The weird world of IGN reviews

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Anglefish

Mario fan and brony!
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If you've seen IGN review games, they are often weird and hilarious. What I mean by "hilarious" is that they give a game a lower review than expected (they typically give out 7s), making the fans angry in the comments below.

An example of this was when IGN reviewed Super Mario 3D World back in 2013 when the game released. They gave it a 9.6/10, an almost perfect score. 3D World deserves that score 'cause it's such a great game.

When Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury released, IGN gave it a 7/10. Some complaints the reviewer had were that the Invincibility Leaf didn't fully protect them and that they can still lose, and that multiplayer is too chaotic and lives ruin the experience. As for Bowser's Fury, they thought that Fury Bowser attacks way too much and that the mode was repetitive. You can check out the review for yourself below this paragraph so you can laugh at it:
youtu.be

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Review

Reviewed by Cam Shea on Nintendo Switch."Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury packs a tonne of engaging gameplay, but neither component comes together as ele...
youtu.be youtu.be

IGN back then was like "Oh wow! This is an amazing game for its time! 9.6/10!"

Now they're like "Another Wii U port with the same issues as the original. And it has a new mode too? 7/10."

This wasn't the only time something like this happened. The recent Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe also got a 7/10 while the original got a 7.5/10. You can laugh at that review too ("King Daydayday"? LOL):
youtu.be

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe reviewed on Nintendo Switch by Colin Stevens.Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe takes a fun but straightforward Wii plat...
youtu.be youtu.be

What's even more surprising is that the infamous Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash got an 8.3/10 and a 7.3/10 respectively. There ain't no way those games are better than the games I mentioned before them.

IGN does weird reviews and separate themselves from other game reviewing websites. Is there a game they reviewed that didn't deserve the low score? Leave a comment!
 
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videogamedunkey's video on game critics pretty much sums up my views regarding game review discourse

 
I don't care about review scores. What matters is what the person says about the game, not the arbitrary number they assign to it. Lots of game reviewers are worried that if they score games too harshly, it'll damage their relationship with game companies. That's why you'll hear reviews that sound super harsh and critical, but then the final score is like, 8.5 lol.

Arlo made a really good video on review scores that I recommend watching:

Also, to defend IGN a little bit, the difference in scores for 3D World was because those 2 reviews were written by 2 completely different people. Not everyone at IGN thinks the same so yeah, the scores will very. Also, the reviewer is spot on about Fury Bowser getting annoying the more you play. Once you realize how little of a threat he actually is, it gets really tiring.

The most bizarre IGN review I've seen is their review of Shin Megami Tensei V, where the reviewer lamented that it wasn't like Persona 5, aka a completely different game in a different series. They ended the review by calling it "Persona without the heart" which has since been memed to death.
 
@Whittle Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe also had a different reviewer than the original game. I say that the same reviewer who reviewed the first game in the series should also review the sequels, like how Dan Stapleton reviewed both Mario + Rabbids games. The same thing could be said for ports/remasters.
 
They were quite controversial with Kingdom Hearts a few times, I remember fondly a reviewer called Roxas a "garbage character nobody cares about" because they didn't like the prologue of Kingdom Hearts II.
 
The Dead Space 2 review is an anti-masterpiece

www.ign.com

Dead Space 2 Review - IGN

After years of waiting, Dead Space 2 is finally here. Now, it's time to find out if Isaac Clarke's return is for the best or if he should've stayed in deep space.
www.ign.com www.ign.com

Dead Space 2 is an amazing game. I'm going to write about its scary moments, cool kills, and how much I dig the main character's internal struggle, but Dead Space 2 is about more than this. When I beat it for the first time, I sat on the couch with my heart racing and dissected the journey I had just taken. Then, I started my second playthrough, and when that was done, I jumped into a new game for the third time. Dead Space 2 is just that good.
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Isaac's losing his mind in Dead Space 2. The guilt is tearing his very sanity apart. That's heavy stuff and it makes for a really engaging story.
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My desire to jump back in really speaks to the shift in Isaac's perspective this time around. Some fans threw hissy fits when Visceral said that there'd be more action in Dead Space 2, but it works and I love it. Isaac feels like a badass here, and he should.
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SparksMarioWiki said:
Imagine if IGN gives the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remaster a 7. Those comments won't be pretty…
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not ign but

