what do we lose when the bulk of video game reviews are written by super fans and series veterans?

long train home

I don't want to get too soapboxy but RPG Site had a 'newcomer' review the new Rune Factory title (didn't like it!) as well the Trails remake (loved it!) for this reason. Oftentimes the broader audience are eager to see the fresh perspective, even if fans get a little annoyed if some context is lost.

what do we lose when the bulk of video game reviews are written by super fans and series veterans?

Please someone tell me you reviewed this I need to know youtu.be/yzakNxb0c9E?...

an incredible endorsement of the critical error podcast ♥️🫡

imo this issue of reviews by fans for fans has often been a problem in mainstream games crit. there's the perception that a fan of a genre/franchise can best tell other fans whether they will also like THIS game, but also you're then selecting people who are predisposed to liking the thing?

Hades 2 looks so freaking good and sharp on Switch 2 I feel like we GOTTA get a Hades 1 update for this thing! It looks so crusty when you play it through backwards compatibility

what does it mean

been wondering a lot if reviews for a game like Metroid Prime 4 are just gonna be a bunch of people who like Metroid Prime telling me it's good if you like Metroid Prime

critical error is a podcast about how we talk about video games pls check it out! leave a comment! perfect pod for the lover/hater of Video Game Discourse

Borderlands 4 is a slumber party. read now: jakesteinberg.substack.com/p/the-last-s...

one of my favorite reviews i have read this year kotaku.com/hades-ii-the...

need someone that thinks the Horizon franchise is boring to tell me Ghost of Yotei is good

Every Video Game Review in 2025 has THIS PROBLEM

can't stop thinking about

the spy who gooned me

Nintendo shadow dropping a new Fire Emblem mobile game? What is this? www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/re...

22 days away from the battlefields of glory* *the street outside a Lumiose cafe with my buddy Quilladin

Mario Kart World update: the location of P-Switches and Peach Medallions now displays on the map in Free Roam. 🫣 en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/...

I have never had an iPhone and they are trying to get me to upgrade to the new one for free chat what do I do

There's no Switch 2 version of Sonic Racing Crossworlds?!? What are we doing?!?

i know that this is such a minor annoyance compared to actual genocide in gaza but please remember that if your reaction to someone celebrating rosh hashanah is to bring up israel, then you have successfully bought into israeli propaganda that jewishness is inherently zionist (it is not)

jesus christ

heard a rumor that an extremely cool game is gonna be here. can't say anything now obviously but oh boy you are gonna be hyped if it gets announced. if you aren't hyped after the showcase tomorrow just assume the thing i am thinking of didn't get showcased.

i know everyone is waiting for Hades 2 but

a return to form for fans of the franchise

going to a play and complaining that "nobody talks like this," like people do with Kingdom Hearts or whatever

Reading these Silent Hill f reviews like

revert to shape

i've started more heavily criticizing a game i am playing on stream and it's insane how many people are going "if you aren't having fun, why are you still playing?" folks, do you ever consume a piece of media that isn't shooting the word FUN into your brain constantly? no?

BIRDS - The Eagles block the Rams FG and Jordan Davis *rumbles* for the TD

It has to absolutely suck to root against the Eagles lately.

NEVER DOUBT THE BIRDS 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅

breakfast at the canal

which of you is gonna bellyache about our sweet Birds today

First victim of "if only it had a switch 2 version..." for me

where my fiction readers at? I'm really impressed with this debut! It's an easy read to the point that I am dangerously close to recommending it to my romancey/new adult reader friends, but its ideas are pretty rich and affecting

we should all applaud this man for adopting the morally and intellectually superior position of "murder bad"

hollow knight silksong

lately, i've been fighting with the midwest... open.spotify.com/track/64AdGV...

Surpriseeeee! Got to host an episode of my podcast, The Gamers Respite, with @jakesteinberg.substack.com I had such a fun time chatting about everything, but mainly the cultural impact of souls/souls-likes.

looking forward to stuff is such an important part of my life and this piece about trying to hold on to that feeling while something is actively fighting you to take it away is so powerful 🥹

lately, i've been fighting with the midwest... open.spotify.com/track/64AdGV...

Hey everyone thanks for listening to the show before we jump in and talk about the game let's do 12 minutes on everyone's history with the franchise!!

Pokemon Legends Z-A announced pricey DLC before the game has even come out! Is this bad?? Critical Error Podcast: youtu.be/IjwpW5dQDXo

take me back

our country is full of wannabe fascists and quietly selfish upholders of injustice. their movement's martyr is a youtuber that wasn't even particularly good at anything. a lot of posts about "resistance" tonight, but I can't even get you guys to stop buying Xbox games so it all feels a bit thin

wait, let's see what Ezra Klein has to say about all of this in tomorrow's paper