Horizon: Zero Dawn

Loving this game. The only thing that would make it better for me is to use my elite controller.
 
23 hours in and level 21. I feel I can now give a good assessment of the three pillars that make this game truly great:

The open world: Probably my favourite open world for an RPG bar none. Simply breathtaking it is not superficial, it has lots of depth through its ambiance and the weather effects. The sandstorm blowing through the desert and the wind in the forest add so much to the personality of this world. Absolutely incredible foliage that makes the world feel alive and a pleasant experience to blend into. A ton of diversity with mountains,forests,jungle,deserts,canyons,lakes and so on. A good array of interesting towns and villages to explore depicting each tribe differently and Meridian is also a very cool place. But it is the stories in the world that really adds another layer to the game. Walking through the deserted and destroyed cities,ruins of the old ones and exploring the cauldrons; the sense of wonder and mystery is in so many locations.This is world you want to explore rather than fast travel.

Controlling Aloy and combat: This is not even about how cool of a character she is - which does add to it - but more about the fluidity of combat and traversal of Aloy. The satisfaction you get from shooting the bow and getting a great shot or the delight you feel when you place a set tripwires it comes off. The wry smile that comes across ones face every time performing a silent kill. The sheer joy of rolling and dodging enemies as well as traversing up mountains. The progression tree on the face of it seems boring but most of the skills are very useful and will be beneficial in tougher battles and there will always be a skill you look at and think I could do with that ability.

The machines: Undoubtedly some of the coolest and most unique enemies faced in a game. Each machines is different, they coexist in the world so well and every time you explore the world there is always a constant presence of danger. Even watchers and grazers will give you trouble if you misfire too many arrows. Every time you come across a new machine, I have a palpable feeling of concern and cautiousness to the fight as you never know what weapons or attacks they could inflict on Aloy. Seeing a thunderjaw in the distance in a canyon or a sawtooth prowling in the night and sound of the mechanical feet trudge through a forest is always a heart pounding moment. As the game tells you: respect the machines.

These 3 elements truly make the game special for me. I like the story and I have found some great side quests but I cannot say yet whether it is worth buying the game just for the story yet. Buying it for the world,combat and machines though is worth it.
 
Beat Nioh last night so time to start this game up today.

You're in for a great game. Once you get a few levels under your belt and purchase a few weapons and traps the combat really opens up. There are many fun ways to take down the machines. I wager you'll be drooling over the graphics and overall presentation for the first 5 hours.
 
I hope they have some story expansion DLC at some point, it's too nice of a world to just leave alone for a few years. I think a prequel style story where you play as Rost and learn his history would be pretty cool.
 
What enemies always give people trouble? For me it is sawtooth's, damn those things! They do not have weapons but they are so goddamn quick and aggressive you have to constantly change your bearings and plan every encounter with them. You think the tripwire will be fine? Nope they jump over it. Try shooting the canister sliding low never works as they close you down so quickly. Damn those things.
 
My only beef is my inventory is always full and I have no idea what is valuable and not.

That's my only complaint, inventory management is a mess. There are times I would sell something and learn a few minutes later I need it to purchase something else. To help with that I've picked one location to do all my selling and then I can go back and buy back whatever I need.
 
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What enemies always give people trouble? For me it is sawtooth's, damn those things! They do not have weapons but they are so goddamn quick and aggressive you have to constantly change your bearings and plan every encounter with them. You think the tripwire will be fine? Nope they jump over it. Try shooting the canister sliding low never works as they close you down so quickly. Damn those things.

Ropecaster and then Stick Bombs work pretty good on Sawtooths. I was having trouble with the Snapmaws but figured out that one or two Tearblast arrows to strip their armor off and a couple Flame Arrows to the exposed Blaze cans takes them down pretty quickly. Its still a challenge when they run in packs.
 
You're in for a great game. Once you get a few levels under your belt and purchase a few weapons and traps the combat really opens up. There are many fun ways to take down the machines. I wager you'll be drooling over the graphics and overall presentation for the first 5 hours.
Well I have about 5 hours in so far and haven't gotten to the proving yet so I'd say you're correct lol. I'd rather just walk around and take it all in. Sort of how I felt when I first played a Oblivion (my first Elder Scrolls game) except this game looks amazing.
 
all i can say about this game is, wow.. finally have a good reason to own my PS4 :) This game is tight in every sense of the word.
 
