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[Varteras]

The difference between 30fps mode and 60fps is just like eating a wonderful steak in a restaurant and you think:"Imagine how their desserts gonna be!", then you get one and it tastes like a turd pie.

The 30fps mode is insanely good, with some lighting issues here and there but overall it's the best looking open world game to me so far, with GoT being superior in its artistic approach though.

Absolutely. I would say that on a technical level, Forbidden West is the best looking game currently available. That's hard for me to say because I love Rift Apart and that game had my jaw on the floor, too. Between those two games, I just don't think it's even close for overall detail compared to any other game currently on the market. And yeah, Ghost of Tsushima's artistry was just...

 

[SlimySnake]

Which is very surprising coming from Guerrilla. They are among Sony's best for technical ability. How this is still an issue is perplexing. I know they're not the same games, but when you compare Ratchet & Clank's performance mode to this.... it's just so damn night and day. So often I forgot that I was in that mode playing Rift Apart because everything was gorgeous, regardless. Forbidden West keeps slapping its pixelated dick in your face so you never forget.

That said, the game is so gorgeous in quality mode that I can forgive it running in 30fps. It's jarring at first going from 60fps to that but my eyes adjust and I start forgetting, for the most part, that it's only half the framerate. I'm always just so amazed at the density, detail, and effects.

30 fps in this game is VERY smooth especially if you turn off motion blur and turned down camera sensitivity to reduce the shimmering and brightness increase in the HDR mode. They shouldnt have fucked with that mode.

And yes, this is by far the most detailed and dense open world ever created. I am flabbergasted by how far the foliage renders and how detailed every grain of grass used to be. This was my biggest pet peeve of last gen where grass LODs were the first to get culled in the distance. The lighting is insane. her character model is the most detailed character model ever. Even the downgraded hero lighting makes her look amazing if she is close to the camera or far away riding a mount or a sunwing.

As for the 60 fps version, playing Horizon on PC made me realize that the engine is borked. Getting to 60 fps was fine, but getting to 120 fps is basically impossible no matter how many settings you downgrade and how low you set your resolution.

What makes this even weirder is that Death Stranding scales beautifully. it had an excellent PC port and an even better PS5 port which took a 1080p 30 fps game all the way to native 4k 60 fps. Literally the only AAA game to do this. An 8x increase in pixel budget. On par with the IPC and tflops gains. So clearly the Decima engine isnt the problem but whatever build Horizon is using is being bottlenecked somehow. The Pc version of GOW is CPU bound so its possible GG also didnt bother taking advantage of multiple threads and left the game CPU bound on the PS5.

 

[Represent.]

frame nerds obsessed with 60fps don't care about anything but smoothness, so who cares. this mode was clearly an afterthought, as it should be.

 

[SlimySnake]

Absolutely. I would say that on a technical level, Forbidden West is the best looking game currently available. That's hard for me to say because I love Rift Apart and that game had my jaw on the floor, too. Between those two games, I just don't think it's even close for overall detail compared to any other game currently on the market. And yeah, Ghost of Tsushima's artistry was just...

GoT looked incredible, but they fucked up the game's look by making it dark and cloudy if you killed too many people which is prettty much the objective of the game. I swear my game was dark and gloomy 80% of the time. I only saw colors when entering new areas.

 

[Varteras]

GoT looked incredible, but they fucked up the game's look by making it dark and cloudy if you killed too many people which is prettty much the objective of the game. I swear my game was dark and gloomy 80% of the time. I only saw colors when entering new areas.

I swear I never even noticed that. How in the hell are you not supposed to kill that many people, anyways? Did they just intentionally make the environment mood dark artistically to reflect Jin's own inner turmoil?

 

[SlimySnake]

I swear I never even noticed that. How in the hell are you not supposed to kill that many people, anyways? Did they just intentionally make the environment mood dark artistically to reflect Jin's own inner turmoil?

It's by design. Like a gameplay mechanic. Depends on how you kill people. i think if you used executions a lot, it would bring in thunder and dark skies with it. Or something like that.

it's a good idea on paper, but happened way too much for my liking.

