Support NeoGAF

[EverydayBeast]

Horizon Forbidden West is so good, everyone with a PlayStation or PC has to play this game.

At the beginning of the game you’re playing with fellow Nora (tribe) Varl, the script is simple, save humanity from evil aliens. Some times games nerf your abilities but you’re equipped with just enough in the beginning, you see a variety of enemies, overpower them with bows, traps, spears etc. I loved the upgrade tree, coils you can add to weapons. At 40 hours long, and over 20 characters this was a great fun and respect to the length.

Aloy, you play as her. She wouldn’t win an Emmy for this role but this is 100% going to be a movie.

Showing you the map, it’s really set up well. It’s structured too look big but you can fast travel almost anywhere.

You’re dealing with a lot of narratives, story lines, threats and tolerating a lot of buying, selling, looting, gathering side missions etc. I immediately thought of Assassins Creed Valhalla, Sony killed Killzone for this Horizon franchise and that was a BIG risk that I think paid off.

Traveling back to 2022, even getting a PS5 was difficult as it’s much easier today to find one.

What did GAF think of this particular game?

 

[semiconscious]

What did GAF think of this particular game?

vastly inferior compared to the original? hated it (while I enjoyed & replayed the original}...

 

[SlimySnake]

Gorgeous visuals and a pretty decent and entertaining story but really disliked the combat and side quests. Game just felt too samey despite taking 5 years to make, and it was no longer fun to fight the dinobots due to changes to the AI and weapon design.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I have the game but I haven't even opened it, I'll open it on vacation.

 

[LectureMaster]

What did GAF think of this particular game?

 

[Kusarigama]

It is one of the highest production game that I have played. Every npc/quest is voice acted and has very good lip syncing with actual face models. Has a strong story that I enjoyed and so many side quest, some are hit and miss. Easily one of the best looking game and also has very good combat system. One of the best overall package game.

 

[Fredrik]

Not LTTP but I stopped playing after 20-30 hours or so, Elden Ring arrived. About to jump in again on PC once I have the new living room PC, will be one of my first playthroughs. Gorgeous game! And I never reached the water to dive in, that’ll be a treat for the eyes maxed out on PC!

 

[Hestar69]

one of the best looking games and the combats not bad.

The story is AWFUL. The first game was great second game was ok if you just run around and skip the dialogue. got the plat maybe one day i'll pick up the DLC on sale.

 

[Faust]

A gorgeous game let down by subpar gameplay, shallow combat, and an insultingly awful narrative. Which was everything in the first game as well, but I was hoping they would have improved on some things for the sequel. Sadly it just never got entertaining for me.

 

[MacReady13]

I didn’t enjoy either the original or the sequel. Admittedly I did finish the sequel but just couldn’t make it through the original. Found them bland and boring to be brutally honest.

 

[FoxMcChief]

A gorgeous game let down by subpar gameplay, shallow combat, and an insultingly awful narrative. Which was everything in the first game as well, but I was hoping they would have improved on some things for the sequel. Sadly it just never got entertaining for me.

Pretty much this. I don’t think I lasted 10 hours with each.

 

[violence]

I had to play a few hours before it clicked and I got hooked but I game was way too talky for me and I think the story was done with the first game.

 

[nowhat]

Gorgeous visuals and a pretty decent and entertaining story but really disliked the combat and side quests. Game just felt too samey despite taking 5 years to make, and it was no longer fun to fight the dinobots due to changes to the AI and weapon design.

This is all subjective of course, but it's funny how different takes we can end up with. I thought HFW was superior to HZD in pretty much every aspect (especially the side quests) except for the main story. Which felt too rushed towards the end (they really could have done more with Tilda) and ends up with a complete FU cliffhanger, while also explaining way too much of the mystery.

Oh, one thing though. There's way too much focus on elemental damage this time around. I think it's fine that some enemies are more susceptible to certain types of elemental damage (and immune to others), but here you basically have to max out the elemental damage with certain enemies, otherwise you may just as well be poking them with a blunt stick.

 

[Tchu-Espresso]

Its superior to the HZD in pretty much every way, with some very welcome improvements.

