Topic: Horizon: Zero: Dawn

@starhops @Kidfried That actually sounds pretty great, if the damage scaling isn't too absurd. I really like the combat in Soulsborne games. I just don't like the... everything else.

I think I'll play the DLC in normal mode, though. I'd like to actually appreciate the story and environments as opposed to getting killed every few minutes. Besides, I hear the new enemies are scary enough to begin with.

@Ralizah I think you’ll like the Ultra Hard mode then for at least you can respawn and save anywhere you want and try again not like the Soulsborne games. Once you finish the DLC, give NG+ UH a try. The scaling is nice, but I wish they would open up inventory totals to help with resources. To me, it felt more realistic when walking by a group of machines that they would actually see you if you can see them, sort-of-thing. And I had to completely change most my combat strategies for the larger machines—and I loved that part of it. This big beasties are intense and it’s nice the combat can match it on NG+ UH.
Good luck and keep us posted!

What's the most difficult trophy in this game? Not the grindiest, but the most difficult?

@LN78 CHeers! Had the ultimate edition for a year and put two/three hours into it but not gone back to it since. Definitely gonna see if I can grab the platinum for this one!

Hello, I’v noticed that using the shadow ropecaster, if I aim and miss, it consumes an ammo, while when using the basic and the Carja ropecaster, if I shoot to the sky or anywhere without a target, I don’t wast any ammo. Why is that, did I miss something?

@Arugula I tried going back to it but I just couldn’t get back into the combat seeing as it is end game and it had been a year or so since I completed it. I think I gave up not even getting past the first two enemies..

I'll be treating The Frozen Wilds like its own sort of game. I'm looking forward to it. When I get the desire to play HZD again, I'll have this brand new (albeit far shorter) campaign to dig into.

I'll play on Normal like with the main campaign, and save my Ultra-Hard NG+ playthrough for some point in the future when I have a hankering for pain.

so i FINALLY got round to getting Zero Dawn Complete Edition and i have a few questions

first off when i put in the code for the themes and digital art book DLC it also downloaded, The Frozen Wilds and a load of other DLC (all the costumes and weapons) BUT apparently those are for the original version of the game which i do not own, now i have not been able to find any of the outfits or weapons in the complete edition either, which i assume is a different game as it has a different icon and install name so just what is going on? is all the DLC already in the complete edition? and if so why can't i access any of it? and why did it download the DLC for the standard edition when i don't own the standard edition and the DLC codse was only meant to be for the Theme and Art Book?

i really have no idea what's going on so any help would be appreciated

@RogerRoger perhaps i have yet to do the Proving so i am very early in the game, i will check later when i have the time to play my PS4 again today

and thanks for the info

@RogerRoger to be honest i was just hunting about in the first area for ages without progressing the story (i left Rost waiting for me for about 3 hours), it is SO much fun and i love the open world in this game

i think i'll be playing this game pretty much exclusively until DBZ Kakarot come out

@RogerRoger so i did the proving and the first merchant i came across had all the DLC costumes and weapons and i checked the map and there is a huge white area up the top of it so it looks like you was right,

it's still odd that the code for the art book and theme also downloaded the DLC for the original version of the game though, i reached out the sony and the developer on twitter about it but no response as of yet

@FullbringIchigo Yeah, I basically put off most of the main story missions until I had no other choice but to engage them. The open world design isn't innovative at all, but it's fun hunting these machines and upgrading your stuff, and Aloy controls well, lack of proper climbing controls aside.

@Ralizah it may not be innovative but it is still a lot more fun than a lot of other open world games such as MGSV or any cookie cutter open world game ubisoft has pumped out over the past 10 years

@FullbringIchigo It seems very Ubisoft to me. It's a lot like Far Cry 3/4 in terms of the open world and the activities you engage in (particularly the hunting aspect), but with a much more creative setting and tons of visual polish. The MH-esque machine battles are what really distinguishes it, though. There's... really nothing like those battles in any other open world RPG I've played.

Still haven't played MGS V. I'm not good at stealth. I want my radar and vision cones from the first two games back, lol.

