Do you give your opinion on games you haven't played?

I personally don't. I don't wait to beat a game to give my opinion on it either. I usually play a couple of hours and once I feel I got the grasp and feel of the game, I give my opinion on it.

Otherwise I don't criticize the game. Sure there are Let's Play Videos but these are just you watching someone play the game. Gaming is an interactive medium and watching someone play takes out the interactive part and makes you treat games like a movie or a TV show. So to me watching playthrough doesn't give one the experience of playing the game.

I can say a game looks bad or uninteresting and hell that might be enough to keep me away from it but I never judge a game I haven't played.

Only exception might be when it's a sequel that plays very similar to its predecessor but then again I'll usually reserve my judgment.

@Juub1990:

I'm the same. I can't speak about a game I haven't played.

If it's part of a series and I have played one of the entries, I make assumptions but they're nothing but guesses based on experiences with other titles in a franchise.

But no, I can't comment about a game I haven't played.

Yeah I added that to the OP. If it's a series I've played a lot and I know what to expect, I might give my opinion on some aspects of a game in said series I haven't played but I won't give a full blown opinion.

@Juub1990:

I think we're on the same page. :)

NO

Lots of people on here hate on games they've never played on a system they'll never own. I can never work out if they're genuinely mentally disturbed or just like 6 years old or something.

I'll never criticise a game I've never played myself and I agree you don't need to finish it or even have played it for hours on end to form an opinion. If I'm 2 or 3 hours into a game and it's still doing nothing for me I don't care how good people say it gets later on. If the game hasn't grabbed my attention by that point, it's doing something seriously wrong.

Yeah same here. I've played about 4-6hrs of Bioshock Infinite and thought it was boring. First time I got bored after 2hrs(whereas the original one piqued my interest 15 minutes in). I dropped it. My brother swore it was an amazing piece of storytelling so I picked it up again. Still thought it was a chore 4-6hrs in. Dropped it and never looked back. Don't have that much time to waste before something gets good. I don't care if it's the best game ever. If after that much time it still hasn't picked up, I don't give a damn.

Sometimes I do, but never out of uninformed prejudice. Jaded cynicism, maybe, but even then,I back up my conclusions with substantial amount of research.

For example, my oft-repeated criticism of the Call of Duty series ("5 1/2 hour corridor-linear scripted-to-death shooting gallery campaign, gimmicky multiplayer with recycled maps and overpriced map packs, zombie mode, repeated every November till the Heat Death of the friggin' Universe") is informed by the three Call of Duty games I have played (4, Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops) and the research I've done on more recent games in the series which led me to conclude that they have not changed one bit.

Sure, if I don't feel well-informed, I keep my yapper shut. But just because I haven't played a game doesn't make me automatically wrong about it. Leading up to No Man's Sky's release, I commented that the game looked like a glorified tech demo with next to no gameplay. I made that conclusion through a concerted effort to research and be informed, and guess who was right?

I'd give my opinion based on my preferences in general maybe, but I wouldn't try to argue those passing thoughts as fact.

Sometimes I do, but that's after I did research on the game. Stuff like Paper Mario Color Splash, Sticker Star, and Federation Force are titles that I refuse to play because of the direction that Nintendo took with those games.

I might have, but I always prefer to play a game before passing judgment.

Nah. If it's a long standing series that tends to stay samey, I'll offer up an opinion of my previous experiences. But no, I won't just go to town on a game I haven't played. I mean you really can't offer up a crit on a game you haven't played. That is, unless you're TexasGoldRush and you've scoured the internet for other peoples opinions. That dude apparently knows FFXV better than people who have played it.

Anyways, it's a dumb thing to do. And more often than not, you end up looking dumb for doing it. I remember earlier this year when a ton of debates started popping up about various fighting games. It was so painfully obvious which users didn't know what the **** they were talking about.

@blueinheaven:

What about the way you autoshit on indie games though?

Like I remember one time when you told me if I wanted to experience something like Hotline Miami, I should just buy an older console and play its original counterpart. Even though anybody who has been gaming since back then and has also played Hotline Miami would know there is no classic counterpart.

