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Advice on Writing a Good Review
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Advice on Writing a Good Review

 

05-05-13 09:10 PM
play4fun is Offline
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play4fun
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Summarized



  1. Try to make reviews with a decent amount of detail, but not tedious to read. The bigger the game, the longer the review should be.


  2. Use paragraphs! Divide you ideas in subjects, each with a paragraph.


  3. Use good grammar and spelling. While some mistakes are normal, proper punctuation and syntax make your review understandable to other.


  4. Your arguments should be objective and supported with reasons. 

  5. Don't rush. Re-read your review.


Detailed

What is a Review?


I personally think a big reason why some reviews are bad in this forum is because there are some members who don't understand what a review is. Some mix up the characteristics of a review with a comment. To get things cleared up, let's look at the definition of "review":




Review [ri-vyoo]


noun 
-a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility or intention of instituting change if necessary.
(Definition of "review" from oxforddictionaries.com




Also see: Merriam-Webster, dictionary.com, Macmillan Dictionary, thefreedictionary.com






What Makes a Review Good?



Now that we know what a review is, how do we know what is a good review and what is a bad review? Here are some characteristics that I can come up with.



"Persuade me!"




My Art Survey professor once said (in a British ascent): "When analyzing a work of art, you need to go beyond 'I like it' or 'I don't like it.' " This is the same with writing reviews. There are so many reviews who post generic sentences like "I love this game!" or "The graphics are awesome!" or "The story sucks!" without any support. This doesn't sound convincing.
     The whole point of a review is to critique every aspect of the game. It is NOT a descriptive article, but a persuasive article. You are trying to make a case to your audience that this game is a good/bad game overall and that it is/isn't worth your time to play it (Or even buy it if it's not in the RGR). Pick a clear position on what you feel about the game overall and within the different aspects of the game. Focus more on arguing for your opinion instead of describing the game. The only reason we would need to describe something is to provide examples to prove your point. Don't just say "story is good" or "story is bad" but also talk about WHY and HOW is the story is good or bad. Ultimately, your goal is for your readers to listen to you or find your words trustworthy on video game opinions. If you don't feel comfortable in doing that, then writing reviews might not be right for you.
     Here is another way of thinking about this: If I am a person who has never played this game before, a good review should either draw the person towards or push away from wanting to try the game. A bad review neither cause the reader to take any side towards the game, nor does it instill interest in the reader to even bother in looking into the game.


Appropriate Detail




      I know there is a 100 word limit rule in this forum as well as a rule of earning more Viz and CP if you write more words in your review. I think this helps encourage people to write better reviews, but it also gives a false idea that long reviews are better reviews. I've seen shorter reviews that don't go past 1000 words, yet they were informative and well written. On the other hand, I've also seen reviews that were super long, but they kept getting sidetracked and rambled too much unnecessary information or comments.






      Reviewers should give each game the appropriate detail that it deserves. Bigger games would require more content or explanations, while smaller games are more likely to go straight to the point. You want to find the right amount of detail that would be enough to fairly prove your point while not being nitpicky in your analysis. Honestly though, if your review barely goes past the 100 word limit, there's a good chance that it is bad one and that you didn't go into enough depth in your analysis.



      I'll say this again if you want a summary of this section: LONGER REVIEWS DO NOT MEAN BETTER REVIEWS. GOOD REVIEWS ARE IN APPROPRIATE LENGTHS.


Is it Readable? 

      I don't know the reason why html or pictures are not allowed in reviews for this site, but because of that, it can be very difficult in attracting readers to want to read your reviews. That being said, you don't want to make your reviews less attractive by making them harder to read. Relating to my point on organization, you want to make your review readable to your audience. There are many ways to make this possible, like spacing out your article, make paragraphs, don't use colors that would conflict with your post background, change your font to something that is clear and easy to see. If your audience needs to squint their eyes or adjust their sitting position in order to read your piece, they would become less motivated to finish it.

      When you are done with your review, look at it and ask yourself. Do you want to read it?


Organize! Organize! Organize!

      Relating to the previous point, organizing your review would help readers feel more comfortable in reading your article. It makes it easier for a person to track their progress in the article as well as going back to it if rereading is needed. Now, I know a lot of people like to split their reviews into categories when rating the game, and this is a great way in organizing your review, but it is not the only way to do so. Something as simple as writing in organized paragraphs, split them into different categories (the good and the bad, the likes and dislikes, etc), or use formatting to divide similar content apart are also good ways to organize your review.


      It is also important to organize your content. Since this type of article is trying to convince other readers, you want to have a flow as you write your review. Let one argument flow to the next, making it a smooth and understandable read. You don't want to go from talking about graphics and then talk about story in the middle of talking about graphics, and then go and talk about the history, and then go back to graphics. It can get confusing and hard to read.



      No matter what you do, DO NOT just write a big wall of text with no spacing or formatting. A big rectangular wall of text is unattractive to the reader and hard to read. No one would be motivated to read that.



Unbiased Judgment

       Sometimes our feelings towards a game is so great, that we forget to talk about different aspects that goes against how we feel about the game. As reviewers, we are to give truthful and wholesome opinions about the game. In order to do that, we need to step outside of our biases (or at least identify them) so that we can critique the game objectively. One example of doing this is to look at both the good and the bad aspects of the game. I don't believe that there is a game that is perfect, so there has to be both sides to consider. Make a balance evaluation by talking about the good things about the game as well as things that can be improved or things that ruins your experience in enjoying the game. Not only could this surprise you in how you feel overall about the game, but it would also make you sound more trustworthy when readers see that you looked at all sides of this game.



      One staff also mentions about avoiding bias relating to genre. Just because a game is a genre that you love to play does not mean that the game itself is good. For example, just because you love racing games does not mean that all racing games are good. We need to move beyond our likes and dislikes and see the game as it is from an open perspective. Take everything into account and make a sound judgment to the game.


Arguments Makes Sense

      I laughed a little when a friend of my comment on a review by saying "Your review...the logic makes sense, I guess" You can tell he was trying to be nice to the reviewer when in actuality, he thinks the review doesn't make good sense. In order for something to be a good review, it needs to make sense. Be careful in arguing for a side while providing evidence that contradicts your side.



      Too many times I see reviewers talk about a certain section in the review (story, graphics, etc) and they praise it for so many things, and then end up giving the game an 8 or a 9. Conversely, there are people who completely trashed a certain part of the game and said no good things about it, yet they were still able to give that part a rating of a 5. Your scores need to make sense with what you write in your review. If something doesn't get a perfect 10, there has to be a reason that one decides that the game falls short from perfection. Obviously, people have different standards when rating games, but if you only talk good things about the game, but you don't provide a perfect score, that means you are forgetting something in your review. 



      Just like my last point, give both sides of the story and be balanced in your review. A good review does not mean that everyone agrees with your opinion. A good review takes everything in the game into account and makes a believable and convincing evaluation.



