As I mentioned in my "Review Scoring System" article, when I review a game, I'll be looking at 3 core components of the game and then scoring it based on those elements. The elements are: Gameplay, Progression, and Content. Here's an explanation of what each mean.
Gameplay
This is the most basic of the 3 elements. Basically, it all boils down to how the game plays. What are the mechanics of the game? What is the genre? Are there any bugs that affect how the character is manipulated? So on and so forth. The title of this element is rather self explanatory.
Progression
When looking at reviews, I noticed a lot of reviewers will talk about story as a main point. I thought it was important to include that, but also felt that it would be unfair to judge a game that doesn't have a story negatively. What if the game just simply doesn't need a story to make it a good game? So I came up with the Progression category. Basically, this boils down to "How well does the game make you feel like you're progressing?". If it's a puzzle game, do the puzzles get harder? If the story is a strong aspect of the game, is the story good? Does it make you feel as if you are going somewhere with the story?
Content
In the same vein as Progression, I wanted a way to discuss graphics and sound without making them heavy hitters. Bad graphics don't exactly bring a game down to it's knees, and good sound won't make the game perfect. So having a section for both, with a full range of points, will err the final score. So, they are combined into a single category that will judge the quality and relative cohesiveness in comparison to the game itself. Does the sound fit the game? Say a game is a high action game, but features a very ambient soundtrack. That doesn't really work, right? Are the graphics good? Is it something that makes the game hard to see? Do the graphics stand out? Etc.
And those are the categories! Things might change as time goes on and I develop a better system. This happens! If I can make things better, then I sure as hell will!
Gameplay
This is the most basic of the 3 elements. Basically, it all boils down to how the game plays. What are the mechanics of the game? What is the genre? Are there any bugs that affect how the character is manipulated? So on and so forth. The title of this element is rather self explanatory.
Progression
When looking at reviews, I noticed a lot of reviewers will talk about story as a main point. I thought it was important to include that, but also felt that it would be unfair to judge a game that doesn't have a story negatively. What if the game just simply doesn't need a story to make it a good game? So I came up with the Progression category. Basically, this boils down to "How well does the game make you feel like you're progressing?". If it's a puzzle game, do the puzzles get harder? If the story is a strong aspect of the game, is the story good? Does it make you feel as if you are going somewhere with the story?
Content
In the same vein as Progression, I wanted a way to discuss graphics and sound without making them heavy hitters. Bad graphics don't exactly bring a game down to it's knees, and good sound won't make the game perfect. So having a section for both, with a full range of points, will err the final score. So, they are combined into a single category that will judge the quality and relative cohesiveness in comparison to the game itself. Does the sound fit the game? Say a game is a high action game, but features a very ambient soundtrack. That doesn't really work, right? Are the graphics good? Is it something that makes the game hard to see? Do the graphics stand out? Etc.
And those are the categories! Things might change as time goes on and I develop a better system. This happens! If I can make things better, then I sure as hell will!