Can You Give Advice When It Comes To Making Video Game Reviews?

In the past I have made psp video game reviews. At the time it was more of an experiment to try something new. For most part I had some reviews that people liked and disliked. It can be fun and disheartening at times. I've experience my share of haters, racists the whole bundle. My old youtube channel dragonheartsgrave got flagged so much it was on the verge of being shutdown. Sense my life at the time was going to shit, and I didn't have the time to make vids I decided to close it down.

But now I'm looking to give it another try. I have a video recorder that I can use to record ps3 vids, and I want to attract a larger audience this time. I want to get views and have most people talking about my vids in a positive way. I don't want to make vids and barely have any views, and end up having a negative reaction. For me that will be a complete waste of time. So I'm looking for some advice to any GB members on this site. What are things you liked and dislike about video game reviewers? What are great ways to start off a youtube channel?

Btw.. if anyone decides to act like a dick on this thread towards me. You can go fuck yourself I'm just saying this ahead of time.

Be openminded.

Having reviewed games myself for nearly three years now, the best advice I can give is for you to remember that reviews are your opinion. No matter how many times you get called a piece of shit for your opinion, so long as you have good solid reasons for that opinion having been formed, you shouldn't get down on yourself because of what those people are saying. People forget that reviews are opinion and often take reviews to mean that you're saying a game is bad or is boring when in actual fact you're just saying that you thought it was bad or you thought it was boring.

talk about specifics.

if im watching a review for a game, lets just say, skyrim. i already know its an open world RPG. tell me about how well constructed the dungeons are, how in depth the perk trees are, how the scripting can sometimes bug out, about specific pro's and cons to the game.

give details and reasons for your opinions. don't say crap like "the shooting in this shooter feels good, the campaign is too linear" its really vague and generic.

getting more youtube hits and crap i have no idea, i just know when i watch/read a review i want details and reasons for your opinions, not just generic phrases. the more you can backup your judgements, the more valid they become. so just support all the points you make. thats what i like to see in reviews at least.

@JoeMarsden said:

Having reviewed games myself for nearly three years now, the best advice I can give is for you to remember that reviews are your opinion. No matter how many times you get called a piece of shit for your opinion, so long as you have good solid reasons for that opinion having been formed, you shouldn't get down on yourself because of what those people are saying. People forget that reviews are opinion and often take reviews to mean that you're saying a game is bad or is boring when in actual fact you're just saying that you thought it was bad or you thought it was boring.

That is true reviews is all about opinion. Its always about displaying how you feel about a certain game, and giving out good valid reasons.

@Clonedzero said:

talk about specifics.

if im watching a review for a game, lets just say, skyrim. i already know its an open world RPG. tell me about how well constructed the dungeons are, how in depth the perk trees are, how the scripting can sometimes bug out, about specific pro's and cons to the game.

give details and reasons for your opinions. don't say crap like "the shooting in this shooter feels good, the campaign is too linear" its really vague and generic.

getting more youtube hits and crap i have no idea, i just know when i watch/read a review i want details and reasons for your opinions, not just generic phrases. the more you can backup your judgements, the more valid they become. so just support all the points you make. thats what i like to see in reviews at least.

That is some good advice. Giving out more detail instead of saying stuff that people know. I'll keep that in mind when I start reviewing again.

Take notes.

@Video_Game_King said:

Take notes.

I've actually done that before when I made psp reviews.

Write your script before hand. Don't just have video of the game and talk over it without at least having some talking points planned out. This'll be sure to keep you from rambling off topic and sticking to your thoughts on what is good and bad about the game. That's about all the advice I can give since I don't make or watch video reviews. I just write reviews, which is a very different discipline.

Be honest and open. If you didnt get chance to check out the multiplayer of a game, say so etc etc. I do written reviews as my voice is not conductive to podcasts or videos, even though I would love to do some so others will be able to speak more specifically to that, but be honest and open and not too jaded.

Don't do what other, more successful people are doing.It's sad, but people won't care what a random dude thinks of a AAA game when they can just visit metacritic and have access to dozens of reviews written by industry veterans.

Carve out your niche or at least go about the usual things in a more unique way.

@GS_Dan said:

Don't do what other, more successful people are doing.It's sad, but people won't care what a random dude thinks of a AAA game when they can just visit metacritic and have access to dozens of reviews written by industry veterans.

Carve out your niche or at least go about the usual things in a more unique way.

That is true too. Its always best to do reviews that's unique and standout from the crowd. It will be hard but I'm willing to give it a try.

