Gaming Horizon Forbidden West (PS4/PS5)

[JohnZSmith27]

Finished it this week. Loved it. The melee combat still isn't amazing but I didn't spend too much time using it so not too bothered. They improved on pretty much everything else. Fighting some of the bigger machines by just going and picking a fight is great.

Spoiler: I would have liked...

to have gotten that Sunwing earlier in the game. Flying around is so enjoyable. Would jave been nice to have that option a lot sooner than just before the end of the main story

 

[Irwin99]

Finished it. Mostly positive feelings but a few real downers that irritated me. The world was absolutely gorgeous- Ghost of Tsushima is probably the only game i can think of that wowed me more for a console game in terms of looks; the combat was great and frantic and had decent strategy, and some of the characters and plot points were good/interesting.

Downsides were the usual open world drudgery of fetch quests, camp clear outs and some poor pacing and exposition dumps that went on and on and on Aloy's whole saviour thing was getting a bit annoying too and some of the jumping to and fro was irritating.

I feel like i'm being mean and cynical because this a game clearly made with a lot of love and is not another heartless snoozefest (*cough* Ubisoft *cough*) but there were points where there was just too much talking and padding. Playing Elden Ring has sort of made me appreciate that you can make an open world game that cuts all the nonsense and padding out.

Overall I'd give it a solid 7.5-8. If/when they make a third game it's going look even better as it won't be a cross gen game. The graphics will be something else i'm sure.

 

[Bebe]

Not for me this time. Hoping to finish before Elden Ring but there's so much talking in this game compared to the original It's starting to make Vampyr and MGS look laconic.

I played vampyr recently, the npcs find the longest possible way to say anything

 

[Irwin99]

I played vampyr recently, the npcs find the longest possible way to say anything

The gaming sins guy on Youtube is actually a pretty chill person and doesn't do histrionics to get views but even he was losing his temper with Vampyr's dialogue options which was hilarious. By the end of the game, the characters conversations made him shout out: "Just end-for the love of god, please end!!!" Horizon FW tested my patience a bit at times but it wasn't nearly that bad.

 

[Norman Brownbutter]

This is, without doubt, one of the most tedious games I’ve ever played. It’s gorgeous to look at and the game play is fun enough. But the characters suck. The dialogue is fecking cringe. Nothing voids of exposition rambling on about nonsense. The over use of operatic music that are suppose to charge up a scene, but just ends up being pretentious. I spent far too much time saying “feck off game”, and I don’t remember being anywhere near this annoyed playing the first one.,

People keep telling me there’s a good game here, and maybe there is. But it’s ruined by the style choices of its director that I can only assume loves the smell of their own farts. Was anyone in awe of this? The long, boring cut scenes that take 10 minutes to say something that could be said in one short sentence. The fecking horrible over acting of the actress playing aloy, who for some reason won’t just shut the feck up. “I’m going to send this to my stash” is grating as feck.

I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that I enjoyed, yet also hated because of the direction. Whoever the director is needs shot, because there’s a 10 out of 10 game here, it’s hiding under all this over produced nonsense.

I don’t even think I can be bothered finishing it as It’s forced me to just hit skip as soon as I start to feel the game is starting its pretentious nonsense again. Back to Amazon you go, me thinks.

 

[Bebe]

The gaming sins guy on Youtube is actually a pretty chill person and doesn't do histrionics to get views but even he was losing his temper with Vampyr's dialogue options which was hilarious. By the end of the game, the characters conversations made him shout out: "Just end-for the love of god, please end!!!" Horizon FW tested my patience a bit at times but it wasn't nearly that bad.

They'd repeat the same sentence in 5 different ways...for every sentence . Blew my mind that someone actually wrote it.

And yeah, to return to the thread topic, I'd think I'm around halfway through Forbidden West and I'm really starting to crave a "50% less speaking from Aloy" setting.

 

[afrocentricity]

I just tune it out, like how I do with some people in my life.... Y'all are fussy feckers. It barely registers for me.

 

[Massive Spanner]

The underwater sections are atrocious. Why do devs ever think they’re a good idea? feck sake.

