or adjust the rear-view mirror on a PS4. I doubt you would buy a car based solely on its specs without sizing it up first. The paint job can be important to some people (not me) who actually care what it looks like.

Why is features in quotation marks? The share button, ease of accessibility for indie developers, and controller design are all - presuming the Nextbox doesn't have them as well - distinct features of the PS4.

Until the PS4 is released, nothing said about the PS4 can be considered a distinct feature with a 100% guarantee. They could add or subtract any of those last minute, similar to the xbox supposedly removing its always online DRM feature, which I am now tempted to call "feature" seeing as it was originally planned for the new system, but now it's not, but maybe it will make the final cut, but then again that would be stupid so hopefully not. See how uncertain it is when features are announced for a system before it is released?

As well, there is a difference between a rumour and press release. Please make note of that difference before referring to press releases as rumours.

You...got me there. Poor choice of words on my part. Although there is a difference between press releases and fact.

I am not trying to defend Yahtzee, just make sense of what he is implying. Until the PS4 is released and all or none of his fears are justified, its pointless to argue about an intangible object. Playstation is my system of choice and while I am looking forward to its release, I am not forking over my money until I am sure it is worth it and they confirm some potentially good games for it besides Thief 4.

 

[EvilRoy]

Everything he complained about in the Mirror's Edge review is the BSiest of BS. EVERYTHING. From the complaints of the bloom (what bloom?) to the "inability to know where your feet are" (??????) it's all fail.

Still a funny review, though.

As a guy who bough M.E. on sale some time after its release I actually found those two things to be among my primary gripes with the game.

During some of the outdoor sections, I would have my monitors brightness turned to about 35%, the ingame brightness option set to minimum and I was still getting headaches from the blinding walls. Made worse by the fact that turning my monitor brightness down any further made it too hard to see where I was jumping or whether or not what I was seeing was the right path.
It might not have been a problem for you, but I actually ended up never finishing thanks to the combination of missing jumps and getting headaches from overly bright environments.

Have you tried adjusting your contrast? It wasn't a question of "I'm immune to blinding walls", I literally HAD no blinding walls.

Pretty much all of the settings my monitor had available were involved in trying to make the game less painful. I actually did find it fun at times so I wanted to keep playing, but after what I considered a reasonable amount of time messing with settings on my monitor, which I usually leave at factory defaults across the board, I just sort of gave up.

 

[Subscriptism]

I like RTS games. He hates them.
There are also a few games I really liked that he slated.
I also believe that Warrior Within was the best Prince of Persia.

He doesn't hate RTS games he just doesn't enjoy them, but I do agree that Warior Within was better than The Sands of Time and I do think he gave up too quickly on the RTS genre. I have no idea how he thought that Halo Wars would be the game that brings him over to the RTS crowd when it was an obvious cash-in with shitty controls and an unbellievably bad storyline, if I want to get into a genre I've never played before I'd seek out a game that's popularly considered to be the best in its genre, not a watered down version of it for babies, and if I ever deicide to try out a survival horror game I'd play Silent Hill 2 or Amnesia: The Dark Descent, not Dead Space.

You're right, I don't know why I said he hates them. Either way Warrior Within made everything go emo but that was better than the insufferably bad combat in SoT. Two Thrones nose dived.
I don't like horror games. I find myself having a lot more sympathy for Dead Island than he, Sleeping Dogs and the Fallouts too. There are plenty of things I disagree with him on, but he's a talent in the way he can make me piss myself laughing at an opinion I don't agree with. Definitely the best feature on The Escapist.

I will admit sharing his disdain for Nintendo and their foolish controllers though.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

Well, I have enjoyed many games that Yahtzee thinks are shit, but that's not really the same as disagreeing with him. What games he likes are up to personal taste, just as my preferences are, so there's nothing to argue about regarding that.

But there are some opinions that Yahtzee holds regarding general gameplay and game design that I could hold an argument over. It is important to remember that he always exaggerates himself for comedy's sake, but he has made it clear that a lot of what he says in his reviews and his column are opinions he truly does hold.

For example, Yahtzee dislikes cutscenes. Any time that control is taken away from the player in a player-driven medium, he says, it is a bad thing and something developers should avoid. That is not always true, as there are several uses for cutscenes to enhance the game. Just because the player is not in total control 100% of the time does not mean the parts where he loses control are flawed or inferior. Story-driven games especially can benefit from cutscenes, if they are not too long, not too boring, and are the most effective way of delivering the plot.

Also, quicktime events are not pure evil. There, I said it. He even says himself in the Uncharted review, I believe, that they are as fair a way to get through a cutscene as any, as long as you make them a core part of gameplay. So, games like RE4 which contain many QTEs, and is not usually punishing about them, should not be derided for their use.

