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

C

Crash331

Member
Primethius said:
It's an open-world RPG more akin to Skyrim/Fallout/Mass Effect in its narrative and story structure but whose core gameplay loop (the combat) resembles something more akin to Far Cry as it places an emphasis on precision aiming, traps & stealth.

Gameplay wise, it really is shaping up to be something that combines elements of a variety of games into a fun little package.
Click to expand...



Am I going to be climbing towers and taking over outposts?
 
S

SomTervo

Member
MiamiWesker said:
Don't know what is going on in this thread anymore. Stuff gets hyped, certain people are excited about certain games and that's all fine. I think hype is a healthy fun thing to do, I assume that's why many of you are here, you want to build up the anticipation and do something fun to pass the time till you play it.

What I will never understand are people trying to discredit early impressions as if people who play early are under some spell (not saying that's happening here, I just see it all over the forums). When I opened my early copy a puff of poison smoke didn't hit me with some mind control potion. It's all impressions, some people just won't agree with you and trying to rationalize it as "early impressions are positive" is stupid. Guess what people that desperately wanted the game early are more likely to like that kind of game cause they really wanted to play it, so yeah because of that most early impressions will be positive. It has nothing to do with some nonsense early play period bias. Me playing the game yesterday is EXACTLY the same as what you will play on release.
Click to expand...

Really nice impressions, Wes, thanks.

I personally wasn't meaning to discredit early impressions. My comment near the top of the last page was mainly about how early impressions are taken. No matter how good they are someone is always like "these early impressions aren't true".

However i have to note i can't think of a single time early impressions haven't been super positive!
 
H

Harmen

Member
I don't get the hate for tower climbing in Ubi games. I mostly just do the essential ones, which takes like a couple of minutes each in a game that is typically over 20 hours or so. The only thing I dislike about the Ubi games in this regard is that the games constantly put markers and completion percentages in your face, but I choose to ignore that to the extent possible.
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
I heard that I have to move the left analog stick to walk and run. I am so sick of games trying to make me do that. Fucking clone.
 
P

Primethius

Banned
Harmen said:
I don't get the hate for tower climbing in Ubi games. I mostly just do the essential ones, which takes like a couple of minutes each in a game that is typically over 20 hours or so. The only thing I dislike about the Ubi games in this regard is that the games constantly put markers and completion percentages in your face, but I choose to ignore that to the extent possible.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. I loved it since all the way back in Assassin's Creed 2 where they started fleshing the towards to be more of a sort-of mini-puzzle that you solved to unlock the map.

cordy said:
I said that if it was an 8 or above, i'd be fine with it and it looks as though it'll be.

Ok, I'm in.
Click to expand...

Yea, seems like the game will land around high 80's which seems fantastic for the first outing.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Harmen said:
I don't get the hate for tower climbing in Ubi games. I mostly just do the essential ones, which takes like a couple of minutes each in a game that is typically over 20 hours or so. The only thing I dislike about the Ubi games in this regard is that the games constantly put markers and completion percentages in your face, but I choose to ignore that to the extent possible.
Click to expand...
I think it's more dislike for the outcome rather than the action. Climbing a tower is synonymous with cluttering your map with dozens of pointless icons
 
K

KooopaKid

Banned
Nightengale said:
I've seen well-articulated thoughts and opinions by The Lamp and MiamiWesker on various games throughout my time in GAF, and weighed in the things they've talked about compared to the previews we've seen...

And nothing seems off.

This is just early impressions. Both of them are barely out of the game's early stages, game could easily not deliver in later stages.

But rather than dismiss impressions because of honeymoon fud, I look at who's stating their impressions, see if they've been credible and level-headed GAFers who are not hype-blind and have been able to deliver rational, level-head critique of all the games they've played, and match back what they say vs the previews.

Has the previews not been in-line and relatively similar to what they've said as well? Given how much they've played, they're effectively in the same boat as the press who's played 4-5 hours of the game, just with more story context.
Click to expand...

I agree. The Lamp is not writing useless and hyperbolic comments like OMG BEST GAME EVER but describing the game fairly. Refreshing change from the usual early comments of the honeymoon phase.
 
T

The Lamp

Member
I just woke up. Time to play more.

