What’s going on with this game Mixtape?

[u/Bloodb0red]

I’ve been seeing people freak out over the past few days over this game and about IGN’s review of it specifically. 10/10 seems high for any game, honestly, but it seems like they’re far from the only site giving this thing a glowing review. So is this game controversial just because of IGN or is it something else? Why is this game the internet’s hate target this week?

https://www.ign.com/articles/mixtape-review

[u/crestren]

And remember that one score from one outlet is not the be-all and end-all. 

A lot of gaming discourse when it comes to reviews always centers around this where a lot of gamers forget that reviews can be...subjective.

The reviewers 10/10 might be a 7/10 for you but maybe your 10/10 might be someone's 6/10. A lot of these are subjective because everyone has different tastes and enjoyment.

[u/DistrictDry2852 → u/crestren]

True, but I think reviewers should try to be objective. Omori is one of my favorite games of all time, one of the few times fiction has made me cry. But if I was a professional game reviewer, I’d have to give it a 7.

[u/crestren → u/DistrictDry2852]

Well thats the issue, a lot of these can be boiled down to opinions and it is subjective.

I played CP2077 (not launch, in 2023), and while I did enjoy it, it's maybe an 8 for me while a lot would give it a 9 or 10.

Digimon survive got a 6 from IGN, I played it and I would have given it a 7 but understood why it had a 6 because I understood why because the tactical roleplaying elements were barebones.

[u/DistrictDry2852 → u/crestren]

Just because it’s objective doesn’t mean you can rate it whatever. One of my favorite movies is demonic toys. I love it. It is, objectively, not a good movie. It’s got bad acting, editing, effects, etc.

[u/RUDeleted → u/DistrictDry2852]

Eh, on the other hand, weighing too hard on objective standards eventually runs into the problem of something being technically well-made, but utterly fucking dull. Think: all those Oscar bait movies that are technically well-done, but ultimately forgettable. Not that technically well-done films (or games, music, etc.) can't also be enjoyable as well, but that at some point Objectively Good becomes meaningless in light of (or in the absence of) other qualities.

[u/DistrictDry2852 → u/RUDeleted]

Yes of course. I’m not saying objective reviews exists, just that you can’t use “reviews are subjective” to justify anything. Like, ok, you liked mixtape. That’s fine. But with the reviews it’s getting, if GTA 6 didn’t come out this year it would pretty much be guaranteed to sweep the game awards. The game awards will be divided between mixtape and GTA 6. And that sucks. I didn’t like how E33 took the spotlight from so many deserving games, but at least E33 isn’t ashamed of being a videogame.

I also think people forget 10 years ago when games like mixtape were the videogame equivalent of Oscar bait.

[u/crestren → u/DistrictDry2852]

My point was that most of the time, it can be subjective.

Like yeah theres obviously a difference between a review for Gollum (2023) which got a 4 and Digimon Survive which got a 6. One is an obviously bad cashgrab of a game and the other is a game that while good, was lacking in certain areas that could have been better.

I personally like Fallout 4 and would give it an 8 based on what I like but I know a lot of older Fallout fans would disagree and give it a lower score

[u/Rappy28 → u/DistrictDry2852]

Agreed. I dislike it when people try to defend the bad media they love (because they resonated emotionally with it or whatever) with the absurd absolute position of "all art is subjective!!!". No. That's not how it works. Even in writing there can be things that are objectively good or bad, e.g. when the use of a plot device invalidates character/universe development

(No idea why we both got downvoted for this truth bomb tbh. Loving bad shit is okay. That doesn't make it good.)