-
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.
LTTP: Horizon: Zero Dawn, which leaves a LOT to be desired
- Thread starter Deleted member 17402
- Start date
Yea I agree with a lot of what you said, the quests and gameplay never really pulled me in either. Its disappointing because the game looks graphically amazing and the design of the machine-dinosaurs look outstanding. On paper it should have been a game I always wanted yet after playing it for close to 10 hours I just stopped and never had any desire to finish it. I'm looking forward to see what they do with the sequel though, there's a lot of potential for this series to get really good.
OP
OP
In reality you can't really understand what I feel in this instance because your experience lead you to a completely different opinion of the game. The best we both can do is recognize that each of us came away with different experiences, yours more positive than my own. So no, it's not a "hot take," and I've explained numerous times already that it doesn't matter in the case of Horizon how many skills or better weapons I unlocked because ultimately none of it felt consequential or even satisfying.
I honestly think the mobility is my main negative for the game. I really like how Aloy plays and enjoy the combat. I love the world and think it's gorgeous and interesting. The movement and the way you get around that world leaves a lot to desired for me though. It feels like some of the big games of 2017 and 2018 put an emphasis on freedom of movement, such as Breath of the Wild and both Ass Creed games. By comparison Horizon felt very stiff and restrictive. There's a ledge right next to me but I can't climb up to it unless they specifically say I can, and instead I have to walk around looking for the path up they set.
It was a world that I wanted to have the ability to explore much more freely than I could.
OP
OP
Most aspects of the game felt incomplete to me, as I mentioned in the OP. The only things that felt fully fleshed out to me were the visuals and ranged combat. Everything else I kept expecting to get better. I asked myself several times, "why does it feel like I can almost do this but actually can't?" as in the case with designated climbing sections.
In any case I'm happy I completed the game because I have a fully informed opinion of my own, but man am I disappointed. I went in with some pretty good expectations despite knowing very little about the game.
Playing through this now. Finished the DLC and reaching the final stretch of the main path.
It's a very solid game, great even, but really it's a game that more than anything makes me wish for more. It's a great framework and baseline, but leaves a lot to be desired, both in a good and bad way.
A lot of the weapon and equipment feel superfluous, I definitely agree about the skill trees being whatever which you easily max out, lots of the larger enemies are more annoying to tackle than actually hard. The world itself it's quite barren and lacks a lot of meaningful exploration or interaction of any kind. The story is serviceable, but the sidequests and everything are quite lacking. It's very formulaic and lacks any sense of being a living breathing world. You would think exploring the old world ruins would be a major attraction but they're practically nonexistent outside some main quests, which even then are ehh.
Controls are kind of major issue as well, which plays a big part in some of the larger enemies being so annoying. The fact that the camera is up inside Aloy's ass really makes things frustrating at times when they're literally right on top of you. A lot of Aloy's movement/dodge capabilities end up being totally useless against a number of enemy types. As do the use of traps in many cases. They move around so goddamn much even when shocked or pinned down that even with arrow time makes hitting weak spots a real chore and not an actual engaging challenge. The fact that lots of terrain, objects and even enemy parts in the world have invisible areas around them that your arrows hit is a huge fucking annoyance. The number of times I was aiming right at an enemy weak spot only to hit the invisible area around a tree trunk was one too many times.
It's a game I really like, but can't help but see how much better it could be when I'm playing, which is not the best. I really hope they come out with a sequel that builds off this foundation and improves in those problem areas and ones that are lacking as there's so much more than can be done.
The game world is gorgeous, character designs and diversity is mostly great, though a number of characters are really terrible looking and the Oseram as a whole are just fucking trash looking. But technically it's a great looking game with really strong art direction for the most part. Surprised to find a lot of technical glitches in the game, loading whole assets and texture popin a ton. Weird things like Campfires placed inside things like trees and other odd anomalies like that, but nothing game breaking or ruining.
It's a very solid game, great even, but really it's a game that more than anything makes me wish for more. It's a great framework and baseline, but leaves a lot to be desired, both in a good and bad way.
