Comparing Horizon Zero Dawn and TLoZ: BoTW

Status
Not open for further replies.
People are welcomed to play whatever they like but I've played the 4 main Killzone games and nothing in them has convinced me that Guerilla can make a really top class game. Bland and uninteresting is how I would describe KZ.

Yeah that's my concern as well. Everything I'm seeing looks fantastic but the developer is what I'm concerns me
 
Two of my most anticipated games. Right now I give the edge to Horizon, as the combat looks far better, and I'm not sold on the open world Zelda yet.

zelda-overworld(map).png
 
Yeah that's my concern as well. Everything I'm seeing looks fantastic but the developer is what I'm concerns me

I mean developer credentials are a thing but if the game is shaping up to be great why would the developer itself suddenly be an issue? I mean even an studio with a terrible reputation can make an amazing game like One Finger Death Punch.
 
People are welcomed to play whatever they like but I've played the 4 main Killzone games and nothing in them has convinced me that Guerilla can make a really top class game. Bland and uninteresting is how I would describe KZ.

Basically this is my main fear. Their past prevents me from being hyped. They are good at making things pretty, it's the actual content they put out that I don't like.
 
Not exactly comparable but I'd say so far Horizon ate Zeldas lunch.

For me, I like games that have a high fun-to-time-spent-playing ratio. Going by everything I've seen in Horizon and Zelda, Horizon looks engaging at all times and intense when combat hits. Its fun, constantly. Well, looks it as I haven't played it.

Graphics are no comparison, its a joke really to say Zelda looks better. Horizon has a beautiful artstyle with very technically proficient graphics. Graphics that enhance the artstyle. Zelda has an okay artstyle but the tech side does it no favours. Its ugly at times. The shadowing, jaggies and lack of detail definitely hinder the overall aesthetic.

The last few Zelda games have been pretty poor and boring so this to me is the game that has to prove its worth. The combat is too simple and stale, it has a lot of ways to interact with the enemies but at its core its extremely simple. You can mess around with the AI which has that MGS like element to it, and that is awesome but it looks piss easy.

I find the Zelda games great on paper but they leave a lot to be desired when you play them, execution is lacking. Going back to that ratio I mentioned, in Zelda games you travel a lot, fight some enemies with little engagement, run some more, do some boring mini game, start a dungeon, explore it (still not really having fun), get an item, use it in a cool way, finally get some excitement going ("Oh I like the way that was used") and then continue on a long spree that has little to no enjoyment. Long periods of meandering about before arriving at a memorable moment.

What I really liked from the trailers so far in Zelda is the interactivity such as cutting a tree down to cross a river and using the shield to make traversing more enjoyable. That will help break the monotony mentioned above but I need better AI systems and engaging mini games, engaging combat and "Aha!" moments from puzzles more often.

Horizon on the other hand looks refreshing. An open world game where you are engaged just crawling around the land because the sense of danger is ever present and unpredictable with something coming out of no where and providing an intense puzzle like combat situation. As you explore, you are having fun. "Fun" in the context of being engaged. You fight a Trex and your heart is pumping (mine was watching the gameplay video).

Zelda will really need to excel in the puzzles as that is their strong suit and where they excel the most. Horizon also looks to have a narrative. Key word "a". So that also provides context for your actions, and compels you to move forward. Hopefully its good, it could be crappy but if they world is interesting you don't necessarily need a good "story" per se. Not unlike Zelda in that regard.
 
Well, it's either them being secretive because it is awesome or it is awful. We will find out when the game releases.

I am already fine with Horizon, because it seems to be a game that is fun to play, looks georgeus. amazing art design, has loot, leveling and crafting.

There are really only two concerns at this point, quest variety and writing/story. But even if those are bad, I think this will be a decent game at the minimum. Also, that little footage they showed of the big town has hyped me up. We need more HD towns. So far, only Witcher 3 has done a great job with that.
 
I don't see the comparison. Both games are trying to achieve different goals. We've still haven't seen much of Horizon. GG has yet to show night gameplay and we are close to 2 months away. Can we hack and fly one of those giant machine eagles? So many questions. John Gonzalez still claims they're so many things we haven't seen yet which looks like they will save for us to explore.
 
Looking forward to both.
I'm in the bizar position where i don't feel i need to choose sides and i keep an open mind till the games are released.

My only worry for both games is the possibility of extremely boring and tedious fetch-quests. By now i hope both will have learned from previous games how to tackle this problem.
 
Looking forward to both.
I'm in the bizar position where i don't feel i need to choose sides and i keep an open mind till the games are released.

My only worry for both games is the possibility of extremely boring and tedious fetch-quests. By now i hope both will have learned from previous games how to tackle this problem.

