PS4 Horizon: Zero Dawn

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Visuals are just breathtaking sometimes. Easily best open world game since Witcher, will take some beating for GoTY although RedDead will have something to say about that I guess.

With the overriding thing, I've been able to get friendly robots to fight hostiles but yeah you need to wrangle it a bit ie. get a hostile to attack you when you're standing next to a friendly - I think as soon as they take damage they'll attack. It actually helps alot, a few times I've overridden some Watchers that seem to escort bigger robots around from time to time then made my presence known to the big boy. But agree would be nice if this feature was fleshed out and you could actually command them to do specific things.

dwwaino said:
Can't put my finger on it but in my experience there feels like there is something holding this game back. The audio and visuals are awesome, gameplay and the entire execution of the game seems faultless, story is above average, but I think it's the combination of dialogue choices that seemingly don't matter, features that aren't fleshed out far enough (like override and crafting/upgrading of weapons and armour) and the amount of filler is taking the shine off my initial impressions. I'll admit it may be because I'm more into RPGs and as HZD is using some very basic RPG elements that I'm unfairly comparing it but sometimes a game needs to decide on what it is and being great at it, not just being good a lot of different things but great at none. HZD needs to decide if it wants to be Farcry or Witcher and concentrate on that instead of being a casual fling between the two.

/imo
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Bit rough saying its great at none. IMO its great and probably the best I've ever seen in an open world game on console at;

- Visuals (yep better than Witcher as gorgeous as that was) and probably sound design
- Combat (arguable but I prefer this to any other open word example, so smooth and requires some real thought and planning at higher difficulties)
- Map design (huge, varied and just so well designed - there's the way you're expected to take but if you go off the beaten path the hills and mountains are almost always traversible with some exploration)
- Story (probably arguable again but open world stories are notoriously sh1t, this has had me fairly engrossed right from the start)

Mighty P said:
Same, I over levelled early now it's becoming a little trivial. I was hoping the game makes it harder to level later to compensate for overdoing it.
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I'm pretty over leveled for the main quests but haven't started steamrolling things yet - but I'm playing on hard. Still find it hugely challenging any time you have to take out bigger bots if there's more than 1 of them. Then a Sawtooth turns up out of nowhere and its all over lol.
 
Finished the game.

They could make an extraordinary movie based around Elizabet Sobeck. The Faro catastrophe, her solution, her growing relationship with GAIA followed by her eventual demise on the outside. I really hope to see this. Could be magnificent.

Also: dat post-credits scene. Pumped.
 

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come on oliver said:
Only put in a few hours. Still getting my head around things.
Any skill points I should be taking early?
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Concentration, Silent Strike, Gatherer, Low profile, Critical hit.
 
i screwed around so much and didnt do any story missions from Thursday night till yesterday in that time i went from L20 to L50 and did almost all the side missions and stuff. When i started playing the story again it hit a new gear and just got even better. It was the story mission when you learn Who made the robots and what happened to them and also did the one when you learn what Zero Dawn was [wow that was a great mission. [loved the audio files on the Aussie guy]
 
aussiedude said:
Only some auto save parts on missions. otherwise campfire or fast travel.
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It does do some sneaky progression auto-saving out in the world sometimes - might be tied to collectables? I killed a stalker, got the trophy for one of the quests, got a metal flower then got killed before I could make it to a campfire. When it loaded again I was back at my most recent campfire but still had the trophy and the metal flower.
 
Super quick and easy platinum cleanup.

Really enjoyed the game overall. It's great. Adore Aloy, and the dynamic with her and Sylens is brilliant if a little underutilised. Combat is terrific. The story was predictable but still extremely enjoyable, and the journey of self-discovery (and gaining an understanding of the world itself) satisfying.

There are very minor bits and pieces I'd change (less filler in the world, more interesting Cauldrons/Longnecks, better level/experience balancing, more effort put into character development, better weaving of narrative into gameplay) but overall it was an outstanding game. Would recommend.
 
Actually, there's one thing about the final mission/scenes that I disliked:
You've just entered into all-out war with corrupted machines and people...yet all of your friends survive. The war ends up feeling victimless because nobody of note perishes. A few points where they've missed some opportunities to develop characters and relationships and tug on the heart strings a little.


beta_condition said:
Right?
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Pretty perfect as far as post-credits scenes go. Exciting.
 
I'm only on level 9 so most of you are far ahead of me. I actually feel as though I'm a little under-leveled at the moment - in contrast to the general experience in this thread - maybe I need to stop focusing on the story and start screwing around with side-quests a little more.
 
