That's cool. I lived in Europe for two years and I do remember there being a lot more diverse music channels on TV. We don't really have that here, or at least not on normal cable. Maybe satellite. Kind of irrelevant now with streaming anyway.

Better analogy is that you don't go to seafood restaurants for good steak.

Did you try intentionally failing a bunch of times? I faintly recall the game allowing you to progress if you do, but I only remember this as a 8 yo kid who didn't know how to play. And this is corroborated by some CT fans on a dedicated Discord server. The minigame is fairly easy for teenagers and adults.

Otherwise, maybe the game is subtly trying to tell you something, grandma. Shouldn't you be gardening, knitting, and baking instead? ;)

If you mean "professional, paid reviewer", then no.

If you mean "some dude in the steam review section", then more often than not, you can typically glean enough information to make a subjective judgement.

No worries, and because I wasn't sure how broad your question was, I just took it as reviews here at GOG, so not reviews from other places or paid or professional reviewers. So my reply was general and simplistic in that regard ... though I did myself refer to reviews from wherever in general (paid & professional excepted).

Also, I really only read your first post at the time, so saw nothing about contradictions.

Humans are flawed creatures, that is for sure, and many I suspect don't even realize they are being contradictory at times, and sometimes their views can be like the weather and vary on a daily basis.

When it comes to professional reviewers or those with a probable agenda, I rarely trust them, though some do a good job of convincing at times. They are the ones more likely to be contradictory for all the likely reasons.

Like music though, games can often grow on you or even have good or off days due to your mood.

P.S. I generally start with the notion that all reviews are suspect, and so reviews if even used by me, are only one aspect of how I make a judgment of a game for purchase. The blurb is most important, as is the price, followed by screenshots and sometimes the video(s). Reviews might give me an average feel overall, and effect the price I am willing to pay in some cases. Depending on the game, file size can also be important, especially as sometimes I take a punt and buy a game because artistic content is worth the risk, so I will get something for my money.

For some games, at least, I would rather have a review from someone who is not a dude.

Well, I don't care who (or what) the person reviewing is... as long as they have an interest -- or knowledge -- in what they're reviewing.

There's nothing worse than hearing the equivalent of "I don't usually play this genre but I'm reviewing it."

That *could* be an interesting review, especially for people who haven't yet played anything in that genre either.
An expert in a genre can write one that I don't agree with, at all. A good review is good review (my subjective view).

For me it doesn't matter - I've been playing games for a long time - I can extrapolate very quickly, from a variety of sources, whether I'll like a game or not.

"Could" does not inspire confidence

Experience with a genre is often IMO the best barometer re: gateways to a genre for new players

You want to know if a review is worth reading/watching before you read/watch it? I haven't found such a thing since 90s PC Gamer (UK).

That expert really likes the genre - how do you recognise bias, as an inexperienced player (to the genre)?

I have to agree with teceem on this one. Outside genre reviews do have value for audiences familiar with one genre, but not with others. It won't really appeal to mainstream or vets of the reviewed genre, though.

For example, I'm interested in tactical and strategy RPGs who avoids action and platformer games because they're frustrating for me because of my lack of dexterity and patience. But if my go-to reviewers had a favourable experience, I might be tempted to check them out. This is also increasingly important for games with blurred genres being pioneered by indie gamedevs.

I didn't know that my argument had a "genre". ;-P
I'm not trying to convince you (or anyone else). Me, I can find useful/interesting information/views in a variety of sources. Even (or especially) from what Dtgreene writes - no matter how different our taste in RPGs is. RPGs... a good example - I often disagree with those that know the most about them.

I remember Baldur's Gate being criticised for not being TR00 enough, by the "experts" of course.

Unless it's a positive review from somebody who actually enjoyed the game, despite it not being what they usually play.

Dude as in the colloquial slang, not actually a male.

In my experience people tend to like games more or less than average depending on their priorities. For example, Mass Effect: Andromeda got a lot of hate for things like story and graphics, but if your true love is exploring big open sci-fi worlds and shooting things then you'll probably enjoy that game a good bit.

So the best reviews IMO are from people into the genre, explaining what the game does well and what it doesn't by that genre's standards. You're not gonna get that from IGN, because they're focused on mainstream audiences who want a distraction and slapping a number on that. Like I said before though, there are plenty of places to get good reviews from a genre perspective. GameBanshee for RPGs is a good example from my bookmarks.