Support NeoGAF

[LordOcidax]

They only exist at the edge of the map, but they exist.

There's invisible walls when trying to go to far, but I haven't seen any for mountains.

Well.. Thats not part of the in game map.... So..

 

[NahaNago]

I've only played horizon but the world is beautiful but it feels meaningless at times. I'm only half way through the storyline but i kinda feel like the world is wasteful i guess. I would have loved it if they made exploring and interacting with the world more impactful like you would clearly remember a settlement/area because of an encounter or a story.

 

[Tyaren]

Did you have played Breath of the Wild?

Did you play Horizon?

 

[LordOcidax]

Did you play Horizon?

I have both games. In Horizon you cant go to the top of every mountain in the game... In Zelda you can. Even in Witcher 3 you can manage to do that (At least in Skellige)

 

[Mupod]

If you just started the story then you quite literally haven't seen much at all of the games content.

well, if there's a second world map or something, then maybe. But I dunno why the trophy for activating all the tallnecks popped up if there's more out there. I was under the impression that once you reached Meridian you could access most or all of the map.

 

[Lonestar]

If BOTW could have Horizon's Combat, Graphical Fidelity and Story; or Horizon have BOTW's Physic Puzzles, interactivity and expanded world design, you'd have one beyond incredible game.

And yes, it was that section of the game. Having to restart it 6+ times was enough. Also, thanks for reminding me of that other section, which felt optional, but also had the same nonsense of "fail and restart all over again."

I played and finished Horizon first, and I've done 2 Beasts (left off on the 3rd) in BOTW, Something like 50 or so Shrines.

 

[Wabba]

Gameplay?.... Are you sure about that?

I meant the combat gameplay. But i would say the regular gameplay also. Zelda has free climbing that is an absolute blast but everything else is not particular fun (okey the shield sliding down from a mountain is pretty cool) . Where Zelda thrives is in the exploration part, (and it is what i use most of my time on). The fights that i have are not the games strong side. I like the Lynel fights the best but even them is not very fun when all you do is dodge and fury rush them until they are dead. What i love about Horizon is the possibility to take out different parts of enemies and for them to behave differently, and for the heavier enemies set up traps before hand. So much variety in the combat gameplay.

 

[Spinluck]

How is it broken? It works on smaller enemies only so it's only really useful early on.

I equipped the stealth boost costume and stealth seems way too easy.

Like enemies literally walk by me sometimes even when I'm not in tall grass as long as I'm crouched.

Of course on bigger enemies it doesn't matter much since they require more than just a stealth attack.

 

[LordOcidax]

I meant the combat gameplay. But i would say the regular gameplay also. Zelda has free climbing that is an absolute blast but everything else is not particular fun (okey the shield sliding down from a mountain is pretty cool) . Where Zelda thrives is in the exploration part, (and it is what i use most of my time on). The fights that i have are not the games strong side. I like the Lynel fights the best but even them is not very fun when all you do is dodge and fury rush them until they are dead. What i love about Horizon is the possibility to take out different parts of enemies and for them to behave differently, and for the heavier enemies set up traps before hand. So much variety in the combat gameplay.

Ok...

 

[RootCause]

Well.. Thats not part of the in game map.... So..

So the same thing you're arguing against Horizon. 😒
Those places aren't part of the map.

 

[VanWinkle]

I have both games. In Horizon you cant go to the top of every mountain in the game... In Zelda you can. Even in Witcher 3 you can manage to do that (At least in Skellige)

I haven't really ventured TOO far into the outskirts of the BOTW map, but how do they cut off the explorable terrain if you can climb to the top of every mountain? Is it all surrounded by water or something?

 

[Deleted member 752119]

well, if there's a second world map or something, then maybe. But I dunno why the trophy for activating all the tallnecks popped up if there's more out there. I was under the impression that once you reached Meridian you could access most or all of the map.

You can.

By saying you've done barely any of the story people took it to mean you hadn't left the Embrace. You just apparently stopped doing story missions after getting to Meridian but yeah, you've obviously opened the whole map.

It's not a huge world by any means, and I like that as I'm not a big fan of traversal. I again enjoy Zelda a lot, but have gotten bored many times when I was just far way from where I want to be. To be fair, that would be true for me in Horizon as well if there weren't so many fast travel fires. I'm just pretty tired of open worlds. Playing ME:A now and looking forward to a break from open worlds/semi-open world and big games in general for a while and focus on some gamerplay driven stuff like MK8, Splatoon 2 etc. through summer along with getting back to some things like Forza Horizon 3, Overwatch, Gears 4 etc. that I've shelved.

