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[Bumblebeetuna]

Gorgeous game, pretty standard gameplay.

Narrative and character design are jokes. If it wasn’t a Sony game I think it would have scored quite a bit lower and i say that as someone with the platinum.

 

[Humdinger]

I was a big fan of the original, but I didn't like the sequel much. I'd give the first a 9 and the second a 7. It was okay, but they screwed up the combat, turned Aloy unlikeable, and generally fell into the trap of overstuffing the game. The story was also much weaker.

It wasn't a bad game. I was just disappointed with it. I'm not sure whether I'll bother with the third. I feel like Guerilla captured lightning in a bottle with the first one, but then it slipped through their hands with the second.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Technologically astounding.

Few gripes between narrative and gameplay, but a colossal success IMO

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

Beautiful world, not very fond of the combat though. Too many animation frames for Aloy, or something. Probably didn’t help that I was also playing God of War at the time.

 

[Flabagast]

I thought the game was horrible, couldn't play it anymore after 10h

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

I thought the game was horrible, couldn't play it anymore after 10h

I’ll never understand this type of comment. I mean, what weird fetish must someone have to put even 10 hours into something ”horrible”?

 

[EverydayBeast]

Btw that actress who played Regalla

Actually all the actors were Now that the smoke has settled with Horizon Forbidden West, characters like Lance Reddick as Sylens, Carrie-Anne Mosswere as Tilda is pretty cool and I will say they did an incredible job.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Loved it and played it to death, the sense of exploration and eyeball melting graphics just kept me entertained all the way through to the end, really loved the differing biomes and the sheer density and diversity in the visuals for an open world game are unrivalled, it puts loads of corridor/linear games to shame in the visuals department. Have the expansion but just couldn't get into it the way I did with the first 2 games as the ole muscle memory had left me by the time I got around to playing it and I found myself just getting killed left right and center trying to pull of skills I could do blindfolded

I stopped reading at "sense of exploration"

 

[cash_longfellow]

Loved the first entry…started the second because it was free with extra on ps plus. Can’t get into more than 2 hours the two times I’ve tried. Feels like it’s an absurdly forced sequel, just like TLOU.

 

[SlimySnake]

This is all subjective of course, but it's funny how different takes we can end up with. I thought HFW was superior to HZD in pretty much every aspect (especially the side quests) except for the main story. Which felt too rushed towards the end (they really could have done more with Tilda) and ends up with a complete FU cliffhanger, while also explaining way too much of the mystery.

Oh, one thing though. There's way too much focus on elemental damage this time around. I think it's fine that some enemies are more susceptible to certain types of elemental damage (and immune to others), but here you basically have to max out the elemental damage with certain enemies, otherwise you may just as well be poking them with a blunt stick.

I honestly groaned when i saw the whole Tilda love arc. i knew they had added her just to retcon Aloy to be gay and they proved me right literally in the DLC.

But the thing that bugged me the most is that they spend the whole game collecting allies and then you fight the final two bosses alone.

the big fight with the aliens and robots is a cutscene because they idiotically decided to make the game last gen and couldnt do it in realtime gameplay sequence. i wanted to throw the controller at the tv when they show that massive war scene between robots and then had aloy run through it all in a cutscene.

other than that, the elemental stuff is something im used to because i finished the first game on the hardest difficulty on both PS4 and PC where you pretty much have to use elemental arrows to beat the time trials. This game just goes too far with it by nerfing everything else. Even if an enemy is weak to fire, you do less damage than you did before. frost is pretty much useless after it was a 3x damage boost last time. and then there is the armor which is on every enemy from the biggest to the smallest. Making every single fight a chore.

The worst part is that they upped the aggressiveness of each robot and then gave them all range attacks. so you had this really tightly balanced combat from the first game turned into complete chaos where you are running around like a headless chicken getting gangbanged by people jumping at you or throwing things at you or charging at you. i did a combat scenario just the other day and it was a fucking disaster.

Honestly, if they wanted it to be a more methodical and RPG like experience where you are forced to use elemental stuff and traps and whatnot then sure go ahead. But be like kojima, and design the game around these new combat changes. Kojima took the series in several different directions from MGS2 to MGS3 and MGS4 and finally 5, but he kept on giving us more and more tools and freedom in addition to changing enemy designs. GG didnt bother adding shields to block incoming projectiles or parry to counter the constant charges. They kept the level design the same which is basically an open field in every single encounter whereas kojima had his designers meticulously design every single base even in the open world MGSV let alone the linear MGS3 and MGS4.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I wonder if Sony is aware of the sentiment that TLoU2, SM2, GoW:R and H:FW had a tepid reception after the honeymoon period. I said that if Horizon 3 had the same game design, it could end up the high 70s on MC, which would be disastrous.

 

[nowhat]

I honestly groaned when i saw the whole Tilda love arc. i knew they had added her just to retcon Aloy to be gay and they proved me right literally in the DLC.

Ehh, I always figured Aloy would like to be huffin' the muffin' since HZD, so no issues there. Just that Tilda went from ally to enemy way too quickly.

 

[DirtyBast8rd]

Horizon Forbidden West is so good, everyone with a PlayStation or PC has to play this game.

The first Horizon was really good and the story could have finished with that. The second game is a bloated Ubisoft like open world game with an annoying protagonist who won't shut up and behaves like a complete independent girl boss aka a insufferable bitch. They whole inhabitants of the world feel unbalanced in their interactions. Felt like a slog to play through and finish and made me ditch this franchise.

