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Horizon Zero Dawn Spoiler-free Impressions (for real this time)

I never expected a Witcher 3 length, but about 60 hours for everything I did at least expect. 30 hours for everything would imo be way too short for an open world RPG. Why would they even need such a vast open world for this? They could have just made an action-adventure similar to Uncharted or Tomb Raider in that case. Less than 30 hours for games like that is perfectly fine.
30 hours for everything? How did you come to that conclusion?

Also
Why would they even need such a vast open world for this?
I don't understand what you're trying to say there. Is an open world's only purpose to be stuffed with content?
 
Heh... it seems I'm in the minority. I want the game to be long. If I like it, I get disappointed if it is short.

Yup, this is me as well. If the game is good, I want it lasts forever if possible. I finished The Witcher 3 three times already.

If Horizon is not that long, I hope at least there'll be different paths that I can choose, so replaying the game will still be a joy.
 

Ravage

Member
Glad to see that impressions are all positive so far. I'm not concerned about the review score, but i hope it sells well enough for SIEWWS to greenlight a sequel and more RPGs.

Lamp's comments on the story hypes me up quite a bit. I must admit that i had low expectations for that aspect of the game :p
 

Tigress

Member
I never expected a Witcher 3 length, but about 60 hours for everything I did at least expect. 30 hours for everything would imo be way too short for an open world RPG. Why would they even need such a vast open world for this? They could have just made a linear action-adventure similar to Uncharted or Tomb Raider in that case. Less than 30 hours for games like that is perfectly fine.

Exactly how I feel. 30 hours is really short for an open world game. I mean most open world games that I really enjoy by 30 hours it still feels like I'm just getting started. 50-60 hours is the minimum I'd want in an open world game (hell, if an open world game has me bored by 50 hours and wanting to be done than I consider it pretty mediocre honestly. Even witcher lasted me at least 100 hours before I started getting tired of it and as much as everyone likes to praise it that's actually pretty short for me).
 

Muninn

Banned
Glad to see that impressions are all positive so far. I'm not concerned about the review score, but i really hope it sells really well because i want a sequel as well as more RPGs from SIEWWS.

This thing is going to sell bonkers by the end of the fiscal year IMO.
 

VanWinkle

Member
30 hours for everything? How did you come to that conclusion?

Also

I don't understand what you're trying to say there. Is an open world's only purpose to be stuffed with content?

Just speculation, I think, based on the Lamp's statistic of having played for about 5 hours and having 16% completion. Based purely on hours, 30 hours of playtime would equal 96% completion. Of course, that's HIGHLY speculative and non-scientific. But yeah.
 
Glad to see that impressions are all positive so far. I'm not concerned about the review score, but i really hope it sells really well because i want a sequel as well as more RPGs from SIEWWS.

I'd say with the hugely positive buzz, heavy marketing, Guerrilla Games logo (yes, people love Killzone outside of NeoGAF), and the certainly great review scores, they have no reason to worry about sales.
 

Tigress

Member
Yup, this is me as well. If the game is good, I want it lasts forever if possible. I finished The Witcher 3 three times already.

If Horizon is not that long, I hope at least there'll be different paths that I can choose, so replaying the game will still be a joy.

Or at the very least the combat is fun enough to have fun just hunting things. Seeing as I keep seeing reports of it being around a 50 hour game for everything, I may just put it on extra hard just to make it last longer for me.
 

Muninn

Banned
Exactly how I feel. 30 hours is really short for an open world game. I mean most open world games that I really enjoy by 30 hours it still feels like I'm just getting started. 50-60 hours is the minimum I'd want in an open world game (hell, if an open world game has me bored by 50 hours and wanting to be done than I consider it pretty mediocre honestly. Even witcher lasted me at least 100 hours before I started getting tired of it and as much as everyone likes to praise it that's actually pretty short for me).

Yeah that is pretty crazy. Open world means a lot of things. And the story usually suffers when they get too long. I have no problem with long games, but I don't want this to be anything like Witcher 3. IMO.