 

[Spinluck]

There is more to a game then just exploration.

And there is more to a game than just combat.

There are also a ton of filler enemies in Horizon that aren't fun to fight (human combat is weak, and melee combat is lacking), and a huge world with nothing much to do than just fight.

 

[xxracerxx]

I haven't really ventured TOO far into the outskirts of the BOTW map, but how do they cut off the explorable terrain if you can climb to the top of every mountain? Is it all surrounded by water or something?

Water, sheer drop-offs and unclimbable cliffs.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

If BOTW could have Horizon's Combat, Graphical Fidelity and Story; or Horizon have BOTW's Physic Puzzles, interactivity and expanded world design, you'd have one beyond incredible game.

I had a similar take playing through both the past 2+ weeks. When playing Zelda I wished it had the graphic quality (even if art style unchanged), combat option and engrossing story of Horizon. When playing Horizon I wished the world was more rewarding to explore openly, that their was some kind of flight option when on a peak, and that there were more puzzles.

Horizon sequel can address some of those hopefully. Puzzles easily by having more cauldron type places with better puzzles. Zelda sequel be limited by the hardware graphically and stories have never been strong in the series, but hopefully they can improve the combat some.

 

[PulseMC]

I've finished both games, and I vastly prefer Breath of the Wild's world to Horizon's. Sure, Horizon's landscapes look prettier, but Zelda's felt more alive.

The world of Horizon is good for screenshots, but I don't see myself going back to it anytime soon. I will surely be playing Zelda for many more months, just going around the world and seeing what I can and can't get away with.

 

[Spinluck]

I had a similar take playing through both the past 2+ weeks. When playing Zelda I wished it had the graphic quality (even if art style unchanged), combat option and engrossing story of Horizon. When playing Horizon I wished the world was more rewarding to explore openly, that their was some kind of flight option when on a peak, and that there were more puzzles.

Horizon sequel can address some of those hopefully. Puzzles easily by having more cauldron type places with better puzzles. Zelda sequel be limited by the hardware graphically and stories have never been strong in the series, but hopefully they can improve the combat some.

I can see a Horizon sequel improving quite a lot of things that could make for a truly phenomenal follow up.

This game was a pleasant surprise, but there's a lot more they do to improve the game in between the combat encounters and story.

People may frown on this but I'd like coop.

 

[.Anema]

Horizon is beautiful, but meaningless and blank. Boring after finished it.
Zelda is by far better in every gameplay and design aspect. In a major league.

 

[RootCause]

I can see a Horizon sequel improving quite a lot of things that could make for a truly phenomenal follow up.

This game was a pleasant surprise, but there's a lot more they do to improve the game in between the combat encounters and story.

People may frown on this but I'd like coop.

Coop would be such a waste of resources. Please, no! D:

 

[xxracerxx]

Horizon is beautiful, but meaningless and blank. Boring after finished it.
Zelda is by far better in every gameplay and design aspect. In a major league.

Better even in straight up combat? I find Zelda's combat to be very bland. Sure you can tackle combat in a variety of ways but just going mono e mono is meh.

 

[LordOcidax]

I've finished both games, and I vastly prefer Breath of the Wild's world to Horizon's. Sure, Horizon's landscapes look prettier, but Zelda's felt more alive.

The world of Horizon is good for screenshots, but I don't see myself going back to it anytime soon. I will surely be playing Zelda for many more months, just going around the world and seeing what I can and can't get away with.

Exactly. Horizon is an amazing game, but the world in Zelda.. the freedom the physics are on another level.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

Better even in straight up combat? I find Zelda's combat to be very bland. Sure you can tackle combat in a variety of ways but just going mono e mono is meh.

Agreed. Zelda is much better for the sandbox game lover that likes messing around, finding creative ways to defeat enemies etc. Horizon is better for lovers of more linear games and more traditional combat. It still overs a lot of combat options with the different weapons, traps etc., but not near the level of freedom and creativity afforded by Zelda.

So again, just different strokes. I don't have a creative bone in my body, loathe stuff like Minecraft and love linear, narrative driven games. I still enjoy Zelda a ton (a testament to it's quality), but avoid combat when I can (especially post beating it) while Horizon is one of the rare games I still pop in just to enjoy some combat.

 

[RootCause]

Better even in straight up combat? I find Zelda's combat to be very bland. Sure you can tackle combat in a variety of ways but just going mono e mono is meh.

The ragdoll physics is what makes the Zelda combat fun for me. The actual fights are poor in comparison to Horizon.

