official Horizon Zero Dawn

[+Asmodai MVC]

I just started playing it this past weekend and didn't see a topic for it here so figured I'd start one.

 

I don't think I'm very far in... I just got to my first Cauldren (currently saved at the boss fight at the end?)  I don't want to say much more yet for fear of spoilers but if you're playing it and past me that should mean something to you and if you're not I'm hoping it's just jibberish.

 

Anyway overall I'm enjoying the game.  The graphics are beautiful and it's only the second game I got (the other being Deus Ex) that supports HDR on my TV (using a launch PS4, I don't have a Pro).  The story is good so far but again I don't feel like I'm far in and it's still mostly a mystery so it could either blow my mind or disappoint as it fills in at this point.

 

I'm an "open world" type gamer and it feels a little less open and a little more Story based then I'd prefer but it's still very good and I fully understand most people don't like games as open as I do.  I'd say it's more like Witcher then Elder Scrolls in it's level of openness.  Also like Witcher you are a specific person instead of getting to make your own.  That was one (VERY MINOR) thing I didn't like about Witcher but I at least understood it there because it's based off of books about the character.  Here it's a new IP so I don't know why the couldn't have given you some basic hair/eye/skin tone/build customizations and perhaps a sex selection option but oh well.  Again it's VERY minor I feel like if the protagonist was male there would have been an outcry from SJWs about not having a female option... but it's fine to have only a female.

 

On a side note the main character does remind me a lot of Merida from Disney's Brave (which is a good thing as I loved Brave).  Anyone else get that?

[Vandalsquad]

It's on the to purchase list if I hear enough good things off people, Trying to get through Yakuza 0 at the moment which is one of the largest games I've played this gen which is starting to burn me out a bit so another big story game can wait for awhile. Interested to hear how the story holds up the further you get into it but, the graphics look great. Guerilla games has never ever delivered in my book so that's made me a bit wary, but with the reported development time of this I'm hoping they've turned that around. 

[vf-]

Shocking there was no topic for this! The game is so fantastic. I do wish the world was even bigger, si big you would get lost and remember places. Or the robots could dig and create underground areas or new zones you wouldn't recognise.

 

Crazy the amount of Sawtooth's everywhere! Some running in on you while you're battling with others.

 

 

That truly was hectic.

 

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Reviews:

 

Destructoid – 7.5

Harcore Gamer – 4.5/ 5

Giant Bomb – 5/ 5

Polygon – 9.5

GameSpot – 9

PlayStation LifeStyle – 10

RPG Site – 9

God is a Geek – 9.5

Telegraph – 5/5

IGN – 9.3

Forbes – 9

Game Informer – 8.75

The Verge – Recommended

Stevivor – 7

PlayStation Universe – 9.5

Videogamer – 8

USgamer – 2.5/ 5

Twinfinite – 5/ 5

Eurogamer Italy – 9

We Got This Covered – 4.5/ 5

TheSixthAxis – 8

Attack of the Fanboy – 4.5/ 5

Telegraph – 5/ 5

Metro – 8

Leadergamer – 10

InsideGames [German] – 9.2

GamesRadar+ – 4.5/ 5

 

It's all anyone was talking about last week in my social feeds with ridiculously high praise. Looking forward to picking it up, but I'll probably wait for a bit. There's so much releasing at once

[+Asmodai MVC]

3 hours ago, Andrew said:

There's so much releasing at once

That's what killed Nier for me.  It looks interesting but there are so many good games coming out so fast that one just fell through the cracks for now.  I picked up Horizon last week, today I'm getting in Ghost Recon Wildlands (that I'll mostly play multiplayer with my friends so it won't really cut into single player game time) and then I've got Mass Effect Andromeda coming in two weeks...  I hope to have Horizon beat by then but can't imagine squeezing in yet another game this month.

[+Asmodai MVC]

I'm still not too far in (did finish the mission I talked about before and ran some random side quests last night) but here's some non-spoiler tips that I've learned (these may be all over the internet already but I haven't read anything about the game for fear of spoilers).

