Horizon Forbidden West
- Thread starter LEAFANFORLIFE23
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Had my first side quest where I just skipped all dialogue and I'm 40 hours in, done 2 parts of the MAIN MAIN quest you get. It's tiring to have this certain vibe in the game. I don't give a f*** personally if the main character is a man or a woman or a damn boat, I play for the actual game and lore. There's now been several of these subtly annoying quests and hints in the game where I'm left feeling like "damn, wish I was a woman playing this". This has now become my major issue with the game so far, and I'm not even halfway I think. How about you developers let us play the f***ing games instead of this bullshit.
This is one thing that wasn't there for Horizon Zero Dawn. It was just a game.
This is one thing that wasn't there for Horizon Zero Dawn. It was just a game.
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Side quests/errands appear all over the place once you finish like the 2 hour intro and make your way to The Daunt. Most green "!" markers indicate a side-quest or errend.
guinness
Not Ingrid for now
I want to say I've gotten some at the '?' markers as well.
I've found many of the side quests so far decent, at least with one of the tribes, I got a bow out of it.
Did get to see a thunderjaw take out a rebel outpost, and then I killed the thunderjaw, but then both it and the rebels respawned very quickly, so while it wasn't difficult to take out the rebels, I wasn't in the mood to redo the thunderjaw.
I've gotten back into the main story, and it's taken a slightly different turn than I expected. It's not bad, but also part of me was like really? for the immediate moment. But the plot has to move forward, and so I'll see where it goes.
DJ Spinoza
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- Aug 7, 2003
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Yeah, as others are saying, after you finish the first two or three training hours in the Daunt, the world will open up and side quests will be question marks on the map, or often more directly, green exclamation points (especially in settlements). Nothing is truly missable, but it will take some navigating and exploring to find them, and then get what you are interested in. I think the game differentiates between the side quests and collectables or other tasks/jobs such as climbing Tallnecks, which is a good idea early on since it will open up the map quickly.
Like I said, without spoilers, I think it makes sense to get through the Daunt and into the West, and then do the initial story mission once you are in the West itself. After that, it's easy to alternate between wandering / side stuff / story missions depending on what you are in the mood for.
I think I have 5 main story missions left, so I'm taking some time to clear out some random stuff and get into some of the side missions.
DJ Spinoza
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As I wait for the 4th time for this Tallneck to make his slow lap around me despite having figured out every aspect of the puzzle and successfully gotten to the point where you are supposed to jump on, I want to take back even the half-hearted acceptance of the climbing mechanism I made earlier. It's terrible and detracts from the game.
I really miss the longer dodge. It's pretty much impossible to dodge stuff unless you first slide and then dodge now. You also get f***ing killed by getting hit even on hard difficulty due to longer recovery time. It gets tough to slide and dodge stuff when you're fighting 5 machines at the same time, you'll probably still get hit by something. I can't even imagine how it is on very hard.
guinness
Not Ingrid for now
DJ Spinoza
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I still don't really love the platforming in the game in general, but I will say that I've warmed up to the variations on old themes that are in this game. Without going into any detail or spoilers, the tallnecks, metal flowers, and especially cauldrons are well done and interesting in this one.
I think in terms of clutter, my main complaint is probably that there are both rebel outposts and rebel camps, but I guess it is a huge map. There are also some pretty insane fights during smaller missions -- no complaint from me, but I was doing one where I had to fight a Tremortusk, Thunderjaw, and Skydrifter all at the same time, and that was tough.
Overall, at level 40 or so and probably 50-60 hours in, I think a lot comes down to how much you like the combat. I've had my share of frustration but I think the excessive aggression that a lot of the machines have is basically a means to force you to be creative and try new things, and I've been rewarded for switching it up. The one playstyle that I really haven't incorporated into my routine yet is traps/tripcaster, but I'm able to get an ok amount of mileage out of stealth + run n gun.
I had forgotten about the long dodge until it was brought up recently in the thread. I agree it would be useful, and in tandem with Aloy just seeming super slow at times, or getting knocked down and taking forever to get up, is probably the most frustrating thing. With some of the heavyweight machines in particular, it's annoying to get into a fight with them and then to almost be completely boxed in with them stomping you repeatedly and no chance to get away. I've had a couple like that with one Thunderjaw on the map that really annoyed me to no end, but I'd still rather have the continual challenge on Normal level even with being pretty good at the game.
I think in terms of clutter, my main complaint is probably that there are both rebel outposts and rebel camps, but I guess it is a huge map. There are also some pretty insane fights during smaller missions -- no complaint from me, but I was doing one where I had to fight a Tremortusk, Thunderjaw, and Skydrifter all at the same time, and that was tough.
Overall, at level 40 or so and probably 50-60 hours in, I think a lot comes down to how much you like the combat. I've had my share of frustration but I think the excessive aggression that a lot of the machines have is basically a means to force you to be creative and try new things, and I've been rewarded for switching it up. The one playstyle that I really haven't incorporated into my routine yet is traps/tripcaster, but I'm able to get an ok amount of mileage out of stealth + run n gun.
