How this trust score was computed
Trust blends alignment (40%): does the outlet rank games the way players do; decoded accuracy (30%): after translating the outlet's own scale habits (a '7/10 means mediocre' scale is decoded, not punished), how well its reviews predict player sentiment; and player-side (30%): on games where press consensus and players sharply disagreed, whose side it took. Recent reviews weigh more (2-year half-life), and the blend is shrunk toward a neutral prior (60) so small samples can't peg the scale. Player quality is launch-window Steam sentiment, so outlets aren't punished for reviewing a launch build that later got patched.
Controversy record: on 30 games where press consensus and players sharply disagreed, this reviewer sided with players 24 times.
Computed 6m ago · full methodology →
Outlet vs. players
Each dot is a game both this outlet and players scored. The dashed line is perfect agreement: dots above it mean the outlet was more generous than players, below it more harsh.
Biggest disagreements with players
The receipts: games where this outlet's verdict landed furthest from player sentiment.
- -44Hadesoutlet 50 · players 94 · Aug 2021
- -52Noitaoutlet 40 · players 92 · Oct 2020
- -42Devil May Cry 5outlet 50 · players 92 · Nov 2019
- -42Assassin's Creed® Odysseyoutlet 40 · players 82 · Oct 2018
- -54Deliver Us The Moonoutlet 30 · players 84 · Sep 2020
- -45Cartooutlet 50 · players 96 · Nov 2020
- +9We Happy Fewoutlet 80 · players 71 · Aug 2018
- -43OCTOPATH TRAVELER™outlet 40 · players 83 · Jun 2021
- +2Mutant Year Zero: Road to Edenoutlet 80 · players 78 · Dec 2018
- +9Draugenoutlet 80 · players 71 · May 2019
Recent reviews (137 tracked)
- 60LakeSep 4, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Lake can be an entertaining game, but only if you’re looking to burn some free time and don’t mind being railroaded.”
read full review ↗ - 80Psychonauts 2Aug 31, 2021 · Jake Arias
“The original Psychonauts hasn’t held up extraordinarily well, but time will likely prove to be far kinder to Psychonauts 2. This is the kind of rare, memorable game that’s as polished and well-paced as it is unapologetically weird.”
read full review ↗ - 50HadesAug 19, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Hades is a hack-and-slash dungeon crawler roguelite with a simplistic gameplay loop, some complex perk combinations reminiscent of Transistor, and a reactive story that sees characters react to just about anything that you do. The problem is that all of the things that you can do are limited to picking perks and killing things in the same four floors of the same dungeon, and the story drags its heels in such an egregious way that you have to finish this same 20-40-minute dungeon something like 50 times to reach the actual ending.”
read full review ↗ - 60FORECLOSEDAug 13, 2021 · Jake Arias
“There are glimmers of an interesting, entertaining game here; the comic stylings and panels are reminiscent of Comix Zone and Framed, and the characters and world are decently interesting. That’s a double-edged sword, however. When I spent another 4 hours replaying the game from the beginning to get the secret ending only for it to end up being a couple of lines that have little to do with anything, the only reaction I could muster was frustrated fury. In a way, though, this is representative of the way Foreclosed consistently refuses to offer commensurate payoff for your troubles.”
read full review ↗ - 60The AscentAug 2, 2021 · Jake Arias
“The Ascent feels like two very different games. One of those games is an enjoyable aRPG in an over-the-top cyberpunk world where you find new equipment, upgrade your weapons and abilities, and take on odd jobs in an attempt to better your character’s situation. In many ways, this feels like a combination of the canceled Prey 2 and what a lot of people mistakenly expected Cyberpunk 2077 to be like, all filtered through a world that combines the alien-rich population of Mass Effect with Blade Runner‘s rainy dystopia. The other game is the one that undermines that first one.”
