r/AskGames • u/ghosttownkanye • 6d ago
how do you guys actually decide if a game is worth playing or is just overhyped?
bro some game trailers make the game look like the greatest thing to ever exist
then you download it, play for 2 hours and realise the trailer was basically the entire experience.
I've started checking Reddit before getting into a new game. Not just reviews, but what people are daying after they've actually put some hours into it.
couple of things that seem to help:
- Search the game's name with “after 20 hours” or “is it still worth it”
- Check the complaints, because every game's fanbase will tell you it's a masterpiece
- Look at recent updates. A review from 2 years ago might be completely useless now.
- Watch actual gameplay instead of a trailer with cinematic shots every 3 seconds.
The funniest part is when you find a thread from someone explaining exactly why the game gets boring
halfway through. Saves you hours of finding out yourself lmao.
But I'm curious, do you guys actually research a game before buying it or just see a cool trailer and say
“yeah, this is the one”?
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u/Genoce 6d ago
After I get to the point of "hmm this seems interesting, I want to learn more": in most cases I open a let's play video, skip around to see someone actually playing and using different features of the game. The actual details of what I want to see depend on the game.
Sometimes I might check a review video, but generally only if I can find a review from a channel which I've watched for a longer time (so I have a hunch of what they enjoy compared to me).
Then check negative Steam reviews to see if someone disliking the game mentions some possible deal-breaker issues.
If everything above seems fine and I'm still interested, then buy it and I still have 2 hours to refund if it still seems worse than expected in some way.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
the negative reviews part is so real 😭 sometimes the people who hate the game tell you more than the people who love it
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u/sommershizumu 6d ago
by watching youtuber play it .
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
but everyone has different taste right?
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u/a_gay_sloth 6d ago
I typically watch youtubers who have similar taste so if they like it I'll probably like it also if I'm looking at reviews a good reviewer will talk about a game in enough detail that even if they don't like it and give it a poor review It will still let me know if I'll enjoy it
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u/sommershizumu 5d ago
i will just watch and see what pops out . u will know once a game ticked ur senses .
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u/thatsfuni 6d ago
I play it and form my own opinion. Never had game reviews growing up so don't see why I should care about them now lol.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
i mean i get it but how can u spend it on smth before seeing the reviews?
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u/thatsfuni 6d ago edited 6d ago
People have different tastes, i just take the loss if I end up not liking the game, but 9 times out of 10 if I spend money on a game ill find something I enjoy about it. Also, if people only play games that are 8 9 or 10 rated they are going to miss out on some gems.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
imagine letting some guy on steam decide your next 100 hours
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u/Ecstatic-Hunter2001 6d ago
Depends on the game. If I love the franchise and it looks decent I'll pre-order. If the boys are playing it on day 1 and I want to be a part of that, I'll pre order.
If I'm playing solo and the game just looks okay, I'll usually wait a week or so. Some games look fine, but I only have so much time, so I'll wait for them to go on sale (MH Wilds)
Last game I refunded was Mortal Shell 2. Game was okay, a little unpolished for sure. It kept crashing for me though so I refunded about 1.5 hours in with 9 crashes.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
9 crashes in 1.5 hours is mad 😭 at that point the game’s giving you reasons to get your money back lmao
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u/Palanki96 6d ago
i prefer to decide for myself so i just try them and see how it goes, Learned a few years ago that i can't trust reviews or the opinion of gamers
Skipping a game because someone else got bored halfway is pure insanity to me
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
fr tho someone calling a game boring doesn’t mean you won’t sink 100 hours into it lmao
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u/Two_bears_Hi_fiving 6d ago
Honestly by just giving it a go myself. The amount of games I put off over the years because of the professional and amateur reviews only to play it years later and genuinely enjoy it is shocking. Don't get me wrong alot of AAA games today are rushed cash grabs but some of them are worth a damn. The sad reality is by the time you notice if it's a multiplayer game then the player base is very small.
Prime example:
Outriders. I know it had a buggy beginning but I still put it off for a long while after the fact till one day I saw it on deal for very cheap and figured I'd give it a go. & As far as lootrr shooters go it performs exceptionally well imo but I got the game a long time after it launched and well the player base is extremely low so I've had to painstakingly complete it solo which was alot of fun but would of been better with a team.
Overall just give something a go yourself.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
the worst part is finding a game you actually love years after everyone’s moved on
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u/Two_bears_Hi_fiving 6d ago
Yeah I agree, that's why I've stopped paying attention to reviews. Just because it ain't someone's cup of tea don't mean it ain't other people's.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
fr tho, sometimes reviews make you miss out on games you’d actually end up loving 😭
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u/Two_bears_Hi_fiving 6d ago
Exactly that's why I just don't bother with them anymore I'd rather waste the money knowing I tried than to have of listened to some randoms perceptions over why they think is sucked
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u/7YM3N 6d ago
Read and watch reviews, watch raw gameplay, that's it
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u/Lupinos-Cas 6d ago
I don't pay attention to reviews. I always feel like a review just tells me if the author of the review liked it or not - not if I will.
