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i've been thinking a lot recently about old JRPGs and how some (most) of them are a real slog to play now (when not on some form of meth/speed): turn-based, super-linear storytelling, little customization, etc. etc. then i was thinking, i bet there's a good essay in how classic turned-based is busted and not fun in general, and maybe there's a good case for that, right? but here's the problem, and here's the sole reason why i rarely (if ever) write "review" stuff anymore: wtf is fun????
the whole thing becomes a joke to me. i see game review/journalism as a total clown show because of, literally, this one question. and the question can't be answered objectively. when some IGN dude writes this 6 paragraph review and is all confident that Grandia II is actually real bad or whatever, it's just pathetic to me. i cannot get beyond this. i fear i have thought myself into a spot where objective analysis of almost anything is absurd to me, fraudulent even.
and as an extension of this, anyone who seems overly confident in their opinion about anything multimedia/music/art related comes off as immature and kinda insufferable to me; like, our worldviews do not jive, man. i, in no way, could say that any song or game is objectively bad, much less GIVE IT A SCORE!
there is a problem here, though; and that's the fact that a game that advertises itself as a game but is actually just a black screen with no game qualities is probably a bad game objectively, but this is only because of how we define "game" and the expectation that comes along with it; however, if you added, say, a button press with little woop noise mechanic to the black screen it suddenly becomes far more complicated; think "Cookie Clicker" but way more primitive (get 500 woops! etc.)
that's it. that's the end of the tangent. could go on about Cookie Clicker way more, though; actually got into a mini-fight with a dude about Cookie Clicker once because of something related to this tangent but also because i don't want to allow Cookie Clicker to exist in the game-defintion space but, unfortunately, it's not really up to me and it's not objective so whatever. (at that time I naively took the position that Cookie Clicker was not a video game).
@buru5 yeah, this kind of stuff is tough. That's why when I do the aoty lists, I'm careful what I write and make sure I say they're my FAVORITE albums of the year, not the BEST albums of the year. Very important distinction
@jake4480 yes, that is a very important distinction indeed.
@buru5 as I've gotten older I've vey much come to appreciate that just because I personally don't like something doesn't mean that it's objectively bad or whatever, and that every game/movie/song is someone's favorite, and that's fine
if someone is posting about the joy they get from their favorite thing, jumping in with "that thing you like is shit, actually" gets an instant block from me
@COMPU73E agreed. that behavior is pretty much inexcusable for me; and i take it a step further in that i construe it unto any unasked "constructive feedback" or unwarranted "i don't like this thing but it's ok that you do" sentiment on a post in which someone is just like "i love this song!!!" i think this is really what i was meaning by "immature and insufferable": your example and also my (lesser) examples that are a bit easier to accidentally do without realizing it. (if that makes sense).