Fuck Jim Sterling Because Jim Sterling's the Worst (Not Really)

Let's talk about Jim Sterling and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, shall we?

Let me just preface and say that The Legend of Zelda is not an infallible franchise. Sorry to say, it just isn't. I reviewed Skyward Sword a 6, which was a whole point lower than Tom McShea's controversial 7 score. The Legend of Zelda is a video game, just like any other video game, and all video games are prone to criticism because *gasp* we aren't all hive minded automatons, well, maybe the most hardcore of the Nintendo fandom are, but anyway... People have different tolerances and preferences and some facets about games are more forgivable to some or more frustrating to others. It's just going to happen. There will always be someone who doesn't appreciate your beloved game as much as you. Jim Sterling happens to be this man.

Do I agree with his review score of 7? Not at all. I disagree with his opinion that the weapon durability mechanic was that much of a bane to take such a chunk off the score. I do agree, though, they break far too quickly. I disagree with his opinion that finding shrines to expand your hearts felt like busywork. I loved finding shrines. I disagree about a lot of his gripes from the stamina meter to rain interrupting his rock climbing, to even him asserting that there was a "difficulty" issue. I felt he didn't really give the game a fair enough chance, but you know what? That's ok. He doesn't need to be like us, because we most certainly don't need to be like him. We're all different.

And some Nintendo fans can never understand that. Out of the three console fandoms, it's been my personal experience that Nintendo are some of the most rabid, vitriolic and oversensitive of the bunch. Just recall any and every Zelda review from any publication that didn't meet at least a 9. Hell, remember Jeff Gerstmann's 8.8 for Twilight Princess? And oh God, the 7 from Tom McShea for Skyward Sword? Look at how they lost their shit! And I mean, fanboys in general lose their shit, but Nintendo fanboys lost their shit like they misplaced their bowels. Then Jim comes along, gives one of the most highly received Zeldas in years a 7, and people have gone out of their way to DDoS his site.

I'm not going to post any of the nasty comments Jim received. He's highlighted some of them in his Jimquisition and he's right to slag them for acting like whiny self-entitled brats. If you acted the way some of these people did towards Jim for low balling a game, then you should be ashamed of yourself. You're helping to reinforce a negative stereotype about gamers in general. If you're a grown adult, you should feel even more embarrassed, and I wonder just how you deal with situations and responsibilities that affect your actual life.
The one thing Jim said in his video that I absolutely loved was if how the game was so great and so perfect, how come you aren't playing it? What has torn you away from such an amazing game that you had to waste your time and bitch about it on the Internet? I have been saying that for years. I've seen this kind of behavior before and it just seems it will never go away. What is it about the fragility of fanboys? Why do they care so much about other people's opinions? How can they not see they're a blight on the video gaming community?

Also, some say he did this on purpose to generate clicks and controversy, and ultimately it doesn't change a single thing. His review score may have drug the Metacritic score down a percent whether intentional or not, but at the end of the day it CERTAINLY doesn't change the way YOU feel about the game and doesn't lower whatever score YOU give it. If you're really that upset over Jim's review, you need to get over it. There are far important things to concern yourself with, liking searching for another strong weapon that you just broke and fool yourself into thinking you have no problem with because it's in a Nintendo game.