Why You Should Buy This Month's Issue of Play

**Scourge** · 22 Nov 2008, 12:07 PM

I think I'll pick up a copy. Good job Shidoshi.

**RoleTroll** · 22 Nov 2008, 03:22 PM

I'm a Play subscriber, so I'll be getting it

Personally, I'm glad that the scores are gone. I find myself reading more of the reviews and not dismissing a game because of a number.

If you're going to have scores, why not just have one guy have the job of assigning review scores to all of the games released that month, independent of the reviews? Just a list of titles and numbers to please the publishers. Scale of 7 to 10: seven is bad, eight is average, nine is above average, and ten is great. As long as you define the meaning of the numbers, nobody can complain and the publishers will appreciate the high scores. (Maybe that's what's going on with the web site, but if you leave out all the games reviewed in the mag you'll be leaving out a lot of titles.)

**Beefy Hits** · 22 Nov 2008, 04:57 PM

I picked up a copy at Borders when I picked up a gift card for my Dad. Haven't read the P4 article yet, but I will soon.

I for one, like to see scores on games. Either an A-F scale, or a 1-10 scale. It tells you at a glance what a game is like w/o you having to read the review for games you're only minorly interested in like that you'd pick up after a price drop.

Edit: Read the article. It has me interested. The weather system sounds cool, as does the extra stuff to do to kill time. About how long is this game? Is it as long or longer than P3? I'm guessing so. I might end up picking it up.

**mollipen** · 23 Nov 2008, 02:07 AM

Originally Posted by Beefy Hits

Edit: Read the article. It has me interested. The weather system sounds cool, as does the extra stuff to do to kill time. About how long is this game? Is it as long or longer than P3? I'm guessing so. I might end up picking it up.

Depending on how you play, about as long as the core of P3, so between 90 and 100 hours. (Unless you seriously avoid the whole Social Link stuff in order to rush through the game).

Originally Posted by ChaoofNee

Shidoshi, how much of the design do you do? I seriously love a few of the layouts, especially in comparison to some of the other game magazines. Ugh.

For this issue, all I did was the 10 pages of Persona 4/Imagine Online coverage. What layouts most caught your eye?

Oh, and thanks to everybody who is picking up a copy of the issue. Honestly, unless for some reason this issue ends up doing super numbers, it won't mean much for me job wise, but the support means a lot to me personally.

**Beefy Hits** · 23 Nov 2008, 01:01 PM

Finished reading play. You seem to be expanding your coverage to less niche oriented games. You're also more brutal on some games. I like the idea of the parting shot (and the bullet bill graphic), but I still prefer to see scores.

I might pick it up from Amazon, even though there's a bunch of other RPGs I'd like to play (Fallout 3, Lost Odyssey, Fable II, Star Ocean II, Possibly Last Remnant). If nothing else, it can wait until the summer drought.

**ChaoofNee** · 24 Nov 2008, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Beefy Hits

Fallout 3, Lost Odyssey, [...] Star Ocean II, Possibly Last Remnant

I still don't understand how anyone can have the time to play this many 40-100 hour games. (NOTE MY EXCEPTION)

**Nash** · 24 Nov 2008, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by ChaoofNee

I still don't understand how anyone can have the time to play this many 40-100 hour games. (NOTE MY EXCEPTION)

There are people here who put in way more hours into the Gears of War series than all of those games combined.

**GKM** · 24 Nov 2008, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by shidoshi

Oh, and thanks to everybody who is picking up a copy of the issue. Honestly, unless for some reason this issue ends up doing super numbers, it won't mean much for me job wise, but the support means a lot to me personally.

Kotaku noticed your work in some sort of a way