Nostalgia is the huge problem at GOG and we all know it.
Reviews NOT based on the GOG-Version.
Reviews PRAISING a game-experience 20+ years ago.
Reviews just squirting 5 stars all over the place, without any helpful content.

I have 3 examples i want to share with you:
1. When i bought "Call to Power", i missed music. Sometimes later that issue popped up in a review and (fortunately) in the forums.

2. I bought "Redline" (shooter, 1999) after reading a bunch of reviews, praising this game like its the best thing you missed out. It was a pain to play. I GOT why people liked it back then (humor, action...) - but this was one of those "aged (really) badly" cases.

3. Rollercoaster Tycoon: When i first played it about 10/15 years ago, i really had big issues with the controls. I hadnt Internet back then and there was no tutorial in the magazine, the game came with. So i started it and lost patience while trying to build a working park. I know it was my fault.
Now i wanted to give that game a second chance after seeing it on Gog from time to time - and bought it (Reviews never addressed that control scheme, since everyone already knew about the game) after watching a LetsPlay and realizing how much of an inpatient idiot i was.
The game is really good!

My point is: There is no need giving "your childhood" or "first experience" 5 Stars. Or just never mention struggles you had or MAY could encounter NEW buyers.

We life in 2016 - a LOT had changed, right? And some games were just never ment to played today, because designers found new ways for tutorials, controls, user interface, etc.

Did you ever played Age of Empires ? The first one? Good memories right ? The controls are even for AoE2 standards HORRIBLE.

I just wanted to address it again. So we dont loose the focus. This is mostly a shop for old games and people (mostly younger ones) want to know what they are buying.
Its nice to read some stories and memories... but really, dont give it 5 stars if it cant hold up or is just not good anymore.

Maybe GOG should activate the comment section 24-48 hours after release ?

Hold it right there. I'm pretty sure that GOG doesn't have any Civilization game on its catalog yet. Are you, perhaps, talking about another game?

Yeah, good luck with that. People are all to eager to slap 5 stars on a game they like (or used to like) while doing the opposite for the ones they didn't. Frankly, to me there are very few games deserving of those 5 stars as that should signify it's the best of the best rather than "Oh, my god! Me like! 5/5, bro!" *facepalm*

Oh right ! Call to power 2 ! Right... well to my defense: It IS technically the sequel to a Civilization spinoff... :D (they did lost the name rights...)
I just mixed up something. Thanks.

Age of empires 1 was pretty flawed even at the time of its release because of that stupid 50 unit limit (that included your workers).
But re your main point, I agree, many reviews suffer from excessive nostalgia (examples for me would include Fallout 2 and Deus Ex...good games, but massively overrated with all those "Best game ever" reviews). Don't see though what could or should be done about this, it can't really be avoided in my opinion.

Yes i agree. We have too much 5 Star games. I mean some of those ARE really good, there is no doubt. But no one would loose for a "best game ever! here are 4 stars, since it just does not look good anymore" or "i still have so much fun, but i have to give it 3 stars, because other people could have problems with it" review

In fairness I found a 1 star review from someone who said it wouldn't run without trying to run it. :P

If anything this is just another indictment of how screwed up the review system is, which I don't have a problem with because it is screwed up. :D

Was it ? When i played it the first time it was on a "demo disc" and i was under 10. I thought it was pretty amazing and everything. I even got the full-version and had a lot of fun. Never read a review for this.
Years later, when i Re-Installed it, the core of the game fell apart. I never had the fun i had as a kid. The looks were dated, the unit limit (like you said) and even the way you build units and control them. The MUSIC and sounds still hold up i think, but probably because they please my nostalgia.
I wouldnt give that game 5 stars ... probably it would get 5 stars on gog.
Hell, i wouldnt give AoE2 5 stars. 4 Stars, because its still great.

If i think about it... Would people give AoE3 less then 5 ? Because it "ruined everything" ? Back then a lot of people hated the game without even playing it. I bet they would just write a comment, to show their hate. "THIS IS NOTHING LIKE AOE2 AND RAPED MY CHILDHOOD!!!!!"
Because the complete package (since the vanilla campaign is not that great) is actually a 5 Star case, if you being rational. Its a great rts, which plays flawless if i remember correctly. Look, Sound, Music, Controls, Expansions, Maps, Multiplayer, Nations... I mean i would have to play it again for a review, but i was suprised abot how good it still was years after release.

Maybe GOG should let you pass some kind of tutorial or test before you have like a "review licence" here....

I played Age of empires 1 in the late 1990s/early 2000s (never did multiplayer, just the campaigns of the original game and the Roman-themed expansion), and was highly annoyed by that unit limit even back then...it really constricted gameplay...given you needed at least 20 workers to keep things going, your armies usually could only be at most 30 units (and if you needed ships, including transports, and siege weapons your real combat troops would be even fewer). Compared to games like C&C, Warcraft or Starcraft this was ridiculous even back then.
Age of empires 2 was really great though, played the campaigns in about 2009 and had great fun...maybe not a 5 stars game anymore as you said, but definitely still worth 4 stars.
Never played AoE 3, so I can't comment on that.

That's unrelated to nostalgia. Also makes zero difference when it comes to the game itself (it might when it comes to technical issues, but that's a different matter, hence why people helpfully state they're not talking about the GOG version). Reviews praising whatever are very common, and are certainly not limited to old games. Mere praise (or mere dismissal) should be taken with a grain of salt. OK, so example 1) has nothing to do with nostalgia, or the game itself. It's a technical issue. Ah yes, here we are - it's "nostalgia" because you dislike it. And then we have: There's no nostalgia because you like it! How surprising! I haven't read today's news, so I'm sorry I couldn't congratulate you sooner on your promotion to World's Arbiter On Games Ment [sic] To Be Played Today.

They've found new ways, and very often these ways are annoying shit. Pretending everything old is bad and everything new is good is idiotic and has no place in useful, informative reviews (presumably the sort you'd like to see more). Hold up...to what? Your standards? What you perceive are "modern" standards? You do understand that's downright ridiculous, right? If you want that, well, start a publication where you'll be the Chief Editor, and lay down exactly how you feel about various issues pertaining to games, and then recruit some people, and pay them for the privilege of training them to appease you. Simple.