Be sure to keep in your thoughts Mike Andrew Nash who was the concept artist for this game and made some of the most iconic designs. Sadly he passed away roughly a year ago, leaving behind an incredible legacy of designs that make this game so unique
You’re so right about appreciating when something has this much love and care put into it. The level of creativity and technical achievement in video games like this deserves to be appreciated more than just sticking a number on it at the end. Love it when you say things like this. We should all think more like this. Nothing is ever perfect but my god there are some incredible achievements out there in our world of video games.
What kind of comment is this? Songs have typical structures but can conjure up emotions that are unique to them.most all movies have 3 act structures, but there are some amazing ones out there. What a stupid comment.
@@mikehess9458 To add to that, most groundbreaking music is extremely niche at best and anything becoming popular means a ton of copying will ensue if it had not already happened.
I was sold as soon as you mentioned wanting to explore on foot. I got that experience from Ghost of Tsushima and hadn't realized before that how important is was to me that a game have good environment and exploration with a dense world. So many open world games feel empty and you just want to cross the lengths between objectives as quickly as possible. I'm glad to hear this game isn't one of them. :)
Totally agree, games like skyrim, fallout, botw, showed me how important and crucial exploration is in an open world games, random events, hidden quests, secrets, loot, etc are in my opinion mandatory for a great open world game, games like days gone, farcry, etc struggle with that stuff
God I fucking love it when games turn out well. I don't care if they're exclusive or multiplatform, indie or AAA or whatever, it's just great when there are nice games. I wish all games turned out amazing. Also love the acknowledgement for MonHun, I'm glad they managed to borrow many good elements from it and made it much more accessible
I feel the same but this is sad actually, it mean we're already used to developer lies. I believed way to many times but deep inside I knew horizon an dying light (I waited for both over 5 years) will deliver.
I didn’t expect the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback to be as great as it is. It feels excellent to use in ratchet and clank and returnal. tactile feedback makes every weapon feel different.
So true, I figured it’d be a neat gimmick but nothing more, but Astroworld had me very excited for the possibilities. I wish more games used them more heavily, but those that do (including those you’ve mentioned) add a whole new dimension to the game.
@@christopherlowery3797 Yep. I totally expected it to just be a gimmick. But they really nailed the feedback. When you're firing a rapid fire weapon, you get that buzzing sensation in time with the rate of fire. You feel the tension when you pull back an arrow or charge a shot before firing. I can pretty much tell what weapon i have equipped in ratchet and clank with my eyes closed and the sound off just by the feel of the triggers, where they resist, how it vibrates. Very cool hardware. Astroworld demonstrates all the new features very well but it's also just a straight up fun game. If they expanded that into a full length game, I would buy it. It's kind of nuts how much polish, effort and design expertise went into a glorified tech demo.
When a developer gets the triggers right it feels so good, haven't played Returnal, but I agree on Rift Apart, it felt so good there, and actually made some of the weapons easier to use since how far the trigger gets pulled can change how they fire.
They remind me of when Nintendo released the Rumble Pak and it just seemed like a stupid gimmick, but now games feel weird without rumble. I already miss these triggers when I'm playing with another controller.
I'm about 10 hours in, and i absolutely love this game. It's basically Horizon zero dawn on steroids. just killed my first thunderjaw, it was a pain in the ass on hard difficulty, but holy crap was it superb, so much fun. Horizon's combat is so freaking good and satisfying. Can't wait to jump back in later.
@@jaypiry2506 I hate that I can’t lock on it’s annoying when I’m trying to end a fight with a r2 or even hit them with a full charged rn and she doesn’t want to do the lunge attack
I appreciate that in all of these reviews, you acknowledge the artistry, where other reviewers treat things as though a monolithic company creates them. Nah. It's art. This is art.
So unlike any other reviewer! Revealing your hand upfront with the score. Confident in knowing that your audience aren't here to scroll to the bottom of the page to glance at the score like many do on IGN. We're here for your insight and opinion. I can't think of another reviewer who I trust and respect more. Thanks for all the work you do! 👍
Just want to say that you're coverage of the options available and how that impacts gameplay is a small example of how your reviews are above and beyond most others in the industry. It's a small thing but it shows how much you care, the effort you put in to understand what this game can give to a wide variety of gamers. Kudos.
I really like the number of accessibility and UI options they've added, along with the various gameplay, visual and controller options - I hope this is a trend we see in more and more games!
@@BorderlandsBoy0 I'm not sure how pre-ordering games has an impact on what accessibility features are implemented. Usually it's more so about developers feeling comfortable releasing an unfinished game because they already have people's money.
Zero Dawns story was the biggest surprise to me. Not a lot of people seem to talk about it but I LOVED it. Something about the setting being in a distant future Earth, following a major apocalypse of modern society, and how the human remnants still alive in that world fit into the typical high fantasy castes. I loved their explanation for how the world became what it is. It's not just robot dinosaurs with missile launchers for the sake of being metal. It's one of my favorite sci-fi post apocalyptic stories in general. Can't wait for forbidden West!
The way you shoot off and disable enemy weapons and body parts reminds me of those old arcade shoot'em ups where the bosses were just big masses of weapons and you could either go for their weak spot or disable they weapons. It was always very satisfying to break each small part of the boss first.
Sounds like you didn’t play zero dawn? It’s especially awesome shooting off their specific weapons so they can no longer use them against you. And then even more awesome than that when they’re weapons you shoot off and can then pick up to use against THEM
This is one of the best looking worlds I’ve ever seen. It’s stunning I can’t get over how good it looks! Give the concept designers at Guerrilla a raise.
I’m so happy Erend is a returning character in Forbidden West. He was a character that really made the last game for me. Guerilla has really made side characters a joy to interact with and talk to rather than a chore.
As far as the story is concerned with Horizon Forbidden West, I felt the same with Mass Effect 2's story not being as good as Mass Effect 1 was... which the trade-off was more character development (Aloy and Shepard), side content, and companions you meet or reunite with to face a lesser but important threat that's not about saving the world... but saving others and yourself in more ways than one. Aloy and Shepard didn't need another epic tale outside their control (initially), but rather a more condensed tale that adds onto and polishes on what was missed before. And guess what? I look forward to all that.
I love the controller co-op idea. My young son who sometimes gets overwhelmed fighting these things tends to throw the controller to me! he loves dinosaurs and we played the first one together. This way I can just take over if its above his skill level, well done!
UPDATE: I played the first open area with my boy and he was fighting those burrowers, flipping LOVE the coop controller idea I could instantly assist him with healing and using items. I was glorious.
We're already there, and if Tales of Arise is anything to go by, game design, originality and characters/narrative are gonna take a pretty big hit in favour of eye candy.
@@ChrisStoneinator I don't think the Tales of series was what the OP was thinking of. Maybe ones that don't sell xp boosters because there is way too much grinding. Actually I doubt he was thinking of JRPGs at all. Just a hunch given the context of the video you may or may not have watched but are commenting on.
@@mvhess now THAT I can agree with. Last half decent one was Graces which could have easily been on PS2 to be honest. And to be honest JRPGs are more or less the only rep that the proper RPG genre gets in the AAA or AA space these days. No one's making a big budget follow up to Titan Quest, or Shadowrun, and god knows Bethesda isn't planning on making a decent Fallout anytime soon haha. I don't necessarily think the context of the video implies that this comment is about western open world action games with token RPG elements.
@@ChrisStoneinator depends on what you label an rpg. I'm guessing in the context of the review the OP was reacting to the fact that NPCs are conversationally reacting to your actions and more quests open up in places you've already been. We're all waiting on the promise of reactive worlds and barely any really live up to it. Hoping for a huge rebound from Bioware and Bethesda this Gen... Although bethesda will probably only get one game out in that time.
Skill Up: *Spends hours upon hours creating a youtube video detailing and reviewing a massive game* Me: *Spends 2 seconds liking the video after watching* "Whew..you deserve this hard work ShillUp."
One thing I think needs to be more recognized is Sony’s game studios’ commitments to accessibility options and their willingness to be inclusive and give options to EVERY gamer of differing abilities. Makes me want to buy this more just for this.
I was always going to buy Forbiden West. They went all in what i'll call "Smoothness" that I haven't experienced many times. where you just play and it's almost theriputic or meditative. Can't Wait.
So true. Minecraft used to be like that for me, and still is on occasion. HFW is an alluring escape from reality that won't let you go, and I personally don't get that out of a ton of games
100%. Horizon pulls off what almost no other game does. It just feels so free and fluid. You can go almost anywhere you like, its easy to move, easy to play and it's not stiff if you know what I mean
This game world feels like a love letter to the artistic scenery we envisioned as a child on how video games should be. It’s beyond breathtaking can’t imagine how it will look my LG G1 Oled tv. Your statement about sony in the intro is also so much true.
@@Contractor48 wth are you talking. I have played 30 hours so far and didn’t even scratch the surface yet in terms of major story content. It’s open world is that good and side quests in general are similar to main line quests.
@@vishalbharadwaj570 you must be a fan of game of thrones 8th season since the story, art and visuals are at the same level. Tell me what can this game be remembered for? Like what is a thing that this game does better than any open world trash?
@@Contractor48 1. Combat it’s better than any other open world games 2. Enemy variety , I don’t ever recall a open world which has this much enemy variety and how they have expertly their own characteristics 3. Side quests, it’s so polished with every character animations, details which it makes it equal to main missions. 4. Enemy AI is clever and improved upon than any other open world games 5. Underwater exploration it goes beyond any game did 6. Aerial exploration using flying mounts to explore every nook and cranny of the map is miles beyond than any other game. 7. It’s scifi story is so deep and thought provoking and epic if you combine both games story and lore in general is massive. 8. Visuals ofcourse is best in the biz with some of the best character details and voice acting 9. Geographical diversity in terms of regions to explore is better than many games. 10. Environmental story telling and the way it pays homage to our world and its creators with even some of the basic collectible items like vistapoints, metal flowers and stuff. I am not a fanboy who is not blinded by these consoles or gaming systems. I appreciate games for what they are and what they’re trying to separate themselves from others. So if you don’t like the game , good for you. Just because you didn’t like it meaning everypeople has to. Be self aware of others opinions as well dude.
@@vishalbharadwaj570 1. You just shoot with a bow at weak point and dodge. And you claim that this is the best combat you have experienced? Dude, what games are you playing? Ever played souls game or bloodborne? Its like people saying red dead combat is the best out of all the open world games. 2. Enemy variety and combat are much better in Monster hunter and combat is much better over there as well. 3. Side quest sucked hard. Not sure you and me played the same game. I just remember one or two memorable side quest. 4. Enemy AI is again decent. A lot of open world games have the same AI. It is nothing to rant about. 5. Underwater exploration is great. But that is not the main highlight of the game. 6. Aerial exploration is copied and decent. Nothing to boast about. 7. 1st game was thought provoking. This game story is generic at best. All the reviewers claim that story is the weakest point of this game. Not sure what you liked. 1st game was way better in that aspect. 8. Visuals are stunning and ground breaking. Only aspect that i felt was best. 9. Geographical diversity can be added to 8th point. 10. Now you are just putting bullcrap. I agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I just want the person who watch this review and scroll down to your comment know that there are people who thought this game play was average. My comment was for them. If you enjoyed the game, good for you. I think just watching a playthrough on youtube is good enough. This game can entertain you for 30 hours at max. Worth only 20 dollars. Buy elden ring and destiny 2 witch queen rather than this crap with your money.
