if you are considering leaving a Not Recommended review on Steam because you enjoyed a game but it wasn't quite a 7/10, please consider: not doing that
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imo not gonna bother rating a game bad unless it's bad because of the devs' personalities. if the only issue with a game is that it doesn't run well, maybe more sales will help them afford to hire someone who can fix it over updates. if they care (and aren't bethesda) it might someday be stable.
Steam really need to add a more neutral option, when you want to leave a comment, but you have mixed feelings for a game. Like nothing to "not recommend" but you don't feel like endorsing it either, because you just didn't vibe with it (it happens after all).
Or honestly even don't leave a review at all. It's unfortunate that they matter so much, but people underestimate how much reviews on Steam factor into visibility and how The Algorithm ™️ views a game. And for stuff like VNs that get relatively few reviews, a single negative one can have a big impact
I only leave negative reviews when games do things that are anti consumer like the whole Sony/Helldivers situation and then I switched it once they went back on it. If a game isn't for me, I'm in the camp of just not leaving a review at all and then when a game blows me away I leave a positive one
That being said, it's also better to contact the dev if the game has early/minor issues. If they can't/refuse to fix them, then you can leave a negative review accounting for the interaction.
If they can, wait until they do try to fix it. Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised and turn it positive.
I'd leave the negative ones for games that... straight up don't work, are translated so poorly you can't understand what's going on - you know stuff that really would make you not want to recommend it to anyone
not "it was fun but..."
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Sometimes there are some games that offer some really potentially good experiences, but ruined because of "by design" flaws.
Thus, it can be justified if there are no other recourse.
If they can, wait until they do try to fix it. Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised and turn it positive.
not "it was fun but..."