 

[Varteras]

It's by design. Like a gameplay mechanic. Depends on how you kill people. i think if you used executions a lot, it would bring in thunder and dark skies with it. Or something like that.

it's a good idea on paper, but happened way too much for my liking.

So it sounds like, the more "honorable" you are the more the weather is generally nice. But the more "dishonorable" you are, the darker the mood gets. Yeah, not sure I care for that. Like if it was dark and stormy a little more often because you frequently offed your enemies like a ninja, fine. But walking around with Mother Nature having a chip on its shoulder because I whacked murderous assholes in a way my uncle would disagree with... really?

 

[SlimySnake]

So it sounds like, the more "honorable" you are the more the weather is generally nice. But the more "dishonorable" you are, the darker the mood gets. Yeah, not sure I care for that. Like if it was dark and stormy a little more often because you frequently offed your enemies like a ninja, fine. But walking around with Mother Nature having a chip on its shoulder because I whacked murderous assholes in a way my uncle would disagree with... really?

yeah it seems it is tied to the game's honor system. Basically if you start using the ghost abilities you are fucked.

n an interview with Ghost of Tsushima creative director Nate Fox, he told me, "The game is definitely scripted to provide more storms as you do things which are extremely Ghost driven."

It's a rather clever feature. Jin is an unrelenting force of nature in Ghost of Tsushima, abandoning his identity to embrace the symbolic power of the Ghost in order to defeat the Mongols via means that lack honor. At the start of the game, you'll likely defeat most enemies with the tools of the samurai as they'll be all you have access to. But as encounters increase in difficulty and you unlock new Ghost skills, the game naturally encourages you to adopt a more stealth-focused approach.

As you stop using the skills of the samurai and begin relying on those of the Ghost, the in-game world will change to match your playstyle--transforming the gentle breezes that the enemy Mongols first encounter upon invading the island into a constant bombardment of terrifying winds, booming thunder, and flashes of lightning. Because it will be storming more often, areas will naturally be darker too, which further sells the idea of Jin dishonorably engaging his opponents when they can't see him.


In my playthrough of Ghost of Tsushima, I pretty much abandoned any semblance of honor about halfway through Act II and just started being stealthy in every combat encounter. By the start of Act III, I basically had constant storms, save for when I was doing one of the Tales that take place during specific weather conditions.

I dont think they meant it to be that drastic though. of course everyone was going to use the Ghost abilities as soon as they acquired them. the game is called Ghost of Tsushima after all.

 

[GustavoLT]

Only solution will be:

Locked 40fps 120hz mode
Unlocked 40-60fps and PS5 VRR release!

This is a locked 30fps game... it problably can go higher than that!

 

[Rayderism]

I just wish they would let me select the sharpness level I want. Like a slider or something. The game looks a lot more soft than it did a release. That super-sharpness it had at release really looked great to me and I'd like to have that back.

 

[skit_data]

Here we go, I just bought it.
To be extremely blunt; they fucked up the PS4 to PS5 upgrade situation. I managed to buy the PS4 version with a free upgrade only via the phone app only because I knew it was there. Looking forward to playing this but they should sort the purchase out in the PSN store. Bad look to have the free upgrade PS5 version so obfuscated.

Loved the original, will be back with more actual impressions.

 

[Markio128]

I’m around 40 hours into my 2nd play-through and I’m loving it; performance mode this time and it is still one of the best looking games on the market. The first Horizon game was an enjoyable plat for me and the sequel is proving to be the same. I’ve especially enjoyed using the different traps, which is a must on the harder difficulty setting - catching the airborne enemies in the vertical traps never gets old.

 

[Low Moral Fibre]

So I've finished the story. I was very bored by the end but it was definitely a good time overall. Doubt I will bother getting any more trophies but felt I got my money's worth.

What I liked:

Most of the acting and facial animations were great. Aloy was one of the worst unfortunately with some really unnatural looking facial animations and constant breathless dialogue.The Quen girl, Trinity and Sylens felt like real people at times.

Sidequests - while 9/10 were a variation on go here and kill/loot that most had a good bit of story and a couple were really great.

The combat v machines - while I was completely sick of it by the end I have to admit that it is very well done and has a lot of potential.

The music - mostly top tier. Even the less good tracks are great.

