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

jmaine_ph

jmaine_ph

Member
SlasherJPC said:
Sorry I'm quite in the thread but I'm at work, can't post, and only now at lunch am I able to say a little.

Horizon wasn't a hugely hyped game for me. It looked great and the premises was very interesting to me. That said having played for 4 hours and still in the "intro" area, I'll admit I'm loving it.

Yes the ambient soundtrack and music is wonderful. There was one moment where I was out exploring, turned around a corner and saw a huge heard of beast. It made me stop and sort of have a "oh crap" moment. That's not to say the encounters have been super hard as of yet but strength in numbers, it was still impressive to see as I dived to hide in a bush.

One thing that really sell me on open world's is just a sense of place and environmental feeling and build up. Red Dead was huge on this for me, as was Witcher 3. I don't know yet if Horizon has hit me quite as strong as those two, but it's giving me those similar feels already and hoping the end of the intro area seals the deal and when the game truly opens up.

Anyways, just some more minor thoughts for now. I really just have to play more this weekend!
Click to expand...

So much YES!!!! Thanks for the impressions.

Edit: Also I used your Ants picture on twitter and it got some great feedback. Didn't know it was from you until after and twitter doesn't have a edit button so thanks for the images.
 
jmaine_ph

jmaine_ph

Member
The Lamp said:
For those wondering about how good the side quests are, I have an example I just experienced. It was pretty great.

I was on my way to a cauldron when I ran across some bandits. Didn't know they were until they started attacking me. I defeated them and took their heavy weapon and figured I'd need it on the way to the cauldron.

On the way I find some braves who need help fighting machines because their back up brought the wrong ammo supply box. So I decide to help them.

After some intense fights with my heavy weapon, we notice someone from the group disappeared with some valuable supplies. They ask me to go find him.

I track his trail with my focus and find him not too far away. He explains that he's in debt and needs these supplies to save him from his debtors.

As he explains that, his neck is sliced by a new type of machine. It goes invisible and attacks you with remote controlled bombs and moves like a panther. A really thrilling machine I hadn't seen until just then during this Side quest,

I defeat the machine and return the supplies. Now I'm back on my way to the cauldron, but not without being paid handsomely :)
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
M

More_Badass

Member
SlasherJPC said:
Sorry I'm quite in the thread but I'm at work, can't post, and only now at lunch am I able to say a little.

Horizon wasn't a hugely hyped game for me. It looked great and the premises was very interesting to me. That said having played for 4 hours and still in the "intro" area, I'll admit I'm loving it

...

Snip
Click to expand...
Thanks, added to the OP

Those playing, are the machines seen out in the wild mixed? Like those scenes from the trailer where you'd see a Tallneck, some grazers and watchers, and a Thunderjaw roaming a field.

Or is it more "there are the grazers, there's a strider, a sawtooth is over there, etc"?
 
T

Tyaren

Member
Kinda random question:

Can you repair mounts that were damaged by other machines in battle? Or do you wait till it's done and you get a new one. Kinda cruel. :(
 
G

Glassboy

Member
FunkyPajamas said:
Guys, how does the combat system hold up when facing multiple enemies at once? Since there's no lock-on, I assume that if you get surrounded by enemies you pretty much have to bolt and then attack from a distance. Or can you dodge/melee easily when surrounded?
Click to expand...
I find hand combat useful for the most part. You will definitely use it when the enemy closes in on you. Swing and misses happen sometimes but it's often easy enough to hit your targets because the range on your melee is pretty wide. Dodging is very useful. You will be dodge rolling all over the place in battles especially on the higher difficulties. Also, there is fog present most of the time, but like I said the area seems mountainous and it reminds me of far cry 4. It may be a technical limitation, but I also looks beautiful. I will take the lush foliage and beautiful environments if it means there's gonna be a little fog. It's shaping to be a 40-50 hour game is you want to collect everything. I have no clue about the main story though. Maybe 20-30 hours depending if you fast travel?
 
Gudji

Gudji

Member
GifGafIsTheBestGaf said:
nice, i dont expect any less from the devs that best used PlayGo and other features of the PS4 to it's best even better than ND

how fast from game icon in your ps4 to playing the game?
Click to expand...

I don't have the game. I saw that info about loading in a video, some guy took preview footage and counted the time.

