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Horizon Forbidden West is amazing

tmlDan

Member
no , most people talk about graphics when it comes to this game , it the best it has to offer , if it had a great story or combat people would talk about it more than how pretty it looks
people talk about both how it looks and the dino combat
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
Whoa!! John Marston John Marston thank you so much for the GAF Gold gift!!! Totally unexpected, and made my otherwise shitty week

Happy I Love You GIF by Warner Bros. Deutschland
 

Gambit2483

Member
I was talking about the base game.

I'm playing on a calibrated LG C9, and nothing on the base game looks specially great, if anything, everything looks out of place due to poor lighting, even having high res textures.

Funny enough, I'm also playing on a LG C9 😅

Oh and only one of those images is from Burning Shores, the others are from the base game...maybe you should re-calibrate your TV? 🤔
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Of course I love the graphics and world presentation.
The whole idea of 1000 years after apocalypse and robot dinosaurs is FANTSTIC.
But IMO, the 2nd game only serves to enlarge the issues from the first game. It doesn't fix anything. It just adds more.
More of everything. More of leveling, this time of each gear.
More bloat with side stuff and gear especially
More arrow and damage types
More scanning of everything and enemies

At the same time, story is much less interesting. The premise of cool apocalypse is not really pushed much further.
Characters are incredibly safe and disneyfied. The terrible Alva character must be the worst one in the whole decade of gaming. She is so terrible and pondering.
The whole village of leaf/nature tribe that love farming robots as gods is beyond idiotic. Even when You prove to them that these are just ancient robots.
They could've done so much more with the "people from the past are returning" story.... but they didn't do anything. Instead of that there is a blob of "corruption" in space... what a load of bs.

I wish there was less grind, less bloat, no leveling of everything, less arrow types so I don't have to decide what part of which enemy to shoot in which way. It gets tiring. The combat in general gets very tiresome.
Aloy is too much of a blank slate too. And the safe characters don't help. Same shit in Ratchet 2016 as they disneyfied and ruined the classic duo (much better in rift apart).

After finishing FW on release, I was left with the feeling that I prefer the more simple story and mechanics of the original game... which I never loved too.
That said - the whole game is much better as a package compared to it's individual parts. Just like Days Gone. Every single part of Days Gone is terrible on it's own but the whole game works.
So I do want to replay it. Amazing graphics do help.

edit: To give the credit to the franchise - I will much more openly play new, unique flawed stuff like that, rather than the same safe games again.
 
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nowhat

Member
For the record, I am a fan. And I think Forbidden West is superior to Zero Dawn in pretty much every aspect, except two of them.

First off, the main story. It just isn't that solid and the ending feels rushed (if such a thing can be said of an open world game). The side content is much better in FW though. But FW ends with a complete cliffhanger, while still resolving pretty much everything in the game. Sequel-baiting is fine, you just have to be subtle with it. Which FW is definitely not.

But apart from that, I think the combat needs some re-balancing. It's fine that some enemies are vunerable to certain elemental damage and resistant to others, makes sense even within the game world. But FW takes it to an extreme that's not so great. With tougher enemies, you basically have to get the elemental damage to 11 before trying any kind of DPS, otherwise you're just poking the enemy with a blunt stick. I'm not saying the elemental vulnerabilities/resistances should be removed. But one should be able to do at least some damage without a specific elemental damage effect.
 

MistBreeze

Member
I played it finished it and burning shores

The game is ubisoft formula open world yes, it has some flaws like repetitive side quests , pacing issues, too many unnecessary characters and too much grinding

But god it is the most unique new IP in quite some time, the concept is superb fighting robo dinosaurs is such great idea

The graphics are the best in consoles bar none
The robots are unique have different parts and fun to fight, u have so many unique weapons and learning how to use them efficiently and what valor surge, weapon technique to choose in specific situations, and smoke and traps , most people don’t use , and I do not blame them , the game is quite complicated… add many status elements and yeah…

Actually… I think it takes too long to understand,,, but after learning all of it’s complicated systems and too many choices to approach combat … it is one of most compelling gameplay ever

It really shines in second play through on hard or above difficulty
 

RyRy93

Member
The open world, story, characters, combat and quest design just bored me.

