This review contains spoilers
(BTW, I count Mastered for getting the Platinum Trophy, i don't think i've done EVERYTHING the game has to offer, (infact i looked, 91.27%) but i'm satisfied at calling it at the trophy earning)
Anyways Horizon. I feel kind of odd about this game, because i think that compared to it's predecessor, it does many things better, or just as well as before. It's a fun experience that helps to greatly expand the main gameplay loop with the introductions of more machines, weapons and weapon types, elements, valor skills and weapon stamina, and ways to approach a fight with it's added focus on combat. It still does great as a Horizon game with it's lore and worldbuilding being top-notch, with a whole new set of ruins and collectibles littered about to give context to the world of the old ones. I also feel that many of the new groups shown in this game were cool.
Spoilers Section START
Aside from the Main group made up of multiple members from all over, and Far Zenith, we have the different groups of the Tenakth, the Utaru, and the Quen. The Tenakth were probably my favorite to explore due to them being made of multiple clans, but the Utaru and Quen were fun too. The Quen especially were neat due to them having older focuses that indicate a society with a much greater knowledge of the past than most, but also less than what Aloy has, and often stifling and limited due to their organization of it's cast, it's reliance on overseers, and their utter adoration of those of the old world, regardless of if they were actually good or not (looking at Ted Faro).
Spoiler Section END
The good is that it's a horizon game, it's still fun to trail off to explore anything i want, approach fights with near complete freedom, and work slowly to uncover the past and the dark future ahead. Also like the last game, this place is gorgeous, and fun because it's based off the west coast of the US, and i have yet to find where I'm at on there, but i'm guessing plainsong if the desert has anything to do with it?
Anyways, the bad is at best, just a bit stifling that could be reworked, and at worst, a little conflicting to how I feel about the game.
The non-spoilery side of it is I feel that the combat while cool and a lot more fleshed out from the last game is also very janky, and sometimes unruly with it's execution. It's cool to do the cool stuff, like string a combo togehter, and launch off someone for a chance to blow up a resonator spot for a ton of damage, but sometimes how enemies and your attacks just look off. Like sometimes hits that should land don't, and their tracking leads them to sliding half way across an arena to smack you into next week, which made fighting hammer guys even more annoying, especially since they deal heavy damage and can stun you. Also unrelated, but strike from above feels really hard to land at times, to the point some stealth kills failed because it took away the prompt right as i was pressing it... fun.
Nah but my other issues are more related to story and sidequest stuff. So spoilers.
Spoiler Section START
Generally I think the story is very neat, I think the focus on Aloy needing to learn to let people in and to open up herself is done pretty nicely. Much of the new cast and old are written pretty well, my favorites being Erend and Kotallo. The escalation of conflict at least until the end feels really cool as Far Zenith answers a question of "how far could humans develop if they managed to avoid the reset brought upon by the faro plague, and were able to keep their hold on knowledge often thought to be lost with apollo's erasure." It's really neat. And I also think that a lot of the sidequests are really fun. There are some that are genuinely really heartfelt, some that paint sides of Aloy that she doesn't explore much, as well as help get a better idea of whatever place you're in.
I think the only side quest i didn't like was the last in a series of them in Scalding Spear. It was where Aloy had to side with who should be the new commander of the town. The current leader who seems way too infatuated with her title, and had a very mixed approach to handling their water crisis, or some guy from a village nearby who is sick of her, and would try to find better ways of handling the water, at the cost of coming off very naive and idealistic, and sending someone that accident or otherwise, would've stopped the water altogether if Aloy didn't involve herself. My problem is that neither side is willing to back down from conflict. Both have good points, but more notably bad points. The current commander is too obsessed with the title, and handles the water crisis with paranoia, distrust, and lies. Yet the guy who's opting to take her title comes off a bit too naive and idealistic, and also kept trying to deflect responsibility for the problems caused by the person they sent to figure something out. Sure, no one could've known for sure, but when it does come out to light, he doesn't really try to take any responsibility for it, instead trying to vy for the title more than before, leading to the two to a duel that would determine who would become the new commander of scalding spear, and only one side can win. You can't talk either side down even though the game gives you the option, you just have to choose who wins. I did eventually just decide on the idealist because i wanted to see how being a leader would impact him as a character (spoilers: he's well meaning, but a bit too focused on public reception to the point of being a bit grating). I just don't like this quest because I think both sides suck, yet you need to pick a side, you can't just leave the two of them to duel it out or just talk them out of it.