Videogame Pundit: Review: Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door (GC)

web.archive.org web.archive.org

Kingdom Hearts heartily presents itself with a deep and mature plot, with just as deep gameplay, with brain teasing puzzles, and complex combat. Paper Mario does not exemplify this quality. In fact, it manages to be one of the worst games ever created, but not only that it alienates every Mario fan who knew Mario as the platforming fiend he was born as.
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(ttyd has a far better plot than Kingdom Hearts, that series plot is memed about on the internet for a reason)

To say Paper Mario is a simplified RPG would be an utter understatement. As an RPG, the game is a catastrophic failure. Is it simple? Do children pick their nose and eat it?. Mario and one of his many party members battle the koopas, goombas, and bob-ombs of the Mario universe. However Nintendo does a horrible job of creating a battle system that works. Mario and his companion deal on average 1 - 6 damage to enemies. Yes, that is absolute maximum in terms of normal hits. Apparently Nintendo thought first grade math was overly complicated for this game, so all the stats, Damage and HP counting is simplified to an almost comical (no, actually not almost) level. You start off dealing one damage to enemies with a mere 2 HP. Work your way up to dealing 6 damage to enemies with a maximum of 150 HP (?). What?! 150? Nintendo, in case you didn't know (I'm guessing you really don't with that brainless Iwata running your show) numbers do exceed 3 digits. In fact you can have upwards of 4...even 5!? Blasphemy, everyone knows more than 3 digits is far too many for the target audience of Paper Mario 2! As I digress (which I rather enjoy doing), please note that my mockery is indicative of the unsatisfying character progression. In a paltry (RPG sub-standard) 30 hour game, your character goes from having 10 to up to 60/70 HP, and dealing 1 to 6 damage...any RPG fanatic knows there are thousands of things wrong with that; most of them being the missing damage of HP Mario should be dealing. What's the explanation? There are a couple. Nintendo is a newbie in the world of RPGs. Never have they created a quality RPG, and this game is no different. The second is that Nintendo is and always will be a children's gaming company. They create games for the sole purpose of pleasing children under the guise of "We make games for Everyone". No you f*cking don't. End of story.
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(this paragraph just bitches about what kind of damage calculation is used here)

(thanks glowsquid i still have this bookmarked...the original review is taken down sadly)
 
Ray Trace said:
(ttyd has a far better plot than Kingdom Hearts, that series plot is memed about on the internet for a reason)
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I've been a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts since childhood (far longer than Mario for that matter) and I do actually thoroughly enjoy the plot of the series. As much as I also love TTYD, outright saying it has a better plot like it's a fact is going a bit far.
 
that's fine but my statement isn't meant to be taken as a fact.
 
Swallow said:
I've been a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts since childhood (far longer than Mario for that matter) and I do actually thoroughly enjoy the plot of the series. As much as I also love TTYD, outright saying it has a better plot like it's a fact is going a bit far.
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Been a fan of Kingdom Hearts since I was a teenager.
 
remember when IGN said 'too much water' in their summary of their review of pokémon omega ruby/alpha sapphire and people to this day make fun of them for it even though 'too much water' was always one of, if not the, biggest complaints about the hoenn games
 
It's not a review, but since it has numbers (so can qualify as scores) and we know how much every loves that, I thought I would mention it: https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/09/13/top-10-movie-wishlist-the-unusual-suspects

Most notably, there are two characters that made it to films:
- Krypto, who is the main character in DC's League of Super-Pets. Sure, he's not the main star of the film but he's front-and-centre so it's worth pointing out. The chance of him having a film is listed as 0.007%
- Spider-Ham, who notably appeared in the Spiderverse films. He may not be the main character in those films but his appearance is noteworthy. Not to mention, he has a short film after him. The chance listed? 0.004%. Not bad for having a really chance to have a film, is it?

Thank you for reading.
 
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