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[sankt-Antonio]

So I finished the game the other night. Something makes no sense to me: Spoler:

Spoiler: Story Spoiler

Why would Cate Blanchett betray their own people? She wanted to go to some random planet with Aloy anyway, why not with the others? A Planet is big, if you don't like the face of a guy just go and make an island your own or whatever...
Why not be upfront with people on earth - hey we are here to help you get a working copy of Gaia and we will take one. Or is she just kind of crazy? I liked the idea that this advanced civilization had to run from an AI, but the way they acted on earth was cartoon level of buffoonery.

All they ever needed was a copy of Gaia (the Gaia the game revolves around is already a backup/copy).

Can someone whose finished let me know how far/close I am to finishing the story?

Spoiler

I've gotten two of Gaia's modules and the latest big story mission had be rescue Beta and she is now with the gang in the Base.

I would say you played little over half of the main story, later missions felt longer and bigger in scope. There is a total of

Spoiler: amount

17

, but like I said the last couple of them are more involved.

 

[Heisenberg007]

So I finished the game the other night. Something makes no sense to me: Spoler:

Spoiler: Story Spoiler

Why would Cate Blanchett betray their own people? She wanted to go to some random planet with Aloy anyway, why not with the others? A Planet is big, if you don't like the face of a guy just go and make an island your own or whatever...
Why not be upfront with people on earth - hey we are here to help you get a working copy of Gaia and we will take one. Or is she just kind of crazy? I liked the idea that this advanced civilization had to run from an AI, but the way they acted on earth was cartoon level of buffoonery.

All they ever needed was a copy of Gaia (the Gaia the game revolves around is already a backup/copy).

My two cents:

Tilda* was truly in love with Elisabet Sobeck. She tried convincing Elisabet to come join them, but Elisabet refused because she wanted to save humanity through Zero Dawn. Then Tilda spent 1,000 years with the regret and alone. She got Beta, and she tried spending time with her, and Beta wasn't exactly like Elizabet because she was always a captive and that affected her personality. Besides, it was also a risk to stay in touch with her. They'd have killed Beta had they found out.

But then she encountered Aloy, who is very similar to Elizabeth in personality. That rekindled feelings in Tilda. Considering Far Zenith was about to kill everyone on planet Earth (because Nemesis was about to follow), Tilda saw the only opportunity there was: betray Far Zenith, help Aloy, win her trust, and leave the planet with her, terraform another planet, and live the life she wanted to live with Elizabet. Except Aloy refused and it led to that fight. She, just like Far Zenith's other members, didn't give a fuck about anyone else's life. She would gladly destroy the entire Tenakth tribe just to infiltrate the base.

 

[Vick]

Finally, properly started this morning.

Bought the game D1 but wanted to replay Zero Dawn first, considering the absolutely insane amount of lore, and forgot how fucking massive and immense the game was so it took me forever. Also because i played at Ultra Hard with no reticle.

The first game is basically a colossal masterpiece in my opinion, with less praise in regards to Frozen Wilds which improved lots of things except story (the best thing about this series imo) which took a noticeable nosedive. Don't know how to describe it, but the DLC feels extremely off and cheap compared to the main game even with its much improved facial animations and directing.

Started Forbidden West in Performance Mode directly, patch 1.06, and noticed immediately the jump in quality in basically everything, controls, visuals, acting, the whole package is almost an Uncharted 2-like jump. And the game looks insane, i was expecting a blurry presentation and it's the exact opposite on the KRP, sculpted in stone razor sharp visuals. Yes, shimmering on vegetation is noticeable but not nearly as annoying or severe as you would expect by reading the insane drama around it.. in fact, when they'll touch this Mode on future patches, i won't update the game before seeing proper comparisons because if in order to reduce this issue (which on my panel looks like an effect of downsampling from 16K or something) they have to reduce the insane draw distance, i'll likely keep playing in 1.06 forever.

What i don't like is how strong the adaptive trigger are when forcing cars and also in general. Playing with no reticle at the moment is a no go on Very Hard because of this.. maybe i will change as soon as i upgrade but machines are also so damn fast this time. Also hate the absurd decisions made in regards to HUD.. is it really THIS damn hard to make every single element "Dynamic"? Like, seriously?

