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Horizon Zero Dawn |OT| The Land After Time

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I am absolutely loving this game. I'm about 30 hours in and I'm only at 39% complete. I think they definetly need to improve the human combat in this game though. It takes too many shots/melee hits to take them down. They should introduce a melee combat system specifically for human encounters like a lock on system of some sort and allow you to strafe around them.
 
They need to improve greatly the combat against humans. Other than that it's just little tuning: A bit more complex side stories (some are really good) and a little refinement on the cinematic storytelling aspect (for main story and side quests), expand a little the arsenal and outfits too.

Right now the game is a 9+ because of humans, if they were good we would be talking about a game close to 10.
well I think the game is super polished and doesn't have a lot of flaws, but even if the Humans were smarter, it would be a 10/10 game for me. If this game out last year, or in 2014, it would have been 10/10 across the board, but the fact is, great games have released since then that does some of what Horizon does well.

A sequel could of course build on this foundation, and obvious improvements are as you mentioned. Tweak human AI, better story for side quest, more polishing in the main quest etc...But you have to do something new in the AAA space to wow the critics, and that's the potential I'm talking about. For me Horizon has the make-up to be another land-mark RPG like FF, ME, or Witcher, while simultaneously being the AAA Monster Hunter game with a co-op mode. All they have to do is tune the AI and damage for multiple players and tweak the melee system, right now it's a bit too basic (Seriously look to Dragon's Dogma for inspiration) and bam! 4 players versus a robot T-Rex after you finished the main storyline? Creating your own character from one of the many tribes with all the crazy outfits (completely customizable now)! I mean, this game could be the read deal here. So much potential.
 
Only got one main mission left, i think, before doing that i'm gonna do all the side stuff. I knew when i bought this i would love the gameplay but man, the story and the world is even better. GG GG.
Jup, was pretty stunned how much thought they put into both the story and the lore of this game. How the world became the way it is, the history of Meridian, the structure of the clans, their religious believes. Really nice stuff. Love this to bits.
 

valkyre

Member
you should have noticed damage numbers increase. please mind that elemental arrows like fire, ice and shock don't do a lot of damage and are more so to induce opponents into status effects.

the increase in damage with damage mods is easily noticeable with hardpoint and precision arrows.

I still deal 90 damage when i headshot walkers and i feel like that was the same since the beginning of the game lol. :D
 
After you learn to override/ mount enemies I was really disappointed that not a single NPC said anything about it. Like it was no big deal, even tho up to that point in the game the machines are made out to be this terrible menace that destroys villages and they need to be respected, ect yadayadaya

Aloy comes riding in on a strider, not a single NPC so much as bats a fucking eyelid. Not a single person says anything at all about how she did it, what her power is, anything.

For a game with this much love and attention to detail in it, this was really -really- stupid to me.

Other than that, it's been a pretty fun action RPG.
Last night I heard an npc say something to the effect of "whoa a machine rider"
 
S

Steve.1981

Unconfirmed Member
So how the hell do you hit the bellowback(I think?) weak point on its belly? Says it's weak to fire, I break off a ton of armor in the area but I can't seem to get a clear shot of those weak to fire canisters..

If you hit them with freeze bombs or tie them down you'll get more time to aim your shots.
 

Paganmoon

Member
I still deal 90 damage when i headshot walkers and i feel like that was the same since the beginning of the game lol. :D

I think that's their max HP, so you can't do more than 90 on them ever, unless you crit? I always do 90 or 180 when I hit them straight in the eye.
 

Kill3r7

Member
So how the hell do you hit the bellowback(I think?) weak point on its belly? Says it's weak to fire, I break off a ton of armor in the area but I can't seem to get a clear shot of those weak to fire canisters..

You stun them. This exposes their canisters. IIRC, this is one of the hunting ground challenges. Actually the challenges do a great job showing you how to take down various creatures and how to use your complete arsenal. You should do them all.
 
How much of the main quest do I have remaining?

Spoilers: I just completed
The section where you climb the Faro building and see the holograms at the top and chat with the hologram of Sylense
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
So how the hell do you hit the bellowback(I think?) weak point on its belly? Says it's weak to fire, I break off a ton of armor in the area but I can't seem to get a clear shot of those weak to fire canisters..

