Hey everyone,

I spent the last couple of months learning how to record & edit and recently started uploading game reviews on Youtube.
I’m still figuring stuff out and don’t have a clear concept yet, but I’m having so much fun and would love to hear your thoughts ^-^

Subnautica Below Zero Review

I tried to keep the review spoiler free, but if you’re not familiar with Subnautica at all, you might want to check this out instead.

Overall I’m quite happy with the result, but especially audio is still a mystery to me and a lot more work than I anticipated.

A few questions to consider:
What did you like and what do I need to improve?
Do you even watch game reviews?
And if so, only on release or also when they’re on sale/in bundles?

Thanks for taking the time to check it out. I'm rather quiet in the forums (and in general :D), but I read most discussions and love this community.
So here are some giveaways for all you awesome people:

Endless Space 2 (lvl 0)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 – Complete Edition (lvl 1)
Darkest Dungeon (lvl 2)

Good luck :3

2 years ago*

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I'll mention my criticism first: You spent a bit too much time with the few points you criticize about the game. To me, it felt partly repetitive or as if you were stuck because you didn't provide too many new details or insights why you'd want to elaborate one further minute on that matter.

But you clearly have a talent there. Some good funny remarks, good observation and communication. And a pleasant voice you use well, easy to listen to.

2 years ago
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Good to know that you feel like those negative parts were too long. In hindsight I also feel like I spent too much time on the negative aspects and didn’t manage to find a great balance. Probably because I did the Subnautica review first and didn’t want to repeat all the positive remarks in detail.

Thank you very much for your helpful & nice feeback! :)

2 years ago
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Nice job with the editing and script, I enjoyed watching your video. You have a nice voice and the overall structure was well done, to my mind. It was great, that your review wasn't strictly objective. My only comment is, if you are going for longer videos, maybe a joke here and there could be nice.

2 years ago
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Aw, thank you! I will definitely keep that in mind. Not sure if jokes are my greatest strength though tbh :D

2 years ago*
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Your title have a write error. Feedback

I don't watch game reviews.
To time consuming and the most games don't interest me enough.

I viewed 4 min. into your review, your voice was ok.
Good luck for your reviews.

2 years ago*
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Whoops, fixed it, thanks ^^
That's good to know as well. I know quite a lot of people who don't watch reviews at all. I myself mostly watch them after I played a game to see what other people think. Again, thank you and have a great evening!

2 years ago*
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Thanks, you too :o)

Oh and i stole a bit ok, ok, nearly all from your barter profile text :-D.
Your post there looks good.
Thanks

2 years ago*
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feel free ^^

2 years ago
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I don't watch Youtube reviews, I only read them and usually the negative ones and then decide if what they write would bother me as well or not so I can't say anything about your review, so I guess here is a bump :3

2 years ago
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Thx :3 Interesting. There are probably many people who just read reviews. Much easier to skim through and find relevant/helpful comments.

2 years ago
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Yes, it's faster, clearer (since not everyone is easy to hear) and I can do it without needing my sound and since I mostly just read the negative stuff since positive stuff I don't care about as much since I know most just from videos and screenshots (I watch the Steam videos when they have decent ones) but the negative part is important in if I really want it since you can't always see those right away.

2 years ago
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Yeah, relatable, I also tend to focus on balanced and negative reviews before buying a game^^

2 years ago
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2 years ago
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Nice video! At first I thought that your voice being so calm all the time would quickly get monotonous, but you actually pull it of really well and I enjoyed it to the end.
I didn't feel much in the way of needless repetition in how you described game's drawbacks, that Golwar pointed out, so there's that.
About the need for jokes that szabe felt: I found it quite funny when you talk about terrifying monsters, while casually having that toothy beastie play catch-up with you :)
What I feel could be made better:
-When you talk about pop-in and how how it compares to the first game, I feel it would work better if you edited a side-by-side comparison of both games with similar movement above the landscape.
-Similar thing with the next scene: I'm not sure what "ability to pin blueprints to the display" is and that wasn't apparent to me from you looking at the room.

2 years ago
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Thanks for your detailed feedback!
Really good to hear! A friend of mine said he nearly fell asleep because of my calm voice :c Not exactly what I’m aiming for, but I’m not sure how much I can change about that anyway.
Hah, originally I wanted to show a bigger monster, but decided not to spoil it after all :D
Side-by-side comparison is a good idea, gonna keep that in mind. As for the blueprints: I actually show them in the upper right corner. Maybe I should have phrased it differently? I sometimes struggle to find the right words since English is not my first language.

