Any excuse to say more good things about this game... (Gaming)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Monday, March 06, 2017, 20:23 (2605 days ago) @ CyberKN

Just riffing off your post a little...

Story

It's funny you mentioned Halo CE, because I've been thinking about that game while I play Horizon, in terms of the storytelling. When you look closely, the story itself in Horizon is nothing special (like Halo CE, I'd argue). It's cool, it's fun, but it isn't anything particularly deep or meaningful or original. The dialogue is serviceable. The performances are mixed. But, I think the story in Horizon is one of the absolute best examples of using storytelling to add focus to a game and drive the player through it. Again, like Halo CE. I always know where I'm going, why I'm going there, who else is involved, and what's at stake. It may not feature Last of Us caliber character development, but it all adds up to creating the feeling of a fully fleshed-out world, with its own dynamics at play.

There is a specific design choice that I believe helps a lot, in this regard; the fact that you must choose a quest from your quest log in order to have it appear on your map. This confused me at first. It seemed like an unnecessary step (most open-world games these days just keep all available missions marked on your map at all times). But after playing the game for a while, I totally see the benefit of it now. Every time I go to a location to do a mission, it is a deliberate choice. I have looked through my quest log and specifically selected a mission that I want to do next. This means I am thinking about this particular plot-line as I am traveling to my next destination. It helps create focus and momentum, where most open-world games devolve into meandering from one random waypoint to another.

On a related note, I can't remember the last time I played an open-world game where I was so reluctant to use the fast travel system. The scenery and locations, the fantastic random encounters that pop up as I travel across the countryside... I don't want to miss any of it. Yet sometimes I feel compelled to fast travel because I'm so absorbed into a specific quest line that I want to do the next mission right now, rather than spend 20 minutes making my way across the map.

Combat

Some of my favorite moments in Horizon Zero Dawn are my deaths. How many games can pull that off; making "failure" a highlight? The combat in this game seems deceptively simple at first. But as the game progresses, I began to appreciate all the different layers that are working together, and how much unpredictability that can bring to any given battle. Unlike many action games, the combat in Horizon is just grounded enough that you need to approach the tougher enemies with the due amount of respect (they even say as much through some of the early dialogue). If I walk right up to a Thunderjaw and start shooting arrows at its face, I'm going to get crushed in under 10 seconds. As such, the game encourages you to be thoughtful and plan out your attacks. And when you do plan out an attack strategy against a dangerous foe, and it works, it feel deeply satisfying. I came across a Sawtooth last night that was in a narrow field between me and my destination. I stayed hidden in the tall grass, and began setting traps. I had a very specific sequence all worked out in my head, and when I revealed myself to the Sawtooth, the whole thing kicked off and went exactly as I'd hoped. The Sawtooth was down in about 10 seconds. KICK. ASS.

But then, there are the times when things don't go according to plan, and those moments are even better. A couple days ago, I was approaching one of the Corrupted Zones in order to clear it out. I reached the zone, but couldn't find any corrupted machines. Looking at my map, I was almost in the very center of the zone, so I should certainly have found something by this point. Then, looking down towards the river, I saw the shimmer of a cloaked Stalker. It was a ways off, and didn't seem to have noticed me yet. "Perfect!" I though. I began setting up traps, laying down a network of trip wires. Then I got ready to unleash my opening shot. The Stalker moved slightly down river, so I no longer had a good angle on it. I took a few steps to my right, which brought me out of the cover of the tall grass that I'd been hiding in, and lined up my shot. I suddenly heard a low, rumbling growl coming from my right, and another behind me. I spun around to find 2 more cloaked stalkers moving in on my. I saw them just as they both pounced at me. I was toast. It was a perfect "clever girl" moment, and it wasn't the least bit scripted.