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Horizon Zero Dawn SPOILERS Thread

I just finished the game today. One thing I missed / forgot is what the swarm's purpose was. The actual biomass devouring, robot overriding things right? That are super small.

The swarm was actually a combination of the Horus units, those sprawling spider-squid things; the Khopesh units a.k.a. the Deathbringers; and the Scarab units a.k.a. Corruptors.

The Horus were responsible for manufacturing and maintaining the other units, that's how the self-replicated - like a mobile Cauldron. The Khopesh were akin to a main battle tank, heavily armored, heavily weaponized autonomous weapons platforms. The Scarabs were reconnaissance units with hacking abilities.

Their purpose was warfare.
 

geomon

Member
Of course I do, that makes no difference to my points - she should not have been the same personality with the same voice as Aloy. There's no way they'd sound the same, or have such similar speech patterns etc. Aloy felt less like a clone, and more Elisabet brought forward 976 years into the future fully intact.

.....that's exactly why she should have the same voice actor. Because she's a fucking clone. She's over 99% Elizabet. I don't agree that she has the same personality though.
 

BraXzy

Member
The swarm was actually a combination of the Horus units, those sprawling spider-squid things; the Khopesh units a.k.a. the Deathbringers; and the Scarab units a.k.a. Corruptors.

The Horus were responsible for manufacturing and maintaining the other units, that's how the self-replicated - like a mobile Cauldron. The Khopesh were akin to a main battle tank, heavily armored, heavily weaponized autonomous weapons platforms. The Scarabs were reconnaissance units with hacking abilities.

Their purpose was warfare.

Ah okay so my original understanding was right. Towards the end of the game, due to the way it kept being referred to as a swarm I assumed it was a smaller nanobot type thing which is what the red smokey wiring was made out of. How wrong was I.

So it was the big military machines. Got it. When you say spider squid do you mean the 'metal devils'?

I never understood what they were. I must've missed some dialogue somewhere. Why were they so big? Why were they on the mountain? What was the actual event that took place that the Nora tribe referred to as all-mother destroying the metal devil?
 
Ah okay so my original understanding was right. Towards the end of the game, due to the way it kept being referred to as a swarm I assumed it was a smaller nanobot type thing which is what the red smokey wiring was made out of. How wrong was I.

The nanobot cloud is how they acquired biomass to transform into fuel.

When you say spider squid do you mean the 'metal devils'?

Exactly.

I never understood what they were. I must've missed some dialogue somewhere. Why were they so big?

They were kind of like a mobile base. They were responsible for manufacturing and doing the maintenance for the other units, as well as coordinating their movements and tactics. Think of a mix of an aircraft carrier, a factory and a bunker.

Why were they on the mountain?

Your guess is as good as mine. We'll probably find out at some point.

What was the actual event that took place that the Nora tribe referred to as all-mother destroying the metal devil?

It wasn't an actual event, but more of an a posteriori creation myth. Humans get out of the mountain they consider their god, see that thing sitting atop of it and create a story to explain it all.
 
Ted was pretty much the most egotistical character of all time. Deleting APOLLO to prevent the world of the future from knowing his acts. Horrible human.

Elisabet/ Aloy though, fantastic characters all around.
 

BraXzy

Member
The nanobot cloud is how they acquired biomass to transform into fuel.


Exactly.


They were kind of like a mobile base. They were responsible for manufacturing and doing the maintenance for the other units, as well as coordinating their movements and tactics. Think of a mix of an aircraft carrier, a factory and a bunker.


Your guess is as good as mine. We'll probably find out at some point.


It wasn't an actual event, but more of an a posteriori creation myth. Humans get out of the mountain they consider their god, see that thing sitting atop of it and create a story to explain it all.

Ah okay that's where i got mixed up. So nanabots are still involved but just a part of the machines that deal with biomass.

It's all clicked now thanks. When they said they could self replicate with me picturing the nanobots it confused me but knowing out was the Horus machines building more of them makes way more sense. Cauldrons on legs.

