Wikipedia:Peer review/The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth/archive1

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

I've listed this article for peer review because I am looking to nominate it for GA in the future and would like to gain a broad perspective on how it can be improved. I'm already confident that this article will pass all criteria except 1b and 4.

Thanks, Jalen D. Folf (talk) 06:53, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

As always, a WP:GOCE review is a good place to start. I'd also stay away from using the term "Original game"; especially in the lede of an article. Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 12:45, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

The "Eventually, the player must face Isaac's mother." part in the lede is also a misnomer; makes it seems like she is the final boss (Which, she isn't). Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 12:51, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

Hi @JalenFolf:,

Rebirth happens to be one of my all-time favorite video games. I'm one trophy away from getting the Platinum trophy. So thanks for taking the time to improve the article. Generally, the article is okay, but the lead isn't structured properly.

• • • After the first sentence, it mentions Flash and its limitations, before mentioning the platforms Rebirth actually is on.
    • After listing the platforms, it mentions an obstacle for the iOS release. "After having Apple reject the Rebirth game due to its content, Nicalis has gotten Apple's pre-approval to release an iOS version, which was released on January 11, 2017." I'm not convinced this is important enough for the lead in the first place, but it's kind of clunky. "the Rebirth game", "pre-approval"? No, just "Rebirth" and "approval". But it doesn't say what the content actually is or when Apple initially rejected it. "has gotten" is not a formal encyclopedic tone. "to release an iOS version, which was released..." is also clunky. If the Apple bit is considered important enough, I suggest rephrasing it to something like "After having an initial rejection due to its [controversial? graphic? sacrilegious?] content, Nicalis released Rebirth on iOS on January 11, 2017."
    • The plot and gameplay section could use some trimming.
    • After the Flash bit in the first paragraph, there's very little on the development.
    • What's really a glaring omission is something about the reception, considering the reception section is properly referenced. soetermans. ^{↑↑↓↓←→←→ B A TALK} 14:17, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

@Lee Vilenski and Soetermans: Thank you both for the feedback. I'd just like to ask, Soetermans, what you were hoping to see in the Reception section. Jalen D. Folf (talk) 22:30, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

Striking my question. A paragraph in the lead about reception has been added. Jalen D. Folf (talk) 04:46, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Hi {{re|JalenFolf}, sorry for my late reply, I got your notification while at work and it slipped my mind. The article looks better, especially the lead. I'll try to go over it more thoroughly after the holidays. soetermans. ^{↑↑↓↓←→←→ B A TALK} 11:35, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

A few quick observations:

1. The article consistently refers to the game as simply Rebirth rather than it's full, formal name, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. While I can see the benefit of this when discussing similarities to and differences from the original game, it seems overly informal in any other context.

2. The article has a couple of instances of starting a new paragraph with the pronoun "he". For new paragraphs, it's better to restate the noun (in this case, "McMillen") rather than relying on context from the previous paragraph. This is doubly important when it comes to new sections.

3. The article overuses parenthetical comments (like this one). There are 6 parentheticals in the gameplay section alone, and that's only 3 paragraphs long; there are dozens in the article as a whole. This makes the prose feel very disjointed. Where possible, try to reword the sentences to avoid the parenthetical, or consider if the parenthetical content is even necessary in the first place.

4. Be careful of jargon and be mindful of general readers. I know what a modding API is and what a twin-stick shooter is, but a general reader probably doesn't.

5. There's a significant paragraph about the Lost character and the release of the base game in the expansions section. It probably belongs in the release section, with the following paragraph of the expansions section modified accordingly. Lowercaserho (talk) 18:39, 2 January 2019 (UTC)

Closing the peer review, as the only thing left for this article before I nominate it for GA is the impending release of Repentance. Thank you for all the comments so far. Jalen D. Folf (talk) 19:40, 8 January 2019 (UTC)