Horizon Forbidden Waifu

[Bebpo]

So the game's growing on me, but uhh do you have to unlock time of day or something? I've been playing for 7 hours and I've never seen night here in the Daunt? The night/day cycle and its lighting and weather brought some of the best visuals in the original. This is ...weird.

[Bebpo]

Also it's funny how the Carja guards are no longer green skinned anymore. That was so fucking weird in the first one and made no sense why these humans would have green skin.

[Bebpo]

The watchers in this game are waaaaaay more annoying. Their eye area is smaller and they move around a ton. Watchers were a joke in the original but here they aren't at least at the beginning.

But I do like that you don't die from minor fall damage anymore. That is a very good QoL improvement. Also resources going to your stash is good. And mount from the start is good.

[Let's Cyber]

Time of day is frozen in the Daunt until after a certain story mission. I assume it's a purposeful stylistic choice because the benches to push forward time of day are locked off too.
'

[Bebpo]

Seems silly. But this game has strange choices.

Also I don't really like there being tons of weapons and outfits now with minor perks. Mostly because buying them all and upgrading them all is a lot of money and resources. Game feels like it's gonna be way more of a grind game than the original :|

And animal hunting is still there in tons which sucks. Was one of the weakest parts of the original. Hunting birds is awfulll.

[Bebpo]

One thing I never liked in Horizon 1 and even less here is how Aloy is a dick to everyone. Like she talks down to everyoooone. She's the world saviour and its up to her to save everything and she's better than everyone and they're useless. Not really a great stance for a lead franchise character.

[Bebpo]

Also I feel the skills are like they took all the skills from the previous game and just cut them into pieces so you get like 1/4th of the amount of skill as before, so now there are many skills and you get skill points more often but like you're not really getting stronger than the first game? Like stealth seems really nerfed, right now I have +2 on detection and movement and I still get seen faster & from further away than I would with no stealth anything in the original.

And they nerfed triple arrow hard by having it cost stamina and only being useable for one bow type. The weapon skills in general seem kind of meh so far. Like when do I want to fire a few arrows into the sky and have them rain down vs just triple arrow shooting where I want to hit? I guess if there are dinos with weakpoints on top or something...

Valor supers are also weird. They are like a street fighter super with a cutscene but they're just like...passive buffs? Why not have them being a cutscene where Alloy does some badass high damage attack like firing a flurry of super arrows forward or something? It just seems ...odd.

The having to break off parts for drops and cooking sure feels more Monster Hunter than usual.

Also not sure why this game doesn't have co-op like Monster Hunter. Could easily have Varl accompany her the whole game.

[Bebpo]

Spent an hour trying to beat the first chess chainstrike person in their 2nd board and can't. This game seems really fucking hard or I'm missing something.

[Bebpo]

This game's so weird. I like it and can't stop playing. They've really made every activity have more to it content-wise, but coming straight from Frozen Wilds all maxed out you are so fucking weak in this even for a while and it's a very, very slow burn to get back to even just having access to the various elements to hit the weakspots.

I feel like the combat will flow better in the back half when you have better gear.

But the skill tree pretty much sucks and stealth is awful now. No noise meter and you can't even tell which enemy is aggro'd when you see the yellow indicator pop up. Stuff sees you so easily and gets everyone on your tail. Just feels a lot more clumsy stealth whereas the first game had pretty good stealth.

[Bebpo]

Another thing is that this game is really horny for a game with no romance options (at least that I know of). There's at least 3 dudes and 1 gal that want to fuck/marry Aloy covering basically all the archetype dating game options but there's no romance option. Was weird in game 1, even weirder here since it comes up even more.

[HardcoreRetro]

One thing I never liked in Horizon 1 and even less here is how Aloy is a dick to everyone. Like she talks down to everyoooone. She's the world saviour and its up to her to save everything and she's better than everyone and they're useless. Not really a great stance for a lead franchise character.

  When the main character basically comes across as this woman the white saviour trope is fine.

[Let's Cyber]

Seems silly. But this game has strange choices.