The point of the crafting ammo was to have a set number of resources and the ability to leverage the resources to define the attack strategy since the resources were shared between the ammo types. Doing so would allow you to focus on particular resources to fit your fight style. Like gathering additional wood to compensate for using the Rattler which takes a ton of wood.
@@ryo-kai8587 exactly.. pretty nit-picky imo.. it's literally two buttons held for a couple seconds max to completely top your reserves (of a specific type).. it's intuitive and smooth, it's not an inconvenience, and can give you a moment to catch your breathe in the middle of a hectic battle.. I do wish you could loot while moving though..
@@StayFractalesque Yeah, the moment to catch your breath might even help pacing-or at least it helps with that _Horizon feel_ anyway. You totally should be able to run by and snatch stuff. And while mounted! I could see it being a skill in the skill tree.
Fully agree. You see most other games crafting where you may not need a lot of resources but usually the resources end up being rare and you have to completely pause the game and wait for it to craft or wait for an animation to complete or you have to be out of combat to craft. I love Horizons crafting because of how much depth and yet simple the system can be.
Imagine if it was realistic like this dude want. Imagine you're fighting a Storm Bird, or ThunderJaw or Slitherfang and you run out or arrows, you wodulnt just run away and take your time to craft more, you'll be fucking dead. Logic has to be left out sometimes, for the sake or ruining immersion.
There is no such thing as too much sci-fi. I actually am more excited for the story by the way you described why you didn't quite liked it! Nice review!
Agreed and I don't think good sci-fi necessarily have to be about how technology affects humans as Skill Up claims. You can envision a future where technology makes humans gradually irrelevant to the point of not being the main subject and it could still be just as interesting.
What I'm gathering here from a lot of these reviews is that the story of this game really requires you to know this first one in and out. Like all the lore and foreshadowing that the logs set up, and since a lot of the reviewers played zero dawn a while ago....it flies over their heads.
I beat the first game back in January for two weeks straight, it was seriously that fun for me, so I’m definitely hyped and prepared for forbidden west.
@@ramonandrajo6348 how, exactly? I’m genuinely curious. If it’s because the characters aren’t 99% white men that isn’t called woke. That’s called reality.
Man, I feel like I'm having the exact opposite experience. The story is the only thing keeping me going. Exploration feels meaningless because the item you need to fully explore all map markers is ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAP, which you acquire half way through the game. It totally kills my "explore every nook and cranny until I get around to the main story" playstyle. The combat is also worse, and a complete slog even on medium difficulty. I found myself getting 2 shot my basic bots on normal. Not to mention taking damage on takedowns, which defeats the purpose. The weapon variety is way too dense compared to the first game. Before every weapon had a clear purpose, now it feels like borderlands when trying to pick a weapon. All In all, the first game was better, aside from the stunning visuals.
So relieved to see this review - after Cyberpunk I've learnt to set expectations super low for expected titles from "good" studios. Glad to see I'll be able to enjoy this entry :D
Difference is this is a Playstation exclusive from one of Sony's top studios, I haven't seen anything to tell me it wouldn't be loved, even Days Gone which scored a 72 has a cult following and like a 8.3 user score. Just saying, Playstation exclusives are on another level.
Absolutely. My only problem is that I have to squeeze this in, without feeling too rushed, b4 Elden Ring.... You're right, it's a first world problem. 😉
22:10 just gonna casually not mention they made a freakin' board game?! I love when devs flesh out a board game, because its physical content we can always buy later and appreciate rather than be milked by arbitrary DLC
@@moltenbullet What's so wrong with Horizon getting a boardgame based on it??? Boardgames are always a ton of fun. Alot of great games have received boardgames based on them thru out the years. Sid Meier's Civilization, The Witcher, Dark Souls, Street Fighter & Doom are just a few examples of great games receiving boardgame adaptations.
I don't know if anyone will see this but there's an option in the settings to turn off the animation for every time Aloy picks up a resource and it saves SO MUCH time and I can't believe it's not the default setting. Dramatically makes the game better in such a simple way.
I had no doubt in my mind that this game would fall under nothing short of amazing. I am just in awe of the improvements that this game has made especially those larger-than-life character animations that blow zero dawn out of the water. It has been a long time coming but now we are finally here this Friday we all get to experience the wonderful world of Horizon Forbidden West that you had the joy of playing. As always, great review.
This is the fourth review I have watched and no other previous review that I watched mentions the pop in, accessibility options or the dual sense, bizarre. Great review as always, thank you.
@@smokeemifyagotem8851 and he doesn’t sound like a Sony pleb in this? I don’t score games but it’s a 9.5 even though the story stinks, major pop in and way to much looting. How does that even make sense? Just because you gloss over problems doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I’m sure it’s a great game I love the first but you can’t score it a 9.5 with the shit I saw.
"It would take me a whole video to say why Horizon Forbidden West has the best combat of any open world" 29:36 Please do! I'd watch that, probably multiple times too. Also amazing review!!!
The idea of being frustrated with a sequel when you haven't played the first game is idiotic, I won't sugar coat it. There's tonnes of videos on YT recapping each and everything in HZD so newcomers have no real excuse to complain, either play the first game or get familiar with its plot because if you expect the second game in the series to inform players about the first one then you are deluded. A sequel needs to tell its own story not spend quality time explaining the previous one. I guarantee if they spent maybe half an hour recapping the events of HZD then we and you would be complaining about that aspect. You don't jump straight to the second part of the story and then wonder why you are confused about the plot, that's just stupid.
Playstation exclusive single player game. Did we expect any different. From last of us series to uncharted to God of war, to this. They come out almost perfect. Amazing gameplay, graphics, story and without little to no bugs.
@@V1CT1MIZED well then enjoy waiting 5 years bro. We'll just play the game and enjoy it when it mattered. Meanwhile play war zone or battlefield on pc. Enjoy the bug free experience lmao.
The grinding for resources, once you moved to higher level difficulty, you will start paying attention. Enemies take more hits to die, the ammo cost more resources, to the point that you are conscious of that on every shot. You do not waste shot on higher difficulty, not even when you are farming resources. Actually, ESPECIALLY when you are farming resources since if you do, it takes more resources than you gain farming it, netting you net loss.
I tried to play the first one but I just dont get it. Seemed to be like one of those ubisoft open world games everyone complains about but in a more interesting coat I guess. I mean it's fine not everything has to be for everyone.
Same. I'm glad fans are getting a good sequel but man I could not get into the first one at all. I don't think it did anything special outside of just the setting it's set in.
Ubisoft has me exhausted with the open world full of markers design. Dying light 2 unfortunately did this but it was fun to traverse and game was great so I looked past it, but no more of that type for a while
Just wanted to say a really big thank you for highlighting the accessibility features of the game. So few reviewers do this and it really matters to those of us who need them. I can't tell you how annoying it is to spend £60 on a new game, only to realise you can't play it! Glad you enjoyed the game, I'm so psyched for Friday!
Yes, it really is awesome he gives it decent coverage. And, I’m not certain about this, but it seems we may soon have many more older/senior gamers that previous generations, because a much larger percentage of the public now plays. And as they get into their 50s, 60s and beyond, many more will need accessibility options. I’m in my 50s and one of the few gamers in my age group. Most of my friends NEVER played past elementary or junior high. But my sibling is in his 30s and ALL his friends still play.
@@ShiningEyeBrigade Really interesting point, I hadn't thought of it like that but it totally makes sense and I really hope games keep moving in the right direction for all players! It's also crazy important for folks like me with disabilities. Games can be a fantastic way to keep your brain engaged, be social, and have fun when you're dealing a condition that makes everyday activities challenging. Gaming with pals on discord has been an absolute lifeline when my health has been bad so its great that accessible options are becoming more common.
I like that cheats are coming back in games. I remember the 90's where you would get stuck on one level or fight, and never ever finish the game that you paid $60 for. It does absolutely nothing to the gaming community to have these "story" modes, or be able to disable certain gameplay systems like turning on "auto heal" or turning concentration on for every aim. There are a few things to that. Some gamers simply don't have the time to dedicate to playing the game with all of the dying on every encounter. It also let's them change that difficulty at any time. Cheats on PC have been provided by programs called "trainers" and that's why they are called that. In single-player games, I would like to see more and more options around accessibility from the perspective of allowing people to skip puzzles, bosses, or difficult encounters so they can experience the exploration and story. Accessibility options start with those that are differently abled, but they should end where it simply allows more people to play and complete the game that otherwise wouldn't. (I have to insert this disclaimer here because someone will say it, I'm not advocating for cheating in multiplayer games, but for offline single-player experiences; and I would rather see actual developer support for these options, over having to hack the game on PC after it eventually releases there.)
Out of curiosity, what accessibly options in this game are the most helpful to you? I feel that quite a few of the settings are preferences rather than helping someone play the game. I can understand stuff like holding for qtes, but I’m just wondering what helps and why? You don’t have to share background if you don’t want to but i would love to hear your take.
Awesome review. I bought a PS4 for the first HZD and never regretted it single second. To hear that they improved almost everything is enough for me to buy a PS5 with this game. My biggest complaint was melee combat so I'm glad you covered it. Kinda sad it's still not up to par but atleast they improved it.
I enjoyed Death Stranding as just a casual fan of Kojima and his work. I honestly wish The Elder Scrolls and their encumbrance systems would work that way. Anyway, This game looks absolutely incredible. I remember buying my own dreamcast like it was yesterday and drooling over Soul Calibur. Red Dead and Horizon are the only franchises I really do pay attention to anymore these days.
Hideo Kojimas name has been synonymous with expert storytelling since the ninety's so yes i am aware of him. I have decent anxiety now in my life and games like Death Stranding really helped me calm down. I haven't ever played thenoriginal metal gear solid or the third or 4th ... so yes, casual fan. Other games like Deus Ex and Shadow of Mordor are some of my all time favorites.
The PS5 controller is something else, ever since I experienced that haptic feedback + adaptive trigger wombo combo I have been buying every multiplatform on PS5 just for the controller features.
The side content in the first game was the same way for me. I loved it so much that towards the end of the game I was so OP. I did everything before moving on. Cannot wait to play this.
I watched one and an half minutes of this review before I stopped. I’m getting too excited for this game. I still remember finishing the first game and going to Reddit to see if there are any news on an sequel. People on Reddit have came out with concept arts that got me so excited at times. I can’t believe it’s coming out and the praise you gave in the first two minutes. I’m going to enjoy this game so much and I’ll come back and finish the review when I’m done with the game!
