Horizon Forbidden West™ Complete Edition Steam Charts & Stats

Almost unplayable! Half the audio goes out while playing, including ALL dialogue. Also caused a glitch where it wouldn't update my quest because Aloy didn't "speak" what I had to do. I have to exit the game and restart it. Sometimes it'll last 2 hours, sometimes 20 minutes. Also, the map will just be blacked out while the audio isses occur, and twice the game frozen on the skill tree screen during the audio issues.

Zero Dawn was well made, the exploring felt rewarding, plus one could do Frozen Wilds before even getting to Meridian for the first time. The mystery was very well made, the story made sense and made you want to play more to learn. In terms of gameplay it was pretty balanced between difficulty and RPG elements. Forbidden West on the other hand was the most boring shit ever, can't explore everything cuz it requires you to play the story first to unlock equipment, who ever thought it was a good idea to implement this dumb Tomb Raider mechanic needs to be fired. The story was very predictable, had no mystery at all, Far Zenith had no character development, just villains for the sake of being villains, the only villain that interested me was Ted Faro, but they wasted his potential with that sorry excuse of a character that was the CEO. Gameplay tries very hard to not be fun with that stamina bar and dodge nerf, plus whoever designed that arena also needs to be fired, also there's too many RPG elements to the point that it's almost a grindy MMO.

If I had to encompass my feelings towards this game in one phrase, it would be: two steps forward, three steps back. It takes the simplicity and straightforwardness of the first game. It turns it into this overly complicated, frustrating, and extremely tedious gameplay system. Like, for me personally, I tried so hard to enjoy it, but I couldn't..    However, before I address the cons, let me highlight some of the things HFW did well. In terms of what I liked about the game, Horizon Forbidden West builds upon the already beautiful graphics of Zero Dawn, and this game looks stunning. Turning to the overall plot, it is intriguing and a good continuation of the storyline introduced in Zero Dawn. However, it did have its flaws, more about that later. Finally, in terms of new additions, HFW takes place in a new setting, which was refreshing and fun to explore. Additionally, HFW introduces new tools, allowing for a more in-depth and immersive gameplay experience, such as the glider and pull-caster. There are also new machines, both friendly and enemy, including new mount options. Regarding combat, there are changes that I liked. For one, the new spear combat is amazing, and the new finisher animations that came with it are sick af. Regarding new additions, there are also new world activities that are actually fun, such as the melee pits and ruins. Additionally, one last point of praise is regarding the greatly improved stealth gameplay. Now, let's get to the reason why I wouldn't recommend this game. Most of these complaints center on the changes made to the character progression, the skill acquisition system, armor and weapon leveling, the extreme variation in weapon abilities, and the frustrating and tedious combat encounters. Character progression just feels awkward, and at all times you as the player feel so damn underpowered. The enemies that were easily killed in Zero Dawn have become damage sponges to the extent that it's no longer enjoyable. There was a huge change to the skill system. Instead of having a set of basic skills, we now have an overwhelming number of skills, most of which are useless. The entire skill system felt awkward and unnecessarily complicated, a common theme among the changes I'm about to discuss. Next, my biggest complaint is regarding the weapons, armor, their leveling, and the extreme variance in weapon power. There is no other way to say it than how it is: there are too many fucking weapons in this game, and most of them do the same thing. There is zero point. On that topic, the leveling system for said items is a complete and utter chore—it sucks all the fun from exploration and turns it into a part-harvesting simulator. Additionally, another comment that I feel must be made is that the main storylines' pacing is awful, hence at times it can be so damn dull. Also, Man some of the shit that happens within the main plot line just make no damn sense. Regarding side missions, they are just so damn repetitive and boring, like Ubisoft style repetitive. On that note, the characters in this game are also horrendous like horribly written, when playing one just does not care about them, and character dialogues are so damn cringe. Now, the Burning Shores DLC, and honestly, there's no other way to put it, is terrible; the DLC storyline is incredibly boring. New content-wise, there is almost nothing new other than new legendary variations of weapons, one completely new weapon, and a tiny island to explore. If it didn't come free, it wouldn't even be worth spending a dime on it. However, I have to give where credit is due; I really did enjoy the final boss fight of the Burning Shores DLC. To summarize, in their attempt to add more depth to the game mechanics and systems, they only added confusion, sacrificing clarity and elegance for more features. In other words, they sacrificed quality for quantity in terms of both gameplay and story, and in my eyes, it was not the move, as when making a sequel to an already great game, it is essential to maintain a level of quality, while adding more content, not sacrificing one for the other. Okay, now, if you are insistent on playing HFW, here is a disclaimer: if you are not the most competent gamer, I recommend playing on story difficulty as compared to HZD; this one, difficulty-wise, is much, much harder. For the best experience, start at a lower difficulty setting and increase it if the game feels too easy. Additionally, I recommend going into it with no expectations, particularly in relation to the simplistic yet great mechanics of the first game. To end things off, I must be clear that this game is not terrible and is not unplayable, just that the reason for my negative review is purely based on comparison to the first game. However, even from an individualistic perspective, it's sadly mediocre at best, with occasional good moments.