Overall, great start so far.. fun, hundreds of hours with insane butter smooth visuals ahead of me.

 

[Bojji]

Bug or...?

 

[kikii]

Bug or...?

its at lower floor tho

 

[GustavoLT]

Big Screen 4K TV players be like: FIX THE PERFORMANCE MODE GRAPHICS!!!

Guerrilla devs be like:

Investigating, but it´s running fine on our test monitors!

 

[adamsapple]

About 2/3rd in i would say

I would say you played little over half of the main story, later missions felt longer and bigger in scope. There is a total of

Spoiler: amount

17

, but like I said the last couple of them are more involved.

Thank you kindly.

I ask because I'm not really digging the map marker vomit that's on screen, I'm gonna try and focus on the main story first then mop up the Platinum required content.

I don't want to check every single icon on the map. Already flush with skill points, the game's extremely generous with them so that won't be an issue.

 

[Crimsonhead]

Any news on if the latest patch improved the performance mode at all? I know there is no reference to it in the notes …

Not yet sadly since i only play at perfomance mode

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Thank you kindly.

I ask because I'm not really digging the map marker vomit that's on screen, I'm gonna try and focus on the main story first then mop up the Platinum required content.

I don't want to check every single icon on the map. Already flush with skill points, the game's extremely generous with them so that won't be an issue.

Did the same. Main story first and then I started side content. Hade to farm stuff for upgrade once.

 

[Bojji]

its at lower floor tho

no lower floor

 

[Vick]

Not yet sadly since i only play at perfomance mode

Yeah, got to:

Spoiler

Meridian

And the intro cutscene was a mess. Same for Avad facial hair in this Mode, huge downgrade compared to Zero Dawn. Tried Resolution but it's just laughable and made me want to vomit, i would never in a million years play it like that.

Finger crossed they'll find a way to improve these issues in the next Patch without having to downgrade a single thing.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Wow finally finished it. Gameplay is ofc similar to the first with a few ups but generally still not a huge fan of it but other than that, it is without a doubt one, if not the best looking games especially from a technical point of view. Insane amount of details. Sure, artistically, it does not compete with games like Cyberpunk or ER but god damn some of the locations and vistas are just fucking gorgeous. They've went above and beyond for that, and I appreciate that a lot, too bad they chose a shitty time to release their game but with time Im sure more and more will love the game like most did with Days Gone, especially if it ever comes to PC. Main story was on par with the first tho with a hell of a lot better characters. Villains were still meh tho. Side quests were great and Im glad they took inspiration from CDPR and making them as important and story focused just as any main quest. And finally the soundtrack and sound design, great stuff there as well, especially the more synth'ish vibe of the music.

Overall 8.5/10 excited for the third one if Sony does not cancel them.

 

[Represent.]

That giant

Spoiler: near end game? spoiler

bat

is fucking awesome.

Because I was like they need a giant one of these... and low and behold.. its in the game.

71 hours in still finding a crapton of new machines. what a huge game

 

[Con_Z_ǝdʇ]

 

[adamsapple]

Where TF do I find greenshard clusters. The only place the "Job" keeps pointing to on the map is already done, I took it from there. It's not pointing anywhere else.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Where TF do I find greenshard clusters. The only place the "Job" keeps pointing to on the map is already done, I took it from there. It's not pointing anywhere else.

Sunken caves.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Salvage job quests were fixed with latest update and now I have several low level quests all at once.
This brings up an interesting plot point that the Oseram either know how or routinely enter cauldrons themselves to get machine override codes.
I thought that was just an Aloy and Sylens thing but it seems story now says anyone in the world can do this.

 

[Woggleman]

Salvage job quests were fixed with latest update and now I have several low level quests all at once.
This brings up an interesting plot point that the Oseram either know how or routinely enter cauldrons themselves to get machine override codes.
I thought that was just an Aloy and Sylens thing but it seems story now says anyone in the world can do this.

