Daily Debate: Do You Read Reviews To Inform Your Video Game Purchases?
Posted on December 04 2021 by Sean Gadus
One of the biggest barrier to enjoying video games is the relatively high price tag. Because of the cost involved, there are many discussions around the internet about the price of video games, and the content a player should receive for the respective prices that the player pays. Another potential frustration with buying games is the sour feeling of buying game that looks great, but ends of being middling to poor. One way that various news outlets and content creators have tried to help players decide how to spend their money more efficiently is by giving reviews of games. If a person is wondering what a game is like, they can check reviews to see what experiences other people (whether it is journalists, content creators, or everyday users) are having with a game.
With that in mind, do you use reviews to help inform your video game purchases? Overall, I always read or watch a few review before purchasing a game, although the Zelda series is the one place where I am willing to break that rule. When checking a review, I am not necessarily looking at the score at the end, but I like to hear some of comments different writers or creator have about the game. One of my biggest fear when buying games is purchasing games that are either unpolished or has a lot of bugs, so reviews can sometimes help me see which games might be a good investment at launch and which games I might want to check back on later in the year.
There are some cons to using reviews. First, you have to trust the source of the information or explore multiple sources to see a wider scope of the opinions. Second, some players want to go into a game without any spoilers, and some video game reviews will offer some type of spoilers or show different areas in the game. While video reviews have gotten better and better at keeping spoilers to a minimum, some fans might just want to steer clear on principle. This is the reason why I avoid reviews for new Zelda games. I do not want to see anything that could even be considered a minor spoiler, so approaching a game’s launch I do not watch anything outside of the trailers that Nintendo releases for the games.
What do you think? Do you use reviews to help inform your video game purchases? If you do, what are you looking for in a review? If not, why don’t you use reviews? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
