Because of how long it's been since I've posted my review policies, I figure now would be a good time for an update, and reminding everyone of what to expect from me here on Hive. It's been updated a little bit from the original posting, but by and large everything important remains the same.
Game Reviews
Largely I love RPGs and Action/Adventure type games, though I will play any game that looks interesting enough for me to buy. The occasional Simulator and a few indie platformers being some examples of what to expect.
In almost all cases I will play a game to completion before reviewing, but there are some things that will keep this from happening. If the game is bugged to a point the game is either unbeatable, wipes my save data, or is simply bugged to a point any amount of advancement becomes an extreme test of frustration (Such as Dragon Fin Soup on its original PS4 launch, before the patches), I will review the game without beating it.
Other instances include extremely long games, specifically some RPG's, I may not finish if after so long there is just no reason I can find to keep on playing the game anymore. One instance in the past was Project X Zone 2. I checked my progress with others online to determine I was about 75% of the way through the game. The game itself didn't care about the main plot at all and was built on fan service cameos and awesome moments, and combat that hadn’t change at all over my run of the game. In that instance, I felt it fair to stop and review the game (If I didn't work a full-time job and have obligations outside of reviewing, I would have completed it, but alas that is not the case). Any time this happens, I will open the review with this information and give my best explanation as to why the game was reviewed before completion so you can make a fair assessment of how much stock to put in that particular review.
If I ever reach a point I no longer need to work a full time job, I will likely adjust this to requiring myself to beat any game I review (Baring bugs bad enough to prevent that from happening), though as it stands there are a certain degree of Time constraints preventing this from being that viable.
In relation to PC games, every PC Game review will include my PC Specs as well as the FPS it runs out throughout the game. My Current PC Specs are as follows:
*Ryzen 5 3rd Gen 3600 (3.60GHz) (6 cores, 12 threads)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB
16GB DDR4 3200MHz RGB
1TB SSD
AMD B450 (Motherboard)*
Anime Reviews
I will not be doing episodic reviews of shows, I honestly think those are a bit pointless. If I like the show, I will view the season until completion before writing my review. If I do not, there are some guidelines on how I will go about it.
I will never review a show I have watched less than six episodes of. If, after six episodes, I have no desire or interest to keep watching, I will stop and review the show after the six episodes. If the show gives me just enough of a reason to keep watching, even if I hate it I will go past the six episodes until either what's keeping me their dies out or until the season ends. I will be sure to state how many episodes I had seen before making the review in the title of the post.
Aspect Analysis
Rather then review work as a whole, I look at a single element of the work in order to discuss why it does or does not work. Sometimes this can be discussing a mechanic, such as Juncioning in Final Fantasy VIII, in more detail then I can go into for a review or other times I will write about an aspect of the story. Sometimes it may touch on a specific event in a story as well, such as the ending of Mana Khemia in one of my other write-ups.
Occasional I shall compare two things in order to highlight my point, such as my comparison of Seymore from Final Fantasy X to Takaya of Persona 3, two figures who play the same role in the story but why I feel one does that job well (Takaya) and one does not (Seymore).
These are not to be looked at as reviews of a game, as I will regularly talk fairly badly about games I really like, such as FF VI, to highlight an issue the game itself has.
Old Man Yells at Clouds
This is where I rant about some trend or aspect of a game that I”m fairly certain nobody besides me cares about, at least not in any meaningful way. In a sense, it's similar to my Aspect Analysis articles at times, but generally, it's about things a lot more frivolous than that, such as how the Nintendo Pass is used in many games. Mostly it's a way for me to bitch about things I'd not be able to do in other articles.
Tabletop Discussions
This will be the least frequent type of article I post. I love me some tabletop RPGs, Pathfinder being a personal go to, and sometimes I'd like to talk about the experience. That said I don't have nearly as much to say on this topic, and as of now, there exists only one, specifically on the Leadership Feat in Pathfinder and DnD 3.5. If these kinds of articles are what you are here for... you will be very disappointed.
Illuminated Discussions:
This is a Live stream I run when I get the chance, the goal is to bring on guests with opinions opposed to mine on a review I have done and we discuss the game or anime from two different viewpoints. No real structure to the show, just two people talking about differing opinions. This will be run whenever I get the chance.
Also do not expect this one to be at all regular, I lack both the flexible schedule and clout to be able to run this on any kind of consistent basis. Largely it's just something fun for me to do whenever I can make it happen.