• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Horizon Zero Dawn |OT2| Red Head Redemption

Melchiah

Member
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).

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.

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?

Thanks a lot for the info. =)
 
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.

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?
Who is
Heap
? I've done all the side quests and errands I believe and never met this person.
 

Melchiah

Member
Horizon Zero Dawn update 1.12, patch notes reveal 3D audio support

What is 3D Audio?
I know 5.1 and 7.1. I thought those were 3D Audio.
Is it for headsets only? How is it different?

Sony's official FB page posted about it.

SmqbaQDl.jpg

Experience Aloy's world in stunning 3D audio with your Platinum headset today. Update Horizon Zero Dawn and turn the headsets 3D Audio switch on for a whole new dimension of sound.

I dislike the way they've dropped support for the older headsets. I find it hard to believe, that the hardware couldn't reproduce the virtual 3D audio.
 

x-Lundz-x

Member
Sony's official FB page posted about it.

SmqbaQDl.jpg



I dislike the way they've dropped support for the older headsets. I find it hard to believe, that the hardware couldn't reproduce the virtual 3D audio.

Of course, I just platinum the game last week and I have this headset :(. Still will probably try it out.
 

red731

Member
Is it only for Platinum headset? I have Golds and nothing.

Headset Comp App doesn't have the profile. Not on any headsets.
 
Free Heap is where you meet Petra and can do a couple quests. Its near the gate that leads out of the Nora lands
Ok, just double checking. I did all that stuff already and currently shipping Aloy with Petra...and Vanasha...and Talanah...I can't choose just one waifu for Kween Aloy.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
Only 2 trophies left. Strikes from above, easy. Getting
everyone to partake in the defense
on the other hand, maybe not so easy. Having already beaten the main quest, is there a fast way to figure out what I'm missing?
 

hairygreenpeas

Neo Member
Despite having finished the game, I still find myself going back just to fight against the robotic creatures. If there is one thing Guerilla most definitely nailed in Horizon (among many other things of course!), it would have to be the combat. So damn fun! I personally cannot wait to see what they have in store for the inevitable sequel. Hopefully they improve upon the melee combat, that would be the cherry on top lol.

Ok, just double checking. I did all that stuff already and currently shipping Aloy with Petra...and Vanasha...and Talanah...I can't choose just one waifu for Kween Aloy.
... who says she only needs one waifu? ;)
 

Lingitiz

Member
Alright, finished the game and collected my thoughts. Ultimately after a bit of a slow start getting into it, I definitely came around and loved Horizon. Going to get my complaints out of the way first.

The bad:
- Lack of many notable side characters: Aloy didn't really have many NPCs to play off of, and the ones that are potentially interesting spend too little time on screen. Sylens was awesome though and Lance Reddick continues to be gaming's secret best celebrity voice actor. Vanasha, Erend, and Nil were great. More of them please!
- Exposition dumps in narrative: many of the datalogs were very poorly paced and spammed at you to the point where I found myself ignoring them to get to the meat of the story.
- World building: while the actual factions are great in the game, the cities felt somewhat dead and didn't actually convey the struggles of the civilians in the world. I really felt this in the last few cutscenes where it was mostly shots of the Sun King and the few soldiers who populated Meridian celebrating. It felt small.
- Some technical issues in cutscenes including pop-in, weird sound mixing issues, lighting, and odd facial animation.
- Lack of verticality and climbing: would have loved to see more climbable surfaces and ways to get down from heights. The platforming was bland, but so sporadic that it wasn't a big deal.

Stuff that was just okay:
/ Melee combat: not bad enough to be a detriment, but not good enough to say it was good. Liked being able to stun enemies and follow up with a critical, but felt really clunky when you would miss.
/ Human combat: too much of it and it's too uninteresting. Wasn't much worse than any other game, but definitely the weakest part of the combat sandbox. AI was quite bad.
/ Fewer RPG systems than it seems: not much choice in terms of story or build variety available. This is more of an action open world than an RPG.
/ Side quests: the combat was enough to carry these, but overall many didn't provide many surprises.

