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LTTP: Horizon Zero Dawn, AKA Bore-izon Zero Charm

sol_bad

Member
When I played this game it just felt like a third person FarCry Primal with a lot of similar mechanics but a much less interesting story (not to say FCP had a great one). It looked good, the enemy destruction was neat, the exploration was mediocre, but the plot was like something a PC pre-teen came up with in a mandatory creative writing class.

Yeah, pre-teen writing.

 

Three

Member
Massive story spoiler, don't read if you haven't played.

When you really think about the story I do have to say that it is pretty funny that the " ancient machines" that they are digging up is what helped destroyed humanity. Considering Aloy can destroy one of them on her own with a bow and arrow. You'd think more modern weaponry would annihilate them
The machines you fight are not those that destroyed humanity but after the reset rebuilding. The ones that destroyed it were the giant dead octopus structures you see around the map plus the advanced machines the humans had who had turned
 

Aidah

Member
He does have a point though - I don't see how you could complete the game in 16 hours (even by doing only the main quests) without playing on easy and skipping every cutscene. At which point, why even bother.

Eh, come on. No, I did not play on easy nor skip any cutscenes. I even turned off that dumb shit that shows you the exact path to your objective marker. I don't have the game to check the exact time, but it was definitely in the upper teens. I'll tell you what though, good thing it was relatively short, because I wouldn't have finished it otherwise.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
I dunno what it was about this game but it didn't click for me either.
I thought the premise was amazing and I was really hyped for it when it was revealed. Graphically it's beautiful and the controls are fine as well but I got about 10 hours in and was too bored to bother progressing any further.

I'm not a huge fan of open world games in general though. The only two I managed to get through this gen were Sunset Overdrive and Spider-Man. I guess that's just because I enjoy Insomniac games.
 

sol_bad

Member
The machines you fight are not those that destroyed humanity but after the reset rebuilding. The ones that destroyed it were the giant dead octopus structures you see around the map plus the advanced machines the humans had who had turned

Yeah, the big behemoth monstrosities with multiple legs and machine guns, the ones being dug up from underground. My understanding is that they are the machines that are multiplying too fast and are over running the military troops before the apocalypse.
 
I can't escape playing this game. A good friend of mine really, really liked it. Said it was the goty in 2017 above Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Nier, P5, Divinity:OS 2... all of 'em. He bought me a copy and occasionally checks in with me if I've started playing it yet.

Thing is, I have no desire to play it at all. I watch footage of it and I can't get even a little bit interested. I don't like the look of the robots and I think the humans look especially awful. I mean that from an artistic perspective, I realize the graphics are very detailed and impressive from a technical point of view. Other than that gameplay and the rest just looks like so many other games I've played, too many.

But I will play it, because of his gift and strong feelings for the game. I'm just not looking forward to it. Hopefully my instincts are wrong and I end up being pleasantly surprised but, well...that would be a surprise.
 
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Bryank75

Banned
I dunno what it was about this game but it didn't click for me either.
I thought the premise was amazing and I was really hyped for it when it was revealed. Graphically it's beautiful and the controls are fine as well but I got about 10 hours in and was too bored to bother progressing any further.

I'm not a huge fan of open world games in general though. The only two I managed to get through this gen were Sunset Overdrive and Spider-Man. I guess that's just because I enjoy Insomniac games.
Insomniac just gets you going way faster, the city is more open, the combat is faster and it is more.... (I hate this word) accessible.
But I enjoyed them all, they are very different. Both packed an emotional punch although Horizons was less direct but more thoughtful.
 

Roberts

Member
I will give it another chance, but the first 6 hours or so didn't hook me at all. When it comes to these open world games, the thing that motivates me to complete them is the curiosity of exploration. To find you places, meet new characters and discover cool things. In that regard, Odyssey, as a recent example, worked like a charm. For now, HZD didn't do anything for me to want to explore its world.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
Insomniac just gets you going way faster, the city is more open, the combat is faster and it is more.... (I hate this word) accessible.
But I enjoyed them all, they are very different. Both packed an emotional punch although Horizons was less direct but more thoughtful.

Yeah they makes a lot of sense.
When I think about my favourite games they are generally games that are faster paced and more accessible.

I like to get into the good stuff straight away and have little patience for games that take a long time to get going.
 

MayauMiao

Member
HZD is such a pretty game and really made me feel happy of my PS4 able to pull of such amazing graphics. HZD gameplay is not bad either, the action is quite solid, and the upgrade want me want to replay the game after completing it....almost.

