Two different scenarios, two completely different gameplay experiences.

In a lot of ways, the rise of the Internet has been a great thing for video game fans. If there’s a new title you’re interested in playing, all you have to do is go online to hear opinions from other gamers who’ve already played it, and that information can help you decide whether or not you want to take the plunge and buy it yourself.

But Japanese Twitter user @tamayan22 has found that doing his homework has a negative affect when it’s time to play. Recently, he laid out his experiences in a two-column manga, showing the problem on the right, and his solution on the left (translation below).

https://twitter.com/tamayan22/status/938046912783007744

In either case, the story starts with a new game catching his eye.

▼ “This looks like a fun game.”

When he does some research online, things start off smooth…

▼ Checking out opinions on the Internet
“What do you guys think of this game?”
“It’s fun.”
“Good game.”
“Yeah.”

…but then a dissenting opinion makes itself heard, and loudly.

▼ “No, no, that game is shit!”

▼ “The gameplay is shit. The voice acting is shit. The story is shit. The producer is lame.”

The voices saying “It’s a fun game,” and “The story is well-done,” fade into the background, and when @tamayan22 finally sits down to play the game for himself, he finds he’s gotten swept up in the negativity and regrets his purchase.

▼ “Hmm…I guess the gameplay is shitty. Yeah, it does seem shitty. I heard the story was shitty too, and yeah, you could say that.”

Considering that most people’s primary goal when playing games is to have fun, @tamayan22 has come to find this way of choosing which games to buy counterproductive. So instead, recently he’s been going old school and skipping reading other people’s impressions online, as shown in the manga’s left column.

▼ “This looks like a fun game.”

▼ Playing without checking opinions or information on the Internet
“Hmm…so this is the sort of gameplay system it has. They put a lot of thought into it…seems like it’s gonna be pretty fun.”

▼ “The story is good too…I’m glad I bought this game.”

“Recently, when I buy games I’ve been doing it like on the left, and it’s made playing games seriously fun, so I recommend it,” says @tamayan22, and he’s definitely got a point about playing a game without any preconceptions and having a special, personalized experience with it.

On the other hand, @tamayan22 also sounds like someone who’s been a gamer for a while now, and as such has probably already developed enough of an understanding about his gaming likes and dislikes that he’s not going to pick something for himself that he ends up hating, even without the safety net of checking what other people think about it online. For newer gamers, jumping into blind buys like @tamayan22 is advocating might not produce the best results, but his core message of not doing so much advance research that you spoil the surprises, and the fun, is wise advice.

Source: Twitter/@tamayan22 via Jin
Images: Twitter/@tamayan22