Who the fuck is nostalgic for 90's game reviews? Besides, they're not coming back anymore, kids have moved on from the format and embrace other kinds of barely disguised advertising nowadays.

Also the attitude presented in the comic is such a thin skinned one. Honestly, it doesn't even look any kind of a devolution to me if it were an accurate depiction. I absolutely do find "Why X is Feminist/Not Feminist" pieces absolutely dreary to read most of the time, it feels such a reductive approach. But that hardly describes any major video game journalism outlet. Pieces like these tend come from barely read blogs and perhaps a few liberal feminist authors, but the latter seem more present in TV, film and music criticism.

But what is mindboggling is presenting cheerleading consumer's choice, what ever it is, as a good one. There's nothing bad in critiquing a work harshly and a review that does just that won't necessary be harsh in tone. Today, I read Pauline Kael's review of Superman (1978). It is a very negative review, but there's no bitter snark to be found or insinuation that the reader's values are wrong if they disagreed with Kael's perspective. But I found it perfectly charitable, a bit disappointed in fact that the kids didn't get an exciting film. She sees some merit in the source comics despite seeing the art form as a "slang form of simplified storytelling" which while questionable was probably the received opinion among film critics in the 70's. One of her problems with Lois Lane in the film is that Christopher Reeves as Superman "outclasses her" and that the audience isn't "given clue to what our hero sees in Lois Lane." Again, this critique works because it's charitable enough. Faults seem larger when contrasted with some more successful aspect.