 

[One Night Only]

The underwater sections are atrocious. Why do devs ever think they’re a good idea? feck sake.

I felt like that too, underwater is always fecking shite. This wasn't as bad as other games though.

 

[Alock1]

The underwater sections are atrocious. Why do devs ever think they’re a good idea? feck sake.

Yep

Along with sections where you're being forced to walk through a town or allowed to run but having to wait/follow a slow walking npc.

I guess at least those sections are meant to have a purpose to help tell the story or load parts of the game (historically at least). No excuse for shitty underwater sections though.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Yep

Along with sections where you're being forced to walk through a town or allowed to run but having to wait/follow a slow walking npc.

I guess at least those sections are meant to have a purpose to help tell the story or load parts of the game (historically at least). No excuse for shitty underwater sections though.

I’ve found it pretty good so far for following NPCs. They generally will run at the same pace you do. Maybe I haven’t encountered what you’re saying yet.

also is it just me or is the climbing really off at times? Like sometimes Aloy just totally misses the target or goes the wrong direction or something. It’s a pain in the hole, if anything it’s worse than the first game.

oh and yeah the fact that she narrates EVERYTHING except for bits I get genuinely stuck on is soooo annoying. “Maybe I can glide there”. Yeah, no fecking shit Aloy, I was getting to that.

still, good game, but could’ve been better. 8 out of 10 but I’m still not too far in. Graphics are a 10.

 

[Mogget]

I actually love the underwater sections The underwater cauldron was my favourite one

 

[JohnZSmith27]

I actually love the underwater sections The underwater cauldron was my favourite one

Yeah me too. The poseiden mission was excellent. And I usually hate underwater levels.

 

[ha_rooney]

I’ve found it pretty good so far for following NPCs. They generally will run at the same pace you do. Maybe I haven’t encountered what you’re saying yet.

also is it just me or is the climbing really off at times? Like sometimes Aloy just totally misses the target or goes the wrong direction or something. It’s a pain in the hole, if anything it’s worse than the first game.

oh and yeah the fact that she narrates EVERYTHING except for bits I get genuinely stuck on is soooo annoying. “Maybe I can glide there”. Yeah, no fecking shit Aloy, I was getting to that.

still, good game, but could’ve been better. 8 out of 10 but I’m still not too far in. Graphics are a 10.

Agree on both points. Climbing feels glitched at times & is more annoying than the first game.

 

[Alock1]

I’ve found it pretty good so far for following NPCs. They generally will run at the same pace you do. Maybe I haven’t encountered what you’re saying yet.

also is it just me or is the climbing really off at times? Like sometimes Aloy just totally misses the target or goes the wrong direction or something. It’s a pain in the hole, if anything it’s worse than the first game.

oh and yeah the fact that she narrates EVERYTHING except for bits I get genuinely stuck on is soooo annoying. “Maybe I can glide there”. Yeah, no fecking shit Aloy, I was getting to that.

still, good game, but could’ve been better. 8 out of 10 but I’m still not too far in. Graphics are a 10.

Just meant generally in games why do devs persist to put that shit in. Wasn't specific to Horizon.

 

[afrocentricity]

Just meant generally in games why do devs persist to put that shit in. Wasn't specific to Horizon.

In Astrobot some of the best levels are water levels.

 

[kouroux]

Great game but one thing that truly grates and makes no sense to me is why for a game where this is emphasis on melee combat, where the human ennemies can block your hits, why Aloy can't block nor counter some ennemies.
Graphics are ridiculous, they improved on the motion capture of basically every NPC, story wise I'm a bit perplexed but I'm afraid to spoil things if I go too much into details.

 

[ha_rooney]

Maybe it’s me, but the combat in this doesn’t flow as well as I expected. Machines are way too quick & have an incredibly powerful ability to attack you from miles away. Trying to dodge also is a pain, I never seem to be able to time it.

I’m about half way through but am finding some of the key things about the gameplay a bit annoying.

