Honestly the lore and story of horizon is probably my favourite in any game series, followed closely by the xeno/blade multiverse and the fact this game came from a developer that exclusively made fps games is phenomenal and crazy to think of. Anytime I find a video going in depth of anything horizon I usually watch it asap.
I reckon the reveal of the truth of what Project Zero Dawn was would be a contender. I 100% absolutely did not see that coming because it upends all the typical post-apocalypse rebuild tropes. This time, everybody DID die. There were no survivors. It was a fantastic twist. The story of this game is so tightly written, it is among the best stories of any game I've played.
@@TheKazragore the writer for Zero Dawn is John Gonzales which sadly resigned in 2020.. the one who continue the project for Forbidden West is his asisstant which did not quite match the vibes of John Gonzales style in writings. He once said in his linked in that Forbidden West new lead narrativrs director and writers has taste in dark end of spectrum, like crime noir and such.. i suppose the storytelling quality goes downhill because of this
I'm shocked I found this game in my library of games I never played it man just the first beginning was great and I love everything about it it's such a heartwarming of a story
@@nohee1702 The storytelling quality didn't go down. It's the middle piece of the overall story and doesn't have the same sense of mystery as the first one because it can't. The only issue in Forbidden West is the same as the issue in Zero Dawn: the human villains are pretty boring.
Okay just need to admit this. The scene with Elizabet sacrificing herself for zero dawn and a future for the planet paired with Aloys theme genuinely makes me tear of a bit each time. Even listening to it for this video got me once more
@@nshippudennaruto2814 It's not underrated in a sense of people not playing or knowing about it, but it is definitely underrated in a sense that there is a mile long lineup of people saying it's dogshit / mediocre / "ok" game with terrible story, without actually playing it. That goes for every game for sure, but from my observation HZD gets that far more than any other game.
@@lad4830 exactly. People follow the masses and love games like God of war or Rockstar games or spiderman or even elden ring. Those games are not bad by any means but people need to have their own opinion and be open to new ideas other than the remakes remastered new entry of the same titles which imo I don't even like anymore. HZD and HFW are my favorite games of all time up there with mass effect
@@lad4830 in my observations its beceause they think its a feminist game, wich it isnt. The second game is however, and much more woke as that game suffers from it story wise. But not this one, one of my all time favourite games, i even have merch about it. Wich i rarely if ever do for videogames
I always loved that someone, maybe Gaia or maybe Demeter once freed, put a metal flower style triangle of flowers around Sobek’s body. One last subtle tribute to their creator and savior of the world.
I feel so bad for Samina; not only was she killed, but she died knowing that all of the time, care, and effort she put into preserving the knowledge of mankind was destroyed at the press of a button, and that it was done _right in front of her._ The way she breaks down into tears once Faro told them what he did and the way the other Alphas went to try and console her _really_ shines a light on how cruel Faro was, as well as driving home the fact that the _last_ hope of humanity had just been permanently and irrevocably destroyed.
You buy a phone and 5 years later it starts to malfunction. Meanwhile, the focus is still working 1000 years after its construction. Kudos for the old ones!
Stealth. I use stealth a lot in the game, and with the right gear and mods, the stealth outfit will let you basically sneak right past it while still staying on the path (not creeping through grass etc). I've snuck past stuff you'd normally have to fight so many times it's almost sad how broken the stealth system is.
@@bobsonny someone who’s kid won’t live to be an adult because the world is literally ending and all they have left is somewhere between mere weeks to months to live
Oh, ddi you not go to Rost's "grave"? It's near the og hut of Rost, and whenever Aloy goes there, it's so sweet and makes me cry. I'm Hindu and we usually cremate our dead, so it was an experience to see why people would want a grave.
i will never forget the feeling that came over me when i learned what project zero dawn was. My stomach sank under my seat and i gasped with dread; until then i couldn't imagine how they finally won - well, they didn't.
It sent an absolute chill down my spine when I got there. Fantastic story telling and a complete reversal of typical apocalypse-beating narratives. This time, the world *wasn't* saved.
@@TheKazragore yeah the Faro plague is unique in that EVERY LIVING THING was killed. Every bacteria, every amoeba, every virus, every single living cell of life, extinguished in ALL forms. Give me Skynet over the Faro Plague every single time, i truly cannot actually imagine a worse thing without entering the realm of comic absurdity.
Funny thing is if aloy didn't talk to herself, we wouldn't really get a sense of her personality or struggles. Her talking to herself tells us so much about her that wouldn't work as well through conversation with others
Like what? It's 90% "wow that sure is a [thing that it is]" or a blatant puzzle solution I'd adore a character talking to themselves if it meant a window into their inner conflict, like Jin Sakai's hot spring dialogues.
I was reading comments recently from people who didn't like that. You can't please gamers now. They don't want a silent protagonist, but when they talk it's annoying. I don't mind the player controlled character talking, it fills silence and at times provides something you may not have known before.
I love Rost as a character. He’s an amazing example of a positive masculine father. Something that’s all but absent in most modern media: Roat is competent, loving in his own way, raising his child to learn her society’s traditions, teaching her the skills she needs to survive, giving her the self-confidence and inner strength she will need as an adult, willing to give his life to protect her, but also teaching her to stand on her own two feet in life and to stand up for what she believes in. In our modern society, where fathers are looked at a almost unnecessary, Rost shows us the powerful effect a good father has on the lives of his children.
Spot on! Hear hear! We need more inspiring men in media. It is really sad how few inspiring role models boy and young men have these days. Most of the options fall in the egocentric narcissist or infantile man child categories. For a more gritty, stoic example would add Joel from Last of Us (even with his flaws, he'll make you think about those flaws)
@@TheCompleteMental Not only that, but think about the scene early on when she found the focus and he tried to take it from her. You could look at it as just them finding a way out of her losing it for story purposes, but it was creative nonetheless. He knew she was an outcast and needed something of her own, so he let her have it since he knew how strong willed she was. If he had forcefully taken it away she still could have stolen it back, but how would that make him look?
I really appreciate how you don't really talk about anything from Forbidden West here! I haven't gotten a chance to play the sequel yet, so this was a great way to relive the first game with no spoilers. Thank you!
Same, just finished ZD and want to do ng+ on hardest difficulty before buying FW. I feel little stupid that have owned ZD for 3 years, but just now found time to play it
@@petrikallio2485lol hey I’m in the same boat lol I bought ZD early 2020 then put it down before making it to meridian now my friend bought it for me on pc and said fix your mistakes finish it and so the last few days I’ve been playing it religiously
What do you mean we don't know what caused the "glitch"? It's all but explicitly stated in HZD that it's because he made his robots smarter than legally allowed to gain his competitive advantage in war, but because he did so they became capable of disobedience. It's after the escape of Vast Silver that the world instituted regulations on machine cognition. The exact legal limit was stated somewhere in the Frozen Wilds DLC, measured in Turing units. The DLC further cementing the idea of that limit for those who may not have found the optional data points that reference it.
To be fair, even if it's been a while since I played the game, I remember that while the fault for the protocols, the ability of self-produce and to consume bio-mass to sustain itselfs were 100% Faro's and his hubris (read stupidity), the Glitch itself, that allowed the Machines to break free from human control and began consuming Earth, was left fairly ambiguous whether it was human meddling, a cyber-virus or a "natural" evolution of their code and AI...
@@endertuber8300 In the third hologram between Faro and Sobeck in the FAS office she threatens to reveal "the real cause of the glitch" if he doesn't sign the Zero Dawn proposal. That's clue one that he did something he knew he wasn't supposed to. Clue two is in the Zero Dawn labs in the hologram where he tells her to put in a kill switch. "What if it becomes a monster? Have we learned nothing from our mistakes?" he says. "YOUR mistakes, I think you mean?" Sobeck snaps back. This tells us that was his final mistake - making the machine smart enough to think for itself.
Thats not what caused the glitch, thats how the glitch was able to happen but not what caused it, there were multiple swarms of the chariot line sold all with the same capabilities but only 1 swarm went rogue. All these swarms had the same intelligence but only 1 swarm ended up glitching and going rogue, if it was due to the intelligence then all of them would have had the same problem but they didnt. While it played its role in making it possible to go rogue it isnt the reason they went rogue. To put it simply its like giving a person a gun, you give them the ability to use it but you arent the reason they do.
I hold to the theory that it was Vast Silver all along. There are hints it had escaped its constraints in data points. There are too many hints about it for it to not have a significant part of things. Tate said Faro had all sorts of malware that he found, what if Faro was experimenting with VS and caused it to go mad?
@@SneakyCustard i think VS is playing a role in 3 to hep defeat nemesis and thats why weve had the info about him sprinkled in. I think GAIA, CYAN and VS are all going to have to team together and a large part of 3 will be tracking down VS
it's so rare to get a truly unique sci fi story that is both compelling and moving. mass effect and arrival come to mind and it's hard to think of many more. Horizon is among my top 5 games and among the best stories i've experienced in any medium.
