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

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.
 

The God

Member
fucking everywhere. is this really a thing now? people are going to pretend like there isn't crazy hype surrounding this game?
I guess it depends on how define "crazy hype", because when you say that I think of something like Destiny or GTA V and I don't think Horizon has gotten anywhere near there.

From an online perspective the game seems to be met with a ton of skepticism. Check reddit or even fucking gaf lol
its what gaf does
clearly you haven't been reading Horizon threads here
 

SomTervo

Member
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.

Nobody is safe from "honeymoon fud" in my experience.
 
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.
 

Elandyll

Banned
fucking everywhere. is this really a thing now? people are going to pretend like there isn't crazy hype surrounding this game?
The game has had a ton of content released for people to judge. Maybe its hype is justified because people love what they've seen/ played at trade shows/ read impressions by gamers and reviewers?

Now maybe you don't see it yourself because you aren't all that interested in an ARPG featuring an heroin in a post apocalyptic world fighting robodinos, with an heavy emphasis on combat, but your 'feels' are just that, and apparently not representative of the consensus so far.

We'll see what happens Monday, but man, the "concern" narrative is still strong even with all these great first impressions and videos floating around.

I knew we'd have a NMS warning too.

Prediction: if the game ends up with universal acclaim, some people who are currently "concerned" will freak out.
 
so to argue that this game doesn't have a special amount of hype, you mention 3 of the most hyped games of the past 5 years

Big AAA games get hype which is the point .
Yes some more than others but as i said that is normal .
For eg Cyberpunk 2077 already has a fair amount of hype and that years out .
Hell you can bet that TLOU2 or the next new IP from ND going to be crazy hype as well.

Any way back on topic looking forward to more impressions from people when they get to part where the game opens up.
 
Nobody is safe from "honeymoon fud" in my experience.

Of course. That's why even though I trust The Lamp and MiamiWesker, I'm being reserved in taking their impressions with assurance and confidence.

All I'm saying is that I won't use that as a reason to be distrustful of them. Because that end of the spectrum is disgusting behaviour.

Trust, but be reserved on positive aspects, especially the ones that has strong likelihood of being less fun over long stretches of a game, and validate stuff said with more impressions/external press preview.
 
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.

Lack of empathy.

Sometimes we forget when we discredit "impressions", what that means is that we're effectively saying another person is untrustworthy.
 

Chamber

love on your sleeve
Every Horizon thread.
mjlol.png
 

Salex_

Member
fucking everywhere. is this really a thing now? people are going to pretend like there isn't crazy hype surrounding this game?
New exclusive AAA IPs gets a ridiculous amount of attention. More so when the game gets good gameplay impressions. Even more when regular people who go to events and play the game themselves leave with a positive impression. This should be common sense.

Trying to compare this to NMS sounds crazy to me. NMS's hype train was formed by promises, marketing, and the press hyping it up as if it was the second coming. That doesn't sound anything like this game to be honest.

I was watching those NMS threads and saw people ask "...but what do you DoOoO?" or "okay but how is the gameplay?" and saw people get angry while bringing up PR quotes of empty promises LMAO.
 
Anyway back to impressions, I'm stuck at work all day so I will be bored at times (schedule seems light today, maybe I can get out of here early). So questions about the first section, about early gameplay systems?

Someone asked about very hard, I am finding it to be perfect so far. I don't have anything to compare it too, I have no clue if I am getting far more resources. I have read that enemies do the same damage as hard so it's not like they have just adjusted damage and called it a day. I have to be careful with every battle as two or three hits will kill me. Health takes a while to find, I have never gone out of my way to specifically get healing herbs I just grab them when they are in my path and it's been fine. Play safe, smart, and it's no big deal. Shards which is like the currency does seem a bit hard to come by as enemies drop like 3 max, I guess selling items is the best way to get more.

The key thing I can say is nothing has been frustrating on very hard YET. Obviously I am still really early and am fighting a bunch of chumps.
 

SomTervo

Member
this isn't a normally hyped game. the hype for this game is off the charts.

It's an exclusive = usually plenty hyped
It's by a studio who developed one of the biggest FPS franchises in history = hype
It has a huge marketing campaign and lots of high-tier press covering it = hype
It has a unique brand and style (even if the name isn't great) = enhances hype
It has robodinos = hype
It's an open world action RPG = hype of the moment

There's no mystery here. No conspiracy.
 

The God

Member
I've read enough to see the game is hugely anticipated on here, the amount of threads made could even tell you that

and in those threads there's a lot of skepticism, concern, and doubt over GG being able to tell a good story, over the game being too "Ubi" or similar to Tomb Raider, or the game being good period. To paint the prerelease as some kind of period of ubiquitous hype is just false.
 
Let's keep this thread focused on gameplay impressions

If you'd like to have a spirited discussion on whether early impressions are or arent trustworthy, you're welcome to start a new thread
 
Anyway back to impressions, I'm stuck at work all day so I will be bored at times (schedule seems light today, maybe I can get out of here early). So questions about the first section, about early gameplay systems?

Someone asked about very hard, I am finding it to be perfect so far. I don't have anything to compare it too, I have no clue if I am getting far more resources. I have read that enemies do the same damage as hard so it's not like they have just adjusted damage and called it a day. I have to be careful with every battle as two or three hits will kill me. Health takes a while to find, I have never gone out of my way to specifically get healing herbs I just grab them when they are in my path and it's been fine. Play safe, smart, and it's no big deal. Shards which is like the currency does seem a bit hard to come by as enemies drop like 3 max, I guess selling items is the best way to get more.

The key thing I can say is nothing has been frustrating on very hard YET. Obviously I am still really early and am fighting a bunch of chumps.

So i take it you not have been in any Cauldrons yet ?
Was watching a stream yesterday and a guy was getting his ass kick in one .
 
and in those threads there's a lot of skepticism, concern, and doubt over GG being able to tell a good story, over the game being too "Ubi" or similar to Tomb Raider, or the game being good period. To paint the prerelease as some kind of period of ubiquitous hype is just false.

This, and the thread is going off the rails. If you don't trust impressions why are people coming here?
 
Thanks for the impressions to those bringing them, and also for the shared anticipation and considered debate for those bringing that.

For the rest ... Yeah.

Side question, but can anyone in the UK recommend a reliable pre-order merchant? Amazon? Game? Looking for day one delivery and no fuck ups.
 
How spoilery are the new vids? Ive watched most pre release stuff but I'd rather not watch the new stuff if it's brand new things.
 
So i take it you not have been in any Cauldrons yet ?
Was watching a stream yesterday and a guy was getting his ass kick in one .

Nope, can't wait to get there. I'm the guy that spent like 15 hours in the hinterlands, the first area is basically enclosed so I cleared out everything before moving on which is basically where I left it. That's my playstyle, others have said don't do so many side quests as it can get repetitive, if that works for you do so.
 

Kazuo Hirai

I really want everyone to know how much more Titanfall 2 sold than Nioh. It was a staggering amount.
What I will never understand are people trying to discredit early impressions as if people who play early are under some spell
For this game, I thought we know why people want it fail and refuse to listen your impression
 
Keep spoilers out of this thread please (gundamkyoukai).

That is a spoiler ?

Nope, can't wait to get there. I'm the guy that spent like 15 hours in the hinterlands, the first area is basically enclosed so I cleared out everything before moving on which is basically where I left it. That's my playstyle, others have said don't do so many side quests as it can get repetitive, if that works for you do so.

Thanks for the reply .
Well i guess you won't be under level with your play style.
 
I believe 'Cauldrons' is still yet an unrevealed feature of the game (was a larger spoiler thread about it the other day). I stopped reading your comment once I came upon the word.

Nah there was a good amount of talk about them in the previews threads.

EDIT people were not allow to show them but a few of them talk about them .
 
New impressions from Musician
After about 9 hours of farting around doing side quests and collecting mats to build bigger pouches n shit, the world is finally opening up from its initial starting point (which is already pretty big)

I stopped right when
you get the ability to program and then ride the dinobots for quicker travel since the fast travel system requires a certain item to use.

Minor complaints -

- I don't give a fuck about what's going on. There's way more dialogue trees than I expected and more often than not I'm hammering the X button to get through them. So far the story really hasn't grabbed me, but then again I feel like I haven't really gotten deep into it yet. Still got the gist though.

- The game needs a lock on when you go toe to toe with your spear. More often than not the camera gets a bit messy in these situations. The bow is fucking sweet and ideal for most situations though, same with the tripwire and trap system

- some of the facial expressions look pretty derpy with some wooden movement to go along with them

8.3434313521/10
But it's very fun to play. It feels great, I like the quest system, skills and leveling. I like the loot and crafting and seeking out certain types of animals and Bots for parts or skins or bones. All of the side quests have been worth playing because they reward you well and lead to interesting characters. It looks absolutely stunning and the music is very subtle and beautiful (Skyrim, Oblivion, Witcher, Willow shit with occasional electronic stuff thrown in).

Just making sure y'all dont think now Im just gonna shit on the game. It's a great game. It just aint the second coming. At all.
 
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.

Great post.

Yeah it is a bit weird, the hype can be fun, I mean we all want great games and we should look forward to them but it really brings out the crazy folk too, with people trying to discredit the game, way more than normal, or at least it feels that way with Horizon.

I've been gaming for long enough to get a good feeling about if I will like a game or not, from watching footage and reading / watching previews and nothing about Horizon is ringing alarm bells that something is really wrong with the game and the positive previews and early impressions seem to back that up now too.

I've seen people say that "even if reviews are good, after a week or two, people will realise the game is bad" makes me wonder how many people actually play games these days and instead just complain on the net. I mean all games follow a certain formula and borrow elements from other games, it's been that way for years and yet we still have great games, so I'm really not sure why people suddenly think Horizon will be different and suddenly become bad after a few weeks.
 
I've been on a huge black out for this game. Keep hearing the term cauldron and no freaking clue what it is. Copy should arrive today. I am excite.
 
Question, can you change difficulty mid game or is it once you've picked difficulty you are stuck with it?

I assume yes, I haven't tried. It would be horrible if you get locked in, there was no warning.

People keep saying cauldron, I have no clue what that is, I figured it's the name of the second area now I guess it's something else.
 

Crash331

Member
As someone who saw the reveal trailer for this game and then kind of ignored it until now, what exactly is this game? Is it in the style of skyrim or fallout or dragon age or far cry etc? Trying to get a feel for how it would play.
 
As someone who saw the reveal trailer for this game and then kind of ignored it until now, what exactly is this game? Is it in the style of skyrim or fallout or dragon age or far cry etc? Trying to get a feel for how it would play.

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.
 
I assume yes, I haven't tried. It would be horrible if you get locked in, there was no warning.

People keep saying cauldron, I have no clue what that is, I figured it's the name of the second area now I guess it's something else.
It is something else. Might as well just let you play and find out about it now though. :p
 

Kumquat

Member
Doesn't have to be trains. It could be leading other machines or people to that giant robot croco or robot bird.

That reminds me of a moment in Black Flag. I was in a boss fight and I had gotten pretty beaten up. I ran across a stream and was hiding in trees to regen health. The boss chased me across the stream and got eaten by an alligator halfway across. Boss fight over. It was glorious.
 

Plum

Member
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.

"Fun little package"

You mean to imply that the game is short? 7/10 trash confirmed :p
 
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