LogFAQs > #893052372

Horizon Zero Dawn

Had to dedicate a single post to this game because I have a lot to say about it.

Absolutely fantastic. I can't recommend this game enough. I think that outside of a couple of small flaws, this will be remembered as one of the best new IPs to come to the PS4. Probably one of the best PS4 games at all, really.

The storyline is pretty good, and the world is... I have a hard time finding the words for it. It stunned me, honestly. From a studio that has mostly only made rather emotionless FPS games, a world with this much history and this much impact was made. I was actually emotionally invested in characters, both those that existed in the game's time-frame and those that existed before it. I was invested in the events that were happening both before and during the game's story. I was invested in Aloy, and who she was, and what she wanted. This game made me care about a world that we don't know yet, but still one isn't too far off from our own. I expected something good out of Horizon but I don't know if I expected something like that. It really hit me in a way similar to The Last of Us at times - not always and not necessarily as hard! But certainly sometimes, and certainly still pretty hard.

The combat is simply fantastic as well. The robot dinosaur thing seems a bit silly when you first hear about it, but it makes sense within the story of the game and it really is a ton of fun to take those things down. The game gives you mostly useful tools to fight the machines, and there's a ton of depth in the gameplay. There's probably 100 ways to tackle each fight.

Not to mention, it's simply beautiful, and is probably the epitome of why AAA production doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Now, does this game do open-world as good as it could have? No, not really. SHINE likes to point toward the game's moment or two of restricting where you can go, and how the world is empty in a couple places (and how it basically tells you where all the interesting stuff is). And he's right, I guess. I spent a lot of time exploring the world, but would I have done that without chasing the collectibles for the platinum? I don't know. There's a good chance I wouldn't have. But, I don't think that's what you should look at with this game. I do think that the open world format was what best suited this game and allowed it to thrive, but that does not mean that the game is first and foremost an open world game and you should judge it even halfway based on how it does that.

I love the world of this game - not necessarily the open world, but the world. I love the backstory, the tribes, the way the characters interact, the pre-existing religions, and how the whole world seems to connect all of these things together, fit Aloy into just about all of it even though she was once outcast from all of it, and stay true to all of it throughout the whole game. Forget needing every corner of the map being memorable or having the complete freedom to go absolutely anywhere at any time no matter where in the story you are. You don't need that. Yes, the game will force you to stay within bounds before you progress through the story, because that's what makes sense with the story they told, and its okay to let a game developer tell you that sometimes. It can be for your benefit. Yes, the game has a couple empty areas. But that's okay, because open world still fits here, and the focus isn't necessarily about having the open world filled to the brim. In fact, some of that emptiness feels like it fits and makes sense to me.

This game is about the complex new universe Guerilla has built, the deep gameplay they've given us, and the way it all comes together so seamlessly. I do have a couple complaints here, but I don't think they're important. This is probably my GotY by a good length.

9.5/10. Fantastic world, even if the "open world" isn't perfect. Amazing, deep gameplay. A satisfying full package.
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Got a brand new blues that I can't explain