Imagine my surprise when I'm just playing the game completing quests and all of a sudden get soft locked due to a certain side quest later in the game. Genuinely laughable that I can look online and see posts talking about this bug 3 years ago yet the devs just don't care to fix it. Thank you guerrilla very cool.

zero dawn i didnt want to end.. forbidden west i just wanted to end.. its a ok game i guess..

Overall good game. I have some gripes about certain story elements, but those are personal opinions and shouldn't affect anyone else's enjoyment of the game. I WILL say that one of my biggest pet peeves in video games is getting stuck on geometry. And oh boy.... there's a lot of that in this game. Nothing takes you out of the action like dead stopping on a tiny rock right as the giant machine lunges at you. This problem goes away mid-late game when you have the tools to effectively end fights before they begin. But be ready to suffer at the hands of the polygons until then. But I HIGHLY recommend playing it, no matter what. One of the few games I've gotten every achievement, if that tells you anything.

After thinking for a while how to review game, sadly I can't really recommend game. Pros: -World looks amazing. -Music is nice and fitting -More build options -Skills are more interesting Cons: - After 70h of game play I could not finish full story. Main reason was Aloy was annoying. She just can't shut up. Constant reminder where I need to go and how to solve all puzzles. Babysiting on each step. Even puzzle jumps are highlighted right away even without scanning area. Just by entering puzzle area after 10s she already saying what to do. Ruins all fun of exploration. -Unlike first game this feels like it do not have soul. I was not really attached to anything. Honestly I was not invested in story, because it was boring. -Mount riding is super wonky -Flying mount is 100 worse that running -Story writing is quite poor if compare to first game. -Overbloated, half playtime do not feels like exploring but more like chore to get upgrades. I finished first game in 40h and it was amazing experience. Meanwhile this for me is already 70h and I feel nothing. Just chores and boring puzzles where Aloy spoils all solutions. -Optimization is terrible. I have end tier PC and it still was stuttering in many places. -NPC interaction and conversation felt like some trainee made them. No soul at all in them.