From what I gather it seems that a lot of people take down corrupters and use the parts to override machines. It was explained while taking out a rebel camp.

 

[Magic Carpet]

From what I gather it seems that a lot of people take down corrupters and use the parts to override machines. It was explained while taking out a rebel camp.

I've only taken out a few rebel camps so far. I seem to have missed this detail.

 

[adamsapple]

Aloy and Morlund feel like kindred spirits and would be a great couple but this game seems hell bent on keeping Aloy asexual like the first one.

Their first conversation is pretty cute.

 

[Woggleman]

Aloy and Morlund feel like kindred spirits and would be a great couple but this game seems hell bent on keeping Aloy asexual like the first one.

Their first conversation is pretty cute.

He is a bit too goofy for her but she actually looked a little sad when

Spoiler

Varl and Zo got together

. If she is ever to get with somebody she needs somebody she deals with as an equal and not somebody who always needs rescuing.

 

[cormack12]

This game keeps going doesn't it

 

[Ovek]

Spoiler

Going to guess one of the DLCs is going to be recapturing Hephaestus as it escapes again during the final battle. And Earth was doomed within months without it. No one seemed to give a shit at the end of the game though

 

[ajanke]

Man, that was a great game. Just finished. Loved it all. No other armor needed once I got that Nora Thunder Armor and Sharpshot Bow from the arena. So OP.

Spoiler: Story spoiler

only thing that annoyed me was not being able to see Faro and finish his ass

Hopeful for some fun DLC down the road. Only minor bugs for me on the PS5. No other games on my radar now for a bit

 

[ajanke]

Spoiler

Going to guess one of the DLCs is going to be recapturing Hephaestus as it escapes again during the final battle. And Earth was doomed within months without it. No one seemed to give a shit at the end of the game though

Spoiler: Story spoiler

I wonder how long until nemesis arrives on earth? If Nemisis wants revenge so bad why destroy earth? Zeniths are dead now.

 

[ajanke]

I don’t think I used a single green crystal. Lol. If I did I do not recall or I didn’t even notice.

 

[Ovek]

Spoiler: Story spoiler

I wonder how long until nemesis arrives on earth? If Nemisis wants revenge so bad why destroy earth? Zeniths are dead now.

Spoiler

By the looks of things in the holo displays it’s just outside the solar system. I reckon it sent the signal because it thought the Zeniths had already returned to Earth and maybe they had its never stated when they arrived back on Earth or how long it really took them to travel between stars just speculation from Gaia.

I don’t think I used a single green crystal. Lol. If I did I do not recall or I didn’t even notice.

Spoiler

This is especially the case if you use the best equipment from the arena as you don’t need it to upgrade any of that.… which seems like an oversight. I honestly thought I would find a late game vendor like in the Quen camp selling high end equipment but nope. The whole green crystal thing is a bit bizarre.

 

[Shakka43]

I already beat the main story and got the platinum trophy but still have a few side quests and most Errands left to do. I have put 96 hours into the game already but still plan to get 100% of completion before I return to Dying Light 2.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Spoiler

Going to guess one of the DLCs is going to be recapturing Hephaestus as it escapes again during the final battle. And Earth was doomed within months without it. No one seemed to give a shit at the end of the game though

Spoiler

At the end, Gaia or someone said they got Apollo and also some Hephaestus source code in the aborted merge and could control more now to work around Hephaestus.

 

[Beechos]

Is it just me but the platform/jumping feels horrible.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Is it just me but the platform/jumping feels horrible.

I wouldnt say its horrible but it definitely feels off at times to me

 

[Fox Mulder]

Is it just me but the platform/jumping feels horrible.

It feels worse than the last game with their expanded system. Like she doesn’t stick to objects as well.

 

[adamsapple]

I don’t think I used a single green crystal. Lol. If I did I do not recall or I didn’t even notice.

They're used in weapon upgrades, you probably used them without realizing.

I did for a while until I started needing more for higher tier weaponry.

Is it just me but the platform/jumping feels horrible.

Yes, it feels worse than the first game to me.

