Reviews WebAnimation / Zero Punctuation

You know you can't distrust an opinion because an opinion is how someone personally feels about something, who are you to say an opinion is wrong, if he didn't like it he didn't like it if you did good for you. I'll be honest here most of his reviews are correct and I agree with him especially about Nintendo they can't just make the same game every year, and for the record there are some JRPG's and Nintendo games he liked. I won't pick out every thing you got wrong there it'd take me all day now stop complaining about him just because he doesn't like the games you liked.

@Bronx: This review brings up plenty of legitimate complaints, other than disliking a lot of things. Bias Steamroller, national stereotyping, and Fan Hater are brought up. He distrusts Yahtzee's opinions not because they're wrong, but because of those biases, a perfectly reasonable approach to take. You should stop complaining just because Coolguy doesn't like a web show that you like.

He does go out of his way to make his biases clear through self deprecation where he can see them. For example, its a running gag that Yahtzee will not touch the multiplayer in a game to the point where he deliberately paints himself as an utter misanthrope in several reviews. He's making it clear, if you like multiplayer and want a good review about the multiplayer in a game, I'm not the guy to talk to. Likewise for JRP Gs and Nintendo's main franchises.

But Yahtzee doesn't actually hate half the games he bashes.

He used to try and make positive reviews of stuff he liked, but people didn't find it as funny. So he also bashes stuff he likes. Like Portal 2 for example.

Laugh at his jokes, but by God don't take that guy seriously. Some of his reviews consist of him bashing Nintendo or ranting about America for three quarters of the video's duration. He also either outright lies about the games or pays so little attention that he misses the most obvious things.

@Electric Nova, it's not even used to, he was positive about Windwaker, Saints Row 4 and pretty positive about AC 4 (if negative about AC as a series during the review) that's 3 positive reviews out of the last 9 and amongst the other ones most people agreed A Machine for Pigs, Lost Planet 3, Killer is Dead were bad and that Arkham Origins was a step down with generally unmemorable villains.

He was even more positive towards A Machine for Pigs than a lot of other reviewers were. GTA would be the most controversial opinion

Your review odes bring up some good points. Yahtzee's videos are amusing but he is overly biased against Nintendo and is a right jerk.

I read this review after watching some of his vids and read it in his voice. Off-topic, but amusing.

I hear alot of criticism against Yahtzee, and I've yet to see why. What I almost always read or hear is "Oh he's funny and all, but I don't see his videos as actual reviews," and this puzzles me...of course they're reviews, entertaining but nevertheless reviews. Is it because he has strong opinions that he doesn't care about sharing? like dislike towards game series/genres that have barely changed (eg modern Nintendo titles, FPS shooters, etc), but so what? Critics, while trying to keep neutral and unbiased, cannot deny they dislike things. I can't imagine Roger Ebert really enjoys gross-out comedies, Yahtzee makes no bones about hiding his dislike. But, that is not a reason to not listen to what he has to say, much in the same way as if you asked a friend about what they thought of a new game they played. You know your friend dislikes JRPG's, so when s/he says they didn't think much of a JRPG, that doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not their cup of tea. But you know they love Platformers and Action games, so they can give you plenty of opinion on those, same with Yahtzee. Don't hate the man for being honest, and don't hate him for playing for his audiences by complaining about major problems and nitpicks. It's his job to criticise, not to gloss over unless the game really makes up for it, but even amazing games have problems, he's just not blinded enough by nostalgia to let that stop him giving an honest critique.

There's a difference between something "not being someone's cup of tea" and completely tearing things down just because they aren't of a genre you like. Yahtzee is known for the latter. The reason people don't consider him a reviewer is because an actual reviewer will try to find pros and cons in something, whereas Yahtzee tears games apart for fun. He's admitted that he acts like he hates games that he truly doesn't, which shows that his intent is to be entertaining over being informative. Even so, people aren't obligated to find his opinions reasonable and thought out.

