Alright! I know Red Dead Redemption 2 is the hot stuff right now, but I don't have the time for such games at the moment.
However, I wanted to play something these late nights, and then I discovered that The Frozen Wilds were on sale. 60 % off! I never got around to it, so I figured this time was as good as any!
So here's the thing:
Back when the original game was on the horizon (all puns intended), I was lucky to get a copy a week prior to the actual release. I played it every night, all the time, and when it actually officially released, I had earned the platinum trophy.
It was in fact the first game I ever "platinumed".
I was wildly in love with Horizon: Zero Dawn. I could acknowledge the stiff animations, and I thought Aloy was kind of bland (albeit with great voice acting, in my opinion). It always struck me more as an action game with RPG elements, yet it made me feel the part of a hunter. Few games actually make me feel the part, and often I just try to optimize the numbers and care little for the roleplaying.
But with all that in mind, I somehow never got around to The Frozen Wilds, not unlike this post which seem to never get around my thoughts about the actual experience... Until now!
1. The Cut
For some reason I feel like this new land was truly something GG cut off from production. It's as beautiful as any snowy area in the main game, but there's not really any super impressive landmarks. However, because it's not that big, and because the terrain is very rough, I found myself running a lot on foot - as opposed to any machines. I thought that was a great way of immersing myself.
I did enjoy the vistas however - I always think this is where Horizon truly shines:
Photo-mode is the bomb in this game!
2. New enemies
Seeing as I had already platinumed the game, I figured I would just start a new game+. I was already level 50, and I had that great armor with a shield. Was that cheating? I don't know. So far as I understand, one can enter The Cut at level 30, and I can see why. I kind of felt like, I was hammering through most of the content - not all, but we'll get to that.
To be honest, I feel like most of the enemies in The Frozen Wilds are pretty boring, and I'm kind of sad that there aren't more humans, but I suppose those aren't any better. I just felt like going stealth in a base of humans is always good fun in this game.
I know that this game is truly original with its robo-dinosaurs, and seeing as the story kind of revolves around the concept of a malware infection, I think it's alright to keep the focus there... Robo-dinosaurs... Anyone remember the leaks from 2014? I truly want to know who pitched the idea for robot dinosaurs, or rather: Who made it work. No way it was a given to begin with...
Anyway, back to The Frozen Wilds:
One enemy, however... The Fireclaw!
My dumb ass didn't really understand what was going on with this guy. Up until my first encounter, I felt like this had been a breeze. Yet, with this encounter I was made blatantly aware of the fact that I hadn't played this game for a while. I wasn't using any of the weapons you're giving through out the story, so I was just going at him like any ol' robo-monster. In my desperation I even went for the spear haha... Nope! Bad idea!
But this is where my love for Horizon lies: one has to understand that the brutal approach rarely works well. It may eventually win you the battle, but it's rarely without the great cost of materials, and certainly your precious time.
Remember, I hadn't played this game since release - in fact I have mostly been playing Monster Hunter, which shouldn't be too far off, yet there's a significant different in these games, I couldn't quite rearrange my mindset.
These Fireclaws are just so quick and brutal. I really like them, and I loved running around, angsty, trying to figure out my mistakes, going in and out of slo-mo, trying to get those pieces of armor off, until eventually it was beaten! Very satisfying.
3. The Story - Banuks are silly
I admire Guerilla for attempting to create all these different groups within the world of Horizon. Banuks are pretty silly though. Their armor looks so bog and impractical, and their language is like bad poetry.
The story was fine though. Ultimately, I did like the feud between brother and sister, but more importantly I thought it was great to see that Aloy is actively trying to convey the truth of the world to the people in it. At least she seems to want that to be the case. The original story is great in the sense that Aloy is trying to discover where she comes from, but instead discovers where everyone comes from - that this becomes a quest by itself is very intriguing. It lends itself to potential themes of the unannounced sequels, such as the fact that such a paradigm shift must naturally have an effect on the established powers of the worlds. Myths, legends and spiritual powers are all of great importance - but what does it mean when those were all lies? Truly, we all know what it means for us in the real world, and we consider ourselves the most sophisticated a civilization has ever been.
Although the story may be best when one chooses to read between the lines a little, it did a decent job of conveying some fun ideas.
The only thing I really dislike is Aloys attitude. I don't understand why she has to scoff or seem displeased in so many situations. Is that suppose to be confidence? That's not my idea of confidence. Eh, whatever.
4. Conclusion
Yeah, I still love this series. Horizon is such a rare treat: It's gorgeous, it plays well, and one can easily forgive its minor issues. It's an epic world with a great theme, and it has god damn robot dinosaurs.
I'm sort of happy I didn't jump straight into The Frozen Wilds when it released; there's always a lot to play at any given time, so to be able to jump back into one of my favorite games of last year, and this generation, only to discover it's still a pleasure to run through, that's really a treat.
I don't like to grade things, but I will say that The Frozen Wilds is a complimentary expansion to an already superb game, and although it's its own story, with its own themes, and not directly correlated to anything from the main game, it's just nice to have a little more Horizon to play!
