Horizon: Zero Dawn | Official Thread

[Scruffington]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/93/Horizon_Zero_Dawn.jpg/250px-Horizon_Zero_Dawn.jpg


Release Date
----------------

NA: February 28, 2017
PAL: March 1, 2017








Horizon: Zero Dawn is Guerilla Games' first attempt at an RPG game. It has been in development since 2011 after they released Killzone 3.

I personally think this game looks absolutely gorgeous. It is definitely one of the most exciting and ambitious titles of the year, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Del Murder]

Thank you for making this official thread. There were a lot of threads out there but I was waiting for the one officially endorsed by Scruffington before I posted.

This game looks intriguing so I'm keeping tabs on it. I'll wait to see the reviews, though, because it could be hit or miss. Fighting robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow does sound kind of silly though.

[Scruffington]

Thank you for making this official thread. There were a lot of threads out there but I was waiting for the one officially endorsed by Scruffington before I posted.

This game looks intriguing so I'm keeping tabs on it. I'll wait to see the reviews, though, because it could be hit or miss. Fighting robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow does sound kind of silly though.

I've never played a game made by Guerilla Games, but I was totally hooked on this the moment I saw the first trailer back at E3.

The idea of using primitive technology (bows and arrows) to fight large, mechanical creatures sounds incredible to me. It looks visually appealing.

I am worried about the dialogue, story and characterization considering this is GG's first attempt at an RPG. I might wait for reviews too.

[DMKA]

It's one of the games I'm looking forward to most this year.

It had better be good, for the sake of the developers. It's their first non-Killzone game and the press has hyped it to high heaven.

[Sephiroth]

I hope this is an RPG about AIs.

[Fox]

I am worried about the dialogue, story and characterization considering this is GG's first attempt at an RPG. I might wait for reviews too.

Smartly, they seem to be aware of their inexperience and have brought in some key talent, such as John Gonzalez (lead writer of Fallout: New Vegas).

I really, really like the setting. I dunno what to expect really, I'm expecting something like "New Tomb Raider mixed with Far Cry with robo-dinosaurs". If the plot is half decent that could be a winner. I'm kinda sick of open world questing for the most part these days but the uniqueness of the setting may well be enough to hold me on it.

[Pheesh]

Yeah I'm pretty hyped for this. I'll probably be grabbing it on initial release, so fingers crossed it doesn't disappoint.

[Pete for President]

WHAT DOES ZERO DAWN EVEN MEAN

Other than that, go motherland!

[Depression Moon]

Here's 20 min of the game.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ8J8J8wGwo

Game has also gone gold today.

[DMKA]

Well I just saw this clip that's floating around and well.... let's just say my hyped has died a bit.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUpPYvELLB8

I REALLY hope it's not representative of the game as a whole because...good God.

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

Great, another boring open world game. Sigh... will this horrible trend ever end?

[Scruffington]

Well I just saw this clip that's floating around and well.... let's just say my hyped has died a bit.

I REALLY hope it's not representative of the game as a whole because...good God.

Wow that video is brutal. Is that a side quest or a main story quest? I'm really hoping it's the former.

Everything about this video concerns me, from the static background image to the awful voice acting, to the fairly poor dialogue. I'm not willing to write the whole game off just yet, but man does this video look bad.


Great, another boring open world game. Sigh... will this horrible trend ever end?

Normally I would agree with you as I am also getting tired of open world games, however I think what sets this one apart is its setting, enemy designs and story.

I really hope it's a success.

[krissy]

ashley burch is aloy

this is so different than tiny tina

[Scruffington]

Reviews for the game are now live. Currently sitting at an 89 on Metacritic.

I'm actually surprised by how good the reviews are for this game. I think because of them, I'll definitely be picking this up soon. Maybe even at launch.

[DMKA]

Yeah, I'm relieved that reviews are so high. They exceptionally high actually. I've read five different reviews and they all make the game sound fantastic in every aspect.

I just pre-ordered. :D

[Fox]

Mmm, I've liked what I've read as well. Essentially it seems to be "it actually is how you thought it would be," which is pretty nice. I won't be picking it up on launch though as I'm still going to be going through Berseria, Gravity Rush 2 and a couple of others for at least the next month I think.

