Topic: How do you decide which game to buy/try and play?

Hello all,

I am curious how y'all find new games and based on what do you decide to buy a game? Based on reviews? Gameplay trailers? Or something else?

I sometimes randomly play game that I end up totally loving and then I think about all the other games I would really enjoy that I will never find. I usually find games like this because they are free in PlayStation Plus or perhaps the discount is "no brainer".

I recently got Golf Club: Wasteland because it looked nice and cost 1€ and after playing it I would totally pay way more because it was awesome experience.

Thanks for your thoughts!

@nemecek_f
Nintendo Directs & Nintendo Life

For me how I decide:

1. Look in the eshop for demo of the specific game I want. If the American eshop doesn't have a demo for that game 9 out of 10 times the Japanese eshop usually has a demo for the same game the American eshop doesn't have demo's for. Also use my phone with the app: Google Translate to Translate from any language to my language (English)
2. Read reviews from: nintendolife (here), Amazon
3. Watch game play videos & watch review videos before buying specific games.
4. When I go to the store see if the game is on clearance sometimes it's worth checking out if cheap enough. Taken chances on the $20 games on clearance & there pretty decent in game play. Some I noticed used to be $40... 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️✌️
5. No matter what store you go to check out the clearance aisle in the Gaming section because different stores could have different games on clearance. Seen it happen before~ 🤷‍♀️✌️

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

I'll play just about anything. With the exception of a few genres. I'm as eager to play a casual game as I am a mature game. I suppose art styles and music are the biggest deciding factors for me? Reviews don't sway me much. I've played some "bad" or average games that I've enjoyed.

All it takes is one bad music track to turn me off a game, because I'm not someone who turns a game's music down in order to listen to something else while I play. For example, Tekken 8 is shaping up to be amazing, but that Sanctum track is trash.

Wow that is some methodical process 🙏 Thanks for sharing details

@nemecek_f

No problem~ 🤷‍♀️ Ironically I started researching my games when I got my game boy color close to 20 years ago. Back then me & several friends would see what games we had then the ones we didn't like put in the middle of the floor & let the person pick which game they wanted. Or in the other case if you had games you didn't want or were finished playing. When I gave my cousin my teal gameboy color back then I gave her several games I didn't want / couldn't finish. I didn't tell my cousin that though~ 😉🤣 Also when I got games I didn't like or want which is partly what led me to researching my games after a while. I started doing heavy research from the GBA & onwards before that it was pawn the game off on one my cousin's or even friends at school. People did the same with me at school they saw me playing my GBA SP in high school (the GBA SP was nintendo's newest handheld at the time every one in high school had one at least at my school) then came up to me & gave me random GB, GBC games they didn't want. That's also how I got Harvest Moon 2 GBC game back then~ 🤣 Back then there was no demo's unless in the actual brick & mortar stores in the game section. It was until the 3ds & wii u I noticed they started putting demos in the eshop. I got lucky in the 90's when still playing my super nintendo. We got the n64 but returned it back to best buy because of it having controller issues. Anyway in the late 90's video game stores were trying to get rid of super nintendo games selling them for about $2 to $3 for each super nintendo game. I bought plenty super nintendo games back then had close to 60 games mostly all used with exception of some that were bought new. I unfortunately traded I my super nintendo games for the pink original GBA which on one hand I loved the system but regretted trading in my super nintendo games because was lied to by the video game store they claimed most of the games on the super nintendo would be on the GBA I genuinely believed them at first then as time passed & really researching the GBA library of games realized I was lied to... Only positive I had enough in trade in credit I didn't have to pay for my original GBA or the 1 year warranty they were embarrassed & ended up giving me about a $1 or $2 back because it exceeded what the gba costed which at the time used was $75. I will say this much after dealing with the store called: The Exchange be careful I got a few GBC games that didn't work at all I ended up calling them out on it & they tried to say it was my fault & told me my GBA SP was defective which I know was not the case because I played GB, GBC, & GBA games on it all the time & even proved to them at the counter there game / games didn't work. Then they asked me I blew on the cartridge or used alcohol rub on the game cartridges. I know all the tricks to get the game cartridges to work & nothing worked with the few dud games I got... Other might have a better experience with the exchange I just was not impressed back then... 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️✌️

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

Usually reviews and trailers. If it's a game from.an established series that I enjoy like Tekken for example then I will get it unless the reviews are terrible for some reason. But yeah usually reviews and trailers.

