So, did anyone find the Dragon's Crown review by polygon actually useful?

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I'm sure by now most people know of this situation. In a different website one counterpoint I recieved when bringing up the seeming lack of usefulness of the review was the following:

"Just because the review doesn't cater to my tastes doesn't mean that there isn't someone else out there who might find it more useful."


So, I wonder, does that stand to reason? Is there anybody here who felt genuinely helped in some way by having read the review? (in the intended way, helpled by it as a review is meant to help, it functioning as a laughter aid does not count!)


If you're out there, speak up, say exactly how the review was useful for you in deciding your purchase or not of the game or whatever it is that it affected in your mind. Thanks!

 

[Miss G.]

It was useful in telling me that it would be repetitive, that I'd get very confused during battles with too many things on screen... and it showed me the Amazon in motion. If a game says ATLUS anywhere on the package, and its also not in 1st person, I'll usually give it a try, at the very least. Even so, I'll say that sometimes I won't touch a game if I hate the art style. I love the enemy artwork and the Wizard and the Elf, but the other characters (you know the ones, males included), if they were enemies, sure. They, however, are not enemies, they're playable characters and that's where the aesthetics sour for me. To my tastes, its fine if an enemy or a boss is grotesque or just something that annoys you (like some of the demons in the Shin Megami Tensei series) because usually your task is to defeat/kill or tame them, but in this case you're supposed to be playing as them or in the case of NPCs, saving them - I'll pass on this one.

Nothing against the game, but I'm not into co-op games or brawlers anyway so the art style of the rest of the characters just leaves me more disinterested than I would've been otherwise once I knew what genre it was. Art style is what got me to try Okami when I usually avoid Zelda-esque games, real time battles, and game sections that require platforming (because I must be magnetically attracted to pitfalls), so that kinda thing really matters to me when I'm looking for a game/genre to get into.

 

[thebakedpotato]

Are you reading said reviews for the purposes of being entertained by personal commentary and critique, or are you using it for some other reason?

I mean... I didn't read it. But I still found it useful to a degree. I mean someone can come up to me and say "That Polygon review was total bullshit!" and I can immediately identify them as someone who I most likely don't want to talk to.

I'd say that's useful in many ways.

 

[Elijin]

I enjoyed the part where complaints were made about the presentation of female characters/art being over sexualised and made gross, while not mentioning the male counterparts at all.

Made especially entertaining by the screenshot included within the review where the warriors head isnt even as big as his pecs.

 

[Caiphus]

Jim Sterling found it useful because he was able to make a video about it.

I was then able to, vicariously, find it useful by enjoying his video.

So it turned out better than anything I've ever written. Including this post!

 

[TehCookie]

I learned the gameplay doesn't seem good enough to offset the bad artstyle and make it worth a purchase. I liked the old sidescrollers so it was a game I was slightly interested in, but I can't say I had much hope for it when I saw the characters.

Unless you mean the part where they talk about sexism, I didn't care about that and figured they were jumping on the feminism bandwagon for a few extra views.

 

[Zhukov]

Sorry, I must have missed the drama. What exactly did Polygon do wrong with their DC review? Or are we just using them as a default because they're pretty terrible in general?

They gave it a 6.5/10 and said that they didn't like the sexualized female character designs.

Fucking scandalous, I know.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

I dunno, I've not actually read it.

Gimmie a mo'

...
...

Okay. I can see where some of the hullabaloo is coming from in that criticizing the art direction of a game is maybe best left to editorializing and less to a critical review of the game play and maybe shouldn't be a major factor in the game's over all score. Which, it's worth pointing out that a 6.5 is above average and really isn't a bad score.

That being said, the critical review portion was actually quite useful. I'd been on the fence about buying it because on one hand, I really liked Odin Sphere and I was hoping for more of the same. On the other hand...I actively dislike all of the art direction in Dragon's Crown and it's been a major sticking point for me in terms of my interest in the game. (the latter being a wee bit hypocritical of me since I get annoyed by folks who didn't like Windwaker strictly because of the art style.)

The review at least clarified a lot of points for me in that, as I had suspected, the game is pretty repetitive and requires a significant amount of grinding with very little variety to offset the grind. I like side scrolling beat-em-ups but I need them to have a sense of progression to offset the repetition and it doesn't appear that DC provides that.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Just read it and its not a bad review at least the meat of the review is good as it actually talks about the game I do have a problem when they start telling me what to think however that just seems preachy and a bit patronising.

