The Process of Analyzing and Reviewing Games in a Critical Way
Writing a review that others will see is a daunting task, but when the process is broken down, things can become a lot clearer.
Many people may be interested in reading reviews but feel intimidated at the idea of writing one, particularly one that others might one day read. The process usually begins with organizing your thoughts, then segmenting your ideas, and finally putting them together, like puzzle pieces, in a way that makes sense to a third party. If you’re a critic, the reason you’re writing a review is to help someone else make a decision on whether their time and money are best spent on the game in question. If you’re simply a player, reviews might be useful to track your own thoughts on a game and create a diary of experiences to look back on. Regardless of why you’re writing, reviewing any piece of media can be a daunting task; often, one will feel that they have no right to criticize another’s work. Other times, external forces like the publisher’s reputation may influence the reviewer to give a lower, or higher score than the game itself would warrant.
The first thing to remember when reviewing a game is that there is a medium between unplayable, cobbled-together cash grabs and timeless masterpieces. Almost every time you play a video game that is the space in which you’ll be working.
Games are very rarely flawless, but also consider that they are very rarely worthless; remember that each game has a team of people behind it who, whether passionate or not, gave their time and energy to create something. You’ve got two possible motives for writing a review, whatever site you’re posting it on. You have enjoyed something and would like others to enjoy it too, or you have not enjoyed something and feel compelled to share your opinion. Keep in mind; the purpose of a critical review is not to shame or glorify but to inform.
The Critical Analysis Phase
When reviewing anything, whether it’s a film or a video game, I like to take a day after finishing it and let it sit. I don’t think too obsessively about it, but maybe it’ll cross my mind while I’m doing the dishes the next day. “Hey, Spider-Man was really good. I had a great time playing it.” I find that letting something digest for a bit will yield a good logline for when you do sit down to write the review.
When analyzing the story of a game, there are a few core elements that game narratives share with movies, books, and TV shows. Deconstructing the narrative of a game is important in understanding exactly why you did or did not like it, which in turn leads to finding more games that share those same qualities. Your review doesn’t need to talk about your deconstruction, but it should inform your conclusions and guide you to better verbalize the thoughts spinning around in your head. Here’s a small checklist of the things that make up a good narrative:
- The protagonist is settled in a status quo
- An event happens to break the status quo
- The protagonist is called to adventure
- The protagonist has a goal and takes action to achieve that goal
- The protagonist meets conflict in reaching the goal and overcomes it (or doesn’t)
These all seem like fundamental building blocks of a story, but you’d be surprised how many narratives out there, even in popular media, are missing them. Sometimes, it’s sufficient that you liked the game’s story just because it made sense. You’ll find that reducing a story to these base components makes it much easier to see where things went wrong or right in the writing process. Stories that make sense are hard to come by, all in all. Ask yourself one simple question before discussing the story: did the characters make in-character decisions in the pursuit of their goals?
Just remember, if you write about the story of a game, keep specific details to a minimum. Talk about your reactions to the story, not the specific points. Not everyone wants to be reading a massive spoiler.
Video games are not just narratives, though. Gameplay and story must actively work to complement each other, or both of them will fall apart. There are many types of games that rely heavily on one or the other; Minecraft, for instance, has no scripted story, while Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture features little gameplay. Once again, however, you’ll find that most games fall somewhere in the middle. Think about how the story and gameplay work together to create an experience — did the gameplay have elements that exist because of the story? Does the story have elements that tie in with the gameplay?
Take, for example, God of War (2018). Kratos utilizes the Leviathan axe for basic combat as an ode to his new Viking lifestyle, but uses a shield as a blunt weapon akin to the Spartan style of fighting. Many of the powers in the skill trees, including the spirit animals that Atreus summons, are actually directly taken from Norse lore.
This is just one example; take a moment to think about if this applies to the game you’re playing. You don’t need to look for character-based abilities everywhere, but consider this question: Was this story best served by actually being a video game rather than a book or a movie?
The core conceit of doing any sort of analysis is, again, to figure out why something was good or not. It can be as simple as “it feels good to play.” Bayonetta 2 is a universally acclaimed game that succeeded almost singularly on feeling good to play. Write down a few notes, just a few words about what you enjoyed. A few common threads will link those ideas together, and once they’re in front of you, the patterns will emerge.
