Far Cry 5: Why Reviews should not be Political
Added 2018-03-29 07:24:10 +0000 UTCRemember when games were supposed to be fun? It seems many Traditional Games Media Critics have forgotten that.
Comments
My apologies.
Bill Jahnel
2018-03-31 08:51:33 +0000 UTCWAY too much text.
SidAlpha
2018-03-31 05:54:08 +0000 UTCI listened to your recent critique with interest but also some question or concern. I wonder if you might consider the following: Should, for example, Focus on the Family "not be allowed" to create movie reviews for how well a movie represents Christian Faith / values? There are numerous right-wing organizations that do very much the same thing -- create reviews of products that specifically look at media products -- games,movies, television -- from a specifically political angle. The second question I suppose I have -- when you have previous railed on certain types of microtransactions and loot box gambling mechanics and such things as negative, you have sometimes suggested remedies. Would you suggest the remedy for this be some form of either censorship or self-censorship? I have to agree that it is often problematical to review the game that you wanted made versus the game you actually did make -- along that road lies a bumpy path -- but still people compare games to previous entries for better or worse emotional impact, storyline, or coherence. Lord knows we have realism trolls that call out when your crosshair on a gun is wrong. Finally -- I wonder if the argument "Don't you remember when games were just about fun?" is a line that does tend to get a bit loaded. Certainly it is absolutely appropriate to call out excessive grind, for example, as something that becomes less a game than a job. (Then again, some people love Candy Crush and roguelike games -- and then there is that Cuphead!) Similarly, some games are clearly lauded because they have powerful messaging -- Bioshock for example -- and some games also clearly are not quite fun but compelling -- for example, Doki Doki Literature Club. The "We should remember when it was only about the fun" is strangely reminiscent of "Remember when there were no politics on sci fi or fantasy but only adventure?" rallying cry of the SadPuppy / Rabid Puppies campaign. While in no way suggesting your plaintive cry was anything more than born of frustration, I wonder if maybe looking at that specific campaign against the Hugos, teh targets it was directed at, and the language they used might make one consider if there are any parallels in your arguments. Of course, again to be fair -- you are criticizing the overpolitication of the review, not the game itself. And therefore I would accept that comparison as possibly invalid. But hopefully at least worthy of consideration. Anyway, just a series of thoughts. I found the specific nature of the comments in YouTube also very illuminating.
Bill Jahnel
2018-03-31 05:36:35 +0000 UTCFar cry has been explicitly political for two versions now. That's independent of scifi, fantasy, and action genres all have built in politics. Games being art means they get to be discussed as art.
Greg Walters
2018-03-29 13:45:16 +0000 UTC