Proper Spelling and Grammar

      When you write a convincing article, you want readers to consider what you say and take you seriously. Misspellings, improper grammar, and lack of punctuation losses the professionalism of the article and readers will not take your opinion seriously, no matter how right or persuasive you are. Make sure to read through the entire review for grammatical mistakes. You may not get every mistake corrected, but it would at least guarantee that readers can at least understand what you are writing.





Ways to Get Better

Now that I've finished writing about how to make a good review, let's talk about certain things that you can do to help you reach that level.



"According to My Research..."

      Even though we played the game and are quite familiar with the games that we review, it is always a good idea to do a little bit of digging for information about the game so that you won't miss any important information. It's unlikely that we would know everything about the game, so the more information that you can find outside from playing it yourself, the more wholesome your review would become. This is especially useful when you are trying to compare the video and sound quality of the game to other games in the same era or through the same console system. You would need to look at other games to make that comparison.



Don't Assume

      I saw a review from someone who decided to stop themselves from writing anymore about the gameplay of a hacked game because it has the same controls as the original. That idea does make sense to those who know the game, but remember....this is a very diverse board, filled with different members in different backgrounds. Chance are that not everyone on the board may have played or even heard of the game that you played. When you write your review, whether if it's details of the game, background information, or your ratings/opinions, write it as if you are writing this to an absolute stranger who knows absolutely nothing about this game. Explain what needs to be explained, and I'm sure you will find enough things to talk about.



Set a Standard for your Rating System
      The site gives categories of the game to rate from 1 to 10. What I sometimes find new reviewers do is that they go to the extreme when it comes to ratings. If they think this category is good, they immediately go to the 10; if they find it very bad, they immediately go for the 1; if they don't have strong opinions about that category, they go for a 5 or a 6. I don't think this is a good way of effectively using the rating system.



      Now I know rating in such a large range can be quite difficult, but I believe it is doable. It is important to explain yourself how the rating system should be distributed so that YOU know what you mean when you give it a score. People might disagree with the way you rate games, but as long as you evenly and reasonably divide your ratings with a set expectation for each number, you would become more consistent in the way you rate games.


      For example: For a 10, I would say it is exceptional; for a 9, it would be great with very minor issues; for a 7, it would be decent with some problems; for a 6, it's mediocre good (mediocre, but more good than bad)...and so on and so forth.


Double Check

      It is never a bad thing to double check, triple check, or quadruple check your review. With so many things that can be said about a game, you want to make sure that your details, your grammar and your arguments are accurate and readable. A couple of staff members actually wrote that if you read your own review and you don't like what you wrote, you might want to make the right adjustments needed to make you like the review better. Even though you are writing to inform others, it is your review with your opinions. If you don't even like what you write, why would you expect others to do the same?



Be Yourself

      We all know that copying other people's work is plagiarism, but copying the entire writing style from other writers also makes your review look unoriginal and boring. There will be times when styles of different people would be similar and overlap, but you are still a different person with different personalities and opinions. When you write, the style, opinion, and content should be of your own. Put a little bit of your flavor in critiquing these games and its originality will attract more readers to want to read your stuff or wanting for more. They don't want to read the same old thing that people commonly do. They want something different from the rest.



Don't Rush It

      I see a lot of this happening, not just here, but also in other sites as well. Some people are just so eager to express their opinions (sometimes wanting to be the FIRST one to post a review) that they don't even take the time to gather their thoughts or even think if their opinion makes sense or not. There are some professional reviewers on the internet who shared that when they finish a game, they don't immediately start a review. Instead, they sleep on it or give it a day to let it sink in. Sometimes your initial opinion may not be your real opinion. Take your time in thinking it through. These reviews are suppose to take a lot of time and thought. Rushing to publish a review would most likely lower the quality of your review. As the saying goes, "Haste makes wastes"



Diversify your Choice of Games
      Let's be honest. No seriously, let's be very very honest: THERE ARE WAYYY TOO MANY POKEMON GAME AND HACK REVIEWS. I know, they are very popular. Most of us have played them some time in our lives. I know that a lot of you love to play pokemon games, and that is totally fine. Be seriously, if you go to each pokemon game and count how many reviews there are in the review section. Every time I come to the Game Review forum to see what's new, there is always AT LEAST one pokemon game review that is marked as new. And then I go into another page and I see a game that is very well known in the gaming world, and yet I see 1 person making a review out of it.

      You need to diversify your choice of games to review. If there are a lot of people who wrote reviews for a game, it is difficult to stand out among the crowd. Most likely people have read a review about the game before you published yours and it would seem uninteresting to them because your opinion could be the same or similar to what another reviewer said. There are so many different games in this site that are great entertainment (or bad, depending whether you want to write a bad review). You have a chance as a reviewer to share your thoughts about these games to the rest of the site and give the game the attention it deserves. Don't conform to the crowd. Be Diverse! Review different types of games! 

      How about a challenge? Go into the RGR and play something that you haven't played before or a game that has very low review submissions. Then, write a review about it. I'm pretty sure that whatever you write would be fresh, original, and authentic.



Learn From Experienced Reviewers

      There are people in this forum that have made highly rated reviews. Learn from these people, whether if it is through reading their work or personally asking them for advice and tips. This thread itself consists of advice given by different staff reviewers who understands what it takes to write a good review. As you learn from these people, make adjustments or improvements in your reviews and keep those tips in mind when you prepare for your next one.



Keep Writing

      I think everyone who has experience in writing reviews can agree with this. The best way to get better is to keep writing. Some of you might have your first couple of reviews that were either rated down or even trashed because they are not up to par in being a professional review, but it does not mean that you should stop writing reviews.You take up advice from experienced writers and make adjustments for your next one. Who knows, your next one might be the best one yet. Don't stop, keep writing.



And there you have it: My overall advice on how to write a good review. Some of you might think that these standards are pretty strict, but no matter whose standards these are, reviews standards should be strict because the site rules demand these posts to be professional quality. If a reader wants to know whether a game is worth playing or not, reading a bad review would waste the person's time. Just to give an idea of how I rate reviews on this site, my personal rating system is the following: 1 - Not a review, 2 - Technically a review, but not well done, 3 - A decent review with room for improvement, and 4 and 5 are good reviews. Which score I choose will depend on whether something extra impresses me or if I feel the overall review deserves a 5 or not.





To Those Who Comment on Reviews
      I also would like to share my thoughts to my fellow Staff Game Reviewers, Review Reviewers, as well as some of you who are active in commenting in reviews. Please be truthful and reasonable in your advice to reviews. Don't be sugarcoating what reviewers are doing wrong. I see some staff members who read reviews that is barely past 100 words and didn't really critique the game, yet still say that they made a good review while saying that they just need more detail and information. If they need more information and detail, then it is not considered a good review. We need to be consistent in our standards. Don't give a false expectation to these reviewers if they are not doing it right. At the same time, however, you want to be reasonable in your criticisms and focus on providing constructive criticisms as well as way to improve their reviews. There are some younger users who may not understand what a review is when they write and it is important for us to guide them towards the right direction. DON'T demean or insult the user for writing a bad review. Continually try to help them to get better.

