As of today, I have sunk a good 80 hours into a game that released a week ago.
Considering Zero Dawn is my all-time favorite game, Forbidden West had big shoes to fill... and ultimately, I cannot say that it is a better game overall.
I particularly have issues with the story; the initial motivator of Horizon is simple: find your mom. Whereas in FW, it's immediately apparent that this is a story about the 'chosen one,' on a quest to 'save the world' and all the complexities of saving said world- and, perhaps I am too used to JRPGS wherein a hero's disappearance is regarded with concern, I am still sour about the poor reception Aloy receives upon reconciling with her friends.
The beginning of this game is a slog; the prologue is in no small words, completely awful. Too heavily scripted, there is the possibility of failing a mission, while being surrounded with a whole variety of characters being highkey passive-aggressive because Aloy didn't spare time to give anyone a blowjob. It is, after all, almost entirely men who are upset with her departure; sad men who have romantic or otherwise ship-tease fodder with her. I hated the first few hours of this game and truly began to doubt myself - was Zero Dawn actually that good? Were the Nintendo fans right all along?
Then, as if insecure, the game abruptly ends the prologue and gets good. With foresight, however, I find the starting areas of the map very... dull. In comparison to the rest of the map its content is scare, nearly nonexistent. As far as I can tell, these areas are never further fleshed out - I've only backtracked to it once, for a very brief mission that largely involves conversation.
The lack of ZD's map is depressing, the inability to return and see how your familiar world has changed within the past six months... the game is ushering you into its title, westward bound, and completely disregards the opportunity to return home.
Altogether I find FW's map smaller than ZD's, albeit I am probably in the minority thinking this. While there is definitely more content within the world, always something interesting to explore, the whole of it feels... tiny. I've been anxiously avoiding Tallnecks in order to have some semblance of a unique experience, to not be ushered into blips on the map.
Actually, I changed the HUD settings, something I don't normally do. I began to appreciate FW a lot more once I turned off quest logs and pointers, the compass, leaving only my marker to guide me. I became more skeptical of my surroundings, to ensure I would not be surprised by any machines... truly, I wish these were the settings by default. No longer was the game suggesting where to go, or warning of a nearby enemy camp... the only interjections are the appearance of cauldrons and Tallnecks, if anything.
Continuing, the combat sure makes decisions. Are they good decisions? I don't know!
A lot of ZD's cheese is removed; you cannot pick enemies off one-by-one by luring them anymore. Rocks are only a temporary early-game replacement, for later enemies will merely look at the diversion from afar or will outright avoid the grass. Even if you manage to get them within silent strike range, the strike isn't a near-guarantee kill either. Thankfully most machines will engage in one-on-one combat, only alerting their friends if you give them an opening... but alive human enemies, almost 100% of the time, will first call for backup. Thus, any human that is above your ground level cannot be stealthily killed, their armor prevents any headshots, and their preference for alerting others ensures that the ensuing combat quickly evolves into a unbalanced firefight. Running away briefly is pretty much the only viable option for these situations.
Elemental conditions have been nerf'd too. Unless you get insanely lucky with the instantaneous corroding coil, quickly follow-up susceptible chain reaction points, or are in a comfortable enough position to spam bombs - and all of these situations are rare - you are not going to put them in a vulnerable elemental state. This also isn't a high risk/high reward balancing aspect; brittle is fleetingly temporary and the ice makes it difficult to hit anywhere that's sensitive to impact damage, fire overwhelms any weak spots, and drenching any enemy is almost useless. I find acid and frost to be the most useful for harder enemies and some medium-to-small scale machines are mercifully easier to ignite. Otherwise, it is necessary to remove attack components and target vulnerable areas; ZD did give you perks for weak spot damage but firing recklessly still did... some damage. Good luck with that in FW, with an extra helping of good luck aiming for areas underneath bellies or around their throat.
Also, forget close combat with the worst of machines. FW's ropecaster is laughable in comparison to ZD's. What's that? Just use the sticky bomb, it's practically the same thing as ZD's ropecaster? Whoever told you that is completely wrong. As an elemental, the adhesive bomb has to build up to its sticky state... and even if you do pin them down, some enemies can just nope out of it. Shellsnappers and Rockbreakers are the worst offenders for they will get stuck for mere seconds and then tunnel themselves underground. Which means their adhesive state begins to dwindle, which means when they resurface the effect is gone. And because these enemies burrow, they are going to be the ones you will want to get in place the most. Seriously! Who OK'd this decision, I just want to talk.