40:29 not trying to change minds, just illuminate some lore tidbits. 1. The Nora actually limit the number of children a family can have. The limit is 2 and for a couple to bare a new child, they must have this act blessed by a high matriarch first. 2. The Nora heavily revere the balance of nature, hence why they don’t have farms, only hunting and gathering. My takeaway is that the Nora worship the power of motherhood and family. Bigger families garners larger amounts of respect and political sway. Because too many children would not be balanced in their eyes, the only way to get a bigger family is to have as many surviving generations below you as possible. Also the rank of matriarch and high matriarch are different. Matriarchs have grandchildren and high matriarchs have great grandchildren. Both ranks can get demoted should your children die. This stops some guy with 18 kids from marching into mothers heart and becoming “el presidente” but to play devils advocate, this system encourages people to have children as early as possible. Tearsa, while looking older, is still active and capability of fulfilling her duties dispite being a great grandmother. To me, she can’t be older than 80. Teens must especially feel a lot of pressure. While far from perfect as Nora society is wrought with issues it’s a tad more nuanced than “more babies = more political power” again, not trying to change how you feel, just shedding light on some (arguably extremely missable) deeper lore. Overall love the vid tho! Keep it up, and I can’t wait for ur burning shores vid!
I love Aloy as a protagonist. She's curious, intelligent and driven; a far cry from the passivity/reactivity that a lot of player characters sadly end up showing. She has clear things that she wants, and she goes and GETS them.
And in the Burning shores DLC they turned her into a lesbian! The problem is the Devs didn't give us gamers a choice to pick a partner. They did dirty to my boy Erend. deym!
@@cass7448 Born as a woman of course we expect her to be paired to a man such is a natural order of life. Devs shoving +LGBTQASDJLKVJWEUI into our throat without giving us a choice, without giving my boy Erend a chance. Its a dick move, Good thing they did it on DLC and not on the base game though. I'm just gonna pretend burning shore DLC didn't exist. :D
@@stealth615 You know you *can* reject Seyka, right? Two out of the three options are rejections, there's a literal choice there. But you don't actually care about that. So by all means, while the rest of us actually play the game and enjoy our lives, you can keep whinging about not being given a choice when it's literally right in front of you; sounds like a needlessly miserable existence to me, but hey, your choice.
@@cephalongwen7553 You know that's not actually a rejection, only an illusion of choice that only delays the inevitable. If there's an option to pick a male partner with a kissing scene too after rejecting her but noooo!! devs said eat this woke shit and that's final.
Very late to this but Great video! Horizon‘s stories are so so underrated and often classed as „boring“ to many but I find them so endearing - the horizon universe has so much amazing lore and world building. You really captured the essence of horizon‘s world in your video, well done!
What's so compelling about these games to me is the "plausibility" of the stories. Greedy corporations creating things that could lead to the destruction of the planet. Things then spiraling out of control with no hope of winning so plans are made to preserve the planet and its inhabitants in the distant future. That was so interesting to me.
I find it funny how I went from my brother sitting me in front of the tv to play this and skipping cutscenes, to being fully invested and doing every side quest and trophy. I feel my brother was correct when he said “ the side quests are the story”. Its so darn good man…
What pissed me off so much was how Rost was treated. Which essentially means the writing is brilliant. It added situations that would add moral conflict for Aloy. A man who is kind, wise and wonderful was outcast just because he seeked revenge on those who took everything from him. His actions probably did end up saving more lives by removing those awful people from the world. Aloy after becoming a Brave and losing Rost could have told the tribe that treating her dirt to go to hell. But she didn’t. Aloy rose above everything, because Rost gave her loving guidance growing up.
24:42 I appreciate and I agree that it is crucial for more people to recognize the logical basis behind Aloy's self-talk in the game. The settings and context of the story provide a solid rationale for this narrative element. However, it's unfortunate that some individuals either fail to grasp the significance or choose not to acknowledge it, possibly due to their lack of familiarity with the game or simply not being fans of it.
I'll start with this, Horizon is my favourite game series by a landslide. I absolutely adore it. That being said, I wish Aloy would talk less, atleast in certain sections. I know why she does it and it does make sense why she does it. I just wish she didn't spoil puzzles. Relating to the story it's fine and I quite like it. But her stating a game mechanic (i.e. "I should use my focus to scan X") or a hint at a puzzle takes me out of it a bit. I like her snarky remarks and comments during a fight like when fighting a Thunderjaw she goes "Whoa there, big guy". Or in a puzzle if she would just ponder to herself more in the likes of "Hmmmm, there must be a solution that I'm just not seeing..." or "I wonder if.... maybe not..." but the "Perhaps I could scan that device, could the code be in there?" is the game giving a hint disguised as Aloy pondering about something. Just my two cents. I wish there was an option to toggle off her talking during a puzzle. That would be the best of both worlds. Or maybe a popup stating "press x to give a hint" and then she would say it.
After completing this game several times, it's still one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard. I fear Netflix may be in over their heads, taking on such a task. I hope I'm wrong, though. Fantastic job, my friend!!!!!
@anthoniG Netflix is just a publisher. Depends on who does it. Cyberpunk Edgerunners was great and that released on Netflix too. Really just depends on the writers...
I think Horizon is pretty underrated. I mean Zero Dawn sold like 24 million copies, so I don't mean in terms of popularity, but in terms of quality, I rarely think the quality of these games overall is done justice. The biggest problems with the original are all but fixed in the DLC and in Forbidden West, it's damn near perfection as open world games go.
Forbidden west, perfection? The map was bad, the story sucked, machines still walking in circles instead om more complex patterns. And yes ok we could finnaly fly, which was cool but doesnt feel good.....same as for the gliding, play breath of the wild and glide with link, feels way better......nah forbidden west is mid at best
@@SWOTHDRA I did say "near" and given the outer landscape of the open world scene with tons of total dogshit open world games I have to hyperbolize a bit for the good ones, but let's do this anyway... First: explain what in the world makes the "map" of FW worse than Zero Dawn. Second: I bet you can't justify the "story sucked bit" in comparison to Zero Dawn. Thirdly: Aside from the fact that they don't walk in circles, they loop around designated patrol paths that wildly vary in shape and size just like the last game... the fck do you want them to walk in? Figure 8s? Do a little circus number? Care to explain that a bit more? Fourth: nice assuming I haven't played BOTW, I've played like a thousand hours of it and it's also damn near perfection, whereas TOTK is total open world perfection. Fifthly and now we're onto omissions: You're just completely ignoring the insane graphical improvements, the vastly improved character animation, the improved voice acting and the objectively vastly superior mechanical overhaul of the game's traversal, UI, resource system and combat mechanics. Don't bother responding if you can't address these 5 points. Frankly given the state of your original comment I highly doubt you'll be able to say anything in refutation of them, much less actually meaningfully address them. If it's really bad, I won't even bother responding, I'll just make fun of you.
@SWOTHDRA Dude just shut the fuck up already. You've gone up and down these comments crying and complaining. We get it, you hate Horizon, now just please fuck off
One of the best analysis I've seen. I loved that you mentioned how well the mysteries about what happened to the old ones paced out. Btw Rogers joke is gold.
Dude you have my Respect for making this one. After 1850+ hours in the game I felt like refreshing the story, and this one is great summary. I believe the Story, and especially the Combat is S+ Tier in Zero Dawn. 🏹
Again, love your content, particularly on my favorites: Horizon (and Cyberpunk 2077). I've noticed your essays maturing from this Horizon to that more recent video, shifting from summary to more nuanced thematic analysis. But this Horizon essay was a great recap. And Horizon might not be as character or theme-rich as the other narratively, but its depth lies in its beautifully detailed world-building -- similar to Tolkien's work. The Nora, Carja, Oseram, etc., their histories, and their beliefs derived from misinterpreted remnants of the Old World, truly steal the show. I think the game's storytelling approach aligns more with the traditional sagas and epics. The characters, particularly Aloy, serve as cultural representations and navigators in this vivid world, which might make them less layered. But embodying Aloy, the aspirational and noble-hearted outcast, has its merits. After all, characters like Aragorn became iconic for a reason. I appreciate the game's unique 'post post-apocalyptic' setting, a thriving rather than fallen world. I haven't encountered such a perspective in post-apocalyptic media before. P.S., if you're looking for future ideas, an essay on the cultures of Horizon, worldbuilding/history and how this functions within the world of the game and it's themes. Or maybe even an exploration between this mythic approach vs. a more morally ambiguous and messier post-modern style of storytelling (hint hint).
Great video Adam. Ive played this game so many times and never get tired of it. The story is amazing and the characters are lovable. Aloy is one of gamings very best. Its an open world game that keeps giving.