The awesome stuff:
+ The story: if you were to tell me that a story about robot dinosaurs would actually be some of the most compelling, unique, and interesting sci-fi in gaming, I'd laugh. The fact they pulled this off and answered all of the big questions is incredible. Well written, well paced, doesn't hold anything back, and ends with a satisfying conclusion. What's surprising is how many relevant themes get tackled here. You've got the actual dilemma of unmanned warfare, humanity, religion, tribal politics, environmentalism...it's all done with such confidence. This idea of tribal society discovering ancient technology and worshipping them as gods is so smart that I'm surprised no one has really tackled this before. Awesome.
+ Aloy: damn what a great, well written character. Kudos to Ashly Burch for the great VO, portraying a headstrong, yet a bit unsure and confused personality. She rarely ever reacts in a way that you feel isn't appropriate.
+ The combat: so much can be said about this. To put it simply, this is the best combat in an open world game to date. Figuring out an enemy's weakness and exploiting it, scrambling around and taking off it's armor pieces, and then barely taking it out is super satisfying. The responsiveness of Aloy with the movement and her dodge is really great as well.
+ Enemy variety: such an insane amount of variety with the enemies, from the Chargers, Thunderjaws, Snapmaws, Glinthawks, the list goes on. I rarely ever felt bored with the encounters, and constantly was impressed with the uniqueness of their designs and the dynamism of each encounter. Also loved the ability to use their dropped weapons in a scramble.
+ Scope: I loved that the world and amount of activities here wasn't so massive that it felt insurmountable. Everything here feels achievable to see and do, and for them most part it's all worth doing, spare a few checklist-esque design things. The combat and feel of the movement in the world is enough to carry everything.
+ Art direction: what else can be said here? From top to bottom: amazing. The way they managed to mix both the technological with the tribal created a really unique aesthetic that is just so fresh and cool.
+ Graphics: as above, the best looking open world game available. Especially on the Pro.

Overall, is Horizon a masterpiece? Probably not. I think it's definitely one of the best games of the generation though and is the start of something that could spawn something that could be up there in several years' time. It's a great game with some flaws, but not enough to dampen the overall experience.
 
If there's one thing I'd like to see added to the melee combat, it's counterattack strikes for well-timed dodges of enemy melee attacks. Sliding in and stealth gutting an enemy right before they notice you and go hostile is already immensely satisfying - being able to execute a Strike type move if you do a perfect dodge would take that thrill to another level (but could avoid being overpowered by making sure it'd be a terrible tactic against grouped enemies, making it clear that being up close and personal makes you highly vulnerable to projectile attacks, et cetera). Let me be a full-on speardancer plz
 
Alright, finished the game and collected my thoughts. Ultimately after a bit of a slow start getting into it, I definitely came around and loved Horizon. Going to get my complaints out of the way first.

The bad:
- Lack of many notable side characters: Aloy didn't really have many NPCs to play off of, and the ones that are potentially interesting spend too little time on screen. Sylens was awesome though and Lance Reddick continues to be gaming's secret best celebrity voice actor. Vanasha, Erend, and Nil were great. More of them please!
- Exposition dumps in narrative: many of the datalogs were very poorly paced and spammed at you to the point where I found myself ignoring them to get to the meat of the story.
- World building: while the actual factions are great in the game, the cities felt somewhat dead and didn't actually convey the struggles of the civilians in the world. I really felt this in the last few cutscenes where it was mostly shots of the Sun King and the few soldiers who populated Meridian celebrating. It felt small.
- Some technical issues in cutscenes including pop-in, weird sound mixing issues, lighting, and odd facial animation.
- Lack of verticality and climbing: would have loved to see more climbable surfaces and ways to get down from heights. The platforming was bland, but so sporadic that it wasn't a big deal.