@Barbiegurl777 I remembered when my Toys R Us were clearencing out their SNES games to make room for the N64 stuff. I would get brand new SNES games for like $5. That's how I got my copy of Simcity, Top Gear, Harvest Moon, Super Street Fighter 2, Tetris Attack, Super Mario All Stars and a few more that I can't remember right now. I still have alot of them too l. That was so awesome.

Let’s plays, demos, reviews, gamepass. Love gamepass for that reason.

@Tasuki

Your lucky you kept yours~ 👍 I regret trading in my snes tbh partly because it was my favorite game system~ 🥰 I got the majority of my games used. We did buy several new back then: Super Mario All Stars, Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Diddy Kong's Quest 2, Donkey Kong Dixie's In Trouble 3. My dad was a huge DK fan both then & now. I got him Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze for nintendo switch~ 😁 For SNES as for streetfighter. I had several streetfighter games: Streetfighter Turbo, Streetfighter II The New Challengers. I also had for SNES: GoofTroop, Aladdin, Jungle Book, The Lion King, Crash Dummies, Toy Story, Bonker's, Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle games, Looney Tunes B Ball, Taz Mania, Tiny Toon Adventures Buster Bust Loose & quite a few others been a long time but those are a handful of the ones I remember consistently playing especially streetfighter for snes good way how to get anger out back then by beating the crap put someone in a video game~ 🤣 I knew other girls besides me who played video games in the 90's but back then it was definitely more geared towards guy's. I knew more guy's than girls who did Gaming back then. Luckily for me most of my friends who were guy's didn't care if I was a girl if I had a snes & after talking were pretty down for playing any snes whether at my house or there's~ 🤣 My one friend who's a girl back then probably young adult by now maybe 5 or 6 years younger than me. We used to game at her house in the summer time although she was heavily into Sega. She had the Sega Genesis, Sega Gamegear handheld & she also had a Dreamcast. It made an interesting combo as I'm a nintendo / Playstation gamer while she was into Sega back then~ 🤣 She had all the Sonic games~ 🤣 I know exactly what your saying though about Toy's R Us. I managed to get lucky with my allowance & walked in finding a huge bin of game boy games all $5 or less they were trying to get rid of all new in the box & everything. I picked up several original gameboy games~ 🤣👍✌️

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

1. Go to Metacritic
2. Don't pay too much attention to the metascore
3. Actually read the reviews
4. Pay particular attention to the outliers, as they'll usually have something interesting to say
5. Try to weigh it all up
6. Go with my gut instinct from there

Usually its a mix of

1. Reviews/general opinions (usually a mix of specific people I trust and the general consensus)
2. Game series I'm into
3. Type of game I'm into or want to try out
4. Price
5. Timing
6. Occasionally also prioritize games I want to support because I want more games in that series/style, especially over other more inevitably popular games

These days usually just the trailer and just the general view on whether or not it's a good title. If it's a really good deal or it's a series or style of game I know I'm into then I can be swayed. But generally just whether or not it looks like something I'd be into from the trailer and whether or not the community reception was positive

I also try to limit myself to only playing one or two games at a time. It's not hard to pick good titles if you're not churning through them that much

I wade through the eshop and add to my wishlist which is really my watchlist. I then add everything I’m looking at to deku deals. From there I watch reviews etc one by one removing as much as I can so I am left with a true wishlist. I make a new list caller my defo list and keep that under 20 games.

I also read the book the paradox of choice. The book says what I am doing here is pure insanity but I enjoy the process in and of itself, I’m not doing it just to get the best game for me. I would never do this process for buying anything else.

