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Horizon Forbidden West Review Embargo Details

What Will Be The Average Critic Score For Horizon: Forbidden West

  • >95

    Votes: 35 5.2%
  • 93-95

    Votes: 128 19.2%
  • 90-92

    Votes: 261 39.1%
  • 86-89

    Votes: 174 26.0%
  • 80-85

    Votes: 42 6.3%
  • <80

    Votes: 28 4.2%

  • Total voters
    668

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
Yeah, we can only wait and see.

One thing i'm gonna say, if you are not in the lore\world of horizon that much, i don't think that you are ever gonna love sidequests in horizon, i was super invested in the world buioding so i enjoyed even the most shittiest sidequest because talkimg to npc revealed some microdetails about the world and tribes and machines etc.

Same reason why i didn't cared for most of the sidestuff in tsushima boring, because i just don't care aboit samurai stuff or that honor bullshit.

So i personally know that sidequests for me are gonna be super enjoyable no matter if they are only focus on combat.

I rarely like sidequests in a lot of games because they are mainly filler.

The sidequests I do really like are fallout 4s, they are self contained little mysteries

In F4 i remember finding a letter in a house about building a fallout shelter at some car junk yard, and i had to follow a breadcrumb of clues to get the code, i eventually found the shelter and got inside it only to find the guy and his family dead. There was more to it then my brief description but I really enjoyed it and was surprised how detailed it was just for a side quest.

I liked assasination missions in GTA.


I hate any game that is not fun for longer then 20mins, games should not be a chore.
 
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GymWolf

Member
I rarely like sidequests in a lot of games because they are mainly filler.

The sidequests I do really like are fallout 4s, they are self contained little mysterious.

In F4 i remember findind a letter in a house about building a fallout shelter at some carjunk yard, and i had to follow a breadcrumb of clues to get the code, i eventually found the shelter and got inside it only to find the guy and his family dead. There was more to it then my brief description but I really enjoyed it and was surprised how detailed it was just for a side quest.

I liked assasination missions in GTA.


I hate any game that is not fun for longer then 20mins, games should not be a chore.
What is a chore for you can be fun for others.

My brain can't wrap around the idea that people enjoy something like animal crossing, and yet it sold a fuckload of copies and people love that fugly boring ass shit of a cheap turdy game.
 
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Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
What is a chore for you can be fun for others.

My brain can't wrap around the idea that people enjoy something like animal crossing, and yet it sold a fuckload of copies and people love that ugly boring ass shit of a cheap turdy game.
Yes, its subjective.

Never played animal crossing, lol @ your description of it though 😆
 

Arun1910

Member
The game was absolutely not more bugged than any ac games on release or bethesda game on release or pretty much any non-sony super polished open world out therez i would argue that it wasn't nearly as bugged as bethesda\cd project games and kinda on par with far cry\ac games.

If dg deserve 70 for the bugs, almost every open world in the market deserve that score.
Yeah, i guess so.

Regardless, I think it was a very poor launch for a Sony exclusive. Probably why it got more heat than needed.
 

GymWolf

Member
Yeah, i guess so.

Regardless, I think it was a very poor launch for a Sony exclusive. Probably why it got more heat than needed.
I get your reason but it is idiotic nevertheless, you have to judge the game no matter who the publisher is unless we are talking about extremely small teams with shitty budget.

Does this mean that ubisoft or bethesda get a pass for the jank?!
 
91

Easter Bunny Running GIF
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
B+. I don't think open world games should get 90s unless they truly stand out. I liked the first and will probably like this one about the same or less. I will also be mumbling under my breath about the fact that it is a fucking PS4 game in 2022.
 
I rarely like sidequests in a lot of games because they are mainly filler.

The sidequests I do really like are fallout 4s, they are self contained little mysteries

In F4 i remember finding a letter in a house about building a fallout shelter at some car junk yard, and i had to follow a breadcrumb of clues to get the code, i eventually found the shelter and got inside it only to find the guy and his family dead. There was more to it then my brief description but I really enjoyed it and was surprised how detailed it was just for a side quest.

I liked assasination missions in GTA.


I hate any game that is not fun for longer then 20mins, games should not be a chore.
For me if the core gameplay is good I will enjoy side quests which usually means having good combat or traversal mechanics.

That's why Spiderman PS4 is the only game I've platinumed. People complained about packages but I wouldn't mind if I was finding dog turds as long as I could swing across the city.

Good story and writing can only take you so far. I just couldn't get into the Witcher 3 because I didn't enjoy the combat.

The best side quests have unique gameplay content like unique enemies or loot. I really liked FFVII remake side quests because you encounter unique enemies and boss fights.