Definitely one to grab in a couple of months though.

[fat_moogle]

I'll definitely be picking this game up within its launch week! I haven't read any of the reviews, I don't feel the need to. From what I've seen and heard it seems like it's going to be a fantastic game.

[Del Murder]

Refreshing when a game lives up to its hype. I will get it too!

[Vyk]

Anyone else enjoying this masterpiece? Don't know if the game can possibly keep pace with the beginning. But what I've played so far (maybe five hours?) is pretty phenomenal.

My hype feels warranted and sated. I have trouble stopping my play sessions. Which is rare for me

[Scruffington]

I just picked it up. I'll probably start playing it tonight.

[Pheesh]

I started last night and got a few hours in. I'm absolutely loving it so far, wish I had more time to just sit down and binge on it.

I can't believe how freaking good it looks as well. My TV isn't particularly new and I don't have a PS4 pro, and it still looks absolutely insane.

[Vyk]

Aw I got moved. I'm not sure this game got to be in this forum. I'd call it an RPG personally. But what's in a name anyway. Great game so far no matter how It's sliced. Fast and engaging combat, with lots of varied perks to unlock for custom play styles. A beautiful and unique open works. Very fascinating lore with great writing and voice acting. Complimented by music that's just as good as everything else

For my money I would say this if my favorite experience so far this generation. And it it keeps it up I would argue It's on par with The Last of Us

And Aloy feels very real. Which is probably in that "game feel" level of hard to describe and best experienced first hand. But I genuinely want to be her friend and watch her succeed. Bonus that I get to help it happen

[DMKA]

Yeah, I've played for about four hours and it's absolutely phenomenal.

[krissy]

this is the highest praise i've ever seen on this message board for anything and i'm finding it incredible

i'll play it once i get a psx four

[Depression Moon]

I wish I had money.

[Formalhaut]

Could someone give me the rundown? I've heard about the game before but I've never really dug into it fully. What's the general story about, and what's game-play like?

[DMKA]

What's the general story about, and what's game-play like?

As someone who's played for five hours...

In a nutshell, you play as a young woman in a distant future where technology has destroy civilization, nature has taken back the earth, machines in the form of animals wander the landscape beside actual animals, humanity has reverted back to tribal societies, and an entire religion has formed based on these things. The woman you play is an outcast, shunned by her tribe to a life of exile that she longs to remedy and find answers to, because she, like you, has no idea why things are this way, and no one is telling. Honestly there's a lot more details but it'd take several paragraphs for me to fully explain because it really is that deep, and the game does an incredibly good job of showing and telling the story so that it's not at all hard to grasp or understand. Modern Square Enix could really take a lesson or two from this game.

As far as gameplay goes, it's an open-world action RPG. It's kind of like grown up Zelda with a lot more depth and options in a wide open world. You have melee attacks and an array of weaponry at your disposal, including various traps and a bow with various kinds of arrows available. Combat is extremely satisfying too. Sometimes you get into really fast paced battles and you have to do your best to hit weak spots, and doing everything just right and taking down a big metal beast feels more rewarding than 99% of the battles in video games I've played. It's very well balanced and adequately difficult. It's challenging enough to make you feel accomplished from a win, but it's not masochistically hard like the Souls games or anything. You also level up and there's a whole progression system, as you would expect in an RPG.

To be fair, I've actively avoided reading things about the game, so there's a ton of stuff I don't know yet. But I will also point out that it may very well be the most visually gorgeous game I've ever played as well, and I'm playing on a standard PS4. Youtube videos don't at all do it justice.

[Formalhaut]

What's the general story about, and what's game-play like?

As someone who's played for five hours...

In a nutshell, you play as a young woman in a distant future where technology has destroy civilization, nature has taken back the earth, machines in the form of animals wander the landscape beside actual animals, humanity has reverted back to tribal societies, and an entire religion has formed based on these things. The woman you play is an outcast, shunned by her tribe to a life of exile that she longs to remedy and find answers to, because she, like you, has no idea why things are this way, and no one is telling. Honestly there's a lot more details but it'd take several paragraphs for me to fully explain because it really is that deep, and the game does an incredibly good job of showing and telling the story so that it's not at all hard to grasp or understand. Modern Square Enix could really take a lesson or two from this game.