 

[xxracerxx]

Agreed. Zelda is much better for the sandbox game lover that likes messing around, finding creative ways to defeat enemies etc. Horizon is better for lovers of more linear games and more traditional combat. It still overs a lot of combat options with the different weapons, traps etc., but not near the level of freedom and creativity afforded by Zelda.

So again, just different strokes. I don't have a creative bone in my body, loathe stuff like Minecraft and love linear, narrative driven games. I still enjoy Zelda a ton (a testament to it's quality), but avoid combat when I can (especially post beating it) while Horizon is one of the rare games I still pop in just to enjoy some combat.

Yup, I bail from most combat right away. Luckily it is especially easy to just book it out of combat situations. It doesn't help that the lock-on system is lacking.

 

[sikkinixx]

Zelda. There is cooler stuff to see and navigating the world is actually fun. not being able to climb is almost a deal breaker in Horizon after playing so much Zelda. Feels incredibly clunklt and arbitrary.

The combat is damn fun in Horizon though. Oh how I'd love Zelda's world to have the Horizon combat.

 

[Raven117]

"World Exploring" in the strict sense of walking around and checking things out? Zelda. By far. There isn't a whole lot of "discovery" in the strict sense of the word in Horizon.

That said...when discussing combat...Horizon IMO does it far better and is more engaging than Zelda.

 

[Spirit of Jazz]

Horizon looks pretty but the open world elements feels like a waste of time for me. I'd rather the whole game consist of linear missions. Zelda on the other hand feels designed around being an open world.

 

[HStallion]

Horizon looks pretty but the open world elements feels like a waste of time for me. I'd rather the whole game consist of linear missions. Zelda on the other hand feels designed around being an open world.

Horizon is one of the few open world games that actually justifies its open world design. Zelda is as well but the game is open world for a reason and it works.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I haven't played enough Zelda to really answer this question.
But I like traversal more in Horizon. I don't think I've ever played a game where controlling the main character felt so good.
I also think the denser and more beautiful world in Horizon makes for more interesting exploration.
However, the feeling of freedom and openness I get all the time in Zelda only comes up in Horizon when I'm at certain spots where I can looks across vast stretches of land.
Exploring in Zelda also is a real challenge, I feel like I'm fighting the environment all the time, which is great.
In Horizon the world isn't a challenge. But I'm also max level with the best armor and weapons and I'm wrecking machines left and right.
Maybe its because of my progress in Horizon vs. Zelda, but the world in Horizon feels familiar and kinda safe, while Zelda still feels wild and unknown and dangerous. I guess That'll change.

I'd still give the nod to Horizon, but then I come across an invisible wall in form of a ledge I can neither climb nor jump on and I just wish I could climb like in Zelda...


Edit: Forgot to mention the paraglider. Whenever I'm on a high point in Horizon I miss this thing...

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Way I see it is even though Horizon is stunning, there is limited interaction with the environment compared to BotW, which is just on another level. The difference is stark, and this adds to the extra gameplay enjoyment for Zelda. It's that Nintendo/Zelda magic and to be fair to Horizon, it's going up against a GOAT here so no shame in coming up short.

 

[ooteeni]

I have finished Horizon rushed through it got bored halfway through. I liked the game but it felt like other games I had played a hundred times before.

When I was playing it all I could think was , 'I wish I was playing Zelda'

 

[Offline]

Is it just me or are these thinly veiled fanboy threads? I've seen Zelda Vs Uncharted 2 times already and now obviously comes the long anticipated Zelda Vs Horizon threads however they always seem to conveniently zone in and only focus on a single aspect of the respective games such as climbing in Uncharted's case and and exploration in Horizons case both which strangely swing in Zeldas favor. I haven't seen a single ''Which game has a better combat mechanic'' thread yet though, hm, it dose seem strange.

I wish I could find a community on the internet that celebrates video games individually without needing to do things like this.

Open world is not a genre, it is a framework, like a canvas or some other base material art is created on top of. Horizon is an adventure game using an open work framework to enable a large scale combat and hunting mechanic. BotW is an exploration game. Of course the exploration game has better exploration. This is why Horizon has better story, NPCs, pacing, and combat.

Horizon is comparable to Red Dead more than anything else. BotW is more like Morrowind or Far Cry 2. They aren't even trying to be remotely similar games. Comparing them is like comparing Street Fighter and Overwatch because they share a player v. player framework.