The way this game made me grieve the loss of Rost twice, I have never cried so hard playing a game. It’s why this game is in my top 5 favorite games, this game made me truly feel through the story.
I was amazed at how cutscenes often mirrored places you could travel through, how almost every aspect of the open world was interconnected and had something to contribute to the overall story. Aloy was a different kind of character, different from other protagonists of the time... I didn't like her at first, but she grew on me as the story unfolded. One of my top 10 favorite games of all time
@@Its_SaberHG I didn't mind forbidden West story. It wasn't TLOU or anything but if you compare forbidden West to any AAA 3rd party open world game out there it puts them all to shame. I liked harvesting specific parts for crafting, in depth side stories, great exploration, and graphics and the bleeding edge of gaming, putting unreal 5 to shame
@@B-U-T-C-H-E-R Depth side stories??? They were the most forgettable and boring part of the game. Thats exactly the answer to your question why its underrated. Horizon is amazing game in many regards like gameplay, animations, open world and visual design, but story - characters and writing are pretty bad, full of cliches, even sometimes comically annoying and stereotypical with awkward acting direction, but most of all it just gives you boring unfulfilled potential vibe. Although overall lore and mystery of ZD were the only pluses in story department but it wasn't enough to become memorable.
@@nikitastadnik5894 Horizon Forbidden West had some great side quests. IDK what you're talking about. I also find the story, the lore, and the world as a whole to be very interesting. The whole fighting futuristic robot dinosaurs, the mesh of stone age weaponry with scavenged parts, uncovering the secrets of the past. It's a fantastic world and story
2:06:19 Somehow I had never noticed: Samina falls back, then collapses into her hands weeping. Charles and Margo move immediately to comfort and protect her, Charles delivering his fury. The details of this game. My god. Some of the most realistic portrayals of humanity in the best and worst ways.
I'm always interested in the different perspectives on the Nora matriarchal system. I remember initially being confused about why it was dependent on the number of descendants. But then it hit me. It's because it's such a small community. By putting the grandmothers and great grandmothers in charge they have no choice but to be incredibly careful about declaring war. Not only do they have to send their own family members off to fight, but if those family members get killed they're automatically removed from power. Notice that matriarchal status depends on the number of LIVING progeny. Send them off to conquer a neighbouring tribe and get them killed and you're out. It means the political leadership of the Nora can never take the risk of unnecessary wars. That's actually a pretty clever safeguard, and it's one I can't think of any other way to maintain across generations. I think the Nora have a number of really terrible ideas built into their societal norms, but to my mind the matriarch system itself might deserve a pass.
All the end scene cutscenes you included re gave me chills!! From zero dawn to Apollo major chills!! And the whole glitch conversation! All these are my favorite scenes!
The moment when I learned that humans (and all life) WAS wiped out was really the climax of the story... I would never have guessed that they go this far. This makes the story of Zero Dawn so much more compelling...
Literally here after a few years after the last replay, to get a taste of the story cause I miss it but I don't have the time to play it again right now
@@scarlett8895 i specifically went looking for a video like this for the same reason. One of my all time favorite games but I simply don't have the free time to play through currently
i’ve been watching this while doing my homework and glanced up to realize it only had 4k likes? this video is amazing and extremely nuanced. keep up the good work!
The turning point of Zero Dawn was when you finally get into the entrance. Heart of Nora main quest and you find out who Aloy is with the main theme BGM hitting and then you realized holy cow....this is just the chip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg and the big things there is left to unravel is beyond what you can comprehend. Damn that feeling first time when you see that its like the ultimate holy fk of all sci fi stories. after enjoying the story telling but hating the gameplay of Witcher 3 (damn good game too) i hop on to Zero Dawn in 2024 again and i am still WTF all over again. I do not know if they just got lucky piecing a story like that together but damn the narration is just mind blowing.
Still one of my favourite games of all time, totally didn’t expect how awesome this would be when I first picked it up, it think it was gifted to me, but this game is a masterpiece for sure
This is such a great video, thank you for your hard work on it. Another thing that got me later was that Rost watched his biological daughter die by getting her throat slit just out of reach and then he saw Helis about to do the same to Aloy right after the Proving
Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the few games that ever brought me to tears. Collecting every datapoint in the game really struck a chord with me and left me grappling with the weight of the story as it was playing out. As much as I enjoyed HFW, it just didn’t hit the same nerve because everything was so matter-of-fact and frankly lacking in heart.
This was the first game that I actually made a priority to find the "collectables", because they painted such a wonderful and sad image of the Old World, and also built on the lore so well.
I'm someone who likes to look into games and watch playthroughs before I buy a game, to make sure I'm going to like it. I was hooked on HZD almost immediately and eagerly awaited its release on PC. I even built my own PC before the port release (I needed a major PC upgrade anyway and it just sort of worked out). I've nearly 100%d it, and have been desperately awaiting the Forbidden West PC port. I knew I was going to love the sequel so I avoided watching content this time. It finally released 2 weeks ago (as of this comment) and I've already got nearly 70 hours in HFW, and I'm only about 63% of the way through it. I do hope they continue the story with a third game, even though I haven't finished HFW yet. We've seen much of what becomes of the United States in this future world, but I'm eager to find out how the rest of the world is faring. Easily one of my favorite game series ever.
I took a long time to finish the game so this was a perfect way to experience the story fluidly. I felt so detached from most moments because of how long I took from reveal to reveal. But watching this was like a movie and really gets you to appreciate its richness...TYSM for all your hard work
One of your points about the voice messages and holograms pertaining specifically to where the players is standing reminded me of when I was walking through and, on one side, we got to read or hear a message from someone that basically said all was well and they were hoping they could see the recipient soon. Then, on the other side, you get the same message, only uncensored, and you see the situation is so much more dire, and they're just grasping for human connection.
Well after falling asleep to this video for 2 nights in a row i have finally downloaded it for P.C..... was i long time xbox player so never had chance until now..... 9hrs in my first session...What a game !!! Thank you for your quality video and getting me into this game ❤
This is really fantastic work. I appreciate the nuanced analysis and it was a great watch/listen before starting Forbidden West. Excited to say the least.
I was in gamestop when this game was out and the cover sold me, I asked my friends what they thought about it; I got the talks of femimism pushing was in it and it made me grimace, but I liked the opening and the gameplay was surprisingly fun for a bow and arrow shooter. I kept going to then learn about the backstory of the world and I was hooked from there. I've gotten all the achievements and replayed to unlock all the skills in the Nora Grounds before moving on and am now playing HFW. They did good here.
My brother and I got the ps4 grand turismo/horizon zero dawn (complete) pack. I didn't even know about HZD but it's story and gameplay was one of the best surprises I've ever experienced. l have replayed it multiple times and I am now on my 2nd new game + on Horizon forbidden west. I fucking love the feel of releasing an arrow in this game and the weapon wheel is just awesome.
I started the forbidden west for the second time a couple of days ago and this made my hype even biger. Awesome video! and I never noticed there was a timer on the last battle
This game has one of the best stories I have ever played. Not many things compare to the magic of the first time you finally figure out what project zero dawn is and how all the pieces come together. I don't know what is so poignant and tantalizing about it but something is.
Goddamn these videos make housework a breeze. Excellent stuff man, I learned a good deal about the story from your observations and breakdowns. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.
before the reveal about the 'glitch' we get some datapoints where I think it's mentioned that Ted requested to make a 'backdoor' for the robots control system, and so I suspect AI system got just smart enough to exploit it. it's a typical scenario where AI would take some task and learn to do it no matter what, including that it needs to protect itself from external control in order to persist with given task. long story short, even though we have specialists that know about risks like that, it's still something that could happen by accident or stupidity. but what doesn't make any sense is how Ted Faro wasn't held accountable for the swarm getting out of control and even worse, was still in a position where he managed to implement another 'backdoor' of sorts for the top level clearence on Zero Dawn project, above everyone else, which led to some other unfortunate events. no matter how you look at situation it was obvious that he was responsible for triggering extinction, so he should've been dealt with immediately, like throwing him into the swarm or something. so that to me is the weakest point in the whole plot. it's like the whole worldbuilding of the game hangs on immesurable stupidity of Ted Faro and equal lack of accountability.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to your summary and your commentary made me laugh a cupple of times. You did a great job on this one and I'm checking out your other videos next.
HZD's story hooked me up so good back when I was playing it that I actively refused to google things about it out of fear of being exposed to spoilers.
I just replayed this game on the ps5 with the new remastered version. And omg, even though I know what happens every single reveal still hits so hard! The lore and mystery in Zero Dawn is so intriguing
I remember that two years ago, I knew nothing about the game until I came across the official LEGO set of the tallneck, and all I could say was, “What is that??” Fast forward a year and a friend who had already played it gave me the first game. After playing it, I knew that I HAD to get the second game and I HAD to get the LEGO set. Soooooo now I have both 😅
Truly a banger video! Great summary of the game and its story, and fresh analysis as well. Critique where its deserved, but always in a constructive manner. Well edited both in terms of video and audio, you really know your shit! Heading off to the Forbidden West video next.
