Horizon Zero Dawn: past world story VS current world story. What hooked you more?

[Genetrik]

To me there is a clear answer: finding out what had happened centuries ago was unbelievably interesting to me and I tried to find every piece of info within the game I could find. Compared to that, I really did not care too much about the tribes story directly tied to Alloy.

What did Era think?

As for the sequel: I really hope there will be again an individual story aspect regarding the past again.

 

[s y]

The lore dumps near the end of the story was the only time I found the narrative in the first game engaging.

The present day story, plot, characters, dialogue was boring af.

 

[MarvelousIntent]

Finding out what happened was so much more interesting. It all sounded so horrific and the more I learned the more horrific it became. Fuck Ted Faro.

 

[Classy Tomato]

Easily the past world. I didn't expect I'd be hooked with a story conveyed through audio logs of all media. It's just harrowing.

 

[sredgrin]

The present day story is largely just kinda not great. The antagonists suck. Aloy and Sylens are good characters but very little about everyone else is compelling, at least of the main plot.

 

[Minamu]

Same as s y. The mystery aspect of what was going on and what had happened was the interesting part, not so much with how humans responded to it. No idea how they intend to re-hook me in the story at this point when there seems to be no secrets left.

 

[Hoggle]

The past. With one massive issue being that they had no idea how to pace it properly and threw way too many audio logs at you in too short a time.

I honestly can't remember anything about the current time story or characters. There was a chick with killer abs and some dude that helped me scout a few bases, and those were the only interesting characters outside of the black dude that helped you out a bit from time to time.

My biggest hope from the sequel is that it isn't full of soulless RPG-lite characters and quests.

 

[Socivol]

Fuck Ted Faro. It's totally believable that world governments would give someone that much power and influence as long as they were rich which made it even scarier to me.

 

[Glio]

I didn't find the old story very original, just standard sci-fi tropes. I liked more the present story

 

[Orion117]

Old world story was definitely much more intriguing. I was interested in the present world story but only to the extent of why the machines are going wild. But for the sequel I am definitely looking forward to development with Hades, GAIA, etc. And whatever is up with Carrie-Anne Moss' character 👀

 

[Yam's]

Definitely the past. I didn't really care about the present story.

 

[2Blackcats]

The past. Boy was the pacing off though. Super slow drip feed and then suddenly you get a huge chunk together in a very short space.

Also if you're going to put audio logs in your game, leave them somewhere I can continue playing while listening to them. Not where there's a bunch of other audio so I have to pause the game and listen

 

[Mechaplum]

The past definitely. They managed to hook me with just the audio and text logs.

I couldn't care less about the warring tribes in the present days. Sylens was neat though.

I wish they make a prequel like Horizon 0, because I really really want to punch the fucker in the face.

 

[pbayne]

Current world. Didnt really care for the plot dumps. I just wish the characters were as interesting as the world.

 

[UltraInstinct]

Definitely the past. I found the present day story so boring and uninteresting. I honestly would have preferred the game being set around in the past as it unfolded.

 

[ara]

Thought the present day stuff was just straight up bad the vast majority of the time, unfortunately. Old world stuff was a lot of fun and the way it unfolded made pushing through the game all the way to the end very easy, even if the way practically all of it was delivered (listening to tapes/watching holograms/reading journals in dingy, ugly, dark, claustrophobic corridors, in huge, weirdly paced chunks) was... less than ideal.

I don't think there's much the sequel can do about the past that would really be that interesting to me, since it was all about the big picture for me rather than "what happened to this specific AI" or whatever, so I'm hoping we're getting drastically more interesting NPCs and improved dialogue writing in FW.

 

[Crayon]

The best part going in was wondering how they were going to justify these robot dinosaurs. It delivered.

 

[BoxManLocke]

The present-day story had B-plot written all over it and shouldn't be required for main story completion in my opinion as it really puts a damper on replayability.

That's also why I'm really not excited about what-his-face-hammer-guy returning for the sequel. He just wasn't interesting.