Complains about constantly matching elemental damage types and weaknesses, turns around and fires up The Witch Queen to spend 100+ hours constantly matching elemental damage types and weaknesses like an addict. Nice one ShillUp! ;P
I have to disagree with you on your Mass Effect parallel. Mass Effect 2 wasn't better than Mass Effect. It was just more mainstream and accessible. However, it dumbed down elements from the first game (there were no longer armors you could find and buy, which was an essential gameplay progression part of the first title). BTW, I think the same about the Arkham games, too (the first is better than the second). Arkham Asylum was a carefully crafted Metroidvania, while Arkham City went bigger and lost the focus of the first title.
This happened to me with Fallout. I love the first 3 games in the series and then 4 took away a lot of the more intensive role playing options I really enjoyed. But it sold well so we are probably never going back to the old style. Also I agree- bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes a tight, cohesive world and story is better than a huge open world just for the sake of being huge.
I personally think Mass Effect 2 was a step up in almost every way. One of the things I didn't like in the first game was the inventory management, which is something you seemed to enjoy. ME1 had incredible story, and ME2 built on that spectacularly. When it comes down it, it's just a matter of opinion. And in my opinion a ME game that has Miranda is better than the one that doesn't (kidding lol).
HZD’s side quests could have used some work, and some of the main characters didn’t really leave an impression on me either, so I’m looking forward to what they do different this time.
I just finished Zero Dawn today. Clocked in 91 hours on it. Loved the combat but the story was a 6/10 for me. I hope that when I start Forbidden West this weekend that I would enjoy the ride along with getting invested in the story for another 90 hours.
27:42 I couldn't disagree MORE with Skillup here, and that's pretty rare. The sidequests in this game are TOTALLY FORGETTABLE and often INCREDIBLY ANNOYING. One after another after another I'm constantly rolling my eyes and find myself saying "I DON'T CARE!" Every single one is just ridiculous interpersonal bullshit that has literally nothing to do with the major quests of this game. In Zero Dawn, Aloy often had the same reaction to NPCs who droned on and on about irrelevant details of their lives when giving quest details, while in FW she is uncharacteristically interested in people she's never met squabbling over petty things that just don't matter to the (supposed) world-ending blight she's fighting or the aliens trying to destroy the planet. On the contrary, the only thing remotely memorable about the quests in this game are the main story quests, which clearly had WAY better writing than the rest and were the only ones the player has any real reason to care about. So much more to say here but I'll save it for my Steam review
About the arrow crafting mechanics, they underexploited the futuristic theme in my opinion. They could have implemented an advanced quiver, that crafts ammo on demand, as long as you have the materials. It would have provided a cool visual effect, explained the upgrades and ammo variety and be a lot more inmersive.
Good review. What made my day was "stack of x full, item sent to stash" made my day--huge pain in the backside that was inventory management just got better.
Patches have resolved many of the issues. I'm not having trouble with pop-in an the PS5 and no noticeable frame drop. It's a pleasure to play - very well designed game.
The best review of this game on RUclips by a country mile. Pretty much everyone else just lazily drew comparisons to an Ubisoft game when there's just so much more to it than the copy/paste checklist style. At worst you could say this is the apex of that kind of open-world game but that doesn't do it justice because everything feels meaningful unlike an Ubisoft open world. If Elden Ring hadn't come out so close to it it would have been appreciated a lot more. Elden Ring is also frigging fantastic, of course.
I love Elden Ring but I don't even think these games are even comparable because they're not even really that alike. Elden Ring is open world yes but it is still very much linear in a sense
When Horizon Zero Dawn was first revealed it had immediately gotten my attention with its robo-dinos and inexplicably primitive wildlife setting which I thought would end up being a fun yet illogical fantasy game. Then the actual game surprised me in every direction from its sci-fi story that somehow managed to explain and justify everything to its extremely well crafted combat and enemy designs to a degree you wouldn't expect from a developer making a game like this for the first time. So I was super hyped to find out just how much Guerilla can improve on the solid foundation of the original as video games sequels tend to be really good at that but my expectations were quickly tempered seeing the sequel got a lower critic score than the original thinking Guerilla must have missed the mark somehow. So it is really amazing that one of my moat trusted reviewers Skill Up unexpectedly providing a 9.5 score for the game was enough to restore all my hype levels to its original state :D
I think the critiques mainly are centered around the narrative of this game where the first game had a much more compelling story than I think people bargained for as well as expectations were really low for the first game. The first horizon was expected to fail or be a minor to modest success but everyone including guerilla and Sony were surprised and just how great the game was received and how much people, including myself, adored it. With all the enhancements in this game it’s definitely better in every conceivable way except the main story but with a more fleshed out world refined combat system and added tools to the gameplay loop, it’ll definitely stand as a better product in the long run, and one of PS5s best games.
@@SoftNoize Looking at Open Critic where it is at 88 but 1 or 2 points don't matter of course. The thing is since the sequel is seemingly massively expanding on the scope and improving every shortcoming of the original I expected it to reflect on the general critic score (basically the way Skill Up praised the game at the beginning of this video) but that doesn't seem to be the case. Well in the end scores don't matter much, the ability of a reviewer to break down and explain what the game gets right or wrong matter more which is why I always come back to this channel.
I still remember I was at work on my lunch break in the computer room watching youtube and saw the trailer da first time and boy that trailer was absolutely amazing.And if you haven’t yet play the “Frozen Wilds” DLC of the first game absolutely kick ass.👊🏽👍🏽
The only critical thing I can say about this game is not enough story! It’s so damn interesting and we focused on tribes a bit too much and not on the overall arc. Loved it though. I do agree the side missions were great. Greatly acted and interesting. Can’t wait for the next.
You sir! These reviews are really getting to another level. Love the ME 1 and Me 2 reference which for anyone who adores those for their hits and misses this was very understable.
There are a few things that I think this review misses. I'm so tired of the Assassin's Creed model of just put a face on screen for all the dialog. In Horizon Forbidden West, there is custom mocap sequences with actors and actresses on-set performing all these dialog sequences. You are watching a play or scene take place in this world, right where they are standing, and it feels natural and not gamey at all. That *really* helps these side quests. It's amazing how the mundane takes on completely new meaning when you can feel the depth of a character. One that really stuck out to me from the early part of the game, was an old man gasping for breath. The detail on his face was absolutely incredible, and I could feel every pained breath as he delivered his lines. These don't feel like fetch quests, even though many are, because they are so character-driven. The second was in the story. I agree with you that there is a certain formula here that is repeated, from the first game. A very long intro sequence, where the world doesn't open up to you for close to 10 hours. There are some differences this time around. The first game's opening 10 hours, were Aloy finding her place in this world, and discovering a growing threat. She was ostracized and an outsider. It feels very much like the opening to any disaster movie where no one believes the scientist until it's too late. In this game's opening, that threat is already here, Aloy knows exactly who she is, and the destination of where this is going is very clearly telegraphed in a way that makes you want to dig deeper. The first 10 hours of this game, blew by, where the first game required some breaks to slog through it. It's even worse the second playthrough on the first game. The last point I want to make, is that this is a purely PS5 review. This game is entirely different to experience on a PS5. So much so, that I think it bares a warning for the PS4 version of the game. Yes, it's mostly just resolution, which gamers don't tend to care about. However, they are rarely given a world this dense and with this much detail. In the same ways that you lambast the RUclips compression, and 1440p nature of this video; playing this on PS4 does not present the same experience. I'm sure Digital Foundary has some great content around this, but at the same time I think it's worth addressing that we finally got a game where all of the tricks (raytracing, resolution scaling, draw distance) are all coming together in a package where I'm not really looking for the imperfections. It just runs at a great framerate and looks fantastic. It's a game that will make you forget to ask if it's running in native 4K.
Skill Up: When the history of this console generation is written, this will be one of the ones we talk about. Me: that was beautiful, man *teary-eyed* Skill Up: You ever lose your wallet? Me: *cries more*
I played for 150 hours. Got a platinum on very hard. The story starts to come together and the theme do become more meaningful with both the harder difficulty and diving really deep into the world and completing at least most of the side missions. Is it good game design that the best experience is a hard difficulty completionist one? Probably yes and no. I didn't rush this game but I could see how doing that could water down the experience just enough to stop making sense. There are at least 2 spoiler moment that made me cry. One that is not so much a spoiler that hit hard was when Aloy starts to hit her turning point with realizing that she can't do it all by herself and laments that living up to Elisabet's legacy is maybe just a little too much and at the harder difficulty I felt that
The game looks really good, i enjoyed the first game so im happy Guerilla is going strong. Unfortunately i cant afford Horizon and Elden Ring right now, so this one will have to wait a bit
@@creatorsfreedom6734 Big difference is that Elden Ring had a beta last year that alot of folks tried out & alot of positive stuff was said about the beta. Skill-Up had alot of great things to say about the Elden Ring beta as did other notable RUclipsrs who tried it out like Maximilian Dood & YongYea. Elden Ring is really looking like it will indeed be the real deal unlike Cyberpunk 2077.
@@tazmanceltic no , most G game's are from Other studio's that are not cash cow's from grub trip AAA walking dead mongrel's - dunno much about elden ring , got hope's for it but i will wait , - better off reading Dinotopia
So happy this turned out well, I really enjoyed Zero Dawn. A bit sad that the story is seemingly not up to par but hey its a subjective thing, I will definitely be giving this a try regardless. I will likely wait with buying this, a lot of games to play right now but I hope it succeeds, we need more games like this for sure.
I'm sure the story is exactly what HZD fans are looking for.. I love skill-up, but dude said it was "too sci-fi" that it was "asking a lot expecting players to be familiar with the first game", more or less.. the writer of Horizon, wrote the entire story at once, it's a direct continuation by the same visionary 'author', I for one can't wait for questions to be answered.. who woke up Hades and unshackled the other subfunction AIs? what happened to the last ditch "ark" program that launched humans out into space? do they have anything to do with Hades reactivation? does Ted Faro have a hand in this from beyond the grave?? (or his clone, maybe even consciousness??) .. do those questions sound _too_ *SciFi* to you?? didn't think so..
Even if they intentionally went for not trying to one up the story of the first game, I think that’s smart. Because that would be hard to do anyway. Instead, they made sure to give us memorable characters and lots of other little stories along the way, which is just as good if not better for the overall experience.
Just finished this one, god I miss it so much already. What a truly special testament to the talent and love the people and guerilla have for creating open worlds. This one is absolutely a huge step up above any other open world I've played.
A year later and the technical issues are almost completely gone. Just recently 100%'d this and the pop-in is a thing of the past and I almost never saw the dynamic resolution kick in. Literally the only issue I had was during one cutscene characters were standing on an invisible ground texture. Easily the most beautiful game I have played since Ghost of Tsushima. And my unpopular opinion is this is infinitely better than Dad of Boy: Ragnarok since the exploration and characters are light years better.
In the first game I think I threw in nearly 50 or 60 hours because I was so determined to go everywhere. It was the first open world game that captured me that much. Ghost of Tsushima came pretty close to that feeling. I hope this one can grab me like that
I finally played the game and I don't get the gripes about the story. I actually found the story of the sequel better than the original. It was more focused and the threat was better defined. It also expanded the narrative possiblities by a lot. The original was kinda dull to be honest. It just had good world building.
