Monster Mash-- Horizon: Zero Dawn vs. Days Gone

This is a comparative video critique of Guerilla Game's Horizon Zero Dawn and its Frozen Wilds expansion with Sony of Bend's Days Gone. They're both PS4 exclusive open world titles that are, on a surface level, extremely similar but on closer examination show themselves to be diagonally opposite games. What elements allow them to achieve such difference in such similar formats? SPOILERS THROUGHOUT.
Horizon Zero Dawn-- 00:18
Days Gone-- 37:51
============================
If you enjoyed this video and want to contribute to the production of others like it, please consider donating through the crowdfunding website Patreon: / noahcaldwellgervais

[@Jandau85]

While Noah does amazing game analysis, somehow I've come to appreciate his thoughts on and experiences of the broader USA, especially the non-urban areas. I'm from Europe, and it's pretty much a different planet here. I don't mean that in a bad way, I literally just mean that the whole sense of the place is different, and the travelogue nature of so much of Noah's work (including his travelogues, of course) is just fascinating to me, in no small part because it ties the ideas of journey and traversal with a framework I can relate to (gaming).

[@colin-campbell]

Cool story bro

[@Noreillay]

Same here, it's pretty interesting.

[@Narokkurai]

As an American, it's pretty eye-opening for me too. I'm aware of the hugeness and emptiness of The West, but I've never really had to consider what it means to be able to drive for 24 hours straight and perhaps never encounter anything more civilized than a small town with a post office and a gas station diner. We never entirely finished conquering the frontier. Europe on the other hand gave me the exact opposite impression. The one time I visited on a trip to Cologne, I was constantly amazed at how ancient everything felt. Everywhere I went there were old stones underneath. I couldn't imagine a single place I walked that hadn't also been walked by thousands or millions of people over hundreds or thousands of years.

[@Artersa]

Narokkurai Small towns are not any more or less civilized than urban areas, if you’re using civilized to mean “cultures”. The west didn’t need conquering and it doesn’t need a mindset that promotes conquering now.

[@No-hf1xq]

@@Narokkurai And now with your comment I realised how I never considered how much of a different perspective someone from the US would have about Europe. Yeah, our continent is old and there are villages everywhere. One of the biggest signs of this is how there are barely any big predators like wolves and bears left in Europe since they'd constantly be threatening the people living nearby. In some of those northen states there are almost nothing but nature.

[@SuperBlahmaster]

"This is an open world, sure, but I spent most of the game feeling trapped in a linear tube with a Netflix original series." Oof.

[@UnitedFeodor]

Huh. What are the odds of me reading that exactly at 49 minutes as he says that?

[@hellhammerCCCP]

That was so savage lol

[@DolanDuking]

Looks like Days Gone 2 will be the last one then

[@matman000000]

Sounds like they took a bit too much inspiration from The Walking Dead. 14 episodes of waiting for 2 episodes of actual story development.

[@erich5686]

I don't know about Netflix's 'Another Life', but it's funny watching people try to convince themselves 'The Haunting of Hill House' was a great show. There's a reason most of these showrunners end up at Netflix. Good shows like 'Mindhunters' don't seem to get nearly as much press as garbage like 'The Bird Box". Maybe it's a gender thing the press latches on to....or, MAYBE IT IS !

[@MrDumbRodent]

John Daysgone's completely placid expression while he leisurely jogs away from a horde of zombies in slow motion is the funniest thing I've seen all year

[@whitedude877]

"Days Gone, season three, is where it's at." Gave me a hearty laugh.

[@nobleaj8]

I tend to watch these longer videos by Noah when I'm sad or depressed. There's something about the voice that is very comforting. Thanks for these.

[@leftovernoise]

I also put them on in an earbud I'd I'm having trouble falling asleep. It's very calming. But I only do it with ones I've already seen.

[@muddlewait8844]

@@leftovernoise The same! If it’s one I haven’t heard before, I find myself so interested in what’s being said that it keeps me awake.

[@leftovernoise]

@@muddlewait8844 same haha

[@Sidiciousify]

He annoys me. His style is boring. I fall asleep cuz its meaningless and predictable and when he tries to be funny its even fucking worse.

[@nobleaj8]

​@@Sidiciousify You seem pleasant.

[@Outplayedqt]

Ahh thank you, was looking for a good reason to remain on this toilet for one more hour.

[@scrofulaeggula]

Fibre is your friend.

[@andrewnicorn]

stretch your legs at 45 minutes in dude

[@dothdude]

I watched half the video on the shitty before mocing to a PC, I feel you lol.

[@KIager]

Hemorrhoids guys, it ain't worth it.

[@nerag7459]

Just came off the toilet for 30 minutes and nearly spat my coffee over the screen when I read this.

[@therupoe]

The Netflix drama issue you mentioned is rooted in the CW network shows (Arrow, Flash, Smallville, etc) Drama for the sake of drama to fill time.

[@drakenfist]

Not quite. The CW shows tend to arc things out a bit differently. There is still plot progression, each episode has a arc to it even if the writing isn't that good (especially when it comes to the Flash as that show has the worst writing out of all of them). But the CW shows have a different problem. The Netflix drama issue is that they write the plot as if it were a two hour film and stretch it over 8-13 episodes. The issue the cw shows have is a lack of cohesive character arcs. I watched a interview of a writer on The Flash during season 2. He explained how the show was written. He said the show runner with the other writers map out the basic bare bones plot of the season. Then each writer is given a episode to write. They are given free reign to do anything they want, emotionally and tonally, as long as they just add in some of the myth arc. Which means that instead of Barry and Iris having a specific character arc, they are just bounced around from writer to writer and change based on the writers ideas rather than it being driven by a specific character progression.

[@TheSoulHarvester]

@@drakenfist yeah, this. Very different styles despite both having season-long arcs as a standard format.

[@drakenfist]

​@@TheSoulHarvester Not quite. There is a big difference. Because Netflix doesn't air on television, it can forgo the rules of television shows and focus completely on the serialized narrative. Whereas a network show sprinkles in the narrative with a episodic plot. . A CW show has to air on television. Which means ratings are a consideration. So it's styled in the specific format: each episode opens with the teaser, intended to hook the viewer and encourage them to keep going. Then there is a intro and a first act. There are commerical's between the second and third act of a episode and each are intended to be so that if you watch one episode. You at least feel like you have gotten a story. there is somewhat a self contained narrative (which is usually the A story) and the B story (the main arc) is teased slowly. So that means most shows that air on television follow the Buffy/Supernatural style format. Called the "Myth Arc". Because they air 22 episodes a season, they have the basic story stretched over a period of time. But they follow the main story tangentially, and sprinkle in a lot of it with episodic episodes, and every once a while have a mythology episode. The Netflix series instead don't need to follow this rule as they are not on hooking the viewer on a weekly basis. They are about making sure the viewer stays. In a Netflix series, the entire 3 act structure of a episode is pretty much gone. There are no constraints so they can stretch things how they want it. Let's take Iron Fist for example. The first couple episodes follow the same basic plot established in Arrow. That Danny was missing and he has come back. But in Arrow, Oliver knew exactly what his purpose or intention was. In Iron Fist, Danny is lost and confused. Doesn't know what to do. People don't believe who he is when he comes back. So suddenly what would be the B plot in a network show. Becomes the A plot and instead of having one scene of Danny saying "Im danny" and one scene of people not believing him. They have about ten versions of the same scene and repeat it over a period of three episodes.

[@TheSoulHarvester]

@@drakenfist You said "not quite" then just went into heaps of detail demonstrating my point, which was originally YOUR point, which was weird but ok.

[@drakenfist]

@@TheSoulHarvester how so?. You say I did this and that without providing any examples.

[@darthkek1953]

Oh, the "blowtorch the club logo off someone's back" is an episode of Sons of Anarchy.

[@plyinglemon]

I spend a lot of nights at home alone these days, and being able to turn on a playlist of your long videos and just chill with someone and feel like there's just a really nice "hanging out with a friend" vibe. Thank you for doing what you do Noah, it means a lot to me.

[@jamesgilbert124]

Around the 50 minute mark, Noah gives the most accurate and concise description of every Netflix Original Series I've ever heard.

[@El-Duderino-His-Dudeness]

Did Noah mention or is he aware that one of Horizon Zero Dawn's writers is the writer for Fallout New Vegas?

[@GreedAndSelfishness]

Really? Didnt know that. Maybe I should finish Horizon.

[@jackgebhardt2932]

Well that would explain a lot about the setting.

[@erich5686]

Apparently, HZD wants you to forget you're playing as the main character.

[@biggdaddi9789]

@Jacob Locklear J I N G L E J A N G L E

[@SKOMEpocets]

that's not how writing for a big project like this works.

[@JurzGarz]

Horizon Zero Dawn is up there with Mass Effect, Skyrim, Age of Empires II, and Rome: Total War among games that I’ve fallen in love with. Really a brilliant game in almost every respect: gameplay, world building, story, characters, graphics. Really hope whatever sequel they make keeps it up.

[@JurzGarz]

​@I am tired of humanity Skyrim is not in the least barebones. If anything, its biggest flaw is that it's so huge and has so much content that a lot of it is unpolished.

[@JurzGarz]

@I am tired of humanity Quantity can be quality in this case.

[@emulation2369]

No way... Tell me that you're trolling... 😐

[@aravindpallippara1577]

@Dr Perun we are on the opposite spectrum then - I love to play as a woman when given the option in games. Being a male it's nice to follow in the pace of the other side for perspective shift

[@TheSofkujepanen]

@Dr Perun why though?😅

[@AJCherenkov]

Seeing the vantage for Colorado Springs in Horizon and immediately recognizing the building at the center was certainly a moment. Is this how New Yorkers feel the first time they see NYC in a piece of media?

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

New Yorkers don't feel anything, anything but malice.

[@meelsie143]

That’s how I felt watching the gameplay reveal for the last of us and going “wait I recognize that bridge!” just before realizing that level took place in Pittsburgh

[@kaymills696]

Not really. New York is a popular place depicted in fictional media. Though I thought it was sick to see my apartment building in Spider-Man lol

[@colorsred2771]

Fun fact: a lot of time the "New York" presented in media is actually a re-skinned toronto

[@matajuegosoriginal]

@@colorsred2771 just like actual ny

[@JohnSmith-294]

This is an old video, but I remember exploring the banuk(snow mountains) area and finding a circle cut into the mountains, after half an hour of lore speculation I found out that it was from the dev tool of map creation It was a mistake, I was so invested in the world that I just accepted a clear mistake as intended

[@Kane.JimLahey.]

