It seems like Horizon: Forbidden West came out and was just forgotten

[stat84]

Genius idea to put it 1 week before Elden Ring.

The 1st game is one of my favourite of last gen, i replayed it in January yet 3 months later i haven't touched it because i only stopped playing Elden Ring recently.

I will obviously play it soon but I won't be part of any discussions etc.

 

[kimbo99]

The first one had real legs even with Zelda coming out at the same time. Forbidden West just didn't hit in the same way.

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I'd argue that HZD competing with Zelda isn't nearly as difficult as competing with ER. Even in that case, HFW is an evergreen

 

[NinjaScooter]

Holy contrarian Batman. This game still tops the charts, Era just has an issue with games that compete with ER.

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People here love to talk about how nobody is talking about things. See: the monthly Game of Thrones threads.

 

[digitalrelic]

That's because it was very forgettable. At least for me.

 

[Deleted member 46948]

I loved the first game, but HFW wasn't a lot of fun to play. It was beautiful to look at, no question, but I was very ready for it to end like halfway through.

Also, Elden Ring.

 

[zuf]

In what sense? It's still selling well now.

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Just general excitement and word of mouth. Like what prompted OP to make this thread, a feeling that it came and went.

Threads and polls comparing Zelda and Zero Dawn just after launch were pretty even iirc. People really loved it.

Still enjoyed the second one though and I'm sure it's sold well.

 

[Fantastical]

I was liking it and was trying to hold off Elden Ring, but Elden Ring became too essential and couldn't handle them both at the same time. Wish I had just waited on Horizon.

I hope it hits PC within the next 2 years. I'll probably just rebuy and play it there.

 

[Red Kong XIX]

Regardless of how many people are discussing the game in anyone's circle, HFW is actually having excellent legs depending on PS5 stock.

Thanks to a new bundle, it was the best selling retail game last week in the UK, and it was also back in the top 5 in France.

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You can just bring up so called 'facts' here, it doesn't work like that.

Also, never mention that it was actually the biggest PS5 launch outside of the Call of Duty franchise in Europe. Never ever dare to bring that up. Game was a failure, everybody knows that.

 

[Oreiller]

It's just kinda boring? I don't feel it brings anything compared to the first game and is kinda tedious as a whole. Story seems interesting after like 15 hours but eh.

 

[Norris1020]

I put around 50 hours and got the platinum, I enjoyed the characters, voice acting, and scenarios well enough, nothing really wowed me but that's not a complaint, open world games like that are just time to relax comfort food for me.

What did bring the game down for me was crafting better arrows and armor took a lot of material that never seem to easily come by, so I was nearing the end of the game basically using early game equipment despite how much selection of things there were and on the technical side the weird performance mode resolution and it's scaling to 4K was off putting and that had to be put up with the entire game.

 

[ghostcrew]

I think it's better than the first game but it's also largely very similar. I guess there's not a great deal to discuss?

Elden Ring definitely ate it's launch during launch though in terms of mindshare, yeah.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

If you go off era no one talks about Fortnite and there's not 50 threads a day like Elden so youd think based on era that Fortnite is a bomba.

 

[Lord Arcadio]

I wasn't really interested in the series, but the HFW PS5 bundle was the only one I could get when I finally got picked in the PlayStation Direct lottery this past week. Looks like I got the first game for free at some point so I started playing that on my new PS5. Really nice that they did a 60fps update. Feels great. I'll get to the sequel after I finish this one and the expansion.

 

[HK-48]

Not all games hit it straight away. It was just okay

 

[Chamon]

Finished it two days ago. While I think a lot of things where improved, i liked the first one more. Forbidden west is just a boring open world game with an uninteresting story. Too bad because I really loved Zero Dawn 😩

 

[Lotus]

I liked it more than the first game, but meh, not much I feel like talking about after beating it

Just kind of came and went for me, waiting for the presumed expansion to come out, then I'll beat that and trade the game away

 

[Katbobo]

From the outside it seemed like a sequel that took a step back in aspects. Like complaints about the climbing being worse, the combat getting overloaded, a less interesting story. As someone who bounced off the first but was open towards trying a much-improved sequel, it didn't end up being something that sounded like i'd enjoy any more than the 1st.

