Sword Machine Review Criteria

Like any good video game site/blog, we at Sword Machine also like to review the games we play. Though each review is based completely upon the opinion of the reviewer, we try to let people who anticipated and (for the most part) enjoyed the game. In other words, no Final Fantasy hater will be reviewing a Final Fantasy game. This way, you’ll know how a legitimate fan of the game felt about it. Though we are generally positive about the games we review, we try to be as honest as possible. We’ll tell you what we peed our pants for, and we’ll tell you what made us want to throw a controller out the window.

Additionally, since we don’t receive “review copies” of games for free like some sites do, all of our experience with the games we play comes as a consumer. Thus, if we think a game wasn’t good enough to justify the price, we’ll tell you that.

Our reviews cover only 5 different categories: the story, the visuals, the music and sound, and the game as a whole (the “overall”). Below are what you should expect to see in each area:

Story: Here we’ll talk about the overall story and plot of the game (or lack thereof). After giving you a brief summary of the game’s premise, we’ll tell you if we thought the story is interesting, motivating, makes sense, and keeps you playing the game. We won’t give away any “spoilers” of the game, but we might tell you if the story holds up until the credits finish rolling.

Additionally, since the characters of any good RPG (playable and NPC alike) are closely related to a game’s story, we’ll talk about them here. Were they interesting characters that a player could relate to or sympathize with, or are they cookie-cutter 2-dimensional stereotypes that anyone who had taken elementary English classes could have dreamed up? Do they add to the story or detract from it?

Overall, a good story is one of the main reasons a lot of people play RPGs, so we take this section very seriously. Often times, a bad story will drop an otherwise good RPG down a lot further than some of the other elements.

Visuals: Though many people think of game visuals as strictly “graphics,” we at Sword Machine feel that game visuals are much more than that. We look at the character design, the architecture, the attention to detail – basically, we look at the whole spectrum of a game’s art direction. Thus, a game doesn’t have to be running at 1080p with ultra-photorealistic characters and maps to gain a high score here. In fact, you might find that games with more of an artistic flair tend to garner higher scores from us.

In addition to graphics and art direction, the visuals section covers many of the technical aspects of the games. For instance, problems like freezing, slow-down, framerate problems, and loading times often affect how you see a game, and so any issues related will be discussed here. Thus, even a game with incredible art direction can suffer due to legitimate technical problems, and we want to reflect that in our reviews.

Music & Sound: To us, a game’s soundtrack is just as important as its visuals. It’s one thing if a game looks good, but to sound good can add or detract just as much. In the music & sound section we’ll let you know how the game’s soundtrack affected us and the game. We’ll tell you if the musical score fit the mood, or if every note sounded out of place.

Additionally, we’ll let you know how we felt about any voice work here. We’ll tell you if the game’s voice actors were able to convincingly portray their characters, and if they were able to stay in character. Any additional voice features, like the presence of dual-language tracks, will also be reviewed here.

Gameplay: Gameplay is maybe one of the most hotly discussed topics for any game. A lot of gamers play games based solely on how much fun a game plays. We, too, feel that any good RPG should offer solid, polished gameplay, or it becomes difficult to continue calling it a game.

The gameplay section will first and foremost offer reviews on an RPG’s battle system. Did it fit the game? Was it innovative? Was it intuitive? How was the learning curve? Most importantly, was it fun?

We’ll also talk here about any extra content, like mini-games, achievements, etc, since these things affect how much play you’ll get from your game. Thus, if an otherwise solid title suffers from abominable menus, its gameplay score can take a beating.

Overall: Basically, our final feeling of the game. Is it worth the price of admission? Would we recommend it? Who would like it? Basically, we’ll be summing up everything else we’ve talked about here, highlighting each games main strengths and weaknesses. For those of you not interested in the nitty-gritty, you can probably just read the Overall section and get a feel for what we think of the game.

As a final note, please be aware that the Overall score for a game is not necessarily an average of the other sub-scores, for many games are more or less than the sum of their parts. An example that readily comes to my mind is Atlus’ Persona 3. Though the game really just puts together a lot of already tried-and-true systems into one, the result is one of the most innovative and enjoyable RPGs created (imho).

At the end of the day, however, our reviews are nothing more than our own opinions. Though we have been playing RPGs for what seems like ages, we still love them, and we hope that our reviews reflect that. However, since everyone’s interests, experiences, and opinions are different, you may not 100% agree with us. That’s fine. We encourage you to play the games you want and decide their value for yourself.

For a break-down of our scoring system, check here.