Hot take: I think review (and to SOME extent, scores) matter a lot

Now, don't get me wrong. Personal experience is, and always will be, king. If you enjoy a game that's a 3/10 on metacritic or whatever then that's an awesome game for you and it's amazing that you found it.

But realistically, how many games did you really enjoy that are under, say, 6 on metacritic? Heck, maybe even under 7. Do you have a significant amount of favorites that are in the 6-7 mark? Somehow I'd say that's unlikely for most people (again, just my baseless assumption).

But yeah, while I wouldn't say scores should be THE defining factor when picking up a game, I think sometimes people go too far in the other direction. How many of us have the money AND time to "try and decide for yourself!" for every game we might be on the fence.

Filtering just by scored results, there are 459 games logged on metacritics for just 2025. It is insane to expect people to "give a chance" (even an hour long try considering steam refunds and all) to even 20% of this, let alone all of it.

And while one could argue the time you spend reading and doing research could be used trying games, that's also unrealistic. I read game reviews when desk warming at work. I browse reddit when commuting and etc. Then I feel like I know what to keep on my radar and what to "deprioritize".

And yeah, I'm sure some gems escape me because of that. But you know what? Doing some research, checking scores and especially reading/watching/listening to reviews from trusted reviewers whose tastes I understand. (Like, I know Dunkey is not a JRPG guy, more of a "gameplay first" kind of person I'd say and I know shillup can be more tired of tropey content).

And of course, sometimes things go backwards. I tried skate story because of all the good press and was super bored and dropped it. One of my favorite series (Super Robot Wars) is never going to be even in any GOTY conversation (not even top scores lol) but I still love it much more than some highly scored games.

Maybe this post will read a lot like "Well no shit Sherlock" to many, but I guess this maybe is mostly about venting cause I'll admit it does bother me when people go to the point of calling reviews and scores irrelevant and have these weird theories that all reivewers are bought and they all suck at gaming so their experience is irrelevant to us.

Yeah, there are lots of bad reviews for sure, but I'd wager there is quite a large number of people that are just as "hardcore" (for lack of a better word) as any one who games just for fun.

So yeah, if you're on the fence and have the time and money to try a game? Absolutely the best option. But don't listen to people who tell you reviews and scores are irrelevant. Information helps you make better choices.