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Horizon: Zero Dawn

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Looking forward to hearing what you think.

 

@Daft was that a cauldron? Great aren't they, a real departure from the outside world.

 

Yes! It wasn't my active quest but I just stumbled across it. It's rare that I get that feeling of genuine discovery in a game and by god does this game have it. Climbing over that hillock and seeing that door carved into the mountain like almost nothing else in the world I'd seen so far, I was utterly compelled to know what was inside.

 

I'm even reading through all the little data info dumps you find. I almost never do that in a game.

 

 

I think I'm a little behind you. I'm not off to Meridian yet but I'm close to setting off.

 

I managed to ride one of the machines and be able to call it back. But now the call back option is gone and I'm not sure how to do it again. Do I just takeover a machine and then ride it with Triangle? Are only certain machines rideable? I super want to ride a Sawtooth.

:grin:

 

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Looking forward to hearing what you think.

 

 

Yes! It wasn't my active quest but I just stumbled across it. It's rare that I get that feeling of genuine discovery in a game and by god does this game have it. Climbing over that hillock and seeing that door carved into the mountain like almost nothing else in the world I'd seen so far, I was utterly compelled to know what was inside.

 

I'm even reading through all the little data info dumps you find. I almost never do that in a game.

 

 

I think I'm a little behind you. I'm not off to Meridian yet but I'm close to setting off.

 

I managed to ride one of the machines and be able to call it back. But now the call back option is gone and I'm not sure how to do it again. Do I just takeover a machine and then ride it with Triangle? Are only certain machines rideable? I super want to ride a Sawtooth.

:grin:

 

I'm looking forward to playing this later on this year. I enjoyed reading your comments about gebuine discoveries and being side tracked from the main quest. This is what continuously happens to me whilst playing Zelda :D

 

I can sense that I am going to enjoy Horizon too!

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I'm looking forward to playing this later on this year. I enjoyed reading your comments about gebuine discoveries and being side tracked from the main quest. This is what continuously happens to me whilst playing Zelda :D

 

I can sense that I am going to enjoy Horizon too!

 

I guess try not to read and see too much. I came to this pretty blind so everything is kind of surprising me.

 

It's also an absurdly beautiful game. The videos really don't do it any justice, especially on Pro/4K. I know it's kind of blasphemous but it makes the open plain in Zelda seem...artificial, like a theme park ride. And I can't avoid the comparison because they share a lot of similarities. But I've only played an hour of BoW so far so that could easily change.

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I know it's kind of blasphemous but it makes the open plain in Zelda seem...artificial, like a theme park ride.

 

Compared to this BotW looks bad...Horizon is absolutely beautiful and I wish Zelda was running on Decima. Can't believe how smooth it is, too...I'd call it an achievement when it comes to game engines and I have only played this for an hour now.

 

Had to get out of the BotW mindset, i.e. stop thinking Horizon gives you the same amount of freedom in your traversal, especially vertical. It took me 2 minutes and now I'm in "Horizon-mode". : peace:

 

Cranked up the difficulty to very hard and my god the combat gets intense...I died just now after I decided to take on a new enemy (forgot the name). Didn't check the surroundings and in turn didn't see that there were a lot more robots...won't make that mistake again :D

Enemies hit hart on the highest difficulty so I will definitely pick my fights carefully until I get more upgrades.

 

Can't wait for the game to really open up.

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Compared to this BotW looks bad...Horizon is absolutely beautiful and I wish Zelda was running on Decima. Can't believe how smooth it is, too...I'd call it an achievement when it comes to game engines and I have only played this for an hour now.

 

Crazy, ain't it?

 

I was at a mates house of Friday as he was showing me the Switch. There were a few of us there watching him play Zelda. He had Horizon sat on his TV cabinet and I told him to open it up, install it and then compare how it looks to Zelda. Needless to say everyone was gobsmacked. This isn't to say Zelda is an ugly game ( not even close ) but GG have done some kind of voodoo to get a realistic game looking this good.

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Aren't Zelda and Horizon have completely different art styles though. I think both look fantastic in their own different ways.

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Aren't Zelda and Horizon have completely different art styles though. I think both look fantastic in their own different ways.

 

Indeed they are, but the level of realism, detail and lighting that is in Horizon, coupled with all the animations, makes the game look the more impressive of the two, IMO.

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This isn't to say Zelda is an ugly game ( not even close ) but GG have done some kind of voodoo to get a realistic game looking this good.

 

Indeed, Zelda on its own is quite beautiful but in comparison Horizon looks just so much better. And having fought 5 enemies at once just now without any kind of framerate drops is a much smoother experience. I actually expected it to be the other way round...Nintendo offering the smoother experience :laughing:

 

I really hope we'll see more games with the Decima engine.

