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

Have the dialogue and story choices, so far, been good enough that you'd want to see the other paths? Is it strict enough that the story might become a nuisance in repeat playthroughs? Do any of you think there is replay value in this story wise?
 

IvorB

Member
LOL, why so dramatic? Dragons Dogma never had it either and that combat was great,

Do you mean lock on for shooting or melee? This isn't Dark Souls; it's Vanquish, Alienation, etc.

The game is basically a TPS lock on would destroy the gameplay .
It would make aiming at certain body parts way to easy .
Not to mention timing and movement would be less of a important factor .

I've never even thought about needing it. The games controls are really good overall IMO.

I meant for melee. Melee combat without any kind of lock-on is just a mess. Is this game a shooter? I was sure I saw some melee combat shown at one point.
 
Nioh? Although did they just return to the early design later and developed from there as opposed to a constant development?

Nioh went through various developers and genres. At one point it was more of a RPG, and at another it was a Musou game. It'd been in development by Omega Force (the Musou team) at one point and eventually made its way into the hands of Team Ninja where it took the form that it was released in.
 
Nioh? Although did they just return to the early design later and developed from there as opposed to a constant development?
Nioh and FF are like a Duke Nukem (except turning out good), in that they went through major design changes that basically changed the entire games throughout development.

I wouldn't really consider it in the same category of games with longer than usual developments like Watch Dogs, Last of Us, Destiny, Horizon, etc.
 

vivekTO

Member
I meant for melee. Melee combat without any kind of lock-on is just a mess. Is this game a shooter? I was sure I saw some melee combat shown at one point.

Melee is like a Side arm, you only got your spear for that.the focus is not on the melle combat in this game.

Regarding shooter comment , yes the bow is responsive and fast similar to some third person shooting games, don't take it as literally though!
 
I meant for melee. Melee combat without any kind of lock-on is just a mess. Is this game a shooter? I was sure I saw some melee combat shown at one point.
Vanquish or Tomb Raider melee didn't have lock-on. This isn't Dark Souls; like the aforementioned games, it's predominantly shooter combat with a melee weapon to do some basic close quarters attacks
 
You don't need melee lock on in a game like this if your attacks track sufficiently.

Also, Dragons Dogma has the best melee combat in an open world RPG, and by a gigantic margin too, and doesn't have lock on.
 
Yeah, I think I've read somewhere before that it feels like ROTR + Witcher 3 as well. Kinda explains the no lock on for melee 'issue'. It's a non issue if you remember how it works on ROTR.
 

Mubrik

Member
I consider 50 hours for everything in an rpg short (and yes I realize it is an action rpg. So is witcher and fallout and both last much longer than 50 hours). 20 hours would be ridiculous and I'd wait for the game to go cheaper.

If I'm ready to be done with a game in 50 hours it was very mediocre at best. If this game only lasts me 50 hours and I like it it will feel like I barely played it and leave me wishing there was more. And I honestly prefer to be tired of a game before I get to that point. I hate the feeling of wishing there was more.
Lol.
So it should be filled with grind and fetch quest then.
 
Why are we set on 50 hour 100 percent completion time when we absolutely don't know what the last 26 percent consists of? Maybe that last 26 percent takes 40 hrs on its own, maybe it takes 10 hrs. Whatever it is we have no clue what the final time will be.

The side quests and collectibles are such a tiny fraction of the completion percentage, like .5 of a percent. So if there are 20 main quests (3.13% per main quest, and I assume there are more than 20) will already put you at 63 or so percent, it will take like 4 or 5 times more stuff just to fill in the rest.
 
You don't need melee lock on in a game like this if your attacks track sufficiently.

Also, Dragons Dogma has the best melee combat in an open world RPG, and by a gigantic margin too, and doesn't have lock on.
I still don't get why more people didn't copy DD yet l, it's simply the best!!! I wish we could actually play together instead of using each other's pawns.
 
Melee is like a Side arm, you only got your spear for that.the focus is not on the melle combat in this game.

Regarding shooter comment , yes the bow is responsive and fast similar to some third person shooting games, don't take it as literally though!