And that's just one game. You've written off the whole sector of the industry as garbage.

@ConanTheStoner: Yep, I've seen him shit on graphics a lot as well and saying he wouldn't play them based on nothing more than looks. Tales of Zesteria I think it was. He was very critical of Shenmue 3 as well iirc.

Absolutely.

If I were a dev, I'd want to know why people don't want to play my game.

To be fair, simply finding something unappealing for whatever reason is fine. I disagree with him on that stuff more often than not, but whatever, that's his thing.

But to have such strong opinions towards a game you haven't played, or even worse, an entire sector of the industry that is brimming with variety, housing the full spectrum of quality, everything from garbage to excellent... yeah that's a bit much.

And coming to the conclusion that all indie games are just knock offs of classic titles? That's what irks me the most. It's such a broad brush of a critique with no merit.

I'm guilty of such negative assessments concerning the state of the industry as well, but I'm not dense enough to think there aren't multitudes of great games mixed in there too.

No, that would be irresponsible and usually only fanboys do that.

Sometimes? Yes, I have to be honest. If a game looks like it would be unappealing to me, I have no problems calling it out on that. Although in these cases, I try to keep the criticism personal and subjective ('this game looks like something that wouldn't appeal to me at all!') rather than all encompassing objective criticism 'this game sucks!') since the latter wouldn't make much sense for a game I didn't actually play.

Yeah for sure, we aren't robots and there's plenty of stuff to dislike out there.

I think we're all predisposed towards negativity and one point or another, it is what it is.

I think the only real offenders when it comes to this topic are the straight up fakers. The people who actually pretend they've played a game just so they can shit on it lol. System Wars used to be rampant with that kind of nonsense.

Even though I took a jab at Blueinheaven, he doesn't go that low at least.

I think we all do that man, and that's fine. We have our experiences, preferences, etc... knowing if something appeals to you can be damn near immediate at times. Like when Finalstar used to spam threads about obscure ass weeb games, I could click the thread, watch the video, and say nope real quick lol.

As for the latter part, yeah that's TexasGoldRush shit. It's mind numbing to read, especially so when you've played the game in question and you know he's spewing pure nonsense.

Oh we all do that which is why developers showcase their games. I can definitely say I find a game unappealing or that the game doesn't look like it's any good but you'll never see me argue against someone who has actually played said game. I find most JRPG's aside from Persona uninteresting as hell which is ironic considering I used to be in love with them and wanted to play them all but I won't give a full fledged opinion of a game I haven't spent some time with. It's like when we repeatedly asked @casharmy if he had played Gears of War 4 and he hadn't yet he was there spewing vitriol about the game and calling it a flop and horrible. I mean WTF dude, you haven't even played it lol.

No. To do that is just plain stupid.

teehee

Yeah, I mean, I guess that's the entire point of marketing after all, to convince us that something is worth our time if we think otherwise. It's not wrong to have opinions on something based on preliminary impressions, in the end. And agreed on the TGR part lol, it's actually killed brain cells reading his comments on Final Fantasy 15 over the last few days.

Right- yeah, and I think that goes hand in hand with console fanboyism in the end. You're going to hate on games on principle simply because they are not associated with your system of choice. We saw it with casharmy, as you pointed out, and I want to say that dynamitecop is another big offender (though he's at least more reasonable than casharmy). But yes, I mean, I can and will comment on a game I haven't played if I don't find it appealing- but I will always defer to someone who has played it, who can respond to any alleged criticisms I may have of the game. I guess that's what separates honest criticism from fanboyism.

There are different tiers of indie games they are not all the same and I don't bundle all indie games together though you've just done a pretty good job yourself of exactly that. I've played and really enjoyed games like Resogun and Bastion which I believe qualify as indie. It's the ones that attempt to 'emulate' or reinvent games I've played on much older systems complete with shitty graphics that hold no interest for me and I won't apologise for it, neither will I show respect for them just because they were made by a small team (that seems to excuse any and all amounts of fuckwittery these days) just to appease the fragile sensibilities of online trendy indie hipsters.

