VILLHAVER

I don't think a lot of games that are that bad are going to get a lot of review time, unless they're exceptionally bad, perhaps so much so that they kind of become good again -- thinking of Goat Simulator, for instance.

Also, the reviewers I follow (mostly Giant Bomb, but there's some stuff at IGN I like, and Polygon and GameStop are nice as well) tend to be pretty positive people, at least their public personas are. They don't want to just shit on every game they review, they want to highlight what a game does well. I appreciate that as there's enough negativity in the world as is, and if you read or listen carefully you can still get the gist of what their impression of a game is. The recent AEW game, AEW Fight Forever, is fun, and I haven't heard a lot of people say they don't like how it controls, but the general opinion of the game seems to be that there just isn't enough substance yet to justify recommending someone pay $60 for it.

I really like the Goodreads model of five stars, which are, in order: I didn't like it, it was OK, I liked it, I really liked it, I loved it. Anything under three stars, I'm generally not going to recommend. Anything around three stars, I'm going to be cautious about recommending it, try to work with somebody's interests. Anything four stars and up, I'm going to enthusiastically recommend.

@milkman: His New Balance Baller Time shoe story is one of my favorite stories in the history of the website.

Google is aware that a product being sold on its service is broken. By refusing to remove it, I would think Google is as responsible as Square Enix.

I'm now convinced that I'm no longer dealing with a gaming company and, rather, a group full of complete fucking idiots.

I agree, @guanophobic; I'm not talking to any decision makers here, I'm talking to some low-level HR employee who knows I'm pissed and desperately wants to avoid any further complications. That, however, might not be possible.

I sent my info to Square Enix to receive the refund after contacting Google to get the order number for my purchase which I know occurred back in either April or May, I don't have that info in front of me right now. Thinking that the refund was taken care of and I'd have to now bend over backwards to get the refund itself, I was shocked when told that, because I made my purchase so long ago, the development team had been unable to process the refund. I've been asked to remain patient in regards to the matter, but I said in my last e-mail that, no, I'm done being patient; I noticed the game was broken a month ago, the earliest comment I could find about the game being broken was in July, Square Enix has had enough time to fix the game or refund my purchase.

I really would settle for codes to download the Final Fantasy games on Android. I'm not sure how that would work monetarily for Square Enix, but I thought it would be easier for them to send those to me than to refund my money. At this point, I just want the situation resolved so I can stop contacting this filthy company. The Kingdom Hearts games from the PS2 were amazing, and Final Fantasy 8 made me fall in love with RPG's, but the company has completely ruined my image of them and I feel like I'm no longer dealing with my favorite company, but rather a bunch of disgusting, money-grubbing, heartless bastard thieves.

This is the emotional email I sent to Square Enix when told my refund couldn't be processed yet:

I want a time frame for when I'm going to see one of three things: a refund, at least ten dollars in Google Play credit, or a working copy of Chrono Trigger.

Also, by offering me a refund, is Square Enix admitting that Chrono Trigger is broken and won't be fixed? Or is the company just trying to get me to shut up? If the game is broken and you aren't going to fix it, you should stop selling it in Google Play.

I've got a blog up on Giant Bomb about this issue and I'd love to let everyone following it know the status of the game.

As a side note, as a longtime Square Enix fan and Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts fan, I was stoked when Kingdom Hearts 3 was finally announced. But the company's absolutely awful handling of my complaint, the complete lack of communication with its fan base over this issue, the unethical decision to continue to sell the broken game on Google Play, and general disregard for the company's public image and legacy has me so absolutely disgusted with Square Enix that the thought of paying you my hard-earned money for a game I've eagerly anticipated for close to a decade disgusts me. Hats off to the low level employee in Square Enix's public relations department reading my emails who has remained totally professional (albeit too generic for my tastes) with me and hasn't completely destroyed the last of my goodwill that I have for Square Enix, but shame on the executives making decisions at the company.

I've got an update for you: Square Enix is offering me a way to get a refund. It sounds like I'll have to jump through hoops, but it's a possibility now, as opposed to when I wrote this blog yesterday when it seemed like it was out of the question. I'll let all of you know if I receive my refund or not.

Thanks, by the way, to all of you commenting on this. Knowing that you share some of my pain and/or are sympathetic to my situation is more satisfying than any refund I'll get.

I never played the 2k games past (quick Google search...) 2k5, which I liked, but eventually both 2k and EA basketball games had the same problem for me: I didn't feel like the controls of the game would allow me to dominate the post. The movement of the players got too linear, you go up the court and down the court and that's it; I always felt like the old games were a sandbox and you could move around the courts at will.

I should point out that I don't hate these games, they just don't make me feel comfortable playing them. Then again, EA and 2k can't appeal to me and abandon the thousands of other gamers who like the direction the games are going in (although at this point maybe it'd be worth it for EA to try... anything new, really), so I understand why the changes being made aren't the ones I'd prefer to see.

I guess I wouldn't put it past EA to just repackage and resell what is virtually the same game a year later... I have this theory that they've been doing it all along with their football games. DM me for details, I'll let all of you guys in on the details of this conspiracy.

Honestly, I've played every March Madness (or equivalent), Live and 2k game since the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox generation between jobs in a video game store and thanks to my hoodrat cousin who loves the 2k games, and I haven't enjoyed playing anything since NCAA March Madness 2003. And even that was only because the game played so well, the season and tournament modes were kinda crappy and the players were so generic that they should have just called all of the models Tall and Skinny, Tall and Bald, Tall and Bald and Fat, Regular Looking Black Guy, Black Guy With Afro, and Short White Guy.

Also, now that I think about it, the NBA Jam stuff was alright. Absolute crap as far as messing around with the rosters - which were out of date by the time I bought the game at launch, if I remember correctly the game released shortly after the Carmelo Anthony trade - but I bought that game to hear Tim Kitzrow yell, "Boom Shack a Lacka!" and that's what I got.

Unbelievably bad. Wow.

@hailinel said:

Jesus.

EDIT: The photo in question:

@chaser324: I'm assuming that EA - and I know that fans - have invested too much money in sports games for moral victories. I don't want to be excited that NBA Live is back on store shelves, I want a great basketball game to play.