Horizon Zero Dawn (2017)

After reminding me that The Frozen Wilds DLC is dropping next week and he will be commandeering the PS4 from me once it does, I'm setting aside the other games I am currently playing at the request of my husband to actually play Horizon Zero Dawn myself.

I know the majority of the story from watching him play back when the game first launched, but I'll be excited to actually give it a go and experience it first hand. As a female gamer, I'm already in love with how amazing Aloy is and how hard the developers fought to keep her a female character after the publishers weren't convinced.

I have a sneaky suspicion Horizon Zero Dawn could make it into my favorite games of all time list.

Really great game, but for me it really opened up after the tutorial. It's worth pushing through!

Also a lot changes after the tutorial, and I question some of the writers' decisions about what happens to some of my favourite characters, but I'll leave that there because spoilers.

Also, sniping can be a bit tricky, and it's very possible to line up a perfect shot only to see your arrows sail through NPCs' heads, and not only do the arrows do no damage, but they alert the entire base which comes charging after you.

I ended up enjoying the game quite a bit, because for the most part I enjoy an open world RPG more than the next fellow, but it's far from the masterpiece that some people say it is.

First of all, If you've played Witcher 3 and Breath of the Wild, this game will not feel fresh to you at all. If you're a Monster Hunter fan, than the huge monster battles in Horizon Zero Dawn will seem simple and dumbed-down.

The main strength of the game is that it's a well made game that doesn't overstay its welcome, has solid gameplay and a good main story. I was never bored while playing it and always welcomed going back to it. It's a good looking game, although I will say not as atmospheric as Witcher 3, and I still think that despite the technical limitations the almost hand painted quality of Breath of the Wild makes it a much more unique looking game than Horizon Zero Dawn. I think similarly to The Wind Waker on Game Cube, the games that were considered technically more accomplished at the time, like Resident Evil 4 for instance, will age terribly, while you could still start up the Wind Waker and be impressed by the art direction. 5 years from now, Breath of the Wild will still look good, and Horizon Zero Dawn will be obsolete. I think the current realistic approach to video games, while technically impressive, make the limitations of technology all the more obvious. For instance, when you look at the characters faces in Horizon, you are at first impressed by the likeliness, but then all you end up doing is noticing what isn't quite right. like facial hair, teeth, or skin tones. I think a skillful art direction is more important than realism.

While I did say that the main story is interesting enough to hold your attention, I can certainly not say the same of any of the side quests. The other main issue is that literally none of the characters are interesting. (save for maybe Alloy and Sylens, although that might be due to Lance Reddick's performance) They are absolutely milquetoast and cookie cutter stereotypes that remind us all too much that we live in a post Witcher 3 world. The game gives you plenty of documents to read and audio files to listen to, which would be fine if they were interesting, but they are anything but. I think I've had more fun reading the phone book.

Having said all of that, I understand that with a big open world like this, comes limitations, and it's still an impressive effort from the devs. The variety in monsters is quite good, and some of them are genuinely challenging before you understand how to approach them, or get very overpowered once you unlock all the good equipment. I liked the hunting challenges, and collecting the right parts to unlock armors and upgrades kept me entertained for a while. The game is on the shorter side for an open world RPG. You could easily finish it in 30-40 hours if you focus on the main story, 60-70 if you're a completionist. But that is a blessing in a way, because the game would overstay its welcome if it lasted any longer.

In conclusion, if you like open world games and are not expecting great characters and amazing side quests, you will enjoy this game.

73/100