Horizon Forbidden West

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Skinypupy
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Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Skinypupy »

Was a little surprised there wasn't a thread on this already. Early reviews are all very positive, saying that it improves on the original in pretty much every way. Considering that the first game was one of my personal top 2 of this console generation (with Ghost of Tsushima), I'm looking forward to it.

I really wanted to wait and play this on PS5, but since it doesn't look like I'm to get one anytime soon, I may end up taking the plunge on PS4 instead (reports are that it looks and runs great).

Anyone else in?

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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by $iljanus »

One of the reasons why I stuck with the Playstation and held out for a PS5 was because of Horizon Forbidden West. Preordered and preloaded and just counting the days.

But if you have a PS4 I’ve also heard about how well it runs on it. Horizon Zero Dawn also looked really good on the PS4 so I think they’ll do right by both PS versions.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Smoove_B »

We have it preordered in my house for a PS4; it's my daughter's favorite game. I enjoyed the hell out of it myself on PC and I'm hoping to see it released on STEAM later this year...

But yeah, hearing lots of positive buzz.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Skinypupy »

I’m really trying to at least get through Witcher 3 and the two expansions before starting this. I’m on the final W3 base game mission, and was planning to jump right into the xpacs.

We’ll see how long my resolve holds out when the new shiny is actually released.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Smoove_B »

You still have a few days! Hearts of Stone (the first DLC) is better than so many full-on games I've played. I still need to finish Blood and Wine...but I keep putting it off because I don't want my time with Geralt to officially end. :cry:
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by YellowKing »

The *smart* thing for me to do would be to ignore this game, double down on Witcher 3, and pick up Horizon: FW a few months from now when it goes on sale. However, I've yet to really get full use out of my PS5 - I don't own a single game optimized for PS5 (all I own are PS4/PS3 titles), so I really haven't seen what the console is capable of. Considering Horizon: Zero Dawn was one of my absolute favorite games of 2017, it's going to be extremely hard to resist.
Last edited by YellowKing on Tue Feb 15, 2022 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Daehawk »

I thought this was some DLC.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by coopasonic »

My biggest challenge is going to be competing with my 15yo son for time with the game. Sadly he has a 4 day weekend. On the plus side though, he doesn't have the gaming stamina I have developed over 40+ years of video games. He'll take a break after a couple hours and I'll swoop in. He'll have to wait for meal breaks to steal it back.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by $iljanus »

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:35 pm You still have a few days! Hearts of Stone (the first DLC) is better than so many full-on games I've played. I still need to finish Blood and Wine...but I keep putting it off because I don't want my time with Geralt to officially end. :cry:
I still have one save near the end of Blood and Wine and keep meaning to get back to it but with the PS5 remaster coming sometime in 2022 I’ll just wait and experience The Witcher all over again. Geralt meanwhile is at a good point in his life with a nice house and close friends.

I wish that they would release Horizon Forbidden West a day early because we’re going away for my daughter’s winter break on Saturday. Sure I love my daughter but Aloy is pretty cool to hang with.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Skinypupy »

YellowKing wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2022 11:12 pm The *smart* thing for me to do would be to ignore this game, double down on Witcher 3, and pick up Horizon: FW a few months from now when it goes on sale.
One of my concerns is that I'm going to need a "palate cleanser" after playing through 80 hours of Witcher 3. Jumping from one massive, incredibly detailed, immersive open world straight into another is likely a recipe for disaster for me. I may wait stick with my original plan of finishing W3 then going to Triangle Strategy (out in early March), and I can come back to Horizon after that.

Who knows, maybe I'll even have a PS5 by then! :lol:
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by naednek »

Skinypupy wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:31 pm I’m really trying to at least get through Witcher 3 and the two expansions before starting this. I’m on the final W3 base game mission, and was planning to jump right into the xpacs.

We’ll see how long my resolve holds out when the new shiny is actually released.
Same. I have Witcher 3 and the two expansions, need to finish Assassins Creed Vahalla, and the previous one, and then finish the original horizon
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by coopasonic »

I ordered a physical copy from gamestop.com because we had a gift card. Expected delivery, Friday end of day. I hope they show a bit earlier, like before lunch preferably. :D
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Ralph-Wiggum »

Debating whether I should pre-order so that I can have it download while at work/asleep. Getting a Covid booster tomorrow afternoon and if it's like the last one, probably won't want to be doing too much for a day or two. So might be the perfect time for a new game.

Side note: for those with a PS%, the PS4 version comes with the free next-gen upgrade and is $10 cheaper.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Pyperkub »

I played through the main campaign of Zero Dawn, didn't do the expansion content - I was basically sated once completing the main story, and I had gotten to the 'fast travel' everywhere stage.