 

1) Kill the random animals... you need their parts to craft things, especially upgrades to your packs for carrying more things... (I ignored animals for WAY too long)

2) craft those carrying capacity upgrades as fast as you can... you WILL run into their limits quickly.

3) The sticks for arrows are EVERYWHERE if you grab them all you'll fill up multiple precious inventory slots with them which is a waste.  Try to limit yourself to one stack (250 I believe)  (on a side note the resource I seem to run out of the most is wire, lots of things use it and I don't seem to get it anywhere near as fast as I use it... that may just be a result of my personal play style though)

4) Apparenlty beyond the armor you are given at the beginning you never seem to find or be given weapons or armor in the game.  You also don't appear to be able to craft them.  So you actually DO need to buy weapons and armor from the merchants.  This was a bit of a disappointment to me as I typically like to find/craft my gear in RPGs.  I went probably WAY too long with the starter gear figuring I'd eventually find something better but no such luck.  Crafting for armor/weapons is limited to socketing them.

5) The weapon type tutorials are added only when you buy the first weapon of that type.  So you could go the whole game without ever using certain weapon types as you'll never find or be given them (see 4. above).  Once you do get the tutorials though they don't count the actions for them unless it's the currently active mission.  (I don't know how many things I used the traps on that didn't count before I realized none of them were counting since the mission wasn't selected)

 

 

[+Asmodai MVC]

http://cdn2.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20170308-8c600.png

[adrynalyne]

4 minutes ago, Asmodai said:

http://cdn2.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20170308-8c600.png

Bwahaha, that perfectly sums it up.

[vf-]

On 07/03/2017 at 4:22 PM, Asmodai said:

I'm still not too far in (did finish the mission I talked about before and ran some random side quests last night) but here's some non-spoiler tips that I've learned (these may be all over the internet already but I haven't read anything about the game for fear of spoilers).

 

1) Kill the random animals... you need their parts to craft things, especially upgrades to your packs for carrying more things... (I ignored animals for WAY too long)

2) craft those carrying capacity upgrades as fast as you can... you WILL run into their limits quickly.

3) The sticks for arrows are EVERYWHERE if you grab them all you'll fill up multiple precious inventory slots with them which is a waste.  Try to limit yourself to one stack (250 I believe)  (on a side note the resource I seem to run out of the most is wire, lots of things use it and I don't seem to get it anywhere near as fast as I use it... that may just be a result of my personal play style though)

4) Apparenlty beyond the armor you are given at the beginning you never seem to find or be given weapons or armor in the game.  You also don't appear to be able to craft them.  So you actually DO need to buy weapons and armor from the merchants.  This was a bit of a disappointment to me as I typically like to find/craft my gear in RPGs.  I went probably WAY too long with the starter gear figuring I'd eventually find something better but no such luck.  Crafting for armor/weapons is limited to socketing them.

5) The weapon type tutorials are added only when you buy the first weapon of that type.  So you could go the whole game without ever using certain weapon types as you'll never find or be given them (see 4. above).  Once you do get the tutorials though they don't count the actions for them unless it's the currently active mission.  (I don't know how many things I used the traps on that didn't count before I realized none of them were counting since the mission wasn't selected)

 

 

3, If you're short of wire hunt Scrappers. I used to run out of a lot for the fire arrows. Hunt those deer looking beasts. I barely run out of either now.

 

I was also amazed to find the amount of racoons and foxes that everyone spoke of how rare they were on the hardest difficulty. I really need to up the weapon wheel though. I need something from a rabbit though.

[+Asmodai MVC]

23 minutes ago, vf- said:

3, If you're short of wire hunt Scrappers. I used to run out of a lot for the fire arrows. Hunt those deer looking beasts. I barely run out of either now.

 

I was also amazed to find the amount of racoons and foxes that everyone spoke of how rare they were on the hardest difficulty. I really need to up the weapon wheel though. I need something from a rabbit though.