Its just too bad the plot and the characters are extremely flat and boring. Everyone seem to be so stiff and robotic (except for Erend, at least he has a sense of humor) especially Aloy who lacks of any charm or vulnerability like a human being it made her felt like a Mary Sue.

After completing the game I felt like I'm done playing the game and didn't even bother with The Frozen Wild expansion.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
I've always wanted to play it but I really don't like stealth games so I doubt I'll grab it.

I despise stealth games. This is my second favorite game of the generation. There’s not much forced stealth. It’s mostly just staying in high grass while setting up traps and then starting fights. And you can just brute force most fights (or all if you lower difficulty).
 
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bender

What time is it?
I've restarted and quit the game two or three times now. There is something very unsatisfying about the bow combat which I have a hard time putting my finger on. It feels like it has no heft. During my first attempt at a play through, I made it past the opening zone and bought a map from a vendor which litters your map with points of interest which is very reminiscent of Ubisoft open world design. It's also a design philosophy which I'm personally against. I can understand destination markers for a main quest line, but marking everything on your map kills any sense of discovery which is what I enjoy most in open world games. I just don't understand why developers are so afraid to let players miss out on content. Most players aren't going to finish your game, much less take the team to seek everything out, so why not leave so mystery? That said, I'm not as harsh on the game as the OP. There is so much love for the game that I just chalk it up as "not for me".
 
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Trogdor1123

Member
I despise stealth games. This is my second favorite game of the generation. There’s not much forced stealth. It’s mostly just staying in high grass while setting up traps and then starting fights. And you can just brute force most fights (or all if you lower difficulty).
I really should just try it I guess. Next time it goes for a good sale I will bite
 
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Petrae

Member
I think you should play more than 8 hours to have a fully cooked opinion on this game.

I loved it.

Holy shit. No fucking way I’m playing any game at least 8 hours if I don’t like the first hour. I don’t owe any video game more of my time if I don’t like it early on, just because it *might* get better later.

WIth so many choices for games out there, if a game doesn’t hook me in the first hour, into the waste pile it goes. Hell— I gave up on Dad of War after less than 30 minutes, because walking and brooding in a God Of War game to me is utterly boring.
 

Nester99

Member
Holy shit. No fucking way I’m playing any game at least 8 hours if I don’t like the first hour. I don’t owe any video game more of my time if I don’t like it early on, just because it *might* get better later.

WIth so many choices for games out there, if a game doesn’t hook me in the first hour, into the waste pile it goes. Hell— I gave up on Dad of War after less than 30 minutes, because walking and brooding in a God Of War game to me is utterly boring.


Your loss,
Those are the two of the best games this generation.
You can't even get though the tutorial in 30 min in modern games.

Do you walk out of movies in the first 15 min as well ?

I get that delayed gratification is a a skill not everyone has, especially in today world.


As i said, your loss.
 

zcaa0g

Banned
Horizon is what taught me to not write developers off. I thought the Killzone series was some of the most generic and boring FPSs history, but then Guerilla totally shocked me with Horizon and wasn't even first person. I put it in the class of GoW and Spiderman as a big win for the PS4 era.

This is what gives me hope about some of Microsoft's game studio acquisitions. Some didn't have the greatest pedigree, but with MS's big budget and some personnel changes, there could be some great changes on the horizon.
 

zcaa0g

Banned
Holy shit. No fucking way I’m playing any game at least 8 hours if I don’t like the first hour. I don’t owe any video game more of my time if I don’t like it early on, just because it *might* get better later.

WIth so many choices for games out there, if a game doesn’t hook me in the first hour, into the waste pile it goes. Hell— I gave up on Dad of War after less than 30 minutes, because walking and brooding in a God Of War game to me is utterly boring.


Then you missed out big time on two very good games. Your loss.
 
The story, in the end, makes sense. It's nothing that will blow your mind, but its reasonably good, nontheless.

The machines AI is great as well as the gameplay, which makes combat fun. I cannot say the same about fighting humans, which sucks very badly. The water being like mercury is also an oddity in such a good looking game.

And I specially disliked that the game gives you dialogue options but the personality of Aloy doesn't change at all so it's pointless, exactly the same as in Assassins Creed Odissey.