Zelda has long been pretty good about avoiding tedious fetch quests or for the ones that are "fetch quests" are usually whole game spanning quests that demand various conditions to fulfill. I have little doubt that this will not continue in BoTW.

Horizon probably is probably going to tie "fetch quests" into how you defeat robots in a certain way. Or at least I hope it does.

I don't think either game will be tedious to play.
 
Zelda has long been pretty good about avoiding tedious fetch quests or for the ones that are "fetch quests" are usually whole game spanning quests that demand various conditions to fulfill. I have little doubt that this will not continue in BoTW.

Horizon probably is probably going to tie "fetch quests" into how you defeat robots in a certain way. Or at least I hope it does.

I don't think either game will be tedious to play.

The last several Zelda games have had awful tedious sections (TP:Tears; SS:Tears; WW:Triforce Shards).
 
At the absolutely worst, this is FFXV quality, which is pretty alright.

The reason why I take that game as comparison is, that it has a really small variety of quests, that feel pretty mmo-like. It's okay though, because the game is fun to play. You should expect the same out of Horizon to not get disappointed.

Also, pretty disrespectful thing to say "only one of these games will be talked about in 5-10 years". Both games have been in development for a long time now, no need to throw shade.
 
The last several Zelda games have had awful tedious sections (TP:Tears; SS:Tears; WW:Triforce Shards).

But none of those are what I would classify as a generic Fetch quest. And the main issue with the Triforce shards was that Asshole Tingle, not the actual collection of them.
 
For as flawed as Nintendo's past few Zelda entries were (long intros, overexplanation, etc.) I'm still far more excited for BotW. It has that Nintendo whimsy and nostalgic magic going for it.

From what I've seen of Horizon, it looks fun and complex. A bit too much for me, as I didn't care for the Witcher series or Mass Effect and it looks like it's cribbing from both of those.

No doubt fans of those series will love it and it'll be a great game, but I personally prefer what I've seen of Zelda.

Edit: Also, when I think of modern generic fetch quests, I think of 90% of Infamous and why I never bothered to finish it
 
I've only ever played zelda twilight princess on the wii and I didn't enjoy it to much. Horizon interests me because the whole Dino robot thing, I think it's a really cool fresh idea. Hey the game might suck but at the moment it actually interests me.
 
The last several Zelda games have had awful tedious sections (TP:Tears; SS:Tears; WW:Triforce Shards).

Controversial Opinion: I actually liked the silent realm parts in SS. I wouldn't put it on the same level as the TP wolf link parts or WW triforce quest at all. That said SS still had plenty of tedious filler between some dungeons.
 
Zelda looks terrible. If Horizon looked like Zelda does it would be laughed about and mocked on NeoGAF for its shit visuals for months after it releases. Since this is sacred Zelda though people claim to actually enjoy the choppy washed out look of Zelda to that of horizon. Thatmysterious fog that limits draw distance? Ohhh that's for atmosphere. Looks stunning. I don't think Zelda looks like a bad game personally but the graphics make me wish Nintendo would release their games on more capable hardware. The combat looks ok but the weapon destruction is really a drag though. Voice acting, well that's not Nintendo's thing so let's just make everyone read the whole game. Cooking and crafting look cool but almost every game has a crafting system nowadays. Horizon just appears to be on a different level than Zelda at this stage. Maybe that will change once Switch is out and we see how it's running on upgraded hardware but God I couldn't be less impressed with how it looks now. They need to stop showing it off until it runs better.

Horizon on the other hand looks great to me. The world seems far more interesting to explore and I can't wait to learn why humanity has fallen to AI dinosaurs. Production values are high and it shows. I really want to like the new Zelda but if you are comparing it to Horizon it just looks outclassed. Zelda looks quite interesting for a Nintendo game, it's best not to compare it to other titles.
 
Controversial Opinion: I actually liked the silent realm parts in SS. I wouldn't put it on the same level as the TP wolf link parts or WW triforce quest at all. That said SS still had plenty of tedious filler between some dungeons.

yeah there's a big difference between the design of tp tear hunt and ss tear hunt. in twilight princess, they serve as the introduction to a region. it's meant to show the player where they'll need to go later and to fully explore whatever area they're in. unfortunately, those areas are progressively larger and larger, with lake hylia being particularly annoying. skyward sword treats them in a different way by having them work as a test. they're meant to challenge your knowledge of the level design and discover the best ways to get around within a time limit. the design of the guardians and the music adds to the tension that wasn't there in twilight princess.

same concepts, but skyward sword's execution is far stronger.
 
