The Importance Of Being Thorough And My BlazBlue Video Review

By now you've no doubt read my "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle" impressions article. In all honesty it didn't paint a very good picture of the new entry, and like the IGN review itself you were no doubt left with more questions than answers. Since that article posting I was given the opportunity by Aksys Games to play through, and review the game myself. To experience it for myself, and share with you what I experienced. In this instance I decided to do things differently though. I decided to do a raw hands-on review via Twitch to allow everyone to get my reactions as they happened in accordance to the features contained within the game in the most genuine fashion possible. That and to also disclose important need to know details in a manner that would be more beneficial to someone than having them to read through ten paragraphs of technical breakdowns regarding in-game features. I think I succeeded in doing so, but you will have to sit through nearly two hours of video, and commentary to get the most of it. Supposing you can you will get enough coverage of the game's inner workings to be able to decide for yourself if this is a worthy fighter to add to your collection. At least I think so.

Before I share a link to my video review I feel the need to go over why it is important to gamers for reviewers to present a thorough review instead of the short video critiques like outlets such as IGN provide. While IGN does a decent job at basically explaining what the games they review are about they focus more on the sentence orchestration, and word wizardry instead of giving all the crucial details that would help gamers to make a more educated purchase. This is why I chose for once to give a hands-on tour, and reaction to the newest BlazBlue's core features. While I didn't cover every detail (due time constraints) I covered what is important to fighting game enthusiasts. The mechanics, the menu offerings, the characters, and the various modes of play (minus the episodic story which I could not spoil).

I think this approach that I took not only gives the gaming community more information, but also does so in a way that isn't withholding. They get to see everything important that the game has to offer. From what it looks like to what it plays like, and even how different it is from other fighting games among other things. As I discovered the game so too did those who viewed the video. In that way my reactions were not able to be altered through bias that could not be challenged by someone out of the know. I ultimately presented it in away that could be related to, and confirmed by those witnessing what I witnessed as a result. Viewers got to see my opinions evolve naturally as I got deeper into the game's mechanics, and features. I think this is critical for a gamer when evaluating the worth of a game. It reflects, and echoes the importance of not judging a book by it's cover. Too often we reviewers give an assessment that only equates the "cover" value, and does little to expose what a game truly is. When you are streaming live though nothing is hidden from the viewer, and they see what you see. They see what a gamer who bought, and played the game would see. Not the edited clips, and still images often seen in online reviews, nor the words that are so masterfully crafted as to almost be persuasive or dismissive.

In saying that don't hail me as the patron saint of game reviews, or a game reviewer discovering something that could revolutionize gaming journalism. I simply speak from a point of common sense. I fully believe we as reviewers need to step up our game, and offer the best ways for our audience to weigh the worth of what it is they think on buying.  Believe it or not, but somebody out there respects your opinion. Respect that respect, and give them what they deserve. They come to you for answers, and believe in you to deliver upon those questions they so rightfully ask with truth, and honesty. Always remember that trust is a hard thing to earn back once it's lost, and no matter how big your review outlet may be a simple misstep of misinformation can make you the most unworthy opinion on the whole of the internet.

Without further adieu here is the link to my Youtube upload of my Twitch review. Feel free to watch it in sections, straight out, or partially.

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (REVIEW) ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyFskilseHE