Horizon: Forbidden West Is Lame

Check out NordVPN today: nordvpn.com/Stephens
Use promo code "STEPHENS" to save big on a two year plan!
💥ALL MY LINKS: linktr.ee/LukeStephens💥
---
Cool Videos:
- The Little Nightmares Series - A Critique:
• The Little Nightmares ...
- The Forgotten City: It Could Steal GOTY:
• The Forgotten City: It...
- The Tragedy of Assassin's Creed Unity:
• The Tragedy Of Assassi...
- Mafia: Definitive Edition Did Something Incredible:
• Mafia: Definitive Edit...
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla Makes Me Sad:
• Assassin's Creed: Valh...
- Cyberpunk 2077 - Truly WASTED Potential:
• Cyberpunk 2077 - Truly...
---
TIME STAMPS:
Intro: 0:00
Ad Break 1: 11:41
Main Discussion: 12:52
Ad Break 2: 1:01:22
Wrapping Things Up: 1:03:03
---
Send me something:
Luke Stephens
P.O. Box 13
Milliken, CO 80543, USA
---
Subscribe and I'll be your bestest friend!
#horizonforbiddenwest #playstation #ps5 #sponsored

[@LukeStephensTV]

Check out NordVPN today: nordvpn.com/Stephens and be sure to use promo code "STEPHENS" to save big on a two year plan!

[@phar0ahad3]

this video just feels like nit picks......and did yu play the game on max difficulty ?

[@yipperdeyip]

Finally someone said it! Tired of these Ubisoft type games with crap scripts, bland characters, taking no risks, doing the same thing over and over again, crap storytelling and such a politically correct way of storytelling as well. It feels soulless. It feels like a mindless Marvel film with forced humour in there. Spider-Man games are just as bland. Physicsless. Only there to get you from A to B. Buy and forget. I'm saying this as a Sony fan and it's a damn shame

[@varno6793]

@@phar0ahad3 I've played Horizon West... and yes, nitpicks do add up. After 25-30 hours, I think i'm done with the series if this is how they're gonna make these titles. Big, beautiful, bland and boring... the comparisons to an Ubisoft title (atleast a polished Ubi title) are very much spot-on.

[@danialwst9628]

NO

[@3mileisland516]

I'm only 20 minutes in Luke (I will watch the rest I promise 😁) and I've got to write a comment to disagree with how you describe the first 5-10 hours after the tutorial mission of Forbidden West as the "ending area from the first game"... If you're referring to The Spire at Meridian that section lasts about 20-30 minutes if you speak to everyone and explore a bit. If you're including the next area after the opening credits (The Daunt) then this is a completely new area on the far outskirts of Carja territory not seen in Zero Dawn. For some reason you've combined these two DIFFERENT areas as if they are one, to make it seem like we're forced to spend many hours retreading areas we've explored previously in Zero Dawn, and that is completely untrue and an unfair misrepresentation. You even unlock a trophy called "Reached The Daunt" when you arrive here - because Aloy has never been there before - and neither has the player!! Either you can't remember what areas were actually in Zero Dawn, or you can, but are deliberately overlooking it in your video essay for some reason... 🤔 I'm inclined towards thinking it's the former as so far you haven't even mentioned the name of either of these areas (even though you are showing plenty of footage) which makes me think you didn't bother to find out what they are called (which may have contradicted your argument that this was "the ending area from the first game")!! 🤔🤔 Really Luke? I don't know lol... If they threw the player at The Isle of Spires (San Fran) right from the start you'd no doubt complain asking "How did Aloy get this far west? Why didn't Guerilla let us PLAY that journey...?" 🤦‍♂️ Also, going from the known to the unknown in a narrative is fine, don't linger too long obviously, but as prologue it is fine 👍👍

[@kesler4245]

The more video essays of yours I watch the more I realize you look at these games with an extremely subjective point of view, You drag games like this for doing something you praised in games like AC Odyssey. You dislike or like a game and base your arguements off of opinon, which instantly invalidates it as an arguement. You say your fine with filler and even appreciate when games add a lot of side content so long as its not necessary to complete the main story in your newer AC reviews, but in this game its unexcusable despite being completely optional? You forced yourself to do things you didn't enjoy and ruined your own outlook on the game, from an objective standpoint you can't make an "AC Odyssey is underrated" video and then an Horizon is lame video in which you echo nearly identical sentiments but somehow in regards to AC all is well and in regards to Horizon all is lame, You even force yourself to somehow spend 10 hours in and area that takes maybe 2 and complain about boring filler, yet you don't interact with Varls grave or any of the trinkets in Aloys room only to complain about narrative. If your going to make an opinion piece at least don't try to pass it off as a researched critique because your only research is clearly one rushed, disinterested playthrough.

[@tombehiri7444]

So true!

[@zyonhenderson67]

Bro thank you so much because this has been my gripe with Essays. I acutally get some criticisms but I hate it when gamers make other games slide with bullshit yet turn around abd nitpick a polished game. Honestly I just hate nitpicky and condescending people are to games when you know the devs are trying their. He's acting like the devs were just unimaginative Adding cutscnenes, adding thorough side quests, better cutscenes and explorable cities that give you an idea how great the world is. But noooo, he's mad that Aloy isnt allowed to climb up a fucking wall

[@morgan0223]

thank you 👏 honestly this review is embarrassing for him. He clearly went into this game set on hating it. What a shame, because it is an incredible series and if he spent any time actually playing the game, reading the dialogue and datapoints, it’s obvious the devs poured their hearts into this world and lore. That’s not to say there aren’t *valid* criticisms of the game, there are. But this video is not it. It just highlights how shit his opinions and “process” is.

[@rhompbus]

This just in! Art is subjective 😳

[@HarryWful]

Everybody experiences games subjectively with different likes and dislikes.

[@TobyRawal]

Not sure how you missed this, but the opening 10-15 hours are in the completely new map… not at all the first game’s map, in fact there’s a prolonged title sequence showing you Aloy leaving the original game area and travelling for ages to get to the new place. Agree this biome is similar and could have been a bit more exciting, sure, but seems like your point is that it’s still the exact map from the first game, which is untrue. Probably worth highlighting.

[@i8balls]

Sometimes people just hate to hate

[@gokuog1772]

I haven't played either game (I just like listening to game reviews) but if the maps are so similar that he confused the new area for the one from the previous game then isn't that still a problem? Just because they had a cutscene showing aloy traveling to the new place and the name of the area changed doesn't make something new and exciting for a sequel 🤷

[@TobyRawal]

@@gokuog1772 I have a lot of issues with FW. The starting area of the sequel, whilst ‘similar’ to certain areas of the first game, is not one of the main issues I think the game has. It’s clearly definitely not the same map as the first game, and does quite well at establishing the start of the journey tbh before moving off into the newer areas of the map. I’m trying to work out whether Luke is annoyed with the area itself, or that it is ‘exactly the same area’, because I feel it’s unfair to criticise something so heavily for a point that isn’t true

[@stephendonovan5056]

he missed it because he lacks attention to detail, despite bloated 'critiques'. His Elden Ring one is a classic, he states a certain area lacks a main story boss, despite that area housing one of the most important story bosses.

[@TheWefikus]

Exactly thank you. Totally new area, new quests, new machines.

[@k.kuzziah6384]

This might come as a shocker but some fans genuinely want to see what happened to Meridian after the first game's boss fight and I think that's why the developers wanted to start the game there so the returning players could see how things ended and how are those people moving on with their lives, seems to me like a bit of fan service.

[@symbiotezilla12345]

I don’t see what the problem is….it took me barely 30 minutes to leave meridian not 10 hours like he says

[@twinkharrylwt226]

I have played zero dawn and my bf didn’t and we both enjoyed it a tom.. for me it was fun to see where everyone left of and for him it was to slowly get into the game and mechanics

[@roonkolos]

@@symbiotezilla12345 he might just be that bad at the game, sadly. Especially seeing how many of his criticisms are super easy to fix or were flat out wrong

[@antylucka]

@@roonkolos I think he counts Barren Light into the 10 hours, but then idk why he said that "we've seen this in the previous game" lol

[@roonkolos]

@@antylucka he might not have actually played the first game or he was just flat out lying. That's my guess

[@coreyfisher2598]

You spent 10-15 hours in the city of meridian?!? Doing what, running in circles?

[@purwantiallan5089]

Well some players even spent 21½ hours spending their time stuck in City of Meridian.

[@coreyfisher2598]

@@purwantiallan5089 How? Meridian is just a few conversations with people to bridge the gap between Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. What do they do for 21.5 hours? There isn't combat or exploration there, it's literally just a bit of exposition

[@sick7jam]

i think he is saying that the map before the embassy is an old map which is not true at all. And i also dont get why he spent a good portion of main discussion talking about ammunition and arrows, i finished the game now that it launched on pc and i never ran out of arrows or any type of canisters (blaze, chill water, plasma etc) it is impossible to run out if u loot the crates around you. This is what happen when u ignore your surroundings, i was almost annoyed that i felt so rich on resources it felt very easy, zero dawn wasnt like that.

[@wingsofpizza]

He’s obviously a little lost but not when it comes to the point he’s trying to make but the words he used. I think he meant to say it took 10-15 hours to get to the forbidden west past the embassy. And to be honest by the time I got past it I had already spent over 15 hours in the game. It felt like I was playing the prologue or intro of a game and was waiting for the title to show but it never happened. I’m not talking about a literal title but it just felt like an intro that consumed way too much time. I remember checking to see if it auto saved right after entering the west cause I was had to leave and I noticed that my save file had 17 and some odd hours on it. Why does it take that long to get to the main part of the game? Even with god of war ragnarok, I remember streaming it to my friend as I was playing and after about 15-20 hours I just got bored of all the useless nonsense and right before I gave up on it my friend says “this is where the game really starts.” What? So all that time I spent was basically for nothing. I would understand if they’d want us to spend some time in the safer area to start off with in order to familiarize yourself with the gameplay mechanics and story and whatnot but at least make it so that you can just go straight to the embassy and get to the meat of the game if you want to and make all that other shit optional for people who do want to know what happens with the Ulvand and whatever that other idiot’s name is. I am yet to finish the game but I highly doubt any of those people will ever be mentioned again in the main story so all it was was a waste of time considering it wasn’t a side quest or optional.

[@sick7jam]

@@wingsofpizza i think you just didn't like that part of the game which is fine but i dont think it was a so bad design. I personally liked it, you could say that it was a little boring in times but it was a preparation for the good part coming ahead + the story with ulvund yes was borring but it was tied up with regalas army if i remember correctly so it carried over and after the embassy... and if u include the place you start when varl finds you it was something new and exciting, for me the game started there and i kinda wish that area was bigger. So basically you were already given a chunk of new stuff from the opening area of the game, new environment, the red plants (blight?), new machines, a boss fight, a new tool and some story. Im not trying blindly to defend the game because to be honest i finished the main story and completed all the map before the dlc and it didn't like it as much that i would want to story wise. Back to the point. That area in the Embassy was completely new maybe similar but what luke wants ? every area to look like is from another planet? Games are made to be experienced by gamers mainly casual ones, are not made to rush through it because you have to make a video on it asap so you can proceed to the next one.

[@mrmeatballx]

My #1 issue with this game is that Aloy just wouldn't shut up, to the point that she would spoil puzzles after 12 seconds of trying to solve it.

[@ninjason57]

I agree. One of the game designers for this game was raging about how Elden Ring didnt do enough to guide the player.

[@burtwonk]

It does get a little grating. She’s just a bit dour and I was tired of listening to her muttering constantly.

[@human-animalchimeraprohibi2143]

I like the game but I can’t even deny that shit, got on my nerves. Let me feel SMART GOTDAMMIT!

[@captainhorizon1919]

They literally fixed that 💀

[@riff_raff_n1821]

I noticed this when the game first came out but I’ve been playing it again these last few weeks and I’m pretty sure they’ve fixed this

[@Md.Kamarussalihin]

Is no one else mad that they completely nerfed the trapping system? From 30 traps to 8 at max? And you can't even scavenge back the traps you set, just their scraps.

[@robertbeisert3315]

My wife 100% the original with tripwires pretty much exclusively. Ever seen one of the giant metal birds blown up by a stationary trap? Ever seen literally all of them taken that way?

[@noL1mit_J5]

I dont like using traps so it’s okay for me.

[@Overseer3590]

Literally my one issue with game. Other than that I love it

[@t.7124]

Yes, I really don't understand why they decided to "balance" weapons when this is a single player game. The difference between the first and second game in how smooth the gampleay is makes it difficult for me to enjoy this game more than the first (although all of the new features in the second makes the first feel lacking). But it's really frustrating why decided to make their game less fun for any reason. They already have downsides to the more overpowered weapons which is their ammo requirements...

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@noL1mit_J5why they dont like to use traps btw?

[@MrRochenator]

My boy is obsessed with assassins creed but calls this lame. It feels like it’s just not your personal taste.

[@epRivera]

"Instead of gliding, you just slowly fall" what is gliding to you??

[@davidzmatlik5443]

XD

[@netriosilver]

There's a difference between a real glider and a fortnite glider

[@mr.bookum]

@@netriosilverno no I’m sure he’s right

[@user-bm7mo2ck6r]

@@netriosilveryeah. It’s a good thing this is a video game not real life. Fortnite glider >

[@netriosilver]

@@user-bm7mo2ck6r that is one of the saddest gaming delusions I've ever heard. Can you imagine if Fortnite had physical paraglider type gliding? Right now you just stare blankly at the screen while holding forward for twenty seconds

[@Kirby-Mania]

The thing you missed about the Breath of the Wild’s shrines is that they are at the very least consistent. The game establishes that pretty much the only structures Link can’t climb are ones made of the materials the ancients used. In Horizon there’s no reason why Aloy can’t scale a relatively small ledge during a puzzle that she would otherwise have no issue climbing

[@landfillao4193]

This is the real problem. If a game sets rules and follows them like BOTW does that's fine. But to set rules and then blatantly break them because you want to overdesign sections of it, that's where it becomes a problem.

[@ajaykundlas7461]

I had a lot of issues with Kratos in God of War for the same reasons, like why can't you hop over a ledge to get a treasure when you're doing wild shit in the cutscenes? Also found the combat inconsistency very annoying. "You can instant-kill certain enemies if you slam them into walls with the leviathan axe, but there is no consistency because we prioritized natural-looking environments over making what constitutes as a "wall" clear". The number of times I've gotten killed because I tried kicking a drauger only for nothing to happen is... mmmmmmmmmmm

[@symbiotezilla12345]

@@ajaykundlas7461 LOL he's fighting a dragon and throwing hands with Aesir in cutscenes that terraforms entire environments but can't break a simple wooden door to get treasure. But to GOW's credit, gameplay wise it's consistent so that you have to go through dumb puzzles throughout the whole game to get treasure where as aloy arbitrarily can't do something like jumping 2 feet to grab a ledge because devs wanted her to climb through the back.

[@lionzcrown1702]

You guys dead ass need to let video games be videogames lmao

[@roonkolos]

@@symbiotezilla12345 mate. Nearly all video games have those moments and have had them before for decades Not sure why it's an issue only now. Unless it's just how jarring it can be at times. Even then it's still not exactly rare

[@drakenfist]

"You are ripped out of it and are forced to return to the region of the first game". This part is not true. The Daunt is a new area and was not a part of the first game. It was only mentioned off the cuff a few times. The Horizon Forbidden West map continues where Zero Dawn's map ended. The Daunt is simply the bridging village between the Carja Sundum and west. They choose to start it there simply because The Daunt is the main entrance that prevents people from going in and out of the west. The first game even mentions that the Daunt is the entry point into the Forbidden West.

[@GarzaLovesYou]

It's it really a "new area" if there is nothing different?

[@drakenfist]

@@GarzaLovesYou Everything is different. If you haven't been there or explored it in the first game...that is by definition a "new area".

[@gokulee501]

When he said this I seriously suspected his review, not 1 of the youtubers I trust, but he does make good content and I agree on the Free climbing

[@jarrodbautista5521]

@@GarzaLovesYou Sure dude an Embassy that represents the backbone of Tenakth, Utaru, and Carja relationship is no different... Sure sure

[@jamesmiller5331]

Nor did it take me 10 hours to get through

[@instantnuts2329]

i'd like to point out that the glider mechanic is used for being able to traverse down a cliff or elevated point without taking any fall damage. it is not meant to able to let you travel across half the map in one glide like you display in zelda <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="291">4:51</a>. this is so the player is obligated to travel on foot, and is more likely to encounter more things within the world, rather than skipping and flying over them.

[@Christopher-md7tf]

Yeah, can't have traversal being that fluid and fun, who would want that.

[@Name-zd2nb]

Bruh. They give you a flying mount. You literally can fly over the entire map.

[@roonkolos]

@@Name-zd2nb yep. Later in the game too where it made sense story wise. Coulda been nice to have it a LITTLE sooner but thats a nitpick

[@Name-zd2nb]

@@roonkolos shoulda bridged the gap an made the glider go a lil faster straight rather than a parachute effect.

[@skipe94]

Lol people complaining over having to TRAVERSE AND TRAVEL an unknown world in an OPEN WORLD ADVENTURE game is fucking hilarious. If the game has no FastTravel system like RDR2 then I'd understand but my god man. Next they'll buy forza horizon and complain about all the driving

[@KMA11000]

Most surprising part of this video for me is aspect of ammunition you have to constantly grind. For a brief amount of time I felt like I've played completely different game from you.. Completed the game at hard difficulty with +15k metal shards and truly in my entirely playthrough I never thought that I need to grind or even change difficulty to gain more scraps for arrows.. Also aspect of bullet sponge - at the end of the day Aloy is shooting wooden arrows to metal machines and all of them had some weakness you can literally scan in real time and highlight for entire combat.. even so you can use special type of ammunition to strip metal parts protecting weak spots.. it's all in the game, for me this game has one of the best balance idea for all of the player even without experience with dual shock you can still find a way to make it easier for you.. At some points I felt that you didn't put enough work into learning mechanics of the game before making this critique, sadly this game actually has a lot to offer if you give it a try to show you what it has to offer.

[@shunsui07]

I agree with the ammo/part stripping thing. Machines feel way more dangerous in this game than the first too. Although, ammo does become a little bit more grindier but i think thats the point. To force you to use other weapons/items. I havent beaten the game nor did i watch the review just yet. But stripping parts off of enemies makes the game give you a chance in the fight. Sure some are difficult to fight. Like the turtle machine, that one is a bit rough for me still. But, it makes the game challenging and not easy like the first one. Although, some machines are kinda bullet sponges tbf.

[@imnotblindbutiloveblindfol8449]

@@shunsui07 If I’m correct the developers intentionally made it harder to kill machines after seeing so many players brutally no diff the strongest machines in HZD. So the machines in this game were meant to further resemble late game monsters from like, Monster Hunter if that makes any sense.

[@mikehurt3290]

I love that there's different weapons and strategies for each creature and how you have to plan ahead and that every encounter is different

[@bloedekuh]

What a typical fanboy's reply. Yea, I would believe you if what you said also applies to HZD. Like someone said previously, the devs simply made the game harder and more complicated. You can give more fanboy excuse as you wish, but the simple truth is you don't change what people liked about the original game. This is why GoWR is the GOTY, while HFW is a game ever made.

[@teasay3135]

@@bloedekuh Nothing you just said made any sense. HZD was easier, yes, but that isn't why people enjoyed it. HZD was a simpler game, it doesn't have any weapon upgrades, as that was added in HFW, only coils to make your weapons stronger. Armor was also a lot simpler, not having any real characteristics besides melee and ranged while armor in HFW has weaves and armor specific buffs that make your playstyle easier. HFW also expands the already wide range of different weapons found in HZD to an impressive amount and it also adds some new weapons like the shredder gauntlets, spikethrowers and boltblasters. HFW just gives you more options, better weapons, better melee combat and just literally improves the already good bases laid by HZD. If you have any difficulty on acquiring new weapons or literally crafting ammo, that's quite frankly just on you.

[@adamsoer9170]

Damn, never thought I’d find myself vehemently disagreeing with Luke on almost everything about a game lmao

[@sainuudotcom]

Because he is factually incorrect. It’s was to disagree

[@dakwonju]

@@sainuudotcom Yeah Luke has a tendency to OCD on really minor nuances that irritate him, and then he goes on about it for 30 minutes. Half the time he nails it, the other half you think "Yeah this is just a very biased personal irritation of yours"

[@John-996]

@@dakwonju Some times he also does not spend enough Time with Game. Like His Kingdom come review were he missed out on some great quests, he later said there were no good side quests. How can you give your opinion on a games side quests if you have missed some of the best ones in the game. But so many reviewers do that. I think trying to critique to many games. In Terms of HFW its mixed bag somethings are done well other things not so much. I Think his review in this case is fair seems like he has actually spent enough time with the game.

[@AnthonyMcNeil]

Dude games are subjective. You don't watch a video to agree, you watch to listen and to hear a perspective.

[@sainuudotcom]

@@John-996 the problem is he almost got everything wrong. Here is a condensed list: Chainscrape is a new area Grappling hook gets acquired in the opening area The dialogue scenes are skippable, and most are optional Shieldglider can be used in multiple different ways Varl’s death gets brought up several different times The scene with Beta ends with Aloy sharing a personal story about Rost Aloy shows several weaknesses including doubt, extreme stubbornness, and trust issues Each combat encounter requires the player to identify weakness and use the weapon that corresponds with the weakness thus spending less resources. His complaint is like saying I used a handgun on a robot and I need more handgun bullets. The drop of rate items can be adjusted separately to the difficulty. In addition, the drop of the item is tied specifically to combat in the removal of that item We can purchase the items needed for ammunition from vendors He literally spams weak arrows (green) towards a TremorTusk in the video, he should be using other weapons. Silens role on how he is the one who figured out the Zeniths weaknesses via the Hades Sunwing gets acquired before the last mission permanently Vast Silver is not even mentioned and if you know you know

[@Pillock25]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="252">4:12</a> I noticed a similar thing in the Uncharted series, Nate can climb up cliffs and massive ruins, but if the developers don't want you scaling a small wall he could clearly climb, he performs that pathetic little 6" hop.

[@itzbenson6696]

Same with GOD OF WAR

[@RAL0981]

Let’s be real here y’all just hate playing games?

[@litt420]

@@RAL0981 lets be Real here do u love trash games?

[@roonkolos]

@@litt420 no he has a point since this has been a thing with MANY games for like 15 years now Only way this is somehow even worth mentioning is if someone either has willingly not noticed how often it happens or has only began playing recently

[@wizzenberry]

Animation blending wasnt really working, cpu limitation and the climbing and hopping is procedual have you seen how big the game is?

[@Kable10]

I loved forbidden west and I didn't even play the first horizon. The world was incredible to explore and the combat never got old throughout my playthrough. The ending was a little bit of a let down but besides that I had an amazing experience.