I've put about 45 hrs into it so far and am enjoying it.

 

[Ammogeddon]

Visually it’s stunning but I just found the characters and story so boring. It started feeling like a chore to play and I still haven’t finished it.

I didn’t like the design of the humans either. They looked ridiculous at times. Particularly the tribe in the big tree. Every one of them was a punchable looking motherfucker.

 

[Disco Dave]

I couldn't get into it. Played around 20 hours hoping the story would catch me. It was just... boring. Beautiful and boring.

 

[reektann]

I recall in the first one I would set up loads of trip wires and traps then cackle as the enemies would walk into them and I would take them down in a really cool way.

In forbidden west I would try the same but seemingly every enemy would just launch over them right at me and my screen would be red whilst I was hammering the heal button then clumsily running away firing arrows. I would always forget what was weak to what and spend half my time scanning things as I couldn’t be bothered to go into the bestiary.

Looked nice though.

 

[Dry_Kill_Logic_87]

loved the game.
map is beautiful, new creatures are great (love the snapping turtle), side missions are better, story is good, game looks amazing and runs smooth from what I remember.
the face animation and the details on the faces were the best I have ever seen. I don't think anyone topped that ?!
I didn't see anyone mention the small grass or the moss in the game,you see it right in the first area where you start the game.
I have never seen moss being that detailed and crisp in a game.
what sucks is the fact that this game came out around Elden Ring, first game came out around Zelda, that Xbox fanboys are trying to convince everyone
on youtube and twitter that Horizon is a bad franchise when they didn't even play the game and the fact that Horizon ZD has 89 Metacritic score and Horizon FW has 88
makes no fucking sense when second game improved on EVERYTHING. some people giving this game a 6/10, yeah sure.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

You'd rather flirt with men in games?

 

[Beer Baelly]

It should be forbidden to play.

 

[PatientGamer]

Playing it through right now on the hardest difficulty. Graphically, it's the prettiest game on consoles by a mile for me. The gameplay is nuanced and requires the player to actually use their brain when dealing with each of the ~45 enemy types.

The story is an absolute hot mess though. Not sure what's going on at Guerrilla Games, but these guys are awful at storytelling. None of the characters are likeable in the slightest. Everyone sucks in general.. Aloy is so annoying and Varl is a wet blanket.

That said, I'm about 60 hours in — I lose a lot lol, but overall I'd give it an 8/8.5. Significantly better than ZD, the climbing and jumping is still absolute shite though. Aloy still gets stuck in branches and other BS that will lead to insta-death when a level 5 burrower throws a rock at her.

They've nerfed Aloy's Terrablast.. which used to be amazing in the previous game, now it's weak AF and requires using the full quiver to take off armour from midweights & heavyweights.

The Valour system is brilliant though — one of the best additions by far for me.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

everyone with a PlayStation or PC has to play this game.

I strongly recommend the opposite. No one should play this game.

I adored the first game. Its plot is worthy of a theatrical release. Great game. I'd play through it again without hesitation.

The second game is the epitome of slog. They took the first game and added unnecessary dialogue, crafting, collectibles, meaningless characters, and made Aloy insufferable. The plot is a complete joke and from the very start is insulting to both the player and the first game's conclusion.

Avoid.

 

[Topher]

Fun game. Great visuals. Decent main story, but bland side quests. Loved the gameplay.

 

[ReBurn]

I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. So much talking. Nobody knows how to shut up in the post apocalyptic future.

 

[Topher]

I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. So much talking. Nobody knows how to shut up in the post apocalyptic future.

"Maybe I should reply to ReBurn, he seems to know what he is talking about"

Yeah....that shit got annoying.

 

[blastprocessor]

First game story was good. 2nd game story was meh.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

I remember being frustrated often by the jumping and mantling controls as the character seemed to have a mind of their own. I got the platinum for the game but it was at best a 7/10 for me.

 

[ManaByte]

What did GAF think of this particular game?

