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Games Beaten 2017
Inside - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
TIMEframe - PC
Rituals - PC
Mother Russia Bleeds - PC
Horizon: Zero Dawn - PS4 *new*

Total: 6

Previously: 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
My slow start to the year continues...

Horizon: Zero Dawn is arguably the best game I've played on the PS4. It takes many of the best ideas from so many other games - Dragon Age Inquisition, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Skyrim, etc. - and blends them all together in a chunky stew of intense and speedy combat, epic exploration, satisfying leveling, and gorgeous graphics. The game is pretty much flawless, and would be a great experience even if its story sucked.

The story, fortunately, is one of the most complex and interesting post-apocalyptic tales I've seen told in a medium that often tends towards those stories. To say too much about it would ruin a lot of great moments in the game - there are a wealth of fascinating revelations, compelling plot twists, and well-fleshed out characters - but suffice to say that it blends a lot of genre tropes together in a new way, one that has some merit in its ability to criticize humanity as a whole and that earns its attempts to provoke introspection in the player.

I can't rave enough about this one. I have even been generally uninterested in the also-excellent Breath of the Wild because I wanted to keep moving through this game more than pick up my Switch. The game took me about 35 hours to finish the story and many sidequests (I'm at 52% completion). If you have a PS4, you really owe it to yourself to pick this game up. It is a state-of-the-medium tour de force.

Good review, DSH. Although I do not yet have a PS4, I think that game looks very intriguing, and the PS4's library may finally be getting to the point where I can justify a purchase.

Many of those games appeal to me, so I know I'll be picking this up at some point. Thanks for the review!

I've still been plugging away at HZD as well. Starting making a point to flesh out more of the side stuff before continuing with the story, but it largely seems to be paced very well - as opposed to things like DA:I or MGSV that, fun as they were, felt overly long. Sounds like it should wrap up without overstaying its welcome.

While I think the narrative is solid, if somewhat predictable so far, it seems like something that'll be part of discussions about representation in games for mostly good reasons.

dsheinem wrote:Horizon: Zero Dawn is arguably the best game I've played on the PS4.

I have even been generally uninterested in the also-excellent Breath of the Wild because I wanted to keep moving through this game more than pick up my Switch.

It is a state-of-the-medium tour de force.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions as accurate.

What were your suspicions?

That H:ZD kicks ass, that's it's a thoroughly modern action-adventure-RPG, and that I'd rather play it then BotW.

Exhuminator wrote:That H:ZD kicks ass, that's it's a thoroughly modern action-adventure-RPG, and that I'd rather play it then BotW.

Not sure where you derived the last point from Dsh's post. Everything he said is true and I still put the game down for Zelda.

MrPopo wrote:

Exhuminator wrote:That H:ZD kicks ass, that's it's a thoroughly modern action-adventure-RPG, and that I'd rather play it then BotW.

Not sure where you derived the last point from Dsh's post. Everything he said is true and I still put the game down for Zelda.

I did prefer playing it over BotW...but then immediately last night picked up BotW again since I had finished the main campaign in H:ZD.

BotW is a charming game and an exceedingly excellent Zelda title in its own right, but H:ZD just offers a lot more refinement of some similar mechanics, a brand new world to explore with a compelling story that drives you to do so, etc. It is hard for me not to compare them, but I thought Popo did a good job explaining his take on their different approaches to the open world here. (I would disagree that H:ZD has only "light traversal" though, and I think its lines of sight are even more compelling towards exploration than BotW.)

I think both games are great. I don't know why some folks feel the need to deride one in favor of another. You can have your cake and eat it too.