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Topic: Horizon: Zero: Dawn

Posts 621 to 640 of 787

Kidfried

@Th3solution Yes, I loved Aloy. I think you describe pretty much why she grew on me so much.

At first I felt like she lacked personality, but she just isn't outspoken that way, and it's great to see such a kind of character get the spotlight in a video game. She's not overly cute, funny or strong, but she also never tried to be anything other than herself.

And Burch's voice acting is so good. Just listen to her laugh, I giggled along with her every time.

Kidfried

ApostateMage

The facial animations are massively improved in The Frozen Wilds add-on, as is the voice acting. It certainly bodes well for the inevitable sequel.

ApostateMage

Rudy_Manchego

Great convo - was thinking about this the other day.

@Ralizah Interestingly, I played HZD and BOTW near enough in parallel as I was glued to this when I got the Switch and swapped between the two. I came away thinking that if you could blend the strengths of each, you would possibly have a perfect open world game.

So for example, the world in HZD is amazing yet you often need to follow set paths or get funneled into certain areas, and I longed to be able just to completely 100% explore like BOTW and wander around. I also found that the side content was very icon heavy, so your map was constantly filled whereas BOTW streamlined that so much and tied it into exploration. At the same time, I found the narrative for HZD and its central 'mystery' drove me forward and I liked some of the missions and the way the backstory was introduced. I also loved the random encounters and focus on hunting which was more fun than BOTW.

They are very different games, obviously, but they both show the strengths of good open worlds in different ways.

Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot

PSN: Rudy_Manchego | Twitter:

Ralizah

Somehow managed to get into a fight with two Sawtooths and a Scrapper all at the same time. That was... something...

Thankfully, multiple layers of blast wires make short work of the Sawtooths!

The fire bug robots suck, though. I need to find frost arrows or something to deal with them.

@Rudy_Manchego So far, while I think Horizon benefits being open world in its design, the best aspects of the game have very little to do with the environment itself. The spectacular combat and the persistent drive to upgrade my equipment are its main strengths as a game (putting aside the visuals). The actual environments are largely window-dressing, though. Aloy doesn't get cold, wet, hungry, etc. She doesn't feel like she's a part of that world.

BotW could do with better combat encounters and perhaps a busier ecosystem, but, otherwise, it's the most integrated and fully-realized open world I've ever seen in a video game, and Link feels intimately connected to it by being forced to adapt to and live off of the land. There are so many things to do in it, so many ways to play off your surroundings.

I feel both games kind of reflect the priorities of their parent companies. Sony is interested in mature, original experiences that push visual and narrative boundaries for the medium. For Nintendo, on the other hand, everything is about crafting a fun and memorable experience for the player. Sony innovates conceptually in its games, but tends to be fairly conservative in terms of how its games actually play. Nintendo innovates, often wildly, in terms of how its games are played, but tends to be conservative conceptually, sticking to long-running franchises with established motifs and themes.

I'm not sure both could, or should, be reconciled in terms of their design philosophies, though. While Horizon could do with more fleshed-out environmental interactivity, and BotW could do with more or better setpieces, I feel like the limitations of each help to define the sort of games they are, and draw attention to their respective strengths, as well.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Octane

@Ralizah ''fire bug robots''. Do you mean the Bellowbacks? The ones that are like a walking flamethrower? Or the scorpion-like ''evil'' robots?

Octane

Ralizah

@Octane Yeah, the big beetle things that keep spitting fireballs at me. I shoot at their components, but my arrows barely do any damage. I might as well be throwing rocks at them.

@Th3solution To be honest, I have almost no opinion whatsoever on Aloy thus far. She doesn't strike me as much of a character beyond being vaguely heroic and purpose-driven, which is pretty typical for stories of this type.

I'm not too far into the story, though, and have been busy upgrading my stuff and trying to find collectibles. And killing machines for fun and parts, of course.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Octane

@Ralizah Just to be sure, the one that's walking on two legs, right? Cause I don't think there's a beetle robot in the game.

Anyway, if that's the one, you may want to try to damage their fuel sack on their backs. Shooting regular arrows may cause it to leak, but a few fire arrows could be interesting as well considering the contents

Octane

Ralizah

@Octane Yeah, that's the one.

