Talk:Michigan: Report from Hell/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: TarkusAB (talk · contribs) 19:49, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

This was on my list of article to improve so naturally I'll review TarkusAB^talk/contrib 19:49, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

• Quick initial note. I noticed the reception section doesn't provide any contemporary European magazine reviews which is a little surprising. Was there nothing in to be found in, say, Play or Edge, or anything like that? TarkusAB^talk/contrib 21:11, 3 April 2023 (UTC)
  • @TarkusAB: I seriously looked, cross-referencing with this page. The only two reviews outside the Xplay one I found were GameStyle (classed as situational so I was wary of using it, plus it's a JP import review) and Gaming Target (classed as unreliable). A barrel-bottom search of Internet Archive dug up this review from Gameplay (magazine), which I can't understand since it's in Russian. This seems to be one of those games (like the EU release of Maken Shao) which just slipped out without real press coverage. --ProtoDrake (talk) 21:45, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

  [1] Here is a preview on page 50. I checked the issues after and didn't find a review. It seems they hated it so much they didn't bother. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 08:42, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

  @TarkusAB: Thanks for finding that, I've added it. But honestly, this article was a nightmare to source reliably. --ProtoDrake (talk) 09:05, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

  Yea, I understand. I have access to another magazine database I will check before continuing into the review. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 16:46, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

  I looked but did not find any other reviews. Commencing article review. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 17:16, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Gameplay

• Briefely mention the environments explored in the scenarios (city?) and the types of enemies (mutants?). Because until the player reads Synopsis, they won't really be able to understand the gameplay.
• You wrote that the game ends under certain circumstances, like the cameraman is killed. Are they save points during the scenarios, or does the scenario need to be restarted?
  • Both those points addressed after I managed to look at scans of the JP manual. My Japanese text is rather ropey, but the stuff's self-explanatory.

Synopsis

• Is Pamela referred to as Pamela or Martel in the game? You wrote Martel but I don't think we typically refer to characters by last name, but by whatever they are referred to as in the game.
  • Fixed.

Development

• I don't like how "taking on contract work" reads, I think there are better words than "taking on", perhaps "undertaking", "committed to", "fulfilling", "performing"
  • Sorted.
• The proposal for Michigan presented to company founder Goichi Suda by Spike's president Mitsutoshi Sakurai. - I think you're missing a word here. "Michigan was presented"?
  • Fixed, thanks.
• So the concept was presented by Sakurai, but the concept of mist was not part of that presentation, because Suda came up with that?
  • Did my best to clarify.
• The production was remembered as difficult and having "twists and turns". by who?
  • Suda, clarified.
• What is "overt horror"? If it's a quote, I would attribute it.
  • Cut "overt".
• Suda later felt the company was too inexperienced to properly realise his design goals. When? Was this after the game was released?
  • In 2018, I've clarified.

Release

• "Brandon Sheffield revealed he had asked about a North American release" --> "journalist Brandon Sheffield revealed he had proposed a North American release to a publisher"
  • Done.

Reception

• I thought the source I gave was Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine, not PSM2
  • Whoops, thanks for catching that.
• Ray Barnholt was not very positive about the game, noting its lack interactivity and erotic elements Maybe reword because it's not clear if you are referring to a lack of erotic elements, or the erotic elements themselves.
  • I rephrased it.

Pretty well-resarched article, considering how difficult it was to find sources. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 18:10, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

@TarkusAB: Hope I've addressed everything, remarkably little overall. Will say, putting this article together = March through deepest bowls of research hell, sourcing JP-only games is child's play compared to this. --ProtoDrake (talk) 19:40, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Pass. Yea, I scoured a lot of UK and AUS magazines looking for anything, but truly no one mentioned it. It was so odd, I've never ran into this before. That preview was the only thing I found. They really must have done no promotion whatsoever. The game also came out at a difficult time, magazines were more excited about the PSP, and the PS2 port of Resident Evil 4. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 01:34, 9 April 2023 (UTC)