This game so far is really a mix of borrowed "feel" and mechanics from other games, but polished them pretty well I'd say. At 20% or 6 hours in, to kind of summarize my feelings, I would best describe it like this (I'm making mechanics comparisons, take it with a grain of salt as I'm just one person but I think I'm being pretty fair here):

The hunting and foraging feels like a mix between the elements in TLOU and the Tomb Raider Reboots. The natural open world populated with wildlife, NPCs with problems, and towns naturally integrated into the map feel kind of like RDR. Also, whoever asked earlier, you can ride a "horse"
(you can take control of beasts on the map and ride them)

The platforming/exploration mechanics (how the character feels as they clamber around the rocky environment) feels like a mix between The Witcher 3 and Shadow of Mordor with a touch of Uncharted (there's some ledge plarforming that surprised me that is obviously ND-inspired).

The bow combat kinda feels like a polished mix between Tomb Raider reboots and TLOU. The hand to hand combat is not too deep but it's satisfying and polished, with the spear that feels kind of like using the tuning fork from inFamous 2, but you have "heavy" and "light" attacks with R1 and R2.

The crafting systems remind me of the Tomb Raider reboots. The ability upgrades remind me of many games that have those features, like Tomb Raider reboots, inFamous, Kingdom Hearts, etc (but it's not as flashy or varied as the last two).

The fights against tougher machines are thrilling and feel a lot like when you battle tough enemies in inFamous 2. Lots of dodging and sliding out of enemy fire, then zooming in to fire shots at weak spots. You feel like two powerful entities battling. This is my favorite part of the game.

There's merchant-style trading like any open world RPG that lets you get new items and weapons and upgrades.

The story could shit the bed later but right now it is opening up to be way more interesting and "oh shit" than I personally expected. I haven't seen an open world action RPG story and lore engross me in unexpected ways at a magnitude like this since Assassin's Creed 1.

The open world RPG style feels condensed and tightly driven around the narrative. Kinda like The Witcher 3 but with even more "fat" trimmed to keep the game's narrative in the spotlight. There's other stuff to do. I had fun just toying around in the open world last night. But the urgency is there to play the main story.

I'll try to refrain from more impressions until I'm much further into the game, like later this afternoon. I'll be able to say if the game maintains its consistency
 
M

MiamiWesker

Member
Lion Heart said:
Wesker:

Are you dying to get back home and play or are you more relaxed and content?
Click to expand...

In the middle I guess? I've been more restless before with certain games. But for sure the second I get home I am just getting in and not stopping till I sleep. I'll say this there was no fatigue last night, I played that game for like 4.5 hours almost non stop and didn't feel bored.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Glad impressions are positive so far. Do we know when the review embargo lifts?

I'm still waffling on my Switch preorder. Horizon looking great is causing more waffling as I could just play it and ME:A etc. and wait and see on Switch. Decisions, decisions.
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
The Lamp said:
I just woke up. Time to play more.

This game so far is really a mix of borrowed "feel" and mechanics from other games, but polished them pretty well I'd say. At 20% or 6 hours in, to kind of summarize my feelings, I would best describe it like this (I'm making mechanics comparisons, take it with a grain of salt as I'm just one person but I think I'm being pretty fair here):

The hunting and foraging feels like a mix between the elements in TLOU and the Tomb Raider Reboots. The natural open world populated with wildlife, NPCs with problems, and towns naturally integrated into the map feel kind of like RDR. Also, whoever asked earlier, you can ride a "horse"
(you can take control of beasts on the map and ride them)

The platforming/exploration mechanics (how the character feels as they clamber around the rocky environment) feels like a mix between The Witcher 3 and Shadow of Mordor with a touch of Uncharted (there's some ledge plarforming that surprised me that is obviously ND-inspired).

The bow combat kinda feels like a polished mix between Tomb Raider reboots and TLOU. The hand to hand combat is not too deep but it's satisfying and polished, with the spear that feels kind of like using the tuning fork from inFamous 2.

The crafting systems remind me of the Tomb Raider reboots. The ability upgrades remind me of many games that have those features, like Tomb Raider reboots, inFamous, Kingdom Hearts, etc (but it's not as flashy or varied as the last two).

The fights against tougher machines are thrilling and feel a lot like when you battle tough enemies in inFamous 2. Lots of dodging and sliding out of enemy fire, then zooming in to fire shots at weak spots. You feel like two powerful entities battling. This is my favorite part of the game.

There's merchant-style trading like any open world RPG that lets you get new items and weapons and upgrades.

The story could shit the bed later but right now it is opening up to be way more interesting and "oh shit" than I personally expected. I haven't seen an open world action RPG story and lore engross me in unexpected ways at a magnitude like this since Assassin's Creed 1.

The open world RPG style feels condensed and tightly driven around the narrative. Kinda like The Witcher 3 but with even more "fat" trimmed to keep the game's narrative in the spotlight. There's other stuff to do. I had fun just toying around in the open world last night. But the urgency is there to play the main story.

