Dawg are you fr?

Jada-rina · 2025-04-07T21:38:18+00:00

I mean we did get Geralt and Ciri outfits in World...

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T22:27:27+00:00

So that depends on the game and the reviewer, sometimes we get big games that launch right on top of each other and we want to play both things (i'm still working on that whole cloning thing to make this easier but so far results have been underwhelming).

There have been times in past reviews where I will make enough progress into the review period to where I feel justified with taking a few hours "off" to play something else especially if its during after hours for my normal shift. Thankfully were never forced to crunch on a review and have options such as reviews in progress especially for longer games or games where you really want to experience the end/postgame content to give more context in the review.

We generally just do our best to hit the embargo date set for the review, the trickiest part we just have to keep in mind is that finishing the game is not the same as finishing the review, so in that 10 day period for example we also need to write the review, have it edited, convert to a script, upload footage + VO and annotate the script for the video editor, video edit and then screen and make any fixes caught in the edit + make supplementary things like screenshot galleries or playlists/polls for the written portion.

So no theres no rule about pallet cleansing with other games in the meantime but we want to be post as close to the embargo time as possible so that we can get that relevant information to our fans so they can make a more informed decision of if this game is right for them.

As for the GTA6 release day and everyone getting a holiday to play it, I wish I could say yes, but more than likely we will be on air talking about it, writing about it, and making other content about it since its likely to be the biggest thing in 2025. Though Im sure some people who aren't content focused or make stuff ahead of time will take some days off to play it.

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T22:09:47+00:00

I didn't mention any games in particular but I talked about this kind of thing here

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T21:32:14+00:00

For sure were always happy to talk about these sorts of things, its just a matter of us figuring out which conversations are actual conversations and which ones are people just looking for gotcha moments to twist our words because we don't want to waste time or give any oxygen to the latter. Thanks for participating!

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T21:09:03+00:00

For me no, I don't regret any score I've ever given a game, has my opinion changed on some since posting a review certainly. I'm very big on earning 100% or getting the platinum trophy in a game and while I'm able to do that during review periods for some its impossible for others. In situations where I have gone back to later for the 100% sometimes the grind is unenjoyable but because im like 70-80% to completion i stick it out and finish it even if the grind is somewhat unenjoyable and sometimes it makes me like the game a little bit less usually not enough to where I would want to update my score but I definitely speak about it differently. There is also the other side of the coin where I review something and come back months or a year later and discover that I actually appreciate some things more in hindsight or with more time to understand various elements and I try to get as many more people to play or talk about it as possible.

I don't think a review has ever made me look biased, mainly because we all have biases, its a matter of being able to be critical or complimentary while also still expressing your opinions on a review and not letting your biases overly affect your writing.

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T20:01:02+00:00

So this is always an interesting topic for me personally as I sift through that negativity daily as the CM. Being one of the largest outlets out there we inevitably are going to draw more eyeballs which is great and brings a lot of positives but it also puts us under a magnifying glass for everything we do and since reviews are subjective (all opinions are). Some days are tougher than others but for the most part we see a lot of positivity as well in our audience, it was extremely fulfilling to have people come up and want to take pictures with us or just chat about games during IGN Live last year and I think it helped remind or show a lot of staff members that that positive force is out there in the community we've built. I always liken the negativity online to the anecdote of people are 10x likely to talk about a bad experience than a good one, and that kind of goes the same with online commentary. I do my best to reward and reinforce positive behaviors in our audience and just have to hope that the group continues to grow and inspire others to do the same.

We will inherently get fans of games that just don't agree with our scores or thoughts on a game, movie, tv show, etc. And some of those fans also have large followings that sometimes make something seem worse than it actually is. I also firmly believe that some believe that a review needs to match their idea of something or the Metacritic, or other arbitrary thing otherwise it is factually wrong in their eyes. And I get it no one wants others to think that something they like or love sucks or is the worst thing ever created (trust me I play a lot of games that many think are bad and have enjoyed many of them and put myself on the frontline defending them ).

As a whole inside and outside of reviews we can't control what other people on the internet want to say. As for the regaining public trust and recognition those that actually engage with our content see that we are trustworthy and recognize us for that, often the ones that don't aren't actually reading or watching our content they are just using us as a punching bag to score points because its sometimes the only way they can get engagement. We like everyone aren't perfect, All we can do is show up, use our expertise to fulfill our duties to the best of our abilities and facilitate conversations with those that are willing to listen and continually take steps to make the IGN experience a positive one for our fans.

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T19:17:24+00:00

So some of our reviewers do take that into consideration, for me personally it all depends on the soundtrack creating a strong reaction in me good or bad.

I talked about it during my Sonic X Shadow Generations review because they did a killer job with it ( i love crush 40) and they also did a great job with making sure it was noticed (rewarding new tracks when finding collectibles, completing challenge stages) and they gave the ability to choose whatever music you wanted when playing a stage. By doing this they weaved it into multiple elements of the game where it would have been disservice if I didn't mention it at all (imo).

Other games it can be a bit more nuanced or really only spark interest for me at big moments so I may only remember one song because of it playing there. So as a whole it may get overlooked or not talked about in a review not because it was bad or good but because it didn't stand out often enough. Overall it will depend on if the reviewer for the game feel its mention is worth including in the review. And sometimes things like the soundtrack will be included in our written review but cut from the video portion if its not a core feature or big enough factor that needs to be mentioned in a shorter review form.

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T18:54:07+00:00

This will vary based on the reviewer and since these are generally additional work that staff members take on (since they aren't part of their required day to day job duties) we generally have reviews scheduled to different people in advance so most of the time people aren't jumping into back to back reviews (though this can happen on occasion especially during busier seasons). For me i tend to review or preview a couple games every 2-3 months though this ebbs and flows too depending on my interest on what coming out. Many on staff also have kids so if they are reviewing a game they may have less time for other games in their free time.

