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[WhiskerFrisker]

I suppose Zelda but honestly, they're going after different things. I think if you made a game with Zelda's exploration and Horizon's story/characters, you'd have a masterpiece. As it is, each game is missing something that the other has.

Yeah.

 

[Outtrigger888]

Zelduh!

I'm only 5 hours into horizon and am really enjoying the story so far. Otherwise Nintendo pretty much ruined all other open world games for me. Thanks Nintendo!

 

[Gotdatmoney]

I am not the worlds biggest Zelda fam tbh. Thry are good games but they don't get me going like they do for some people. But holy fucking shit Breath of the Wild is amazing.

I was very sceptical they would create an open world I would wanna play in that much even with Monolith helping the design. How wrong I was. This game is so motherfucking good.

 

[ManeKast]

Zelda.

Why?

+ Zelda is more beautiful. I really found Horizon ugly with its cluttered interface and inability to turn off icons on item pickups. Plus Horizons workd is outright ugly at times and beautiful at others, inconsistent.

+ Zelda has secrets that let YOU discover them rather than having spawling map icons hand-holding and taking all the excitement out if self discovery.

* Zeldas world was more cohesive, I knew where I was in relation to my surroundings at all times where Horizon I could have been anywhere following big yellow 'go here' pointers.

* Zelda actually has a sense of wonder and discovery. Horizon has huge GO HERE dots and paths.

Zelda by such a MASSIVE margin its rediculous.

Zelda.

 

[drsoup]

horizon for me , i loved the setting

 

[Saucycarpdog]

The battle of the open world,Horizon vs Zelda continues

And to think it's only gonna get worse as we approach award season at the end of the year.

 

[Namegoes_Here]

I enjoyed Zelda as a collection of random memorable moments. That's what to me keeps me coming back after finishing the game. That said I was a lot more invested in the world of Horizon. The environmental storytelling is at a whole new level. While the kingdom of Hyrule was a collection of a dozen or so villages, seemingly existing independent of each other, exploring Horizons world felt interconnected. The ruins felt once lived in. Every location, both "modern" and ancient has purpose and history. The down side is that the impact is a bit of a one time only experience. Zelda's appeal is more make your own fun sandbox to me, and there are near infinite surprises there. So while Horizon feels deeper in it's developer intended experiences, Zelda wins with the countless player manufactured ones.

 

[Schnozberry]

Zelda's story is a non-event. It all already happened, it's cliche ridden as hell even by Zelda standards, and the voice acting is pretty bad (adding Japanese voice option would be a nice bonus in the DLC, Nintendo). It's by far the weakest part of the game. Horizon crushes it in terms of storytelling and making the world an interesting narrative place. Zelda is more fun to explore physically but Horizon's world is far better from a lore standpoint.

I guess it really depends on how much value you place on discovery. I thought the story was well told once I had uncovered it all. All epic fantasy stories rely on cliche, and Horizon is no exception. They Uncle Ben the shit out of you at the beginning and then it's another adventure in AI gone wrong and an outcast savior who defies her standing to save the world. I think the world they created is beautiful, but it's not like it blazes new trails free of tropes. There are many elements of it's design that are cribbed from other fantasy and sci-fi universes.

I think Zelda's story is designed and delivered the way it is because you are meant to encounter it at your own pace and in the order of your choosing. It requires more from the player to uncover, and in that regard it's really not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I don't really understand the complaint that it "already happened", as the whole idea is uncovering the fact that the world you wake up in is a monument to your own failure, and both Zelda and Link have to redeem themselves in order to set right the mistakes made in the past, both for themselves and the people they failed.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

I really enjoy both but I think Zelda is the more lasting experience. I was expecting people to downplay Horizon and sure enough they are. Maybe it's because I played it first but that first half of the game was amazing for me. That would was beautiful and full of amazing and dangerous robots that were terrifying. Zelda has been a lot more subdued and I don't mean that as a negative. Overall I think Zelda is just wonderful and even magical at times

I love horizon but I feel that world has so many areas I'll never see because there's just no major incentive to explore it and that hurts a bit. Not that I couldn't just go and explore it but a little more reason to head out would of done wonders imho.

For me the incentive was wanting to see more of the beautiful world and what creatures I would find and for me it delivered on that. After I was more powerful midway through the game I started to lose interest. That's why I think Zelda is the more lasting experience cause I'm still going and I'm not tired of it but I think Horizon's world had that same appeal where I just wanted to see more of it whether I was going to gain something by it or not

 

[j-wood]

Honestly, it's so crazy you could almost view Horizon as the pinnacle of "traditional" open world, and the Zelda comes out immediately, as needed, to change the game.