Why can't more people realize this? =/

 

[a916]

I have both games. In Horizon you cant go to the top of every mountain in the game... In Zelda you can. Even in Witcher 3 you can manage to do that (At least in Skellige)

No you can't. There's certain areas where it warns you you're exiting the bounds of the game.

Open world is not a genre, it is a framework, like a canvas or some other base material art is created on top of. Horizon is an adventure game using an open work framework to enable a large scale combat and hunting mechanic. BotW is an exploration game. Of course the exploration game has better exploration. This is why Horizon has better story, NPCs, pacing, and combat.

Horizon is comparable to Red Dead more than anything else. BotW is more like Morrowind or Far Cry 2. They aren't even trying to be remotely similar games. Comparing them is like comparing Street Fighter and Overwatch because they share a player v. player framework.

Nailed it.

 

[whatever6352]

No you can't. There's certain areas where it warns you you're exiting the bounds of the game.

He did say you can't.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Is it just me or are these thinly veiled fanboy threads? I've seen Zelda Vs Uncharted 2 times already and now obviously comes the long anticipated Zelda Vs Horizon threads however they always seem to conveniently zone in and only focus on a single aspect of the respective games such as climbing in Uncharted's case and and exploration in Horizons case both which strangely swing in Zeldas favor. I haven't seen a single ''Which game has a better combat mechanic'' thread yet though, hm, it dose seem strange.

I wish I could find a community on the internet that celebrates video games individually without needing to do things like this.

Sounds like you're just upset this "fanboy thread" isn't praising your game of choice as much as you'd like.

 

[MTC100]

I haven't seen a single ''Which game has a better combat mechanic'' thread yet though, hm, it dose seem strange.

I also didn't see the "Which game has the more interactive environment" thread yet ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°

 

[Offline]

Sounds like you're just upset this "fanboy thread" isn't praising your game of choice as much as you'd like.

If threads like these are how you consider game should be praised; by belittling and trivializing others using a flimsy pretense that ignores important and often entire aspects of video games selectively then to me you are just apart of the problem. I love Horizon Zero Dawn and Zelda Breath Of The Wild but I've never seen the sense or joy in selectively choosing parts of games and using them to bash other games because let's be realistic here for a second, that is exactly what is happening here.

 

[Wabba]

Is it just me or are these thinly veiled fanboy threads? I've seen Zelda Vs Uncharted 2 times already and now obviously comes the long anticipated Zelda Vs Horizon threads however they always seem to conveniently zone in and only focus on a single aspect of the respective games such as climbing in Uncharted's case and and exploration in Horizons case both which strangely swing in Zeldas favor. I haven't seen a single ''Which game has a better combat mechanic'' thread yet though, hm, it dose seem strange.

I wish I could find a community on the internet that celebrates video games individually without needing to do things like this.

=/

I agree when it came too the Zelda vs. Uncharted thread. Totally pointless and just a filled with too many fanboys. This thread is more justified because they are similar games and both have some of the best open worlds ever created. But in my opinion every vs. thread should be banned. I joined this forum because there was a deeper discussion regarding games and great too see developers sometime comment directly here, but the last couple of months it has been to many vs. thread and way to much hostile fanboy war.

 

[GravityInsanity]

I agree when it came too the Zelda vs. Uncharted thread. Totally pointless and just a filled with too many fanboys. This thread is more justified because they are similar games and both have some of the best open worlds ever created. But in my opinion every vs. thread should be banned. I joined this forum because there was a deeper discussion regarding games and great too see developers sometime comment directly here, but the last couple of months it has been to many vs. thread and way to much hostile fanboy war.

They really aren't.

 

[MegaSackman]

Sounds like you're just upset this "fanboy thread" isn't praising your game of choice as much as you'd like.

He's right tho, seems like Zelda or BOTW fans have the urge to create threads comparing or stating something quite often lately. A new thread has just been opened about how Zelda is the new bar of open world gaming and stuff.

 

[Spirit of Jazz]

Horizon is one of the few open world games that actually justifies its open world design. Zelda is as well but the game is open world for a reason and it works.

There's little environmental interaction and you don't discover anything by exploration; everything's just a dot on the minimap. It matches with the hunting theme but I don't see any benefit to the open world design unless you like doing filler quests.

 

[marrec]

The combat in Horizon is... by the numbers?? What game has combat like it?

It's unique in it's approach to open world combat but doesn't rise above for all it's novelty. I'm finding myself skipping just as many encounters as I did in Far Cry 3 (the last Far Cry game I was able to make it through) or Skyrim, because the combat becomes dreadfully boring after the couple dozen or so hours.

