Goldberg74

Just saying, I wish there was a harpoon in HFW.

#swimdodgeswimhideswim

Adam Tyner

Yeah. I wouldn’t have minded the underwater sections being so stealth-oriented if the controls were better (turning feels awful) or if there were often clearer indications of where I need to go, but clunky swimming in underlit areas around sunken ships/buildings where every side is visually indistinguishable from every other trying to find an entrance, but being interrupted every 7 seconds by a robo-croc isn’t particularly fun.

It’s not a persistent nuisance, thankfully, but when it’s annoying, it’s really, really annoying.

Goldberg74

I pretty good talk from GDC about the building of the “Death’s Door” quest bunker… where you meet…

davidh777

So the same day I posted this, I figured it had been too long since I'd played to have any hope of beating the boss, so I switched to story mode just to get past it. I won the battle, then cut scene, then end credits. So I was pretty much at the end.

I roamed around and killed more robots, but it wasn't really that fun so I figured it was time to shut it down even though I was at only 77%. Now I have to figure out whether I want to jump into the new one or wait for a sale. I have a bunch of other games to play but nothing really grabbing me at the moment so I dunno.

Goldberg74

My son that is a senior in high school (he turns 18 tomorrow) tested positive this weekend (as did my wife and they got it from me) so he asked if we could move the PS4 into the game room from my studio so he could play Horizon Zero Dawn.

So I did and he's having a blast with it.

So I'm in my studio playing Forbidden West on the PS5 and he's in the game room playing Zero Dawn on the PS4.

Draven

Finally played the last mission and beat it. It was fine, I guess. I enjoyed the combat but I never felt like I got really GOOD armor or skills (despite maxing the trees). I still had fights with some of the bigger creatures toward the end with undodgeable attacks that took me down to almost no health in one hit. Constantly healing. And combo attacks were all but useless on machines. I rarely used my spear on them because it did nothing. I basically took everything down with Explosive and Drill spikes and shock arrows. Everything else always seemed way too weak. I was also always running out of tear arrows and couldn't make more. Frustrating.

And I had a lot more fun in the first game sneaking up on random creatures and making them fight each other. But it just wasn't as fun with this one - I got the big creature upgrades toward the end but they are always off by themselves. I wanted there to be a big pack of Thunderjaws roaming around where I could make one fight another. And WAY too many "Apex" versions so I couldn't possess anyone. I think they should have kept those to the Cauldrons only.

I also did too many quests where I thought I'd get something cool and got...nothing...for a reward beyond some XP and skill points. Where's the cool weapon for beating all of those missions? Disappointing.

And I was afraid that when I beat it, I'd have nothing left to do. I checked some guides for the "best weapons in the game" and there was nothing I didn't already have or didn't really want (never got into blastslings or the warrior bows, for example).

The visuals were incredible but overall I kind of walked away a bit "meh" on the whole thing. And I have no interest in completing the few things I have left to do.

Adam Tyner

Unlike the first game which was pretty easy to exploit (all ropecasters, all the time! tall grass + whistle!), this one really wants you to (a) target weakpoints; the parts that are yellow after doing a scan, and ideally weapons, which you can also specifically target and (b) use ammo that a specific machine is weak to, whether it’s acid, shock, or whatever. It definitely encourages livening things up and not just overreliance on one or two tactics.

I didn’t run into much trouble on Normal difficulty, especially with that borderline-game-breaking special ability that constantly heals you.

Draven

I feel I exploited this one too. I’d try to target weapons (but I’d run out of tear arrows), I’d use their weakness ammo and then after a bit I’d just start chucking drill spikes and explosive spikes and they’d take anything down.

I must have missed the special ability that heals you. I’d just constantly ate herbs all the time.

I see it was a valor surge - I barely used those. Didn’t find one that seemed worth it. Guess I missed a good one

redbill

I started using Valor surges, and whatever the other special weapon thing was called in the 2nd half of the game when I started to run into problems with harder enemies (same type things you all mentioned). They made a pretty big impact, especially Valor surge -- I liked the one that gave you melee bonus. They were easy to not learn in the early game because you didn't need them, and they were new. but its worth the effort to learn how to use them.

gerrythedon

slop101

So the add-ons are only for VR?

Adam Tyner

The VR thing -- Call of the Mountain -- is a completely different game (with a different protagonist).

The other updates -- Ultra Hard mode, New Game Plus, skill point respec'ing, new cosmetics, new legendary weapons -- are all part of Forbidden West.

davidh777

Price drop so I bit.

davidh777

I finished the main story and am going back through to finish up my side quests (some of which just need me to return somewhere). It was an adjustment from the first game, but the spikes are fun for taking down the big guys, and I probably should've made better use of some of the higher-level weapons.

A few glitches here and there (I can't finish off one of the rebel outposts), but nothing much to worry about. I'm not trying the games and stuff.

Some of the puzzles in the ruins are pretty absurd. I'd just skip them if Youtube didn't tell me to pull down the crate, run up two levels to flood the chamber, then stand on my head and explode the firegleam.

I generally approach these kinds of games by tackling side quests to build up my character, but I kinda wish I'd done more of the main story first because it unlocks useful stuff that I need to backtrack with.

OldBoy

Do you need to play Zero Dawn prior to this?

lwhy?

You should. It’s a great game.

Decker

It’s pretty story-heavy. But it’s a stand-alone game.

OldBoy

Just got this as one of my first PS5 games. Looks tremendous.

lwhy?

Not playing the first God of War and Horizon games is like watching a movie sequel without watching the first movie. You should play the original games first. They're some of the best PS4 games made.

OldBoy

i'll play them, just not right away. i want to see what this baby does with new titles and how it compares to XBOX.

davidh777

Welcome to PS5, Oldboy! You can certainly jump in and start exploring and fighting. As lwhy said, you’ll be a little lost on the story, though.

OldBoy

Ok, maybe I’ll try the originals first. I mean they were free with PS Plus. But, I think I’m gonna make A Rift Apart as my first.

Decker

Fabulous game and no need to worry about understanding the story there.

Goldberg74

Here's the reveal trailer:



This DLC will be exclusively for the PS5.

It also seems that the DLC may only be accessible when the game has been completed due to some story leaks.

Goldberg74

Got this for Christmas. Looks pretty cool if I do say so.