As far as gameplay goes, it's an open-world action RPG. It's kind of like grown up Zelda with a lot more depth and options in a wide open world. You have melee attacks and an array of weaponry at your disposal, including various traps and a bow with various kinds of arrows available. Combat is extremely satisfying too. Sometimes you get into really fast paced battles and you have to do your best to hit weak spots, and doing everything just right and taking down a big metal beast feels more rewarding than 99% of the battles in video games I've played. It's very well balanced and adequately difficult. It's challenging enough to make you feel accomplished from a win, but it's not masochistically hard like the Souls games or anything. You also level up and there's a whole progression system, as you would expect in an RPG.

To be fair, I've actively avoided reading things about the game, so there's a ton of stuff I don't know yet. But I will also point out that it may very well be the most visually gorgeous game I've ever played as well, and I'm playing on a standard PS4. Youtube videos don't at all do it justice.

I've not played an original IP since my first Tales game, and that was like over a year ago.

Hmm. Thanks DMKA! I might want to look at a few combat videos just to see what the pace of combat is. I'm very much used to games where I can pause combat and take stock of where I am. Even in Action RPGs there's usually a pausing mechanic (ME's power wheel, for example). If it doesn't, it isn't a massive deal.

Right, time to start looking!

[Pumpkin]

I'm pretty excited for this game myself :D

[Scruffington]

Played less than an hour so far...but I'm absolutely in love with this game.

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

Hmmm... I never expected a FPS studio to make a good RPG, and I am shocked to hear praise for this game. Other gaming forums are just making fun of it.

Would someone who only plays JRPGs, mostly ones that are turn-based/ATB and favorably from the NES to PS2 era, enjoy this?

[Scruffington]

Hmmm... I never expected a FPS studio to make a good RPG, and I am shocked to hear praise for this game. Other gaming forums are just making fun of it.

Would someone who only plays JRPGs, mostly ones that are turn-based/ATB and favorably from the NES to PS2 era, enjoy this?

If you only enjoy JRPGs and nothing else, then you wouldn't enjoy this. It is not a JRPG.

[Pheesh]

Hmmm... I never expected a FPS studio to make a good RPG, and I am shocked to hear praise for this game. Other gaming forums are just making fun of it.

I didn't think there was anyone making fun of this game. Isn't it unanimously praised at this point? I would seriously question the people making fun of it before I questioned the game itself, though I'm only just now getting into the meat of it.

That said, no, a person who only plays old school jrpgs would not enjoy this game.

[Vyk]

My girlfriend dived into the cesspool of haters and came out with pretty lame arguments. The one tribe is matriarchal and you play as a girl. So obviously the developer wasn't just curious to explore a different type of societal norm. They are spearheading a SJW agenda.

People think Aloy is ugly. People think the game is ruined by the optional crafting aspect (you can buy supplies as easy as making them, though you may need to do a little hunting to make some upgrades). And finally thanks to a couple outlier videos and cases, people think the game is a buggy mess. Which It's not. At all.

[Scruffington]

I've lost a lot of interest in the game. It's not the game itself that's the problem; it's beautiful and very well designed. I just feel like I'm uninterested in open world games.

The only exception to this is Zelda, which I plan on picking up soon enough. I don't want to burn myself out on open world games before I play that though, so unfortunately I might be putting Horizon on the shelf for awhile.

[Depression Moon]

My girlfriend dived into the cesspool of haters and came out with pretty lame arguments. The one tribe is matriarchal and you play as a girl. So obviously the developer wasn't just curious to explore a different type of societal norm. They are spearheading a SJW agenda.
We is our own worst enemy.

[Bubba]

Confession: I never knew what SJW stood for. I just remember that woman from Sex in the City used initials like this so I just used to picture her whenever I saw this. As you can imagine this was extremely confusing. Now it makes a lot more sense and I feel stupid.

Back on topic though, I'll definitely pick this up but I have to prioritise. Nothing is jumping ahead of Andromeda in my gaming queue.

