Edge | LittleBigPlanet 2 Review

Just like its predecessor, LBP2 leans heavily on its title sequence to make its big statement. But although the original had the weight of enthusing a generation to the idea of material creativity on console, the message this time around is more complex, and perhaps even more urgent. Media Molecule needs to convince players that, despite the familiarity of Sackboy, the return of narrator Stephen Fry and some kooky ’70s tunes, LBP2 is much more than DLC packaged on a Blu-ray disc and sold at full price.

[Sizzon]

Waow, awesome.

[nix]

i'm more interested in user generated stuffs this time. q:

[RageAgainstTheMShine]

Edge's nice review screams 9.99 ^_^ but as to why they gave it a 9.0 is beyond me.

[The_Count]

When i saw the creation mode in the beta it was a mindfuck. Amzing how people are so talented at making levels. I'm sure a few will some day become game designers.

Ah Ah Ah

[ViciousBoston]

they deduct 1 point for it being on PS3 for every PS3 exclusive.

[FrankMcSpank]

Edge gave the first one a 10/10, and then called this one better, but gig'd it for minor issues. I am not suprised 9/10. I don't think they can justify a lower score. Like how they gave Uncharted 2 a 9. They could never justify a fail score, so they settled.

[GWAVE]

Not that I put any stock into Edge's opinion scores (i.e. "reviews"), it's nice to see that even they see LBP2's brilliance. Then again, they rated LBP1 highly, iirc.

[Spydiggity]

so then uh...what was the point you were trying to make?

EDIT: disagrees for a question? a question about a comment that means absolutely nothing, which was even acknowledged by the guy with one bubble that wrote it with his pointless little "iirc" at the end?

*sigh* only on n4g...

[Sarcasm]

11/10 from Edge, great score!

[visualb]

what the hell?

I guess EDGE love LBP...everything else? trash, but LBP, godly xD

[Knushwood Butt]

Edge must have a really hard time reviewing a game like this:

Made by UK devs so must give it a high score

Ah, but it is on the PS3 so must ensure a comparatively low score

If only it had the name Shigeru Miyamoto in the credits it would have got a perfect 10

[BLACKBOIJONES]

Even a site like EDGE which is always tough on reviews had to take there hat off for LBP :)

[TANUKI]

haha, I know, eh? I was really astonished.

That just means Media Molecule REALLY upped the ante, and really concentrated on their efforts in polishing the first game.

[Dsnyder]

Even though edge generally sucks at reviews im happy they can see the good in this game at least. LBP2 is definitely one of the few games that deserves to have a 2 in the title and not a 1.5.

[kharma45]

"Even though edge generally sucks" I'll like their reviews when it suits me and they give the games I want a good score.

Pretty much what I'm getting there...

[Spydiggity]

exactly

[Croash]

"Even though edge generally sucks"

Wait so the magazine itself writes the reviews?

I thought there were different people called reviewers with different opinions who were the ones reviewing games, with only one of them reviewing one particular game and giving it a score, making it a personal review.

Woah O_o

- Seriously, how can people say "IGN" or "GameSpot" or "Edge" when it comes to reviews, there are different editors, different people who do not have the same tastes.

And in the end, one review doesn't matter as it is highly subjective, what matters is the general opinion which gives a more objective view of the product as many aspects of a game would have been talked about by different people, giving us a clear consensus about them.
And now Little Big Planet 2 is getting a lot of praise.

[TimeSkipLuffy]

what matters is your own review of the game. If it isn't fun for you I could care less about any game even if the praise is rocket high.

[ash_divine]

@ Croach

I agree that reviews aren't important but I do believe that it's correct to say "IGN gave it this score" as opposed "Greg Miller gave it this score". Because even though it's one person's opinion, he's representing IGN at that time. It's sort of related to PR. Think about it, when Aaron Greenburg does an interview, he's not representing himself, he's representing Microsoft. This is why you'll see articles with titles like "Mircosoft says this" or "Sony says that". It's also the reasons that opinion pieces and editorials usually have disclaimers like "Jim Sterlings views do not represent the views of Destructiod". They do that because if you don't make it clear that his words DON'T represent the company, those words WILL end up representing the company.

[Croash]

@ NightmareLuffy, agreed, in the end it is all about your own experience with the game. But I was talking about general consensus that would inform people about broken mechanics, glitches, things that aren't subjective and aren't seen differently by different people.

You can't deny that when something is broken, it IS broken, and that's why reviews are useful, they tell us about the product. Now saying the graphics are beautiful/ugly is entirely up to the players.

As for me, I don't care about review scores, heck, I don't even care about school grades, they're all numbers and insignificant subjective data.
Numbers aren't important, words are.

Still I'll agree, even if a game is clearly awful, one could still have A LOT of fun with it (or vice versa), and in the end, it's the only thing that matters. Games are supposed to be fun.

