I look up the ending on Youtube first and decide if it's worth spending hours of my life playing
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Do you guys go in blind for video games or watch trailers / read leaks before going in?
- Thread starter hwarang
- Start date
I always like to flood myself with information. Best to know what I am getting myself into with game length, skill breakdowns, and little things that can improve my quality of life.
"Spoilers" never really bother me and I much rather be prepared. Funny as that is the opposite when I travel; like to play that by ear.
"Spoilers" never really bother me and I much rather be prepared. Funny as that is the opposite when I travel; like to play that by ear.
If it's from a studio that made games I loved, specially a sequel to a game I loved, I buy blind.
A genre I love, but a studio I'm not familiar with, I wait for the reviews. Maybe buy blind if really good reviews, might watch trailers.
Sequels from different studio than the original, I wait for reviews, buy blind if good reviews (Sly 4 from sanzaru is a good example)
If it's not a genre I enjoy all that much, I need a lot of convincing, regardless of reviews. Usually it needs a close friend telling me "I know you don't like those shitty gun games but it's not what it looks like!" as happened with the first Uncharted, the trailer was indicating it was everything I didn't like about modern gaming, and I absolutely loved the entire Uncharted series. I mean, look at the launch trailer for Uncharted. It's... not good.
Same thing would have happened with TLOU if it wasn't from ND. I hate zombie games in general. TLOU is my favorite franchise of all time. And I needed no more information than, it's from ND.
Never ever watched leaks, I try to avoid them as much as I can.
A genre I love, but a studio I'm not familiar with, I wait for the reviews. Maybe buy blind if really good reviews, might watch trailers.
Sequels from different studio than the original, I wait for reviews, buy blind if good reviews (Sly 4 from sanzaru is a good example)
If it's not a genre I enjoy all that much, I need a lot of convincing, regardless of reviews. Usually it needs a close friend telling me "I know you don't like those shitty gun games but it's not what it looks like!" as happened with the first Uncharted, the trailer was indicating it was everything I didn't like about modern gaming, and I absolutely loved the entire Uncharted series. I mean, look at the launch trailer for Uncharted. It's... not good.
Same thing would have happened with TLOU if it wasn't from ND. I hate zombie games in general. TLOU is my favorite franchise of all time. And I needed no more information than, it's from ND.
Never ever watched leaks, I try to avoid them as much as I can.
I like to inject as much video game news as possible so I always spoil myself.
Knowledge of something doesn't ruin the day experience for me. It's like any classic piece of media, it becomes so well known but that would never stop anybody from enjoying it.
Knowledge of something doesn't ruin the day experience for me. It's like any classic piece of media, it becomes so well known but that would never stop anybody from enjoying it.
As long as they get your money I doubt they care either way. Most games certainly don't feel like they expect you to have seen trailers/dev diaries.
I'm a strong advocate for try-before-you-buy. Whatever incarnation it may take. These days it's become a rarity, it's not something that "is done" anymore, but a good piece of shareware or demo are the perfect introduction to a product.
This method is, unfortunately, destructive for anything but the best games of course, and is especially difficult to reconcile with many modern game's very nature,.
I fondly remember the hours spent using the Age of Empires demo that came on the Windows 98 Starts Here CD-ROM, and that definitely is the kind of shopping prep I prefer.
Then, and I'll admit that candidly, there are a few projects I care so much about for whatever sentimental reason that I'd be even willing to preorder. Doesn't always end well.
This method is, unfortunately, destructive for anything but the best games of course, and is especially difficult to reconcile with many modern game's very nature,.
I fondly remember the hours spent using the Age of Empires demo that came on the Windows 98 Starts Here CD-ROM, and that definitely is the kind of shopping prep I prefer.
Then, and I'll admit that candidly, there are a few projects I care so much about for whatever sentimental reason that I'd be even willing to preorder. Doesn't always end well.
Never completely blind but ABAP. Even WAY back in the day I would at least read the 4 EGM reviews, Dan Hsu was my guy!