I would give it 8.5


What I want for a sequel:

- Boss machines

- More variety in scenaries

- Some good plot twist
And make Aloy more likeable and sexy.


:p
 
And make Aloy more likeable and sexy.


:p



Though eye-candy, it would not be realistic. I mean, we are in a wild environment, with little to nothing technology, brutish people all around, so you cannot expect women (moreover in a matriarchy) to be sexy or likeable. If any, Aloy is too charming and well-behaved, considering circumstances. She should have been depicted a bit rougher.

There is a very nice design in the art-book that would have been perfect. This:

6b605ig40cs11.jpg
 

Ceadeus

Member
The game is indeed very boring. I've quit after the first area of the game.

So maybe 10-15 hours in. Once the world opens, I said to myself... wow, how huge the world is, am I willing to repeat the loop I've been through. Nope
 

MagnesG

Banned
She's not cute, or gorgeous for me you know, and added up with her kinda arrogant personality, I'm not liking that much on her character. Also awkward animations and stiff dialogues is all over the place, not an attractive aspect for a first-party Sony's title.

Still, the gameplay is good, so just braze through the main chaps if you can't stand all the bloats, it's a standard ubisoft-esque open world type of game so what do you expect. Though I'd say for the price of $10, it's worth it just for its unique gameplay alone.
 
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There is a very nice design in the art-book that would have been perfect. This:

6b605ig40cs11.jpg
She looks much better in the concept art and this isn't the first time that this happens.

Chloe (Uncharted The Lost Legacy) concept art:

s7aVyVk.png


I don't understand why they adopt gender-neutral designs at best or make them deliberately ugly (huge noses etc.)

TLOU2 is another example with Ellie (gender-neutral) and Dina (borderline ugly).
 
The one I posted is not Aloy's final design but one of the alternatives they were considering. I'd have taken that one, definitely.

As for Ellie, her design is accurate to her circumstances and personality. Even as a kid you can tell she is a lesbian only by her body language and subtle microgestures, to me she is exceptionally well-made unlike a bland-genderless character like the new Lara Croft.


Chloe is a tough one. She is well-explained in the Uncharted Saga artbook and they gave it lot of thought.
 

V2Tommy

Member
Good thread title.

I haven’t played the game but you’re probably right, since you’re describing what mainstream games are like these days.
 
Thing is, I have no desire to play it at all. I watch footage of it and I can't get even a little bit interested. I don't like the look of the robots and I think the humans look especially awful. I mean that from an artistic perspective, I realize the graphics are very detailed and impressive from a technical point of view. Other than that gameplay and the rest just looks like so many other games I've played, too many...

yeah? i honestly didn't think this was possible :) ...
 

Xenon

Member
I tried to play the game twice. The second time it clicked and I got into the resource collection & leveling aspect. But the characters are so dry and not that engaging. Mechanics, graphics, action and world design great, but story, pacing and characters were uninteresting and weak.

It's just one of those games I have to make myself play. I enjoy my time with it, but I cant see it being something I get hooked on.
 

Neolombax

Member
Loved the game. I thought the game had a strong protagonist, the story had me intrigued to figure out who Aloy was and the world origins, the mech designs were amazing I thought. By the end of it, the game does provide the player a lot of options to combat the mechs. My only gripe in this game was that the best equipment was given a bit too early prior to the end of the game, which made it a bit stale for me. I will say the the pace at the start was slow, but it does get more interesting towards the end I thought.
 
I couldn’t bring myself to beat this game after I spent the tutorial hours zigzagging around, picking up sticks to make arrows. A chore designed as a game if you ask me.
 

Elcid

Banned
Game was fantastic, not sure if you played the same Horizon: Zero Dawn everyone else did, but I thought it was great. It did drag at some points halfway through but it picks back up and gets a lot better.
 
yeah? i honestly didn't think this was possible :) ...

Well it was particularly the humans that look appalling, but I'll try to explain my stance regarding the robots a little bit... as a small child, I really loved transformers. Not just the vehicular ones, but the dinobots and other animal based transformers like Ravage and Laser Beak as well. They look like what I would describe as "cool robots." When the Michael Bay Transformers movies came out, all the robot designs were changed from "cool robots" to what I would call "ugly monsters." And I hated it. Well, Horizon's robot designs remind me of those Michael Bay movies.

So I admit I'm carrying some baggage there which skews my take on the robots, but that's the reason they look so unappealing to me. Hopefully as I play through the game I grow to like them.
 
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