Board 8 > Horizon Zero Dawn issues

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've had this game since Black Friday and haven't bothered to do much with it yet. I played for an hour and then got sidetracked and am only recently going back. I've heard it's at times better than the games comparable to it -- Witcher, Tomb Raider, Dragon Age, every other open-world game I guess.

But I have some issues in the first few hours.

1. The sidequests are terrible and I legit think part of my soul disappears with each one. I can't bear to look into another lifeless NPC. Under these circumstances is it worth it to skip all of them? Is there a way to make up for the lost EXP (or my soul)?

2. Crafting is 1:1 Tomb Raider in look and feel. It's a collectathon of frivolous ingredients that mean nothing. I hate having to push A on every other twig for the rest of my days.

3. The stealth is very loosey-goosey. I find it to difficult to comprehend how these robots reduced humanity to this state (is that the premise?). These bots are dumb, damn.

I do enjoy parts of it and I'll very likely continue until the end, I just want to make some complaints. It feels like a super polished "modern open-world game" that tries so hard to be good by hitting a checklist of what's required. While I think the look and feel and parts of the characterization are fantastic so far, I can't help but be reminded of the nightmare that was the hollow world of Dragon Age: Inquisition and (to a lesser extent) both Tomb Raiders (despite 100%'ing TR).

I guess I just don't want to play another Tomb Raider game (until TR3), and that's what this feels like. D:
---

Peridiam posted...

Is there a way to make up for the lost EXP (or my soul)?

Drop difficulty, ignore sidequests, finish story, throw the game off a cliff.

imo
---

If you get a good amount of the materials to craft now, you probably won't have to worry about it again. In fact, a lot of those plants aren't too important. I didn't use very many freeze roots or fire roots at all tbqh. Only thing you may have to occasionally get just a bit of is wood. Enemies will drop a lot of what you will actually be using.

It is true that the human encounters are WAY less interesting and less fun than the fights against the machines.

The game gets way better as it goes on too. And so do the sidequests IMO.
---

I think the dungeons are worth doing. those are very interesting visually while offering some insight into the world, and they challenge you to think about the mechanics in ways the trials never do. climbing the towers is alright too if only because the game is so stunning. those are the only worthwhile sidequests in the game.

the story is very rote sci-fi and the rest of the game's identity is either stolen or misunderstood. don't go into this thinking it's The Witcher 3, it is not. it does not dedicate the time that Witcher 3 does to characterization or worldbuilding. but if you go into it thinking that it's a slightly better Far Cry maybe you might be in the right mindset to enjoy it?

although this:
The Mana Sword posted...

throw the game off a cliff.

is where I stand on it, so, you know.
---

i went into it with high expectations and it came out as one of my favorite games of all time so it probably depends more on if you think the game is good or not more than the mindset tbqh
---

i am talking to a specific point he's making. what are you even talking about.
---

iiicon posted...

i am talking to a specific point he's making. what are you even talking about.

you said if he thinks about it more as a "slightly better far cry" then he'll enjoy the game more, as in he will like it more if he thinks about it in a certain way

i did not think about the game that way and i thought it was fantastic

so i'm simply saying that i think the mindset you play the game with doesn't have anything to do with how much you enjoy the game.

also i have not played the witcher 3 but i will challenge you on when you said this game doesn't spend as much time on worldbuilding. hzd builds that world up a lot
---

Killing random animals seems way more important for crafting stuff than anything else if only because plants are stupidly abundant
---

oh, yeah it's a good to listen around for rabbits and shit. animal hide/bones get to be useful when upgrading aloy's inventories
---

The Mana Sword posted...

Peridiam posted...

Is there a way to make up for the lost EXP (or my soul)?

Drop difficulty, ignore sidequests, finish story, throw the game off a cliff.

imo

I don't really like making games easy though -- I enjoy the challenges. If I make the game easy mode I'd probably rather just not play it at all. I'm also not exactly hooked by this story yet so I'm not sure reducing the game to a cakewalk is gonna entice me. I do enjoy the combat!

Did you not like the game?
---

Solioxrz362 posted...

also i have not played the witcher 3 but i will challenge you on when you said this game doesn't spend as much time on worldbuilding. hzd builds that world up a lot

lol
---

Solioxrz362 posted...

If you get a good amount of the materials to craft now, you probably won't have to worry about it again. In fact, a lot of those plants aren't too important. I didn't use very many freeze roots or fire roots at all tbqh. Only thing you may have to occasionally get just a bit of is wood. Enemies will drop a lot of what you will actually be using.

It is true that the human encounters are WAY less interesting and less fun than the fights against the machines.

The game gets way better as it goes on too. And so do the sidequests IMO.

I was thinking this too: just go HAM on collecting materials right away. I've enjoyed the combat and pretty much engage everything I come across. I do enjoy the sneak attacks (going HAM on that skill tree) and using the shock trap device. I had like 3 down at once and then attracted the attention of 3 robots... fun times.
---

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Solioxrz362 posted...

also i have not played the witcher 3 but i will challenge you on when you said this game doesn't spend as much time on worldbuilding. hzd builds that world up a lot

lol

okay, let me clarify

I'm not saying witcher 3 doesn't do it. i'm not even saying witcher 3 doesn't do it more. again, idk, i haven't played it. but to say hzd doesn't do it as much is to imply that hzd doesn't focus on it, and i think that's not accurate because if you've played hzd you know it builds up its world a ton.

if you think otherwise, i'm not sure you've played the game. it's one of its biggest strengths along with the awesome machine fights and everything about aloy
---

iiicon posted...