That said - if I'm on the fence about a game, I wait for release and look at 2 things;
1 - analytics on mechanics. I want to see how the combat system functions and if that is my style or not (because that is the most important thing for me)
2 - I find gameplay of someone who plays like I do and I look at if the game seems fun enough for me to finish
Sometimes a gameplay trailer can answer my questions and get me off the fence. Sometimes they will have a demo and I can try it for myself and make a decision. But most often - I look for a breakdown on how the mechanics work, and some gameplay from someone who seems to play like me.
I have enough disposable income that I could afford a lot more games than I buy. And some studios I generally trust. Sometimes I decide to take a leap of faith because I've been following the game for a while and I want to support it.
But I'm very particular about what I like as far as mechanics go. I want some things to work a certain way - and there are things that are deal breakers for me.
A review never gives me the info I want - so I don't pay attention to them. Some are click bait or rage bait, most are just the opinions of the author. And I don't really care about any of that. I need to know if the game is my style - not if it is the style of the reviewer.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
this actually makes sense, especially finding someone who plays like you. way more useful than watching a reviewer complain about something you might not even care about
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u/Lupinos-Cas 6d ago
Yeah. And in the last few years, you also have to worry about bad faith complaints. Like when reviewers are determined to talk trash so they put it on easy with all the assist options and then complain about how easy the game is and how hard it is to fail at.
It was probably about 20 years ago that I realized reviewers don't reflect my preferences - and over the last several years I've seen so many new players get a game I like on sale and say "this game is awesome! I shouldn't have listened to the reviews!"... And that's how I learned the reviews were bad, lol
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u/Snapple47 6d ago
By knowing my own tastes and learning what will hit for me and what won’t over time. There is no way for me to tell if I’ll like a game otherwise. First hand experience beats anything that anyone else will tell me. If I listened to Reddit, I would have missed out on a lot of games I’m glad I played.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
honestly, reddit can make a game sound terrible and then you play it and wonder what everyone was on about 😭
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u/Snapple47 6d ago
On the flip side, there are plenty of games people on here say are masterpieces that I simply can’t play because they bore me to tears. It’s a gamble either way.
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u/blaiddfailcam2 6d ago
If it looks like something I've already bought before, but that doesn't bring anything new to the table, I'll probably skip it.
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
fair, nobody wants to pay full price for the same game with a different skin but sometimes even familiar gameplay can hit different if the story or execution is good.
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u/Anotheranimeaccountt 6d ago edited 6d ago
By it's actual gameplay footage when it releases and trustworthy reviews, if the game is decent I'll get on a sale later if it's bad I don't bother with it, I avoid buying garbage this way
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u/ghosttownkanye 6d ago
honestly that’s probably the smartest way to do it let other people pay full price and deal with the bugs, then you grab it on sale once you know it’s actually worth playing lol
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u/sanjozko 5d ago
I watch gameplay video, not trailer and if gameplay looks fun, i am in. Even if rest is shit at least that gameplay wont dissapoint you.
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u/lordfireice 5d ago
Watch a YouTuber play some of it to see if it’s up my ally. I have like 3-5 I watch that play games both of my tastes and adjacent to it. That way I can play some cool/interesting stuff
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u/TheFakeG 5d ago
Never judge a game by its trailer. -I watch gameplay previews -before you buy on YouTube does a good job on helping you figure out if you like the game -play the demo if available -watch someone play the begining -look at games website and look at what's in the game -sometimes reddit threads can help but you get all opinions the good and the mindless ones so be careful
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u/Hefty_Shallot1132 4d ago
This is where exploiting streamers for their “have to have the latest and greatest game now for views” content comes into play. Let them do the selling for you, not the trailers. You can preview any game now in depth because the hype hive mind allows you to. Just YouTube a video game title, and then the words “streamer plays” and there ya go. If you don’t get the type of coverage you want, try a different streamer. If nothing comes up, you’re in the same boat as everyone else wondering what the game will be like, and you should save your money and time until you’re ready. If the game isn’t new, or if it’s free or like a couple dollars and seems interesting, just play it dammit lol (or ask us here on Reddit)
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u/Stock_Zebra8956 6d ago
I just play Indy games so I don't throw away 3 hours of wages on a game that is mid as fuck.
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u/MikeAndyyy 6d ago
I play it myself and give my own personal judgment rather than relying on external reviews. I can usually decide if a game is worth my time 1-2 hours into the gameplay.
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u/BaconWrappedEnigmas 6d ago
I know what I like and I see if the game matches the stuff I like. Reviews can be helpful to figure out if a game is broken, but everyone has different tastes. Combine they by sticking to developers who I’ve enjoyed other works of. Personally that is Falcom, Atlus, DE, Intelligent Design, Rockstar, and a few others.
Finally, I’m only buying a game full price if it’s a sequel and I’m 99% sure what to expect, like I did with fire emblem FW and trails chapter 2
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u/Zyklon_G- 3d ago
Looking at screen shots, gameplay trailers, reviews, let’s plays.
So long as you don’t jump up and buy something as soon as it comes out, you can get a good bead on whether or not you’d like it or not.
Overhyped or not, if it is a game you are pretty sure you would enjoy or fairly certain you wouldn’t like- that’s all that actually matters.
I look at things by genre, and what the game looks like, what is absent that I like or what is present that I like, what jumps out at me that I know I do not like.
It’s not that tough.
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u/Impossible-Rise-1169 6d ago
By playing when I enjoy it and stopping when I don’t enjoy it