Horizon Zero Dawn

The other thing is motion control, camera, lock on. For me controlling the camera is a full time job. It is especially challenging during combat. The apparent lack of a simple lock on system has me wondering if I am missing something basic about combat. When I am engaged with more than one Strider or Watcher at a time, things really tend to fall apart control wise and camera wise. Maybe it is a matter of "git gud."

There are weak points that you need to aim for (e.g. canisters) so a lock on system would defeat the purpose of that. The slow motion aim should be one of the first skills you unlock. It makes it much easier to hit those weak points.
Also set traps with the trip wire. It will stun them for long enough to take them out with melee. And don't underestimate melee. R2 to knock them down followed by R1 for the kill (on the small ones at least - requires a skill to be unlocked).
You get more elemental weapons/ammo later in the game, so it should give you more options to stun them and take them out.
 
About 40% in and this and Nioh are going to be tough to beat for my GOTY. Horizon is a big, pretty game that also has great game-play -- with responsive controls and fluid, skilled based combat. The story so far is pretty well done as well. Glad I got a Pro this year. Nioh, Horizon, Read Dead 2 and God of War make the purchase very much justifiable.
 
There are weak points that you need to aim for (e.g. canisters) so a lock on system would defeat the purpose of that. The slow motion aim should be one of the first skills you unlock. It makes it much easier to hit those weak points.
Also set traps with the trip wire. It will stun them for long enough to take them out with melee. And don't underestimate melee. R2 to knock them down followed by R1 for the kill (on the small ones at least - requires a skill to be unlocked).
You get more elemental weapons/ammo later in the game, so it should give you more options to stun them and take them out.


I spent most of this evening with Horizon. Used the trip wire a few times. Got a sharper spear for a quest reward. The bow is a fun weapon, very accurate even at long range. Actually been taking out the smaller dinosaurs without much trouble. Getting better with the camera during melee. It is a fun open world game. Level 6 and feel ready to take on a low tier dungeon. Think I saw one on the map he he.
 
Hit level 10, great game, really fun. Definitely put some skill points in the 'concentration' slot. It slows down time for a few secs when aiming with the bow and makes hitting critical targets much easier.
 
Evil thread ! Just bought ps4 pro and Horizon Zero Dawn ! I've been drooling for days thinking about it. Plus bloodborne and nioh ! Couldn't resist anymore.
 
are the dungeons sort of the same as Bloodborne's optional chalice dungeons?

No, there is nothing like the Chalice Duneon set up in Horizon. It is all open world, seamless, organic. It is more like a living world than any game I have played before. Any dungeons will be discovered in the world as you play and explore. There is no hub like Souls or Bloodborne, if that is what you are thinking.

Anyway that ruin I saw on the map was the one I was in at the very start of the game. So I still have not found another. I assume there are more around somewhere.

I was never a fan of Witcher 3 or Skyrim. Have both games and tried multiple times to cuddle up to them, but no go. Horizon has me very excited. I really am enjoying the game. Can't remember the last open world game I enjoyed this much. Gothic 3 maybe.
 
About 40% in and this and Nioh are going to be tough to beat for my GOTY. Horizon is a big, pretty game that also has great game-play -- with responsive controls and fluid, skilled based combat. The story so far is pretty well done as well. Glad I got a Pro this year. Nioh, Horizon, Read Dead 2 and God of War make the purchase very much justifiable.

I am thinking it is time for me to make the leap and upgrade my TV and maybe get a Pro as well. I am playing on a 34 inch HDCRT. I need to use a HDMI to DVI adapter to hook it up to the new consoles. Horizon and Nioh are great games, and I am seriously considering shelving them to finish them up on new hardware.
 
No, there is nothing like the Chalice Duneon set up in Horizon. It is all open world, seamless, organic. It is more like a living world than any game I have played before. Any dungeons will be discovered in the world as you play and explore. There is no hub like Souls or Bloodborne, if that is what you are thinking.

Anyway that ruin I saw on the map was the one I was in at the very start of the game. So I still have not found another. I assume there are more around somewhere.

I was never a fan of Witcher 3 or Skyrim. Have both games and tried multiple times to cuddle up to them, but no go. Horizon has me very excited. I really am enjoying the game. Can't remember the last open world game I enjoyed this much. Gothic 3 maybe.

It's early and I havent had coffee yet, but yesterday when I was doing one of the quests a woman I had to speak to in one of the towns told me of a 'dungeon' that she had discovered and the location.
 
How well does it run on the normal ps4 any fps dips?

Seems to run at a pretty steady 30fps. It is not smooth as silk, but nothing especially annoying that I have noticed. The worst is when I pan the camera, scenery gets pretty blury. But combat and traversing the game world looks good enough frame rate wise.
 
From a technical POV Horizon is a mixed bag. Graphically it is a marvel, but the character models are a bit meh (the Aloy as a kid is specially bad... look at her head and face!), lip-sync is botched and sound cues are completely out of place.

Story-wise... it is a bit bland (haven't finished yet), and the combat could have some love, because enemies get tougher but your weapons barely do, so they end up being bullet-sponges.

All in all, the game is good and fun, but with a bit more extra love in a few areas it would be up there in the best games of this gen.
 
Evil thread ! Just bought ps4 pro and Horizon Zero Dawn ! I've been drooling for days thinking about it. Plus bloodborne and nioh ! Couldn't resist anymore.

A lot of people got knocked off the fence because of this game and it's fully justified.
 
Does anyone notice that sometimes the chase view of Aloy is off center (like, by a lot). She can be on the far left, far right, or centered. Not sure if this is a bug or intentional. Also not sure what triggers it.
 