Not sure I'm ready to dive in to a sequel yet - a ton of the fun for me was in both Aloy's exposure to the world, and the introduction of the various dino-bots, and then the story pacing was pretty darned good. Not sure where they are going get some of that initial thrill of discovery in this one tho. Might try the expansion content first just to see if it can suck me in again. I did have a lot of fun with it tho.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Isgrimnur »

It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Torfish »

coopasonic wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 10:59 am I ordered a physical copy from gamestop.com because we had a gift card. Expected delivery, Friday end of day. I hope they show a bit earlier, like before lunch preferably. :D
I ordered my copy from Amazon and the bad weather here caused my shipment to be pushed to tomorrow. :(
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Ralph-Wiggum »

Played for a few hours last night: basically just got out of the intro area, so hasn’t opened up to be open world yet. So far, as expected, seems like just a nicer looking version of the original. But I loved the first one so that’s ok with me.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by coopasonic »

I'm about 4 hours in. I got to the open world stuff and completed a couple sidequests, upgraded some things and yeah, so far in gameplay terms it's very much like a continuation of the original and I am totally fine with that.

My 15yo son is also very into it, which is why I am only 4 hours in so far. Technically the game is his as we used his gamestop gift card to buy it. I reminded him that the game may be his but the PS5 is mine, as is the projector, screen, receiver, recliner, speakers, room and house. He said yeah, that's why he let me play a bit.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by msduncan »

The face modeling in this is on point!

Also, I streamed the game for 2.5 hours last night and FINALLY got to the 'Title screen'. I'm still not to the open world part. The game is gonna be big!
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Kurth »

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:40 pm LEGO Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck
Day 1 purchase.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by YellowKing »

I picked this up yesterday (I knew I'd cave). Bought the PS4 version online and then upgraded for free to save $10 trick which worked fine.

Glad I did though - it didn't take but a few minutes for everything to come back to me in regards to what I loved about the first game. Like others have mentioned it's just more of the same, with an emphasis on more, but there's no reason to break a winning formula. Controls are great and intuitive, it looks stunning in 4K, and I can tell I'm going to have a blast with it.

Just like in the first game the motion capture is just incredible. It struck me as I was playing that I wasn't skipping through any of the character conversations because I was so fascinated with the actors' performances. Even the most mundane conversations are a joy to watch, and it's not just Ashly Burch's performance as Aloy that is the star. Every NPC I've seen so far is just as engaging. Contrast that to Witcher 3, which I'm also playing, and where the conversation cut scenes can sometimes feel like a grind. It's not that they're poorly written, but with just standard animation they lack the feel of watching an actual movie.

The Machine Strike mini-game is also a ton of fun. To contrast with Witcher again, it's leagues beyond the snore-fest that is Gwent. It reminds me a lot of Advance Wars, and I spent a good half hour this morning just going through the tutorials and beating all the starter boards.

Just some random little things I loved that I noted as I was playing this morning:

- The game assures you early on that you can earn enough skill points to unlock every skill. This really takes the pressure off choosing skills and allows you to experiment, which I love.

- The game has a Boss Auto-Save and Quest Auto-Save that will restore you to the point just before any Boss or Quest that winds up being too difficult. While plenty of games out there auto-save at key points like this, I just thought it nice that they specifically do this to ensure you never wind up in a situation you can't escape from.

- The tutorials are really well done. Not only do you have a clear, concise glossary of everything you need to know, but I thought they did a great job of organically teaching you the basics.

- I was wondering how they would take Aloy from the fully upgraded bad-ass you'll wind up being in the first game to a newbie that has to re-level in the second game. Fortunately they didn't try to provide some convoluted plot device to explain it, nor did they totally ignore it. It was a nice example of not getting too bogged down in details, and just focusing on allowing both old and new players to have fun.

Big thumbs up so far, and will probably be strong contender for my game of the year if it continues at this pace.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by coopasonic »

I am sitting at around 20 hours in and still having a blast and still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content available. I need my kid to lose electronics access for a couple of weeks though. The fight for PS5 time is real. :D It's fun to watch him play too so it isn't that bad. He's also way better than I am and has tips to share even if he is a bit mean about it... He's clearly my kid.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Daehawk »

Is there anything different to the first game other than a new area? Have they improved the INV system and such?
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Smoove_B »

They've improved so much. Changed skills. Modified crafting. Added new abilities. Changed fighting dynamics. I mean no disrespect when I say it looks and feels like HZD 1.5, not a sequel. They're not changing the base formula; they've just added and improved the core experience - and that's absolutely fine.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

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It's HZD but more perfect.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Max Peck »

I dunno, there seem to be a lot of totally normal, completely sane people posting user reviews on metacritic with logical and completely convincing arguments about why it is the worst game ever inflicted on humankind. :coffee:
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

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We call them PC gamers for shorthand.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by $iljanus »

Daehawk wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 12:31 pm Is there anything different to the first game other than a new area? Have they improved the INV system and such?
Once you go beyond your carrying capacity all the excess goes magically to a cache that can be accessed in various locations which I think is great!

