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Horizon Zero Dawn patch 1.32 adds easier difficulty level: "Story" difficulty

D

DKHF

Member
Horizon Zero Dawn's patch 1.32 adds an easier difficulty level: "Story" difficulty.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnnrGsrQR4k

From the trailer's video description:

The new patch for Horizon Zero Dawn adds ”Story" difficulty which allows you to immerse yourself in the deep narrative of the game by making the combat less challenging.
Click to expand...

Full patch notes. Warning, contains Horizon spoilers

We're pleased to announce that Patch 1.32 for Horizon Zero Dawn is available now. This patch fixes a number of technical issues, progression issues and crashes as outlined below. This patch also adds a new difficulty setting: Story.

NOTE: This list may contain several spoilers!

If you encounter an issue while playing Horizon Zero Dawn, please try reloading a recent manual save, quicksave or autosave from the ”Load" menu option. If the issue persists, please take screenshots of the area where it occurred and your location on the map, and forward them to us for further investigation.


New Features
Added ‘Story Mode' difficulty. An easier difficulty setting for people that mainly want to experience the story of Horizon Zero Dawn.

General Fixes
Fixed an issue for some players where human melee attackers could change their rotation and warp towards the player after jump attacking giving them an unfair advantage.
Fixed an issue in New Game+ where some players were not allowed to fast travel to Sunfall campfires with the Shadow Stalwart Adept armour equipped.
Fixed an issue where certain players were not able to abandon a job for a job created to buy items at a merchant.
Fixed an issue that some players encountered where some animation events would not work properly when the player has a lot of resources.
Fixed an issue in ”Revenge of the Nora" where for some players the Nora would not help Aloy fight off the enemy during the ‘Clear the Camps' objective.

Progression fixes
Fixed an issue in ”The Point of the Spear" where some players were not able to continue the quest if they dropped their Tripcaster on NG+ before talking to Rost.
Fixed an issue in ”The Sun Shall Fall" where some players were not able to get back in the palace to talk to Blameless Marad as the gates were closed.

Crash fixes
Fixed an issue where the game would crash for certain players if they switched difficulty while Aloy is dead with an Errand active.
Fixed an issue where for some players the game would crash if a player continuously makes ‘Jobs' and then changes difficulty continuously.

Miscellaneous fixes
Minor text fixes.

Please download Horizon Zero Dawn patch 1.32 and let us know what you think. We'll continue to work on further fixes for and enhancements to the game based on your comments. In the meantime, keep an eye on this space for the latest Horizon Zero Dawn news and updates!
Click to expand...

patch notes source

Among the most noticeable changes, ‘Story' difficulty boosts the player-inflicted damage and reduces the player-received damage considerably, making the combat encounters manageable for less experienced players. It is our hope that the new difficulty setting will help us welcome more players onto Aloy's quest to discover her identity and the mysteries of the world she inhabits. In addition to the ‘Story' difficulty, Patch 1.32 includes several fixes as outlined in the patch notes.
Click to expand...

EU blog post
 
S

Savantcore

Unconfirmed Member
Among the most noticeable changes, ‘Story’ difficulty boosts the player-inflicted damage and reduces the player-received damage considerably, making the combat encounters manageable for less experienced players. It is our hope that the new difficulty setting will help us welcome more players onto Aloy’s quest to discover her identity and the mysteries of the world she inhabits. In addition to the ‘Story’ difficulty, Patch 1.32 includes several fixes as outlined in the patch notes.
Click to expand...

https://blog.eu.playstation.com/201...oduces-a-low-difficulty-story-mode-out-today/
 
W

witness

Member
My 9 year old loves the game world but because he's 9 he can get really frustrated with the combat difficulty so Story mode sounds perfect. Thanks GG!
 
J

Jazzem

Member
witness said:
My 9 year old loves the game world but because he's 9 he can get really frustrated with the combat difficulty so Story mode sounds perfect. Thanks GG!
Click to expand...

D'aww :) Cases like these are why I have no issue with easier difficulty settings
 
S

Seiniyta

Member
Story difficulty sound great for when you come off a long hard day of work and just want to play something relaxing and nothing too challenging. Fine by me!
 