 

[Fbh]

I liked it. It was good but not great.
I enjoyed the gameplay, and the world is still cool. I wish the combat was a bit slower paced and more tactical but it's still fun and I enjoy the wide variety of enemies and tools.
Also visually it's amazing , I still think it blows away everything else this gen (at least on consoles). I think visuals seemingly peaked early this gen with this game, it reached an almost perfect balance of looking great while still running at 60fps with good image quality unlike all these newer games making us choose between 30fps or horrible IQ. I know it's cross gen but it's one of the few games on Ps5 which has given me a bit of a "next gen" feel while playing it

My biggest issue with it is the story. Not only is the overall narrative really bad, but all the main characters fucking suck. Aloy is such a boring and unlikeable character and all her friends seem to have been written to be as bland and uninteresting as possible.

 

[RGB'D]

A gorgeous game let down by subpar gameplay, shallow combat, and an insultingly awful narrative. Which was everything in the first game as well, but I was hoping they would have improved on some things for the sequel. Sadly it just never got entertaining for me.

Except the story was a little bit better in HZD

 

[Pelta88]

One trophy away from the Platinum. Phenomenal game and the visual fidelity is arguably the best out there.

 

[SlicedBread3]

One of the rare times these days when a sequal fixes all of the niggly little issues I had with the original without introducing anything new I disliked. I was pleasently surprised by it.

 

[Zathalus]

Good graphics and interesting lore let down by bad characters, subpar pacing, and the protagonist being as charismatic as a lump of coal.

 

[Lokaum D+]

What i think of this game ?

 

[sigmaZ]

Horizon Forbidden West is so good, everyone with a PlayStation or PC has to play this game.

At the beginning of the game you’re playing with fellow Nora (tribe) Varl, the script is simple, save humanity from evil aliens. Some times games nerf your abilities but you’re equipped with just enough in the beginning, you see a variety of enemies, overpower them with bows, traps, spears etc. I loved the upgrade tree, coils you can add to weapons. At 40 hours long, and over 20 characters this was a great fun and respect to the length.

Aloy, you play as her. She wouldn’t win an Emmy for this role but this is 100% going to be a movie.

Showing you the map, it’s really set up well. It’s structured too look big but you can fast travel almost anywhere.

You’re dealing with a lot of narratives, story lines, threats and tolerating a lot of buying, selling, looting, gathering side missions etc. I immediately thought of Assassins Creed Valhalla, Sony killed Killzone for this Horizon franchise and that was a BIG risk that I think paid off.

Traveling back to 2022, even getting a PS5 was difficult as it’s much easier today to find one.

What did GAF think of this particular game?

It was definitely a game. The graphics were great and the controls were good. I hated how grindy crafting was on harder modes. They reused the same character models a bit too much. Especially this one asian guy who was everywhere with random hair lol

 

[Vick]

Played the game right after an Ultra Hard 100% run of the first game plus DLC, and had a blast.
Once again loved the combat, controls, enemies, atmosphere, narrative (despite the plot being not as interesting as the first one), characters (Sylens, Kotallo, Zo were perfect to me, and I found Aloy to be so much more relatable and compelling here, mainly due to her imperfections and fears, compared to the stoic cardboard heroine of first game), swimming, underwater sections, everything basically. It's a dutch game through and through.

Vegas quest and aftermath made it my GOTY as it was some of the most soulful and special things I've ever experienced in a game.

Haven't properly touched the DLC yet though.

 

[Danjin44]

I played the first game once…….never again.

 

[Smether]

Graphically it's an all timer. The level of detail in the quality mode was unreal. I personally preferred the "balanced" mode they patched in after launch, which kept the level of detail, but was a bit crisper and felt closer to 60 FPS than it actually was.

Having said that, I found the game to be a step back from the original. That first game came together so well. This one it feels less realistic and Aloy talks way too much on the default setting. You can't move without seeing flashing ledge or getting a hint from her. In fairness there were options to tone that down.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Btw that actress who played Regalla

 

[acidagfc]

Gorgeous visuals, great gameplay improvements, but the story was very weak, compared to the original, and Aloy's superiority complex got annoying really fast.