@ash_divine

It is indeed correct to say "IGN gave it this score", as even IGN says that in its own articles.
What I meant was that people shouldn't say things such as "IGN is clearly biased" as this only involves the reviewers.

I tend not to be manipulated by that, when I see "Sony says"/"EA says"/"Microsoft says", to me, it is only one person talking, and their job might be more or less important in the company.

The greatest recent example I have is Ninja Theory, just because there were a lot of interviews involving Taneem Antoniades, some people insulted the whole Ninja Theory team and said they would not buy Enslaved for that.
Now please can someone explain that to me?

[ash_divine]

@ Croach

Now that I know what you meant i definitely agree. It's a shame that alot of people take crap for what one or two people said or did. As far as Ninja Theory goes, i can't speak for others but, I personally just wasn't interested in Enslaved. That why didn't buy it. So i think part of the reason it flopped was because it just didn't appeal to as wide an audience as they expected. Though It does suck that people purposely ignore (thus hurting the entire team) because of the way a few individuals acted.

[WesMcLaren]

The difference is that all of edge's reviewers rate games lower than other sites and mags.

[Dsnyder]

""Even though edge generally sucks" I'll like their reviews when it suits me and they give the games I want a good score.

Pretty much what I'm getting there.."
Um no I didnt say that I like them at all. I said they they got the score right for once. Pretty rare for ps3 exclusive games. Not to mention they gave a 10 to bayonetta calling it a "GOW killer" and we all know how bad that game turned out.

" Seriously, how can people say "IGN" or "GameSpot" or "Edge" when it comes to reviews, there are different editors, different people who do not have the same tastes.
"
Yes but they all represent the company so I can refer to a group of reviewers based on the company they work for. Just makes it easier that way. People do it in a lot of ways. Sony for example is a partnership of many companies but you dont list them when you want to talk about sony do you? No. You just say "Sony".

[Dude_]

'Pretty rare for ps3 exclusive games.'
- Demon Souls
- LBP
- Uc2
- MGS4
And I reckon the most respected magazine in the industry is entitled to their opinion as much as some little man ion N4G is.

Quote 'A beautiful and graceful fighting game that lets imagination loose, and winks before slapping Dante, Kratos and every other hero back to the drawing board'

Funnily enough, a general comparison to all action games was interpreted as a direct one to your pathetic exclusive title (or your patehtic favourite title).

Overdosed on Jesus Christ again, aren't we?

[Croash]

Hey there, you do realize that Bayonetta has a score of 86/100 on Metacritic on Ps3 and 90 on Xbox 360?

It is a really great game that had its own personality and its crazy gameplay was amazing to discover (though NOT in Very Easy/Easy modes).
I don't see how it compares to God of War, and it certainly wouldn't be called a "GOW killer", mainly because these two beat'em all aren't playing the same way. Bayonetta can be compared to Devil May Cry, Dante's Inferno can be compared to God of War.

"we all know how bad that game turned out."
Since the reviews were praising it, the only thing I can imagine is that you're talking about the inferior Ps3 port, which people thought made the game horrible.
But having the Bayonetta's Platinum trophy, I can't really see how it made the game unplayable.

And anyway, it doesn't have the same genre as LBP (to stay on topic), I think the latest Pac Man game got a 10 from IGN, but I will not say that it is much better than Darksiders or Castlevania, I'd say that it is one of the best games in its category, and as far as Beat'em alls go, Bayonetta is one of the best.

"Yes but they all represent the company so I can refer to a group of reviewers based on the company they work for. Just makes it easier that way. People do it in a lot of ways"

I do know that, and since you posted that before my second comment, all I can say is that I have clarified what I meant by that right here: #3.2.3

And I'd just like to add that there are not such things as getting a score right. People's opinions are always different and scores can not always represent what a reviewer has said in their review (sometimes people say what they read would lead to a 9/10, others say it's more of an 8/10, but in the end, only words should matter, not scores).

I know you don't have any bubbles left, but I still wanted to comment about that. Oh well, you could still send me a pm if there's anything you'd like to add.

[antz1104]

LMAO, agreed with Kharma.

I've seen Edge get RIPPED ON the past few months here with everyone saying bullsh%t on the scores they hand out and on their reviews.

Don't get me wrong, I def think this one deserves it. Just sayin'.

[callahan09]

I'm not quite sure why this game didn't retain the 10 that its predecessor got from Edge the way Super Mario Galaxy 2 did. This game brings more brand new elements to the franchise and makes more improvements to the formula and basics of the game than Galaxy 2 did. It does a more grand job of perfecting what was there and it contains an infinite amount of content. Galaxy 2 was a great game, but there was not very much about it that differentiated it from being just an expansion pack to Galaxy 1. It had a new way for the player to navigate to the levels, it had Yoshi and a couple of new suits for Mario to wear, and that's basically it. LittleBigPlanet 2 is even more of an improvement and expansion of LBP than Galaxy 2 was over 1, so I'm not sure why it isn't deserving of the same score it got last time around as well.

