Critiquing a Media Critic

IGN: Who's Writing this Review Again?

Over the years, I have become quite enthralled in video games. Stories, gameplay, characters, settings, all of these things are needed to come together to make an enjoyable experience. But who's the one actually deciding whether a game is worth playing or not? There are many critics out there that have different opinions and state their issues with a particular game or series of games, which is completely fine. I have no quarrels with that whatsoever. However, IGN has become one of my most hated gaming critics for two main reasons:

1. Their reviews are completely inconsistent throughout.
2. You have no idea who is actually writing the review, as IGN has over thirty different reviewers at their disposal.

Let's begin with my first issue. I, personally, think that IGN reviews are constantly contradict themselves. Take, for example, Kingdom Hearts 3. The third paragraph in their review begins talking about the story and plot of the game and how it "feels lackluster in light of the technical improvements the franchise has made. An attempt to satisfy both the Disney stories and the overarching plot causes some unfortunate stagnant pacing, with Disney plots playing out with slow dialogue and Sora, Donald, and Goofy occasionally questioning why they’re even visiting some of the included worlds at their outset."

Kingdom Hearts 3 Gameplay

Literally, in the very next paragraph, "A hero losing his powers is the most common trope in RPG sequels, but here Sora’s loss is smartly tied to his fight against the forces of darkness, building off one of the most significant personal struggles Sora went through in the previous games. That creates a strong impetus for Sora to avoid Kingdom Hearts 2’s notorious mistake of a long, slow prologue and jump right into the action of Hercules’ world." I don't quite understand why IGN insists on doing this, especially in two paragraphs that are connected like that, but it is just one simple example of how their inconsistencies ruin any credibility they have with me. 

The second issue I have with them, thankfully, is much easier to explain. IGN is a very successful company, and as such, must have a large staff to keep up with everything they need to do to keep the business running. This includes hiring multiple writers to help write reviews on different games. However, I feel this is an issue because with having multiple writers, you aren't really sure what the majority feels about a certain title. Instead, you are only getting the perspective of one individual, who, quite possibly, could despise a particular game that you're interested in, even if the majority of other reviewers give it nothing but praise. I just simply feel like reading a game review from IGN, no matter the final result, simply can not be trusted.