 

[Beechos]

I wouldnt say its horrible but it definitely feels off at times to me

Yeah its weird feels like im jumping around in a gta game.

 

[Vick]

I barely started and seriously hope the game actually holds up later on, because at the moment this has every potential to be a fucking masterpiece.

Feels like i'm playing sci-fi RDR2 with robo machines and actually great gameplay.
Super impressed so far, the amount of improvements/additions over the first game is truly overwhelming.

Where TF do I find greenshard clusters. The only place the "Job" keeps pointing to on the map is already done, I took it from there. It's not pointing anywhere else.

Found them in some corners, hidden little caves you have to break in, a sunken cave and a big cluster on top of a mountain, and i have yet to meet Erend. Seems like they're pretty much everywhere.

It feels worse than the last game with their expanded system.

Yes, it feels worse than the first game to me.

I started Forbidden West right after 96 hours in Zero Dawn, and immediately found it much improved here.

 

[adamsapple]

I started Forbidden West right after 96 hours in Zero Dawn, and immediately found it much improved here.

This game has more 'open ended' climbing but honestly there's so many little animation hitches, glitches and Aloy is jittering all over the place so much, I'd have taken the very rigid "only fixed point to fixed point" climbing of the first one.

 

[Javthusiast]

6 hours in. These are the best npc models and animations during such dialogue scenes in any rpg, open world game. The Mass Effects, Fallouts, Elder Scrolls, AssCreeds etc. are all so inferior in that department.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Got my first Legendary piece of Armor. The Oserem Artificer. I looked it up and it seems it's the best armor in the game.

Spoiler: How to get Legendary Armor

Had to do all the Salvage job quests to get it.

Managed to get to level 50 in the process. I think thats the level cap. But I'm still getting skill points for quests and stuff.
Upgrading this Legendary looks like it's going to be difficult.
Cauldron Chi is next.

 

[Vick]

This game has more 'open ended' climbing but honestly there's so many little animation hitches, glitches and Aloy is jittering all over the place so much, I'd have taken the very rigid "only fixed point to fixed point" climbing of the first one.

Not my experience so far. Of course i barely started, but still climbed to the top of every watch tower in the first open area and collected every box shown by my Focus.. quite some climbing already then. Only saw improvements.

Since platforming was mentioned, jumping in general feels much more grounded/looks more natural and there are many contextual animations now. I also managed to reduce fall damage by moving the stick down, towards the surface.

 

[off duty ninja]

Obviously a strong black woman.

 

[Javthusiast]

Obviously a strong black woman.

 

[DragoonKain]

I'm done with the game, I shelved it. Put about 60 hours into it. Left some errands and some other collectibles. Did most of the side quests. I'm sure there were some I missed, but whatever, I didn't feel like playing anymore. I really enjoyed the game. About as much as Zero Dawn. I think the game was better, but I didn't enjoy it more simply because of my open world game burnout. The gameplay loop of open world games are almost the same in every one and after a while, once you get used to the amazing visuals and epic gameplay after a while, the open world style just started to bore me. I do enjoy the story in these games though, I think it's cool. Recognized Carrie Anne Moss' voice right away, she did a great job. Love Lance Riddick as usual, he's great in everything he's in.

Not sure how they can improve on the game though to make the next one not get boring fast for me. Just better graphics and more epic machines to fight? As long as the gameplay structure of open world games remains the same, this series is going to start to get stale IMO. Not that it's their fault, there's just too many of these games right now.

 

[Rea]

I'm done with the game, I shelved it. Put about 60 hours into it. Left some errands and some other collectibles. Did most of the side quests. I'm sure there were some I missed, but whatever, I didn't feel like playing anymore. I really enjoyed the game. About as much as Zero Dawn. I think the game was better, but I didn't enjoy it more simply because of my open world game burnout. The gameplay loop of open world games are almost the same in every one and after a while, once you get used to the amazing visuals and epic gameplay after a while, the open world style just started to bore me. I do enjoy the story in these games though, I think it's cool. Recognized Carrie Anne Moss' voice right away, she did a great job. Love Lance Riddick as usual, he's great in everything he's in.

Not sure how they can improve on the game though to make the next one not get boring fast for me. Just better graphics and more epic machines to fight? As long as the gameplay structure of open world games remains the same, this series is going to start to get stale IMO. Not that it's their fault, there's just too many of these games right now.

You can just forget that this game is an open world game and treat it like normal linear game, if you are tired of open world games. That’s why this game is special unlike any other typical open world games. I hope they cut down some unnecessary grinding elements in the new game.

 

[Moonjt9]

Just finished it and got the platinum trophy. Phenomenal game. I absolutely LOVED the story. This kind of science-fiction stuff is right in my lane. Voice acting and animation were all so good throughout. Combat was some of the most fun I’ve had. I really hope they do a third one. Beautiful game 10/10 for me.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Just finished it, what a great experience, solid 9.5.

Awesome groundwork for the third one, can't wait.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

My two cents:

Tilda* was truly in love with Elisabet Sobeck. She tried convincing Elisabet to come join them, but Elisabet refused because she wanted to save humanity through Zero Dawn. Then Tilda spent 1,000 years with the regret and alone. She got Beta, and she tried spending time with her, and Beta wasn't exactly like Elizabet because she was always a captive and that affected her personality. Besides, it was also a risk to stay in touch with her. They'd have killed Beta had they found out.

But then she encountered Aloy, who is very similar to Elizabeth in personality. That rekindled feelings in Tilda. Considering Far Zenith was about to kill everyone on planet Earth (because Nemesis was about to follow), Tilda saw the only opportunity there was: betray Far Zenith, help Aloy, win her trust, and leave the planet with her, terraform another planet, and live the life she wanted to live with Elizabet. Except Aloy refused and it led to that fight. She, just like Far Zenith's other members, didn't give a fuck about anyone else's life. She would gladly destroy the entire Tenakth tribe just to infiltrate the base.

Maybe you are right. I didn't really get that feeling playing the game. Thanks for writing that down.

Spoiler: Story

Beta was the key to get Gaia, she was able to operate the control center, so she was a tool first, and maybe a call back friend second. Her betraying the peoples plan who she would have gone and done all of it just because she sees another clone just doesn't make sense to me.

Would have liked it a lot more of they never got into the masterplan of these future people and saved the revelation, or parts of it for part III. More of a mystery species where we might get the idea that earth and its inhabitants are so insignificant that even explaining the reasoning for their actions is not worth their time.

Gripes I had with the game:
- I really wished Aloy would get some tech that would scout and harvest medicine Berrys and wood for arrows for her, at least post main story. Being this awesome hero but still having to fetch berries is wack. Since the game gives you no defense mechanism eating that shit is mandatory.

- Why is gliding not auto engaging when I fall from a cliff and onto hard land? I died often because of the glider delayed engagement or my inability to do it correctly. Dying form this is never fun. At least make it a last meter parachute kind of thing where I might loose health but don't outride die.

- There are way too many controls schemes in the game, why does swimming, gliding, running, flying, horseback riding have different buttons for everything? Want to down when swimming, hit x, want to fly lower press L2?

- Why can't I parry incoming male attacks (from Humans)?

- No mandatory use for certain weapons. It's a shame that you can breeze through the game with the standard bow.

- Imo, the IP could lead to a 95 game with more focus in regards to handling weapons and a world that would be worth exploring.
The amount of interesting stuff I found while roaming the lands was actually not that much. Why? Why haven't I found something unique and useful while exploring a cave, even if it was only a cosmetic thing... I don't even care anymore what's inside some chests, loot from enemies etc. I just hit "take all" and be done with it - if loot is that uninteresting make it auto pickup after killing. There is no surprise and I just don't care anymore.

- Why the hell isn't Aloy a tech priest with artificial limbs, mechanical pets etc?

 

[evanft]

Man, my initial impressions ended up being completely right. The gameplay really is a mess of stapled-on systems that don’t work well with the original gameplay.

I mean, they nerfed stealth and traps, but then they made ranged completely OP. Once you have braced shot and maxed out range master the game is essentially over. You can just use that in every fight and it becomes a cakewalk.