Wow, I think that's a record for a Horizon Zero Dawn analysis. It would have been great if you had done it before I played Forbidden West (I watched a 1:30 recap video), now it's pretty difficult to watch it all. Will try to watch some of it, though. It's amazing to see your dedication.
1:56:30 I find this scene's writing incredible because of the absurdity, and how it relates to real religious psychology. Collective trauma, like that resulting from war or natural disasters, has been proven to intensify religious beliefs and practices; people turn to faith to cope with their experiences. So the Nora, having experienced the worst tragedies in living memory, are like a live wire charged with pent-up energy and searching for anything to ground them. And Aloy is right there. There have been signs surrounding her indicating the All-Mother's favor. In fact, one could even say that she was born from the All-Mother. The groundwork is already laid for a bit of idolatry; all it takes is a careless remark from Aloy and she becomes the focal point of all that faith... but that's not what Aloy wants. To Aloy, being Anointed is functionally equivalent to being an outcast or an exile; the only difference is that people are looking up at you instead of down. It's an absolutely brilliant example of considering the story from both angles at once, and that's why I love this scene.
HZD and HFW, with their respective DLC, were an absolute pleasure to platinum. It was incredibly satisfying to do. I had very few criticisms for this series. It easily worked its way into my top 10 of all time.
I adore the first game for its fluidity, art direction, music, atmosphere and open-ended combat, but above all for its story and how it wove together the mystery of Aloy's birth with that of the world-the main story was full of moving, melancholy stories about the old world that gave me a sense of loss and awe as I traversed the map, picking my way through the bones of a desperate struggle to buy time for a plan that was fated to fail, all of this was complimented by the gorgeous score. I had some gripes with the presentation at points, but those paled in light of the overall experience, the memories I made and how moved I was. I can say that the sequel hit some similar notes, and triumphantly struck some new ones, as well, but it didn't possess me as fully as the first. Still a worthwhile experience but I was left wanting in comparison with the first. Still, together the Horizon titles are two excellent games that execute their open worlds with enough style and poise to set them apart from any other game of this type I've played. I appreciate your analysis, it makes me want to dive back into Zero Dawn for a third playthrough :)
@1:41:00 "Aloy wonders if all mother mountain was a cradle facility." Not only was it but if You look up a map the regions of the US that this game is set in and realize what all mother mountain is it should become immediately obvious how the Nora tribe got their name.
~1h:34: The "This humble vent marks a point of no return" -- this is a *courtesy* to players, warning them that the game world will change and that characters or locations may become permanently inaccessible if you proceed. And sure enough, if you have anything to say to Marea (as an example), now's the time 😞 This was a rather harsh lesson from e.g. Mass Effect series, where on multiple occasions, you might have clicked on what seemed like a 'small' mission, only to be taken on a roller-coaster ride that ended with characters dying and quests becoming permanently disabled.
Can I just say, this is my first time seeing the heartfelt good bye to Rost, I always picked the angry option because it felt so appropriate within the Aloy's head space during this part of the game. Plus it leaves her last interaction with her father figure tragically regrettable and I feel it helps set a foundation of her putting people at a distance to avoid losing them only to learn to let them in and treasure them later.
The best thing about this narrative was that it's somehow far-futuristic scifi but at the same time, also has this dark "sounds pretty human to me to think building self-replicating killer robots that can repurpose organic matter into fuel sounds like a good idea" theme to it. Kinda makes me think about that quote from The Expanse; "History, Michio believed, was a long series of surprises that seemed inevitable in retrospect. " but in thisa case, it's more like "the future seems inevitable in foresight"
Can I just give the voice actor of Ted Faro credit? I totally bought his acting as a desperate, panicking person that realised how badly he fucked up. The way he emotes the character *Chef's kiss*
Not finished watching the video yet, which is stellar btw. I would like to mention the importance of some quests though in that unless you don’t complete them you don’t get their help in the final battle. If you want Talahna then you need to complete the Hunters Lodge quest line. Erend’s quest is important because you get Avad on your side as well as Erend in the Final battle, Uthid, Nil, Sona will not be there unless you do their quest lines so it’s in your best interests to do so. HZD is one of those games where you get out of it what you put into it. Explore, read everything, listen to everything, watch everything. Speed running is absolutely not encouraged, the lore opens up, the more you discover and the richer the story and your experience.
Honestly, Zero Dawn has such a hook, such a draw and an amazing twist from the VERY START, that Forbidden West felt empty. Nothing really struck me, despite it being such a beautiful game. It felt more constricted, mundane.. I will never forget what I experienced when I walked in the fields, seeing Merida off in the distance.. And the revelations to come.
I'm in the middle of watching this (will skip any forbidden west spoiler though, I'm waiting for a couple of years down the light when it comes to pc!) and I'm happy I found it. I absolutely loved Zero Dawn in big part thanks to its story and themes (but the robot-dino/animals combat isn't hurting either xD), one of the most compelling sci-fi/post-apoc tale I've experienced in some time.
even as a self-professed BotW/TotK obsessive who hates to pit my faves against each other, i'm SO glad these games are getting the attention they deserve now even if it took waaaay too long (release schedule curse is real) because they are truly something special. it's such a beautiful world and it really must've done something right - i dont have much patience for much sci-fi, you can really sense the love the writers have for it. i never had a doubt they would take it somewhere amazing the whole time.
I would love to see a game of Rost's journeys as Death Seeker. Or if it was a flash back that Aloy learns of as she goes through the next game. See him investigate where the bandits went. Hunt them down. It would be before the Derangement though so it may not be a full playable game. Though it would be part of Sun King Joran's reign so it might be a fascinating look at a political system on the verge of tyranny.
I don't think any story reveal in a game has knocked me on my arse like the Faro twist in this game, absolutely perfectly executed
Honestly the lore and story of horizon is probably my favourite in any game series, followed closely by the xeno/blade multiverse and the fact this game came from a developer that exclusively made fps games is phenomenal and crazy to think of. Anytime I find a video going in depth of anything horizon I usually watch it asap.
I reckon the reveal of the truth of what Project Zero Dawn was would be a contender. I 100% absolutely did not see that coming because it upends all the typical post-apocalypse rebuild tropes.
This time, everybody DID die. There were no survivors. It was a fantastic twist. The story of this game is so tightly written, it is among the best stories of any game I've played.
@@TheKazragore the writer for Zero Dawn is John Gonzales which sadly resigned in 2020.. the one who continue the project for Forbidden West is his asisstant which did not quite match the vibes of John Gonzales style in writings.
He once said in his linked in that Forbidden West new lead narrativrs director and writers has taste in dark end of spectrum, like crime noir and such.. i suppose the storytelling quality goes downhill because of this
I'm shocked I found this game in my library of games I never played it man just the first beginning was great and I love everything about it it's such a heartwarming of a story
@@nohee1702 The storytelling quality didn't go down. It's the middle piece of the overall story and doesn't have the same sense of mystery as the first one because it can't. The only issue in Forbidden West is the same as the issue in Zero Dawn: the human villains are pretty boring.
Okay just need to admit this. The scene with Elizabet sacrificing herself for zero dawn and a future for the planet paired with Aloys theme genuinely makes me tear of a bit each time. Even listening to it for this video got me once more
🥴
I mean it sold 20 million. It’s not too underrated I think the 2nd game last report sold 8 million
@@nshippudennaruto2814 It's not underrated in a sense of people not playing or knowing about it, but it is definitely underrated in a sense that there is a mile long lineup of people saying it's dogshit / mediocre / "ok" game with terrible story, without actually playing it. That goes for every game for sure, but from my observation HZD gets that far more than any other game.
@@lad4830 exactly. People follow the masses and love games like God of war or Rockstar games or spiderman or even elden ring. Those games are not bad by any means but people need to have their own opinion and be open to new ideas other than the remakes remastered new entry of the same titles which imo I don't even like anymore. HZD and HFW are my favorite games of all time up there with mass effect
@@lad4830 in my observations its beceause they think its a feminist game, wich it isnt. The second game is however, and much more woke as that game suffers from it story wise. But not this one, one of my all time favourite games, i even have merch about it. Wich i rarely if ever do for videogames
RUclips! WHY DIDN'T YOU RECOMMEND THIS VIDEO 10 months ago ???
Ditto.. was looking for horizon story summary video couple month ago. And now it was randomly in my feed..
@@n37z Search engine so bad and biased you literally can‘t find many videos if you type in their _exact_ title, same for a lot of channels
A YEAR for me :(
It’s ironic that this comment is now 10 months old…right when I encounter it
Glad I found this. Loving the lore videos.
