I was going through my RSS feeds this morning, and I came across an article by IGN AU’s Toby McCasker. The article is called “Why Dragon Age Is More Memorable Than Mass Effect 2).”

For those who’ve been following my blog, you might have obviously read the most controversial article I wrote (the one that’s also been getting a lot of hits!). In the article, I’ve said why Mass Effect 2 stinks and why Dragon Age: Origin pawns. IGN has done a similar write-up. Well, it’s not exactly saying that Mass Effect 2 stinks, but if you read the article carefully, you’ll see what direction it’s hinting at.

Here’s the first paragraph of the IGN write up:

Mass Effect 2 was good, but Dragon Age: Origins was better.

Oh yeah, you’re bristling right now, indignantly clutching that 6.75-inch Commander Shepard action figure and preparing to unleash interstellar hell on that comments section, but the simple fact is that no matter how many times I admire the unlikely physics of Jack’s belt-bra, my memories of immorally wresting Ferelden from the clutches of the darkspawn are that much fonder.

With Dragon Age II just around the corner, there’s no better time to not only recount the original’s most memorable and maniacal moments, but directly compare the best of the best from both of BioWare’s babies to prove Dragon Age’s dominance.

Needless to say, massive spoilers ahead, but if you haven’t already played Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age to death by now, my sympathy level is as low as Alistair’s self-esteem after one of those pep-talks with Morrigan.

Anyway, you have been warned, so DON’T READ ON UNLESS YOU’RE FINISHED WITH BOTH GAMES.

If you read the entire article, you’ll see the core of McCasker’s reasoning. What he’s clearly hinting at is the depth and freedom of choices that Dragon Age offers, which Mass Effect 2 lacks and is more scripted. It’s more like ME2 gives players the illusion that they’re making choices without actually embedding it into the system.

Hmmmm, I have high doubts now that some of the IGN writers are peeping through my blog frequently for my views, which is, actually, a good thing, both for my blog, and on IGN’s part. It’s good to see IGN browsing through the gaming blogs of mortals like myself, seeing what views we have.

Anyway. My point here is simply not to bash Mass Effect 2, but also to show where 21st century journalism really stands. It’s like big-time video game websites are sort of obliged to give big publications like Mass Effect 2 good scores, even if they don’t like it that much.

Lesson of the Day? Don’t believe in reviews. Reviews are just another person’s perspective. That person is neither a special breed nor an immortal. He or she is just a human being, like us, giving us their perspective. And this just doesn’t hold true for video games. or for movies. or for music. Rather, for anything “creative.” It’s the same scenario for music and movies, where I see countless people reading reviews before listening to an album or going out for a movie. It’s your brain. It’s your perspective. Respect your perspective. Reviews, especially in the creative fields, are just another scam to make money. Bloody capitalism.

For video games, I read reviews to see how the game performs technically, as in, is it buggy? Does it have FPS issues? Does it have camera issues? etc etc. The rest is up to how you play the game and how you enjoy it.

Anyway, I’ve been getting lots of hits these days. Thank you all for visiting my blog, and keep reading!