Talk:Horizon Zero Dawn/GA1

GA Review
The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.''

Reviewer: The1337gamer (talk · contribs) 06:33, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Doing. I'll try to have comments up by the end of the weekend. --The1337gamer (talk) 06:33, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Same with yours, m8. Cognissonance (talk) 08:09, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Infobox

 * I would upload a new version of the cover art that doesn't have the Rating Pending ESRB logo. Here's a version you can use:
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Lead

 * The opening paragraph is quite short. I would make the first and second paragraph into one.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Gameplay

 * I'd make the image caption more descriptive. Maybe something like Aloy using her spear in combat against a robotic creature.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Per WP:OVERLINK, unlike open world in second paragraph.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Wikilink fast travel (second paragraph)
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * I think this section is a bit short given the scope of the game. Should be able to double its length. I'd like to know more about:
 * Movement. Can Aloy sprint, evade, dodge, jump, swim, climb, grapple hook?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Behaviour of the machines. What sort of attacks do they use? Melee? Ranged? Do they charge? Can some of them fly? Do they move in packs like animals? Do they attack each other? Can they cloak and turn invisible?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * The human enemies. The gameplay section seems to imply that the only enemies are the machines. I've seen Aloy fighting humans in the gameplay.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * The quests. What do they typically involve Aloy doing? Is it just killing stuff? Gathering materials? Solving environmental puzzles?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Is it just main quests and side quest? Are their any other sorts of activities? Collectibles? Challenges?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * What sort of areas is the player exploring? It it all outdoors? Are there dungeons? Bunkers? Enemy camps?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * What are the environments like? Grassy? Jungle? Woodland? Snowy?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Crafting. What sort of stuff can Aloy craft? Ammo? Weapons? Weapon upgrades? Armour? Potions/powerups?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * How does Aloy earn skills? Is there an experience/level up system? What do you have to do to get experience?
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Active skills. Aloy can do stuff like slow down time with Concentration. I think some examples of these should mentioned so the reader knows how gameplay evolves through the skills system.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Should be able to expand using reviews/previews and other coverage.
 * Cited the video game directly were I needed to be more specific. Cognissonance (talk) 07:06, 3 June 2017 (UTC)

Plot

 * Synopsis
 * In She rallies all of the allies she can muster and prepares for the city's defense.: defense → defence as the later is preferred in British English.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * It's well written, but at >1100 words, it is a little long. WP:VG/CONTENT recommends ~700 words. I'd trim/summarise the minor details that aren't necessary for understanding the main story arc. As an example, I previously trimmed over 1000 words off Skyrim's plot: and 600 words off Dark Souls:.
 * Saving this for later. Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Struggling with this one. I've already trimmed it down to its essentials once before. Everything in it sets up something that will be exposed later on. Reads like, if I take something away at the beginning the end won't make sense. Cognissonance (talk) 08:21, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * How's this: User:The1337gamer/sandbox/temp. I've trimmed it to less than 700 words by cutting most of the trivial and inconsequential details. I've not played the game and the main story still makes complete sense from my summary. --The1337gamer (talk) 09:48, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * That is remarkable. Adding it. Cognissonance (talk) 10:00, 3 June 2017 (UTC)

Development

 * File:Decima Artwork.jpg doesn't have a fair use rationale for usage in this article. I'd remove it as it is non-free media that doesn't convey additional information.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * First paragraph: The team also cancelled work on another title so as to allow the entire team to focus on the development of Horizon.. Maybe say Guerilla also cancelled work on... instead to avoid repeating the team.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * The last paragraph kind of mashes a bunch of different topics together.
 * Move the first two sentence about the quest system up to the second paragraph where it mention quests.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Move music and audio design into separate paragraph.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Move casting into separate paragraph.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
 * The rest of the stuff about announcement, release date, PS4 pro forward compatibility, DLC move into a separate section below titled Release.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Release

 * There's no release section. Usually for larger games that received a lot of coverage, I'd expect a separate Release section covering announcements, marketing, merchandise, release dates, post-release support. You can move some stuff from the last paragraph of development into this as I suggested.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Will research for marketing. Cognissonance (talk) 07:08, 3 June 2017 (UTC)


