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[Hippolnareff]

The ending's very good, but a few things did bother me. Partly it's the dumping you back to before the last mission.

Spoiler

Story-wise I don't see any reason why you couldn't continue exploring the world after you saved it. Maybe they plan to address this with DLC though. Also didn't care for the magic flying Hades ball of light. Not sure what that's supposed to be. Would've been more dramatic to keep it realistic just have some kind of signal on Hades that it's transmitting and then the device Sylens is carrying start to glow, followed by "Hello old friend."

.

Pretty sure

Spoiler

the signal that is sent out at the end of the last mission shuts down some of the machines? Meaning it wouldn't make sense if you wanted to then go out hunting machines. I might be wrong on that, it might just be the big nasty ones that come out the ground.

Plus, Meridian is trashed and they probably hadn't developed assets to show post-battle Meridian for the player to run around in.

 

[adamsapple]

Took me nearly 140 hours but I finally finished. What an amazing game! The passion and love Guerilla had for this project is evident in every aspect. I don't know if I'm ready to call it my favorite ever, but yeah this might be my favorite game ever.

The ending's very good, but a few things did bother me. Partly it's the dumping you back to before the last mission.

Spoiler

Story-wise I don't see any reason why you couldn't continue exploring the world after you saved it. Maybe they plan to address this with DLC though. Also didn't care for the magic flying Hades ball of light. Not sure what that's supposed to be. Would've been more dramatic to keep it realistic just have some kind of signal on Hades that it's transmitting and then the device Sylens is carrying start to glow, followed by "Hello old friend."

Man, I have a lot of catching up to do in the spoiler thread.

Pretty sure

Spoiler

the signal that is sent out at the end of the last mission shuts down some of the machines? Meaning it wouldn't make sense if you wanted to then go out hunting machines. I might be wrong on that, it might just be the big nasty ones that come out the ground.

Plus, Meridian is trashed and they probably hadn't developed assets to show post-battle Meridian for the player to run around in.

Also ..

Spoiler

Aloy deliberately left her spear there .. probably signaling her unwillingness to continue fighting or just being done with it (for the time being at least). I know most of us like playing with just the bows, but wouldn't be much of a game if they took away your melee weapon and also the thing which lets Aloy overwrite machines

 

[Fersis]

BTW, i completed Nil's

Spoiler

last sidequest.... i chose not to battle him.

Hope he's the main character of the DLC :3

 

[Wollan]

Just in the last second.

 

[bosseye]

Still loving this game, 35 hours in now, level 31 (I think) and just reached Makers End which is a level 14 quest XD

One thing that is bothering me more and more though is the static nature of the cut scenes, its literally just two upper body shots of two people talking. Nobody moves around, very little gesticulation, only a couple of camera changes, very little life in them I guess. I know that's pretty much how people interact in real life, but it makes cut scenes slightly boring with nothing to really distract from the slightly rubbish lip syncing.

 

[Zakalwe]

All these bug fixes, but I'm pretty sure I didn't see a single bug in my entire playthrough. The game felt exceptionally solid.

 

[Miniature Kaiju]

Spoiler

Also didn't care for the magic flying Hades ball of light. Not sure what that's supposed to be.

Spoiler

Pretty sure the HADES-beam, as the Corruption, are actual physical things - probably a nanobot cloud or something. Notice that the Corruptors hit robots with something that hacks them.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Speak to Tearsa near the end of the game.

Thanks! Will go see her. She's at the temple, right?

 

[Venture]

Pretty sure

Spoiler

the signal that is sent out at the end of the last mission shuts down some of the machines? Meaning it wouldn't make sense if you wanted to then go out hunting machines. I might be wrong on that, it might just be the big nasty ones that come out the ground.

Plus, Meridian is trashed and they probably hadn't developed assets to show post-battle Meridian for the player to run around in.

Also ..

Spoiler

Aloy deliberately left her spear there .. probably signaling her unwillingness to continue fighting or just being done with it (for the time being at least). I know most of us like playing with just the bows, but wouldn't be much of a game if they took away your melee weapon and also the thing which lets Aloy overwrite machines

Spoiler

Pretty sure the HADES-beam, as the Corruption, are actual physical things - probably a nanobot cloud or something. Notice that the Corruptors hit robots with something that hacks them.

Good points. I'll still be thinking about this ending for a while.

