Horizon: Zero Dawn

[Nolan]

Where did you UK folks order from? @Eenuh is going away to Belgium next week and I'm tempted to get this to play whilst she is away.

 

I'm drunk and it's 1:45 in the AM and it just occurred to me, I thought you preferred to purchase games digitally? (I am playing this currently, not just sitting around thinking of you while drunk.....this time)

 

 

Anywho. On the road to meridian it finally hit me. The similar landscapes made me realize it hasn't been since Red Dead Redemption that a game has enthralled me so well. It isn't just the graphics, it is the literal beauty of the land cast before you. And it's something that only RDR has captured before I think. Because despite GTA5 Fallout 3/4/NV Or Just Cause 3 it isn't just graphics and scope of the world, there has to be something more. An intangible heart and soul to the game. I think I already said, but it bears repeating. This is the most beautiful game I have ever exxperienced.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I'm drunk and it's 1:45 in the AM and it just occurred to me, I thought you preferred to purchase games digitally? (I am playing this currently, not just sitting around thinking of you while drunk.....this time)

 

 

Hahahahaha. Post of the week.

 

I do prefer to get games digitally. In this case, as it's only a singleplayer game, it's one of those types of games that I doubt I'll go back to once I finish. I can live with this being digital or physical.

[dan-likes-trees]

Anywho. On the road to meridian it finally hit me. The similar landscapes made me realize it hasn't been since Red Dead Redemption that a game has enthralled me so well. It isn't just the graphics, it is the literal beauty of the land cast before you. And it's something that only RDR has captured before I think. Because despite GTA5 Fallout 3/4/NV Or Just Cause 3 it isn't just graphics and scope of the world, there has to be something more. An intangible heart and soul to the game. I think I already said, but it bears repeating. This is the most beautiful game I have ever exxperienced.

 

Haha, what a post - glad you're enjoying it!

 

I think I'm the only one in the this thread not to be having a similar experience. The praise in here seems more consistent than Zelda's getting over in the Nintendo boards!

 

My experience so far has been fairly the opposite of that. However amazing the graphics engine is, something about the land seems quite unreal, unconvincing, and unimaginative to me, like there's nothing distinctive or new about the art direction. I've also found all the characterisation to be pretty portentously humorless and lacking in character more generally. I'm not latching on to any of the tribal politics, the side quests all seem mundane, and most of all I find Alloy's character to be disappointingly, tediously bland..

 

I think it must be a taste thing because I can see how objectively well made this game is; and the combat is so tight and fun, crafting is super well balanced and the game is amazingly fluid throughout. I'm still sinking in the hours so it's definitely doing something right! (Also photo mode is fantastic). But all said I don't think the game will leave much of a lasting impression on me when I'm done

 

Have you guys felt any of this at all or have you been enjoying the whole experience?

 

and I didn't even compare it to Witcher 3 once! Oop..

[drahkon]

I think it must be a taste thing because I can see how objectively well made this game is

 

Well, that's basically it Objectively it is an incredible game and the rest comes down to taste.

 

I get your "criticism" (or rather opinion) and it is definitely something the devs could improve in the sequel/prequel/DLC/whatever comes next.

 

Personally I enjoyed all the side quests, especially those dealing with tribe politics. I was actually thinking about the quests themselves this morning and they are indeed very samey and I wondered why I never really noticed or cared. I believe it comes down to the fact that I was so absorbed in the story that I never paid much attention to the quests' gameplay. Not sure if that's good or bad

 

Some characters could've used more work, but they still - well - work.

Aloy I found to be very interesting especially when you find out everything about her past. Her story/character could've been more of a focus, though, but that may have distracted from the bigger picture. I liked it the way it was, but I can also see the benefit if it was a little different.

 

In the grand scheme of things everything just works and in my opinion this makes Horizon Zero Dawn an objectively great game.

Whether you like it or not is a taste thing, of course. I enjoyed it immensely and had a lot of fun with everything there was to do.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Haha, what a post - glad you're enjoying it!

 

I think I'm the only one in the this thread not to be having a similar experience. The praise in here seems more consistent than Zelda's getting over in the Nintendo boards!

 

My experience so far has been fairly the opposite of that. However amazing the graphics engine is, something about the land seems quite unreal, unconvincing, and unimaginative to me, like there's nothing distinctive or new about the art direction. I've also found all the characterisation to be pretty portentously humorless and lacking in character more generally. I'm not latching on to any of the tribal politics, the side quests all seem mundane, and most of all I find Alloy's character to be disappointingly, tediously bland..

 

I think it must be a taste thing because I can see how objectively well made this game is; and the combat is so tight and fun, crafting is super well balanced and the game is amazingly fluid throughout. I'm still sinking in the hours so it's definitely doing something right! (Also photo mode is fantastic). But all said I don't think the game will leave much of a lasting impression on me when I'm done

 

Have you guys felt any of this at all or have you been enjoying the whole experience?

 

and I didn't even compare it to Witcher 3 once! Oop..