Even though I’m only just past Meridian “…a new area” is a bit of an understatement I think. It’s the Forbidden West! :horse:
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

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Platinum trophy achieved.

Excellent game all around. My biggest complaint is the ending. Second biggest complaint is the sketchy climbing mechanics.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Alefroth »

coopasonic wrote: Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:31 pm Platinum trophy achieved.

Excellent game all around. My biggest complaint is the ending. Second biggest complaint is the sketchy climbing mechanics.
That's my biggest complaint of the first one, followed by the riding a mount system.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Skinypupy »

I’m about halfway through the main story on this one, I think. Level 30, around 28 hours, just got my second big macguffin. Enjoying every minute of it so far. Incredible graphics with probably the best digital acting I’ve ever seen. Really fun combat that makes me feel like a total badass, even if I’m playing at the noob level. Excellent and interesting story and lore so far. The world they’ve built is absolutely incredible and is massive. So much to do and see.

My only minor gripe is getting a new quest every 5 minutes. I’m had to really dial it back and focus on the main quest, or I wouldn’t get anything done.

Shame Horizon got completely overshadowed yet again by an inferior game (imo). This one is a true gem and is easily one of the best - if not the best - franchises on PS4.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Daehawk »

I never completed the first one thought it was great though but best PS4 franchise is Uncharted :)
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

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Wrapped up the main story tonight. This was another brilliant Horizon game, brought down only slightly by a kinda meh cliffhanger ending. The story and worldbuilding on display here is incredible, with small touches that add character and depth to the world and characters at every turn. The story is fantastic, the graphics are stellar on PS4 (I imagine it looks amazing on PS5), and the voicework and digital acting are truly superb. Ashley Burch is amazing as Aloy, yet again making her one of the best heroines of any series.

There is truly no thrill quite like taking down a robot T-Rex with your bow and arrow and some well placed traps, or sneaking through an entire enemy base taking down guards one by one. It's a wonderful experience, and it really sucks that it was overshadowed again.

I finished the main campaign, but still had a ton of side quests and map markers to find if I wanted them. At about 40 hours though, it was just about the right length for me to call it good. I did notice that the achievement for finishing the game was gained by over 35% of players. Pretty damn impressive to have over a third of anyone who plays it actually get through to the end.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Skinypupy »

New xpac for this released last week, set in the Burning Shores (I.e. Los Angeles). Started it this afternoon, and suddenly 5 hours melted away in a blink. It’s nothing new at all, but more Aloy is always a good thing. Seeing Lance Reddick was a bit tough though. :(

The story is interesting so far, and there’s a new companion that is very well acted and developed as a character. Very interested to see where this goes. They also do a good job of easing you back in if, like me, you haven’t touched the game for over a year. I was amazed at how quickly it all came back, and I was downing robot T-Rex’s in no time.

Predictably, it’s getting review-bombed by the usual chuds because Aloy has the option to (gasp!) kiss a girl. :roll:
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by hepcat »

By the way, if you have the playstation plus subscription that allows access to the game library, this is up there as of a few weeks ago. It was a pleasant surprise when I saw that. I still think the library the PS5 has is beating the Xbox game pass selections right now.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Skinypupy »

hepcat wrote: Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:37 pm By the way, if you have the playstation plus subscription that allows access to the game library, this is up there as of a few weeks ago. It was a pleasant surprise when I saw that. I still think the library the PS5 has is beating the Xbox game pass selections right now.
The xpac or just the base game?

If the xpac is included and I somehow managed to pay $20 for it yesterday, I’m gonna be miffed.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

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I'm pretty sure just the base game. They usually wait until after a GOTY edition has been out for a year or so before they do that.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by coopasonic »

Finished the Burning Shores DLC last night (for the record I started it the evening before), I pretty much just did the story missions which made it a pretty short trip. I had fun with it. The final mission was very cool and not even overly punishing, which is good as my gear was basically the same as I finished the main game with and I didn't go crazy upgrading that last spring.
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by Skinypupy »

I’m stuck on the bit with the flying mount on the 2nd to last mission. Bashed my head up against that for about 45 minutes last night and couldn’t get past it. I just can’t figure out how to avoid getting blasted out of the sky.

I hate it when games force you to use a specific mechanic that you haven’t bothered with for the previous 50 hours, and immediately expect you to ‘git gud’. I’ve never bother with the flying mounts, as running, gliding, and ground-based mounts were just as fast. :evil:
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Re: Horizon Forbidden West

Post by coopasonic »

It's all about going underwater before the shots hit. The annoying part is that a lot of the water you are flying over isn't deep enough to dive into.

If the flying mechanics in general are the problem then I'd just go practice somewhere less deadly.
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