X

xKilltheMx

Member
This will be perfect for my girlfriend who wants to play but I know this would be too hard even on easy for her. Thanks GG!
 
R

Risev1

Member
I just wish they'd make the face paint options available without having to finish the game on the harder difficulties on new game plus. I mean, at that point, I don't think I'd even want to play the game anymore after beating it twice.
 
J

Jazzem

Member
Vincent Grayson said:
Why would you have any issue with it anyway?
Click to expand...

I...err wouldn't? I think more accessibility options are a wonderful thing, and hell I'll even employ them sometimes; I used the rewind feature a ton playing through the Disney Afternoon Collection this past weekend.

I didn't mean to infer that I would take issue otherwise in any way, was just alluding to it being a sometimes controversial subject in games; my stance is absolutely in favour of the options.
 
W

WITHE1982

Member
I'll actually be taking advantage of the new difficulty myself, as long as it doesn't effect XP gain.

I recently lost my 100% save (both local and cloud based) so needed to do a quick run in order to jump into NG+.

I think this mode will make it a lot quicker. Not that the other difficulties are particularly hard TBH.
 
S

Sinh_Magnus

Member
Good news. I enjoy the combat system but I have a huge backlog of games and little time. This can be what I needed to come back to the game.
 
G

Gurish

Member
Even though I always play on Normal or Hard, every game (when it can and it's not damaging the overall design in some way) should have such difficulty.
 
L

lucebuce12

Member
XenodudeX said:
Making a , in my opinion, boring game even more boring by adding a easier mode. Bleh.
Click to expand...
image.php
 
C

Coxy100

Banned
I loved the story whereas I found the combat (sometimes) challenging - I noticed a massive spike in difficulty when I faced a certain monster (can't remember the name - breathed fire).

This will lure me back in (the story difficulty!)
 
L

lucebuce12

Member
Coxy100 said:
I loved the story whereas I found the combat (sometimes) challenging - I noticed a massive spike in difficulty when I faced a certain monster (can't remember the name - breathed fire).
Click to expand...
The Bellowback?

Yes at that point, the game really failed I think in emphasizing how important planting traps are, fighting a bellowback gets tough if you don't plant the appropriate traps. Not impossible mind you, just very difficult at that point in the game since you won't have a lot of specialized weaponry.
 
W

watdaeff4

Member
I haven't started yet....is this a game you can switch difficulty throughout the game? Or is what you choose initially is what you are locked into?
 
U

U2NUMB

Member
The Dear Leader said:
Can you still get trophies on Story difficulty? Some of them fights are hard man...
Click to expand...

I would like to know this answer as well.. I just do not have time to finish all the games on my todo list so I would drop to this mode in a heartbeat but I also want whatever trophies I should earn.
 
P

Plum

Member
This is awesome for me considering my issues with the camera. Even on Easy it felt like I had to do some side questing to not be under-levelled in the story, now I can just go through the main missions without worrying.
 
M

MattAces

Member
This early access game keeps getting closer to final release, now with new difficulty!

Bait of the year goes to me.
 
Hoho for breakfast

Hoho for breakfast

Member
Cool, my daughter likes messing around with this. Maybe she can get through the first area at least.

Good for them for the support on this game too. I've barely played it but I know they've had a couple good updates for it.
 
S

SOLDIER

Member
Every time I read about a new patch I keep hoping there will be an option to make Alloy shut the fuck up during anything non-story.

I've literally put the game down multiple times because I can't stand her constant chirping at every little action I take.

"More for the trail."

"Can't be too careful."

"I'm all wet."

Thanks Aloy for reminding me that water is wet.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Holy fucking shit.

I have to give all of my hats off to GG and Sony for the incredible post-game patch support this game's gotten and how frequent the patches come with new added features.

The game wasn't that hard to begin with but more options are always appreciated. If this gets more people who are afraid of the open-world grind, jump in .. that's fucking amazing.
 
V

Venture

Member
watdaeff4 said:
I haven't started yet....is this a game you can switch difficulty throughout the game? Or is what you choose initially is what you are locked into?
Click to expand...
Only Ultra Hard locks you into that difficulty setting. All the other ones you can switch between freely.
 
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