 

I'm a bit worried that I'll have a similar opinion to you when I get around to playing this. I'm not really interested in the whole tribal theme and robot-dinosaur things don't excite me. But, I hear the combat is great and that graphically it's a stunner. Who knows, eh?

 

Basically, we just want The Witcher 4 and we won't be happy until we get it! (It'll never happen now, booooo!)

 

I've got Fallout 4 to start. I'm half tempted to go with that and then get Horizon a bit later in the year when it's cheaper.

[somme]

 

Basically, we just want The Witcher 4 and we won't be happy until we get it! (It'll never happen now, booooo!)

 

I think I prefer Horizon. Geralt and his voice rubbed me up the wrong way.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I think I prefer Horizon. Geralt and his voice rubbed me up the wrong way.

 

It had a sort of Kiefer Sutherland charm to it for me, so I loved it.

 

What's the rough play-time for this game? Are there many sidequests or can the whole thing be wrapped up in under 20 hours, for example?

[drahkon]

What's the rough play-time for this game? Are there many sidequests or can the whole thing be wrapped up in under 20 hours, for example?

 

Got the Platinum in 30 hours, which involves getting all collectibles, doing all sidequests and some miscellaneous things

 

If you play on easy and ignore sidequests it might be 10-15 hours. Maybe even less depending on how good you are.

[dan-likes-trees]

In the grand scheme of things everything just works and in my opinion this makes Horizon Zero Dawn an objectively great game.

Whether you like it or not is a taste thing, of course. I enjoyed it immensely and had a lot of fun with everything there was to do.

 

That's just it though - being a well made game isn't the same as being a incredible game. Same way a film that's competently shot, edited, with great VFX doesn't make for a great film if it has a weak script and indistinct direction. As I say, I totally get why you guys love it, but for me the generally great gameplay doesn't make up for the general sense of seen-it-before.

 

I'm a bit worried that I'll have a similar opinion to you when I get around to playing this. I'm not really interested in the whole tribal theme and robot-dinosaur things don't excite me. But, I hear the combat is great and that graphically it's a stunner. Who knows, eh?

 

Basically, we just want The Witcher 4 and we won't be happy until we get it! (It'll never happen now, booooo!)

 

I've got Fallout 4 to start. I'm half tempted to go with that and then get Horizon a bit later in the year when it's cheaper.

 

Yeah, ha! That's the problem. The benchmark has been set so high (and to be fair CDPR had the Witcher book series to draw on for it's fantastic lore and characters) that games that use too close a formula suffer by comparison. As an off-topic aside - good article from the other week on Geralt's voice here

 

That said, I think you'll have enjoy this even if it doesn't hit those Witcher highs - by comparison I seem quite negative on it, but it's definitely a tonne of fun. I think mainlining the game might be the way to go - some of the core story is actually pretty good and intriguing; going straight through the main story would be a pretty good experience. Better than Fallout 4 in my book!

[Tales]

It had a sort of Kiefer Sutherland charm to it for me, so I loved it.

 

What's the rough play-time for this game? Are there many sidequests or can the whole thing be wrapped up in under 20 hours, for example?

 

Got the Platinum in 30 hours, which involves getting all collectibles, doing all sidequests and some miscellaneous things

 

If you play on easy and ignore sidequests it might be 10-15 hours. Maybe even less depending on how good you are.

 

Took me a lot longer. 48 hours to get the platinum with 98% completion. I read every document and listen to every voice recorder I could find, upgraded all but one equipment(need rat bones...) and mostly fought every robot I came across just for fun. When someone makes a map guide for the documents I intend to go back and get the game to 100% completion.

[bob]

How do you guys know the play times? Does the PS4 keep count?

[drahkon]

How do you guys know the play times? Does the PS4 keep count?

 

Nope. In this case the save file tells you when you manually load a save.

 

That's just it though - being a well made game isn't the same as being a incredible game. Same way a film that's competently shot, edited, with great VFX doesn't make for a great film if it has a weak script and indistinct direction.

 

Fair enough.

I don't have much of an idea about what good writing is objectively, so I may very well be wrong when I said Horizon Zero Dawn is "objectively incredible".

 

I still love it and I think it's an incredible game :p

Edited March 12, 2017 by drahkon

[Choze]

About to do the final story quest. What an amazing game. The story is great. One of the best game's I have had the pleasure to experience.

 

This engine is crazy even the Cauldrons(Dungeons) have no loading screen. It's crazy how good this Decima engine is. Questing design is insane. I only have come across one quest where I had to pick up stuff (5 items in a field of same items). I think it goes a long way to make the game feel fresh.

 

Compared to say WOW Legion and offline RPG its amazing how this game feels. I really appreciate the time saving stuff. The robots are tons of fun. Ranged combat has never been so good in RPG's.

Edited March 12, 2017 by Choze

[somme]

Nope. In this case the save file tells you when you manually load a save.

 

Ah, I didn't see that. In that case I'm at 38 hours and 75% of the way through.

[Jimbob]

Been having a lot of fun over the weekend with this.