Spoiler

I believe the new machine types created after the derangement (sawtooth, thunderjaw etc.) would still be active though. Until Aloy gets around to rebuilding Gaia anyhow.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Is this anyone else's GOTY? It is for me so far, maybe P5 can overtake it, but Breath of the Wild couldn't. This game just oozes style. From the graphics, to the voice acting and the great music. This is open world done right. So much to do and see its kinda ridiculous. I have so many points of interest on my map at 35 hours I wont touch all of this game. I will buy the DLC for this game if they do some.(I hope they do)

It's going to be my GOTY for certain .
I have other games to play but i already know nothing going to touch HZD overall package for me .

 

[f@luS]

Just finished it in 55h
One of the best game I ever played. Technically perfect. Artistically outstanding. Story is very good. Music top. Gameplay stellar. Congratulation GG

 

[Incendiary]

Last night I finished the mission where you find out what Zero Dawn is...holy shit. Kudos to Guerilla for this story. They did a wonderful job of balancing past and present and making both storylines engaging. From everything I've seen on GAF it sounds like they stick the landing too.

Main story wise, how much left do I have if I just started the

Spoiler

Heart of the Nora

main mission? I probably won't get the Platinum before Persona comes out but I want to make sure I budget enough time to get the main story done.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

Not even close for me. Yakuza 0, Nier, and Resident Evil 7 all sit qute far above this.

I'm going to catch flack for this I'm sure, but I really didn't enjoy this game much in hindsight. I loved the combat, and elements of the story were interesting, but aside from the machines I found the art-style very dull, the characters lacked charm, even Aloy turned out to lack an interesting arc and felt a little hollow somehow as a protagonist.

The RPG elements are all too shallow, too, and the game feels highly repetitive.

It's a 7/10 game for me after giving it a lot of thought. The technical aspects are by far the most impressive thing here and there's a /lot/ of promise. I think GG have it in them to make a GOAT contender, Horizon or not.

If they do make a sequel next, I hope they either make the RPG systems a lot deeper and expand the interaction in the open world so it feels more lived in, or turn it into a more focused action game. The shallow RPG elements frustrated me far more than anything else.

Oh, and I'd love to see some kind of loot system so exploring has more reward.

I'm at a 9/10. The game is excellent. However:

-Not 60 fps
-There are like, 3 notable characters, and two of them are

Spoiler

Aloy of the past and present

.
-Melee combat is a joke
-Human combat uses 90s AI
-Combat against machines becomes formulaic once you learn the enemies, minus the three that are essentially damage sponges even after their weak points are gone
-game encourages you to buy one other weapon that isn't a bow and arrow...I played 90% of the game with just that before getting a sling or that rope-down weapon just to try something different
-side quests literally called errands to kill time, lol
-side quests really aren't memorable (becau see what generic / trope characters

All of that, and I still like the game. Recommended play.

 

[w0s]

Is it possible to get your gear past level 4?

 

[MegaSackman]

Last night I finished the mission where you find out what Zero Dawn is...holy shit. Kudos to Guerilla for this story. They did a wonderful job of balancing past and present and making both storylines engaging. From everything I've seen on GAF it sounds like they stick the landing too.

Main story wise, how much left do I have if I just started the

Spoiler

Heart of the Nora

main mission? I probably won't get the Platinum before Persona comes out but I want to make sure I budget enough time to get the main story done.

You're on your way to the end, still a couple of main quests left.

 

[danowat]

Is it possible to get your gear past level 4?

Do you mean more than 4 gear slots?

 

[Zakalwe]

I'm at a 9/10. The game is excellent. However:

-Not 60 fps
-There are like, 3 notable characters, and two of them are

Spoiler

Aloy of the past and present

.
-Melee combat is a joke
-Human combat uses 90s AI
-Combat against machines becomes formulaic once you learn the enemies, minus the three that are essentially damage sponges even after their weak points are gone
-game encourages you to buy one other weapon that isn't a bow and arrow...I played 90% of the game with just that before getting a sling or that rope-down weapon just to try something different
-side quests literally called errands to kill time, lol
-side quests really aren't memorable (becau see what generic / trope characters

All of that, and I still like the game. Recommended play.

I'd recommend it in a heartbeat, he combat and the beauty and tech-wizardry of the open world itself are enough to warrant one on their own.

It just felt a little shallow to me overall.

 

[Incendiary]

You're on your way to the end, still a couple of main quests left.

Awesome. I'm at level 48 so I'm close to the level cap - I think I have a few outstanding sidequests and collectables but I'm probably just going to power through to the story's end just to make sure I finish it by next week. Then do the mop-up for Platinum in bursts to make sure I don't burn myself out on Persona too quick.