Also I don't really like there being tons of weapons and outfits now with minor perks. Mostly because buying them all and upgrading them all is a lot of money and resources. Game feels like it's gonna be way more of a grind game than the original :|

And animal hunting is still there in tons which sucks. Was one of the weakest parts of the original. Hunting birds is awfulll.

Don't don't don't upgrade everything. Pick an outfit and a few weapons that work for your build/play style and just stick with them until better versions become available.  You'll be getting blue-tier stuff soon enough, there is no point wasting resources on every green piece of equipment.

One thing I never liked in Horizon 1 and even less here is how Aloy is a dick to everyone. Like she talks down to everyoooone. She's the world saviour and its up to her to save everything and she's better than everyone and they're useless. Not really a great stance for a lead franchise character.

Not to spoil anything, but this is a setup for story stuff down the line. Also, given how she was treated by her tribe growing up, it kind of makes sense she has a distrust of other people and wants to do everything herself.

[naff]

lol, I looove how derisive Aloy is. Makes perfect sense for her character's motivations and history. She's also surrounded by a lot of tools like Erend.

It's a strong decision, and it works great for me. Sick of playing naive wet blanket protags in vidya.

[Bebpo]

I really don't like all this blocked path bullshit. The way I enjoy open-world games is doing the main story missions last and exploring around finding everything first. But like half the locations I find or even sidequests I get partway through give me this "blocked path, come back later" bs.

I can't think of any game I've ever played like this. It's not like a metroidvania where you just notice some secret area where you need a later tool. It's like you're actively stopped from sidequests and stuff.

This game honestly feels like it wants to railroad you on a specific path. It keeps locking shit like time of day, blocked paths, I went up a mountain and hit an invisible wall and text popped up "YOU CANNOT PROCEED FURTHER AT THIS POINT". It's fucked up.

Gonna just do what the devs want and focus on the main story missions at this point until I unlock the various tools so I can actually explore around doing the side stuff. Money also seems super tight. I've done a ton of stuff but I can't afford the new weapons each vendor. Upgrading them costs enough as is.


Anyhow, glad y'all are enjoying it. I think the game is a large step down from the first game and Frozen Wilds. It's no Devil May Cry 2, but right now it's a 7/10 for me after 15 hours with the first game and Frozen Wilds being 9/10 games. I'm getting to the point where I'm just ready to bail on it, so I guess I'll play Elden Ring and come back later.

[Bebpo]

At least the game is pretty

[naff]

lmao you were complaining about how doing all the side content made the main questline too easy in the original. it's actively trying to curb your ocd tendencies and play it like the linear action adventure game it is. there's no need to ever hunt animals beyond shooting them along your way to a destination if you so feel, you don't need to do all the side/collectibles quests, they're there for exploration and completionists. they even dilneate the different types of non main quests to identify what is important and what's filler.

it's the way rockstar make their open worlds and personally being sick of open worlds and checklist bs, it's fine. Still huge amounts of space to explore along the way. where are you in the story?

[naff]

if you've just made it to the dish city man, just play the main quest some more. it all opens up. I made it there in one sitting.

[naff]

nvm. double post.

[Bebpo]

Horizon 2 is the Kirby's Air Ride of Horizon. "It gets good after 50 hours, just keep playing"


Game is fine, but the first game wasn't like this at all. Just a lot of design decisions because players are too stupid so they have to guide them along. I'll stick to the main story, hopefully it opens up soon.

[Bebpo]

Ok, did the main story mission after the embassy, Death's Door. That was pretty good. ~20 hours in now.

[naff]

oh, you're only at deaths door! yeah..... that first area is basically velen.

I'm apparently at half that time and a bit further through. the game really picks up there. back playing for the first time since Friday. had a busy weekend -_-

[naff]

what level are you? I'm 10 currently. going to head off and finally get some sidequesting and gearing did.

[Bebpo]

I think around lvl.17 now. Doesn't make a huge difference since your damage is limited by available weapons for sale. But I have almost the entire stealth skill tree done so at least I can sneak around pretty well now. I gain valor fast from stealth kills and overcharge cloak when I want.