I had forgotten but a post in the thread rejogged my memory, the Faro machines needed to be cracked but it would take too long so they had Gaia programmed to figure out the crack over 50 or so years and then send the signal via the spires to shut them down, right?
 

alexbull_uk

Member
I had forgotten but a post in the thread rejogged my memory, the Faro machines needed to be cracked but it would take too long so they had Gaia programmed to figure out the crack over 50 or so years and then send the signal via the spires to shut them down, right?

Yep, exactly. IIRC it's explicitly stated that the first thing built autonomously by GAIA was the spires, in preparation for the time the Faro bots could be shut down.
 

geomon

Member
I actually felt kinda bad for him to begin with.

I wonder if he'll make a return in the sequel/dlc? There was talk of cryogenics in a few datapoints, it would be interesting to have someone from the old world present.

I sure hope not. I really don't see a point to it. There's plenty of villains from Aloy's time.
 

Griss

Member
I actually felt kinda bad for him to begin with.

I wonder if he'll make a return in the sequel/dlc? There was talk of cryogenics in a few datapoints, it would be interesting to have someone from the old world present.

Would be a pretty terrible idea, imo.

The story clearly sets up Sylens / Hades to be the antagonists for the second game in that post-credits sequel-setting stinger (that I always hate).

Sylens goes power mad and uses Hades's knowledge to create new machines / a new settlement in a new region etc. Something like that. The Ted / Elisabet 'fall of the earth' story is played out now.
 
Ted was pretty much the most egotistical character of all time. Deleting APOLLO to prevent the world of the future from knowing his acts. Horrible human.

Elisabet/ Aloy though, fantastic characters all around.

I didn't get that from him. I got that he didn't want the future humans to share the same knowledge they had and repeat the same mistakes that ultimately led to that point in history.
 

carlsojo

Member
Would be a pretty terrible idea, imo.

The story clearly sets up Sylens / Hades to be the antagonists for the second game in that post-credits sequel-setting stinger (that I always hate).

Sylens goes power mad and uses Hades's knowledge to create new machines / a new settlement in a new region etc. Something like that. The Ted / Elisabet 'fall of the earth' story is played out now.

Eh I could see Ted or someone coming back through cryogenics, especially since they discuss it specifically.

I would actually assume Hephaestus to be the antagonist since it's responsible for the cauldrons' increasingly hostile machines.

Sylens I see as continuing to be a protagonist. He wants to go after who sent the signal to Hades activate him in the first place.

I didn't get that from him. I got that he didn't want the future humans to share the same knowledge they had and repeat the same mistakes that ultimately led to that point in history.

Yeaaah I kind of agreed with him even though he seemed a little insane at that point. Helis discovering and unleashing the Faro swarm kind of proved his point that humans can't handle the tech. Ted venting and suffocating the Alphas was pretty bad though.
 

Griss

Member
Eh I could see Ted or someone coming back through cryogenics, especially since they discuss it specifically.

I would actually assume Hephaestus to be the antagonist since it's responsible for the cauldrons' increasingly hostile machines.

Sylens I see as continuing to be a protagonist. He wants to go after who sent the signal to Hades activate him in the first place.

Agree with a lot of that, especially the Haphaestus part and probably the Sylens part too, but would hate for Ted to come back through Cryo. What would be more interesting if he uploaded his personality into an AI in a similar way to how Elisabet created and taught Gaia to be a reflection of her, but more strictly a 'Ted' AI rather than Gaia who was her own thing.
 
I never thought I'd enjoy a sci-fi universe this much, what a damn fine game.
What exactly were Elisabet's details about Ted's "Thebes"? I figure however that place was configured will likely indicate how Ted figures into the future of the series (and I imagine it'll be fairly prominently).
 

Memento

Member
Just finished, it is my GOTG alongside Bloodborne. Legit great sci-fi content!

Question now: is it known who or what was responsible for the malfuction of GAIA's system? Could it be the person/thing that Sylens mentioned in the end (that made possible for Hades' signal to be activated so he could find it)?
 