[@iLLWiLLx21]

Imo Zero Dawn is a million times better

[@touka6589]

@@iLLWiLLx21literally everything is better in this game except for the story lmao

[@yamiimax]

​@@iLLWiLLx21hope not cause I don't liked it and hope the new one has better gameplay more weapon besides the bow

[@teeboo123]

I think this boils down to personal philosophy.... is gameplay>story or is story>gameplay. For me it's super hard to get into the world when the character I play in it is unrelatable or uninteresting... Alloy?...Aloy?... is both

[@yamiimax]

@@teeboo123 still gonna check forbidden west when I came to pc in spring 2024?

[@christophercarlisle7887]

My only 2 criticisms with this game were the fact you had to collect machine parts to override machines and the amount of shit you had to do to level up legendary gear. Other than that dude I honestly think you fell into the same trap I did with my first playthrough, I was more concerned with exploring and leveling up than just following the game organically. I was so obsessed with collecting shit that I didn't realise it was a waste of time until you got first 3 AI cores. Doing a second playthrough and I love this game now, best advice I can give anyone is do bit of story first as it unlocks both side quests and equipment needed for blocked paths as you progress, just take it one region at time and it flows way better otherwise it feels like a prolonged empty game. I honestly did it region by region and after few hours my map was full of fun side content. Something the game doesn't tell you, hope this helps.

[@bigbirdmusic8199]

You honestly enjoy the most dull, dry, empty shell of a protaganist in gaming history?

[@christophercarlisle7887]

@@bigbirdmusic8199 how's she dull, explain please?

[@bigbirdmusic8199]

@@christophercarlisle7887 Wow its not even worth my time. I hate this game so much the last thing im gonna do is recant this garbage.

[@ls93780]

To an extent I feel that that’s fair, if I were to replay the game I definitely just wouldn’t bother wasting time hunting down upgrade components for my gear until I start getting purple and legendary gear. However the fact that it’s possible to fall into that pit at all speaks to how poorly implemented it was as a mechanic. I feel like playing more with expanding the weave and coil system would’ve been a better way to go about it. If ignoring the weapon upgrade mechanic for most of that game makes the game better, then it’s not a very good mechanic.

[@christophercarlisle7887]

@@ls93780 I agree, thr coil system in the first game was perfectly fine as it was, I don't need to spend 5 hours upgrading one set of armour or a weopon

[@Voiy]

The story and world just didn't grab me this time round. In the first game I loved the lore. I listened to every audio recording, read every note and watched every interaction on the focus. I was so into discovering what time period I was in, where I was in the world and how this ended up happening. This game felt like it had none of that mystery left to discover

[@mr..freeman2852]

Voiy Bois !

[@gabrielpatsouris474]

yeah the story was kinda out there to me especially with the zeniths, neesis etc. just not as good this time.

[@thebatmane2220]

Bro same, the first games lore reeled me in immediately to the point where I scoured the entire map for audio logs, but this game doesn’t have the same effect and idk why.

[@steviemac2377]

I eventually started listening to podcasts not even halfway through because it just became so dull at one point

[@RichmenInc]

I actually loved the game.. but the only.. ONLY problem that I have. Which happens to be a big Important one. . What really is a missed opportunity and could've broaden the whole story including part 1 Zero Dawn to a close and elevate part 2 Forbidden West to a next level.. let see I try to be vague to avoid spoilers.. But THE Guy who made all this happen.. to be in that building with all those people. And the thing happend. I expected to have a an actual conversation/ explanation or a big fight. I mean it was a big thing getting there. The whole building and premise of that development was really a big thing and tragic. The events there were atrocious. And just to silence it like that. The person who started this whole mess in the first place. To just.. poof like that.. major problem with that. But everything else the Zeniths everything Storyline was interesting for the next one. Cause it wide open now. But like I said. That chapter. That arc.. missed opportunity

[@Lavi397]

I can't get over how far you've got in the storyline with the STARTING BOW AND WITHOUT UPGRADING YOUR ARROW POUCH. I didn't think someone would get so far in the game as to meet the specters and have such a pathetic looking weapon wheel still. Of course you're going to struggle with combat and resources if you're mindlessly spamming the weakest arrows at machine armor and not aiming at weak points, trying status effects, valor surges or anything the game has on offer. The comments have already pointed out that your clarification on the Daunt is wrong (it is an entirely new area). That is just one of many mistakes throughout the video born from rushing through games to churn out clickbait videos, but it grates incredibly badly when the video starts with "I've put a lot of time in this game". If you really did, which is doubtful, you were paying no attention to anything at all.

[@maulcs]

It's a shame, because aiming at weak points and fighting machines with certain tactics is the best part of the game for me - it's like he's not even playing the real game.

[@killerklinge52]

I mean that guy thinks that games like AC origins and odysee are great, maybe he thought there are no new bows and weapons because he is used to buy new weapons and stuff as microtransaction like in AC creed. i mean if you say that the new AC with levelsystem and pay to win since origin are amazing while horizon is bad, then something is wrong with you. And i played origin to the end by myself because yes egypt was great but the game itself did anythibg waht horizon did, just worse

[@khangvinh4656]

@@maulcs same, the fact that you can gather resources off of some animals without killing them is something that made me love the weaknesses of the bots in this game and the last. The fact that shooting parts off of them can give you valuable resources, blow them up, release gases/chemicals, drop weaponry, loses armors on body, capacitate, etc,… give the game so much variety in fighting wise. Combine this with stealth, taming animal, special skills, wide range of traps/weapons, movement like climbing, gliding, and sliding, and melee skills made the combat extremely rewarding to master. The only games where i have seen such complex system of gameplay is from MGSV, Deus Ex and dishonored.

[@zyonhenderson67]

@@khangvinh4656 I mean honestly there are so many different playstyles and weapons that there is no way combat feels "boring" yet he wants to give Odyssey praise. Like seriously the best weapon in the game is boomerang like shredder that tears off valuable parts of robots. How is that not fun?

[@drricemice2046]

​@@killerklinge52 origins wasn’t that bad out of the more recent AC games it is hands down the best and most concise

[@wickedspank]

Personally I enjoyed seeing the area from the first game with enhanced graphics and talking to people I remembered from the first game and seeing what they were up to and such.

[@purwantiallan5089]

The PS4 port of Forbidden West also is equally impressive.

[@aaron8762]

I'm guessing you were just sticking to the main quest at the end, but you don't have to finish the game to unlock free use of the Sunwing. Yes, you only get it near the end of the game but you can use it freely to finish off several side quests and roam the map before heading into the final game ending quest.

[@purwantiallan5089]

Yep. It only needed 7hrs 26mins and 38 seconds in doing so.

[@jeremykopatz4760]

Interesting opinion. While I do agree with some of the short comings I was driven to compete this game compared to Assassins Creed Odyssey, which feels very bloated and Grindy if you want to upgrade ships/weapons, whatever. I actually never once ran out of materials for ammo once I got a quarter of the way in the game, just playing on normal. At least this game had an inventory bank system which removed the storage cap from the first game

[@justuraveragecunt9005]

Ye that's what I was thinking. He said this game was bloated, yet says AC Odyssy is an exceptional game 💀

[@cowel8734]

Great to hear. I just got ps5 and got Horizon West with it and bought Zero Dawn and haven't heard much bad except here. I loved Odyssey and this looks even better

[@johnny10grasp3]

I feel bad because i only got half way through AC Odyssey. To much to do and hard to follow any part of the story.

[@alexwilliams7106]

For Luke's comment at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1980">33:00</a>, the most epic line in gaming history. Kratos: Do not mistake my silence for lack of grief! Mourn how you wish, leave me to my own.

[@jasontodd1226]

Great line but bad context. Aloy barely has any character

[@daniel8181]

Youre comparing a character who literally ran out of rage to a character that the writers thought was supposed to be stoic but was really just a stick.

[@coreymartin5981]

Aloy just seems like she's in a bad mood all the time. Even when people are thanking her, her responses seem "snappish" or like "yeah, yeah, whatever."

[@coreymartin5981]

@ThatVanceGuy I feel bad for the people around you then.

[@ryuhayabaker]

I actually feel like Aloy a lot of the time with the characters she’s up against. I think she’s bored by their whining, or complaining or “problem requests” just as I was, but knows she needs to do a majority of it if she wants ppl on side to save the world. The only character she seems to have any genuine emotion towards is Sylens and he’s not around for about 30 hours.

[@coreymartin5981]

@@ryuhayabaker Lots of npcs had problems in the first game as well and she didn't have 1/10th of the attitude. What's worse is that this attitude follows her on a bunch of side-missions...things that she doesn't have to do if she doesn't want to do it. An example is the armor building contest. Whenever somebody thanks her, for minor or major things, she has clenched teeth type of "you're welcome". I suppose to put in a real life example, it would be like you leaving a grocery store and on the way to your car you see a little girl at a table selling girl scout cookies. You then walk over and buy those cookies and then give an annoyed expression and response when they say thank you. You didn't have to buy the cookies, but you're coping an attitude nontheless.

[@Even_N.D.]

​@@coreymartin5981I never had that Impression but i play on german and the voice actor maybe portrayed it different

[@casusolivas]

Aloy was so annoying that it made me quit the game after the first 10 hours... and the story and characters were just so boring that i just dropped the game all together

[@ZFPAkula]

Just to clarify something. The Daunt was not an area in Horizon Zero Dawn. Luke's complaint about spending 15+ hours in a HZD area is not even close to accurate.

[@senittoaoflightning4404]

Meridian was a repeat. But you can hardly take longer than an hour to complete it. He also keeps lying throughout the review.

[@edoardofranchi903]

So let me get it straight, you stayed 5+ hours in Meridian? Because the Daunt is defenitly not part of the first game, maybe it has a similar enviorment but it's certanly not the same.

[@thesho21]

Yeah I think he's confused. He's thinking the daunt was in the first game.

[@suddenimpulse030]

This guy isn't terribly bright based on this video.

[@THEbigROCKHEAD]

Very confused where he got that “first few hours leveling up and getting gear in the same area where the last game ended?” Like did you run around the spire area that long? I sped through talking to everyone in like 10 minutes and got maybe 4 resources.

[@austins.2495]

staied

[@babbisp1]

@@suddenimpulse030 he is bright but he failed with this particular review

[@vcp2077]

You don't return to the same area where the first game was, you enter a section of it which is the transition point between the "forbidden west" and the eastern lands. Also, the crafting system in this game is as crap as you mentioned. There are tons of weapons with each one having anywhere between 3-6 upgrade levels which require tons of obscure materials to upgrade and its hard to get them all. The first game was simpler, you just had 3/4 levels of each item (i.e. from green to blue to purple rarity items) and upgrades happened via coils. Ammo crafting has always been irritating and it gets more irritating here with just 2x the variety of ammo available.

[@jedimindtrick75]

correct.

[@bkg5494]

thank you 🙏🏼 the opening section of forbidden west includes the same biome and cultures (carja/oseram) as the end of zero dawn, but it is a completely new area to explore that was not in the first game.

[@KEVBOYMUSIC]

Yeah, that point about it starting in an area from the last game confused the hell out of me. Just not true at all.

[@stylesyx1529]

bigot

[@Old_Red]

The only weapons I worried about upgrading were the legendary weapons and I got all of the done in two play throughs. When I got to Erik at the end of the game it took one hit with a valor to take him out and he never even got a chance to touch me.

[@bobmcbyte2208]

HFW has its fair share of problems, but depleting your ammunition in most combat situations is definitively not one of them. - I’m baffled how a gamer like you was not able to see that there are cheap and expensive arrow types. And the cheap ones, hands down, get the job done. And the resources to make them, wood and shards, are abundant.

