PS4 Horizon Zero Dawn by Guerrilla Games

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:41 pm

Sigh...downloading now. I hate you. All of you.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:48 pm

hepcat wrote:Sigh...downloading now. I hate you. All of you.

As Aloy's guardian said, "Follow!"

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:01 pm

If it sucks, I'm going to give you such a verbal lashing.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:05 pm

hepcat wrote:If it sucks, I'm going to give you such a verbal lashing.

Do you like hunting robot dinosaurs in your spare time? Do you like responsive controls which will help in your hunt for said dinosaurs? Then this game is for you!

Oh did I mention that you can override their programming so they can fight other dinosaurs for your enjoyment?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:16 pm

You had me at dinosaur.

I'm on the final mission in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and I finished up Far Cry Primal and Dark Souls III right before that. I've been on a PS4 tear since last Thanksgiving. I was planning on finishing the DLC stuff for Witcher 3 next, but now I guess I'm going to start another long haul game.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:21 pm

hepcat wrote:You had me at dinosaur.

I'm on the final mission in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and I finished up Far Cry Primal and Dark Souls III right before that. I've been on a PS4 tear since last Thanksgiving. I was planning on finishing the DLC stuff for Witcher 3 next, but now I guess I'm going to start another long haul game.

Oh that's a tough call. I was on the verge of finishing Blood and Wine when I decided to get this game. I'm on the last boss fight and was really frustrated with it so I figured walking away from it for a short bit would be good. However the DLC was some of the best gaming I've done and I was actually sad that it was drawing to a close.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:39 pm

Random tip: So after accessing a vantage point go into the collectibles menu and highlight the vantage point you just found. I'm keeping it a little vague but there's more expository text associated with the vantage. At first I never checked the file for more which to me is understandable when you find your first vantage point.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:43 am

$iljanus wrote:Random tip: So after accessing a vantage point go into the collectibles menu and highlight the vantage point you just found. I'm keeping it a little vague but there's more expository text associated with the vantage. At first I never checked the file for more which to me is understandable when you find your first vantage point.

This is true for all collectibles except mugs.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:16 am

For anyone still on the fence, let me give you an example of the combat in this game.

Clearing a corrupted zone. These zones have stronger types of your usual machines. I have to take down around 5 Sawtooths (Sawteeth?), which are basically like big tigers.

Since I really didn't feel like taking them on directly, I stealthed up close and set a series of blast trip wires between me and them. I then hit my lure and whistled for them. They start coming after me, but were too clever and stopped short of the traps in order to attack me long range with their energy beams.

"So that's how you want to play?" I thought. Fine. I start dodging their weapons and firing back with my strongbow. After all, if they want to play long range, I can pot shot them all day.

Well this REALLY pissed them off, and they finally charge. Two of them hit the tripwire and go down in a blast of smoke.

The third jumps OVER the tripwire and leaps at me. I dodged out of the way and whacked him with my spear, but he's way too strong for that. He takes a bite out of me then turns around for more. Fortunately I had one more tripwire left, so I thwack it into the ground right as he charges. BOOM! Roasted kitty cat.

I now turn my attention to the final two, who have backed off of the action. I take another couple of shots, but run into some deep grass and they get confused. They start prowling around and acting confused as to where I went, but seem curious about the bodies of their dead brethren. I fire a sling blast right into the middle of them and duck back down out of sight. Boy are they pissed. They come closer, and I Silent Strike one from the cover of the bushes, jamming my spear into his back. The other leaps at me, and I quickly switch to strongbow and hit him with two well placed shots right in his vulnerable back canister. The fight is over.

This kind of stuff plays out all the time - even when you're just traveling around and run across a random pack. I think that's why people are so high on the gameplay - it really gives you every opportunity to approach each challenge in your own style, and adapt that style on the fly as necessary.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:07 am

Slow internet yesterday made it into an 8 hour download, so I didn't get a chance to play until around 9 last night. I put in about 45 minutes then, and about 30 minutes before leaving for work this morning. Enough so that I "grew up", at least.

I can already tell it's going to be fun. Although coming off Assassin's Creed Syndicate, I miss the fluidity of climbing that that series has perfected. Still, they do an admirable job from what I've seen so far.

