Zero Punctuation: Scribblenauts
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Great, entertaining review as always, but...wow. That was downright scathing! I really thought Yahtze (Yhatze? [Yaghtzbe? (dice game)]) was going to like Scribblenauts. Even WITH shitty controls. That was a total 180 from my expectations.
I mean, I realize he's just pointing out the concept of "choice paralysis," where a player is given too many options and thus does nothing, but flaws aside, this is still one of the more innovative games of the past year. Certainly better than those two open world games he was going on about earlier in the summer with that art competition thingy, at least. Right?
He can hate it if he wants, whatever. Side scrolling puzzlers aren't for everyone. And he's at his best when he's hatin' anyway. But I at least expected some kind of concession. Some kind of "I think this game sucks, but". Lord knows he's done it before. I KNOW he's aware of when a game he doesn't like has done something important or of value. Unless he doesn't believe putting this much effort into a game has any value? He did mock them for trying too hard, so maybe that's true..
I mean, I realize he's just pointing out the concept of "choice paralysis," where a player is given too many options and thus does nothing, but flaws aside, this is still one of the more innovative games of the past year. Certainly better than those two open world games he was going on about earlier in the summer with that art competition thingy, at least. Right?
He can hate it if he wants, whatever. Side scrolling puzzlers aren't for everyone. And he's at his best when he's hatin' anyway. But I at least expected some kind of concession. Some kind of "I think this game sucks, but". Lord knows he's done it before. I KNOW he's aware of when a game he doesn't like has done something important or of value. Unless he doesn't believe putting this much effort into a game has any value? He did mock them for trying too hard, so maybe that's true..
Holy crap, whats with all the DS hate in this thread? Seriously.
On the review; yeah, can't say I disagree with any of his points. Mind you, I'm still having fun with the game, but my opinion has gone down from "best game ever!' to "a rather fun little timekiller"
The control issues aren't that ad once you get used to them. Learning to tap where you want him to go rather than just drag in a general direction is a big step.
On the review; yeah, can't say I disagree with any of his points. Mind you, I'm still having fun with the game, but my opinion has gone down from "best game ever!' to "a rather fun little timekiller"
The control issues aren't that ad once you get used to them. Learning to tap where you want him to go rather than just drag in a general direction is a big step.
You know, after reading all 6 pages of comments, it's pretty remarkable how few people are willing to think for themselves. Professional criticism is not gospel, even coming from an intelligent and charismatic Australian. It's just a tool to use to help guide you in making your own decisions.
This is the first Zero Punctuation that I absolutely disagree with. Not saying he's wrong; he made several good points and salient arguments. As is true of absolutely everything that has ever existed, "It's not for everyone." He has every right to hate it, just as I have every right to absolutely love it, despite its shitty character movement controls and despite the fact that object interactions don't always work out like you'd expect. I can definitely see how these issues would ruin the experience for a lot of people, but they aren't irritating enough to me to ruin my good time.
I have to say that I don't get the "You can just solve every level with [flying thing], [rope], and [killing machine]" argument. The game's challenge mode is designed specifically to get you out of that rut, and there's always more than one way to solve a level. Of course, there's well more than 3 items in each of those categories so you could just do the same stupid thing 3 times in a row, but that seems to be missing the point. I understand the whole "performance anxiety" thing, and the "dont' fix what isn't broken" angle, and that calling people who don't like the game "uncreative" is an unsatisfying and douchebaggy approach the problem... but I guess Scribblenauts is a game for people who are willing to challenge themselves, instead of expecting the game to do it for them. You could call that lazy game design, and you might be right, but I treat Scribblenauts more like a toy that I occasionally play with rather than a traditional game that I am playing through.
As has been said a couple times before, I'm a little surprised that Yahtzee had absolutely nothing positive whatsoever to say about the game. Even in his review of Mirror's Edge, a game he hated, he at least stated he was glad that it existed, because it was a unique experiment in a sea of mediocre sameness.
This is the first Zero Punctuation that I absolutely disagree with. Not saying he's wrong; he made several good points and salient arguments. As is true of absolutely everything that has ever existed, "It's not for everyone." He has every right to hate it, just as I have every right to absolutely love it, despite its shitty character movement controls and despite the fact that object interactions don't always work out like you'd expect. I can definitely see how these issues would ruin the experience for a lot of people, but they aren't irritating enough to me to ruin my good time.