[Vyk]

Fair point. This is an expensive time of year for good games. Resident Evil 7, Tales of Berseria, Gravity Rush 2, Horizon, Tides of Numenera, and Nier have all been obliterating my wallet and expendable income. And I won't have time to play all of them until later in the year. Only thing is I've heard Nioh and now Nier have been hard to find in the wild without a reserve. And I already ran into the problem with Gravity Rush: Remastered disappearing in the wild completely and now it's digital-only (thanks to Amazon exclusivity). So I'm constantly paranoid now that the games I want will disappear.

Mass Effect will never have this problem. But now my physical back-log is as big as my Steam back-log lol

Plus, as much as I love BioWare, I've only ever finished Dragon Age Origins, and Knights of the Old Republic. I'm still about halfway through ME3, Dragon Age 2, and Inquisition. As excellent as they are. Though I've seen my girlfriend beat the Mass Effect Trilogy about 4 times. I reserved it to get the delux day one stuff, since it's only 10 extra dollars. But honestly, Mass Effect will probably be the one on the back burner for me, as weird as that is.. And Horizon is pretty phenomenal so far. But I totally understand making Mass Effect (or Breath of the Wilds, for those people) the priority

[Vermachtnis]

This game went from 0 to 60 real fast. I thought the first arc was kind of boring. I mean it's the tutorial and they're teaching you, but it just felt a little sluggish. Then the proving and everything happened the world opened up and you got some real plot and it was great.

[Rostum]

That said, no, a person who only plays old school jrpgs would not enjoy any game.

ftfy

Anyways, I just ordered this after my coworker praised it so highly!

[fat_moogle]

I bought the Complete Edition a couple days ago for £25 in a PSN sale! I started downloading it today and MY GOD it's taking forever. Keeping my PS4 in rest mode overnight so *hopefully* it will be ready to play tomorrow.

[Darth Ganon]

I skipped over the rest of this thread for fear of spoilers. Just popping in to say I've been loving this game and I'm around 50% into it.

Last week I took down my first Thunderjaw and was so pleased with myself. The most satisfying since beating a Lynel in BotW. I wish the PS4 could upload larger videos so I could have gotten the entire fight.

And oh man the photo mode...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTJQjecVwAA0T2p.jpg:large

[Loony BoB]

*bump* Beat the game and Platinum'ed it a short while after recently. Excellent and well worth the investment, have started on the expansion (I got it in a packaged game dealarino) and might bother to finish it.

[Vyk]

I see the platinum comment a lot from people. I'm still at the tail end, I don't know if they are achievements or not, but there's a few rough things I want to knock out before beating the game, but everyone seems pretty satisfied in getting platinum in this game. Which is awesome. Platinum is usually a slog rather than a gratifying accomplishment. Just one more notch on their belt in quality game making I suppose. Can't wait to see what the studio does next. I never played Killzone or whatever they were known for, but they have a fan in me now

[Loony BoB]

Main reasons I got Platinum...

- I didn't have to replay the game in a higher difficulty setting for another trophy.
- I had already done most of the trophies while playing the game just because I enjoyed doing all the quests and different things.
- The remaining trophies didn't look too difficult - and they weren't, in the end.

The toughest one was completing all the hunting grounds with blazing suns because one particular hunting ground claims to be based about stealth but realistically is all about going crazy and just tearing things up ASAP.

[Darth Ganon]

I decided to get all the blazing suns now instead of waiting later in the game as well as finish off the hunting lodge story. Now I'm actually progressing the story again.

But I really just want to show off more pictures:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUvsR5uU8AArrkQ.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUvig5vU0AAXRLR.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUsCCiGUMAE0l5P.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUruG5PVQAA7g6F.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUR9WHuX4AATxIX.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DURepShVwAAtmxV.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUQoGiUUMAAUgHE.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTUn6BNVAAEs12z.jpg:large (My first Thunderjaw kill)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTT1RApUMAAx2LJ.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTNz4CsUMAAIf-d.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTJQIlYVwAA25KX.jpg:large

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSlS96aVwAEUOkH.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSlRUwfVAAAOqLZ.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSk0E3VVMAElQLo.jpg:large

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