Combat-wise my biggest problem is just doing damage on larger enemies after hitting their weakspots. I definitely need to get further in the story to get stronger arrows.

[naff]

true. I have only been using the acid arrows and regular. not even traps. same diff as fire x regular in the first. the story really starts popping and basically tells you OK, now go start exploring at a certain point not far from where you're at

[Bebpo]

Yeah, I've got Acid, Fire, Frost, Tear, Damage for normal arrows.
Water I have a grenade.
Electric I have that shitty light bow arrow which is not good for sniping.

I like the exploding javelin. Not sure if it's any better than just using an exploding grenade. Ammo craft items seem about the same and damage is pretty similar. I guess Javelin might throw a bit faster idk. Lobbing grenades is still the quickest way to kill most things in combat, but explosive grenades are expensive to craft so I don't use it much.

For the slow bow I have knockdown arrows which are actually pretty decent at knocking things down in one shot and giving you a critical spear attack.

I don't use tripcaster much in Zero Dawn or this. Like takes too much effort to setup pre-battle and try to lead enemies into it. Sometimes if I'm getting chased I'll just shoot them out behind me as I run. There's a skill that shoots them out in 1 shot so you don't have to aim twice. I think when I get that I might use them more.

Never really used traps in Zero Dawn or here. I think they're mostly useful early on but since their damage doesn't scale as your weapons get stronger they get pointless after a while.

Just got a tear shredding disc thrower weapon. Seems maybe ok but needs upgrades to get stronger at lvl.1 it sucks. Ammo isn't cheap to craft and you gotta be close range so it's like a close range tear shotgun like the tearblaster from Zero Dawn but more precise.

Mostly just need to get an electric hunter bow since a lot of weakpoints are electric and the light bow is not my kind of thing.

[Bebpo]

Don't really have a good strategy yet on most of the enemy types. I guess that's the biggest difference in combat right now from Zero Dawn. By the end of ZD I knew exactly the best quickest way to take down each enemy, but here I'm still figuring even the early ones out.

Like the radar birds that fly around the notebook says they have a weakpoint on like really tiny little spots but I've never been close enough to see them so I just shoot off their eye/tail and then just triple arrow shots until they die. I think they have electric coils on the back but I miss half my shots with the light arrow from mid-range so that doesn't help yet.

[Let's Cyber]

I really don't like all this blocked path bullshit. The way I enjoy open-world games is doing the main story missions last and exploring around finding everything first. But like half the locations I find or even sidequests I get partway through give me this "blocked path, come back later" bs.

Witcher 3 gates the player off too, but they can hide it better because there are multiple maps.

I can't think of any game I've ever played like this. It's not like a metroidvania where you just notice some secret area where you need a later tool. It's like you're actively stopped from sidequests and stuff.

It's straight out of God of War 2018.

This game honestly feels like it wants to railroad you on a specific path. It keeps locking shit like time of day, blocked paths, I went up a mountain and hit an invisible wall and text popped up "YOU CANNOT PROCEED FURTHER AT THIS POINT". It's fucked up.

This was frustrating for me too (I tried at multiple locations to cross the mountain range in the middle of the map and was denied) but it's only 2 main missions to unlock the entire map.  After Death's Door and the Dying Lands, the entire map is opened up.

I think the game is a large step down from the first game and Frozen Wilds.

I'd argue this is way better than Frozen Wilds. They took that level of quality and turned it into a full game. It's FW +extra MonHun influence with some GoW2018 sprinkled on top. The one benefit Frozen Wilds had was it didn't need to ease new players it because it was DLC, so they dropped the player straight into the action. Forbidden West unfortunately takes a lot of time to assist the uninitiated.

Sucks you're not enjoying it. The beginning is too damn long but once you start unlocking the new weapon tiers and new skills (seriously, a lot of the weapons skills are game changers) and fighting bigger machines, it becomes magically. This might be one of my favorite open world games ever.