When people feel he's being too harsh towards a game, his fanboys will say "It's just his opinion! He's the only one willing to tell the truth!" When he says things that are clearly biased, or flat out untrue, his fanboys will say "Oh, he just exaggerates. It's his job to be entertaining" like it's impossible for someone to genuinely find an opinion of his unreasonable. If Yahtzee is allowed to nitpick games, then people should be allowed to find judge for himself whether his nitpicks are valid problems or not.

it occurs to me that there's no pleasing some people. Right at the start he did one positive review (Psychonauts I believe) and he was slated by everyone for daring to write a non-scathing critique. So he changed tact and began his formula that still lasts with us today...and people still complain about it. I can understand why some people dislike Yathzee for ripping on decent games, but alot of his criticisms are very notable, and although small, they can be the make or break for some buyers. Yahtzee can't be alone for disliking... quick time events for example. So when he brings up a QTE that is likely very helpful to some watchers. The fact he can rip on classics like the Half-Life series, Thief, etc, talk about their shortcomings but still recommend them just goes to show that not everything is perfect, not even Half-Life which is often called one of the best games of all time, he may bring up niggling problems but his reviews are still reviews, they contain all the information you could want if you're undecided about buying a game, which is his entire purpose as a reviewer. I personally value the man's opinion, and certainly hold his videos in much higher regard then other big name websites and magazines that never dare rate anything lower then 7/10.

I find it very hard to believe that someone who, for better or worse, is very confident and forceful at stating their opinion, like Yahtzee, would find it so off-putting to get a very small amount of negative feedback on a single positive review. If you look at his Psychonauts review on YouTube, it actually has noticeably less dislikes than his more controversial reviews. Still, I would expect a man like Yahtzee to stick to his guns rather than change the future format of his show because a small selection of idiots were critical of him, so if you're right, all it means is that he completely sold out his integrity because of a few complaints.

I'm inclined to agree with this review of him because, while I watch his reviews every week for the entertainment, I absolutely would not depend on his reviews if I wanted an actual opinion on a game. If he really likes a game, he'll let you know, but if a game is anything from good to okay to mediocre to bad to terrible to irredeemably offensive, he will review it in the exact same way. Every year some of the things that end up on his 'Best of Year' list were individually reviewed in a manner indistinguishable from the reviews of games that end up on his 'Worst of Year' list.

You can't criticize a website for being skewed to give good scores, then praise an individual for being skewed to give bad scores; it's still skewed. I personally don't value the man's opinion because he's incredibly unclear regarding how bad a game's flaws actually are - which for a game reviewer is a pretty massive problem - and he never dares rate anything higher than 3/10.

I'm beginning to think this may be a lost cause for me trying to convince you otherwise, so I think I better leave it. However, I will suggest (if you haven't already) check out some of the other guys on this site who have reviewed ZP. There's some very good arguments on both sides, though obviously I've shown which side of the fence I sit. In that regard I recommend reading Maninahat's review and subsequent comments, he explains everything better then me.

I think you don't actually understand Yahtzee's opinions on Nintendo. Maybe you should try any of his Paper Mario reviews. Or Wind Waker HD. Or Link Between Worlds. Very enlightening.

What I can count on from Yahtzee is, while he complains about things that don't bother me, I know that pretty much anything I wouldn't like about a game will show up in his reviews, things that other critics would be forgiving of. There is no one reviewer that I find provides complete information about whether I'll like a game or not but Yahtzee is useful. And he's a helluva a lot funnier than other reviewers.

And he's known for bashing everything so his negative opinion won't adversely affect any game that deserves to succeed. There's no harm in letting him be what he is.

Yahtzee has two things going against him. One is that he has to make his case in less than 5 minutes. The second is that he has to make it funny. Even with the speed at which he talks, that isn't easy, and so it's fair to say that he often glosses over important details for the sake of getting another joke in before his 5 minutes are up. I'm not sure I would use his reviews to decide whether to buy a game or not. His style works much better if you are already familiar with the background details than if you have no idea what game X is beyond genre.

I definitely wouldn't recommend him as a sole reviewer. The way I see it is, if you want to use him for actual information, you read a bunch of other reviews to get the generally positive normal opinion and then he provides some counter arguments to those opinions. You weight it up and then go for it.

If he's positive about a game of course, then that alone might be enough information to buy the game on. I don't think he's ever actually recommended a game I hated and he's recommended a lot that I've loved, even when he gave 'it's okay' reviews to things like Uncharted and Heavy Rain that was probably good enough for me.

He's one side of the discussion, it just happens that he's one of the only sources for very critical games journalism. (Famitsu before they sold out :P)

Good point Tom. I mean just look at the one movie he had absolutely nothing negative to say about, Portal. Can't go wrong with that.

movie=video game lol