Bartski
Gold Member
One thing I really like is an idea where, in open-world games, the devs keep certain abilities locked until very late into the campaign, and at some point give you new tools that significantly change the gameplay making it feel fresh again.
A perfect example of such design can be found in Horizon Zero Dawn, and since it seems to be the hot topic recently due to incoming sequel announcement, might be a good moment to share some thoughts.
It would also be interesting to learn about other games I might have missed where one can find such a feature.
I also find it really strange that I didn't see it really noticed in a single review or youtube video on the subject, while to me personally, it might just be the coolest, most memorable thing about HZD, one that cemented my feelings for it as a truly awesome game.
Here we go:
The overall gameplay of most open-world Machine encounters in HZD in large, varied group combat scenarios can be described as made of two stages:
1. Ambush preparation - stealth, staying hidden, evaluating numbers, setting traps on machine routes, tripwiring spots to lure Machines to, taking down some fodder while hidden in the grass where possible. The goal is to figure out a way to deal maximum damage on the onset of the battle, giving you the upper hand when noticed.
2. Actual combat - Due to Machine strength, armor, and all mobility factors - you might begin with overriding the heaviest Machine you can, make bomb slinging or other heavy firepower AOE entry, followed by keeping the distance and precision sniping machine weak spots with the bow, constantly switching arrows to choose the right one for the job, kiting the chase into previously set traps and occasionally when enemies get to close - resort to the tearblaster, or the rattler etc.
That's all great fun, until everything changes when you reach the end "The Mountain That Fell" with just one mission left to go in the campaign.
Needless to say, in order to explain what I mean - SPOILERS of HZD final stretch to follow so if you haven't played the game, do yourself a favor and finish the campaign unspoiled and then come back to see if you also noticed it and appreciate it as much as I did.
At some point in the game you might discover a hidden cave with a pre-war facility and an armor on display. You can't enter - it requires a number of power cells to open its doors. Knowing it's guaranteed to find something cool inside you spend the game searching. If you did a good job there throughout the campaign - you find the final required cell at the very end of the "The Mountain That Fell". Running back to the cave you realize that it's an outfit with a forcefield that nullifies the damage of multiple enemy attacks until it needs to recharge. In practice though, especially on Normal difficulty, because it comes so late while you're good at the game and have all your muscle memory already in place - it makes you really hard to kill in regular mob fights.
But that's not all. Also at the end of "The Mountain That Fell" - you replace your Spear with one from Silens. It's got a substantial damage boost, also due to the additional electricity attack. It also happens to be the point of the game when you should have all your spear prowler skills unlocked...
What happens is - all of a sudden these two upgrades make it perfectly viable to go full-contact with most enemies, making spear combat your no.1 fastest and most effective method of dealing with 75% of Machines.
Completely changing how you go about what I described above as an actual combat loop, making most of the strategic, ranged approach largely redundant... Now you can just rush into a situation that would normally get you killed and obliterate mobs just with melee attacks head-on. You don't really need to outsmart and snipe them anymore.
And the reason why this works so well in my opinion - it all happens AFTER you have just spent 40-50 hours on fighting Machines using that "old", methodical way.
Clearing out final side missions becomes a breeze. It also makes you finally appreciate how good the melee is in the game, which up until this point was heavily underutilized due to being largely ineffective.
And even though it takes away all the challenge in regular fights - You've had plenty of that up until this point.
If such a change came earlier - that would obviously be a horrible idea as it is detrimental to a very satisfying, well crafted, deep strategic ranged combat.
However, at this point, it feels more than welcome - it makes the game so much more fun and feeling fresh again!
And you sill have the final mission ahead of you, with a huge battle where those two upgrades really make the difference.
That's about it. Tl;dr but I'm really curious how those of you that finished the game feel about it.
Looking forward to a jaw-dropping HZD2 reveal just as much as many of you.
A perfect example of such design can be found in Horizon Zero Dawn, and since it seems to be the hot topic recently due to incoming sequel announcement, might be a good moment to share some thoughts.
It would also be interesting to learn about other games I might have missed where one can find such a feature.
I also find it really strange that I didn't see it really noticed in a single review or youtube video on the subject, while to me personally, it might just be the coolest, most memorable thing about HZD, one that cemented my feelings for it as a truly awesome game.
Here we go:
The overall gameplay of most open-world Machine encounters in HZD in large, varied group combat scenarios can be described as made of two stages:
1. Ambush preparation - stealth, staying hidden, evaluating numbers, setting traps on machine routes, tripwiring spots to lure Machines to, taking down some fodder while hidden in the grass where possible. The goal is to figure out a way to deal maximum damage on the onset of the battle, giving you the upper hand when noticed.
2. Actual combat - Due to Machine strength, armor, and all mobility factors - you might begin with overriding the heaviest Machine you can, make bomb slinging or other heavy firepower AOE entry, followed by keeping the distance and precision sniping machine weak spots with the bow, constantly switching arrows to choose the right one for the job, kiting the chase into previously set traps and occasionally when enemies get to close - resort to the tearblaster, or the rattler etc.
That's all great fun, until everything changes when you reach the end "The Mountain That Fell" with just one mission left to go in the campaign.
Needless to say, in order to explain what I mean - SPOILERS of HZD final stretch to follow so if you haven't played the game, do yourself a favor and finish the campaign unspoiled and then come back to see if you also noticed it and appreciate it as much as I did.
At some point in the game you might discover a hidden cave with a pre-war facility and an armor on display. You can't enter - it requires a number of power cells to open its doors. Knowing it's guaranteed to find something cool inside you spend the game searching. If you did a good job there throughout the campaign - you find the final required cell at the very end of the "The Mountain That Fell". Running back to the cave you realize that it's an outfit with a forcefield that nullifies the damage of multiple enemy attacks until it needs to recharge. In practice though, especially on Normal difficulty, because it comes so late while you're good at the game and have all your muscle memory already in place - it makes you really hard to kill in regular mob fights.
But that's not all. Also at the end of "The Mountain That Fell" - you replace your Spear with one from Silens. It's got a substantial damage boost, also due to the additional electricity attack. It also happens to be the point of the game when you should have all your spear prowler skills unlocked...
What happens is - all of a sudden these two upgrades make it perfectly viable to go full-contact with most enemies, making spear combat your no.1 fastest and most effective method of dealing with 75% of Machines.
Completely changing how you go about what I described above as an actual combat loop, making most of the strategic, ranged approach largely redundant... Now you can just rush into a situation that would normally get you killed and obliterate mobs just with melee attacks head-on. You don't really need to outsmart and snipe them anymore.
And the reason why this works so well in my opinion - it all happens AFTER you have just spent 40-50 hours on fighting Machines using that "old", methodical way.
Clearing out final side missions becomes a breeze. It also makes you finally appreciate how good the melee is in the game, which up until this point was heavily underutilized due to being largely ineffective.
And even though it takes away all the challenge in regular fights - You've had plenty of that up until this point.
If such a change came earlier - that would obviously be a horrible idea as it is detrimental to a very satisfying, well crafted, deep strategic ranged combat.
However, at this point, it feels more than welcome - it makes the game so much more fun and feeling fresh again!
And you sill have the final mission ahead of you, with a huge battle where those two upgrades really make the difference.
That's about it. Tl;dr but I'm really curious how those of you that finished the game feel about it.
Looking forward to a jaw-dropping HZD2 reveal just as much as many of you.
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