[Let's Cyber]

Also yes buy the Slicing Hunter Bow from Plainsong when you get the opportunity. It has Advanced Hunter Arrows (this game's equivalent to Hardpoint Arrow) which do more impact and tear damage. It also has Overdraw, which you want on every bow going forward.

[Bebpo]

Sucks you're not enjoying it. The beginning is too damn long but once you start unlocking the new weapon tiers and new skills (seriously, a lot of the weapons skills are game changers) and fighting bigger machines, it becomes magically. This might be one of my favorite open world games ever.

Also yes buy the Slicing Hunter Bow from Plainsong when you get the opportunity. It has Advanced Hunter Arrows (this game's equivalent to Hardpoint Arrow) which do more impact and tear damage. It also has Overdraw, which you want on every bow going forward.

Yeah, I keep getting all this overdraw stuff but I have no idea what overdraw is yet.

After Death's Door I went back to doing side stuff and filling out the map, but since it sounds like it's just one more main mission to open up I'll go do the Plainsong story stuff first and then get back to side stuff.

The game seems like it has a slow tutorial-ish start. It's not as bad if you just mainline the main story stuff and probably takes like 10 hours to get past, but if you get distracted it can be 20-30 hours before you're out of the early the stuff.

[Pissy F Benny]

disclaimer: i'm kinda drunk

why is this the most unintuative game I've played in a long time

[Kestastrophe]

I haven't played as much as you guys (just ot outta interlude) and its been a few years since i cleared the original and expansion, but i'm not sure what yall are griping about lol

[Bebpo]

I haven't played as much as you guys (just ot outta interlude) and its been a few years since i cleared the original and expansion, but i'm not sure what yall are griping about lol

Just don't be a bebpo and get distracted exploring the world for 20 hours until you've done at least 5-6 main story missions.

[Bebpo]

So I lied and instead of doing the plainsong mission I went and did the first cauldron.

Those graphics

 

I'm normally pro 60fps but I feel on PS5 this is a game you've got to play in the 30fps. Looks like a CG movie at times. Goddamn. Best console gfx of any game released so far. The only thing the original is still beating it is in snow effects. I'll see if anything in this game can compare to what they did with Frozen Wilds.


Also so with overdraw, any weapon that has an overdraw +X% get overdraw once you unlock that perk? Any the overdraw + 10% or whatever coil mods only do anything when attached to a weapon with overdraw + X% already on it and unlocked?

Gonna go grind me some upgrades for the plainsong merchant blue Hunter & Sharpshot bow to upgrade my tear skills and direct damage skills in a major way. That boss fight at the end of the first Cauldron was pretty tough with my green weapons only.

At least between food, potions giving over max HP, good outfits with good weaves, and valor surges you can pretty much buff yourself around any situation. Instead of finishing the stealth tier (just need the lightning valor surge and a few small ones), I'm now focusing on the first ranged damage valor surge to max. That way I can sneak myself around with stealth skills & cloaking and when I'm forced to fight I can buff my triple arrows with the hunter valor surge and go to town on bosses, big dinos or set piece fights. Will work on the other skills after, but I think having good stealth and good high damage boss killing is a very good base to start with.

[chronovore]

http://twitter.com/eveygamephoto/status/1495854579484876801

[naff]

man, I wish you could equip multiple valour surges and use them like spells instead of having to swap out via the skill tree. like, the Overshield should just be something you can activate then swap to another ability and trigger that if you have enough valour. would make you feel more like a techno wizard.

i just been trying to figure out how to best use the crit boost front hr warrior skill tree, but have now branched out into stealth stalker and Overshield too. Overshield seems good but like one of those abilities that's extremely strong but a bit boring

[Bebpo]

Finished the mission that opens everything up.

But now there are high level apex versions mixed in with dinos everywhere which uh, is making grinding dino parts a pain in the ass. I need a widemaw tusk to upgrade my slicing hunter bow from plainsong to get a good tear weapon, but the widemaw site is now a mix of lvl.15 widemaws and lvl.27 widemaws and trying to detach the tusk which you can only hit when it's mouth is open which mostly only happens when it's launching projectiles at your face, seems really hard? I haven't been able to detach one.