I'll try to refrain from more impressions until I'm much further into the game, like later this afternoon. I'll be able to say if the game maintains its consistency
Click to expand...

Sounds like I will love the hell out of it. Pretty certain of that anyway, because sometimes it is just obvious.
 
O

onemanasylum

Banned
dmaul1114 said:
Glad impressions are positive so far. Do we know when the review embargo lifts?

I'm still waffling on my Switch preorder. Horizon looking great is causing more waffling as I could just play it and ME:A etc. and wait and see on Switch. Decisions, decisions.
Click to expand...

Embargo lifts Monday the 20th.
 
M

MiamiWesker

Member
The Lamp said:
I just woke up. Time to play more.

This game so far is really a mix of borrowed "feel" and mechanics from other games, but polished them pretty well I'd say. At 20% or 6 hours in, to kind of summarize my feelings, I would best describe it like this (I'm making mechanics comparisons, take it with a grain of salt as I'm just one person but I think I'm being pretty fair here):

The hunting and foraging feels like a mix between the elements in TLOU and the Tomb Raider Reboots. The natural open world populated with wildlife, NPCs with problems, and towns naturally integrated into the map feel kind of like RDR. Also, whoever asked earlier, you can ride a "horse"
(you can take control of beasts on the map and ride them)

The platforming/exploration mechanics (how the character feels as they clamber around the rocky environment) feels like a mix between The Witcher 3 and Shadow of Mordor with a touch of Uncharted (there's some ledge plarforming that surprised me that is obviously ND-inspired).

The bow combat kinda feels like a polished mix between Tomb Raider reboots and TLOU. The hand to hand combat is not too deep but it's satisfying and polished, with the spear that feels kind of like using the tuning fork from inFamous 2, but you have "heavy" and "light" attacks with R1 and R2.

The crafting systems remind me of the Tomb Raider reboots. The ability upgrades remind me of many games that have those features, like Tomb Raider reboots, inFamous, Kingdom Hearts, etc (but it's not as flashy or varied as the last two).

The fights against tougher machines are thrilling and feel a lot like when you battle tough enemies in inFamous 2. Lots of dodging and sliding out of enemy fire, then zooming in to fire shots at weak spots. You feel like two powerful entities battling. This is my favorite part of the game.

There's merchant-style trading like any open world RPG that lets you get new items and weapons and upgrades.

The story could shit the bed later but right now it is opening up to be way more interesting and "oh shit" than I personally expected. I haven't seen an open world action RPG story and lore engross me in unexpected ways at a magnitude like this since Assassin's Creed 1.

The open world RPG style feels condensed and tightly driven around the narrative. Kinda like The Witcher 3 but with even more "fat" trimmed to keep the game's narrative in the spotlight. There's other stuff to do. I had fun just toying around in the open world last night. But the urgency is there to play the main story.

I'll try to refrain from more impressions until I'm much further into the game, like later this afternoon. I'll be able to say if the game maintains its consistency
Click to expand...

Totally agreed, these are good impressions people. Listen to this man.
 
Yautja_Warrior

Yautja_Warrior

Member
The Lamp said:
I just woke up. Time to play more.

This game so far is really a mix of borrowed "feel" and mechanics from other games, but polished them pretty well I'd say. At 20% or 6 hours in, to kind of summarize my feelings, I would best describe it like this (I'm making mechanics comparisons, take it with a grain of salt as I'm just one person but I think I'm being pretty fair here):

The hunting and foraging feels like a mix between the elements in TLOU and the Tomb Raider Reboots. The natural open world populated with wildlife, NPCs with problems, and towns naturally integrated into the map feel kind of like RDR. Also, whoever asked earlier, you can ride a "horse"
(you can take control of beasts on the map and ride them)

The platforming/exploration mechanics (how the character feels as they clamber around the rocky environment) feels like a mix between The Witcher 3 and Shadow of Mordor with a touch of Uncharted (there's some ledge plarforming that surprised me that is obviously ND-inspired).

The bow combat kinda feels like a polished mix between Tomb Raider reboots and TLOU. The hand to hand combat is not too deep but it's satisfying and polished, with the spear that feels kind of like using the tuning fork from inFamous 2, but you have "heavy" and "light" attacks with R1 and R2.

The crafting systems remind me of the Tomb Raider reboots. The ability upgrades remind me of many games that have those features, like Tomb Raider reboots, inFamous, Kingdom Hearts, etc (but it's not as flashy or varied as the last two).