I haven't had much problem with racoons or foxes.  Like I said I haven't read anything about the game for fear of spoilers so I didn't even know people were speaking of how rare they are.  I'd say the on that stumped me was the fish.  To increase my pack sizes you need fish parts but fish seem very rare at first.  I looked in the rivers but very few, if any fish, seem to be in flowing water.  Eventually I found some lakes with large bodies of standing water and fish seem to be more common there so I have you can farm them there but it's a pain.  I'm also not sure if there's a better way to do it but you don't seem to be able to swing your spear while you're in the water so I end up "fishing" by shooting my bow at fish from the shore... which seems wierd.  Then I have to go swim out and collect all the recources.  Fortunately there aren't a lot of things that need these fish part... most notably your pack size increases which once you have them they're done.

 

The wire isn't so much that I have trouble finding it... it's that I USE it way faster than I find it.  A LOT of the things I use require wire so I need to have a HUGE inflow to keep ahead of it or I run out.  Again it's probably just because of how I play... LOTS of traps... and eventually I'll unlock the ability to pick up untriggered traps but until then I always seem to have less wire than I'd prefer.

 

I debated posting that comic above because it's SOOO true and I didn't actually stumble upon that tactic until I read it.  It really does lessen the game though because now I know it I use it ALL THE TIME which makes combat kind of boring.  You just sit in a bush, whistle to pull a single bad guy, INSTADEATH spear attack from cover, repeat.  It's REALLY hard for me NOT to do that now that I know it... it's SOOO tempting compared to actually struggling with a fight.

[vf-]

Geez! The Sigma Cauldron. What an environment change.

[+Asmodai MVC]

Ok I think I'm about half way through the game now. (not really sure since you'd have to finish it or read spoilers to know how long it really is... but I FEEL about half way through...)

 

I'm level 25 but I'm way higher level than the missions I'm doing.  I just try to do them lowest level first and I think the ones I'm currently running are around level 16 or so.  As far as I can tell I've got pretty much the best gear in the game.  I've cleared 2 of the Cauldron's so far (I'm not sure the game even pushes you to do any beyond the first as I had to make a point to do the second one myself as nothing seemed to direct me that way.)

 

I've totally skipped everything related to the Hunting Grounds... these seem like skills trails thingys that I have 0 interest in.  They don't seem to be required for the story so I've literally done not a single one of them.  Likewise I did only the very first "Tutorial" mission which are added for each weapon you pick up.  I've probably done that actions that complete most of them but since they have to be selected to count none of them are actually done.  Again, there seems to be no consequence of skipping those.

 

In the Story I don't want to be too specific because of spoilers but I got to where you find out what the game is named after.  Hopefully that's enough to clue anyone else who gotten that far as to where I am. (if you've finished it then maybe you can confirm if that's about the half way point or not).

 

I REALLY hate the flying enemies.  I have a very hard time with them while everything else I do ok.  I don't know if there is a trick with them or what but clearly I'm missing it.

 

I did get to one more mission where you someone leaves you an optional gear stash and it actually included a weapon.  Something I noted in my eariler post seems to never happen.  Of course it was the worst version of that weapon and I had already bought a better one but that was the first time since the beginning of the game someone actually gave me a weapon or armor.

 

Now that I have one of each weapon type I have to say I'm not a big fan of how they did weapons.  There are 3 major bow types and 2 sling types plus the default spear, Rattler, Tripcaster, and Ropecaster... that gives you 8 (not counting the default spear) weapon types (with three quality levels for each type) and you can have 4 equiped to the quick change wheel.  I absolutely love the diversity of ammo for both the bow(s) and sling(s) but I see no reason they needed to make 3 different bow types and 2 sling types in order to use all the ammo types.  As it is I typically have the 3 bow types and the tripcaster equipped and so I rarely use the slings, rattler, or ropecaster.  It would have been nice if I could just equip one bow with all the ammo types, one sling with all the ammo types, and then choose between the rattler, tripcaster, and ropecaster for the other two slots.

 

Also it seems odd that I feel like I have pretty much the best gear (besides getting better items to socket into them) at what feels like the halfway point of the game.  I have the best? version of each type of weapon and armor for most types and second best for a few.  Unless there's a 4 level to them that unlocks at some point I seem to be mostly tricked out.

