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Horizon Zero Dawn |OT| The Land After Time

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rezn0r

Member
Platinum'd the other night but been busy between then and now. What a great game. My only "complaints" if you can even call them that:

Wish there were more cauldrons
Wish there were more tallnecks
Wish there were more hunting trials
[Just make more of everything GG!]
Maybe the menu layout, but really nitpicking there
Was way too easy, especially when overpowered at the end with the upgrades (played on hard, should've done very hard maybe?)

However it was my screw up with that last item - I left most of the cauldrons and trials until the end of the game, and really wish I didn't. Would've been probably much more entertaining and challenging if I did them earlier on, closer to their recommended levels. (yes I know I could've just equipped worse armor or something to make them less easy at that point)

So if someone is for some crazy reason reading all of these posts and hasn't yet actually played through the game, I guess that's my advice up above.

Bring on the DLC!!!!
 

kitzkozan

Member
No shame in that. I play lot of games (namely WRPGs) on easy these days.

That said, for me with this it was just a matter of getting more weapons and learning how to use them. Once I got an understanding of scanning weak spots, using tear arrows to blast parts/armor off robots, using blast sling for damage instead of arrows etc. I barely died on normal. I did die a lot early on figuring that stuff out/getting tips here on the combat. So it wsn't really a matter of getting good as my skills didn't improve, I just got an understanding of the mechanics.

Early game tripwires are your friend, especially the shock ones, as those will down/stun a lot of robots and let you get critical hits in.

I'm playing on hard and I'm not dying often, but machines deal a lot of damage lol. I can afford a couple of hits at most, so I always have to be careful. The trick with machines is to look at the bestiary and analyze them to identify their weak spot and what kind of arrow or bomb to optimize damage output. I think combat with machines is why the game is so addicting for many (along with the story and production values). As I'm progressing in levels, I notice that there's more big ones which are harder to kill.

Tripwires are very good indeed, but I'm loving tear arrows now that I'm facing bigger machines more often. Double arrow shots are great against machines which have big health pools + obvious weak spot like a blaze container on their back. ;)

The upgraded rolls are great, as I find the long version is best against bigger machine which have wider striking arks.
 
I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.
 
I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.

What weapons are you using? And are you switching loadouts based on where you are in the map?
 

danowat

Banned
I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.

What difficulty are you on?

Weapon mods and elemental affects are KEY, if you are trying to do raw damage, you're doing it wrong.

I was in the same boat until I got my head around the mod / elemental system, plus the fact that different bows have specific ammo types.
 

Raven117

Member
I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.

Man, I was in the same boat as you....You really have to start working elemental damage and different weapon types.

Just crouching in the grass with a trip wire and a normal arrow isn't going to cut it.
 
I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.
I think a certain element of the combat requires a certain amount of adapting to a changing situation, especially if you get ambushed by three different types of enemies. Certain enemies require certain tactics and ammo types and pretty much you don't figure them out till you fight them. Once you start working in freeze type, shock type and double stacking precision arrows the early enemies become a breeze and yeah mods help a lot. Scrappers and bellowbacks used to be hard, but not anymore.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
I'm playing on hard and I'm not dying often, but machines deal a lot of damage lol. I can afford a couple of hits at most, so I always have to be careful. The trick with machines is to look at the bestiary and analyze them to identify their weak spot and what kind of arrow or bomb to optimize damage output. I think combat with machines is why the game is so addicting for many (along with the story and production values). As I'm progressing in levels, I notice that there's more big ones which are harder to kill.

Tripwires are very good indeed, but I'm loving tear arrows now that I'm facing bigger machines more often. Double arrow shots are great against machines which have big health pools + obvious weak spot like a blaze container on their back. ;)

The upgraded rolls are great, as I find the long version is best against bigger machine which have wider striking arks
.

Of course, that's why I said trip wires were key early game. I barely used them once I had weapons, tear arrows and more skills unlocked. :D
 
booted this up yesterday. the graphics don't look splendid-spectacular to me, but that's probably because my tv is shit.

in the beginning when adult Aloy is shouting out for Rost, the game was giving me directions about swimming...which I think was a glitch because it's not like I was about to go swimming.

Upon just the first hour of playing though I'm not sure if this is the game for me. There's a lot of stealthy shit involved and I was never really a fan of all that much stealth.

Also similarly to Dragon Age 3 after a while I didn't even know where to go (after trading with the guy who's not supposed to trade with outcasts)

I'll give it another week before giving it back to my coworker. Unless he asks for it back before that.

What kind of tv are you using? on my lg oled it looks better than anything on my any of my gaming platforms, pc included.

1 hour is not nearly enough to judge this game. Keep going for now.
 

melkier33

Member
Having played on hard and very hard I kind of wish the difficulty was balanced better. Very hard had me chugging potions like mad, but I did like that it was harder to remove components and harder to kill things, though at the very end it was still kind of easy. I would have liked it better if the damage you took was like hard but the enemy difficulty of very hard, to keep it a little more challenging but not being so reliant on health potions.
 

