Zero Punctuation: Demon's Souls
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Hey, he can whine about it as much as he wants, giving an opinion isn't the same as a review. Especially when said opinion is eschewed towards the downsides of a game for the sake of humor.Fronzel said:
He admits that he focuses on the bad because it's funnier, he admits that he is not impartial and that it's just his opinion. He makes no pretense of fairness, or impartiality, or any of that stuff, because there is none. So why then should his video have any more or less bearing than the other 600 posts out here? Why would someone get mad and DEMAND him to re-review this game? Seems silly to me.
Zero Punctuation is a man's opinion on games he's played, with a comedic tone and a negative slant. Now you can sit here and complain about how all reviews are ultimately personal opinion, but the point is they're not SUPPOSED to be (and I'll bet they aren't. I'll bet most reviews are ultimately about how much money the reviewee is giving the reviewer in ad revenue, both currently and in the future, but I disgress). Zero Punctuation, as far as I understand it, was never SUPPOSED to be an indepth, impartial and fair look at game.
If it WAS meant to be that way, if it WAS meant to be indepth, impartial and fair, then I apologize to Yahtzee for the misunderstanding and would like instead to point out that he sucks at his job.
He's either a good comedian or a bad reviewer. Personally, I see him as a good comedian, but you can see him however you feel like...
Well, wait.. which is it? Is it an opinion of a game or completely comedy? Why do you seem to be trying to have it both ways?The Deadpool said:
When did the two become mutually exclusive?runtheplacered said:
Think about it, me and Yahtzee both played the game and both agree on the same point. He made a four and a half minute video about it. I can just type "Game's hard and unforgiving."
They're both a man's opinion. They're both the SAME opinion. One of them is funny, the other one isn't.
Neither is a review though...
I had almost exactly the same experience as Yahtzee when I played the game, although I don't want to destroy the disk. My only real gripe with the game is the checkpoint system. If it didn't require me to start from the beginning of the level I might still be playing it. Rather than Pokemon:Mystery Dungeon.
Also, am I the only one who thinks that Yahtzees's depiction of his avatar looks like the orderly from Psychonauts?
Also, am I the only one who thinks that Yahtzees's depiction of his avatar looks like the orderly from Psychonauts?
I think the main point in all of this is not the fact that Yahtzee did not like the game. The real problem is that he gripes about invalid things: the dodge system for example works perfectly fine. That, combined with the fact that he did not play through even close to half the game before making the video are what everyone is upset about. You can argue opinions and reviews till the apocalypse, but the fact of the matter is that Demon's Souls is a game that a lot of people enjoy and Yahtzee didn't even give it the time of day. I really think that Yahtzee needs to do a follow up on this (maybe actual play the game for more than an hour?) and either admit that this video was bogus or rip the game to shreds proper.
Comedy is only funny if it has some basis in reality-- the opinions in this review were accurate, but only if you are a casual gamer. So if you find yourself nodding in agreement to what Yhatzee said in his Demon's Souls review maybe you should look at yourself.
But hey, being casual isn't a bad thing, it just means you have a life. Just don't pretend to be anything else ... like Yahtzee is doing.
Comedy is only funny if it has some basis in reality-- the opinions in this review were accurate, but only if you are a casual gamer. So if you find yourself nodding in agreement to what Yhatzee said in his Demon's Souls review maybe you should look at yourself.
But hey, being casual isn't a bad thing, it just means you have a life. Just don't pretend to be anything else ... like Yahtzee is doing.
I'm spanish, (it's in my profile), and whilst we definetly don't have it that bad, there is still some issues, like second hand copies being EXTREMELY expensive (most of the time they just sell them as first hand) and the state they keep them in (I had to buy The Orange Box 3 times before I got one that worked (and for 360, nothing less))asam92 said:
The world is unfair, and it sucks.
Can't wait till I move to England...
zondervan said:
Well I have to say I have mixed opinions here.
To be honest I think the amount of time he put into the game was enough to form an opinion, even if it's one we do not like. We're talking what was probably at least a couple of hours. To be fair few people are liable to expose themselves to that much time and figure "I am going to do more of this activity I do not find enjoyable, for no reason other than to see if it gets better". We watch The Escapist to hear Yahtzee's opinion and the rather scathing way in which he expresses it.
To be fair, Yahtzee never struck me as someone who was really into "very hard games" despite a lot of his bravedo at times. Demon's Souls is not only a very hard game, but a very complicated game when you get down to it as well. A lot of the situations involved in the game being akin to puzzles rather than an RPG or even an action game. Demon's Souls get easier once you learn, and remember the various gimmicks (at least as far as I've gotten).
When it comes to the dodging Mechanics and such, well I can see what his problem was. The dodge/evade backstep is not useful except in very specific situations, and has to be timed perfectly (as do parries). The "block with shield" button is more your general purpose defense for the beginning of the game, and probably closer to what he was hoping the evade would do. What's more even so you tend to do most of your dodging by rolling, I can't think of many situations where I have relied on a quick backstep as a defense unless an enemy was going into a "Stop and blade frenzy" attack.
Yahtzee has never really been an RPG guy and honestly I can see why he'd find this annoying and not inspiring him to put in the time to master the game.