 

[Chaos17]

Its really apples to oranges

H:ZD wants to tell a story and uses the open world as a tool to connect the story beats

Z:BotW wants to give you an open world to explore and uses the story as a tool to connect all the places you explore

Nailed it, many got confused about this in the Zelda OT.

 

[JudgmentJay]

I'm really enjoying both games, but as far as exploration is concerned Zelda wins by a country mile for me. I agree with people saying it's not fair to compare them though. Horizon isn't really about exploration.

 

[badcrumble]

Horizon's exploration isn't nearly as good. It's got the superior combat sandbox by far, though, ironically drawing on earlier Zelda games a lot to make it happen. Zelda's better at interplay with the environment itself, whereas Horizon's interactivity is largely within the enemies themselves.

 

[spock]

Honestly, it's so crazy you could almost view Horizon as the pinnacle of "traditional" open world, and the Zelda comes out immediately, as needed, to change the game.

This is pretty much how things look to me. Though I haven't played HZD yet. I will say Zeldas story has been a bit stale, whereas just from what I've read and watched HZD seems more interesting from a narrative perspective. Gameplay and engagement wise Zelda is changing the paradigm of expectation on the type of experience possible in open world games.

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

Honestly, it's so crazy you could almost view Horizon as the pinnacle of "traditional" open world, and the Zelda comes out immediately, as needed, to change the game.

Really interesting thought. You may be right.

 

[The Dude]

Open world is open world to me no matter what the purposes were. When the game says go whichever way you want, do whatever you want... That is enough for me to look at games in similar light and all I personally need to compare open world games.

And for those going on about fairness and that hogwash, it's not like games have feelings or something... Jfc... It's just conversation, nothing else going on here but some great chat of two great new open world games. Sure they're different, it's not like games are pound for pound inch for inch identical.

I got an idea, how bout we make a thread, which zelda open world do you prefer ... Breath of the Wild or Breath of the Wild?

 

[bobbychalkers]

I picked up Horizon first and was in love, but felt I should dabble in Zelda cause I bought it... over the weekend I found myself rushing through Horizon so I could play Zelda. So I made the decision to put Horizon to the side of Zelda cause that's all I can think of. Horizon is amazing and I didn't think Zelda was better when I seen the reviews, no way it could be better. It's better, it's what open worlds should be, full of exploration and discovery. Not constantly checking map and following waypoint markers.

This sums me up as well. Horizon is probably one of the better games that follows the AAA action adventure open world template but Breath of the Wild is what I hope the baseline for these types of games could be.

 

[foxuzamaki]

I love good story telling and that makes THE RPG.

For me, Zelda is at the Witness level. You want to explore and do puzzles because the physical systems puzzles are interesting.

My vote for Horizon.The NPCs in that games sometimes make me feel they have life. The lore, the battle, the past and the history...the data, the more I found the more I want to know about the story. That... for me, is the RPG should go with.

I am a fan of story, not puzzles.

That's interesting, I remember watching the waypoint podcast before Zelda came out and I remember how one of the guys were saying how in horizon he essentially excited to see just another jpg in the world but in BOTW he said every time he saw a jpg he would run up to them just to say hi and find out new things

 

[qko]

Yea horizon is I think takes what other genres tried to do and it did it all very good, the open world felt like the pinnacle of the current formula.

As you guys said, Zelda is the next evolution in open worlds.. I find myself just lost in it completely.

I have not played Horizon, but the DLC question is something I've been wondering about with both games. From the sounds of it, DLC will let Horizon players explore the world more, but what the hell is going to happen in Zelda? How much more can you improve in terms of content, when it feels you can already do anything?

 

[Richard_Venom]

There's nothing much to explore in Horizon. Just follow yellow path and restock herb. And only climb yellow ledges.

 

[Kevtones]

Horizon has a wonderful vanilla taste.


Zelda is the new flavor that changes your shit forever.



Both are yummy.

 

[Drillary Clinton]

Zelda and it's not even close. Granted, I really enjoyed Horizon's world but even with the visually different and stunning locales, gameplay wise they were very samey. All of the regions in Zelda typically come with their own unique set of challenges for that area. On top of that, Horizon is a lot more restrictive when it comes to navigating the environment. In Zelda, when you see something, there's some way to get there. There isn't one single piece of space used in that game so far that I haven't been able to reach.