[@joaolima9622]

My first playthrough of the game was on Hard and I never really had a problem with ammo. I can count on two hands the amount of times I've ran out of resources for ammo and it only happened with the stronger weapons which require rare components. In these situations I just use the standard bow which still gets the job done when you need to. The things you get from the fights themselves and from minimal exploration are more than enough to replenish your ammo stock. From the way he talks about enemies being damage sponges I think this guy just isn't good at the game and mindlessly shoots arrows at enemies. Except for the stronger machines like the Apex versions of Slaughterspines and Tremortusks most machines can be brought down in a few seconds with a combination of shooting weak points + status effects.

[@Danny-mp8dq]

I played on very hard and never felt the need to grind. If I machine was giving me trouble, I just used what the game gave me, like food buffs and elemental weaknesses. I always sold my rare relics to and made sure I interacted with the world to earn different weapon types. And the end of the day, it's just a girl with a bow and arrow fighting off 20 foot tall robot dinosaurs. I would hope this game was hard. It wouldn't be any fun if the game just gave you the most broken weapon right off the start. Some people just suck at video games and want to complain when they don't want to put the time to figure things out for themselves

[@keithnmoore2]

This game has me mixed, because Zero Dawn was one of my top 5 favorite games from last gen, loved the twist about her origin and everything. This sequel is better in every way from a gameplay perspective, but the story was meh to me, and the indoor puzzle areas inside the facilities really bring the pacing down. I was really hoping that Guerrilla would have their Naughty Dog/Uncharted 2 moment with this game, and blow us all away, but it showed little growth from the first game. I had fun with Forbidden West in spurts, and it’s still a very good game.

[@muskularchicken]

It was just more Horizon and for 2 open world games to be 90% the same is like playing one Assassins Creed for 200 hours. It is not fun. I am glad the platinum was easier then the 1st game and was done with it fairly sooner than expected.

[@gVert404]

the best part of Zero Dawn was the story and this game just didn’t deliver in that aspect. The zeniths lacked development, and nemesis was shoed in at the last second out of nowhere. I also just couldn’t get invested into any of the side characters except for Tilda, and her turning on Aloy felt extremely forced. Honestly I wish you had the choice to just dip out into space with her.

[@EddiXP]

Man same. Sameee

[@mikehurt3290]

The main story was worst in Forbidden West but the side quest and gameplay are so much better, even after 30 hours I have to much to do and having lots of fun

[@cheret6879]

I played the 2nd game first and had so many questions, witch probably made me love the 1st game even more..

[@justinconnour3941]

I played the whole game on hard but never really had to scavenge for parts to make arrows or anything like that. I just explored the world as I went because I found it so intriguing and always had enough materials to do whatever I needed to do

[@Olibelus]

He’s a critic so he makes a living and feeds his family by being critical so stuff like this should always be taken with a grain of salt. That said, he makes some good points, although I largely disagree.

[@samalton5837]

@@Olibelus It's popular to hate on HFW or embellish certain things in it so that is another part of it.

[@grell9296]

I had to scavenge for parts to upgrade gear, but never for ammo. I think having ammo and "damage sponge" issues just indicates he wasn't very good at the game. If he was running out of ammo constantly either he was exclusively using expensive ammo wastefully, or the game was telling him that he needed to change tactics in combat and he ignored it

[@Michael-um3vk]

I have no idea what he is talking about , I was never really low on ammo unless I went into a vault.

[@poop-zw6ie]

@@grell9296 you can see he really doesn’t have good tactics or aiming skills through the gameplay he shows

[@dabaddestrogue6592]

Gone are the days where you'd play a game for enjoyment. Now we gotta overly analyze non issues just to sound deep and progressive as if we're making a profound statement. Funnily enough if HZD or HFW did copy BOTW or ER the complaints would go from "this game does nothing new" to "this game copies xyz game"

[@danipatac7210]

ikr??? people also started to hate on BOTW and Elden Ring JUST BECAUSE 💀💀

[@jordancave3089]

I have never finished this game(didn’t finish the first either lol) even though I played through most of it. I buy so many games that I end up getting burnt out, or just wanna jump to something different, so I end up putting a game down and not finishing it. All that being said, I still had plenty of fun playing this. This guy apparently really loves the witcher 3(another game I never finished) and GoT(which btw, every side quest is basically the exact same…go here and take out bad guys) and I had fun with both of those too, but it’s not like I think they’re just so superior to a game like this. Maybe I’m not the best person to break these things down though…since i have a pretty short attention span lol but my point is…i feel like people complain far too much. Idk how many games I’ve played and enjoyed…only to find out later that they’re apparently trash lol idk, man…ig I just don’t get it

[@abdallahbaloch]

dude, I can’t believe he literally lied about the pullcaster (grappling hook) which you LITERALLY get during the tutorial before meridian, calling the daunt a part of the map from the first game, which it isn’t, and about aloys insecurities. She has MULTIPLE discussions about rost (her dead guardian) to varl, she talks about varls death to zo, and also talks about how she doesn’t really like beta during the mid section of the game. As the game progresses, you see her opening up, especially to beta, to the point where they call each other sisters.

[@defiscanner1927]

One word: Wrong

[@UncG3]

I'm so confused........the Daunt wasn't in the first game. Why does he keep saying they dump us in the ending area of the first game? There is a brief stop in Meridian to setup the story, then off to the Daunt. Am I missing something?

[@sheert]

I think he was not very clear but it's the same biome and architecture, while not actually being the same map as HZD.

[@roonkolos]

Having platinum for the game, I can say with absolute confidence a lot of your info is either purposely misleading, weren't paying attention to things or flat out wrong From when you ride the lift down you are already in a new area altogether. The Daunt & Chainscrape are more of a transition area. The tutorial area is also technically a different place as well, Aloy & Varl both say as much. Only the small part of Meridian you find yourself at is from the previous game and even that is a spot not in the first game so already that's a lot of misinfo to start with. "I'm familiar with the first game." Yeah, sure you are You also mention the ammo grind when you can buy ammo at vendors. So you must have either somehow missed *all* of them by some ungodly fluke or you didn't think that was worth mentioning. Plus, how the hell are you grinding for ammo to begin with?! I'm on ultra hard recently& I have a slight surplus of ammo in my stash which knowing UH, that's a godsend. It's super easy to get. Little tedious but still easy as hell so no clue why thats an issue for you Difficulty is actually a lot more complex than what you stated it to be if you went into the options menu even once. It's where you can have Easy Looting on too which can help with your apparent ammo grinding Several moments after Varl's death were shown so I don't know what you meant there. You might have skipped dialog if not for saying you couldn't so again, what the hell, man? Maybe you were getting a drink or something instead. Each time it happened I'd go on & on but a lot of others have said similar & more but honestly, I want to like any welcomed criticism of this game but there's things in this that show either you're just parroting what others have *incorrectly* said, you're aware of many of these already but chose to not mention them or you weren't as thorough as you make yourself out to be If you don't like the game, that's fine!! People are not required to like this game. But what *isn't* fine is purposely making lies for no reason other than to be one of "Those" reviewers you see with Kotaku or such Edit: side note. Why are you fighting a Tremortusk with a common weapon...?! Again, you're purposely making things more difficult for yourself just to pretend you're making a point

[@OnlyBeGamer1]

I have been watching this video, on and off, for a few days now. I just cant seem to get through much of in in a single sitting because I just get mad. I don't care if someone doesn't like something I like, they're allowed to have an opinion. But when they make a video which is just full of wrong information, then I get irritated

[@roonkolos]

@@OnlyBeGamer1 exactly. If he or ANYONE wasn't a fan, hey! No big deal. Not everyone is going to like some games. That's fine. But like you said, the problem comes from either flat out lying or not even going out of their way to actually double check very easy to find things. It's one thing to say "hey, I don't like Aloy is so chatty." Its another thing to never mention the second patch that fixed that extremely early on It separates those criticizing and those that are simply hating because they find it fun to If he doesn't like the game, don't make shit up as to why

[@marcioffi27]

Honestly I don’t think he truly played the game… he keeps saying “I’m very familiar with the first game” well clearly not you don’t even know the map… every single comment says what you are saying.

[@roonkolos]

@@marcioffi27 no, there's plenty that are just repeating the same tired and no longer valid reasons that he is. It's really easy to spot those who played and enjoyed it, those who played it but have fair criticism and those saying they didn't play it without saying they didn't play it Luke being a great example of the latter

[@askechad7478]

Bro this dude have no idea what he is talking about at all it is not the first time.

[@treemonk298mountain6]

Having played Breath of the Wild does not equal a masters degree in game design

[@eddiej.l.christian6754]

It's a Survival Game. All those mechanic are Supposed to be there. Sounds like you would be happier playing Doom or Pong.

[@NerdTypeZ]

I have my fair share of problems with this game, but your difficulty problem baffles me. The game doesn't simply have a standard difficulty slider. It has a NUMBER of different settings you can tune to your liking (I often played with max damage received and high damage dealt, making encounters short but incredibly deadly). And I'm pretty sure that item harvesting rate is just one of the things you can tweak. I would much rather have a game I can customize to my own personal experience than one that leaves me frustrated because the developers decided that I need to be X kind of player to enjoy it. And your issue with grinding for ammo and your idea for an ammo dealer...like, that's a thing that exists in the game. I remember a number of times not wanting to go hunting for something so I just went to the nearest weapon dealer and bought the ammo from them. I'm sorry that you missed that mechanic, but it was right there in the game for you. You could easily have sold your left over parts for shards, then bought the ammo you needed.

[@NerdTypeZ]

And tbh, your assessment of enemies as arrow sponges rings hollow to me as well. I don't know how much you engaged with the targeting and elemental system of the game, but the combat becomes extremely satisfying when you're exploiting enemy weaknesses, severing weapons and armor from them, and striking at weak points with your strongest weapons. It is the tactical nature of the game that is its most satisfying aspect, in my opinion, and the one area I think the sequel actually supercedes the original. If you charged in head first to every encounter and just shot arrows at the machines until they fell down, then I'm really not surprised you had a bad time.

[@MiTrOn]

Yes, those oserams Hunt machines like crazy because they had almost every part i need it hahaha

[@salmark9080]

It’s incoherent and boring I ended up putting easy mode on

[@evobsm2328]

​@@salmark9080 thats a shame. you must be a boring person if you thought it was boring. sorry for that

[@salmark9080]

@@evobsm2328 it's literally arrow sponge simulator with a terrible loot system where they even give you an option to neglect the whole thing. Do they want you to play the game or not? if i'm boring for thinking that then you are beyond saving

[@michaelmcqueeferton6911]

There are so many valid critiques on HFW that it honestly baffles me that you missed them. First of all the first 30 hours of the game is not spent in HZDs map. Chainscrape was not in HZD. Unless you spent 30 hours in the tutorial then you’re just wrong. Secondly, problems such as the bugginess, arbitrary barriers that prevent free exploration, and enemy animations not lining up with hitboxes are faaaar more important than your gripe with the glider (you know you can use the sun wing to fly up and then dismount and use glider right?) lmao. You’re right about the superfluous dialogue though I can’t see how you’d say this game is bloated when you’re so into AC. I agree with your aloy critiques as well.

[@Gooey_Mess]

He mentions bloated problems in AC as well, you Muppet.

[@SoupyMittens]

Yeah I have had issues with me getting stuck in areas I'm not supposed to be in due to curiosity and not being able to ever get out

[@lemming9984]

Spot on!

[@quademasters249]

The hit box problem was infuriating. Did they ever fix it? The plot was so bad, I sort of forgot about the combat problems.