It's an extension of the discussion above. There are only so many games we have time to play so we have to be selective. Just as I won't persevere with a game that hasn't worked for me after a few hours, I won't even entertain playing something that looks very similar to a game I played on SNES or even Amiga, no matter how 'uncool' I look to you and the 'indie rulez' mob. This myth that a game absolutely must have terrible graphics and the lowest possible production values to have 'real' gameplay only holds true for pretentious clowns on the internet it has no actual basis in reality whatsoever.

Yeah, it's ridiculous. The other day I saw him say that Street Fighter 5 is inferior to Street Fighter 4 in every aspect. Not only is this objectively false, even the aspects that are up for debate are very complicated topics. And not only has he played neither game, I'm not even sure if he plays fighting games at all.

I was ready to shut him down right there, but then I thought... do I really want to spend the next few weeks arguing with a guy who can't accept being wrong?

Nope. I'm getting better at choosing my fights lol.

Yeah, generally when he quotes me, I just ignore him, or make my point in a concisely laid out post, then ignore him after that. This is especially effective because most of TGR's responses are basically the forum equivalent of the Donald Trump 'WRONG,' with no further explanation.

Unless I know enough of a game, I tend not to give an opinion of it. Since I am indifferent towards most games, I do not give an opinion on them.

What is all this horseshit nonsense man?

For a moment I considered discussing this with you, but you've flipped the script and tried to fit me into some creepy narrative here.

None of the above applies to me. I'm not in some 'indie rulez' mob as you put it. It's just that unlike you, I'm not blindly labeling an entire subsection of games as shit. Just like the rest of the industry, the majority of the games suck, a few are good.

The first two bullet points there are strange enough, but you're off your fucking rocker with that last one lmao. It's your post that has no basis in reality.

-

Either come up with an actual adult response that isn't based on some weird narrative you've put together, or don't bother.

Did you even read my post? I have not written off the entire indie scene as shit, you have decided this on my behalf. Do me the service of at least reading my fucking replies if you're going to call me out ffs.

The sheer awfulness of the presentation in the VAST majority of indie games is excused with 'it's gameplay that matters, not graphics' as though it is literally impossible to have both, a view which I find completely fucking moronic and is largely held by complete tools who think they look cool championing gameplay over graphics when in 2017 they should be demanding both. How this aspect of the indie discussion can be news to you I have no idea maybe you've been living in a cave the last 15 years?

Please quit with the 'actual adult response' bullshit it's not my fault you read the post and took offense to all of it without understanding any of it. I'm surprised to be on the receiving end of all this from you of all people.

I don't give personal opinions on games I haven't played cause obviously my opinion wouldn't mean anything on the game. I would say if I'm not interested in a game but anything beyond saying that I don't even bother, and it's dumb if anyone does give opinions on something they haven't experienced.

Great question by the way, I think we now the obvious answer to some of these clowns in here, even if they don't answer the question.

Do you give your opinion on games you haven't played?

Yes. In fact everyone does. Anyone who tries to argue that they don't is simply lying. We look at games and we decided whether or not the game is to our liking. We develop and give our opinion. This how we determine what games we buy. There are many elements about a game you can gather without playing the game. Unskippable cutscense, QTE, cheap difficulty, sluggish movements, bad animations, bad story and many more. All of that from simply looking at a video of the game without touching a controller. The moment you state why you didn't purchase a game; outside of physical and financial limitations, is the moment you gave an opinion about a game you didn't play.

Sometimes but I usually preface with "I've never played it, but" or some shit like that

I more than likely have in the past. Today I may offer some perceived opinions but I'll preface them as such. Other than that, no I do not post opinions of games I haven't played.

But you are still making judgments on the game without playing it and using the consensus opinion which is based off a lot of other negative opinions mostly from people who also haven't played the game. There is no objective truth about whether a game is good or not. I love No Man's Sky. It has plenty of gameplay that I enjoy very much. The game got reasonably good reviews from critics and even made "best of 2016" lists. I don't doubt the game isn't for you but to say you were "right" about it is ridiculous.