The fights against tougher machines are thrilling and feel a lot like when you battle tough enemies in inFamous 2. Lots of dodging and sliding out of enemy fire, then zooming in to fire shots at weak spots. You feel like two powerful entities battling. This is my favorite part of the game.

There's merchant-style trading like any open world RPG that lets you get new items and weapons and upgrades.

The story could shit the bed later but right now it is opening up to be way more interesting and "oh shit" than I personally expected. I haven't seen an open world action RPG story and lore engross me in unexpected ways at a magnitude like this since Assassin's Creed 1.

The open world RPG style feels condensed and tightly driven around the narrative. Kinda like The Witcher 3 but with even more "fat" trimmed to keep the game's narrative in the spotlight. There's other stuff to do. I had fun just toying around in the open world last night. But the urgency is there to play the main story.

I'll try to refrain from more impressions until I'm much further into the game, like later this afternoon. I'll be able to say if the game maintains its consistency
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me, really looking forward to getting hold of the game.
 
jmaine_ph

jmaine_ph

Member
So it will have a day one patch but that so small they could've gone with not even saying anything lol. Appreciate it though.
 
G

gundamkyoukai

Member
silva1991 said:
I absolutely loved the bow combat in TR reboot and bow was my favorite weapon in TLOU.

Combat in this game is made for me.
Click to expand...

yep you can tell from the get go that GG would nail the combat thanks to there work with KZ.
They made a 3rd person shooter RPG which work with what they know how to do .
 
D

DriftingSpirit

Member
The Lamp said:
*impressions*
Click to expand...
Merci, Lamp!

I like the mention of infamous 2 for the battles. One of my favorite PS3 games. Consistently moving and positioning yourself, aiming to hit certain points in chaotic moments, using powerful attacks and the enemy doing the same, etc...

Sounds really nice.
 
G

Griss

Member
The Lamp said:
*snip*
Click to expand...

This is fantastic. Clear and concise, covering almost everything I'd want to know.

This sounds like the kind of game I'll adore.

Harmen said:
I don't get the hate for tower climbing in Ubi games. I mostly just do the essential ones, which takes like a couple of minutes each in a game that is typically over 20 hours or so. The only thing I dislike about the Ubi games in this regard is that the games constantly put markers and completion percentages in your face, but I choose to ignore that to the extent possible.
Click to expand...

I've been climbing Ubitowers for almost a decade now and I still love doing it. No doubt many others feel the same, which is why they remain in place.

-You have the fun of climbing something
-You get an awesome view of the open world
-Typically fun activities are placed at the base of the tower
-You can plot a route to your next objective visually from your vantage point

The towers make natural use of all the best features of open world games. It's no surprise Zelda has them, though Ubi-haters would never admit it.
 
N

nelsonroyale

Member
The Lamp said:
Snip
Click to expand...

Thanks for the impressions. Most new things occur through the recombination and enhancement of existing elements. From all you have said, it seems to add new things to the table through that process. I will probably hold off playing this to my birthday in June, just because it is possibly my most hyped game this year (alongside Gravity Rush 2). Also, would prefer to complete Mass Effect first, since I am more excited about Horizon.
 
O

Omnistalgic

Member
The Lamp said:
I just woke up. Time to play more.

This game so far is really a mix of borrowed "feel" and mechanics from other games, but polished them pretty well I'd say. At 20% or 6 hours in, to kind of summarize my feelings, I would best describe it like this (I'm making mechanics comparisons, take it with a grain of salt as I'm just one person but I think I'm being pretty fair here):

The hunting and foraging feels like a mix between the elements in TLOU and the Tomb Raider Reboots. The natural open world populated with wildlife, NPCs with problems, and towns naturally integrated into the map feel kind of like RDR. Also, whoever asked earlier, you can ride a "horse"
(you can take control of beasts on the map and ride them)

The platforming/exploration mechanics (how the character feels as they clamber around the rocky environment) feels like a mix between The Witcher 3 and Shadow of Mordor with a touch of Uncharted (there's some ledge plarforming that surprised me that is obviously ND-inspired).

The bow combat kinda feels like a polished mix between Tomb Raider reboots and TLOU. The hand to hand combat is not too deep but it's satisfying and polished, with the spear that feels kind of like using the tuning fork from inFamous 2, but you have "heavy" and "light" attacks with R1 and R2.

The crafting systems remind me of the Tomb Raider reboots. The ability upgrades remind me of many games that have those features, like Tomb Raider reboots, inFamous, Kingdom Hearts, etc (but it's not as flashy or varied as the last two).

The fights against tougher machines are thrilling and feel a lot like when you battle tough enemies in inFamous 2. Lots of dodging and sliding out of enemy fire, then zooming in to fire shots at weak spots. You feel like two powerful entities battling. This is my favorite part of the game.

