Horizon Zero Dawn

[Pulsar_t]

I couldn't find a thread for Sony's biggest exclusive for the first half of 2017 so I decided to start one. My PS4 has been gathering dust for months on end, so took the plunge with Guerrilla's hyped offering.. And I say hyped because it is. They just made an open-world game with robot dinosaurs and later tacked on a tired old storyline to justify this motif. After the initial duel with the Sawtooth the game's been going downhill for me. I kind of wish we'd gotten a Killzone sequel instead, despite how average the last one was.

These AAA games are becoming predictable to a fault.

[isiolia]

There's been a fair amount of discussion about it in other threads, with several of us having played through it already.
Personally, I thought it was fun, even if most of it wasn't super original. It's a showcase game that seemed deliberately tuned to have broad appeal. The fight you mention is still part of the tutorial, practically speaking.

[dsheinem]

A shame you didn't like it Pulsar T. It is probably the best "AAA" game I've played this generation, and almost certainly the best of the PS4 exclusives...

[Pulsar_t]

If only it did anything new. Remember when people went apeshit over Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System? It was hardly groundbreaking, but it was a breath of fresh air in the domain of AAA openworld games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv953UzG8FA

[Xeogred]

Well I can't follow you there. I've played several AssCreed's awhile back and some Batman Arkham, so I basically already played Shadow of Mordor. Boring LoTR based backdrop, basically invincible let's take turns boring combat system, etc. If there's anything to be flabbergasted about here, it's how Shadow of Mordor was a big deal at all... but that was back when the current gen was coming out with little launch titles. I'd say it got lucky that it was basically filler material in a time where there was a void. Otherwise, Shadow of Mordor is below average and I can't be any less interested in the sequel. What a shame to see Monolith fall to this.

Horizon looks amazing.

[Pulsar_t]

^ I wasn't praising Shadow of Mordor, only the nemesis boss system that it introduced.

[isiolia]

To be fair, some of the "going apeshit" with Shadow of Mordor was due to it being paid content for a number of Youtubers, not all of which disclosed that at the time.

Not that it's a bad game, mind you, it's an interesting system. The overall AI in that game could be a bit harsh from the bit I played though.

Still, HZD does have the trap/bow combat against machines that's pretty fun, and a lot of the rest (as pointed out in the Jimquisition video) is trimmed down and kept manageable. It might not be super innovative, but it does what it does well. I'd overall agree with that video in terms of what it really does right as a AAA release - colorful, diverse, original IP that's a complete package out of the gate. It actually does a lot right, per common AAA game complaints.

The "bundles" that the video mentions, and is relieved about not being microtransactions, are actually a logical game mechanic to prevent quest rewards from ever hitting a full inventory. Hand you a package that goes into its own special inventory, and items can get moved to your real inventories if/when you have space.

[Juan Aguacate]

Starting to realize that me and dsheinem are like oil and water when it comes to games. So I won't ever ask him to recommend me something

Anyway, HZD is mediocre. This video is harsh and ranty, but makes some good points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tViQ4xTSaJo

There's the game in a nutshell, though I could do without his console gaming hate, but there's a lot of brutal honesty in that vid

[Sarge]

I know that some folks have to have something new in their games, but I also very much enjoy old tropes executed well. Even if there isn't anything new here, if it pulls off the open-world genre with aplomb, I'm sure I'll end up enjoying it. It's why I like Dragon Quest, it's why I thought Skies of Arcadia was fun, and myriad other games. Just give me something good, even if it's derivative, and I'm happy. It's why Zelda's formula didn't really bother me.

[Reprise]

Don't worry, Pulsar_T, you're not the only one who couldn't get into Horizon. I gave it a try, but quickly got bored and ultimately haven't played since. There's nothing inherently "bad" I can actually think of about the game (although I agree the story isn't amazing and the voice actress who plays Aloy annoys the hell out of me - which she does in every game she is) but it just didn't "grab" me for whatever reason, whilst I couldn't put Breath of the Wild down and now I've completed that, I can't put Nier Automata down.

Maybe if Zelda and Nier hadn't been released so close to Horizon, then I may be saying something entirely different about it. Who knows? I'll try and give it another shot one day, if I ever find time.