From a technical POV Horizon is a mixed bag. Graphically it is a marvel, but the character models are a bit meh (the Aloy as a kid is specially bad... look at her head and face!), lip-sync is botched and sound cues are completely out of place.

Story-wise... it is a bit bland (haven't finished yet), and the combat could have some love, because enemies get tougher but your weapons barely do, so they end up being bullet-sponges.

All in all, the game is good and fun, but with a bit more extra love in a few areas it would be up there in the best games of this gen.
I respect your opinion, but I completely disagree.
  1. The character models are right on the edge of climbing out of the uncanny valley. They look pretty damn good and realistic. If the lighting wasn't all "OMG Shiny" they would probably appear perfect. Young Aloy's face blew me and my artistic sister away the first time we saw it.
  2. Lip sync is a little sloppy at times, but the animations themselves are pretty damn good.
  3. Can't comment on story because I'm not too far in yet, either. But the setup had me really well engaged.
  4. My experience thus far is that they want you to outsmart enemies instead of just outright trying to kill them. All the trip weapons and traps that are available really attest to this, along with using the correct ammo types. Hitting a weak spot with the correct element along with utilizing a trap can result in up to 10 times the amount of damage as a single arrow to the eye.
Overall, the game design here is some of the best I've seen since I can't even remember when.
 
Just finished the Cauldron SIGMA dungeon. I was level 11 and did it...Just took my time.. Difficult but worth it.
 
I love what I'm hearing about the difficulty...I really like challenging games (one of the many reasons I love the Dark Souls series)...too many casual/easy games nowadays and it's good to see a return to higher difficulty
 
I love what I'm hearing about the difficulty...I really like challenging games (one of the many reasons I love the Dark Souls series)...too many casual/easy games nowadays and it's good to see a return to higher difficulty

What are you hearing about the difficulty? I'm playing on normal about 8 hours in and it's been extremely easy so far... Haven't tried hard.
 
What are you hearing about the difficulty? I'm playing on normal about 8 hours in and it's been extremely easy so far... Haven't tried hard.

I keep hearing that it's a challenging game...not the human enemies but the mechs...not Dark Souls hard of course but challenging for an open world action game
 
hmm... Well again I'm playing on normal, but it's been really simple so far. A single arrow to the weak point will take out the smaller ones, as will simply hiding in the bushes, calling them over with a whistle, then hitting a single button for a stealth kill. You can also just go full rambo and melee all of them to death without any strategy at all. A single button knocks em over. But again, this is normal, and smaller enemies. Not trying to turn you off of course, it's an amazing game. I just disagree that it's difficult. So far...
 
I got as far as the proving and started a new game! I really did not like the way I played up to that point. Too much learning and bumbling around. This replay is much better. I even picked up a quest I missed. But mostly I have a much better grasp on the menu system, crafting, skills, weapon upgrades and all that. The game is really more fun when you know what you are doing and how to play.
 
Evil thread ! Just bought ps4 pro and Horizon Zero Dawn ! I've been drooling for days thinking about it. Plus bloodborne and nioh ! Couldn't resist anymore.

Bloodborne AND Nioh! Man, you are going to have your hands full with those two. If you play Nioh first it will be hard adjusting to Bloodborne's frame rate. Both great games though.
 
Spent the long weekend I had with the game, totally enamored with it. Itching to play again as I'm getting shit done for work. Looks absolutely fantastic on a 4K tv with HDR enabled.
 
Hit level 16 this morning but before I leave for Meridion I'm going back and doing everything that I missed. The first 'cauldron' I did was awesome'.
 
I'm at level 26 and haven't even hit Meridian yet. That should tell you a lot about how I'm playing this and soaking it in. ;)

Did you find the suit of armor? I just stumbled upon after looking for a metal flower.
 
I hate that this game is locked behind a ps4, imagine how good this would look on PC..
 
I hate that this game is locked behind a ps4, imagine how good this would look on PC..
It looks pretty incredible on a PS4 Pro at 4K right now but I'd love to see how the game would feel running at a solid 60fps. I know first hand that going from 30fps to 60fps on Rise of the Tomb Raider made a huge difference in game play look and feel.
 
I respect your opinion, but I completely disagree.
  1. The character models are right on the edge of climbing out of the uncanny valley. They look pretty damn good and realistic. If the lighting wasn't all "OMG Shiny" they would probably appear perfect. Young Aloy's face blew me and my artistic sister away the first time we saw it.
  2. Lip sync is a little sloppy at times, but the animations themselves are pretty damn good.
  3. Can't comment on story because I'm not too far in yet, either. But the setup had me really well engaged.
  4. My experience thus far is that they want you to outsmart enemies instead of just outright trying to kill them. All the trip weapons and traps that are available really attest to this, along with using the correct ammo types. Hitting a weak spot with the correct element along with utilizing a trap can result in up to 10 times the amount of damage as a single arrow to the eye.
Overall, the game design here is some of the best I've seen since I can't even remember when.

The problem with the damage is that enemies scale, but your weapons basically don't. Yes, you get +XX% damage, but that means shit when the enemies have x5 or x10 the hp of weaker enemies. You are forced into certain gameplay choices (assuming you play at least in hard mode) if you don't want to get raped every time you face a few dinos at a time.
 
I think this is already a contender for game of the year. And easily the most beautiful game I've ever played. At any given time I can just stop and be amazed at whatever vista I am looking at and more often than not be hit with a wonderful splash of colors. I just wish I wasn't about to start overtime so I could devote more time to playing.

Level 19 now myself. Heading towards daytower.
 
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