I always expect less than glowing reviews for any Adventure game on sites that cater for multi platforms & a variety of genres as they are always compared.

But I do expect sites that cater exclusively for AGs to present a fair review in context of the genre & come across from the point of view from someone who has actually played the game to conclusion & has understood it's content!

My rant has been prompted by reading a 'professional' review of the Indie game 'To the Moon'. While I don't disagree with most of what was written the game had deeper aspects which weren't mentioned.

But this quote "There were a few times when it appeared I could click on story elements between transitions, and other times when it seemed cursor graphics didn't load for a scene properly. For example, you'll typically have feet show up for the cursor for traversing different map area or going up and down stairs, but every so often you'll have an hourglass instead" This quote is followed with a screenshot & a caption "You get this cursor sporadically through the game when you expect to see other cursors". (Referring to the hourglass icon just to get the point across!)  This comes across as an inconsistency on the part of the developer, but in this particular game, if the reviewer had been paying attention, he should have picked up on that the hourglass icon symbolized a slight time shift & accessed a different moment in the current time-frame!     Reviews can make or break a a game so I think it's important that reviewers play the game through & don't base their comments on part of it & research what they see as inconsistencies before criticising them.

This is just one game that's been given short shrift by a seemingly uninterested reviewer but there are many others......    

My personal belief on this matter is this - it's very popular nowadays to do 'angry' reviews.

You see this a lot on websites, people who 'review' games by simply ranting or raving about supposed negative points, without any attempt to give a balanced thought or structured opinions. I've seen people rant because they couldn't figure out controls without reading the instruction manuals (my reply to that is "read the instruction manuals then")

Originally Posted By loobiloo (20 MAR 2012 5:06pm)

 

 

But this quote "There were a few times when it appeared I could click on story elements between transitions, and other times when it seemed cursor graphics didn't load for a scene properly. For example, you'll typically have feet show up for the cursor for traversing different map area or going up and down stairs, but every so often you'll have an hourglass instead" This quote is followed with a screenshot & a caption "You get this cursor sporadically through the game when you expect to see other cursors". (Referring to the hourglass icon just to get the point across!)  This comes across as an inconsistency on the part of the developer, but in this particular game, if the reviewer had been paying attention, he should have picked up on that the hourglass icon symbolized a slight time shift & accessed a different moment in the current time-frame!        

..or the icon cursor signifies that a new scene or new content is busy loading, and one just has to be patient for a few seconds while your PC is working?

...in which case it really shows ignorance.  It sounds like this person should either buy more RAM for their PC or stop blaming games for long loading times.

I can completely relate to what you are saying MJEccles - rants & unconstructive opinions don't help anyone!

The review I was referring to was for the most part very good & fair.

Traveller, I think it's fair enough if a reviewer mentions loading times between scenes. In this case I'm sure that they had plenty of RAM & my issue isn't with any complaint about loading times - I just wouldn't have posted about that!

The game involves the player in travelling back through a patient's memories to a section in their timeline, each one spanning from minutes - hours - months.

In each time-line, by clicking on the footprints to move around you may see various images of the patient simultaneously at slightly different moments in time but their actions/word link together to give a complete picture of the scenario.

The hourglass turns up to signify a shift to a different scenario either slightly earlier or later in time than the current one! 

Hey! I don't know why I'm writing this - it's not going to make any sense to anyone who hasn't played the game! But there just isn't any inconsistency with the cursors for anyone paying attention!   

Originally Posted By loobiloo (28 MAR 2012 1:36pm)

I can completely relate to what you are saying MJEccles - rants & unconstructive opinions don't help anyone!

 

The review I was referring to was for the most part very good & fair.

 

Traveller, I think it's fair enough if a reviewer mentions loading times between scenes. In this case I'm sure that they had plenty of RAM & my issue isn't with any complaint about loading times - I just wouldn't have posted about that!

 

The game involves the player in travelling back through a patient's memories to a section in their timeline, each one spanning from minutes - hours - months.

 

In each time-line, by clicking on the footprints to move around you may see various images of the patient simultaneously at slightly different moments in time but their actions/word link together to give a complete picture of the scenario.

 

The hourglass turns up to signify a shift to a different scenario either slightly earlier or later in time than the current one! 

 

Hey! I don't know why I'm writing this - it's not going to make any sense to anyone who hasn't played the game! But there just isn't any inconsistency with the cursors for anyone paying attention!   

 

       

You explained it very nicely and clearly, I do understand.  Thanks for clarifying! 

Hmm...  Without having played the game myself, it's problematic to comment, but it does occur to me that an hourglass cursor is idiomatic in computing for a "waiting" state - to use it to convey something else, while arguably not intrinsically incorrect, seems to me to be potentially unwise.

While some users might quickly pick up on and adapt to the new use, I do think that I can easily see others remaining confused by such. :/