read full review ↗ - 50Cris TalesJul 25, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Cris Tales bills itself as an “indie love letter to classic jRPGs.” Instead, it so completely misunderstands what makes them great that it comes across like a creepy kidnapper letter composed out of letters cut from various magazines. This is a game that looks fantastic while doing everything at least a little wrong; entire mechanics are outright broken, bugs can strike and render certain battles unwinnable, and stats randomly see massive rises and drops that make it impossible to tell how powerful your characters actually are. Add in Cris Tales‘ slow movement speed and insistence on making you run around doing busy work and you have a recipe for a truly painful experience.”
read full review ↗ - 60Going UnderJul 12, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Going Under is an exhausted groan of a game. It looks and sounds great and the characters are amusing for the most part, but the mechanics clash in weird ways, and it just feels bad to play.”
read full review ↗ - 70Minute of IslandsJun 21, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Somehow, these two negative qualities balance out and allow Minute of Islands to tell a story about obsession and stubbornness that’ll resonate strongly with people predisposed to those traits.”
read full review ↗ - 70WildermythJun 18, 2021 · Jake Arias
“This is the ultimate “easy to learn, difficult to master” tRPG, being made up of a few basic stats that are easy to keep track of. That’s in addition to numerous more subtle mechanics that occur behind the scenes, and these can be safely ignored or manipulated for an even greater advantage over your opponents. Wildermyth‘s difficulty curve becomes incredibly uneven toward the end of its fourth campaign, however, and the fifth and final campaign’s difficulty arises primarily from a number of annoying mechanics that exist to waste your time. Still, Wildermyth is great. It feels like it’s one balancing patch away from becoming one of the best tRPGs on the market.”
read full review ↗ - 40OCTOPATH TRAVELER™Jun 11, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Everything about it is clearly inspired by Final Fantasy VI—one of the games from my childhood that I know front to back—and yet all of the features and priorities that made that game work have been watered down and replaced with gimmicks that appear to have been designed solely to waste as much time as possible. Octopath Traveler‘s dialog drags. Its story meanders aimlessly. Its characters are dull tropes. Its mechanics never evolve. There’s very little to recommend here.”
read full review ↗ - 60BIOMUTANTMay 27, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Biomutant is briskly paced but also a drag at certain points. It’s frequently overwhelming and somehow deceptively simple. Most of the time, it exists in this superposition of contradictory states where its successes and failures coexist and commingle, which lends an undeniably singular quality to a game that, at a glance, doesn’t stray too far from the open-world mold. I haven’t played anything quite like Biomutant before and neither have you. Not everyone will be able to look past the price tag and a parade of minor flaws to appreciate that uniqueness. Regardless, I’m glad that this exists.”
read full review ↗ - 70Aerial_Knight's Never YieldMay 19, 2021 · Jake Arias
“It’s very possible to enjoy Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield despite these issues, especially given its stylish visuals and entertaining soundtrack, but the gameplay needs a few tweaks to make obtaining better times more comfortable and fair.”
read full review ↗ - 70Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon ManagerMay 3, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Legend of Keepers released into early access a little over a year ago, and I liked it. The final version is even better; whenever you see the name Goblinz Studio, you know that regardless of whether they developed or published the game, it’s all about numerous interlocking, straightforward mechanics from which a great deal of complexity can arise. Legend of Keepers is perhaps the best example of this to date.”
read full review ↗ - 70Donut CountyApr 29, 2021 · Jake Arias
“Luckily, I managed to find enough time to blow through Donut County after seeing multiple Steam reviewers compare Rain on Your Parade to it. Untitled Goose Game, Donut County, and Rain on Your Parade serve as a kind of cutesy meme-game trinity, though there’s a clear hierarchy. Donut County falls between the okayish but massively overhyped goose game and the more varied and creative Rain on Your Parade.”
read full review ↗ - 90Rain on Your ParadeApr 16, 2021 · Jake Arias
“The obvious comparison here genre-wise would be Untitled Goose Game, but whereas that game’s value was primarily derived from its meme potential and novelty, Rain on Your Parade also brings to the table a constant barrage of creativity and interesting new gameplay twists that make 99% of other games look lazy by way of comparison. This is the type of game that makes me wish that I did awards or something because it really is head and shoulders above the competition. Be sure not to sleep on this one—Rain on Your Parade is a special game.”
read full review ↗