I can't wait to get a little (or hopefully a lot) more of Horizon in the future!
However, I wanted to play something these late nights, and then I discovered that The Frozen Wilds were on sale. 60 % off! I never got around to it, so I figured this time was as good as any!
So here's the thing:
Back when the original game was on the horizon (all puns intended), I was lucky to get a copy a week prior to the actual release. I played it every night, all the time, and when it actually officially released, I had earned the platinum trophy.
It was in fact the first game I ever "platinumed".
I was wildly in love with Horizon: Zero Dawn. I could acknowledge the stiff animations, and I thought Aloy was kind of bland (albeit with great voice acting, in my opinion). It always struck me more as an action game with RPG elements, yet it made me feel the part of a hunter. Few games actually make me feel the part, and often I just try to optimize the numbers and care little for the roleplaying.
But with all that in mind, I somehow never got around to The Frozen Wilds, not unlike this post which seem to never get around my thoughts about the actual experience... Until now!
1. The Cut
For some reason I feel like this new land was truly something GG cut off from production. It's as beautiful as any snowy area in the main game, but there's not really any super impressive landmarks. However, because it's not that big, and because the terrain is very rough, I found myself running a lot on foot - as opposed to any machines. I thought that was a great way of immersing myself.
I did enjoy the vistas however - I always think this is where Horizon truly shines:
Photo-mode is the bomb in this game!
Seeing as I had already platinumed the game, I figured I would just start a new game+. I was already level 50, and I had that great armor with a shield. Was that cheating? I don't know. So far as I understand, one can enter The Cut at level 30, and I can see why. I kind of felt like, I was hammering through most of the content - not all, but we'll get to that.
To be honest, I feel like most of the enemies in The Frozen Wilds are pretty boring, and I'm kind of sad that there aren't more humans, but I suppose those aren't any better. I just felt like going stealth in a base of humans is always good fun in this game.
I know that this game is truly original with its robo-dinosaurs, and seeing as the story kind of revolves around the concept of a malware infection, I think it's alright to keep the focus there... Robo-dinosaurs... Anyone remember the leaks from 2014? I truly want to know who pitched the idea for robot dinosaurs, or rather: Who made it work. No way it was a given to begin with...
Anyway, back to The Frozen Wilds:
One enemy, however... The Fireclaw!
My dumb ass didn't really understand what was going on with this guy. Up until my first encounter, I felt like this had been a breeze. Yet, with this encounter I was made blatantly aware of the fact that I hadn't played this game for a while. I wasn't using any of the weapons you're giving through out the story, so I was just going at him like any ol' robo-monster. In my desperation I even went for the spear haha... Nope! Bad idea!
But this is where my love for Horizon lies: one has to understand that the brutal approach rarely works well. It may eventually win you the battle, but it's rarely without the great cost of materials, and certainly your precious time.
Remember, I hadn't played this game since release - in fact I have mostly been playing Monster Hunter, which shouldn't be too far off, yet there's a significant different in these games, I couldn't quite rearrange my mindset.
These Fireclaws are just so quick and brutal. I really like them, and I loved running around, angsty, trying to figure out my mistakes, going in and out of slo-mo, trying to get those pieces of armor off, until eventually it was beaten! Very satisfying.
3. The Story - Banuks are silly
I admire Guerilla for attempting to create all these different groups within the world of Horizon. Banuks are pretty silly though. Their armor looks so bog and impractical, and their language is like bad poetry.
The story was fine though. Ultimately, I did like the feud between brother and sister, but more importantly I thought it was great to see that Aloy is actively trying to convey the truth of the world to the people in it. At least she seems to want that to be the case. The original story is great in the sense that Aloy is trying to discover where she comes from, but instead discovers where everyone comes from - that this becomes a quest by itself is very intriguing. It lends itself to potential themes of the unannounced sequels, such as the fact that such a paradigm shift must naturally have an effect on the established powers of the worlds. Myths, legends and spiritual powers are all of great importance - but what does it mean when those were all lies? Truly, we all know what it means for us in the real world, and we consider ourselves the most sophisticated a civilization has ever been.
Although the story may be best when one chooses to read between the lines a little, it did a decent job of conveying some fun ideas.
The only thing I really dislike is Aloys attitude. I don't understand why she has to scoff or seem displeased in so many situations. Is that suppose to be confidence? That's not my idea of confidence. Eh, whatever.
4. Conclusion
Yeah, I still love this series. Horizon is such a rare treat: It's gorgeous, it plays well, and one can easily forgive its minor issues. It's an epic world with a great theme, and it has god damn robot dinosaurs.
I'm sort of happy I didn't jump straight into The Frozen Wilds when it released; there's always a lot to play at any given time, so to be able to jump back into one of my favorite games of last year, and this generation, only to discover it's still a pleasure to run through, that's really a treat.
I don't like to grade things, but I will say that The Frozen Wilds is a complimentary expansion to an already superb game, and although it's its own story, with its own themes, and not directly correlated to anything from the main game, it's just nice to have a little more Horizon to play!
I can't wait to get a little (or hopefully a lot) more of Horizon in the future!
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