Concerning Criticism, My theories

It seems like every time I find reviews, they seem to come in pairs. In the pair, there is always one good and one bad.

The game seems to be pretty polarizing with how much people enjoy the game. Some people say it is fun, and others find it not fun at all. Some people say the graphics are stylish and unique, and others say distracting and in bad taste. Some praise the controls, and others lament them.

Suffice to say, I have not heard one repeatable criticism or praise for the game. Every criticism I have heard as been unique, and not repeated by others as criticism, and the same goes for the praise for the game.

This makes it incredibly difficult for me to understand how the game is. I know there are some issues that some reviews bring up, and I try to resolve those. But apparently those issues are not issues for other people. I just find a hard time to separate bias from actual constructive criticism or actual praise for the game.

I don't want to turn my head from criticism because it will help me grow as a developer, but it becomes so hard when criticism for my game comes from, in my opinion, things that should not be weighed against my game. I appreciate reviewers for what they are doing, and I hold no hatred or ill-will towards them, but it bothers me when my game gets dinged for not being compatible with third party programs, or is not an open world title like many other 3d platformers.

I just find criticism like those so out of line when trying to review a standalone title. But I can't brush off this criticism because it has to come from somewhere. It has to be something that is wrong with my game somehow, and to improve the game I have to try and fix it.

I just don't get it sometimes. Hopefully more reviews will shed some light on this.

Edit: I can not stress enough how much I am not writing off all the bad reviews. I am simply exposing my internal thoughts about some reviews. I am incredibly thankful for all reviewers to have played my game and given it a chance, and I know their schedules can be crammed full. In my willingness to be open about all aspects of development, I am obligated to share my thoughts on the reviews.

Thanks for reading.
Nick