General Gaming News.

[hanselthecaretaker]

Id argue that a lot of Forbidden West recons the established lore from Zero Dawn for the sake of adding stakes to the sequel. Which also makes no sense really since Silens was enough threat with the manipulation of Hades. I feel like they pigeon holed the space people into the game and had to invent relationships and connections out of nowhere for no reason.

The other thing I wonder is if GG simply didn’t have anything fleshed out yet past the first game, not knowing if it would be a hit or not. Sure they left it open but that clearly didn’t mean much considering what followed. FW also had a bunch of extra writers according to IMDb.

 

[CriticalGaming]

The other thing I wonder is if GG simply didn’t have anything fleshed out yet past the first game, not knowing if it would be a hit or not. Sure they left it open but that clearly didn’t mean much considering what followed. FW also had a bunch of extra writers according to IMDb.

Yeah this is what I would assume. The premise and overall story arch of Zero Dawn is wonderful and well thought out, but I don't think they really had any solid plans for a second game should ZD be a hit. Sure they left it open for more in the end credits but I don't think they really had a whole trilogy or even duology of games planned out. Which shows with just how terrible the overall writing in Forbidden West actually is.

Frankly those extra writers are easy to spot, and also easy to notice that none of them understood the characters or anything that happened in the first game pretty much entirely. The side quest writing is fine, but the returning characters, and especially Aloy are so fucking terrible it really ruins the experience. Aloy was a bit introverted in the first game for obvious reasons but by the end of the game she opens up and accepts the help of the people and friends she's met along her journey. Forbidden West immediately regresses her character unforgivably and it hurts everything.

Ashley Birch's performance as Aloy also seems heavily regressed, like she's just fucking tired all the time and there is next to no personality in any of Aloy's lines. Which might be due to the other character Ashley plays having to be a bit different but also the same. I have no idea but when it sounds like your star is phoning it in, you're not in for a great time.

Forbidden West is one of the best looking games ever made and it plays very well. Visually and mechanically it's better than ZD in every aspect. However the narrative and the characters destroy it which easily ruins an experience so dependent on character and story.

Extra writers are clearly to blame for that. The ret-conning, the seemingly lack of understand of any character development from ZD and having any character development in FW, and of course people have to be gay out of nowhere for no reason, well other than motivation to have diversity.

Aloy worked perfectly well as an sexual character. It fit Elizabet's foundational character and it fit Aloy for not only her being a genetic clone but also being an outcast who wouldn't have any interaction beyond Rost. It works and it made her unique in an RPG space where everyone has to have romantic interests all the time. Having someone who didn't concern themselves with being horny at all was a refreshing character to have.

Not anymore I guess.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Will I need to pay $1.99 to move one extra space?

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Yeah this is what I would assume. The premise and overall story arch of Zero Dawn is wonderful and well thought out, but I don't think they really had any solid plans for a second game should ZD be a hit. Sure they left it open for more in the end credits but I don't think they really had a whole trilogy or even duology of games planned out. Which shows with just how terrible the overall writing in Forbidden West actually is.

Frankly those extra writers are easy to spot, and also easy to notice that none of them understood the characters or anything that happened in the first game pretty much entirely. The side quest writing is fine, but the returning characters, and especially Aloy are so fucking terrible it really ruins the experience. Aloy was a bit introverted in the first game for obvious reasons but by the end of the game she opens up and accepts the help of the people and friends she's met along her journey. Forbidden West immediately regresses her character unforgivably and it hurts everything.

Ashley Birch's performance as Aloy also seems heavily regressed, like she's just fucking tired all the time and there is next to no personality in any of Aloy's lines. Which might be due to the other character Ashley plays having to be a bit different but also the same. I have no idea but when it sounds like your star is phoning it in, you're not in for a great time.

Forbidden West is one of the best looking games ever made and it plays very well. Visually and mechanically it's better than ZD in every aspect. However the narrative and the characters destroy it which easily ruins an experience so dependent on character and story.

