Review Policy

Last Updated: 20 April 2020, 12:12 am GMT-7 (San Francisco Time)

For every review on The Video Game Journal, our writers follow a solid structure and code of conduct to ensure a fair, high-quality and informative judgment. No product/service is given any kind of special treatment at any given circumstance.

Games

Reviews could be extremely useful. At least, for those who still follow them. Throughout our research of reviews, how gamers receive them and what significance they hold in the end consumer’s judgment of the game, we learned that many have strayed away from reviews completely, some just check the scores while a majority rely on actual gameplay footage, a number from scores from multiple outlets and the genre expert’s opinion. For example, if you want an honest opinion on Hunter’s Arena: Legends, it’s MMOByte you’re looking for.

While we can’t bring back the first group, it is our prime goal to serve others and create experiences that suit their interests. To achieve this, our reviews include –

• a score
• a synopsis
• whether we recommend the game
• a video review
• gameplay footage
• lots of screenshots
• opinions from genre experts
• what other outlets say about the game

We believe the aforementioned will help you decide whether you want to play the game or not.

Process

The process kickstarts with selecting the game and the suitable reviewer for it. While choosing the games, we often prioritize big releases, for example, The Last of Us Part II or Cyberpunk 2077 over smaller titles. This, however, doesn’t mean we don’t review smaller/indie games. The selection is purely based on our audience’s likings and requests.

Once we’ve selected the game, we contact the respective press agents, requesting for a review code (multiple codes if it’s an online game). Now, it’s time to assign the game to a reviewer.

For someone who has played a lot of JRPGs and can be considered a guru of the genre, Trials of Mana would be a perfect fit for them. While Valorant will be best-suited for a current CS: GO player with hundreds of hours of gameplay. To maintain neutrality, however, we assign the games to those candidates who’re open to constructive criticism, extreme scrutiny, and analysis.

Next is, the review codes. Often, game companies send these review codes, sometimes a week or two before the game’s release date. This time-period is highly appreciated as it allows our reviewers room for extended gameplay sessions, explorations, and better judgment. When game companies refuse to send in codes, The Video Game Journal provides the reviewers with the required at its own expense. Whichever the case, our reviews clearly mention how we received the codes.

Third, finishing the game entirely. No review at The Video Game Journal is half-baked as our reviewers don’t work on their reviews until the game’s credits roll. In case it is an online or endless game, they play at least 35 hours before reviewing the game.

Finally, after everything’s done, our reviewer sits down to write the review. They then work with a video editor for the video review, and once finalized, submits the draft for further editing and publication. Most of the time, you’d find our review going live on the exact embargo set by the developers/publishers. That is when we receive the codes early. If it comes to us to purchase the game and review it, the reviews would go live a week or two after the game’s release.

Scores

At The Video Game Journal, we use natural numbers as scores to consolidate our reviews. Since 0 won’t be used (we hope), natural numbers it is. Here’s a breakdown –

• 1 (One) — Disaster, don’t even read the review, it’s our request, just stay away from it
• 2 (Two) — Mistake, a game you should never play
• 3 (Three) — Unfortunate, an extremely bad game
• 4 (Four) — Nope, not to be played
• 5 (Five) — Playable, you can play it, but there are hundreds of great games out there
• 6 (Six) — Decent, a pretty playable game
• 7 (Seven) — Good, you should try it out
• 8 (Eight) — Great, a lovely game
• 9 (Nine) — Overwhelming, a brilliant game, definitely worth your time and money
• 10 (Ten) — MASTERPIECE, One of the pinnacles in video game history

Hardware

Apart from games, The Video Game Journal reviews hardware and accessories related to gaming, such as graphic cards, mice, keyboards, routers, etc. The same rules apply here. We either receive the products from the respective companies or order them ourselves.

In cases when we receive certain products from the manufacturing companies, we return them immediately after our reviews are published. We do not intend to keep any product with us, no matter the value.

For hardware, scores don’t mean much. And hence, our approach with tangible products is to inform you about –

• if they are value-for-money
• their usability
• if better products are available around the same price-point
• if you need to wait until a sale to purchase them

Tangible products are often bigger investments than games. Our reviewers make sure that our reviews provide a clear-cut explanation of how you should make the best use of your money and if a certain product deserves it.

To know more about our reviews and the process, or if you have any questions in mind, feel free to email us at pr@vgj.gg with the subject — Review Discuss. We shall get back to you as soon as possible.