Now the internet tells me the game I enjoy actually is hot trash and performs slightly better on other hardware—Yeah, this is a big reason I used to enjoy games more. Ignorance is bliss but some games come in too hot these days to go blind. Local shop tried to get me to preorder Brink a few years back bc he said it was going to be awesome, I almost trusted him.
Now the internet tells me the game I enjoy actually is hot trash and performs slightly better on other hardware—Yeah, this is a big reason I used to enjoy games more. Ignorance is bliss but some games come in too hot these days to go blind. Local shop tried to get me to preorder Brink a few years back bc he said it was going to be awesome, I almost trusted him.
I'll mostly watch trailers and read/watch reviews on games so I know what they're about. There are definitely some games where curiosity gets the better of me and I'll read leaks, but that doesn't happen super often.
Games are pretty expensive and there is no dev I blindly trust to deliver a fun experience, so of course I watch the trailers and gameplay to see what the hell I am buying.
Can't resist trailers, and sometimes it is too hard to resist leaks, too. Story leaks sometimes actually make me MORE interested in a game than I otherwise would've been, but it depends on the game. If it's something I know with almost absolute certainty I'm going to enjoy (like from a series I always like), though, I try to avoid spoilers that go beyond basic trailers.
Square Enix has conditioned me to not watch too many trailers, as they always find a way to put in spoilers in them. So, nowadays, I just look to see if the gameplay jives with me and leave it at that, as I like to be surprised.
Depends on the game. Like, Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity. How much more do you need to know? It's Zelda, it's musou, there's a previous title. There's really no need to watch trailers or research the game.
On the other hand, something like Sakuna you've gotta dig and figure out if it's something you'll enjoy. Reviews, trailers, impressions, etc. Need all of it.
On the other hand, something like Sakuna you've gotta dig and figure out if it's something you'll enjoy. Reviews, trailers, impressions, etc. Need all of it.
It depends. If it's a game I'm really hyped for, and have faith that it will be great, I'll go in mostly blind. If it's a game I'm somewhat interested in, I'll watch some reviews.
For me it takes a lot of stress away to read some leaks about factors I'm concerned about
for example, the dungeon question went unanswered by Nintendo before BotW came out. I'm glad I read about dungeons being smaller and different otherwise I would've played the game worrying about where my big dungeons were until I finished it. It allowed me to appreciate the game for what it is.
I normally just read stuff though, I don't watch leaked cutscenes or gameplay.
for example, the dungeon question went unanswered by Nintendo before BotW came out. I'm glad I read about dungeons being smaller and different otherwise I would've played the game worrying about where my big dungeons were until I finished it. It allowed me to appreciate the game for what it is.
I normally just read stuff though, I don't watch leaked cutscenes or gameplay.
I've preferred to go in blind for a long time, if only because I don't have the time to hype myself up about a game for months or years. Over the past couple of years, though, I've discovered that there are some very common design choices that I really hate, so now I look for enough to determine whether the game in question checks those boxes.
Try to go in blind. The most recent (a few years ago anyway) being Bloodborne. The fact I knew nothing about the game made it even more incredible. I knew nothing of the gameplay and how the story was presented, it felt like I was playing a game as a kid again, no concept of what to expect. The only thing I really knew was that there were bosses and it was tough as nails.
I only bought it because it was a PS4 exclusive, and I needed something to justify owning a PS4, and nothing else stood out to me.
Since then, things like RE7 .... all I needed to hear was that it was back to survival horror, and I knew it was first person, which I imagined could work for RE. That's all I needed to hear, and it was fookin brilliant knowing very little.
I only bought it because it was a PS4 exclusive, and I needed something to justify owning a PS4, and nothing else stood out to me.
Since then, things like RE7 .... all I needed to hear was that it was back to survival horror, and I knew it was first person, which I imagined could work for RE. That's all I needed to hear, and it was fookin brilliant knowing very little.
Honestly, I used to go in blind, but nowadays I kind of read up more on games/movies/books. I kinda want to revert this behaviour, however then I would be the person who's always too late to the new thing in my friendgroup. Kind of frustrating.