NightOnyx

Member
Argh, can't get my first ever Platinum because it's stuck at 98%. The only thing left to unlock is the training dummies, and I've gone around and counted (and re-bashed) 23 of the damn things around the Nora lands (taken from a guide I finally broke down and followed --- *and* a couple more outside of Nora lands) and it's refusing to unlock :-(

If you're talking about the game progress, you don't need 100% to get the platinum. I didn't have a few of the shadow weapons, so I got the platnium at like 98%.

As for the training dummies, I went step by step following a youtube video to make sure I got them all. I didn't care if I was sure I got them all, I went to each one as the guide went along and eventually found the one I was missing. It sounds like you may have done the same, but if it hasn't unlocked then there has to be one that you're missing. It would suck if it was glitched, but hopefully you're like me and you just happened to miss one that you could have sworn you got.
 
Man, the more I played the game the less I liked it. The ending was just horrible (except for that great defense part). The boss battle where the guy grabs arrow mid air was absolutely stupid. The story was just ridiculous at the end (especially post credits).

I have a tremendous respect for the game and I'm glad I played it, but it just ended up not being for me and didn't resonate with me like everyone else. Sucks to be me I guess.
 

r1chard

Member
If you're talking about the game progress, you don't need 100% to get the platinum. I didn't have a few of the shadow weapons, so I got the platnium at like 98%.

As for the training dummies, I went step by step following a youtube video to make sure I got them all. I didn't care if I was sure I got them all, I went to each one as the guide went along and eventually found the one I was missing. It sounds like you may have done the same, but if it hasn't unlocked then there has to be one that you're missing. It would suck if it was glitched, but hopefully you're like me and you just happened to miss one that you could have sworn you got.

Nah, it was the trophy progress that was at 98%. I turned off the PS4, walked away, came back 45 minutes later and when I turned it on (didn't even run the game) it had registered the Platinum 100%. So yeah.
 

JawzPause

Member
Just completed it with my play time being 32 hours. Quick thoughts:

- some of the best visuals I've ever seen at times

- good performance with barely any fps drops

- brilliant gameplay, fighting machines is still fun after 32 hours

- human AI is pathetic, needs to be vastly improved

- absolutely loved the game the first 15 hours, but got bored with the missions after that

- story had potential but ending up disappointing. It's a shame because at times i was genuinely interested in what happened to earth but then the whole hades thing didn't interest me at all.

- side missions were ok, but the detective witcher 3 style missions i hated and there was too many of them

- Aloy is a fantastically written character and the voice actress did very well, however she was literally the only interesting character. Sylens was ok but everyone else was poorly written and forgettable.

- last mission wasn't very good, fighting the over powered man, then shooting a gun like a third person shooter. The last mission should have involved what the game was best at, just fighting robots with your arrows

Overall I'd give the game a 8/10 mainly due to the gameplay. Game got worse as the story progressed but them first 15 hours i loved. I hope to see a horizon 2 with a better story
 
I actually was surprised how decent the story was. The only bit that let it down was the after credits bit.

It does suffer from typical video game stuff with the last mission having the unrealistically over powered human and the turret section so you can kill lots of things like a bad ass or something. But thats video games i guess.

Could have easily made those better by simply having the bad human be given some sort of shield armour that deflects arrows given by hades or even just had him hide till you beat his men then you kill him. And have other people use the cannons while you do what ya good at.

But overall i really liked the story and thought if it could be told in a well made film or book without the video game gunk holding it back it would be really damn good.
 
Eh I could see Ted or someone coming back through cryogenics, especially since they discuss it specifically.

I would actually assume Hephaestus to be the antagonist since it's responsible for the cauldrons' increasingly hostile machines.

Sylens I see as continuing to be a protagonist. He wants to go after who sent the signal to Hades activate him in the first place.