      An example would be a comparison between Eirinn and myself. I understand if people see me to be rather strict in my standards and sometimes when I comment on reviews, I can be direct and go straight to the point. Eirinn, on the other hand, is very gracious in the way that he comments on reviews (I think a lot of members would agree on this) and a lot of things that he writes sound very nice and softspoken. However, I think both of us remain truthful and reasonable in our advice to reviews. If something is well done, we would reward them with a compliment where credit is due. If something is unreasonable or unprofessional, we both would be able to point it out as well as explain how to get better. We just might express it differently.


If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or any of the staff game reviewers or review reviewers on this site. I will keep updating this thread if there are more things that I can add to it. Have fun writing!



play4fun
Summarized



  1. Try to make reviews with a decent amount of detail, but not tedious to read. The bigger the game, the longer the review should be.


  2. Use paragraphs! Divide you ideas in subjects, each with a paragraph.


  3. Use good grammar and spelling. While some mistakes are normal, proper punctuation and syntax make your review understandable to other.


  4. Your arguments should be objective and supported with reasons. 

  5. Don't rush. Re-read your review.


Detailed

What is a Review?


I personally think a big reason why some reviews are bad in this forum is because there are some members who don't understand what a review is. Some mix up the characteristics of a review with a comment. To get things cleared up, let's look at the definition of "review":




Review [ri-vyoo]


noun 
-a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility or intention of instituting change if necessary.
(Definition of "review" from oxforddictionaries.com




Also see: Merriam-Webster, dictionary.com, Macmillan Dictionary, thefreedictionary.com






What Makes a Review Good?



Now that we know what a review is, how do we know what is a good review and what is a bad review? Here are some characteristics that I can come up with.



"Persuade me!"




My Art Survey professor once said (in a British ascent): "When analyzing a work of art, you need to go beyond 'I like it' or 'I don't like it.' " This is the same with writing reviews. There are so many reviews who post generic sentences like "I love this game!" or "The graphics are awesome!" or "The story sucks!" without any support. This doesn't sound convincing.
     The whole point of a review is to critique every aspect of the game. It is NOT a descriptive article, but a persuasive article. You are trying to make a case to your audience that this game is a good/bad game overall and that it is/isn't worth your time to play it (Or even buy it if it's not in the RGR). Pick a clear position on what you feel about the game overall and within the different aspects of the game. Focus more on arguing for your opinion instead of describing the game. The only reason we would need to describe something is to provide examples to prove your point. Don't just say "story is good" or "story is bad" but also talk about WHY and HOW is the story is good or bad. Ultimately, your goal is for your readers to listen to you or find your words trustworthy on video game opinions. If you don't feel comfortable in doing that, then writing reviews might not be right for you.
     Here is another way of thinking about this: If I am a person who has never played this game before, a good review should either draw the person towards or push away from wanting to try the game. A bad review neither cause the reader to take any side towards the game, nor does it instill interest in the reader to even bother in looking into the game.


Appropriate Detail




      I know there is a 100 word limit rule in this forum as well as a rule of earning more Viz and CP if you write more words in your review. I think this helps encourage people to write better reviews, but it also gives a false idea that long reviews are better reviews. I've seen shorter reviews that don't go past 1000 words, yet they were informative and well written. On the other hand, I've also seen reviews that were super long, but they kept getting sidetracked and rambled too much unnecessary information or comments.






      Reviewers should give each game the appropriate detail that it deserves. Bigger games would require more content or explanations, while smaller games are more likely to go straight to the point. You want to find the right amount of detail that would be enough to fairly prove your point while not being nitpicky in your analysis. Honestly though, if your review barely goes past the 100 word limit, there's a good chance that it is bad one and that you didn't go into enough depth in your analysis.



      I'll say this again if you want a summary of this section: LONGER REVIEWS DO NOT MEAN BETTER REVIEWS. GOOD REVIEWS ARE IN APPROPRIATE LENGTHS.


Is it Readable? 

      I don't know the reason why html or pictures are not allowed in reviews for this site, but because of that, it can be very difficult in attracting readers to want to read your reviews. That being said, you don't want to make your reviews less attractive by making them harder to read. Relating to my point on organization, you want to make your review readable to your audience. There are many ways to make this possible, like spacing out your article, make paragraphs, don't use colors that would conflict with your post background, change your font to something that is clear and easy to see. If your audience needs to squint their eyes or adjust their sitting position in order to read your piece, they would become less motivated to finish it.

      When you are done with your review, look at it and ask yourself. Do you want to read it?


Organize! Organize! Organize!

      Relating to the previous point, organizing your review would help readers feel more comfortable in reading your article. It makes it easier for a person to track their progress in the article as well as going back to it if rereading is needed. Now, I know a lot of people like to split their reviews into categories when rating the game, and this is a great way in organizing your review, but it is not the only way to do so. Something as simple as writing in organized paragraphs, split them into different categories (the good and the bad, the likes and dislikes, etc), or use formatting to divide similar content apart are also good ways to organize your review.


      It is also important to organize your content. Since this type of article is trying to convince other readers, you want to have a flow as you write your review. Let one argument flow to the next, making it a smooth and understandable read. You don't want to go from talking about graphics and then talk about story in the middle of talking about graphics, and then go and talk about the history, and then go back to graphics. It can get confusing and hard to read.



      No matter what you do, DO NOT just write a big wall of text with no spacing or formatting. A big rectangular wall of text is unattractive to the reader and hard to read. No one would be motivated to read that.



Unbiased Judgment

       Sometimes our feelings towards a game is so great, that we forget to talk about different aspects that goes against how we feel about the game. As reviewers, we are to give truthful and wholesome opinions about the game. In order to do that, we need to step outside of our biases (or at least identify them) so that we can critique the game objectively. One example of doing this is to look at both the good and the bad aspects of the game. I don't believe that there is a game that is perfect, so there has to be both sides to consider. Make a balance evaluation by talking about the good things about the game as well as things that can be improved or things that ruins your experience in enjoying the game. Not only could this surprise you in how you feel overall about the game, but it would also make you sound more trustworthy when readers see that you looked at all sides of this game.



      One staff also mentions about avoiding bias relating to genre. Just because a game is a genre that you love to play does not mean that the game itself is good. For example, just because you love racing games does not mean that all racing games are good. We need to move beyond our likes and dislikes and see the game as it is from an open perspective. Take everything into account and make a sound judgment to the game.


Arguments Makes Sense

      I laughed a little when a friend of my comment on a review by saying "Your review...the logic makes sense, I guess" You can tell he was trying to be nice to the reviewer when in actuality, he thinks the review doesn't make good sense. In order for something to be a good review, it needs to make sense. Be careful in arguing for a side while providing evidence that contradicts your side.



      Too many times I see reviewers talk about a certain section in the review (story, graphics, etc) and they praise it for so many things, and then end up giving the game an 8 or a 9. Conversely, there are people who completely trashed a certain part of the game and said no good things about it, yet they were still able to give that part a rating of a 5. Your scores need to make sense with what you write in your review. If something doesn't get a perfect 10, there has to be a reason that one decides that the game falls short from perfection. Obviously, people have different standards when rating games, but if you only talk good things about the game, but you don't provide a perfect score, that means you are forgetting something in your review. 