Thats where the black choppers come from, damn bastards have been hiding the the mountains the whole time. Godammit O'brian!!! Where the hell is my bike!!?

[@junisnot]

"Deacon is just like a biker dude, he's a dude, he's got a bike, biker dude" poetry

[@urethralsensitivity]

I thoroughly enjoyed Days Gone, and have beaten and replayed it half a dozen times at least. And I totally agree with your analysis. It’s definitely not a 9 out of 10 like Horizon, but I’ll be damned if I can’t stop playing it and enjoying the gameplay loop and mechanics. I fully accept its flaws and look passed them to see what I enjoy. And I absolutely still love playing Horizon as well.

[@terrifyingspoon3052]

its just so damn fun to play, i love driving my little bike with sam witwer yelling at nothing

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

I had to learn to live the characters but once I did I found a lot to love in that game.

[@danielvandusen5724]

Yeah, my view has completely switched from what I thought it would be. Horizon ZD went from being the game I thought would have been the game that transcended all this same ol same zombie killing game after game. And Days Gone would just be another zombie game. And it was. But to my surprise H:ZD turned into just another run to this check on a map. OK now go to this side of the map and do the same thing. And completely against my will Days Gone went from decent, then to pretty decent, then to good to really good, to great and before I knew it I was playing one of the best games I've ever played. I was blindsided by how good it was. It just completely surprised me with how good it turned out.

[@scrofulaeggula]

I'd kind of forgotten Noah talked about video games. I was all strapped in to see a three-hour video about old military facilities in the Pacific Northwest or something.

[@Noreillay]

I wouldn't have minded too much tbh.

[@BaileyCallis]

I just love looking at Horizon, be it playing, or watching gameplay. Absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous.

[@tydendurler9574]

Yeah, especially the water effects and the clothes on characters and...😒

[@ight_of_heart]

The AI that dreams of dinosaurs threw me in a fit of random crying

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

We're not so different, us and them.

[@EversonBernardes]

The part with GAIA reminiscing about all the lost megafauna in the QEE and the ending with the conversation about motherhood were two swift gut punches.

[@erich5686]

Sorry, I'd rather fight a zombie horde, than mechanical dinosaurs.

[@807D14M0ND5]

@@erich5686 No need to apologize? Room for both.

[@MadeUpSubscriber245]

@@erich5686 there’s a million games you can fight a zombie horde in, but only one you can fight mechanical dinosaurs

[@troyareyes]

"Not only have we met, but I know all his shit is just seeds and stems anyway" Gotem

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

I'm not gonna lie, it took me until the day after to realize when he meant - all I had to do was remember high school. It came to me. lol

[@nomadjensen8276]

Omg I was dying. I think we all know one of our /dads friends who is like that. 😆

[@mildlyupset6011]

Noah, I hope you're doing well. The 100k people subscribed to you (including myself) are subscribed not because of what you don't make, but because of what you do. Whatever you make, I'm confident It'll be well worth the time you put into it.

[@theechothief5594]

You read my mind. I feel the same. Noah is our video game review savior. He puts a bullet in the toxic community that gaming is often associated with. He is pure professionalism and doesn’t need to rely on being super loud, obnoxious and man child behavior... That’s right, I’m looking at you Angry Joe.

[@charlesthoreson4162]

Stop relying on another to think for you.

[@Kane.JimLahey.]

@@charlesthoreson4162 Tf you talking about Charlie?

[@lepercolony8214]

​@@Kane.JimLahey. Arrogant people literally believe that "learning about the world and other people's views about it" is basically Mind Slavery.

[@TheKiddtic]

i subscribed 2 weeks ago binged your content. im so glad the algorithm brought me here

[@kauswekazilimani3736]

All hail the algorithm.

So you are doing literally nothing at all? How can you binge watch all of his videos, many hours long, in two weeks?

[@TheKiddtic]

@ My comment says I binged his content, not ALL his content. Besides stop projecting sheesh

[@razieldumas]

"Not only do I know him, I know all his shit's just seeds and stems anyway." Not only do I know one of these guys, but I'm totally incorporating that shit into my vernacular.

[@sabretooth1971]

Your dissection of Zero Dawn was sublime.

[@drinkwater3453]

you deserve more recognition man. these videos are incredible

[@tralalalashalalal]

luke long he’s a national treasure

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Is that sleeping Shaq as your profile picture?

[@Kane.JimLahey.]

Hey I heard of you, you're famous!

[@darthkek1953]

"Not only have we met, I know his shit is all seed and stems anyway" OH PERFECT

[@asn8744]

That zipper analogy at around the 6:40 minute mark was really good.

[@salokin3087]

Looking forward to the 6 hour analysis of the souls series

[@raffygrullon9426]

Is that an actual thing that's coming?

[@Looneyboy]

Check out matthewmatosis he’s got a 6 hour one :)

[@thedreamcapture2681]

there is enough of those already one of the best things about Noah is the unique games he looks at.