Of all Sony’s major releases in recent years the Horizon games are the weakest IMO. I’d take another TLOU, Uncharted, GoW, Spider-Man, GoT and even Days Gone over Horizon without hesitation.
 
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Bry0

Member
i don’t hate the game but I gave up on it. It’s a technical marvel and the art is fantastic. The game design fell flat though. I got extremely irritated by how restrictive the puzzle design, climbing, and interactions are. You must climb everything how the designer intended, solve everything exactly how they intended, there is no alternative solution to anything, I’m never rewarded for trying to solve something my own way. Ends up being really boring when I can see a location I can jump or glide to, but can’t because “that’s not what we want you to do”. Kinda nitpicky and I’m sure it doesn’t bother others but I found it really annoying. Story was really boring too.
 
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ANDS

King of Gaslighting
The Ultrahard or whatever mode on first playthrough is a nightmare and shouldn't be an option, but everything else is pretty legit. On an LGC2 the game looks incredible at the 40FPS mode. And the gameplay is just leagues better than the first. Also, rofl fucking copter at calling the graphics "grainy. . ." On what platform, because there's nothing remotely "grainy" about the game.

. . .shame that it's the same lead character, only even more of a see you next Tuesday. I'd love if the game comes to the PC if someone just invents a "Mute Aloy" mod because she's nigh insufferable in this one (the first she was justifiably whiny, but in this - my god).
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
The combat is still best in class, and the vistas and overall visuals are extraordinary. Unfortunately when a game is this big that alone is not enough for me, as the devs are asking me to spend a lot of time with characters in a world they created and that’s where Guerrilla has lost me. The characters are no bueno, neither style nor substance to make me fall in love with it.

The story is minor league, and the plot does have a twist or two but it just doesn’t work hard enough to make up for the lack of story.

And the world isn’t exactly filled with interesting activities so it really sticks out. Guerrilla have to hire better writers and a better narrative director.
 
Glad you are enjoying the game OP. Believe it or not I still have to finish it up, but I've greatly enjoyed my 30+ or so hours into it so far. A couple of annoying bugs notwithstanding (one requiring a hard reset).

I do hope the 3rd game brings in a universal block & parry system, because that's the one feature that it seems like HFW really needed. The enemies can get pretty aggressive in packs and I think as long as they can balance the feature out (for example, utilizing a shield that can break if used for blocking too much at a time), then a universal block/parry mechanic can work and encourage even more unique playstyles.

And visually there's nothing better on the market or at its level considering its scale, outside of maybe Rift Apart. This is especially true when talking of Burning Shores.

So you are one of those people who looks to get offended by some non existent political agenda. It has rich people who are bad therefore it is some progressive nonsense right? How else are they supposed to have a post apocalyptic setting with evil robots? It is just a sci fi trope, not a fucking agenda.

You can't help folks when they choose to be intentionally low IQ just to stay unjustifiably offended over a video game.

Technical achievements aside, it was amazingly boring game. Characters, story, pacing, dialog, lore, combat, skills...everything was sacrificed in the name of the open world. I got bored as early as the prologue, unfortunately.

So you didn't even get to the actual game? Did you even get to the giant snake boss capping off the Prologue?
 
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T0minator

Member
I played it finished it and burning shores

The game is ubisoft formula open world yes, it has some flaws like repetitive side quests , pacing issues, too many unnecessary characters and too much grinding

But god it is the most unique new IP in quite some time, the concept is superb fighting robo dinosaurs is such great idea

The graphics are the best in consoles bar none
The robots are unique have different parts and fun to fight, u have so many unique weapons and learning how to use them efficiently and what valor surge, weapon technique to choose in specific situations, and smoke and traps , most people don’t use , and I do not blame them , the game is quite complicated… add many status elements and yeah…

Actually… I think it takes too long to understand,,, but after learning all of it’s complicated systems and too many choices to approach combat … it is one of most compelling gameplay ever

It really shines in second play through on hard or above difficulty

I completely agree on it being a unique IP with its own style. Last generation we didn't really get any new main protagonist and IP that made much of an impact. Horizon is one of the only new IPs that I can see being a staple in PlayStations line up in the future as well.