There is a hunting ground trial that teaches you how to do that. I believe you are supposed to stun them with shock arrows or shock grenades and they basically fall to the ground bending over to reveal the power cells/canisters. you might have to use a tear arrow to remove the protective plate but it's much easier to do so when they are on the ground.
 
Where do you get that braided thing for shadow sling?
When you are at the vendor that sells it, select the weapon and hit square to add job. It will create an errand that you can track. I think they come from behemoths, either their storage box, or their corpses.
 
S

Steve.1981

Unconfirmed Member
and they all have uses to different dinos, so you really need to be able to change them out easier than having to go through inventory when you stumble upon different groups.

That's the thing, all the weapons are so useful! The system isn't perfect right now.

It's really bad to me but it's almost a non issue because they're super easy to deal with.

The camps are pretty easy to clear, yeah. Even if you mess up a stealth approach, the spear wrecks bandits.
 
well I think the game is super polished and doesn't have a lot of flaws, but even if the Humans were smarter, it would be a 10/10 game for me. If this game out last year, or in 2014, it would have been 10/10 across the board, but the fact is, great games have released since then that does some of what Horizon does well.

A sequel could of course build on this foundation, and obvious improvements are as you mentioned. Tweak human AI, better story for side quest, more polishing in the main quest etc...But you have to do something new in the AAA space to wow the critics, and that's the potential I'm talking about. For me Horizon has the make-up to be another land-mark RPG like FF, ME, or Witcher, while simultaneously being the AAA Monster Hunter game with a co-op mode. All they have to do is tune the AI and damage for multiple players and tweak the melee system, right now it's a bit too basic (Seriously look to Dragon's Dogma for inspiration) and bam! 4 players versus a robot T-Rex after you finished the main storyline? Creating your own character from one of the many tribes with all the crazy outfits (completely customizable now)! I mean, this game could be the read deal here. So much potential.

Sounds cool for side content but the game would look half as good at least because of that mode. If they could make coop battles, even 2 players with how the game looks right now it'd be insane. However I would want that as a side mode, give me a meaty single player main story as the first one for the sequel. :p

I think the game is quite unique in big aspects, it's right up there with the best games I've played this generation, I even like it more than The Witcher III.
 

pixxxelz

Member
Is it possible to get the last power core without finishing the main quest?

I need that armor but I don't want to finish the game yet..
 

LogicStep

Member
There is a hunting ground trial that teaches you how to do that. I believe you are supposed to stun them with shock arrows or shock grenades and they basically fall to the ground bending over to reveal the power cells/canisters. you might have to use a tear arrow to remove the protective plate but it's much easier to do so when they are on the ground.
Thanks. I need to get back to the trials. I only did one because I lacked the weapons for the others.
 
They need to improve the quests in a possible Horizon 2, especially sidequests. Add more meaningful characters and make the quest more than "follow the icon and do this". Forget the icons, make the players use the environment to reach the goal, make them use the map, make them ask around to get more info, explore, and make the sidequests have some impact in the world (people getting angry at you, or enviroment change that attracts some sort of beast, idk)
 
They need to improve the quests in a possible Horizon 2, especially sidequests. Add more meaningful characters and make the quest more than "follow the icon and do this". Forget the icons, make the players use the environment to reach the goal, make them use the map, make them ask around to get more info, explore, and make the sidequests have some impact in the world (people getting angry at you, or enviroment change that attracts some sort of beast, idk)

I'm pretty sure they won't do that... like, ever, because it's an option in the game, you could make it work like that, that tells me that they won't go bold and make it mandatory, only Japan does stuff like that.

There are certain interactions that change because of solving quests but I think is not what you want.

I like the side stories and characters, some are pretty cool. Most of stories could be a little more complex tho.
 
This is an odd question, considering I don't have the game at all. Somebody please school me on Vantage Points. I've seen videos where you get to the point, activate Focus, and you see the hologram. Can you activate the hologram from other angles, or is that one shot all you've got?