There's merchant-style trading like any open world RPG that lets you get new items and weapons and upgrades.

The story could shit the bed later but right now it is opening up to be way more interesting and "oh shit" than I personally expected. I haven't seen an open world action RPG story and lore engross me in unexpected ways at a magnitude like this since Assassin's Creed 1.

The open world RPG style feels condensed and tightly driven around the narrative. Kinda like The Witcher 3 but with even more "fat" trimmed to keep the game's narrative in the spotlight. There's other stuff to do. I had fun just toying around in the open world last night. But the urgency is there to play the main story.

I'll try to refrain from more impressions until I'm much further into the game, like later this afternoon. I'll be able to say if the game maintains its consistency
Click to expand...
much appreciated. Take your time, don't rush through for our sake you've already given us a much of well-written impressions
 
S

Spinluck

Member
Maintenance said:
All this Tomb Raider talk is killing any interest that I had in the game.
Click to expand...

You should still try it yourself, imo.

Game sounds like a jack of all trades master of non sort of deal. Combining a ton of game design concepts proven to work, and packaging it into a tightly knitted experience.

I'm fine with that. Usually when open world games try too hard to separate themselves. It doesn't without too well. Go for that in a sequel.
 
jmaine_ph

jmaine_ph

Member
The Lamp said:
I just woke up. Time to play more.

This game so far is really a mix of borrowed "feel" and mechanics from other games, but polished them pretty well I'd say. At 20% or 6 hours in, to kind of summarize my feelings, I would best describe it like this (I'm making mechanics comparisons, take it with a grain of salt as I'm just one person but I think I'm being pretty fair here):

The hunting and foraging feels like a mix between the elements in TLOU and the Tomb Raider Reboots. The natural open world populated with wildlife, NPCs with problems, and towns naturally integrated into the map feel kind of like RDR. Also, whoever asked earlier, you can ride a "horse"
(you can take control of beasts on the map and ride them)

The platforming/exploration mechanics (how the character feels as they clamber around the rocky environment) feels like a mix between The Witcher 3 and Shadow of Mordor with a touch of Uncharted (there's some ledge plarforming that surprised me that is obviously ND-inspired).

The bow combat kinda feels like a polished mix between Tomb Raider reboots and TLOU. The hand to hand combat is not too deep but it's satisfying and polished, with the spear that feels kind of like using the tuning fork from inFamous 2, but you have "heavy" and "light" attacks with R1 and R2.

The crafting systems remind me of the Tomb Raider reboots. The ability upgrades remind me of many games that have those features, like Tomb Raider reboots, inFamous, Kingdom Hearts, etc (but it's not as flashy or varied as the last two).

The fights against tougher machines are thrilling and feel a lot like when you battle tough enemies in inFamous 2. Lots of dodging and sliding out of enemy fire, then zooming in to fire shots at weak spots. You feel like two powerful entities battling. This is my favorite part of the game.

There's merchant-style trading like any open world RPG that lets you get new items and weapons and upgrades.

The story could shit the bed later but right now it is opening up to be way more interesting and "oh shit" than I personally expected. I haven't seen an open world action RPG story and lore engross me in unexpected ways at a magnitude like this since Assassin's Creed 1.

The open world RPG style feels condensed and tightly driven around the narrative. Kinda like The Witcher 3 but with even more "fat" trimmed to keep the game's narrative in the spotlight. There's other stuff to do. I had fun just toying around in the open world last night. But the urgency is there to play the main story.

I'll try to refrain from more impressions until I'm much further into the game, like later this afternoon. I'll be able to say if the game maintains its consistency
Click to expand...

Sounds like everything I could ever want in a game. I'll call it Horizon: Gumbo Dawn
 
L

Loudninja

Member
Spinluck said:
You should still try it yourself, imo.

Game sounds like a jack of all trades master of non sort of deal. Combining a ton of game design concepts proven to work, and packaging it into a tightly knitted experience.

I'm fine with that. Usually when open world games try too hard to separate themselves. It doesn't without too well. Go for that in a sequel.
Click to expand...
Eh does not sound like that to me at all.
 
O

onemanasylum

Banned
Spinluck said:
You should still try it yourself, imo.

Game sounds like a jack of all trades master of non sort of deal. Combining a ton of game design concepts proven to work, and packaging it into a tightly knitted experience.

I'm fine with that. Usually when open world games try too hard to separate themselves. It doesn't without too well. Go for that in a sequel.
Click to expand...

How so?
 
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