I think the dungeons are worth doing. those are very interesting visually while offering some insight into the world, and they challenge you to think about the mechanics in ways the trials never do. climbing the towers is alright too if only because the game is so stunning. those are the only worthwhile sidequests in the game.

the story is very rote sci-fi and the rest of the game's identity is either stolen or misunderstood. don't go into this thinking it's The Witcher 3, it is not. it does not dedicate the time that Witcher 3 does to characterization or worldbuilding. but if you go into it thinking that it's a slightly better Far Cry maybe you might be in the right mindset to enjoy it?

although this:
The Mana Sword posted...

throw the game off a cliff.

is where I stand on it, so, you know.

Thanks for the advice! I'm not very far into the game - I actually haven't found dungeons or towers. I'm really just scouring the start. It's probably the tutorial but it's left me worried it'll be another long, kinda soulless game.

I think I was hoping to connect with the characters more but neither Aloy nor Rost have done it yet. The presentation feels shallow. I've never really played Far Cry (except for about an hour of FC3... pretty much not hooked at all).
---

Peridiam posted...

The Mana Sword posted...

Peridiam posted...

Is there a way to make up for the lost EXP (or my soul)?

Drop difficulty, ignore sidequests, finish story, throw the game off a cliff.

imo

I don't really like making games easy though -- I enjoy the challenges. If I make the game easy mode I'd probably rather just not play it at all. I'm also not exactly hooked by this story yet so I'm not sure reducing the game to a cakewalk is gonna entice me. I do enjoy the combat!

Did you not like the game?

I did not! The story was the only aspect of the game I found halfway decent, and even then it never quite made good on the initial concept. Actually playing the game was a real chore.
---

Solioxrz362 posted...

iiicon posted...

i am talking to a specific point he's making. what are you even talking about.

also i have not played the witcher 3 but i will challenge you on when you said this game doesn't spend as much time on worldbuilding. hzd builds that world up a lot

Witcher 3 is probably my second favorite game, and I'm pretty sure we both share the same #1 game (TLOU). You should definitely try Witcher.
---

The Mana Sword posted...

Peridiam posted...

The Mana Sword posted...

Peridiam posted...

Is there a way to make up for the lost EXP (or my soul)?

Drop difficulty, ignore sidequests, finish story, throw the game off a cliff.

imo

I don't really like making games easy though -- I enjoy the challenges. If I make the game easy mode I'd probably rather just not play it at all. I'm also not exactly hooked by this story yet so I'm not sure reducing the game to a cakewalk is gonna entice me. I do enjoy the combat!

Did you not like the game?

I did not! The story was the only aspect of the game I found halfway decent, and even then it never quite made good on the initial concept. Actually playing the game was a real chore.

Fuck. I felt the same way with Dragon Age: Inquisition by the end. Initially the story piqued my interest, the world was beautiful, the game appeared to have a lot going on.

And then it became a huge chore that I somehow managed to sink 100 hours into before beating it.
---

Peridiam posted...

Solioxrz362 posted...

iiicon posted...

i am talking to a specific point he's making. what are you even talking about.

also i have not played the witcher 3 but i will challenge you on when you said this game doesn't spend as much time on worldbuilding. hzd builds that world up a lot

Witcher 3 is probably my second favorite game, and I'm pretty sure we both share the same #1 game (TLOU). You should definitely try Witcher.

i've been meaning to play it at some point. just have a massive backlog to go through and less time to do it as i get older
---

Solioxrz362 posted...

also i have not played the witcher 3 but i will challenge you on when you said this game doesn't spend as much time on worldbuilding. hzd builds that world up a lot

no it doesn't. the game cares about the mystery, and how aloy ties into it. it doesn't care about its people. it's a world where several indigenous slurs survived and became commonplace, but they lost the word for horse. the handful of settlements and nations have no sense of place. the game asks "what do indigenous people look like?" and not "how do indigenous people live?" or, importantly, "hey, should we hire some indigenous writers for this? our lead writer did some pretty racist stuff in the last project he lead."

Peridiam posted...

Thanks for the advice! I'm not very far into the game - I actually haven't found dungeons or towers. I'm really just scouring the start. It's probably the tutorial but it's left me worried it'll be another long, kinda soulless game.

I think I was hoping to connect with the characters more but neither Aloy nor Rost have done it yet. The presentation feels shallow. I've never really played Far Cry (except for about an hour of FC3... pretty much not hooked at all).

Aloy is the only character you spend appreciable time with. Ashly Burch is very good in it even if the writing fails her at times.

The sidequests, what little there are (it can't be more than 10) are repetitive and stale, unfortunately. They don't really give you a glimpse into the world, nor does the game justify why Aloy should do them.
---