 

[One Night Only]

Maybe it’s me, but the combat in this doesn’t flow as well as I expected. Machines are way too quick & have an incredibly powerful ability to attack you from miles away. Trying to dodge also is a pain, I never seem to be able to time it.

I’m about half way through but am finding some of the key things about the gameplay a bit annoying.

I feel the same in a way, there's just too many options on how to take down machines now, but realistically there's only a couple which actually work with certain machines.

Braced shot or whatever with the sharpshot bow is very over powered so that's the best way to mash machines at the moment. Just beat an apex thunderjaw, kept pinning me down and obliterating my health. Also, fought some mad feckin fast machine. Scorcher, there were arses in the first game too. Just pounces on you from 3637 mile away.

I CBA changing my weapon every 4 seconds to deal with different machine types.

 

[Irwin99]

Underwater sections are like sewer sections in games; as gamers we're just automatically primed to think "Oh God no!!!" whenever we encounter them.

To be fair HFW is actually one if the better games when it comes to underwater sections but i still don't care for swimming in games.

 

[afrocentricity]

I'm playing this at the level I was playing HZD on Ultra hard (I feel like turning up the difficulty but I'll wait till new game plus) and it feels really good. The controls are butter and I'm not fighting the controls, it just feels smooth and I can pull out most of the tricks now easily. The melee and vault and shoot, or the slide.... The combat is just better. Maybe stick at it a bit, try mixing it up. It's gonna be subjective to a degree....

 

[kouroux]

Underwater sections are like sewer sections in games; as gamers we're just automatically primed to think "Oh God no!!!" whenever we encounter them.

To be fair HFW is actually one if the better games when it comes to underwater sections but i still don't care for swimming in games.

The whole cauldron with underwater section

 

[kouroux]

Maybe it’s me, but the combat in this doesn’t flow as well as I expected. Machines are way too quick & have an incredibly powerful ability to attack you from miles away. Trying to dodge also is a pain, I never seem to be able to time it.

I’m about half way through but am finding some of the key things about the gameplay a bit annoying.

They need to introduce the possibility of blocking melee hits but also the ability to lock on a target because it can get hectic on the screen.
A little map on screen ala Rockstars wouldn't be either

 

[One Night Only]

Aloy can sound very much like Dolores off Westworld the way she speaks.

 

[kouroux]

Not sure my question warrants spoilers but here goes anyway for safety

Spoiler

In different areas of the map, we see battle scenes of the Old world because the military and the Faro machines, like you'd see a Scarab on top of a tank and in the process of destroying it

My question is how did this event happen and when ? Because as far as we know the Faro robots destroyed life on Earth and absorbed all the possible biosphere there was, before it took years for Minerva to send signals to deactivate them and thus starting the terraforming processes with Gaia.

It just seems like Minerva deactivated the Faro robots amidst combat with military forces but how could it be possible ?

Did I miss something ?

 

[Nanook]

I don’t understand combat on this game. Some machines will be weak against for example fire but my fire arrows barely do any damage. For every machine I do way more damage with just the standard arrows.

 

[pacifictheme]

I don’t understand combat on this game. Some machines will be weak against for example fire but my fire arrows barely do any damage. For every machine I do way more damage with just the standard arrows.

The first game had certain areas (weak spots) of robots you were supposed to hit that sort of blew them up. You could use your scanner to see those areas. Not played the second, not sure why I am in the topic tbh, but that may be where you are going wrong.

 

[Ainu]

I don’t understand combat on this game. Some machines will be weak against for example fire but my fire arrows barely do any damage. For every machine I do way more damage with just the standard arrows.

In general, hitting main bodies is a bad idea. Always target specific parts. Study the machine in your notebook if you don't know what to do.

 

[b82REZ]

The first game had certain areas (weak spots) of robots you were supposed to hit that sort of blew them up. You could use your scanner to see those areas. Not played the second, not sure why I am in the topic tbh, but that may be where you are going wrong.

Are you one of those people that answer questions on Amazon by saying "I haven't bought this item so I can't help you."

 

[pacifictheme]

Are you one of those people that answer questions on Amazon by saying "I haven't bought this item so I can't help you."