The comparisons to Far Cry Primal and the more recent Tomb Raider games is spot on. Especially Far Cry Primal...which I loved.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:56 am

I'm excited about any future games developed using the Decima game engine. This game runs well and sure is pretty on a normal PS4 giving it some longevity if more titles are developed with this engine. I did happen to remember that Decima was also the name of the company that was developing the evil AI, Samaritan, on Person of Interest but I'm sure Guerrilla Games will use their technology for good...

Hideo Kojima's upcoming game, Death Stranding, will be using the engine. Here's the trailer which is quite creepy and surreal which is expected from a Kojima game:

Death Stranding...with Norman Reedus!

Death Stranding...with Mads Mikkelsen!

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:22 pm

You had me at Mads Mikkelsen.

Although give me Mads Mikkelsen as a robotic dinosaur and I'll pre-order right now.

p.s. if you haven't played Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, do so soon. I lost many an hour to that one.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 11:20 am

I realized last night that my ps4 is capable of HDR. I hadn't realized this as I had it connected to an older receiver that doesn't support HDR pass through. I plugged it directly into my 4K tv though and it enabled it. Then I fired up Horizon. Wow, what a difference. With HDR it looks amazing.

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 2:11 pm

Ended up having to do the same when I upgraded to a Pro - straight into the TV and then optical from there back to the receiver. And yes... amazing.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 5:32 pm

My playtime seems directly proportional to my character level in this game. Last time I checked I was level 34 at 34 hours of playtime, and now I just hit level 40 at 40 hours in, pretty much to the minute. Still loads and loads to do, but at least I've found all the collectibles.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:03 pm

That's good to hear. I was hoping it wasn't going to be a 30 to 40 hour game and then done. Witcher 3 kind of spoiled me for content.

Edit: man, a lot of the male voice actors sound like they're in a high school play. The women all sound the part though.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 9:21 am

hepcat wrote:That's good to hear. I was hoping it wasn't going to be a 30 to 40 hour game and then done. Witcher 3 kind of spoiled me for content.

Edit: man, a lot of the male voice actors sound like they're in a high school play. The women all sound the part though.

I doubt it's much more than 40 hours for me. I think TiLT listens to more dialog or travels manually more than I do though. At 40 hours I was level 45 and I am pretty much done with all of the non-story content. I haven't looked at any spoilers so I am not 100% sure, but I think I have seen all the machines and there are only 3 skills I don't have, I have all the collectibles, completed all the cauldrons and have blazing suns on all but one hunting grounds challenge... that one, though...

Hmmm, none of that has anything to do with the story. I guess I should do some story stuff.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 10:12 am

coopasonic wrote:
hepcat wrote:That's good to hear. I was hoping it wasn't going to be a 30 to 40 hour game and then done. Witcher 3 kind of spoiled me for content.

Edit: man, a lot of the male voice actors sound like they're in a high school play. The women all sound the part though.
I doubt it's much more than 40 hours for me. I think TiLT listens to more dialog or travels manually more than I do though. At 40 hours I was level 45 and I am pretty much done with all of the non-story content. I haven't looked at any spoilers so I am not 100% sure, but I think I have seen all the machines and there are only 3 skills I don't have, I have all the collectibles, completed all the cauldrons and have blazing suns on all but one hunting grounds challenge... that one, though... Hmmm, none of that has anything to do with the story. I guess I should do some story stuff.

Which challenge are you having trouble with? I've got blazing suns in all the challenges, and the only one that I found difficult enough to need 3 tries on was the one where you have to tie down and crit glinthawks. One of the simplest hunting grounds was ironically the one with the highest level. The skill that makes you run silently is really helpful there though, so I expect the challenges there to be much harder without it.

As for playtime, I've taken my time and enjoyed the scenery, but I do use fast travel a lot. I'm really close to getting the platinum trophy though, having finished what I believe is all the side quests, errands, hunting grounds, collectibles, and tutorials, and I'm on what I believe is the penultimate mission in the main story. I expect to get the platinum within the next two days or so. HowLongToBeat claims that it'll take an average of 19 1/2 hours to beat only the main story, 33 hours to beat the main story and "extras" (I guess that means side quests), while a completionist run is at 48 hours. Amazingly, even doing a completionist run is enjoyable in this game. Most games I've platinumed have left me tired and sick of the game by the end, but this isn't true for Horizon.