The QOL stuff - the magic stash is great for compulsive looters like me. Lots of great accessibility options so playable from anyone from pro gamer to someone who has never touched a controller.

The stuff I didn't like:

Climbing and melee - well documented and the both felt like something you'd see in a 20 year old game at times. If the game wants you to make a jump you can go like 15ft, if not about 3ft. I've seen videos of people doing crazy stuff with melee but it felt like there was half a second delay on everything so I just stayed well clear of it.

The combat v humans - somehow even worse than the first one as even people with no armor somehow have head armor you have to strip off first. I just ran around the last few camps with explosive spear things to get them done.

Mounts - felt really clunky compared to even "realistic" stuff like RDR. Would have preferred no-clip mounts like in Ghost of Tshusima as while it's unrealistic it makes for a way better end user experience. There's one obvious exception but it comes too late.

The legendary weapons/armor - so to upgrade them I need to farm Apex lvl 45+ stuff but since I can already kill all that it seemed pointless as there is nothing left that is challenging enough to need better than what I have. Felt like a pointless time sink. Maybe a NG+ thing if they add it.

The skill system - completely pointless. I had everything I wanted after a couple of hours and was constantly sitting on 25+ skill points.

Puzzles - 9.9/10 are moving crates with the occasional shoot this with the pull-caster or input code that is in a log next to the door thrown in to mix it up.

The world - I've heard a lot of people saying it's one of the best open world's bit to me it was no better than a Ubisoft one with stuff just plopped randomly around the map. I found a couple of cool things exploring like I think a reference to GoT but otherwise it felt pointless to do anything but beeline to the map markers.

No transmog - lots of cool looking armor but I just used the Nora stuff from start to finish.so I only saw it in the menu.

The quick slot inventory thing - just a complete POS. I just unequipped everything except mount, smoke bomb, potion and a couple of traps.

 

[Saucy Papi]

I'm loving the game so far but man, I really wish they had trimmed some of the content down. I expect to spend around 150 hours in this because I like to do all the side quests and after spending a comparable amount of time in Dying Light 2, I just feel like these games are requesting too much of a time investment from you.

 

[elcapitano]

I liked the game. Better than Ghost of Tshushima for me.

But looking back it's a bit of a let down for me. Objectively it is better than the first but where the first amazed me was the lore and unfortunately I think the most interesting parts of the lore and how the world came to be was all apart of the first game.


This let's down the story side of things in my book. Still very decent game would put it above Ghost and around Days Gone level.

(Note I played Days Gone ages after release when the game was polished and running very well)

 

[SSfox]

Which is very surprising coming from Guerrilla. They are among Sony's best for technical ability. How this is still an issue is perplexing. I know they're not the same games, but when you compare Ratchet & Clank's performance mode to this.... it's just so damn night and day. So often I forgot that I was in that mode playing Rift Apart because everything was gorgeous, regardless. Forbidden West keeps slapping its pixelated dick in your face so you never forget.

That said, the game is so gorgeous in quality mode that I can forgive it running in 30fps. It's jarring at first going from 60fps to that but my eyes adjust and I start forgetting, for the most part, that it's only half the framerate. I'm always just so amazed at the density, detail, and effects.

That's what happens if you focus on too many plateforms. HZ1 shouldn't been port to PC and Horizon 2 should have been PS5 exclusive only.

 

[skit_data]

Played for about 7 hours now.
I don’t really get the complaints about performance mode and it’s graphics. I think it looks absolutely stellar. Maybe it’s because some of the issues have been fixed since launch.

So far it’s definitely an improvement from the first in all aspects but one - the story. Granted I haven’t made it that far yet but it’s not as engaging as the first game. Maybe it’s because I’ve forgotten about a lot of characters and their backstory but almost everyone feels like ”Hey, Aloy! You remember all those awesome adventures we had 6 months ago?” and I’m like ”No, I really don’t but I guess I’ll just pretend I did”.

Outside of that it’s awesome. Some of the controls and movement animation feels a bit slow and janky but it’s a huge improvement over the first game. Facial animation in cutscenes are miles beyond the first game as well.

Edit: another small complaint; Aloys hair is still defying all laws of physics at times. It’s much better than the first game though, where every camera cut resulted in it flying all over the place.