 

[MegaSackman]

Awesome. I'm at level 48 so I'm close to the level cap - I think I have a few outstanding sidequests and collectables but I'm probably just going to power through to the story's end just to make sure I finish it by next week. Then do the mop-up for Platinum in bursts to make sure I don't burn myself out on Persona too quick.

I don't know how much you play on weekends but after you finish the game you could get every trophy really quick, just a couple of hours if you fast travel, but if you plan to mix Persona while doing it then you'll probably want to take your time.

 

[Mashing]

Is there any reason to go off the beaten path and explore in this game? I'm finding that doing so doesn't not have any tangible rewards for the most part. So far the only thing I've found is a metal flower hidden high up in the mountains in the starting area. Note, I'm only about 14% completion so not very far into the game yet so maybe this changes.

It also probably doesn't help that I came into this game off of Zelda which rewards you constantly for exploring.

 

[TheBioLover]

100%ed and Platinumed. First time I've ever done that with a game. Man, what a great experience.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Is there any reason to go off the beaten path and explore in this game? I'm finding that doing so doesn't not have any tangible rewards for the most part. So far the only thing I've found is a metal flower hidden high up in the mountains in the starting area. Note, I'm only about 14% completion so not very far into the game yet so maybe this changes.

It also probably doesn't help that I came into this game off of Zelda which rewards you constantly for exploring.

Honestly, I don't think it's worth it unless you want to get 100%. I felt that if you follow the quests you'll get to see most of the map. I can only think of a particular small section of the map I didn't see much of. I also fast travelled a lot because the game has you travel from one end to another quite often which I didn't like. I think the world is beautiful and has a lot to see but I didn't really want to explore it unlike Zelda where I just walk everywhere and keep getting distracted. I want to see everything in that game.

 

[Zakalwe]

Is there any reason to go off the beaten path and explore in this game? I'm finding that doing so doesn't not have any tangible rewards for the most part. So far the only thing I've found is a metal flower hidden high up in the mountains in the starting area. Note, I'm only about 14% completion so not very far into the game yet so maybe this changes.

It also probably doesn't help that I came into this game off of Zelda which rewards you constantly for exploring.

The actual rewards are pretty thin, the reward is the exploration itself and the combat. It didn't hook me enough for that though, had this game had better actual rewards or perhaps a loot system I might still be playing it now...

 

[Incendiary]

I don't know how much you play on weekends but after you finish the game you could get every trophy really quick, just a couple of hours if you fast travel, but if you plan to mix Persona while doing it then you'll probably want to take your time.

Heh. Yeah I think it depends on how quickly I finish the story. All I know is I'm dropping everything for Persona next week - if I can get the Platinum before then that's fine. I already did all the Hunting Lodge trials which I think is the hardest side thing to do - most everything else is collecting.

Is there any reason to go off the beaten path and explore in this game? I'm finding that doing so doesn't not have any tangible rewards for the most part. So far the only thing I've found is a metal flower hidden high up in the mountains in the starting area. Note, I'm only about 14% completion so not very far into the game yet so maybe this changes.

It also probably doesn't help that I came into this game off of Zelda which rewards you constantly for exploring.

It's mostly collectables. There are a few non-collectables things you can find off the beaten path but once you're far enough in you can unlock ways that show you where everything is on your map - but if you explore a lot before then you may run into things.

 

[Rixxan]

Look I really like this game and I give GG a ton of credit for switching gears and really going bold in a lot of ways with this title.

That being said am I the only one experiencing a fair amount of jank? Maybe it's coming from BOTW where scalability and freedom of movement are paramount - but I just find Aloy to have a floatiness to her that oft times leads to a sort of disconnected feeling between her and the world. The jumping especially, it's just odd how she scales certain obstacles (also hit invisible walls more often than I'd like).

I dunno I guess I just haven't seen many mention it and it's constantly apparent for me - but again the game has a ton of redeeming factors

 

[Sjefen]

Just finished this game and jumped into Final Fantasy 15. Big mistake, FF15 feels like a PS3 after playing this masterpiece. Guerilla really set the bar high for open world games

 

[MegaSackman]

Just finished this game and jumped into Final Fantasy 15. Big mistake, FF15 feels like a PS3 after playing this masterpiece. Guerilla really set the bar high for open world games

Ugh my biggest disappointment in recent memory... enjoy doing the most unrelated fetch quests of all times.

Took me nearly 140 hours but I finally finished. What an amazing game! The passion and love Guerilla had for this project is evident in every aspect. I don't know if I'm ready to call it my favorite ever, but yeah this might be my favorite game ever.

The ending's very good, but a few things did bother me. Partly it's the dumping you back to before the last mission.

