The final installment of the Rocksteady Arkham trilogy has finally arrived, and its impact is exactly what you would expect from any hotly anticipated game these days. Most people have already decided that they love this game, and unfortunately, anyone that disagrees with this “well-founded” opinion is met with scorn and outrage. This happens every time with games that fall under the public’s favour and its kind of pathetic. Gamespot’s “divisive” 8/10 review of The Last of Us is an extreme example of this. According to many, this was the “final nail in the coffin” for Gamespot, as this paltry 8/10 review shows that they hate gaming and don’t understand anything about criticism… that is until Gamespot turns around and gives a game they know they’ll like a score they agree with, because in that case, Gamespot knows exactly what they’re doing and whoever else disagrees with them is crazy. We’ve seen this time and time again, and it has happened once again with Arkham Knight, for which Gamespot once again finds itself at the centre of its controversy. Giving the game a 7/10 score over criticisms that mostly centred around the use of the Batmobile (which is a legitimate problem), the review was met with a ton of backlash. Just outright hatred for a singular reviewer for having the audacity to not agree with them on one particular thing. Even more saddening is the fact that the type of people getting bent out of shape over reviews tend to fanatically cling to others who agree with them, even after naming those parties as trash over occasions where they weren’t in agreement. They go on long rants, comparing different review scores from games they didn’t like to the games they do to “prove” that they’re right about the reviewer’s inadequacy; as if to say that every review made for a website is from one person and that people can’t possibly enjoy things more than you did. You have to question their level of self-esteem and the value they hold in for their own thoughts and self-worth. I don’t understand why people need this type of validation when it comes to liking video games.

#GamerGate was a movement that tried to sell the idea that the biggest problem in gaming journalism was one random woman’s sex life, but all of this is leading me to believe that it’s actually angry fans that can’t stand people that think differently than they do. So much so that I really don’t trust modern reviews these days because everything that people want to do well, end up getting “perfect” scores. Obviously flawed games are getting 10/10’s constantly, and I fear that this may be out of fear of backlash. We have actually gotten to the point where there are people who will have angry reactions to 8/10 review scores. That’s problematic, definitely more so than whether or not this person I’ve never heard of slept with these other people I don’t care about.

I don’t really have much else to say on this other than a short rant about the whole “Too Much Water” controversy revolving around a review for a remake of Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire. As someone who vividly remembers playing the originals around the time they were released, I can tell you that ya, there were WAY too many water sections. Why are people mocking the reviewer with a meme over this fact? There was a legitimate point. Some of us don’t like constant random encounters blaring in our faces for long stretches of time. With grass you can maneuver around it, but water sections force you to continuously play Russian Roulette with the chance encounter system for extended periods of time. There is only so much one can take of constantly having to run away from monotonous battles against uninteresting opponents.

Quote of the Day:

Gonna do something special today and not add quotes, but instead links to amusing pictures from the latest Arkham game that relates directly to the inanity of the internet.

Enjoy: