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So I playing Horizon Dawn Zero and it's not aged well

MadYarpen

Member
Combat, lore and the story were really good. That's what kept me playing.

But dialogues, quests, traversal were much worse. I had fun with it once and it is enough.


Although the expansion was better. Dialogues were more interesting, it had snow and Aloy was also a bit different. If you haven't played it I would suggest to try it.
 

dmman

Neo Member
I played it back when it came on out PS4 pro and I couldn't get into it. 30 FPS for a fast paced combat game such as this made the game more difficult for no reason. I dropped it about 5-10 hours in. I recently re purchased it for PC and the gameplay is now a lot more fun with smooth framerates. The story and the worldbuilding turned out to be much more interesting than I initially thought too once I left the initial zones. I find it a lot similar to newer assasin's creed games but it's higher in quality and shorter (which is a win for me). The only thing that's glaring as dated was climbing, the fact that I have to find climbing spots in general exploration is not very 2020. I think Zelda Breath of the Wild did this the best, without making it too easy like in assasin's creed. I hope they improve this in the next game.
 

Amory

Member
Necro-bump but yeah, this isn't grabbing me. I'm not too far in yet so maybe it's just a slow start but I suspect this is pretty much what the game is

As others have said, the world seems quite empty. You have the machines to contend with, plants to gather, and not much else to do. Traversal is stiff, too. You can only climb in spots where it wants you to climb, otherwise you're hopping up ledges and trying to strategically fall down low cliffs without taking too much damage. And when you need to use your...scanner thing...your movement speed slows to a crawl. Why? Just let her move normally ffs.

Combat can feel similarly awkward at times. I know the game is designed somewhat around stealth but when you're inevitably discovered everything gets real chaotic real quick. I like the way the machines move and attack, they feel dangerous and they should. But in a game where combat centers on lining up well-placed shots, it quickly devolves into "let me just aim at center mass and shoot this thing as many times as i have to while dodging".

Crafting is kind of a pain too. Arrows constantly need to be restocked and as you get more advanced bows, arrow crafting requires a bunch of rare resources that you have to track down just to be able to shoot stuff.

I don't mean to totally shit on the game. Aloy is a likeable character, the setting and plot are intriguing and the environments are gorgeous. I will keep going with it but it's not what I thought it'd be so far.
 

Sygma

Member
Necro-bump but yeah, this isn't grabbing me. I'm not too far in yet so maybe it's just a slow start but I suspect this is pretty much what the game is

As others have said, the world seems quite empty. You have the machines to contend with, plants to gather, and not much else to do. Traversal is stiff, too. You can only climb in spots where it wants you to climb, otherwise you're hopping up ledges and trying to strategically fall down low cliffs without taking too much damage. And when you need to use your...scanner thing...your movement speed slows to a crawl. Why? Just let her move normally ffs.

Combat can feel similarly awkward at times. I know the game is designed somewhat around stealth but when you're inevitably discovered everything gets real chaotic real quick. I like the way the machines move and attack, they feel dangerous and they should. But in a game where combat centers on lining up well-placed shots, it quickly devolves into "let me just aim at center mass and shoot this thing as many times as i have to while dodging".

Crafting is kind of a pain too. Arrows constantly need to be restocked and as you get more advanced bows, arrow crafting requires a bunch of rare resources that you have to track down just to be able to shoot stuff.

I don't mean to totally shit on the game. Aloy is a likeable character, the setting and plot are intriguing and the environments are gorgeous. I will keep going with it but it's not what I thought it'd be so far.

Horizon's biggest strength is the combat, just forget playing Stealth and use all the arsenal instead. Its based on elemental vulnerabilities, the sequel expands a bit on that. You can go absolutely wild as long as you're creative

For example, tripwires can be used inbetween trees (literally just link them from a tree trunk to another) you don't have to put them on the ground. And then you can lure your targets toward them. Its a very, very small example but as long as you think of stuff to do while wielding a weapon, more often than not you'll be able to do it. Playing it only with the bow and aiming at a weak spot is a huge mistake : you got bows, heavy cannons, bombs, tripwires, traps and whatnot to toy with for a reason.

Go wild, have fun hunting
 
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I never thought it was a particularly great game, but it's weird to say it hasn't aged well. It's not like gaming has progressed significantly since it was released. Monetization is perhaps the biggest difference.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
the combat is fast and deep, but the game fails to show it early so most people just roll around and shoot everything with 100 arrows and complain about it.

Do the hunting ground missions.
 
You unlock more abilities as you progress through the game, so you can kill things in different ways.
I remember feeling awkward at the beginning of the game but eventually I was running, dodging, crafting, scanning, switching weapons like it was second nature.
Game has a really good sci fi story, graphics are very good, performance runs good on an old PS Snore.
I really loved the Zero Dawn.
 
I've tried to start this twice and bounced off pretty fast. Was thinking about another attempt, so I could try the sequel now it's on +, but maybe I'll just skip it and try the new one (although didn't people think it was worse?)
 

Alan Wake

Member
I never clicked with that game but I feel I should give it a second chance. Haven't played it much, and some games takes a few times before I get along with them.
 

Fahdis

Member
One of the dumbest threads on Gaf. If you haven't played half of the game, you shouldn't even have an opinion on it.

"I started playing the game, but I don't like it because... *complaints*..." then stop wasting your time and go play something else.
 

Varteras

Gold Member
Horizon's biggest strength is the combat, just forget playing Stealth and use all the arsenal instead. Its based on elemental vulnerabilities, the sequel expands a bit on that. You can go absolutely wild as long as you're creative

For example, tripwires can be used inbetween trees (literally just link them from a tree trunk to another) you don't have to put them on the ground. And then you can lure your targets toward them. Its a very, very small example but as long as you think of stuff to do while wielding a weapon, more often than not you'll be able to do it. Playing it only with the bow and aiming at a weak spot is a huge mistake : you got bows, heavy cannons, bombs, tripwires, traps and whatnot to toy with for a reason.

Go wild, have fun hunting

This. Especially later in the game and for most of Forbidden West. Traps, tripwires, anything that slows an enemy down, and becoming familiar with what weapons I had to take advantage of vulnerabilities. These were all game changers when I got used to using them. The story itself wasn't bad and I did shed a tear at the very end, but I found uncovering the mystery of what happened to the world to be way more exciting. Sadly, most of it is cleared up by the end of the game, leaving sequels to rely mostly on the events at hand.
 

FoxMcChief

Gold Member
Its open world mechanics were stale before the game even came out. Then there’s the boring combat. And don’t get me started on the acting/dead face characters.

But man, that game sure was pretty.

I’m about to start the second one. I’m not expecting much besides great visuals.
 

Amory

Member
One of the dumbest threads on Gaf. If you haven't played half of the game, you shouldn't even have an opinion on it.

"I started playing the game, but I don't like it because... *complaints*..." then stop wasting your time and go play something else.
So which is it, should people have no opinion on a game until they've played a certain amount? Or should they stop playing as soon as they don't like it?

Personally I can't stand the modern trend of games taking 15 hours to get going. It's unreasonable to expect the player to have that much time to invest before they even know what the game has to offer.
 

Ywap

Member
Played it on PC and i have to admit i loved it immensely. The only minor complaint i had was that conquering bases were a bit dull.

Forbidden and Tsushima can´t come soon enough to PC :pie_drooling::pie_smiling_hearts:
 
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Fahdis

Member
So which is it, should people have no opinion on a game until they've played a certain amount? Or should they stop playing as soon as they don't like it?

Personally I can't stand the modern trend of games taking 15 hours to get going. It's unreasonable to expect the player to have that much time to invest before they even know what the game has to offer.

Here's a better proposition and this isn't to you but these 2 second premature ejaculators who can't take world building narrative rich games.

Stop bitching about the game online with a limited opinion as if anyone will change your mind. You've already made a subjective decision. The better thing to do is have some sense of progression so contextually it makes sense to stop playing if you've given the game enough time. Most games do get better as you invest more time (not always).

What good does it do to come online and talk about the game where fanboys fan the flames to make sure others don't touch it when someone played 30 minutes of the game to not even have any idea of what the game is even about? I can only take opinions like this legit if the person has finished the game or has at least gone through a major milestone where the complaints seem valid.
 

DonF

Member
The game aged in like a week. Literally. Cause breath of the wild was released a week after horizon and made it look ancient. Gameplay is king and horizon all it has for it was graphics.

If you played botw and then played horizon the game feel so bad to play, stiff, clunky rigid. I hated it.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Graphics: Great

Voice acting; Better than usual
Music: Good

Combat: Different to other open world games and I enjoyed it. Fighting Robot dinosaurs and animals was decent and all the things you can do

Story: Meh

Lore: Great idea and different

Missions: Nothing special But some good fun at times
Side missions: Meh
Characters/NPC: Forgettable. Sius? was decent and the mohawk dude.
Gameplay outside of combat: Average

X factor/ Special Sauce: Not really. The games that Santa Monica or Naughty Make are top Quality and unique. I think Guerilla hasnt reached that yet, but was a great effort. Deserves a 8.5/8.9. Needs better NPC’s, side missions, activities. Id say Ghost of Tsushima was better

Tbh, I think Horizon 3 should wait awhile, maybe PS6 and be a huge WRPG ( it would have better combat than most WRPG right away lol )
 

Skifi28

Member
Im having a great time on pc playing as topless alloy
VEbiEm1.jpg
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
I played it for the first time too last year. I posted about it somewhere but yea, I didn't love it but I also didn't hate it. It just felt kind of soulless. Lots of looking for yellow markers and fighting robo dinos. Everything was fine but I dunno, just didn't grab me. I need to finish it though cause I'm still interested in the series and FW is on PS+ now and I'd really like to check that out at some point. I actually liked the characters too and thought Aloy was a good lead, some of the facial animations were goofy but I don't hold it against the game.
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
I finished this game years ago and for some reason I don't want to play the sequel. The same thing happened with Infamous. I think it has to do with their boring stories.
 

ACESHIGH

Banned
Is there a way to start directly with the frozen wilds? Or you have to grind until you are leveled enough to play it?

I thought it was a good game. All these Sony games are good to very good. Fanboys are the problem, they overrate them so much they you can't help to be disappointed most of the time.
 
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Didn‘t like the combat either, I find it quite boring to only defend yourself with either traps or bow and arrows. Graphically it was a very nice game, but the gameplay was too dull to finish it.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Metal gear solid 2 graphics and gameplay were epic at launch. Haven't aged well compared to graphics and gameplay of say MGS5.

There's a million examples.

Sure there’s a million examples if you’re willing to use any ridiculous metric 😂

Even funnier that you’re using graphics as an example, when the PC version was graphically superior to the PlayStation.

Face it, a mediocre game is a mediocre game. Doesn’t matter when you played it.
 
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You know what would make the series more exciting? Playing as the robots themselves. Forget playing as the humans, only complete morons would want to play as a human character instead of a robot dinosaur.
It’s not like the humans in Horizon don’t act like robots already.
 

Kerotan

Member
Sure there’s a million examples if you’re willing to use any ridiculous metric 😂

Even funnier that you’re using graphics as an example, when the PC version was graphically superior to the PlayStation.

Face it, a mediocre game is a mediocre game. Doesn’t matter when you played it.
It really does though because games age and some people don't want to play aged games.
 

Nico_D

Member
It wasn't that special to begin with. I played it couple of years after it was released, finished it and didn't look back. The story had some good aspects but the end "twist" was just stupid and somehow the machines turned magical or something. The open world was liveless (duh) and boring. Especially now that Hogwarts showed a better version of how it's done.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
It really does though because games age and some people don't want to play aged games.

You’re comparing MGS2 to MGS5 which released Fourteen Years later, to explain how Horizon Zero Dawn on PC didn’t hold up compared to when Horizon Zero Dawn launched on PS4.

Sober up a little before replying. You’re out in space right now.
 
Graphics, graphics and oh yeah graphics. It’s not a bad game by any means but just very I don’t know been there done that kinda feeling. Robot Dino’s are cool and all. Oh did I mention the graphics. Sonys motto kill ‘em with the graphics.
 
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