hit me with ya reccs y'all

~~Custom Rating Deets~~

5.0 = An unbridled masterpiece that generally has to stand the test of time for a non-particular duration before bumping it up to this score. Reserved for titles that probably won't leave one's head until death.

4.75 = An unbridled masterpiece that is, for all intents and purposes, basically a 5.0, but is just shy of that extra "chef's kiss" in the form of a cementable legacy in one's brain.

4.50 = A game that near masterfully balances both gameplay and narrative, or at the very least carries one of those two design choices well enough to forgive most minor shortcomings.

4.25 = Irrevocably solid and generally a game that easily strays into "multiple playthroughs" territory, albeit not without some blemishes that semi-frustratingly prevent it from being truly great.

4.0 = A good game that, despite only warranting an extra playthrough or two,
is completely enjoyable from start-to-finish regardless of how unbalanced some of its design systems and choices may be.

3.75 = Despite largely being a passably good time, a game that typically has moments of tripping over itself in ways that unfortunately squander otherwise good ideas and potential.

3.50 = Possibly the most frustrating rating to begrudgingly feel when one's brain so desperately wants to enjoy the game, but deep down, it knows there are too many issues to allow this to happen.

3.25 = A moderately OK experience that at least has one or two moments sprinkled along the way that at least help the game feel some levels of novel.

3.0 = Straight-down-the-middle in the truest sense, or a game that's the very definition of "fine" with a capital "F." A game that's not necessarily a waste of time, but one that very much will rarely be touched or thought about again.

2.75 = A game that just barely scrapes by in escaping the clutches of mediocrity, taking solace in the possibility that it might not be a totally forgettable experience at the end of the day.

2.50 = A game that, for more than one reason, is largely forgettable by design, and one that's likely a slog to trudge through despite one's best wishes. Most emotion derived from this game is typically out of frustration due to over-hype or genuinely bizarre design choices.

2.25 = The equivalent of nodding off during a particularly boring show or movie, a game that that's only worth completing for the sake of marking it as "completed."

2.0 = True, unbridled mediocrity, or a game in which the most minimal modicum of enjoyment was derived, making one's self question if it was worth soldiering on to completion in the first place (assuming this has even happened).

1.75 = Probably the more depressive rating, or a game where one almost feels bad in how it almost breaches "mediocre" status as opposed to, at the end of the day, just being a poor display amounting to not much else.

1.50 = Officially entering Mariana Trench-levels of bad, a game that genuinely cannot be enjoyed outside of schadenfreude, but still not in a "so bad it's good" way.

1.25 = A game that has at least a singular discernible reason to not be labeled as pure, irrevocable, dogshit 3000 (e.g. the menus are nice).

1.00 = Pure, irrevocable, dogshit 3000. Potentially somewhat of an endearing experience depending on what level of collective inebriation one might be simultaneously experiencing. The point being, one's brain needs to deliberately be stifled in order to extract any amount of enjoyment.

0.75 = A game that's overarching existential goal is to remain unfinished, or a title that one starts and stops playing without much recollection of why it was picked up in the first place.

0.50 = Broken, depraved, and dysfunctional, or a game that literally cannot be played due to either unfinished or half-brained design choices. "It exists" is the highest form of flattery here.

0.25 = A game so offensively abysmal, whether due to being excruciatingly broken or morally reprehensible, that its creators should genuinely be questioned as to why they chose to develop it. If this site allowed "0.0", it would be an improvement in that this type of game simply wouldn't exist.