Elden Ring looks amazing because it seems to bursting at the seams with this kind of content.
 

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
For me if the core gameplay is good I will enjoy side quests which usually means having good combat or traversal mechanics.

That's why Spiderman PS4 is the only game I've platinumed. People complained about packages but I wouldn't mind if I was finding dog turds as long as I could swing across the city.

Good story and writing can only take you so far. I just couldn't get into the Witcher 3 because I didn't enjoy the combat.

The best side quests have unique gameplay content like unique enemies or loot. I really liked FFVII remake side quests because you encounter unique enemies and boss fights.

Elden Ring looks amazing because it seems to bursting at the seams with this kind of content.

Yeah, its game dependant, theres also other factors which are hard to articulate.

A lot of it is also personal taste, ive tried Witcher 3 a few times and I have a lot of fun with a few side quest, but some of the stories I find boring and I find the menus and systems overwhelming, but like I said its a preference thing, some people love that really deep and detailed expirence with lots of menus and sub systems.


Games can also have different levels of fatigue, some games can be fun at first but after you destroy and enemy for a 1527th time your over it.

Even though I got frustrated RDR2s clunky movement its still one of my games of the generation, because while the movement is a negative in a gunfight, I also love the way the characters move and look.

I would say theres no strict rules that determine if a game is great. Theres a lot of variables.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
People with the game seem to be very high on it, and considering 2021 was a drought year, I'm actually pretty confident of a 90+ meta average.

Of course you can always count on clickbait sites that will give the game a 3/10 for attention.
 
Nah the game was certainly flawed, it was my gotg (not goty, gotg) and i still can't score more than a 8-8,5 (i enjoyed the game like it was a 11\10 but that is another discussion)

I can defend some aspects of the game but some are legit bad\mediocre like melee combat, combat vs humans both mechanically and animation wise, shit rewards for exploration if you don't care about going deep on the lore (and not everyone care), bad traversal options, bad\simple stealth, cumbersome resource management, shitty digital acting etc.
I loved the game because the highs were much more impactful than the lows, but i'm honest with myself, the game had problems.

I find many of these reasons worthy of stopping a game if the story\charas doesn't hook you from the beginning.

At best we can argue that many games with far higher metacritic have even more flaws than horizon but they still score higher but this is not the topic to discuss that.
I mean the game has issues yes, maybe I was being dismissive - it has a lot of room to improve which it seems like they’ve done. But it was never close to a bad or unfun game even with those which many claimed it to be imo
 

GymWolf

Member
I mean the game has issues yes, maybe I was being dismissive - it has a lot of room to improve which it seems like they’ve done. But it was never close to a bad or unfun game even with those which many claimed it to be imo
Oh sure, it was never bad, even if someone hates everything about the game, the objective merits are enough to get at least a 7 thatcin a normal scale of scores is a good game already.
 

FrankWza

Member
For me if the core gameplay is good I will enjoy side quests which usually means having good combat or traversal mechanics.

That's why Spiderman PS4 is the only game I've platinumed. People complained about packages but I wouldn't mind if I was finding dog turds as long as I could swing across the city.

Good story and writing can only take you so far. I just couldn't get into the Witcher 3 because I didn't enjoy the combat.

The best side quests have unique gameplay content like unique enemies or loot. I really liked FFVII remake side quests because you encounter unique enemies and boss fights.

Elden Ring looks amazing because it seems to bursting at the seams with this kind of content.
100% agree on all points. The wrpg is lacking to me because of this and now that Elden ring is going open the focus on combat in an open rpg will be even greater. They also did some cool things with the horse that makes travel less of nuisance. Focus on horseback combat, instant summons and item pickup while mounted.
As far as HFW, they seem to have addressed the melee. I know it’s not what was originally intended, but giving players a real choice and incentive on the freedom to choose and progress makes this even more open as far as I’m concerned. Maybe the “builds” will have more of an impact.
 

Alebrije

Member
After watching the video of Aloy using the grappling hook.....this game left me

glen-davis-lick-lips.gif


No way this game will be less than 9, unless Guerrilla made a glitched mess. Lore , world setup, gamepmay , all looks improved not just graphically but technically.

Looks like a GOTY contender.
 
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ToxicWeeb

Banned
Hmm, let's see :
-Cinematic Sony exclusive
-Emotional storytelling
-Ubisoft open world
-Ubisoft mechanics like AssCreed magnetic climbing
-Pretty gwafics with no sort of identity, just realistic
-Ugly and strong woman protagonist that lives in racially diverse world with gay marriage
-Journalist difficulty for accessibility

This one is a 95+ for sure.
 