As a PC gamer, I had to wait for Zero Dawn, and oh boy was it worth it. I can’t get my hands on a PS5, so I’m willing to wait until I do or it comes to PC, because I want as many bells and whistles as possible for this one. Can’t wait to play it!
If it's anything like the first game, waiting will pay off because there will be great DLC. Which does make waiting for the inevitable PC release in ~5 years a little less shit.
@@stysner4580 It’s a fair point, but then wouldn’t we have the original Spider-Man game on PC by now? Especially with No Way Home coming out? (Both were awesome, imo). I guess either way I’m just happy we’re getting Sony titles on PC. I literally just finished Days Gone a couple hours ago and that was another home run in my book; I can’t believe I almost threw it in the backlog!
Aloy is unlikeable at times, the script and NPCs are poorly written and have many awkward interactions, story kind of sucks…..but the open world and the way water is handled in this game is superb..as well as the gameplay.
I loved a lot about this game, practically everything; but without a doubt, the thing I enjoyed the most was the story. I LOVE the lore of this game, it's all very interesting and creative. Of course, the graphics and the gameplay are incredible, but to me, the thing that kept me hooked, was how it all unfolded story-wise. If you're into sci-fi, and also into clans and postapocalyptic scenarios, this game is going to check every mark for you. The graphics are also incredible, the character models are absolutely phenomenal, and the environment present with such impact and density that, as was said in this review, while you're first playing and exploring, you'd rather do it on foot than on a mount. For me it's a 9.5/10 game as well, absolutely incredible, and I really hope that it got a lot more recognition.
Thanks for always being so absolutely thorough in your reviews. I really appreciate it. They're definitely some of the most well presented and well rounded ones out there. They're GREAT for making an informed choice before I buy a product. I've been looking forward to this game for ages. I happy that it's a product worth my time.
I've watched a few, or many, Forbidden West reviews and this one is by far the best. After Playing 10 5-6 hours your have captured all of my thoughts so succinctly I couldn't believe it. All thoughts are absolutely true. Subscribed.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention how poor the dynamic resolution can be in performance mode on PS5. It looks blurry and grainy as shit sometimes, causes some cutscenes to look like a ps3 game.
It’s so funny to hear that people have a hard time connecting with or digesting the lore and story here. I think this series has a remarkable story and I went out of my way to dig up as much info as I could.
I’m glad that there are developers that actually give a shit about games and not trying to constantly milk you off your money, definitely playing this game day 1 on my channel
@@3dgelord187 you are correct, 98% of the games I play are AAA, and rarely indie, and when AAA developer actually cares and lives up to a AAA title, it puts a smile to my face, not to discredit indies, I’ve played some really good ones
@@SmootherThanSilk AAA market has mostly been stagnant for quite some time now. Corporations unwilling to let devs push boundaries other than graphics.
the thing I realize is that if anything guerilla monster design and combat was so good it was the next big thing of a monster hunter like game, to the point that if they made it into MHW structured game it will still be a great game. I like the monster in zero dawn and the monster here looks epic and more lifelike machine cant wait to play it.
Yep for sure I agree. When I first played Horizon Zero Dawn I didn't appreciate it at first and kind of thought it was well don't open world game in a saturated market but the more I played it I realized this is what monster hunter would be if set in open world game. Some of the fights again bigger machines required some planning to efficiently take them down which was so satisfying. Cant wait for forbidden West this Friday!
Just gotta say, that more than appreciating the games you cover (for better or worse) the one thing I *always* appreciate after watching one of your vids, Ralph, is YOU. The love and care that you put into these videos, regardless of your take on a game, is something almost as special as the games you review. And, I hope that when people look back and gaming journalism and mention who were some of the great presenters of our era who captured a sort of magic and honesty in their words, I really expect your name to be on that list. I've been a long time viewer, and I'm finally able to join as a Patreon backer, just now! So I'm really excited to be offering my support there. Keep up the fantastic work and know that the effort and attention to detail you put into all of your content is incredibly appreciated and admired but many of us fans. Thank you for the years of great gaming content and superb video essays. Cheers, mate!
Started playing Zero Dawn totally blind, no expectations. Seeing primitive ppl fighting robot animals with bows and arrows.. I was like wtf is this 5hit. But it became my favorite game of all time. Visually stunning, captivating story, awesome fighting mechanics. Can't wait for PC version.
It's interesting to me how most people seem to only have 50 hours in games. I'm usually at 50 hours, only halfwas through the story, and not even completed most secondary content
Thank you for your honest reviews. I only found your channel a few months ago, but you are now one of my go-to trusted reviewers. Thank you for taking the time to REALLY review games.
My only letdown with HZD was its storytelling execution and characters. The lore and story is interesting but the way they were told was very underwhelming to me. Too much secondhand narration of events. NPCs telling you what happened before instead of you experiencing it. I end up only really care about Aloy's story and how the robots came to be. Couldn't care less about the different tribes and the side characters. The gameplay and world was amazing and I'm sure also be amazing in HFW. Hopefully the story can be more engaging.
Ye, thats why i dont understand the Hype or praise it got. The only redeeming factor was its artdesign and some mystery aspects early on, everything else is Ubisoft
Yeah. They did withheld a lot in the middle for the overall greater story. To be fair it makes sense since nobody is alive yo tell you the story since it is lost info of a time past. So idk.
I'm smiling ear to ear as I watch this:) I mean my goodness..Look at the level of detail in the environments...WOW. Just look at it! Thank you to Guerrilla Games and Sony for taking the time to craft and produce a game with this level of quality. After the dismal BF2042 and many others this is just the game i need to bring back that sense of wonder and awe which is what I love about video games.
I read a review on the telegraph where the guy said that the game can be "overwhelming". I can somewhat agree but the game does a really good job emphasizing different areas of the world and the exploratory side missions really help open the world up. I have to believe the guy on telegraph probably put in 10 hours at best or completely skipped over the side missions which really helped with the world building and literal world revealing throughout the game.
All I see is positive feedback, but for me, this game was one of the most boring and souless experiences I've had playing a game in a long time. Played this right after completing Ghost of Tushima and I felt depressed.
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Potato
Meow
Best review so far! I loved every bit of it, the praise and the criticism. Hats off!
Horizon Zero Dawn review when?
Yeah but... why's she fat now?
Be sure to keep in your thoughts Mike Andrew Nash who was the concept artist for this game and made some of the most iconic designs. Sadly he passed away roughly a year ago, leaving behind an incredible legacy of designs that make this game so unique
Wow that's so sad he wasn't able to see everyone go crazy with how beautiful the final result was
Sad to see such a talent go. RIP Mike. Beautiful work.
RIP Mike…tyvm for these masterpieces in gaming technology
🙏🏽😔
F
You’re so right about appreciating when something has this much love and care put into it. The level of creativity and technical achievement in video games like this deserves to be appreciated more than just sticking a number on it at the end. Love it when you say things like this. We should all think more like this. Nothing is ever perfect but my god there are some incredible achievements out there in our world of video games.
Sure, but what is the Worth behind it if its a typical structure
What kind of comment is this? Songs have typical structures but can conjure up emotions that are unique to them.most all movies have 3 act structures, but there are some amazing ones out there. What a stupid comment.
@@mikehess9458 To add to that, most groundbreaking music is extremely niche at best and anything becoming popular means a ton of copying will ensue if it had not already happened.
@@mikehess9458 someone salty about Bethesda and Activision. Hint: there’ will be more to come
This is a marketing bot
I was sold as soon as you mentioned wanting to explore on foot. I got that experience from Ghost of Tsushima and hadn't realized before that how important is was to me that a game have good environment and exploration with a dense world. So many open world games feel empty and you just want to cross the lengths between objectives as quickly as possible. I'm glad to hear this game isn't one of them. :)
@@ramonandrajo6348 *Tom Hardy points at the comment*
“Thats bait”
@@ramonandrajo6348 weirdo found
@@ramonandrajo6348 how?
Totally agree, games like skyrim, fallout, botw, showed me how important and crucial exploration is in an open world games, random events, hidden quests, secrets, loot, etc are in my opinion mandatory for a great open world game, games like days gone, farcry, etc struggle with that stuff
@@ramonandrajo6348 huh? How?
God I fucking love it when games turn out well. I don't care if they're exclusive or multiplatform, indie or AAA or whatever, it's just great when there are nice games. I wish all games turned out amazing.
Also love the acknowledgement for MonHun, I'm glad they managed to borrow many good elements from it and made it much more accessible
I feel the same but this is sad actually, it mean we're already used to developer lies. I believed way to many times but deep inside I knew horizon an dying light (I waited for both over 5 years) will deliver.
well to be fair, console exclusivity is just a losing situation for the gamer... its bullshit
@@raidermaxx2324 tell that to Nintendo, if console exclusive constantly provide good game, buying a console is the smallest price to pay.
@@kokroucz dying light 2 really nerfed the volatile I fidnt like only that part of the game other than that I loved most of it definitely 9/10
@@kokroucz dying light 2 really nerfed the volatile I fidnt like only that part of the game other than that I loved most of it definitely 9/10
32:38
Skillup: "It still feels like the *red-headed stepchild* of range combat..."
Aloy: "... and I took that personally."
You want to Elizabet? Lol
I didn’t expect the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback to be as great as it is. It feels excellent to use in ratchet and clank and returnal. tactile feedback makes every weapon feel different.
So true, I figured it’d be a neat gimmick but nothing more, but Astroworld had me very excited for the possibilities. I wish more games used them more heavily, but those that do (including those you’ve mentioned) add a whole new dimension to the game.
@@christopherlowery3797 Yep. I totally expected it to just be a gimmick. But they really nailed the feedback. When you're firing a rapid fire weapon, you get that buzzing sensation in time with the rate of fire. You feel the tension when you pull back an arrow or charge a shot before firing. I can pretty much tell what weapon i have equipped in ratchet and clank with my eyes closed and the sound off just by the feel of the triggers, where they resist, how it vibrates. Very cool hardware.
Astroworld demonstrates all the new features very well but it's also just a straight up fun game. If they expanded that into a full length game, I would buy it. It's kind of nuts how much polish, effort and design expertise went into a glorified tech demo.
Just wait for Gran Turismo 7
When a developer gets the triggers right it feels so good, haven't played Returnal, but I agree on Rift Apart, it felt so good there, and actually made some of the weapons easier to use since how far the trigger gets pulled can change how they fire.
They remind me of when Nintendo released the Rumble Pak and it just seemed like a stupid gimmick, but now games feel weird without rumble. I already miss these triggers when I'm playing with another controller.
I'm about 10 hours in, and i absolutely love this game. It's basically Horizon zero dawn on steroids. just killed my first thunderjaw, it was a pain in the ass on hard difficulty, but holy crap was it superb, so much fun. Horizon's combat is so freaking good and satisfying. Can't wait to jump back in later.
The robots designs are really awesome, the snakes are my favorite, they look and fight really cool!