I always loved that someone, maybe Gaia or maybe Demeter once freed, put a metal flower style triangle of flowers around Sobek’s body. One last subtle tribute to their creator and savior of the world.
That was some beautiful and subtle storytelling, honestly the only story part that made me cry ... 😢
I feel so bad for Samina; not only was she killed, but she died knowing that all of the time, care, and effort she put into preserving the knowledge of mankind was destroyed at the press of a button, and that it was done _right in front of her._ The way she breaks down into tears once Faro told them what he did and the way the other Alphas went to try and console her _really_ shines a light on how cruel Faro was, as well as driving home the fact that the _last_ hope of humanity had just been permanently and irrevocably destroyed.
You buy a phone and 5 years later it starts to malfunction. Meanwhile, the focus is still working 1000 years after its construction. Kudos for the old ones!
Miniaturisation and likely using the nervous system as a battery
Have you ever heard of planned obsolescence?
yes, but the focus hadn't been used at all, unlike the 5 years old phone. But I get what you're saying...
In real life it would last ten years at most
@@stanislavstoimenov1729 the one that aloy found on the corpse of a man underground?
1:59:15 "The Stormbird however cant be avoided" sounds like you aint never just full sprinted through there never looking back
I always used the ropecaster immediately and then ran
Stealth. I use stealth a lot in the game, and with the right gear and mods, the stealth outfit will let you basically sneak right past it while still staying on the path (not creeping through grass etc). I've snuck past stuff you'd normally have to fight so many times it's almost sad how broken the stealth system is.
Bro I just made it obedient as soon as I saw it, like with almost every machine I encounter 😂
"Hiii! Happy Birthday Isaac! Daddy sure does love his little big man"
Always make me tear up 😢
Always makes me crack up. "Little big man"? Who talks like that?
@@bobsonny someone who’s kid won’t live to be an adult because the world is literally ending and all they have left is somewhere between mere weeks to months to live
Oh, ddi you not go to Rost's "grave"? It's near the og hut of Rost, and whenever Aloy goes there, it's so sweet and makes me cry. I'm Hindu and we usually cremate our dead, so it was an experience to see why people would want a grave.
i will never forget the feeling that came over me when i learned what project zero dawn was. My stomach sank under my seat and i gasped with dread; until then i couldn't imagine how they finally won - well, they didn't.
It sent an absolute chill down my spine when I got there. Fantastic story telling and a complete reversal of typical apocalypse-beating narratives. This time, the world *wasn't* saved.
@@TheKazragore yeah the Faro plague is unique in that EVERY LIVING THING was killed. Every bacteria, every amoeba, every virus, every single living cell of life, extinguished in ALL forms.
Give me Skynet over the Faro Plague every single time, i truly cannot actually imagine a worse thing without entering the realm of comic absurdity.
Funny thing is if aloy didn't talk to herself, we wouldn't really get a sense of her personality or struggles. Her talking to herself tells us so much about her that wouldn't work as well through conversation with others
Also as someone who talks to themselves I found it kind of refreshing lol
Like what? It's 90% "wow that sure is a [thing that it is]" or a blatant puzzle solution
I'd adore a character talking to themselves if it meant a window into their inner conflict, like Jin Sakai's hot spring dialogues.
I was reading comments recently from people who didn't like that. You can't please gamers now. They don't want a silent protagonist, but when they talk it's annoying. I don't mind the player controlled character talking, it fills silence and at times provides something you may not have known before.
@@georgen5882 I like both silent and verbal protagonists. Like Ellie in TLOU2 or any soulsborne character. I dislike badly executed concepts.
If you’re an only child, like me, you get the talking to yourself.
I love Rost as a character. He’s an amazing example of a positive masculine father. Something that’s all but absent in most modern media: Roat is competent, loving in his own way, raising his child to learn her society’s traditions, teaching her the skills she needs to survive, giving her the self-confidence and inner strength she will need as an adult, willing to give his life to protect her, but also teaching her to stand on her own two feet in life and to stand up for what she believes in.
In our modern society, where fathers are looked at a almost unnecessary, Rost shows us the powerful effect a good father has on the lives of his children.
Spot on! Hear hear! We need more inspiring men in media. It is really sad how few inspiring role models boy and young men have these days. Most of the options fall in the egocentric narcissist or infantile man child categories. For a more gritty, stoic example would add Joel from Last of Us (even with his flaws, he'll make you think about those flaws)
He's not the perfect dad, but you can tell he's trying very hard and doing a great job. Like how he trusts Aloy after she proves herself.
@@TheCompleteMental Not only that, but think about the scene early on when she found the focus and he tried to take it from her. You could look at it as just them finding a way out of her losing it for story purposes, but it was creative nonetheless. He knew she was an outcast and needed something of her own, so he let her have it since he knew how strong willed she was. If he had forcefully taken it away she still could have stolen it back, but how would that make him look?
Yet they killed him off
@@SWOTHDRA He was the mentor character, that's what usually happens to those in the hero's journey formula which zero dawn adheres to.
I really appreciate how you don't really talk about anything from Forbidden West here! I haven't gotten a chance to play the sequel yet, so this was a great way to relive the first game with no spoilers. Thank you!
Same, just finished ZD and want to do ng+ on hardest difficulty before buying FW. I feel little stupid that have owned ZD for 3 years, but just now found time to play it
@@petrikallio2485lol hey I’m in the same boat lol I bought ZD early 2020 then put it down before making it to meridian now my friend bought it for me on pc and said fix your mistakes finish it and so the last few days I’ve been playing it religiously
What do you mean we don't know what caused the "glitch"? It's all but explicitly stated in HZD that it's because he made his robots smarter than legally allowed to gain his competitive advantage in war, but because he did so they became capable of disobedience. It's after the escape of Vast Silver that the world instituted regulations on machine cognition. The exact legal limit was stated somewhere in the Frozen Wilds DLC, measured in Turing units. The DLC further cementing the idea of that limit for those who may not have found the optional data points that reference it.
To be fair, even if it's been a while since I played the game, I remember that while the fault for the protocols, the ability of self-produce and to consume bio-mass to sustain itselfs were 100% Faro's and his hubris (read stupidity), the Glitch itself, that allowed the Machines to break free from human control and began consuming Earth, was left fairly ambiguous whether it was human meddling, a cyber-virus or a "natural" evolution of their code and AI...
@@endertuber8300 In the third hologram between Faro and Sobeck in the FAS office she threatens to reveal "the real cause of the glitch" if he doesn't sign the Zero Dawn proposal. That's clue one that he did something he knew he wasn't supposed to. Clue two is in the Zero Dawn labs in the hologram where he tells her to put in a kill switch.
"What if it becomes a monster? Have we learned nothing from our mistakes?" he says. "YOUR mistakes, I think you mean?" Sobeck snaps back. This tells us that was his final mistake - making the machine smart enough to think for itself.
Thats not what caused the glitch, thats how the glitch was able to happen but not what caused it, there were multiple swarms of the chariot line sold all with the same capabilities but only 1 swarm went rogue. All these swarms had the same intelligence but only 1 swarm ended up glitching and going rogue, if it was due to the intelligence then all of them would have had the same problem but they didnt. While it played its role in making it possible to go rogue it isnt the reason they went rogue. To put it simply its like giving a person a gun, you give them the ability to use it but you arent the reason they do.
I hold to the theory that it was Vast Silver all along. There are hints it had escaped its constraints in data points. There are too many hints about it for it to not have a significant part of things. Tate said Faro had all sorts of malware that he found, what if Faro was experimenting with VS and caused it to go mad?
@@SneakyCustard i think VS is playing a role in 3 to hep defeat nemesis and thats why weve had the info about him sprinkled in. I think GAIA, CYAN and VS are all going to have to team together and a large part of 3 will be tracking down VS
it's so rare to get a truly unique sci fi story that is both compelling and moving. mass effect and arrival come to mind and it's hard to think of many more. Horizon is among my top 5 games and among the best stories i've experienced in any medium.
40:29 not trying to change minds, just illuminate some lore tidbits.
1. The Nora actually limit the number of children a family can have. The limit is 2 and for a couple to bare a new child, they must have this act blessed by a high matriarch first.
2. The Nora heavily revere the balance of nature, hence why they don’t have farms, only hunting and gathering.
My takeaway is that the Nora worship the power of motherhood and family. Bigger families garners larger amounts of respect and political sway. Because too many children would not be balanced in their eyes, the only way to get a bigger family is to have as many surviving generations below you as possible. Also the rank of matriarch and high matriarch are different. Matriarchs have grandchildren and high matriarchs have great grandchildren. Both ranks can get demoted should your children die. This stops some guy with 18 kids from marching into mothers heart and becoming “el presidente” but to play devils advocate, this system encourages people to have children as early as possible. Tearsa, while looking older, is still active and capability of fulfilling her duties dispite being a great grandmother. To me, she can’t be older than 80. Teens must especially feel a lot of pressure. While far from perfect as Nora society is wrought with issues it’s a tad more nuanced than “more babies = more political power” again, not trying to change how you feel, just shedding light on some (arguably extremely missable) deeper lore. Overall love the vid tho! Keep it up, and I can’t wait for ur burning shores vid!
