izigame.me

Reviewing a 100+ hour game is always a difficult endeavor. There's always a plethora of activities to partake in. There's metagames to play and games within games within games. There are things to collect and catalogue and I wouldn't be surprised if there were taxes and forms to file in game as well. Having played 91 hours of those hundred and only having obtained 61% of its achievements feels like I am still missing out even after spending so much time in game. I still have so many greyed-out illustrations in the overworld. I still have side missions to complete and vistas to admire. I am still missing out.

~ Estimated reading time 4-6 mins ~

Most of the time that's how games like these make me feel. The all consuming behemoth of the open world collectathon formula. There is always more to do, more to see, but unfortunately you are always left feeling a kind of emptiness. A kind of emptiness that makes playing the game a numbing experience. It feels like it wants me stuck in a mandatory loop of hyperfocus - crossing out items on a checklist. Every box checked triggers my brain into releasing tiny little drops of pure liquid dopamine.

I realize that I'm very much describing what burnout is in a way. I realize that maybe it's my fault for interfacing with the game in the way I have. The story is actually well paced (albeit with way too much exposition for my taste). It wasn't really necessary to binge the game like I did - but in my mind the experience feels paradoxical in a way as well. How could I not binge it when it's very clearly designed to be played like that? Burnout feels inevitable in games like these my friends, so please heed my words of warning.

In any case, this game is absolutely stunning! It's a marvel to look at in every moment. It's definitely the most beautiful and inspiring (graphically) game I've ever played. Out of my 91 hours playing the game probably at least 30 were spent in the photo editor (joke). The amount of detail is overwhelming and it's hard to grasp the amount of work that went into the game. Everything, from the way the grass sways as the wind softly nudges it, to the FLAWLESS facial animations, to how machines discombobulate when you hit their weak points with an arrow, exudes polish. I mean, it's a game where water actually looks incredible! they found a way to program waves and everything. Words mean nothing when trying to describe the visual integrity of the game and how well it connects with everything. I adore that it's very exploration focused and that it delights the player with many different vibes and biomes. As I played it I remember mentioning to my wife how cool it must be to be in charge of designing the looks of the different tribes that appear in game. The structures and their fashion choices change depending on the biome. Whether it's a marsh, a snowy mountain or a tropical beach you can rest assured that the people that habit the area will be dressed accordingly. This does wonders for immersion.

Another high point of the game is its combat (for the most part). The game has an incredible amount of monster variety (around 43 different types). It helps that monsters are machines modelled after real life animals most of the time - so you have monkeys, hippos, deer, panthers, rhinos, a mix of some and elemental variations of some as well. You never stop seeing new mobs that have different dangerous looking hooks and claws that can kill you in 10 different ways. Aloy (our protagonist), thankfully, has a huge ass arsenal of light and heavy weapons to defend herself and tbh this is one of the main reasons the game is so addictive. You only start with a bow & arrow, but as you start offing machines you can find and upgrade new weapons with their machine carcasses. Weapon progression is very nicely paced (with exception of the fucking piece of shit iron flowers which aren't really weapons, but a ridiculously thick-skulled way of stopping player progression altogether) and depending on how much you grind you can become very overpowered. There is melee battling in this game but there is not a lot to say about it. It feels flimsy and underpowered throughout the whole game (even taking into account the new combo system introduced in this game) and it was way more annoying than helpful.

The story is pretty cool. I can always vibe with a post apocalyptic interpretation of the world any day. It has all the really good sci-fi stuff: clones, machines, aliens from outer space, sentient AI and a tiring humongous quest to save all humanity from itself. Despite the voice acting being one of the best in the game (heh), the game suffers from very bland character writing and it is SUCH a shame to see. At many points in the game I felt happy to see so much potential for a character but it was crushing to be immediately disappointed when they were revealed to be the stereotypical ultra villainized 1980s James Bond character. Bad guys that can't be empathized with aren't really good bad guys, they're just lazily written bad bad guys if you know what I mean.

I really don't like giving a mixed review for a game with so much effort and polish behind it. I had so many good times with it, but they feel like they were always tarnished by something - and most of the times it was the crashing. I have no clue how a 69x triple A game passes QA when it crashes like this game does. A story that is unfortunately becoming more common in modern gaming. I rarely complain about this, but I feel like it shouldn't be acceptable for a game nowadays to crash so much that it deters me from wanting to play it (and yeah, I spent days troubleshooting everything). I almost gave up on it, but I am glad I didn't.

All in all, Horizon Forbidden west is an extremely aesthetic experience with very finely tunes controls and combat. It's a joyous experience until the bloat gets too overwhelming or the game crashes on you 420 times per second.

I give it a 3 Aloe out of 5 🌿🌿🌿