Idk about all that combat is iffy
@@ghostkiller25190 nah it’s simple in a way but also with many options to go about that
i cant aim for shit with the controller
@@jaypiry2506 I hate that I can’t lock on it’s annoying when I’m trying to end a fight with a r2 or even hit them with a full charged rn and she doesn’t want to do the lunge attack
I appreciate that in all of these reviews, you acknowledge the artistry, where other reviewers treat things as though a monolithic company creates them. Nah. It's art. This is art.
Guillermo Del Toro agrees
So unlike any other reviewer! Revealing your hand upfront with the score. Confident in knowing that your audience aren't here to scroll to the bottom of the page to glance at the score like many do on IGN. We're here for your insight and opinion. I can't think of another reviewer who I trust and respect more. Thanks for all the work you do! 👍
Just want to say that you're coverage of the options available and how that impacts gameplay is a small example of how your reviews are above and beyond most others in the industry. It's a small thing but it shows how much you care, the effort you put in to understand what this game can give to a wide variety of gamers. Kudos.
I really like the number of accessibility and UI options they've added, along with the various gameplay, visual and controller options - I hope this is a trend we see in more and more games!
Sony exclusives of the last few years have had a lot of great accessibilty options, I think it's a requirement for them now.
Good idea but that only works if you stop pre-ordering games
@@BorderlandsBoy0 I'm not sure how pre-ordering games has an impact on what accessibility features are implemented. Usually it's more so about developers feeling comfortable releasing an unfinished game because they already have people's money.
Zero Dawns story was the biggest surprise to me. Not a lot of people seem to talk about it but I LOVED it. Something about the setting being in a distant future Earth, following a major apocalypse of modern society, and how the human remnants still alive in that world fit into the typical high fantasy castes. I loved their explanation for how the world became what it is. It's not just robot dinosaurs with missile launchers for the sake of being metal. It's one of my favorite sci-fi post apocalyptic stories in general. Can't wait for forbidden West!
Horizon reminds me a lot of James Camerons Avatar. Especially, the fact that HFW has more emphasis on water and Avatar 2 as well. And I'm all for it.
The way you shoot off and disable enemy weapons and body parts reminds me of those old arcade shoot'em ups where the bosses were just big masses of weapons and you could either go for their weak spot or disable they weapons. It was always very satisfying to break each small part of the boss first.
Sounds like you didn’t play zero dawn? It’s especially awesome shooting off their specific weapons so they can no longer use them against you. And then even more awesome than that when they’re weapons you shoot off and can then pick up to use against THEM
This is one of the best looking worlds I’ve ever seen. It’s stunning I can’t get over how good it looks! Give the concept designers at Guerrilla a raise.
I’m so happy Erend is a returning character in Forbidden West. He was a character that really made the last game for me. Guerilla has really made side characters a joy to interact with and talk to rather than a chore.
There were characters?
@@Exel3nce yes....many.
@@Exel3nce in Halo there weren't.
Who?
@@SparkySpice0911 Eren Jaeger
I'm glad to see the scores on the game and to see the reviews saying it's good because I'm not a big fan of Open World games.
I like open worlds but they are never made right. Except botw and rdr2
If you don’t like open world games, this game won’t change your mind.
elden ring says hello
@@-Scrapper- TES 3 Morrowind, The Outer Wilds (NOT Worls, WILDS), and Subnautica are other good open world games.
@@-Scrapper- What about Witcher 3? It did have wonky controls sometimes but it's pretty great.
As far as the story is concerned with Horizon Forbidden West, I felt the same with Mass Effect 2's story not being as good as Mass Effect 1 was... which the trade-off was more character development (Aloy and Shepard), side content, and companions you meet or reunite with to face a lesser but important threat that's not about saving the world... but saving others and yourself in more ways than one. Aloy and Shepard didn't need another epic tale outside their control (initially), but rather a more condensed tale that adds onto and polishes on what was missed before.
And guess what? I look forward to all that.
aloy is still a blank slate, boring as hell. she's just a player avatar.
@@whodatninja439 blank slate maybe but how can you play even 10 minutes of either game and call her boring
The script is horrible. Aloy is not a well written or well acted character..graphics and gameplay though are superb
TF are you on dude? ME1 was the forgettable intro to the series and ME2 is one of the greatest rpg's of all time.
I love the controller co-op idea. My young son who sometimes gets overwhelmed fighting these things tends to throw the controller to me! he loves dinosaurs and we played the first one together. This way I can just take over if its above his skill level, well done!
Thats so awesome. Parenting done right!!
UPDATE: I played the first open area with my boy and he was fighting those burrowers, flipping LOVE the coop controller idea I could instantly assist him with healing and using items. I was glorious.
I will be doing the same with my baby girl
Now that the consoles has gotten much more powerful, I am extremely looking forward to the RPGs that are going to come.
We're already there, and if Tales of Arise is anything to go by, game design, originality and characters/narrative are gonna take a pretty big hit in favour of eye candy.
@@ChrisStoneinator I don't think the Tales of series was what the OP was thinking of. Maybe ones that don't sell xp boosters because there is way too much grinding. Actually I doubt he was thinking of JRPGs at all. Just a hunch given the context of the video you may or may not have watched but are commenting on.
@@ChrisStoneinator and a "next Gen" tales of game is usually like a last Gen normal game
@@mvhess now THAT I can agree with. Last half decent one was Graces which could have easily been on PS2 to be honest.
And to be honest JRPGs are more or less the only rep that the proper RPG genre gets in the AAA or AA space these days. No one's making a big budget follow up to Titan Quest, or Shadowrun, and god knows Bethesda isn't planning on making a decent Fallout anytime soon haha. I don't necessarily think the context of the video implies that this comment is about western open world action games with token RPG elements.
@@ChrisStoneinator depends on what you label an rpg. I'm guessing in the context of the review the OP was reacting to the fact that NPCs are conversationally reacting to your actions and more quests open up in places you've already been. We're all waiting on the promise of reactive worlds and barely any really live up to it. Hoping for a huge rebound from Bioware and Bethesda this Gen... Although bethesda will probably only get one game out in that time.
Skill Up:
*Spends hours upon hours creating a youtube video detailing and reviewing a massive game*
Me:
*Spends 2 seconds liking the video after watching*
"Whew..you deserve this hard work ShillUp."
One thing I think needs to be more recognized is Sony’s game studios’ commitments to accessibility options and their willingness to be inclusive and give options to EVERY gamer of differing abilities. Makes me want to buy this more just for this.
Agreed, i did not like the first game, but i think accessibility options are important.
I was always going to buy Forbiden West. They went all in what i'll call "Smoothness" that I haven't experienced many times. where you just play and it's almost theriputic or meditative. Can't Wait.
So true. Minecraft used to be like that for me, and still is on occasion. HFW is an alluring escape from reality that won't let you go, and I personally don't get that out of a ton of games
100%. Horizon pulls off what almost no other game does. It just feels so free and fluid. You can go almost anywhere you like, its easy to move, easy to play and it's not stiff if you know what I mean
I never had any doubts on how good the game would be, I loved the first game alot so I knew this would be great.
*a lot
@@Liam-lw9hq *unnecessary 😂
@@Liam-lw9hq *Aloy
This game world feels like a love letter to the artistic scenery we envisioned as a child on how video games should be. It’s beyond breathtaking can’t imagine how it will look my LG G1 Oled tv. Your statement about sony in the intro is also so much true.
This game is like you put makeup on your girl with ugly personality. Sooner or later you realize that putting makeup didn't improve her personality.
@@Contractor48 wth are you talking. I have played 30 hours so far and didn’t even scratch the surface yet in terms of major story content. It’s open world is that good and side quests in general are similar to main line quests.
@@vishalbharadwaj570 you must be a fan of game of thrones 8th season since the story, art and visuals are at the same level.
Tell me what can this game be remembered for? Like what is a thing that this game does better than any open world trash?
@@Contractor48 1. Combat it’s better than any other open world games 2. Enemy variety , I don’t ever recall a open world which has this much enemy variety and how they have expertly their own characteristics 3. Side quests, it’s so polished with every character animations, details which it makes it equal to main missions. 4. Enemy AI is clever and improved upon than any other open world games 5. Underwater exploration it goes beyond any game did 6. Aerial exploration using flying mounts to explore every nook and cranny of the map is miles beyond than any other game. 7. It’s scifi story is so deep and thought provoking and epic if you combine both games story and lore in general is massive. 8. Visuals ofcourse is best in the biz with some of the best character details and voice acting 9. Geographical diversity in terms of regions to explore is better than many games. 10. Environmental story telling and the way it pays homage to our world and its creators with even some of the basic collectible items like vistapoints, metal flowers and stuff.
I am not a fanboy who is not blinded by these consoles or gaming systems. I appreciate games for what they are and what they’re trying to separate themselves from others. So if you don’t like the game , good for you. Just because you didn’t like it meaning everypeople has to. Be self aware of others opinions as well dude.
@@vishalbharadwaj570 1. You just shoot with a bow at weak point and dodge. And you claim that this is the best combat you have experienced? Dude, what games are you playing? Ever played souls game or bloodborne? Its like people saying red dead combat is the best out of all the open world games.
2. Enemy variety and combat are much better in Monster hunter and combat is much better over there as well.
3. Side quest sucked hard. Not sure you and me played the same game. I just remember one or two memorable side quest.
4. Enemy AI is again decent. A lot of open world games have the same AI. It is nothing to rant about.
5. Underwater exploration is great. But that is not the main highlight of the game.
6. Aerial exploration is copied and decent. Nothing to boast about.
7. 1st game was thought provoking. This game story is generic at best. All the reviewers claim that story is the weakest point of this game. Not sure what you liked. 1st game was way better in that aspect.
8. Visuals are stunning and ground breaking. Only aspect that i felt was best.
9. Geographical diversity can be added to 8th point.
10. Now you are just putting bullcrap.
I agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I just want the person who watch this review and scroll down to your comment know that there are people who thought this game play was average. My comment was for them. If you enjoyed the game, good for you. I think just watching a playthrough on youtube is good enough. This game can entertain you for 30 hours at max. Worth only 20 dollars. Buy elden ring and destiny 2 witch queen rather than this crap with your money.
The point of the crafting ammo was to have a set number of resources and the ability to leverage the resources to define the attack strategy since the resources were shared between the ammo types. Doing so would allow you to focus on particular resources to fit your fight style. Like gathering additional wood to compensate for using the Rattler which takes a ton of wood.
Exactly. For me it was less "why do I have to craft all the time" and more "how cool it is to be able to craft without a full pause menu?"
@@ryo-kai8587 exactly.. pretty nit-picky imo.. it's literally two buttons held for a couple seconds max to completely top your reserves (of a specific type).. it's intuitive and smooth, it's not an inconvenience, and can give you a moment to catch your breathe in the middle of a hectic battle.. I do wish you could loot while moving though..
@@StayFractalesque Yeah, the moment to catch your breath might even help pacing-or at least it helps with that _Horizon feel_ anyway.
You totally should be able to run by and snatch stuff. And while mounted! I could see it being a skill in the skill tree.