      Just like my last point, give both sides of the story and be balanced in your review. A good review does not mean that everyone agrees with your opinion. A good review takes everything in the game into account and makes a believable and convincing evaluation.



Proper Spelling and Grammar

      When you write a convincing article, you want readers to consider what you say and take you seriously. Misspellings, improper grammar, and lack of punctuation losses the professionalism of the article and readers will not take your opinion seriously, no matter how right or persuasive you are. Make sure to read through the entire review for grammatical mistakes. You may not get every mistake corrected, but it would at least guarantee that readers can at least understand what you are writing.





Ways to Get Better

Now that I've finished writing about how to make a good review, let's talk about certain things that you can do to help you reach that level.



"According to My Research..."

      Even though we played the game and are quite familiar with the games that we review, it is always a good idea to do a little bit of digging for information about the game so that you won't miss any important information. It's unlikely that we would know everything about the game, so the more information that you can find outside from playing it yourself, the more wholesome your review would become. This is especially useful when you are trying to compare the video and sound quality of the game to other games in the same era or through the same console system. You would need to look at other games to make that comparison.



Don't Assume

      I saw a review from someone who decided to stop themselves from writing anymore about the gameplay of a hacked game because it has the same controls as the original. That idea does make sense to those who know the game, but remember....this is a very diverse board, filled with different members in different backgrounds. Chance are that not everyone on the board may have played or even heard of the game that you played. When you write your review, whether if it's details of the game, background information, or your ratings/opinions, write it as if you are writing this to an absolute stranger who knows absolutely nothing about this game. Explain what needs to be explained, and I'm sure you will find enough things to talk about.



Set a Standard for your Rating System
      The site gives categories of the game to rate from 1 to 10. What I sometimes find new reviewers do is that they go to the extreme when it comes to ratings. If they think this category is good, they immediately go to the 10; if they find it very bad, they immediately go for the 1; if they don't have strong opinions about that category, they go for a 5 or a 6. I don't think this is a good way of effectively using the rating system.



      Now I know rating in such a large range can be quite difficult, but I believe it is doable. It is important to explain yourself how the rating system should be distributed so that YOU know what you mean when you give it a score. People might disagree with the way you rate games, but as long as you evenly and reasonably divide your ratings with a set expectation for each number, you would become more consistent in the way you rate games.


      For example: For a 10, I would say it is exceptional; for a 9, it would be great with very minor issues; for a 7, it would be decent with some problems; for a 6, it's mediocre good (mediocre, but more good than bad)...and so on and so forth.


Double Check

      It is never a bad thing to double check, triple check, or quadruple check your review. With so many things that can be said about a game, you want to make sure that your details, your grammar and your arguments are accurate and readable. A couple of staff members actually wrote that if you read your own review and you don't like what you wrote, you might want to make the right adjustments needed to make you like the review better. Even though you are writing to inform others, it is your review with your opinions. If you don't even like what you write, why would you expect others to do the same?



Be Yourself

      We all know that copying other people's work is plagiarism, but copying the entire writing style from other writers also makes your review look unoriginal and boring. There will be times when styles of different people would be similar and overlap, but you are still a different person with different personalities and opinions. When you write, the style, opinion, and content should be of your own. Put a little bit of your flavor in critiquing these games and its originality will attract more readers to want to read your stuff or wanting for more. They don't want to read the same old thing that people commonly do. They want something different from the rest.



Don't Rush It

      I see a lot of this happening, not just here, but also in other sites as well. Some people are just so eager to express their opinions (sometimes wanting to be the FIRST one to post a review) that they don't even take the time to gather their thoughts or even think if their opinion makes sense or not. There are some professional reviewers on the internet who shared that when they finish a game, they don't immediately start a review. Instead, they sleep on it or give it a day to let it sink in. Sometimes your initial opinion may not be your real opinion. Take your time in thinking it through. These reviews are suppose to take a lot of time and thought. Rushing to publish a review would most likely lower the quality of your review. As the saying goes, "Haste makes wastes"



Diversify your Choice of Games
      Let's be honest. No seriously, let's be very very honest: THERE ARE WAYYY TOO MANY POKEMON GAME AND HACK REVIEWS. I know, they are very popular. Most of us have played them some time in our lives. I know that a lot of you love to play pokemon games, and that is totally fine. Be seriously, if you go to each pokemon game and count how many reviews there are in the review section. Every time I come to the Game Review forum to see what's new, there is always AT LEAST one pokemon game review that is marked as new. And then I go into another page and I see a game that is very well known in the gaming world, and yet I see 1 person making a review out of it.

      You need to diversify your choice of games to review. If there are a lot of people who wrote reviews for a game, it is difficult to stand out among the crowd. Most likely people have read a review about the game before you published yours and it would seem uninteresting to them because your opinion could be the same or similar to what another reviewer said. There are so many different games in this site that are great entertainment (or bad, depending whether you want to write a bad review). You have a chance as a reviewer to share your thoughts about these games to the rest of the site and give the game the attention it deserves. Don't conform to the crowd. Be Diverse! Review different types of games! 

      How about a challenge? Go into the RGR and play something that you haven't played before or a game that has very low review submissions. Then, write a review about it. I'm pretty sure that whatever you write would be fresh, original, and authentic.



Learn From Experienced Reviewers

      There are people in this forum that have made highly rated reviews. Learn from these people, whether if it is through reading their work or personally asking them for advice and tips. This thread itself consists of advice given by different staff reviewers who understands what it takes to write a good review. As you learn from these people, make adjustments or improvements in your reviews and keep those tips in mind when you prepare for your next one.



Keep Writing

      I think everyone who has experience in writing reviews can agree with this. The best way to get better is to keep writing. Some of you might have your first couple of reviews that were either rated down or even trashed because they are not up to par in being a professional review, but it does not mean that you should stop writing reviews.You take up advice from experienced writers and make adjustments for your next one. Who knows, your next one might be the best one yet. Don't stop, keep writing.



And there you have it: My overall advice on how to write a good review. Some of you might think that these standards are pretty strict, but no matter whose standards these are, reviews standards should be strict because the site rules demand these posts to be professional quality. If a reader wants to know whether a game is worth playing or not, reading a bad review would waste the person's time. Just to give an idea of how I rate reviews on this site, my personal rating system is the following: 1 - Not a review, 2 - Technically a review, but not well done, 3 - A decent review with room for improvement, and 4 and 5 are good reviews. Which score I choose will depend on whether something extra impresses me or if I feel the overall review deserves a 5 or not.





To Those Who Comment on Reviews
      I also would like to share my thoughts to my fellow Staff Game Reviewers, Review Reviewers, as well as some of you who are active in commenting in reviews. Please be truthful and reasonable in your advice to reviews. Don't be sugarcoating what reviewers are doing wrong. I see some staff members who read reviews that is barely past 100 words and didn't really critique the game, yet still say that they made a good review while saying that they just need more detail and information. If they need more information and detail, then it is not considered a good review. We need to be consistent in our standards. Don't give a false expectation to these reviewers if they are not doing it right. At the same time, however, you want to be reasonable in your criticisms and focus on providing constructive criticisms as well as way to improve their reviews. There are some younger users who may not understand what a review is when they write and it is important for us to guide them towards the right direction. DON'T demean or insult the user for writing a bad review. Continually try to help them to get better.

