Horizon: Forbidden West Review Thread

Trunkage

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Did you play it on PC? Because the PC version was not great. But I didn't encounter anything super noticable bug wise on the ps4 at launch or last year when I replayed it for shits and giggles.
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Some robots would disappear mid combat. They would streak sometime if knocked down. Some crashes
 

Catfood220

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I ordered the physical game from Amazon hoping they break streetdate for me again. I don't buy digital games because I am building a physical disc collection.
I've found Shopto.net are best for breaking street dates. Because their shipping is free they send the orders a few days early, it usually arrives early.
 

Satinavian

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Meh, tearing off piece just wasted time, big cannon are useless on higher difficulty setting since the dino are super agressive and you can't afford to be standing in place to use them. The tyrano robot are constantly bombarding the area around them so there's no time to line up shoot for crit hit. I did use the bow on flying enemy, but that's just cause there was no other choice. Although I was playing without aim assist (forced off on highest dif setting) but with a controller so maybe that changed my perception.
I liked the bow most by far, including for the high difficulties.

But i did play on PC and without controller, so maybe that makes the difference.


Coincidently i never had bugs.
 
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Kwak

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So I don't see any particular so-called "uglification" of Aloy.
I'll wait till I get a ps5 for this, so probably in 5 years I'll be enjoying this world, looks like a nice place to hang out.
 
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Casual Shinji

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So I don't see any particular so-called "uglification" of Aloy.
She has some sun/wind burn on her cheeks. I guess that's the equivalent of a giant pointy witches nose with a hairy wart on it.
Still baffled they brought the bland, story-less character Aloy back after the narrative malpractice that was Horizon Zero Dawn. I've lost faith Guerilla can be trusted with its own stories. I mean you have a 3rd person action game about robot dinosaurs vs humans, and you made it boring with no emotional involvement or stakes?!
There were plenty of stakes. The story itself is fine, it's the awkward uncanny mo-cap acting and the somewhat non-commital voice acting that really stopped the story from working too well.
 
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Old_Hunter_77

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I sold my PS4 last year because I wanted to build a PC and I wanted to use the cash towards it while I could still get it, figuring I'd buy a PS5 later "when the shortages are over" and I was guessing that Horizon- the first game I would really want to play- would only be PS5 exclusive.
Boy were my predictions wrong, lol. Now I can't play it, oh well.
 
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SilentPony

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There were plenty of stakes. The story itself is fine, it's the awkward uncanny mo-cap acting and the somewhat non-commital voice acting that really stopped the story from working too well.
Eh? After the proving ceremony where they killed off the supporting cast and never bothered to fill those positions again, Aloy's character arc came to a screeching halt. And that was it. That was her character arc; to not have one.
 

Casual Shinji

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Eh? After the proving ceremony where they killed off the supporting cast and never bothered to fill those positions again, Aloy's character arc came to a screeching halt. And that was it. That was her character arc; to not have one.
Ofcourse, and that's not great, but there's still other stories and characters that don't really have much to do with Aloy's character arc. And even if Aloy's character doesn't really progress at all that doesn't mean her character can't still be entertaining. But it isn't, and I think that has more to do with the not-great character presentation rather than the writing stumbles.

Let's say Aloy did get a proper character arc, or her character is simply introduced as a mysterious wanderer in a foreign land, the awkward and slightly goofy performances would've still not made it work well.
 

SilentPony

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Ofcourse, and that's not great, but there's still other stories and characters that don't really have much to do with Aloy's character arc. And even if Aloy's character doesn't really progress at all that doesn't mean her character can't still be entertaining. But it isn't, and I think that has more to do with the not-great character presentation rather than the writing stumbles.

Let's say Aloy did get a proper character arc, or her character is simply introduced as a mysterious wanderer in a foreign land, the awkward and slightly goofy performances would've still not made it work well.
True. But goofy mo-cap and phoned in voice acting + poor character development for the central character is a very valid reason to not trust Horizon 2.
 
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Casual Shinji

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True. But goofy mo-cap and phoned in voice acting + poor character development for the central character is a very valid reason to not trust Horizon 2.
I know. The performances were a bit better in the Frozen Wilds DLC, and it looks like things have improved even more in Forbidden West, but it's still not were it needs to be. But then I think this problem is inherent in Horizon; The combination of elaborate costumes, make-up, and hair, but done with photo-realistic people who act normal like they're not wearing anything (because mo-cap) just makes things feel off. I like the crazy costumes and face paint, but the game should really lean into that wackiness NOT present it with regular old acting. If there's one setting that just screams for theatrics it's this one.

But the reason I liked the first game and why I'm getting the next one is the robot fighting while running through nice scenery. Anything narratively that actually works is really just a bonus for me.
 
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hanselthecaretaker

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I sold my PS4 last year because I wanted to build a PC and I wanted to use the cash towards it while I could still get it, figuring I'd buy a PS5 later "when the shortages are over" and I was guessing that Horizon- the first game I would really want to play- would only be PS5 exclusive.
Boy were my predictions wrong, lol. Now I can't play it, oh well.
Might as well just get another PS4. Still way cheaper than the PS5 you planned on getting. I think this is also the last game to have the free digital upgrade to the PS5 version, so whenever they’re actually available it won’t cost anything extra.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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I know. The performances were a bit better in the Frozen Wilds DLC, and it looks like things have improved even more in Forbidden West, but it's still not were it needs to be. But then I think this problem is inherent in Horizon; The combination of elaborate costumes, make-up, and hair, but done with photo-realistic people who act normal like they're not wearing anything (because mo-cap) just makes things feel off. I like the crazy costumes and face paint, but the game should really lean into that wackiness NOT present it with regular old acting. If there's one setting that just screams for theatrics it's this one.

But the reason I liked the first game and why I'm getting the next one is the robot fighting while running through nice scenery. Anything narratively that actually works is really just a bonus for me.
It’s an odd juxtaposition for sure, but IIRC these characters were still descendants of the old world? However thin their connection is to the past it could still be accurately portrayed, considering the game’s set in the Rockies region of the U.S. and language and dialect could have technically remained a constant. It just looks weird because there aren’t yoga pants and blue jeans (or really any of the materialistic world bs) anymore.
 

Dalisclock

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She has some sun/wind burn on her cheeks. I guess that's the equivalent of a giant pointy witches nose with a hairy wart on it.
Apparently some people are mad you can see little tiny, nearly invisible hairs on her face with the PS5. Because real women don't have any kind of hair on their face, apparently.
 

BrawlMan

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hanselthecaretaker

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Apparently some people are mad you can see little tiny, nearly invisible hairs on her face with the PS5. Because real women don't have any kind of hair on their face, apparently.
I will be testing the mettle of these claims at midnight with photo mode, and will be on the lookout for whether or not the peach fuzz feature survived the scale-down-o-meter on PS4.
 

Trunkage

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Eh? After the proving ceremony where they killed off the supporting cast and never bothered to fill those positions again, Aloy's character arc came to a screeching halt. And that was it. That was her character arc; to not have one.
Killing off supporting cast? You knew then for less than 2mins. Man, I couldn't care less about Rost and we spent 30 mins with him

Also, killing them off just meant that I should not care about anyone in this world.

I dont know why this an Aloy. It should have just been a fallout/skyrim thing and you get to pick the face. The writing clearly indicates that's what they were going for