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Horizon Forbidden West: Review Thread |

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Maybe I'm misunderstanding this but are you telling me you can't play games like Elden Ring or other third party games because they are not made by Sony!?
There are certain exceptions like It Takes Two and Hades. I thought I mentioned them in my post. It Takes Two was my GOTY. RE8 I played religiously for a month before Ratchet. Beat it 5 times and got SSS in all mercenaries missions.

But overall, I find it very hard to stick to non-sony games. I dont think it's the quality either. I think Avengers, Guardians and Halo are all very competent games, but the pacing is off, and the games just dont hook me. Guardians I stuck with the longest. Around 6-8 hours because it has excellent naughty dog quality writing and setpieces but the pacing is so off in that game i just got tired of it. Just the other day, I had a choice to play another walking/dream sequence or get right in the middle of the action in Returnal. I chose Returnal.

People dont give Sony games enough credit. Their gameplay loop is addicting and their combat is top notch. So even after you finish the game, I find myself playing them for another 50-60 hours. Just like I do for From Software games. I played nothing but Demon Souls for 3 months on PS5. Beat it 20 times. I play every souls game for 100 hours. I will be there for ER on Day 1.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
There are certain exceptions like It Takes Two and Hades. I thought I mentioned them in my post. It Takes Two was my GOTY. RE8 I played religiously for a month before Ratchet. Beat it 5 times and got SSS in all mercenaries missions.

But overall, I find it very hard to stick to non-sony games. I dont think it's the quality either. I think Avengers, Guardians and Halo are all very competent games, but the pacing is off, and the games just dont hook me. Guardians I stuck with the longest. Around 6-8 hours because it has excellent naughty dog quality writing and setpieces but the pacing is so off in that game i just got tired of it. Just the other day, I had a choice to play another walking/dream sequence or get right in the middle of the action in Returnal. I chose Returnal.

People dont give Sony games enough credit. Their gameplay loop is addicting and their combat is top notch. So even after you finish the game, I find myself playing them for another 50-60 hours. Just like I do for From Software games. I played nothing but Demon Souls for 3 months on PS5. Beat it 20 times. I play every souls game for 100 hours. I will be there for ER on Day 1.
For me I used to be super excited for Playstation exclusives games in PS1,2 and 3 era but those times are long gone, currently I heavily rely on third party games on Playstation for type of games I enjoy.
 
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There are certain exceptions like It Takes Two and Hades. I thought I mentioned them in my post. It Takes Two was my GOTY. RE8 I played religiously for a month before Ratchet. Beat it 5 times and got SSS in all mercenaries missions.

But overall, I find it very hard to stick to non-sony games. I dont think it's the quality either. I think Avengers, Guardians and Halo are all very competent games, but the pacing is off, and the games just dont hook me. Guardians I stuck with the longest. Around 6-8 hours because it has excellent naughty dog quality writing and setpieces but the pacing is so off in that game i just got tired of it. Just the other day, I had a choice to play another walking/dream sequence or get right in the middle of the action in Returnal. I chose Returnal.

People dont give Sony games enough credit. Their gameplay loop is addicting and their combat is top notch. So even after you finish the game, I find myself playing them for another 50-60 hours. Just like I do for From Software games. I played nothing but Demon Souls for 3 months on PS5. Beat it 20 times. I play every souls game for 100 hours. I will be there for ER on Day 1.
damn right walter white GIF by Breaking Bad
 

TheMan

Member
I was more excited for this, but watching the giant bomb quickplay...it's a sequel-ass sequel. In other words, if you loved the first game, you'll love this. If you were kind of lukewarm about the first game (like me), then this probably wont' change your mind. Probably gonna hold off for now.
 

Dr Bass

Member
There are certain exceptions like It Takes Two and Hades. I thought I mentioned them in my post. It Takes Two was my GOTY. RE8 I played religiously for a month before Ratchet. Beat it 5 times and got SSS in all mercenaries missions.

But overall, I find it very hard to stick to non-sony games. I dont think it's the quality either. I think Avengers, Guardians and Halo are all very competent games, but the pacing is off, and the games just dont hook me. Guardians I stuck with the longest. Around 6-8 hours because it has excellent naughty dog quality writing and setpieces but the pacing is so off in that game i just got tired of it. Just the other day, I had a choice to play another walking/dream sequence or get right in the middle of the action in Returnal. I chose Returnal.