[@Metaphorically7]

“You know you can use the sunwing to fly up and dismount and then use the glider” - I’m sorry, are you really making a point about utilizing an item that you only get after you’ve basically beaten the game? Lol gonna be a lil hard using that sunwing during the first 97% of the game, since yanno, you don’t have it. But sure. For the last 3%, he totally should have. Solid points otherwise, that’s just a bit silly.

[@michaelgj23]

They should have included a combat component to the sunwing. It would have been super satisfying to fight a robot T-Rex using the sunwing’s laser attack or if you could even just shoot your bow while flying it.

[@Unhinged_Salmon]

Wouldn't it have been too overpowered? There are lots of strong and valuable machines that wouldn't be able to fight back, thus it would just be a piss easy way to get free loot and take down massive machines.

[@flanthemanable]

@@Unhinged_Salmon Just give machines the ability to summon other flying machines. Also, who cares if it's overpowered. It's end game content.

[@WardenOfTerra]

@@Unhinged_Salmon - Overpowered? It's a single player game... lol

[@Unhinged_Salmon]

@@WardenOfTerra Yeah, but it would completely throw off the machine loot value. Imagine you could kill all the tremourtusks you wanted parts from safely from above. You would make the loot pretty much worthless because it's too easy to acquire.

[@tbrown5836]

I understand your complaints about explorations, but I just think they wanted to make a fun game, ya I wish I could climb like in breath of the wild with uncharted 4 style climbing but I loved the puzzle to it, simple but good, and the glider is just a fun mechanic, its simple as hell but its an important addition to make this game traversal quick and fun, its also an excuse to look at the map which is breathtaking

[@WardenOfTerra]

It's not a 'puzzle'. The Focus tells you where to climb. The climbing is artificial and tedious.

[@jayDee92133]

Forbidden west was lit from beginning to end for me. It's a sequel that improved on pretty much every problem I had with the first one.

[@jedimindtrick75]

Agreed. I can't think of one aspect of the game that was not an improvement over Zero Dawn. And Zero Dawn was pretty good.

[@RichmenInc]

I actually loved the game.. but the only.. ONLY problem that I have. Which happens to be a big Important one. . What really is a missed opportunity and could've broaden the whole story including part 1 Zero Dawn to a close and elevate part 2 Forbidden West to a next level.. let see I try to be vague to avoid spoilers.. But THE Guy who made all this happen.. to be in that building with all those people. And the thing happend. I expected to have a an actual conversation/ explanation or a big fight. I mean it was a big thing getting there. The whole building and premise of that development was really a big thing and tragic. The events there were atrocious. And just to silence it like that. The person who started this whole mess in the first place. To just.. poof like that.. major problem with that. But everything else the Zeniths everything Storyline was interesting for the next one. Cause it wide open now. But like I said. That chapter. That arc.. missed opportunity

[@Sifflair]

I love Zero Dawn, but the only thing it did better was the lore reveal (which is really hard to top). Forbidden West did a great job upon building it, AND it was better in every other aspect. Characters, combat, Face animations, open world variety and traversal, and omg the graphics are absolutely insane. Forbidden West did a great job in making the objectives feel special, every Tallneck and Cauldron had some unique element. My only nitpick with Forbidden West is the ending and it's new threat, which feels quite vague, but I hope the DLC will clear things up a little bit.

[@drointhewind480]

Same, only the last hours were a chore and thats because I have to have everything maxed before the final mission. Those damn fire and ice bears.....

[@CornOnDeCobb]

WHERE IS HE GETTING 10 HOURS FOR THE START??

[@pievancl5457]

How long did it take you to get to the horizon forbidden west title? I think it took me like 12 hours lol he ain’t lyin

[@williamcummings9125]

I think the personality "issues" may be due to the fact she's a clone and not a conventional human. I had no problems with this. She behaves in the way she was designed to behave, solely focused on restoring GAIA and saving the world. The comparison with Ellie(a human child/girl) is nonsensical.

[@joeyshirey9232]

I also dont like when people try to say how a story should play out based on their own opinions. Why cant people just tell themselves that ok this is the story the developers wanted to tell and how it should play out... instead people complain that this is how I would tell a story and therefore it's better and theirs is crap

[@Henlak-]

Personally I loved Forbidden West but it does have problems The story is not as strong or interesting as the first game and the pacing could do with some work. I spent 8 hours before I even entered the Forbidden west doing all the missions ect and the game just got better when I got into the meat The world is more interesting to explore and combat has been improved which is great. I do think they could've made some more substantial changes to Melee and stealth but meh. Hopefully the 3rd one gets released in a better window

[@introduction1266]

I think the first game is slightly overrated in terms of story. yes I know that the mystery of zero dawn was good but outside of that not much was. aloys personal story was put on the back burner for a slow revelation of what happened to the world. few characters are interesting and aloys development isn't great either in the first game.

[@cheeto6057]

@@introduction1266 all very true, the premise really carries the first game

[@introduction1266]

@@cheeto6057 yeah. heard they improved on all the above in forbidden west so I can't wait to play. a great sequel imo doesn't need to have another huge mystery like that...I just want answers that were left open from the first game and for them to build upon what they already established.

[@Henlak-]

Fair take. I don't think HZD has a masterpiece of a story or anything but I do think that it was superior to HFW, the mere premise or what ZD could he was enough to motivate me in HZD but in this I felt a bit like I was in a Marvel movie with the flying cyborg like people trying to destroy the planet and now I feel the 3rd game is gonna lead even further into this with the huge AI monster coming towards earth. But yh I can see what u mean

[@cheeto6057]

@@introduction1266 I personally don't want them to answer any of the big questions that players have. I always find that stories that remove the mysteries from their worlds always end up being extremely bland and then you no longer have anything keeping you interested

[@mclovinjr9086]

The titles a bit unfair. The game doesn’t push the boundaries of the open word formula, but it’s solid and is amazing visually, still has great combat and some of the most unique enemies in any game that you can play. If you liked ghost of Tsushima, which had a pretty basic open world structure, why is this considered lame

[@Igor19485]

Because Ghost had interesting characters, amazing setting ( you really can't beat a Japanese island as a setting for a game ) and engaging story, all the things that Forbidden West lacks. When it comes to the structure yeah they are pretty similar.

[@John-996]

@@Igor19485 Also Ghost was a 2020 game the standards for open worlds go up each year with every new open world game that comes out. You really need to make something that standsout.

[@mclovinjr9086]

@@Igor19485 Fair points. I did like Ghost of Tsushima, my point is that open world games won’t really change until Rockstar come out with GTA6. Until then most will follow a similar formula overall and when both are high quality, the video title is a tad extreme

[@mclovinjr9086]

@@John-996 true but again there are no stand out open world games in recent years apart from maybe 2, Elden ring and BoTW. it’s a rare thing

[@wasteplace1705]

@Art Callan the setting is cool but the characters and story don’t seem very interesting

[@skipe94]

The only real flaw in this game is the fact that the whole story is a red herring and the ending falls flat. Otherwise it's a very good experience. It's everything I wanted and more.

[@user-wn1ih4zg6j]

Thanks Luke for your review! I've watched many of your videos and this is the first time I have the opposite feeling about a certain game. I kinda like HFW and enjoyed my time in it. I re-thinked about why is that for some time and my thoughts are: 1. I've not played Horizon Zero Dawn before, so everything is new to me. 2. I've not being expecting HFW. In fact, I played it long after it was released. So my expectation for it is low. 3. I played a lot end game staff, like trophy grinding, ultra hard challenge and gear upgrades. I found myself enjoy these most and they are not what you've been reviewing. I'm happy to find these out. And always looking forward to your next video!

[@4dualshock]

A good lesson in how we are all different and like different things, this dude often vouches for assassin creed games which are some of the most tired, generic and bloated games of the last few years And then he finds HFW to be underwhelming 😂

[@themarcshark]

He gave Days Gone his GOTY

[@patobox5361]

As if guerrilla games didn’t take the ubisoft open world formula and make it even more bloated and boring

[@mo12ism]

Ever seen his Valhalla videos? Lmao

[@h.i.mcdunnough9421]

@@themarcshark DG was alright but never GOTY lol

[@h.i.mcdunnough9421]

@@patobox5361 they actually didn't. Hfw is way more interesting than any Ubi trash. They just don't make their games fun. In horizon you fight robot dinosaurs.

[@Erik-qz7wm]

Honestly, I really liked Forbidden West. I played the first one and loved it, so I got this one too. To me, it felt like everything from the first game was improved. More varied and fun activities(I especially liked the machine races), cooler machines, better graphics, etc. I can understand why it may not be to everyone's taste, and I did lose interest after completing the main story and most of the side content, but I do think it's overall better than the first.

[@ulrichleukam1068]

This is definitely true! Gamers nowaday think if a game is not a 10/10 or a masterpiece (genre defining game) it is bad.

[@claytonhayes2760]

@@ulrichleukam1068 They even do it masterpieces.

[@varno6793]

I enjoyed the first one...even played through the expansion. (and then bought the game again on Steam just to see what the graphics would look like) When it came to the sequel, it gave me a handful of interesting/fun hours of gameplay... and another 20 hours of tedium. Wasn't a terrible experience, just something more akin to a big, beautiful and more polished Ubisoft game ... that you never finish. The magic was lost and i'm okay with walking away from the franchise at this point.

[@kukkilaful]

Not every game is for everybody. But i have said many times, last two years the bread and butter of content creators is to rant on what is wrong with a game, what could be better, etc. Everybody somehow has a better idea how a game should look, play and behave towards a player. Ranting seems to bring more views i guess.. :D

[@claytonhayes2760]

@@kukkilaful I think you are spot on with that assessment. I can understand and respect that they didn't care for a game, but please stop taking it to the level where it makes you sound like you hate and it's trash because it is too similar, too different or whatever. With that mindset, nothing the game creators do will satisfy you. That turns your critique into something with little value.

[@scarsofthenorthjd1066]

I really don't understand your point about the opening area. The Daunt is a new map, you only go back to Meridian for maybe 1h and that's all.

[@saygervopax7294]

the instant i heard him say that he lost all credibility in my eyes. held him to such a high regard but misinformation gets me. I instantly unsubbed, these critique come form an AC lover?

[@jameshill5458]

It’s almost like he didn’t even pay attention to the game, “The daunt is from the previous game”. It is not. This is simple.

[@draven8727]

Personally I think the game is at its best when your just exploring beautiful locations like Forests, underwater areas or gliding down something and enjoying the view. But something I really find annoying is the writing of the game. Aloy is in my description is Lara Croft being treated like Jesus and all her friends are not really friends but basically blind followers. Thank you for saving my tribe now let me repay you by following you around and telling you how great you are. Edit: Something I've always wanted to see in the horizon games is a companion for Aloy. Something like Joel and Ellie, Kratos and Atreus or Booker and Elizabeth

[@jerevarri7094]

Agreed. The only somewhat interesting character was Sylens. In the first game I enjoyed the backstory while the current events were just boring. I was afraid that the sequel would suffer greatly with the backstory already covered and so it did. The problem with the characters is that they just are not believable for me. They live in harsh tribal environment but often act and talk like millennials or something. The game is a nice and flashy shell with no substance

[@shujaawahaj9826]

yeah like exploring the areas on a clawstrider was my favorite part of the game

[@evobsm2328]

in a tribalistic game where suddenly someones riding a machine would be like if jesus came riding on a mystic horse people never knew existed and ride. so yeah in that sense yes. and lets be honest... the whole follower thing is relatively common in a lot of video games. like skyrim for example. where if you do certain quests people start to talk different to you. so why is it so weird in this game???