I mean they could always add in some pointless collectathon to make your journey 20 hours longer dude. But why?
 

vivekTO

Member
Good Impressions Overall!! Glad people are liking what they are playing so far.
Also anyone could comment on the Melee, is the auto locking too much or make the combat easier or something??
keep the impressions coming, great work guys , really appreciated.
 
Exactly how I feel. 30 hours is really short for an open world game. I mean most open world games that I really enjoy by 30 hours it still feels like I'm just getting started. 50-60 hours is the minimum I'd want in an open world game (hell, if an open world game has me bored by 50 hours and wanting to be done than I consider it pretty mediocre honestly. Even witcher lasted me at least 100 hours before I started getting tired of it and as much as everyone likes to praise it that's actually pretty short for me).
However most open world games are filled with other activities and whatnot, which really accumulates time spent playing

If you strip out minigames-style side activities, don't include tons of micro-collectables like feathers, flags. and stunt jumps, and give the game a more focused structure...you're going to cut down a lot of that additional time
 

Tigress

Member
Yeah that is pretty crazy. Open world means a lot of things. And the story usually suffers when they get too long. I have no problem with long games, but I don't want this to be anything like Witcher 3. IMO.

You know, I don't have a problem if the main quest is short if there is enough other things to do to make the game last longer. Skyrim's questline can actually be done pretty quickly but the game still lasted me a long time cause of all the side content (that I would play to make the game last longer and when I was ready to be done with it I just finished the main quest. Same thing with Witcher honestly). I don't understand why people who want a short game want it to have less stuff to do. If it's not part of the main quest, why would you want less? If you don't want it to last long, then just do the main quest and the side quests that most interest you. It's not like you have to do everything in a game. You'd probably enjoy your games more if you got over this mentality that some how you have to do everything even if you don't want to play it more.

And I'm sorry, it's not crazy to want the game to at least have 50 hours of content. I think it's crazy to want the game to only have 30 hours of content... As I said, if you don't want to play 50 hours and it has 50 hours of content, no one's forcing you, you can just finish the main quest line and maybe some side quests that interest you. But if you really enjoy the game why wouldn't you want the option to have more of it to play if you're still enjoying it?
 

Kazuo Hirai

I really want everyone to know how much more Titanfall 2 sold than Nioh. It was a staggering amount.
30 hours for everything?
It's really possible, probability is 0.0000000000000000001%
 
Or at the very least the combat is fun enough to have fun just hunting things. Seeing as I keep seeing reports of it being around a 50 hour game for everything, I may just put it on extra hard just to make it last longer for me.

Good idea.

30 hours for everything?
I did know an open world ARPG is 10 hours main story and 30 hours for everything, but its name isn't horizon, it's
Nier:Auto
[SPOILER warning game not out]

That game is open world? First time I heard about it.
 
And I'm sorry, it's not crazy to want the game to at least have 50 hours of content. I think it's crazy to want the game to only have 30 hours of content... As I said, if you don't want to play 50 hours and it has 50 hours of content, no one's forcing you. But if you really enjoy the game why wouldn't you want the option to have more of it to play if you're still enjoying it?
Less can be (and sometimes is) more. A leaner, more concise game can have better pacing, not feel bloated with extraneous side content, nor overstay its welcome, keep its mechanics feeling fresh, and so on.

Longer doesnt equal better or more fun
 

GribbleGrunger

Dreams in Digital
I'm going to wring every damned second out of this game and explore every nook and cranny. This is MY type of game. Love what I'm reading here so far and I'm chuffed the narrative seems compelling, something I was worried about.

Thank you to everyone who's taken their time to keep us informed. I picked the wrong time to give up smoking ...
 

Muninn

Banned
Less can be (and sometimes is) more. A leaner, more concise game can have better pacing, not feel bloated with extraneous side content, nor overstay its welcome, keep its mechanics feeling fresh, and so on.

Longer doesnt equal better or more fun

Exactly. I am playing about 5 or 6 open world games atm. Half through them all pretty much. If it has more stuff so be it. But I am very okay with a concise game.
 

Tigress

Member
Less can be (and sometimes is) more. A leaner game can have better pacing, not feel bloated with extraneous side content, and so on.

