Which biome is everyone's favorite?
I am a fanboy for snow & mountains so I'm obviously picking the snowy biome. Just curious what everyone else likes.
Is this game like the last one where the hardest difficulty is the best way to play?
So many different tools and techniques you would never use in the first game on lowers difficulties.
I'm playing on hard and I think that's well balanced between fair challenge and some bullshit moments with the apex specificallyIs this game like the last one where the hardest difficulty is the best way to play?
So many different tools and techniques you would never use in the first game on lowers difficulties.
well i just finished the game in 22 hours. Story had some cool ideas. GFX are insane,
the side quests are horrible
The burrowers are the most difficult enemy in the game. They have no weaknesses. Constantly move around so you can't hit the eye, jump and flop and roll around. AND they chuck rocks at you.where everyone is jumping around all the time.
Exact same spot and mirroring my playthrough. Going through all the dialogue choices and learning about the tribes and their politics and whatnot… masterful world building. It’s a joy to explore and do the side quests to see what interesting characters you meet. And there is still so much to see further west now! Loving the world and lore.I disagree. I’m at 20 hours and only got to the part where you
go out to get other AI programs for GAIA
I enjoy the story and world just going around doing everything. It’s better than mindless stuff like Ubisoft games and reveals more of the world building and backstory.
Yep, I pretty much only use my regular arrows for animals lol. Or when I’m low.Ok so I think I’m starting to come around on the combat. Elementals are WAY more important this time.
Most of them add zero value to the game. Like the skill trees seem cool and expansive, but most of shit. The tons of weapons and variety of weapons and upgrades make you think there is more variety but that's also not true. Basically they took the condensed, no fat, systems of the first game and stretched them out with a bunch of filler to make them seem bigger and better. The fact is 5 skill points in the first game were more impactful that 25 in this game. One weapon in HZD was more impactful than half a dozen in HFW. And it seems their mantra for the sequel was to do this in every facet of the game. HZD had a few spots you could do immediately, in HFW half the hotspots on the map are inaccessible until you get to a certain story point. Hell, even pouch upgrades are drawn out and bigger pain in the ass than the first game.yeah, I'm in the same boat right now. I too stopped doing side stuff because I wanna get done before Elden Ring drops.
the RPG systems and sidequests also really started to bore me.
Resonator Blast is amazing. It's one of the few decent new additions to combat and makes melee significantly more powerful.Does anyone actually use Resonator Blast? I've had it unlocked forever but have never actually used it.
Aim and shoot off the detachable guns on top of them, use those against them.I decided to do a side quest and this side quest has me getting my ass HANDED to me by these invisible Sabertooth Tiger machines :|
Just collect everything you can and send it to your stash, there's not as much farming wood/resources required as the 1st game. And turn on the special loot settings so you're not stucking killing 50+ foxes for some skin.Just hope I don't have to spend a lot of time farming materials in this to upgrade everything, that stuff always takes me out of games. Hope it isn't too grindy.
I use it all the time, it's super strong.Does anyone actually use Resonator Blast? I've had it unlocked forever but have never actually used it.
You can upgrade how fast it charge and the latest melee combo you unlock is a builder for the resonator basically, r1-r1-r1-pause-r1.Yeah I have it unlocked but cant seem to activate it during battles
I agree with every single negative point you listed.I gave it another shot. Here are some thoughts so far.
Negatives
- The climbing is improved from HZD, but after BOTW it feels old. It’s basically a better version of Uncharted, which is fine, but to see it in a big open world game like this is disappointing.
- Ashly Burch seems to be purposefully deepening/aging her voice. In the first game she basically sounded like Ashly Burch, while in the second it’s like someone told her to change her voice. I don’t like.
- Ally talks to herself too much. I know that medicine is going to the stash. I’ve been playing for like 12 hours.
- The melee combat, at least so far, is still bad. I was really hoping they would fix what was one of the worst parts of the first game, but for some reason they didn’t. This is exacerbated by the fact that the machines are much more aggressive than before and encounters often end up in close quarters combat much more frequently than in the first game.
- The FOV is not wide enough. I can’t see what’s going on when things get crazy and I end up getting thrown around with no sense of what’s happening.
- Machines have been made way too aggressive, imo. The best part of HZD was the “combat puzzle box” nature of the encounters. You were encouraged to think situations out and were rewarded for careful planning. In HFW, however, machines go to RUSH RUSH RUSH ATTACK mode in 0.3 seconds, turning the game into a generic third person action game when this happens.
- I don’t like how instead of having an elemental sling with multiple types of ammo, you now have individual slings for each element. Maybe this changes down the line, but right now it clutters my inventory and essentially eliminates the benefits of having six weapon slots in the wheel
- It feels like Aloy gets knocked down way too easily. Make combat annoying at times.
