I've just been struck with the sudden inspiration to start a thread for people to post Guild Wars 2 reviews in, but since I think the idea of a complete collection of every internet-person's opinion of the game is arbitrary and more than a little useless (also I'm lazy), I've instead decided to create a "favorite reviews" thread. What this means is that each poster who wants to contribute - starting with me - can submit a single review of the game that I will periodically collect and place in the OP next to their name and the names of anyone else who expresses an appreciation for that particular submission (to limit mutual self-congratulation, a name may only appear beside a single review). This is not limited to pieces by "big" gaming outlets, positive reviews, or even to traditional review structures. Hopefully, the result will be a selection of well-presented/well-argued sources that anyone could come to and reference for a good sense of what Guild Wars 2 actually is as a game.
Also, while submissions are limited to one apiece, feel free to lay out several that you liked in your post. Just try to avoid huge lists with little commentary. Remember that we're not trying to Metacritic it up here.
LIST STARTS HERE:
- PC Gamer review While I've typically viewed PC Gamer as one of those sorta iffy by-the-numbers publications, this review struck me as surprisingly excellent. It frames itself in a sensible, interesting way (taking similar situations from GW2 and other well-known MMOs and contrasting them) while presenting strengths and flaws not as independent entities but rather things that have an influence on each other. The conclusion, also, with its attention to the game's overall design philosophy instead of a simple restatement of mechanics, was very enjoyable. -
- Gamespot reviewI love Kevin VanOrd. No, not quite romantically (although, I do find his exquisite taste in RPGs to be occasionally arousing--that's normal, right?). I mean, I think he's probably my favourite critic of my favourite genre: the RPG. He does a really spectacular job with the highlights and lowlights of the game in his exhaustive review. I spent a lot of time playing alongside him during his livestream/review process for The Secret World and it really gave me an appreciation for his ability to look at games critically within the moment. I think the most notable aspect of his review is that he has a solid understanding of ArenaNet's ambitions and design philosophies, and the design philosophies of the genre that have since become fairly dated with repetition. It feels like he wholly understands them rather than simply regurgitating ArenaNet's own speak. For the more traditional 'summary and criticism' style of game review that Gamespot is known for, I think he does a really great job with it. -
- This is obviously the best review of GW2. -
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