If you were skilled and brave enough, you could go head-to-head with ZD's Thunderjaws or Stormbirds. In FW? Forget about it. You insist? Okay, well, in my opinion, it's a very easy way to get yourself killed in FW.
Aloy is sluggish and more susceptible to combos, the ropes and adhesive don't last nearly long enough, sandwiching her in a very nice snack of death. Ranged combat is heavily encouraged... and it takes forever, due to all the factors of difficulty of aiming, elemental build-up difficulty, etc. It's a chore, even as someone who prefers long-distance. Sometimes it is just faster to be up close and personal, I want to be risky, I want to play dangerously... and these threats are just too massive and they can lock you into inescapable combos with ease.
Beyond all of the bad, of the NERFing, of inane decisions that I have to believe were somehow oversight... I prefer FW's battle system. Sure, I do miss when Aloy was more flexible, I miss cancelling certain attacks. But FW's system makes sure that you have to play safe. Dodging is a small respite. You have to consider every possible option, have to gauge how enemies might respond and planning your reactions. Every movement is strategical and it will swiftly punish you for playing subpar. While I do wish it was more, "pick your flavor," I understand why they changed directions and in the end I do appreciate it. I was reckless in ZD, taking advantage of cheese or the AI's stupidity.
Gotta grow up sometime, I suppose.
There's smaller, minor things. The frustration with climbing, how they copy-pasted it. How they changed collectables, how the depth of these miniature stories are lesser. Yet, there is a plethora of smaller, minor things that I like so, so much.
The introduced QOL features I cannot imagine living without. New features, like gliding and being underwater. Exploration is fine-tuned. The humor is more consistent, the new characters are more thought out regardless of their role. All aspects of FW could be (massively) improved, it stumbles where ZD soared, and it isn't an entirely better game than its predecessor. Despite it all, Forbidden West is a new game that I unabashedly love.
Considering Zero Dawn is my all-time favorite game, Forbidden West had big shoes to fill... and ultimately, I cannot say that it is a better game overall.
I particularly have issues with the story; the initial motivator of Horizon is simple: find your mom. Whereas in FW, it's immediately apparent that this is a story about the 'chosen one,' on a quest to 'save the world' and all the complexities of saving said world- and, perhaps I am too used to JRPGS wherein a hero's disappearance is regarded with concern, I am still sour about the poor reception Aloy receives upon reconciling with her friends.
The beginning of this game is a slog; the prologue is in no small words, completely awful. Too heavily scripted, there is the possibility of failing a mission, while being surrounded with a whole variety of characters being highkey passive-aggressive because Aloy didn't spare time to give anyone a blowjob. It is, after all, almost entirely men who are upset with her departure; sad men who have romantic or otherwise ship-tease fodder with her. I hated the first few hours of this game and truly began to doubt myself - was Zero Dawn actually that good? Were the Nintendo fans right all along?
Then, as if insecure, the game abruptly ends the prologue and gets good. With foresight, however, I find the starting areas of the map very... dull. In comparison to the rest of the map its content is scare, nearly nonexistent. As far as I can tell, these areas are never further fleshed out - I've only backtracked to it once, for a very brief mission that largely involves conversation.
The lack of ZD's map is depressing, the inability to return and see how your familiar world has changed within the past six months... the game is ushering you into its title, westward bound, and completely disregards the opportunity to return home.
Altogether I find FW's map smaller than ZD's, albeit I am probably in the minority thinking this. While there is definitely more content within the world, always something interesting to explore, the whole of it feels... tiny. I've been anxiously avoiding Tallnecks in order to have some semblance of a unique experience, to not be ushered into blips on the map.
Actually, I changed the HUD settings, something I don't normally do. I began to appreciate FW a lot more once I turned off quest logs and pointers, the compass, leaving only my marker to guide me. I became more skeptical of my surroundings, to ensure I would not be surprised by any machines... truly, I wish these were the settings by default. No longer was the game suggesting where to go, or warning of a nearby enemy camp... the only interjections are the appearance of cauldrons and Tallnecks, if anything.
