• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

I kinda hate combat in Horizon. What are critically acclaimed 2017 games that didn't wow you?

Hzsn724

Hzsn724

Member
Nov 10, 2017
1,767
As much as it pains me to say it, out of all the great games this year... Splatoon 2.

It's just more of the same without any real substance. The first game was so fresh. It's more of a 1.5 instead of a true numbered sequel. More guns, more clothing, more maps, just more of the same.

I would have liked some new modes, maybe a more in-depth story mode, or even the option to play as new types of inklings.
 
Prine

Prine

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,724
Osiris397

Osiris397

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,455
Phantom Thief said:
a) There was a literal topic called 'BotW is a bad game'
b) There is nothing 'obnoxious' about a topic that isn't even limiting itself to Horizon, but is inviting discussion on all games
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That thread 'BotW is a bad game' didn't show up in a search can you link me? I also would have viewed that as unnecessarily inflammatory.
 
Mr. Nice_Guy

Mr. Nice_Guy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,716
BoTW. Combat just isn't fun with a limited cast of enemies and the lack of actual dungeons and a so-so story doesn't have me nearly as excited about it as so many others this year.
 

Deleted member 249

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,828

Deleted member 1635

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,800
The combat never clicked with me in Horizon, but the world, story and amazing visuals kept me playing to the end.
 
Altera

Altera

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
1,963
Mario Odyssey. I feel like 3D Mario hasn't evolved at all since Mario 64. People seem to be fine with that, but I personally want something new.
.

And while not a 2017 game, I can't resist throwing in The Last of Us into critically acclaimed games that didn't wow me. I'm not against cinematic games, but that game took it to an extreme. When people say it's pretty much a movie, they're not wrong.
 
Socivol

Socivol

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,659
Steiner said:
It seams you didn't understand the story of P5 at all. The last dungeon is forshadowed, even before the intro of the game starts. There are tons of other things that forshadowed it. Didn't you see the comments on the right corner of the display after every day, or the changing comments from NPCs in the city, or in some transition scenes. P5 showes troughout the game that the true enemy isn't some kinda bad guy, it is the society itself. Your point about the fights before the endboss are meaningless is true, because it is meaningless. Its impossible the bring real change just by getting rid of one guy. That is not how it works and the game shows that. The whole game is about the society and its problems, so I really can't understand your criticism about the last dungeon.

Yes some text messages are about the same subject and they could get rid of that, but this would not even cumulate to 1 hour imo. The game is dense, because it has tons of story in it. I think your criticism about Haru is overblown, yes she is the least developed character in the party, but barley a character, please.

Pacing is wonkey around summer , but personally it is better than in P4 and esspecially P3, but Persona games are in general poorly paced, due the calandar system, so I can understand this point.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I totally understood the story it just wasn't a very good story and it could have been much more concise than it was. The final dungeon was a slog just like the dungeon before that and the one before that. The game is really repetitive and the story beats are too. The text messages aren't the only times the character constantly say the same things over and over again. A lot of that could have been cut and the summer nothing really happens at all, another area they could have cut for time.What was the point of the school trip? Nothing happens it's just additional events that add length to an already overly long game. It's just way too long and there is no tangible reason behind it except for quantity over quality. The Haru criticism isn't overblown as she doesn't have much character development and by the time you get her the game is about 2/3 of the way done. She doesn't have much development because there isn't much time for her to have much development. I liked the game but it was way too long, way too repetitive, and the story did not have a good pay off to me. I beat it and it's a game I doubt I will ever play again. The beginning starts so strong and then it just becomes such a slog because the story stays stagnant for way too long and the dungeons also overstay their welcome.
 
Asbsand

Asbsand

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,901
Denmark
Breath of the Wild. Now tear me apart, ERA.

I'm probably one of the most enthusiastic Zelda fans I know but for all the things BotW does well, it just misses the mark in some extremely important areas when it comes to what past Zelda games had done to appeal to me. I liked the topic here on ERA about its lack of atmosphere. Insane at first glance because there's most definitely atmopshere in this game, but it's the tone and vibe of this atmosphere that lacks that sense of tension and sometimes darkness that's seen in OoT, Wind Waker and other games in the series. Instead it felt like it was a good atmosphere for a survival-type game where the nature itself really comes to life and I really love this, I just wish it hadn't come at the exclusion of that other sense of atmosphere I'm looking for in a Zelda; that ooze of mystery that scares me as much as it intrigues me.

Then there's dungeons. They're just not interesting in my opinion but they're the lifeblood of Zelda at the end of the day alongside the overworld, which they thankfuly got right.