The legendary gear grind is terrible. I mean, the entire upgrade/crafting system is overdone and should have been removed entirely, but it’s especially bad for the top tier stuff. I’m talking about multiple machine parts from machines that barely exist out in the world.

Can we also talk about the number of annoying “puzzles” they put in the game to artificially extend its length? Having to pull fucking boxes is so 2005. I can’t believe they put it in the game.

Then there’s the grapple hook, which is basically useless outside of specific times they want you to use it. Why invest so much development time in something so pointless?

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

- Why is gliding not auto engaging when I fall from a cliff and onto hard land? I died often because of the glider delayed engagement or my inability to do it correctly. Dying form this is never fun. At least make it a last meter parachute kind of thing where I might loose health but don't outride die.

- There are way too many controls schemes in the game, why does swimming, gliding, running, flying, horseback riding have different buttons for everything? Want to down when swimming, hit x, want to fly lower press L2?

You can set to auto sprint and auto glide deploy in accessibility options. Also you can change some of the button mappings to your preference. Like I set glide to X instead of [] as i is easier to hold X after jumping using X.

 

[SlimySnake]

Not sure how they can improve on the game though to make the next one not get boring fast for me. Just better graphics and more epic machines to fight? As long as the gameplay structure of open world games remains the same, this series is going to start to get stale IMO. Not that it's their fault, there's just too many of these games right now.

TBH, i called this last year when we were discussing GOTY contenders. I said sequels like Horizon, GOW, and BOTW are going to feel too samey especially since they are tied to the same hardware as their predecessors which means they will lack any next gen features leading to more feeling of sameyness. I think this game might be the Uncharted 2 to Uncharted 1 leap in several areas, but because Uncharted 1 and 2 were just 8-10 hour games, we didnt feel the burnout like we do with 40-50 hour games like Horizon, God of War, Assassins Creed and yes, Ghost of Tsushima which will need to bring a lot of new features in order to avoid feeling stale and predictable.

TBH, I am surprised Elden Rings has been received so well as it is basically souls in open world form, but I guess critics and gamers alike lose their shit over these linear franchises going open world for the first time.

I think for the sequel, they need to focus on larger scale battles. I cant believe we still haven't fought a Horus yet. Two games of teasing and still nothing? They also need to ditch bow and arrow combat imo. The series needs a soft reboot and it might not be a bad idea to become a full fledged third person shooter.

 

[DragoonKain]

TBH, i called this last year when we were discussing GOTY contenders. I said sequels like Horizon, GOW, and BOTW are going to feel too samey especially since they are tied to the same hardware as their predecessors which means they will lack any next gen features leading to more feeling of sameyness. I think this game might be the Uncharted 2 to Uncharted 1 leap in several areas, but because Uncharted 1 and 2 were just 8-10 hour games, we didnt feel the burnout like we do with 40-50 hour games like Horizon, God of War, Assassins Creed and yes, Ghost of Tsushima which will need to bring a lot of new features in order to avoid feeling stale and predictable.

TBH, I am surprised Elden Rings has been received so well as it is basically souls in open world form, but I guess critics and gamers alike lose their shit over these linear franchises going open world for the first time.

I think for the sequel, they need to focus on larger scale battles. I cant believe we still haven't fought a Horus yet. Two games of teasing and still nothing? They also need to ditch bow and arrow combat imo. The series needs a soft reboot and it might not be a bad idea to become a full fledged third person shooter.

I think they should focus on instead of just making the world beautiful, making it feel worthwhile to explore. This didn't.

Quests and areas that offer completely unique machines that you can't just find on the map exploring. Lots more unique armors and weapons that you can find in the world. Things like that. Gamers need incentive to do exploration and quests. Aside from skill points, this game really didn't offer anyway aside from a few missions here or there.

Also maybe expand on the "home base" thing and have optional characters you can recruit to build up your base and make it customizable with side content.

This may not change the root structure of the game, but it will pump it up with a lot of toppings to make it a lot more edible through the journey.