 

Speaking of battles: I just acquired one skill and it completely changed the way I approach battles. Slowing down time for a bit while aiming allows me to actually fight more than one enemy head-on.

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Aren't Zelda and Horizon have completely different art styles though. I think both look fantastic in their own different ways.

I agree with you in a way, and Zelda's artistic direction gives it an edge occasionally. But you can definitely tell it's been held back a lot by technical limitations. Horizon has the advantage of being built for a system deep into its lifecycle, and despite that still exceeds expectations. Whilst Zelda's built for a system which is not only smaller and less powerful, but less familiar too. Also many parts of Zelda seem rushed (textures on mountainsides etc). I say this despite thinking Zelda looks beautiful, and I wouldn't want to see it looking anything like Horizon, yet I definitely appreciate that the latter is visually way more of an accomplishment.

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It's weird to say but it's not really a knock on Zelda. If anything it's just a real strength of Horizon.

 

@drahkon I think I might turn it up to Very Hard, too. I think difficulty really suits this game; I'm going to be hiding in the long grass like it's Jurassic Park.

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@drahkon I think I might turn it up to Very Hard, too. I think difficulty really suits this game; I'm going to be hiding in the long grass like it's Jurassic Park.

 

Do it!

 

Combat is really basic for me right now, since I don't have a lot of skills/options but it's so much fun.

 

My first "real" fight went something like this (wish I could upload the video I made, but it doesn't work somehow):

 

  1. Shot the Blaze canister off a Strider
  2. Watchers noticed me; the remaining Striders ran away
  3. 3 Watchers attacked me
  4. Took down the first one with a shot into its eye
  5. Had to constantly evade their attacks
  6. Shot the second Watcher's body and then beat it to death
  7. And the third one took an arrow to its eye, as well

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It's weird to say but it's not really a knock on Zelda. If anything it's just a real strength of Horizon.

 

@drahkon I think I might turn it up to Very Hard, too. I think difficulty really suits this game; I'm going to be hiding in the long grass like it's Jurassic Park.

I think you mean The Lost World?

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Yes! It wasn't my active quest but I just stumbled across it. It's rare that I get that feeling of genuine discovery in a game and by god does this game have it. Climbing over that hillock and seeing that door carved into the mountain like almost nothing else in the world I'd seen so far, I was utterly compelled to know what was inside.

 

I'm even reading through all the little data info dumps you find. I almost never do that in a game.

 

 

I think I'm a little behind you. I'm not off to Meridian yet but I'm close to setting off.

 

I managed to ride one of the machines and be able to call it back. But now the call back option is gone and I'm not sure how to do it again. Do I just takeover a machine and then ride it with Triangle? Are only certain machines rideable? I super want to ride a Sawtooth.

:grin:

 

Yeah seeing that door blew me away as well, super exciting! I'm also reading all the data, I'm really interested to find out how this world came to be.

 

Completing cauldrons allows you to override more machines but not all them are mountable. It usually says mount with triangle if you can ride them, so far I've found you can ride Striders and Broadheads. If you lose the call back option you will need to override another machine.

 

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Do it!

 

Combat is really basic for me right now, since I don't have a lot of skills/options but it's so much fun.

 

My first "real" fight went something like this (wish I could upload the video I made, but it doesn't work somehow):

 

  1. Shot the Blaze canister off a Strider
  2. Watchers noticed me; the remaining Striders ran away
  3. 3 Watchers attacked me
  4. Took down the first one with a shot into its eye
  5. Had to constantly evade their attacks
  6. Shot the second Watcher's body and then beat it to death
  7. And the third one took an arrow to its eye, as well

 

It took me a while to remember you could actually melee things. I just threw everything in my quiver before I cottoned on. Ha!

 

The Ropecaster is a must buy. It's a lot of fun seeing it pull a creature down. Feels epic.

 

I think you mean The Lost World?

 

Good point. Except I'M the velociraptor in the grass!

 

Yeah seeing that door blew me away as well, super exciting! I'm also reading all the data, I'm really interested to find out how this world came to be.

 

Completing cauldrons allows you to override more machines but not all them are mountable. It usually says mount with triangle if you can ride them, so far I've found you can ride Striders and Broadheads. If you lose the call back option you will need to override another machine.

 

Ah! Good to know. I will be finding a new steed tonight.

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Do it!

 

Combat is really basic for me right now, since I don't have a lot of skills/options but it's so much fun.