Fully agree. You see most other games crafting where you may not need a lot of resources but usually the resources end up being rare and you have to completely pause the game and wait for it to craft or wait for an animation to complete or you have to be out of combat to craft. I love Horizons crafting because of how much depth and yet simple the system can be.
Imagine if it was realistic like this dude want. Imagine you're fighting a Storm Bird, or ThunderJaw or Slitherfang and you run out or arrows, you wodulnt just run away and take your time to craft more, you'll be fucking dead. Logic has to be left out sometimes, for the sake or ruining immersion.
There is no such thing as too much sci-fi. I actually am more excited for the story by the way you described why you didn't quite liked it! Nice review!
Agreed and I don't think good sci-fi necessarily have to be about how technology affects humans as Skill Up claims. You can envision a future where technology makes humans gradually irrelevant to the point of not being the main subject and it could still be just as interesting.
What I'm gathering here from a lot of these reviews is that the story of this game really requires you to know this first one in and out. Like all the lore and foreshadowing that the logs set up, and since a lot of the reviewers played zero dawn a while ago....it flies over their heads.
Same here. What he described didn't sound like a bad thing at all
I beat the first game back in January for two weeks straight, it was seriously that fun for me, so I’m definitely hyped and prepared for forbidden west.
@@ramonandrajo6348 a pity that you're putting the same comment on every message 🤔
@@ramonandrajo6348 How is it woke?
@@ramonandrajo6348 how, exactly? I’m genuinely curious.
If it’s because the characters aren’t 99% white men that isn’t called woke. That’s called reality.
@@ramonandrajo6348 so I guess you don't like Redheads
@@ramonandrajo6348 I didn’t notice that earlier but you are right. I guess I am going to pass on the game.
Man, I feel like I'm having the exact opposite experience. The story is the only thing keeping me going.
Exploration feels meaningless because the item you need to fully explore all map markers is ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAP, which you acquire half way through the game. It totally kills my "explore every nook and cranny until I get around to the main story" playstyle.
The combat is also worse, and a complete slog even on medium difficulty. I found myself getting 2 shot my basic bots on normal. Not to mention taking damage on takedowns, which defeats the purpose.
The weapon variety is way too dense compared to the first game. Before every weapon had a clear purpose, now it feels like borderlands when trying to pick a weapon.
All In all, the first game was better, aside from the stunning visuals.
So relieved to see this review - after Cyberpunk I've learnt to set expectations super low for expected titles from "good" studios. Glad to see I'll be able to enjoy this entry :D
Sony don’t play around like that
Difference is this is a Playstation exclusive from one of Sony's top studios, I haven't seen anything to tell me it wouldn't be loved, even Days Gone which scored a 72 has a cult following and like a 8.3 user score.
Just saying, Playstation exclusives are on another level.
Absolutely. My only problem is that I have to squeeze this in, without feeling too rushed, b4 Elden Ring....
You're right, it's a first world problem. 😉
@@newtonslore Don't even squeeze it in, just wait a week and play it after elden ring.
@@newtonslore I have Elden Ring as my lock screen and home screen, I'm a huge FromSoft fan but what I played in the Network Test was jawdropping.
Just imagine being a game dev and watching ShillUP praising you like this. Heart explodes with joy!
So much hard work praying off
22:10 just gonna casually not mention they made a freakin' board game?! I love when devs flesh out a board game, because its physical content we can always buy later and appreciate rather than be milked by arbitrary DLC
Board game is meh in terms of board games. Mechanics are quite weak and repetative.
Not all DLC is dumb. Sometimes developers can do DLC right. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a perfect example of DLC done right.
the board game is a giant cash grab based on a successful IP. It needed a lot more.
@@moltenbullet What's so wrong with Horizon getting a boardgame based on it??? Boardgames are always a ton of fun. Alot of great games have received boardgames based on them thru out the years.
Sid Meier's Civilization, The Witcher, Dark Souls, Street Fighter & Doom are just a few examples of great games receiving boardgame adaptations.
@@DragonHeart613 monster hunter iceborne is one great expansion
I don't know if anyone will see this but there's an option in the settings to turn off the animation for every time Aloy picks up a resource and it saves SO MUCH time and I can't believe it's not the default setting. Dramatically makes the game better in such a simple way.
I had no doubt in my mind that this game would fall under nothing short of amazing. I am just in awe of the improvements that this game has made especially those larger-than-life character animations that blow zero dawn out of the water. It has been a long time coming but now we are finally here this Friday we all get to experience the wonderful world of Horizon Forbidden West that you had the joy of playing. As always, great review.
This is the fourth review I have watched and no other previous review that I watched mentions the pop in, accessibility options or the dual sense, bizarre. Great review as always, thank you.
Cause they’re Sony plebs
Skill Up reviews are the best reviews I’ve found. Was really hoping this one didn’t have all that pop in. Oh well still looks amazing.
Wait till digital foundary. I saw John's tweet thread he mentioned pop ins
Yeah this guy and acg are the most fair reviewers I've found.
@@smokeemifyagotem8851 and he doesn’t sound like a Sony pleb in this? I don’t score games but it’s a 9.5 even though the story stinks, major pop in and way to much looting. How does that even make sense? Just because you gloss over problems doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I’m sure it’s a great game I love the first but you can’t score it a 9.5 with the shit I saw.
"It would take me a whole video to say why Horizon Forbidden West has the best combat of any open world" 29:36
Please do! I'd watch that, probably multiple times too.
Also amazing review!!!
I second this!
The idea of being frustrated with a sequel when you haven't played the first game is idiotic, I won't sugar coat it. There's tonnes of videos on YT recapping each and everything in HZD so newcomers have no real excuse to complain, either play the first game or get familiar with its plot because if you expect the second game in the series to inform players about the first one then you are deluded. A sequel needs to tell its own story not spend quality time explaining the previous one. I guarantee if they spent maybe half an hour recapping the events of HZD then we and you would be complaining about that aspect. You don't jump straight to the second part of the story and then wonder why you are confused about the plot, that's just stupid.
Congrats on 800k!
Playstation exclusive single player game. Did we expect any different. From last of us series to uncharted to God of war, to this. They come out almost perfect. Amazing gameplay, graphics, story and without little to no bugs.
The pop in is a game breaker, so I’ll be waiting for the PC version as it’s far from perfect
True
@@V1CT1MIZED well then enjoy waiting 5 years bro. We'll just play the game and enjoy it when it mattered. Meanwhile play war zone or battlefield on pc. Enjoy the bug free experience lmao.
@@V1CT1MIZED the pop in will get patch soon i have no worries.
@@V1CT1MIZED because horizon zero dawn is perfect bug free on PC even 1 year after release isnt it ;)
Horizon FW is my current Game of The Year of 2022
The grinding for resources, once you moved to higher level difficulty, you will start paying attention. Enemies take more hits to die, the ammo cost more resources, to the point that you are conscious of that on every shot.
You do not waste shot on higher difficulty, not even when you are farming resources. Actually, ESPECIALLY when you are farming resources since if you do, it takes more resources than you gain farming it, netting you net loss.
I tried to play the first one but I just dont get it. Seemed to be like one of those ubisoft open world games everyone complains about but in a more interesting coat I guess. I mean it's fine not everything has to be for everyone.
Same. I'm glad fans are getting a good sequel but man I could not get into the first one at all. I don't think it did anything special outside of just the setting it's set in.
Ubisoft has me exhausted with the open world full of markers design. Dying light 2 unfortunately did this but it was fun to traverse and game was great so I looked past it, but no more of that type for a while
Just wanted to say a really big thank you for highlighting the accessibility features of the game. So few reviewers do this and it really matters to those of us who need them. I can't tell you how annoying it is to spend £60 on a new game, only to realise you can't play it! Glad you enjoyed the game, I'm so psyched for Friday!
Yes, it really is awesome he gives it decent coverage. And, I’m not certain about this, but it seems we may soon have many more older/senior gamers that previous generations, because a much larger percentage of the public now plays. And as they get into their 50s, 60s and beyond, many more will need accessibility options. I’m in my 50s and one of the few gamers in my age group. Most of my friends NEVER played past elementary or junior high. But my sibling is in his 30s and ALL his friends still play.
@@ShiningEyeBrigade Really interesting point, I hadn't thought of it like that but it totally makes sense and I really hope games keep moving in the right direction for all players! It's also crazy important for folks like me with disabilities. Games can be a fantastic way to keep your brain engaged, be social, and have fun when you're dealing a condition that makes everyday activities challenging. Gaming with pals on discord has been an absolute lifeline when my health has been bad so its great that accessible options are becoming more common.
I like that cheats are coming back in games. I remember the 90's where you would get stuck on one level or fight, and never ever finish the game that you paid $60 for. It does absolutely nothing to the gaming community to have these "story" modes, or be able to disable certain gameplay systems like turning on "auto heal" or turning concentration on for every aim. There are a few things to that. Some gamers simply don't have the time to dedicate to playing the game with all of the dying on every encounter. It also let's them change that difficulty at any time. Cheats on PC have been provided by programs called "trainers" and that's why they are called that. In single-player games, I would like to see more and more options around accessibility from the perspective of allowing people to skip puzzles, bosses, or difficult encounters so they can experience the exploration and story. Accessibility options start with those that are differently abled, but they should end where it simply allows more people to play and complete the game that otherwise wouldn't. (I have to insert this disclaimer here because someone will say it, I'm not advocating for cheating in multiplayer games, but for offline single-player experiences; and I would rather see actual developer support for these options, over having to hack the game on PC after it eventually releases there.)
Out of curiosity, what accessibly options in this game are the most helpful to you? I feel that quite a few of the settings are preferences rather than helping someone play the game. I can understand stuff like holding for qtes, but I’m just wondering what helps and why? You don’t have to share background if you don’t want to but i would love to hear your take.
We went from two rectangles playing ping pong with a square dot to THIS?!
Awesome review. I bought a PS4 for the first HZD and never regretted it single second. To hear that they improved almost everything is enough for me to buy a PS5 with this game. My biggest complaint was melee combat so I'm glad you covered it. Kinda sad it's still not up to par but atleast they improved it.
I enjoyed Death Stranding as just a casual fan of Kojima and his work. I honestly wish The Elder Scrolls and their encumbrance systems would work that way. Anyway, This game looks absolutely incredible. I remember buying my own dreamcast like it was yesterday and drooling over Soul Calibur. Red Dead and Horizon are the only franchises I really do pay attention to anymore these days.
Are there casual Kojima fans?
Yea if you think your a casual Kojima fan I got some bad news for you especially if you enjoyed death stranding lol
Casual fans don't know the game director's name
Hideo Kojimas name has been synonymous with expert storytelling since the ninety's so yes i am aware of him. I have decent anxiety now in my life and games like Death Stranding really helped me calm down. I haven't ever played thenoriginal metal gear solid or the third or 4th ... so yes, casual fan. Other games like Deus Ex and Shadow of Mordor are some of my all time favorites.
The PS5 controller is something else, ever since I experienced that haptic feedback + adaptive trigger wombo combo I have been buying every multiplatform on PS5 just for the controller features.
Same. The DualSense was the smartest thing Sonys made in a longtime.