Melee is pretty easy to use against smaller guys, and yeah no lock on is kind of a pain, I have swung and missed a few times but the majority of the time just attack in the general direction and you will hit the machine. For watchers and stuff I almost go full melee, the strong attack is a stun and then you can do a critical hit which if it kills the enemy gets you more exp. again dodging around is easy to do, roll hit, roll hit.

And yeah it tracks the enemy so unless the enemy turns or moves out of the way you will basically magnet to it.
 

The Lamp

Member
I meant for melee. Melee combat without any kind of lock-on is just a mess. Is this game a shooter? I was sure I saw some melee combat shown at one point.

Even with melee combat. The attacks track very well for the most part. Sometimes attacks miss but think of the combat feel similar to inFamous 2 IMO
 

The Lamp

Member
Have the dialogue and story choices, so far, been good enough that you'd want to see the other paths? Is it strict enough that the story might become a nuisance in repeat playthroughs? Do any of you think there is replay value in this story wise?

For me, yes to the first and last question, but that's because at this point I'm sold on the lore and characters. I don't think it's strict.
 
You're liking it right? :p

Is the intro mediocre and then the game gets good, or is it just "good" and the game becomes great=

Its good cause you get to mess around with the combat and skills for the first time. Early battles are thrilling but it can Get repetitive with only three enemy types and not much to do outside like 3 side quests and the main quest. So I would say it goes from good to great.
 

Glassboy

Member
Its good cause you get to mess around with the combat and skills for the first time. Early battles are thrilling but it can Get repetitive with only three enemy types and not much to do outside like 3 side quests and the main quest. So I would say it goes from good to great.
Completely agree
 
In what sense or area is Horizon similar to Witcher 3?
I've read this here and am a big Witcher-Fan.
I also love AC2 and enjoyed Far Cry 3.

Is Horizon the perfect game for me?
 

The Lamp

Member
In what sense or area is Horizon similar to Witcher 3?
I've read this here and am a big Witcher-Fan.
I also love AC2 and enjoyed Far Cry 3.

Is Horizon the perfect game for me?

Traversal feels a lot like The Witcher 3 mixed with a little Shadow of Mordor.

Quality of quests and politics and lore feel like The Witcher 3 also (disclaimer: I did not finish TW3. I got about 10-15 hours in before I got busy with other stuff. So take with a grain of salt from me)

At times the game feels like Assassin's Creed 2 in "feel."

But it has that characterized Sony Studios polish and lack of jank.

You're really gonna love this game.
 

JoeNut

Member
I hope that after i've finished zelda this has dropped in price because it looks like an absolute must buy - wish it had come out in January
 
Whenever I see footage or screens of Horizon, the world reminds me of World of Warcraft zones but more densely packed. Am I alone in this?

I've been trying to figure out why this is but I haven't been able to figure it out quite yet. I think it might be due to the various amounts of verticality present in landscapes but that alone doesn't seem to be the reason.
 
Impressions are nice, I'm thinking this could a cool game me and my cousin can beat together. Nice to hear the story is interesting, I was worried about execution from GG. I know they brought a good writer but that's doesn't mean much if they cant executed properly.
They've been working on this for like six years, since Killzone 3. What was the last AAA new IP that was given so much time to gestate?
Zelda actually :p (on three separate occasions as well)
 

The Lamp

Member
What does this mean?

AC2 is a personal favorite of mine so this is an intriguing statement. Superficially speaking, it's difficult to see similarities. Care to elaborate?

Think of the mutual similarities between The Witcher 3 and AC2. The quest diversity and writing, the traversal, the RPG mechanics, the natural open world with towns, that sort of thing. Reminds me of playing those games back in the day. But that's about it. The combat in this game is nothing like AC2, although there is some (serviceable from human AI, impressive from machine AI) stealth mechanics in Horizon.
 

SomTervo

Member
So I am like 7 hours in and just finished the opening area and story. Basically now is when the real game begins, you are let out into the open world and so many activities and point of interest open up, it's so exciting.