Yeah, its game dependant, theres also other factors which are hard to articulate.

A lot of it is also personal taste, ive tried Witcher 3 a few times and I have a lot of fun with a few side quest, but some of the stories I find boring and I find the menus and systems overwhelming, but like I said its a preference thing, some people love that really deep and detailed expirence with lots of menus and sub systems.


Games can also have different levels of fatigue, some games can be fun at first but after you destroy and enemy for a 1527th time your over it.

Even though I got frustrated RDR2s clunky movement its still one of my games of the generation, because while the movement is a negative in a gunfight, I also love the way the characters move and look.

I would say theres no strict rules that determine if a game is great. Theres a lot of variables.

Yeah, its game dependant, theres also other factors which are hard to articulate.

A lot of it is also personal taste, ive tried Witcher 3 a few times and I have a lot of fun with a few side quest, but some of the stories I find boring and I find the menus and systems overwhelming, but like I said its a preference thing, some people love that really deep and detailed expirence with lots of menus and sub systems.


Games can also have different levels of fatigue, some games can be fun at first but after you destroy and enemy for a 1527th time your over it.

Even though I got frustrated RDR2s clunky movement its still one of my games of the generation, because while the movement is a negative in a gunfight, I also love the way the characters move and look.

I would say theres no strict rules that determine if a game is great. Theres a lot of variables.
I REALLY felt that fatigue in Ghost of tsushima on island 3. I think it was a combination of lack of enemy variety,challenge and boring traversal.

The enemies were all the same at that point. You had all these cool tools but you were way overpowered you didn't really need to use them.

The lack of challenge fed into the exploration. If I can decimate a horde in seconds why would I care about increasing my armour by 3% lol.

I remember reading the OT where some players were taking off armour to bring back the challenge lol
 
I REALLY felt that fatigue in Ghost of tsushima on island 3. I think it was a combination of lack of enemy variety,challenge and boring traversal.

The enemies were all the same at that point. You had all these cool tools but you were way overpowered you didn't really need to use them.

The lack of challenge fed into the exploration. If I can decimate a horde in seconds why would I care about increasing my armour by 3% lol.

I remember reading the OT where some players were taking off armour to bring back the challenge lol

the good thing about horizon is that theres a larger variety of enemy. You ahve the various humans with updated ai, you have the machines, and then you have the humans on machines

also, i asusme there will be some underwater combat
 
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ChiefDada

Gold Member
Hmm, let's see :
-Cinematic Sony exclusive
-Emotional storytelling
-Ubisoft open world
-Ubisoft mechanics like AssCreed magnetic climbing
-Pretty gwafics with no sort of identity, just realistic
-Ugly and strong woman protagonist that lives in racially diverse world with gay marriage
-Journalist difficulty for accessibility

This one is a 95+ for sure.

Your list is BS heavy but the bolded takes the cake. Imagine Horizon not having artistic identity. What substance are you on?
 

Woggleman

Member
As much as I liked GOT it was very repetitive. It was just the same thing over again and fighting the same enemies and changing stances based on which one you were fighting. Also chasing foxes and writing poems for some headband.
With HZD I never felt it because you kept facing bigger and more powerful machines and the story itself was so engaging that I didn't mind when it sometimes repeated itself. The DLC was even better. If you want a challenge fight a fireclaw on Ultra Hard.

Also where the hell was there gay marriage in HZD?
 
100% agree on all points. The wrpg is lacking to me because of this and now that Elden ring is going open the focus on combat in an open rpg will be even greater. They also did some cool things with the horse that makes travel less of nuisance. Focus on horseback combat, instant summons and item pickup while mounted.
As far as HFW, they seem to have addressed the melee. I know it’s not what was originally intended, but giving players a real choice and incentive on the freedom to choose and progress makes this even more open as far as I’m concerned. Maybe the “builds” will have more of an impact.
I was always perplexed why horizon got shat on for having weak melee. Yeah it was definitely clunky but the game was clearly a 3rd person shooter.

I'am even more amazed that players tried to play it as melee game after the game kept giving you all these traps and ranged weapons🤣

Saying that it's cool that they improved it. They seem to be combining it well with ranged combat like adding the slow mo jump thing and adding the ability to create a weak spot with a melee attack.

I personally would have been fine if they simplified the melee and focused more are teaching players how to use the ranged combat better. But I am happy with what we appear to be getting.
 
the good thing about horizon is that theres a larger variety of enemy. You ahve the various humans with updated ai, you have the machines, and then you have the humans on machines

also, i asusme there will be some underwater combat
Exactly the machines are both more interesting aesthetically and require different tactics to defeat.