I'd say I was wowed for maybe 10-20 minutes or so but the honeymoon-feeling with this game wore off way too soon for me and then the rest of it just started feeling like a halfhearted grind to me, and it has the same uncomfortable feeling as ALBW where the more I discover the more some sort of realization is setting in that I'm just exhausting the game from things to show me. Meanwhile OoT, MM and mostly WW left this lingering impression on me despite having seen all in their overworlds that there was more to it under its surface, and I think that primarily came from the context of the story and the sense of weirdness and originality. My dreams would have elements from those games. It's a high bar to set but such is the way of Zelda and BotW just did not do it for me. I felt particularly lukewarm about the game due to having played the Far Crys and Dragon Age Inquisitions and alike so too much stuff like "It's exploration, it's open world, there's SO MUCH CONTENT" just grates on me too quickly. The repeated huge enemies in the game disappointed me quickly as well. I also found Eventide 5 hours into the game and I felt the game can never peak again after that. The constantly ambient music was not good either. This is an open world convention and just like the evened out diffculity for non-linearity compatibility are things I've come to expect from such games. I had just hoped Zelda would rise above it. It does but not enough in my opinion.
 
Edgar

Edgar

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
7,180
Hmm. I might on HZD train. I dont dislike the game , the visuals are nice and the combat is engaging. And its nice to see AAA game with female MC. But maaan, the world itself feels very clean and sterile, very disney like .Everything in the world is too neat and tidy? And the character writing is really iffy. Like moment to moment dialogue doesnt have any flavor to it, it just feels very basic and straight forward. And VA is also hit or miss, and maaan those facial animations and overall cutscene direction is a bit rough. And Alloy, she's kinda a dull person to be honest. Maybe its the flat delivery , dunno.
Maybe its more of a case , what this game offers is completely different from what I want personally . And I am easy to please person when it comes to entertainment, but sometimes stuff just dont click with ya, no matter how acclaimed they are . They just dont resonate with you .
 

Fredrik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,003
Huh, and the combat is the reason Horizon will be on my GOTY list. Traversal feels ancient after BOTW, the world doesn't reward exploration enough and the cut scene animations are rough and Aloy usually looks clueless of what's being talked about. But the combat is god-like! I could probably write a book of all kinds of cool combat scenarios I've experienced. Traps and stealth is my thing and this game makes use of that better than most other games. I'll never forget when I beat my first fire bellowback miniboss by rigging the area full of traps Predator-style before the fight, it was so cool to take it down that way that the game instantly climbed to top 3 on my GOTY list. Awesome awesome game because of the combat!

As for the OP question, not a 2017 game but I played Bloodborne for the first time this year, and it was possibly the most disappointing experience this generation for me considering that many has it as their game of the generation. I just thought it was frustrating, repetitive and simply not fun enough to make me bother grinding to get more skilled. I stopped playing after like three nights and if I had a second hand store nearby I would hand it in without hesitation, but it'll now stay on my shelf as a reminder that I shouldn't blindly buy into the hype when buying games.
 
Steiner

Steiner

Member
Oct 29, 2017
596
Socivol said:
I totally understood the story it just wasn't a very good story and it could have been much more concise than it was. The final dungeon was a slog just like the dungeon before that and the one before that. The game is really repetitive and the story beats are too. The text messages aren't the only times the character constantly say the same things over and over again. A lot of that could have been cut and the summer nothing really happens at all, another area they could have cut for time.What was the point of the school trip? Nothing happens it's just additional events that add length to an already overly long game. It's just way too long and there is no tangible reason behind it except for quantity over quality. The Haru criticism isn't overblown as she doesn't have much character development and by the time you get her the game is about 2/3 of the way done. She doesn't have much development because there isn't much time for her to have much development. I liked the game but it was way too long, way too repetitive, and the story did not have a good pay off to me. I beat it and it's a game I doubt I will ever play again. The beginning starts so strong and then it just becomes such a slog because the story stays stagnant for way too long and the dungeons also overstay their welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I found it was the best Persona story(3-5) and a great story in general. The dungeons were also great, except the 7. and parts of 5. Dungeon, which were a bit tedious.
Still the best the series has to offer. I don't agree with most of your points, like about the schooltrip. I think it was important to show how popular the Phantom Thieves have become and more importantly how the characters are cought up being a Phantom Thieve. So much that they couldn't think or talk about something else, even in that situation. Plus it starts with the story of the 5. Arc.

But that all comes down to personal opinion, so I guess we just have to agree to disagree.
 
1.21Gigawatts

1.21Gigawatts

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,278
Munich
I loved Horizons combat. Its actually my favorite combat system in any open world game.

What bothered me was the climbing, especially in the light of other recent games that gave players a lot more freedom here.

I haven't played a critically acclaimed game this year that I didn't like.
But I am pretty sure I would dislike Assassins Creed Origins, so I am not even gonna buy it.
 
