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[Wollan]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

Video of the crazy thunderjaw fight

https://vid.me/rAGi

 

[Exquisik]

> Flying mounts. (need to improve the streaming engine)

I honestly do not want to see flying mounts in any of the open world game unless the world is huge like an MMORPG game or as a reward for completing the game, so that you may travel throughout the world faster. I don't want to have a flying mount while trying to complete the main story, because I would just be using the flying mount to travel everywhere and miss out on all the encounters below.

 

[jbortz78]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

Awesome stuff, 28th cant come soon enough.

 

[AyraSutoraifu]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

Holy... that sound! Shiiiiii...

 

[SomTervo]

Don't get your hopes up too much, the text i read was vague and i was trying not to engage with it. But i think there's a decent chance you'll have a nice time.

 

[black070]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

That looks friggin awesome.

 

[ISee]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

I was still a tiny bit in doubt, but this video right there gave me the last small push I needed. Pre Ordered and ready to go.

Candyland PS4 vs Pro Comparison [4k], just in case somebody is interested

 

[Putty]

7 days!.....7 FUCKING DAYS!.....Bastards....

 

[ZettaiSeigi]

I honestly do not want to see flying mounts in any of the open world game unless the world is huge like an MMORPG game or as a reward for completing the game, so that you may travel throughout the world faster. I don't want to have a flying mount while trying to complete the main story, because I would just be using the flying mount to travel everywhere and miss out on all the encounters below.

Agreed. I like how this was implemented in FF XIV. Players have to first traverse a certain area by foot to be able to fly around it. Not saying that it should be done exactly that same way since this isn't an MMORPG, but GG can find a way to do something similar in the sequel.

 

[boredandlazy]

I honestly do not want to see flying mounts in any of the open world game unless the world is huge like an MMORPG game or as a reward for completing the game, so that you may travel throughout the world faster. I don't want to have a flying mount while trying to complete the main story, because I would just be using the flying mount to travel everywhere and miss out on all the encounters below.

It's one of the reasons why I found Saints Row IV so utterly boring.

 

[RocknRola]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

Wow. Holy crap!

 

[NotSmartEnough]

Reviews are opinions. If you want a review to be nothing but facts it would no longer be recognizable from what we call reviews. And even taking your point into consideration, that the review needs to tackle the technical aspects of a game, that too would be opinion. Some people have zero problems with framerate drops and others find games that do completely unplayable.

Whenever you ask someone to review a product and give a score, it's in the opinion of the person who reviewed said product.

That's just not true.

If I review a game and say "it crashes to the desktop every time you do x", that's not just my opinion, it's a statement. It's verifiably true or false.

If I say "the framerate drops in Crookback bog", that's a fact. If I follow up with "but it doesn't matter because it's an awesome game", that's just my opinion.

My original point was an objection to using a 0/10 score without solid justification. I think a zero implies the game is broken in some way, rather than it just meaning "I didn't like it".

Reviews will always be highly subjective, but the facts do matter and should influence the score.

 

[NEO0MJ]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

Don't like that they let you see the weak points highlighted.

 

[martino]

I know it's weird to talk about potential sequels, but hear me out a bit in terms of expectation vs what reviewers have said about this for me.

Based on the gameplay previews, impressions and my own assessment of interview materials, my expectations for Horizon were generally the following:

Combat/Enemy/Visuals = 9 out of 10
World/Activity/Quest/Story/Other = 7 out of 10

In short, I expected a good game that is still constrained by a lot of generic trappings of the open world formula without notable standouts, but will be elevated by being best-in-class in terms of combat & enemy design, with all the technical mastery of visuals from the art team at GG.

And some of the reviews, by Kotaku UK & Eurogamer, actually echoed that sentiment. I think in terms of pure checklist of design, Horizon is that game. A game of standout 9s, supplemented by other parts that are 7s.

What I did not expect, was that Horizon would apparently have a story quality of a ”9", and executed the world/activity/quest/other aspects with the finesse and balanced design where even though the individual quality of those quest are maybe still a 7 or so, the way it's laid out and executed as a complete package elevates it to an 8 in terms of the experience.