I have to say that I don't get the "You can just solve every level with [flying thing], [rope], and [killing machine]" argument. The game's challenge mode is designed specifically to get you out of that rut, and there's always more than one way to solve a level. Of course, there's well more than 3 items in each of those categories so you could just do the same stupid thing 3 times in a row, but that seems to be missing the point. I understand the whole "performance anxiety" thing, and the "dont' fix what isn't broken" angle, and that calling people who don't like the game "uncreative" is an unsatisfying and douchebaggy approach the problem... but I guess Scribblenauts is a game for people who are willing to challenge themselves, instead of expecting the game to do it for them. You could call that lazy game design, and you might be right, but I treat Scribblenauts more like a toy that I occasionally play with rather than a traditional game that I am playing through.
As has been said a couple times before, I'm a little surprised that Yahtzee had absolutely nothing positive whatsoever to say about the game. Even in his review of Mirror's Edge, a game he hated, he at least stated he was glad that it existed, because it was a unique experiment in a sea of mediocre sameness.
The question on my mind is if you can spawn the other members of the Lovcraftian pantheon.
That aside, this doesn't really look like a game I'd be interested in.
That aside, this doesn't really look like a game I'd be interested in.
I read the comments hear and basically want to smash my head against a keyboard...Some people have sense, and others, well they don't...
As a lot of people are saying, don't decide if a game is good or bad based off one person who is known to primarily criticize ALL games...read around...Check out Metacritic...Don't just rely on one source...
Second, yes a lot of his complaints are valid...Movement is bad...But you get the hang of it after awhile...A lot of puzzles can be solved the same way...That's why you try to think of other ways...And he didn't mention one thing positive besides being able to summon Cthulu...There are many pros to this game he didn't even try to touch...
Such pros would be the sheer number of puzzles (over 280 if I my latest findings were correct) and the challenge mode that makes you replay them without the items used before...Someone previously mentioned the ability to get more would be nice...There is one...There is a level editor with the ability to share...I have started playing this in my dorm and I already got about 10 other people interested in two days...this thing is addictive like none other...
Also Cthulu isn't the only cosmic horror...Try Shoggoth for some fun...Or Ancient Japanese History/Giant Enemy Crab (Complete with level hint "For Massive damage")...There is so much to do in this game...It causes you to look over the faults and just feel like a kid again acting out your wildest imaginations...
As a lot of people are saying, don't decide if a game is good or bad based off one person who is known to primarily criticize ALL games...read around...Check out Metacritic...Don't just rely on one source...
Second, yes a lot of his complaints are valid...Movement is bad...But you get the hang of it after awhile...A lot of puzzles can be solved the same way...That's why you try to think of other ways...And he didn't mention one thing positive besides being able to summon Cthulu...There are many pros to this game he didn't even try to touch...
Such pros would be the sheer number of puzzles (over 280 if I my latest findings were correct) and the challenge mode that makes you replay them without the items used before...Someone previously mentioned the ability to get more would be nice...There is one...There is a level editor with the ability to share...I have started playing this in my dorm and I already got about 10 other people interested in two days...this thing is addictive like none other...
Also Cthulu isn't the only cosmic horror...Try Shoggoth for some fun...Or Ancient Japanese History/Giant Enemy Crab (Complete with level hint "For Massive damage")...There is so much to do in this game...It causes you to look over the faults and just feel like a kid again acting out your wildest imaginations...
Yahtzee mentioned on his site that he was worried about his dwindling comment count on these things, so i'm posting just to add to the tally.
As such, i enjoyed this entry very much, as i do most ZP episodes, although i still hate the music.
As such, i enjoyed this entry very much, as i do most ZP episodes, although i still hate the music.
You're saying that you absolutely disagree with the review, but you really haven't stated why that's the case. After watching most of Yahtzee's videos, I can safely say that his resume consists mostly of "tearing games apart by picking out their flaws". In the viewer's case, the best way to enjoy his videos is to expect him to pick every game apart, and to not be optimistic of him praising the positive parts of a game. This aspect isn't consistent, though. I do agree that Scribblenauts is a new game with unique aspects to it (I've never played Drawn to Life), but one shouldn't expect him to give a bone to every game that he absolutely demolishes. In fact, when Yahtzee reviewed Portal, I half expected him to criticise the short length of the game and the fact that the game is about as challenging and innovative on the players' part as Super Mario.BrainWalker said:
I believe that Yahtzee is trying to say that the game doesn't really have challenges because there doesn't really seem to be any difficulty curve when you're allowed to just rumble through the game. Sure, a creative person could conjure up all sorts of stuff to complete a level, but it still doesn't change the fact that any variable between the beginning of the level to the end of the level can be replaced by a generic jet, or Cthulu. An analogy would be trying to "catch 'em all" in Pokemon Red as the motto of the game suggests, but no one's going to actually do that because you can just steamroll through the entire game with a Charizard that pretty much kills everything with Dragon Claw.