Reason I'm asking: I live in Colorado Springs. I've seen the three Vantage points from the area in the game and one of them happens to be the Pioneer's Museum (called the Explorer Museum in the game.) My mother is a local historian who volunteers there, and I would love to know the extent in which the building exists in the game.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
They need to improve the quests in a possible Horizon 2, especially sidequests. Add more meaningful characters and make the quest more than "follow the icon and do this". Forget the icons, make the players use the environment to reach the goal, make them use the map, make them ask around to get more info, explore, and make the sidequests have some impact in the world (people getting angry at you, or enviroment change that attracts some sort of beast, idk)

It seems they actually wanted to stay away from this kind of branching narrative in Horizon. I forget the article/interview but they spoke at least in part about wanting to give you choices but about not wanting to have multiple endings or your choices having drastic effects on the world around you. Not that I agree but I also think its in part that its their first game and they couldn't fit every idea they wanted into the game. Here's hoping for a sequel.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
This is an odd question, considering I don't have the game at all. Somebody please school me on Vantage Points. I've seen videos where you get to the point, activate Focus, and you see the hologram. Can you activate the hologram from other angles, or is that one shot all you've got?

Reason I'm asking: I live in Colorado Springs. I've seen the three Vantage points from the area in the game and one of them happens to be the Pioneer's Museum (called the Explorer Museum in the game.) My mother is a local historian who volunteers there, and I would love to know the extent in which the building exists in the game.

You can only access the hologram from the specified angle/shot. It's not a 360* hologram. If you try to move the camera, it fades away.

Basically how it is that you're focused on some kind of landmark or prominent 'past building' and then there's a narration that describes the character's interaction at that location. You're watching a specific location, you're not rotating the camera and getting a feel for what the pre-destruction world was like.
 
You can only access the hologram from the specified angle/shot. It's not a 360* hologram. If you try to move the camera, it fades away.

Basically how it is that you're focused on some kind of landmark or prominent 'past building' and then there's a narration that describes the character's interaction at that location. You're watching a specific location, you're not rotating the camera and getting a feel for what the pre-destruction world was like.

Excellent. Thanks for this. The screenshot will pretty much be all of the content for that particular location then. Still, should be enough to make the people that work there swoon a little bit. I'm pretty sure this is the first video game to feature Colorado Springs (outside of NORAD.)
 
OK, I was nitpicking this game several pages back but I made a little push into the story and did some sidequests and holy shit - this game is so fucking good.

There have been lots of obvious Far Cry comparisons but everything good about Far Cry is done better in this game, and then there's way more here than any FC game. I get such a rush circling a herd of dinos in a field, with a Sawtooth roaming nearby, methodically planning my attack strategy and sequence. Snipe the watchers, then do I try to take down the Sawtooth or quickly explode all the Grazers? Lay traps? Wires? Stealth my way through? Then the override thing was just introduced - uuuugh so good.

I found the first
Tallneck
and boy was that cool. Taking out the Watchers, then
climbing the neck and checking out the view for a minute before overriding him
, then looking at the map for the first time in a while and realizing how big this map is.

There is so much encounter variety here that even just going on a hunt to find resources is fun and not a chore. Really looking forward to continuing to play through this during the wait for Persona 5.
 
For people having inventory problems and are not planning on buying new outfits or Weopons then sell every single non common item as that's really what they are only for I found.

All the common stuff covers actual resources like Ammo and potions but note some side quests will ask you to get some of these so keep that in mind.


I think it's unfair that people are annoyed that this is not the full on RPG they wanted it to be, GG never advertised it be an RPG they where quite clear on how the game plays, but yet some people still get annoyed
 

Jamix012

Member
I hate open world games. The only two I like are FF XV and Horizon so yes.

yeah. I don't usually enjoy open world games as they tend to lack focus and thus while I can have fun messing around with stuff I get bored quickly.

I have indeed gotten bored with most of the collectibles in horizon, but I am still enjoying the combat, and advancing the main story.... thus I am likely just gonna focus on that for now.

I'm not really sure what the last open world game I played before this was because they aren't something I typically play. Robot dinos man... they have some power over me :p

Depends on what type of open world games you have previous experience with.