This generation I'm hoping to see some new IP and new main protagonist that gives this generation some character, if that makes sense
 

T0minator

Member
Glad you are enjoying the game OP. Believe it or not I still have to finish it up, but I've greatly enjoyed my 30+ or so hours into it so far. A couple of annoying bugs notwithstanding (one requiring a hard reset).

I do hope the 3rd game brings in a universal block & parry system, because that's the one feature that it seems like HFW really needed. The enemies can get pretty aggressive in packs and I think as long as they can balance the feature out (for example, utilizing a shield that can break if used for blocking too much at a time), then a universal block/parry mechanic can work and encourage even more unique playstyles.

And visually there's nothing better on the market or at its level considering its scale, outside of maybe Rift Apart. This is especially true when talking of Burning Shores.



You can't help folks when they choose to be intentionally low IQ just to stay unjustifiably offended over a video game.

Yes! That's definitely one area that could really benefit with just that one additional feature, block/parry. When Elden Ring came out around HFW it was really obvious Horizon needed a party system. The combat as it is now is still very rewarding and fun to utilize the environments, it's actually one area I feel the game sores above alot of other games, the different mechanics when used together can creative a really unique experience.

I see Ubisoft style game thrown around alot, I've played plenty of Ubisoft games and none really play as well as Horizon imo. Party and blocks would take this game to another level. Guerilla is definitely working towards a great franchise
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Forbidden West is a visually pleasing game that is absolutely boring to play. It lacks a captivating narrative, interesting gameplay, or fun world to explore.
 
Yes! That's definitely one area that could really benefit with just that one additional feature, block/parry. When Elden Ring came out around HFW it was really obvious Horizon needed a party system. The combat as it is now is still very rewarding and fun to utilize the environments, it's actually one area I feel the game sores above alot of other games, the different mechanics when used together can creative a really unique experience.

I see Ubisoft style game thrown around alot, I've played plenty of Ubisoft games and none really play as well as Horizon imo. Party and blocks would take this game to another level. Guerilla is definitely working towards a great franchise

Yeah, with a universal block/parry system they can balance out some of the lopsidedness that manifests in the melee combat, but still make it fair by having the shield be breakable, stuff like that.

Most of the complaints about the game being "boring" just don't make a lot of sense. Most of the people saying it aren't quantifying what their actual expectations were with the game so at least we can understand why they were supposedly disappointed. Like were you expecting Horizon or a completely different game in a Horizon wrapper?
 
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Don't know why but it's only Sony game doesn't click with me.

Don't really care about the story.

Gameplay is too complicate. You have to loot this loot that, find the parts to upgrade, choose which type of arrow for which type of enemy,...

Climping isn't fun. Have to scan the enviroment to see which cliff you can climp on.
And the yellow path is just annoying to see. You have this beautiful enviroment but once you scanned it, those yellow shits just sit there.

And on top of that you have Aloy. She just keep talking and talking shit. Spoiled every steps of puzzle. And even when you cleared the puzzle and come back to it later she'll say the same shits like she've never seen it before.
 
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KGEN

Neo Member
So you didn't even get to the actual game? Did you even get to the giant snake boss capping off the Prologue?

I have finished the game. For vast majority of the time, I forced myself to continue playing and did not enjoy the experience.
We tend to view games through the lens of our past experiences, and for me every aspect of Horizon was rehashed, mediocre and soulless - as if designed by a committee.
Just my personal opinion, I realize different people with different gaming baggage, might approach this game differently.
 