And I don't really get his issue with third-person cover-based shooters. He seems to think they are designed as simple pop-up shooting galleries, which some of the bad ones might be, but it is ridiculous to think that it's an inherently inferior genre. I've never actually played one that didn't have some form of battlefield control, such as strategic use of cover positions to flank enemy squads and flush out entrenched foes, or special powers a la Mass Effect to get around fortified positions. It is no less legitimate and strategic a genre as first-person shooters, it just relies on a separate cover function instead of strafing around corners.

 

[Captain Billy]

Although I love and enjoy a lot of the games Yahtzee has verbally bashed into a bloody pulp, I rarely find myself disagreeing with his criticism. This might have to do with having an eerily similar taste in games as him, but I can nearly always see his point (exaggerated as it is). For instance, he complains about Zelda being the same game over and over, and I totally agree, but I still love Zelda (except Skyward Sword).

My opinion exactly. My best example here is the Uncharted series; I love it to death and I've rarely had as much fun as I've had with Uncharted 2 in particular, but at the same time, Yahtzee's totally right in all of his criticisms. The plots (especially in 3) are a bit of a mess, and as wonderfully acted as Nathan Drake is, he's still a remorseless murderer.

 

[TheRaggedQueen]

All things considered, most of what I think about his reviews and opinions versus my own have already been said in one way or another. He's a cool guy and his critiques are amusing, but I think his standards for what makes a game shine are way, way higher than my own. I have to deal with something similar regarding my boyfriend, but given that he isn't an internet famous person it's a lot easier to argue with him. Mainly because I can actually do it rather than dealing with fans.

I will say that I can often agree with him but look past a possible flaw or two to enjoy a game regardless. I'm a big Halo fan, and I absolutely loved The World Ends With You as well, not to mention a few other games he didn't like.

 

[conmag9]

JRPGs. I love them, whereas he seems to despise them.

Individual game opinions differ wildly.

 

[CityofTreez]

Probably Portal 2.

I thought it exceeded the first one in every way, yet he didn't like it.

Yeah, he disliked it so much that he gave said it was the best game of 2011 and was completely torn between Portal 1 and Portal 2.

Really? Well I must have missed something.

 

[Blade_125]

Lots, but I don't watch him for his opinions. I watch for the comedy.

 

[DRTJR]

Nintendo, as I see them as the only ones equipped to weather the incoming storm.

 

[Silly Hats]

Many things. He has an unbelievably short attention span and can't appreciate game complexity or depth.

Yeah bravo, because that wasn't pretentious at all.

We live in times where information and critics are everywhere online, people like ZP were more scarce back in 2007 and there was less of a semi comedic/satirical emphasis on film/game reviewing. Now there's so more people around giving their two cents and expect people to believe what they say for whatever reason.

Eitherway, I am content with liking or disliking games on my own terms without some big critic liking it or not because I have a brain.

I loved borderlands 1+2 as well at The Witcher series, but at this time I can't think right now.

 

[jklinders]

His hate rant against the the original "The Witcher" was not only out of line but flat out wrong. His complaints that the alchemy was too complicated smacked of being obvious evidence that he never really gave the game an honest chance. In fact, he didn't like any of the elements of that game at all which made wonder how anyone could expect him to be remotely objective on it. The review itself was funny as fuck. But I couldn't give 2 fucks about his opinion on it as it didn't seem to mesh with reality at all.

The second game was not nearly as well done in my opinion but I contend that the original was nearly a masterwork and he took a long steaming piss all over it because he didn't like the genre.

This review cemented my opinion of him as an entertainer rather than a reviewer. And the joke is getting old. I think even he sees that as he is no where near as over the top as he used to be.

 

[Duffeknol]

The man has copy/pasted my exact taste. It's eerie how we always see eye to eye on everything he brings up. However, I think there was a transfer error in there somewhere. Because screw Half-Life 2. I can't for the life of me figure out why he likes that game. But then again the entire world likes that game, so it might be the error lies with me this one time.

 

[Entitled]

Generally speaking, I dislike the same thing about him as about the Extra Credits guys, this attitude of theirs like they are looking for the Grand Unified Theory of All Gaming, as if games would have an objective purpose, and a theoretical "optimal game" that we just need to discover.

This just leads to arrogantly dismissing whole genres and styles,(even though they are doing exactly what their established fandom wants them to do) because they have the wrong kind of story/gameplay ratio, or they are more reliant on x value rather than y, and therefore obviously doing it wrong compared to what gaming "ought to be" about.

 

[Pebkio]

His disdain of Bioshock 2 and love of Bioshock Infinite. Which actually brings me to the real disagreement: Yahtzee places far too much importance on story that's told to the player. Every piece of entertainment comes with story, but a unique feature of games is that the story could be told through gameplay. I could read about Dewitt's little adventure and not miss a single detail.

His definition of "breaks the game" is "makes the shooty bits less necessary". He likes to make fun of Halo fans, but when it comes down to it, he can't think beyond projectile weapons either.

