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this post was submitted on 26 May 2025
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Game Development
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I haven't worked on anything that big but I have gotten a ton of feedback on my free games and apps, some of which was really harsh. Positive reviews are always fun to read but usually I focus on the negative reviews. Negative reviews are hard to read but tend to be the most insightful, you get an idea for the things in your game that need work or are too frustrating for others. I think your review is pretty good feedback in general.
Many people definitely need a reality check - just don't be rude. Lots of people think their game is going to be the next big thing or that somehow people aren't going to compare it to games that are extremely similar and probably the same price.
I was at a gaming event once and one of the demos I tried was extremely unintuitive and at some point you had to search the floor for a key that's way too hard to see (me and friends spent like 5 minutes running around a dark room). I pointed this out to the devs and they got super defensive, telling me that it's not supposed to be obvious and you're supposed to be looking for items for real. This is how not to take feedback. When someone says your game sucks, take notes and try to improve.
In terms of taking feedback, the best advice I can give is just be open minded. When someone says the game sucks, no matter how stupid their feedback is, just give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they're right. Maybe they suck at video games and the tutorial needed to be clearer, maybe the writing really is boring and not as interesting as you thought, maybe it's just not clear enough where you're supposed to be going, etc. It's good to get perspective of others.
Not all feedback is useful though, sometimes the game just isn't for them. If Dark Souls actually took all that criticism about the game being hard and added an easy mode, it wouldn't be as gripping or popular as it was. Don't let players bully you into changing your vision just because they wished your game was a different game.
TL;DR: Feedback is always good, don't be afraid to voice your opinion. For devs, keep an open mind but don't let it get under your skin.