That sidequest aside though, the rest are really neat. There are few I can think of, but i want to get to the other point of contention.
The last thing i feel an issue with is that while I think some character do very much get some fun beats both in the main story and in side quests, I feel like some missed out on chances to flesh the characters out a bit more. I mainly mean Varl and sort of Beta. See in the main game, you'll have a bunch of people go through the base as guests, but do take up time their for one reason or another. GAIA, Varl, Zo, Erend, Kotallo, Alva, Beta, Sylens, Tilda, Regalla if you spare her, and Talanah (tho she only stops by to get to another thing so don't count her). Out of those 10, only 4 of them get a major sidequest that involves them and helps flesh them out. 5 if you do sort of count Talanah. And each of them are fine, Erend helps put to rest the groups that took her sister away aswell as helps stops Regalla's forces, Kotallo builds a new robotic arm after losing his old one at the beginning of the game, Alva discovers more about another Old One and has a bigger revelation of the morality of the old ones, and Zo finds a way to heal the land gods of Plainsong and bring life to it anew.
That's all fine and good, and i have nothing against them. They are fun ways to explore and finish out arcs for each of those characters now given new solutions thanks to Aloy and the Focuses they've trained with.And for the other 5, well GAIA technically is more a system and much of the game revolves around her so that's not much to talk on, and Sylens and Tilda are only important for endgame stuff and nothing more. Same applies to Regalla and that's only if you spared her. There is not much to do with those 4.
The last 2 though, Beta and Varl i'm a bit more iffy on. With Beta i'm closer to leaning on the story for why we didn't get much for her, as she's mostly very cut off from everyone, and only comes around before she gets taken by Far Zenith again. I do kind of wish that we got at least a small thing, like maybe help her with planning or getting materials, or something, but it's not the worst thing, and I assume the third game would flesh her out a bit more anyways, whenever it comes out.
Varl is the only one i feel this issue with strongly, and it's just because that there is a lot that changes with him from the first game, he in sticking with Aloy is able to help her in ways she couldn't without, and he's able to not only get a focus and start learning from it, but also begins a relationship with Zo that is build through the rest of the game, especially after he's gone. He's a very important person, and his death is well earned through that, as a proper knife twist at the "darkest hour" moment. My problem though is the most we really get to interact with Varl through this game his the chats you can have with him that every other character gives, or through story events. What i'd want is just a chance for him to flesh out in someway, like maybe a time-sensitive quest that can only be done before his time in the story is done. Where we get a chance to explore something about him more like maybe something involving his reflection of where he is now to his home back east in with the Nora, maybe a sweet little story where they take the stuffed animal dialouge mentioned and actually try to make something of it, like they say to make a doll, and that doll is passed on to Zo who will then pass it on to their child. Something sweet like that, something to connect him now back to the first game, and make that knife twist of his death hurt all the more. My main problem with Varl isn't him, but that there is more that can't be said due to how the game structured base side-quests. Just some potential now missing. Otherwise he's a fine character.
