Executor Akamia

I probably shouldn't get involved in this, but... no, the context of AVGN's mention wasn't to claim he was the be-all-end-all. He was mentioning a counterexample. James Rolfe is "one of us", if you will, and an example of a particularly prominent figure disliking the game.
Incidentally, I don't know if Rolfe himself actually hates Street Fighter 2010. The Angry Video Game Nerd, like the Nostalgia Critic when it comes to film reviews, is a character. As I understand it, Rolfe himself does enjoy some games the Nerd hates, though unlike Doug Walker, Rolfe isn't in the habit of giving even an unscripted, out-of-character review after the fact. Actually, I'm not sure even Doug does that consistently... Oh well.
While there are often actual criticisms in the shows, the actors don't always hate a game/movie as much as their characters do. The entire point of AVGN is to emphasize the negatives of a game, to the point that in early episodes, he rarely had anything good to say. NC does this sometimes too, but from what I've seen, not nearly as much.
Over time, both shows struck a balance and started resembling regular reviews, from what I've seen of recent stuff, skits aside of course. Street Fighter 2010 was an episode where AVGN was definitely in his "heavy emphasis on the negative" phase.

I'm going to say what I think here.
I won't pretend like people know what they talk about most of the time because it's been proven many times that not even us critics know..
If critics who are supposed to know about the media they are criticizing aren't competent enough to do a good review. Then why would a random user know what they're talking about? A lot of people either tend to be consumed by their own hype and tend to be blinded by the truth. Much like how @Alyxx pointed out: Opinions change a lot and a lot of people don't take certain key aspects into consideration while making their initial judgement.
So you'd think I would be more lenient towards criticism made by media outlets.. However.
This is the ideal that people have begun to be drawn to when it comes to the subject of "User Reviews" or "Reviews" in general. A lot of people think that an Influencer tends to be part of someone's payroll in order to review the game, as seen below:
So, what's the best conclusion someone can draw from this?
Well, obviously read the reviews from someone you trust and let your own experience be the judge of whether or not you can actually enjoy the games by yourself. Users don't really know much about what they're talking about because most of the time, opinions can change and people only look at face impressions rather than something on the long run. Some professional reviewers don't take multiple audiences and the long-term gain into consideration either. As such, I always tell people to trust whoever they think will give the adequate judgement and to make a judgement of their own regardless of whatever any critic has to say.
If you enjoy the game, it's a good game. Nobody will take that away from you. However, people also should learn that enjoying something doesn't make it good automatically.. That's why we have to reach a common consensus based on opinions drawn by the masses and critics alike.

You know.. Not too long ago @Alyxx told me that her views on Anthem and F76 changed drastically due to the awful states they are in... I actually am going to write an Ule's View on this because this is a problem in the industry that will actually become worse

LOL
The FGC has disowned NR games since Injustice 2. What the fuck are you talking about?

Yes, but how exciting can it get when the matches are rigged to fit what the AI wants? It simply doesn't become that impressive anymore

Sorry then. That's very popular game and I'm surprised you haven't heard about it. Check the video below then. That's japanese action-adventure hack and slash game.
 

Other than plotline deaths, most follower deaths are entirely preventable from what I can see, and in many cases aren't permanent in any capacity.
I do prefer when it's permanent, though. It's not so much that I "let" them die, though, so much that I was unable to save them in that moment. I got Cass killed in Fallout: New Vegas because I was in Hardcore mode and was under-equipped to finish her questline. I turned Hardcore mode on because it raises the realism a smidge, including allowing most, if not all, of the game's companions to die permanently.
See, it's not that I'm a heartless bastard who sends his companions on suicide missions, it's that, if the death is permanent, it makes me care about their well-being that much more. If the Arbiter gets taken out in Halo 3, it's no big deal to me; he'll get right back up a little later. If any of my allies in Fallout: New Vegas die, I actually feel that.
Immortal allies kind of brings out a certain level of complacency that doesn't happen when your allies can't walk away from attacks that should rightfully atomize them.

I nominate @The Blackangel @kingpotato @DylanC @UleTheVee @xXInfectedXx @Alyxx @Executor Akamia @killamch89 @LadyDay
All have been very active contributing to conversation this month!

That is actually a great idea @The Blackangel, would be nice to allow everyone speak up at length about various subjects in a dedicated space.

@DC You should open up the blogs. I'm on another forum that is this exact same system, so I know it has it. I think they would be an asset for a lot of members. For example @UleTheVee makes a lot of posts "Ule's view" that are really interesting, but don't always get a lot of replies. Also I would like a place to rant/rave about games and give a review of them without pushing topics out of view to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th pages.

This fluctuates from day to day, honestly, as I don't really have most of their placements nailed down yet. But right now...
Stellaris Supreme Commander 2 StarCraft II Mega Man Zero 3 Sonic Mania MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Undertale Monster Hunter World Sonic the Hedgehog CD Ace Attorney Investigations 2

Guys, I play Minecraft all the time with my daughter. Still a great game imho.

Support role, usually as the medic if it's a class-based FPS like Team Fortress 2.
In games like Halo where combat roles aren't so clear-cut, I like to try to be a sniper, but failing that, I just go and pick up a mid-range weapon if I don't start with one and just try not to die while taking everyone else down.