 

[rudeboyoslo]

The game is visually pretty to look at, but an absolute chore to actually play.

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That's it. I just finished it after playing it on and off since launch and it's really nothing special.

 

[GamerDude]

What? PC is an incredibly important audience, and effectively the biggest one these days, in the age of streaming and social media. What do you mean it had nothing to do with that?

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It clearly had nothing to do with it. No big PlayStation game has ever launched on PC.

 

[Bakuryu]

I loved Zero Dawn and was super hyped for Forbidden West... But the performance mode looks bad. Inexplicably bad. Have been waiting in vain for a fix, but each patch has done little to nothing to fix it.

 

[shintoki]

You're either first or last and Elden Ring wanted first.

 

[LightKiosk]

I enjoyed the game, but this is usually how it goes (imo) for SP games goes outside of exceptions like Souls games or BotW and HFW was one of those complete it and delete it games for me. You can apply this same thread to Halo Infinite SP, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Dying Light 2 etc etc and it'll happen again during the next wave of SP releases and again after that.

I guess the outlier here that would prompt such a discussion is people have different expectations for how much a Sony 1st party title can/should dominate forum discussion?

 

[xtib81]

It's a (very) good game, they've improved on pretty much everything but at the same time I felt like it was more of the same and to be fair I was slightly disappointed.

 

[Lys Skygge]

Idk. I kinda feel like most games aren't talked about much a couple months after launch. I don't see much Elden Ring talk either other than the occasional meme and Vaati video.

 

[Lemony1984]

Only got to it after Elden Ring and it was alright. Combat is annoying and mostly not fun and the art design isn't to my taste. Everyone that isn't Aloy looks ridiculous.

The first game had both these problems too but had a better story/central mystery.

So yeah it's a 6 or a 7 in my book.

 

[NewtonNextDoor]

I loved Zero Dawn and was super hyped for Forbidden West... But the performance mode looks bad. Inexplicably bad. Have been waiting in vain for a fix, but each patch has done little to nothing to fix it.

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This is another reason for me to wait it out. I am hoping they fix the visual issues in performance mode.

 

[AndersTheSwede]

Played it for 10 hours. It feels exactly like the first game but with a way less interesting story hook so far.

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This is, sadly, my impression too. It starts well, but then the story really becomes a slog that is no where near as interesting as the first.

 

[Hailinel]

This seems to be the way for the Horizon series.

Zero Dawn releases - Mindshare is immediately consumed by Breath of the Wild.

Forbidden West releases - Mindshare is immediately consumed by Elden Ring.

They may not be bad games, but they have had a knack for release dates coinciding with other releases that take all of the social media attention. If it happens again for Horizon 3, it will transition from unfortunate coincidence to cosmic event.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

FW didn't hit me as hard as the first one. The first one felt fresher where the sequel kinda just improved most things and expanded things. It also took me a lot longer for it to get its hooks in. But once it did it was fantastic. And the best looking game I've ever played. Defo my GoTY so far. And unless GoW is amazing, it might just stay that way looking at the schedules for the rest of the year.

And the Horizon series for me is far better than the games that supposedly sucked the air out of it both times.

 

[Saladin]

Man this thread is rough.

Game was awesome, and personally I played it at launch before ER lol (which was amazing too). It doesn't have to be one or the other, y'all

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Nobody said it isn't but thats the truth. ER's hype was massive and bigger than Horizon

 

[J_Viper]

Excluding the graphical jump, It is a worse game in every regard than its predecessor

Every aspect of movement and combat is just so clumsy, I find it hard to believe that this is the same team from ZD

 

[NekoNeko]

it was pretty mid and completely outdone by Elden Ring. not surprised this happened.

 

[NeoBob688]

I was one third done when Elden Ring destroyed all my available leisure time, haven't come back. Maybe with PC version if I can transfer my save.