Aloy waking up and immediately looking for her smart phone (focus) is quite relatable.
I love Aloy as a protagonist. She's curious, intelligent and driven; a far cry from the passivity/reactivity that a lot of player characters sadly end up showing. She has clear things that she wants, and she goes and GETS them.
And in the Burning shores DLC they turned her into a lesbian! The problem is the Devs didn't give us gamers a choice to pick a partner. They did dirty to my boy Erend. deym!
@@stealth615 "Turned her into" is a weird way of saying "Confirmed she likes women when her sexuality wasn't stated before".
@@cass7448 Born as a woman of course we expect her to be paired to a man such is a natural order of life. Devs shoving +LGBTQASDJLKVJWEUI into our throat without giving us a choice, without giving my boy Erend a chance. Its a dick move, Good thing they did it on DLC and not on the base game though. I'm just gonna pretend burning shore DLC didn't exist. :D
@@stealth615 You know you *can* reject Seyka, right? Two out of the three options are rejections, there's a literal choice there. But you don't actually care about that. So by all means, while the rest of us actually play the game and enjoy our lives, you can keep whinging about not being given a choice when it's literally right in front of you; sounds like a needlessly miserable existence to me, but hey, your choice.
@@cephalongwen7553 You know that's not actually a rejection, only an illusion of choice that only delays the inevitable. If there's an option to pick a male partner with a kissing scene too after rejecting her but noooo!! devs said eat this woke shit and that's final.
Great analysis, this makes me want to play through the first game again.
...while listening to this, amiright? lol
Very late to this but Great video! Horizon‘s stories are so so underrated and often classed as „boring“ to many but I find them so endearing - the horizon universe has so much amazing lore and world building. You really captured the essence of horizon‘s world in your video, well done!
Me too and this is an amazing series ❤😊
What's so compelling about these games to me is the "plausibility" of the stories. Greedy corporations creating things that could lead to the destruction of the planet. Things then spiraling out of control with no hope of winning so plans are made to preserve the planet and its inhabitants in the distant future. That was so interesting to me.
The first game, sure, but the second game was garbage
@@SWOTHDRA how was forbidden west garbage? The world feels more epic & sprawling by every measure.
I find it funny how I went from my brother sitting me in front of the tv to play this and skipping cutscenes, to being fully invested and doing every side quest and trophy. I feel my brother was correct when he said “ the side quests are the story”. Its so darn good man…
What pissed me off so much was how Rost was treated.
Which essentially means the writing is brilliant.
It added situations that would add moral conflict for Aloy. A man who is kind, wise and wonderful was outcast just because he seeked revenge on those who took everything from him. His actions probably did end up saving more lives by removing those awful people from the world.
Aloy after becoming a Brave and losing Rost could have told the tribe that treating her dirt to go to hell. But she didn’t. Aloy rose above everything, because Rost gave her loving guidance growing up.
24:42 I appreciate and I agree that it is crucial for more people to recognize the logical basis behind Aloy's self-talk in the game. The settings and context of the story provide a solid rationale for this narrative element. However, it's unfortunate that some individuals either fail to grasp the significance or choose not to acknowledge it, possibly due to their lack of familiarity with the game or simply not being fans of it.
I'll start with this, Horizon is my favourite game series by a landslide. I absolutely adore it.
That being said, I wish Aloy would talk less, atleast in certain sections. I know why she does it and it does make sense why she does it. I just wish she didn't spoil puzzles. Relating to the story it's fine and I quite like it. But her stating a game mechanic (i.e. "I should use my focus to scan X") or a hint at a puzzle takes me out of it a bit.
I like her snarky remarks and comments during a fight like when fighting a Thunderjaw she goes "Whoa there, big guy". Or in a puzzle if she would just ponder to herself more in the likes of "Hmmmm, there must be a solution that I'm just not seeing..." or "I wonder if.... maybe not..." but the "Perhaps I could scan that device, could the code be in there?" is the game giving a hint disguised as Aloy pondering about something.
Just my two cents. I wish there was an option to toggle off her talking during a puzzle. That would be the best of both worlds. Or maybe a popup stating "press x to give a hint" and then she would say it.
@@Preohhhyeah, the puzzle thing i agree with. She's way to fast to drop a hint😅 should make it an optional thing.
After completing this game several times, it's still one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard. I fear Netflix may be in over their heads, taking on such a task. I hope I'm wrong, though. Fantastic job, my friend!!!!!
Hol up, Netflix are doing a series?
@will1565 yep. I believe their calling it Horizon 2074 or something like that. Taking place shortly after humanity's collapse.
@@AndThenSome71 Oh crap. They are going to screw it up, just like they did The Witcher
@@AndThenSome71 Wait, AFTER? What are they gonna show, GAIA's video diaries?
@anthoniG Netflix is just a publisher. Depends on who does it. Cyberpunk Edgerunners was great and that released on Netflix too. Really just depends on the writers...
The voice actress for child Aloy did such a good job she was so cute talking to the hologram
She sounds boring
Couldn't agree more! I smiled when she saw the hologram and said she wanted it to replay
@SWOTHDRA
Dude you're like ten years old. Just sit down and shut the fuck up
I think Horizon is pretty underrated. I mean Zero Dawn sold like 24 million copies, so I don't mean in terms of popularity, but in terms of quality, I rarely think the quality of these games overall is done justice. The biggest problems with the original are all but fixed in the DLC and in Forbidden West, it's damn near perfection as open world games go.
Forbidden west, perfection? The map was bad, the story sucked, machines still walking in circles instead om more complex patterns. And yes ok we could finnaly fly, which was cool but doesnt feel good.....same as for the gliding, play breath of the wild and glide with link, feels way better......nah forbidden west is mid at best
@@SWOTHDRA I did say "near" and given the outer landscape of the open world scene with tons of total dogshit open world games I have to hyperbolize a bit for the good ones, but let's do this anyway...
First: explain what in the world makes the "map" of FW worse than Zero Dawn.
Second: I bet you can't justify the "story sucked bit" in comparison to Zero Dawn.
Thirdly: Aside from the fact that they don't walk in circles, they loop around designated patrol paths that wildly vary in shape and size just like the last game... the fck do you want them to walk in? Figure 8s? Do a little circus number? Care to explain that a bit more?
Fourth: nice assuming I haven't played BOTW, I've played like a thousand hours of it and it's also damn near perfection, whereas TOTK is total open world perfection.
Fifthly and now we're onto omissions: You're just completely ignoring the insane graphical improvements, the vastly improved character animation, the improved voice acting and the objectively vastly superior mechanical overhaul of the game's traversal, UI, resource system and combat mechanics.
Don't bother responding if you can't address these 5 points. Frankly given the state of your original comment I highly doubt you'll be able to say anything in refutation of them, much less actually meaningfully address them. If it's really bad, I won't even bother responding, I'll just make fun of you.
@SWOTHDRA
Dude just shut the fuck up already. You've gone up and down these comments crying and complaining.
We get it, you hate Horizon, now just please fuck off
@@SWOTHDRA
The map was awesome, the story was awesome, the machines were awesome. If you didnt enjoy it, whatever. Move on.
I'm extremely late but this is an amazing video, it makes me want to play the first game again but this time paying a lot more attention to the story
One of the best analysis I've seen. I loved that you mentioned how well the mysteries about what happened to the old ones paced out. Btw Rogers joke is gold.
Dude you have my Respect for making this one.
After 1850+ hours in the game I felt like refreshing the story, and this one is great summary.
I believe the Story, and especially the Combat is S+ Tier in Zero Dawn. 🏹
Again, love your content, particularly on my favorites: Horizon (and Cyberpunk 2077). I've noticed your essays maturing from this Horizon to that more recent video, shifting from summary to more nuanced thematic analysis.
But this Horizon essay was a great recap. And Horizon might not be as character or theme-rich as the other narratively, but its depth lies in its beautifully detailed world-building -- similar to Tolkien's work. The Nora, Carja, Oseram, etc., their histories, and their beliefs derived from misinterpreted remnants of the Old World, truly steal the show.
I think the game's storytelling approach aligns more with the traditional sagas and epics. The characters, particularly Aloy, serve as cultural representations and navigators in this vivid world, which might make them less layered. But embodying Aloy, the aspirational and noble-hearted outcast, has its merits. After all, characters like Aragorn became iconic for a reason.
I appreciate the game's unique 'post post-apocalyptic' setting, a thriving rather than fallen world. I haven't encountered such a perspective in post-apocalyptic media before.