This leads into the sideques as well. The most memorable side quests are where the game introduces new machines like the Longleg,Stalker, Snapmaws and Rockbreaker.
 
Exactly the machines are both more interesting aesthetically and require different tactics to defeat.

This leads into the sideques as well. The most memorable side quests are where the game introduces new machines like the Longleg,Stalker, Snapmaws and Rockbreaker.
yeah, In Tsushima there were essentially 4 enemy types (shamans later), which is why you have 4 stances to counter them. Then you have your random wildlife which is pretty one note.

In Forbidden West, having over 40 machines alone, already adds almost unlimited possibilities for combat encounters, especially when you mix and match them with environments and humans who also seems to have about maybe 5 or so types.


The combat in Tsushima was good but it needs that 2nd game to really come alive for me. it's almost the same problem HZD had in other areas. Tsushima had good human combat, but it lacked variety, HZD had a lot of variety and good machine combat but the human combat sucked.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
There was a reason for that. Technical issues plagued this game on release as well as bugs. That 70 was deserved.

I remember trying to play this and the game literally going to 0fps because my bike was too fast for the world to even load what was coming next.

If this game released with all it's patches and on PS5 at 60fps, I could have seen it reaching a solid 80.
I don't think it was the bugs for the majority of outlets and also you could point to The Order 1886's review scores

Sony is not protected from bad review scores, they just typically make high quality software
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Theory about bias over Sony games holds no water whatsoever. Plenty of games that got dogged on.

If anything the media tends to hurt Playstation exclusives for reasons that they then don't for.... certain other companies, whose games barely evolve but somehow always manage to score high. Some of those companies can even ship an incomplete game and get some of the highest reviews of the year.
 
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Woggleman

Member
I first played Days Gone a year after released when the pandemic really started and everybody was locked inside long after all the patches so that is probably why my first impression was so good. If it was buggy upon release then I understand why it scored lower. I do have a feeling HFW will release finished and in great condition since that is how the first one was.
 

pratyush

Member
Hmm, let's see :
-Cinematic Sony exclusive
-Emotional storytelling
-Ubisoft open world
-Ubisoft mechanics like AssCreed magnetic climbing
-Pretty gwafics with no sort of identity, just realistic
-Ugly and strong woman protagonist that lives in racially diverse world with gay marriage
-Journalist difficulty for accessibility

This one is a 95+ for sure.
You need to try harder if you want to troll.
 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
This game looks significantly better than Elden Ring in every single department. Yet it will somehow score significantly worse across the board.
 

Iced Arcade

Member
Why? Everybody would be rushing to have the first review out there.

Review embargoes make perfect sense as long as reviews come out days before release and give time for people to cancel pre orders.
Simmer done, it's not a knock at your favorite toy maker. I can't wait for this game.

What benefit do you the consumer do you get from an embargo days before?
 
Theory about bias over Sony games holds no water whatsoever. Plenty of games that got dogged on.

If anything the media tends to hurt Playstation exclusives for reasons that they then don't for.... certain other companies, whose games barely evolve but somehow always manage to score high. Some of those companies can even ship an incomplete game and get some of the highest reviews of the year.
Something tells me you're talking about NeoGAF's GOTY 2021. The gameplay is just that good :messenger_relieved:
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
Hmm, let's see :
-Cinematic Sony exclusive
-Emotional storytelling
-Ubisoft open world
-Ubisoft mechanics like AssCreed magnetic climbing
-Pretty gwafics with no sort of identity, just realistic
-Ugly and strong woman protagonist that lives in racially diverse world with gay marriage
-Journalist difficulty for accessibility

This one is a 95+ for sure.
Name checks out
 
yeah, In Tsushima there were essentially 4 enemy types (shamans later), which is why you have 4 stances to counter them. Then you have your random wildlife which is pretty one note.

In Forbidden West, having over 40 machines alone, already adds almost unlimited possibilities for combat encounters, especially when you mix and match them with environments and humans who also seems to have about maybe 5 or so types.


The combat in Tsushima was good but it needs that 2nd game to really come alive for me. it's almost the same problem HZD had in other areas. Tsushima had good human combat, but it lacked variety, HZD had a lot of variety and good machine combat but the human combat sucked.
Possibly. I had fun with Tsushima but I'am honestly not that excited about a sequel. I think the setting is the issue I just don't think the samurai lends itself well to good game-play variety. I'am a bit bummed they ditched Infamous for it.

One thing sucker punch are masters at through is good feeling controls and control/button layout. The amount of combat options you had without having to pause the game by end was staggering.

If they took that combat system and applied it to a more interesting setting I might explode.
 
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