Lol, comment a few down says reduce difficulty to story. This may be the secret to certain monster part grinds lol, will do that...

[Bebpo]

Also I think I hit a glitch. I'd cleared out all the firegleam icons on the map after death's door that I'd run across, but now after this latest mission all the icons are back so I have to try to remember which I've done and which are new ones uncovered by the fog of war. Pretty sure they're not supposed to respawn or it will be impossible to know which ones you've done.

*edit* ok, yeah lots of google reports on this and it's a known bug. Apparently they can't be removed after they re-appear too. Hopefully they'll patch this one pretty quick.

[Bebpo]

This easy loot is so cheating, but considering the insane amount of mats and money you need to buy & upgrade lots of gear, it really makes life easier. Tempted to leave this on the whole time.

[naff]

some upgrades specifically require the apex version of a part too heh

you tagging the parts in focus mode first? buffing concentration, tagging the part then just going ham on it in slowmo has been my basic method alongside just using long distance stealth tear shots.

[naff]

This easy loot is so cheating, but considering the insane amount of mats and money you need to buy & upgrade lots of gear, it really makes life easier. Tempted to leave this on the whole time.

lol, does it affect trophies? if not.... >.>

I'd be tempted. the part destruction meta game is actually p fun though I thought.

[naff]

it's v confusing that bows of the same type can't all access every element. eg I just got a very rare hunter both with corrosive and advanced arrow capabilities.... can't shoot regular arrows, fire etc. have to buy another bow for fire that also can use regular arrows. both "hunter bows" though. very half baked system that results in random ass loot and janky weapon switching

[naff]

It's like they're trying to wear their monster hunter influence proudly, but it makes no sense if you're not going out to hunt a specific monster, and in monhun it's the bows/whatever specific weapon you're using imbuing elemental damage not crafting specific arrows. just makes no damn sense -_-

[naff]

rather than trying to engage with this half baked shit in earnest, I'm just breaking the system by destroying everything with javelins 

[Let's Cyber]

So I encountered some crazy, unexpected shit. This is mid to late game machine spoilers, I guess

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm pretty far north of the map, maybe northwest of Scalding Spear. I'm hunting geese and rabbits and shit, minding my own business. I'm wearing a stealth outfit with the entire infiltrator tree maxed out so my visibility is "nearly invisible".

All of a sudden, something is shooting projectiles at me from like a quarter mile away.  I see no machines around in that direction. Nothing on the hill side at all so I keep minding my own business.  A few seconds later it happens again but one connects and ONE SHOTS me. WTF. (i am on Very Hard, for the record.)

I respawn nearby so I quickly investigate further. I come around the corner and it's a level 48 Apex Thunderjaw but it's not at all normal.Full black armor and intimidating af.  It's also turbo aggressive and hyper aware of the player's location.

I pop my Invisibility super and run around a big boulder and hide in some nearby grass. 99% of the time this gets me out of trouble. DOESN'T MATTER, HE KNOWS EXACTING WHERE I AM and is running at me in a full sprint. I run to the lake and jump underwater. Hide in a drowned ruin. Wait for several minutes until I assume he has de-aggroed. Swim to the other side of the lake.

HE IS WAITING FOR ME. STOMPS ME OUT IN ONE HIT.

[close]

TL:DR: There is a fucking serial killer robot and now I don't know how to escape. 
 

[bork]

https://gamerant.com/horizon-forbidden-west-review-bomb/amp/

Some users cite Horizon Forbidden West bugs, describing the game as "very buggy." Bizarrely, some of the user reviews even take aim at Horizon Forbidden West's graphics, which are otherwise pretty universally accepted to be excellent. Others make their intentions clearer, criticizing Horizon Forbidden West protagonist Aloy for having a "beard" and slamming the game for its "filthy woke ideology." One user review states, "I've made the mistake to buy the first one, I won't do the same again, seeing it has not changed direction and still focuses on being politically correct."

