Horizon Zero Dawn (Official Discussion Thread)

By the time you make it to the Frozen Wilds (assuming you do that after the main game) you'll be like a well-oiled machine. You'll still find it to be tough as hell, too. In particular, one of the final post-game quests involving fireclaws is a total pain in the ass.
 
Yeah, tactics and strategy start getting real important...

strategy is fine but I hate just having to sneak around, use stealth and long range arrow attacks as it takes a long time to kill off the larger machines and herds using this tactic...I much prefer to use a combination of melee plus range attacks
 
Yeah- I generally use long range to split the herd from the guard, kill off whomever is the biggest solo or imminent threat and move from there. There is also hiding in the grass and whistling to bring one at a time for a quiet lunch... :ROFLMAO:
 
took me 2 hours to finally beat the two Rockbreakers in the Corrupted Zone...this is the most fun I've had playing a game since Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Sekiro
 

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took me 2 hours to finally beat the two Rockbreakers in the Corrupted Zone...this is the most fun I've had playing a game since Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Sekiro
Rock breakers are the only machines in both games that give me trouble. I cheesed that corrupted zone. I ran away just far enough they don't follow you but continue to use their range attack. I picked them both apart from long distance.
 
Rock breakers are the only machines in both games that give me trouble. I cheesed that corrupted zone. I ran away just far enough they don't follow you but continue to use their range attack. I picked them both apart from long distance.

I can take down 1 fairly easily but 2 is difficult...freeze bombs and then precision arrows take them out pretty quickly...problem was trying to get the 2nd one not to aggro while fighting the first one...you can also tear the weapon off a Ravager and use it against the Rockbreaker
 
There is a mine or explosive part that you can grab from one of the big machines, don't recall which or how it works. I just remember finding something that explodes, waiting for a big machine to walk over it and set it off. Did massive amounts of damage.

What is the machine that shoots the air burst explosives? Has lasers that point down and if you're in the path they blow.
 
I'm close to end of the base game but one thing I always found curious about PC gamers not just with Horizon Zero Dawn but all games in general...is how so few of them actually seem to take their time and explore everything (or a lot of) what the game has to offer...with so many of the Steam Achievements I've received I've looked at the stats and such a small percentage have completed side missions or any extra content beyond the main missions...I must be the outlier as I love exploring every inch of a game

with HZD only 11.6% collected all the metal flowers?...only 21.8% hunted the Redmaw Thunderjaw?...it seems most gamers only care about the main missions
 

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Limited time really. I only did the main story for HZD. Last game I went somewhat completionist was 2077 and before that Witcher.
 
I'm close to end of the base game but one thing I always found curious about PC gamers not just with Horizon Zero Dawn but all games in general...is how so few of them actually seem to take their time and explore everything (or a lot of) what the game has to offer...with so many of the Steam Achievements I've received I've looked at the stats and such a small percentage have completed side missions or any extra content beyond the main missions...I must be the outlier as I love exploring every inch of a game

with HZD only 11.6% collected all the metal flowers?...only 21.8% hunted the Redmaw Thunderjaw?...it seems most gamers only care about the main missions


Because there's enough acceptable early cruft to pave-over the early hours, to the point where I can't get a steam refund - even after discovering that I hated all the wea[ons available at the first shop. (all some castrated variant of the base bow, bad if you already cant aim!)
 
Because there's enough acceptable early cruft to pave-over the early hours, to the point where I can't get a steam refund - even after discovering that I hated all the wea[ons available at the first shop. (all some castrated variant of the base bow, bad if you already cant aim!)

use the Concentration skill which slows down time...makes using (and especially aiming) the bow really easy
 
I'm close to end of the base game but one thing I always found curious about PC gamers not just with Horizon Zero Dawn but all games in general...is how so few of them actually seem to take their time and explore everything (or a lot of) what the game has to offer...with so many of the Steam Achievements I've received I've looked at the stats and such a small percentage have completed side missions or any extra content beyond the main missions...I must be the outlier as I love exploring every inch of a game

with HZD only 11.6% collected all the metal flowers?...only 21.8% hunted the Redmaw Thunderjaw?...it seems most gamers only care about the main missions

Some games have so much "hidden" stuff I would need half a dozen guides to do all those achievs. It seems some players have a talent for finding certain secrets, I for one don't and usually cba to do those just for the sake of doing them.
 