Extra writers are clearly to blame for that. The ret-conning, the seemingly lack of understand of any character development from ZD and having any character development in FW, and of course people have to be gay out of nowhere for no reason, well other than motivation to have diversity.

Aloy worked perfectly well as an sexual character. It fit Elizabet's foundational character and it fit Aloy for not only her being a genetic clone but also being an outcast who wouldn't have any interaction beyond Rost. It works and it made her unique in an RPG space where everyone has to have romantic interests all the time. Having someone who didn't concern themselves with being horny at all was a refreshing character to have.

Not anymore I guess.

It was a personal annoyance with how breathy and heavy Aloy’s voice acting was in FW, and I don’t recall it being quite that way in ZD. Now that she has a love interest I’d imagine her breathing will be even heavier.

 

[Chimpzy]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

www.bloomberg.com

Oh, so that explains Sweeneys little rant last weekend.

Tho this is a case where I'm find with either party losing. Or ideally, both losing. And be sentenced to having the boots put to them, medium style.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Guerrilla casually confirms Horizon Forbidden West sequel

Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West's developer has casually confirmed something that we all expected - there will be more outings with Aloy in the future.

www.eurogamer.net

Oh boy, we're really gonna keep riding this derailed train off the cliff, aren't we?

 

[CriticalGaming]

Guerrilla casually confirms Horizon Forbidden West sequel

Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West's developer has casually confirmed something that we all expected - there will be more outings with Aloy in the future.

www.eurogamer.net

Oh boy, we're really gonna keep riding this derailed train off the cliff, aren't we?

Well now we have to battle Space Robot Dinosaurs. Obviously.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Well now we have to battle Space Robot Dinosaurs. Obviously.

From Mars, no less!

 

[CriticalGaming]

From Mars, no less!

I hope they bring chocolate

 

[meiam]

Will I need to pay $1.99 to move one extra space?

No, but it'll be awkward when you pull the "teabag player 3" card and that's your mom...

 

[Gyrobot]

Guerrilla casually confirms Horizon Forbidden West sequel

Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West's developer has casually confirmed something that we all expected - there will be more outings with Aloy in the future.

www.eurogamer.net

Oh boy, we're really gonna keep riding this derailed train off the cliff, aren't we?

Fine by me, more angry Chuds is a good thing since they powerless and will never learn to cope with changing times

 

[Dalisclock]

Care to elaborate on that last part?

I haven't played FW but to my understanding the gameplay loop has a notably added amount of grinding and crafting to extend the playtime of FW. That's part of the reason I didn't bother to pick it up, aside from the fact the plot of FW doesn't sound nearly as interesting/compelling as ZD and it feels clear there wasn't really a plan to do a sequel.

But honestly I'm kind of at the point where games with excessive filler to extend playtime is a bit of a turnoff, especially when that game is like 60 hours long. I liked how ZD felt rather restrained in the open world elements aside compared to something like Ubisoft games and I wasn't thrilled to hear FW was moving in the ubisoft direction.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Well now we have to battle Space Robot Dinosaurs. Obviously.

Hey, it’s familiar territory for them so maybe they’ll have something. Plus in space no one can hear Aloy breathing.

 

[bluegate]

I haven't played FW but to my understanding the gameplay loop has a notably added amount of grinding and crafting to extend the playtime of FW. That's part of the reason I didn't bother to pick it up, aside from the fact the plot of FW doesn't sound nearly as interesting/compelling as ZD and it feels clear there wasn't really a plan to do a sequel.

But honestly I'm kind of at the point where games with excessive filler to extend playtime is a bit of a turnoff, especially when that game is like 60 hours long. I liked how ZD felt rather restrained in the open world elements aside compared to something like Ubisoft games and I wasn't thrilled to hear FW was moving in the ubisoft direction.

Having played through the game a couple of weeks ago I'm having trouble trying to identify the notable grind and craft roadblocks added to the game. Might be because I played on story mode, who knows.

As for there having been no sequel planned, the first game ends with the main bad guy escaping, the terra forming system tasked to take care of the biosphere in shambles and with the question as to who or what caused this all still a mystery, doesn't it?