Heck, you can tell how much time he put into things if he seems to think that coming back to life was intended to be a big "payoff". Most people wind up suiciding at The Nexus to avoid changing their world tendency. He also probably missed the Cling Ring which gives you 3/4 your health as opposed to 50%. Of course in that game it's probably healthier to tend to think of being alive as giving a health boost, rather than it actually reducing your health bar.
@ those of you who want a "real review", go to the section of the website that has said reviews. Y'know... by clicking the tab at the top called "REVIEWS" <__<
Susan Arendt reviewed the very same game, here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/reviews/928-Demons-Souls-Review-Supplement those of you who aren't happy with yahtzee can check it out.
Honestly, no one should be basing what games they buy/don't buy solely on one review. You should be motivated by a genuine interest and no one else should be able to take that interest away from you.
As far the the video itself goes, i loved it. I thought it was funnier than usual. I watched it again maybe three or four times xD
Susan Arendt reviewed the very same game, here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/reviews/928-Demons-Souls-Review-Supplement those of you who aren't happy with yahtzee can check it out.
Honestly, no one should be basing what games they buy/don't buy solely on one review. You should be motivated by a genuine interest and no one else should be able to take that interest away from you.
As far the the video itself goes, i loved it. I thought it was funnier than usual. I watched it again maybe three or four times xD
Well I have to say I have mixed opinions here.
To be honest I think the amount of time he put into the game was enough to form an opinion, even if it's one we do not like. We're talking what was probably at least a couple of hours. To be fair few people are liable to expose themselves to that much time and figure "I am going to do more of this activity I do not find enjoyable, for no reason other than to see if it gets better". We watch The Escapist to hear Yahtzee's opinion and the rather scathing way in which he expresses it.
To be fair, Yahtzee never struck me as someone who was really into "very hard games" despite a lot of his bravedo at times. Demon's Souls is not only a very hard game, but a very complicated game when you get down to it as well. A lot of the situations involved in the game being akin to puzzles rather than an RPG or even an action game. Demon's Souls get easier once you learn, and remember the various gimmicks (at least as far as I've gotten).
When it comes to the dodging Mechanics and such, well I can see what his problem was. The dodge/evade backstep is not useful except in very specific situations, and has to be timed perfectly (as do parries). The "block with shield" button is more your general purpose defense for the beginning of the game, and probably closer to what he was hoping the evade would do. What's more even so you tend to do most of your dodging by rolling, I can't think of many situations where I have relied on a quick backstep as a defense unless an enemy was going into a "Stop and blade frenzy" attack.
Yahtzee has never really been an RPG guy and honestly I can see why he'd find this annoying and not inspiring him to put in the time to master the game.
Heck, you can tell how much time he put into things if he seems to think that coming back to life was intended to be a big "payoff". Most people wind up suiciding at The Nexus to avoid changing their world tendency. He also probably missed the Cling Ring which gives you 3/4 your health as opposed to 50%. Of course in that game it's probably healthier to tend to think of being alive as giving a health boost, rather than it actually reducing your health bar.
You make some fair points, and your level headed tone rings true.
Yup. This pretty much explains everything.Therumancer said:
Yahtzee basically only gives balanced reviews of action games (FPS, survival horror, etc). If he's reviewing something from any other genre you can pretty much expect him to hate it for some absurd reason that fans of that genre would never care about. In fact, aside from his good taste in action games, Yahtzee's opinions are more or less the same as what you'd find on some Halo fanboy message board (albeit with more wit and better writing).
He missed the Thief's Ring too, which makes it harder for baddies to notice you and less likely to gangrape you.zondervan said:Well I have to say I have mixed opinions here.
To be honest I think the amount of time he put into the game was enough to form an opinion, even if it's one we do not like. We're talking what was probably at least a couple of hours. To be fair few people are liable to expose themselves to that much time and figure "I am going to do more of this activity I do not find enjoyable, for no reason other than to see if it gets better". We watch The Escapist to hear Yahtzee's opinion and the rather scathing way in which he expresses it.
To be fair, Yahtzee never struck me as someone who was really into "very hard games" despite a lot of his bravedo at times. Demon's Souls is not only a very hard game, but a very complicated game when you get down to it as well. A lot of the situations involved in the game being akin to puzzles rather than an RPG or even an action game. Demon's Souls get easier once you learn, and remember the various gimmicks (at least as far as I've gotten).
When it comes to the dodging Mechanics and such, well I can see what his problem was. The dodge/evade backstep is not useful except in very specific situations, and has to be timed perfectly (as do parries). The "block with shield" button is more your general purpose defense for the beginning of the game, and probably closer to what he was hoping the evade would do. What's more even so you tend to do most of your dodging by rolling, I can't think of many situations where I have relied on a quick backstep as a defense unless an enemy was going into a "Stop and blade frenzy" attack.
Yahtzee has never really been an RPG guy and honestly I can see why he'd find this annoying and not inspiring him to put in the time to master the game.
Heck, you can tell how much time he put into things if he seems to think that coming back to life was intended to be a big "payoff". Most people wind up suiciding at The Nexus to avoid changing their world tendency. He also probably missed the Cling Ring which gives you 3/4 your health as opposed to 50%. Of course in that game it's probably healthier to tend to think of being alive as giving a health boost, rather than it actually reducing your health bar.
You make some fair points, and your level headed tone rings true.
And the dogs are easy, all you have to do is draw them out one by one and use turpentine.