NameUser

NameUser

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,980
Kinda got this way about Mario even though I was really hyped about it. Like BOTW, I know it's a wonderful game, but it just hasn't clicked fully for me. Think it's how they throw moons at you, don't really feel like I'm accomplishing anything which is weird because I don't mind easy games.
 
Assisted Living Dracula

Assisted Living Dracula

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
788
I just couldn't get into Nier Automata. It felt schizophrenic as hell, and the narrative is just not my cup of tea. The combat was fun when you actually fought stuff, but the game kept flip flopping back and forth in so many different directions between nonsensical cutscenes that I just had to give up on it. It just wasn't for me at all.
 
Kuni

Kuni

Member
Oct 27, 2017
307
I know this will be sacrilege for some this is but it's Zelda for me. Love the franchise and certainly enjoyed my time with the game overall (think I was around 80hours in or something) but I found it lacking in numerous respects.

The reasons are pretty much already well covered in this thread among others. But I just felt so much was sacrificed for it's full open ended design nature. Because the devs couldn't predict where you would go everything had to adapt to it, such as worthwhile progression or reward (things like weapons or finding cool gear and so on). I prefer much more crafted experiences. I found the first area actually to be the best bit as it was this awesome open ended yet specifically crafted area with multiple solutions to unique problems but in the wider world it all just became a bit formulaic and repetitive to me. The story was also just disappointing as what was there was decent but to say it was anaemic would be an understatement.

Now I'm not keen on proper open ended games I should add. I don't like other sandbox like games, such as fallout, either. But I know I'm in the minority and most folk love these games and they love this Zelda so I can respect that. I can see the effort and love that's gone into it and Ninty took some big risks so I won't be begrudging it when it wins all the GOTYs. I do think it's worthy but it just wasn't for me.
 
Thatguy

Thatguy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,207
Seattle WA
HZD was certainly beautiful with tight gameplay, but yeah it wasn't that fun for me. I'm also so sick of grimdark post apocolyptic worlds. 8/10 game IMO
SMO was too focused on capturing with not enough raw platforming. Also the clashing art styles were a turn off. 8/10 game IMO

Zelda and Splatoon 2 are underrated IMO
 

Deleted member 10611

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
738
NieR Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn are two games that I think have varied, satisfying combat if you dig deep enough, but never really require that you do so. I know people who played through almost all of Horizon by hiding in grass and just whistling, and people who played through NieR on default difficulty, button mashing. Both strategies in both games will get you through to the end with little trouble, but if you take the extra initiative you will find both games' combat can be pretty incredible at times.

I quickly stopped myself from just using the whistle strategy in Horizon and began planning out my approach to stronger enemies, laying traps, and utilizing my entire loadout of weapons and tools on the fly. It adds a layer to the game that's otherwise missing and it's how I recommend everyone play the game.

NieR is similar in that the chip system really opens up how you approach the game, but is also not necessary to blow through the game (especially on the default difficulty) and there's few circumstances that would force you to dig deeper into the game's mechanics.

Breath of the Wild is without a doubt the game I bounced off of the hardest this year. I love Nintendo's approach to the tower mechanic that plagues almost every open world game nowadays, encouraging you to do your own exploring rather than simply rely on icons to tell you what's interesting or not, but that's about it. The exploration could only take me so far because the things I found were usually pretty boring and didn't inspire me to keep looking. Not to mention the combat is pretty lackluster and having weapons constantly break only made me not want to engage in fighting anything.
 
captainwhat

captainwhat

Member
Oct 25, 2017
43
Nier automata was way overhyped. I played through endings A-C. Kept waiting for it to get really good. Never happened. That hacking was unbearable.
 

Deleted member 3815

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,633
For me it would be Breath of the Wild, it was woefully devoid of the Zelda charm that I loved about the series plus the absent of dungeons really dragged the game down.

Prine said:
The combat is shit though, its outdated. Z lock has no place in modern design. Honestly brought the game down
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

How so, Lock on, locks the camera on the enemy so the player doesn't lose sight of the enemy but also not having to adjust the camera just to see the enemy.
 

Fredrik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,003
1.21Gigawatts said:
I loved Horizons combat. Its actually my favorite combat system in any open world game.

What bothered me was the climbing, especially in the light of other recent games that gave players a lot more freedom here.

I haven't played a critically acclaimed game this year that I didn't like.
But I am pretty sure I would dislike Assassins Creed Origins, so I am not even gonna buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
How so? I haven't finished it yet but I think it's quite awesome, more RPG-like than previously and lots of freedom, great traversal and stealth. I'm positively surprised for sure.
 
karmitt

karmitt

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,818
Mr-Joker said:
For me it would be Breath of the Wild, it was woefully devoid of the Zelda charm that I loved about the series plus the absent of dungeons really dragged the game down.