No, I dunno why I came into the topic but it looks like I was right anyway. It sounds the same as the first which is not very surprising.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Been playing this with my son, who got it for his birthday. Jesus Christ the talky bits are dull. Do any of you masochists not skip through them?!

 

[b82REZ]

No, I dunno why I came into the topic but it looks like I was right anyway. It sounds the same as the first which is not very surprising.

Not quite. Each robot has an elemental weakness now which is what he was asking. The weak points take more damage if you hit those parts with the corresponding elemental arrow, which causes a chain reaction which gives you a window to do added damage.

 

[afrocentricity]

Been playing this with my son, who got it for his birthday. Jesus Christ the talky bits are dull. Do any of you masochists not skip through them?!

I barely skip....... In fact, I ask every question too. Hasn't got old yet.... I like the story so far though and the animations and emotions are top notch.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I barely skip....... In fact, I ask every question too. Hasn't got old yet.... I like the story so far though and the animations and emotions are top notch.

Jaysus. I’m mashing x and clicking on the first “can I piss of now please?” option of every conversation. I don’t mind the action cut scenes. Some of them are quite cinematic. All the tedious chat about tribes with weird names can do one though.

 

[Ainu]

Not quite. Each robot has an elemental weakness now which is what he was asking. The weak points take more damage if you hit those parts with the corresponding elemental arrow, which causes a chain reaction which gives you a window to do added damage.

The chain reaction stuff existed in the first game as well. Hitting a blaze canister with fire causing it to explode and giving that machine and others close to it the burn status. It's nothing new.

 

[b82REZ]

The chain reaction stuff existed in the first game as well. Hitting a blaze canister with fire causing it to explode and giving that machine and others close to it the burn status. It's nothing new.

It's not the same in this game.

The robots will only be damaged by their respective weakness. That's why the person asking before was doing more damage with normal arrows than with fire arrows, he was attacking something with an arrow it wasn't weak to.

 

[Ainu]

It's not the same in this game.

The robots will only be damaged by their respective weakness. That's why the person asking before was doing more damage with normal arrows than with fire arrows, he was attacking something with an arrow it wasn't weak to.

I think there's some confusion here.

There are two main ways to hit elemental damage:
1. Elemental build-up on a machine's body leading to a status condition, e.g. hitting enough cold arrows until a machine turns brittle, shock arrows until it gets stunned, etc. This mechanic existed in Horizon Zero Dawn as well but I don't think the machines had weaknesses and resistances, so the build-up rate will be different in this game, depending on the machine. I don't know if resistance just slows the process down or nullifies it completely. I think the former but I'd have to test it.
2. Shooting specific parts to trigger a large explosion, which works exactly the same as in the first game. You shoot a blaze canister with fire, it will explode and inflict burn on the target and surrounding machines.

The reason @Nanook said normal arrows seemed to do more damage is probably because they were looking at raw damage instead of status build-up. You don't hit a machine with its weakness to do raw damage, you do it because it's easier to build up the status. Once the status is hit (the icon gets filled), you benefit from whatever status was inflicted.

 

[afrocentricity]

It's not the same in this game.

The robots will only be damaged by their respective weakness. That's why the person asking before was doing more damage with normal arrows than with fire arrows, he was attacking something with an arrow it wasn't weak to.

He said he was using fire arrows on a machine weak to fire though...

 

[Reditus]

Been playing this with my son, who got it for his birthday. Jesus Christ the talky bits are dull. Do any of you masochists not skip through them?!

I often say to myself to try and stick with the story but after a few hours Im the same and end up skipping most of it. The story in this new Horizon game really is not good at all.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Jaysus. I’m mashing x and clicking on the first “can I piss of now please?” option of every conversation. I don’t mind the action cut scenes. Some of them are quite cinematic. All the tedious chat about tribes with weird names can do one though.

It depends on how invested you are in the world. Most conversations are not required and you can sail through the game avoiding it.

Main Story progresses in the way most expected after the first game. Side story is just about the various other aspect of the world just like any other game. What makes it good is the facial animation of NPC. Thats why i am interested in their story but its definitely not required.