izigame.me

I wondered what kind of review to post. After some time and watching other reviews I found a comment under a YouTube video which best describes this game.
"It's the okayest game, not bad, not great, just okay."
That being said, there are without a doubt aspects which push it more towards greatness. Graphics, sound and world design are top of it's class. Especially machine design, you can tell there was a lot of work put into it, Slitherfang is one of my favorite. World is also beautiful although I had some qualms about it's traversion. Sound fits the scenes and gameplay loop.
Story
What I had a problem with was the story, some of the gameplay and characters (main and NPCs).
Story is pretty bland, and didn't really pull me in nowhere as close as the first game did. What kept me through this game was the sheer love I had for the first, but even now I feel like I'll have to reconsider my opinion on Zero Dawn. I didn't do much sidequests. What derailed my desire to start them were the characters. Characters were either very annoying, uninteresting or both. Some parts of the quests were so bad, even the main story, that I would roll my eyes at the dialogue, especially when the story would introduce some "villain" (More on it later).
My main gripe started in the Chainscrape, at the start of the game, the Ulvund questline. Just a cartoonishly villanous character. Greedy, uncompassionate, mafioso-like, I am surprised he doesn't kick puppies for fun. It seemed he is just a foil for Petra, to be her opposite, to make her shine more. The new, better leader.
I started to notice more and more how some characters are treated by the story, especially men. And then I noticed how Aloy acts and talks to some of them. Men are for the most time either villains, dumb (or comic relief), or yes-men to Aloy. For example, stupid, cowardly priest Vuadis. Utaru priest which tried to keep Aloy from accessing cauldron, Erend as a comic relief or a muscle. Most of the NPCs, questgivers or male characters talking during the quest felt uninspiring.
Aloy is just annoying, uninteresting character with no personality. Very cold at times. Almost half of the game can be summarized by this statement: "I have to save the world, don't stay in my way." And it doesn't matter if it's Hekkaro, Zeniths, evil men or Varl. Aloy knows best and she doesn't need anyone else, they are just in the way, because they will never understand the weight. Thankfully, this changes once you get to the base, but I almost stopped playing before I got to that point, shelving it for half a year. BUT, here is an example of what I am talking about:
Aloy seeks a subfunction which is under the throne room of Tenakth chieftain Hekkaro. He politely stated his price for access to the ruins. Help him get one of the rebelious tribe for a combat trial. Aloy threatens to kill Hekkaro, and then agrees to the proposition anyway. Like a macho theater for the player.
Aloy's personality is essentialy non-existent, somewhat shifting depending on the context, story. One time she tries to be compassionate, another time it almost looks like she doesn't understand how to talk to people politely. Apart from saving the world, I, as a player, know almost nothing about her. She doesn't really talk much about anyone else, has some passing mentions of Rost and Elisabeth, but not much to go on. At the beginning, the dream about Elisabeth is just dropped, never expanded upon. None at all. Aloy longing for a mother in a matriarchal society? No, too complicated. What a wasted opportunity. Beta mended this hole a little bit, but looking back, what does this relationship say about Aloy? She essentialy loves herself – her clone.
Characters
I didn't really care for any one. Because none of them have anything much interesting going for them. Walking through the world was interesting and kept me going through most of the playthrough, but I refrained from doing any side quests precisely because it was a boring waste of time. I completed some, but regretted doing them afterwards. i just didn't find it entertaining by the aforementioned cons above.
Gameplay
Gameplay was okay. Feels a bit bloated at times, especially with the number of weapons and the limitation of equipment slots. Usually in these types of games you have a main settlement where you can get the best gear. In the first game it was Meridian and I remember getting the best bow in the Hunting lodge. But in this game, I just couldn't find much upgrades for my weapons - which might be on me, by focusing mostly on the main story and forgoing any side quests or deep exploration. It didn't hinder me in anyway, fights just took more time.
Skills seemed kind of lazy, to a certain degree. Passive upgrades like "2 % melee damage" is just not something to get worked up about unlocking. Melee skills were interesting, but after a while I refrained from fighting in melee, it feels a little wonky, out of place. Different paths in the skill tree (warrior, trapper, hunter...) seemed like a great idea at first glance, but after some time were just a 'meh'.
Some machines felt a little bit immersion breaking. Aloy can withstand a strike from Slitherfang or Dreadwing, but then a character tosses her a meter away and she has trouble standing up. But that's something not exclusive to this game. Something which usually plagues the genre.
I played with controller. Some of the keybinds are a bit unfortunate - gliding and hold release on square make it irritating when you try to parkour and glide. (I also had one issue, but might be just me. Everytime I aimed, the crosshairs would slowly move left for a few seconds and then stop - making shooting bothersome at times)
Getting overrides in cauldrons and then having to unlock them with machine parts seems a bit tedious.
Flying seems to be the same speed as walking, only advantage is the avoidance of map layering.

I wanted to love this game, I really did. Zero Dawn was one of my favorites, but now I think it fell down in my eyes a bit. Story as a whole was okay, ending semi-interesting but I probably won't return for potential sequels.
I don't know if I should recomment this game or not. I am torn exactly in the middle. Gameplay wise, I would recommend it, but story is a deal breaker for me. I would therefore weigh towards Not recommending.