People dont give Sony games enough credit. Their gameplay loop is addicting and their combat is top notch. So even after you finish the game, I find myself playing them for another 50-60 hours. Just like I do for From Software games. I played nothing but Demon Souls for 3 months on PS5. Beat it 20 times. I play every souls game for 100 hours. I will be there for ER on Day 1.
I might get some crap here for this since I do play on all platforms, and like everything, but I think this statement is partially correct.

I am playing Halo Infinite now and, while I will likely finish it, it's .... not good. I honestly don't understand how it got the ratings it did. It feels like a student project to me quite often, and the writing and tone are all over the place. I don't understand the mix of Chief trying to be the "bad ass one liner" type character that is cool to 12 year olds, mixed with the "We are big and mean" Atriox following baddies, and then the total glibness of "The Weapon." On top of that the gameplay has the same weakness all of the Halo games do, and that's that you can basically melee your way through 90% of it, even while bullets are being poured into you. You can basically kill everyone that's hurting you with the melee attack. It's incredibly easy, and brain dead. Only bosses need some form of running and gunning. I don't know if The Flood or something similar come back yet, which would change that a bit but still. The game needs serious help.

What Sony has been able to master over the decades is simply producing world class games, over and over .... and over. My favorite is still Nintendo but it's a different style of video game that they make. Focusing ruthlessly on content is the actual secret to Sony's success, and that's why people like Phil Spencer don't seem to get it. It's not about system power (Switch is proof of this). It's not about speeds and feeds, or subscriptions. It's about being able to execute. This is true in any software house. We are all working with the same tools, more or less. But some people can make brilliance while some have trouble even getting a product out the door.

And that's why games like Ratchet and Clank, or Horizon FW look better than the competition. It has nothing to do with the PS5 hardware, as the PS5 outside the SSD hardware decompression scheme has almost nothing that sets it apart from the competition, and it gets smoked by high end PC GPUs obviously. But it's not about the hardware. It's about the craftspeople. Sony's teams know how to get the most out of their console hardware, more than the competition.

Sony is out executing the competition for the style of games they do, and that's not something you can just throw money at and solve for. It takes know how and experience. I know there will be a certain sub group that doesn't like this, but the proof is in the pudding as they say.

I definitely think there is a large group of people that get it. That's why sales numbers are what they are, and what they likely will continue to be.
 
There are certain exceptions like It Takes Two and Hades. I thought I mentioned them in my post. It Takes Two was my GOTY. RE8 I played religiously for a month before Ratchet. Beat it 5 times and got SSS in all mercenaries missions.

But overall, I find it very hard to stick to non-sony games. I dont think it's the quality either. I think Avengers, Guardians and Halo are all very competent games, but the pacing is off, and the games just dont hook me. Guardians I stuck with the longest. Around 6-8 hours because it has excellent naughty dog quality writing and setpieces but the pacing is so off in that game i just got tired of it. Just the other day, I had a choice to play another walking/dream sequence or get right in the middle of the action in Returnal. I chose Returnal.

People dont give Sony games enough credit. Their gameplay loop is addicting and their combat is top notch. So even after you finish the game, I find myself playing them for another 50-60 hours. Just like I do for From Software games. I played nothing but Demon Souls for 3 months on PS5. Beat it 20 times. I play every souls game for 100 hours. I will be there for ER on Day 1.

I always believed you still had some pony blood in those veins :pie_lcry:
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
The game looks a lot flatter now as a result

Friggin John from DF and his ausbergers
I like John the most out of the three stooges, but fucking hell he goes all out sometimes. He got Naughty Dog to downgrade the native 4k 60 fps PS4 Pro version of TLOU remaster to 1800p just because it dropped a few frames during action. He shat on the 60 fps mode in GOW on the Pro because it dropped some frames. Told everyone to use the 30 fps mode instead. NX Gamer did the same analysis and found that the 60 fps mode averaged 56 fps in combat. This is the same guy who was given a tag 60 fps by gaf mods telling people to play the game in 30 fps because it wasnt locked at 60. How 30 fps is better than 56 average is beyond me. I played over a 100 hours of end game content in GOW in the 60 fps mode and never felt the framerate was bad.

Who cares if it doesnt look realistic. Movies go through extreme lengths to light the characters even in outdoor areas to ensure they look their best.

