Two common views I've heard on this are...
- Yes, at least finish the main story or campaign, if there is one. Unless it's a truly terrible game you couldn't put up with anymore.
- No, some games are too long to review by the deadline, or they have no definite ending. Also, your review is unlikely to be influenced much by the game's ending anyway. But let readers know you haven't finished.
I've been mulling over this question for my own reviews (on LadiesGamers and this blog) because I have less time for gaming these days. Meanwhile, my desire to write/review more is growing—along with a backlog of games. Plus, for LG, I'd like to review more recent games.
So I'm reconsidering my once-adamant philosophy of finishing a game before publishing a review.
I'm most conflicted over roguelikes/roguelites, the genre I've been playing a lot over the past two years. Need I beat the game before reviewing it, to better assess its difficulty and inform players if they can expect a tough but good experience from opening to credits?
Presently, I'm tempted to review Kingdom: New Lands before completing it. Not for lack of patience but lack of time. I'm fond of this roguelike tower defense but really want to move on to writing about other games. And I do think New Lands is punishing in the wrong ways (yes, there's a right way to be punishing). I'm having a tough time with it, but then again, that's how roguelikes are until you get better at them.
If I decide to stick to my old philosophy, I'd still like to write regularly (at least once a month) by settling for impressions rather than a comprehensive review.
To be honest, one reason I'm wavering on my philosophy is simply that there's a backlog of games I want to get on with. Not a great reason, if I were a professional reviewer.
I used to restrain myself from buying new games until I had finished old ones. But now that I've broken that rule—the current backlog is three games on Switch and four on PC—I suppose I could break another. I should probably just unsubscribe from DekuDeals sale alerts! And stop looking at those blasted Steam sales.
Anyway, I've just vowed not to buy a new game until next summer, or until the entire backlog is either "finished" or written about. Wish me luck!