 

[TigerBrownie]

By the second half of my play through I started skipping through most of the dialogue talking about the current world.

The dialogue and text dumps about modern day tribes, traditions, religions, and politics were awfully bland to get through, with few exceptions. Most aspects of the "current day" story that I liked were all related to the past

I'm not sure I would have finished the game if it weren't for my curiosity about what happened to the past civilization, and why the dinobots existed.

My number one worry for the sequel is that I won't find it interesting enough to get through, but I'm hoping that something hooks me.

 

[Xils]

One of the reasons I find HZD lacking is how the past world story is interesting but has boring presentation while the present world story is boring but has good presentation.
Still prefer past world story though.

 

[Gol]

Not much gripped me at all. I found Aloy mostly bland and irritating. I barely remember anything about the other characters. The present story was very typical stuff.

The past story from what I recall only really gets going in the last few missions. I didn't care much by that point. Oh and the 'we made an evil A.I to destroy everything' as a back up plan was just.... eh. Like I'd seen it before.

 

[Arex]

The past story is interesting because you build it in your head based on the documents and the environment and stuff so your imagination is your limit lol.

But I do find what the current tribes are doing quite interesting too, although to a less extent. Maybe they'll give more stories on how they come to be how they are now in the sequel.

 

[hog]

Found both stories pretty lousy and uninteresting tbh.

 

[SlickVic]

Definitely the past world story for me. I think in most post-apocalypse stories I run into, it often makes me curious to know how the world got that way in their story. Many times a simple explanation is offered (an infection, zombies, etc) and that's often sufficient for the primary narrative being told, but I also appreciate when stories like Horizon flesh out more of a backstory of 'what happened'. Just something I find interesting I suppose.

 

[cowbanana]

I absolutely loved the game, but it was the backstory that I found really interesting (and the amazing gameplay).

 

[Ferrio]

Past easily. Aloy was getting shown up by audio logs, I hope the sequel is better in that regard, feels like she played second fiddle in her own game.

 

[Xiofire]

I'm currently 10 hours into my playthrough and honestly none of the story is engaging. Hearing in this thread that it's pretty much backloaded makes me think it's going to stay this stale until the dying hours?

Hope Forbidden West is better paced.

The dialogue and text dumps about modern day tribes, traditions, religions, and politics were awfully bland to get through, with few exceptions. Most aspects of the "current day" story that I liked were all related to the past

Click to shrink...

Holy moly I'm feeling this at the moment in my playthrough. I met the leader of a tribe and I zoned out so hard to the endless "then the Carja and the Nora and the Sundom and the Sun God and the...." 😂

 

[Martylepiaf]

Finding out what happened in the past is really what hooked me. I thought present world's story was really boring (mostly because all the characters weren't interesting, Alloy was the only one I cared a little bit about). I never was interested in a sequel, but I will probably play Forbidden West one day

 

[Khasim]

The only good things about the present day story were when Sylens was on screen.

I'm currently 10 hours into my playthrough and honestly none of the story is engaging. Hearing in this thread that it's pretty much backloaded makes me think it's going to stay this stale until the dying hours?

Hope Forbidden West is better paced.

Click to shrink...

Context: I'm doing a replay on PC now before FW comes out, I only finished this game once when it came out and haven't done Frozen Wilds. I strongly recommend you power through the main quest and ignore everything else other than fighting machines if you feel like it. I do not remember anything interesting from the present story at all other than the scenes where you get information about what happened in the past. It starts getting interesting after you visit Meridian for the first time IIRC.

 

[Dan Thunder]

I think the story as told wasn't particularly interesting either way, though with more thought it could have been. I loved the game but couldn't tell you the present day narrative to save my life. I remember the old world narrative more but I suspect that was because that got more and more dumped on you as you reached the end of the game so it was easier to remember.

 

[Callibretto]

The mystery of the old world does interest me more than the present story, but Sylens remain the most interesting character in the game. So I'm very interested with the sequel's present story and where they go from now

 

[kami_sama]

Past world.
I wanted to know what the machines were, who made them and why.