Before the spoiler stuff ends, I think the last reason why this game makes me feel mixed is the unveiling of Nemesis, what looks to be another type of apocalypse approaching earth that far zenith were trying to escape. The reason i feel conflicted is it sort of makes the ending feel a little flat to the first game. Like there, we save meridian, and we're able to let the allies get a chance to celebrate and being to rebuild, as well as a scene for Aloy to track down Elisabet's old home, as a sweet little way to bring the story all around. Only for a post credits scene featuring Hades escaping to Sylens overseeing a valley of decommissioned Horus units, hinting there is still so much left to see, with threads of another plot being brewed. And wouldn't you know, that was carried on by this game. I said it before, that this game feels like a step up tonally and stake wise. Where before we were stopping a rouge AI from reawakening an ancient plague that wiped out the old world, now it's the new world fighting against the remnants of that old world, those with nothing but time and power to wield. And you know what, I should feel a bit more intrigued here, as our next threat is the force that wiped out most of those highly advanced remnants, were fighting a new age force of doom and destruction that threatens more than just to reset the biosphere or destroy it, but completely wipe out the planet.
The stakes are higher sure, but I don't feel it. The ending had a nice little send off with everyone getting ready to approach the new threat, but that's it. Nothing to incite anything, just the credits and then back to the post game. I feel very mixed about it, because while we do have a set-up to the next threat, there is so little fanfare about it that it feels a bit hollow. It retroactively makes all we did to get to this point feel JUST like stepping stones, and the next threat feel sort of out of scale to what Horizon set itself as. I'm fairly sure that this feeling will aleviate as news of Horizon 3 comes around, but as of now, I don't feel much other than a story that is slated for a continuation. The story didn't stop, it did conclude this tale, but it doesn't feel that grand and I'm honestly a little unsure of how to feel about that looking forward.
Anyways that's it for Spoilery Stuff
Spoiler Section ENDS
Overall I feel very certain that this is a good game, but I'm a little hesitant to say I like it more than the first game. It's sort of like a Judgment and Lost Judgment thing, at least on my first feels of those 2 games. The gameplay loops in both is really fun, and the second game does a lot to make that feel even better than before. But certain things about the story or character direction makes me feel a little less attached to the things I cared about in the first games. It's definetly not as big as what i'd use to feel between Judgement and Lost Judgement, but I do feel an odd disconnect from the game due to some of the things i mentioned. Though that is purely on a story basis, gameplay wise, they are great. I like this game, I wouldn't have spent so long typing otherwise.
Anyways Horizon. I feel kind of odd about this game, because i think that compared to it's predecessor, it does many things better, or just as well as before. It's a fun experience that helps to greatly expand the main gameplay loop with the introductions of more machines, weapons and weapon types, elements, valor skills and weapon stamina, and ways to approach a fight with it's added focus on combat. It still does great as a Horizon game with it's lore and worldbuilding being top-notch, with a whole new set of ruins and collectibles littered about to give context to the world of the old ones. I also feel that many of the new groups shown in this game were cool.
Spoilers Section START
Aside from the Main group made up of multiple members from all over, and Far Zenith, we have the different groups of the Tenakth, the Utaru, and the Quen. The Tenakth were probably my favorite to explore due to them being made of multiple clans, but the Utaru and Quen were fun too. The Quen especially were neat due to them having older focuses that indicate a society with a much greater knowledge of the past than most, but also less than what Aloy has, and often stifling and limited due to their organization of it's cast, it's reliance on overseers, and their utter adoration of those of the old world, regardless of if they were actually good or not (looking at Ted Faro).
Spoiler Section END
The good is that it's a horizon game, it's still fun to trail off to explore anything i want, approach fights with near complete freedom, and work slowly to uncover the past and the dark future ahead. Also like the last game, this place is gorgeous, and fun because it's based off the west coast of the US, and i have yet to find where I'm at on there, but i'm guessing plainsong if the desert has anything to do with it?
Anyways, the bad is at best, just a bit stifling that could be reworked, and at worst, a little conflicting to how I feel about the game.