Seems to me they ended the first game open enough to create a sequel. Ah well.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Seems to me they ended the first game open enough to create a sequel. Ah well.

They did, however the first game also ended on a good enough note to stand alone should another game never get made.

IMO, a good video game story can stand alone on it's own merit while also having the potential for a sequel should something happen. For example The Last of Us Part 1 has a good solid story that has a solid enough ending that Part 2 never needed to happen, however the existance of Part 2 shows that there was easily more stories to tell in that world. Unfortunately like FW, Part 2 also shit the bed worse than Amber Heard.

I guess the moral of the story is, just because you CAN make a sequel doesn't mean you SHOULD.

 

[BrawlMan]

The Last of Us Part 1 has a good solid story that has a solid enough ending that Part 2 never needed to happen, however the existance of Part 2 shows that there was easily more stories to tell in that world. Unfortunately like FW, Part 2 also shit the bed worse than Amber Heard.

Like I mentioned before, part 2 should have just had his own cast of characters and not use Joel and Ellie, if they were going to do that.

I guess the moral of the story is, just because you CAN make a sequel doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Most AAA companies, Hollywood, and sometimes Indie games, do not learn from this at all.

 

[meiam]

I never found Aloy interesting, so a sequel with her was never very interesting to me. Ultimately, the interesting aspect of the world is the whole question of why it became that way, once that's answered, all you have left are the dino robot, which is pretty cool but is very thin of a premise to build a second game on. But part of the problem is that if they were to make a sequel with a different character, that character would naturally start wondering why the world became messed up, and so you would need to re thread the story beat of the first one, which would be pretty boring.

The only other way I could see this working would be to focus on rebuilding lost civilization, which could have worked with the black guy from the first one as main character (can't remember his name). But, for whatever reason, building civilization and bringing prosperity to people isn't a very popular theme. Maybe alternatively, they could have setup the story from the point of view of one of the person who survived the robot apocalypse and got cryopreserved, so they start already knowing what happened with maybe some sort of "my wife/husband was cryoed somewhere else and I must find them" kinda story.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Cliff Bleszinksi calls on Nexon to revive his closed FPS Lawbreakers | VGC

But the Gears of War designer claims he’s only interested in being a consultant…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Seems like a match made in heaven!

 

[CriticalGaming]

Like I mentioned before, part 2 should have just had his own cast of characters and not use Joel and Ellie, if they were going to do that.

I 100% agree with this.

I think they could have even used Abby and her whole group of militants as the stars and centered the story around the conflict with the Scars and it would have been fine. Hell she could have killed a Scar's elite or something and triggered a revenge plot with another set of characters and it would have worked better than trying to shit on the legacy of beloved characters for no reason.

Oh well.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Ultimately, the interesting aspect of the world is the whole question of why it became that way, once that's answered, all you have left are the dino robot, which is pretty cool but is very thin of a premise to build a second game on

I agree with you. Aloy even in the first game was just okay, still better than she was in FW but also not great either.

The world was really cool and interesting and the plot was wonderful imo. I believe in my review back in 2017 that ZD had the most interesting and unique apocalypse plot ive ever seen and i still stand by that. However once you know what happened to the world, the air kind of runs out of the tires.

The sequel is really annoying because this semi primative tribal land seems to have mass communication because everyone knows Aloy on sight and not just the people in her corner of the country. So it's jarring to reach a brand new settlement and have people already know her on sight like that. Pretty much every aspect of the plot is fucking dumb except the space people.

I thought the idea of a rival company building a space ship to travel to another planet was really interesting and had potential. Especially if they had a copy of the Gaia program to teraform whatever planet into something habitable. The immortality thing ruined it and them cloning their own Elizabet also ruined it and pretty much everything they tried to do ruined it.

Instead of being an enemy they should have been the shattered remains of those people coming back to Earth to warn the people of the coming calamity. Using their tech and their knowledge to teach and prepare a brutally underprepared society for a disaster. And aloy could have gone on a maguffin hunt to help prepare for the thing. But no.....make a bad game instead why not?