If I use it for PS4, did they still had the haptick feedback?
@@NikLoveGaming obviously not
@@andymontanez56 ah, I though so. Thank you
@@NikLoveGaming no problem
That ending though... Such a good review congrats! Amazing review for an amazing game (nice timing with the music too bro).
Horizon Forbidden West is phenomenal, excellent review SkillUp!
The side content in the first game was the same way for me. I loved it so much that towards the end of the game I was so OP. I did everything before moving on. Cannot wait to play this.
Wasnt it Just generic ?
@@Exel3nce no it was not....
@@Exel3nce Another person that quit before finishing the Nora lands. (tutorial area)
@@Exel3nce Depends how you define generic. I didn’t feel it was personally. Regardless, it was all good fun.
@@Exel3nce not at all lol.
The review I was waiting for. Only discovered your channel a couple of months ago and I'm now a fan. Thank you and keep up the great work
Welcome to the skill up fam bud 👏🏿
@@SPACECOWBOY705 thanks man.
I watched one and an half minutes of this review before I stopped. I’m getting too excited for this game. I still remember finishing the first game and going to Reddit to see if there are any news on an sequel. People on Reddit have came out with concept arts that got me so excited at times. I can’t believe it’s coming out and the praise you gave in the first two minutes. I’m going to enjoy this game so much and I’ll come back and finish the review when I’m done with the game!
Complains about constantly matching elemental damage types and weaknesses, turns around and fires up The Witch Queen to spend 100+ hours constantly matching elemental damage types and weaknesses like an addict. Nice one ShillUp! ;P
I have to disagree with you on your Mass Effect parallel. Mass Effect 2 wasn't better than Mass Effect. It was just more mainstream and accessible. However, it dumbed down elements from the first game (there were no longer armors you could find and buy, which was an essential gameplay progression part of the first title). BTW, I think the same about the Arkham games, too (the first is better than the second). Arkham Asylum was a carefully crafted Metroidvania, while Arkham City went bigger and lost the focus of the first title.
This happened to me with Fallout. I love the first 3 games in the series and then 4 took away a lot of the more intensive role playing options I really enjoyed. But it sold well so we are probably never going back to the old style.
Also I agree- bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes a tight, cohesive world and story is better than a huge open world just for the sake of being huge.
I personally think Mass Effect 2 was a step up in almost every way. One of the things I didn't like in the first game was the inventory management, which is something you seemed to enjoy.
ME1 had incredible story, and ME2 built on that spectacularly. When it comes down it, it's just a matter of opinion. And in my opinion a ME game that has Miranda is better than the one that doesn't (kidding lol).
HZD’s side quests could have used some work, and some of the main characters didn’t really leave an impression on me either, so I’m looking forward to what they do different this time.
I just finished Zero Dawn today. Clocked in 91 hours on it. Loved the combat but the story was a 6/10 for me. I hope that when I start Forbidden West this weekend that I would enjoy the ride along with getting invested in the story for another 90 hours.
27:42 I couldn't disagree MORE with Skillup here, and that's pretty rare.
The sidequests in this game are TOTALLY FORGETTABLE and often INCREDIBLY ANNOYING. One after another after another I'm constantly rolling my eyes and find myself saying "I DON'T CARE!" Every single one is just ridiculous interpersonal bullshit that has literally nothing to do with the major quests of this game. In Zero Dawn, Aloy often had the same reaction to NPCs who droned on and on about irrelevant details of their lives when giving quest details, while in FW she is uncharacteristically interested in people she's never met squabbling over petty things that just don't matter to the (supposed) world-ending blight she's fighting or the aliens trying to destroy the planet.
On the contrary, the only thing remotely memorable about the quests in this game are the main story quests, which clearly had WAY better writing than the rest and were the only ones the player has any real reason to care about. So much more to say here but I'll save it for my Steam review
About the arrow crafting mechanics, they underexploited the futuristic theme in my opinion. They could have implemented an advanced quiver, that crafts ammo on demand, as long as you have the materials. It would have provided a cool visual effect, explained the upgrades and ammo variety and be a lot more inmersive.
PC 4k, 120 FPS, HDR, DLSS Quality, OLED monitor. It was pure Eye Candy for 120 hours.
Looks amazing. Def picking this up. Another hit for Sony proving why their studios are a cut above
@Адвокат Дьявола keep hating dawg
@Адвокат Дьявола there are good open world games and some shitty ones like cyberscam 2077
@Адвокат Дьявола keep crying bro
@Адвокат Дьявола not a fan eh?? "Superb" from Skillup... 89 metacritic. You do you, but its a buy from me
@Адвокат Дьявола I have to agree. Modern open world games except for rdr2 are just exhausting and time wasting
Good review. What made my day was "stack of x full, item sent to stash" made my day--huge pain in the backside that was inventory management just got better.
Patches have resolved many of the issues. I'm not having trouble with pop-in an the PS5 and no noticeable frame drop. It's a pleasure to play - very well designed game.
The best review of this game on RUclips by a country mile. Pretty much everyone else just lazily drew comparisons to an Ubisoft game when there's just so much more to it than the copy/paste checklist style. At worst you could say this is the apex of that kind of open-world game but that doesn't do it justice because everything feels meaningful unlike an Ubisoft open world. If Elden Ring hadn't come out so close to it it would have been appreciated a lot more. Elden Ring is also frigging fantastic, of course.
I love Elden Ring but I don't even think these games are even comparable because they're not even really that alike. Elden Ring is open world yes but it is still very much linear in a sense
When Horizon Zero Dawn was first revealed it had immediately gotten my attention with its robo-dinos and inexplicably primitive wildlife setting which I thought would end up being a fun yet illogical fantasy game. Then the actual game surprised me in every direction from its sci-fi story that somehow managed to explain and justify everything to its extremely well crafted combat and enemy designs to a degree you wouldn't expect from a developer making a game like this for the first time.
So I was super hyped to find out just how much Guerilla can improve on the solid foundation of the original as video games sequels tend to be really good at that but my expectations were quickly tempered seeing the sequel got a lower critic score than the original thinking Guerilla must have missed the mark somehow. So it is really amazing that one of my moat trusted reviewers Skill Up unexpectedly providing a 9.5 score for the game was enough to restore all my hype levels to its original state :D
I think the critiques mainly are centered around the narrative of this game where the first game had a much more compelling story than I think people bargained for as well as expectations were really low for the first game. The first horizon was expected to fail or be a minor to modest success but everyone including guerilla and Sony were surprised and just how great the game was received and how much people, including myself, adored it. With all the enhancements in this game it’s definitely better in every conceivable way except the main story but with a more fleshed out world refined combat system and added tools to the gameplay loop, it’ll definitely stand as a better product in the long run, and one of PS5s best games.
What lower critic score are you referring to? Metacritic stands at 89, exactly like Zero Dawn
@@SoftNoize yeah I’m actually not sure what he’s referring to. IGN gave it the same score as zero dawn as well.
@@SoftNoize Looking at Open Critic where it is at 88 but 1 or 2 points don't matter of course. The thing is since the sequel is seemingly massively expanding on the scope and improving every shortcoming of the original I expected it to reflect on the general critic score (basically the way Skill Up praised the game at the beginning of this video) but that doesn't seem to be the case. Well in the end scores don't matter much, the ability of a reviewer to break down and explain what the game gets right or wrong matter more which is why I always come back to this channel.
I still remember I was at work on my lunch break in the computer room watching youtube and saw the trailer da first time and boy that trailer was absolutely amazing.And if you haven’t yet play the “Frozen Wilds” DLC of the first game absolutely kick ass.👊🏽👍🏽
The only critical thing I can say about this game is not enough story! It’s so damn interesting and we focused on tribes a bit too much and not on the overall arc. Loved it though. I do agree the side missions were great. Greatly acted and interesting. Can’t wait for the next.
Not enough story? WHAT THE F. This game is all story and little action.
You sir! These reviews are really getting to another level. Love the ME 1 and Me 2 reference which for anyone who adores those for their hits and misses this was very understable.
Ty, yeah, it's really funny)
Sony make a great PR for mass effect 2, and it's free))
There are a few things that I think this review misses. I'm so tired of the Assassin's Creed model of just put a face on screen for all the dialog. In Horizon Forbidden West, there is custom mocap sequences with actors and actresses on-set performing all these dialog sequences. You are watching a play or scene take place in this world, right where they are standing, and it feels natural and not gamey at all. That *really* helps these side quests. It's amazing how the mundane takes on completely new meaning when you can feel the depth of a character. One that really stuck out to me from the early part of the game, was an old man gasping for breath. The detail on his face was absolutely incredible, and I could feel every pained breath as he delivered his lines. These don't feel like fetch quests, even though many are, because they are so character-driven.
The second was in the story. I agree with you that there is a certain formula here that is repeated, from the first game. A very long intro sequence, where the world doesn't open up to you for close to 10 hours. There are some differences this time around. The first game's opening 10 hours, were Aloy finding her place in this world, and discovering a growing threat. She was ostracized and an outsider. It feels very much like the opening to any disaster movie where no one believes the scientist until it's too late. In this game's opening, that threat is already here, Aloy knows exactly who she is, and the destination of where this is going is very clearly telegraphed in a way that makes you want to dig deeper. The first 10 hours of this game, blew by, where the first game required some breaks to slog through it. It's even worse the second playthrough on the first game.
The last point I want to make, is that this is a purely PS5 review. This game is entirely different to experience on a PS5. So much so, that I think it bares a warning for the PS4 version of the game. Yes, it's mostly just resolution, which gamers don't tend to care about. However, they are rarely given a world this dense and with this much detail. In the same ways that you lambast the RUclips compression, and 1440p nature of this video; playing this on PS4 does not present the same experience. I'm sure Digital Foundary has some great content around this, but at the same time I think it's worth addressing that we finally got a game where all of the tricks (raytracing, resolution scaling, draw distance) are all coming together in a package where I'm not really looking for the imperfections. It just runs at a great framerate and looks fantastic. It's a game that will make you forget to ask if it's running in native 4K.
Don't know what like more, the unbelievable work they put in to make this game, or your review of it...
Skill Up: When the history of this console generation is written, this will be one of the ones we talk about.
Me: that was beautiful, man *teary-eyed*
Skill Up: You ever lose your wallet?
Me: *cries more*
lol
I played for 150 hours. Got a platinum on very hard.
The story starts to come together and the theme do become more meaningful with both the harder difficulty and diving really deep into the world and completing at least most of the side missions.
Is it good game design that the best experience is a hard difficulty completionist one? Probably yes and no. I didn't rush this game but I could see how doing that could water down the experience just enough to stop making sense.