The non-spoilery side of it is I feel that the combat while cool and a lot more fleshed out from the last game is also very janky, and sometimes unruly with it's execution. It's cool to do the cool stuff, like string a combo togehter, and launch off someone for a chance to blow up a resonator spot for a ton of damage, but sometimes how enemies and your attacks just look off. Like sometimes hits that should land don't, and their tracking leads them to sliding half way across an arena to smack you into next week, which made fighting hammer guys even more annoying, especially since they deal heavy damage and can stun you. Also unrelated, but strike from above feels really hard to land at times, to the point some stealth kills failed because it took away the prompt right as i was pressing it... fun.
Nah but my other issues are more related to story and sidequest stuff. So spoilers.
Spoiler Section START
Generally I think the story is very neat, I think the focus on Aloy needing to learn to let people in and to open up herself is done pretty nicely. Much of the new cast and old are written pretty well, my favorites being Erend and Kotallo. The escalation of conflict at least until the end feels really cool as Far Zenith answers a question of "how far could humans develop if they managed to avoid the reset brought upon by the faro plague, and were able to keep their hold on knowledge often thought to be lost with apollo's erasure." It's really neat. And I also think that a lot of the sidequests are really fun. There are some that are genuinely really heartfelt, some that paint sides of Aloy that she doesn't explore much, as well as help get a better idea of whatever place you're in.
I think the only side quest i didn't like was the last in a series of them in Scalding Spear. It was where Aloy had to side with who should be the new commander of the town. The current leader who seems way too infatuated with her title, and had a very mixed approach to handling their water crisis, or some guy from a village nearby who is sick of her, and would try to find better ways of handling the water, at the cost of coming off very naive and idealistic, and sending someone that accident or otherwise, would've stopped the water altogether if Aloy didn't involve herself. My problem is that neither side is willing to back down from conflict. Both have good points, but more notably bad points. The current commander is too obsessed with the title, and handles the water crisis with paranoia, distrust, and lies. Yet the guy who's opting to take her title comes off a bit too naive and idealistic, and also kept trying to deflect responsibility for the problems caused by the person they sent to figure something out. Sure, no one could've known for sure, but when it does come out to light, he doesn't really try to take any responsibility for it, instead trying to vy for the title more than before, leading to the two to a duel that would determine who would become the new commander of scalding spear, and only one side can win. You can't talk either side down even though the game gives you the option, you just have to choose who wins. I did eventually just decide on the idealist because i wanted to see how being a leader would impact him as a character (spoilers: he's well meaning, but a bit too focused on public reception to the point of being a bit grating). I just don't like this quest because I think both sides suck, yet you need to pick a side, you can't just leave the two of them to duel it out or just talk them out of it.
That sidequest aside though, the rest are really neat. There are few I can think of, but i want to get to the other point of contention.
The last thing i feel an issue with is that while I think some character do very much get some fun beats both in the main story and in side quests, I feel like some missed out on chances to flesh the characters out a bit more. I mainly mean Varl and sort of Beta. See in the main game, you'll have a bunch of people go through the base as guests, but do take up time their for one reason or another. GAIA, Varl, Zo, Erend, Kotallo, Alva, Beta, Sylens, Tilda, Regalla if you spare her, and Talanah (tho she only stops by to get to another thing so don't count her). Out of those 10, only 4 of them get a major sidequest that involves them and helps flesh them out. 5 if you do sort of count Talanah. And each of them are fine, Erend helps put to rest the groups that took her sister away aswell as helps stops Regalla's forces, Kotallo builds a new robotic arm after losing his old one at the beginning of the game, Alva discovers more about another Old One and has a bigger revelation of the morality of the old ones, and Zo finds a way to heal the land gods of Plainsong and bring life to it anew.
That's all fine and good, and i have nothing against them. They are fun ways to explore and finish out arcs for each of those characters now given new solutions thanks to Aloy and the Focuses they've trained with.And for the other 5, well GAIA technically is more a system and much of the game revolves around her so that's not much to talk on, and Sylens and Tilda are only important for endgame stuff and nothing more. Same applies to Regalla and that's only if you spared her. There is not much to do with those 4.
