Given my limited experience in the field of game-making – especially with ASCII’s RPG Maker software – I’m a tad bit disinclined to offer criticisms of any contemporary’s work, and as such I try to style my reviews with that in mind. You won’t be graded, there won’t be points, I won’t label you with “Squaresoft Sin” or any other sorta’ conventions of my fellow reviewers. You’ll be given my thoughts and feelings on your game – my likes and dislikes and my critiques when applicable. Screenshots with captions will also be present. It’s just sorta’ an in-house style here at B*B.

Background (if available) I’m a history buff – ya’ know, one of those dudes that watches too much History Channel. In fact, if there were no cartoons or VH1 “I Love the (Miscellaneous Stuff Here)” shows, I probably WOULD watch nothing but the History Channel. And while most new generation games aren’t going to have an in-depth history, I’ll occasionally pick up and review an old favorite (out of boredom or just to enjoy some old school Rm2k). For those occasions I like to give some back-up info about the game and its creation and creator. Because history is fun, dammit. More fun than math and science, at least.

Story The meat of any successful role playing game, story is what drives your game… unless, of course, it doesn’t have a story. Like Pong. Pong is THE ULTIMATE video game. But is there a story there? No. Well, unless you’re high. Very high. I don’t really care if its cliché, fantasy, future, whatever. I’ll be sure to take note of just what it is, though, certainly. And I’ll also mention the basic premise and characters. But otherwise, the only thing I’ll be reviewing is the delivery of it – whether your plot is executed well and manages to form a cohesive game and the like. Characterization, dialogue, and grammatical fun included.

Art The potatoes of your game and the only section that I know enough about to critique with any decent confidence. :P Aesthetically, is your game pleasing to the eye? Is it unique and stylish? What about design? Of maps, of characters, of localities. Original, ripped, RTP? Used well or used poorly? That sorta’ stuff, more or less. I include your musical score and use thereof in this section, mostly because I’m lazy.

System I KNOW NOT’ING! Systems are by far and above the worst possible thing for me to critique. Because I don’t do them. In all my experiences with game making – which are few to begin with – I’ve never been involved with the programming process. If whatever systems or cool thingie-ma-bobs you have in your game are useful and/or functional, yay for you. If they don’t do squat or don’t even work, I’ll say so. But otherwise I try to keep this section brief.

Conclusions My final thoughts, more or less. Recommendations, praise, things to fix, download or no, that sorta’ stuff. And that’s more or less it. If you have a game you’d like to be reviewed or the like, post it up on the B*B forum. Chances are I’ll see it sooner there than I would if you e-Mailed me. ‘Cause I don’t check my e-Mail more than once a month at the least. Otherwise, peace out, broth’as.