[@mikej9625]

Lol

[@Denoobiest]

🎯

[@ruinousmcguffin3153]

I think I was the only person that liked Deacon constantly muttering. It felt like how I deal with anxiety inducing situations. Like he sounded like me playing horror games. "Oh no fuck you fuck that and abso-fucking-lutely fuck this."

[@autumndidact6148]

Horizon Zero Dawn was a great game overshadowed by coming out within weeks of both NieR Automata and LoZ Breath of the Wild.

[@residentgrigo4701]

I disagree. It easy outsold Nier 2 due to selling over 10 million copies despite being a single console exclusive. BotW sold 15 mil. btw. All 3 are good games. I honestly don´t know which is better as all had unique flaws.

[@autumndidact6148]

@@residentgrigo4701 I'm not talking about sales. I'm talking about presence in video game discourse and analysis.

[@yannickvanhoutte4403]

I remember the press being very ambivalent on Horizon. While they all loved how gorgeous it was and how cool the robot dinosaurs were and how they liked Aloy, I saw a ton of people describe it as "just another 60-hour open world game". I don't really know what happened, but despite there being even more open-world games coming out now than back then, open-world fatigue seems to somehow have diminished in the gaming public. Which is incredibly weird, if you think how little has changed in the open-world games since then.

[@JurzGarz]

It wasn’t overshadowed for PS4 players. Sure for the overall gaming community it wasn’t as big, but it still sold very well, got great reviews, and developed a sizable fanbase.

[@JurzGarz]

Zelda and NieR also both had the advantage of being pre-established brands: Zelda has been one of the biggest franchises in gaming for decades, while NieR is a cult classic very well-known by the “artistic games” online community. Horizon was not only an original IP, but it didn’t even have that much popular buzz leading up to it.

[@tuxandashotty]

Console? So a thorough look at Red Dead Redemption is possible...

[@silver6kraid]

Not just possible, he's confirmed he's working on it. He got an old Xbox 360 and the PS4 to play the games and talked about it on his Patreon.

[@benwasserman8223]

@@silver6kraid Dear god those reviews are going to be longer than one of Dutch's plans. I can't wait!!

[@robertminnis6540]

So excited :D

[@henriquedematos]

@@silver6kraid Oh fuck, I'm getting turned on now.

[@mildlyupset6011]

@@silver6kraid thanks for the heads up, I was about to start begging in the comments of his other videos

[@damaciogarza2998]

Noah, why do you look like you belong in Days Gone? Are you going to become a biker now? Lol but seriously, great video.

[@Theminkeyful]

Noah would be a way cooler protagonist for Days Gone. For one thing, it'd be actually amazing if he never stopped talking

[@Alkadius1993]

Fniff I’d never get any gameplay done though, I’d just be listening to Noah. Still seems worth it though

[@doom_pope]

Nah man, he's just a hippie sadly.

[@Skullkan6]

I feel like he'd be worried the first time someone handed him a gun.

[@emulation2369]

@@nicolausteslaus he actually looks like a woman at her 35+

[@UnderdogRecords91]

For me "Horizon: Zero Dawn" perfectly encapsulates the strength of Sony's studios. It's a game that doesn't really innovate in any way, but more curates ideas and mechanics from other games, see's what works and doesn't work about them, and distills it into a game that functions as kind of a "best of-compilation".

[@pjlusk7774]

This is basically my review of PS5 Spider-Man 2

[@jowilson5581]

HZD is, in my opinion, the absolute apotheosis of this kind of game design. It takes all the tropes and polishes them to a mirror sheen. Thanks for your take! You articulated a lot of what I find so compelling about it.

[@RedMegaXIII]

It makes me way happier than it should to hear that he's playing console games for the first time.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

My fingers are crossed for him to finish the Call of Duty campaign series by playing Big Red One, Finest Hour, etc.

[@Maac32]

I appreciate the Warhammer 40k minis shout out

[@andrewcampbell6860]

Hey just wanted how cool I think your cold openings are. A lot of people make video essays and while your writing is very good, the 'irl' cold opening sets you apart! Keep it up!

[@stickpge]

gotta say that sentence about painting a warhammer figure is so strangely wholesome to me as I was actively in the process of assembling a set of WW2 minifigures and that sentence just summoned a huge smile to my face and I dont fully know why, but still I will thank you for the smile and for the great video

[@oberstul1941]

Don't know about Zero Dawn, but pretty much all Noah said about Days Gone checks out: Deacon gets on your nerves (like, dude, chill, wtf), the scenery is so beautiful it makes me want to move there, the storyline is formulaic but some of the characters are pretty well written and the love story is earnest af. I loved my horde killing, bike driving, scenery taking in time with this game and it also scratched my Daryl Dixon cosplay itch. Cheers!

[@iRemainNameless]

Oh man! An hour long new Noah video on a weekend? Hallelujah! Noel you’re a saint brother!!!

[@noelienoelie8425]

Thanks 😊

[@richstoehr3247]

As usual, Noah nails what I loved about Horizon: Zero Dawn, and what I find completely unappealing about Days Gone - two conceptually similar games in which the difference is completely in the execution. Horizon offers a depth of imagination and world-building and an ease of gameplay, while Days Gone (even down to its title) just seems lazy and uninspired in so many ways. Excellent video, Noah, as always!