- The skill tree is just too god damn big. I understand the desire to expand it, and I certainly appreciate that some things that required unlocking before are now available by default, but they went too damn far.
- Why the fuck did they feel the need to add machine strike? At no point while playing HZD did I think to myself, “You know what this game needs? CHESS!” They spent time on this instead of fixing performance mode.
- Fast travel should be free, not requiring packs. This may be one of the things that changes later, similar to HZD, but right now it’s annoying.
- The default setup for the focus is horrendous. Luckily you can change it to work more like the first game.
- Why do I have a limit on the number of traps/tripwires?
- The weapon upgrade system was not needed.
- Performance mode IQ looks like shit. The CB rendering combined with the massive amount of geometric detail leads to a ton of noise/aliasing on my 80” 4k screen. It’s a noticeable downgrade over every other PS5 game I’ve played with a performance mode, like AssCreed Valhalla, Demon’s Souls, or Ratchet and Clank. It’s not something you’re really going to see in screenshots or low quality YouTube videos, either, which makes discussing it online frustrating. You really need to see it in motion on a 4k display, even better if it’s a big one.
Positives
- FUCK ME THE CHARACTER MODELS HOLY SHIT.
- The overall presentation and storytelling is from a completely different planet compared to the first game. Dialogue scenes don’t feel weird or stilted anymore. The writing is also somehow even better.
- This may be the best looking/designed open world I’ve ever experienced. It doesn’t feel like there’s miles and miles of empty crap or copy/pasted environments. There’s something to look at or do almost everywhere. Just seeing a new area is a joy in itself.
- Ranged combat is even better than before. It just feels so much tighter and more fun.
- The quests are really some of the best I’ve seen in an open world game.
- Everyone is so fucking horny for Aloy. Thirst King Avad, amirite?
I think a lot of my negatives may go away as I play the game more, but it feels like they didn’t listen to the main criticism of the first game, namely that it took too long to really get going. It also looks like the negatives outweigh The positives, but I’m just being hypercritical because I just played the first game on PC, so it’s fresh on my mind.
I'm not sure but i think there is an option to lower down the talking in the accessibility section.I agree with every single negative point you listed.
I love the game and am having a blast but if I hear about my stash one more I’m gonna lose it. It’s crazy how often they set her to repeat herself, and basic shit at that. There really needs to be an option to turn voice frequency down. There’s an option like this in Monster Hunter Rise and I really appreciate it.
Just realised that Erend sounds like Trigger off friends
You have to hear itDon't see it.
I’m glad i am not the only one who noticed this. I don’t like the way it looks now. It feels 1800p. Definitely not native 4kI use it all the time, it's super strong.
Maybe today i'm gonna post some of my melee videos on very hard to show how good it is.
On another note, i said that rdr2 had better voice acting but yesterday i discovered both kotallo and the tenakt chief and they both sound fantastic.
Also, i'm the only one who think that the patch lowered down the definition a bit too much? Now it looks kinda blurry for native 4k, maybe i just have to re-adjust my eyes but i thini i prefer the way the game looked before, even if oversharpened a little.
I loved Aloy but Guerrilla has made me hate her because she won't shut the fuck up. She's like the asshole whose seen the movie you are watching and constantly spoils the next scene over and over again.
"Hey, I bet I can push that button"
"Hey now that you've pushed that button, use your focus"
"See that panel?...open it"
She literally hand hand feeds every step of the game two seconds after you get them. It's far and away the most egregious handholding bullshit I've ever experienced in a game. Guerilla obviously thinks that the people who play their games are all fucking retarded.
Thank god for Elden Ring, I need some obtuse "fuck you find your own way" gameplay to rinse this babies first open world stench off of me.
Most of them add zero value to the game. Like the skill trees seem cool and expansive, but most of shit. The tons of weapons and variety of weapons and upgrades make you think there is more variety but that's also not true. Basically they took the condensed, no fat, systems of the first game and stretched them out with a bunch of filler to make them seem bigger and better. The fact is 5 skill points in the first game were more impactful that 25 in this game. One weapon in HZD was more impactful than half a dozen in HFW. And it seems their mantra for the sequel was to do this in every facet of the game. HZD had a few spots you could do immediately, in HFW half the hotspots on the map are inaccessible until you get to a certain story point. Hell, even pouch upgrades are drawn out and bigger pain in the ass than the first game.
Bigger is not always better, more shit, more hoops, more fat do not make for a better game. The funny part is, people always complain about Ubisoft open worlds, but HZD was a by-the-numbers Ubisoft template and instead of veering away from that style they leaned into it further and no one seems to notice or care.
The game is gorgeous, the animations and models are incredible, the voice acting and story are top notch, but ALL of the gameplay systems are worse than the first game.
Resonator Blast is amazing. It's one of the few decent new additions to combat and makes melee significantly more powerful.
