Review-Scores Are Meaningless And Illogical

Videogames are works of art - creative things made by people. Scores mean something when they can be compared to two equal things. For example, when two people take the same multiple-choice test, the higher score means something because those two people took the same test; it was a fair comparison. With videogames and other forms of art, numerical scores are meaningless and illogical because games are not created with the same goals in mind, nor the same budgets.

I remember hearing José Otero, when he was at IGN, talking about the rationale behind review-scores and all the drama and minutiae that goes into determining these numbers; it was beyond stupid. It reminds me of The Game Theorist on YouTube, and how he goes into insane amounts of detail into things that don't matter, and can't be proven.

Today, the review-embargo for Super Mario Odyssey was lifted, and many great scores came out. What does this mean? It means whatever it means to you. Does it mean it's a good game? No. Only you can decide that. I know what it means to me. It means that I won't really like it, and I'll be disappointed. My tastes are vastly different from the professional reviewers out there. They gave Zelda Breath tens all over the place, and I found that game wanting. Super Odyssey will probably be the same.

I have given up on the hope that a modern game will wow me like the games from my childhood. Shigeru Miyamoto has stopped directing. His games are my favorite of all time, and so I would rather play his games again than waste my money on new games and be disappointed.

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