Ok, I hate to pile on here, because I really do appreciate Fluent for the fact that he's out to have fun playing video games, whatever that looks like, and doesn't get so caught up as others do in how things need to look a certain way for them to be an acceptable form of entertainment. I appreciate that, and can relate as I've loved lots of games that get panned on here. As an example, I was right there with him waving the flag for KoA, and had high hopes (although our opinions parted ways after release, as my hopes were heavily dashed about 10-20 hours in due to obscene balancing and level-scaling issues that made the game laughably easy).
But despite my respect for Fluent as an open-minded gamer that just wants to have fun as long as it's fun, I have to be honest….I winced when I saw him featured as a reviewer on the Watch. And the reason why is a forum post he made just 5 months ago, in January of this year:
http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19282
I now have a functioning laptop with a decent (integrated) graphics card and I'd like to start gaming on it. The question is, which games do I play? The only PC RPGs I've played are Diablo, Diablo 2 and a few other older games I don't remember.
Which RPG should I start with? I'm thinking about Gothic 1 but I heard the controls are a little awkward. Baldur's Gate is a thought and the enhanced edition might be perfect for me. Neverwinter Nights looks interesting but I know nothing about it. Some more modern ones looked interesting too, like Drakensang I think it's called?
I'm also interested in any RPGs I can play with a USB controller (my 360 controller should work, right?).
Any suggestions appreciated. Bonus points for games that I can play with a controller. Super extra bonus points for co-op games.
Thanks!
(bold added by me).
Call me crazy, but I would think that a site that has spent YEARS bringing us the very best in news and info on the single-player PC RPG front would want to feature a review from somebody who has actually…you know….played single-player PC RPGs!
I'm really not trying to criticize Fluent, as I'm all for people enjoying whatever they enjoy. But I _AM_ criticizing this site for taking such a large left turn in presenting an official site review from somebody who is simply not representative of the folks who frequent this site.
Since I had some context for where the reviewer was coming from, I knew to take this review with a HUGE grain of salt, and basically quietly ignored it. And it's a shame that I should have to do that from the site that I probably trust more than any other to tell it like it is when it comes to the gaming genre that I love above all others. This is the site that I visit to get AWAY from the reviews complaining about stupid stories that throw out all sorts of places as if you should know them, causing me to quietly smirk as I wonder if the person bothered to pick up the manual and educate themselves on the game lore, or look for in-game lore books, etc. You know, do things that maybe aren't needed in your typical console game…
Again, I hate to come down so harshly on the guy. Hell, I also prefer games that I can play with a controller on my big screen, and I am also always on the lookout for co-op games I can play with my wife, and I did in fact love Diablo 2. Going even further into the realm of blasphemy, I was also never that much of a fan of the Infinity Engine games. For these and plenty of other reasons, I'm pretty sure that I should probably never be featured as a reviewer on this site.
And thus ends my 2 cents on this little firestorm….now I'm going to go back to playing Lord of the Rings Online, which Fluent's recent enthusiasm in the forum turned me on to (I'm serious).