Yeaaah I kind of agreed with him even though he seemed a little insane at that point. Helis discovering and unleashing the Faro swarm kind of proved his point that humans can't handle the tech. Ted venting and suffocating the Alphas was pretty bad though.
Human brutality is not caused by knowledge and technology; The cure for it is not ignorance. Helis committed most of his atrocities before having anything to do with HADES and it directly shows how wrong Ted was to assume he was gifting future humans innocence. APOLLO would have instilled future generations with Sobek's vision of what humanity could/should be, via GAIA. It would have been a fresh start with a concise record of the many errors of those who came before.

The decision to erase APOLLO was an irrational, stupid, insane and short sighted act from a fucked up cowardly son of a bitch unable to cope with the guilt of his actions and failures. Idiotically short sighted, like everything Faro did. So start humanity back at zero. And? It's not like future humans would stay there, would not eventually relearn and redevelop technology. APOLLO's destruction merely doomed homo sapiens to repeat all the mistakes that lead up to the demise of life itself. There is nothing redeeming in this and there is nothing romantic about living in an early tribal civilization. I'm pretty sure no one here would enjoy existing in a society that practices literal human sacrifice.

Fuck Ted Faro.
 
. Why were they so big? Why were they on the mountain?

They were big due to being an all purpose factory that can build and destroy. Why were they on the mountain? Well you will noticed that the places you see the "metal devils" each area is where people were working on the GAIA project so it was doing what it was originally finding more biofuel to build more robots... However it seems GAIA was able to stop them before they were able to fully break through.
 

Mathieran

Banned
Nothing we come up with will be as good as what John Gonzalez does.

This.

I think the epilogue scene is just another red herring meant to make us think something is gonna happen when it won't. The game does that to us several times. No reason to believe they won't keep doing that.
 
I fucking love this game!!! OMG so refreshing and so good!!

I did not anticipate the story being so interesting! It went from being relatively straight forward to a mystery thriller!

Unraveling the mystery of Zero Dawn was incredible! I've never had so much fun listening to data files lol.

And the cliffhanger ending. Sylens you evil bastard!

Man I really love the questions that arise behind the story. What do you guys think about what Ted did as far as destroying apollo/knowledge? He has a point I think in that knowledge ultimately led to humanities demise. All it takes is one person to use that knowledge to do something nuts. Look at the antagonist in the game. Imagine what Helis would have done with more knowledge.

What I also believe is that the extinction of humanity by it's own hands is inevitable. In a world devoid of the old ones knowledge there still was war. War leads to conquest but also extermination.
 

BraXzy

Member
The instant Zero Dawn was mentioned in game I called that it was going to be something reminiscent of the Ark in Halo with a rebirth after a wipe out. I did not expect the Gaia AI and terraforming angle though. Such a cool concept. What an incredible, desperate attempt to continue life.

Is there a timeline for the game that someone has put together? Would be good to get my head around the chronology of the events of the old world fully. I was one of the ones who misheard the time between as 350000 years.
 

firelogic

Member
Cool fun fact: earlier side quests in the Nora region have different dialog after Aloy becomes annointed. I saw an YouTuber today finding the Brom side quest for the first time after the "Heart of The Nora" main quest and Brom's sister actually calls Aloy annointed instead of outcast and she is actually overjoyed that Aloy is helping her. I'm sure the other side quests would have a similar outcome. You know when the developers have passion over a project when they actually think about these little details.

Go to 28:30 for the scene:

https://youtu.be/5zHDjdtdaXs

That's pretty awesome! You're right, they really thought of everything because they were so invested in the project.
 
.....that's exactly why she should have the same voice actor. Because she's a fucking clone. She's over 99% Elizabet. I don't agree that she has the same personality though.

Good point, I think Griss forgot that accents are genetic traits.

I wanna start a new game so my friend can play through the story, but will the erase my current save/progress?

You can have multiple save games, just be careful that your friend doesn't save over your game files.
 

Markoman

Member
Here's what'll happen in HZD 2.
Aloy meets Sylens again...
Aloy: "Hey, Sylens how are you doing? What have you been doing lately?
Sylens:"Hello Aloy, please don't call me this way. My name is Prometheus now."

