The Order: 1886 (PS4)

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

I read a few reviews. Its short (which is a plus in my book), does nothing new gameplay wise (how many games do), and is incredibly pretty.
I wont keep it on my shelf, but I'm in for the $5-10 overall investment after I sell it.

[Yoshi]

Metacritic is an interesting data set at the moment. The scores range from 40 to 95 with a mean of 68, median and mode of 70, and a standard deviation of 13. In other words, there is little consensus.

edit: I wish there were a way to get a big Metacritic dump, as I'm curious how many games have that big a SD with how artificially cramped review scores tend to be.

[Joust Williams]

I'd be willing to bet most (a lot?) big titles that get a 70 aggregate tend to have distributions like that. I mean, can you think of a big game that didn't get a smattering of really good scores?

[Yoshi]

That seems like a reasonable hypothesis, though the brevity of this game is additionally polarizing. Based on Mech's assertion somewhere, I'm going to pick on Ryse to see if that holds up in that example.

edit: Never mind. That was only a 60 aggregate. I'll try to find another test subject.

edit2: Screw that. Once all the review trickle in, there are hundreds. I'm not collecting that many by hand.

[Joust Williams]

pick Driveclub.

[Yoshi]

Before realizing the volume of entries I was going to have to key in, I considered Assassin's Creed: Unity, but, like Driveclub, I think its brokenness at launch wouldn't make it a reasonable comparison.

[MechDeus]

I have a feeling it's divided between the people who only play a game once (like a lot of reviewers, who don't have the time to invest anyway) and are happy with the singular experience, and those who are wondering what to do with their cinematics after they've watched it once.

Based on Mech's assertion somewhere, I'm going to pick on Ryse to see if that holds up in that example.

I'm quite enjoying my playthrough of Ryse, but it's hilariously shallow, more movie than game, and will likely not get replayed. I'd have felt ripped off at full price.

[Joust Williams]

Before realizing the volume of entries I was going to have to key in, I considered Assassin's Creed: Unity, but, like Driveclub, I think its brokenness at launch wouldn't make it a reasonable comparison.

I bet most reviews didn't even complain about Driveclub's issues. It's just a polarizing game.

[Glass Joe]

Yeah, I read a review on this that made it sound like a complete snooze fest. I can get it for $35 due to Best Buy Reward Zone points so I think I'll still check it out for myself.

[Yoshi]

I have a feeling it's divided between the people who only play a game once (like a lot of reviewers, who don't have the time to invest anyway) and are happy with the singular experience, and those who are wondering what to do with their cinematics after they've watched it once.

I can't explain to you why, but I watched some of the IGN PlayStation podcast yesterday, and they made an interesting point that adults appreciate the 7ish hour length, while kids who can only get a few games a year will feel let down.