 

[Putonahappyface]

I think we're just going to have to accept the visual downgrade is here to stay.

 

[Low Moral Fibre]

I think we're just going to have to accept the visual downgrade is here to stay.

I can't believe more people haven't noticed how bad the 60fps butchers the IQ but everyone is fixated on the grass shimmering and people are now trying to blame badly set up TVs etc.

All PS5 shots 30fps v 60fps modes.

Yeah it looks a little blurrier as you would expect, no big deal, but there are a lot of transparencies and particles and they all look like the have come from a PS3 game in performance mode.

 

[Putonahappyface]

I can't believe more people haven't noticed how bad the 60fps butchers the IQ but everyone is fixated on the grass shimmering and people are now trying to blame badly set up TVs etc.

All PS5 shots 30fps v 60fps modes.

Yeah it looks a little blurrier as you would expect, no big deal, but there are a lot of transparencies and particles and they all look like the have come from a PS3 game in performance mode.

60 fps isn't worth the trade off imo. Piss poor!

 

[Frank Horrigan]

I know it has been said to death but this game in motion is just incredible. No videos or screenshots do it justice when you can call a bird, fly to the ocean, kick the shite out of some robo-dino motherfucker, then fly off to a snow area, with no load times or stuttering.

It's an incredible feat from GG and that this game is cross-gen blows my tiny mind. As someone who is dead against cross-gen games, Horizon really breaks the mould. Returnal, Ratchet, the matrix demo, Horizon and then GT is Sony raising the bar again and again. If God of War looks better than Horizon then holy balls will it be impressive.

 

[Javthusiast]

I know it has been said to death but this game in motion is just incredible. No videos or screenshots do it justice when you can call a bird, fly to the ocean, kick the shite out of some robo-dino motherfucker, then fly off to a snow area, with no load times or stuttering.

It's an incredible feat from GG and that this game is cross-gen blows my tiny mind. As someone who is dead against cross-gen games, Horizon really breaks the mould. Returnal, Ratchet, the matrix demo, Horizon and then GT is Sony raising the bar again and again. If God of War looks better than Horizon then holy balls will it be impressive.

And now imagine ps5 only games in a couple years. Holy shit we in for some lookers.

 

[Frank Horrigan]

And now imagine ps5 only games in a couple years. Holy shit we in for some lookers.

The team at Naughty Gods are going to blow some eye balls with savage starlight/TLoU3/Uncharted/New IP.

I want to see the Horizon VR game running. I wouldnt be suprised if it's the one of, if not the best looking VR game to date

 

[Trumpets]

8 or so hours in and loving it so far, but...

...I don't remember Aloy being this fucking joyless and disapproving in the first game. It's like she's constantly sighing at how useless everyone is. I've known people like that in real life and they're not much fun to be around.

 

[rofif]

The highlight of this game was exploring once of early areas with this music playing. 1:40 timestamped

 

[Woggleman]

8 or so hours in and loving it so far, but...

...I don't remember Aloy being this fucking joyless and disapproving in the first game. It's like she's constantly sighing at how useless everyone is. I've known people like that in real life and they're not much fun to be around.

I won't spoil it but she does have a good character arc.

 

[solidus12]

Remember all the drama on how Aloy looked when they revealed the gameplay segment during the State of Play?

Aloy is super cute in the retail version

 

[Trumpets]

I won't spoil it but she does have a good character arc.

Ah, OK, good to know.

 

[xClout]

8 or so hours in and loving it so far, but...

...I don't remember Aloy being this fucking joyless and disapproving in the first game. It's like she's constantly sighing at how useless everyone is. I've known people like that in real life and they're not much fun to be around.

Yeah, she really has a stick up her ass.