P.S., if you're looking for future ideas, an essay on the cultures of Horizon, worldbuilding/history and how this functions within the world of the game and it's themes. Or maybe even an exploration between this mythic approach vs. a more morally ambiguous and messier post-modern style of storytelling (hint hint).
Great video Adam. Ive played this game so many times and never get tired of it. The story is amazing and the characters are lovable. Aloy is one of gamings very best. Its an open world game that keeps giving.
The way this game made me grieve the loss of Rost twice, I have never cried so hard playing a game. It’s why this game is in my top 5 favorite games, this game made me truly feel through the story.
This game legit gave me anxiety and existential dread, the grim hopelessness of Operation Enduring Victory was impeccable. Game is a damn masterpiece.
The music and soundscape are also so gorgeous
I was amazed at how cutscenes often mirrored places you could travel through, how almost every aspect of the open world was interconnected and had something to contribute to the overall story. Aloy was a different kind of character, different from other protagonists of the time... I didn't like her at first, but she grew on me as the story unfolded. One of my top 10 favorite games of all time
The horizon series is underrated. I don't understand why you don't see it in more conversations. They were both amazing
The second one's story is kinda bad but everything else was amazing. Especially the side quest
@@Its_SaberHG
I didn't mind forbidden West story. It wasn't TLOU or anything but if you compare forbidden West to any AAA 3rd party open world game out there it puts them all to shame. I liked harvesting specific parts for crafting, in depth side stories, great exploration, and graphics and the bleeding edge of gaming, putting unreal 5 to shame
@@B-U-T-C-H-E-R Depth side stories??? They were the most forgettable and boring part of the game. Thats exactly the answer to your question why its underrated. Horizon is amazing game in many regards like gameplay, animations, open world and visual design, but story - characters and writing are pretty bad, full of cliches, even sometimes comically annoying and stereotypical with awkward acting direction, but most of all it just gives you boring unfulfilled potential vibe. Although overall lore and mystery of ZD were the only pluses in story department but it wasn't enough to become memorable.
@@nikitastadnik5894
Horizon Forbidden West had some great side quests. IDK what you're talking about.
I also find the story, the lore, and the world as a whole to be very interesting.
The whole fighting futuristic robot dinosaurs, the mesh of stone age weaponry with scavenged parts, uncovering the secrets of the past.
It's a fantastic world and story
2:06:19 Somehow I had never noticed: Samina falls back, then collapses into her hands weeping. Charles and Margo move immediately to comfort and protect her, Charles delivering his fury.
The details of this game. My god. Some of the most realistic portrayals of humanity in the best and worst ways.
It's incredible to find this type of video about just the best game I've ever played
I'm always interested in the different perspectives on the Nora matriarchal system. I remember initially being confused about why it was dependent on the number of descendants. But then it hit me. It's because it's such a small community. By putting the grandmothers and great grandmothers in charge they have no choice but to be incredibly careful about declaring war. Not only do they have to send their own family members off to fight, but if those family members get killed they're automatically removed from power. Notice that matriarchal status depends on the number of LIVING progeny. Send them off to conquer a neighbouring tribe and get them killed and you're out.
It means the political leadership of the Nora can never take the risk of unnecessary wars. That's actually a pretty clever safeguard, and it's one I can't think of any other way to maintain across generations.
I think the Nora have a number of really terrible ideas built into their societal norms, but to my mind the matriarch system itself might deserve a pass.
All the end scene cutscenes you included re gave me chills!! From zero dawn to Apollo major chills!! And the whole glitch conversation! All these are my favorite scenes!
The moment when I learned that humans (and all life) WAS wiped out was really the climax of the story... I would never have guessed that they go this far. This makes the story of Zero Dawn so much more compelling...
him: play the game before watching.
me: knowing I've played the game 6-7 times,
and still don't find it boring.
Literally here after a few years after the last replay, to get a taste of the story cause I miss it but I don't have the time to play it again right now
@@scarlett8895 i specifically went looking for a video like this for the same reason. One of my all time favorite games but I simply don't have the free time to play through currently
i’ve been watching this while doing my homework and glanced up to realize it only had 4k likes? this video is amazing and extremely nuanced. keep up the good work!
I’d like the know where these dudes are getting there sick fades done. Every tribe throughout the games must have the same on call hair stylist
The turning point of Zero Dawn was when you finally get into the entrance. Heart of Nora main quest and you find out who Aloy is with the main theme BGM hitting and then you realized holy cow....this is just the chip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg and the big things there is left to unravel is beyond what you can comprehend. Damn that feeling first time when you see that its like the ultimate holy fk of all sci fi stories.
after enjoying the story telling but hating the gameplay of Witcher 3 (damn good game too) i hop on to Zero Dawn in 2024 again and i am still WTF all over again. I do not know if they just got lucky piecing a story like that together but damn the narration is just mind blowing.
Still one of my favourite games of all time, totally didn’t expect how awesome this would be when I first picked it up, it think it was gifted to me, but this game is a masterpiece for sure
1:59:30 “the storm bird however, can’t be avoided”
Yeah, I totally didn’t just run past it 😂
This is such a great video, thank you for your hard work on it.
Another thing that got me later was that Rost watched his biological daughter die by getting her throat slit just out of reach and then he saw Helis about to do the same to Aloy right after the Proving
Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the few games that ever brought me to tears. Collecting every datapoint in the game really struck a chord with me and left me grappling with the weight of the story as it was playing out. As much as I enjoyed HFW, it just didn’t hit the same nerve because everything was so matter-of-fact and frankly lacking in heart.
This was the first game that I actually made a priority to find the "collectables", because they painted such a wonderful and sad image of the Old World, and also built on the lore so well.
I'm someone who likes to look into games and watch playthroughs before I buy a game, to make sure I'm going to like it. I was hooked on HZD almost immediately and eagerly awaited its release on PC. I even built my own PC before the port release (I needed a major PC upgrade anyway and it just sort of worked out). I've nearly 100%d it, and have been desperately awaiting the Forbidden West PC port. I knew I was going to love the sequel so I avoided watching content this time. It finally released 2 weeks ago (as of this comment) and I've already got nearly 70 hours in HFW, and I'm only about 63% of the way through it. I do hope they continue the story with a third game, even though I haven't finished HFW yet. We've seen much of what becomes of the United States in this future world, but I'm eager to find out how the rest of the world is faring. Easily one of my favorite game series ever.
I took a long time to finish the game so this was a perfect way to experience the story fluidly. I felt so detached from most moments because of how long I took from reveal to reveal. But watching this was like a movie and really gets you to appreciate its richness...TYSM for all your hard work
2:02:54 i ve completed the game plenty of times.. these next 2 senteces always make me fkick tear up
God I forgot how beautiful this game is
All in all, a great video summarizing the story of Zero Dawn! Thank you for making this!
Am I going to sleep to this? Yes
🤣🤣
Ah video essays, great for information and sleeping
One of your points about the voice messages and holograms pertaining specifically to where the players is standing reminded me of when I was walking through and, on one side, we got to read or hear a message from someone that basically said all was well and they were hoping they could see the recipient soon. Then, on the other side, you get the same message, only uncensored, and you see the situation is so much more dire, and they're just grasping for human connection.
Dude. This was anamazingly well done, well narrated and insightful video. You've done a hell of a job covering horizon.
Well after falling asleep to this video for 2 nights in a row i have finally downloaded it for P.C..... was i long time xbox player so never had chance until now..... 9hrs in my first session...What a game !!! Thank you for your quality video and getting me into this game ❤
Update..... What a game 😯. Never had so much gamers remorse for completing it..... Forbidden West here i come 😘
Why don't videos like this show up in my feed lol this is great
This is really fantastic work. I appreciate the nuanced analysis and it was a great watch/listen before starting Forbidden West. Excited to say the least.
I was in gamestop when this game was out and the cover sold me, I asked my friends what they thought about it; I got the talks of femimism pushing was in it and it made me grimace, but I liked the opening and the gameplay was surprisingly fun for a bow and arrow shooter. I kept going to then learn about the backstory of the world and I was hooked from there. I've gotten all the achievements and replayed to unlock all the skills in the Nora Grounds before moving on and am now playing HFW. They did good here.
Feminism makes you grimace? Dude grow up
My brother and I got the ps4 grand turismo/horizon zero dawn (complete) pack. I didn't even know about HZD but it's story and gameplay was one of the best surprises I've ever experienced. l have replayed it multiple times and I am now on my 2nd new game + on Horizon forbidden west. I fucking love the feel of releasing an arrow in this game and the weapon wheel is just awesome.
Very indepth story anaylsis and a nice refresher. Thanks for the video!
I started the forbidden west for the second time a couple of days ago and this made my hype even biger. Awesome video! and I never noticed there was a timer on the last battle
Crazy that this video is so obscure. Have a comment and like for engagement, and enjoy another subscriber.
