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LTTP: Horizon: Zeroed on generic, formulaic open world

Ignis

Ignis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,757
Edit: By generic I refer to the gameplay and systems, not the art direction which is of course gorgeous!

With the hype of Forbidden West and the current PSN sale I figure I'll have a go at Horizon for a tenner. I needed a palette cleanse after Xenoblade.

boy...is this game by the numbers for this generation.

Third person action adventure? Check
Cinematic style? Check
Detective (focus) mode? Check
Dull sidequests? Check
Shoehorned RPG mechanics? Looting? Crafting? Check check aaand check

None of these things are so terrible individually and many great games have these elements, but with Horizon the entire package just...lacks something. Personality? Soul? It feels very engineered. The RPG mechanics don't serve any sort of purpose, and I feel like I'm playing Tomb Raider reboot with pointless stats throw in mixed with Far Cry and Fallout. (Including Fallout's janky facial animations)

I think my opinion on this game is particularly low as this gen has worn me out on this open world format and all the looting and crafting. The face anims really take your out of the game at times. I also can't help compare certain aspects to BOTW which I played 2 months ago, it was an amazing experience and changed open world gaming for me.

There are some positives; the story is okay, reminds me of those high concept TV shows, bad acting and all lol. Aloy is well done (though she rarely stops talking) whilst the rest of the cast are hit and miss. The weapons are creative! And the bow feels nice to use in slow-mo. The game's crowning achievement is the graphics unsurprisingly, which are breathtaking at times, and the enemies and their animations are a joy to watch. Some amazing work there.

overall: I give it half a knack
 
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ItWasMeantToBe19

ItWasMeantToBe19

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
20,440
The weakpoint system is an interesting idea but I dislike having to aim at weakpoints with dual-analog, feels like shit.

The rest of the game is whatever. Very pretty lighting though.
 

Deleted member 511

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,676
I own it but haven't had a chance to play it yet. It's nice that you've pointed out that Aloy was at least well done because the Forbidden West trailer almost turned me off from the character. Her giving a generic monologue about having to save the world reminded me of modern Lara Croft's hero complex in the newer games which is something I'm completely over.
 
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Jedi2016

Jedi2016

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,825
The story is.. okay? OKAY?!?

It's got the best fucking story of the entire generation, IMO.
 
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
Banned
Jul 14, 2018
23,601
Have you played the DLC? Felt broadly the same about the main game but loved The Frozen Wilds. It's a considerable step up in all areas.
 
BossAttack

BossAttack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
43,127
yunbuns said:
I own it but haven't had a chance to play it yet. It's nice that you've pointed out that Aloy was at least well down because the Forbidden West trailer almost turned me off from the character. Her giving a generic monologue about having to save the world reminded me of modern Lara Croft's hero complex in the newer games which is something I'm completely over.
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Honestly as someone that played Zero Dawn and enjoyed it, this is my complaint with the character. She's too focused on her mission it is kind of off-putting, like she doesn't seem like a real person. The amount of times men and women make a pass at her in the original and she just completely misses it, going right over her head, is mind boggling. Like, its okay to want to fuck. It's okay to relax a bit and not be serious all the time.

Jedi2016 said:
The story is.. okay? OKAY?!?

It's got the best fucking story of the entire generation, IMO.
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Excuse me?

tumblr_nsw5750oYI1r0xmk4o2_500.gif
 
Acevil

Acevil

Member
Oct 30, 2017
315
I do agree with you, graphically it is amazing, but the game felt like I been here and done that. Not necessarily bad thing as you said.
 
Izzard

Izzard

Banned
Sep 21, 2018
4,606
If there were a bunch of games that had mechanical dinosaurs roaming the world I'd be inclined to agree with the generic lack of personality argument, but there aren't, so I won't.

The checklist is presented as a negative. Maybe that's what your issue is.
 
Keyser S

Keyser S

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
8,480
yunbuns said:
I own it but haven't had a chance to play it yet. It's nice that you've pointed out that Aloy was at least well down because the Forbidden West trailer almost turned me off from the character. Her giving a generic monologue about having to save the world reminded me of modern Lara Croft's hero complex in the newer games which is something I'm completely over.
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This mindset is earned after the first game. Even if it is not true, I do believe it is something she would believe, or something that would drive her
 
ItWasMeantToBe19

ItWasMeantToBe19

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
20,440
BossAttack said:
Honestly as someone that played Zero Dawn and enjoyed it, this is my complaint with the character. She's too focused on her mission it is kind of off-putting, like she doesn't seem like a real person. The amount of times men and women make a pass at her in the original and she just completely misses it, going right over her head, is mind boggling. Like, its okay to want to fuck. It's okay to relax a bit and not be serious all the time.
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Aloy's setup vs. her actual character is so bizarre.