Some games have so much "hidden" stuff I would need half a dozen guides to do all those achievs. It seems some players have a talent for finding certain secrets, I for one don't and usually cba to do those just for the sake of doing them.

I do main story missions, side quests, and some extra activities. I like finding lore to read as long as it is fairly simple and worth reading. Some games just make it too hard to realistically find everything to read/see and I won't bother doing that.
 
Some games have so much "hidden" stuff I would need half a dozen guides to do all those achievs. It seems some players have a talent for finding certain secrets, I for one don't and usually cba to do those just for the sake of doing them.

I agree about the really obscure Achievements...but I'm referring to the obvious ones involving completing side quests or things like collecting all the items etc...with most games you can buy or obtain a map which shows you the location of these items so it's not like players have to search the entire map and find them on their own
 
Hell, in H:ZD you can buy in game maps of most of the collection quests (I know I had a couple copies of the flower maps).
 
Hell, in H:ZD you can buy in game maps of most of the collection quests (I know I had a couple copies of the flower maps).

I bought the maps for the collectables early in the game which is how I was able to find all of them...without the map I most likely wouldn't have bothered
 
I bought the maps for the collectables early in the game which is how I was able to find all of them...without the map I most likely wouldn't have bothered
The Vantage Points are particularly worthwhile, as far as collectibles go. Some pretty interesting side-story comes along with them.
 
The Vantage Points are particularly worthwhile, as far as collectibles go. Some pretty interesting side-story comes along with them.

I'm on the last mission of the Frozen Wilds DLC and I've collected everything, explored everywhere, unlocked every icon, done every main mission/side mission/errand/hunting ground/cauldron/bandit camp etc on the map...130+ hours...an amazing game!...Forbidden West is now one of my most anticipated games on PC
 
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I'm on the last mission of the Frozen Wilds DLC and I've collected everything, explored everywhere, unlocked every icon, done every main mission/side mission/errand/hunting ground/cauldron/bandit camp etc on the map...130+ hours...an amazing game!...Forbidden West is now one of my most anticipated games on PC

I never do that in games. Only thing I wish was the text/documents scattered around the world were easier to find in normal gameplay. A lot of good back ground lore in there and I am pretty sure I missed most of those.
 
Yeah, I forget which type it was but one of the lore items I missed a bunch. And I really did enjoy the lore.
 
the lore audio/video files is the only thing I didn't complete as there was no way of knowing where they all were and I didn't feel like searching the entire map for them...using a walkthrough to find them all also would have been annoying...I did get 74/79 Achievements (93%) as the vast majority could be obtained in a normal playthrough without having to do anything crazy
 
I finally finished the game and Frozen Wilds DLC...140 hours...I like taking my time and exploring in every game I play which is why it took so long...I was getting a bit burnt out towards the end but the DLC re-energized me a bit...overall I liked the base game better but the ending to the DLC was better then the main game ending

there's definitely a learning curve but once you master the gameplay mechanics, weapons etc the combat is a lot of fun...although the game was more challenging then most I still didn't find it all that difficult...after understanding the various weapons, weak points, elemental damage etc, the game becomes pretty easy (even against the hardest machines like Fireclaws, Rockbreakers etc)...the different environments- lush jungles, deserts, snowy mountains as well as the diversity of machine types- air (Glinthawks, Stormbirds), land (Thunderjaw, Rockbreaker), sea (Snapmaw) were really well done...bravo to Guerrilla Games

the voice acting was impressive (Aloy voice actress and Sylens voiced by Lance Reddick were particularly good)...traversal is excellent...you can easily jump/climb around 99% of obstacles and geography which makes exploring the map really fun...graphics were really good (except for the softness I mentioned earlier)...DLC improved upon it as far as snow and snow deformation...only thing that didn't look good in the game was the rain effects...the lighting might be the best in any game I've ever played...exploring the world at night with the lights of the machines shining in the distance (and up close) was absolutely stunning...the way the Frostclaw has that headlight thing on his head which blinds you if you attack him from the front was really well done

the story, gameplay, mechanics, and the world itself were top notch...only negative is that the game can be overwhelming at times figuring out how all the game mechanics work together- skill trees, weapons, armor, ammo, inventory management etc...inventory management sucks/takes some getting used to

Grade: A
 

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Took you 140 hours? Took me around 80 to pretty much finish everything. If it took you that long with dawn forbidden West going to take you 200+.
 
Took you 140 hours? Took me around 80 to pretty much finish everything. If it took you that long with dawn forbidden West going to take you 200+.

