It’s sad, really. There doesn’t seem to be a place to go for those of us just looking to have real, genuine discourse about video games. I’m starting to wonder if I’m asking for too much.
I’m far from perfect; hell, nobody is. However, I do pride myself on all of the reviews I’ve written here. Take my review for Resonance of Fate HD, for example. Despite its age, that title reminded me why I love JRPGS so much.
Regardless, it underperformed. During my playthrough, I noticed certain design choices that more than likely contributed to the game’s reception and critiqued them in my review. More importantly, I displayed awareness, something I’ve realized is severely lacking in nerd culture.
Whenever someone writes a review, whether it’d be an article, a reddit post, or even a comment, awareness is the most important trait one should have. You’re probably asking awareness of what exactly. I’m talking about being aware of the you are in an extremely large, and diverse community.
In gaming, people have different tastes. Some might prefer games that provide a challenge, while others might lean towards ones with a heavy narrative, cozy atmosphere, etc. We all have diverse takes, and tragically, I’m starting to see how intolerant people are to this unavoidable fact of life.
What makes it even more pathetic is that this unhealthy form of discourse is really a conflict over who does what, not about what’s being done. I’ll give you an example. During the Wii U’s lifespan, I was amongst those critical of quite a few decisions Nintendo made, but while browsing forums, I frequently saw the same deflections being made to divert criticism away from the company.
It was always that competition costs more, forced their users to pay for online, and focused way too much on remakes/remasters with better coats of paint. Ironically, these are things that Nintendo would go on to do. On the flip side, I’ve heard plenty of PlayStation users dismiss Nintendo as immature for their colorful and vibrant worlds, yet praise the award-winning Astro Bot.
It’s funny that people stop complaining about the dog shit they smelled on a shoe earlier when the shoe isn’t on the other foot anymore. What’s worse, this mentality also affects game development, as well, because, like I said previously, awareness is important.
Again, I’ll use my review of Resonance of Fate HD as an example. I criticized the lack of a proper tutorial on the mechanics of an already hard game. We never know all the details regarding a game’s development, but this is something that Tri-Ace could’ve innocently overlooked, or purposefully neglected, thinking that the flashy combat would make up for it.
If I were to let my fondness for the game cause me to intentionally leave that out of my review, or worse, go around suppressing other reviews pointing it out, what does that solve? Make no mistake, nobody should tailor their own feedback due to opposing viewpoints, but it’s completely unethical to expect other reviews to parrot your own.
The current state of discourse in the nerd culture is not only disheartening, but it’s also dangerous. I see a growing desire to silence reviews from critics and major outlets, all because we don’t agree with them. People are asking for material to be reviewed by those they already know will give a standing ovation.
Though it won’t happen, I hope the community really takes the time to think about what they’re asking for. We’re in the stage where people are simply flocking to spaces that validate their own insecure views. We’re attempting to make an echo chamber, a hive mind, and eventually, I hope that those pushing for this realize how easy it is for corporations to steamroll their consumers when they have a mindset like this.
Gaming Resurged 
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