Is this how you PS4 players have been living this whole time? I love my XBox One, but when Microsoft puts out an exclusive, it’s a dude wearing a helmet. When Sony puts out an exclusive, it’s brilliantly rendered people with genuinely affecting facial expressions, pitch-perfect motion capture and voice acting. Between this and Uncharted 4, I had no idea that video game characters could be so nuanced and fully realized.
Anyway, I spent at least a good 6-8 hours with Horizon yesterday and I’m blown away by nearly every aspect. The gameplay is tight and comfortable from the get-go and combat is equal parts challenging and also very quick to pick up. You’ll feel like a badass hunter from the start, then get smacked down hard and fast by the next big bag machine in the food chain and be reminded that this game plays rough and plays for keeps. Then you’ll learn from the ass-kicking, attempt that beast again and feel like an even more badass hunter for having taken it down with clever planning and well-aimed attacks.
The story so far is fantastic. It starts out feeling like it’s going to be run of the mill post-apocalyptic sci-fi fare, and then keeps throwing in kinks and twists that dispel that first impression pretty quickly. The characters feel real, despite some standard filler RPG dialogues, and Aloy’s shifts between confidence in hunting and tracking and frustration and fear in knowing very little about virtually everything else feels natural and relatable.
Finally, the music. Brilliant. The game’s score perfectly blends a dichotomy of rolling, upbeat piano and strings pieces that convey a sense of wonder and discovery in exploring the game world, and slow, somber laments that make you think of the world that was lost to this one.
Getting deeper and deeper into this game is going to be like getting further into a great book.
Just started this last night. Not going to say I’m blown away yet (seriously, been spending the last couple of months with Witcher 3, which seems about equal graphically and bigger geographically), but am enjoying it so far. But seriously, just dipped my toe in. One thing that drives me crazy is how slow everything is when I scan. Not only movement, but looking around slows down as well. I understand why. I would probably be running around with that thing on all the time otherwise. But I at least wish you could look around with the same speed. Also this game reminds me how much I suck at stealth games. Luckily the lookers or searchers or whatever they are aren’t too hard to kill right off the bat. But I’m afraid I may have wasted one of my skill points on the silent takedown perk, when I have a hard time even getting close enough to one to use said perk. I may have to check to see if I can re-do my skill choices.
Invest in the perk that lets you whistle at them. If you’re hiding in tall grass, you can pile up bodies as they amble in one at a time to checkout the noise.
I was on the fence about getting Wild Lands for either PS4 or XBox One. But a buddy of mine stealth’d me and pre-ordered it for himself on the XBox One. I’m kinda obligated now.
Not yet! My PS Plus sub ended recently, and between HZD, Witcher, and my lack of interest of any of the upcoming free games, I’m saving myself some money for a bit. I’m hoping I can stretch not having PS Plus until at least Destiny 2.
A[quote name=“Dalyn” url=“/community/t/159145/horizon-zero-dawn#post_4241724”]I’m hoping I can stretch not having PS Plus until at least Destiny 2.
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Picked this up yesterday, and have put around 4-5 hours into it already – I’m already like this:
Earlier tonight, I finished the quest where
Aloy tracks down the Scrapper that stole the father’s spear, and I rescued his daughter from being killed by the machines, right before the Proving. Also recovered the hill-lady’s prayer beads and talked the crazy Outcast-guy who’s hearing the “voices” down from the ridge. People in towns sure are assholes to my character, though.
The writing is really damn good. Incredibly beautiful world, and I think what I like about it most is one of the things The Witcher 3 did so well. There’s this very real, very natural, and organic logic to the connections between the geography, the cultures, and the interactions between those cultures. It’s all exceedingly well-thought-out. The world is wholly believable, and feels like it has formed naturally over a very, very long time. It doesn’t feel like some writers just came up with random ideas and randomly plopped them into the world.
Didn’t expect this plot to already sink its teeth into me. Also, the combat-flow is straight butter. Goddamn.
Also, a quick tip (which plays a huge role in getting one of the major Trophies for the game):
During dialogues, ALWAYS pick the “heart” option if you’re wanting to gather all possible allies for the endgame (similar to The Witcher 3) – if you do otherwise, you risk either alienating or killing certain characters you’ll need at the end.
A[quote name=“D.T.” url=“/community/t/159145/horizon-zero-dawn#post_4241723”]I was on the fence about getting Wild Lands for either PS4 or XBox One. But a buddy of mine stealth’d me and pre-ordered it for himself on the XBox One. I’m kinda obligated now.
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If you set each other’s Xbone as your “home console” then all your digital games are shared and you only need to buy one copy.
APlayed just a couple of hours, and I’m absolutely amazed.
Love that I haven’t encountered any big creatures yet, but the small and medium ines still can kill you if you screw up badly when stalking and setting traps.
I’m chuckling over Erend flirting up a storm to a totally-oblivious Aloy.
Several hours in. So far, it’s like Far Cry Primal meets Boston Dynamics, but there’s a huge indication that in the near future, we’re going to go to the electronics-store next door. I’ve already found some sort of cyber-armor techsuit that I need more batteries to power, which is awesome. The little hints of what happened during the apocalypse you find throughout the tutorial (and then later, when you get to wander around) are incredibly interesting. The actual story is nicely engaging, too; I’m digging it.
I also really appreciate a lot of the feminist overtones the game is presenting, both overt and subvert. Things like not over-sexualizing Aloy’s character model, or having the camera aimed at her butt. The designers seem to respect her as a person, rather than an asset they can sell to teenage boys, and that makes all the difference in the world, here.
(Also, I wonder if Aloy’s Focus-device is, unbeknownst to her, posting her accomplishments to some thousand-years-dead social media website? The $2 wilderness survival-app that the previous owner bought as a total joke is certainly getting a major workout right now…)
Instead of going straight to talk to the old lady I decided to harvest the fire arrow stuff. After getting killed three or four times by the whatevers that ran away and then came charging back I turned it off and went to bed.
I mean, I guess it’s probably just learning curve but am I not supposed to be gathering fire arrow parts just yet?
Machines are supposed to kick your ass. Horizon’s not a run-and-gun type of game and every encounter requires planning and carefulness in combat.
Come back with that in mind and fresh eyes, and it’ll click. Once you get into that hunter mindset and realize that even the horsies in this game can straight fucking murder you, it all makes sense and starts to become super fun.
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