Shouldve stuck with their first choice.
q4nzl9T.gif


jMeaWYx.gif
 
I was more excited for this, but watching the giant bomb quickplay...it's a sequel-ass sequel. In other words, if you loved the first game, you'll love this. If you were kind of lukewarm about the first game (like me), then this probably wont' change your mind. Probably gonna hold off for now.
Same reason IDGAF about Elden ring, looks like just another demon souls game. But sequels are supposed to be for the fans.
 

Polygonal_Sprite

Gold Member
The hero lighting could have been removed due to performance reasons. It’s not free and was maybe the difference between a solid 30/60 and dips to 27/57fps.

I would like it as an option though if possible. It gave the game a very striking, super hyper realistic look to it that pops off screen.
 
I like John the most out of the three stooges, but fucking hell he goes all out sometimes. He got Naughty Dog to downgrade the native 4k 60 fps PS4 Pro version of TLOU remaster to 1800p just because it dropped a few frames during action. He shat on the 60 fps mode in GOW on the Pro because it dropped some frames. Told everyone to use the 30 fps mode instead. NX Gamer did the same analysis and found that the 60 fps mode averaged 56 fps in combat. This is the same guy who was given a tag 60 fps by gaf mods telling people to play the game in 30 fps because it wasnt locked at 60. How 30 fps is better than 56 average is beyond me. I played over a 100 hours of end game content in GOW in the 60 fps mode and never felt the framerate was bad.

Who cares if it doesnt look realistic. Movies go through extreme lengths to light the characters even in outdoor areas to ensure they look their best.

Shouldve stuck with their first choice.
q4nzl9T.gif


jMeaWYx.gif

So damn sad

It looks downgraded to hell with that one change

Why can’t devs just make this an option instead of just removing it?

Can someone tweet one of the devs to add it back?
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
So damn sad

It looks downgraded to hell with that one change

Why can’t devs just make this an option instead of just removing it?

Can someone tweet one of the devs to add it back?
That’s not a bad idea actually. If motion blur, chromatic Abberation, and even depth of field effects are an option you can enable/disable in some games, so should hero lighting.

It was THE biggest ps5 feature they touted in the previews so to significantly scale it back on release is lame.

I am thinking of just waiting out the 40 fps patch and maybe this hero lighting option to be patched in. Ratchets 40 fps mode is perfect and it sucks i didn’t get to experience it on my first playthough because i bought it Day one.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
The hero lighting could have been removed due to performance reasons. It’s not free and was maybe the difference between a solid 30/60 and dips to 27/57fps.

I would like it as an option though if possible. It gave the game a very striking, super hyper realistic look to it that pops off screen.
Its possible but the game has dynamic scaling and DF said it very rarely dips meaning they had enough headroom. They wouldn’t have featured it so heavily in the previews if they didn’t budget for it.
 
That’s not a bad idea actually. If motion blur, chromatic Abberation, and even depth of field effects are an option you can enable/disable in some games, so should hero lighting.

It was THE biggest ps5 feature they touted in the previews so to significantly scale it back on release is lame.

I am thinking of just waiting out the 40 fps patch and maybe this hero lighting option to be patched in. Ratchets 40 fps mode is perfect and it sucks i didn’t get to experience it on my first playthough because i bought it Day one.

Insomniac is awesome with patch updates

I won’t hold my breath for GG adding any of this stuff

PS5 version loads at like 13 seconds, clearly not highly optimized

I’m pretty sure I’ll play it in Fidelity mode, the difference in detail is staggering
 
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Yoboman

Member
Well now I'm confused. Most reviewers talk about the typical open world bloat Ubi-effect. Is it an excessive icon/mini map game or not?
As someone who really just started Horizon ZD recently it feels alot more like Witcher lite than an Ubisoft game

Maybe it changes further into the game
 
Well it has now a 89% on metacritic, which is very good. All Microsoft fans who try to talk bad about the game should have a look at Halo, which has only 87% currently...
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
I like John the most out of the three stooges, but fucking hell he goes all out sometimes. He got Naughty Dog to downgrade the native 4k 60 fps PS4 Pro version of TLOU remaster to 1800p just because it dropped a few frames during action. He shat on the 60 fps mode in GOW on the Pro because it dropped some frames. Told everyone to use the 30 fps mode instead. NX Gamer did the same analysis and found that the 60 fps mode averaged 56 fps in combat. This is the same guy who was given a tag 60 fps by gaf mods telling people to play the game in 30 fps because it wasnt locked at 60. How 30 fps is better than 56 average is beyond me. I played over a 100 hours of end game content in GOW in the 60 fps mode and never felt the framerate was bad.