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

I will say that the 'world' and setting of Days Gone is very well thought-out. It's what they gave us to do in that world (and the sequel bait which - in me - inspired the opposite feeling) which leaves so much to be desired. I could honestly give less than a complete shit about 'mutants with guns' - give me some good characters, give me some bad guys that're good characters, make me feel like I'm not wasting my time. That is all I ask, game. Spare me the mutants with guns.

[@cobra29935]

@@fuzzydunlop7928 what about a good character thats a mutant with a gun?

[@stanislavkimov2779]

But Days Gone is actually better

[@rafaelm.bolson510]

@@cobra29935 fallout?

[@holup2691]

I’m playing through Horizon for the first time at the moment. I’m absolutely blown away by the presentation and world. I regret sleeping on it. Great video Noah!

[@Asbjoorn]

This made my sunday morning way, WAY better. Thank you! I would have loved it if you did a series review of the three "Metro" games. They may be your cup of tea, maybe.

[@HansAlRachid]

Man, I love your channel. Great work as always Noah.

[@ikeruga7926]

Half the joy of your videos is seeing how much your personal style has changed. Loved the analyses! Can't wait to see what you decide to cover next.

[@phaeton01]

1:14:33 wow you really did move Oregon. After you were done with the names did you chop down that tree with the side of your hand

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Underrated comment.

[@JVRAndrew]

The wait is definitely worth it for you videos, Keep up the amazing and detailed work!

[@DartDragoon2009]

Paused the video at "His shit is all seeds and stems anyways" and gave this video a giant like; fantastic wordplay sir.

[@santachomatacho]

New video from this great man. Keep on the good work!

[@dingus2k]

Now that Horizon’s sequel has released and in doing so, introduced an entire new wild level of sci fi to the world, im definitely curious to hear Noah’s thoughts on the franchise in 2023.

[@f1r3hydr4nt]

Always the best from you🔋🔋🔋🔋Your videos will always be special to me, Noah.

[@EmoScreamoForever]

On my (fifth, sixth?) rewatch of all your videos and they hold up so well. Thanks so much as always Noah.

[@yigilantis]

I believe Adventure Time has a similar synergy between sci-fi and fantasy in the way you describe Horizon.

[@TimdeVisser86]

32:05 So true! This is not the first apocalypse to have happened there. Not the first time something destroyed the biosphere. It would have been so good to integrate into the themes of the narrative.

[@matajuegosoriginal]

i dunno why, but i enjoyed my time in days gone way more than I have in HZD, the setting of both games are just beautiful but days gone feels kinda cozy, it saddens me that it'll not get a sequel

[@pawechabrowicz2895]

I needed to clean up my apartment before quiet hours. During the Horizon bit, I figured I was gonna keep watching until the gameplay summary ends and the story recap begins, go run the vacuum cleaner, then come back and finish the video. The shift between the two segments was so fluent and seamless I didn't even notice it was there. Well done, Sir. As always.

[@DesignatedMember]

Days Gone being this super-realistic character-study about a gruffy biker-dude within an otherwise really trite and slow story is so wild to me that I can't stop thinking about it.

[@CC-xh1ok]

Seems like ages since I watched this channel when I found him earlier this year. I think his fallout 76 in a related video when all the drama was happening. It’s a shame long video analysis people upload so rarely, there is actually a point to the videos to reflect and kind of connect the content in your mind to get a better understanding. Also to discover significance you don’t pick up on when u go thru a game.

[@huwguyver4208]

The man is back. And great video as ever.

[@Colovian_Dani]

!!!!!! Yes.! 2 uploads in such a short time. These videos are my favorite ways to while away my evenings or mornings before work.

[@ShaneSmith-ts7nu]

Whenever you release a video it always makes my day!

[@seron16]

I've been waiting and excitedly hoping for your next video mate! So glad its come out, you're one of my favorite and best youtubers on the site! Keep up the good work!

[@hakijoe]

Your Warhammer comment really clicked for me, love the stuff myself, got a few half finished armies and never thought you'd mention it, thanks Noah, made me feel cozy and related to in a way that was just what I needed

[@amonisacat]

AAAAH I'm so excited! I was just on your channel the other day hunting for re-watches...

[@nerag7459]

Love your work here. Good analysis as always.

[@brooksrobinson7246]

“I know his shit is just seeds and stems anyways”😂😂

[@remimaloney2028]

I love you Noah. I lose myself in your words. Your rhythm and insight enthralls me

[@johnnyjohn5751]

Noah, you are the king of youtube. No other gaming youtubers even approach you remotely. Matthewmatosis, errant signal, Joseph Anderson, and Sseth tzeentach are all magnificent in their own respect but their formats don't allow for the depth, substance, and care that yours do. You are a blessing to my people.

[@807D14M0ND5]

If you want this kind of depth but applied to game mechanics instead of story try Mark Brown. His channel is named: "Game Maker's Toolkit".

[@zenvendaboi4217]

Also try Jacob Geller's content

[@christopherbronson3275]

Sincerely happy you uploaded sir.

[@skrotosd]

I totally passed over the open world fashion and now I’m playing god of war, red dead redemption, fallout 4, the Witcher and horizon at the same time.