 

[Svejk]

https://gamerant.com/horizon-forbidden-west-review-bomb/amp/

Some users cite Horizon Forbidden West bugs, describing the game as "very buggy." Bizarrely, some of the user reviews even take aim at Horizon Forbidden West's graphics, which are otherwise pretty universally accepted to be excellent. Others make their intentions clearer, criticizing Horizon Forbidden West protagonist Aloy for having a "beard" and slamming the game for its "filthy woke ideology." One user review states, "I've made the mistake to buy the first one, I won't do the same again, seeing it has not changed direction and still focuses on being politically correct."

 

[Rahxephon91]

Those losers need to get over themselves.

Tired of this garbage shit.

Aloy may not be the best character ever and the writing lacks the grit to make her a real flawed character. And sure no doubt the game has left leaning ideas that I guess amount to “there are other people in the world”. But if this stuff offends you honestly fuck off. It's “wokeness” is so kindergarten level of “please be nice to other people”. Just ignore the story if you must, but also get over yourself.

[Bebpo]

it's v confusing that bows of the same type can't all access every element. eg I just got a very rare hunter both with corrosive and advanced arrow capabilities.... can't shoot regular arrows, fire etc. have to buy another bow for fire that also can use regular arrows. both "hunter bows" though. very half baked system that results in random ass loot and janky weapon switching

Yeah, they give you two extra slots on your wheel, but they also add more elements. I'm basically hitting pause and swapping weapons/armor/valor based on what I'm about to fight. Especially because when I move around I keep stealth gear on at all times to keep detection down but it has like no defense, so once I'm spotted and in a fight I gotta hit pause and change my outfit to something that won't die in 1-2 hits.

Definitely could've been streamlined more.

Also for stealthing around ranged shooting. What's up with them dialing back the distance your focus can identify enemies? The first game your focus scanned as far as you can see. Now I have enemies spotting me at a range further than I can even see them and tag their weakspots. They really need to extend the focus range.

[naff]

It's a bit of a shooting themselves in the foot situation huh? They really wanted a deeper rpg system with skill trees and loot, and honestly I think the skill trees are actually fun and meaningful enough but the equipment design is just not quite there and kinda serve to highlight how shallow the system really is.

It's OK, and doesn't detract that much, but if their weapon and armor systems made a little more sense the game would be quite a bit better imo. Seems like they haven't put in an "ancient armor" analog that makes all other armor meaningless (though Overshield is very strong) so at least they're trying to lean in and make their systems meaningful. Maybe they'll nail it in the DLC or in 5 years when we next see our forbidden waifu

[naff]

Those losers need to get over themselves.

Tired of this garbage shit.

Aloy may not be the best character ever and the writing lacks the grit to make her a real flawed character. And sure no doubt the game has left leaning ideas that I guess amount to “there are other people in the world”. But if this stuff offends you honestly fuck off. It's “wokeness” is so kindergarten level of “please be nice to other people”. Just ignore the story if you must, but also get over yourself.

yes.

best pay no heed, it has nothing to do with the actual content in the game. it's about angry incels on whatever the new hype is. she's on the cover of vanity fair, it's the best looking next gen game, it's getting all the press.

[Bebpo]

On one hand easy loot breaks the game balance because you get EVERY ITEM even if it has 5% drop chance on a kill. So not only do you have tons of upgrade mats, but you have tons of sellable mats and actually get decent money.

On the other hand they added so much grind in this (grinding parts for individual overdrives AFTER you do a cauldron? C'mon) and money feels so scarce early on and there's so many weapons/armor and upgrading costs a ton...that it kind of rebalances it?

There's no trophies associated with difficulty levels, so I'm just gonna keep easy loot on for this first 1/3rd of the game as I'm cleaning up the sidequests and map in the Utaru side to load up on some mats and get some decent money to start. Probably turn it off once I go into the next map section.

[Bebpo]

Also this game needs a glamor/transmog system. I basically have the Nora Huntress boring ass clothes on all the time because low profile +1 and stealth movement +1 is what I want. But I get all these cooler looking outfits I'd rather wear but then I hit alerts all the time so 

[bork]

Those losers need to get over themselves.