Stuff that was just okay:
/ Melee combat: not bad enough to be a detriment, but not good enough to say it was good. Liked being able to stun enemies and follow up with a critical, but felt really clunky when you would miss.
/ Human combat: too much of it and it's too uninteresting. Wasn't much worse than any other game, but definitely the weakest part of the combat sandbox. AI was quite bad.
/ Fewer RPG systems than it seems: not much choice in terms of story or build variety available. This is more of an action open world than an RPG.
/ Side quests: the combat was enough to carry these, but overall many didn't provide many surprises.

The awesome stuff:
+ The story: if you were to tell me that a story about robot dinosaurs would actually be some of the most compelling, unique, and interesting sci-fi in gaming, I'd laugh. The fact they pulled this off and answered all of the big questions is incredible. Well written, well paced, doesn't hold anything back, and ends with a satisfying conclusion. What's surprising is how many relevant themes get tackled here. You've got the actual dilemma of unmanned warfare, humanity, religion, tribal politics, environmentalism...it's all done with such confidence. Awesome.
+ Aloy: damn what a great, well written character. Kudos to Ashly Burch for the great VO, portraying a headstrong, yet a bit unsure and confused personality. She rarely ever reacts in a way that you feel isn't appropriate.
+ The combat: so much can be said about this. To put it simply, this is the best combat in an open world game to date. Figuring out an enemy's weakness and exploiting it, scrambling around and taking off it's armor pieces, and then barely taking it out is super satisfying. The responsiveness of Aloy with the movement and her dodge is really great as well.
+ Enemy variety: such an insane amount of variety with the enemies, from the Chargers, Thunderjaws, Snapmaws, Glinthawks, the list goes on. I rarely ever felt bored with the encounters, and constantly was impressed with the uniqueness of their designs and the dynamism of each encounter. Also loved the ability to use their dropped weapons in a scramble.
+ Scope: I loved that the world and amount of activities here wasn't so massive that it felt insurmountable. Everything here feels achievable to see and do, and for them most part it's all worth doing, spare a few checklist-esque design things. The combat and feel of the movement in the world is enough to carry everything.
+ Art direction: what else can be said here? From top to bottom: amazing. The way they managed to mix both the technological with the tribal created a really unique aesthetic that is just so fresh and cool.
+ Graphics: as above, the best looking open world game available. Especially on the Pro.

Overall, is Horizon a masterpiece? Probably not. I think it's definitely one of the best games of the generation though and is the start of something that could spawn something that could be up there in several years' time. It's a great game with some flaws, but not enough to dampen the overall experience.

Good review.
Regarding npc, I think most of them were good but lacked development and I understand why, they probably wanted to focus on the main story and nail Aloy most of all, probably Sylens too because of his role in the story. I'm ok with that and I still liked most of npc but I do expect them to flesh them out more on the sequel.
 
Good review.
Regarding npc, I think most of them were good but lacked development and I understand why, they probably wanted to focus on the main story and nail Aloy most of all, probably Sylens too because of his role in the story. I'm ok with that and I still liked most of npc but I do expect them to flesh them out more on the sequel.
preorder cancelled if I can't peg Erend
 
If there's one thing I'd like to see added to the melee combat, it's counterattack strikes for well-timed dodges of enemy melee attacks. Sliding in and stealth gutting an enemy right before they notice you and go hostile is already immensely satisfying - being able to execute a Strike type move if you do a perfect dodge would take that thrill to another level (but could avoid being overpowered by making sure it'd be a terrible tactic against grouped enemies, making it clear that being up close and personal makes you highly vulnerable to projectile attacks, et cetera). Let me be a full-on speardancer plz

I feel like in the sequel Guerilla should hopefully shore up the human encounters. It's clear the bulk of perfecting combat went into the machine battles, which are amazing. If they do little things to refine the melee combat like adding counterattacks and making human AI a little less dumb, the combat across the whole game will be perfect.
 
I feel like in the sequel Guerilla should hopefully shore up the human encounters. It's clear the bulk of perfecting combat went into the machine battles, which are amazing. If they do little things to refine the melee combat like adding counterattacks and making human AI a little less dumb, the combat across the whole game will be perfect.
The humans really just need some tips from The Last of Us, in that they should be able to communicate with each other more effectively, zero in on you more effectively when they're hunting for you, et cetera.
 

