Tag: Horizon Forbidden West

It’s Hard to Say Goodbye (to an Open World)

Posted on by Nimgimli

Last night, the day after posting a monthly recap in which I lamented the fact that I hadn’t finished any games in January, I “finished” Horizon Forbidden West.

But what does “finished” even mean with an open world game? With more linear games, you complete the story, maybe see a literal “The End” screen, the credits roll and then you are returned to the title screen. Not here and not with a lot of open world games. Instead you complete the last quest, the credits roll, and then you bounce back into the game with your character standing there with a “Now what?” expression on their face.

Generally speaking this is a good thing. Now you have all the toys and skills and the world becomes your playground. But for me at least, it makes putting the game aside a bit of a struggle. I was looking forward to finishing HFW because I have so many other games I want to play but now that I’m done, I’m finding it tough to say goodbye to Aloy and the world.

Specifically here is what I’ve completed:

Trophies

All in all I earned 58 of 80 trophies.
I missed 9 in the main game
I missed 10 in the DLC
I missed 3 in the New Game+ section (one of which is finish New Game+ at Ultra Hard difficulty…yeah no thanks)

The World

Finished the main quest of the main game
Finished the main quest of the DLC
Finished every Side Quest that I found
I did NOT uncover all of the world. There are still parts of the map covered in ‘fog’

Character Development

I’m well beyond the level cap
I’ve earned every skill I’m interested in, though there are some that could be upgraded a bit more
I have good gear, but not the best gear, and not all of it is upgraded fully (but it was up to the challenge of the final boss)

Activities

I did not complete the fighting rings
I did not complete the hunting grounds
I did not complete the machine races
I did not play the in-game board game, Machine Strike
I didn’t even ‘solve’ all the cauldrons

The first 3 of these Activities are all time based and I HATE time pressure so I just opted to ignore them. Machine Strike just didn’t appeal to me (I never find games inside other games to be too compelling) and the cauldrons, I just didn’t get around to doing.

Next Steps

So what’s next?

1) I could just not play anymore and be done for now
2) I could chase Trophies though several of them are based on the activities I didn’t do because I didn’t like them
3) I could explore the parts of the map I missed just to see what is there
4) I could start a New Game+

So which will I choose? I’m still not sure. Currently Aloy is back at her base, safe and warm. I always tend to take characters “home” when I’m done with an open world game. It’s weird, I know. I am pretty confident I am NOT up for New Game+ right now but the rest… well we’ll see. I have 112 hours on my current save and more in total since I re-started a couple of times. Seems like it should be enough. On the other hand it has been FOUR years since I earned a Platinum Trophy and doing so here seems plausible.

But…all those other games are waiting to be played.

Just not sure what I’ll do yet. Breaking up with an open world is hard to do. Am I the only one that has this problem?

[Image above is Seyka, not Aloy. Seyka is one of the main characters you meet in the Burning Shores DLC. I liked her a lot.]

 

Back to the Beginning With Aloy

Posted on by Nimgimli

I played Horizon Zero Dawn when it launched in 2017, consuming it as quickly as possible because I was so caught up in the story. I came back for the Frozen North DLC, finished that and was done with the game. I hadn’t touched it since. I have very fond memories of playing and it is on my ‘top games of all time’ list. To say I was excited about Horizon Forbidden West would be an understatement.

When Forbidden West launched last Friday I dove right in, and was immediately hooked. The aesthetics and the gameplay strangely felt both familiar and new in the best possible way. But after the immediate rush of that first play-session faded I noticed something was missing. I wasn’t feeling a connection to the characters.Aloy sneaking in the rain
In the early hours Forbidden West re-introduces characters from the first game. For as fondly as I remember Zero Dawn, it turns out what I remembered were the main themes/plot, which focus mostly on Aloy discovering who she is (she was abandoned as a child) and the player discovering how the world that we’re playing in came to be.

Along the way Aloy gets caught up in politics between tribes, meets a lot of people, and generally experiences a lot of exploring and side-stories. I’d mostly forgotten all that. Very early in Forbidden West you run into Varl. Aloy clearly knows him, but he is a mystery to me. A little later she runs into Petra, and same thing. Aloy and these people have a history but time has erased them from MY memory.

So I decided to do something crazy. I set Forbidden West aside and started a new game of Zero Dawn. I considered a New Game+ run but then I’d have all kinds of gear that I no longer remember how to use, so I just opted for a regular old run-through on Normal difficulty.

I haven’t regretted this situation one bit. Horizon Zero Dawn holds up wonderfully and it still a fantastic game. I’m enjoying re-encountering these characters and thinking “How could I have forgotten Varl/Petra!?” constantly. And Rost. I’d forgotten Rost! Now I remember him.
Sunset skies
Since I earned the Platinum Trophy { /minor_flex } back when I first played, I don’t have to worry about searching for every collectible or whatever. I can play the game very naturally which is turning out to mean “very slowly.” I’ve rarely used quick travel, preferring to see the sights and kill some machines when going from here to there. Or riding a tamed machine, which never gets old. Aloy 2.0 is now level 20 and I haven’t even been to Meridian yet. (For reference, in my old post-DLC saves, Aloy was level 53.)

I am in no hurry to finish and move on to Forbidden West again, but when I eventually do I think I will enjoy it even more thanks to having all the people and lore fresh in my brain. It’ll be me saying “Hey! It’s Varl! Good old Varl, how ya been, buddy?” at the same time Aloy is greeting an old friend. That’ll be nice.

Side Note: Look at this campsite she stumbled on. It’s like maybe a diorama of a funeral or something? I’ve also included a close-up of one of the dolls that protect this camp.