[@807D14M0ND5]

Small tip for when you reach the Witcher 3: Dont force yourself to take on every single question mark on the map. In the prologue it's fine but later it's absolutely overwhelming how many of them are on the map. It's not necessary to tackle them and you have a real chance of burning yourself out on the game if you focus too much on them.

[@shurik121]

HZD has a better sci-fi story than most movies or TV series in recent years. The way the backstory is pieced together through audio, video and text logs, and then you understand how horrifying that apocalypse was, and what was the sacrifice needed for the solution to be developed just in time, it was gut punch.

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

Waiting for the "Days Gone Wild" DLC.

[@JustAndre92]

_Days Gone with the Wind._

[@Areyallok42]

_Days Gone in 60 seconds_

[@ma-burke]

Concluded by, 'Days Gone But Not Forgotten'.

[@Largentina.]

Days Gone Girl

[@ma-burke]

'Days Gone for Dinner, BRB'

[@Undone007]

Noah returns! Always happy to see your vids go up. I have horizon sitting in the plastic on my shelf hopefully I'll have a reason to play it.

[@wretchlikeme86]

I really enjoy your content! Very informative and mature which is refreshing. I started on your Baldur's Gate video. Thanks for the help there. This is awesome stuff!

[@turismofoegaming8806]

You make excellent video game analysis videos!! I also like that you are the only KZbin out of thehundred or so different gaming channels I’m subscribed to, that take the time to thank your supporters at the end of your video

[@thats4thebirds]

Noah I really love this review. I went to college in Utah and had a very similar eureka moment where my location immediately snapped into place with all the implications. I will always love and remember that feeling.

[@jerm5466]

Fantastic work as always, Noah!

[@DodderingOldMan]

19:29 is, for my money, the best and most effective bit of 'character' in the history of games up to this point. The facial animation and modeling just *perfectly* captures Aloy's childish sense of wonder.

[@renaigh]

the concept of zombies taking a shit in the woods for the player to track only to come across a horde during the mating season is novel.

[@cynicshminic]

Noah adjusting to controller use and understanding the joys of it is so cute. There are many virtues to PC/mouse+kb and certainly many games that feel better with it (I don't want to start some console v PC war....) but there are some games that just feel RIGHT with a gamepad.

[@jac8a77ac8]

hell yeah, love your reviews noah!

[@colinmiller513]

You're a national treasure. Please keep making such charming and insightful videos.

[@caffeinepuppy]

Funnily, I got the push notification for this while out camping near La Pine. Couldn’t watch it until now, but glad I did. 👍

[@slyaspie4934]

Another great video, you hit the nail on the head for both these games and hearing you connect the real world locals to the games was fascinating. I'd love to hear your take on the naughty dog games like uncharted 4 and last of us . Keep up the outstanding work

[@NightSkyPictures1]

The blending of Science Fiction and Fantasy like Horizon Zero Dawn is not common throughout film or games but its a rich subgenre of science fiction colloquially known as "Dying Earth" in literature. These range from Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun and Book of the New Sun, To M. John Harrison's Viriconium, Jack Vance's Dying Earth Stories, Karl Schroeder's Virga Series. Anne McAffery's Pern novels etc etc.

[@NightSkyPictures1]

@Zombobo Smith It's not a literal 1:1 term. It's an older moniker that takes its name from Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories and not really about the Earth literally dying. It's more "So far in the future, the sun's a red giant and technology is a half understood relic treated as magic and religion" though many of the stories don't have to specifically contain that element anymore as things expand and diversify in content and perspect (space opera is a similar case as it was originally a derisive term to mock high melodrama space adventure stories with a specific set of elements [Galactic police, high romance, Square jawed heroes, damsels in distress, action and adventure] but over the subsequent years has evolved signifcantly to include elements such as examinations of dynastic politics, interventionism, environmentalism, social commentary etc. and yet retains the subgenre's name despite not reflecting the content it was named for anymore) The goal of the subgenre that is known as Dying Earth is to explore the mechanics and language of the science fiction and fantasy by breaking down the focus on lore and dense world building and the signifiers of "scifi" through the most literal interpretation of clarke's law. So it presents a future so far beyond the collapse that other cultures have risen and fallen and what was known as technology has fallen to absolute myth and occultism. Book of the New Sun is a story about a man navigating and rising up through the politics and intrigue of a medieval fantasy society that lives on a lost colony ship drifting through space called The Whorl. The Viriconium sequences are approached as fantasy but are really distant futures where the world is being invaded by brain stealing robots from the past and interstellar aliens that are trying to strip mine the planet physically and psychically. The Virga Novels are about a gravityless void in space where an early industrial society lives and fights and prospers and a post human society beyond their borders tries to "bring civilization to them" With the exception of the virga novels, the story is told entirely through the language and understanding of the people and often very little happens to elucidate or clarify the scifi elements until late in the stories and even then its often far beyond their comprehension. And so because of this deliberate dissonance and fracturing of lore heavy bg storytelling (using the distancing effect of time as the mechanic for this) the goal is have you the reader instead focused on the specific storytelling and how it uses languages to reveal itself and its hybrid genre nature and to question what you assume are the fundamental building blocks of scifi and fantasy

[@NightSkyPictures1]