You're right about the fact that few have their own opinions here, though. Most people simply post with a "wow ur so right im not going to buy this game because u talk rly fast and i am convinced because talking rly fast makes you intelligent and therefore correct".
It's not. Yahtzee is just incapable of actually enjoying a game in these reviews because that's not what his fans want; they want him to take the most minute of errors in a game (Maxwell's control, for example, which I got a hang of about five levels in) and turn them into a dealbreaker.VanityGirl said:
@Yahtzee
The point of the game, you sorry excuse for a reviewer, is to give the gamer a sense of freedom, that feeling that he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants. Saying that the game boils down to "helicopter and rope" is idiocy, because you're missing the point of the entire game; Finding the wackiest solution to the puzzles. It's like playing through World of Warcraft and doing nothing but the collection quests; you're practically trying to miss out on the bits of the game that are actually fun.
You buy a game that is touted as promoting creativity and is advertised as "Do whatever you want!" and complain that you can just do the same thing over and over again? Your argument is flawed and idiotic, and I sincerely hope you regain the gland, artery, organ, cell, whatever it is that lets you enjoy something besides pandering to your cult-like following.
The sum of 2+2 is four and geriatrics can remember that. As well as "little brothers."Captain Pancake said:
Where the fuck are you getting this statistic, because most of the people I see with DS's are college students and people who don't have the money to plonk on a 360 or PSP.
Think for yourself and stop being Yahtzee's sheep.
I don't see where all the "idiotic" parts are coming from. Yahtzee never made any flawed "arguments", he simply said that the game isn't fun because if someone has every means to achieve something, it just doesn't hit them as fun because certain people probably need limits to a game in order to generate fun. Even in the Sims, the omnipotent player has limits to what they can do, measured in simoleons. He never personally assailed anyone who likes the game and I certainly don't see a reason why anyone who likes the game would rage over criticism of a game by a game critic.Flying-Emu said:
Unless the designers of Scribblenauts are paying you a large sum of money to put a shield over their game on escapistmagazine.com, none of that was necessary. Moreover, none of his arguments were flawed. Most people, even those who enjoy the game, agree that the controls are screwed up and him not finding the game fun is just his opinion. Needless to say, when he told the designers of the game to look up the definition of "fun" at the end of the video, he was being facetious while accrediting to his dislike of the game.
By the way, what's this sense of freedom that you speak of when the one and only goal in the game is to get the starites? That just sounds a lot like Super Mario (hey I'm alluding to Super Mario again) with extra props. Or, if you didn't like my analogy with Super Mario, we can use your own: that just sounds a lot like playing World of Warcraft and raiding all the end game instances with 24 priests and a rogue; it's wacky.
Well I think you haven't fully watched that section as he clearly states that when given too much freedom of choice people OFTEN go blank and can't think of anything. I for one had the same problem. It's a good review that does target bad aspects of the game (mainly controls, lack of instructions on levels, etc) and thus I rate this review a nice 8/10jamesmchapman said:
I've avoided playing this game simply because of the control system because it doesn't matter how ambitious, creative, or raved-about your game is if you can't fucking play it or at least jump without cramping your thumbs.
It's like, "If you have to press up on the the D-Pad/Stick to jump, you may as well drive a car without holding the steering wheel."
It's like, "If you have to press up on the the D-Pad/Stick to jump, you may as well drive a car without holding the steering wheel."
Why is everyone saying that DS games are crap?
Some of the best games I've played were on a DS.
Or is this just because it lacks quality graphics?
Some of the best games I've played were on a DS.
Or is this just because it lacks quality graphics?
The game's not that bad. Other than when anyone has to walk anywhere. That does get annoying. They'll run into anything. They are all idiots (stupid gardener, knocking over her own flower basket, spilling the flowers I just put in there and making said basket fall into the world geometry and I have to restart the level).
If you think trying a level once is difficult to think of something, do the advanced level, where you have to do it again, 3 times in a row, with different words each time.
It's fun, but it could have been better. Of course, I like Jrpgs, so what do I know about fun?
If you think trying a level once is difficult to think of something, do the advanced level, where you have to do it again, 3 times in a row, with different words each time.
It's fun, but it could have been better. Of course, I like Jrpgs, so what do I know about fun?