This game has one of the best stories I have ever played. Not many things compare to the magic of the first time you finally figure out what project zero dawn is and how all the pieces come together. I don't know what is so poignant and tantalizing about it but something is.
Goddamn these videos make housework a breeze. Excellent stuff man, I learned a good deal about the story from your observations and breakdowns.
Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.
before the reveal about the 'glitch' we get some datapoints where I think it's mentioned that Ted requested to make a 'backdoor' for the robots control system, and so I suspect AI system got just smart enough to exploit it. it's a typical scenario where AI would take some task and learn to do it no matter what, including that it needs to protect itself from external control in order to persist with given task.
long story short, even though we have specialists that know about risks like that, it's still something that could happen by accident or stupidity.
but what doesn't make any sense is how Ted Faro wasn't held accountable for the swarm getting out of control and even worse, was still in a position where he managed to implement another 'backdoor' of sorts for the top level clearence on Zero Dawn project, above everyone else, which led to some other unfortunate events. no matter how you look at situation it was obvious that he was responsible for triggering extinction, so he should've been dealt with immediately, like throwing him into the swarm or something. so that to me is the weakest point in the whole plot. it's like the whole worldbuilding of the game hangs on immesurable stupidity of Ted Faro and equal lack of accountability.
this video should have millions, its a masterpiece
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to your summary and your commentary made me laugh a cupple of times. You did a great job on this one and I'm checking out your other videos next.
This is a masterwork.
Masterpiece video, excellent work! 53:22 my favorite character 😍
Great video very well thought 💭 explanation. Keep them coming 👍
Alloy opening the door in mother embrace must be the best scene in the game for sure.
HZD's story hooked me up so good back when I was playing it that I actively refused to google things about it out of fear of being exposed to spoilers.
I just replayed this game on the ps5 with the new remastered version. And omg, even though I know what happens every single reveal still hits so hard! The lore and mystery in Zero Dawn is so intriguing
I remember that two years ago, I knew nothing about the game until I came across the official LEGO set of the tallneck, and all I could say was, “What is that??” Fast forward a year and a friend who had already played it gave me the first game. After playing it, I knew that I HAD to get the second game and I HAD to get the LEGO set. Soooooo now I have both 😅
Truly a banger video! Great summary of the game and its story, and fresh analysis as well. Critique where its deserved, but always in a constructive manner. Well edited both in terms of video and audio, you really know your shit! Heading off to the Forbidden West video next.
I want so much a remake they already show us on forbidden west that is possible would so cool to play while we wait for horizon ne***
You got the remastered now, I just finished it and will start forbidden west again
You are feeding me so well 😊
Wow, I think that's a record for a Horizon Zero Dawn analysis. It would have been great if you had done it before I played Forbidden West (I watched a 1:30 recap video), now it's pretty difficult to watch it all. Will try to watch some of it, though. It's amazing to see your dedication.
Having her talk with herself... makes for a great idea ... at letting us players know her inner feelings at that point... instead of just guessing
1:56:30
I find this scene's writing incredible because of the absurdity, and how it relates to real religious psychology.
Collective trauma, like that resulting from war or natural disasters, has been proven to intensify religious beliefs and practices; people turn to faith to cope with their experiences. So the Nora, having experienced the worst tragedies in living memory, are like a live wire charged with pent-up energy and searching for anything to ground them.
And Aloy is right there. There have been signs surrounding her indicating the All-Mother's favor. In fact, one could even say that she was born from the All-Mother. The groundwork is already laid for a bit of idolatry; all it takes is a careless remark from Aloy and she becomes the focal point of all that faith... but that's not what Aloy wants. To Aloy, being Anointed is functionally equivalent to being an outcast or an exile; the only difference is that people are looking up at you instead of down.
It's an absolutely brilliant example of considering the story from both angles at once, and that's why I love this scene.
Great video, thank you for this analysis!
HZD and HFW, with their respective DLC, were an absolute pleasure to platinum. It was incredibly satisfying to do. I had very few criticisms for this series. It easily worked its way into my top 10 of all time.
Coming back to this video since this game got a remaster ❤ new look, same great story!
I adore the first game for its fluidity, art direction, music, atmosphere and open-ended combat, but above all for its story and how it wove together the mystery of Aloy's birth with that of the world-the main story was full of moving, melancholy stories about the old world that gave me a sense of loss and awe as I traversed the map, picking my way through the bones of a desperate struggle to buy time for a plan that was fated to fail, all of this was complimented by the gorgeous score.
I had some gripes with the presentation at points, but those paled in light of the overall experience, the memories I made and how moved I was.
I can say that the sequel hit some similar notes, and triumphantly struck some new ones, as well, but it didn't possess me as fully as the first. Still a worthwhile experience but I was left wanting in comparison with the first. Still, together the Horizon titles are two excellent games that execute their open worlds with enough style and poise to set them apart from any other game of this type I've played.
I appreciate your analysis, it makes me want to dive back into Zero Dawn for a third playthrough :)
Just say it, part 2 sucks, because it does
@1:41:00 "Aloy wonders if all mother mountain was a cradle facility." Not only was it but if You look up a map the regions of the US that this game is set in and realize what all mother mountain is it should become immediately obvious how the Nora tribe got their name.
~1h:34: The "This humble vent marks a point of no return" -- this is a *courtesy* to players, warning them that the game world will change and that characters or locations may become permanently inaccessible if you proceed. And sure enough, if you have anything to say to Marea (as an example), now's the time 😞
This was a rather harsh lesson from e.g. Mass Effect series, where on multiple occasions, you might have clicked on what seemed like a 'small' mission, only to be taken on a roller-coaster ride that ended with characters dying and quests becoming permanently disabled.
Great job!!
Love what you had to say here, a captivating and fun watch! Would love to see you do a story analysis on Twilight princess 😁
Can I just say, this is my first time seeing the heartfelt good bye to Rost, I always picked the angry option because it felt so appropriate within the Aloy's head space during this part of the game. Plus it leaves her last interaction with her father figure tragically regrettable and I feel it helps set a foundation of her putting people at a distance to avoid losing them only to learn to let them in and treasure them later.
The best thing about this narrative was that it's somehow far-futuristic scifi but at the same time, also has this dark "sounds pretty human to me to think building self-replicating killer robots that can repurpose organic matter into fuel sounds like a good idea" theme to it.
Kinda makes me think about that quote from The Expanse; "History, Michio believed, was a long series of surprises that seemed inevitable in retrospect. " but in thisa case, it's more like "the future seems inevitable in foresight"
Has anyone noticed that the colors on the faces of the Noras run in the family?
Can I just give the voice actor of Ted Faro credit? I totally bought his acting as a desperate, panicking person that realised how badly he fucked up. The way he emotes the character *Chef's kiss*
Oof just that initial 5 seconds with that music clip got me wanting to pick up the game again, love this so much.
Not finished watching the video yet, which is stellar btw. I would like to mention the importance of some quests though in that unless you don’t complete them you don’t get their help in the final battle. If you want Talahna then you need to complete the Hunters Lodge quest line. Erend’s quest is important because you get Avad on your side as well as Erend in the Final battle, Uthid, Nil, Sona will not be there unless you do their quest lines so it’s in your best interests to do so. HZD is one of those games where you get out of it what you put into it. Explore, read everything, listen to everything, watch everything. Speed running is absolutely not encouraged, the lore opens up, the more you discover and the richer the story and your experience.
Honestly, Zero Dawn has such a hook, such a draw and an amazing twist from the VERY START, that Forbidden West felt empty. Nothing really struck me, despite it being such a beautiful game. It felt more constricted, mundane.. I will never forget what I experienced when I walked in the fields, seeing Merida off in the distance.. And the revelations to come.
I'm in the middle of watching this (will skip any forbidden west spoiler though, I'm waiting for a couple of years down the light when it comes to pc!) and I'm happy I found it.
I absolutely loved Zero Dawn in big part thanks to its story and themes (but the robot-dino/animals combat isn't hurting either xD), one of the most compelling sci-fi/post-apoc tale I've experienced in some time.
even as a self-professed BotW/TotK obsessive who hates to pit my faves against each other, i'm SO glad these games are getting the attention they deserve now even if it took waaaay too long (release schedule curse is real) because they are truly something special.
it's such a beautiful world and it really must've done something right - i dont have much patience for much sci-fi, you can really sense the love the writers have for it. i never had a doubt they would take it somewhere amazing the whole time.
I would love to see a game of Rost's journeys as Death Seeker. Or if it was a flash back that Aloy learns of as she goes through the next game. See him investigate where the bandits went. Hunt them down. It would be before the Derangement though so it may not be a full playable game. Though it would be part of Sun King Joran's reign so it might be a fascinating look at a political system on the verge of tyranny.