New Horizon: Zero Dawn Gameplay from the TGS 2016 Media Session

Graphics are mindblowing but my hype has diminished for this game significantly for some reason. Just looks like a typical open-world RPG albeit with kick-ass looking robot dinosaurs.

That's why I'm excited about it. I don't know any AAA open world RPG's that are being this creative with their setting.
 
No matter how much I see I cannot get into this, despite being intrigued by the first announcement.

Can you explain why? I'm a bit in the same boat.
I'm sceptical. For instance, I don't believe it's really open-world, it looks like it's more like Halo's second level, with interconnected open areas, which isn't bad in itself. But it doesn't look like you would be able to clim that mountain.
 
I'm always excited to see more Horizon, however I'm still not convinced the writing and voice acting will be particularly great.

We've only seen a small fraction admittedly, but it remains a question mark for me.
 
Yeah, that's what I meant. Greater draw distance=less pop in, basically.

I don't know if this is normal or Pro footage, but draw distance (grass,etc)/ shadow pop-in already seemed greatly improved in the off-screen footage of the demo kiosk from Brasil Game Show, last month, and that was clearly from standard Ps4
 
Can you explain why? I'm a bit in the same boat.
I'm sceptical. For instance, I don't believe it's really open-world, it looks like it's more like Halo's second level, with interconnected open areas, which isn't bad in itself. But it doesn't look like you would be able to clim that mountain.

Peculiar comparison. Why not compare it to the witcher, as the developers have themselves
 
Can you explain why? I'm a bit in the same boat.
I'm sceptical. For instance, I don't believe it's really open-world, it looks like it's more like Halo's second level, with interconnected open areas, which isn't bad in itself. But it doesn't look like you would be able to clim that mountain.

Eh? How did you come to that conclusion?
 
Every time I see this game in action it just makes me more excited, its looking so good. It has an epic feel to it and the detail in the characters and the world remind me so much of The Witcher 3, a lot of love has gone into making this game and if its even half as good as The Witcher, it should be an awesome game.
 
Looks really nice, is this PS4 or Pro footage?

The character, and the way the game looks sometimes reminds me of Heavenly Sword
 
Can you explain why? I'm a bit in the same boat.
I'm sceptical. For instance, I don't believe it's really open-world, it looks like it's more like Halo's second level, with interconnected open areas, which isn't bad in itself. But it doesn't look like you would be able to clim that mountain.

It's open world.
Climbing seems to only be able to happen at certain points with actual foot and hand holds naturally.

Looks really nice, is this PS4 or Pro footage?

The character, and the way the game looks sometimes reminds me of Heavenly Sword

Most in this thread say vanilla PS4 footage and I'm inclined to agree, having seen Pro footage at PS meeting.
The pop in and draw distance seem to support that.

The game still looks amazing in any case thanks to GG wizardry.
 
Because of the footage shown and the Uncharted climbing mechanics which means you won't be able to go really anywhere. The mountains shown on the side on the valley don't look like they have vertical paths to climb on them.

I wouldn't worry about that. They've shown footage where you can clearly see caves and places to explore on distant rock formations/mountains. It's open world, seamless. They've said as much so unless they're lying, it's all good homie.
 
Can you explain why? I'm a bit in the same boat.
I'm sceptical. For instance, I don't believe it's really open-world, it looks like it's more like Halo's second level, with interconnected open areas, which isn't bad in itself. But it doesn't look like you would be able to clim that mountain.

You are simply being irrational. What is so hard to believe about it being open world? Because it looks too good for a console game? It's not like making an open word game is some hard task. Making a good one is the challenge.
 
Maybe if people thought about it more like a mix of Dragon's Dogma and The Witcher 3, they might understand the game a little bit better. At least, that's the sense I get while watching footage of the game. It's essentially a WRPG with super high production values, but with very competent, action-oriented combat. On paper, it sounds like the best of both worlds, so we're waiting to see if Guerilla fully delivers (which it seems like they will from impressions).
 
This is really good...i would like 360 neverending distant scenery like the ones in witcher 3. Terrain geometry and meteo seems made to limit the openess in comparaison. Not a bad thing(especially for the gameplay part imo) but witcher clearly redifined open world in bringing cohesive and believable sceneries. Seems horizon isn't going same direction so far
But it's personal likes nitpicking
 
Looks and plays amazing! I'm glad they fixed the grass LOD, now all is seamless even during full speed mount travel. :D

Is this OG PS4 or PS4 Pro footage? The vegetation draw distance is massively improved.

PS4, that version was showed on that Brasil show, PAX and now TGS. It ran great on all of them.

Grass is fixed, but some slight pop-in of distant trees can be noticed. Nothing too distracting thankfully.
 