Lingitiz

Member
I feel like in the sequel Guerilla should hopefully shore up the human encounters. It's clear the bulk of perfecting combat went into the machine battles, which are amazing. If they do little things to refine the melee combat like adding counterattacks and making human AI a little less dumb, the combat across the whole game will be perfect.

I was surprised that tearing armor off of human enemies wasn't a mechanic. That alone would add more dynamism to the combat. Also having other mounted human enemies, better hit reactions, more enemy weapon variety, and like another person said better group tactics.
 
So I finished the main story last night.

Guerilla nailed the concept and executed it in almost every way. A few issues have already been covered like human enemy combat/AI, and the way they dumped so much info in certain areas that I had to stand around to hear more, but I would have put this up there as one of my new favorites easily.
 
So I got this at launch, but with Nier, Nioh and the last weeks of the Uni, I haven't got much time to play. Anyway, I got to
Meridian
and I loved the overall aesthetic, but it feels as if the camera is too close to Alloy.

Is there a setting I can change to fix this?
 

noomi

Member
Still going through my first play-through and I love the game, but recently I found myself skipping through the dialog of side quests. I don;t even care about the backstory I just want to get to the gameplay lol.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
I'd really love some kind of horde mode/mission mode in the next game. I'd love to be able to score attack/time attack encounters. I think I could play something like that for months.
 
About to start this game and im wondering a bit about the difficulty. How is hard and very hard? I want a challenging game but im not that hyped if its all just a big hp dump on everything. Also, how much can i disable the hud without it severely impacting gameplay? As in, how well designed is it with regard to no minimap and stuff.

Game looks awesome, but i like to minimize stuff like this. Its what made dragons dogma so fun to explore.

I played through on Very Hard from start to finish and I had a friend that started on Hard and bumped it to Very hard about 10 hrs in. I would recommend a MINIMUM of Hard and go from there. Difficulty mainly impacts damage inflicted on you and amount you collect from health plants.

HUD wise, I would use Dynamic HUD and disable all the waypoint stuff too. I can't remember if you can disable the minimap but again Dynamic HUD pretty much does this for you when you don't need that HUD element.
 

Violater

Member
Sony's official FB page posted about it.

SmqbaQDl.jpg



I dislike the way they've dropped support for the older headsets. I find it hard to believe, that the hardware couldn't reproduce the virtual 3D audio.

Sony is terrible about supporting their peripherals.
 
Finished the game today. I was honestly blown away by it. I was not expecting a game like that from the makers of Killzone. I want to see more of this series. It's not perfect but one of my fav games this generation for sure.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!

autoduelist

Member
Finished with platinum 5 minutes ago.

Truly amazing game on almost every level. One of the best opening IPs I've ever played. I've read a lot of reviews on here, so will keep this short since many already hit the main points.

I don't normally care about story in games, but this game managed to create an absolutely amazing background world. Everything about the world makes sense, from the rise of robotics to the downfall of mankind through what created what we have now. So. Damn. Good.

Robotic combat. I don't even know how they managed to do this so well. I mean, we've seen 'weak points' in armor before. But this somehow managed to perfect the concept... the in game growth of the player [us] first learning to remove components, then discovering armored components and even hidden components [so fun to take out heat cores], etc.

The progression is also amazing in that regard. I remember thinking watchers were badass the first time I met them, and I also remember my first [pre-upgrades] attempt to take out a thunderjaw... and then, between my skill growth, and new weapons, being able to take out thunderjaws with practiced ease.

Human combat, as mentioned, is pretty terrible. Lure, silent kill. Lure, silent kill. Or hell, just fire arrow them all into the ground... it's bad, especially in comparison to the epic robot combat. That said, epic robot combat outweighs all else.

Characters. I liked a lot... quests generally felt smart and well designed. I found the 'modern' accents 'hi, i'm a guy voice acting a merchant' a little offputting, and would have preferred a more distinct accent or something, but that's minor.

Things I want in a sequel:

1) More robots, obviously.