2 years ago
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2 years ago*
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Yay, thank you very much! :)
You're right. I want to work on my voiceovers, but right now, I don’t know how to. Not sure if my voice just sounds a little dispassionate in general or if it’s due to the fact that I have to concentrate so much on pronunciation. I read, watch and write a lot in English, but I hardly ever talk ^^’

2 years ago
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you have a wonderful voice. I feel like the most popular review channels have a very unique type of comedy whether through the jokes they make or the editing. I feel like you could try and incorporate more comedy. besides that its a very clean and well made video.

2 years ago
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Aw, thanks :3 Originally I wanted to do something similar to girlfriend reviews. But when I started writing the script, it just felt really phony. I don’t think it’s a good idea to force it, because it would probably just end up being really cringy :D

2 years ago
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Thank you for gibs!

What did you like and what do I need to improve?
Don't know. Design may be but I guess it should be at the end cause most important for me are review & game conternt to make own understanding of the game. So, I don't know. You have great speech and show emotions, review is fine, content too. Great job!
Do you even watch game reviews?
Yes, I do. I prefer few youtube channels
And if so, only on release or also when they’re on sale/in bundles?
Any time when I'm free or want some fun

Thank you for review. I wanted watch review about this game and u let me did it =)

2 years ago*
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Thank you very much! :) I guess you mean the little animation at the beginning? Good luck with the giveaways!

2 years ago*
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I mean simple graphic stylization for avatar, intro and ending, preview.
No need to add audio I guess.

2 years ago
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Ah, yes, I want to add that sometime in the future. It will take a while to design those though.

2 years ago
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Goodluck!

2 years ago
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Thank you! :)

2 years ago
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First of all, Thanks for the GA!

To answer your questions:

"What did you like and what do I need to improve?"
I like:

  • Your voice, I find it relaxing (maybe too much for a game review :D)
  • The fact that you use game screens only, and not a meme each 20sec (as 50% of game reviewers do)

"Do you even watch game reviews?"
Yes, I do, but only when I don't know the game yet and I wonder if I will like the gameplay or the game mechanics.

"And if so, only on release or also when they’re on sale/in bundles?"
90% release 10% sale

If you'd like some more ideas:
Don't hesitate to make your videos more dynamic, for example by marking the rhythm more when you speak.

Also, maybe you could split your review video with Youtube chapters (example: "Background of the game" / "UI" / "Gameplay" / "Creatures" / "Final: JennDjinn's Verdict")
That's a feature I use a lot when I watch game reviews. If I wonder "Hum, I'd like to hear her opinion about gameplay", in one click, I jump to the "gameplay" part of your review.
I'm sure it could bring you more viewers, who maybe like your videos but are not interested in watching the whole thing.

Keep up the good work!

2 years ago
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Good luck with the giveaways and thank you very much for your detailed feedback! :)
I’m not sure what you mean by “marking the rhythm” – talking more accentuated maybe? Yeah I definitely want to work on my voiceovers and hope my voice will get at least a little bit more energetic over time ^^
The chapters are a great idea and I get why people like it, but atm I wonder if it will be possible to structure every review like that. I’ll definitely keep it in mind, thanks!
Have a great weekend!

2 years ago
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Yeah, "being more energetic" is what I mean. But that's a preference, some people may like the way you review :)
Indeed, making chapters with a simple game (like indies) can be hard to set up.
Have a great weekend !

2 years ago
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Bump.

2 years ago
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I liked how calmly you went through each aspect of the game and that it seemed genuinely thought through. I think a beginning section of the video that tells an "at a peek" short version of the good and bad would be nice since I don't like spoiling what I'll be expecting in the actual game but if I'm still on the fence I would continue watching through the review until I've made up my mind.

I do look at gaming reviews when I am looking into games I'm already interested in.

I rarely care about games that are newly released unless it's something like dying light 2 where I've finished the first game and want more. Not really interested in standalone highly anticipated games like No Man's Sky "new releases" since they tend to be a let down. I try to only pick up games on sale/ in bundles so naturally would look into reviews at that time.

Good luck with your reviewing~

2 years ago
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Aw, thanks for checking it out and for your nice words :) Didn’t expect more feedback after all those weeks.

Hm I thought about where to put a short version and decided that a conclusion at the end makes more sense, structurally. To me it just feels more natural to explain everything in detail and then sum it up. But from a viewer’s point, I totally see where you’re coming from. I think many people are used to skipping to the end for a conclusion though.

Interesting how different people watch reviews for completely different reasons. Thank you very much for your input and have a great weekend!

2 years ago
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