 

Anyway I'll end my rambling here as this is getting quite long and I could go on and on... if you made it this far congrats!

[+Asmodai MVC]

I think this game is going to go down as the apex of the PS4.  With the Switch hitting the sales charts next month and Project Scorpio coming later this year I feel like this is the pinnacle of this console generation (at least for PlayStation)

[The Evil Overlord]

9 hours ago, Asmodai said:

I think this game is going to go down as the apex of the PS4.  With the Switch hitting the sales charts next month and Project Scorpio coming later this year I feel like this is the pinnacle of this console generation (at least for PlayStation)

You're not taking RDR2 into account, (though it will be multiplatform)

I love Horizon, (basically loved everything Guerilla Games did until ShadowFall)

My one and only quibble about the game is that one of the datapoints didn't save, so I now have to go through another playthrough for the Platinum, otherwise, it's a fun and challenging title.

On a side note, I did notice a couple of missions I played first time out, did not repeat, and found some new missions, whether this was by design or my lack of observation, I do not know.

 

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Horizon Zero Dawn Global Sales Exceed 2.6 Million

 

Quote

“We’re thrilled that Horizon Zero Dawn has been embraced by critics and players alike. Developing the game was a labor of love, so it’s extremely satisfying to see that it elicits the same passion and enthusiasm from the gaming public that we felt during its development,” said Guerrilla Managing Director Hermen Hulst. “This is only the beginning of Aloy’s story and our exploration of the world of Horizon Zero Dawn, with the team already hard at work on an expansion to the story.”

 

[+Asmodai MVC]

12 hours ago, The Evil Overlord said:

You're not taking RDR2 into account, (though it will be multiplatform)

I'm not taking into account ANY multiplatform games because they aren't really an apex of PlayStation when you can get them anywhere.  Of course multiplatform games are going to sell better (combined sales) than any platform exclusives except in very rare cases.   I'm sure RDR2 will sell great and be an amazing game, I'm sure it's combined sales will exceed Horizon, but I just don't see it as a PlayStation defining game.

12 hours ago, The Evil Overlord said:

On a side note, I did notice a couple of missions I played first time out, did not repeat, and found some new missions, whether this was by design or my lack of observation, I do not know.

Well that gives me some hope.  To me the game seems very scripted... like everything is hand placed which is well done on the first run through but typically "open world" games have a very high degree of replayablity but my biggest concern is that this one might not.  I mean obviously the big mysteries will be gone after the first play through and if the missions are all the same then it's going to be really tough to stick it out again.  Maybe the missions are just so well done that they all just FEEL hand placed though and that you get a different pool of them each time... that would be very nice.

[The Evil Overlord]

1 hour ago, Asmodai said:

I'm not taking into account ANY multiplatform games because they aren't really an apex of PlayStation when you can get them anywhere.  Of course multiplatform games are going to sell better (combined sales) than any platform exclusives except in very rare cases.   I'm sure RDR2 will sell great and be an amazing game, I'm sure it's combined sales will exceed Horizon, but I just don't see it as a PlayStation defining game.

Well that gives me some hope.  To me the game seems very scripted... like everything is hand placed which is well done on the first run through but typically "open world" games have a very high degree of replayablity but my biggest concern is that this one might not.  I mean obviously the big mysteries will be gone after the first play through and if the missions are all the same then it's going to be really tough to stick it out again.  Maybe the missions are just so well done that they all just FEEL hand placed though and that you get a different pool of them each time... that would be very nice.

Well, it's Guerilla's first time at an open world, their last success came with Killzones 2 and 3, both, fps games, and Horizon is uncharted territory for them. A little unpolished in some areas granted.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

On 16/03/2017 at 8:15 PM, Asmodai said:

I think this game is going to go down as the apex of the PS4.  With the Switch hitting the sales charts next month and Project Scorpio coming later this year I feel like this is the pinnacle of this console generation (at least for PlayStation)

Nah, I think Last of Us 2 will push harder. If there's a dev who gets the most out of hardware, it's Naughty Dog. Detroit: Become Human / Quantic Dream may be another contender.