@falserelic said:

I want to attract a larger audience this time. I want to get views and have most people talking about my vids in a positive way. I don't want to make vids and barely have any views, and end up having a negative reaction. For me that will be a complete waste of time.

Best advice I can give is to do these reviews for yourself - because you want to, you enjoy the process, and you're proud of the results. If you're doing it to try and be Internet famous, you've already lost. Fact is there's a ridiculous amount of cats doing this same thing, and basically no reason anyone should listen to you - the trick is to not get caught up in all that and disappointed because your view count isn't as high as you think it should be. Do it for yourself, have fun with it, and your work will have that "soul" that makes it something special, and ironically, more likely to attract people to it than if you were actively trying to cater to them.

I know it sounds basic, but replay value and lasting appeal are really important to me - one thing that kills me with a lot of reviews is when the reviewer is focused only on the presentation and features of the game, and neglects to account for their experience as a whole, or what would specifically make the game valuable. These reviews hardly tell me anything that I couldn't get just by asking a friend who bought the game how they liked it. It's the reason why I love Quick Looks so much, given that I can just watch some gameplay for myself and reach my own conclusions.

Be yourself and don't force yourself to say things you don't mean. It's better to keep an honest relationship with your audience than it is to lie to them about your opinion. If you hate some AAA game that has a huge following it's okay to say so. If you like a game that is mostly regarded as crap say so. The job of the reviewer isn't to be objective, it's to create a sense of connection with your audience. They know what they're inclined to like and you don't need to reaffirm it. Your audience just needs a point of reference, even if it's one they typically disagree with.

Be a teenage girl with big tits and talk about games as if you know nothing about them. INSTANT SUCCESS ON YOUTUBE!

If you feel you need to compare title X with title Y, do it when it's only necessary. This is something that bothers me a lot from modern reviewers: they review a game under the light of another. While this is not inherently evil, it can lead to incredibly biased positions. Two examples I have very fresh in my mind:

1. Sleeping Dogs uses a form of combat very similar to that popularized by Batman: Arkham Asylum/City. Pointing out how the game tries to improve on it or adapt it to the needs of the specific context in which it takes place (Wei Shen doesn't have gadgets, for example) is perfectly fine. Saying that it's a dumbed down version of Batman's combat is not, even if if it is (which is not, but for the sake of the example, let's say it is).
2. In her review for Darksiders II, the IGN editor claimed that the game's graphics weren't as good as God of War III's. Why did she compare those two games? Basically, because of the combat... but that's it. She completely ignored the easthetical choices that Darksiders II takes over God of War III, the continuity with the first game's visual appearence, the personal style of Joe Mad, etc. The fact that one game plays similar to another doesn't mean it should follow its style. You can criticize low-res textures, awkward character models, etc... but not lower the score (or "appreciation", in general terms) of a game because it doesn't look like some other similar game. (And for the record, Darksiders II is more similar to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in the combat department, but whatever).

What I'm trying to say is that no game is an island, but try not to review a game through others.

Keep in mind that not everybody should make video reviews. Some people are incredibly boring or lack the skill required to pronounce words properly. Then you have people who simply sound like they're reciting a written review. In your case, it sounds like your nostrils are filled with mucous when you talk. Whenever I hear you voice, I think of the rapper Shyne.

Furthermore, the video is just boring to watch. Nothing you say gives me any incentive to keep watching.

Don't start a let's play channel and play nothing but flavor of the months games like Slender and Happy Wheels.

@BurningStickMan said:

@falserelic said:

I want to attract a larger audience this time. I want to get views and have most people talking about my vids in a positive way. I don't want to make vids and barely have any views, and end up having a negative reaction. For me that will be a complete waste of time.

Best advice I can give is to do these reviews for yourself - because you want to, you enjoy the process, and you're proud of the results. If you're doing it to try and be Internet famous, you've already lost. Fact is there's a ridiculous amount of cats doing this same thing, and basically no reason anyone should listen to you - the trick is to not get caught up in all that and disappointed because your view count isn't as high as you think it should be. Do it for yourself, have fun with it, and your work will have that "soul" that makes it something special, and ironically, more likely to attract people to it than if you were actively trying to cater to them.

That's what I did when I first started out making vids. It was only for fun I wasn't looking to get money out of it. It was just that I wasn't having to many views, and not alot of people was commenting or rating some of my vids. At times I felt like I was doing something wrong or my vids wasn't good enough. After awhile it wasn't so much fun if I didn't have anyone to watch my vids.

So that's why I feel like I need to do something more. To make my vids better and grab people's attention. If I don't I'll be just like every other reviewer that doesn't have much going.

After giving it some thought maybe making reviews isn't for me. Its probably best for me to find something else.