Video Game Worlds Get Internet Reviews in Hilarious Reader Feature
What if the fantastical locations and memorable characters from our favourite video games were subject to the harsh scrutiny of internet review platforms? That's the clever premise explored in a recent reader feature published by GameCentral, which takes a tongue-in-cheek look at how gaming worlds might fare on sites like TripAdvisor or Airbnb.
The feature, published on January 25, 2026, presents a series of fictional reviews that hilariously highlight how awful it would actually be to live in or visit these digital realms, despite their often stunning visual design. The reader behind the concept, matc7884, has omitted specific game and character names, inviting others to guess the references before revealing the answers at the end.
A Tour Through Troubled Digital Destinations
The first review paints a bleak picture of a city named after an animal known for eating litter, almost certainly a reference to Raccoon City from the Resident Evil series. The reviewer complains about empty streets, closed shops, and unhelpful police who merely groan and shuffle. To add insult to injury, they're barged aside by a man in a trench coat and fedora – a clear nod to Leon S. Kennedy.
Another review details a disappointing experience with a family-run plumbing service, where one brother is shy while the other is loud, jumps on mushrooms, and insists his girlfriend is a literal princess with a problematic pet lizard. This is unmistakably a critique of Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario Bros. series.
A third reviewer rents a stately home only to find the owner less than ideal. The owner returns early from a trip, enjoys trapping her elderly butler in a walk-in fridge, shows off modelling photos from her youth, and may be responsible for missing jewellery. This describes Lara Croft's mansion from the Tomb Raider series, with the butler being a famous nuisance from earlier games.
More Baffling Encounters
The fourth review praises a gruff but soft-hearted tree surgeon with an impressive axe who talks about travels in Greece and Scandinavia, but overuses the term 'boy'. This is a direct reference to Kratos from the God of War series, particularly his more recent paternal role.
Finally, a visit to a futuristic city is described as bewildering, with sightings of people with blurry faces, individuals disappearing through walls, others standing with arms outstretched, men exposing themselves, and flying cars. The reviewer jokes about taking Diazepam, but this clearly critiques the glitch-ridden PlayStation 4 launch version of Cyberpunk 2077.
The Reality Behind the Fantasy
This imaginative feature underscores an amusing truth: while video game worlds are designed for entertainment and challenge, their logic and inhabitants would often be intolerable in reality. From zombie outbreaks to plumbing brothers with royal delusions, the reviews highlight the absurdities players accept as normal within gaming narratives.
The reader's feature demonstrates how gaming culture enjoys deconstructing its own tropes through humour. It also serves as a playful commentary on the sometimes-flawed execution of ambitious game worlds, as seen in the Cyberpunk 2077 example.
GameCentral encourages readers to submit their own features, offering a platform for the gaming community to share unique perspectives and creative analyses of the medium.
