Rolling Out the Ratings

Update: New rating system in video game reviews, plus review of Ys Book I & II.

I resisted giving games absolute ratings in my reviews for a long time. Apart from ratings being entirely subjective, a game is more than the sum of its parts; a game that is seemingly inferior in one or more aspects can sometimes be just as entertaining as a game with a higher overall rating, if not more so. Still, ratings are sort of fun, and can be some kind of indication about the game's overall quality, so I finally gave in, and added a rating system to the video game review section.

The new rating system is quite simple: Games are given simple verbal evaluations on five main areas: general opinion, story, graphics, sound and gameplay. (These have been there since the beginning of the review section.) Now, based on these evaluations, each area is given a rating of no star, half a star or full star. These stars are added up for a total rating of 0-5 stars. (Although, since I don't really review games I don't like, it's rare to see ratings below three stars.)

I've now added ratings to all the existing reviews, although I may still do a little tweaking. Additionally, I recently played the TurboGrafx-16 game Ys Book I & II, a rather enjoyable oldschool action RPG title, and the review is now online.

Web Shows

I've been very quiet lately, haven't I? Well, nothing grand to blog about. Just same old boring existence. I'll leave out my epiphanies concerning traditional magical weapons and formulas, which aren't likely to interest anyone, and get on to proper weblog matter.

I've discovered some fun web shows of late, namely The Guild and The Legend of Neil. Both are hilarious, mainly targeted to gamers, and feature the amazing Felicia Day (who I've totally got a crush on). I've watched the earlier episodes of both shows during the last week or two, and can't wait for new episodes! And that's about all I have to say this time.