I strongly dislike Uncharted 4 without having played it. I hate the characters and the story. That isn't going to change after actually playing it. I assume the gameplay is excellent and it does what it sets out to do masterfully. It still isn't for me. I don't think that in any way makes it a bad game, it's most likely an excellent game for most.

You can EASILY judge a game based on Trailers/Gameplay.

This whole concept of having to have played a game is obsurd.

Especially when most game loops are so similar now and there is so much past/variety of experience to contrast/compare.

I watched videos of Dishonored 2 and it didn't seem all that interesting to me. I bought it anyway because of the glowing opinions of others I trust. It ended up being my favorite game of the year. You actually have to play it to understand just how fun it is. You need to be able to play it the way you want and do what you want to do and not just watch someone else play it.

The trailer for that game did it no justice.

Did you play Dishonoured 1? Do you normally play those kinds of games (Dues Ex?)

I will but a video preview does say about a thousand words about a game. Granted there have been times where I have been wrong but still just from a person's personal preferences you tell if the game is something worth giving an opinion on.

@MBirdy88: I did not play the first one but I do normally play stealth games. People will also think watching videos is enough to judge a new IP. There have been plenty of sequels that have been much improved from the originals while still having a similar theme and should always be given an open mind. Just because I played Super Mario Bros doesn't mean I can dismiss Super Mario Bros 3.

How can I express an opinion without the experience ?

No, at most I'll say something doesn't look like my cup of tea or clearly looks busted or something. But straight up judge a game? Nah, my rants are usually about games I've played.

I am occasionally skeptical towards things.

Sometimes express why I dont want to play a certain game. Since the game will most likely not appeal to me.

I wouldn't judge the gameplay on a game I haven't played. That IS stupid. Can I judge it for other things like plot, art direction, characterization, or objective game issues like performance? Certainly. Doubly so if I've seen a let's play or tried the demo.

It's equally stupid to say a game is above reproach unless you've played it. No one here has played every game ever made nor do they decide which games they will buy based on chance.

It's actually funny watching people act like they don't. What a farcical notion lol you might be dumb enough to fool yourselves, but you're not fooling me.

No, I always play a part of it first, then I just critiscise abou the parts I played.

But what I can say for example is that games like Final Fantasy are not my type of games (never played Final Fantasy but I did play some RPG like games.)

Thats pretty much the herds' schtick around here.

As for me no. I dont even talk about games/genres I dont really like for the most part unless its making a comparison of say mechanics to a game I do play or like.

Did you miss the part where I said I made the comment leading up to NMS's release? You know, when the hype train was still in full flow, but luckily for me nobody gave enough shits about me or these forums to be inundated with fanboy rage like that which hit other critics? I didn't play the game, but I resolved to research and be informed, and I made my opinion clear when I felt I was informed well enough to do so. No gameplay experience was needed for any of it, and the consensus only came later.

Let me put it to you another way; I'm a science enthusiast in my spare time. You may remember a few years back they discovered the Higgs boson, the so-called "God Particle?" I was able to explain to people back then why it was called that, and why physicists hated the moniker. I was able to explain to people the significance of not only its discovery, but also the significance of its mass of about 125 GeV, and why many physicists were disappointed with that fact. I was able to do this because I resolved to research, understand and be informed about the subject. Yet by your logic, I had no right or authority to be explaining any of this to anyone, because I have no degree in particle physics, nor worked for CERN, nor was I involved in any of the experiments that went on in the LHC.

Cool, you enjoyed the game, but the fact remains: as far as the overall consensus is concerned, I was right. Metacritic scored the game at 71 on PS4 and 61 on PC, and the majority of the reviews on both platforms were "mixed." The game still languishes at 54% on Steam reviews despite the recent Foundation update, and the highest rated reviews still echoes my pre-release opinion; that the game was a vast but empty sandbox with little gameplay or unique content. Dynamics of subjectivity in the subject at hand does not give you the justification to dismiss consensus opinion as merely "not objective."

I didn't resolve to research Uncharted 4, and therefore don't feel informed enough to express an opinion about it. As I said in my original post; if I don't feel like I know enough about a game to form an informed opinion of it, I made sure to STFU.