Zelda also makes wonderful use of white space. They act as a great buffer of rest between points of interest and gameplay. Horizon is a beautiful world and I loved exploring it for exploration's sake, but when you explore in Zelda, it's almost like every time there was a worthwhile reason to. Be it a weapon in a stone on top of a mountain, a Korok puzzle in the middle of a tiny island in the ocean, etc

 

[Crash331]

The gameplay aspect of HZD is much better (fighting machines, progressing the story via missions, side quests, leveling up, skills) but Zelda has a world that feels alive and it's more fun to just walk around and explore in it.

 

[Neoleo2143]

Zelda is straight out better when it comes to exploration because everything in the game design facilitates it. The emphasis on sightlines and the smooth transition into the paraglider most of all complements the design.

Horizon's Exploration is not too much of a focus and I find that there aren't that many surprises for the overworld in comparison to Zelda's many riddles and secrets. It's much more focused on delivering its combat.

 

[Schnozberry]

I have not played Horizon, but the DLC question is something I've been wondering about with both games. From the sounds of it, DLC will let Horizon players explore the world more, but what the hell is going to happen in Zelda? How much more can you improve in terms of content, when it feels you can already do anything?

I think they are going to add a post game DLC for Zelda that follows up on a plot thread covered as a part of the post-credits scene. I won't go into further detail as to ruin someone else's experience.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

I've done 21 shrines and I'm bored of them already. Only thing keeping me going is the reward of completing them. They all look and feel the same. For now I'm exploring the world because it's beautiful and link is just fun to control. I'm also enjoying the main quest but I think if we take away the shrines, what incentive is there to explore in BoTW?


I don't know...been really enjoying the game but tonight it dawned on me that I don't really enjoy the shrines. They're not interesting like dungeons were. It's still too early to form a definitive opinion on the open world of Zelda. For now it's still awesome. I brought up the shrines because they're a big part of the open world

 

[Jarod McChicken]

I think the world of BOTW has the best topography of any open world game, as it is crafted for the free climbing and the paraglider, but the game has way too many moments of frustration (breaking weapon, limited stamina, climbing in the rain) compared to the convenient gameplay of Horizon in which I was absorbed in like in no other open world. Horizon is not only the most beautiful open world ever created, it is driven by a charismatic character and by an appealing narrative that want you to understand the origins of this world. On the other hand it's "funny" to think all those fantastic cutscenes from the BOTW story trailer with Zelda were actually memories from the past, eh.

In Horizon, roaming randomly for the first time in the western part of the map to face the new beasts and discover the new biomes (canyon, jungle, desert) without really looking a the map will let me the best memories in terms of pure exploration. In the end, while beautiful at times and very rich as a whole, BOTW world is too big for what it is, and the Ubisoft formula is in fact more present in Zelda since there are twice the towers to climb than there are long necks in Horizon (and those are arguably the most creative way to do towers).

Note that I got the platinum in Horizon while I've still lot of things to see in BOTW, but I doubt my opinion will change much as the mechanics and the philosophy of this Zelda are now very clear to me.

 

[The Pope]

Horizon does a few things better than BoTW but certainly not in that sense of exploration. To be fair no one really beats Zelda in that regard (Ds1, Mass Effect, Okami (at the time), New Vegas and TW3 are the only games I have played that capture a similiar feeling of discovery but even then it is not the same.)

 

[Thornton Reed]

This isn't really a fair contest let's be honest here. The main focus of Zelda is exploration where as in horizon it is not. Horizons focus is on hunting and the tools and options that allow you to hunt in the game. I mean I can spend hours just hunting and doing nothing else. Zelda on the other hand is based around exploring, no markers no objectives you make all that yourself. I feel like this is an unbalanced argument designed so we see Zelda wins Zelda wins Zelda wins.

 

[Freeman76]

Zelda.

i dont even see these games as in the same ballpark. Zelda is a fresh approach to the tired old formula, whereas Horizon just extends the tired old formula. Zelda doesnt even have a trace of Witcher sense.....Horizon is built around it.

This is one reason I am so pleased Zelda has received all these accolades, it truly stands out as inventive. I actually fell asleep playing Horizon, and at one point it made me follow tracks for the 10th time and I just said in my head "oh fuck off" and ebayed it. No regrets.

 

[Berserking Guts]

I love them both...