A lot of the weapon and equipment feel superfluous, I definitely agree about the skill trees being whatever which you easily max out, lots of the larger enemies are more annoying to tackle than actually hard. The world itself it's quite barren and lacks a lot of meaningful exploration or interaction of any kind. The story is serviceable, but the sidequests and everything are quite lacking. It's very formulaic and lacks any sense of being a living breathing world. You would think exploring the old world ruins would be a major attraction but they're practically nonexistent outside some main quests, which even then are ehh.
Controls are kind of major issue as well, which plays a big part in some of the larger enemies being so annoying. The fact that the camera is up inside Aloy's ass really makes things frustrating at times when they're literally right on top of you. A lot of Aloy's movement/dodge capabilities end up being totally useless against a number of enemy types. As do the use of traps in many cases. They move around so goddamn much even when shocked or pinned down that even with arrow time makes hitting weak spots a real chore and not an actual engaging challenge. The fact that lots of terrain, objects and even enemy parts in the world have invisible areas around them that your arrows hit is a huge fucking annoyance. The number of times I was aiming right at an enemy weak spot only to hit the invisible area around a tree trunk was one too many times.
It's a game I really like, but can't help but see how much better it could be when I'm playing, which is not the best. I really hope they come out with a sequel that builds off this foundation and improves in those problem areas and ones that are lacking as there's so much more than can be done.
The game world is gorgeous, character designs and diversity is mostly great, though a number of characters are really terrible looking and the Oseram as a whole are just fucking trash looking. But technically it's a great looking game with really strong art direction for the most part. Surprised to find a lot of technical glitches in the game, loading whole assets and texture popin a ton. Weird things like Campfires placed inside things like trees and other odd anomalies like that, but nothing game breaking or ruining.
Just wanted to say I found the melee combat really satisfying. That crunchy sound of a heavy hit is music to my ears.
And yeah, villian was just there. I mean the whole point of that game is to found out Who is the Enemy ? Why the world became like this and what happened to the previous ones ? That's why it fell flat because they really never intended to have a villian. They mystery was the selling point, or encouraging you to explore - which also fell flat at the end because they showed it in the worst possible way.
It's a new IP and their first attempt at an RPG and it kinda shows. HZD2 should see some massive improvements.
OP
OP
Precisely what I think. The selling point for me was to discover for myself why civilization collapsed. It didn't need a villain. I thought finally answering that question for yourself was more satisfying than having a villain, but it completely went wayside once the final missions came into play and the story developed into "Hades is being used to bring back machines to destroy life on Earth once again."
It's probably my 2nd favourite Sony 1st party game this gen, albeit that's not saying much considering I find U4, Spider-Man, TLG and in particular GoW disappointing to varying degrees, at least compared to those saying they're among the best games ever made. Though people also say that about this game and I can't believe that either despite the fact I like it a lot. Great combat, enemy designs and graphics but man everything else fell completely flat. The story, open world, characters- in particular Aloy- and traversal/exploration were just varying degrees of bad. I really hope the inevitable sequel is as good as what some people make this first game out to be because there's definitely potential.
So, after forcing myself to find enjoyment in this game, I have to add more of my thoughts regarding the main storyline. It was solid, the background behind HZD and how everything happened was certainly the most interesting thing about the game, certain moments gave me goosebumps as I imagined the past. That being said, the main villain, that one guy I can't remember the name, was terrible, every character was forgettable, I can't remember most of their names too. Aloy isn't interesting at all, she has no depth.
It's a well done main storyline stuck in a mediocre game.
It's a well done main storyline stuck in a mediocre game.
i'm not saying this is the OP, but most of these LTTP threads where the poster doesn't like or "get" the game, usually boils down to this:
- they skip all cutscenes, or don't read dialog
- they don't do side quests, so don't experience other characters or bonus things that usually flesh out the world/story
- they don't utilize all their skills and do the same thing over and over, so they say combat is repetitive or "boring"
or
- they basically just want a gun to shoot things. the end.
HZD is up there for Game of the Generation for me. can't wait for the sequel.
- they skip all cutscenes, or don't read dialog
- they don't do side quests, so don't experience other characters or bonus things that usually flesh out the world/story
- they don't utilize all their skills and do the same thing over and over, so they say combat is repetitive or "boring"
or
- they basically just want a gun to shoot things. the end.
HZD is up there for Game of the Generation for me. can't wait for the sequel.