Game Review Inflation Needs to Chill

Are We Judging Our Games Too Harshly?

2025 has had no shortage of incredible games. We are only in April and we’ve already seen Split Fiction, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and Monster Hunter Wilds. However, something interesting has really caught my eye throughout this period. Even though we objectively are getting more and more incredible games than ever before, the sentiment around good, but not great, games seems to be getting worse. I’m talking about games that usually score between a 6 to 8 and are generally regarded as decent. These are the titles I usually pick up on sale or gamepass, or maybe just wait a little while before buying. Now I’m not saying these games are bad and thus don’t warrant my time or money, quite the opposite actually. What’s concerning to me is seeing the public’s reaction to games of this nature. Spoiler Alert: It’s ugly.

Your Time, Your Money

Gaming has always been an interesting hobby. It’s fairly niche in the grand scheme of things, with most mainstream gamers only playing a select few large titles. This means most non-mainstream projects will be under more scrutiny. Hardcore gamers tend to be much more critical and tight with the money they choose to spend on new games. I may be in the minority here, but I tend to give most games a lot of grace. I recognize not all games are perfect, but it is fairly rare I find a game I don’t enjoy to some extent. Yes, this may lead to the dreaded IGN 7/10 score even though the real score may be much more nuanced than that. What I’m really talking about is the amount of backlash many of the 7/10 games are receiving nowadays. Games like Atomfall, Khazan, South of Midnight, Avowed, Sniper Elite, and Pirate Yakuza are just some of the most recent victims of this “Game Review Inflation”.

None of these games are inherently bad in most respects, in fact,they are all quite remarkable. Atomfall is a super creative take on a British post-apocalyptic survival shooter, Khazan is a very polished new Souls-Like, Avowed is brand new open world RPG from Obsidian, Pirate Yakuza is an awesome spin off bringing back the older style of beat-em-up combat, and South of Midnight is super fun action game based on Southern American folklore! None of these games were released in a poor state and they all respect their players’ time and money. What really struck me was their online reception. I’ve seen tons of people criticizing these games for content they never claimed to offer, even simply saying they were bad video games. Personally I love these games! They are full of the heart and soul of the developers thanks to their limited scope and low press. They are the games we look back on fondly in 10+ years and tell people they should absolutely play them.

“We want to read reviews that tell us something about how to think about the topic. And we want in turn, if silently, to join the argument with the reviewer and author.” — Don Herzog, Michigan Law Review

A Great and Terrible Thing

Game reviews are incredibly important. In a world where things are only getting more expensive and many of us are unable to purchase things on a whim, reviews serve as a way for us to make informed purchases or draw our attention to a game that was previously off our radar. In no way am I criticizing the reviewers. I want to encourage the rest of us to understand the lens through which we players view games is very different from the ones game reviewers do. Trust me. Most 6s and 7s are still very much worth playing. Who knows, they may end up being some of your very favorite games despite their flaws. Take a deep breath, maybe wait a bit before playing and remember gaming is supposed to be enjoyed by individuals, not criticized by the masses.