LogFAQs > #950910247

Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)
This is certainly one of the most accomplished feelings I've had adding a game to my "beaten" list in a very long time. This game had attracted me since I first looked into it back in the fall of 2016, but it took getting selected for GotM (and me having a PS5) to actually finally play it. There's a lot to get into and I'm sure I'm not going to do this game the complete justice it deserves in this write-up, so let's just get to it.

Games this big typically overwhelm me. Not just big physically, but with so many customization options. I just feel so out of my element, especially in games where you pretty much have to take full advantage of this customization so as to not have the game be impossible. Luckily, I actually thought this game streamlined everything pretty well. I was never confused as to how to navigate customizing, nor did I feel like I didn't understand why I was over/underpowered at certain points (err.. to a degree anyway; early on I felt some of this but it got a lot easier as it went on).

The game is MASSIVE. THIS is a beautiful, expansive open-world game with so much to do. At first I thought I was just going to blitz through the main story but that's just not possible. Not only is there so much that just intrigues you, but the difference in experience and... other things you gain from doing certain side missions are vital to making the game exponentially easier, which was honestly fine because I had fun roaming this world. Often times I would take time to just hunt, and I felt really good after upgrading and crafting after a big haul. Gaining lots of experience from quests that honestly didn't seem too difficult was also rewarding and made the truly harder quests feel a little less daunting.

I ended up doing some of the story quests out of order (not to a point where it actually affected the narrative, but there were certain parts where you could branch off and do things in either order, and I ended up doing ones with higher recommended levels first) which actually made the game easier as I went along. There were battles in the middle of the game that took me about a dozen tries, then the battles at the end of the game only took me like 1-3 tries on average.

The combat is awesome. Definitely requires building that skill tree to feel that way, but once I had a lot of weapons and skills to work with, I loved getting into combat (as long as I didn't have like, 3 or 4 mid-to-high tier machines to deal with at once).

Pretty much everything I did in this game felt satisfying, whether it was taking down a herd of machines, or finishing a mission, regardless of how short/easy or long/hard. The game's reward system makes it easy to feel like you're always moving forward. The one thing I'll say is that the story didn't intrigue me much until later on. The early portions felt like I was just doing extensive work to get some lore of this land and its people, but once the action really started getting going, and we got introduced to more characters, I felt more into it. Aloy herself was kind of bland at first but I did eventually get into her backstory and she definitely became more interesting later on. The scene where she scolded the Nora for bowing down to her was probably the turning point for me between "this is an okay protagonist" to "this is a pretty good protagonist."

And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my buds over in the GotM club. They helped me get through this game, support-wise. There were definitely times where I felt like I wasn't good enough for it, or downright frustrated at how bad I was at some things, but they were super supportive and occasionally gave a little hint to make it better, and I couldn't have done it without them.

Overall this was an awesome experience and I can't wait for Forbidden West.

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darkx
Games beaten in 2021 - 15; Most recent - Horizon: Zero Dawn