Horizon Zero Dawn critique

theoretically she was perfect with nothing in need to change (practically she didn't need to mature she was mature from the beginning)

I agree with 80% of this. You are spot on regarding Aloy’s character…. same thing in the sequel

This game has the worst character dialogue I have EVER, EVER seen and listened. Even much worse than a lot of the trash anime that the kids watch. This game was so bad. So very bad. A terrible game. It's the characters, dialogue, and story that make it terrible. They're so bad, they offset the good gameplay, beautiful world, and interesting machines, to make this a terrible gameplay experience. Also, you cannot explore the world meaningfully. Aloy can only climb specific parts of certain mountains and structures, which limits mobility. Worst game I've played in a while.

You nailed it, kudos for having the guts to review it honestly. I bought the game on PC after several recommendations and I really expected some good AAA title. The game is mediocre at best, you nailed the points that bothered me the most. Good job.

i very much agree with this review. i love the game, but aloy is such a tragically missed opportunity. she could've been such a cool character were she just better written, all they needed to do was give her a character arc. the story is also very much lackluster but i do like what they did with the worldbuilding here and there. i wonder what you think of forbidden west? i think its a step up in terms of side characters and i think theyve done a great job at making the world feel more alive, but unforunately, aloy has the same writing problems as before, which is such a shame. the potential these games have!! (also i will always be a defender of random small lootboxes, it makes me feel like the devs are giving me a little treat lmao)

THANK YOU for making this video, it was cathartic. After finally playing this game, I cannot believe the review scores given how boring, bland and generic it is.

You really put into words exactly what is was feeling but couldn’t really pinpoint. Subbed!

Soulless defines the second game

I HATE when the characters just talk to themselves about every stupid thing they see! It's so annoying! Days Gone did the same thing. It makes me resent the character and start mocking them every time they speak.

Mediocre game and you were able to realize it. Good girl.

I would like less movies in games. Approximately zero.

I thought I was just getting old that games are getting boring! What relief to have stumbled upon this video. Thank you!

simply stated a boring game 100 gb of beautiful garbage don't even feel like ranting

Pretty world but felt soulless- agree. Things felt methodical, too much focus on farming, & dialogue wasn't interesting. Combat was fun when it came to it but probably too much fluff in between it all.

Thank you so much, I was so frustrated at this story's flaws, and people's refusal to see them., But also, the story itself is not that great and full of contrivance.

I love your critique. Your point about we needing more female characters who are assholes is so true and it's an idea I've been passionate about for a while now. Still very relevant commentary.

The gameplay is decent but the story is lowkey trash. Lots of forced DEI story elements that are blatantly obvious

There is why people in the comments Reddit steam I love the Forums for these games are paid companies shills and they love making people feel like s***when they have any constructive criticism about their games.

Valve getting too rich to bother making games has been a real detriment to the video game industry.

They should’ve deleted 90% of the npcs and dialogues, abandone open world. Focus on combat, make it an action game where you spend most of the time fighting mechs. Then the game would be much better.

Days Gone deserved the sequel more than this game
Days Gone had soul and heart
I find playing Horizon a chore rather than joy
It's incredibly.... bland

Games with servicable at best combat and great characters, stories/storytelling or more specifically ''experiences'' getting 10/10s and actual video games with fun gameplay getting 7/10s or 8/10s is the reason why gaming is dying. Not saying Horizon is a perfect game, not even in the gameplay department since it falls into the trap of many games becoming easier with progression(games should become harder as you progress, not easier), but it's still very fun and far better than many open world action/adventure games can offer.

I share the same opinion as you and your video reassured me that nothing is wrong with me to dislike a "popular" game haha.

What's your opinion on forbidden west?

I think you helped me put what I didn’t like about the game into words—especially the final section. I felt like the story was weak when everyone heralds how incredible it is. I don’t care about the characters at all—they kill a character in the second game and my first thought was “no, that’s the only character I really liked!” Realising that the rest of them I either hated or were ‘fine’ with.

Completely agree.
+ The facial expressions are so weird! But I heard they fixed that in Horizon part 2. I wonder what else they fixed... (Idea for another video? Although you'd have to play through another similar game..)

In the end this ended up being a game I sometimes come back to for a few quests, until I get tired again if the fetch quests etc, and put it back down again. No, I have not finished the game yet.

My favourite part is a mission where you have to track a missing person, you can clearly see a cartoonishly big trail of blood that goes up to a a mountain, you follow it and nothing happens when the trail stops. The thing was that you have to use the "detective vision" at the start of the trail for Aloy to notice it, she must be blind, and then you can follow the trail, enemies now attack you at the end of the trail.

😐..............😡

nah.

I'm surprised by all the negativism in the comments. I understand if you say the game was boring for you or that it felt empty, but saying the story is 'trash,' that the game's bad just because 'it's another open-world,' or calling people names for liking the game? Are y'all 12? I personally really liked the game, despite its numerous flaws. The dialogue did often feel weird and disingenuous, the world could've been more lively, and eventually, side missions felt really samey, but the overall gameplay loop was still fun. The writing certainly wasn't deserving of an award, but it was still enjoyable.