I upgraded melee so much that i have no idea of what are you talking about...i guess hunter skill tree stuff??If anyone is looking to upgrade to a Purple Hunter Bow, do the Poseidon story mission.. I believe it's level 22. You will get the parts you need to buy a pretty decent purple bow. Though, cant upgrade it past level 2 because of another gate check mini boss part. Still, it is better than what I did when I skipped story missions and just did side missions until I finished Talanah's quest at level 30. Which is another way to get the part you need to buy the Purple Hunter bow.
I unlocked a couple of skills that absolutely destroy large groups. This is exactly what I wanted from this game tbh. Experimentation and build variety. I bought the Chain Reaction valor surge to chain up to 150% damage to nearby enemies then bought the Charged Shot upgrade for the Sharpshot bow which has Aloy go down on one knee and do massive damage with three precision shots. If you time them right you can chain that Charged shot damage with the Chain Reaction valor surge to take out enemies in one hit.
Nah, Hunter Skill tree Valor Surges are kinda shit. In the Skill tree for machine overrides, there is a valor surge called Chain Reaction right at the bottom. So you have to waste around 15 skill points just to unlock that valor surge.I upgraded melee so much that i have no idea of what are you talking about...i guess hunter skill tree stuff??
How did you upgrade meleeI upgraded melee so much that i have no idea of what are you talking about...i guess hunter skill tree stuff??
I like overraiding machine to let them fight so for me are not wasted points.Nah, Hunter Skill tree Valor Surges are kinda shit. In the Skill tree for machine overrides, there is a valor surge called Chain Reaction right at the bottom. So you have to waste around 15 skill points just to unlock that valor surge.
Under the Infiltratror Skill Tree, there is a L2+R1 move that has Aloy go down in one knee for a massive DPS shot. (only works with Sharpshot/Precision bows) It isnt a valor surge ability, just a regular one that consumes stamina. You can activate your valor surge then target one enemy with that move and the damage will chain to other enemies nearby. Enemies within a 5 meter radius take 150% damage so say you did 500 damage to one enemy, the enemies around it will also take 500 damage, but the enemies within a 5 meter radius will take 750 damage each. I was killing Bristlebacks in one hit lmao
It also chains elemental damage. So if you set one guy on fire, everyone gets set on fire. it's awesome.
I never wanted fewer skills, but more weapons is a bit of a weird one because nothing felt strong for the first 30 hours. You mentioned melee being strong but even after investing in the first tier of the melee skill tree, I do 10 damage. The damn resonator thing never builds up. It feels even worse than the original.Not sure why people wants less skills, less elements and less weapons.
Is having more choice a flaw now? You are never forced to use elements, you can just go for raw damage with all the fucking weak points the dinobots have, you have to be a moron to only hit armour and doing no damage...even melee is super strong now, yes even against big boys if you are good enough with the rolling, it's like playing clunky scifi souls lol.
Was your solution having less stuff in a sequel?? But then you read the elden ring topic and people is glad that they added a lot of probably unnecessary shit aswell??
Ac games don't have a good core combat and interesting enemies like horizon, that's why the bloat doesn't add anything, because combat is shit to begin with and no amount of options it's gonna help.
Skill tree and armour that give you melee bonus.How did you upgrade melee
The Slicing Hunter Bow is very good when fully upgraded. I dont remember where I got it from. maybe Plainsong.I'm level 23 with all green weapons still lol
Yeah agree to disagree, i never felt super weak and i'm playing on max difficulty, i don't feel like superman of course, but never out of hope, ultra hard on the first one was worse.I never wanted fewer skills, but more weapons is a bit of a weird one because nothing felt strong for the first 30 hours. You mentioned melee being strong but even after investing in the first tier of the melee skill tree, I do 10 damage. The damn resonator thing never builds up. It feels even worse than the original.
With souls games, you dont get OP but you dont feel weak either. Especially if you get the weapon you want and can upgrade it. Combat still feels satisfying in NG, mid game, or NG+ end game. Here the first 20-30 hours felt very unsatisfying. Even now, fighting Tiderippers was a pain because even big enemies move around too much. I have concentration maxed out. I can be in slow mo for 15 seconds but those damn things just wont stop moving.
I think they designed the game around the end game and made some very minor but crucial mistakes that kept people from trying out better weapons and abilities even 20 hours in. I dont understand why I had to spend 15 skill points just to get to the Chain Reaction valor. Which itself takes 8 more skill points to max out. Just let me unlock valor surges on their own without having to invest in stuff. It wouldve alleviated a lot of frustration people are having with not feeling strong enough.
I had blue weapons before level 15...The Slicing Hunter Bow is very good when fully upgraded. I dont remember where I got it from. maybe Plainsong.
Yellow/Gold is legendaryIs there anything higher than a purple weapon? I got an orange item once