Horizon seems to be most closely related to Uncharted or TR2013 then typical open world games. Horizon is reasonably focused despite its length. Would 100% recomend it. (Although maybe take a break and play something else first. Open World Fatigue is a real thing)

Also consider leveling up the
skill tree that allows you to ride a mount as early as possible.

This should help you get around a bit quicker

I couldn't get more than a few hours into Far Cry and tired of the GTA games and JC3 by about half way through. With the exception of RDR I just can't get into open world stuff. But I'm loving this so I'd have to say yes.

It's much more compact and streamlined than those games. The 'open world' stuff is very optional, and you can just power through the (fantastic) story if you so wish. I tend to like the sidequests though, as they're basically an excuse to kill more stuff, and this is largely the high point of the game.

It's hard to say, honestly. The world in Horizon is the most beautiful world I've ever seen in a game, and it's got the same amount of world variety as Zelda BOTW. But the world a.) isn't nearly as big, and b.) doesn't encourage exploration nearly to the same extent. That is to say, you won't just wander around in Horizon and constantly be finding random landmarks that reveal important characters and side quests, nor will you find a bunch of quaint villages. That's not to say these don't exist in the game, mind you.

Actually, thinking about it more though, I think you probably would enjoy it, because it's a big narrative change of pace compared to Zelda, it's got similar biomes in a way better looking world, the worldbuilding and lore is really interesting, and it's just fun.

I will say this: if there are elements about the game you don't like, such as clearing bandit camps or hunting trials or something, just don't do them. You can feel totally free to skip that stuff and do the things that interest you.

Wow, thank you for all the responses! I'll definitely pick up this game this week then! Thank you!
 

Ricker

Member
Man that area for the Tallneck in the sand region with the wind blowing...almost no place to hide and machines of all kind everywhere...think I will come back later...level 25 now but gameplay is really getting twitchy I think,might bring this down to easy if I want to enjoy it...dying over and over to bullet sponge machines is not fun...and yeah I know about the weak points and all,it's just hard to do for me...not gunning for the Platinum anyway so I will do a few sidequest and move the story along.
 

Kaiken

Banned
Trials all complete and just picked up my Special Armor. Some collectables to hunt and a ton of side quests. I think I'm going to finish the main story soon, finally jump into Zelda and come back here and there to Plat Horizon later.
 

_DrMario_

Member
I'm trying to push through the main story of the game so I can finish it and start playing Zelda but I keep getting distracted lol.

"Well I'm here already so might as well do this Cauldron/Bandit Camp/Corrupted zone".
 

ch4fx_

Member
Excuse my poor in game terminology, but I spent probably an hour last night dying OVER & OVER to a flock of fucking birds (the ones that are weak to fire). I was trying to farm for a
Trampler
heart so I could buy the purple
War Bow
, but never made it anywhere due to me always triggering a flock of birds overlooking the valley I'm in. Whenever this happened, it was usually best for me just to die & retry because the birds never seemed to quit chasing me.

What am I doing wrong? I tried to hit them with fire arrows & the Tripcaster, but I kept getting overrun due to the number of them (4 or 5). If I get one down, another one would hit me. I go after that one, another one would swoop down & take my life away.. ect ect.

One time I did manage to take down 3
Tramplers
that were roaming together, & I found that to be MUCH easier than dealing with a flock of those fucking birds.

FUCK THOSE GOD DAMNED BIRDS.
 
So I've been a bit distracted playing this game, having tons of mini adventures just wandering around. I'm level 44 right now and the appropriate level for my main quest is level 15. You could say I've been off the path for a bit.

Excuse my poor in game terminology, but I spent probably an hour last night dying OVER & OVER to a flock of fucking birds (the ones that are weak to fire). I was trying to farm for a
Trampler
heart so I could buy the purple
War Bow
, but never made it anywhere due to me always triggering a flock of birds overlooking the valley I'm in. Whenever this happened, it was usually best for me just to die & retry because the birds never seemed to quit chasing me.

What am I doing wrong? I tried to hit them with fire arrows & the Tripcaster, but I kept getting overrun due to the number of them (4 or 5). If I get one down, another one would hit me. I go after that one, another one would swoop down & take my life away.. ect ect.