Documenting Your Thoughts in a Review
If you’re the kind of person who likes to outline before writing, you can absolutely make a pros and cons list and keep each bullet to a 5-word maximum. You want snippets of thought, not an entire formed idea. However, if you are like me and just have a lot of ideas, I find that stream-of-consciousness writing will make a better first draft than your English teachers would have you believe. The actual structure of a review is up to the writer, of course, so for the body, write your ideas down in the order in which you think of them and let them flow naturally.
Remember that anyone who has clicked on this review has done so because they are interested in what you have to say. Don’t try to sell the reader on why you are an authority they should listen to. You are understood to be an authority; treat yourself as one. Try to find a balance between professional and personal — if you’re too personal no one will take you seriously, and if you’re too professional no one will care what you have to say.
Let’s run back through some basic writing formatting that you learned in high school, in case you’ve forgotten. The classic three-paragraph essay is an excellent template to get you started!
Begin with an introduction of maybe 2–3 sentences of build-up. For the sake of an example, we’ll use a relatively well-known game that contains both story and gameplay elements: Super Mario Odyssey. Your first sentence should not be your thesis statement — it needs to be a hook, a sentence that tells me why I should keep reading. Try not to get defensive in your reviews — no one is attacking you. You haven’t even written it yet! Just talk about what you liked and didn’t like. For instance:
“It is no overstatement to suggest that Mario has defined and elevated the industry to new heights during the last 30 years with unparalleled endurance.”
Something attention-grabbing but just short of being clickbait is ideal. Your review is going to have good content in it — promise that good content with your opener. You’ll be ending your intro paragraph with your thesis statement. Sum your thoughts up into one sentence:
“Previous Mario titles have continually redefined 3D platformers, but Super Mario Odyssey has perfected them.”
This thesis, or logline, or whatever you’d like to call it, is your calling point that all your evidence will support. In the following paragraphs, the first and last line will support that thesis, even if indirectly. For example, if you’d like to talk about the possession mechanic for a few sentences, this might be your closing line of that paragraph:
“Cappy’s possession mechanics allow a freedom never seen before in a Mario game and access to a suite of powers from monsters that Mario has been fighting for decades.”
That will tie up my discussion about the topic in the paragraph and at the same time, support my thesis. If you’re not sure if you’re hitting it, try the ‘Why/Because’ test.
“Previous Mario titles have continually redefined 3D platformers, but Super Mario Odyssey has perfected them.”
Why? Because
“Cappy’s possession mechanics allow a freedom never seen before in a Mario game and access to a suite of powers from monsters that Mario has been fighting for decades.”
You will start to write like a professional in no time at all! Remember that there is no need to structure the body in paragraphs of topics — reading “The combat was good. The art was good. The music was good. The writing was bad,” is not interesting or exciting to anyone. Let the flow of topics come from your stream-of-consciousness. Your conclusion paragraph should start with a restatement of your thesis. And don’t start it with “In summation,” or “in conclusion,” or “finally.” Just say what you need to say. Readers will see that it’s the last paragraph and know it’s the conclusion. Let’s try:
“Super Mario Odyssey has built on the backs of its predecessors to create an unparalleled 3D platforming experience.”
This is the same thing you said earlier stated in a new way, and now with paragraphs of info to support its veracity. Continue with your final conclusions, and if you’ve got a clever sign-off, the last sentence is the place to drop it. For instance, at the end of my review of Celeste:
“It’s not about getting to the top, it’s about continuing to climb. But I will get to the top one day, and maybe when I do, we’ll all sit down and reminisce about the journey over a hot slice of strawberry pie.”
Don’t get caught up in trying to be clever, though. Honestly is a great sign off as well, so we’ll roll back to Super Mario Odyssey.
`“Nintendo has proven once again that concentrating on pure, unadulterated fun is what makes Mario games so perpetually strong. No bells, no whistles, just smiles on faces of every age.”
Good luck!
My full review of Super Mario Odyssey can be found here:
https://wetheplayers.com/reviews/reminds-us-that-video-games-are-about-having-fun
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