I like taking my time and exploring...I also never used fast travel until I unlocked everything first...so I would walk everywhere to unlock every area and then used fast travel...I also didn't use any walkthroughs unless I was really stuck on something (a few of those Hunting Ground Blazing Sun (Gold medal) challenges were really annoying so I looked up how to complete them within the required time
 
I'm close to end of the base game but one thing I always found curious about PC gamers not just with Horizon Zero Dawn but all games in general...is how so few of them actually seem to take their time and explore everything (or a lot of) what the game has to offer...with so many of the Steam Achievements I've received I've looked at the stats and such a small percentage have completed side missions or any extra content beyond the main missions...I must be the outlier as I love exploring every inch of a game

with HZD only 11.6% collected all the metal flowers?...only 21.8% hunted the Redmaw Thunderjaw?...it seems most gamers only care about the main missions
This was one of the first games I ever Platinum'd (got all trophies) on Playstation. I did absolutely everything I could in the game and loved every second of it, even the hard hunting grounds medals were fun for me despite having to lookup a couple videos to see the best strategy for a couple of them (the one in the Frozen Wilds was particularly hard I remember).

Was curious to see how those percentages lined up with PSN, and the metal flowers trophy is exactly the same at 11.6% while the Redmaw Thunderjaw mission was a bit less at 19.9%. The Platinum trophy is at 5.5% though while All achievements obtained is at 1.6% on Steam. I've actually only got a few hours into the PC/Steam version myself and have been meaning to play through it again on there again. I held out initially because of the bugs and performance issues it had on PC and just haven't made my way back to it yet.

I finally finished the game and Frozen Wilds DLC...140 hours...I like taking my time and exploring in every game I play which is why it took so long...I was getting a bit burnt out towards the end but the DLC re-energized me a bit...overall I liked the base game better but the ending to the DLC was better then the main game ending

there's definitely a learning curve but once you master the gameplay mechanics, weapons etc the combat is a lot of fun...although the game was more challenging then most I still didn't find it all that difficult...after understanding the various weapons, weak points, elemental damage etc, the game becomes pretty easy (even against the hardest machines like Fireclaws, Rockbreakers etc)...the different environments- lush jungles, deserts, snowy mountains as well as the diversity of machine types- air (Glinthawks, Stormbirds), land (Thunderjaw, Rockbreaker), sea (Snapmaw) were really well done...bravo to Guerrilla Games

the voice acting was impressive (Aloy voice actress and Sylens voiced by Lance Reddick were particularly good)...traversal is excellent...you can easily jump/climb around 99% of obstacles and geography which makes exploring the map really fun...graphics were really good (except for the softness I mentioned earlier)...DLC improved upon it as far as snow and snow deformation...only thing that didn't look good in the game was the rain effects...the lighting might be the best in any game I've ever played...exploring the world at night with the lights of the machines shining in the distance (and up close) was absolutely stunning...the way the Frostclaw has that headlight thing on his head which blinds you if you attack him from the front was really well done

the story, gameplay, mechanics, and the world itself were top notch...only negative is that the game can be overwhelming at times figuring out how all the game mechanics work together- skill trees, weapons, armor, ammo, inventory management etc...inventory management sucks/takes some getting used to

Grade: A
I probably had about the same amount hours in or maybe a bit more over two complete playthroughs since I beat the game on normal and Ultra Hard/NG+ before the Frozen Wilds DLC came out on PS4, then played through the FW DLC on Ultra Hard as well. For me Ultra Hard was about the same difficulty with all the upgraded equipment I carried over, as well as the Shield Weaver armor that was pretty OP even after it was nerfed a couple times in patches. What's funny too with that Shield Weaver armor is that in Story mode difficulty you literally can't die even if you just do nothing with any enemy or amount of them around, lol. I wasn't surprised when I saw they didn't bring that back in Forbidden West (outside of a timed perk/Valor Surge you can unlock).
 
the Shield Weaver armor that was pretty OP even after it was nerfed a couple times in patches. What's funny too with that Shield Weaver armor is that in Story mode difficulty you literally can't die even if you just do nothing with any enemy or amount of them around, lol. I wasn't surprised when I saw they didn't bring that back in Forbidden West (outside of a timed perk/Valor Surge you can unlock).