I had forgotten about the long dodge until it was brought up recently in the thread. I agree it would be useful, and in tandem with Aloy just seeming super slow at times, or getting knocked down and taking forever to get up, is probably the most frustrating thing. With some of the heavyweight machines in particular, it's annoying to get into a fight with them and then to almost be completely boxed in with them stomping you repeatedly and no chance to get away. I've had a couple like that with one Thunderjaw on the map that really annoyed me to no end, but I'd still rather have the continual challenge on Normal level even with being pretty good at the game.
Jovavic
Gaslight Object Project
Yep, I just got to Plainsong (didn't get to play for a week) and I think I'll stick to the main story for a bit till I acquire the necessary equipment to open everything.
DJ Spinoza
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Re: the dodging, I've just seen some stuff that suggests sliding is much more effective in Forbidden West than HZD. I barely use sliding, so I'll have to check it out. It seems like the weakness of the dodge right now is that it's harder to get actual distance, so maybe the sliding will help in that regard, but sliding also requires running around, so it's not as immediately combat-friendly.
guinness
Not Ingrid for now
I'm back to the main story, and am honestly mixed at this point.
I guess the original game was telegraphing things, as that mysterious signal had to come from somewhere to wake GAIA initially, but it felt like a lot of exposition to suddenly drop on the player.
But it's also why I did groan a bit when they initially showed up in the mountain. It's sort of Scooby Doo to me - the real villain was this guy the whole time!
Jovavic
Gaslight Object Project
They must have patched the metal blocks from being in the "valuables ok to sell" pile to somewhere else, I know I accidentally sold some before I knew there are merchants that use them as currency.
DJ Spinoza
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Not sure if this is relevant for anyone else, but with the update patches, I wait to install them and then get to a point where I save and exit/completely close the game. Then the install is much smoother. Maybe this is a standard thing and it's bad that I leave games paused and then exit to menu -> rest mode, but I never have had issues with other games. But as I was saying earlier in the thread, I had some real weirdness with multiple updates and needing to hard reset the system, and then the last time it corrupted the data and I had to reinstall. Just figured I'd note it here.
Otherwise, I am definitely way overleveled from just going on a bunch of map clearing quests and such. I'm up to level 48.
Otherwise, I am definitely way overleveled from just going on a bunch of map clearing quests and such. I'm up to level 48.
DJ Spinoza
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- Aug 7, 2003
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Is it just me or are the Stalkers much less imposing in this game? Maybe it's muscle memory or my playstyle, but I am having no issue with them. The machines that I have a ton of trouble with are Clamberjaws, and the Leaplashers are pretty annoying as well.
Jovavic
Gaslight Object Project
Since I decided to focus on story quests to get the needed equipment to properly explore, I've knocked out two of the three that Gaia gives you so it's on to the third one and once I get that final piece of special equipment it's exploring time!
DJ Spinoza
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- Aug 7, 2003
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Just beat the game -- around 86 hours total, but still have to do some side stuff. I'd also say that a solid 10-15 hours of this was somewhat aimlessly wasted, and towards the end I regretted not finishing the story earlier. The game is really poorly paced in terms of the upgrading that they want you to do... just feels like it's more set up for postgame or something but it's not communicated to you. I got a nice set of armor that itself was a bit of a pain, and then in order to balance some of its bad weaknesses, it wanted me to get multiple Thunderjaw parts and 5 Slitherfang Earthgrinders, which are an extreme pain. I ended up giving up, and it was a sour note to start the final mission on... mostly putting this out there in case anyone is earlier in the game and wants a picture for later.
Overall, I have some complaints, but I'll be back for Horizon 3 on day one and really hope there's DLC. I'll put a few more scattered thoughts in spoiler tags:
Overall, I have some complaints, but I'll be back for Horizon 3 on day one and really hope there's DLC. I'll put a few more scattered thoughts in spoiler tags:
If I have one main complaint about the story, it's that they didn't integrate Sylens into it well enough. He's such a great character, and in a sense I almost wonder how anyone can play Horizon 2 without Horizon 1, because there's a lot of context that's relied on in the worldbuilding. I'm not sure how they could have done better by him given the story that they did tell, but things felt a little cramped at the end -- I was glad to see them hint that he'll be much more central in the next game, but I guess towards the end, I felt like he along with the Quen and Tilda were a lot of different balls in the air that came to a quick resolution.
I don't want to complain about too much, but I found the climbing to be consistently awful in the game and if anything, more annoying than Horizon 1 because there was so much emphasis on it. I also really hated the final boss in terms of gameplay mechanics. I beat it in one go, but despite improving the more melee combat encounters in this game, it's still not a strong suit. I don't know, it worked ok, but I think I prefer the Deathbringers from the first game more.