@Zombobo Smith I get that, but unfortunately as the complexity and the variance of genre in literature, especially in fantasy, horror and scifi, exponentially increased over the years. It makes literal taxonomic definitions almost impossible because it would be so vast and massive and so overly refined you'd have a million subgenres that would include maybe one or two books apiece, and that doesn't even include books that are cross genre (which over the course of its narrative, changes genre and tone as the story evolved), stories that bait and switch genres or ones that blend different forms (Horror Scifi, vs Horror, Vs Horror Fantasy, and even finer combinations therein) As a result over the years I've long given up trying think of narrative genre wrt sf, f, and horror as genres and more like modes of writing where its a looser set of parameters in which a host of complex and varied stories can run in. Saves everyon a headache, you know. For movies and games its easier because despite their growing complexity, they still operate within mostly identifiable tropes to build a conventional genre around.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Your uploads fill me with joy. I was surprised at what Days Gone got right - they were able to pull things off that games normally fuck up, and the things that games normally have no problem with they managed to fuck up. It's essentially a composite game - with features and mechanics ripped almost brazenly from games like Mad Max, and basically every other open world adventure game of the past few years - the narrative is often just too damn convenient and when the plot started to unravel, and I realized the major motivating force behind both the main character and the story itself was his pining over his dead wife, I began to see Deacon not as a brooding widower like the devs intended but as a heartbroken teenage dealing with his first breakup. YET - despite these bad tidings Sam Witwer's performance - particularly his speaking pattern and mannerisms - and a good bit of the dialogue won me over and made me see Deacon as genuinely likable. I thought for sure I'd despise Sarah but I found her to be a genuine character, and I thought all of the camps and factions were important in establishing how different people cope with the recently-fallen society, how some were better at it than others and how the normal societal trappings and dynamics have shifted. I found the world-building to be the most compelling about the entire game. I found myself inching closer to study an infected swarm as it drank and splashed around in a nearby lake - I love how they made them more than shuffling zombies, they build shelters, they (kind of) wash and drink water and shit all over themselves which is a detail something that all other games of this type avoid. Likewise they didn't shy away from the prospect of infected animals and how they behave in this world, most other games of this type don't do that, either. It honestly replaced the cordyceps infection from Last of Us as my favorite video game 'zombie virus'. I loved all of the little research sequences, I wanted to learn more about this infection. That aspect alone kept me playing the game and dicking around in this open world. I hope they have a chance to build upon this fantastic foundation in a sequel - though I feel the decision to make it exclusive to the Playstation lacks all fucking business sense whatsoever, nobody is going to buy a Playstation to play this fucking game and it CERTAINLY doesn't function well as a tech demo for the hardware. I know the studio is technically part of Sony, but c'mon. Why shoot yourself in the foot? I think the best part of the game was that section at Lost Lake and if the entire game revolved around Deacon learning to rejoin 'society' (Lost Lake) and use his talents and strengths to improve it I would've much preferred that.

[@hoodwinkedfool]

After getting more comfortable with a controller I’d really love if you gave Bloodborne another shot. There is so much there I think you’d adore.

[@EversonBernardes]

Bloodborne kinda requires you to be way more than comfortable with a controller :D I can dance around Thunderjaws with only Hunter and War bows on Ultra Hard, but some of the bosses in Bloodborne still give me some trouble.

[@spiraljumper74]

I just found this guy’s channel with his excellent Death Stranding critique and now there’s nothing I want to see more on KZbin than his take on my favorite game in the Soulsborne series, and by logical extension one of my favorite games of all time.

[@silentbob4343]

Your odd history with games in which you never touched a console make your videos so interesting. You’re not doing 3 hour videos on Zelda like everyone else, and even now when you pick console games they are odd choices. No one else was gonna do a days gone video, because who gives a shit. And yet it’s super interesting. Even horizon zero dawn is a cool and weird choice , especially from the perspective of someone who somehow has not played console games in seemingly decades of being a gamer.

[@mikedrop4421]

Wow, the facial animation on the bride @ 47:32 is incredible. I thought Noah had put actually fmv of a real woman. That was the first time a game ever fooled me. Edit: the facial art and animation looks great on everyone in days gone. The environment looks good too but lots of designers do realistic environments though

[@williamdufort176]

Stellar writing as always, Noah!

[@richardm6985]

i loved your 'newbie' take on zero dawn so much that i broke my rule and watched this entirely despite having not finished the game - loved the video, love the game, still feel the sense of wonder, still playing the game. thanks noah :)

[@joshhaworth2155]

Something about the wording of 15:23 was just beautiful.

[@startrekmike]

I can't say that I loved my experience with Horizon: Zero Dawn. I liked the basic premise of it but where it was strong as a concept on paper, it kinda fell apart in overall presentation. Perhaps the biggest issue (in my personal opinion) was the script and how that script was brought to life via the voice acting. The world and the basic plot are great but nobody feels convincing due to a distinct lack of any sort of unique or interesting dialect. Everyone talks like the person taking your order at the coffee shop or your coworker in a tech start-up. Nobody SOUNDS like they actually came from the rugged world the game portrays and that really takes me out of the experience and made finishing the game somewhat of a chore. It was fun to play on a purely mechanical level and the setting was often quite lovely but the moment any of the characters spoke, the illusion was broken. This is ironically something that Days Gone does much, much better. While the game itself isn't the most exceptionally amazing thing I have ever played, it did feel like the voice acting, voice direction, script, setting, and overall game mechanics all worked towards a cohesive whole. The voice acting felt earnest. The actors put effort into sounding like they belonged in that setting. Perhaps it also helps that Sam Witwer is a far, far more convincing voice actor than Ashly Burch is. He was able to make a fairly pedestrian script work pretty well.