Continuing, the combat sure makes decisions. Are they good decisions? I don't know!
A lot of ZD's cheese is removed; you cannot pick enemies off one-by-one by luring them anymore. Rocks are only a temporary early-game replacement, for later enemies will merely look at the diversion from afar or will outright avoid the grass. Even if you manage to get them within silent strike range, the strike isn't a near-guarantee kill either. Thankfully most machines will engage in one-on-one combat, only alerting their friends if you give them an opening... but alive human enemies, almost 100% of the time, will first call for backup. Thus, any human that is above your ground level cannot be stealthily killed, their armor prevents any headshots, and their preference for alerting others ensures that the ensuing combat quickly evolves into a unbalanced firefight. Running away briefly is pretty much the only viable option for these situations.
Elemental conditions have been nerf'd too. Unless you get insanely lucky with the instantaneous corroding coil, quickly follow-up susceptible chain reaction points, or are in a comfortable enough position to spam bombs - and all of these situations are rare - you are not going to put them in a vulnerable elemental state. This also isn't a high risk/high reward balancing aspect; brittle is fleetingly temporary and the ice makes it difficult to hit anywhere that's sensitive to impact damage, fire overwhelms any weak spots, and drenching any enemy is almost useless. I find acid and frost to be the most useful for harder enemies and some medium-to-small scale machines are mercifully easier to ignite. Otherwise, it is necessary to remove attack components and target vulnerable areas; ZD did give you perks for weak spot damage but firing recklessly still did... some damage. Good luck with that in FW, with an extra helping of good luck aiming for areas underneath bellies or around their throat.
Also, forget close combat with the worst of machines. FW's ropecaster is laughable in comparison to ZD's. What's that? Just use the sticky bomb, it's practically the same thing as ZD's ropecaster? Whoever told you that is completely wrong. As an elemental, the adhesive bomb has to build up to its sticky state... and even if you do pin them down, some enemies can just nope out of it. Shellsnappers and Rockbreakers are the worst offenders for they will get stuck for mere seconds and then tunnel themselves underground. Which means their adhesive state begins to dwindle, which means when they resurface the effect is gone. And because these enemies burrow, they are going to be the ones you will want to get in place the most. Seriously! Who OK'd this decision, I just want to talk.
If you were skilled and brave enough, you could go head-to-head with ZD's Thunderjaws or Stormbirds. In FW? Forget about it. You insist? Okay, well, in my opinion, it's a very easy way to get yourself killed in FW.
Aloy is sluggish and more susceptible to combos, the ropes and adhesive don't last nearly long enough, sandwiching her in a very nice snack of death. Ranged combat is heavily encouraged... and it takes forever, due to all the factors of difficulty of aiming, elemental build-up difficulty, etc. It's a chore, even as someone who prefers long-distance. Sometimes it is just faster to be up close and personal, I want to be risky, I want to play dangerously... and these threats are just too massive and they can lock you into inescapable combos with ease.
Beyond all of the bad, of the NERFing, of inane decisions that I have to believe were somehow oversight... I prefer FW's battle system. Sure, I do miss when Aloy was more flexible, I miss cancelling certain attacks. But FW's system makes sure that you have to play safe. Dodging is a small respite. You have to consider every possible option, have to gauge how enemies might respond and planning your reactions. Every movement is strategical and it will swiftly punish you for playing subpar. While I do wish it was more, "pick your flavor," I understand why they changed directions and in the end I do appreciate it. I was reckless in ZD, taking advantage of cheese or the AI's stupidity.
Gotta grow up sometime, I suppose.
There's smaller, minor things. The frustration with climbing, how they copy-pasted it. How they changed collectables, how the depth of these miniature stories are lesser. Yet, there is a plethora of smaller, minor things that I like so, so much.
The introduced QOL features I cannot imagine living without. New features, like gliding and being underwater. Exploration is fine-tuned. The humor is more consistent, the new characters are more thought out regardless of their role. All aspects of FW could be (massively) improved, it stumbles where ZD soared, and it isn't an entirely better game than its predecessor. Despite it all, Forbidden West is a new game that I unabashedly love.