Yet after reading through the comment section, some of you seem to be describing a totally different game. HZD has its upsides, such as the fun combat (in both HZD and HFW). The story is also interesting, and even if it isn't complex, it's still good enough to fuel the progression. There are some dull moments (like the 'Ersa' storyline, for example), but it certainly isn't as terrible as some of you are describing. A guy complained about the story being bad because it's mostly a backstory, not a story taking place in the present. What do you mean? That's like saying that a documentary is a bad piece of media because you enjoy action movies. I agree with the critique; I felt the same about most of the points. But is it really necessary to shit on the game and the people who enjoy it just because you didn't like it yourself? You can critique something while staying respectful.

Wow! it sucks that there are people who can't enjoy this masterpiece of a game. It's so damn addicting.

This video aged so well

I totally agree with you, its so hollow and static in many ways! (Expept for the awesome robots)

I agree with your points, the game feels more like a theme park than a real world, I think the Gothic series of games does a better job at making a believable world and those games are 20 years old. In Gothic 1 for example, people actually protect their valuables, there are no quest markers, NPC's give you verbal directions that you have to follow, when you start the game you are less than nobody and the game makes sure to remind you of it, guards will ask you for protection money, NPC's will try to beat up, scam, rob and take advantage of you and its up to you to outhustle the hustlers, become strong and enact your sweet revenge (if you so choose).

I would love to see a video on gothic if you ever get the chance (maybe wait for the upcoming gothic 1 remake)

PS: If you do end up playing Gothic 1 I have a tip to make your life a little easier at the start. There is a smith in the old camp that will teach you how to make swords from scratch, then you can buy all of his iron rods, turn them into swords and sell them back for a nice profit. Also if you have trouble with the controls just google gothic 1 mouse patch

Subscribed!!!

everything you said is perfectly on point, this game is so boring that I played ng+ in ultra hard and try not to use fast travel at all, about the developer's goal, they achieved it cause what makes me return to this game over and over again is the landscape and the combat, other than that I still have no idea about the story and still mad aloy despise her tribe and becoming chieftain in frozen wild DLC, like you said she's too perfect

I like brainless mindless entertainment
but I also like essays that tear them apart.

It pisses me off how Sony worship this game and cancel Days Gone 2 even tho Days Gone was a MUCH better game!

Uhhhhh that last part about protagonists needing to be messy, while showing Joel from the last of us, did you forget about ellie?

I thought I was the only one

You sulked at the game the learning curve was too steep for you soo you made this video roasting the game .. good job I hope you feel better about your self.

Video starts: “THIS IS A VIDEORRRR” sorry. I’m immature. Proceed.

You are totally right. The first time and last one that i played this game i was thinking that it would be awesome in the narrative. Heck! This game is freaking beautiful! But when i played it was boring, and souless. I didn't finished story because it was so boring...

They did a much better job with storytelling in forbidden west and I’m excited for the zero Dawn remaster. I agree with most of your critiques but I’ve noticed that gurilla has insanely improved since zero Dawn and I’m honestly hopeful for the future of horizon in that aspect

I too in fact enjoy it when Aloy turns on her witcher sense and goes "Hmmm, might wanna look around some"(in Geralt's voice)😂But yeah in all honesty this game's presentation is the problem. You can tell the devs worked really hard on the art and design of creatures and everything. Its mainly the writing team/people that could not present any interesting ideas or ways to tell their story. They told a very good and interesting story in a way that made it look worse

Yes. Yes. And yes. Finally someone with standards.

Congrats on Horizon for somehow making a game about robot dinosaurs boring

There's an uncanny valley look to all of the characters, like I'm talking to an endless procession of shiny, plastic mannequins. It severely detracts from the game when I'm trying to suspend my disbelief at the terrible, badly textured people I'm interacting with. They really needed to look closely into how to create skin textures before releasing this game. The character designs don't help, either, often looking completely ridiculous.

As an afterthought, Ubisoft get a lot of grief for churning out their annual Assassin's Creed games, yet AC: Odyssey is more engaging than Horizon ZD, with luscious greenery, impressive architecture, and people who actually look like people. The character models are far more lifelike, and the missions more creative and engaging. AC: Black Flag has terrible controls, but a far more enjoyable story and overall experience. Then there's AC: Syndicate, which has a brilliant Victorian London to explore, and which is great fun to simply walk around. AC: Syndicate is actually a superb game. Next to the best half dozen Assassin's Creeds, HZD is almost a complete disaster, being glossy yet amateurish and badly designed in numerous ways. Just writing about those much maligned Assassin's Creed games is making me want to go and play them. Horizon: Zero Dawn actually repels me with its botched character designs, idiotic side quests and its laughable dialogue.

Finally, in the sequel, Aloy has become a square jawed man in a wig. Obviously.