So this happened recently while playing Forbidden West. I wasn't the biggest fan of HZD, but I got through it.
Anyways, at the start I thought that Forbidden West was really good. Like amazing. That opening in the Daunt was really well-done. I'd say it was excellent even, 10/10 and I stayed there for maybe 10-12 hours. Everything was tuned well and the combat wasn't as frustrating as HZD's. Lots of interesting sidequests with an overarching story that motivated me to keep playing. Interesting exploration with those signal dishes. Dare I say it gave me the feeling I had while playing Witcher 3.
But then you leave the Daunt, and I stopped having fun. Immediately you find that the amount and quality of sidequests dips (this could change of course as I am still playing), and you are told to head to another underground bunker full of lame platforming, cramped hallways that don't suit Aloy's movement controls, and claustrophobic escape sequences (the one positive was the antagonists but that was a predictable story beat for anyone who paid attention to the prologue).
The combat changed as well, now being tuned with the expectation that you have access to levels and skills unavailable in the Daunt. Stealth kills are a lot harder. Enemies are absolute bullet sponges even with difficulty tuned down, and the ones introduced outside the Daunt are way more shifty and jittery, making nailing shots on weakpoints very difficult and annoying.
I was building my Aloy around using explosive sniper arrows from stealth, but the further I play the more it seems like something the devs didn't want you to do, as it doesn't do as much damage as before and enemies start teleporting around you lobbing ice bombs as soon as you get a shot in.
Now maybe some of you who have finished the game can reassure me that things get better. I technically haven't even gotten to the first main settlement yet to meet up with Zo. But I do think it's a shame that some of the focused story-telling and more accessible combat of the Daunt seems to have been axed for more of the same stuff from HZD that I didn't like. I have indeed customized my difficulty settings to alleviate this, but it's not the best solution as there's no way to stop enemies from hopping around like bunnies on caffeine or to stop them from stunlocking you with charges and random attacks.
Anyways that's my 2 cents on the matter. I'm still going to finish the game as there's a lot I like about it besides the quibbles above, but I do think that I have finally nailed the reasons why Horizon doesn't quite sit well with me as a series.
Anyways, at the start I thought that Forbidden West was really good. Like amazing. That opening in the Daunt was really well-done. I'd say it was excellent even, 10/10 and I stayed there for maybe 10-12 hours. Everything was tuned well and the combat wasn't as frustrating as HZD's. Lots of interesting sidequests with an overarching story that motivated me to keep playing. Interesting exploration with those signal dishes. Dare I say it gave me the feeling I had while playing Witcher 3.
But then you leave the Daunt, and I stopped having fun. Immediately you find that the amount and quality of sidequests dips (this could change of course as I am still playing), and you are told to head to another underground bunker full of lame platforming, cramped hallways that don't suit Aloy's movement controls, and claustrophobic escape sequences (the one positive was the antagonists but that was a predictable story beat for anyone who paid attention to the prologue).
The combat changed as well, now being tuned with the expectation that you have access to levels and skills unavailable in the Daunt. Stealth kills are a lot harder. Enemies are absolute bullet sponges even with difficulty tuned down, and the ones introduced outside the Daunt are way more shifty and jittery, making nailing shots on weakpoints very difficult and annoying.
I was building my Aloy around using explosive sniper arrows from stealth, but the further I play the more it seems like something the devs didn't want you to do, as it doesn't do as much damage as before and enemies start teleporting around you lobbing ice bombs as soon as you get a shot in.
Now maybe some of you who have finished the game can reassure me that things get better. I technically haven't even gotten to the first main settlement yet to meet up with Zo. But I do think it's a shame that some of the focused story-telling and more accessible combat of the Daunt seems to have been axed for more of the same stuff from HZD that I didn't like. I have indeed customized my difficulty settings to alleviate this, but it's not the best solution as there's no way to stop enemies from hopping around like bunnies on caffeine or to stop them from stunlocking you with charges and random attacks.
Anyways that's my 2 cents on the matter. I'm still going to finish the game as there's a lot I like about it besides the quibbles above, but I do think that I have finally nailed the reasons why Horizon doesn't quite sit well with me as a series.
