Dominik Diamond does a decent occasional column in the Guardian games section, worth a read
(, Wed 20 Dec 2023, 8:58, Reply)
Nah. The only reliable way is to pirate before you buy, since no one does demos any more.
The regular press tend to gush over whatever’s popular at the time; if you must read a review then go to dedicated gaming channels/publications.
Take RoboCop for example: rave reviews but priced at twice what it’s worth if you ask me.
Alan Wake: cringingly pretentious wank, great reviews though.
Zelda BoTW: heralded the second coming apparently, but I found it unplayable.
Yes, yes, tastes vary but the thing to take away from that is that the best person to tell if you’ll like a game is probably you. You know what you like more than anyone else.
And as far as pirating is concerned, you don’t even need to do that if you buy on Steam; two hours is generally plenty of time to tell if you like a game. Of course if you play on consoles then you pay your money and you take your chances.
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jonbob loves you, Wed 20 Dec 2023, 10:37,
Reply)
Technically, just about anything on the Steam Store can be demoed.
As for Console platforms, demos are certainly more numerous than they were during the cartridge era. There are usually around ~200 demos available on the XBOX Marketplace, I'd guess that Sony is pretty close to that number, too. They might not all be AAA titles, but the demos on the front of Amiga Format weren't frequently AAA, either.
I pirate games far less now than I did back then, too. My only motive for piracy back when I were a lad was affordability. Nowadays, my only motive is availability.
(, Wed 20 Dec 2023, 11:56, Reply)