As for the game it seems it is what I had expected for a dungeon crawler and I was ready for the repetitiveness as all games of this type suffer from it, personally I like the art style mainly because it has its own art style like all vanillaware games the disgaea games and a few others such as Okami and Journey, they are all very distinctive visually and I enjoy that.

I have no idea why the reviewer played the Amazon though if they didnt like the look of them what went through her mind? hmmm I think this woman is distastefully portrayed with a stupidly huge arse and breasts yep thats the one I will play as...er ok you know you dont have to play as the Amazon or Sorceress if you dont want to. All I can say is it must not have bothered her that much.

 

[Eduku]

I do have a problem when they start telling me what to think however that just seems preachy and a bit patronising.

Exactly my feelings on reviews as well. When I read a review I want to know if it's functional and fun to play. I do not want someone preaching at me as if they were some self appointed vanguard of justice. Guilty culprits include: Kotaku, Rock Paper Shotgun and now Polygon. My list of reviewers to avoid is starting to grow.

 

[Arina Love]

i found it useful to decide not to visit polygon anymore.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Sorry, I must have missed the drama. What exactly did Polygon do wrong with their DC review? Or are we just using them as a default because they're pretty terrible in general?

They gave it a 6.5/10 and said that they didn't like the sexualized female character designs.

Fucking scandalous, I know.

I know right? Now that there's a review floating around out there that didn't lavish the game with praise the devs are obligated by law to take away everyone's Sorceress with tits so heavy she has to magically levitate them to prevent her spine from snapping in half.

Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where single bad review didn't scour a game from the face of the earth as if it had never existed? A world where the personal opinion of one reviewer didn't ruin everyone's fun by forcing the g-men to take their toys away? Alas, such a utopia is far out of our reach, so I suppose anyone who bought the game will have to hide it under their floorboards and hope the gestapo doesn't come knocking to haul it away to the incinerator and then wipe their memories of its existence.

I would hazard to suggest that no single unimportant blogger masquerading as a journalist should have the power to unilaterally ban a game from being played across the world, but we all know that the wrath of such god among mortals is not a thing to be lightly tempted.

Alas poor Dragon's Crown, I knew ye. May a choir of angels sing you to the legendary landfill where arbiters of quality banish that which they feel is unfit for our consumption. The world will surely be poorer now that no human will ever experience your nirvana of entertainment quality.

 

[captainballsack]

It was an opinion from her perspective. People who find themselves similar to or can relate to the reviewer would have found it useful.

The review presented a perspective on the game, as do all reviews. Just because that perspective is different to yours, doesn't mean that it should be criticized any more than any other article. As far as I'm concerned, she made her points and argued them with evidence. I respect her point of view and now I know the certain issues that the game can raise in regards to a female game journalist's perspective, or more "usefully", an intelligent female gamer's perspective.

I think the amount of criticism is extremely unwarranted. Why is it that when a female puts fourth an argument and her opinion of a game, we criticize it and treat it considerably differently than when it's a male journalist? It's like we're somehow offended, and that doesn't really look right in terms of how we present ourselves as a community.

If you are a feminist and you are interested in games, then the Polygon Dragon's Crown review is for you. No doubt the art style raises the issue itself, so Polygon's decision to have their feminist journalist review it was more than appropriate. How about we conduct ourselves in a more civil manner?

 

[Andy Shandy]

Yup. It told me that the gameplay can be repetitive, and that the art-style has the distinct possibility of being off-putting to varying degrees.

A hell of a lot more useful to me than most of the other reviews out there anyway.

 

[Candidus]

I had no idea it was even a thing until Jim's video.

I still haven't read it. No point. I already know what it is.

Someone with a certain chip on their shoulder interacts with something that they know will upset their chip, thereby provoking themselves into saying what they already decided months ago they wanted to say about the game, and scoring it what they already decided months ago to score it regardless of its quality or other details.

I know, I'm right on the money. No need to tell me.

I'm not giving that site or that reviewer a hit from my browser. Not worth it.

 

[GoaThief]

/snippage

Could you at least provide a link as I believe a good chunk of us have no idea what you are talking about.

Polygon is not on my list of regular and worthwhile destinations.