      An example would be a comparison between Eirinn and myself. I understand if people see me to be rather strict in my standards and sometimes when I comment on reviews, I can be direct and go straight to the point. Eirinn, on the other hand, is very gracious in the way that he comments on reviews (I think a lot of members would agree on this) and a lot of things that he writes sound very nice and softspoken. However, I think both of us remain truthful and reasonable in our advice to reviews. If something is well done, we would reward them with a compliment where credit is due. If something is unreasonable or unprofessional, we both would be able to point it out as well as explain how to get better. We just might express it differently.


If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or any of the staff game reviewers or review reviewers on this site. I will keep updating this thread if there are more things that I can add to it. Have fun writing!



play4fun
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(edited by play4fun on 04-21-15 11:18 AM)     Post Rating: 13   Liked By: Barathemos, CatLady, Congo!, Dahaka, gamerforlifeforever, madmonk_adam, Mohammedroxx3, Mr.SuperSonic360, no 8120, Sidewinder, The Mario Gamer, uusretrohippi, wariostick,

05-06-13 04:57 AM
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Fantastic. This covers pretty much everything. (although there are likely sections that could be added at any time)
I feel this needs to be stickied, and then shown to anyone who goes to write a review for the first time.
Everyone who has an interest in reviews, or reviewing reviews needs to read this.
Fantastic. This covers pretty much everything. (although there are likely sections that could be added at any time)
I feel this needs to be stickied, and then shown to anyone who goes to write a review for the first time.
Everyone who has an interest in reviews, or reviewing reviews needs to read this.
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05-06-13 04:07 PM
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While this advice is extraordinarily helpful to newbie review writers, and is incredibly well written and put together,but  atlas I think it should have been summed up more because let's face facts how many people will actually take the time to read through that post, considering most of the newbie users that write reviews are in between the ages of 10-15.
While this advice is extraordinarily helpful to newbie review writers, and is incredibly well written and put together,but  atlas I think it should have been summed up more because let's face facts how many people will actually take the time to read through that post, considering most of the newbie users that write reviews are in between the ages of 10-15.
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05-06-13 04:08 PM
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This is an excellent overview of what needs to be done when writing a review. I think, however, that there needs to be some way for it to be seen on all of the game pages, or perhaps a recap of this needs to be provided prior to a user submitting a review so that they are at least informed before hand. I don't know how that's done, but I think it's at least worth considering.
This is an excellent overview of what needs to be done when writing a review. I think, however, that there needs to be some way for it to be seen on all of the game pages, or perhaps a recap of this needs to be provided prior to a user submitting a review so that they are at least informed before hand. I don't know how that's done, but I think it's at least worth considering.
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05-06-13 06:22 PM
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I intentionally make this to be as thorough as possible so that I can cover as much bases as I can. People don't have to read this if they are already doing a decent job in review. Just like playing a game, you don't have to read the entire rule book if you are familiar with how to play a game. This is there as a thorough standard so that those who want to know how to write good reviews will want to read. And when they do read, I don't have to clarify my writing, for the article will explain itself. I think that if the younger reviewers are serious in making good reviews, they would be willing to read through the article.

Also people don't have to read the whole thing if they only need to know some things that don't know before. I divided the article with bold titles so that people can just skip around if they already know certain categories.

Finally, just as a tease, I *might* develop a video for this and it would sum up things better.
I intentionally make this to be as thorough as possible so that I can cover as much bases as I can. People don't have to read this if they are already doing a decent job in review. Just like playing a game, you don't have to read the entire rule book if you are familiar with how to play a game. This is there as a thorough standard so that those who want to know how to write good reviews will want to read. And when they do read, I don't have to clarify my writing, for the article will explain itself. I think that if the younger reviewers are serious in making good reviews, they would be willing to read through the article.

Also people don't have to read the whole thing if they only need to know some things that don't know before. I divided the article with bold titles so that people can just skip around if they already know certain categories.

Finally, just as a tease, I *might* develop a video for this and it would sum up things better.
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05-06-13 07:17 PM
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play4fun :
I concur with the people who praised this as a thorough guide for those seeking to improve their review skillz, and I have 2 thoughts.  
1.  This guide is too strictly anti-description, it says and ill paraphrase since I'm typing on my phone (lol) that description of the game is ONLY used to make a point as to the game's merits (I changed my mind, the guide says "The only reason we would need to describe something is to provide examples to prove your point").  If you familiarize yourself with professional reviews you will realize this is not the case.  The better reviews, usually after the introduction where they make their main point (the game sucks because x), they give an almost purely descriptive section where they describe what the game is.  This is a necessary section because often the reader's interest in the game will depend on the genre, play style, what it's based on, who made it etc etc regardless of the reviewer's opinion of the quality.  It also gives the reader some context for the analysis to follow.  I for example would be interested in playing the whole Mario series even the suckier ones lol.  While analysis can be sprinkled in such a section its primary purpose is pure description, and this section is particularly important on vizzed because some of the game descriptions are vague, incomplete and some contain misinformation!!  The star fox for super nintendo description describes the gameplay of some arcade game from the 80s that is unrelated to the game lol.
2.  Regarding getting sidetracked or rambling on tangents, the most important "rule" is to have a reason for whatever you write, try to make it interesting and trust your instincts because in some cases a little sidetracking is helpful or at least interesting, it varies depending on the situation and no, it may not in all cases directly address the game's merits.  Someone once argued I should not devote a paragraph to criticizing a game's more-popular sequel because I was off-topic, supposedly, but I felt and still feel that most of my audience might ask "why would I play this game when the better-known sequel is better in every way?"  I felt it was necessary not only to discuss the game's merits but also the failures of its sequel or else my audience might miss the original's continuing relevance.  Off-topic?  Maybe.  Rambling? Certainly.  But also fun to write and I had enough faith in myself and my audience to gamble that they would enjoy my thoughts too.
Speaking of sharing maybe rambling thoughts lol thanks for letting me share mine here about reviews!   Also don't get too defensive about constructive criticism, that's good advice for review authors and for us all.  People naturally have different opinions about things (even about how to write opinions), it keeps it interesting.  And thanks for providing all this great guidance to aspiring vizzed authors!  
play4fun :
I concur with the people who praised this as a thorough guide for those seeking to improve their review skillz, and I have 2 thoughts.  
1.  This guide is too strictly anti-description, it says and ill paraphrase since I'm typing on my phone (lol) that description of the game is ONLY used to make a point as to the game's merits (I changed my mind, the guide says "The only reason we would need to describe something is to provide examples to prove your point").  If you familiarize yourself with professional reviews you will realize this is not the case.  The better reviews, usually after the introduction where they make their main point (the game sucks because x), they give an almost purely descriptive section where they describe what the game is.  This is a necessary section because often the reader's interest in the game will depend on the genre, play style, what it's based on, who made it etc etc regardless of the reviewer's opinion of the quality.  It also gives the reader some context for the analysis to follow.  I for example would be interested in playing the whole Mario series even the suckier ones lol.  While analysis can be sprinkled in such a section its primary purpose is pure description, and this section is particularly important on vizzed because some of the game descriptions are vague, incomplete and some contain misinformation!!  The star fox for super nintendo description describes the gameplay of some arcade game from the 80s that is unrelated to the game lol.
2.  Regarding getting sidetracked or rambling on tangents, the most important "rule" is to have a reason for whatever you write, try to make it interesting and trust your instincts because in some cases a little sidetracking is helpful or at least interesting, it varies depending on the situation and no, it may not in all cases directly address the game's merits.  Someone once argued I should not devote a paragraph to criticizing a game's more-popular sequel because I was off-topic, supposedly, but I felt and still feel that most of my audience might ask "why would I play this game when the better-known sequel is better in every way?"  I felt it was necessary not only to discuss the game's merits but also the failures of its sequel or else my audience might miss the original's continuing relevance.  Off-topic?  Maybe.  Rambling? Certainly.  But also fun to write and I had enough faith in myself and my audience to gamble that they would enjoy my thoughts too.
Speaking of sharing maybe rambling thoughts lol thanks for letting me share mine here about reviews!   Also don't get too defensive about constructive criticism, that's good advice for review authors and for us all.  People naturally have different opinions about things (even about how to write opinions), it keeps it interesting.  And thanks for providing all this great guidance to aspiring vizzed authors!  
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(edited by bsnowotter on 05-06-13 07:52 PM)    