 

[maxx720]

Besides Elden Ring killing it, it's just a boring game to play.

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Elden Ring took my attention at the time of launch. Honestly since then I've tried to get into to it but it just isn't that appealing. The game just feels to busy in regards to leveling up, gear, etc.

 

[SunBroDave]

Launching right before the GOAT will do that

 

[zombiejames]

The game being cross-gen was a huge letdown for me and I just didn't have any real hype for it. It's a very pretty PS4 game that isn't raising the bar on anything so I just skipped it. I'll get around to it eventually I'm sure but I still have no real motivation right now.

 

[Synohan]

Is it? The game is still talked about. Not as much as Elden Ring, but its pretty good for a SP sequel

 

[Disco Infernal]

Elden Ring rightfully overshadowed it. I put in three or four hours prior to ER and was completely underwhelemed. The climbing still stinks and the map is still just a mess of question marks telling you exactly where "interesting" things are. I intended to return to it after I finished ER, but I just can't make myself play another samey open world game right now.

 

[Poimandres]

Only among core gaming enthusiasts like this forum and Souls Twitter and such. My casual friends are largely still playing Horizon FW and none of them touched Elden Ring. Get out of the bubble.

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Sales suggest that it's actually your friends that are in the bubble. Elden Ring really broke through in a way that few games do. Horizon 2 certainly didn't have the same reach.

But it will continue to sell for years to come, and get a nice boost when it hits PC. There's just not that much to talk about at the moment. It was critically and commercially well received without hitting the very top tier (which is usually what's needed to keep a single player game in people's minds long term).

 

[ianpm31]

Horizon charts every time when new ps5 stock drops so obviously it's not forgotten.

 

[Stitch AU]

Bought it last week and installed it yesterday. Was actually in shock that the PS5 wanted 200gb of free space to install the game and had to delete quite a bit only for the game to only take up 100gb??? Anyways, it's ok so far I was actually a little disappointed in the image quality so far on the 60fps mode and I just can't go back to 30fps these days.

I'll still enjoy the game I got the platinum for the first one and will most likely do the same for this one.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

It was the 1-2 punch of

1. It wasn't the "Assassin's Creed 1 to 2" sequel it needed to be. It didn't make its own stamp in that way.
2. The cultural explosion of Elden Ring

Won't get the same big acclaim. I'm sure it did well enough though.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Excluding the graphical jump, It is a worse game in every regard than its predecessor

Every aspect of movement and combat is just so clumsy, I find it hard to believe that this is the same team from ZD

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Not all all. The side quests were a huge step up as just one example.

 

[Synohan]

Horizon charts every time when new ps5 stock drops so obviously it's not forgotten.

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Yeah lol

 

[Mass_Pincup]

The game was juste average from what I've played.

Not enough differences with the 1st for me to care past 6-7 hours.

 

[YorkshireDaveUK]

Just because its not talked about here, doesn't mean it didn't do well. Every time there is new ps5 stock it goes back into the charts.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Is it? The game is still talked about. Not as much as Elden Ring, but its pretty good for a SP sequel

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It's a weird narrative. If youre not first you're forgotten apparently

 

[Papercuts]

From the outside it seemed like a sequel that took a step back in aspects. Like complaints about the climbing being worse, the combat getting overloaded, a less interesting story. As someone who bounced off the first but was open towards trying a much-improved sequel, it didn't end up being something that sounded like i'd enjoy any more than the 1st.

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I felt this in the end. I had a lot of issues with ZD but always felt that an iterative sequel that fixed those problems would have been killer. FW didn't end up being that, with a mix of improvements, sidegrades and downgrades. There are some deeply rooted aspects of the game that are incredibly frustrating, like the gear upgrading which is a ridiculous time sink.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I didn't like the first game enough to finish it so I wasn't really in the market for the sequel. Especially with Elden Ring eating a full month of my life.

 

[srtrestre]

Even before Elden Ring hit, I did notice a certain lack of enthusiasm for Horizon 2 only a few days after it released. So I don't know that I'd blame it all on ER.