 * The infobox has exact release dates with no citation, but they are not found in the article body. Infobox is meant to summarise the article's contents so I'd add the exact release dates into this section with citations.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Reception

 * Remove extraneous space after Metacritic score in review table.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Currently, the opening paragraph of the reception section is a single sentence. I would expand it. Give a broad overview of how the game was received by critics (similar to the lead), then the following paragraphs can go into the finer details.
 * Saving this for later. Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 00:51, 3 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Per WP:OVERLINK, unlike Ashly Burch and Lance Reddick in second paragraph and Guerrilla Games in third.
 * ✅ Cognissonance (talk) 23:36, 2 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Generally, I think that Reception sections read better if they are broken down by topic rather than by review. e.g. One paragraph on gameplay, one paragraph on story and characters, one paragraph on art and graphics, one paragraph on audio and other things. That way it reads more cohesively instead of jumping from characters to combat then back to characters.
 * I dunno. It would be a complete rewrite of style and content. The current style went fine with RE7. Cognissonance (talk) 10:51, 3 June 2017 (UTC)

Lead

 * Opening sentence: Possibly remove open world as it is repeated later in the first paragraph.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * WP:VG/DATE recommends using summarised release dates in the lead: on 28 February 2017 in North America, on 1 March in Europe and 2 March in Asia → in early 2017
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * A skill tree facilitates gameplay improvements. – I think this sounds weird and vague. Maybe something change to something more descriptive like: A skill tree provides the player with new abilities and passive bonuses.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Third paragraph: I'd rephrase: the character of Aloy and her voice actress Ashly Burch, → the character of Aloy and the performance provided by her voice actress Ashly Burch, as I expect critics were praising the performance rather than the person.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

Gameplay

 * Opening sentence: Possibly remove open world as it is covered in the second paragraph.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Second sentence: I would change progresses → adventures as it sounds a bit more natural to adventure through a land rather than progress through a land.
 * Changed it to "ventures". –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Third sentence: Aloy uses a variety of ways to kill enemies – Sounds weird. I'd rephrase to something like: Aloy can kill enemies in a variety of ways
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * First paragraph: Further, she is essentially able to hack a → Furthermore, she is able to hack a
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Second paragraph: Side quests involve Aloy in tasks like → Side quests involve Aloy completing tasks like
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Twenty-six robotic creature designs are present in the game. Source says 25 designs or am I missing something?
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

Development

 * First paragraph: the remainder of the team began working on Horizon Zero Dawn. → the remainder of the staff began working on Horizon Zero Dawn.. It sounds a little confusing to use "team" since there seems to have been multiple teams, one working on Killzone and one working on Horizon.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Second paragraph: not being "at the top of the life list". → not being the dominant species. if that's what it is implying.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

Reception

 * contradicting dialogue and aspects of the melee combat and character models faced the most reproval. → contradicting dialogue, aspects of the melee combat and character models faced the most reproval.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Lauded was also the element of exploring the game world, which Carter said grew more effective the more he traversed the land. – I think this reads weirdly. Possibly rephrase to something like: Carter also lauded the focus on exploration and discovery, which he said grew more effective the as he traversed more of the land.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * The Focus feature gained approval for complementing the combat in a way that "forces you to become a hunter", thought as the most powerful part of the game. – I don't think this sentence make sense with the second clause after the comma. Is something missing?
 * Moved it to the beginning for it to flow better. –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Writing for Game Informer, Jeff Marchiafava was of the opinion that,. Possibly condense to Writing for Game Informer, Jeff Marchiafava opined that
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * He disparaged also the human artificial intelligence as worse than that of the machines. → He also disparaged the human artificial intelligence as being worse than that of the machines.
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)


 * and Aloy's ability to only grab marked ledges confusing for a "parkour master". → and Aloy's ability to only grab marked ledges was confusing for a "parkour master".
 * ✅ –Cognissonance (talk) 03:05, 6 June 2017 (UTC)