VanWinkle

Member
I wish there was something they could have done about the Tallneck thing. There should have been MORE of these guys around the environment, but not as a means to override and unlock more of the map. Just as scenery. But then at the same time, they probably wouldn't want "useless" creatures in the environment. But it's a shame that these big magestic creatures are just alone in five spots on their predefined paths.

I guess, and this is something I haven't thought about until now, I'd like to see them rethink how this world and its creatures operate. I want to see creature behavior that feels more like they're living in this world and less like their a prop in the world for gameplay.

I see this shot in the E3 2015 annoucement video:

dzPtcqc.png


and think, "Man, this is glorious." But where were those things? Where are they heading? Why are they together? Are they always together like that? I'd like to see them think more about stuff like this. Tallnecks are so awesome but in Zero Dawn they feel like just a gameplay mechanic.
 

shiba5

Member
For those of you who have played Nier, how does the combat compare in the fun department? I'm really tempted to pick it up, but I don't know that much about it other than it has really good reviews. Basically, if I adore Horizon will Nier help me get past the fact that, after finishing Horizon 3 times, I should probably play something else?
 

Zackat

Member
For those of you who have played Nier, how does the combat compare in the fun department? I'm really tempted to pick it up, but I don't know that much about it other than it has really good reviews. Basically, if I adore Horizon will Nier help me get past the fact that, after finishing Horizon 3 times, I should probably play something else?

it is fun, though I do find the gun to be a little OP.

you can do some really cool stuff though, and it feels great to play. the story in the game is way better than I was expecting. The dodge/evade mechanic feels good, like it might be my favorite implementation of it in a game I have played.

Launching enemies up into the air and slashing them to pieces will never not be fun to me though.
 
For those of you who have played Nier, how does the combat compare in the fun department? I'm really tempted to pick it up, but I don't know that much about it other than it has really good reviews. Basically, if I adore Horizon will Nier help me get past the fact that, after finishing Horizon 3 times, I should probably play something else?
For me, horizon is a vastly superior game in every aspect (except maybe music). I find it hard to go back to nier after playing horizon, it just feels like a huge step backwards.
 

mokeyjoe

Member
I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.

Have you bought new weapons, and have you modded them? They make all the difference - levelling up only affects health - if you're not dealing out the damage then you need to look at your weapons.
 
and think, "Man, this is glorious." But where were those things? Where are they heading? Why are they together? Are they always together like that? I'd like to see them think more about stuff like this. Tallnecks are so awesome but in Zero Dawn they feel like just a gameplay mechanic.

That's what happens when you have a really cool concept, but eventually you have to turn that concept into a game. That E3 demo was clearly made before a lot of the gameplay mechanics were solidified. Tallnecks probably weren't some giant map vendor at the time.

I agree, they're pretty awesome and I wish they could have been used for something other than a mobile Ubisoft tower.

I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.

Always focus scan enemies before engaging so the weakpoints are highlighted. Get the skills that allow you to go into slow motion when jumping or sliding. Then jump or slide in combat to get an edge when aiming for weakpoints. Also, get teh skill that allows you to double\triple up on arrows for maximum damage.
 
Which is why I think it is a glitch.


It's completely optional but it's pretty easy to tell that that's the way the game is meant to be played, what with the whole square button being dedicated to crouching and the tall grass and shit.

It's also really difficult to go in guns bow and arrows blazing all the time with all these machines after you.

I guess i'll have to check it out tonight

Meh, I've fought pretty much every dinobot I come across and have died maybe once. You really don't have to go stealthmode to win.
 

shiba5

Member
it is fun, though I do find the gun to be a little OP.

you can do some really cool stuff though, and it feels great to play. the story in the game is way better than I was expecting. The dodge/evade mechanic feels good, like it might be my favorite implementation of it in a game I have played.

Launching enemies up into the air and slashing them to pieces will never not be fun to me though.

For me, horizon is a vastly superior game in every aspect (except maybe music). I find it hard to go back to nier after playing horizon, it just feels like a huge step backwards.

thisisneogaf.gif

LOL
I don't know what to do now.
 
thisisneogaf.gif

LOL
I don't know what to do now.

Haven't you played Platinum games before? I understand that Nier is more like an RPG than those games but the style and combat is pretty similar. Other than that it seems it has a cool weird story than most people dig so, if you like that, go on.

I don't like Platinum and most of what I've seen doesn't appeal me so I won't bother.
 

Neoweee

Member
Was way too easy, especially when overpowered at the end with the upgrades (played on hard, should've done very hard maybe?)

Very Hard is also straight-forward for most of the content, but hard and a total jankfest in some of the optional content.

(2 of the 5 Trial Grounds were kind of frustrating and felt like RNG hell as to what enemies would aggro during a fight and charge from off-screen for a 1-hit-kill)

(High-level Corrupted Zones are generally pretty hard, but will probably be easier once I have some more Very Rare gems in all my weapons).
 