Maybe if people thought about it more like a mix of Dragon's Dogma and The Witcher 3, they might understand the game a little bit better. At least, that's the sense I get while watching footage of the game. It's essentially a WRPG with super high production values, but with very competent, action-oriented combat. On paper, it sounds like the best of both worlds, so we're waiting to see if Guerilla fully delivers (which it seems like they will from impressions).

That's a very high reach even for a well funded studio, don't you think??
 
You are simply being irrational. What is so hard to believe about it being open world? Because it looks too good for a console game? It's not like making an open word game is some hard task. Making a good one is the challenge.

No I mean the world appears to be designed to be quite compartimented by using the landscape (i.e: Unpassable mountains). The world seems less open than Witcher 3 or GTA V. At least so far.
 
No I mean the world appears to be designed to be quite compartimented by using the landscape (i.e: Unpassable mountains). The world seems less open than Witcher 3 or GTA V. At least so far.

Pretty safe to say it will be open world. The entire world won't be open from the beginning though. That Longneck was like a walking version of Ubisoft tower.
 
No I mean the world appears to be designed to be quite compartimented by using the landscape (i.e: Unpassable mountains). The world seems less open than Witcher 3 or GTA V. At least so far.

Could be, I can see it's more linear than true open world sandbox. Some unreachable high ground here and there.
I'm prefer those anyway.
 
Might as well get used to for every new PS4 game footage going forward.

Just assume PS4 Pro. Why would dev's NOT show off the best looking version? That way you can be pleasantly surprised, and you won't get let down if every aspect doesn't match up to pre-release footage. We've all been burnt before!

No I mean the world appears to be designed to be quite compartimented by using the landscape (i.e: Unpassable mountains). The world seems less open than Witcher 3 or GTA V. At least so far.

I see what you're saying, but I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. There are plenty of places like this in the real world, and it can help with set pieces and encounter design which are kind of important in an action game. It's probably the best solution to offer up fairly "designed" encounters in an open world game... funnel the player to a point so that X event can happen. It's striking the right balance that's important!

I'm not really invested in the story, characters or voice acting here... but I do find the setting very appealing, and the gameplay looks pretty great to me. Easily one of the most exciting looking upcoming games for me. What I really hope is that the talk of wandering AI for the dino's isn't hot air. The AI of wandering creatures is why STALKER is my favourite (semi) open world game. Most games seem so rigid in comparison with enemies/creatures sticking strictly to pre-defined zones.
 
That's a very high reach even for a well funded studio, don't you think??

From the footage I've seen and hands-on impressions, it really sounds like they've nailed the combat. Of course, they've streamlined the game so it won't be as "deep" when you start thinking about customization, variety of playstyles, or skill trees, but the general idea is there — the idea of an open world game with great combat and a unique premise. It will have a variety of towns/tribes, enemies you can mount, hidden locations and caves to discover, plenty of side-quests, and an open world you can freely explore to the point where going in certain directions will put you in dangerous encounters with enemies far above your level. It's super ambitious, but I think Guerilla can deliver on a lot of it.
 
Can I ask why?

Can you explain why?

Of course. I wish I could explain it! I really love the design of the robo dinos and the idea of a post techno apocalypse setting is cool. But outside of that nothing about the actual show of play and design of anything else jumps out and grabs me. It's all very spectacular and gorgeous, no denying that, but the footage thus far of stealth, exploration, climbing, and combat isn't resonating with me. I don't really like the design of the main character (plus she walks like she needs to shit), nor much of anything else in the world beyond the robo dinos and some of the vistas.

Basically where I feel I should be compelled to explore the gorgeous landscapes and interact with the robo wildlife, I'm simply not. I don't feel drawn to the world that Guerilla is creating, compelled by the cast and premise enough to want to learn what happens, or intrigued by the gameplay system to desire playing and mastering them for myself.

I should not Horizon is squarely in my "keep an open mind" pile because I feel I might enjoy it a bit more when I get my hands on it, and that could seal the deal. But yeah. I'm really super picky with open world games as most of them just don't appeal to me or do enough to engage me, and with Horizon's content shown so far I'm getting unfortunate Ubisoft vibes. Not necessarily in design, but how Far Cry 3 and onwards is a series I want to like but find each iteration dull and uninteresting. So with Horizon I'm seeing a game that I want to like, but there's this ache I feel telling me I'm just going to pick it up and go "okay whatever, I don't care".

Fingers crossed!
 
The visuals look great, lets hope the actual game delivers too. I'm still cautious about the game as you know Guerilla's track record is just killzone, ok looking games that are mostly mediocre at best.
 
Just assume PS4 Pro. Why would dev's NOT show off the best looking version? That way you can be pleasantly surprised, and you won't get let down if every aspect doesn't match up to pre-release footage. We've all been burnt before!

Because maybe they'd want to show the version that 40 million people would be playing?