[@evobsm2328]

​@@jerevarri7094 damn thats the most invalid comment ever. no substance? damn if you call this story and game a flashy empty shell then i fear for what DOES have a shell... characters have a lot more personality for one compared to the previous game. the only negative points i have are these: more bugs than the previous games and visual glitches. plus the game is starting to feel pretentious with trans/gay characters

[@mbrochh82]

Yeap. Aloy is an absolute horrible main character, made even worse by overall bad writing in these games.

[@l.t.1305]

I absolutely loved this game. As much as I loved the first game, this one was way better IMO.

[@vinodchhabria8738]

Offcourse you did.

[@l.t.1305]

@@vinodchhabria8738 Are you suggesting I didn't? Are you suggesting I can't hold a different opinion from someone else?

[@stylesyx1529]

sure, i mean games suit different people i thought the first game was decent and i was not wasting my time playing but if it’s a reskin of the first game with minor changes i don’t think the price is justified

[@Old_Red]

@@stylesyx1529 It is an entirely different story and this time she has friends to help her.

[@fourohsevenfishing]

@@Old_Red the story is significantly worse and the mystery of where/when/who you are is discovered in the first game leaving nothing to look forward to in the 2nd game

[@bakedpotato_420_]

Not sure what your talking about in the traversal in the first game, i never felt limited to a certin area. you could quite easily explore outside of where you where "suppose" to go by jumping/climbing on the rockey terrain, that still exists, you just need to use your imagination and think about how you want to go. Ladders arnt the only way to get around. You can basicly get to the Zenith base by doing this. Even though the whe area is "blacked out" you can still travel there.

[@maxbardus3019]

Hi Luke! I agree with most of your critique except the opening area of Meridian. I think it was super important to have it (otherwise I would be constantly asking what is Meridian execs doing during the gaming. I kinda worked and saved them). Plus seeing all characters with upgraded graphics and animation was awesome

[@Even_N.D.]

Problem is he also mistaked the area after Meridian to be an Area that is in Zero Dawn which it wasnt

[@nathaliehadida3123]

I'm conflicted about your points regarding Aloy. On one hand, I don't entirely disagree with what you're saying, but on the other hand, there are some very clear reasons as to why she is as stiff as she is. The way I read it was that she can't exactly afford to be vulnerable. She knows her place in the world and her importance within it and its greater conflicts. I feel like Aloy is rather forced to suppress all emotion because she feels like she can't be weak. This is likely because, knowing that she's facing similarly impossible challenges as Sobeck did, she's trying to live up to that personal expectation of her's. Therefore, to let her hardships and her traumas infiltrate her mind would be to weaken herself which she can not do due to the stakes of the overarching plot. As we see in some of the few pieces of dialogue and writing with and regarding Elisabet (notably that conversation with Travis in the earlier hours of the game), she too was forced to forsake many of the things that we would consider "human" in order to overcome the impossible challenges she was faced with. That being said, once again, I feel like Aloy is trying to live up to that image of Sobeck and so is forced to be as emotionless as possible because she knows that she will fail if she lets any of her insecurities into her mind. We get a little taste of this actually if you interact with some of the items in The Base. She opens up a bit about her struggles but almost always also reminds herself that she's gotta move on and that she can't let that pain hold her back. I think it would be particularly interesting if we did see her reach that boiling point in a third game. It could acknowledge her suppression of her emotions in a full blown breakdown where she's finally forced to face everything she's been bottling up inside her. After the events of the first two games, it would feel fitting to have that payoff and really delve into who she is as she, herself, has not had that luxury due to the burden placed on her shoulders.

[@Dae...]

Aloy was unlikeable in this one rather than the previous Horizon.

[@Alexis-no4yj]

@@Dae... literally just the same character lmao y’all so extra

[@Dae...]

@@Alexis-no4yj same characters can act differently, why you so extra extra?

[@patobox5361]

Well that’s just your headcanon and even then Sobeck was flawed i mean you the head of the entire project to bring life to the world after the war against the machines, the one that keep in line the mentally ill man capable of ruining the project choose to sacrifice herself rather than some disposable foot soldier just because you have to be the beacon of hope? the martyr? the perfect example of what Aloy has to be? That’s just bad writing

[@tjroelsma]

@@lofvers8907 Exactly, some small glimpses of what made her so stiff would go a long way to explain and accept the character she's become. Compare Aloy to the Master Chief from Halo: Chief is also very stiff, but it is explained that he has been trained and augmented to be that way. So you kind of feel a connection to the supersoldier that is Master Chief, because you can imagine going through such a treatment and becoming that way yourself.

[@dan25u]

I didnt want you critisize Luke, but the intro area, is about a 1-1,5 hour. plus the returning into that old area, its maybe a 30 minute section with conversations....so not a 5-10 hours.....surelly..and i liked the game, it was beautiful, much more content, interesting story and the story gradation was cool too, new weapon mechanics and much more armors and weapons as the old old one....a new characters, and mainly, much better animations :D just my honest opinion :) it was great...surelly it has few flaws and bugs, but it was a good game, timed in a very strange release time thats for sure...but a good game :D

[@AliHassan-oc1sn]

The gameplay this time is soo good. I mean it goes in super deep and you can really get lost in it. I mean just check out the guides on each and every single weapon and ammo. My favourite new weapon was the shredder. It can single handedly be the best and the worst weapon if in the wrong hands.

[@vincentmaravilla3230]

bru the game starts in a whole new location after the prologue 😂

[@pluginleah]

The entire "Aloy isn't vulnerable enough" line of critique seems silly. This is an open world action game. Open world action game protagonists are always like 99% badass and 1% vulnerable in a couple cutscenes. In HFW Aloy gets owned by the Zeniths twice. You can't compare Aloy's character arc to a game like TLOU. Compare it to assassin's creed or ghost of tsushima. Protagonists in those games are similarly 99% badass.

[@TheWefikus]

Ehhh… I’m confused about the opening area critique. It’s not the same as the first game? Like literally a small sequence of the final boss level is the same when we meet the Sun King guy, but everything else afterwards is new, the settlement is also new. Am I missing something?

[@mindwipe80]

I had the same impression. did he play another game? I don't think this is the same area as in the first game. luke exchanges completely here.

[@vem_vem_vem]

no, you are right, i pointed out the same thing

[@claytonhayes2760]

@@mindwipe80 It's not the same area. I think it was just a simple way of saying an area really similar to the first game.

[@plebmike8997]

I absolutely loved this game. I couldn't get enough.

[@jimmykrabklaw1216]

Same i ended up getting the plat. I do agree that if you are going for certain things game feels long but the combat and world are solid i didn't 100 plus hours ive put into it.

[@maxonaroll]

@@jimmykrabklaw1216 the best part of the game is I got plat without even realizing lol

[@magnem1043]

Actual NPC game 😂😂

[@Draugheim]

Same. I really don't get all the hate... I mean, sure it's not perfect, but no game is.

[@GottEddy]

@@magnem1043 Beware of the elite gamers, they're going far in life

[@tylerlane8221]

In breath of the wild it makes sense that you couldn't climb the shrine walls as the were like flat metal walls

[@AliHassan-oc1sn]

This game makes every combat encounter feel like a boss fight. I love the gameplay. The new weapons are soo unique and interesting.

[@worldclassishot8554]

Lmfao? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 good joke bro Ive never seen worse ai even on ultra hard wth u talk about😂😂😂

[@damien9683]

Yea right, the melee combat is absolute *ass!* anything more than two HUMANS is tedious and the game gives you FIVE to fight minimum and that is before you include the MECHS! The roll "dodge" is horrifically akward and you gotta love how the AI throws a projectile before you roll but it lands dead on the location the roll ENDS! Enemy attacks register on VISUAL misses or the entire enemy model SLIDES to make the hit visually connect because it already decided your getting hit even though there is NO way possible for the attack to reach you in that instant because you were already running away when the attack start! We have a lot of weapons but at the same time the a lot of them feel too similar to warrant upgrading a new one that comes along till the end of the game. Fighting giant machines and trying to use accuracy to hit specific parts is frustrating because even with time slowed down while aiming the enemy movements are so large that it becomes useless and you resort to spamming echo arrows, which ammo is uncomfortably hard to come by compared to the first game if your not actively farming the materials.

[@eggsbenedict2251]

If you enjoy running away and rolling for 5 minutes. 😒

[@Dr._Mantis_Toboggan_Md.]

@@eggsbenedict2251 never play a souls game then...

[@kbrownevan]

@@eggsbenedict2251 Is that not just…dark souls LMAO. Memorizing attack patterns and exploiting the enemies weaknesses. This game does that 10-fold.

[@alextherichardson]

Finally reached the final boss yesterday. Used up all my heals in the penultimate boss, so I am now locked into the final boss with hardly any health refills with no way to get any more. Absolute masterpiece

[@asopher]

Just don’t die 🤷‍♂️

[@kaladinstormblessed8790]

@@asopher simple as

[@alextherichardson]

@@asopher Genius, how didn't I think of that?

[@Bane03X]

Put the difficulty to story and it’s impossible to die.

[@alextherichardson]

@@Bane03X that's actually a great idea, now I can see the *thrilling* conclusion to this *amazing* game

[@fightedmealready2692]

I just struggle to think that games like God of War Ragnarok, Elden Ring, and Legend of Zelda all have similar release windows as Horizon yet people decide to play this game and wonder why not everyone is talking about it. Its just so generic compared to the ladder games that no one really wants to put time into this game.

[@BlackTestament7]

My opinions on the video: - The Daunt is not from the first game. It's weird that wasn't noticed as you play but it's weirder how at least the first ~30 minutes this review constantly states it and keeps going back to it (Then he goes back again at the <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="70">1:10</a>:45 mark and again during the whole story section, still wrong). I don't even know where this idea comes from because the Daunt has too many differences to the area around Meridian for this mistake to be made. Maybe i'm mistaken but the jungle areas are to the West of meridian? None of those trees or flora are in the Daunt along with snowcapped highlands near the mountains. - I get the whole argument about how the Main quests feels like fetch quests thing. But you can't say the side quests offer these amazing plot hooks to keep you invested while ignoring direct plot points between GAIA needing Aloy to get the three subfunctions and going to Thebes for the Omega Clearance. In fact, there's ALOT of exposition as to why without even engaging in asking dialogue questions, GAIA outright tells you she needs HEPHAESTUS and she needs the each things to do so. While walking you through it. And each one leads to it's own questline linked to it, like the Oseram who help make the Rebreather who want to access Las Vegas while Aloy needs POSIEDON. The main story has various plot issues but this isn't one. - Completely agree about Aloy's character. It could be better and she could deal with losing people in far better ways. I could say much the same about Rost in the first game and it continues with Varl. Really the strong character archetype would be fine if the story wasn't so adverse to challenging her on well anything. Hekkarro is the only character that outright tells her no and no amount of her bullshit is gonna get him to help unless she helps him fix his problem. Sure it's not much but it's significantly better than the rest of the story not willing to challenge her because she's either "The Saviour of Meridian" or "The One who Defeated Grudda". Granted, "Hekarro's Champion" wasn't much fkin better but it was nice while it lasted. Everything about Tilda is true too, that shit was weird af but she's a villain, I assumed I was supposed to find her creepy and unlikable. - The review conflates two very different systems that touch the same thing. I get the crafting/upgrading can feel tedious but for ammo? Ammunition is not hard to come by unless you really are just wasting arrows and spears by the dozens on burrowers. I know Blastpaste, Machine Bones, and Volatile Sludge are far too limited in your inventory but there's zero reason as to why you are hurting for those when anything Hard and under doesn't really remove those from the loot pool. Now upgrading, that's just fkin broken and needed heavy tweaks (especially any kind of sac webbing and the insane amount of tremortusk tusks needed) but that's not ammo. Ammo/item crafting doesn't come close to that. Even then you went on this long tangent of how you'd prefer to have people or your companions to trade ammo for or whatever. You can just buy Canisters, Blastpaste, e.t.c. from some vendors (some even take animal parts over machine shards). On at least normal difficulty, if there's a companion fighting with you they literally drop ammo of whatever you have out or some weapon you have in your inventory on the ground which you can collect (they may be farmable, no idea I've never been that strapped for ammo for anything to try it). - Why did you even go to that interactive map and put up ALL the icons some of which ARE NOT on the game map? I'm not gonna say the game's open world is the best but that is disingenous af even with the blurb you put at the bottom. More than half of those wouldn't be on the map nor would you even be looking for it unless you wanted to like all the Datapoints and shit like that. Greenshine doesn't show up unless you make a job for it. And even without saying you without getting tallnecks, if you do you can remove each and every icon on the game map. This entire point is bullshit because you went to this interactive map and not the game map which again gives you the option of completely removing all the icons. The game goes so far to remove pathfinding and waypoints on your hud if you want. - Look, clearly Luke doesn't like the game. I get that, but there is too much here that's wrong to take this seriously. This game has many flaws and issues but all Luke is doing is throwing bullshit at the wall and hoping it sticks. He had to have turned his brain off after wasting, yes wasting, 10 hours in the Daunt. Who knows because he had to skip cutscenes or just not pay attention to be this mistaken about parts of the game. Like I said, HFW has many issues and I'd tell you the story is not good but not for many of the reasons Luke pushed out. Most of his gameplay issues really feel like a skill issue because I can't imagine being so strapped for ammo in Normal difficulty or lower. - Fuck that Halo 2 ass cliffhanger ending, everybody should agree on that shit.