 

Did my 2nd Cauldron this afternoon, been making my way around the map unlocking campfires for fast travel for later. Got most upgrades on the bags, fully upgraded my resource and mods packs as well. I've been quite enjoying watching Sawtooths fight it out among each other.

 

[Choze]

Finished the story. Nice end. Waiting for others to finish before we discuss. I seem to have some extra stuff to do.

 

The later robots:

 

 

 

Feels good when you look back on the damage to the scenery lol.

[Daft]

Can anyone tell me how far through I am?

 

I've just done the story mission in the mountain where you have to climb down that HUGE machine's tentacle arms after you've finished. The last bit of the mission involved watching a holographic roundtable of them talking about the launch centre.

 

 

I'm still really enjoying this. It's thrilling to play.

 

One of my favourite screenshots taken in a game.

 

 

 

And another one I like,

 

Edited March 14, 2017 by Daft

[Hero-of-Time]

 

I seen that pop up in my PS4 activity feed and was like

[Daft]

@Hero\-of\-Time When I took the photo I was like...holy shit. This game is pretty but this is something else. What if I'd arrived at another time of day? What if it had been raining?! Or a sandstorm had blown in? What would every other mission in the game look like at other times of the day?

 

And I had like a mindsplosion that was... this moonrise felt virtually unique. Something so easy to miss that seeing it felt damn special.

 

That feeling was probably helped by the fact that I wasn't looking for Erend, I just stumbled across him fighting some Watchers. The whole thing felt so wonderfully emergent. But it wasn't emergent in the way Witcher 3 is, where the modular structure of missions and quests kind of all interplay superbly, it was because I'm so completely pulled into the world in Horizon that it felt like genuine serendipity that I found him; at that moment, in that place.

 

It's weird. I do wonder how much Zelda will suffer because of my experiences with Horizon. The crappy controls and the weapon durability were big red flags for me but now I think what I might have found magical about it is going to just feel...childish. I'm definitely going to have to play something in between because I won't be able to avoid comparison otherwise.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Daft

[Tales]

Can anyone tell me how far I am?

You're pretty close. Think you might have two or three missions left. In any case, there are 21 main missions. You can check how many you have done in the stat menu.

[dwarf]

I'm definitely going to have to play something in between because I won't be able to avoid comparison otherwise.

 

Play Knack.

[Rummy]

It's weird. I do wonder how much Zelda will suffer because of my experiences with Horizon. The crappy controls and the weapon durability were big red flags for me but now I think what I might have found magical about it is going to just feel...childish. I'm definitely going to have to play something in between because I won't be able to avoid comparison otherwise.

 

Personally I'm looking forward to trying Zero Dawn mostly because of Zelda(and ofc the excellent reception HZD it's getting) - I'm going to be very interested to see what my own perspective might be going the other way round from Zelda to this - but I've still got so much more Zelda before that's going to be the case any way! Really not been on my gaming since it came out.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Rummy

[Daft]

Play Knack.

 

Jesus, no. I need a palate cleanser not an acid bath to the face.

 

Personally I'm looking forward to trying Zero Dawn mostly because of Zelda(and ofc the excellent reception it's getting) - I'm going to be very interested to see what my own perspective might be going the other way round from Zelda to this - but I've still got so much more Zelda before that's going to be the case any way! Really not been on my gaming since it came out.

 

I'm looking forward to starting Zelda properly too. Like I said there are a couple things I simply do not like but hopefully I'll get over them. I definitely get the impression that the good outweighs the bad.

[Hero-of-Time]

 

It's weird. I do wonder how much Zelda will suffer because of my experiences with Horizon. The crappy controls and the weapon durability were big red flags for me but now I think what I might have found magical about it is going to just feel...childish. I'm definitely going to have to play something in between because I won't be able to avoid comparison otherwise.

 

I feel that comparisons will be made, regardless.

 

I only played an hour of Horizon before putting it to one side to play Zelda and in that hour I played I already had Zelda spoiled a bit by what I had done and seen in this game.

 

When I do get to play through this fully, i'm expecting it to completely blow Zelda away. The main issues I had with that game were the destructible weapons, awful story, shoddy voice acting and rather bland overworld. Horizon looks like it doesn't have any of these issues, so it should make for a better game for me.

[drahkon]

When I do get to play through this fully, i'm expecting it to completely blow Zelda away. The main issues I had with that game were the destructible weapons, awful story, shoddy voice acting and rather bland overworld. Horizon looks like it doesn't have any of these issues, so it should make for a better game for me.

 

Not that I think it's going to be a problem for you, but you need to make sure you're out of the "BotW mindset", i.e. understand that it's a very different game. I've read that a lot of people who finished BotW first were disappointed with HZD because of the limited vertical movement and linear story missions. Those people loved the new Zelda, though. Mabe it's a different thing for someone who is quite critical of BotW.

 

(voice acting is shoddy at times, too. Combined with some weird facial animations it can be a bit odd. It's definitely not as bad as in Zelda.)