One time I did manage to take down 3
Tramplers
that were roaming together, & I found that to be MUCH easier than dealing with a flock of those fucking birds.

FUCK THOSE GOD DAMNED BIRDS.

If we're talking glinthawks, take a frost resist potion, and shoot their ice canister with normal arrows. I just shoot, roll, shoot, roll, until they are dead. Tough enemy though. Fuck birds.
 
So I've been a bit distracted playing this game, having tons of mini adventures just wandering around. I'm level 44 right now and the appropriate level for my main quest is level 15. You could say I've been off the path for a bit.
Just a bit lol.

I feel ya though. I've been side stuff for a while now. I want to do the main quests but yeah.
 

Mesoian

Member
Excuse my poor in game terminology, but I spent probably an hour last night dying OVER & OVER to a flock of fucking birds (the ones that are weak to fire). I was trying to farm for a
Trampler
heart so I could buy the purple
War Bow
, but never made it anywhere due to me always triggering a flock of birds overlooking the valley I'm in. Whenever this happened, it was usually best for me just to die & retry because the birds never seemed to quit chasing me.

What am I doing wrong? I tried to hit them with fire arrows & the Tripcaster, but I kept getting overrun due to the number of them (4 or 5). If I get one down, another one would hit me. I go after that one, another one would swoop down & take my life away.. ect ect.

One time I did manage to take down 3
Tramplers
that were roaming together, & I found that to be MUCH easier than dealing with a flock of those fucking birds.

FUCK THOSE GOD DAMNED BIRDS.

Snipe the birds from far away so you agro them away from the tramplers, then once you kill them all, THEN go after the tramplers. Or get a warbow and use corruption arrows. If you are where I think you are, you need to start thinking about new gear.
 

black070

Member
So now that Nier Automata has dropped to 89, it's tied with Horizon Zero Dawn as the highest rated PS4 game of 2017 on Metacritic.
 

Socivol

Member
How much of the main quest do I have remaining?

Spoilers: I just completed
The section where you climb the Faro building and see the holograms at the top and chat with the hologram of Sylense

I just did that last night and I didn't want to put the game down. The story got so much better in that 30 minutes.
 

Plague Doctor

Gold Member
Okay so the hunting challenges have been easy so far..

until the one where you have to kill 2 ravangers with the thunderjaw disc launcher in under 2:00 minutes.
 

CHC

Member
My main complaint with the combat against humans (aside from the super dumb AI with regards to stealth) is that the sounds are really lacking. There's no impact. Fighting the dinosaurs is very, very kinetic, heavy, and loud, but the actual feeling and sound of scoring a hit against a human is just so limp.

It's not awful on the whole, it's just a bit meh after how great the robot fights are. Which I have to reiterate is so, so great. Learning the weak spots, picking which devices to remove or disable, and throwing up all kinds of traps to give yourself the advantage is really masterful.
 
I'm finally at the last couple of story quests. Going to finish them tonight, and cleanup for the Platnium tomorrow.

Right now my play time is at 60 hours! I almost never used fast travel, and rarely used mounts. I just love traversing the world on foot! My most memorable encounters are when I am traversing the world to my destination. I love the moments when I'm trying to sneak past a herd, only to be spotted and things going to shit very quickly haha.

Okay so the hunting challenges have been easy so far..

until the one where you have to kill 2 ravangers with the thunderjaw disc launcher in under 2:00 minutes.
That one was actually the easiest of that set of challenges for me. I simply override the Thunderjaw, then agro the Ravangers and let them fight it out.
 

RDreamer

Member
I don't mind the human combat. It's nice to get some sort of 'down time' combat. They could add in some harder to kill human types but really it's not a big deal.
 

silva1991

Member
Human enemies are always the same and they have like 2 movesets.

The fact there are so many human enemies encounters is just mind boggling.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I think GG had its priorities when making the game. Being an open world ARPG game in a sci fi setting that means they had a lot of ground to cover. Its obvious that the combat focus was on the machines and the human's, while not a total after thought, definitely got the short end of the stick. Here's hoping that now that they have a foundation set with Horizon that a sequel they can start improving all the areas they are weak in or didn't fully flesh out.
 
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