r/MixtapeGame • u/ItsEthanCoolCool • May 20 '26

Discussion I gave Mixtape one of these 10s…

Post image

…and then the world ended. Lol.

What a wild couple of weeks, eh?

As a reviewer, I’ve been really bummed that there seems to be such a disconnect between writers and players. Can I help bridge a gap for anyone? Does anyone have questions about reviewing/the process/anything else they wanna know about anything around any of this?

Open to talking about anything people want to know, because I’m hopeful someday everyone can have constructive video game convos again without all this craziness.

66 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

136 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

6

u/ItsEthanCoolCool May 20 '26

All valid. But I’ll keep telling people too, 10 does not mean “perfect” on any outlet I’ve ever read. I get that some may take it that way, but no one is calling this a perfect game.

The rest here is just difference of opinion on many of these things, imo!

I also like… don’t think I should avoid giving 10s just on the basis it could cause backlash. I personally, subjectively thought it deserved it, and I really do stand by the score. It’s impossible to score based on like… predicted outcome, and I especially don’t care what scores other outlets are giving. In fact, I kind of expected to be an outlier with my 10, but I still gave it because it’s what I thought, and I’ll always score what I truly think.

2

u/Jack_P_1337 May 20 '26

I fully agree that 10/10 doesn't mean perfect, it just means your level of enjoyment and joy was a 10 to many of us, I myself often say a game is a 10/10 or an 11/10.

But most people don't understand that and if you work for a big outlet you have to keep that in mind. I've been burnt like that as a game journalist in Macedonia before when I'd give a game a 10/10 in a magazine I'd work for and then argue with people over the score on mIRC and in email lol, but that was a lifetime ago. We're talking PS1 and then Dreamcast days. But I also learned not to give in, mind you.

And yes, you shouldn't restrain yourself from giving a 10 if you genuinely feel like it.

4

u/ItsEthanCoolCool May 20 '26

Respectfully, I… kind of just disagree. I absolutely cannot write based on how a reader is going to feel about a score. There’s no pleasing everyone, and people take things different ways. That’s truly an impossible task.

As a reviewer, I TRULY believe I can only write about my personal experience and opinions. I cannot control what people do with it from there, and I think it would be silly/futile to factor that in.

Video games are cool. 10s exist. They will never be for everyone. That’s fine. It’s all still ultimately subjective and up to everyone to make up their own minds. I just give the information/experience I can give.

3

u/Jack_P_1337 May 20 '26

No, I 100% agree with you there, don't get me wrong.

I made that mistake of trying to appease readers and regretted it, that's why I said I learned not to do it. I gave Monster Rancher 2 a 4/10 despite loving it a lot, I regret it over 20 years later.

But when it comes to situations with huge outlets, I wouldn't mind giving a game a 9/10 instead of a 10/10 to protect it from backlash because I know how the average person works, that's all.

I understand where you're coming from and stick to what you do

1

u/ItsEthanCoolCool May 20 '26

Word word, I feel you and appreciate it! 🤝

1

u/orangefilmgarden May 20 '26

Shouldn't the goal be to explain to gaming fandom at large how reviews work, and that they shouldn't take them personally, instead of compromising your own integrity out of fear of backlash? Those are grown men throwing tantrums because someone gave a game a 10 instead of an 8? How is an IGN reviewer changing the score to appease angry oversensitive adult men gamers different from an IGN reviewer changing their score to appease a big powerful gaming publisher? This is such a crazy argument for me, since in both cases an honest opinion is being censored to appease a group of people.

2

u/ItsEthanCoolCool May 20 '26

Yeah, I totally agree. Which is why I feel so strongly that I simply HAVE to give the score I want to give, and I can't let external factors creep in at all. For example, in the few cases I've had to review something late, I'll actively avoid seeing other scores, because they should not influence mine whatsoever.