Oh? You can actually make the component on their backs explode with fire arrows? Interesting. I'll try it out the next time I stumble across one!

I assume arrows with a tear focus are better for exposing the fuel to my fire arrows, then?

That's a cool detail.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Octane

@Ralizah Yeah, I think so. It's been a while since I played the game. I loved the tear arrows because they did massive damage, but they only destroy stuff. Fire arrows can blow stuff up, like the fuel pouches on their backs. I'm not sure if you have to damage them first or not. Tear arrows may destroy them before you get a chance to use the fire arrows. Just try and experiment when you encounter them!

Don't forget that they also have separate fuel tubes underneath their head/neck that supplies the nozzle.

Octane

Thrillho

@Ralizah The enemy information screen (I forget what word this game used) gave you info on weak spots like that I think?

Thrillho

JohnnyShoulder

@Octane @Ralizah IIRC some machines have armour plates which you have to tear off before you can damage them.

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

ApostateMage

At first the weak spots are all exposed but they adapt to how they're hunted and are later created with protective armour. I thought this was brilliant when I first found out.

ApostateMage

themcnoisy

@Ralizah Ye of little faith. You just wait until it all kicks off! It wasn't voted the forums best game ever for nothing.

I love HZD brilliant hairstyles ftw.

Forum Best Game of All Time Awards

PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7

PSN: mc_noisy

Ralizah

@Octane I tried your strategy. It didn't work for me. Fortunately, I found one that did. Unload shock arrows into their stupid faces until they're stunned and then shoot the pouch in the back with precision arrows to get rid of the ranged attack. I killed frost and fire breathing ones at the same time that way.

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Octane

@Ralizah I looked up a video online, and precision arrows seem to do the trick as well. If you hit the fuel sac and the gullet with precision arrows it should explode after a while. They stunned them in the video, making it easier, but I don't think it affects the exploding part.

Octane

JohnnyShoulder

Like with most of these things, there is more than one way to defeat the machines. That is one of things I liked best about HZD, finding the best strategy that works best for with what weapons and stuff you have on you at the currrent moment.

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

BAMozzy

One of my favourite moments in H:ZD was sneaking up on a Thunderjaw at a 'water hole' with another Thunderjaw and several other machines in close proximity and hacking it. I got back to a safe distance that I could both watch the massive battle of these two giants fighting - the poor Thunderjaw I hacked, totally outnumbered by the others in the area so I had to help by blowing off weapons and armour of the other Thunderjaw to weaken it and the hacked Thunderjaw making light work of the weaker robots. It was an amazing thing to see and almost something you would expect in Jurassic Park or some Dinosaur movie - the AI, the movement etc was incredible. I watched for a few minutes before I felt I had to help my Hacked Thunderjaw which turned the fight in 'our' favour. After the fight, I collected al the parts etc, and then put my poor and badly damaged Thunderjaw down (a 'mercy' killing LOL) and collected what parts remained collectable.

That was the most Epic thing I saw on my play through - not that there wasn't other great and epic moments but that was the most Epic...

I really loved this game!!

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

Feel free to add me but please send a message so I know where you know me from...

PSN: TaimeDowne

JohnnyShoulder

@BAMozzy Think I had a similar experience, loved when stuff like thst happened!

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

Ralizah

So, I found a dungeon that rewarded me at the end by allowing me to hack more of the robots.

Took me a while (and a number of tough fights when I messed up), but I managed to hack one of the Sawtooths and hid in the bushes to watch it fight with another one.

I like the Tallneck robots. Climbing them reminded me of Shadow of the Colossus.

The Stalker was obnoxious until I discovered that a TearBlast arrow makes short work of its camouflaging abilities.

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

RogerRoger

Tallnecks are my favourite. Suck striking, graceful things. A couple times I wasn't paying attention to the map and would round a corner to see one lumbering around the next valley. Or spot one's head bobbing past some ruins as my controller rumbled with its footsteps.

Untitled

Untitled

Damn it, I wanna replay Horizon now!

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

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