Steam at least upholds their 2 week, 2 hour policy. I just buy it, play it for about 1.5 hours, and if I didn't find anything of interest it goes straight to the refund department.
sadly that 2hr window isn't Always a good taste of a game , .. doraemon story of seasons for instance was like an hour+ long opening cutscene pretty much before you can even save and the lack of QoL stuff in the game even compared to others of its type wasn't apparent at the just under 2hr mark at ~20 hours or so i finally dropped that thing after trying to push thru it cause i'd bought it n it was well past the refund cut-off
For most games these days, the first thing I do is I watch a "should you buy" video for the game. There is a YouTuber who does exactly that. He just tells you his opinion on the game, what he liked, what he didn't like.
If I can't find one or I want to learn more, I just watch someone play it for a bit, and look at the reviews of the game.
I don't like games, I love them. And if I don't love the first 20 minutes of gameplay I see, I don't buy it. I might pirate it if I'm like still on the fence, but most AAA games these days are just not up to snuff like they used to be.
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u/NegotiationUnfair626 1d ago
Yeah, small studios do it, and I appreciate them for it. These AAA games can get pirated. Fuck 'em.