05-06-13 07:21 PM
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I believe this really does help with reviews!
I am a 'newb' myself at reviews, but I read this and I think I did pretty O.K for my first review from it!
This information is very helpful!
I believe this really does help with reviews!
I am a 'newb' myself at reviews, but I read this and I think I did pretty O.K for my first review from it!
This information is very helpful!
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05-06-13 08:08 PM
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Very, very nice ,play4fun.  Thanks for sharing this.  It's well written, well-informed, and well.... just awesome.    This has been needed for awhile now, so I hope some people take the time to read it and truly consider the advice.
Very, very nice ,play4fun.  Thanks for sharing this.  It's well written, well-informed, and well.... just awesome.    This has been needed for awhile now, so I hope some people take the time to read it and truly consider the advice.
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05-07-13 10:46 AM
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bsnowotter :

Thank you for your reply. I'm glad people are reading through it, because I myself am doing the same because of how long this article is. I am continually correcting and analyzing what I write here and what people tell me. As for what you responded, I probably didn't make myself clear on the description issue. If you read the "appropriate detail" "Argument make sense" and the "Don't assume" section, you notice that I was not saying to totally abandon description at all, but description should be part of the review, and not the main focus of the review. You put in the appropriate amount of detail in describing the game whenever it is applicable.

When asked other staff members about this article before this article was published, what a lot of them mention is that there are two flaws: Describing without making an opinion, and making an opinion without backing them up. I've personally seen both flaws happened. For example, when someone was talking about the story, someone went through all their effort in writing a complete description of the story, but nowhere did we hear anything about his opinion other than giving the story a 8. So, yeah, definitely give your details and descriptions, but do so when it is relating to your arguument Don't use something that has no contribution to your argument and especially don't provide spoilers.

As for rambling and sidetracking, I think that is a balance issue, because you might be able to do a good job at doing this, but there are people who don't do this as well. Some people ramble so far from their original topic (which kinda is the result of not checking their article before submitting) that they never got back to what they were talking about. It does also cause some articles to be unnecessarily long and some of us don't have all day to be able to read reviews that go too far. So sometimes it is good to get a little sidetrack, but for those who don't know how to get back from being off topic, it would be safer if you don't leave your topic in the first place.

So yeah, I think it's a balance issue. Not too long, not too short, not lack of detail, and not unnecessarily detailed. Much of this article is probably more of response to how some of the reviews are doing in this forum and this is made a rule of thumb for new members, so it'll probably change when we see a new trend that is causing problems.
bsnowotter :

Thank you for your reply. I'm glad people are reading through it, because I myself am doing the same because of how long this article is. I am continually correcting and analyzing what I write here and what people tell me. As for what you responded, I probably didn't make myself clear on the description issue. If you read the "appropriate detail" "Argument make sense" and the "Don't assume" section, you notice that I was not saying to totally abandon description at all, but description should be part of the review, and not the main focus of the review. You put in the appropriate amount of detail in describing the game whenever it is applicable.

When asked other staff members about this article before this article was published, what a lot of them mention is that there are two flaws: Describing without making an opinion, and making an opinion without backing them up. I've personally seen both flaws happened. For example, when someone was talking about the story, someone went through all their effort in writing a complete description of the story, but nowhere did we hear anything about his opinion other than giving the story a 8. So, yeah, definitely give your details and descriptions, but do so when it is relating to your arguument Don't use something that has no contribution to your argument and especially don't provide spoilers.

As for rambling and sidetracking, I think that is a balance issue, because you might be able to do a good job at doing this, but there are people who don't do this as well. Some people ramble so far from their original topic (which kinda is the result of not checking their article before submitting) that they never got back to what they were talking about. It does also cause some articles to be unnecessarily long and some of us don't have all day to be able to read reviews that go too far. So sometimes it is good to get a little sidetrack, but for those who don't know how to get back from being off topic, it would be safer if you don't leave your topic in the first place.

So yeah, I think it's a balance issue. Not too long, not too short, not lack of detail, and not unnecessarily detailed. Much of this article is probably more of response to how some of the reviews are doing in this forum and this is made a rule of thumb for new members, so it'll probably change when we see a new trend that is causing problems.
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(edited by play4fun on 05-07-13 10:48 AM)     Post Rating: 1   Liked By: wariostick,

05-07-13 11:31 AM
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play4fun :
Thanks for reading my reply!!   Hopefully people start balancing all that stuff in their reviews for petes sake!!   indeed for the sake of vizzed as we know it... 
play4fun :
Thanks for reading my reply!!   Hopefully people start balancing all that stuff in their reviews for petes sake!!   indeed for the sake of vizzed as we know it... 
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05-10-13 01:02 PM
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This pretty much covers everything as well said. however it seems as if some newer users are skipping or ignoring this thread. but they really shouldn't because it is very well helpful. especially those that don't really know what they are doing when it comes to reviews. However If theres something I may note I will go ahead and add it. if the game is a squeal Reviewers should talk about what's improved or what's not improved. and what's different about the game. that would just something I would add in the advice but you don't really need to its just a suggestion. Anyways  all newbies and troubled reviewers. need to check this out. Good work on covering everything up
This pretty much covers everything as well said. however it seems as if some newer users are skipping or ignoring this thread. but they really shouldn't because it is very well helpful. especially those that don't really know what they are doing when it comes to reviews. However If theres something I may note I will go ahead and add it. if the game is a squeal Reviewers should talk about what's improved or what's not improved. and what's different about the game. that would just something I would add in the advice but you don't really need to its just a suggestion. Anyways  all newbies and troubled reviewers. need to check this out. Good work on covering everything up
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05-15-13 02:59 PM
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Thanks, that was some great advice.
I review a lot of games, and usually people really like them, but this thread showed a few good things I could work on.
Thanks, that was some great advice.
I review a lot of games, and usually people really like them, but this thread showed a few good things I could work on.
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05-15-13 03:21 PM
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Can I just add one more thing just out in the open for my personal opinion? Variety on picking on what games to review would help too. I can say for myself that I am getting VERY sick of reading pokemon game and hack reviews....
Can I just add one more thing just out in the open for my personal opinion? Variety on picking on what games to review would help too. I can say for myself that I am getting VERY sick of reading pokemon game and hack reviews....
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05-15-13 03:55 PM
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In my honest opinion, the best way to "review" or "rate" a game shouldn't be based on how much YOU enjoyed it, but how much you think others would enjoy it.