How so, Lock on, locks the camera on the enemy so the player doesn't lose sight of the enemy but also not having to adjust the camera just to see the enemy.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

And it's funny, cause the FromSoftware games seem to heavily utilize a similar lock on (R3 on PS4) and are praised to no end.
 
Thatguy

Thatguy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,207
Seattle WA
supershort said:
Zelda is a lot of things but underrated is not one of them, it received the most perfect scores of all time
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Thats my point though. It's the GOAT. It's starting to go through the normal Zelda cycle now where its cool to hate on it. But IMO unlike most Zeldas BotW does not deserve the hate cycle. It's OK for a game to be awesome for everyone for all time.
 

Deleted member 3017

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
17,653
Thatguy said:
Thats my point though. It's the GOAT. It's starting to go through the normal Zelda cycle now where its cool to hate on it. But IMO unlike most Zeldas BotW does not deserve the hate cycle. It's OK for a game to be awesome for everyone for all time.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

BotW doesn't have a hate cycle (I'd argue no Zelda games do, in fact...you're listening to a vocal minority of fans that didn't connect with a particular entry in the series). It's a massive IP with insanely high scores across many games, so those who didn't enjoy one of 'em all that much are going to make sure everyone knows about it.

Which I'm totally cool with, so long as your reasoning is sound.

"Nintendo gets a free pass" is not sound reasoning.

The reality is the game is universally acclaimed and is on track to becoming the best selling entry in the franchise. That wouldn't happen if people weren't still loving it. Its sales legs and evergreen status would cease to exist.

So, I agree with others saying the game is not underrated.
 

Samsquanchewans

User Permed at their request
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,257
#NOTJAPAN
Niceguydan8 said:
I really didn't care for Nier:Automata. There were some pretty neat story bits, but other parts were really predictable, the combat was pretty mediocre for what it was doing, the second playthrough was a total slog gameplay wise, and I didn't think the final ending was all that interesting.

It's a game that I'm glad I played, but one that I won't remember fondly.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


This, also have to mention that replaying the game just to unlock some crucial part of the lore does not seem interesting at all. I have 36 hours on PC but i wont be interested in replaying just to unlock ending B. Atleast for now.
 
WeAreStarStuff

WeAreStarStuff

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,223
Washington DC
I'm about two hours into Wolfenstein II and this is the only contender I can think of for 2017. I really enjoyed the previous game, but something is off with the combat here. It's like the game doesn't know if it wants you to do stealth or go guns blazing. It encourages you to do the latter, but you can't because commander's will call backup. Trying to stealth through isn't really viable, and not how I want to play, and holy hell this game seems difficult? I've died a ridiculous amount of times on the first three levels. I'm actually already finding myself frustrated with the game, and have lowered the difficulty all the way down just so I can can get through the story.
 
william_bell

william_bell

Member
Oct 31, 2017
77
I felt the same way about Horizon. I was disappointed about having to use the bow and always having to be stealthed. Sometimes I just like to bash some heads together.

Didn't help that I overloaded myself with side-quests, too, which made me not even want to turn on the game anymore.
 
NullPointer

NullPointer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,172
Mars
Voxels said:
This is one of the many reasons to explore though...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah. I don't get it. They're placed in completely reasonable locations too.

I enjoy little story bits as rewards for exploration. In Uncharted 4 I didn't give a damn about picking up a random trinket #2 out of 30 in a level, but I loved finding the notes and sketches and diary entries and other backstory bits, especially ones that would have Nate or other characters comment on before getting folded over and placed in the ole journal.
 
Zephyrus

Zephyrus

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
313
I wonder what game you guys are playing if you think horizon has bad combat. It sure isn't horizon.
 
ZangBa

ZangBa

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,040
This whole year has been mostly disappointing for me. Besides NieR and Persona 5, I struggle to care about any games that released this year. BotW was just tedious and boring as shit, Horizon I couldn't even muster the energy to watch.
 
Buckley

Buckley

Banned
Nov 20, 2017
487
Samsquanchewans said:
by content, you mean horrible "hacking" sequences that controls like crap. I'm okay, no thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Do some research, maybe? You should be at the end of the game, if you've played for almost 40 hrs already. If you don't like hacking, equip a spear, or modify your chips. Lots of options and lots of new story stuff in B since the duo spend half the route seperated.
 
Jiro

Jiro

Permanently banned for usage of an alt-account.
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
967
Japan
My disappointments of 2017 complete list:

- Horizon
- Nier
- Persona 5
- BTOW
- SMO
- Evil Within 2
- Wolfenstein 2
- Nioh
- AssCreed Origins
 
You must log in or register to reply here.