Humdinger

Member
HFW good points: beautiful environments, combat is somewhat fun (though not as fun as in the first), sidequest content is better than the first game

HFW bad points: They made the combat less fun, they made Aloy unlikeable, all of the characters talk too damn much, identity politics, the story is pretty lame, and the game is overstuffed with "content," a victim of the "more is better" mentality, which just ends up over-complicating everything instead of adding to the fun.

7/10 for me. I would give the first game a 9. Imo, they really screwed up the sequel.
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
In fact, Hogwarts Legacy is the complete opposite of Horizon and I enjoyed it much more.
Very simple game mechanics, satisfying combat based on use of skills, dodge and timing instead of targeting tiny parts, moving around the whole screen with special arrow types.
I know it doesn't make sense but for me, there is nothing enjoyable about the challenge just being aiming. There must be more to it than the whole challange being "oh you gotta shoot that super tiny part which glows after scanning for 15 seconds, while the robot is jumping around... and be sure to use holy water arrows!!!"

'Hogwarts is so simple in comparison to other open world games, that it felt refreshing. There bloat that is there, is optional. You don't have to collect animals or do merlin trials but I found myself doing all of these things whenever it was on my way. The lack of bloated mechanics, crafting, collecting resources for crafting different pouches for each weapon... or leveling each weapon separately. Lack of all of that just allowed me to focus on main fun parts of Hogwarts.
 

GermanZepp

Member
So much poping colour and details hurt my eyes. Is too charged. (And that's weird cause the it doesn't bother me in the first one) I played the game like three hours and I couldn't get into it. Boring characters all along. Graphics are very good and the robots are awesome. And i felt the gameplay a little weightless, like everything is made from Styrofoam.
 
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I think it's great. Can't stress enough this tho- go into settings and enable automatic pick ups! Makes the game so much more enjoyable to not have to watch an animation play our every time. Considering how much you need to loot and craft I don't understand why this wasn't the default.
 

ProtoByte

Member
Just a wild guess, but maybe the "story doesn't matter" people didn't play and criticize it, only the "story matters" people do.
From what I can see, that doesn't track.

Regardless, a game is a holistic package. Story isn't the one and only thing that matters, coming from someone who prefers narrative games.
 
So if I see woke tropes sprinkled all over the game that means I've been brainwashed by the anti-woke propaganda ? I feel we are at a point that some things are becoming so normalized in media after years of pushing that to anything to be woke now has to be progressive more extreme ... sorry but what was woke FOR ME 5 years ago remains woke today, my eyes can see it, my brain can catch the tropes from a mile away, and they will never be "normal" for me

I would say that WOKE propaganda has been successful im turning shit tropes into "normal" ones ... and not that anti-woke propaganda is making us see things that are not there ... ill trust my eyes and ears, and in the end all of us can decide for ourselves what is good and what is not, no propaganda needed.

Chears mate
Yes, because it's a video game, based on a fictional story. You're looking in the refrigerator looking to find a hammer, and then complaining to only see beverages, meat and cheese. Not every game is made for everyone.

We differ on what we consider "woke", but I'll be happy to give my definition. I call gender swapping, race swapping and sexual orientation changes to original characters as "woke".

What I dont consider woke, is an original story, in a fictional world about a woman who grew up without friends, family or a love interest in men. How is any of that woke if it doesnt disparage men in a conventional society?
 

Pelta88

Member
T0minator T0minator got me wanting to go back for the Platinum.

Also

The gaming audience: We'll take 34 million copies of that new Horizon franchise please

Haters on Gaf:
Disappointed-Pakistan-Fan.jpg
 
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Turk1993

GAFs #1 source for car graphic comparisons
And dont get me started on the agenda this game is pushing. Nearly all men in this game are evil/dumb/goofy. Nearly all women are strong and smart.
This is what i noticed also, everything that Aloy does the man there are complementing her like "only you could do it Aloy" or "we are safe thanks to you" stuff like that. They are all weak and scared and Aloy always need to tell them to stay away because its too dangerous for them.
 
I fired up this bitch and o'boy is it a good looking game. One of the best looking I've ever played.