Lingitiz

Member
I'm just starting the Grave Hoard Mission. Haven't done the Erend mission. How far am I?

So far I haven't felt this game super click with me yet but I still feel really early in. There have been moments where the combat felt just right, but others where i'm just getting bodied and fumbling may way though. Also not a fan of the big exposition dumps of everything through audio logs and datapads.

Was anyone in a similar boat with this game? I'm asking because I see a lot of effusive praise for it from moment one of the game, and it's just not doing that for me. But I'm hoping it'll all come together soon.
 

krae_man

Member
I'm level 18 and no longer enjoying the game at all. I feel completely underpowered vs every thing that is not a watcher. If I kill one machine then 5 others in the area start lighting me up and 2 shot me. None of my weapons do shit for damage and I'm getting ganged up on so fast it's impossible to even have time to focus on any of their "weak" spots.

Do you have the whistle power?

That is OP as fuck and can be used to think herds down considerably if you take your time.
 
thisisneogaf.gif

LOL
I don't know what to do now.
Do you love anime and japanese things? If yes, then you are likely to enjoy the game. Personally I can't enjoy emo characters and convoluted plotlines anymore. Nier really reminds me of evangelion which I liked back in the days but I wouldn't like it now.

Also may I recommend zelda. Lol
 
I can't wait until we have AR like the Focus. Anyone else think it directly taps into the visual cortex to show only the user what they are seeing so seamlessly onto the real world?
 

Zackat

Member
I can't wait until we have AR like the Focus. Anyone else think it directly taps into the visual cortex to show only the user what they are seeing so seamlessly onto the real world?

that would make more sense if it was on the back of the head. though I suppose it is all relative at the point of tech they were at.
 

VanWinkle

Member
Watching the E3 2015 video, and MAN, I wish they were able to retain the stealth grass they had back then. It had way better collision detection and it ACTUALLY hid you. Was probably too resource-intensive, though, if I had to guess.

wK0GILE.gif


Also wish they had been able to keep that ground-level fog. Looks amazing.
 
Watching the E3 2015 video, and MAN, I wish they were able to retain the stealth grass they had back then. It had way better collision detection and it ACTUALLY hid you. Was probably too resource-intensive, though, if I had to guess.

http://i.imgur.com/wK0GILE.gif[img]

Also wish they had been able to keep that ground-level fog. Looks amazing.[/QUOTE]
Damn, that looks good. If we had this grass, we wouldn't get that ai thread.
 
I'm just starting the Grave Hoard Mission. Haven't done the Erend mission. How far am I?

So far I haven't felt this game super click with me yet but I still feel really early in. There have been moments where the combat felt just right, but others where i'm just getting bodied and fumbling may way though. Also not a fan of the big exposition dumps of everything through audio logs and datapads.

Was anyone in a similar boat with this game? I'm asking because I see a lot of effusive praise for it from moment one of the game, and it's just not doing that for me. But I'm hoping it'll all come together soon.

Oh.. you should have done the Erend quest before... it's secondary to the story so it'd be hard to go back to it from where you are on the story now.
 

Pif

Banned
I feel this thread becomes more active as people get done with Zelda.

For people doing just that, how does horizon feel to play?
 
Watching the E3 2015 video, and MAN, I wish they were able to retain the stealth grass they had back then. It had way better collision detection and it ACTUALLY hid you. Was probably too resource-intensive, though, if I had to guess.

wK0GILE.gif


Also wish they had been able to keep that ground-level fog. Looks amazing.

If I remember correctly as well there were a few different variations on that stealth grass in that video, whereas the grass in the final game is all uniform. Having it be easily identifiable as stealth grass could have been a big factor in the change as well - making it standardized and red (along with the great lightning bug effect at night) makes it very easy to identify compared to much of the other flora throughout the game. You never really have to guess "is that stealth grass or not"?

That being said, I wish more of the plants in the game had that kind of collision detection. As it is you just kind of clip through them, but to get the rock-solid performance the game has it seems like an OK trade-off.
 

Exquisik

Member
what about fighting multiple bots at once? also...is slowing down time an acquired ability?

Duck, Tuck and Roll. Even against multiples snapmaws, I can defeat them by rolling around and running around to avoid their attacks. Place some traps and tripwires to assist you with the combat. The only time I used stealth in this game is against the human enemy and for the hunter trials.

Press R3 to slow down time.
 

rezn0r

Member
What kind of tv are you using? on my lg oled it looks better than anything on my any of my gaming platforms, pc included.

1 hour is not nearly enough to judge this game. Keep going for now.

I just bought an LG OLED last weekend & this was the first thing I used on it, glorious
 
Ive been playing on a 2014 47" Vizio on a regular PS4 and it looks amazing, would love to see how it looks on a Samsung KS8000 with a PS4 pro
 
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