If it's something story-heavy and I feel like I'll be pretty invested (like TLOU), I'll go in as blind as possible. That served me well for the sequel (I hadn't heard any of the major beats and had no idea who any of the characters outside of the returning ones from the first game were). So for those, maybe the reveal and a major E3 trailer, but beyond that, I don't watch/look at much. I generally don't like watching too many gameplay videos either since I have this weird disconnect thing where I get frustrated because I'm not the one controlling it. LOL So I'll scrub through them just to get a feel for it and that's that.
I try to limit it to trailers. I hate getting spoiled, but over the years I've learned that being spoiled is really a very temporary and capricious thing, the effects only last between the moment I'm spoiled and the moment I experience the spoiler myself as I play the game. After that, for the rest of my life, it won't really make any difference. It all gets filed into my brain the same way and it takes effort to remember if something was originally spoiled for me or not.
I usually only watch the reveal trailers at like e3 or the game awards and can tell immediately if I will buy it or not.
If it's an indie I usually only need screenshots to make a purchase.
If I have no intent to buy I'll watch more trailers.
In general I hate spoilers so I try to stay away from any chance of being spoiled.
If it's an indie I usually only need screenshots to make a purchase.
If I have no intent to buy I'll watch more trailers.
In general I hate spoilers so I try to stay away from any chance of being spoiled.
i think it depends on the game. For example MAss Effect 2/3 i went in blind because i was so invested in the stroy and i wanted to know little and discover it on my own. But something like Death Stranding i wanted to know what was going on since it was a new IP. so i guess it just depends for me.
If it's something I know I'm gonna get, I only watch the reveal trailer. Some companies are careless with spoilers in trailers. Otherwise I'll usually look into it more. Watch some gameplay or something.
A long time ago, I sought out everything about Resistance 2, because I was so hyped. I even crawled around foreign games media. By the time the game came out, I felt like I had already played it (still loved it, though). Since then, I've been more cautious.
A long time ago, I sought out everything about Resistance 2, because I was so hyped. I even crawled around foreign games media. By the time the game came out, I felt like I had already played it (still loved it, though). Since then, I've been more cautious.
Trailers, and people talking about it here. At most beyond that I'll watch someone playing a bit of it on a stream.
I've gone in blind for over 5 years now because I don't need previews to fill me in on what a game plays like or is about and I kinda hate it? Like, holy shit is this medium shallow fairly often. But even ignoring that, I've known my tastes for a while so I can take a single look at a game and know whether or not I want to give it a chance.
It really depends on how much I trust the developer and how sure I can be after the first trailer that the game will be amazing. Usually it's a few trailers at least a good 15 minute gameplay walkthrough and I'm sold.
Often though you need to do more research and in those cases you usually get spoiled. Stuff like cyberpunk looks good but we still can't be sure it's going to work out.
Then there are games you think you'll like but you can't be sure so you have to dive much deeper. A recent example of this for me as Sackboy on PS5. I wanted more after Astro but after buying and playing I found I didn't like it. Game was charming enough by the platforming controls just weren't sharp enough for me and the main gameplay loop just didn't grab me. Thankfully EB Games in Australia is good and offered 7 days not questions asked returns so I got a refund. I really thought I'd like it but I didn't. I'm hard to please though and I know it.
Often though you need to do more research and in those cases you usually get spoiled. Stuff like cyberpunk looks good but we still can't be sure it's going to work out.
Then there are games you think you'll like but you can't be sure so you have to dive much deeper. A recent example of this for me as Sackboy on PS5. I wanted more after Astro but after buying and playing I found I didn't like it. Game was charming enough by the platforming controls just weren't sharp enough for me and the main gameplay loop just didn't grab me. Thankfully EB Games in Australia is good and offered 7 days not questions asked returns so I got a refund. I really thought I'd like it but I didn't. I'm hard to please though and I know it.
That was me with Uncharted 3. Every second of that game that was available pre-release, I saw. And when it turned out they had shown all the major set-pieces already and the one they hadn't shown ended up being my favorite in large part due to being a surprise, it made me rethink watching everything pre-release, even if it would take years to go on full "media blackouts". Cause UC3 really felt like I'd played it already.
I'm glad nowadays I can play most games without thinking about the trailer locations I still haven't seen and stuff like that.