I also think he's got too much love for older styles of gameplay. Painkiller wasn't very fun, but it would've been back in the 90s when that's all we had. But I might be over thinking this, maybe he just doesn't like being tactical. He seems to hate cover-based shooting a lot (which Infinite made you do all the time, I'm still confused as to why he liked that game), and that forces you to be more tactical, not just run in circles holding down the "shoot" button.... or maybe the "secondary shoot" button.

But yeah, he's not a reviewer... not even critic. He's a Funnyman. He lives in a Funnyman house and eats typical Funnyman food. Yeah, he makes me laugh, but most comedy is based on ignorance. Yahtzee tends to leave a lot of stuff out of his "reviews" so that he can better crack wise.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

You know.. the thing is, you need to able to read between the lines. Sure, he nitpicks like mad, often takes something small (and sometimes not so small ) and blows it way out of proportion with some elaborate joke, but this is all entertainment. But if you tone down his snarly sarcasm, and leave out all the witty analogs and verbal machinegunning, he actually makes some real solid points, in my opinion.

That being said, there's one particular review however, that was just a shamefru dispray . You'll probably be very surprised by me me bringing this up.. but remember the Borderlands 2 video? He ripped that game to shreds, even for his standards it was quite harsh. I believe he compared it to a child trying to get into a club by pretending to be robbie williams with a bear costume (?) or something..? and he accused it of being the same shit in a snowsetting. And didn't Mr Yahtzee looked like an right ass when it became painfully obvious that he just quit after the first boss

After the first major boss, the game opens up into a wonderful open world with lots of shit to discover, a wide range of (actually different) enemies to fight and >9000 weapons to collect, challenging bosses like Terramorphous the Invincible, , not to mention trying to get Vermivorous to even spawn

It also had a fun and actually helpful multiplayer co-op, very intelligent humor, a creative and vibrant atmosphere, to which in my opinon, the cell shaded graphics contributed a lot. And characters such as (surprise surprise) Tiny Tina, Handsome Jack, Gh0st, the hostile hyperion robots: *bzzzwooow ouchzz* "why o why was I programmed to feel pain?".
And the android lady voice-over on the hyperion New-U station (the respawn points) "Between you and us, that thing that killed you was a total dick. Please disregard this message if you committed suicide." It basically had everything that the prequel didn't have, just like a good sequel ought to be.

It's also such a welcome change from the bland on rails grey corridor sightseeing tours, that Yahtzee keeps complaining about (something I absolutely agree on). Granted, it took quite a while for the game to show it's true colours, but I bet that that if he'd played the game past the first real big boss, he would've enjoyed it. i'm positive of that.

Yahtzee is not a reviewer. He's a comedian. His video's are meant to be entertaining and good for a few chuckles. To take them seriously to the extend of asking who disagrees with what points of him is just wrong in my opinion. Anyone who doesn't disagree with a lot of what he says needs to crawl out of their cynical cave and look at the real world. Because he exaggerates the negatives...a lot. At least that's how I see it.

Actually he's a critic that knows how to entertain his audience.

Not much really, I enjoyed a lot of the games he recommended immensely, and whatever he does hate that I like, I use as a way to reflect on my own opinion of the game.

I call it the "Yahtzee test".

Or it could be that he's grown on me, since I've been watching his videos for nearly 4 years, and that they are the highlight of my Wednesdays.

I think you and I are on the same wavelength. I also think you shouldn't think of him as 'just entertainment' and nothing more. People who say that simply do not quite grasp the concept of 'critic'. I think a critic is also a reviewer, just a different breed. And this is especially true for our Yahtzee. Using such over-exaggerated comedy to bring a message across is really smart and is evidently effective if you want to get in the spotlight.

If I want to know what to know all the good sides how gorgeous the graphics are, and see some gameplay for myself, I check the video reviews on escapist, youtube or elsewhere.
I check both of these sources and take them both seriously, to decide whether a game is worth my time and money or not.
Think of Yahtzee being the yin to my yang. One cannot exist without the other. He saved me from buying Dead Island, among many other games that seemed so cool at first glance, and got high scores everywhere, but were still just littered with bad game design. If only I waited for his review before I bought Tomb Raider >_>

Overall I pretty much agree with the things he says, once i've put them through my imaginary overly grotesque cynic analogy cleansing device, aside from the aforementioned BL2 incident. Maybe he just had a busy week, and his deadline was due the next morning or something, I don't know.

To wrap this up, how about a little music, hmm? BL2 also has some of the best music I've ever heard in a videogame, excellent for intense shootouts. Better, this music could make even curling seem epic and adrenaline pumping. Or making a sandwich.

and yes maybe I will married it!

 

[deathzero021]

when it comes to his videos on mainstream games, i pretty much completely agree. I walk into most games with that same attitude, not expecting much, and never experiencing much. to me the majority of games are still disappointments. it's too common to see games with lazy or terrible design, no matter what the graphics or budget is. i'm quite a negative person when it comes to games but i don't hate games, i'm still a gamer and i still own tons of games. It's just rare that i really enjoy a game.