The game can be a massive lore dump at times, tossing dozens of long audio recordings or written logs at you almost at once. These are all enjoyable to read and/or listen to though. Having reached a major plot revelation I find the basis of the story to have chilling undertones of what could be a massive threat to humankind in the future of the real world: (spoilers for the revelation below)

Spoiler:

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 10:19 am

Killing Ravagers with the Thunderjaw Disc Launcher is my nemesis. I haven't tried again since I got silent running and the override skills. I agree the glinthawks were a pain as well.

Is there a trophy for the tutorials? I stopped doing them. I am not sure I want to go back... on the plus side there is probably another level to be had there.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 3:03 pm

I'm level 28 and roughly 25 hours in. I'm still doing Level 15 quests, though. I've spent quite a bit of time upgrading weapons and hunting components. I can't bypass a machine without killing it, so as you can imagine I get sidetracked quite often.

My typical play style is to find the lowest level quest I have (whether it be main, side, errand, tutorial, hunting camp, whatever) and knock it out, rinse repeat. However, I must say that the combat is challenging enough in this game that even at twice the level of my given quest I never feel invincible. Many's the time I've gotten cocky doing a quest 10 levels below me and had to scramble to guzzle health potions and run for my life because I wasn't playing smart.

I love some of the side chatter in the game. At one camp today I alerted some cultists and ran and hid in a clump of tall grass. I overhear one of the cultists tell another one: "It's a little girl hiding in the grass."

He found out how "little" I was when he got an arrow in his face.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 3:52 pm

Yeah, I feel quest level and character level have little to do with each other in this game... and a scrapper and a couple watchers can really F you up at level 45 if you aren't taking them seriously... trust me... I heard it from a friend.

Part of my problem could be that I have never worn anything but stealth armor.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 6:14 pm

coopasonic wrote:Yeah, I feel quest level and character level have little to do with each other in this game... and a scrapper and a couple watchers can really F you up at level 45 if you aren't taking them seriously... trust me... I heard it from a friend.

Part of my problem could be that I have never worn anything but stealth armor.

I've been skulking around in stealth armor but for some fights I think I should invest in a spare outfit geared towards melee and ranged combat while I'm at it. Or just drag a big wardrobe filled with all sorts of fancy protective hides.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:26 pm

I am level 35ish and probably have that many hours in. The game says I am at 55% completion, so that is saying something there. I agree that silent running is one of the best skills and I have barely bothered putting on anything but stealth armor. That might change if I can get back into the Heart of the Mountain and get that power cell. Anyone know how to do that, if I missed it during the first mission? The gate is always closed, even though others have said it opens up at night.

I am not sure how to tell my wife that I am in love with Aloy now. The age gap isn't creepy, since she isn't real.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:20 am

baelthazar wrote:I am level 35ish and probably have that many hours in. The game says I am at 55% completion, so that is saying something there. I agree that silent running is one of the best skills and I have barely bothered putting on anything but stealth armor. That might change if I can get back into the Heart of the Mountain and get that power cell. Anyone know how to do that, if I missed it during the first mission? The gate is always closed, even though others have said it opens up at night.

If you're where I think you are, don't worry about it. I don't think that door opens until the very end of the game. You can't get that armor until very, very late anyway. I just got it, and the only thing I've got left to do is the final mission.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:02 am

It is kind of annoying that quest can start in your first two hours and you can't finish it until your last two hours.

$iljanus wrote:
coopasonic wrote:Yeah, I feel quest level and character level have little to do with each other in this game... and a scrapper and a couple watchers can really F you up at level 45 if you aren't taking them seriously... trust me... I heard it from a friend.

Part of my problem could be that I have never worn anything but stealth armor.
I've been skulking around in stealth armor but for some fights I think I should invest in a spare outfit geared towards melee and ranged combat while I'm at it. Or just drag a big wardrobe filled with all sorts of fancy protective hides.

I guess there is a reason you have such a large capacity for armor.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:30 am

coopasonic wrote:I guess there is a reason you have such a large capacity for armor.