Tired of this garbage shit.

Aloy may not be the best character ever and the writing lacks the grit to make her a real flawed character. And sure no doubt the game has left leaning ideas that I guess amount to “there are other people in the world”. But if this stuff offends you honestly fuck off. It's “wokeness” is so kindergarten level of “please be nice to other people”. Just ignore the story if you must, but also get over yourself.

yes.

best pay no heed, it has nothing to do with the actual content in the game. it's about angry incels on whatever the new hype is. she's on the cover of vanity fair, it's the best looking next gen game, it's getting all the press.

It's the "beard" thing that is hilarious.

https://twitter.com/GameDadJP/status/1493405398598098947

There's an article about it-

https://www.ruetir.com/2022/02/15/horizon-forbidden-west-aloys-beard-causes-controversy-on-social-networks-ruetir/

And it has a really unfortunate typo.

It is worth remembering that this is not the first time that Aloy has been in the eye of the hurricane. Last year, dozens of fans criticized the appearance of the character and made fun of his weight.

[naff]

Also this game needs a glamor/transmog system. I basically have the Nora Huntress boring ass clothes on all the time because low profile +1 and stealth movement +1 is what I want. But I get all these cooler looking outfits I'd rather wear but then I hit alerts all the time so 

stealth LOL

not for me...

... i actually just invested a few points for the stealth cloak ability so i can run in and override some big bitch because im improving the machine master skill tree but otherwise i just keep running or destroy everything in sight. im definitely turning on easy loot if i play later. sorry game, im going to break you ;_;

[Bebpo]

Yeah, game is most similar to MGS where you can stealth everything in a satisfying way, or you can go in guns blazing in a satisfying way.

Very few games make both options fun & viable.

[Let's Cyber]

You guys are way too caught up on the low level gear. Just like the first game, higher level bows will have additional arrow types and whatever you're using now will be going straight into the trash/sold. Unlike the first game, there are also

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Epic orange tier stuff that outclasses purple. Thanks Diablo.

[close]

Stop agonizing over green bows that don't have 3 different elements or whatever ffs. Late/end game is the time to min/max your weapon loadout and build. To put it in Monster Hunter terms, your low rank Anjanath sword is junk, it is only there to get you past the next few hunts.

Also weaves are super important too and purple weave mods don't start dropping until you're killing stronger machines. All this stuff will work itself out so long as you push the story forward.

This game is crazy good, btw. The locations out further west are some of the best looking environments I've ever seen in a video game. 

[Bebpo]

I get all that and I'm focusing on max upgrading the blue stuff because I'm not gonna have access to the purple stuff for another 20-40 hours and I want the best min-max for all these sidequests and fights now.

Everyone plays this stuff different. If I jetted through the main story in these games I'd never do all the side stuff at the end because it's just too much content and after the story is over I'm pretty much over it. Doing all the side stuff in open-world games as I go along keeps it manageable.

[Bebpo]

Like for me personally, now that I got the 3 choice missions, I'm clearing out that Utaru vertical map section 100% outside the blocked paths before I even step into the next vertical map slice to the west. I cleared out the Daunt 100% before I stepped past Barren Light. Just taking it one step at a time.

My game progress % has gone up about the same as my time played. So at 23 hours like 23%. Figuring this will be about a 100 hour game for me. Definitely bigger than the original which took me 63 including Frozen Wilds for 100% including every weapon/armor. Although this is also more of a grind so not sure how much bigger it is vs how much more time is spent grinding.

[Bebpo]

Btw, I think the water in this game looks disappointing so far. I hope when I get to the west coast the water effects will look better.

Horizon 1 had the best gfx but the water looked weak. When taking photo mode shots I generally tried to get water out of view in the photos. Here the streams and lakes visually look a gen behind the rest of the environment. Switching to AC Valhalla that game looks way worse but has much better water effects.

[naff]

your graphical opinions put me on tilt lol. in no world did horizon 1 look even close to as good as this  the water effects look a gen behind other parts of the environment? i can't