I loved Horizon Zero Dawn and I really got into it's story, characters and the world.

The thing is this hasn't got it's claws into me. I just don't care about the characters at all. I find them a bit annoying and they feel as the writers try to force you to love them. I don't

But I'm still at the very beginning so let's see.
 
I found it to be beautiful-looking game that just was made tedious by the 100s of icons scattered over the map like a ubisoft game. Open worlds that just have hundreds of things to go collect just feel tedious and are a cheap way of trying to make a game longer than it should be or needs to be. The story was just ok, not nearly as good as the first one, not even close. I loved HZD. But HFW, for me, just kind of missed the mark.
 
In terms of narrative direction, yeah pretty much this. Which is a shame because the story in HZD really pulled me in and left me wanting more. Lol and to make matters worse, the writing/dialogue in the DLC is worse *facepalm*!

Having said that, Horizon Burning Shores from a graphics perspective is the most impressive looking game I've ever played and in terms of environmental complexity, even manages to make Forbidden West look like and play like a very good looking cross-gen game (yeah I said it! Fight me!).

1. Environment density is insane
2. Draw distance is the best ever in any game. Period.
3. Lighting has significantly improved - Afternoon and night time of day in particular look much better than in HFW
4. Both particle effects and destruction have been boosted.
5. Sound design during combat now rivals the likes of Returnal.

The last two points above make the gameplay much more immersive and enjoyable. Here is some of my gameplay capture I previously posted in the graphics thread (it's compressed to shit regardless but 1080p selection makes it a tad better). I personally recommend playing in the 4k resolution mode even though you have to put up with 30fps. Take it from me as an OLED owner who typically prefers 40fps and above, the density and draw distance makes a strong case to put up with 30fps at native 4k. I know some others here have/may disagree and I respect that, but I recommend everyone try for themselves you might be surprised. This really is what PS5 players should have received from Forbidden West.



The draw distance in Burning Shores is pretty abysmal. I think standard Forbidden West works better honestly. Entire building facades would pop in as I was flying. And it also happens because of how high they allow you to fly in the clouds.

But yea other than that the game looks incredible.
 

Drizzlehell

Banned
Just a wild guess, but maybe the "story doesn't matter" people didn't play and criticize it, only the "story matters" people do.
The story in these games is a complete flatline, though. The only time I ever registered any emotion while playing them was during the climax when they teased something potentially interesting happening in the sequel. Though it probably won't because it's just sequel bait, and sequel bait is supposed to hype you up. Plus it's gonna star Aloy again, i.e. the most boring character in the history of video games.
 
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Indyblue

Member
I really want to like this game but I just can’t. I don’t fully know why really. It’s like the whole thing is too busy. There’s too much going on. Visually, with all the crafting items, the huge skill trees, the weapons, the ammo types, the weak points. The story is so convulted with so much to read and listen to. I don’t know it’s like there’s just…too much.
 
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Fbh

Member
Overall I really enjoyed it. The visuals are amazing, I think the world itself continues to be very unique and fun, and the combat is still really solid (specially for a Ubisoft-type open world). It also improved on the first one in some key areas like traversal, melee combat and better sidequests.

But I did have some issues with it:
- The plot is significantly worse than the original, which combined with boring characters (Aloy herself in particular) make the entire narrative a bit boring
- The progression feels boring, it's one of those 40 hours games where I feel like the way I play isn't that different on hour 1 vs hour 40. Getting new gear never feels very significant and the skill trees have useful passive upgrades that don't really change the way you play a whole lot.
- I didn't like the weapon/armor upgrade system and wish it had been more streamlined. Having to go hunt for specific parts from specific enemies for each individual upgrade step is ok in a game like Monster Hunter where that's the main thing you do. But in a game like this that already has a ton of stuff to do it felt really annoying and generally just made me want to stick with the same weapons instead of trying out new ones and having to go through the whole upgrade process again. I think upgrading stuff with some generic "machine parts" would have been better, maybe reserving the specific enemy part for the final upgrade or something like that instead of each individual level.
 