You think so? To me, the DS4 is perfect for these kind of games. Elite for shooters/racers.
For me the DS controller has always been a POS. Elite covers nearly all the genres with ease.
 
You think so? To me, the DS4 is perfect for these kind of games. Elite for shooters/racers.

The DS4 works but an Elite type of controller would make things better. For this game particularly where there is a pretty in-depth control scheme that has the player doing quite a bit during combat like switching from different weapons, crafting ammo. I mean, you have to hold "L1" to bring up the weapon menu and then press "X" to craft ammo. It works but during combat you already have enough to worry about. Guerilla did a great job with the controls but more input options would be nice.
 
I'm getting a little deeper into the game. I'm loving the environments and how it is starting to tell the story about what happened and what's going on.

I'm starting to take on too many side quests though.
It's like, "You have a missing relative too?". " ok, I'll help." "But after I do these 5 other quests first." Lol
 
Yea ventured outside as a seeker for the first time last night. Maybe 2-3 hours worth and there is so much to do.
 
Storm bird was a pain in the ass to kill when I only have stupid arrows and no inventory available to craft any decent destructive arrows. But I got it!
 
Storm bird was a pain in the ass to kill when I only have stupid arrows and no inventory available to craft any decent destructive arrows. But I got it!

Use the rope caster to pin that bastard to the ground and then just kick the crap out of him. He's one of the toughest fights I've come across so far.
 
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Use the rope caster to pin that bastard to the ground and then just kick the crap out of him. He's one of the toughest fights I've come across so far.
Rope caster....can't say I have used one! I will look into that. THANK YOU!!!
 
Your first priority for the Stormbird is to take out that Shock Cannon on his chest with Tearblast arrows. After that the Stormbird has 2 Blaze cans on the back of its body. Remove the armor from there with a few Tearblast arrows, once exposed use Fire Arrows on those Blaze cans for a large explosion that takes a chunk of health from it. Do the same for the 2 shock cans closer to the front only this time use Shock Arrows to set those off. Stormbird should be pretty much dead after that.

I thought the Thunderjaw would be tougher than it was. Its probably because I was so leveled up and had a bunch of good weapons when I finally faced it. But one on one I can take them down pretty easily. Its a fun fight though since you can use its weapons against it to destroy it pretty quickly.
 
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Rope caster....can't say I have used one! I will look into that. THANK YOU!!!

You'll need a high end rope caster like the shadow one. Two or three shots from that will pin him for about 30 seconds. Get some hits in, back off, hit him again with the rope caster and repeat.
 
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You'll need a high end rope caster like the shadow one. Two or three shots from that will pin him for about 30 seconds. Get some hits in, back off, hit him again with the rope caster and repeat.
He is about to get an ASS BEATIN' next time!
 
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Your first priority for the Stormbird is to take out that Shock Cannon on his chest with Tearblast arrows. After that the Stormbird has 2 Blaze cans on the back of its body. Remove the armor from there with a few Tearblast arrows, once exposed use Fire Arrows on those Blaze cans for a large explosion that takes a chunk of health from it. Do the same for the 2 shock cans closer to the front only this time use Shock Arrows to set those off. Stormbird should be pretty much dead after that.

I thought the Thunderjaw would be tougher than it was. Its probably because I was so leveled up and had a bunch of good weapons when I finally faced it. But one on one I can take them down pretty easily. Its a fun fight though since you can use its weapons against it to destroy it pretty quickly.

Knock off his radar and you can blind him so he can only see you if he is looking right in your direction.
 
Knock off his radar and you can blind him so he can only see you if he is looking right in your direction.

I thought I studied that animal Notebook pretty well but didn't know the Stormbird had a radar. Good to know but I'd still focus on grounding him first with either fire arrows or the Ropecaster. And then using Tearblast Arrows to remove its armor to expose its weakspots. One of the great things about this game is that there are many ways to take down the machines. I used to lay traps like crazy but now I'm having fun turning the machines against one another with Corruption Arrows. Its hilarious to see a heard of Tramplers unleashing hell on each other.
 
I thought I studied that animal Notebook pretty well but didn't know the Stormbird had a radar. Good to know but I'd still focus on grounding him first with either fire arrows or the Ropecaster. And then using Tearblast Arrows to remove its armor to expose its weakspots. One of the great things about this game is that there are many ways to take down the machines. I used to lay traps like crazy but now I'm having fun turning the machines against one another with Corruption Arrows. Its hilarious to see a heard of Tramplers unleashing hell on each other.

I meant the thunder jaw.