You guys need to be introduced to the magnificent world of "Indie Musicians who Are Worth Their Salt"
Seriously, a lot of songs from nowadays are amazing and created by worthwhile creators. Newgrounds saw a lot of that talent flow and be created.
Also. If you say that post-2000 songs are bad, you're telling me that Breaking Benjamin, Apocalyptica, and Velvet Revolver are bad. Which... How dare you.

Go to ScrubquotesX. That is the best source of fun Online lol

Undertale’s a very good choice indeed. Have a lot of love for that game myself. Amazing how it marries two unlikely genres together so well. And it has a great self aware narrative and soundtrack to boot.

Undertale, hands-down. I normally don't like turn-based RPGs, and bullet hells are hit or miss with me as well, but this game is both, and it actually managed to keep me engaged throughout. Had this game never been made, I'd probably be answering with Monster Hunter World instead.

Hahaaaaa...
Okay, before I answer this – this being a public forum and all – I need to give everyone else some context in case they're at all familiar with Ace Attorney, otherwise it'll be a "WTF" moment. If it's a "WTF" moment regardless, I'd rather it was for the right reasons. 😛
Alright, so a while before this question was asked, Ule and I were watching an episode of the Ace Attorney anime on Crunchyroll. The episode in question was from the latest season, mostly adapted from the third game, Trials & Tribulations, but this episode in particular is unique to the anime, set during Phoenix Wright's high school years. At least, I think it was high school. Not sure. However, the protagonist of the episode was not Phoenix Wright. It was Miles Edgeworth, three years after he was adopted by Manfred von Karma, who had murdered Miles's father, Gregory Edgeworth.
The anime, for better or worse, has a habit of treating certain characters differently from how they were portrayed in the games. For one, Phoenix is far less reliant on Mia Fey from the outset and doesn't even seem to need the Magatama – hell, I don't think he ever received it in the first place – and his past with Miles and Larry is elaborated on during a prequel episode in the first season. Apparently, they were much closer friends in the anime than the games ever implied.
That's just the tip of the iceberg, though. There's a lot more changes, some quite overt, others more subtle.
And then there's Manfred von Karma.
In the anime adaptation of Turnabout Goodbyes, he's portrayed more or less like the card-carrying villain prosecutor he was made out to be in the games. No significant changes there that I noticed. Even the prequel episode made for the first season never implied anything deeper than that; there wasn't much time to, though, he was only there for the last 5 minutes or so if I recall.
That all changed when the other prequel episode happened and gave him a lot more screentime.
In that episode, we see a bit of what Manfred's home life is like. Still haunted by DL-6 (a given, perhaps, when you still have the bullet in your shoulder), Manfred tries to raise Miles as if he were his own child. In doing this, we see a more human side to his character.
I'm not gonna go too far into specifics here, but Manfred suddenly goes from card-carrying evil villain to something resembling an anti-villain at best. It's painted a shade of grey on his character that simply doesn't exist in the games, even in Ace Attorney Investigations or its Japan-only sequel, both of which have him appear in prequel cases as a supporting character and an antagonist, respectively. In the anime, Manfred seemed to have known that one day, Miles Edgeworth would grow up to end him, and after seeing for himself the sense of justice that Edgeworth possesses, Manfred decides to continue raising him anyway. It's as though Manfred does indeed have some sort of sense of justice himself, even if it might be warped considerably.
I have no idea what to think. It's honestly hard to think of Manfred von Karma as anything other than a heartless bastard who's only trying to get people a guilty verdict no matter the cost. That was always the point of his character in my mind; Miles Edgeworth, but like 10 times worse (Miles was morally ambiguous at best at the time). So seeing him portrayed sympathetically in any capacity... Honestly, I'm conflicted.

Custom built all the way. A pre-buiilt computer often tends to have failures and it's just easier to build a computer yourself anyways.

Undertale. It definitely changed my perspective on what a game can be.
If you think Human Revolution is creepy in how accurately it reflects the world, try playing the original Deus Ex. Some of the stuff in that game still gives me chills.

Welcome to VGR, thanks for joining! I'm really enjoying your contributions thus far!

I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself. In fairness, I was pretty much a lurker at best when I joined. This guy over here (@UleTheVee) dragged me in at the time, and for a while I really didn't have much to say. Haha...
Anyway! I'm Akamia. Like most of you, I'm a gamer. My favorite genre is real-time strategy. My favorite game for the moment is Stellaris, a 4X real-time strategy game; think Civilization in space. I also really love robots, to the point that I all but completely exclusively play Machine Intelligence empires in Stellaris, and play as robotic characters in other games whenever the opportunity presents itself. Other games I greatly enjoy are the MechWarrior series, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, Halo, StarCraft, and some assortment of fighting games. I'm a Mega Man main in Super Smash Bros., though I have yet to own a Switch for Ultimate.
Whenever I'm not playing games, I also listen to music. Mostly video game soundtracks, but I have other things in my library as well. I'm currently learning how to play piano, and I sometimes build robots with LEGO Mindstorms. One project I want to eventually work on is a functioning replica of the Protoss Dragoon from StarCraft made entirely out of LEGO. Getting the electronics for that will be pretty expensive, however... It's sort of a bucket list thing.
Looking forward to discussing stuff!

I mean, you see the problems starting off so hard right from the get go. Like, for example, why the heck were there so many conditions working against the players? The limited hero pool doesn't make the achievement that enticing.

One Decisive Battle animation coming right up!
 
Disclaimer: Not actual game footage.

Put up that Decisive battle video up boi