Otherwise you WOULD get burnt when your version doesn't look like that...
 
This is what they should have shown from the beginning, instead of just combat. This is what should have been the reveal. Entering the village, getting the quest and proceed to complete it.

This presentation is what has now -finally- sold the game for me.

Only drawback is the pop in. Especially shadows on grass and vegetation is literally drawn just in front of the player. And worst of all is that even PS4 Pro (from what they have told us) has no improvements in that regard...
 
I agree, in a sense it dont look fully open world. Not cause of graphics or anything but just the gameplay. Looks about as open as uncharted with hubs or something.
 
Because maybe they'd want to show the version that 40 million people would be playing?

Otherwise you WOULD get burnt when your version doesn't look like that...

Most of the 40 million people don't pay that much attention!

You could show trailers for games with scenes that aren't even in the final release and most people won't bat an eye, let alone relatively minor graphical changes. See: the long history of console games being demonstrated on high end PC's.

Don't get me wrong, I think developer transparency should be applauded, but unless it's specifically stated that games are running on vanilla PS4 my go to stance for the future will be to assume it's on the Pro.
 
Only drawback is the pop in. Especially shadows on grass and vegetation is literally drawn just in front of the player. And worst of all is that even PS4 Pro (from what they have told us) has no improvements in that regard...

I'm sure it'll get further optimised, but this is going to be an issue with more or less every single open world game on closed hardware like consoles. Even on PC when you start pushing the draw distance further and further in games with such large open playspace and long drawn vistas the framerate begins to tank as the CPU and GPU are taxed heavily.

Whenever you compare a multi-platform open world game between console and PC maxed out, that's the big thing that always stands out; draw distance of assets.
 
However they chose to reveal the game, no one can argue that they failed to capture the imaginations of the majority of people who then went on to talk about the reveal on forums, etc.

As for how open world it may, or may not be...

As long as the illusion of an open world is a really very good one, a la Witcher 3, then I won't mind if the game isn't as open world as I am assuming it to be.
 
I agree, in a sense it dont look fully open world. Not cause of graphics or anything but just the gameplay. Looks about as open as uncharted with hubs or something.

They only played that first nicely forested zone. There is snow area, desert, ruined cities... Look at all videos from current GI coverage.
 
We already know it's fully open world, though I understand why the section of gameplay being demoed might give people the wrong impression.
 
It looks gorgeous, but the combat doesn't do it for me. Too much ranged, not enough melee. It also looks more tedious than fun (setting traps, then aiming, etc.)
 
However they chose to reveal the game, no one can argue that they failed to capture the imaginations of the majority of people who then went on to talk about the reveal on forums, etc.

As for how open world it may, or may not be...

As long as the illusion of an open world is a really very good one, a la Witcher 3, then I won't mind if the game isn't as open world as I am assuming it to be.

We can say it's smart too. They want to focus on combat first and open up little by little.
Most open world RPG have us worry about the combat, GG want to nail that first.
I think they'll show the usual open world and RPG stuff closer the release.
 
ffs at all these conspiracy theories

"It's not really open world"

"It's not really an RPG"

Until we see otherwise, it's an open world action RPG just like GG have said.
 
Of course. I wish I could explain it! I really love the design of the robo dinos and the idea of a post techno apocalypse setting is cool. But outside of that nothing about the actual show of play and design of anything else jumps out and grabs me. It's all very spectacular and gorgeous, no denying that, but the footage thus far of stealth, exploration, climbing, and combat isn't resonating with me. I don't really like the design of the main character (plus she walks like she needs to shit), nor much of anything else in the world beyond the robo dinos and some of the vistas.

Basically where I feel I should be compelled to explore the gorgeous landscapes and interact with the robo wildlife, I'm simply not. I don't feel drawn to the world that Guerilla is creating, compelled by the cast and premise enough to want to learn what happens, or intrigued by the gameplay system to desire playing and mastering them for myself.

I should not Horizon is squarely in my "keep an open mind" pile because I feel I might enjoy it a bit more when I get my hands on it, and that could seal the deal. But yeah. I'm really super picky with open world games as most of them just don't appeal to me or do enough to engage me, and with Horizon's content shown so far I'm getting unfortunate Ubisoft vibes. Not necessarily in design, but how Far Cry 3 and onwards is a series I want to like but find each iteration dull and uninteresting. So with Horizon I'm seeing a game that I want to like, but there's this ache I feel telling me I'm just going to pick it up and go "okay whatever, I don't care".

Fingers crossed!

Thanks for explaining.
That's me too, particularly this bit. I don't see a reason to explore or fight so far. Is it just to complete NPC quests? I'm sure the fist encounters will be interesting but not for the Nth time. I feel a bit the same for BotW but at least there are the shrines that I want to complete and the puzzles will be different for each.
 
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