:O

 

[Sesuadra]

Hands down Zelda.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

As much as I am loving Horizon, I dont see what is so appealing about its world. It all feels very samey. Its beautiful, thats for sure but it all has a been there done that type of feel. Its so realistic that its almost boring? I am not too sure how else to put it.

Zelda from what I have played introduces creativity which is fundamentally the main ingredient in encouraging exploration.

As stunned as I was initially with the visuals and IQ overall this was my reaction to the world after spending enough time in it, aside from biome diversity most areas just blend together due to the hyper realism, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but without enough interesting landmarks it can start to feel like a nature sim after awhile. Thank god for the enemy variety and fantastic gameplay loop though.

HZD went on the back burner for me due to BOTW's captivating world. Initially I was appalled by the sharp contrast in resolution (jaggies everywhere!), but very soon that was all forgotten about due to the hand crafted nature of Hyrule. First time cresting a cliff and seeing the desert guardian lumbering in the dust storm beyond was a top 10 gaming moment, reminded me of the first time I was let loose outside the sewers in Oblivion, just pure wonder. Felt like I was playing within a Ghibli created world with all the charm and attention to detail from the films intact. HZD is still great fun though.

 

[Smasher89]

I think so. This Zelda has broken most of the franchise rules. I don't know what this person is speaking of.

Well, it might be a bit far, but I would say comparing botw to zelda 1(atleast the stories from that time) would be a good comparison.
The focus on exploration and a open world that's huge for it's time.
Monolith soft however makes that open world a lot bigger and in a different perspective.

But I guess i make that comparison as it was what I hoped Nintendo would do when they bought Monolith soft and Monolith got on their hiring spree. It was a very good decision that makes alot of sence, especially now that the game has released.


Only got Zelda atm, 3 heart challenge right from the bat, but I'm interested in maybe getting Horizon now due to the get money back+ I got a coupon on a site to get some psn money too. IM interested in how people feel the combat differs in the games, is it zelda with the iasa cancels that's the most complex (technical) or is the combat in Horizon
deeper?

EDI: I've seen alot of Zelda gifs, but none from horizon, are there any cool gifs showing the depth of mechanics for that game?

 

[Sniffynose]

I've been back and forth between them each night and Climbing feels like shit in Horizon now, I hate having to circle a mountain to find climbing ledges, when in BotW I just go up, eat some stamina food and win. Want back down? Glide!

Horizon has cool combat and nailing weak points and planning out a big battle with traps and stuff is satisfying but, Zelda feels more "open" and there's always something hidden.

I like them both but Zelda has definitely made most open world designs feel very limited. I explored way up beyond my current level in Horizon and found a vault and was like yes!! Nope there's icicles blocking the door! Tried every explosive / fire item...nope strong icicles...go google it out of frustration... "oh you get sent here for some story quest" FML

 

[Perona]

Zelda was basically made for exploring/going on an adventure in any way you want to. Horizon is more focused on telling its story (which is why you'll be locked out of some places until you make more progress) and the combat gameplay. You can explore in Horizon, but the game just doesn't lend itself to exploring in the way that Zelda does (because it was designed around it).

 

[Truant]

Zelda. I haven't touched Horizon since I srarted playing it. I just love how everything feels like a part of the world.

 

[thetrin]

I love that Horizon's world is chockfull of stuff, but Zelda's emptiness gives importance to the things you do find. There's this feeling that when you cross emptiness and find something small or large.

There are so many little things I've noticed playing Zelda that blow my mind. It makes me think "some players may never come here, and they still put something here. Something of purpose."

Also, being able to climb almost every surface in the world is totally rad.

 

[primasaurus]

I feel Horizon is the current state of open worlds where story has more weight than the world itself, and flashy combat is really the only way to react to it

Zelda is better in this regard as it seems to go back in part to the roots of open world games like the first Zelda leaving the player to make their own adventure with a no holds barred interaction with the world itself, and giving the feeling of a much more satisfying game experience

 

[GravityInsanity]

This isn't really a fair contest let's be honest here. The main focus of Zelda is exploration where as in horizon it is not. Horizons focus is on hunting and the tools and options that allow you to hunt in the game. I mean I can spend hours just hunting and doing nothing else. Zelda on the other hand is based around exploring, no markers no objectives you make all that yourself. I feel like this is an unbalanced argument designed so we see Zelda wins Zelda wins Zelda wins.

Too late.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

Horizon feels a lot more like larger set pieces the game allows me to travel to. Zelda's whole point is in exploration and the fact that I don't have that free range of movement in Horizon that I do in Zelda makes it very hard for me to adapt to that game again.