[@thomascasey8102]

I think you are really wrong on the combat system/material collecting. The fights with the robots aren't so much about shooting as many arrows at them as you can, they're about carefully using your ammunition to hit canisters and tear off weapons to disable attacks and to combine elemental effects (like applying frost and then using the skills on a warrior bow to rapidly deal damage, or using acid to then use a spike thrower to tear off machine armor plates). I feel like you really missed out on the more skillful and strategic aspects of the fight, opting for the admittedly lazy approach of shooting arrows at the body of the machine and firing the basic elemental arrows also at the body of the machine. You accuse the game of being lazy in its system, but maybe you are the one who is lazy. If you fight the machines efficiently and skillfully, you wouldn't need to lower the difficulty to grind for ammo. I played the entire game on hard mode, and had a blast the whole time. So don't pump out your half-ass opinion to a large audience if you don't even try to give the game a chance.

[@planetarydislocation3495]

Well fucking said mate.

[@argirissgr4448]

I havent played forbidden west and i dont plan to.But ive played zero dawn (finished main story i did zero side quests) and my opinion is that the game was a shooting simulator and thats it .Also it was a good movie. If i want actual gameplay meaning to play a game i go for gow,dark souls,rockstar games and others but not horizon

[@bloedekuh]

Don't make me laugh, I played the hard mode too. This game is either one-shot with traps, or blast with tear weapons to expose weak points, then blast the weak points with high dmg weapons. You don't "carefully use your ammunition" at all. Either way, it's bullet rain. It's not Elden Ring, you don't deal with a single target at a time. I completely hard mode easily, because I also played the hardest mode in the first game. I know how it works. But I still think it's boring. The traps are basically the only fun. You fanboys are so annoying. Just because you had fun, others can't complain about it?

[@thomasw9286]

@@bloedekuh lol, a criticism about someone else criticism isn't wrong. It's what's the whole point of criticizing stuff is for

[@mfallen6894]

Which is exactly what you did in the first game. HFW wasn't bad, it just felt like it was the second DLC to HZD, and when you've played through the first game 3-4 times, usually on the hardest difficulty, there just wasn't enough new to break out of the feeling of burn-out from the first game. Then Aloy being all bloated, the story being bloated just like Aloy, the tedium in crafting... HZD was just a better game

[@brandonedwards6432]

You… you spent 30 hours in that tiny meridian section that should have taken like 20 minutes?

[@giorgosnikolaou7219]

*claims that he is familiar with the first game* Yeah the Daunt was in Zero dawn totally

[@davidzmatlik5443]

He spent 30 hours just staring at one dumb statue in one location. He didnt give this game even chance IMO. Most of his critiques are out and makes me feel that he just didn't get it. He didn't get story, combat, etc.

I played the game on Very Hard from the start. Indeed sometimes I ran low on some materials which usually made me change what weapons or ammo to use when just hunting for parts, e.g. it's easy to burn a lot of echo shells and machine muscles fast by shooting Tear Blast Arrows so I opted to simply use Advanced Hunter Arrows and figuring out how to get the machine to stay still for some time to shoot of certain parts. I ended up using Shock Arrows and I also started using the Part Breaker Surge a lot. Tripcasters are also pretty resource efficient. That said, I hate that certain ammo costs so much in resources, particularly in Machine Muscles and those are pretty slow to gather as not nearly every machine drop them and they might drop only a couple when they do. This is why I didn't craft any traps, didn't use canister rope caster, slings, ropes too much, and didn't use the knockdown arrows. I have no idea why some items like sharpshot bow arrows require those muscles. I started crafting almost exclusively on crafting table to save some resources and it was actually kind of realistic / immersive. But I hate that there are so many different types of ammos. Why is there need to be regular and advanced ammo of pretty much every type? Why would it take longer to load some advanced arrow? I also dislike that you can't use any hunter arrow with any hunter bow. I get that Warrior Bow arrows are shorter and lighter and perhaps Sharpshot Bow arrows on the other hand are longer and heavier, that's okay.

Maybe different level of similar ammo or traps could use different resources so that depending on what kind of materials you have, you can choose which blast traps you make when you really need them.

[@MrSoopSA]

The answer is padding. They want you out there collecting resources as a substitute for deeper content.

[@The-Vitruvian-Man]

I thought it was very good. Bow and spike thrower combat, new enemies, environments, sound design, voice acting, lighting, cinematics, and animations were all top notch. For me, it also helped to turn off quest markers and play on very hard. I didn't quite like the story as much though, and I do wish there was more meaningful secrets in the game though.

[@GLITCHED1]

Same this game received a bunch of hate and a bunch of silent applause. my one and only complaint is that the story felt too short for me

[@maxdrags3115]

@@GLITCHED1 That's why you do side quests too...

[@GLITCHED1]

@@maxdrags3115 I completed the game 100%...

[@shurik121]

I loved this game, and I loved the first one. It's a worthy sequel that enhances and improves the stuff that worked well in the first game. Also, it doesn't take 10 hours to get to the first proper area (the area around Chainscrape). The first tutorial area up until the Slitherfang fight is fairly short (it took me maybe a couple of hours at the most), and all you have to in Meridian is climb the tower and watch a hologram that sends you off to the main quest. Even if you speak with every single character there, it'll take you 20 minutes at the most. Then you're off to start the main quest.

[@jonathangaldamez6025]

Yeah idk why he said it took 10 hours before you head west. I took my time talking to the npcs and exploring a little and it took me no more than 2 hours

[@davidzmatlik5443]

Because he probably thinks tha The Daunt was in previous game as well.

[@chrisrichfield8906]

To be fair, the majority of the korok seed puzzles were also pretty mundane, some I probably wouldn't even consider puzzles. Lots of reused puzzles slightly changed just to fill the world with like 900 of them.

[@jaredmunro597]

I love how you made the batman arkham comparison because that hypothetical loop of going back to the "batcave" and upgrading your suit is EXACTLY what happened in Gotham Knights!!

[@brycewebster9428]

Gotham knights sucks.

[@zelohendricks51]

And he shat on it for that game

[@mesadrums375]

They could have easily solved the whole “stoic” trope and gave Aloy emotional depth with Varl’s death. She made it clear that she doesn’t want anyone hurt and it’s her burden to carry, and Varl’s death proves that point right. She could have lost her shit with everyone and left, cause in her mind she’s right to do it alone, and ended up in a situation that couldn’t be solved alone and gave her a moment of weakness, only to be saved by the people she loves the most, and from this point on she could stop being such a bland stoic protagonist and actually open up cause you know, the power of friendship or whatever, and it would have only been a few hours of gameplay. It’s not feminine to have a moment of weakness or be open with people, it’s human, which we all relate to.

[@meppho]

That was the whole point of her arc in HZD tho. I think they just botched this. HZD should have been a standalone thing, cut the retarded tacked on cliffhanger and it's chef's kiss.

[@LoneLoboX88]

What's wrong with a woman being feminine? Lol.

[@MaajidM]

@@LoneLoboX88 They never said that. But it’s a common trope these days in film, television or video games where a “strong female character” must have no moments of weakness, should be all-capable, and are able to always rescue themselves. Having moments of weakness or relying on others doesn’t make a woman any less than she is, and neither are they feminine traits. If the writers would just have Aloy open up more, she wouldn’t be a boring and bland main character.

[@roonkolos]

@@MaajidM oh she's had plenty of weaknesses in this and the previous. The irony is that people still complain about it when they are brought up Damned if she is and damned if she isnt

[@YungFozz]

@@roonkolos You may be right, she still is boring af

[@cosmic_drew]

After watching quite a few of your reviews over the past 2 years I feel like I could predict this review from a mile away. Your own reviews have become like the games you love to rail against. I honestly like you as a person and I like watching your streams, but honestly it's hard to watch these reviews now. I truly hope in a year or so I can discover your channel again and be able to get through 15 minutes.

[@LeeEverett1]

All this guy does is complain for real 🙄

[@marinewillis1202]

while I agree with you on the complaining its what he says he is going to do. Critiquing something is not cheerleading for it. That being said, its an each to his own thing. I played the first Horizon and lost interest after about 2 or 3 hours. Just was not my cup of tea at all. I just couldnt get into the game. I have friends that love the new one but I wont touch it because it will probably be a waste of money for me.

[@alexguskov25]

God forbid you tell anyone that horizon forbidden west was a bore fest, you'll have shills for Sony trying to make any way possible that your just down right retarded 🤣 , they will be frothing at the mouth how much they disagree. Dude here found a perfect way to tell you its retarded and uninteresting, by bringing up every point and boring you to death with it, even though he's right and i agree with him on most things here, still funny. I mean 10 hours doing side quests , "give me back my money".

[@roonkolos]

@@marinewillis1202 borrow their copy Also, I'm going to assume you at least got out of the starting area after the attack, right?

[@jamesfort3]

@@marinewillis1202 same for me. I found the combat lifeless honestly. Besides Ghost of Tuschima and Spider-Man haven’t been impressed with any of Sonys titles. I liked god of war but simply for the story not very much the mundane gameplay. Also I was a huge fan of the trilogy before it. Sony needs to innovate the way they did during the PS3 era mgs4, infamous, ratchet, uncharted(also don’t like but at the time was their only 3rd person shooter), god of war 3, etc all played different. Where as now all the games seems like last of us skins or Oscar bait games

[@cooloobahn112]

I wouldn't say that I changed the difficulty, but there was a late patch that added the feature of 100% drop rates for special parts on enemies that would otherwise be destroyed at the same time as the enemy. I turned that on because it was getting crazy fighting enemies that moved around too fast. That brings me to another problem that directly affects the first one I was just talking about. With arrows being my main weapon of choice, it was hard because I'd have a beed on a specific part of a Zoid... I mean "enemy", but the damn thing would move before my arrow got to the target. You literally have no margin of error when it comes to aiming. It was a really annoying part of the game that directly affected my ability to hit certain parts so that I could detach them safely before the enemy was destroyed. So I didn't change the difficulty per se, but I did activate that option which kinda feels icky to me, like changing the difficulty directly.

