"So I was trying to write reviews of a bunch of hit indie games I played recently. Then I got overwhelmed by the pointlessness of video game reviews these days and had to take a long nap.
And, I mean, pro reviews are pointless, right? If a game has a big enough budget or following and isn’t actively on fire, it gets a 9. If it is a competently made but low-budget indie, like mine, it gets a 7. If you read the actual review (nobody does), it’s a collection of facts about the game you could easily get from watching the trailer. Throw in a couple of comments from the reviewer about whether they like this genre or not, mix in 3 or 4 ham-handed political comments, and you got a review! Hit send!"
I think I get both sides of the matter. Some devs seem to be mad simply because the review is not under their control, and the player isn’t shy saying what’s wrong with the game. But some reviews are like, “2/10 Chinese restaurant, there were no burgers”.
Tbh, to me nonsense negative reviews are a good sign. They don’t influence my opinion about the product (“I’m not looking for burgers so I don’t care that this guy was disappointed that there were no burgers”), but they show me that the company doesn’t force the deletion of bad reviews.
I’ve had it a few times before that e.g. I went to a doctor with perfect 5-star-reviews, only to find out that they suck and they sue anyone who leaves negative reviews.
If I see perfect 5-stars on something, that’s when I get really sceptical. I’d never go to a doctor, a restaurant or a craftsman with perfect 5-star score.
I think it’s a good signal for us users, but for game devs it’s still a problem. Indie games get less reviews, and a negative review means less exposure — the number might not mean anything, but plenty people still act like it did.
Plus game devving is artistic expression, and if there’s something that pisses plenty creators off, it’s when their creations get misunderstood.
https://xkcd.com/1098/
There’s always a relevant xkcd.