I check the Eshop twice daily and look at all the recent releases. If there is a game that catches my eye I'll read the Eshop description and watch the trailer. Sometimes that is enough for me to bite/add it to the wishlist, but if not I google the game and check a few reviews to get a feel for it. What I look for in reviews is if there are any unbearable issues such as crashes/bugs or if there are elements of the gameplay I know I outright hate. So for example, if a game has 'stealth sections' or is a 'metroidvania' I know from experience I can't stand them so I steer clear.
As for the content of the reviews I have often gone against what I've read. I recently bought worlds end club because despite it doing poorly (this site and many others gave it middling reviews) the premise still seemed really intersting to me so I bought it anyway and I don't regret it one bit, that game is absolutely amazing for my tastes and I would have missed out on a gem if I'd have listened to them. That being said, reviews are mostly right, so I just go with my gut, sometimes it works out and somtimes it doesn't and I move on.

As for learning of new games i'lI check Nintendolife and youtube daily for new reviews/upcoming releases/sales, as well as read the comments/forums of what people are playing/enjoying, sometimes I end up grabbing new games from the 'what are you playing this weekend?' feature this site does. I start a new list of games evey month of games that are releasing and that have caught my eye, I'm methodical when it comes to staying on top of it.

I will give almost everything a go, those awful £1 games that are always at the top of the new releases, indies that are so obscure I can't even find reviews for, to AAA titles; I'd rather risk it 9 times out of 10 then miss out on something that could be special. But overall the bulk of my purchases are made by keeping an eye on sales in my wishlist or checking dekudeals/cd keys for bargians.

At this point I generally have a good grasp of what it is I enjoy, so usually just trailers are enough (unless it reviews exceptionally badly).

@Barbiegurl777 Yeah I manged to hold onto to alot of my SNES a few of them I will admit I traded in or sold over the years but my favorites I hung on too. It's the system itself that I don't have anymore. My original SNES my brother traded away years ago. I did buy another one from a Goodwill a few years back but that one died. I just bought me s Super NT Analogue so that way I can play my SNES games again. I can't wait to hook it up here soon!!!!

@Tasuki

I had a funny feeling the SNES might not work by this point because of age. I saw a couple of videos on YouTube restoring the SNES both on the plastic / vinyl shell of the hardware & also restoring the motherboard / electronics on the inside. It was fascinating to watch luckily for me I never had to go that far with restoring it back then. My problem was connecting the one wire in the back of the tv back then~ 🤣 It was the one wire with the needle in it that was frustrating to hook up but well worth it to enjoy the snes back then~ 🤣 I should have saved the $75 up & bought the original gba separately while keeping my snes back then but oh well. It was stupid move on my part~ 🤦‍♀️✌️

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

Youtube is your best friend here for how they look a feel if you decide to get the game. Or Demos if they have them to try out.

I occasionally buy full-price games day one I desperately want (e.g. Mario) or if they start super cheap, but mostly I wishlist. I have a long wishlist I am always adding to and I check sales on my wishlist regularly. Anytime there is a 30%+ sale (or if a game has gotten permanently cheaper), I decide whether to buy the game, wait for a better sale, or remove the game from my wishlist. How I add to the list:

1. Anything from Directs that looks good.

2. Anything NintendoLife reviews or highlights which looks good, including from best-of articles etc.

3. I check the on-Switch 'what's new' news article weekly which lists the 50 new games of the week. Since this is too long, I skim it. Any game which happens to catch my eye because of name/screen shot, I will go into the eShop and look at the included clips and description. If it still interests me I will see if NintendoLife ever mentioned it and look at metacritic which usually has no reviews. Then I will search random websites and YouTube for gameplay or user reviews, including steam versions. If I still find nothing I will wishlist it and search again later.

4. Periodically look at the list of new demos and try any which seem even slightly interesting.

5. If I see someone talking about a game in the comments or forums on NintendoLife and they give enough information about the game to interest me, I'll research it more.

6. There are a couple YouTube channels I watch which have hidden gems videos and such.

Note that I buy a zillion cheap and some non-cheap games and have 350 more games on my wishlist. 😝 There are a lot of good games out there. Also my process sometimes fails and I just buy a cheap game with no reviews (or only a suspect steam review) and it turns out to be awful. I wish all games actually had reviews.