Hey folks, added Horizon Forbidden West to my curator page. I loved the first game, and I've been having a tremendously good time with the sequel over the past few weeks, and much like Zero Dawn, it's definitely one of the best open world games I've played. store.steampowered.com/app/2420110/... - ThreadSky

caseyexplosion.bsky.social • 5 days ago

Hey folks, added Horizon Forbidden West to my curator page.

I loved the first game, and I've been having a tremendously good time with the sequel over the past few weeks, and much like Zero Dawn, it's definitely one of the best open world games I've played.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2420110/Horizon_Forbidden_West_Complete_Edition/?curator_clanid=28340174

Comments

thejabberwock.bsky.social•5 days ago

Sooooo good! I almost 100%'ed HFW on the Playstation, but couldn't get some of the freaking combat moves down against the pit masters... i may go back some day 😅

sarcasmorator.bsky.social•5 days ago

I got my PS5 for this game and haven't regretted it

zumoro.net•5 days ago

Would you suggest people go straight to this entry or play ZD first?

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

Definitely ZD first, absolutely essential plot and world building

eittherich.bsky.social•5 days ago

I love picking up sticks is my favorite. 🪨 🤖

thatianeliott.bsky.social•4 days ago

The Horizon games look amazing and tell fantastic stories. Alas, I cannot play their mechanical style to save my life, but I do enjoy watching my son play.

biologicalriley.bsky.social•5 days ago

I enjoy how the Horizon games are essentially: “you know those massive open world titles were everything is kinda dull and derivative? Well what if we did that but added sci fi robo animals and a unique post apocalyptic world that makes it all feel fresh?”

mara.meangirls.online•5 days ago

i also think they're very refined compared to other open world titles (like Assassin's Creed)

i never felt like completing objectives was a huge hassle, the Tallnecks were an interesting challenge but not everywhere, and a lot of the sidequests led to interesting new characters and areas

criticalquit.bsky.social•5 days ago

They're very good about giving you just enough things to find without going too high, enough for me to have 100%ed both games more than once

ravenking1771.bsky.social•4 days ago

Definitely my favourite take on the techno-robot-apocalypse

mrpostsgood.bsky.social•4 days ago

Does it have the same problem the first game had, in that all the main story/dlc quests are top notch but every side quest and activity is a pointless kill/find x of y bore? Because Zero Dawn suffered there.

dqspider.bsky.social•4 days ago

i think the side quests are a little more interesting. they seem to actually be related to the world and story, and there's more variety than "clear out the bandit camps"

mrpostsgood.bsky.social•4 days ago

Oh good!

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

One of the first things I appreciated about the game was how they didn't just do more Zero Dawn, they added quite a few new gameplay mechanics, and right off the bat they gave Aloy a grappling hook which can be used for both movement and puzzles. Fantastic, love when abilities have multiple uses.

criticalquit.bsky.social•5 days ago

One of the biggest things I have to laud it for is that they realized that dialogue sequences are kind of an unavoidable part of the genre, so like. They put some effort and resources into making them better and more enjoyable. The mocap stuff is excellent

darrensimmons.bsky.social•5 days ago

I still think that Zero Dawn has the better story, but the Forbidden West had the better gameplay. They're both great in any case.

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

Yeah, I can see that.

darrensimmons.bsky.social•5 days ago

For comparison, I've got over 600 hours in Forbidden West, but less than 200 in Zero Dawn.

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

They probably could've just done the same again and I would've enjoyed it, because the core gameplay of Zero Dawn was extremely solid and I still highly recommend that game, the combat is fantastic and I love that you have to carefully approach how you're going to take down each robo-monster.

criticalquit.bsky.social•5 days ago

Making it so you have to actually shoot off precise parts to get them, or worse, keep them intact for membranes like on snapmaws and bellowbacks, really makes every shot feel like it counts. You gotta weigh the options between high damage and careful shots

austinriley230.bsky.social•5 days ago

Always wonderfully tense to end up in a combat you didn’t get to prepare for or prepared for incorrectly. And so rewarding when you get to make a plan and the plan Works. Either way it’s really fun, cause you get to exploit your advantages to overcome the odds or have to scramble and improvise.