@Ralizah i tend to ignore MGSV whenever i can, it's an incomplete mess that throws away everything that made MGS what it was so if i was you i wouldn't bother with it

4 was a perfectly fine ending for the series

@FullbringIchigo I bought MGS V in a sale for $10 years ago. Ground Zeroes was actually my very first PS4 game. It was... absolutely beautiful. Well-constructed. But I sucked at it.

I won't really be approaching it from a MGS viewpoint. Like BotW was to Zelda, it seems to radically redefine how the series plays, so it's probably best to approach it on its own terms.

I never played 4, having never owned a PS3. Maybe one day Konami's pachinko business will dry up and they'll actually port the game to other platforms.

@Gremio108 I saw from your comment on the WAYP article that your making good progress here. I’m curious to hear more impressions.

@Th3solution Short answer: one of my favourite PS4 games.

Long answer:

This game ticks so many boxes for me, I'm amazed I've left it so long to play it.

Robots? Check.
Dinosaurs? Check.
Robot dinosaurs? You'd better believe that's a check.

I think deep down I thought it would prove to be overrated and that's why I left it so long. An open-world game from a developer unproven at making open worlds? Nah, I thought. Well, I was wrong. What I really didn't expect was for this game to scratch the post-apocalyptic itch I've had since I finished Fallout 4. The setting is beautiful and the moments where you stumble across remnants of our lost civilization are deeply affecting, thanks to the score which, in a similar way to Red Dead II's soundtrack, kicks in quietly without you really noticing at first.

The combat is spot-on, and I'm loving the machines. More so than the humans, actually. If I could fault the game (and this is nitpicking a bit) I'd say the voices of the various humans aren't quite right. They're a bit too present-day, for example I came across one guy in the middle of the desert who spoke with a thick New York accent, and it was a bit jarring. I was expecting him to shout "hey, I'm walking here" at Aloy when I stepped across his path.

I'm planning to play it all the way to platinum, taking in the Frozen Wilds along the way. I could possibly see the gameplay loop becoming repetitive, but it hasn't happened yet and maybe it never will. The encounters with the various machines are far too fun and the approaches too varied for it to become stale any time soon.

@Gremio108 Good to hear! It’s a rare thing when a highly touted game like that can live up to expectations. I played at launch, so I didn’t have any hype that had built up. I will say that I ran aground for a few months in the middle, I think the world was so big and I got a little bit of open world fatigue, so I went back and finished it several months later. When I returned is when I actually really appreciated it more. For one, I was trying to be too restricted in my combat approach and wasn’t exploring all the available options at first. Once I got crazy with using trip wires, rope casters, bombs, different arrows and ammo, etc, etc. - then the game really resonated with me better and my enjoyment ramped up. The enemies toward the latter part get pretty tough, which was another reason I was forced to use all the tools in the arsenal, so that helped make it fun. It sounds like you’ve caught on though already and the combat is unlikely to get stale on you. I enjoyed it right up to the end.

The story also becomes stronger toward the last third also, and once I made it over a mid-story lull, it ramps up nicely toward a really stellar conclusion, imo.

It’s fun to hear your thoughts, since you are a pretty late adopter. But sometimes it’s best to play a game when you’re mentally ready to enjoy it. There are benefits to both being on the front end and also to being able to enjoy it at your own pace when the buzz dies down.

@Th3solution Yeah, I've been mixing it up nicely with the combat options, except for the ropecaster which I took off my weapon wheel and subsequently forgot about until I rediscovered it on Friday. I've been surprised at the difficulty actually. In a good way.

The story is good without quite grabbing me just yet, but there is that bubbling feeling that it is all about to kick off. I've not advanced the main plot to be fair (at level 31 but not reached Meridian yet), instead I've been clearing areas as I go - bandit camps, cauldrons, whatever it throws at me really. I've enjoyed the side-missions I've encountered, especially the one with the village in the mountains where the machines are all tame.

Of course, everyone knows this, because I think I'm the last person on here to play it!