Dannnnnnnnnn said:
Actually, there's one thing about the final mission/scenes that I disliked:
You've just entered into all-out war with corrupted machines and people...yet all of your friends survive. The war ends up feeling victimless because nobody of note perishes. A few points where they've missed some opportunities to develop characters and relationships and tug on the heart strings a little.



Pretty perfect as far as post-credits scenes go. Exciting.
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It did seem a little rushed at the end but given the end credit scene I can forgive the no penalties IF they make it count in the next game. The whole Gaia bunker part was amazing and I hope that the level and tone they can keep through out the second game and beyond
 
Special Agent Mark Cerny got his own special thanks page.

really good story.
As the game went along and you were learning more about what happened and how I started wondering how this could become a franchise since most of it was getting settled in the game. and there not seeming like there could be a threat big enough to make another game around with out somehow bringing Hades back from some persons dumb luck or whatever. But the post credits changed that depending on where they go and how far they expand into the world. and could easily make Sylins the antagonist.

At times before you see face to face i though Sylins might be a part of Hades [like a human holo of him, since he was always emotionless and never telling you too much] and there to get Aloy to help him hit the reset button because Heilis wasnt working fast enough. and thought that they could of played that more by not having him save you from the Sun Ring and not meet face to face till after the Gaia Prime bunker. when he finally tells you the truth.

I feel like there might of been too many side missions/errands and because i did them all before doing the 2nd half of the story it was a bad decision by me but lucky the story was at a big point where it was about to pick me back up before falling into the trap that so many openworld games fall into where they start feeling stale and a chore. but still think some of the side stuff could of been cut. and should of been more hunting challenges. and thought there should of been a few more enemy types both robot and human.

agree with what Dannnnnnnnnn said about the final mission.


Got the Platinum and didnt need to do any clean up after the credits. Will play it again one day and next time will be on hard because it can become to easy when you know how to beat each enemy.
 

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Dannnnnnnnnn said:
Yeah the open world is a little too Ubisofty for my liking. It's not awful but it does get a little tedious.
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They all begin to feel the same. Think my fatigue started to occur with The Division.
 
aussiedude said:
Special Agent Mark Cerny got his own special thanks page.

really good story.
As the game went along and you were learning more about what happened and how I started wondering how this could become a franchise since most of it was getting settled in the game. and there not seeming like there could be a threat big enough to make another game around with out somehow bringing Hades back from some persons dumb luck or whatever. But the post credits changed that depending on where they go and how far they expand into the world. and could easily make Sylins the antagonist.

At times before you see face to face i though Sylins might be a part of Hades [like a human holo of him, since he was always emotionless and never telling you too much] and there to get Aloy to help him hit the reset button because Heilis wasnt working fast enough. and thought that they could of played that more by not having him save you from the Sun Ring and not meet face to face till after the Gaia Prime bunker. when he finally tells you the truth.

I feel like there might of been too many side missions/errands and because i did them all before doing the 2nd half of the story it was a bad decision by me but lucky the story was at a big point where it was about to pick me back up before falling into the trap that so many openworld games fall into where they start feeling stale and a chore. but still think some of the side stuff could of been cut. and should of been more hunting challenges. and thought there should of been a few more enemy types both robot and human.

agree with what Dannnnnnnnnn said about the final mission.


Got the Platinum and didnt need to do any clean up after the credits. Will play it again one day and next time will be on hard because it can become to easy when you know how to beat each enemy.
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Another thing to consider - Sylens' story doesn't add up.

According to him, he was helping Eclipse until he heard Hades broadcast its order for Sylens to be killed. Since then, he'd been a fugitive.

Fast forward to the Sun Ring scene, though, and Helis was genuinely shocked to see Sylens working with Aloy. It was at that exact moment that Helis declared him a traitor, not prior as Sylens' story implies he would have.

Him working with Eclipse the whole way through also explains why Sylens appeared only through the Focus for much of the game.

A very clever underlying storyline, I think. I'm already excited for part 2. Sylens has a hell of a lot of potential as a villain.
 
Dannnnnnnnnn said:
Another thing to consider - Sylens' story doesn't add up.

According to him, he was helping Eclipse until he heard Hades broadcast its order for Sylens to be killed. Since then, he'd been a fugitive.

Fast forward to the Sun Ring scene, though, and Helis was genuinely shocked to see Sylens working with Aloy. It was at that exact moment that Helis declared him a traitor, not prior as Sylens' story implies he would have.

Him working with Eclipse the whole way through also explains why Sylens appeared only through the Focus for much of the game.

