Dragon's Crown, Polygon and Selective Anger: How One Review Riled Up Everyone

I think I should preface this whole thing by stating two things: a) I love beat 'em up and hack and slash games and b) I own and have played previous Vanillaware games.

Now with that being said, let's get down to business.

There is quite the furor in particular segments of the gaming community over a July 31st review of Dragon's Crown on the Polygon site by Danielle Riendeau, which she gave a score of 6.5. In said review, amongst other criticisms, she talked about the art style and how it depicted women in a negative, unrealistic and sexist light.

The outcry was seemingly almost immediate. Despite the fact that just about every other score is very high for this game, and there is loads of praise elsewhere for it, somehow the vocal part of the fan community became fixated with this review, and just this review. 

At every other site I've been to that has comments on reviews, someone brings up the Polygon review almost immediately, and that becomes a big part of the conversation.

And the thing I don't understand is, if you don't like the review, why are you telling everyone about it? Why are you bringing attention to it? I mean, I probably would have never read the review myself since I play games on a PC, and it probably isn't coming out on that platform. And people who say that the review was written with a feminist agenda and who truly believe that and are angry about it are the ones who are most guilty of spreading this review, which seems counterproductive.

The argument that the review was written with an agenda in mind seems sort of ridiculous too. After watching the video review, I can see exactly where Danielle Riendeau, is coming from when it comes to the art style, and I can understand the issue. Whether I agree or disagree with that perspective doesn't change the fact that it is a valid criticism.

And really, if you don't like the argument that she is making in her review, it should still have no effect on you as a player. None.

I love a game called God Hand. IGN gave it a 3 out of 10. That did not make me stop loving the game. If I read a review that called out the game for Mr Gold and Mr Silver, two stereotypically gay characters, I wouldn't be angry about it because again, that is a valid criticism. It wouldn't change the experience I had with the game.

I also have the option to stop reading a review as soon as it becomes apparent to me that the person who wrote it has a vastly different outlook on the world or a particular genre than I do, but on the other hand, my world isn't totally rocked when someone disagrees with me or takes a position that is different than mine. 

Her review doesn't take the game away from you. It will never take the game away from you. If you like or don't like it, then why does it matter what Danielle Riendeau or anyone else writes or says about it. If you've already made the decision about how you feel about something, why are you so threatened by the opinion of someone else?

I've also noticed it is like people involved in this argument are, I don't know, skipping over the fact that Riendeau also talked about how the game has a lot of grinding and repetition after you've beaten it the first time, and to me, that aspect alone is the thing I take away from the review long term, and that was valuable information for me. If it came to the PC, I would remember that criticism.

There is also the argument floating around out there that it is just fantasy art and fantasy art is like that... which when you think about it, is sort of a stupid statement. If someone made a game that took place in a cartoon world of the 1940's and characters of color were drawn in that style, there would be controversy and those artistic choices would certainly be commented upon in reviews and negatively so in most of them. 

If hypothetically, there was another beat 'em up/hack and slash game made in super retro graphics and the other criticisms applied outside the ones of sexism, so it was the same kind of game, the same kind of setup, but the reviewer in question bashed that chunky retro art style instead of the one in Dragon's Crown, and it received the same score, there wouldn't have been the amount of outrage there is now, and that is what tells me this controversy is being churned up and kept going by a small minority of the community that wants to set up a situation that their own put upon value system is being attacked... by one particular review out of many.

These people are driving this controversy like Riendeau's review was a shot in a culture war that is seeking to destroy everything they hold dear in gaming, when clearly that isn't the case. Unless cartoon boobs and comically sized asses that could be the subject of a Sir-Mix-A-Lot song are the only thing you are looking for in a game..

When I read confessions of people in comments saying they bought the game out of spite, just to show the mean lady who had the audacity to talk about the over-the-top art style of the game in a negative way, that tells me that is the wrong side of the argument to be on.

I don't swear too often here, but I think in this case, it is appropriate. For those people who are turning one review into a fundamental attack on gaming and men and everything else, I have four words for you:

Grow the fuck up.

Jontron Quits Game Grumps, Youtube Community Explodes

I am willing to concede that the thing I am going to discuss here is a little esoteric, and I am fine with that.

I am a fan of Let's Play channels on Youtube, and one of the biggest channels is Game Grumps which is basically Egoraptor and Jontron playing generally older games, and listening to the play off each other was very entertaining. However, in doing the show, both of them ended up not doing the number of individual videos they did in the past.

So yesterday it was announced that Jontron was leaving the show and he was going to be replaced by another guy named Danny Avidan from Ninjasexparty, who also had his own show start on the Game Grumps channel with a dude named Ross about just PC games called Steam Train.

And a vocal part of the Game Grumps Youtube community exploded with anger. Then again, the Youtube community exploding happens all the time, so why is this one different?

They complained and complained on the new videos and they hated that first Steam Train video with a passion. I have to admit that first Steam Train video was a little rough, but you know what, the first Game Grumps video was a little rough too. It takes a bit of time to get into a groove with one of these things. Being upset about the new thing is silly to me.

To me, it is an example of the gaming community being whiny and entitled. There were a lot of people complaining that Jon wasn't making enough videos for his own channel, and when he decided he was going to do just that, a lot of those same people then vilified Game Grumps for not only continuing, but for providing even more content than they were before.

There is also the story that not only did Jon quit the show because he wanted to focus on his own channel, but that he was also moving across country to live with his girlfriend. I think that is admirable, and I certainly don't remember the Continue? community getting really upset when Dom was replaced by Josh when the former left for California. 

I can understand there being some disappointment, but the anger is what is really bothering me. These are a couple of people who are doing something you enjoy and they aren't asking you to pay for it. I think being angry that an era is coming to an end in this situation seems counterproductive and punishing the show in this situation for continuing on isn't healthy.

I am just hoping that this behavior starts winding down over the course of this week and things can start getting back to normal again.