So the opening area doesn't have much to do, it is basically a tutorial area with a few enemy types, and only a few side quests. You can spend time just messing around as I did and do everything but it's not a good approximation of what lies ahead.

Stuff happens that gets you to the open world and it was pretty exciting. The story is no joke, this is a story heavy game with lots of characters and some dialogue choices to make, can't tell you if they change much but it's there. The main missions tied to taht story were exciting and gave me some boss battle like moments with all new enemy types. I learned to
override beasts so I got a brand new skill and then was let out into the world
.

There were vantage points, areas to clear of enemies and my favorite little timed challenges to do. That's just what I found near me, I have yet to really explore as I had to go to sleep. I look at the completion page and there is so much to find and do, this game will keep me occupied for a long time.

So far I am enjoying very hard mode. I die if I am careless but most of the time I get by fine. I have had some close calls that deplete my health so I do have to gather supplies to restock. I do think dodge is a bit of a super move, I have gotten by with dodging a bunch and laying traps. Dodge, trap, dodge, go in for the stun kill, repeat. Again these are still easier enemies so I bet for the tough ones it won't work but dodge is very effective and has a nice invincibility window.

So any questions?

Amazing, thanks, although I'm worried that the spoiler'd could be considered a spoiler for some.

Over 90 meta is too hard this gen. I think it will settle with 85-88. Like NiOh.

I've got my bets on this, too.
 

Tyaren

Member
Think of the mutual similarities between The Witcher 3 and AC2. The quest diversity and writing, the traversal, the RPG mechanics, the natural open world with towns, that sort of thing.

Once you reach the town Meridian you got to give us (or at least me) some detailed impressions. :) It's apparently the biggest and most impressive town in the game. I hope it comes close to The Witcher 3's lively, freely explorable and interesting towns, like Novigrad or Beauclair. I know Meridian is probably not even half as big (which makes sense in a post-post-apocalyptic, sparsely populated world), but that's alright if the atmosphere is right.
 
What's so great about the story is you got double stories kind of going on. You have all the current Aloy story with tribes and all sorts of cool stuff with her. Then in the background there is the mystery of what happend to the world where it ended up like this. The two plot lines I find equally exciting. It's just good quality sci-fi storytelling with a unique premise that engages me. I just worry about the cast, Aloy is great, not so sure about anyone else. Well the villain looks like
a menacing asshole so that's a plus.
.
 

vivekTO

Member
Melee is pretty easy to use against smaller guys, and yeah no lock on is kind of a pain, I have swung and missed a few times but the majority of the time just attack in the general direction and you will hit the machine. For watchers and stuff I almost go full melee, the strong attack is a stun and then you can do a critical hit which if it kills the enemy gets you more exp. again dodging around is easy to do, roll hit, roll hit.

And yeah it tracks the enemy so unless the enemy turns or moves out of the way you will basically magnet to it.

Great to hear that. its good the lock on or tracking seems to be dynamic and not a hard lock.
 

level1

Member
So, 2 questions:

Does the content seen in previously released videos (story, enemies, environments, creatures, weapons etc) represent the majority of the content in the game, or is there loads of new stuff that we've never seen before?

And are there any large towns with unique architectural styles (maybe being new developed since this is the post post apocalypse)
 

opricnik

Banned
Some people on 4ch played the game and here are some expressions. Game seems pretty mediocre from writings.

>Human AI is atrocious and you spend a lot of time fighting them.
>Stealth is laughable. Streamer was causing explosions and firing a machine gun looking weapon and enemies weren't alerted as long as he was a certain distance away or in a bush.
>Fog everywhere, day and night obscuring objects in the distance, this disappears when you enter photo mode for bullshots.
>Robo-dino hacking is OP and easy to do. If you initiate it mid fight they literally stop moving to allow you to finish, just get behind them.
>Multiple Brom tier cutscenes
>Bow and arrow sounds like you're launching spitballs and will be most of your combat
>Streamer "fast traveled" and it took well over a minute loading.
>Lots of invisible walls in an open world game
 
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