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

I've said before how much I love the Tallnecks, and god damn I adore how they've made each one their own distinct puzzle, like suddenly finding this one that was in the process of being built but a quake damaged the manufacturing facility and you have to help it along. Just an incredible set-piece.

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

I wasn't even expecting to come across a Tallneck here, I was trying to get the overrides so I could get my robo-raptor mount, and was given a big surprise! There was another one where I had to tie one of them down with anchors fired from a ballista, and it was such a fun sequence. Love these guys!

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

And these are the game's equivalent of your standard open world radio towers, this is how you reveal a portion of the map, still adore how they took this particularly tired mechanic, and made it a big robot giraffe you gotta puzzle your way to climbing. Really makes a huge difference.

mara.meangirls.online•5 days ago

i also love how there are only six of them in the entire game, i was playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and there are like four to six per region

i like those sorts of objectives when they're infrequent and an interesting puzzle to complete, and i think HFW strikes a solid balance

caseyexplosion.bsky.social•5 days ago

Overall it's a big open world game that's just done extremely well, and that's something I tend to seriously enjoy. This is a genre that I enjoy most when I'm just playing for myself, off-stream to wind down and relax. I can pick it up, explore a little or do a side quest, very much a comfort game.

worstcaseeng.bsky.social•5 days ago

Tallneck Lego enjoyers united

maotenno.bsky.social•5 days ago

God I love how hostile the cauldrons are. It becomes so clear this was a place humans were never supposed to set foot in.

ruairirodinson.bsky.social•5 days ago

Such a inspired sequence, really did enjoy how they just didn't redo what they did the first time round.

dragonnexus.bsky.social•4 days ago

I personally feel Forbidden West is a little *too* much. Going for plat took more than double the time of the original.

It's overall a better game, but there's just a bit too much if you're a completionist.

vilek.bsky.social•5 days ago

They made the melee combat so much better it's crazy. I need to go back to finish it sometime

basicandbizarre.bsky.social•5 days ago

They actually EXPLAINED why Aloy didn't have all her sweet loot from the end of the first game, which feels rare for a sequel. Overall Forbidden West was a great sequel and I REALLY hope we get the third game to finish out the plot.

coffeenoodles.bsky.social•5 days ago

I liked the reworked weapon system way better too. Not just "everything is the same but better" when you get to a new area.

sagdirewolf81.bsky.social•5 days ago

Got platinum trophies on both of these titles. One of my favorites!

thorgolucky.bsky.social•5 days ago

Aloy! Aloy!

xanderking.bsky.social•4 days ago

Love this game. Best thing I’ve played in years. Going to seek out Zero Dawn soon.

stormypanda.bsky.social•5 days ago

As much as these games don’t really bring much new to the table they really feel like a perfected version of a formula that works. Also my brain likes shooting fire elemental arrows at tiny fuel tanks to make robot dinosaurs blow up.

akecior67.bsky.social•5 days ago

I'm glad someone is finally recognizing the quality of these games, instead of constantly comparing them to Elden Ring & BotW.

h2theannah.bsky.social•5 days ago

Forbidden West didn't hit quite the same as Zero Dawn story-wise, but it's hard to top ZD's big reveal. I love this series, one of the few AAA open worlds that I've finished and enjoyed.

harveymgb.bsky.social•4 days ago

I almost like the fact it doesn’t fall down the trap of thinking a sequel’s reveals have to be in some way grander; the smaller things you get that recontextualise HZD’s lore - the Zeniths, Sobeck’s life, Vegas and all the bits of old world detail - all make the story feel even more rich in HFW

h2theannah.bsky.social•4 days ago

For sure. They managed to make the twist I saw coming a mile away (Beta) a logical extension of the story instead of a twist just for the sake of it.

dqspider.bsky.social•4 days ago

I really liked the refocus in combat. The first game had interesting ideas and I enjoyed it a lot but FW makes different weapons actually *different*. It seems overfull at first until you realize the idea is to loadout for your play style

dqspider.bsky.social•4 days ago

and let's not brush over the improvements in animation. the first one was good but flawed in many places. FW has no such problems. I might still slightly prefer the story in the first game but FW has an amazing arc

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