There are at least 2 spoiler moment that made me cry. One that is not so much a spoiler that hit hard was when Aloy starts to hit her turning point with realizing that she can't do it all by herself and laments that living up to Elisabet's legacy is maybe just a little too much and at the harder difficulty I felt that
The game looks really good, i enjoyed the first game so im happy Guerilla is going strong. Unfortunately i cant afford Horizon and Elden Ring right now, so this one will have to wait a bit
I went with elden ring myself lol
look's good, so did cyber punk
@@creatorsfreedom6734 hahaha dude g games are most definitely not cdpr c'mon now
@@creatorsfreedom6734 Big difference is that Elden Ring had a beta last year that alot of folks tried out & alot of positive stuff was said about the beta. Skill-Up had alot of great things to say about the Elden Ring beta as did other notable RUclipsrs who tried it out like Maximilian Dood & YongYea. Elden Ring is really looking like it will indeed be the real deal unlike Cyberpunk 2077.
@@tazmanceltic no , most G game's are from Other studio's that are not cash cow's from grub trip AAA walking dead mongrel's - dunno much about elden ring , got hope's for it but i will wait , - better off reading Dinotopia
So happy this turned out well, I really enjoyed Zero Dawn. A bit sad that the story is seemingly not up to par but hey its a subjective thing, I will definitely be giving this a try regardless. I will likely wait with buying this, a lot of games to play right now but I hope it succeeds, we need more games like this for sure.
I'm sure the story is exactly what HZD fans are looking for.. I love skill-up, but dude said it was "too sci-fi" that it was "asking a lot expecting players to be familiar with the first game", more or less.. the writer of Horizon, wrote the entire story at once, it's a direct continuation by the same visionary 'author', I for one can't wait for questions to be answered.. who woke up Hades and unshackled the other subfunction AIs? what happened to the last ditch "ark" program that launched humans out into space? do they have anything to do with Hades reactivation? does Ted Faro have a hand in this from beyond the grave?? (or his clone, maybe even consciousness??) ..
do those questions sound _too_ *SciFi* to you?? didn't think so..
Even if they intentionally went for not trying to one up the story of the first game, I think that’s smart. Because that would be hard to do anyway. Instead, they made sure to give us memorable characters and lots of other little stories along the way, which is just as good if not better for the overall experience.
Just finished this one, god I miss it so much already. What a truly special testament to the talent and love the people and guerilla have for creating open worlds. This one is absolutely a huge step up above any other open world I've played.
Maybe you shouldn't have blazed through it then...
@@OtterloopB I spent 100+ hours on it and got the Plat trophy lmao, it's just so good that it makes me miss it the second I finished it
A year later and the technical issues are almost completely gone. Just recently 100%'d this and the pop-in is a thing of the past and I almost never saw the dynamic resolution kick in. Literally the only issue I had was during one cutscene characters were standing on an invisible ground texture. Easily the most beautiful game I have played since Ghost of Tsushima. And my unpopular opinion is this is infinitely better than Dad of Boy: Ragnarok since the exploration and characters are light years better.
In the first game I think I threw in nearly 50 or 60 hours because I was so determined to go everywhere. It was the first open world game that captured me that much. Ghost of Tsushima came pretty close to that feeling. I hope this one can grab me like that
Uh, obviously it’s gonna be grabbing you in ways you’re probably not comfortable with.
I finally played the game and I don't get the gripes about the story. I actually found the story of the sequel better than the original. It was more focused and the threat was better defined. It also expanded the narrative possiblities by a lot. The original was kinda dull to be honest. It just had good world building.
As a PC gamer, I had to wait for Zero Dawn, and oh boy was it worth it. I can’t get my hands on a PS5, so I’m willing to wait until I do or it comes to PC, because I want as many bells and whistles as possible for this one. Can’t wait to play it!
If it's anything like the first game, waiting will pay off because there will be great DLC. Which does make waiting for the inevitable PC release in ~5 years a little less shit.
@@stysner4580 It’s a fair point, but then wouldn’t we have the original Spider-Man game on PC by now? Especially with No Way Home coming out? (Both were awesome, imo). I guess either way I’m just happy we’re getting Sony titles on PC. I literally just finished Days Gone a couple hours ago and that was another home run in my book; I can’t believe I almost threw it in the backlog!
Just get Elden ring and play it until Forbidden West releases on PC.
Aloy is unlikeable at times, the script and NPCs are poorly written and have many awkward interactions, story kind of sucks…..but the open world and the way water is handled in this game is superb..as well as the gameplay.
The water? Are you referring to the interactions within the water?
Finally a game without micro transaction. More than enough reasons to own it
This is a story game bud…
@@GradietPanda12345 ac valhalla in the corner: *starts sweating*
@@GradietPanda12345 every single ubisoft story game has microtransactions, new ones anyways
There will be soon enough.
@@damn6039 ya and Sony ripped off all of Ubisoft mechanics to make their own games lmao
I loved a lot about this game, practically everything; but without a doubt, the thing I enjoyed the most was the story. I LOVE the lore of this game, it's all very interesting and creative. Of course, the graphics and the gameplay are incredible, but to me, the thing that kept me hooked, was how it all unfolded story-wise.
If you're into sci-fi, and also into clans and postapocalyptic scenarios, this game is going to check every mark for you.
The graphics are also incredible, the character models are absolutely phenomenal, and the environment present with such impact and density that, as was said in this review, while you're first playing and exploring, you'd rather do it on foot than on a mount.
For me it's a 9.5/10 game as well, absolutely incredible, and I really hope that it got a lot more recognition.
Thanks for always being so absolutely thorough in your reviews. I really appreciate it.
They're definitely some of the most well presented and well rounded ones out there. They're GREAT for making an informed choice before I buy a product.
I've been looking forward to this game for ages. I happy that it's a product worth my time.
I've watched a few, or many, Forbidden West reviews and this one is by far the best. After Playing 10 5-6 hours your have captured all of my thoughts so succinctly I couldn't believe it. All thoughts are absolutely true. Subscribed.
This review makes me wonder if Zero Punctuation even played the same game as you.
Yahtzee has bad taste in games
This game is wowing me on the PS4 Pro. I am still early in the game but it hasn't been boring. To me, anyway.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention how poor the dynamic resolution can be in performance mode on PS5. It looks blurry and grainy as shit sometimes, causes some cutscenes to look like a ps3 game.
“This game can be finished in 30 hours, but I took nearly 50 before I was done”
Not me breaking 100 and I still haven’t finished… 😅
It’s so funny to hear that people have a hard time connecting with or digesting the lore and story here. I think this series has a remarkable story and I went out of my way to dig up as much info as I could.
I’m glad that there are developers that actually give a shit about games and not trying to constantly milk you off your money, definitely playing this game day 1 on my channel
Yours is the thought process of one that only plays AAA titles
@@3dgelord187 you are correct, 98% of the games I play are AAA, and rarely indie, and when AAA developer actually cares and lives up to a AAA title, it puts a smile to my face, not to discredit indies, I’ve played some really good ones
@@3dgelord187 And that's not a bad thing. Video-games are great, in the way that there's something for everyone.
@@SmootherThanSilk absolutely, gaming is for everyone and it offers something for everyone
@@SmootherThanSilk AAA market has mostly been stagnant for quite some time now. Corporations unwilling to let devs push boundaries other than graphics.
the thing I realize is that if anything guerilla monster design and combat was so good it was the next big thing of a monster hunter like game, to the point that if they made it into MHW structured game it will still be a great game. I like the monster in zero dawn and the monster here looks epic and more lifelike machine cant wait to play it.
Yep for sure I agree. When I first played Horizon Zero Dawn I didn't appreciate it at first and kind of thought it was well don't open world game in a saturated market but the more I played it I realized this is what monster hunter would be if set in open world game. Some of the fights again bigger machines required some planning to efficiently take them down which was so satisfying. Cant wait for forbidden West this Friday!
They really could and with it being machines they could get crazy and creative with the battles
Just gotta say, that more than appreciating the games you cover (for better or worse) the one thing I *always* appreciate after watching one of your vids, Ralph, is YOU. The love and care that you put into these videos, regardless of your take on a game, is something almost as special as the games you review. And, I hope that when people look back and gaming journalism and mention who were some of the great presenters of our era who captured a sort of magic and honesty in their words, I really expect your name to be on that list. I've been a long time viewer, and I'm finally able to join as a Patreon backer, just now! So I'm really excited to be offering my support there. Keep up the fantastic work and know that the effort and attention to detail you put into all of your content is incredibly appreciated and admired but many of us fans. Thank you for the years of great gaming content and superb video essays. Cheers, mate!
Started playing Zero Dawn totally blind, no expectations. Seeing primitive ppl fighting robot animals with bows and arrows.. I was like wtf is this 5hit. But it became my favorite game of all time. Visually stunning, captivating story, awesome fighting mechanics. Can't wait for PC version.
@@ramonandrajo6348 how so ? Let me know
@@ramonandrajo6348 how is a character not being conventionally attractive considered "woke"?
@@Voyager-42 something along he lines of “character don’t make my pp hard, fat and ugly.”
@@aussieseal9979 just like every Sony exclusive
@@aussieseal9979 sounds about right lmao
It's interesting to me how most people seem to only have 50 hours in games. I'm usually at 50 hours, only halfwas through the story, and not even completed most secondary content
Thank you for your honest reviews. I only found your channel a few months ago, but you are now one of my go-to trusted reviewers. Thank you for taking the time to REALLY review games.
My only letdown with HZD was its storytelling execution and characters. The lore and story is interesting but the way they were told was very underwhelming to me. Too much secondhand narration of events. NPCs telling you what happened before instead of you experiencing it. I end up only really care about Aloy's story and how the robots came to be. Couldn't care less about the different tribes and the side characters.
The gameplay and world was amazing and I'm sure also be amazing in HFW. Hopefully the story can be more engaging.
Same imo, the world/concept is interesting but the execution isn't there plus i got bored of the conbat quick as hell
@@thejoker5755 same with me, I was expecting a lot more after all those reviews when I tried the game on pc couple of years later.
Ye, thats why i dont understand the Hype or praise it got. The only redeeming factor was its artdesign and some mystery aspects early on, everything else is Ubisoft
Yeah. They did withheld a lot in the middle for the overall greater story. To be fair it makes sense since nobody is alive yo tell you the story since it is lost info of a time past. So idk.
@@thejoker5755 idk how bro. Combat kept me going. Besides fighting humans. That did hire the hall out if me.
That pop in is technical bug. One that can be fixed. It's not just how the game is. They'll sort it.
I'm smiling ear to ear as I watch this:) I mean my goodness..Look at the level of detail in the environments...WOW. Just look at it! Thank you to Guerrilla Games and Sony for taking the time to craft and produce a game with this level of quality. After the dismal BF2042 and many others this is just the game i need to bring back that sense of wonder and awe which is what I love about video games.
I liked you when you were genuine. But mass effect 2? Reading directly from the terms of reference?...
I read a review on the telegraph where the guy said that the game can be "overwhelming". I can somewhat agree but the game does a really good job emphasizing different areas of the world and the exploratory side missions really help open the world up. I have to believe the guy on telegraph probably put in 10 hours at best or completely skipped over the side missions which really helped with the world building and literal world revealing throughout the game.
I was watching another review and stopped to watch yours. You da best skillup. Unparalleled
All I see is positive feedback, but for me, this game was one of the most boring and souless experiences I've had playing a game in a long time. Played this right after completing Ghost of Tushima and I felt depressed.