A very clever underlying storyline, I think. I'm already excited for part 2. Sylens has a hell of a lot of potential as a villain.
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You can hear the kill order on one of the audio logs in his workshop before you take his spear. unless he faked them somehow.

There were 3 audio logs there. One was Sylens finding Hades and the first convo between them, the second i think was introducing Hades as the god to Helis and the final one was Sylens requesting payment for something which was going to be knowlege but Hades said the knowlege was to big to transmit and then orders his death.

I never trusted him and love the post credits because it was one of the only ways to continue Aloy's story without it feeling cheap or repeating some of the same stuff.

I think Sylens will try and be somekind of god or hybrid since he has the machine implants all over his body. I hope it doesnt take another 6 years for the next game and hope the cauldrons will keep producing new robots.
 
aussiedude said:
You can hear the kill order on one of the audio logs in his workshop before you take his spear. unless he faked them somehow.

There were 3 audio logs there. One was Sylens finding Hades and the first convo between them, the second i think was introducing Hades as the god to Helis and the final one was Sylens requesting payment for something which was going to be knowlege but Hades said the knowlege was to big to transmit and then orders his death.

I never trusted him and love the post credits because it was one of the only ways to continue Aloy's story without it feeling cheap or repeating some of the same stuff.

I think Sylens will try and be somekind of god or hybrid since he has the machine implants all over his body. I hope it doesnt take another 6 years for the next game and hope the cauldrons will keep producing new robots.
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I did see the audio logs but since hearing the edited diaries in the Zero Dawn facility I didn't trust a single one of them.

Helis definitely seemed taken aback by Sylens' betrayal, which doesn't make sense given his sequence of events. I don't think he was ever on Eclipse's "side" but I certainly think he was friendly with them for longer than he told Aloy.

Reckon you could be onto something with the hybrid stuff. Excited to see where they go with it.
 
Dannnnnnnnnn said:
I did see the audio logs but since hearing the edited diaries in the Zero Dawn facility I didn't trust a single one of them.

Helis definitely seemed taken aback by Sylens' betrayal, which doesn't make sense given his sequence of events. I don't think he was ever on Eclipse's "side" but I certainly think he was friendly with them for longer than he told Aloy.

Reckon you could be onto something with the hybrid stuff. Excited to see where they go with it.
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I think the edited ones were done by Ted Faro or someone because they were just cuts of new and old ones sent to loved ones to make everything sound fine to not cause a panic. because in the same place was the original recordings but the edited ones were on the holo-phone things.

They could go much further into the Ted Faro stuff like why he pulled the plug on Apollo rather than the BS excuse he gave. and some of his other stuff.

Hell Sylens could be a decedent/clone of Faro. or he wants to become Faro, I dont think he was ever truly angry about what he and Aloy discovered about Faro.
 
I've probably put in 25-30 hours and half the map is still clouded over. I'm a very "go everywhere, explore everything" type of gamer though. Enjoying the whole experience a lot.
 
beta_condition said:
aussiedude Dannnnnnnnnn Did either of you feel Sylens played a role with Aloy getting caught and her first Focus being destroyed? Thus giving him a chance to encode a corruption in the copied code or a back door access to Gaia when he handed over the new focus?
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I'm not 100% sure.

I think Sylens was playing both sides the whole way through, but for his own interests. He was actively tracking and helping both Eclipse and Aloy in order to ensure that he was there when one of the groups broke through.

As for getting Aloy caught, though, I don't know. She was on the right track at that point and he couldn't get any further without her, so getting her caught seems to fly in the face of his intentions. Who knows, though. There's a lot we don't know.
 
I'm not sure I've ever needed to discuss the storyline of an open-world game this much. Even though Witcher's story was brilliant I didn't find it to be a huge conversation starter. There's so much of Horizon that is worthy of discussion.
 
Dannnnnnnnnn said:
I'm not 100% sure.

I think Sylens was playing both sides the whole way through, but for his own interests. He was actively tracking and helping both Eclipse and Aloy in order to ensure that he was there when one of the groups broke through.

As for getting Aloy caught, though, I don't know. She was on the right track at that point and he couldn't get any further without her, so getting her caught seems to fly in the face of his intentions. Who knows, though. There's a lot we don't know.
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He was no doubt playing both sides pretty heavily up to that point (when he recused Aloy that was the first time seeing him in person) So I have very little doubt he was still among Eclipse at that point and why he allowed her capture (he was still there).


Really need to play through the game to pick out the finer details, also I need to mention just how embarrassing some of the deaths scenes were in this game.
 

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PS4 Horizon: Zero Dawn

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