She's given the backstory of Naruto plus need to find her dad's killers and just... none of that comes up at all?

Her being ostracized and her dad getting murdered and her lack of social interaction ability just aren't important elements at all. It makes the first 2-4 hours very weird as her backstory has nothing to do with her interactions with people. Why even have these first few hours?
 
Nakenorm

Nakenorm

"This guy are sick"
The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
22,423
I actually loved my time with it, and recently went back to play the expansion and thought it was just as fun now. but maybe that's because I don't usually play a lot of open world games? So these "generic" or "formulaic" systems probably didn't bother me as much as it could've.
The combat, music, design and story was definitely the highlights of the games and I'd say they stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best this generation.
Definitely one of my favorite new IPs this gen and can't wait to see what they do in the sequel.
 
Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
im very loot oriented and getting the next coolest shiny armor in these type of games, and none of them were doing it for me. Ill eventually have to beat my copy but its one of those games like Last of Us that never grabbed me fully
 
fracas

fracas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,676
I've said it a million times but Horizon is just about the epitome of what I dislike about modern games. Just feels like a homogenized, AAA open world full of fetch quests and collectibles, with crafting and RPG-lite mechanics to boot. I enjoy portions of the lore and the art design is great, but the game itself does little for me.

Like you said, it's not particularly bad at anything. It's an extremely technically competent effort, it just bores me to tears because many other games have similar features, but better.

I'm still interested in a sequel that would theoretically have a much larger budget and dev team, but I was really anticipating that game and it fell totally flat for me.
 

JasonV

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,968
:(

I really enjoyed it. The story, world, combat, (bow not melee), exploration, enemy design. Just a fantastically well realized setting.

Bummer you didn't like it.
 
alr1ght

alr1ght

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,072
It is a Ubisoft game in a different skin, much like 9 out of 10 open world games. I hope we can get away from open worlds completely next gen, or at least change the formula alot. I doubt it though.
 
BossAttack

BossAttack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
43,127
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Aloy's setup vs. her actual character is so bizarre.

She's given a backstory of the Naruto plus need to find her dad's killers and just... none of that comes up at all?

Her being ostracized and her dad getting murdered and her lack of social interaction ability just aren't important elements at all. It makes the first 2-4 hours very weird as her backstory has nothing to do with her interactions with people. Why even have these first few hours?
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Yeah, this was also very weird.
She's more emotional about Sobek, a person she will never meet, than Rost the fucking dude who raised her. The fuck?
 
Berserker976

Berserker976

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,429
"Third person action adventure" is the meaninglessly vague at this point.
"Cinematic style" as opposed to...? An arcadey open world third person action adventure?
"Detective (focus) mode" You pop in to get stats on enemies. How does it take anything away from the game?
"Dull sidequests" Some can be a bit dull, some are pretty fantastic. This one is a mixed bag, and admittedly the poor facial animation doesn't help things.
"Shoehorned RPG mechanics" There are RPG mechanics. I don't know what about them makes them "shoehorned" though. They seemed to fit pretty nicely into the game. I never felt like they were a burden and experimenting with different stats was a lot of fun.

These don't seem like well thought out criticisms to me. There's plenty about the game that isn't generic, and lots of cool stuff you don't touch on at all.
 
ryseing

ryseing

Bought courtside tickets just to read a book.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,546
For lovers
Frozen Wilds is indeed excellent and a significant step up from the rest of the game. Here's hoping Forbidden West takes its cues from that.
 
TheModestGun

TheModestGun

Banned
Dec 5, 2017
3,781
I call bullshit on the hyperbole of the title. You could argue on the larger open world aspects yes it's very familiar. But moment to moment gameplay with the combat, story elements, and art design are some of the most unique and refreshing in the genre.
 
Rodderick

Rodderick

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,667
BossAttack said:
Honestly as someone that played Zero Dawn and enjoyed it, this is my complaint with the character. She's too focused on her mission it is kind of off-putting, like she doesn't seem like a real person. The amount of times men and women make a pass at her in the original and she just completely misses it, going right over her head, is mind boggling. Like, its okay to want to fuck. It's okay to relax a bit and not be serious all the time.



Excuse me?

tumblr_nsw5750oYI1r0xmk4o2_500.gif
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The main story is much, much better than Witcher 3's, even if the overall writing isn't on par.
 

