Editorial | 'If the dogs are barking, it is because we are advancing.' | Revista Level Up

By Pablo Vargas | pvargas@revistalevelup.com.

"Tell me, friend, when did Saruman The Wise abandon reason for madness?"

When did characters, graphics and story stop being the most important thing in video games to focus the discussion on what their menus looked like? When did the ability of a game to surprise you, move you as a child and make you laugh or cry stop mattering? The recent controversy over the minimalist menus of Starfield, one of the most anticipated games of the year, are a sign of all that is wrong with this industry. At what point do we abandon reason and embrace madness?

I just do not get it. Seriously, is this what we've come to? To criticize the menu of a video game and say that because it is minimalist, it is already a "bad game", without even having tried it? At what point did we go from enjoying games for what they were to boycotting them, review bombing them and criticizing the menus of a title, just because it's not on my preferred platform? It is a real nonsense.

If the minimalist or not of a menu is the new "yard" with which we measure games, what do we have to think then of the menus of masterpieces like 'Tears of the Kingdom', 'The Witcher 3', 'God of War: Ragnarok' and 'The Last of Us'? Are they also "bad" and thrown into the fire for having a minimalist design on their menu? What happens then with gems like 'Red Dead Redemption', 'Resident Evil 4' or 'Uncharted'? We must condemn them to hell, for their menus, or should we judge them for what they are? True jewels that marked the video game industry.

For this generation that boycotts games on Metacritic for the simple fact that it doesn't come out on the console of my choice, it may seem incredible, but there was a time when games were measured by their quality, performance, graphics, amazing story, unforgettablel characters, generational impact and ability to get excited as children.

Yes, those are the criteria that marked a great game. And for us, today more than ever, those criteria still matter. At Revista Level Up we believe in an objective, balanced, professional, honest and fair approach when conducting our reviews, always considering the final work as the integration of its technical, creative, narrative and generational impact sections.

We always do. Starfield will not be the exception to the rule, when God willing, we give our traditional review -without spoilers-, prior to launch, this August 31 in Revista Level Up, Telenoticias and La República.

Until then, let's enjoy video games again, for what they really are, and not because of the minimalist nature of their menu, that a title must be doing something good, so that the only complaint from its detractors is its menu. Or not?

As Don Quijote said to his friend Sancho Panza: 'If the dogs are barking, it is because we are advancing.'

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