Who cares if it doesnt look realistic. Movies go through extreme lengths to light the characters even in outdoor areas to ensure they look their best.

Shouldve stuck with their first choice.
q4nzl9T.gif


jMeaWYx.gif

The very same clowns didn't say a thig about the silly "armor" shine/lighting in Demon's Souls and probably other souls games (don't play them). They shoud make it optional.
 
I'm sorry, but what she says sounds incredibly corny and unprofessional and doesn't belong anywhere near videogames. SJW's have gotten out of hand these past few years and I can't decide whether to be amazed or appalled at the borderline dumb and illogical phrases some of them use to fuel their own agendas,it's bizarre in some instances where quite a few tend to go too far with statements like the one she made above, it's unwarranted and unneeded, especially how she refers to silicon valley people whether in the game or in real life, who do way more in an engineering lab than she can imagine to do in a lifetime or multiple. Then took to twitter to cry like a baby in order to get support from people with a similar mentality.

There are always criticisms to be levied towards any game, but representation concerning cultural, gender, religious beliefs etc ain't criticisms at all imo, they don't belong in videogames. Criticising a game harshly because it "misappropriated" your culture or whatever isn't really a valid criticism whatsoever. Videogames are forms of entertainment, not mediums to express cultural/political beliefs or whatever these so called game journalists similar to her like to think. Stuff like that is the reason why most people don't see various forms of journalism the same way anymore, anybody can go study the art, and then go regurgitate their cultural beliefs in places where they don't belong, including videogames, it's unnerving to say the least. Most game devs today, build games for people to enjoy getting lost in and don't care about trivial stuff like whether a Hispanic, black, white , Asian ,Caucasian person gets triggered. Ideals like these have no place in videogames.
 
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nowhat

Member
There are always criticisms to be levied towards any game, but representation concerning cultural, gender, religious beliefs etc ain't criticisms at all imo, they don't belong in videogames.
I mean, in my opinion such criticism can be relevant. Not something I'd personally be that interested in, but if you want to go down that route, you do you. But in this instance, given that any culture that exists today doesn't exist in the world of Horizon, it's just misguided and clickbaity. The latter was probably intentional, and seeing how people get worked up about it, successful as well.
 

arvfab

Banned

Wait... isn't she explicitly denigrating the cultural importance of Halloween with her first sentence?

Also, she doesn't seem to consider the fact that people in Horizon don't know shit about their past and their past cultures....

.... aaaand it's a fucking game, probably with a useless warning how the game was made by a team of different ethnicities, religions bla bla bla to make sure that people like her don't start to bitch around (yet they still do).
 
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I mean, in my opinion such criticism can be relevant. Not something I'd personally be that interested in, but if you want to go down that route, you do you. But in this instance, given that any culture that exists today doesn't exist in the world of Horizon, it's just misguided and clickbaity. The latter was probably intentional, and seeing how people get worked up about it, successful as well.
I don't disagree with what you said and I deeply respect the fact that you were civil in your response. But I do feel like that such a response from a reviewer about the game is a little unwarranted or a bit extreme. The devs took strides to make the sequel much more diverse and I believe that they did a pretty fine job with that. You have many types of cultures and beliefs in FW, more so than ZD, so it's not like the game doesn't include things like that. Getting triggered over face paint being a cosmetic though? I believe that's unwarranted, it takes things a little too far.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
I might get some crap here for this since I do play on all platforms, and like everything, but I think this statement is partially correct.

I am playing Halo Infinite now and, while I will likely finish it, it's .... not good. I honestly don't understand how it got the ratings it did.

It’s because a large part of the English games media grew up in the 360 era, when Xbox was huge in North America and UK. Halo 3 was a really big deal, Gears of War? Huge.

A lot of PlayStation and Nintendo fans probably don’t understand just how big Xbox was in NA/UK during that time. Sure it’s the grey brown shooter generation, but it’s also when COD exploded, GTA got massive, and places like DF got shine. Skyrim. Etc

Even Xbox fans will agree, out loud or not, but Xbox one gen was trash for the brand. They still stuck around, and in the media you still had people going to bat for the brand “it’s my main platform, I grew up with this controller”.

So that’s one reason why the media handles it different. The other reason is PlayStation has gone out there and made games that appeal to a much wider audience, that have a lot more emotional impact. And that draws interest and attention from different kinds of gamers.