A level of fairness should be used commonly with ANY game of any GENERATION or ERA, don't just judge the game based on what you have seen or played... but judge it based on the OVERALL idea.

Like, if you're someone who doesn't like 2D games or 8-bit games... then you shouldn't judge it because you don't like the graphics, you should judge it based on what the graphics represent. Show both respect and opinion at the same time...
In my honest opinion, the best way to "review" or "rate" a game shouldn't be based on how much YOU enjoyed it, but how much you think others would enjoy it.

A level of fairness should be used commonly with ANY game of any GENERATION or ERA, don't just judge the game based on what you have seen or played... but judge it based on the OVERALL idea.

Like, if you're someone who doesn't like 2D games or 8-bit games... then you shouldn't judge it because you don't like the graphics, you should judge it based on what the graphics represent. Show both respect and opinion at the same time...
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05-18-13 01:58 PM
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Good reviews have to be detailed, provide persuasive language to persuade the readers of the review to want to play the game and enjoy it. Give examples of good things about the game and talk about your good experience with the game and provide like a small rating on the game and really persuade the reader on the game and make them want to play the games. Be neat and keep your review organized and easy to read, in my reviews I like to keep it under sections for each of the scoring criteria of the game and give an honest explanation of how I felt about that particular aspect of the game which leads me to my next point.


Be honest about how you felt about the game, if there was one particular part of the game you found to be difficult, boring or not enjoyable, address it and say how it made you feel. If you don't like the game and found it to be boring then talk about how it made you feel that way, but don't be overly critical either because you don't want to make it so that no one ever plays the game at all, that is no good and what you might find to be boring someone else might find to be enjoyable or fun, so be honest but not severely critical of the negative or boring parts of the game.


Don't run and tell a long life long story about the game where you start and everything or don't start from what me teacher calls a "once upon a time thesis" avoid babbling on about the game, keep it to the point, and don't make it longer than necessary, if you have explained the game and addressed all of the main points then don't add on extra stuff to it just to spam for word count, make it to the point and feel free to give details on how you felt about the game and what really made it awesome and enjoyable  to you. Also don't be on the other end of the spectrum and say like 10 words on the game because no one is going to read that and your review won't get rated, it is pointless to do that and it is a waste of time, be detailed, be descriptive and persuasive and don't babble about stuff not even relevant to the game or don't be vague about it either.


Check over the spelling and make sure everything is spelled correctly and everything makes sense, that is what makes it look professional, nothing would be worse than to represent a vizzed review than having bad grammar and spelling mistakes and grammatical errors all over it. Keep it nice and spell check it, it is a few seconds of your time to correct your work and make it look like a professional review, and plus you get five free vizzed and depending on the size of your review and the quality of your review you should get a good amount of Viz from it, and 5 extra won't hurt.



A good review depending on the game being rated should be about 500-600 words at least, and good reviews are probably closer to a 1,000 but you don't have to make it really long, as long as you have explained your point and you think you have been persuasive enough then mission accomplished you don't have to write anything else. At the very least keep your review of the game over 100 words because you don't want to come off and put the game to shame with a lack of detail and no one is ever going to read or rate that so you are just wasting your time so you might as well not even waste your time writing a small low quality review, that is am-mature and you don't to come off as that on a vizzed review.



Revise your review to make sure everything makes sense and that you don't repeat something you missed before and that your sentences aren't long run ons, you should take a few minutes to revise and edit your work and make sure you catch any mistakes you might have missed before submitting it, once you think everything looks nice and descriptive and all grammatical and spelling or punctuation  mistakes are corrected and you feel confident that you have written a great review then submit it. Don't be afraid to critique yourself or spend more time trying to make your review better because the best authors and writers aren't afraid to do so and they will put there work through multiple revise and editing sessions, so be sure to put time aside to read your review, check to make sure everything makes sense before submitting your final. Basically treat it like an essay and put your work into paragraphs and try to capture the reader's attention, also come up with a conclusion that shows your final thoughts about the game and what you think is good about it and what could use improvement.



Most importantly don't contradict yourself and say something is good and then in a later paragraph say that it is terrible and can use improvement later, that is why you revise and edit it later to make sure you aren't repeating or contradicting yourself, just remember that you don't have to be afraid to share your thoughts about the game.



Make sure the appearance and neatness of your review is nice and neat and that it is easy to read, so maybe make your text larger and make sure the topic criteria are highlighted and labeled
 in bold, or if you think that there is something important that you think should stick out to the reader then be sure to put it in either a special font or label it in italics or highlight it so they can be sure to come across it and they won't skip over it.




And finally give yourself a pat on the back, congratulate yourself on completing a professional review and you should receive lots of vizzed as well as contribution points, and if it is rated and commented on by a lot of people then that is probably a sign that you should probably continue to write good reviews. Also if there is constructive criticism or recommendations on you review keep it cool and don't freak out about it, they want you to do well in writing reviews and they are just giving you helpful advice to make your reviews better, and next time try incorporating some of there advice into your future reviews, and if you feel like you struggled with it then maybe refer to a professional and ask them for advice and read some of their reviews and see what skills they used and see if you can pick up on them to make your review better.Sorry of this is very long and you should probably get a medal if you read all of this, hope this helps!














Good reviews have to be detailed, provide persuasive language to persuade the readers of the review to want to play the game and enjoy it. Give examples of good things about the game and talk about your good experience with the game and provide like a small rating on the game and really persuade the reader on the game and make them want to play the games. Be neat and keep your review organized and easy to read, in my reviews I like to keep it under sections for each of the scoring criteria of the game and give an honest explanation of how I felt about that particular aspect of the game which leads me to my next point.


Be honest about how you felt about the game, if there was one particular part of the game you found to be difficult, boring or not enjoyable, address it and say how it made you feel. If you don't like the game and found it to be boring then talk about how it made you feel that way, but don't be overly critical either because you don't want to make it so that no one ever plays the game at all, that is no good and what you might find to be boring someone else might find to be enjoyable or fun, so be honest but not severely critical of the negative or boring parts of the game.