the Shield Weaver was too OP...I took it off after realizing that it made you pretty much indestructible...you could literally never die as it kept recharging every few seconds...I ended up switching to the Carja Blazon outfit as I thought it looked the best plus had 3 modification slots
 
the Shield Weaver was too OP...I took it off after realizing that it made you pretty much indestructible...you could literally never die as it kept recharging every few seconds...I ended up switching to the Carja Blazon outfit as I thought it looked the best plus had 3 modification slots
Yeah, it was more balanced on Ultra Hard I think; it would only absorb a single hit from anything and then you would almost die from a second hit from any medium sized enemy or die from a second hit from any large enemy since it has zero protection or mod capability to help once your shield is down. I think I mostly stuck with one of the infiltrator outfits so I could run up on most enemies without alerting them before I could slide in and insta-kill them with a critical strike. Then if I was preparing to fight an enemy with a certain elemental attack, switch outfits to protect myself appropriately from it.
 
I don't mind remakes or remasters. But this game really doesn't need it. It looks amazing as is. The game is less than 6 years old, and the sequel just came out. I assume this will just be a simple remaster for PS5. Essentially porting the PC version to PS5. If they bring other graphical improvements maybe that will be a free patch for the PC version.
 
I don't think it's gonna be a full remake. Probably just an update to the engine with Ray Tracing to something more equivalent of Horizon 2. It'll be on par with the PC version. The game doesn't really need much in the way of better textures or models. It still looks awesome.
 
I don't think it's gonna be a full remake. Probably just an update to the engine with Ray Tracing to something more equivalent of Horizon 2. It'll be on par with the PC version. The game doesn't really need much in the way of better textures or models. It still looks awesome.
This game doesn’t need technical features in order to entice you to play. This is just, simply, a good game. It has its faults (IMO with a slow start), but once the fast travel mechanic is unlocked, my brain simply forgave all the previous sins were immediately forgiven throughout the rest of the experience. I’ll stick by my “One of the best Gaming Experiences” opinions.
 
I don't think it's gonna be a full remake. Probably just an update to the engine with Ray Tracing to something more equivalent of Horizon 2. It'll be on par with the PC version. The game doesn't really need much in the way of better textures or models. It still looks awesome.
Forbidden West doesn't even have Ray Tracing.

I have to imagine they will be more/less porting the game into the Forbidden West Engine, to adopt its graphics features and characteristics. Because, the only difference with the PC version is some small adjustments to lighting and the quality of the lighting. But its not that noticeable, especially whent he console version is running in high res and 60fps, with backward compatibility on PS5.
 
I got this about six months ago but decided to wait until I got a new video card to play it. Took the time for a playthrough recently and spent about 110 hours for it. I didn't complete everything but most of what was left was the landscape (non-quest) lore items scattered around. Forbidden West can't get ported to the PC soon enough as far as I'm concerned. This is easily one of the best games I've ever played.

Completionism isn't something I suffer from but I did go through most of the stuff in the game because it was interesting. The Vantage Points were one of the best additions I've ever seen in a game. It showed you just a hint of what things looked like before everything went to hell, a story separate from the main story but still relevant and it was simply interesting on its own.

A game that mixes a great story with fun gameplay like this one is a rarity. A lot of thought and effort went into the story, history and mechanics. It's obvious an actual "full" world was created before the story was written and the game made which allowed for a seamless experience.
 
Can anyone explain the HDR settings?

You have HDR Brightness and HDR Whitepoint in HDR settings and then separately a regular brightness setting.

It would seem like Whitepoint would be HDR value of my monitor (HDR 400 spec, listed as 416 in driver, Windows HDR calibration shows it at ~430) - but that seems too low in action and it seems Windows (or the game?) does some mapping of HDR 400 > 600 instead of letting it just clip off above whatever the monitor can handle - as going to ~600 produces results of what I would expect HDR to be looking like

And then I'm guessing HDR brightness is shadow detail? So then leave the other separate brightness default? Or mess with that too? And then that handles what?

Edit: Google is just 500 different answers that's why I'm asking lol, might as well get 501

Double Edit: OK, after playing with it, I'm gonna give the 501st answer:

HDR brightness should be set to peak brightness of your display - I set it to 43 (430 is my display peak brightness)

HDR Whitepoint should be SDR base white level (100 usually in SDR mode but when viewing in HDR it's around ~200 depending on your display) - I set it to 200

Then after that adjust the separate brightness setting outside of HDR settings to whatever it is for your setup

This looks correct to me, especially looking at the sun and clouds in the benchmark and opening movie
 
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