 

[HStallion]

There's little environmental interaction and you don't discover anything by exploration; everything's just a dot on the minimap. It matches with the hunting theme but I don't see any benefit to the open world design unless you like doing filler quests.

For you perhaps but I had a lot of time platforming as even though the game has a ton of handholds to follow, you can actually reach a lot of places without using them at all by just using the movement and jumping mechanics. I had a great time running around exploring the world including random ruins, looking for vantage points, seeing the different robos interacting and so on. I also enjoyed a lot of the side quests even if there was too much follow the trailer stuff. That and the combat and encounters were so great to me just getting to a mission was like an adventure and would constantly get side tracked. The world was fun to wander around in and the moment to moment gameplay is probably some of the best I've ever touched upon in an open world game

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

He's right tho, seems like Zelda or BOTW fans have the urge to create threads comparing or stating something quite often lately. A new thread has just been opened about how Zelda is the new bar of open world gaming and stuff.

It's true though.

 

[Aaronology]

It's unique in it's approach to open world combat but doesn't rise above for all it's novelty. I'm finding myself skipping just as many encounters as I did in Far Cry 3 (the last Far Cry game I was able to make it through) or Skyrim, because the combat becomes dreadfully boring after the couple dozen or so hours.

Well that's just, like, your opinion. Man.

 

[pastrami]

There's little environmental interaction and you don't discover anything by exploration; everything's just a dot on the minimap. It matches with the hunting theme but I don't see any benefit to the open world design unless you like doing filler quests.

Dynamic enemy encounters? For example, I was fighting a Fire Bellowback at night. I chose to fight it because it was alone as far as I could tell. I had done a decent amount of damage to it (destroyed the sack on its back) and the Bellowback was starting to run away. I was about to give chase when 4 Watchers crested a hill to the side, on alert. I guess they must have heard something. I didn't feel like fighting them, so I just hid in some grass until they left (they were part of a different herd). Then I chased down the wounded Bellowback and finished it off.

Or how about the time I heard some fighting and encountered some bandits that had just taken down a couple Grazers. Then a pair of Scrappers came over and killed the bandits. Then I killed the Scrappers and reaped all the loot.

I definitely think Horizon could do a better job of rewarding exploration and providing more engaging gameplay geared towards it, but I don't think it's open world is pointless.

 

[marrec]

Well that's just, like, your opinion. Man.

Absolutely. I'm finding the combat in Zelda much more engaging than the combat in Horizon. It's probably simply because I enjoy the smaller scale engagements that let you experiment with the interactivity of the world rather than the grand engagements that, while can be solved in almost inumerous ways, I always ended up solving with a bow.

It reminds me of the distaste I had for the combat in Dishonored, which could be cheesed quite easily and killed most of my enjoyment of the game.

It's totally a me issue, I'm willing to admit that.

 

[CopperPuppy]

Is it just me or are these thinly veiled fanboy threads? I've seen Zelda Vs Uncharted 2 times already and now obviously comes the long anticipated Zelda Vs Horizon threads however they always seem to conveniently zone in and only focus on a single aspect of the respective games such as climbing in Uncharted's case and and exploration in Horizons case both which strangely swing in Zeldas favor. I haven't seen a single ''Which game has a better combat mechanic'' thread yet though, hm, it dose seem strange.

I wish I could find a community on the internet that celebrates video games individually without needing to do things like this.

This is straight up thread-whining, dude. Don't derail the discussion with this needless argument. Make the combat thread if you want to have that discussion.

 

[Fbh]

Haven't played Zelda yet but in terms of exploration Horizon is nothing special.
It follows the standard open world formula where you are sent to various places for quests (main and optional) with basically no incentive to explore on your own, it's basically another follow the GPS open world game...though a very, VERY good looking one.

I'm still loving the game because to me what it lacks in terms of open world design it makes up with great combat and enemy design, an interesting story with good characters, pretty good side missions, mindblowing presentation and an amazing world in terms of concept (mech animal and tribes and ruins of the modern world, etc) and art direction

 

[The Dude]

Is it just me or are these thinly veiled fanboy threads? I've seen Zelda Vs Uncharted 2 times already and now obviously comes the long anticipated Zelda Vs Horizon threads however they always seem to conveniently zone in and only focus on a single aspect of the respective games such as climbing in Uncharted's case and and exploration in Horizons case both which strangely =/

I'm a fan of both games. I don't live in that silly dramatic world of fan boys and all that fucking garbage, discussions are simply discussions to me. I can love all games in different ways without feeling insecure that others are of different mindset.