Don't run and tell a long life long story about the game where you start and everything or don't start from what me teacher calls a "once upon a time thesis" avoid babbling on about the game, keep it to the point, and don't make it longer than necessary, if you have explained the game and addressed all of the main points then don't add on extra stuff to it just to spam for word count, make it to the point and feel free to give details on how you felt about the game and what really made it awesome and enjoyable  to you. Also don't be on the other end of the spectrum and say like 10 words on the game because no one is going to read that and your review won't get rated, it is pointless to do that and it is a waste of time, be detailed, be descriptive and persuasive and don't babble about stuff not even relevant to the game or don't be vague about it either.


Check over the spelling and make sure everything is spelled correctly and everything makes sense, that is what makes it look professional, nothing would be worse than to represent a vizzed review than having bad grammar and spelling mistakes and grammatical errors all over it. Keep it nice and spell check it, it is a few seconds of your time to correct your work and make it look like a professional review, and plus you get five free vizzed and depending on the size of your review and the quality of your review you should get a good amount of Viz from it, and 5 extra won't hurt.



A good review depending on the game being rated should be about 500-600 words at least, and good reviews are probably closer to a 1,000 but you don't have to make it really long, as long as you have explained your point and you think you have been persuasive enough then mission accomplished you don't have to write anything else. At the very least keep your review of the game over 100 words because you don't want to come off and put the game to shame with a lack of detail and no one is ever going to read or rate that so you are just wasting your time so you might as well not even waste your time writing a small low quality review, that is am-mature and you don't to come off as that on a vizzed review.



Revise your review to make sure everything makes sense and that you don't repeat something you missed before and that your sentences aren't long run ons, you should take a few minutes to revise and edit your work and make sure you catch any mistakes you might have missed before submitting it, once you think everything looks nice and descriptive and all grammatical and spelling or punctuation  mistakes are corrected and you feel confident that you have written a great review then submit it. Don't be afraid to critique yourself or spend more time trying to make your review better because the best authors and writers aren't afraid to do so and they will put there work through multiple revise and editing sessions, so be sure to put time aside to read your review, check to make sure everything makes sense before submitting your final. Basically treat it like an essay and put your work into paragraphs and try to capture the reader's attention, also come up with a conclusion that shows your final thoughts about the game and what you think is good about it and what could use improvement.



Most importantly don't contradict yourself and say something is good and then in a later paragraph say that it is terrible and can use improvement later, that is why you revise and edit it later to make sure you aren't repeating or contradicting yourself, just remember that you don't have to be afraid to share your thoughts about the game.



Make sure the appearance and neatness of your review is nice and neat and that it is easy to read, so maybe make your text larger and make sure the topic criteria are highlighted and labeled
 in bold, or if you think that there is something important that you think should stick out to the reader then be sure to put it in either a special font or label it in italics or highlight it so they can be sure to come across it and they won't skip over it.




And finally give yourself a pat on the back, congratulate yourself on completing a professional review and you should receive lots of vizzed as well as contribution points, and if it is rated and commented on by a lot of people then that is probably a sign that you should probably continue to write good reviews. Also if there is constructive criticism or recommendations on you review keep it cool and don't freak out about it, they want you to do well in writing reviews and they are just giving you helpful advice to make your reviews better, and next time try incorporating some of there advice into your future reviews, and if you feel like you struggled with it then maybe refer to a professional and ask them for advice and read some of their reviews and see what skills they used and see if you can pick up on them to make your review better.Sorry of this is very long and you should probably get a medal if you read all of this, hope this helps!














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05-18-13 04:37 PM
kidd mac is Offline
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Thank you play4fun as well as the rest of review staff for making this guide it really did help me make my first review quite good in my opinion and the tips are quite helpful and greatly appreciated. 
Thank you play4fun as well as the rest of review staff for making this guide it really did help me make my first review quite good in my opinion and the tips are quite helpful and greatly appreciated. 
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marcus I AM THE LEGENDARY REPLOID KNOW AS MASTER X


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05-23-13 08:59 PM
play4fun is Offline
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I've made updates on the Advice thread:
  • Reformatted the thread a little
  • Added new Sections: Set a standard on your rating system, diversify your choice of games, and "To Those who Comment on Reviews"

Eirinn : I used you as an example in "To Those who Comment on Reviews" section of the thread. Can you check it for me so that you can be ok with this?
I've made updates on the Advice thread:
  • Reformatted the thread a little
  • Added new Sections: Set a standard on your rating system, diversify your choice of games, and "To Those who Comment on Reviews"

Eirinn : I used you as an example in "To Those who Comment on Reviews" section of the thread. Can you check it for me so that you can be ok with this?
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Post Rating: 1   Liked By: wariostick,

05-23-13 11:39 PM
Eirinn is Offline
| ID: 802607 | 168 Words

Eirinn
Level: 154


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Yes, I agree. And I hope you don't mind my adding that when a review has been critiqued two or three times, there is no need to continue the critiquing. As you have said, we can point them in the right direction, but if four or five people post and point out all of the mistakes, it can really discourage or aggrivate a new reviewer, and make them feel like they're being bullied. I know if that had happened to me after my first review or two, I would have been far less inclined to review again. I feel what you wrote was well said.

On a side note, I really enjoyed the "Be yourself" portion. I have seen a couple of new reviewers lately that really stick out to me, not necessarily because they are such great reviewers, but because they offer a fresh take on reviews. And reading through so many reviews, I find it a joy to read something so unique. Great work here, play4fun.
Yes, I agree. And I hope you don't mind my adding that when a review has been critiqued two or three times, there is no need to continue the critiquing. As you have said, we can point them in the right direction, but if four or five people post and point out all of the mistakes, it can really discourage or aggrivate a new reviewer, and make them feel like they're being bullied. I know if that had happened to me after my first review or two, I would have been far less inclined to review again. I feel what you wrote was well said.

On a side note, I really enjoyed the "Be yourself" portion. I have seen a couple of new reviewers lately that really stick out to me, not necessarily because they are such great reviewers, but because they offer a fresh take on reviews. And reading through so many reviews, I find it a joy to read something so unique. Great work here, play4fun.
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Eirinn


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05-24-13 12:12 PM
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DittoDude44
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play4fun : This is good advice. I'm going to write some more in the future because of you!
play4fun : This is good advice. I'm going to write some more in the future because of you!
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06-06-13 06:12 PM
GuardianZack is Offline
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GuardianZack
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play4fun : I was actually just revising the rules of the forum, and editing David's original post. I edited it to cover plagiarism, review structure, and tips for rating reviews. When I finish, it would be better if you could add this thread onto the rules and delete this one. I'm trying to get all of the information compiled into one thread, so that it will be easy to find for users; plus, they will be more likely to read all of the information if it is in one entire thread.

play4fun : I was actually just revising the rules of the forum, and editing David's original post. I edited it to cover plagiarism, review structure, and tips for rating reviews. When I finish, it would be better if you could add this thread onto the rules and delete this one. I'm trying to get all of the information compiled into one thread, so that it will be easy to find for users; plus, they will be more likely to read all of the information if it is in one entire thread.
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