Spoiler

Story-wise I don't see any reason why you couldn't continue exploring the world after you saved it. Maybe they plan to address this with DLC though. Also didn't care for the magic flying Hades ball of light. Not sure what that's supposed to be. Would've been more dramatic to keep it realistic just have some kind of signal on Hades that it's transmitting and then the device Sylens is carrying start to glow, followed by "Hello old friend."

Man, I have a lot of catching up to do in the spoiler thread.

Damn, this has to be a new record.

 

[Fess]

Look I really like this game and I give GG a ton of credit for switching gears and really going bold in a lot of ways with this title.

That being said am I the only one experiencing a fair amount of jank? Maybe it's coming from BOTW where scalability and freedom of movement are paramount - but I just find Aloy to have a floatiness to her that oft times leads to a sort of disconnected feeling between her and the world. The jumping especially, it's just odd how she scales certain obstacles (also hit invisible walls more often than I'd like).

I dunno I guess I just haven't seen many mention it and it's constantly apparent for me - but again the game has a ton of redeeming factors

Yes going from BOTW to Horizon was certainly a bit rough, not being able to climb everywhere and paraglide off cliffs is incredibly offputting the first 5 hours or so, but once you get used to playing it old school it really picks up and I'll likely have this at second place for GOTY as it feels right now.

However, the jankiness when trying to climb or just looking at the animation when walking where the surface is really uneven (

Spoiler

Cauldron

) is hard to get used to.

All things considered, it's a really really great game, one of the very best this generation, it's just a bit rough coming from BOTW really.

 

[Melchiah]

Is there a certain point of no return regarding sidequests for allies?

 

[Mashing]

Okay, sounds like I'll just stick to main/side quests destinations for now. Did my first

Spoiler

cauldron

last night and that was a pretty awesome experience. So cool looking. Art direction in this game is outstanding.

 

[Miniature Kaiju]

All things considered, it's a really really great game, one of the very best this generation, it's just a bit rough coming from BOTW really.

I went the other way around and found BotW utterly badly paced, the combat dull and weapon durability an annoyance. Physics based movement and free-form climbing are great, though, even if Link is, sometimes, too much of a Spider-man.

Played BotW for 20h and went back to HZD for a hardcore run. Will give it some time and play some other stuff before going back to BotW to cleanse the palate and enjoy BotW for what it is.

 

[Elandyll]

Is there a certain point of no return regarding sidequests for allies?

Yes and No.

It will clearly tell you when the last mission is up, but after beating it you will be brought back before it and nothing is "locked" during progression, so you can glfinish whatever you'd like.

Edit: oh allies specific.

I actually missed one during my quests, and shecstill showed up at the end, and I did these quests retro actively.
I guess thete is a certain treshold of allies you need? Or maybe you get them all by default, not sure.

Spoiler

I missed Heap and Petra, which made it weird to see her showing as an ally treating me like an old pal. Then again, her canons are pretty important in the last mission, so maybe GG should make it less easy to miss that village?

 

[EGM1966]

Took me nearly 140 hours but I finally finished. What an amazing game! The passion and love Guerilla had for this project is evident in every aspect. I don't know if I'm ready to call it my favorite ever, but yeah this might be my favorite game ever.

The ending's very good, but a few things did bother me. Partly it's the dumping you back to before the last mission.

Spoiler

Story-wise I don't see any reason why you couldn't continue exploring the world after you saved it. Maybe they plan to address this with DLC though. Also didn't care for the magic flying Hades ball of light. Not sure what that's supposed to be. Would've been more dramatic to keep it realistic just have some kind of signal on Hades that it's transmitting and then the device Sylens is carrying start to glow, followed by "Hello old friend."

Man, I have a lot of catching up to do in the spoiler thread.

I believe they dump you back as a Trophy is tied to wrapping optional missions before the last mission. Thus rather than replaying the whole game this allows people who finished game and missed that Trophy more easily go after it.

That said narratively there's no reason and I wish they had simply let the game continue and not had a Trophy linked to optional quests that way or just took the route of getting you to replay.

The "signal" I agree seemed odd vs a proper invisible signal. I think they wanted it to be visual hence the route they took but it doesn't make much sense. Could be a small cloud of nano machines but I don't think that works either.

Still I'm fine with it overall as the end result works well enough.

 

[Venture]

Ugh my biggest disappointment in recent memory... enjoy doing the most unrelated fetch quests of all times.



Damn, this has to be a new record.

I'm a real slow-poke with most games, especially open-world. I guess I spend a lot of time walking around gawking at the scenery. I still have quite a bit to do too. Missing about half the world datapoints, Banuk figures, and metal flowers. I still need like 5 Blazing Suns also.