The armor and weapon inventory limits show strong signs of being leftover from earlier iterations of the game, perhaps one with a more Diablo-like approach to loot. From the very beginning of the game I never saw any real point in upgrading those two limits. Even when I decided to spend some of my money on buying every purple weapon and armor, I still had lots of room. I just don't understand why that part of the upgrade system was left intact when it barely matters in the first place. Compare that with the limit to resources and modifications, where the limit is so strict that you can barely finish a single quest without running out of room, and even selling everything you feel you can sell leaves you at like 95/100 in used capacity.

A lot about this part of the game reeks of massive changes to the game mechanics where certain systems of the game were never properly updated to match the mechanics that replaced them.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:44 am

For weapons and armor, yeah the limits are really high, but I imagine they are allowing for the min/maxer that might want armor and weapons for each element, so not just all the weapons and armor but multiple copies of them so you can have one maxed out for each type. It would be nice to have two sharpshot bows, one for tear and one for damage, a war bow for each element, etc. *shrug* I thought about it, at least.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:21 pm

The platinum trophy is mine, and with that I can finally put this game down and resume my ordinary life, which had more or less been put on hold.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:24 pm

Congrats.

I have to go back and knock down all the damn training dummies then finish the game while picking up the last power cell.. oh and do that last hunting ground challenge.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:51 pm

Its cruel how you folk talk about this game when I cant afford a $60 game

Look forward to a sale....but I still need Uncharted 4 too.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:57 pm

I don't own a current generation console, but this is the first game I've seen that makes me want to buy a PS4. It looks ridiculously fun.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:01 pm

To be clear, TiLT was putting his life on hold because the game is so terrible he didn't think life was worth living while he was playing it. He's overjoyed to be done with it.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:07 pm

You know me too well.

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:45 pm

I'm level 40 and just now bothering to get to the last mission. Game is great. It's just so polished. The story has been pretty damn fascinating too. I find it pretty original by post-apocalyptic fiction standards. It seems quite balanced on normal difficulty as well--I never found it too easy or too difficult.

I hope a lot of future games use this graphics engine. It's like butter even on the base PS4.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:34 am

Hamlet3145 wrote:I hope a lot of future games use this graphics engine. It's like butter even on the base PS4.

This is going to happen. Death Stranding is the first known game that will be using this engine, and more are sure to follow. Expect it to only be used on PS4 exclusives though.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:59 am

Hamlet3145 wrote:I'm level 40 and just now bothering to get to the last mission.

So soon? I hit level 49 last night. I knocked out that final hunting ground challenge and the last bandit camp. I still have a couple of corruption zones and the training dummies before I head into the rest of the storyline.

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:48 am

coopasonic wrote:
Hamlet3145 wrote:I'm level 40 and just now bothering to get to the last mission.
So soon? I hit level 49 last night. I knocked out that final hunting ground challenge and the last bandit camp. I still have a couple of corruption zones and the training dummies before I head into the rest of the storyline.

Yeah, I know. I still haven't actually done the last mission yet. Think I might just take a little break and then finish off the other quests/hunting grounds first. I do have that snazzy power armor now that makes me feel like a tank.

Buatha · Post by **Buatha** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:33 am

I have a vanilla PS4, so does this game still run and look fine? Do I have to turn off some bells and whistles for 1080P or is it only impactful if you're trying 4K (don't have a 4K TV).

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:42 am

Buatha wrote:I have a vanilla PS4, so does this game still run and look fine? Do I have to turn off some bells and whistles for 1080P or is it only impactful if you're trying 4K (don't have a 4K TV).

The differences between the two versions are minor. On a 1080p screen the PS4 Pro version is supersampled and thus looks a bit smoother, and it features slightly better textures and better anisotropic filtering. But these are mere details that most players would never notice unless they're specifically looking for them. The framerate is almost exactly the same between the two versions too, with the PS4 Pro version featuring only slightly fewer frame drops (of which there aren't many to begin with).

You don't need a PS4 Pro for this game. It doesn't hurt, but it's by no means necessary. Playing it on a regular PS4 is unlikely to negatively affect your enjoyment of the game.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:59 am

Buatha wrote:I have a vanilla PS4, so does this game still run and look fine? Do I have to turn off some bells and whistles for 1080P or is it only impactful if you're trying 4K (don't have a 4K TV).

I'm playing on standard PS4, and it looks and runs great.