[LarVanian]

I'm not quite sure why this game didn't retain the 10 that its predecessor got from Edge the way Super Mario Galaxy 2 did
----------------------------- -----------------------------
Different reviewers, possibly.

[Jdoki]

Yeah, I somewhat agree. Although I think SMG1 was over rated - SMG 2 was better in almost every way and deserved a higher mark.

The problem with dishing out 10's is that by definition you can not get anything better. Which means that older games either need to be re-scored as they age (which would highlight the true classics), or reviews need to define why a sequel scored less.

Either Edge are saying that LBP2 is not as good (which they are not), or that LBP1 got a 10 because it was radical at the time, and there was nothing else like it (which is more likely). But I would argue there STILL isn't anything like LBP1 or 2 on any platform - and LBP2 appears to have brought far more to the table that LBP1.

Not that review scores ultimately matter to me - but I do like to see consistency and fairness from a publication/website that is ultimately vying for our money or page clicks. And there are some people who base their purchases just on review scores.

[Jdoki]

There's something about Edge's reviews - good or bad - that just grate with me these days (this comes from someone who was a long time subscriber to the mag until a few years ago).

I dunno if it's a slightly pompous attitude or their ability to nitpick, rather than objectively criticising games, that annoys.

I think Edge painted themselves in to a corner by giving LBP1 a 10 (iirc) - it left them no wiggle room. So even though it seems LBP2 is better in every way - it gets a point knocked off. Not saying that's bad - or even that LBP2 deserves a 10, as I haven't played it yet, just that it seems inconsistent - what would Media Molecule have to have done to get a 10. Their review even calls the game a revolution (compared to LBP1); not many games can get that attributed to them.

Perhaps they knocked a point off for this 'flaw'.

"therein lies LBP2’s inherent restriction. It provides a revolution, but only inside its own idiosyncratic attitude and aesthetic. Sackboy remains Sackboy, and he won’t convert those who didn’t like the way he behaved in LBP. And for all the fascinating flexibility of its toolset, clearly this is still a framework: you can stamp a creation with your own style, but the overall vibe will ultimately be Media Molecule’s."

That's a bit like arguing that if you don't like Master Chief, or Nathan Drake then Reach or Uncharted 2 won't convert you!! Or arguing that Forge is only a framework and will always have the Bungie vibe running through it.

[nix]

wait until Gears of War 3 comes out. every site will be going "gears is exactly what you expect it to be... it plays like it has been... and it's awesome!"

pfft. reviewers. i really don't need reviewers to tell me what games i'm gonna buy this year. i've already made up my mind.

EDIT:
@jdoki (below): yup... fairness is all i ask too.

[Jdoki]

Gears 3 will be an interesting review for sure. I'm really looking forward to the game. Loved 1 and 2 even if the story is a bit lame.

I agree that scores ultimately mean nothing - and a 10, a 9 or even a 7 wouldn't stop me buying LBP2. But with an industry that seems to be gearing more towards paying bonuses based on metacritic scores; and some people who do actually listen to the reviews (or even just read the scores) to define what games they buy - I do like to see objectivity from reviewers, and fairness.

[Spydiggity]

it is a critic's job to "nitpick"

a good critic gives you all the details so you can make an informed decision.

[nix]

here's 'nitpick' from one of the reviewers.

http://www.sonydefenseforce...

if it PS3 game came out like this, the press would be all over it.

like i said earlier, i don't need reviewers to tell me what games i want. FAIR REVIEW is all i want.

[Jdoki]

Nitpicking is not what is required. Objectivity, unbiased reporting and as Nix said, fairness, is what's needed.

I welcome criticism in reviews when it's valid and objective. What I won't accept is reviewers picking at something as insignificant as 'Sackboy isn't for every one'.

[DelbertGrady]

Seems like a must have title for all PS3 owners. It looks amazing.

[SnakeMustDie]

Edge gave the game a 9. Good score

[Valkyre]

Fack Edge, and no not because they gave the game a 9 instead of a 10, but because they are just pathetic and bias in general and giving 1 PS3 game a good score does not change that.

And no, I dont want to hear the same bs I hear every time "uh...dude... Edge is just tough on reviews regardless of the system the games are on"

Because I will have to reply "Uh...no..." and I will have to search teh net for that famous comparison of Edge's scoring between PS3 and 360 games.

PS: Would be awesome if someone just replied with that comparison to save me the trouble:)

PS2: Dont give Edge any clicks... fack'em

PS3: Is on a roll this year (LBP2, ME2, Infamous2, KZ3, Uncharted 3, Motorstorm 3, Resistance 3, Last Guardian and the list goes on) :D

[Corrwin]

THE END OF THE WORLD HAS ARRIVED!

[PSjesus]

EVEN EDGE......lol they cant deny the joy of LBP2

[Ponurasky]

only 9/10? it's obvious PS3 hate! EDGE is bias again!

[JonnyBigBoss]

Potential GOTY found.