Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition

This is probably one of the most fun post-apocalyptic games I've played in a while. Countless little scraps of lore, excellent if somewhat predictable story with enough twists and reveals to stay interesting (avoid spoilers; it's worth it for your own guessing and theory-crafting as the story unfolds), beautiful attention to detail and world-building, and a protagonist that is actually really likeable for once. Aloy does risk being a bit of a Mary Sue at times, but remains down to earth throughout, and the power fantasy aspect is a refreshing change from endless hobbled anti-heroes. Personally I'd suggest playing on Story or Easy to avoid the (many, many) robot battles outstaying their welcome as you level up across the tribal wasteland, but it's a glorious romp either way, with delightful little elements of skill in taking down the larger challenges. Equipment choices let you really customize and approach combat in a variety of ways, from stealth to heavy combat to more tactical hunting. The robot types are varied enough, and there's just enough sci-fi to keep the game interesting. The PC port is generally excellent, optimized pretty well, and the game well worth your time. The DLC integrates nicely into the flow of the main game, rather than feeling like some random tacked-on entry, and has some of the best terrain and animal detail I've seen. If I have any critiques, the controls end up requiring you to hold buttons down consistently to accomplish basic tasks, but aside from that, the experience was a blast start to finish. I'd have liked a bit more story and a little less open-world as the world itself does risk becoming a little rinse-and-repeat after a while, but there's just enough detail scattered around to keep exploring interesting. I can only hope Forbidden West's port is as good and makes it to GOG to complement Zero Dawn.

I can't speak highly enough for this game, especially for the face this was the developer's first one. The gameplay, graphics, story, and soundtrack are all amazing, and frankly, the story setting and unraveling is exceptional. The combat is fun, and there's plenty of weapon types and strategy that makes it unique. Plus as you scale and explore. there are definitely some fun and crazy fights that will challenge. The main character and voice actress knock it out of the park, and you defintely get immersed in the world around you. I replayed it immediately for the New Game+, and still enjoyed it tremendously. We bought the sequel for PS, and hope it comes to PC soon.

,,, as a dinosaur robot game sounds as though it would be awful. Like being hyped for every pirate then preparing for the almost inevitable disappointment. Then I saw it was on sale, bought it, started playing and then only stopped playing for work and sleep. Great gameplay (though I am used to a controller, getting old and WASD hurts), plot and world are weird in a good way, nice back-story you find naturally through the game, graphics are more than good enough, just wish there was more DLC and am waiting for a sequel. My playthrough was totally bug free, though obviously that is anecdotal, no guarantees. Cons: can get a bit grindy in places and if you are like me and have to do everything possible, rather than blaze through the plot, it might get a little repetitive. Basically the same problems as most open-world ARPGs.

This is a well-done ripoff of the newer Assassins Creed games, for better or worse. Gameplay is fluid, progression is meaningful, graphics are gorgeous and well optimized. But I give it only 2 stars because of the story. The prologue is strong, sets up some interesting personal conflicts, only a secret army of evil murderlords comes in and suplexes any semblance of an interesting plot. From then on its another open world, chosen one must save everyone kind of game. If you aren't tired of those yet then you'll probably love this game, but if you want interesting characters or story this is going to disappoint.

On positive side, the world is quite beautiful and the concept is interesting with robots like animals roaming the world. On neutral side, the game replicates Ubisoft open world formula. There are watchtowers, bandit camps etc. The execution of the formula isn't as good as in Far Cry or Ghost Recon: Wildlands though. Also note that this is not a roleplaying game. It's less of an RPG than Assasin's Creed. Your only choices are which side quests you're going to do. But what really killed this game for me was combat. Sneaking around and planning trap placement was fine but once discovered the fight turns into palyer running like a headless chicken. You cannot stop to aim or reasses situation because something will charge at you, shoot you or throw a projectal at you. There's no taking cover either. It didn't help that the story was told in rather heavy-handed fashion. The game hammers player with 'corporations are corrupt' and 'automation is bad' messages rather than subtly hinting that through environmental story telling or ambiguous diary entries. Side quests were also nothing to write home about. Rather generic and I couldn't get myself to care about any character in the game (including the main one). Speaking of main character, I couldn't empathise with her motivation in the prologue at all. She's an outcast from birth (for reasons she doesn't know), essentially everyone in the tribe hates her, but somehow she desparately wants to pass a trial which will make her a member of the tribe, the tribe whos people mostly hate her. Oh, and if she passes, it's likely that she's going to loose her adoptive father who she deeply loves. So yeah, I didn't by those motives. If this was an RPG, I'd choose not to go through the trial and justs hit the road to explore the world. I need to admit that I haven't finished the game, but after like 20 hours I stopped carrying about the plot so I doubt finishing would change my opinion on the writting.