 

My first "real" fight went something like this (wish I could upload the video I made, but it doesn't work somehow):

 

  1. Shot the Blaze canister off a Strider
  2. Watchers noticed me; the remaining Striders ran away
  3. 3 Watchers attacked me
  4. Took down the first one with a shot into its eye
  5. Had to constantly evade their attacks
  6. Shot the second Watcher's body and then beat it to death
  7. And the third one took an arrow to its eye, as well

 

Yeah, skills really change up the combat. Hunter reflexes and concentration are good early ones as they allow you to do more stuff on the fly with the slo mo. Slide - craft ammo - aim - bullseye a watcher, feels good!

Tinker is a good skill to work towards in the future.

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One thing that's slightly annoying: You have to have a quest marked as active in order to complete it...wanted to do the Trip Wire Tutorial (make 3 enemies trip) while doing a sidequest...but everytime an enemy fell into the trap it didn't count because I had the sidequest active and not the Tutorial mission.

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One thing that's slightly annoying: You have to have a quest marked as active in order to complete it...wanted to do the Trip Wire Tutorial (make 3 enemies trip) while doing a sidequest...but everytime an enemy fell into the trap it didn't count because I had the sidequest active and not the Tutorial mission.

 

I had that problem, but only for those tutorial quests, nothing else.

 

It is indeed a gorgeous game, especially once you get out of the first valley.

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Just fought a Corruptor for the main quest. Can't get over how beautiful this game looks and how unbelievably smooth it is. I am in awe.

 

The fight was very fun. You really can't go all out with melee. I learned that the hard way :laughing:@Daft I took your advice and bought the Ropecaster as soon as I had the materials for it. Came in very handy during that fight.

 

I think the game will open up really soon and it's pretty exciting :)

 

The story is also very intriguing.

 

Edit: Damn that photo mode...:D

 

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As @Fierce_LiNk would say: HNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG. The fourth picture is now my background on the PS4 menu : peace:

 

Edit²: 5 1/2 hours in and I love it. Upgraded my resource satchel to the max, did a few sidequests, enjoyed the scenery, hunted some animals...so much to do :) No way I'll start the journey to Meridian anytime soon.

Edited by drahkon

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Fuck me, fighting two Saberthooths at the same time is no joke. I made a plan, placed some traps and tripwires and then...they wrecked my shit. :D My plan wasn't particularly good it seems.

 

I think I'll try to isolate one Sabertooth now.

 

Edit: Worked for like 3 seconds and then all hell broke loose again because I made a mistake :laughing: My panic tripwire shooting worked, though...pure luck but I lived ::shrug:

Edited by drahkon

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Override one of them and get them to fight it out. Simple.

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Override one of them and get them to fight it out. Simple

 

I'm not able to override them, yet. :D

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Don't forget to buy the collectable maps from a merchant in Mother's Heart. Alternetively in Meridian.

 

Also there's a free theme and avatar on the store.

 

I had the week off last week so I have finished and platinumed the game, with 98,14% completion(not sure what I'm missing yet). As said before, awesome game, the story was great to the end.

Edited by Tales

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Well I am far in now. What a game! :awesome:

 

The story stuff is great. Real good sci fi. Its surprising they aren't faltering on this stuff. Normally movies and games cop out completely. Even the lore is brilliant. I am glad people aren't spoiling the locations, story etc. :) Its crazy how they got this stuff so right.

 

Hope it doesn't end...

 

The stuff you do after the early areas is even better. Better, tougher beasts. Better locations. Amazing towns/outposts. Crazy graphics, varied sfx (height makes a difference to your thuds when jumping!)etc.

 

I love the combat. This game doesnt suffer from power creep as much as other RPG. Beasts remain challenging and multiple enemies are fun.

 

My tip would be to make sure you hunt natural animals too (fish, rabbits, fox, badgers etc.) to upgrade your bags. There are loads in the early grassy areas of the game. I am nearly maxed out on all and full space for resources is now non issue.

 

Still only done one Cauldron and Long neck... Seems you do not need these for the story.

 

F2I6yLn.gif

Edited by Choze

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So I'm about 50% of the way through now (according to the game anyway) and although I was quietly optimistic at the beginning, it's now really, really great.

 

Open world games are one of my favourite genres and this is definitely one of the best. It's like a blend of Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Witcher 3, Far Cry Primal and The Last of Us. And barring the latter I'm not normally that bothered with video game stories - but this one is actually interesting.

 

The combat is great, though can get messy in close quarters with bigger machines.

 

I don't want it to end. I already want a sequel.

 

Oh, and yeah, it's one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.

Edited by somme

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Encountered two new beasts today. Combat is so intense. When it's an all out fight you only have time to breathe occasionally for a split second...

 

@Choze could you post gifs in spoiler tags in the future? Would love to experience new beasts while playing.

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