Zelda looks terrible. If Horizon looked like Zelda does it would be laughed about and mocked on NeoGAF for its shit visuals for months after it releases. Since this is sacred Zelda though people claim to actually enjoy the choppy washed out look of Zelda to that of horizon. Thatmysterious fog that limits draw distance? Ohhh that's for atmosphere. Looks stunning. I don't think Zelda looks like a bad game personally but the graphics make me wish Nintendo would release their games on more capable hardware. The combat looks ok but the weapon destruction is really a drag though. Voice acting, well that's not Nintendo's thing so let's just make everyone read the whole game. Cooking and crafting look cool but almost every game has a crafting system nowadays. Horizon just appears to be on a different level than Zelda at this stage. Maybe that will change once Switch is out and we see how it's running on upgraded hardware but God I couldn't be less impressed with how it looks now. They need to stop showing it off until it runs better.

Horizon on the other hand looks great to me. The world seems far more interesting to explore and I can't wait to learn why humanity has fallen to AI dinosaurs. Production values are high and it shows. I really want to like the new Zelda but if you are comparing it to Horizon it just looks outclassed. Zelda looks quite interesting for a Nintendo game, it's best not to compare it to other titles.

I would give you an upvote if I could.
 
Looking forward to both.
I'm in the bizar position where i don't feel i need to choose sides and i keep an open mind till the games are released.

My only worry for both games is the possibility of extremely boring and tedious fetch-quests. By now i hope both will have learned from previous games how to tackle this problem.

i'm in the same boat. there's danger of the item management and crafting in zelda becoming stale, and that a reliance on just one kind of weapon becomes the go-to despite a variety at the start. i think horizon's issue might come from a lack of enemy variety and an overabundance of similar creatures needed to take down in order to advance through the game (i call this the okami effect). both games will have to succeed on pacing and feeling like you're constantly finding new things and better things as the game progresses.
 
Controversial Opinion: I actually liked the silent realm parts in SS. I wouldn't put it on the same level as the TP wolf link parts or WW triforce quest at all. That said SS still had plenty of tedious filler between some dungeons.

I have to admit the the last tears section in SS was a bit tedious since it slowed down the momentum at that point. But The previous ones were really, really good and added a lot to the game. I like it.
 
I'm more confident that Zelda will be great than Horizon, but I've just got more trust in that team. Also, the combat in Horizon just looks... too complex for my tastes. But I've got simple tastes. Horizon will be prettier though. I don't have much doubt there at this point. I'm fine with that.
 
Ambivalent really. Both have their plus points from what I've seen. Horizon has the more interesting premise to me (although there may well be a touch of Ubisoft open world and all that implies) and some of the snippets of post apocalypse art have me intrigued. Zelda, well I have no long standing attachment to the series so can't comment on the quality of lack thereof for previous titles; but what I've seen, though fun looking, doesn't appear to do anything hugely intriguing I haven't seen before.
 
I'm more confident that Zelda will be great than Horizon, but I've just got more trust in that team. Also, the combat in Horizon just looks... too complex for my tastes. But I've got simple tastes. Horizon will be prettier though. I don't have much doubt there at this point. I'm fine with that.

Your concerns about the combat should be alleviated by all the hands-on impressions noting how natural the controls felt and the intuitiveness of it. It sounds very accessible.
 
I see them as very different games that provide different types of entertainment. For me Horizon could fall into the trap in which Xenoblade X fell: after some time killing monsters over and over it starts being repetitive no matter how good the combat is. Zelda, while seems to have simpler combat, also seems to have a wider array of actions to take outside combat itself and the Shrines and objects you find will expand it even more. Besides, it´s Zelda, which for it´s a guarantee that even if it´s a bad Zelda, it´ll still be an awesome game. And this one is looking really, really good, like a mix of the old & new Nintendo that´s spawned things like Splatoon. And I LOVE the mix of sci-fi, mystic technology and old settings like ruins.
 
The claims that BotW looks terrible are a bit hyperbolic. It's a handheld game and if anything that should be a point in its favor. Best looking handheld game of all time, right?
 
Zelda has long been pretty good about avoiding tedious fetch quests or for the ones that are "fetch quests" are usually whole game spanning quests that demand various conditions to fulfill. I have little doubt that this will not continue in BoTW.

Horizon probably is probably going to tie "fetch quests" into how you defeat robots in a certain way. Or at least I hope it does.

I don't think either game will be tedious to play.

Welll, like i said: that's my only concern. Not saying they will be tedious. But they're often cheap filler content. A lot of games have them, Zelda being one of them in previous installments. Haven't played much of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword though.
I have zero doubt i will enjoy both games. I have seen enough for that to be obvious for me personally.