Also if you guys love story, this game has a shit ton of story (
audio logs, books, holograms and things like that
). And yes, the side quests are not just quests like "pick A" or "kill B", there might be some of that, but most of what I saw in a stream it was kinda cool, it's more similar to the witcher than other games.
 
B

Brix

Member
sleepr said:
I don't have the game. I saw that info about loading in a video, some guy took preview footage and counted the time.

Also if you guys love story, this game has a shit ton of story (
audio logs, books, holograms and things like that
). And yes, the side quests are not just quests like "pick A" or "kill B", there might be some of that, but most of what I saw in a stream it was kinda cool, it's more similar to the witcher than other games.
Click to expand...

Who's your favorite Dino so far? :)
 
L

Lord of Castamere

Member
demogorgon said:
thats what i meant. after people played it that changed. but on the reveal it was getting nothing but praise
I see 133 topics from Jan 2015 and older on GAF alone a majority of it being all praise. it changed drastically in Feb 2015 the release window month with 112 topics most of it negative.

Same with NMS that was hyped up like crazy until the reviews and people playing it
Click to expand...

One thing to remember is that it didn't have much footage, and a leak early on that suggested it would be way bigger than it turned out, with physic based puzzles, more half breeds etc. People clung on to that until the last, hoping that the lack of footage wasn't an indication of lack of content. As did I. I wanted it to be good, too bad it wasn't.
 
L

lazyguy

Member
Can't talk about the game yet but i did do an unboxing of the presskit for those who want to see. interview is going up a few days later
 
E

Exquisik

Member
lazyguy said:
Can't talk about the game yet but i did do an unboxing of the presskit for those who want to see. interview is going up a few days later
Click to expand...

Would love to see the unboxing if possible. Also, would you be done with the game in time for review on the 20th?
 
K

KodaRuss

Member
I dont believe I am going to be able to finish Nioh before Horizon gets here. We will see. Might stay up late the next couple nights or something.

Big decision whether to shelve Nioh for Horizon or wait. Of course I will be out of town when Horizon launches as well, every damn time a big game drops I am out of town.
 
M

MasterForm

Member
KodaRuss said:
I dont believe I am going to be able to finish Nioh before Horizon gets here. We will see. Might stay up late the next couple nights or something.

Big decision whether to shelve Nioh for Horizon or wait. Of course I will be out of town when Horizon launches as well, every damn time a big game drops I am out of town.
Click to expand...
No rush. Just get horizon once you're finished with Nioh. Don't ruin one game just start another on launch. What's the hurry?
 
F

FunkyPajamas

Member
Glassboy said:
I find hand combat useful for the most part. You will definitely use it when the enemy closes in on you. Swing and misses happen sometimes but it's often easy enough to hit your targets because the range on your melee is pretty wide. Dodging is very useful. You will be dodge rolling all over the place in battles especially on the higher difficulties.
Click to expand...
Good to hear, thanks! :D
 
S

StrongBlackVine

Banned
KodaRuss said:
I dont believe I am going to be able to finish Nioh before Horizon gets here. We will see. Might stay up late the next couple nights or something.

Big decision whether to shelve Nioh for Horizon or wait. Of course I will be out of town when Horizon launches as well, every damn time a big game drops I am out of town.
Click to expand...

I decided to not even start playing Nioh even though I bought it because there is no way I will finish it before Horizon Zero Dawn releases. And Horizon was my second most anticipated game of 2017 after RE7 so there is no way I am waiting to play it until I finish 70+ hours of Nioh.
 
D

demogorgon

Banned
More_Badass said:
I'd argue most people hype things based on how they look. They vastly outnumber the people who get excited for something just because of platform
Click to expand...
I'm not saying you are wrong. especially here on GAF where the fanboyism is much less, and a big reason why I wanted to be here. but look at IGN or gamespot forums it's all just fanboy nonsense. I still see people hyping the last sorcerer as the best game ever when it was a tech demo not even a game.

Still even with that, there is no denying that on all forums there is a degree of fanboys who are completely irrational
 
zkorejo

zkorejo

Member
Dont they call it Fog of War? If it really is too much then maybe it has something to do with the story?

Then again, Fog Of War... 3 letter word + Of War. Another game added to the list of which games GG copied from.
 
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