Deleted member 59109

User requested account closure
Banned
Aug 8, 2019
7,877
Yeah "generic" seems like a pretty accurate description for this game. I played around thirty minutes but just wasn't motivated to go any farther.
 
ryushe

ryushe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,815
I played Horizon and Breath of the Wild in the same week of release and that was a huge mistake.
 
Omnistalgic

Omnistalgic

self-requested temp ban
Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,973
NJ
TheModestGun said:
I call bullshit on the hyperbole of the title. You could argue on the larger open world aspects yes it's very familiar. But moment to moment gameplay with the combat, story elements, and art design are some of the most unique and refreshing in the genre.
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AMEN...

I don't know what game feel like shooting bows and arrows at dinobots but I would love to play them. A lot of stuff is familiar, this take is also familiar...Literally using the same lines for the old place

- Ubisoft game in another skin
- by the numbers
- generic everything

WEAK analysis...

Horizon needs to improve a lot of things, (better climbing/exploration hand-to-hand combat) but it is unique in the gaming world, and the bow felt amazing along with just the enemy battles in general especially on harder levels. And since so many love to say "this ain't botw" The combat in botw is pretty by the numbers and basic and Horizon's is much more satisfying and fun. Zelda is special because of it's exploration and climb anywhere mechanics, but Link's sword/bow play is pretty weak. And wtf does cinematic style even mean?

This take couldn't be more by the book.
 
BossAttack

BossAttack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
43,127
Rodderick said:
I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about Witcher 3's main story as anything better than "alright", and it's my favorite game of the generation.
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The main story is about Ciri, the plot is what is "generic." But the actual main story is all about the relationship between Geralt and Ciri and that shit is Aces.
 
OP
OP
Ignis

Ignis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,757
Datajoy said:
Certainly not by-the-numbers in the combat, world-building, art, and gameplay departments.
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The world building and art is top tier. Gameplay and combat hmmm....

Jedi2016 said:
The story is.. okay? OKAY?!?

It's got the best fucking story of the entire generation, IMO.
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It's a strong concept for a video game but best story of the gen...?
Lant_War said:
Have you played the DLC? Felt broadly the same about the main game but loved The Frozen Wilds. It's a considerable step up in all areas.
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I have not, i'll give it a go!
Izzard said:
If there were a bunch of games that had mechanical dinosaurs roaming the world I'd be inclined to agree with the generic lack of personality argument, but there aren't, so I won't.

The checklist is presented as a negative. Maybe that's what your issue is.
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No the world and art is beautiful. The structure of the gameplay and systems is hella generic
DominicanGlory said:
Has OP ever made a positive thread?

Jeez
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i made one last week about DK's feet! Jeez
fracas said:
I've said it a million times but Horizon is just about the epitome of what I dislike about modern games. Just feels like a homogenized, AAA open world full of fetch quests and collectibles, with crafting and RPG-lite mechanics to boot. I enjoy portions of the lore and the art design is great, but the game itself does little for me.

Like you said, it's not particularly bad at anything. It's an extremely technically competent effort, it just bores me to tears because many other games have similar features, but better.

I'm still interested in a sequel that would theoretically have a much larger budget and dev team, but I was really anticipating that game and it fell totally flat for me.
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Yes! Exactly my thoughts.
 
Clay

Clay

Member
Oct 29, 2017
8,145
Playing this game after Breath of the Wild was pretty rough. It looks absolutely incredible, both from a technical perspective and also by way of having some unique and incredible artwork, but man, it's basically just a very, very polished take on the Ubisoft style of open world.

I don't hate the game but it didn't do anything groundbreaking. It had some clever quality of life stuff, but that's about it.

I'll still play the sequel because I do love the art and setting, but hopefully they rethink the basic gameplay a bit.
 
EggmaniMN

EggmaniMN

Banned
May 17, 2020
3,465
The story is incredibly pedestrian sci-fi, the combat against humans is clunky and the entire major conflict is just entirely forgettable.
 
JusDoIt

JusDoIt

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,063
South Central Los Angeles
I'm dying cause you really thought that thread title was bars.

I don't know what's formulaic about setting trip wire explosives, making a robot dinosaur chase you, pinning it to the ground after the explosion downs it, knocking off the laser cannon on its back with your staff, and then using said laser cannon to take it out.

Jedi2016 said:
It's got the best fucking story of the entire generation, IMO.
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Some of the best lore, definitely. Not my favorite story, but great sci-fi world building.
 
dreamobserver

dreamobserver

Member
Oct 27, 2017
478
the gameplay for this game really surprised me, some of the best combat this generation. it's what made me overlook the generic flaws it may have in its open world. the amount of options you have, the responsiveness of your (robot) enemies, animations, everything just works.

it's just too fun to play
 
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