 

[Melchiah]

Yes and No.

It will clearly tell you when the last mission is up, but after beating it you will be brought back before it and nothing is "locked" during progression, so you can glfinish whatever you'd like.

So, up until then you can do them, and anything else for that matter, to unlock the trophy?

 

[w0s]

Do you mean more than 4 gear slots?

I am sorry I meant to say upgrade. I have been upgrading all the bomb/arrow/etc slots and have almost all of them done. I still only have the right side of the map done so I was wondering if later in the game it goes to say 10.

 

[MegaSackman]

I'm a real slow-poke with most games, especially open-world. I guess I spend a lot of time walking around gawking at the scenery. I still have quite a bit to do too. Missing about half the world datapoints, Banuk figures, and metal flowers. I still need like 5 Blazing Suns also.

Honestly, with no fast travel and doing every side quest, I would think that I was really slow with the game and it took me 62hs lol. Anyway, it's awesome that you played that much.

 

[Elandyll]

So, up until then you can do them, and anything else for that matter, to unlock the trophy?

Cf what I said above in edit.

I missed a big one at first, she still showed up and I got the trophy.
I don't think it's missable, but just in case you might want to finish all side quests before starting the last mission, and make sure to visit people before the ladt mission (you'll get a prompt).

 

[f@luS]

when u guys said you did 100% in the game you speak about trophies or ingame %?

i have just one bandit camp to do , my last trophie, and yet i did every side quest possible im only at 92¨%

 

[VanWinkle]

I just did the side quest called I think "Sunstone Rock," and I really enjoyed it actually. Especially catching the second person. The story wasn't anything super interesting or anything, but it was really fun from a gameplay perspective.

 

[Ravage_Hydra]

Nice to see a new patch, Also got a reply to the two bugs i encountered from GG twitter

 

[BinaryBear07]

About to go to the

Spoiler

Proving

.

This should be good.

 

[valkyre]

Newest patch further improves performance and lightnaps and LOD issues...

Respect.

 

[Fess]

I went the other way around and found BotW utterly badly paced, the combat dull and weapon durability an annoyance. Physics based movement and free-form climbing are great, though, even if Link is, sometimes, too much of a Spider-man.

Played BotW for 20h and went back to HZD for a hardcore run. Will give it some time and play some other stuff before going back to BotW to cleanse the palate and enjoy BotW for what it is.

I guess it could go that way too. They're very similar but also very different, maybe it's the one you start off with that sets the bar, so to speak?
I love them both though, 1st and 2nd place for GOTY.

I think the exploration could be better, granted I've only played it for 17 hours though so maybe it changes later on but so far there hasn't been any secret loot or other stuff that push me to start exploring the world, all the "hidden" things I've seen so far has been seen from a far with the focus.

 

[Violence Jack]

I found myself having to put this on Easy recently. I really like it when I'm sticking to the main storyline, but the side quests don't really feel rewarding. That, and I absolutely suck at the melee combat and can't seem to kill any of the larger machines without getting stomped.

I hope this last update fixed some of the issues I've been having with stealth kills. Sometimes when I get the R1 prompt, there's been about a 50/50 chance that it will actually work and not just result in a regular spear attack. Same thing with the critical hits to downed enemies, but that seems to respond better.

 

[Ozzykamikaze]

That title is amazing.

 

[Fess]

Newest patch further improves performance and lightnaps and LOD issues...

Respect.

How do you improve perfection?
Haven't noticed a single dropped frame yet tbh.

 

[kvn]

How do you improve perfection?
Haven't noticed a single dropped frame yet tbh.

I had multiple occasions with messed up lighting. Mostly in areas that alternated between in- and outdoors. Nothing serious though. Really great that they keep rolling out these patches so quickly.

 

[Sjefen]

Okay, sounds like I'll just stick to main/side quests destinations for now. Did my first

Spoiler

cauldron

last night and that was a pretty awesome experience. So cool looking. Art direction in this game is outstanding.

You can sense the pedigree of Guerilla inside

Spoiler

the cauldrons

 

[badcrumble]

I had multiple occasions with messed up lighting. Mostly in areas that alternated between in- and outdoors. Nothing serious though. Really great that they keep rolling out these patches so quickly.

Only problems I've had is god-rays coming through volumetric fog and then having it become apparent that they're shining *through* the top of a hill I'm getting closer to instead of being occluded by it. It's not exactly visual pop-in because the actual hill geometry remains under the fog at the right distance, it's more like nothing's blocking the light rays and then suddenly something is.