Two years of great reviews and great times. So glad I never gave up on this site when I wanted to. We had several great Guest Reviews, memorable discussions, and noteworthy changes in these two years.
Here are, at least in my humble opinion, the most pivotal reviews in KVR Gaming history. Enjoy!
Honourable Mentions:
The Guest Reviews. Every single one of them. They were all greatly appreciated, and I didn't feel ranking them alongside my own reviews would work very well, since I would just place them at the top.
Let's just say that to the few who took up the task: You couldn't have done a better job. I wish I could rank your reviews, but it wouldn't do you any justice. Thanks to Daniel Kay, Serena and Henry Combrinck for their reviews.
And to ZIG: You made a huge impact, and yes, you had a big influence. Thank you very much for your help. All of you did equally great jobs, and I thank you. You're all the real Number 1s in this list.
Now where are your next reviews? Come on, we've been waiting......
Number 10:
Well, we all had to start somewhere. Notice that the list is not titled "Best Reviews"? Because this one was a load of rubbish. ("Dude". Seriously, past Kyle? Seriously?) However, it started the blog, so there's no use in deriding it.
In fact, Battlefield 2 is one game I would love to revisit sometime with the blog so that I can do it justice, since it used to be my favourite game for a very long time.
The very basics of our current format started with my first ever review. Little did I know that two years, two URL changes, and nearly a 180 posts later that I would be here, still churning out the same, but much better.
Number 9:
NOTE: Don't let the content markers fool you. Originally this Areas of Concern was very primitive. The only reason why it looks "modern" is because I used it like a guinea pig to test out my current format.
My very first Areas of Concern (Based on a video walkthrough instead of playing through the game). The Areas of Concern began based on my own way of judging if games were okay, and that was through Let's Plays.
I could tell a lot about a game by simply watching it being played instead of playing it, and for me the experience was almost always the same when I actually got around to playing it.
But anyways, about Dead Space 2.....
Blog reader George pointed out how I Banned the game for having a few candles and prayers, as opposed to the high levels of gore and language. At the time, I was very harsh with certain games, and Dead Space 2 is a game I wish to revisit.
However, it was a very pivotal Areas of Concern, and in spite of it's ham-fisted conclusion and overly melodramatic descriptions (at least in the initial post two years ago), it got the blog into second gear.
Number 8:
You can't fault a guy for trying, right? While The Walking Dead Areas of Concerns could have been simplistic and to the point, I decided that it was the best time to try what no other review site had done before: Add a fictional character as a co-reviewer.
For the most part.......it didn't pay off. I don't know if you think the same, but the Hawke character just lacked depth to me and didn't really make sense on the blog. He was a character from a scrapped novel, and I had trouble letting go of him, so I made him a part of the blog.
It may have been a bit weird, but hey, its original. This week, I'm going to showing you guys a new character, and his role within the blog will make a lot more sense.
It may have been a bit weird, but hey, its original. This week, I'm going to showing you guys a new character, and his role within the blog will make a lot more sense.
However, I will say that Hawke added a certain flavour to my Walking Dead Reviews, even if the flavour was an odd one.
Number 7:
Another Review that took a noteworthy risk, and almost fully paid off. The Review was presented with content specifically mentioned level by level, followed by semi-hilarious remarks and way too much exclamation markers.
It's kind of obvious why I couldn't do this for every review, because this did take me two weeks to do and it was heavy in the spoiler department.
But hey, who says that I can't do my current written reviews and incorporate a video review showing all the content for those who really want to know....?
Number 6:
My Mass Effect 3 Areas of Concern Introduced the current Content Marker format for the first time, along with the Bite-Sized Review which was made irrelevant by simply shortening the reviews to make the Areas of Concern more manageable.
Now my reviews were way too long at the time, taking inspiration from Screen-It because of their content rundowns mentioned every single detail, but hey, at least my Mass Effect 3 AOC is still useful, and if you find yourself overwhelmed by the content, you could always skip over the mildest content to the most intense.
Number 5:
For about a year, my site had verdicts which closely mirrored a similar Christian Game Reviews site. Beginning with Dead Space 3, I introduced original verdicts which really helped set us apart.
It was also notable because Dead Space 3 contained the same spiritual content as Dead Space 2, but here it didn't result in a ban, because of revised standards. Oh, and, my Areas of Concern was finally perfected.
Number 4:
Here's where I finally got the memo to make the reviews shorter! Borderlands 2 was also a really hard game to come up with a verdict with, and actually started the tipping point towards the massive shift of attitude with Number 1 on this list.
It's very notable to have not been a singular effort on my part, and I consulted with four different people, all with different attitudes, before finally coming to my own decision and giving the game a Strong Caution. (Mature Gamers Only, before it was cool.)
Number 3:
No real "innovation" here, but it was a major review of a major game and it set the quality level of how I want all my reviews to be. Also, it was up pretty fast, not even a week after the game's release. Impressive huh? No!? Okay....
I also accepted that doing an Areas of Concern instead of a Review isn't so bad after all, and so my blog will continue to do so until I can afford to do full playthroughs of select games.
(Just so you know, The Last of Us was a Full Review. Yep.)
Number 2:
At first glance, this seems like a very average Areas of Concern for the blog. And in many ways, it is. But what happened below the surface was a very different story.
I nearly gave up on the blog again during the period when I was writing the Areas of Concern and the month preceding it, which featured a barrage of personal letdowns. After I was done with The Darkness 2, I took an unnecessarily long hiatus, thinking it would make things better.
It didn't. My blog was the one thing I could escape to when things were going down the gutter. And abandoning the blog for such a long time made me yearn to start writing again very soon. And here I am.
So that proves it, through hell and high water, this blog is going to stay. Now, what about Number 1?
Number 1:
Couldn't have been any different. This finally saw the blog breaking free of any legalistic shackles which still hung loosely from it, and I myself underwent a huge change in attitude, realising that above all else, Christ's love is the most important, exceeding righteousness by far.
Heck, I even bought the game, and it's great! Seriously, go try it. Highly recommended.
But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory lane, more for myself to get motivated for the big games in the blockbuster season which has just begun. And I will say that after seeing where we came from, I'm very motivated to start making the next two years even better.
I've also realised that my best reviews were always when I had more than one person giving me extensive input. As such, I want to reiterate again and give thanks to everybody who had an impact on this blog. Doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from, you helped out, and for that, KVR Gaming thanks you.
.....by giving you Forums. Coming soon!
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Alright, so I hope you enjoyed this site retrospective. It's been a wonderful journey. Sound off in the comments to let me know what my long time readers think.
See you guys Friday!
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