 

[RJMacready73]

I stopped reading at "sense of exploration"

Really? You didn't feel like there was something new around each corner, that the new biomes where diverse enough? I loved coming across new ruins and areas, granted it's not up there with the likes of W3 but still had enoug variety to keep me exploring

 

[The ninja farmer]

Was late to the party on the first and currently playing through this at the moment

It really scratches that exploration and world discovery itch. I didn’t expect to like the first as much and apart from some small changes here and there. This feels like a continuation of the first game. Maybe a little weaker story wise, but it does feel (even just now in the game) like it’s a bridge to where there are going, if they make a 3rd game in the series.

I was skipping the character convos in the first couple of hours, but now I am quite happy dipping in and out as suits me and the rest of the time exploring, wandering around picking fights with dinosaur robots and generally having a great time. The characters generally come across well enough, but no one too memorable so far (the lack of slyens is a little disappointing)

Not really overly fussed with any woke chars or moments. More just ignore, or move on if anything. As there is always another mountain to climb and jump from. Or a robot beast to take on (I really like the swimming and diving sections.)

I would agree that combat was much more varied in the first and I probably preferred the attack and defend behaviours of the robot beasts. I am more only using 5 or 6 weapons and almost no traps (that’s on the hard difficulty). But that’s more nitpicking

Looking forward to eventually finishing the story and tackling the dlc, which I hear is pretty impressive

 

[GymWolf]

Superior to the first game in everything except the plot.

Unfortunately i didn't liked it nearly as much.

Still a good game with an incredible cast of enemies to fight and high production values for days that make stuff like sp2 looks cheap.

 

[Salmon Snake]

Loved HZD and platinumed it but dropped Forbidden West because it just didn't grab me. The quests and characters were so bland.

Beautiful game.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Really? You didn't feel like there was something new around each corner, that the new biomes where diverse enough? I loved coming across new ruins and areas, granted it's not up there with the likes of W3 but still had enoug variety to keep me exploring

biome variety does not increase sense of exploration when you have 20399201029384919920192 icons marked on your map, Dragons Dogma 2012 has way more sense of exploration than HZD or HFW

 

[Valt7786]

First one was better for sure. The story was interesting at first but as soon as it introduced the immortal flying space people it turned to shit. Combat felt so much worse than the original too, having every hit you take knock you down was not a fun gimmick (I know, it makes sense being hit a robot dinosaur is gonna knock you down but it was frustrating as a gameplay element) and being a primarily ranged fighter but having your enemies constantly in your face felt crap too.

 

[GermanZepp]

I tried the game, despite the incredible graphical fidelity i though the visuals were overwhelming, too much colour and detail to my taste. It became tiresome fast. And Aloy must be the worst charater ever. Period. No thanks.

 

[Gaiff]

Ehh, I always figured Aloy would like to be huffin' the muffin' since HZD, so no issues there. Just that Tilda went from ally to enemy way too quickly.

I figured she was potentially bisexual and that by the second game, you’d have at least one male or female love interest.

They seemed to be building up Varl as a love interest in the first game but then put him with someone else and then unceremoniously killed him.

Then that girl is shoehorned in and within one DLC, you can already get with her. Honestly an awful writing decision.

 

[Trunx81]

Finished it on the PS4 a few weeks ago. Astounding that this runs on hardware that's over 10 years old. It had some issues, though, especially with pop-ins and some bugs. But the gameplay was, although in 30fps, buttery smooth, even smoother than in the first game.

The story arc is def. not as good as in Zero Dawn, although both end up to be simple fetch quests. Having a base of operation was good, though, and when you get the flying mount, I sometimes just flew over the playfield, marveling at the graphics.

I still don't get all the hate for Aloy. She grew up as an outcast, so it's clear that she's skeptical when people offer help and kindness. And her arc is clear at the end, when she finally relies on her friends to help her out.

The enemy was lack-lusting for sure, especially that cheap corporate Picard-rip-off. Sidemissions made up for that, though. And every time you find some informations from the "old world", they are heart breaking and make the overall story so much better. Really looking forward for a third (and hopefully concluding) third game.

Netflix is planning a show, and as Aloy is a redhead, I really expect to see Jada Pinkett taking the main role.

 

[Shakka43]

Excellent visuals, good gameplay and combat let down by some annoying enemies which jump and move around way too much. Decent overall story but Alloy gets annoying with her "only I can save the planet" attitude.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

I have no idea why people say it's bad.

In short: great tech, annoying protagonists, boring combat, boring story, boring gameplay loop, controls and menus way too overloaded, bad design choices.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

I’ll never understand this type of comment. I mean, what weird fetish must someone have to put even 10 hours into something ”horrible”?

For me, the game was tolerable in hopes of it improving. Then the people riding dinosaurs appeared and that is when I quit.

 

[K' Dash]

It's a shit game with pretty visuals.

 

[Chuck Berry]

I still prefer the first one. I dont have to deal with so many mostly useless weapons, I get tearblast arrows, and Aloy actually looks somewhat decent and is a bit less of a cold cunt.

Edit: Also hated how they got rid of the game breaking whistle -> stealth kill in FW. It was a great way to thin numbers and cut down on bullshit encounters.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

It is incredible. I prefer the more accessible/simpler approach of Zero Dawn personally but that's just due to me playing with no reticle and only using hunter bow, systems are actually perfect. And I keep learning more thanks to the dedicated community and amount of channels devoted to the game. This awesome video from beginners is from just 6 days ago:



Check this guy's channel for an absolutely insane amount of quality, deep content regarding the game, legit one of the very best gaming channels on YouTube.


Some also said it's "shallow".. I have no clue whatsoever.

Nah the combat is definitely worse than HZD.

 

[Kupfer]

Nah the combat is definitely worse than HZD.

I can even imagine, without having analyzed it in detail, that much more effort has been put into the new combat system and much more thought has been given to it, that it offers more possibilities and on paper "makes everything better bigger further"
And yet, as a player, I had to realize that it sucks and, unlike HZD, is no fun.