 

[Lafazar]

The tribes are so one-note that it makes it hard to take them seriously as individuals. Writing and acting in the Frozen Wilds was a noticeable step up from the base game, but I think the unimaginative tribal customs keep the whole thing down.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

Past world. Some of the best recent speculative fiction I've ever seen because it's so unflinchingly real and plausible, and unstoppably heartbreaking. Ted Faro is maybe the most evil man I've ever seen in fiction - or at least straddles that delicate line before characters jump off into mythological or Joker-style cartoon evil.

Present world was... you know... video game plot for the most part. Sylens is kinda cool I guess. It's fine.

 

[Yuntu]

The past world stuff was super engaging. The tribes are whatever in the first game.

 

[Genetrik]

Man seeing so many agreeing with my own opinion, let's really pray that the sequel will have story elements tied to the past again. Maybe even a playable section if we are truly lucky?

 

[NediarPT88]

The past for sure.

Current day wasn't really that interesting tbh.

I think Forbidden West will be a bit more balanced, with past not being as interesting since we already know a buch of stuff, but the present story being more catching once we discover who sent the signal and also the whole Regalla thing that's likely connected with the Carja invasion that was mentioned in the previous game.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Interested in both, but the past story is really the hook for me.

 

[Farlander]

Both, because the present story is for the most part about finding out the past story, so I wouldn't say that they're separable.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Man seeing so many agreeing with my own opinion, let's really pray that the sequel will have story elements tied to the past again. Maybe even a playable section if we are truly lucky?

Click to shrink...

I kind of hope there's no playable past section. I love the idea of it living as history in the game, pieced together by Aloy.

 

[PlayerOne]

Past by a landslide,
I found current characters and writing very weak.

 

[ChrisJSY]

The past.

My biggest worry for FW is the potential lack of it, we've pretty much got everything we need to know and now it might be all about what's next.
With what I'm sure are a few surprises from the past no doubt.

 

[Saint of Killers]

I've since forgotten both (that's not a slight on the game - I forget all the stories after a while) but I can recall that I was A LOT more interested in the story about how their world got to be the way it was.

 

[Betty]

I don't remember anything of the current day storyline other than the guy from John Wick was bad for some reason.

 

[Abrasion Test]

Making Aloy (and really only Aloy) know so much more about the world than everyone else in the first game made all the petty conflicts between the tribes feel so meaningless and kinda stupid. Thought they'd try a different route for the second game's villain and enemy faction, but hopefully the writing and increased emphasis on companions can make it worthwhile.

 

[Nucarn]

Honestly the story was quite forgettable, it only got a few highlights from me when Sylens (the 'no sides' guy) was on screen.
I cared mostly about killing dino robots that was dope.

 

[Sande]

The current story feels very by the numbers and unremarkable. It's one of the main things I hope they've improved in Forbidden West.

The backstory is funny. I started off hating it. Like, why would I want to listen to voice diaries in some dusty bunkers when I can be hunting robot dinosaurs? But then it turns out to be really good, actually, and by the end I was always eager to find more.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

They were intertwined as far as I'm concerned. A huge part of the story is Aloy finding out who she is and who she is and what she has to do is connected to the events that happened in the past.

 

[Carn]

backstory/lore stuff was more my jam. I couldnt care much for the current story and all the tribal shenanigans.

 

[FakePlasticTree]

Unlike New Vegas, which is obsessed with the Old World to such a degree that they still try to retain those values or bring them back everywhere in the game, because there are people alive that remember what it once was. Horizon, however, isn't that interested because enough time has passed for the world to heal and rebuild into something new but that also makes the mystery of what happened that much more interesting in a post-post-apocalyptic world than the current tribal politics. It's opposite for New Vegas and Fallout, but I do think that once things are resolved with Gaia's sub routine AI's that the story can shift its focus unto the current world's dilemma's which it does seem like Forbidden West is trying to do.