Aloy & Yebba explore Horizon Zero Dawn
Still not sure why my current focus is in dystopian future games - but hey - the trend continues! This one skill-wise was a little bit of a cold start, yet once I got the hang of everything, how much freaking fun is it to shoot things with arrows!? And the story! Oh my gosh, the story. They absolutely kept you guessing as you continued exploring more and more. Anyway - let’s get into more detailed thoughts below!
Here’s the whole playlist if you want to hop into the series.
These are just a few highlights and impressions from my playthrough.
The build-out of each tribe was an immensely immersive and excellent feature of the game. I would have liked a little bit more outside of the main conflict tribes of The Nora and The Carja (Shadow Carja, I suppose) - The Banuk, especially. From the context clues that I’m getting, it appears that DLC is a solution to help with the previously missed exploration of such a fascinating tribe!
I liked the idea of the cauldrons a lot. They felt like they fit the story for why they would be there, and each one had a unique enough objective that it didn’t feel overly repetitive. It gave the best kind of Breath of the Wild feeling and sense of accomplishment that was very satisfying. They had purpose, they had connections to the other pieces of the story, as you learn about the different types later on, and they were fun!
Just so you have a peek as to how my gameplay went before you dive in - I LOVED the reunion quest at the end of the game before the ultimate, big fight. I am a sucker for those kinda of things, and Eren made me cry! (See Mass Effect 3 Playthrough, hehe)
Speaking of Eren - what an adorable, lovable himbo! Gosh he’s a great character - as are many of the interesting and story-progressing characters you meet in the game.
And Nil…well, I have complicated feelings about Nil. Yet damn, his eyeliner was on point though. The embodiment of murder doesn’t have a right to be so attractive!
And just to even out the good things…
I didn’t particularly care for Helis, though. He was pretty flat in terms of dimensional personality and plot compared to Faro and HADES. He was very irritating and annoying - which I guess is good for the antagonist to be. But he also never gave me much of a reason to care about him as a character. He was literally only there for plot, and that was meh. And yes, Faro is a damn heel and deserves all the ire he gets!! What an asshole.
I had some issues with the skill tree and the need to have certain things to do parts of the world. I don’t mind that in linear games, but it open world exploration games - that can get a little frustrating. It was fine once I got the hang of it overall, but it was a patient trek to get there.
Submechaniphobia. The crocodiles. That’s all I’ll say, and I’ll leave it at that.
At this point, I have completely finished the base game. I have plans to play the rest of the series and this game’s DLC in the future. I tend to go wherever my interest takes me - so no promises on dates for that content yet! Horizon 3 is already being teased, and I would love to get through more of the story before then.
I am still on the fence about getting a PS5 - and with my graphics card being very strained even from a game like Clair Obscura: Expedition 33, I need to anticipate that future games will continue to evolve past the limits of my hardware. Recording on the same PC as playing is s general struggle for one PC setup folks like me. Moving to a console will definitely help with that obstacle.
Anywho, enough of my thoughts - Horizon Zero Dawn is an excellent game with fantastic voice acting, incredible plot twists and turns, and a riveting feast for the eyes in it’s unique world design and environment. I recommend this game to anyone who hasn’t played it - and if you don’t want to play it yourself, give it a watch on my channel!
See ya next time :)