Of course, not everybody will resonate with execution, so some people will still see it as a 7, no matter how nicely it's packaged, but the fact that a vast majority of reviewers though that the execution was brilliantly handled to the point that it's comparable with the best-in-class open world games is quite possibly the biggest surprise.

To me, that is one of the hardest things to do in any game. It is not difficult for a game that is composed of a bunch of [8/10] mechanics/design elements to come together as a strong [8/10] piece. But it's really really hard imo, to take a bunch of [6/10]s and [7/10]s and execute the balance of all those components to make it more than the sum of its parts.

Because, from where I stand, even iteratively, I see a ton of areas of improvement for a Horizon sequel that are complete no-brainers and is realistically, quite easy to implement given another 2-3 years.

Another additional 10-15 unique variants of machines would go a long way to make a truly complete animal ecosystem. 26 is good, but given the dynamic nature of interactions,I think every additional 5 would be exponentially incremental by leaps & bounds in terms of dynamism.
An actual melee combat system.
Multi-piece armor equipment system ala RPGs like TW3/DAI/etc.
Bigger settlements/cities/enterable buildings.
Improved human enemy A.I.
Improved side-quest writing/design.
Etc etc

Horizon, even based off all the glowing reviews, isn't at the same situation like many highly lauded games like Bioshock, TLoU, Red Dead, Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, etc where there's a very specific design choice in every part of those game that it isn't an easy ”+1" on everything to make an easy sequel. We saw how the ”+1" mentality didn't work with Uncharted 3/Bioshock Infinite/etc.

As it is, there are clearly many parts of Horizon that has a lot of room for improvement on an iterative level. It's exciting to see where GG can take the formula further.

agreed.
imo, the hard part remaining to do seems to win rpg label for something else than checking the least roleplay defining features of it by focusing more on human like they did for robots.

 

[jbortz78]

Don't like that they let you see the weak points highlighted.

Certain bows have that trait if I remember correctly.

 

[silva1991]

Don't like that they let you see the weak points highlighted.

I think you choose to highlight them with the scanner(or whatever it's called)

Just don't use it.

 

[Rurunaki]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

Welp.. sold.

Edit: It's like I'm on a transformers universe. And the sound effects.. laaaaawd.

 

[spannicus]

I was still a tiny bit in doubt, but this video right there gave me the last small push I needed. Pre Ordered and ready to go.

Candyland PS4 vs Pro Comparison [4k], just in case somebody is interested

Game looks gorgeous on both. Would even probably look good on a potatoe.

 

[Cromat]

Game looks like a winner. PS4 is doing great.

 

[jackie jorp jomp]

Halo killer ��

These reviews have done me in, I've been thinking about pre-ordering for months.

 

[Gradly]

What makes it harder for me knowing that the game is almost certainly available in my area already but I have to wait for 5-7 days more to download the digital copy. Life becomes unbearable

 

[iosa]

Just received a text that my PS4 Pro is available for pickup. Also pre-ordered Horizon (and a free steelbook) with a 50€ discount I got for buying the PRO.

It'll be a long week.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Do Giant Bomb dislike every PS4 exclusive? Or are there any which they've scored higher than normal?

 

[RocknRola]

Do Giant Bomb dislike every PS4 exclusive? Or are there any which they've scored higher than normal?

The same GiantBomb that have this a 5/5? Or am I missing something here?

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Don't like that they let you see the weak points highlighted.

Looks like you need all the help you can get really, love the challenging look of the game!!

I wonder if that footage is on normal or hard difficulty.....if that's normal, I'm scared as shit of hard XD.

 

[miller.skippins]

Do Giant Bomb dislike every PS4 exclusive? Or are there any which they've scored higher than normal?

dude.....please take a look at Giantbomb's review of UC4, Bloodborne, Rachet & Clank, Nier Automata and finally Horizon Zero Dawn..

i don't know what you are talking about but JeffG gave Horizon 5/5 so what are you smoking at?

 

[onemanasylum]

Barf.

Well I'm sure you thought this was a compliment.

LOL, funny because true.

Never watched him. Then again I don't really watch channels for reviews. Does he actually do good analysis?