 

[Xtib81]

I'm in team 60fps but after waiting for 2 months, I came to the conclusion that the shimmering would never be fixed so I went with 30fps and good lord does this game look stellar. I KINDA got used to 30fps to the point that it's playable for me. Anyway 35hrs in and I'm really enjoying it. It's a step up on all fronts from the 1st game.
And those side missions are really good.
On a side note, I may be misremembering but lip Sync looked much better to me in Frozen wilds, I don't know what's up with that but it often looks off here

 

[Bartski]

about 70% in... looks great at times, combat is fine and all but I just can't get over how little I'm enjoying myself as compared to the original... The list of things that piss me off just keeps growing and right now I just want to get to the end tbh

 

[Perfo]

Game's graphics are more than impressing at 60fps, and as usual I think the impact framerate has is higher than res and details when you actually are playing the game over watching screenshots comparisons. That said while I'm enjoying the game for many reasons, story isn't one of that. It really lacks any kind of agency as someone already mentioned before with a dedicated topic. It's really the weakest aspect of it. Luckily some characters and sub-stories make for it, but the overall plot it's almost as non existent.

 

[skit_data]

OMG, getting the Sunwing felt so epic. Damn I just realized how much better the traversal in this game will be vs its predecessor! Going for the platinum will feel like a breeze with a flying mount!

Edit: How the hell did this not score higher on MC than HZD, it blows my mind! I can’t think of any open world game with these graphics where you can soar over the world with a flying mount.

 

[skit_data]

Just finished the main questline and rolled credits, got a lot of stuff left to do so I’ll keep playing for a lot more hours though! Fucking stellar sequel, I like it much better than the first installment! Beats its predecessor on pretty much every level. Only problem is that I see with the game is that it kicks into the high gear a little too late, the last 2/10:s of the game was marvelous and the first 8/10s was ”just” above average.

Spoiler: Story ending

Damn, what a cliffhanger ending. Horizon went from post-apocalyptic sci-fi to full on futuristic sci-fi with this game. I love it!

Edit: Doing all the Couldrons now, they are so much better than in Zero Dawn. The Kappa one is like a small Zelda water temple, in the best way possible. Once again; how the hell did this score the same MC as the first one?! It is so much better!

Edit2: And the Arena, awesome as well. The combat in Horizon is underrated as fuck, I rarely hear someone point out how good it actually is but it beats a lot of games in how its strategical yet adrenaline pumping.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

So ... did GG say anything about a potential VRR implementation? This game would really benefit from it.

 

[Bartski]

Credits rolled. Catching up with some of the threads here about the game I was avoiding due to spoilers to check if it's just me...

Turns out I'm not crazy and most issues I have with it have been already discussed... one thing I feel doesn't get the spotlight is how the game treats the player like a complete idiot.

Takes handholding to an extreme where every step you take Aloy literally comments on everything telling you what to do next, so if markers weren't enough you have an audio walkthrough playing in the background.

Sometimes it helps a bit as navigating through a lot of impressive-looking complex geometry is a jank hell nightmare, especially at night.

But when it doesn't - it's so bad it's literally insulting. Like during a side mission, you're climbing this skyscraper and there is a code to a door you need to "figure out" basically by checking a holo log that is right next to the door.

And then the game does this.



COME ON.

 

[aclar00]

I hope the next one has Shadow of the Colossus scaled machines. It would make for a great game mechanic, especially with the pullcaster and sheild wing...having to fight to stay atop a giant machine, but if you fall off you can save yourself using the shield wing or pull yourself back on with the pullcaster.

I think there's room to make the next game epic, even moreso anyway. Also, armor mods and separates (head, torso, legs and feet)

And riding the stormbird....or fighting something larger than a stormbird while flying through the map.

 

[Woggleman]

I love this game but all legendary gear should have already been maxed out when you acquire them. It should be the reward for completing those side quests. The next one we need to fight a Horus as well.

 

[Melchiah]

I hope the next one has Shadow of the Colossus scaled machines. It would make for a great game mechanic, especially with the pullcaster and sheild wing...having to fight to stay atop a giant machine, but if you fall off you can save yourself using the shield wing or pull yourself back on with the pullcaster.

I think there's room to make the next game epic, even moreso anyway. Also, armor mods and separates (head, torso, legs and feet)

And riding the stormbird....or fighting something larger than a stormbird while flying through the map.

Well, since

Spoiler

Nemesis can take control of any machine, it could lead to us finally facing an awakened Horus.

Hopefully.

 

[skit_data]

It really sucks that having win two Machine Strike games is part of the trophy list for platinum…
I’ve got all other trophies and now it just grinds to a halt just at the end of the way to platinum. They should’ve made this trophy optional/part of NG+. I’m here to play Horizon, not this.