Trunx81

Member
LTTP on this, just bought it on the sale.
First off: I liked H:ZD even with it´s flaws. The story was compelling enough, with this eeari feeling of hopelessness from the ancients (us) in the voice messages.

Forbidden West is more of the same, with some useful upgrades - and some bummer-downgrades. Yes, the whistling made the games sometimes too easy, but why did Aloy just loose this ability? Loved it to lure enemies to my place and murder-stab them from high grass. The stone throwing isn´t half as satisfying as before.
Same goes for the "scan spamming" that you´ve got to do every few steps. Triggers some kind of ADHD in my brain. I understand why they did it (to make the world more immersive), but as Aloy says in the tutorial: "This is how I see the world since I´m a kid". Therefore I activated even the highlighting of climbable structure: To see what she sees.

I´m not that far in yet, as I´m doing a lot of sidequests first (the opposite from when I played the first game and then I was sometimes to OP to get more EXP from them) and am still in the nomansland. Walking around that huge battlefield, sometimes getting voice clips from the veterans that fought (and died) there is what I was looking for when I bought the game: More lore, more expansion of the plot. It´s just such a great concept!
And I might be in a minor position here, but I like Aloy. She also gets a lot of criticism by former allies for trying "everything alone", but that´s the burden of being the chosen one, am I right? But I hope we get a little bit of character progression for her as well, that she understands that she can´t do all of this alone.

Anyway, now on to continue playing. I haven´t seen everything yet.
 

Giallo Corsa

Gold Member
Liked the 1st game , absolutely loathed the 2nd one, it's the only time in my gaming "career" that I was constantly skipping dialogues and beelining from one mission to the next via fast travel...
Everything and everyone felt so...boring in this game with 0 character and/or charisma behind it and as for the combat system, it has already ran its course, it's not fun entering slo-mo as to produce more ammo during each fight, also, the feedback from hitting the enemies is...non existent, it feels like you're hitting these giant metallic beasts with friggin Nerf arrows.

1st game had some charm and the whole "end of the world by our own making" had some nice mystery behind it (the parallels with big tech Giants of today's world, Ted Faro etc), 2nd game felt completely flat by comparison with the only interesting bit being that Ted Faro mission (once again).

One of the most Ubisoft-like grind-athons in Sony's line up IMO, it's pretty funny actually, Days Gone, a prime candidate for what could be considered "Ubisoft-like" and "generic" (due to the whole "zombie" thing) is actually the most organic and playable games out of Sony's open world games - that's my opinion at least, and yet, Sony is going all in with Horizon, the most generic tripe you could think of featuring a literal Mary Sue - and this is exactly why we can't have nice things.

Finished it via PS plus extra, absolutely not interested in either the DLC nor a 3rd game.

Let's be honest, Guerilla are only good at making tech demos 'cause from a story-telling and gameplay point of view they're just...not good.

Fook this silly franchise, at this point, I'd rather another Killzone (another mediocre franchise) than this shite.
 
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Liked the 1st game , absolutely loathed the 2nd one, it's the only time in my gaming "career" that I was constantly skipping dialogues and beelining from one mission to the next via fast travel...
Everything and everyone felt so...boring in this game with 0 character and/or charisma behind it and as for the combat system, it has already ran its course, it's not fun entering slo-mo as to produce more ammo during each fight, also, the feedback from hitting the enemies is...non existent, it feels like you're hitting these giant metallic beasts with friggin Nerf arrows.

1st game had some charm and the whole "end of the world by our own making" had some nice mystery behind it (the parallels with big tech Giants of today's world, Ted Faro etc), 2nd game felt completely flat by comparison with the only interesting bit being that Ted Faro mission (once again).
Exactly how I felt about the second game. It's my first Sony first party game which I stopped playing because it just felt too boring. Gorgegous to look at but that's it. I really really liked Aloy and the story in the first game, so it's a shame.
Maybe some day I'll finish the game and try the dlc.
 
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