The claims that BotW looks terrible are a bit hyperbolic. It's a handheld game and if anything that should be a point in its favor. Best looking handheld game of all time, right?

Absolutely. Until you start playing it on your huge screen. Like most of us probably will.

i'm in the same boat. there's danger of the item management and crafting in zelda becoming stale, and that a reliance on just one kind of weapon becomes the go-to despite a variety at the start. i think horizon's issue might come from a lack of enemy variety and an overabundance of similar creatures needed to take down in order to advance through the game (i call this the okami effect). both games will have to succeed on pacing and feeling like you're constantly finding new things and better things as the game progresses.

This.
 
Hope both will be great. The developer is the only thing holding back my Horizon hype. Killzone is a mediocre series and Shadowfall is quite literally one of the worst games I have ever played so I am not yet convinced GG can pull off a game like Horizon and make it good. Though I'm hoping for the best of course.
 
I'm more confident about Zelda being great, albeit held back by junk hardware(although I imagine the Switch version will look a bit better). In a vacuum Horizon looks great, but Guerilla is the developer so the likely hood of it being poop or mediocre is high. Otherwise they seem like very different games, so it's hard to compare. Hopefully both turn out well.
 
Boy, if Guerrilla knocks this out of the park like it seems they will, someone will need to establish an all-you-can-eat crow buffet.
 
Some thoughts. Horizon looks nice. Aloy's voice acting, from what I have seen so far, is wooden and devoid of any personality. Its gameplay is, y'know, the typical 3rd person shooter and melee stuff, but you can ride a robot bull thing and you can set traps with a rope gun, which is the only bit of innovation this game has shown so far. Obviously It can't be judged wholely from pre release footage but what I've seen of it strikes me as a game afraid to take any chances. It's open world, with combat that for the most part doesn't look out of place in a lot of other games and with a main character that betrays no hint of anything interesting about her.

Meanwhile a new Zelda is the safest bet to be a classic that there is. The dungeon designs have so much creativity poured into them, its kind of rediculous, but thats what Zelda games do, right? Doesn't get a ton of credit for consistently ingenious puzzle and level design because its expected of them. I feel like if wind waker or skyward sword, which people like to think of as the weaker 3d zeldas, were made by a different company they'd be heralded as masterpieces, more than they are, at least.

What does horizon excel in? Its unproven. If Aloy's acting is anything to judge by, so far, the story is going to suffer somewhat for it. But whatever, here's hoping the game turns out good and she grows some individuality beyond the typical stoic woman with bow archetype
 
The claims that BotW looks terrible are a bit hyperbolic. It's a handheld game and if anything that should be a point in its favor. Best looking handheld game of all time, right?

Probably. I also think the game running at a stable framerate will help its aesthetic. Of course the game will never look as flattering as Horizon could look on the PS4 Pro, but I do think that the aesthetic will be cleaned up as best Nintendo can for the Switch version which should make sure it looks perfectly fine. I really like how many parts of the aesthetic in Zelda has an connect to the gameplay either to changing sounds for stealth or slowing link down (in snow) or the weather conditions changing how the game is played at times. It really helps to sell the logical flow that the game tries to encourage.
 
Some thoughts. Horizon looks nice. Aloy's voice acting, from what I have seen so far, is wooden and devoid of any personality. Its gameplay is, y'know, the typical 3rd person shooter and melee stuff

Here's how I know you're not even bothering to give an honest opinion; saying Horizon has typical 3rd person shooter gameplay. I mean, what? There are no guns for a start, and no walls for ducking behind cover.

I'm looking forward to Zelda as much as the next guy, but I'm convinced a lot of you haven't even bothered to watch half of the Horizon footage out there.

The claims that BotW looks terrible are a bit hyperbolic. It's a handheld game and if anything that should be a point in its favor. Best looking handheld game of all time, right?

I like how the narrative now is that 'Zelda is a handheld game', despite the fact it was originally announced for Wii U, a console, and the Switch isn't a handheld either. It's a console game, end of story.
 
Boy, if Guerrilla knocks this out of the park like it seems they will, someone will need to establish an all-you-can-eat crow buffet.
I'm sure it won't be another Heavenly Sword (crisp graphics redhead heroïn game), nor nearly as rich as a Zelda adventure. If pacing, AI, camera are well done, Horizon could be a fantastic action game and that's already good. No need to no man's hype Horizon more than what it tries to achieve. Guerilla is not aiming to make a Zelda game, it won't be anything like it. Reading this thread I'm not sure everyone realize that. Zelda and Horizon both look promising with specific qualities you won't find in the other title.
 