I made the mistake of not watching Double Toasted for movie reviews until a few months ago, so broadening horizons and all that

Joe actually puts a lot of work into his reviews/videos puzzling some like to shit on him, he does good work even if I don't always agree with him.

Oh man, SOMA was just a hair short of being a perfect take on the genre. It's amazing.

Dat framerate though.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/horizon-zero-dawn-review-roundup/1100-6448021/
never saw the EuroGamer review

man they have it out for GG lol



ummm

Jokes on eurogamer then, Horizon is anything but forgettable, but they are entitles to their opinion.

He's insufferable IMO. I much prefer Kinda Funny Games. They talk like real gamers.

Real gamers? lol

88 in the Metacritic is good now? Or is this game getting a free pass just because?

Microsoft would love an 88 right about now... Anyone who thinks 88 isn't excellent is not stable/

 

[Eien1no1Yami]

Edit: Wrong post,ignore

 

[Skux]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

I'm floored. This is like a single player MMO with action gameplay. There are so many moving parts to this sequence but it looks so effortless.

 

[Kazuo Hirai]

Do Giant Bomb dislike every PS4 exclusive? Or are there any which they've scored higher than normal?

I thought GameSpot give PS4 exclusive higher scores after GiantBomb build? AmIRight?

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Time to buy a PS4 now? I'm mainly a PC gamer, I rarely ever used my PS3/360.

Amazing time mate, you're in for so many treats. If you have a 4K TV, I'd go Pro for sure too.

Bloodborne, UC4, TLoU Remastered, Nioh and Horizon should see you right for a while....(seriously, PS4 is killing it at the moment).

 

[kyser73]

I'm floored. This is like a single player MMO with action gameplay. There are so many moving parts to this sequence but it looks so effortless.

Having seen that fight, I'd love to see a piece of DLC that offered MP mega-robo hunts. Like a raid, but going out hunting the big boys.

 

[Thornton Reed]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

jesus christ, that looks fantastic

 

[OléGunner]

I've read one gaffers impression that the story touches the levels of SOMA's sci fi narrative which is incredible to believe.
SOMA has one of the best sci fi stories of any medium beyond games I've experienced, so it's awesome to know GG really put effort into making a fantastic story.

Reviews seem to reflect that quite a bit.

 

[DieH@rd]

well damn

88 in the Metacritic is good now? Or is this game getting a free pass just because?

Time to buy a PS4 now? I'm mainly a PC gamer, I rarely ever used my PS3/360.

 

[Pit]

Halo killer

These reviews have done me in, I've been thinking about pre-ordering for months.

Yuck. 0/10. Not sure if serious but still. Sheesh.

 

[Wollan]

Robot-dinosaurs is a great canvas for challenging and varied game mechanics.
In the above video you see it deploying laser drones, charging, shooting rapid-fire-projectiles, performing tail-swipes and firing a earthquake beam.
It has weak spots as part of the modular design, you can pick up some of the weapons that fall of it...

 

[Skux]

He's insufferable IMO. I much prefer Kinda Funny Games. They talk like real gamers.

If you listen to Angry Joe beyond the sound bites you'll find he's just as real as anyone. He knows what makes a great game and where it stumbles, and is looking out for the consumer more than anyone.

 

[Loudninja]

@GhostRobo

Horizon ZD is one of those special games. Haven't had this enjoyable/awe-inspiring of an experience since TLoU. Congratulations @Guerrilla

https://twitter.com/GhostRobo/status/833608121327038465

 

[Nzyme32]

Wait...what the..that is some patronizing, hateful stuff. And to think, I was defending Nzyme earlier, based on the fact that he is usually quite a sensible poster. Not in that thread it seems.
The highly positive reception to the game must be annoying the hell out of them. Silly people.

Not that i consider it something worth losing a night's sleep, but I wouldn't call his post benign.

Saying that people interested are either easily marketed to or fanboys satiating their own ego is something really stupid.

And closing it with a "it's good to be outside and see things for what it is" is extremely patronizing.

But that's really OT, he doesn't posted in here and there's no need to serve crow to anyone.

