Couldn't get into the story...

[Firefox_32]

I enjoyed the game The climbing was a bit of a letdown and sometimes annoying but otherwise the gameplay was really fun and the story was alrite. I agree that the first parts story was way better.

I'm commenting because I havn't seen anyone say this, the most disappointing part for me was the Gemini boss fight. I mean, the way Beta, Varl and Aloy were hyping it up saying that Hephaestus is making some big bad new machine to defend himself. But the machine that spawned was a.. slaugherspine? And it was honestly so weird because the way Aloy was talking to herself was indicating that it should be the first time the game has thrown a slaughterspine towards us. She makes comments like about his guns, cannons and the way hes charging his plasma, a big attack might be incoming etc. But I had already killed like 10 slaughterspines before that fight? Man, idk I might be nitpicking but that really killed the hype for me for the rest of the story for some reason lol. Should have been an apex at least ?

[yoda_squad]

I've been playing for a few hours and I'm already skipping most of the dialogue.... 

 

I really enjoyed Zero Dawn, but it took a good while for me to really get into it. I set it aside when I was about halfway through, not impressed by it. But when I returned to it, and once I got the decent armour and weaponry the game completely changed and became a joy to play.

 

Like others I wasn't too invested in the story, but the game play and visuals are the best things, glad to see Forbidden West carries on the same vein.

[MarcancooL]

Well I am glad to read this thread! I loved Horizon Zero Dawn and was really happy to get a PS5 bundle with Forbidden West. But I have played the game two hours and was.... meh

 

Eventually I will get back to it, but I am really disappointed in a negative way

[Tyrogenic]

I had this issue with Zero Dawn, took way too long for me to get into it, wasn't really until the end that i enjoyed the story. That said, I like Forbidden West way more. I really liked the twists that came like

Spoiler

the Far Zenith spaceship didn't explode and they made it to another solar system, it was the original Far Zenith crew now 1000 years old, they were trying to escape Nemesis who almost wiped them out,

and I really look forward to what I believe will be the last game in the main-game Horizon trilogy.

 

Oh, and gameplay was great, who needs a story, right?

[Komrade_Dusty]

I completely agree with you. I don't really care for the plot or really most of the characters. But the graphics, world, voice acting and gameplay are absolutely amazing.

[AngelicaK92]

Damn I feel weird now reading these replies. 

[rospondek]

What can I say. For me Zero Dawn was a struggle. I began on 5th of September 2021 and finished it on 12th of September 2021. And by finished I barely get through the prologue. I have no idea why everyone loved this game. I got this game on my shelf for the next almost 1.5 year. I returned to it on 21st of January 2023 and exactly one week later I got platinum and finished Frozen wilds 100%. It was a blast. Graphics, story, gameplay. Suddenly everything was just as it was promised. In the meantime, during that 1.5 year break, Forbidden West showed up and I never bought it. Looking at it that time and how I felt disappointed with the part one I never thought I'll play this as well. Then it just showed up in PS+, and I was really hyped after the Zero Dawn finish so between 13th and 30th March 2023 I also got platinum in the Forbidden West.

But was it as good as the previous one? That's hard to tell. Zero Dawn after the awful prologue came out as a game for me and I finished it 100%. All main and side quests were done. Everything that was offered was cleaned. With Forbidden West story was maxed out but sidequests was done only those solely needed for the platinum. Something was not right. Story itself is amazing. The plot and main characters are great - cannot wait for Burning Shores - but the fight, though upgraded a lot, for me was actually downgraded. Shooting was still great so any fights with machines was as fun as always, but bandit camps or fighting melee with human enemies? That was so annoying... The combo system wasn't working at all. It was obviously added only for the challenges. I was always swarmed by three or more enemies and that's why there was no way to launch any combo which was time based. I was always hit by someone or some lost arrow from the far end of the camp and my dreams about any advanced combos were gone. Clearing camps without being seen was nearly impossible. Headshots were nerfed down by giving masks to the enemies. So it was very hard to kill enemy with one shot from a distance.

Soooooo... Both games are great and when anyone will finish them he will appreciate them a lot but I can fully understand some people will bounce off this game like tennis ball from a concrete wall.

Edited April 17, 2023 by rospondek

[lloydisthebest88]

I've beaten the game a few days ago, and now I've got 100% in it. I mostly enjoyed the story, but after completing the main story I played most of the side missions by skipping any dialogue.

 

To be the thing is, the world and overall the setting is 10/10, I love everything about it. But for the life of me, they seem to be unable to have interesting characters. Aloy is the blankest slate you can imagine, without any shred of personality; Erend is fun but forgettable; Varl lacks some depth; the Far Zeniths have so much wasted potential, you're supposed to believe Gerard is this big baddie but you literally know nothing about him (Erik too); Tilda is the only one who gets some character work, but her evil turn at the end could be seen from miles away, because of how they set her up. The only interesting character is Sylens, but now with Lance Reddick gone (RIP) I don't know how what his future is, going forward. Most likely he'll be recast, but I'm sure some magic will be lost.

 

They absolutely need to rethink Aloy, and surround her with meaningful characters who interact with her far more often. Right now you spend 99% of the time by yourself and you almost forget a companion's name from one mission to the next one. Take GoW 2018 and Ragnarok: Kratos was a dud previously, but they gave him conflict and depth and now he's one of the best characters ever on PlayStation. He is surrounded by a fantastic supporting cast (Atreus, Freya, Mimir, Brok, Sindri, even Lunda) who I'll remember long after I've forgotten all about Horizon's characters. In fact, I already struggle to remember Zo and Alva's name, let's be honest.

 

This game is a 10/10 because it's incredibly fun to play, but its characters absolutely need to be fixed for the inevitable third game.

[rospondek]

6 hours ago, lloydisthebest88 said:

Most likely he'll be recast, but I'm sure some magic will be lost.

These days I believe they will obviously recast him but thanks to AI we will still hear Lance. His voice ingame was distorted by default so it will be near perfect. Of course it is just a guess but very probable.

[mrmivo]

For me it was actually the story and the dialogue (I listened to everything, even the optional choices) that kept me playing. I didn’t enjoy the combat/gameplay nearly as much as I had in Zero Dawn, but I did love the world, the characters, and the whole setting. While the story wasn’t as compelling and innovative as in the first game (where I felt in the dark and was eager to learn what had happened), it was still what propelled me forward and filled in some history holes.

[Swotam]

I have to say that overall I've enjoyed the story in both HZD and HFW. There are things that can be improved for sure, I mean we aren't talking about Naughty Dog levels of narrative here, but all things being equal I think they're both pretty cool games with an interesting and unique premise, set in a visually stunning world (both games look great on PS5), with some interesting and unique gameplay mechanics, upgrade paths, weapon options, etc. The scavenged nature of everything really shines through.

 

Yeah, there are times when Aloy can be a bit wooden, but you can tell that a lot of effort was put into the game, the story, voice and motion capture acting, cutscenes (even for small side missions), and it really pays off overall. Maybe I'm a bit more patient that others these days, but with these type of games I always watch all the cutscenes, explore all the dialog trees, read and listen to the collectibles, and generally try to understand the story the developer is trying to tell. I can understand that if you're trying to blow through the game as fast as possible then it might be annoying, but that's not how I personally play and for the most part I've found my multiple playthroughs of both games enjoyable.