[@Carabas72]

Whereas I feel that the acting in HZD is natural and sells me on these characters being real, whereas almost everybody on Days Gone is hilariously overacting. Also, I don't see why people from a "rugged world" would talk differently.

[@drakenfist]

Michael Holmes there is actually a explanation for the mechanical way that everyone speaks like that. See the ancestors of this world all learned how to talk and speak through a janky computer A.I...they get ther mannerisms through that, it just makes sense to me that, that was passed on and that their manner is robotic cause they learned from artificial intelligence.

[@peacemaster8117]

I'm glad there's at least one other person who didn't like HZD, jeez. That game was a miserable experience, I regret the hours I put in.

[@alyseleem2692]

@@peacemaster8117 I'm curious as to why that is. No pressure. I just wanna see how you think of it.

[@peacemaster8117]

​@@alyseleem2692 Thanks for asking, off the top of my head: - movement feels really jerky and unpolished, particularly on uneven terrain, which makes the mandatory platforming segments particularly annoying - combat is too easy on normal and too frustrating on hard, enemies use attacks that randomly rotate in the air and essentially force the player to guess which direction to dodge in, with a single hit being enough to kill. - melee combat options are very limited and don't provide satisfying feedback, often whiffing for seemingly no reason - weapons don't have any real impact to them, too many types of ammo, too much pointless inventory management. - most of the story is provided through cutscenes where characters stare blankly at each other, and the dialogue writing relies on CW levels of cliche. - strong enemies can usually be cheesed using stealth, and these cheese tactics are tedious to use but still less annoying than having a straight fight. - taking down big enemies isn't difficult, it just takes a long time and usually involves doing the same thing over and over. On the plus side: the graphics are pretty sweet, the robot designs are cool, and I enjoyed some elements of the worldbuilding. But those were all the things that made me want to play it in the first place. I appreciate that other people like it, and I'm happy for them, but for me it was a huge disappointment and a bad use of my time.

[@84jesterx]

And another workday is complete with an analysis of two video games that I don't have time at home to play. Thanks again, Noah. You look as if Days Gone took a number on you.

[@gotd4m]

Another great video. Man, i feel like im the only one who loved Days Gone! I have always been a narrative and dialogue first kind of guy when i play games, so it fits me. Maybe its because i grew up with several Deacons moving in and out of my life. And Noah, welcome to the area! Glad to have you.

[@Zvox]

for all of days gone's many many many faults, i thoroughly enjoyed its mechanics, setting, and overall tone. i love that it said basically said "everyone knows what the beginning of a zombie apocalypse looks like, let's skip it and start in the middle" as much as i love the walking dead comics, they would have been drastically improved if they skipped all the early shane/farm bullshit that we've all seen a thousand times before, and started with them finding the prison. that's the moment that the comics start to break new ground. what does trying to build a society in the apocalypse actually look like? what kind of places would you try and grow roots? how do you turn an ideal place to defend into an ideal place to live? how do you deal with communities hostile to you? that's where the comic goes from being "normal zombie shit" into breaking new ground. i liked that days gone took a similar approach, though it didn't bother to try to break new ground in the genre as the walking dead comics did, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. i just wish the plot didn't often feel meandering and lost.

[@biggdaddi9789]

I can't remember how I found Noah's channel but gosh dang I can't think of a channel that is more specifically tailored to me.

[@Docta_Dave]

Ya know what I'd love to hear? Noah's take on the witcher series. Happy to see a new video

[@bigdog517]

@ Why?

[@UTxTheArchangel]

I ended up liking Days Gone more than Zero Dawn. I didn't play either until they released on PC, as I haven't owned a playstation since PS2. I felt more connected to the Days Gone story, it seemed more realistic. Not in terms of zombies and robotic animals. But world building and characters. Days Gone characters felt natural. Not only that I felt connected to the cast via experience with them. My teens had so much Sam Witwer content. The Force Unleashed games, The Mist horror film, Doomdays in Smallville, and Battlestar. Courtnee Draper whom played Sarah starred in a Disney tv show I watched as a kid called "The jersey". Debra Wilson whom voiced Addy, has been in a number of video games I played before I played Days Gone....and then there's Laura Bailey, whom voiced Lisa. Laura being one of my favorite voice actors. Having roles in childhood animes like Dragonball Z(She voiced kid Trunks), Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist, Maka in Soul Eater and many many more. As well as voicing numerous video game characters I loved. Something about all the voice acting in Zero Dawn felt flat and uninspired. Lance did great, but its Lance....he always does great. I also found myself not really caring for Zero Dawn's story in the end. At first I did, thought it was unique, cool take on post apocalypse. But during its third act, I kinda lost interest. Days Gone story though i really enjoyed, but it might have more to do with how generally Zombie games usually don't have good stories.

[@JoonasSariola]

@Noah Caldwell-Gervais you remembered to write the spaces for timestamp in description but forgot to put the actual timestamps 😄