OtisTDog

Top 25 Reviewer
Member since February 27, 2008
Last visited October 26, 2024
Profile ID (TUID): 8tqtppvpzluoq2jf

I've got some strong opinions for someone who's never shown the courage or skill to publish any IF of my own. Nonetheless, I am a big fan of the medium -- which I think is going to be rediscovered by the mainstream at some point -- and I hope you enjoy my reviews.

Here's a brief guide to my rating system. It is unusually harsh, because I intentionally rate using a power law distribution in which high scores are relatively rare:

5 stars -- a piece so incredible it effectively defines the genre or technique that it introduces or perfects. Very, very few works will get 5 stars from me.

4 stars -- a work that is significantly above average and achieves something notable. In general, a game that excels but does not quite reach the apex of its class. A relatively small number of works will get 4 stars from me.

3 stars -- a game that is competently put together and enjoyable to play, but lacks the special something that would make it stand out. Best summed up as "good, not great". Many games will get this rating from me.

2 stars -- a passable attempt that is deficient in one or more qualities that would make it truly enjoyable. Basically, something that could have been a 3-star game but fell short in some way, or otherwise falls into the "blah" category. Many games will get this rating from me.

1 star -- a work that, in my mind, has no redeeming qualities or is so horribly non-functional that any such qualities are not relevant to the playing experience. Very few games will get this rating from me, as I try to find something good about most games and generally avoid titles that look likely to score this low.

I am most harsh in my reviews when a work shows little evidence of effort on the part of the author. Conversely, I am inclined to generosity when I feel like the author tried hard to realize an interesting goal, even if he or she was not successful in doing so.

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Reviews by OtisTDog

Tapestry, by Daniel Ravipinto   October 21, 2024

"Released in the early days of the Amateur Era, this work achieved some notoriety by taking a definitive if hesitant step away from..." - See the full review

Harmonia, by Liza Daly   October 21, 2024

"Choice games are not my usual cup of tea, but I have taken the opportunity to play several of them as part of the Free IF Playoffs. As..." - See the full review

Quotient, The Game, by Gregory R. Simpson   October 3, 2024

"[Update: As the author points out in comments, this review is based on an early release of the game, which has since been substantially..." - See the full review

Zozzled, by Steph Cherrywell   September 22, 2024

"Playing Zozzled was a very strange experience. Because it was an IFComp winner, my expectations of it were set relatively high. These..." - See the full review

One Night in San Francisco, by Peter A. H. Peterson, UMN students   September 20, 2024

"This is a throwback-style, very easy, old-school "text adventure," just as it claims to be. It is apparently a group effort, and it bears..." - See the full review

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