 

[Kurotri]

I think I said this before in another Horizon thread, but I'll just say it again. It's a fantastic game and a huge upgrade over the original in every single way. I loved it a lot and the burning shores DLC was a great addition, I hope PC players enjoy this gem. It's a quality sequel. This is coming from somebody who actually didn't like the original much, so take that as you will. And to me this track perfectly encapsulates the game and its setting and atmosphere:

It gives off a vibe that lets me feel that we are really in uncharted, forbidden (yea) territory. I love it so much.

 

[kruis]

I liked it less than its predecessor. I liked how I could play more tactically in HZD by using all weapon types and switching outfits, but I felt that HFW forced me to play using bows 95% of the time. Never used the tripcaster or ropecaster for example. I had lots of fun with the arrow type that made animals fight each other in HZD but they those arrows were only available for just a few weapons so I didn't even use it once.

Another downgrade was how much grinding was needed to upgrade weapons, that took much, MUCH longer in HFW. Story was less interesting and almost all of the main characters were downright boring goodytwo shoes that I don't want to see ever again. Most boring of all was Aloy herself who was stripped out of every interesting character trait.

Graphics, presentation, voice acting, animation, etc. it's all absolutely great, but it's all so safe, nice, bland and politically correct. I've platinumed HFW but I'm now burned out. I bought the DLC but I've no interest in starting the expansion, in particular after reading that Aloy was a lesbian. That's par for the course in Sony games. I've become completely fed up with the woke messaging in these games, I don't want to support these fucking companies anymore. Let them all go to hell.

 

[Beer Baelly]

It's a dutch game through and through.

Does Aloy eat cheese, visit windmills and has klompen for shoes? Deze man...

 

[Vick]

Does Aloy eat cheese, visit windmills and has klompen for shoes? Deze man...

Oh look, that fucking guy again.

I'm flabbergasted how a lowest tier Xbox troll who spent the last 6 years shitposting in every single "certain" Thread and was even forced to change his username managed to outlive so many warriors who at least pretended to contribute in some way to this place at some point..

Whatever, not gonna suggest to go venting your frustrations elsewhere but stop quoting or interacting with my posts because I'm fucking tired of you plaguing my notifications.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Oh look, that fucking guy again.

I'm flabbergasted how a lowest tier Xbox troll who spent the last 6 years shitposting in every single "certain" Thread and was even forced to change his username managed to outlive so many warriors who at least pretended to contribute in some way to this place at some point..

Whatever, not gonna suggest to go venting your frustrations elsewhere but stop quoting or interacting with my posts because I'm fucking tired of you plaguing my notifications.

You could have just said it's a Sony game through and through. Your favorite cup of tea.

 

[RJMacready73]

Loved it and played it to death, the sense of exploration and eyeball melting graphics just kept me entertained all the way through to the end, really loved the differing biomes and the sheer density and diversity in the visuals for an open world game are unrivalled, it puts loads of corridor/linear games to shame in the visuals department. Have the expansion but just couldn't get into it the way I did with the first 2 games as the ole muscle memory had left me by the time I got around to playing it and I found myself just getting killed left right and center trying to pull of skills I could do blindfolded

 

[Vick]

You could have just said it's a Sony game through and through. Your favorite cup of tea.

Last "Sony game" I bought was Ragnarök in 2022 and I've spent the last close to two years shitting on it and detailing why it was a downgrade to GoW 2018.

 

[Skifi28]

The combat is incredible and it kept me coming back for more, I have no idea why people say it's bad.

 

[Kupfer]

Wrote many times what I think about the game.
In short: great tech, annoying protagonists, boring combat, boring story, boring gameplay loop, controls and menus way too overloaded, bad design choices.
I had to stop playing after 20ish hours because it felt like the game is force feeding me with it's bullshit.

 

[Vick]

The combat is incredible and it kept me coming back for more,

It is incredible. I prefer the more accessible/simpler approach of Zero Dawn personally but that's just due to me playing with no reticle and only using hunter bow, systems are actually perfect. And I keep learning more thanks to the dedicated community and amount of channels devoted to the game. This awesome video from beginners is from just 6 days ago:



Check this guy's channel for an absolutely insane amount of quality, deep content regarding the game, legit one of the very best gaming channels on YouTube.

I have no idea why people say it's bad.

Some also said it's "shallow".. I have no clue whatsoever.