Here's how I know you're not even bothering to give an honest opinion; saying Horizon has typical 3rd person shooter gameplay. I mean, what? There are no guns for a start, and no walls for ducking behind cover.
Sigh..I'm sorry my impressions weren't fawning enough for you. You think i would spend 10 minutes writing all that and not give my honest opinion, or you just reached for the nearest insult because I said the game didn't seem that original to me?
-just because you're shooting with a bow and not a gun doesn't automatically make it a revolutionary 3rd person game, tomb raider's done it
-skyrim had open world bow combat without cover too

Next time conduct yourself with more faith in the sincerity of others and with less knee jerk indignation
 
Looking forward to both.
I'm in the bizar position where i don't feel i need to choose sides and i keep an open mind till the games are released.

Same here, but we can't compare something as iconic as Zelda to basically anything else.

Horizon will be fun, Zelda will be special.
 
Not sure why both are being compared on this level when they haven't even been released yet.

I will say that new Zelda looks like a bad blend of catering to the open world trend with the dated combat of Wind Waker. Not as much of an artistic vision as it is a struggle to get people interested in Zelda again.

Horizon feels like it could go either way. Bland open world Asscreed type game or a new take on open world gameplay.
 
yeah there's a big difference between the design of tp tear hunt and ss tear hunt. in twilight princess, they serve as the introduction to a region. it's meant to show the player where they'll need to go later and to fully explore whatever area they're in. unfortunately, those areas are progressively larger and larger, with lake hylia being particularly annoying. skyward sword treats them in a different way by having them work as a test. they're meant to challenge your knowledge of the level design and discover the best ways to get around within a time limit. the design of the guardians and the music adds to the tension that wasn't there in twilight princess.

same concepts, but skyward sword's execution is far stronger.

Yep, nail meet head. Also SS Link's traversal abilities are just better thought out than Wolf Link's. There's actually a level of skill required with managing SS Link's stamina, planning the most efficient route and not accidentally triggering the guardians. Meanwhile Wolf Link's tear hunt just boils down to, casually canter to each dot on the map and use your scan visor, use a few rigid, context sensitive abilities along the way.
 
Meanwhile a new Zelda is the safest bet to be a classic that there is. The dungeon designs have so much creativity poured into them, its kind of rediculous, but thats what Zelda games do, right? Doesn't get a ton of credit for consistently ingenious puzzle and level design because its expected of them. I feel like if wind waker or skyward sword, which people like to think of as the weaker 3d zeldas, were made by a different company they'd be heralded as masterpieces, more than they are, at least.archetype

Have they actually showed the dungeons yet, or are you talking about shrines? Because the shrines they've shown so far are really no different from the tombs in the reboot of Tomb Raider. They're super short puzzle areas that are relatively easy to complete. Nothing particularly wildly creative about them. Given how many there are i'm sure they'll be more creative and longer as you go on, but what they've shown isn't really impressive.
 
i'm substantially more interested in Breath of The Wild because of the physics engine and how interactive the game world appears to be, and if that is the case it fixes my largest issue with open world games; most of them are just a big area to do things in but seem to have a "look but don't touch" thing.

Horizon, on the other hand, will probably have better combat and is better on the technical side. It just doesn't look particularly engaging to play to me because all I've seen so far is killing things or collecting things and then chatting to people with dodgy VA and bad dialogue. At least if I get bored of hitting things in BoTW I can catapult myself around with a tree stump...
 
Have they actually showed the dungeons yet, or are you talking about shrines? Because the shrines they've shown so far are really no different from the tombs in the reboot of Tomb Raider. They're super short puzzle areas that are relatively easy to complete. Nothing particularly wildly creative about them. Given how many there are i'm sure they'll be more creative and longer as you go on, but what they've shown isn't really impressive.
I meant the dungeon designs from past zelda games, which was evident from my wording. And there have been so many great dungeons in them that it is almost a foregone conclusion that the trend will continue
 
Have they actually showed the dungeons yet, or are you talking about shrines? Because the shrines they've shown so far are really no different from the tombs in the reboot of Tomb Raider. They're super short puzzle areas that are relatively easy to complete. Nothing particularly wildly creative about them. Given how many there are i'm sure they'll be more creative and longer as you go on, but what they've shown isn't really impressive.

Yeah it would be super disappointing if the game wouldn't have real dungeons. I'm 99% sure they wouldn't omit such an iconic feature from the game though.
 
I meant the dungeon designs from past zelda games, which was evident from my wording. And there have been so many great dungeons in them that it is almost a foregone conclusion that the trend will continue

The fact that they haven't shown Jack shit is pretty worrying.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom