There’s been a lot of these “Things I wish I knew before I started Horizon Zero Dawn” articles that have been floating around the internet, and how they involve ‘hints’ and tips that the game never taught newcomers to the genre. Yet none of these guides show the problems with the game. So, I decided to do my own list, of (in my opinion) the true nature these articles should be about.
And so it’s time for Mr. Negativity to come out of the shadows and strike one again.
Though, he has a few messages to say. First, a reverse for what he’s known for; actual praise for the game. The biomes, the scenery, the day/night transitions, the realism of the machines (how they walk, sound, and act like their animal counterparts of flesh and bone), and finally that smooth as butter framerate (even in heavy combat settings)! 😀
And the second message, Mr. Negativity wishes to inform you folks that this post will have adult-oriented language (aka swearing like a sailor). If you are offended by these ‘choice words’, then please leave the blog post right now. Just note that if you decide to bravely tread into unknown waters, these words do not attack individual people or their families. These words are directed at the sole company that made this game.
And with that out of the way, it’s time for Mr. Negativity to go to work. We’ll be discussing these topics;
-The “How to kill [machine name here]” videos, and their misleading titles.
-The lack of a push to get the player to try new weapons.
-The thrill of the grind (of increasing the item capacity (& the Fast Travel Pack)).
-A lack of a way to reduce the cooldown time of Concentration.
-OP armor that requires more than effort to unlock.
So let’s start with the first (and also the second) topic of discussion (as both tie into eachother). Horizon Zero Dawn, with its amazing vistas and music, can be a pretty dangerous place if you’re not well-armed (and understand the mechanics of the Focus, of pinpointing machine weak points(and know which weapon will affect that particular point)).
Thankfully, there are videos explaining how to defeat a hard machine. However, notice these videos might not be using the same weapons you’re using? Not only that, they might have different modifications. Which makes me feel these are quite misleading, and should say “How I kill [machine name here]. Your DPS may vary”.
There’s so many different weapon modification configurations, the complexity is mindboggling. And most people actually enjoy this. I do not (if you can’t tell by now). The fact modifications cannot be crafted(all RNG all the time), just annoys myself even more.
To say the game “punishes” for not using the correct weapons, that really depends on who’s playing (as for all games). It’s a game of trial and error (with lots and lots of errors).
Oh, but let’s not forget, half of these “helpful” videos don’t even explain their setups (and where to get these weapons/modifications in order to efficiently kill the problem machine). The game doesn’t even tell me “Hey, you should get X, because it’s important”. Is it bad for a game to force me to think? No, not when it’s done right. The only thing that told me was as I was loading the game, it was showing the elemental damage. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll lose this critical info.
So, I don’t know how to phrase this thought I have about the developers feel that no hand-holding in this genre (that maybe not everyone fully understands) is good. I disagree.
Showing ‘Weapon X does Y and Z” isn’t helpful when you’re not getting the player a reason to purchase the weapon. Instead, they’re forced to use Youtube or another 3rd party website in order to know. And I can’t say if this is lazy (or good). It really depends on the one playing the game, and if they’re familiar or not with this style of gameplay.
The thrill of the grind (of increasing the item capacity (& the Fast Travel Pack))
Some have said about people who feel they have to grind, that it’s not necessary. Yet, these are the same people who say to kill every animal the player finds. Now I would agree with this, if it didn’t feel like a grind (which it does).
Let me lay it out for you folks. Unlike the Far Cry series where animal locations are marked on the map, there’s machines now. So that means the player has to be looking, and looking, and looking through their Focus hoping to see that one animal they need.
Need potions? You have to kill animals. Need to upgrade your arrow and modification capacity bags? You have to kill animals.
Out of those useful Fast Travel Packs and need to make more? …You guessed it, you have to kill animals. But what’s this I hear? You think you can just buy your way out of this problem through merchants? AHAHA!! RIGHT! No fun allowed, pal. All RNG, all the time.
So I hope you love farming… because brother, you’re going to be doing a lot of it.
A lack of a way to reduce the cooldown time of Concentration
Ahh, Concentration (aka slowing down time in order to line up that shot at a weak point on a rampaging Thunderjaw). Not only that, but it can also zoom in for a more accurate shot. On a console game that involves shooting things until they die, anything to help my bad aiming is welcomed.
The problem with this is there seems to be a multiplayer aspect of waiting for the cooldown to finish before using the ability again. Seeing this is a singleplayer game, I don’t see how this is needed. But whatever, there’s got to be a way to shorten the duration..wait, there’s no option in any of the skill trees? What the HELL?!
There are games that have done this right (Dragon Quest Builders is an example, allowing the player to do another power move even as the bar is recharging).
The multiple feelings of hate to this company, over something so trivial as adding an option to shorten the cooldown (or at least allow the player to use it even as it’s recharging). It’s such an easy fix.
Ugh.
OP armor that requires more than effort to unlock
And finally, the most powerful armor in the game (the ‘Shield-Weaver’ Armor), which makes the player virtually invincible to all forms of attack. This armor requires 5 power cells in order to access it (which are in five ruins).
So surely, the devs realize this is a singleplayer game and don’t mind if the player cannot be killed, right? …Wrong. Because the player is required to complete the entire campaign before being allowed to unlock it. Yet, they have no trouble tying the armor to a string and pulling it away from the player (as soon as they discover the bunker early in the game), with a troll face, saying “how bad you want this…? :D”
I really have nothing nice to say to the ones that made this decision in the game. Perhaps they’re ‘true gamers’ at heart of enjoying working hard for something. But to troll like this? That’s very low and frowned upon. It’s just as bad as offering this armor through a hefty microtransaction. But hell, if they did that, less people would be playing the game.
But seriously, this is supposed to be a SINGLE player game. You know, devs? S-I-N-G-L-E! Numero Uno! If the player wants to burn through your campaign with OP armor? Allow it. Don’t troll it and expect the player to not be pissed and confused.
Ontop of that, a few months after the game was released, the devs did possibly the most boneheaded move I’ve heard(since this). The second power cell, which is in a ruin in the early parts of the game, this thing is easy to miss, and if you try to get it again, the gates are blocked.
There used to be a way to bypass the locked door that kept the player from being able to go back and get it. Now it’s been patched, and there’s an invisible wall blocking any attempt of being able to get back. The way it was blocked, feels even more troll tactics.
.
And that concludes my complaints of this game. Now at the Point of No Return of the main questline, I’m debating if it’s even worth completing it (when I can’t get my hands on that armor). I feel I will die, again and again to the same boss. I also hear that you have to fight a large robot with no weapons (and something about you also forever lose your Focus)… WTF?!?
Here I was thinking of buying the game. Not after this. I did my best to put up with these other annoyances, but this is the last straw. Hell, I swear it’s the devs talking to me through the Focus, telling me to “stop whining” (certain part in the questline when this starts to happen. Won’t say to hide spoilers).
However, I’ve decided I’ll keep playing ’till the end. Not for the armor, but for the story. It has me very intrigued. So, here’s to hoping I can beat the game without dying 20 times to the same creature.