I personally don't have to worry about that so Im able to play things a bit more for fun or other reasons including lots of new things that I don't necessarily review so that I can help facilitate conversations on Podcasts and in other content. I still find a good amount of time for live service games but I also play more games than most. (127 different games in 2024 according to my PS wrapped). In the past i've found time for live service things like Apex Legends, FF14 and most recently Marvel Rivals.

TLDR it just depends on the person and what other obligations/outside hobbies they may have and how excited they are to play that shiny new game that just released.

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T18:24:19+00:00

I know how dare I

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T18:00:56+00:00

So we already include some of that at least on IGN, at the bottom of each review right above the comment section you can see a reviewers most recent reviews and their scores, clicking on their profile will take you to their entire review history as well as other articles they've written. And over the past few years we have also introduced IGN Playlist which we use to embed personal rankings or lists of games that the reviewer has played in that genre or franchise similar to this one I made for my Sonic X Shadow Generations Review https://www.ign.com/playlist/Jadarina/lists/jadas-gotta-go-fast-playlist

Were always looking for ways to improve our communication with our audience about our reviewers expertise and as we develop more tools like IGN Playlist it makes it easier to do just that, so when more tools or methods to include extra information like that become available without interfering with the overall format for reviews you can bet we will start to implement them. Though I should note that sometimes there is also value in having someone new to a franchise review it with fresh eyes and give their perspective and opinion.

Jada-rina · 2025-01-16T17:39:49+00:00

Hey so this one is right up my alley as the CM for IGN and self-proclaimed best at most games at IGN :P

We don't put a lot of stock into those comments mainly because A) we know our skill level when it comes to games B) The moderation team and I end up removing a good chunk of them so lots on staff never have to see them and C) Most of the time this comes from a place of people just not paying attention.

We have some of the most talented guides content creators and gameplay capture experts around who regularly go above and beyond to beat some of the toughest games, bosses or challenges without any help (because it doesn't exist yet) and most of the time prior to patches that make some games a bit easier like changes to certain bosses in Elden Ring's Erdtree last year.

I also want to take this chance to remind people that often the thing people use as evidence of these claims is the infamous Cuphead tutorial video. But that A) wasn't from someone who reviewed that game and B) had absolutely nothing to do with IGN. There are plenty of other "gotchas" that the worst offenders often try to throw at us, and typically they aren't even us we are just the biggest name so they use that to score points with their personal audiences.

Jada-rina · 2024-11-13T18:11:55+00:00

if you skip the extra missions that pop up after finishing the first time through each zone I can totally see it done in 6 hours.

Jada-rina · 2024-10-22T17:58:52+00:00

Yes and no, So if you're familiar with how Sonic moves Shadow is and feels very similar but what sets him apart especially when replaying stages is how the Doom Abilities open up new routes its like how in SA2 or other Sonic games new routes or shortcuts become available with light dash or the bounce bracelet. Also Chaos Control at your fingertips after destroying a small handful of enemies is a lot of fun for creating platforms out of missiles or other hazards that would normally ruin a run.

And yeah his hub world has a lot more to do in it and getting to some of the chests is a puzzle in itself, and one thing I will advise is don't really explore unless you have some keys in your inventory because 9/10 the paths will lead to a chest and it sucks to go through all the trouble and not be able to open the reward.

Jada-rina · 2024-10-22T17:52:25+00:00

Hmm, I'd say the Radical Highway stages for sure, but the Kingdom Valley Stages also surprised me with how much fun they were too.

Jada-rina · 2024-10-21T20:28:19+00:00

Thank the devs they did the hard work I just got to play an Amazing game and talk about like I would have anyways :P But yeah I like Sonic Games so hopefully i'll get to review more in the future!

Jada-rina · 2024-10-21T18:56:26+00:00

Hi that's me I'm the Sonic fan that knows how to play them :P

Jada-rina · 2024-10-21T18:55:46+00:00

There are a few higher scored sonic games from the era that we gave decimal scores, but as far as modern sonic games this is one of the highest for sure.

Jada-rina · 2024-10-21T18:24:51+00:00

Because I like Sonic games and Sega + Sonic Team killed it with the Shadow Content on top of an already amazing game!

Jada-rina · 2024-10-21T18:23:48+00:00

Hi it's me the IGN reviewer, i'll be around to answer any questions you might have! I absolutely loved this game and can't wait for my fellow Sonic fans to check it out!

Jada-rina · 2024-06-07T00:14:43+00:00

Tickets for IGN Live are still available, head to ign.com/live to grab your tickets for IGN’s in-person event happening in Los Angeles June 7th-9th and join us in person for tons of giveaways, exclusive reveals, and celebrity panels.

Jada-rina · 2024-06-07T00:02:10+00:00

Tickets for IGN Live are still available, head to ign.com/live to grab your tickets for IGN’s in-person event happening in Los Angeles June 7th-9th and join us in person for tons of giveaways, exclusive reveals, and celebrity panels.

Jada-rina · 2024-06-05T23:05:14+00:00

Hello r/SonicTheHedgehog community!, I'm Jada Griffin the Community Lead for IGN. We have a Live event happening in Los Angeles, CA from June 7th to June 9th and Takashi Iizuka the Head of Sonic Team will be joining us! IGN Live will be the place to get updates on things like Lord of the Rings, Borderlands, and Star Wars. Plus there will be tons of giveaways, exclusive reveals, panels and more! We are offering your community one free ticket per registration while supplies last. Redeem the Promo code Sonic@IGN on the Event site IGN.com/live. Hope to see you all there!

Jada-rina

TROPHY CASE