None of this should detract from the major accomplishments, and I think in particular what shines are the new machines, as well as a general tightening and improvement of most of what wasn't as good as it could be in Horizon 1. I definitely wish that I could have gotten the flying mount earlier in the game, but I think part of that was my own decision to stray from the story. The sidequests themselves are all very worth doing, but I think otherwise, it actually pays to play the game in a pretty linear fashion and only stray now and then to just kind of wander around or fight random machines. As it is for me, the challenge to fill out armor and weapons seems like it's gonna be too much of a grindfest, and so I'm a little bit burned out and deciding to put the game down for a while.
One thing I'm a little bit confused about is if I missed the chance to do Alva's sidequest. I didn't initiate it before the final mission, and now she's not in the Base, so I wonder if I will need to go back to my pre-final mission save to finish that one.
I don't want to complain about too much, but I found the climbing to be consistently awful in the game and if anything, more annoying than Horizon 1 because there was so much emphasis on it. I also really hated the final boss in terms of gameplay mechanics. I beat it in one go, but despite improving the more melee combat encounters in this game, it's still not a strong suit. I don't know, it worked ok, but I think I prefer the Deathbringers from the first game more.
None of this should detract from the major accomplishments, and I think in particular what shines are the new machines, as well as a general tightening and improvement of most of what wasn't as good as it could be in Horizon 1. I definitely wish that I could have gotten the flying mount earlier in the game, but I think part of that was my own decision to stray from the story. The sidequests themselves are all very worth doing, but I think otherwise, it actually pays to play the game in a pretty linear fashion and only stray now and then to just kind of wander around or fight random machines. As it is for me, the challenge to fill out armor and weapons seems like it's gonna be too much of a grindfest, and so I'm a little bit burned out and deciding to put the game down for a while.
One thing I'm a little bit confused about is if I missed the chance to do Alva's sidequest. I didn't initiate it before the final mission, and now she's not in the Base, so I wonder if I will need to go back to my pre-final mission save to finish that one.
guinness
Not Ingrid for now
TBH, I've found the crafting to be craptastic in FW.
I don't remember the first game being this poor either, but I get frustrated at the requirement for very specific things, and I remember that for the longest time, I couldn't upgrade my pouches, as those specific things were in a part of the map I literally could not travel to in this game.
The weaving sucks, as you can't use them until you're reached the top level on upgrades, but you can't upgrade without specific parts, which means I've got a 1000 weaves in my inventory. Also I wish there was a better way to view my weapon/armor stats, especially when buying the few upgrades I have.
As it stands, I think I've got decent weapons ATM, but relative poop armor. And so the AI also frustrates me with rebels or stalkers that can screw me up with a couple shots, or a single shot in the later, but then other times, the AI is dumb as rocks, so...a tradeoff?
I've also found the pacing uneven, as you can go at your own pace, but then it throws out an avalanche of exposition to try and get the user back up to speed when doing main line stuff. And I feel like there are way too many factions and sub factions. And for how fierce the Teknath (sp) are claimed to be, when the rebels are everywhere, or I can just find random Oseram delvers just camped out, yeah...
However, then again with these types of games, if they were realistic, you could die only once, or you would show up 20 years too late, because of all the side quests, but the quasi-annoying thing, is that the side quests add so much to the story.
DJ Spinoza
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- Aug 7, 2003
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Yeah, I agree with all of this -- I think it's mostly stuff that could have been polished, so it's not overly detrimental to me. I also experienced more glitches and bugs the longer I played it, but again it wasn't overwhelming.
Weirdly I think the strength of the game is that it's kinda two games in one. The core problems stem from it being both a great open world game and a game that has an interesting plot, and it's hard to have those both in one place, since inevitably as a player, you swing between both elements.
In terms of the gameplay frustrations a lot of us have had, my read on them is that the game wants to force you to explore all of the different elements rather than stick with a small number of options. I don't think this is forced on you for the story quests for the most part, although there are some side quests and errands that deliberately try to do this (and as such are way harder than story quests if you don't pick up on the mechanics and use them). This is where I think the game could have been better balanced, or a more structured way to foist off some of this stuff until the post-game at least.
We'll see -- I don't want to sound overly negative since I still loved the game and mainlined it hard since Day 1. One thing I wonder is how quickly we'll see Horizon 3. It seems like they expanded the frameworks of the game significantly, such that it shouldn't be too difficult to build on them and get a sequel out, but if the plan is to do a fairly substantial DLC and then take their time with the story for the sequel, it could be quite a while.
Jovavic
Gaslight Object Project
I think Sony wanted to see how the first one sold before committing to the sequel, might explain the five year gap between the two titles.
I got the last special equipment yesterday so I'm ready to start hitting the side quest list. Also got my first bow with berserk arrows so I'm ready to start hitting the biggest Dino with those and watch the carnage unfold lol
I got the last special equipment yesterday so I'm ready to start hitting the side quest list. Also got my first bow with berserk arrows so I'm ready to start hitting the biggest Dino with those and watch the carnage unfold lol
guinness
Not Ingrid for now
There have been times where I expect Preston Garvey to pop up, tell me that another settlement is in trouble, and needs my help.
I'm about 60 hours in, and there's still about a 1/3 of the map I haven't explored.
I'm about 60 hours in, and there's still about a 1/3 of the map I haven't explored.