I'm just going to re-link what has already been discussed here. A lot of context is missing, from what I'd like to think are usually polite reasonable posters in that thread. Hopefully you can at least see my point of view as amicably as follows.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230652882&postcount=1991
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230653380&postcount=2058
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230654004&postcount=2155
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230654602&postcount=2253

 

[aravuus]

From the spoiler-free impressions thread, some intense open-world action:

Oh my god, I was expecting it to be serviceable, okay but nothing great, but the combat looks amazing!

What's the death penalty in the game? If it's not too harsh, I think I'm gonna play on hard.

I'm gonna have to go on overdrive with my thesis writing, if I manage to write the two last major chapters by the time HZD releases I think I'll get it day one after all

 

[Ivory Samoan]

88 is such a brilliant achievement for a new IP and a full change of genres for Guerilla Games, you guys have done something amazing here!

On the reviews front, Eurogamer and USgamer both feel like outliers, particularly about the story, and it's quite odd that they're the same company.....I'm not suggesting it's some conspiracy, but it feels like a concerted effort to not like the game more so than any of the other critical reviews (which I think the more the merrier).

Open world fatigue has definitely taken the perfection like sheen off of the release, but to cut through it to this degree of nigh-on universal praise....just, bravo GG.

 

[Floody]

Oh my god, I was expecting it to be serviceable, okay but nothing great, but the combat looks amazing!

What's the death penalty in the game? If it's not too harsh, I think I'm gonna play on hard.

I think it's just reload last save.

 

[bonchooski]

I just watched a video and there were blue and purple pieces of gear, is there loot in this game? I've purposefully tried to not watch anything about this game until it's released. I figured there would be gear you can upgrade and whatnot but wasn't aware that there would be color based loot in it.

 

[aravuus]

I think it's just reload last save.

Can you save anytime, anywhere? Considering how big an element crafting seems to be, I think this is the best approach. You can redo an encounter as many times as you want and won't be forced to farm materials between tries.

 

[Bull_peeler]

Since we're on the subject of crow eating, feast your eyes on this discussion about the game in the Steam community thread from a few weeks back (post 11183 onwards).

Wow... there's petty people and there's the people in that thread.... which have gone above and beyond.

I'll be getting Horizon Zero Dawn as soon as I get my shiny platinum in Nioh.

 

[onemanasylum]

88 is such a brilliant achievement for a new IP and a full change of genres for Guerilla Games, you guys have done something amazing here!

On the reviews front, Eurogamer and USgamer both feel like outliers, particularly about the story, and it's quite odd that they're the same company.....I'm not suggesting it's some conspiracy, but it feels like a concerted effort to not like the game more so than any of the other critical reviews (which I think the more the merrier).

Open world fatigue has definitely taken the perfection like sheen off of the release, but to cut through it to this degree of nigh-on universal praise....just, bravo GG.

Not gonna lie, Eurogamers review bothered me, they seem to dismiss guerilla. The USgamer review never bothered me as that seemed to be an outlier way out there, but eurogamer throwing shade at GG, amongst all the rest of the glowing reviews seemed...petty to me. Seems like GG put a lot of care and heart into the game. Maybe I am just sensitive lol.

 

[ShdwDrake]

Probably Uncharted 4. I don't really know much about the exclusives.

I don't have a 4k TV yet, but will be getting one eventually. Should I just buy a standard PS4 or go for the Pro?

If your getting it for the exclusives like I did I feel like a slim is gonna do me well because the exclusive titles look to run great on the standard console and I have a decent rig for everything else (6600k + GTX 1070).

 

[TRUE ORDER]

Great to see that is getting good impressions, I'll have to buy it eventually, no now only because my backlog is huge.

Just received a text that my PS4 Pro is available for pickup. Also pre-ordered Horizon (and a free steelbook) with a 50€ discount I got for buying the PRO.

It'll be a long week.

Congrats on the purchase! I'll buy one when it gets a price cut since I have the OG PS4

 

[Floody]

Can you save anytime, anywhere? Considering how big an element crafting seems to be, I think this is the best approach. You can redo an encounter as many times as you want and won't be forced to farm materials between tries.

I'm not a 100% sure, but I've only seen a bonfire like save system and auto save, not seen a menu save option. But haven't been watching an awful lot someone else could probably answer it better.

Edit: I believe you get multiple auto save slots though.