Reviewing HFW or Halo Infinite, you think these attract the same sort of discussion? For HFW we have journos talking about combat, characters, story, controversy around this and that, it’s political, and it’s art. Halo Infinite was basically “shooting’s good, grapple cool, Halo back”.

These brands, Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and their games, they are judged different because people seek different things in them, right or wrong.
 
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Urban

Member
Hey Boys

i`ve seen the SkillUp Review and he said that there are a lot of Pop ins from buildings. Did any other reviewer had the same issues?
 
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Hey Boys

i`ve seen the SkillUp Review and he said that there are a lot of Pop ins from buildings. Did any other reviewer had the same issues?
From what i could read that was solved after the Day One patch was released...not sure if SkillUp's review was made before that patch was up so he didn't mention it?
 
Little bit of information for the board minigame inside FB from reeee:

Jeff Cannatta, who is a tabletop game enthusiast, raved about the Strike game in Horizon in this week's DLC podcast.

So for people who liked gwent or card games inside the FF games, something to look out for i guess.
im sold. Preordering.

Even though I have yet to platinum Knack 1+2.
 

Freeman76

Member
Apologies if this has been discussed I havent been following the hype around this, just looking at the different versions of this and the PS4 version is a tenner cheapet than the PS5 version, but isnt there a free upgrade PS4>PS5? In which case why buy the PS5 version? Is it just a sneaky way for Sony to take advantage of people with a hole in their head or am I missing something?
 

Borowski_1

Member
Apologies if this has been discussed I havent been following the hype around this, just looking at the different versions of this and the PS4 version is a tenner cheapet than the PS5 version, but isnt there a free upgrade PS4>PS5? In which case why buy the PS5 version? Is it just a sneaky way for Sony to take advantage of people with a hole in their head or am I missing something?
just get the ps4 version
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Apologies if this has been discussed I havent been following the hype around this, just looking at the different versions of this and the PS4 version is a tenner cheapet than the PS5 version, but isnt there a free upgrade PS4>PS5? In which case why buy the PS5 version? Is it just a sneaky way for Sony to take advantage of people with a hole in their head or am I missing something?

PS4 grants you PS5 version update after release, as it seems. You can't preload it. So you should be able to download the PS5 version tomorrow.
 

dEvAnGeL

Member
Tape a flashlight to your tv if you want hero lighting. That effect looked absolutely horrible during gameplay. At least it was toned down. It would've been much better if removed completely.
 

SeraphJan

Member
Can't really comment on the review since I have yet to played it. But I'll give a 10/10 for its graphic department.
 

Mjordan23

Neo Member
Tape a flashlight to your tv if you want hero lighting. That effect looked absolutely horrible during gameplay. At least it was toned down. It would've been much better if removed completely.
Agreed, it looked terrible in comparison to the change. Glad they toned it down, can`t understand why anyone would want it. Looks so fake an unnatural.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Horizon Forbidden West is a sprawling game with loads to see and do. In this video, Lucy James breaks down nine tips to help you get started. Everything from skill tree upgrades to combat techniques, these tips will help you begin your journey into the forbidden west.

Horizon Forbidden West is the long-awaited sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, and throws Aloy into a beautiful but dying world full of powerful machines, as she tries to discover why the world is ending. The game gives you a lot of tricks up your sleeve to stop the apocalypse… again, but it’s a lot to get your head around, so here are nine things I wish I knew before playing Horizon Forbidden West.

Timestamps:
00:23 - Watch A Prequel Recap
01:05 - Tweak Your Settings
02:16 - Embrace Your Skill Trees
03:26 - Valor Surges
04:18 - Traps Are OP
05:12 - Use Your Focus Everywhere
06:13 - Switch It Up!
07:02 - Selling Stuff
07:35 - Side Quests
 
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skit_data

Member
Looks like we’ll see a pretty light show at the opera house in Sydney tomorrow



Edit: Hm, it actually says it will be in the Botanical Gardens though
 
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J3nga

Member
Apologies if this has been discussed I havent been following the hype around this, just looking at the different versions of this and the PS4 version is a tenner cheapet than the PS5 version, but isnt there a free upgrade PS4>PS5? In which case why buy the PS5 version? Is it just a sneaky way for Sony to take advantage of people with a hole in their head or am I missing something?
Exactly this.
 
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