Quote:
Originally Posted by relentlessflame
So yeah, basically... I think buying by brand isn't necessarily going to be any sort of guarantee. You pretty much have to play the trials to see if you like the story.
|
As my friend so passionately tries to defend though, the trial doesn't necessarily reflect the whole route. I can sort of see his point, as I'd imagine trial programs only showcase the first parts of a route, and there have been many games through the years that had a "slow start" so to speak. There is also the case of the fantastical/cliched premise becoming much more deep or expansive later on, as I've seen in some cases. On the other extreme, a company may go to such lengths as making as much impact with the trial as much as possible, only to lag in the middle and flounder at the end. And so while I agree that trials are a decent way to gauge a product one is interested in, they're not entirely truthful in showing the depths of a particular work.
One workaround, impressions from other people, has been the one I've used consistently, though it's not without its own weaknesses. But I find it being the more useful, especially if the other knows your preferences intimately. In the case of the Alcot collection I'd bought, a friend of mine had recommended the game Onigokko and I'd taken a gander at the brand name, making me realize there'd been a lot of games from the company I'd neglected to read since Rhapsody (which was so below average I'd ceased to trust the company) and so I made a gamble.