The last 2 though, Beta and Varl i'm a bit more iffy on. With Beta i'm closer to leaning on the story for why we didn't get much for her, as she's mostly very cut off from everyone, and only comes around before she gets taken by Far Zenith again. I do kind of wish that we got at least a small thing, like maybe help her with planning or getting materials, or something, but it's not the worst thing, and I assume the third game would flesh her out a bit more anyways, whenever it comes out.
Varl is the only one i feel this issue with strongly, and it's just because that there is a lot that changes with him from the first game, he in sticking with Aloy is able to help her in ways she couldn't without, and he's able to not only get a focus and start learning from it, but also begins a relationship with Zo that is build through the rest of the game, especially after he's gone. He's a very important person, and his death is well earned through that, as a proper knife twist at the "darkest hour" moment. My problem though is the most we really get to interact with Varl through this game his the chats you can have with him that every other character gives, or through story events. What i'd want is just a chance for him to flesh out in someway, like maybe a time-sensitive quest that can only be done before his time in the story is done. Where we get a chance to explore something about him more like maybe something involving his reflection of where he is now to his home back east in with the Nora, maybe a sweet little story where they take the stuffed animal dialouge mentioned and actually try to make something of it, like they say to make a doll, and that doll is passed on to Zo who will then pass it on to their child. Something sweet like that, something to connect him now back to the first game, and make that knife twist of his death hurt all the more. My main problem with Varl isn't him, but that there is more that can't be said due to how the game structured base side-quests. Just some potential now missing. Otherwise he's a fine character.
Before the spoiler stuff ends, I think the last reason why this game makes me feel mixed is the unveiling of Nemesis, what looks to be another type of apocalypse approaching earth that far zenith were trying to escape. The reason i feel conflicted is it sort of makes the ending feel a little flat to the first game. Like there, we save meridian, and we're able to let the allies get a chance to celebrate and being to rebuild, as well as a scene for Aloy to track down Elisabet's old home, as a sweet little way to bring the story all around. Only for a post credits scene featuring Hades escaping to Sylens overseeing a valley of decommissioned Horus units, hinting there is still so much left to see, with threads of another plot being brewed. And wouldn't you know, that was carried on by this game. I said it before, that this game feels like a step up tonally and stake wise. Where before we were stopping a rouge AI from reawakening an ancient plague that wiped out the old world, now it's the new world fighting against the remnants of that old world, those with nothing but time and power to wield. And you know what, I should feel a bit more intrigued here, as our next threat is the force that wiped out most of those highly advanced remnants, were fighting a new age force of doom and destruction that threatens more than just to reset the biosphere or destroy it, but completely wipe out the planet.
The stakes are higher sure, but I don't feel it. The ending had a nice little send off with everyone getting ready to approach the new threat, but that's it. Nothing to incite anything, just the credits and then back to the post game. I feel very mixed about it, because while we do have a set-up to the next threat, there is so little fanfare about it that it feels a bit hollow. It retroactively makes all we did to get to this point feel JUST like stepping stones, and the next threat feel sort of out of scale to what Horizon set itself as. I'm fairly sure that this feeling will aleviate as news of Horizon 3 comes around, but as of now, I don't feel much other than a story that is slated for a continuation. The story didn't stop, it did conclude this tale, but it doesn't feel that grand and I'm honestly a little unsure of how to feel about that looking forward.
Anyways that's it for Spoilery Stuff
Spoiler Section ENDS
Overall I feel very certain that this is a good game, but I'm a little hesitant to say I like it more than the first game. It's sort of like a Judgment and Lost Judgment thing, at least on my first feels of those 2 games. The gameplay loops in both is really fun, and the second game does a lot to make that feel even better than before. But certain things about the story or character direction makes me feel a little less attached to the things I cared about in the first games. It's definetly not as big as what i'd use to feel between Judgement and Lost Judgement, but I do feel an odd disconnect from the game due to some of the things i mentioned. Though that is purely on a story basis, gameplay wise, they are great. I like this game, I wouldn't have spent so long typing otherwise.