I wondered what kind of review to post. After some time and watching other reviews I found a comment under a YouTube video which best describes this game. "It's the okayest game, not bad, not great, just okay." That being said, there are without a doubt aspects which push it more towards greatness. Graphics, sound and world design are top of it's class. Especially machine design, you can tell there was a lot of work put into it, Slitherfang is one of my favorite. World is also beautiful although I had some qualms about it's traversion. Sound fits the scenes and gameplay loop. [h2]Story[/h2] What I had a problem with was the story, some of the gameplay and characters (main and NPCs). [b]Story is pretty bland[/b], and didn't really pull me in nowhere as close as the first game did. What kept me through this game was the sheer love I had for the first, but even now I feel like I'll have to reconsider my opinion on Zero Dawn. I didn't do much sidequests. What derailed my desire to start them were the characters. Characters were either very annoying, uninteresting or both. Some parts of the quests were so bad, even the main story, that I would roll my eyes at the dialogue, especially when the story would introduce some "villain" (More on it later). My main gripe started in the Chainscrape, at the start of the game, the Ulvund questline. Just a cartoonishly villanous character. Greedy, uncompassionate, mafioso-like, I am surprised he doesn't kick puppies for fun. It seemed he is just a foil for Petra, to be her opposite, to make her shine more. The new, better leader. I started to notice more and more how some characters are treated by the story, especially men. And then I noticed how Aloy acts and talks to some of them. Men are for the most time either villains, dumb (or comic relief), or yes-men to Aloy. For example, stupid, cowardly priest Vuadis. Utaru priest which tried to keep Aloy from accessing cauldron, Erend as a comic relief or a muscle. Most of the NPCs, questgivers or male characters talking during the quest felt uninspiring. [b]Aloy is just annoying, uninteresting character with no personality.[/b] Very cold at times. Almost half of the game can be summarized by this statement: "I have to save the world, don't stay in my way." And it doesn't matter if it's Hekkaro, Zeniths, evil men or Varl. Aloy knows best and she doesn't need anyone else, they are just in the way, because they will never understand the weight. Thankfully, this changes once you get to the base, but I almost stopped playing before I got to that point, shelving it for half a year. BUT, here is an example of what I am talking about: Aloy seeks a subfunction which is under the throne room of Tenakth chieftain Hekkaro. He politely stated his price for access to the ruins. Help him get one of the rebelious tribe for a combat trial. Aloy threatens to kill Hekkaro, and then agrees to the proposition anyway. Like a macho theater for the player. Aloy's personality is essentialy non-existent, somewhat shifting depending on the context, story. One time she tries to be compassionate, another time it almost looks like she doesn't understand how to talk to people politely. Apart from saving the world, I, as a player, know almost nothing about her. She doesn't really talk much about anyone else, has some passing mentions of Rost and Elisabeth, but not much to go on. At the beginning, the dream about Elisabeth is just dropped, never expanded upon. None at all. Aloy longing for a mother in a matriarchal society? No, too complicated. What a wasted opportunity. Beta mended this hole a little bit, but looking back, what does this relationship say about Aloy? [b]She essentialy loves herself – her clone.[/b] [h2]Characters[/h2] I didn't really care for any one. Because none of them have anything much interesting going for them. Walking through the world was interesting and kept me going through most of the playthrough, but I refrained from doing any side quests precisely because it was a boring waste of time. I completed some, but regretted doing them afterwards. i just didn't find it entertaining by the aforementioned cons above. [h2]Gameplay[/h2] Gameplay was okay. Feels a bit bloated at times, especially with the number of weapons and the limitation of equipment slots. Usually in these types of games you have a main settlement where you can get the best gear. In the first game it was Meridian and I remember getting the best bow in the Hunting lodge. But in this game, I just couldn't find much upgrades for my weapons - which might be on me, by focusing mostly on the main story and forgoing any side quests or deep exploration. It didn't hinder me in anyway, fights just took more time. Skills seemed kind of lazy, to a certain degree. Passive upgrades like "2 % melee damage" is just not something to get worked up about unlocking. Melee skills were interesting, but after a while I refrained from fighting in melee, it feels a little wonky, out of place. Different paths in the skill tree (warrior, trapper, hunter...) seemed like a great idea at first glance, but after some time were just a 'meh'. Some machines felt a little bit immersion breaking. Aloy can withstand a strike from Slitherfang or Dreadwing, but then a character tosses her a meter away and she has trouble standing up. But that's something not exclusive to this game. Something which usually plagues the genre. I played with controller. Some of the keybinds are a bit unfortunate - gliding and hold release on square make it irritating when you try to parkour and glide. (I also had one issue, but might be just me. Everytime I aimed, the crosshairs would slowly move left for a few seconds and then stop - making shooting bothersome at times) Getting overrides in cauldrons and then having to unlock them with machine parts seems a bit tedious. Flying seems to be the same speed as walking, only advantage is the avoidance of map layering. I wanted to love this game, I really did. Zero Dawn was one of my favorites, but now I think it fell down in my eyes a bit. Story as a whole was okay, ending semi-interesting but I probably won't return for potential sequels. I don't know if I should recomment this game or not. I am torn exactly in the middle. Gameplay wise, I would recommend it, but story is a deal breaker for me. I would therefore weigh towards [b]Not recommending.[/b]

Some of HFW was better than HZD, but most of it wasn't nearly as good as HZD. The story of Zero Dawn was far more compelling and interesting, and the weapon/gear system was more intuitive. The weapons, override, and crafting systems in Forbidden West is bloated and cumbersome compared to Zero Dawn. You have to cross the map and beat a specific robot for a chance to get a specific part, just to be able to upgrade your items -- multiple times per item. Maybe that's ok for some hardcore gamers who like to spend loads of time running around for things, but I liked it better in Zero Dawn where if you got your item, all of the coil slots available for its tier of rarity were already unlocked. HFW does introduce the glider, the Sunwing mount (a bit too late in the game though), and a few other mechanics which are really nice, but overall, the original Zero Dawn tops it. HFW does not seem to favor stealth as much as HZD did. I love stealth gameplay, and HZD offered a lot of skills and outfits that made stealth gameplay absolutely broken and entertaining at the higher levels. Sadly, that experience was missing in HFW. I would say that HFW's story wasn't so bad that it was entirely a turn off, and if they continue the franchise into a third game, I would definitely be up for playing it. I personally would prefer the weapon/modding system would be closer to the first game.

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Decent ☑ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☑ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☑ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☑ Never heard of ☐ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑ 9 ☐ 10