 

[skit_data]

Cleaned up the machine strike trophy (It wasn’t that bad, the opponents at beginner level sucked).

Got the platinum!

Overall I think HFW is a much better game than HZD. I wish they’d improve the melee combat because it’s still pretty lackluster. Wish they’d introduce the flying mount a bit earlier as well, because it’s easily one of the best parts of the game, along with underwater traversal.

Hopefully we’ll get a DLC soon as well. If it’s as good as Frozen Wilds it will be like 50% of what made the original so good.
Looking forward to Horizon 3, I’m eager to see what’s next.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Finally beat it. Loved it for the most part.

Biggest 2 gripes:

Weapon/outfit upgrade system. Have a maxed out purple, get an orange… that’s not as good unless I spend time and resources to upgrade. Sigh

Outfits should let me choose how they look. The best looking armors had the crappiest bonuses. Why cant I have armor I like visually and bonusly?

Anywho I live that Aloy has a sister now. Hope the next game has more of her and her growth in this new savage world.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Man the grind to max out legendaries is unbearable -_-

 

[Icymanipulator]

Took a break for months and just turned it on today to play again. Glitched in to a wall. Got hit my a machine that sent me underwater where I got stuck under a pillar and couldn’t move. A campfire marker appeared on the map but wasn’t able to be interacted with. Fell through a mountain, into the level geometry and couldn’t get out. All within a little over an hour of playing.

Jfc, the game was janky at launch but to see that basically nothing has been changed really sucks. How could the first game be so good and solid, but the sequel is a buggy mess. Gonna give it another few months and hope it’s fixed by then.

 

[SCB3]

Finally went back and finished it this week and have a few thoughts

• Its a stunning, beautiful world, I love the Art Style and world building is great
• Character Models are very nicely detailed, especially on PS5
• The amount of Combat options is fantastic
• Robot Dinosaurs!

But thats it, the bad side

• Gameplay is outdated, even something like Uncharted 2 or 3 does this kind of platforming better and thats if I limit it to just "Follow the Yellow" climbing games
• Its really buggy, the amount of times I've missed a jump for no reason or gotten stuck in something is ridiculous
• The Difficulty of some of the bosses at the end, the final boss just sucks and amounted to "Shoot Plasma Arrows, then Acid and avoid the bullshit 1 shot attacks that always nearly hit you"
• The Story is very mixed, there are times where its great and some of the Side Mission especially are good, but you meet the Future guys early and then never again until the end for example, theres no sense of "Why Aloy is doing this now"

Overall, worth playing, not as good as Zero Dawn imo but a sequel with fresh new gameplay is very much welcome, 6/10

 

[The artful mincer]

Finally got this last night only got to play for 20 minutes I guess it's a pretty game!

I will update as go although if xbox GAF is to be believed it will be impossible for me to enjoy this after experiencing the untouchable splendour of elden ring!!!

I guess I was the only person in the uk this week to buy this separately and not in a bundle

 

[The artful mincer]

Played a good chunk of this got to the Story cauldron.

Starting this was like getting into an old pair of well worn shoes!

There's just nothing else like this or zero dawn. I just don't get how people can call these games generic?

Utterly fantastic 3rd person combat. A couple of new additions to zero dawn include the valor surges and special weapon abilities give even more choice.

Genius idea to make certain machine parts only lootable if you tear them off. Makes you approach the fights differently and they go on longer.

A couple of highlights include blowing a tusk of a hippo and legging it as didn't fancy my chances against him and his mates and taking on a shell snapper. Literally felt like a dark souls boss got stomped a number times then figured him out then beat him easy.

Gyro has been a game changer been nailing weak spots like James bond!

After elden ring its nice to have a traditional story I'am interested to find out what happens next. Seriously I had no idea what was going on in that game and don't much care to find out.

Main complaints shit melee,shit human combat and too much map clutter.

 

[Classicrockfan]

Funny bug I ran into the guys mouth kept moving lol

 

[Trogdor1123]

Just beat it now. Rather enjoyed it. The last fight was a little disappointing but the stuff right up to that was great.

 

[Classicrockfan]

Lol again with this bug