Longer doesnt equal better or more fun

And yet some how I enjoy the games that last me longer than the ones that are done in 20 hours (linear games). IN fact I bore of linear games before they are even done (part of that is being force to go at their pacing and part of that is that short games seem to have less variety of stuff for you to do so it's more focused and I like being able to mix around what I do in a game).

For me, less is not more. Less means that if I enjoy the game I'm going to be trying to forcefully slow myself down cause I dread it ending already (this actually does put a damper on a game for me if I feel like the end is coming way sooner than I want. I honestly would rather the game last too long than too short. Fallout 3 actually ahd me going, "That was it?" after I was done and realized there was nothing left in the world to do). And, there isn't going to be much else to do other than the little stuff it gives me so no creating my own pace (one reason RPGs and open worlds last me so long is that I'm not at the whim of their pacing, it's why linear games tire me after a while. I want to fight things, I go fight but then maybe I want to go talk to some NPCs or start working on the actual story line or go searching out for stuff I need to make stuff).

As I said, if you don't want to do stuff not related to main quest, then you don't have to and it's not that extraneous cause you can just skip it. But if you are really enjoying the game, that is there for you make it last a little longer and give you an excuse to play it longer. And for me a big reason to like open world games is that I'm not at the whim of what they decide my pacing should be. So the game being "paced better" is not a bonus to me at all as I prefer to make my own pacing.
 

kyser73

Member
I literally don't have the time to sink 50+ hours into a game, as well as learning really deep control system/s. I get 2-3 hours gaming time a night tops, and that's if I stay up until 1 or 2am once the kids & wife are asleep.

I'm hoping that the RPG elements are intuitive & easy to remember and that a 2-3 hour session will let me complete a side quest or meaningfully advance the main story

I do miss being able to have insane play session tho - I think my longest was probably FFVII when (with some chemical assistance lol) I pulled 65hrs. I did a one session playthrough of UC4 the last time the fam were visiting the gramps a couple of months ago which was fun :)
 

The Lamp

Member
I literally don't have the time to sink 50+ hours into a game, as well as learning really deep control system/s. I get 2-3 hours gaming time a night tops, and that's if I stay up until 1 or 2am once the kids & wife are asleep.

I'm hoping that the RPG elements are intuitive & easy to remember and that a 2-3 hour session will let me complete a side quest or meaningfully advance the main story

I do miss being able to have insane play session tho - I think my longest was probably FFVII when (with some chemical assistance lol) I pulled 65hrs. I did a one session playthrough of UC4 the last time the fam were visiting the gramps a couple of months ago which was fun :)

This will be a great RPG for you then. The systems are pretty intuitive and good at reminding you about what you should do. After a couple of hours, it's all pretty natural.
 
And yet some how I enjoy the games that last me longer than the ones that are done in 20 hours (linear games). IN fact I bore of linear games before they are even done (part of that is being force to go at their pacing and part of that is that short games seem to have less variety of stuff for you to do so it's more focused and I like being able to mix around what I do in a game).

For me, less is not more. Less means that if I enjoy the game I'm going to be trying to forcefully slow myself down cause I dread it ending already (this actually does put a damper on a game for me if I feel like the end is coming way sooner than I want. I honestly would rather the game last too long than too short
All of that is how you personally approach and consider a game. Regardless of that, the game itself - pacing (not your pacing, but the spacing out of the narrative and campaign), variety, mission design, and so on - doesn't change.

How you feel about a game and how a game is structured are two very different things. You may love how GTA does things. but the games still spend like a dozen missions "tutorializing" and introducing different mechanics and minigames. That's poor pacing even if you enjoy it.
 
I finished Watch Dogs 2, 100% in about 35 hours and I feel that was the perfect length. Good amount of content without padding

I understand some of you want these 100 hour games but I don't want to spend half a year trying to complete something.

A 30 hour ballpark for this game would be music to my ears
 

Gurish

Member
The only worry I have is about the level of the main quests and side quests, I'm not expecting anything to be like the bloody baron quest from TW3 but I still expect it to feel meaningful and varied enough, if it won't than I'm not interested, I'm tired of the typical open world missions and "activities".

Oh and hearing from impressions that visually it's on par with U4 only in an open world setting is utterly insane, GG blew ND's benchmark out of the park, feels like they are Sony's top studio right now when it comes to technical capabilities.
 