I mean the symbolism of the last scene is pretty obvious with Sylens carrying something that looks like a lantern/ the fire of knowledge.
 

shem935

Banned
Here's what'll happen in HZD 2.
Aloy meets Sylens again...
Aloy: "Hey, Sylens how are you doing? What have you been doing lately?
Sylens:"Hello Aloy, please don't call me this way. My name is Prometheus now."

I mean the symbolism of the last scene is pretty obvious with Sylens carrying something that looks like a lantern/ the fire of knowledge.

We gonna kill a giant squid with sylens riding on it. I hope they allow you to have more mounts in the next game. I was dissapointed I couldn't override a thunderjaw or a stormbird and ride them into battle.
 

Shredderi

Member
A superb game in the open world genre. Just finished it with something like 65-70h playtime. The buildup to the finale was fantastic. It felt big and sweeping and getting to meet all the fantastic NPC characters I had build relationships with again was really nice. It made it feel even more personal to know that these guys and gals had my back when I needed it the most.

Did not expect to enjoy the characters and story as much as I did as Killzone games we're never big on story. Finding out what happened to the ancients was really well done too. And Sylens was a really interesting character and Lance Reddick voicing him just made it better. Bring on the fucking expansion/sequel!

Edit: Oh yeah more mounts next time! I want to ride a fucking sawtooth. Hell, let me ride a goddamn mecha T-Rex!
 

Markoman

Member
We gonna kill a giant squid with sylens riding on it. I hope they allow you to have more mounts in the next game. I was dissapointed I couldn't override a thunderjaw or a stormbird and ride them into battle.

Err no...not Prometheus as in "Prometheus the movie that did not deliver".
Prometheus as in "bringer of fire".

Oh, I have another one...Before Ted Farrow died, he transferred his personality into the Odyssey's AI. The AI is named Zeus and will return to Earth in HZD 2. So at the beginning it will look like we're fighting Hades again and Sylens, but in the end the true danger is Zeus.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I'm hoping Aloy as the new leader of the Nora at least taking advantage of the fact they all worship her as a god among them of sorts. Basically influences them and pushes them to start using all the tech buried around them, perhaps even equipping them with focuses and teaching them how to use them. Even more teaching them how to over ride the machines and then basically the entire tribe has strider mounts while using Glinthawks to go fly ahead and give you the lay of the land or having a Sawtooth as a hunting partner
 

alexbull_uk

Member
The One and Done™;232809645 said:
What will Horizon 2 be called?

I think Hades will manage to trick Sylens in the sequel somehow. Definitely expect to fight human AI.

I don't know why, but I could definitely see it being called Horizon: *something* Protocol
 

timedesk

Neo Member
I got my platinum a few days ago, and I still can't stop thinking about this game. I really am astonished at how well done things, like the vantage points and audio logs were.

I am really intrigued by the Odyssey theory people have come up with. I think that would be way more exciting than just having the Faro robots be the ones who unshackled Gaia's components. I look forward to seeing how all the AI's are characterized in future installments. I just really hope this doesn't turn into a sci-fi version of God of War.
 

alexbull_uk

Member
Looking through the screenshots I took while playing (over 1100 lol) and I remembered this:

0EE88vM.jpg


It says it's from 20 years ago. Did this send out the signal to HADES?

It looks as though it fell from the sky... Odyssey?
 

shiba5

Member
Looking through the screenshots I took while playing (over 1100 lol) and I remembered this:

0EE88vM.jpg


It says it's from 20 years ago. Did this send out the signal to HADES?

It looks as though it fell from the sky... Odyssey?

It looks like the same kind of core as GAIA and Hades. Probably blown out of the GAIA Prime mountain when it blew up.
 
Didn't the explosion happen 19 years prior though? This is older, right?

Aloy was born 19 years ago. Since GAIA put her clone to gestate a few microseconds after the hack and just before she blew herself up, and assuming a normal human gestation, the explosion probably happened around 20 years ago.
 
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