[+Asmodai MVC]

On 3/17/2017 at 5:46 PM, Andrew said:

Nah, I think Last of Us 2 will push harder. If there's a dev who gets the most out of hardware, it's Naughty Dog. Detroit: Become Human / Quantic Dream may be another contender.

I have no doubt Naughty Dog will get the most out of the hardware.  Naughty Dog is the home to the Sony ICE team who does the interal graphics tools and 3rd party developer techenical support so they know the hardware better than anyone in the world.    I'm also certain Last of Us 2 will sell great but I'm not sure a sequel will outsell a brand new IP that's clearly captured the public's attention.  Just my personal opinion of course.

[vf-]

How far are you now, Asmodai? The Stormbird and the Deathbringer I've felt has been the worst so far in Very Hard difficulty and by the looks of what I saw being setup from the Deathbringer battle, I think there is worse to come.

[+Asmodai MVC]

6 minutes ago, vf- said:

How far are you now, Asmodai? The Stormbird and the Deathbringer I've felt has been the worst so far in Very Hard difficulty and by the looks of what I saw being setup from the Deathbringer battle, I think there is worse to come.

Last night I finished the last Cauldren so now I have all the Cauldrens and all the Tallnecks overriden.  I've finished two of the smaller storylines that are in the "main missions" section but the next (only) one I currently show left to do (though I'm sure there are more after it) is a level 20 one...  I'm not sure how to be more specific without spoilers.  I'm doing the content in order of level (I'm over 30 myself but I do all the level 19s before the 20s etc. with few exceptions).  I'm horrible with names but if the Deathbringer is the one I think it is I've fought two so far... one stationary and one that could actually move.  Does that give you enough to know where I am?  If not I can go into more detail in a spoiler tag.

[vf-]

Yeah, the one that moves was in the huge open bowl with the snow on the floor with the stationary devil. I'm currently level 27. Only done one cauldron.

 

I haven't looked for any spoilers but when the Deathbringer fell from that huge thing and the way Aloy spoke, this thing is going to come alive. Which is frightening how small the Deathbringer really is.

[+Asmodai MVC]

32 minutes ago, vf- said:

Yeah, the one that moves was in the huge open bowl with the snow on the floor with the stationary devil. I'm currently level 27. Only done one cauldron.

 

I haven't looked for any spoilers but when the Deathbringer fell from that huge thing and the way Aloy spoke, this thing is going to come alive. Which is frightening how small the Deathbringer really is.

I'm not sure if what follows would be considered spoilers so if you're reading this and you're afraid of reading them then maybe just skip it.  It's not obviously spoilers like giant plot twists and it may not even be true as it's my understanding which I could very well be mistaken.

 

I could be wrong (I'm not much farther in the story) but I think the stationary devil the deathbringer fell from is the only one of those.  I think that's the devil that Aloy's tribe believes the mother struck down.  I think she was freightened they would wake the big guy up but the Deathbringer just fell out of it (if you can call that "Just").  I may be getting this mixed up but I thought that was in like the 3rd of four cauldrens though... so you just did that one and not the first two?

[vf-]

Only Cauldren I did was the Sigma and it was hard as hell on very hard with limited skills and weapons I had at the time.

 

The Deathbringer wasn't in one of the Cauldrens. It was the Maker's End/Ruins.

 

 

A tad brutal on the hardest difficulty. Yet fun.

 

 

[The Evil Overlord]

^ you guys found that hard???

 

Burn it, then use your hardpoint arrows, bombs and blast wires, didn't take me long, the trick was to keep rolling from one place to another (for some reason Aloy's harder to hit when she's rolling)

 

 

10 hours ago, vf- said:

How far are you now, Asmodai? The Stormbird and the Deathbringer I've felt has been the worst so far in Very Hard difficulty and by the looks of what I saw being setup from the Deathbringer battle, I think there is worse to come.

Stormbird easy mode any difficulty, tie it down  (ropecasters)

 

 

8 hours ago, Asmodai said:

 I think that's the devil that Aloy's tribe believes the mother struck down.

Horus Class Titans (I think)