[@jonbodhi]

You’re right. Many of the enemies are VERY hard to hit in specific areas, even with the slo-time mode. Kind of irritating.

[@MistahJay7]

Skill Issue

[@lml2RockeR8lml]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1662">27:42</a> there's a Ghost in the background... No joke, kid in the background is running towards them then vanishes in midrun

[@HargullLifeG]

This game has done a lot right. Lame is too harsh of a word

[@The_Dead_Zone]

No Luke is spot on.

[@sleepywagie8193]

I dropped the game after 8 hours or so. It just felt boring, constantly talking allot and side characters, the only exciting thing was the underwater environment.

[@thabangratabane3961]

He is sucking up to the Elden Ring people, he was as harsh with Elden Ring but was pressurized to delete it. This is the last video of his I will watch

[@rivvy2138]

@@sleepywagie8193 the this game is not for you lmao. Because this is part of the reason why a lot of people love it.

[@michaelmcqueeferton6911]

@@thabangratabane3961 he deleted it? Wait the one about “it grew too big”? Bro that’s hilarious

[@skyfire_swe8520]

I disagree with your opinion of Aloy. I think her story and character in the first game was exceptional, and I was in tears several times. Not bland. Not uninteresting. Haven't played the second game though.

[@TheLittleMart]

Then, play the second game. It's different.

[@skyfire_swe8520]

@@TheLittleMart Luke also heavily criticized Aloy in the first game in this video's which I think is a very strange take.

[@MEGANOlandisKahn]

I literally put this game down an hour after starting

[@Ikea9292101]

I disagree that free climbing is a good mechanic. We have seen that with Ubisofts Assassins creed. It went from having a interactive climbing system that felt good that you had to use your brain to do (Brotherhood AC3, Black flag) to a dead system that you can climb on anything that doesn’t feel interactive at all (Odyssey Valhalla) We have seen that doesn’t work and doesn’t actually feel good. Now if you personally like those mechanics then to each it’s own i guess

[@h30ghost]

Personally I'd say this is one of the better open world games I have played and I really enjoyed my time with it.

[@paulaagam5071]

Main reason I think players change difficulty would be for arena and weapon upgrade farming/resource gathering. Ammo didn’t really seem like an issue at least for me since you tend to get it from ally’s during missions. I think it was also pointed out that the difficulty could be customized wrt resource gathering (easy loot) so players aren’t really sliding the difficulty all the time.

[@worldclassishot8554]

Main proboem is theres no difficulty in this game they jst deal more or less dmg and the loot and thats it trash lazy game

[@paulaagam5071]

@@worldclassishot8554 I think it’s different on ultra hard as it’s claimed enemies are more aggressive but I guess maybe it’s tied to damage

[@XxWolfxWaRioRxX]

The Arena's were clearly not designed for the hardest difficulty because it's almost impossible to kill some of the bigger robots in the required time limit I had to lower the difficulty one level in order to finish the last few Arena battles which did feel kind of bad. But overall I found the games difficulty pretty balanced and with enough of a challenge to keep you on your toes

[@paulaagam5071]

@@XxWolfxWaRioRxX maybe if you’re talking about the fixed load out challenges, but anything that allows you to have your load out can be completed fairly easily once you have reached the end-game with max upgraded legendaries.

[@twinkharrylwt226]

I play on easy mode so i can just relax and play it like i am watching a movie or series.. if i wanted a challenge i would have changed it but felt like I didn’t need it

[@diablo4ever868]

I enjoyed most parts of the game. The only issue I have is with the economy. Its hard to get cash unless you grind long hours or take advantage of the "whisper bow" bug. I always run out of machine muscle which is quite expensive if you buy it from the vendors.

[@Even_N.D.]

I didnt had any problems with this

[@jameswayton2340]

10 hours to leave the first map of the first game?.... More like 2 hours.... wtf dude..

[@Zangetsuuu]

My main gripe was how much Aloy talked about everything and wouldn't allow me to discover them on my own specially puzzles which she spoiled every single one! It was incredibly annoying. She just refused to shut up. After finishing the main story and upgrading everything there's nothing else to do and come back to except enjoy the beautiful scenery.

[@Dexxter_slav]

That's gaming today. Handholding... Developers these days think gamers are too stupid to figure something out by themselves.

[@NoxaClimaxX]

I've said it once before, and I'll say it again: HZD had the exact same problem. The difference this time was that HFW had way more puzzles. Still hoping they patch in the ability to turn that off, like they did for the item grab animations.

[@jedimindtrick75]

I was pretty ok with it. I have no desire to waste an hour figuring out a puzzle that takes 3 minutes to complete. I wouldn't say she spoiled it but it did help a LOT.

[@RichmenInc]

Yeah she was talking alllll the time.. but when i was halfway the game. They fixed it with that patch.. huge difference hahaa. She was driving me crazy.. I kept yelling at the TV.. I KNOW SHERLOCK!!!🤣🤣

[@carnevalli.9329]

I don't mind the talking, but I do mundo that the talking is she explaining what you should do

[@TrvisXXIII]

The map icons are directly tied to the gameplay loop you criticized earlier, the developers probably felt like it would be more convenient to show the location of enemies because the inventory management is tied directly to drops from them

[@itsalwaysdarkestbeforethes1198]

I really didn’t enjoy the forbidden West, I enjoyed the original at the time though. I think Guerilla games should pivot to a new series, they don’t have the creative juices to keep this one interesting.

[@agenericsunbro]

I usually agree with you on these long videos.. Not in this one tho. I feel Aloy's lack of emotion comes from the same place that made her leave Meridian at the end of the last game. She feels responsible to protect Elizabeth's legacy. It is a whole character arc where she begins running away from Varl, doing things on her own, ending in her fighting to save her "sister". The last cinematic even makes Aloy state that she no longer feels alone. While, yes.. Aloy isn't the most open to her feelings, she is also carrying the responsibility of being the only one capable of saving the world. She can't let herself be weak, as the others see her as their commander (Kotallo's words).

[@danielmeagher9007]

Almost finished zero dawn and i find her personality very annoying

[@agenericsunbro]

@@danielmeagher9007 Well.. To each their own, I suppose amigo. I don't like her personality myself. Like, if I am in a room with someone with that personality in a room for 1 hour... It will be a very long and quiet hour. My point is, I understand where's she coming from. Being a protagonist with the fate of the world on your back has a toll on you. I like that :)

[@fbysebastian7112]

I gotta slightly disagree. Aloy was cast out for her entire childhood, unable to form connections with anyone and even Rost was distant until the last day she saw him. She doesn't know how to feel emotions or connect with people properly. You're right though, she does feel responsible for Elizabet's legacy. If it weren't for elizabeth, Aloy would probably never have cared about saving the world.

[@agenericsunbro]

@@fbysebastian7112 True.. you're absolutely right. We can't expect Aloy to get +10 charisma out of nowhere just cuz she's the protagonist.

[@knaaxoo.]

Also, some of the dialogue with Varl and Erend, etc. in the base wasn't really without emotions. They talked about Varls sister and Rost, Erends sister,...

[@iekue]

The ammo items vendors idea is literally in the game..... How can you go into a 10-15 minute rant about something ("ammo grinding") where the solution to the "problem" is already in the game...

[@paulaagam5071]

Ammo is also given during story missions so I’m confused about the grind ever even happening

[@flyingplantwhale545]

Because he’s trying too hard to complain. Sadly, ends up looking like a moron in the process.

[@bravingbrivatebrian]

Games have become largely unplayable for me. It's especially depressing finally playing a truly good one and then realizing you'll have to wait another 3 years to play another. The market is just oversaturated with hot garbage.

[@AdriaanPretorius]

Yes, thank you! I come to games to chill and enjoy. I don't want to WORK. Collecting leaves and sticks is working.

[@SteelingLight]

Could you imagine an alternate Horizon Forbidden West which started with the players controlling Beta at the start for some unspecified length of time instead of what was made. Take a second and think about just how narratively and mysteriously gripping it would have been to be some like prisoner or hunted convict of this advanced group of people. Emphasize the similarities of Beta and Aloy in terms of looks, maybe in this start Beta has long hair. It would set up the coming threat instantly while making players appreciate Aloy more later because we've suddenly not had her for some length of time.

[@symbiotezilla12345]

Man that would be so dope. Imagine aloy passing out and the player wakes up as beta without knowing it’s beta until a twist reveal.....missed opportunities

[@drakenfist]

I agree. I had a similar thought and wonder if they may do it for a DLC. But I do think they shot themselves in the foot by trying to keep that mystery element there for the first third and making the Zenith's all mysterious (whereas anyone who dug deep into the lore would figure them out pretty quickly). I think a sequence where we got to spend time with the Zeniths as Beta would definitely have rounded out the game a lot more.

[@roonkolos]

So the whole Abby/Ellie thing but in reverse?

[@drakenfist]

@@roonkolos no if that was like Abby/Elie. We would be playing as Tilda and not Beta. More like Kingdom Hearts 2 where u start as Roxas.

[@SteelingLight]

@@roonkolos Lol, I guess that is actually a really good comparison point for it, yes.

[@jass9571]

I think this game was brilliant. I love the world the tribes the story..so much details in the villages etc combat was great when using ranged weapons..the mounts especially the last 1 you get feels great to use

[@danieladamczyk4024]

Memes will decide that.

[@vladimirchernikov4249]

@@danieladamczyk4024 I thought players would

[@danieladamczyk4024]

@@vladimirchernikov4249 That what i ment.

[@jedimindtrick75]

Im with you here. I love the game.

[@mikesannitti6042]

I loved it too. I think aside from the shoehorned, unfun climbing puzzles, it's pretty great. Hating on it feels like a lazy way to contrast it with Elden Ring to further elevate that game which doesn't need even more hype.

[@robm1374]

Machine muscle was in everything. Making echo arrows..... SO expensive

[@Tsumefan2]

i felt as if the puzzles and dudgeon were much harder in this one

[@legacy48X]

doesnt he really like AC odyssey? And he think's this game is lame. I am always impressed by his hot takes.

[@Goodbutevilgenius]

And the take is not even hot, the game came out like half a year before this review.

[@legacy48X]

@@Goodbutevilgenius yeah, and to my surprise i seem to not be the only one that sees the contradiction in his analysis. Criticizing this game for things he applauds ac odyssey for. The reason i never take what his says as value is because out of all the videos i have seen from him in the past his stance on mechanics and other factors of gaming are inconsistent. Almost like he just coming up with stuff he thinks will get him clicks and/or make him seem smarter than he actually is by going against the grain and saying things like “this critically acclaimed game is actually lame, but this one game A lot of ppl have a problem with is actually a masterpiece and yall just didn’t get it”. His takes can be entertaining because they are so outlandish though.

[@DwillGame]

Honestly still my favorite game of the year. waiting patiently for expansions

[@danielsmid3777]

@The Rotten💯 Elden Ring has a lot of flaws As well

[@ZachIsHungry1]

@The Rotten💯 elden ring is such a vastly different game though

[@ZachIsHungry1]

@The Rotten💯 you could be right, but im more so addressing your " its far superior" the games are so vastly different claiming superiority comes down to preference. they dont do anything the same.

[@ZachIsHungry1]

@The Rotten💯 it probably will. it was played by more people, more streamers, generally consumed more. it was anticipated more. the horizon games especially most story driven games arnt as popular as the current most popular games.

[@rsmith8113]

We had no games this year so it’s not a big achievement 😂