 

[Cyborg]

- Open World and Rewards = Zelda
- Action, story, intense battles = Horizon

What a time to be a gamer! Two epic games that completly satisy my needs.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I thought mod said no Zelda vs Horizon talk.

It was never meant as a general rule, and certainly not as a rule to prevent any reasonable comparisons to be made.

What we wanted to avoid was people coming into any random Horizon thread to shitpost about how based Zelda was, and vice versa.

This thread seems mostly fine (there's always going to be exceptions), so maybe the emotions have cooled down a bit from the review fanxiety heydays?

 

[weekev]

Normally in Open World games I keep them as linear as possible. I'll traverse the world to further the story. In Zelda I find myself going "I could go there but that will likely be a story but so I'll go there instead" I want to find everything and do everything before I finally go to the castle. I'm treating it like an Open world game.

I haven't played Horizon yet, it's likely to be my next buy once I have disposed of Ganon but having looked at reviews and impressions I know I'll go back to default story mode. Which is fine and I'll love it, but Zelda is just on a different level.

 

[Vroadstar]

Zelda definitely wins in exploration considering Horizon's open-world is built around the story, while in Zelda it's the other way around. But this is definitely so wrong and it's not even a contest. Horizon's world is ugly at times and inconsistent? I implore you to have your eyes checked..now

+ Zelda is more beautiful. I really found Horizon ugly with its cluttered interface and inability to turn off icons on item pickups. Plus Horizons workd is outright ugly at times and beautiful at others, inconsistent.

.

 

[Yam's]

Depends on what you are looking for while exploring I guess. Zelda's world is obviously more fun to travel due to the climb everywhere and the paragliding. Most hidden shrines puzzles were a blast to do too.

However I prefer the sense of mystery Horizon has to offer. It has a lot more "forbidden" places. Places where you wonder where the hell you are and what they mean for the world/lore, which I feel like Zelda was lacking (Hebra came close to that feeling but not quite). I love indoor ruins to explore and Zelda almost has none of that. Also despite Zelda being so big, I never felt lost in the world, you always see familiar landmarks on the horizon. So in terms of meaningful discovery, Horizon had a stronger impact on me. Discovering some ancient ruin that either give you some answers about the world or create new questions has more impact on me than finding a korok puzzle or a shrine.

Sense of danger is also better done in Horizon. I quickly became overpowered in Zelda and combats were never a threat, which I cannot say is the same in Horizon. Some robots were a threat for me until the end and I had to be careful about how I approached them. I wished Zelda had more enemies like Lynels.

So in the end I feel like it really depends on how you enjoy your exploration. I love discovering open worlds when they offer me meaningful rewards for it. I want to stumble upon areas like Ash Lake from Dark Souls 1, Vault 11 from New Vegas, Cainhurst from Bloodborne, Blackreach from Skyrim, etc. Places I'll always remember discovering for my first time. If I'll always remember the first time in jumped off the Great Plateau, I didn't find of those places after that. I'll remember puzzles and fun gameplay portion of the game but not its world itself. So for this reason I prefer the exploration Horizon has to offer.

 

[Endo Punk]

I've never played a Zelda game and I have always been interested in Horizon, the main character looks awesome, watched multiple streams on the gameplay and story and enjoyed it. Also watched streams on BOTW. if I have to pick one to buy/play it would be Zelda, the inmergent gameplay and the open world is absolutely perfected here. It's quite unfortunate Horizon didn't get to Bathe in the praise for too long because while a great open world game in its own right Zelda runs circles around it, at least from the multiple streams I have seen.

I highly recommend watching this fantastic video on Zelda from Gamespot.

https://youtu.be/38uiMs9zZJc

 

[| Praxis |]

This is my first Zelda and I shelved Horizon to play it. I have never played a game with such a sense of adventure as BoTW to be honest, it just has something magical about it.

I was enjoying Horizon, albeit struggling a little to get into it properly. Other than its graphics it's a very by the numbers open world and I prefer the art style in Zelda (never thought I'd say that). I just wish Zelda had Horizon's performance which says a lot when I say that about a 30fps game.

 

[tiebreaker]

Horizon is more beautiful like no contest, but Zelda encourages and rewards exploration more with shrines and korok seeds. So, in terms of open world, it's Zelda.

 

[alexbull_uk]

Horizon by a pretty significant margin. No contest for me.