Putty

Member
The only worry I have is about the level of the main quests and side quests, I'm not expecting anything to be like the bloody baron quest from TW3 but I still expect it to feel meaningful and varied enough, if it won't than I'm not interested, I'm tired of the typical open world missions and "activities".

Oh and hearing from impressions that visually it's on par with U4 only in an open world setting is utterly insane, GG blew ND's benchmark out of the park, feels like they are Sony's top studio right now when it comes to technical capabilities.

ND and GG simply trade blows...With SMS also getting a number of sneaky jabs in from time to time...
 
I happy the main story is not to long 20 to 30 hours for the main story is good.
After that is when i put in all my time into rpgs .
Like FFXV for eg i could have finish the main story in under 30 hours .
So i got near the end and stop to do everything else but if i got tired of it i could have finish it at any time.
 

Fredrik

Member
I finished Watch Dogs 2, 100% in about 35 hours and I feel that was the perfect length. Good amount of content without padding

I understand some of you want these 100 hour games but I don't want to spend half a year trying to complete something.

A 30 hour ballpark for this game would be music to my ears
I'm okay with 30 hours too but have no issues with 100+ hour games either. Depends on how linear the game is I guess. I've played No Man's Sky for 130 hours taking weird routes just visiting new planets and solar system, named the creatures, learn the language, craft new gear, tried and upgraded different spaceships etc. Probably played Skyrim for 250 hours in total, minimum, and my latest save is up at 25 hours and I've not done a single main quest and only been at one single town doing town related side quests and built a mansion.
Etc.

100 hours in Uncharted 4 would make the game go from GOTY to crap.

Open-world games can be long, linear games can't.

The "padding" is what makes or breaks an open-world game for me though. Skyrim is awesome, Witcher 3 is possibly even better, both have a crazy amount of stuff to do, Minecraft is superb, endless posibilities. Shadow of the Colossus though, great game but I hated everything about it except the cool fights, it doesn't matter if the emptiness made sense because of the story, it still felt like I was running around in an unfinished game just trying out the game engine. Not my thing. You have to fill the game world with something to do or collect or craft or build or attack or just very varied stuff to look at - or I'll lose the interest within an hour.

As long as the game world is interesting though and they give me something to do I can almost play forever. :)
 
Well, i'm in the camp of people that really doesn't want a game to linger for more than necessary. I have more games to play. This sounds like a good length for me.
 

vivekTO

Member
Damn it, man, you'll know everything there is to know about this game before you even remove the cellophane.

you really want me to go to 4Chan and damage my brain cells in the process, do you :p

The thing is i won't be playing with you on day one, Will buy it later, so for me trying to save myself from any spoilers will be a tough task, also i hardly play games on day one.

So with that said, any other Leaks :)
 

GribbleGrunger

Dreams in Digital
you really want me to go to 4Chan and damage my brain cells in the process, do you :p

The thing is i won't be playing with you on day one, Will buy it later, so for me trying to save myself from any spoilers will be a tough task, also i hardly play games on day one.

So with that said, any other Leaks :)

I suppose context is everything. I play games for two main reasons: Narrative and exploration. Unfortunately only ONE game has ever fully satisfied me from the narrative perspective, and that game is TLOU. This leaves me with only exploration as the incentive for the majority of games, which is why I like complex levels, hidden locations or open world games. My satisfaction is ruined if I already know what's around the corner, removing the biggest incentive for me to continue exploring.

You are clearly different but I still find it difficult to understand why people would want to know so much before hand. Yes, you may hear a few spoilers here and there but isn't it better to at least keep the exploration at arms length? You're already seeking out the information because you fear it's going to be spoilt beforehand anyway. Isn't it slightly self defeating to actively seek those spoilers when there's a chance, no matter how small, that there may be many narrative beats or locations that were not spoilt?
 

Kazuo Hirai

I really want everyone to know how much more Titanfall 2 sold than Nioh. It was a staggering amount.
Sorry haven't been following all the posts but is the campaign confirmed to be around 30 hours?
A guess, it could be 10 hours or 1000 hours
And everyone here talks like it is true, weird
 
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