2) Mountable glinthawks

3) better human combat

4) a better designed skill tree. More skills, more skills that matter.

5) Enemy robots you can mount to remove components [like, climbing on their back SoTC style to remove specific problematic weapons].... step one, tie em down, step two, mount them, they break free, and then you've got to get to the component while they try to remove you.

I'm sure I can think of more things, but really? I can't complain. This game was absolutely amazing. It nailed open world, it nailed combat, it felt good in every way.

10/10 from me, all day every day. One of those rare gems that reminds me why I love games. Pretty sure it just joined my 'top 10 of all time' list but i need more time for that to sink in.
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
Has anyone else noticed Aloy doesn't quite open her mouth when talking, and instead grits her teeth a lot? My girlfriend pointed it out while watching me play and now I notice it all the time compared to other NPCs being perfectly animated.
 

Venture

Member
Has anyone else noticed Aloy doesn't quite open her mouth when talking, and instead grits her teeth a lot? My girlfriend pointed it out while watching me play and now I notice it all the time compared to other NPCs being perfectly animated.
Hadn't noticed that. If anything her animations seem much better than the NPCs.
 

VanWinkle

Member
I just hope they go more ambitious in every respect in the sequel. They've made an incredible game, but it can be even more.

I want a bigger, more interactive world, some real platforming and puzzles (the current jump mechanic is actually fantastic but not utilized to its potential with a lot of auto stuff), the RPG aspects to be a little more deep (at least have a bigger skill tree and skill trees for each weapon), more meaningful dialog choices, even if only in the side quest stories (your decisions can determine how the quest plays out), etc.

Every time I play the game now, having beaten it, I just get excited thinking about what else they can do. Would love to see a big aquatic theme at least somewhat at play. Like California ruins or something.
 

Zackat

Member
I just hope they go more ambitious in every respect in the sequel. They've incredible game, but it can be even more.

I want a bigger, more interactive world, some real platforming and puzzles (the current jump mechanic is actually fantastic but not utilize to its potential with a lot of auto stuff), the RPG aspects to be a little more deep (at least have a bigger skill tree and skill trees for each weapon), more meaningful dialog choices, even if only in the side quest stories (your decisions can determine how the quest plays out), etc.

Every time I play the game now, having beaten it, I just get excited thinking about what else they can do. Would love to see a big aquatic theme at least somewhat at play. Like California ruins or something.
I am tired of big huge worlds. Give me a well designed one the same size
 
I played through on Very Hard from start to finish and I had a friend that started on Hard and bumped it to Very hard about 10 hrs in. I would recommend a MINIMUM of Hard and go from there. Difficulty mainly impacts damage inflicted on you and amount you collect from health plants.

HUD wise, I would use Dynamic HUD and disable all the waypoint stuff too. I can't remember if you can disable the minimap but again Dynamic HUD pretty much does this for you when you don't need that HUD element.

I disabled the waypoint options but i still see those big yellow things on screen that tell me the objective. I'd really prefer to just have them on the map or the compass. Is that a possibility or did i disable some other waypoint system? (a'la the fable 2 trails or some dumb stuff)
 

Venture

Member
I disabled the waypoint options but i still see those big yellow things on screen that tell me the objective. I'd really prefer to just have them on the map or the compass. Is that a possibility or did i disable some other waypoint system? (a'la the fable 2 trails or some dumb stuff)
There's currently no way of turning those off, other than just deactivating the quest. First thing I asked about when I started playing.
 
Horizon Zero Dawn update 1.12, patch notes reveal 3D audio support

What is 3D Audio?
I know 5.1 and 7.1. I thought those were 3D Audio.
Is it for headsets only? How is it different?
You need the appropriate hardware to process 3D audio correctly, and usually that is in the headphones or a separate unit (like the breakout box on PSVR) if you're not on PC.

3D is like ATMOS, so rather than 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound (that is on the X and Z axis (a flat plane) this takes into account the Y and can communicate audio above and below you as well, plus all the directional tangents between there (being able to hear that something is on fire above or below you at an angle, for instance).
 
Top Bottom