Now THIS is a sequel!
Forbidden West blew me away several times. The environments are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, the settlements feel alive and are super detailed, the map is absolutely massive, the new machine designs are super cool, and the inclusion of a coastal area was really cool. And on top of all that, you can FLY! And since it's a PS5 release, it obviously looks great and runs super smooth (with the occasional hiccup).
Story-wise, it delivers! I loved all of the characters. They all had great arcs. The animation when talking to them didn't ever feel as weird as it did in Zero Dawn. The story beats were all high-stakes and felt epic. I was constantly wanting to know what would happen next (which is a bit of an issue since I had to make a conscious choice to do side-quests and errands). As far as exploration, I was eager to see what each new settlement looked like, since I was impressed so much by Plainsong and Las Vegas.
However, for as much praise as I give this game, I still need to address its flaws.
Combat got a bit of a side-grade. It still feels pretty good overall, but there were a few decisions that were made that hindered it. Nocking arrows has a weirdly long cooldown time, so the rate of fire has decreased from ZD. There's a lot more weapons, but a good chunk of them feel gimmicky or even useless. One issue I had a big problem with has since been patched, but for my entire playthrough I had to deal with a pretty broken knockdown mechanic. Aloy could still take damage while she was knocked down, so even on normal difficulty, if I got hit, it could sometimes mean getting stun-locked to death with no way to fight it. Melee has been mechanically improved, but severely under-utilized, which is unfortunate.
For the story, I felt that the last act was really good up until the final boss, which felt a bit rushed and out-of-place.
Aside from that though, Horizon: Forbidden West is a fantastic sequel, and seeing as they've set up a third installment, I'm excited to see what will happen next in the story.
Forbidden West blew me away several times. The environments are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, the settlements feel alive and are super detailed, the map is absolutely massive, the new machine designs are super cool, and the inclusion of a coastal area was really cool. And on top of all that, you can FLY! And since it's a PS5 release, it obviously looks great and runs super smooth (with the occasional hiccup).
Story-wise, it delivers! I loved all of the characters. They all had great arcs. The animation when talking to them didn't ever feel as weird as it did in Zero Dawn. The story beats were all high-stakes and felt epic. I was constantly wanting to know what would happen next (which is a bit of an issue since I had to make a conscious choice to do side-quests and errands). As far as exploration, I was eager to see what each new settlement looked like, since I was impressed so much by Plainsong and Las Vegas.
However, for as much praise as I give this game, I still need to address its flaws.
Combat got a bit of a side-grade. It still feels pretty good overall, but there were a few decisions that were made that hindered it. Nocking arrows has a weirdly long cooldown time, so the rate of fire has decreased from ZD. There's a lot more weapons, but a good chunk of them feel gimmicky or even useless. One issue I had a big problem with has since been patched, but for my entire playthrough I had to deal with a pretty broken knockdown mechanic. Aloy could still take damage while she was knocked down, so even on normal difficulty, if I got hit, it could sometimes mean getting stun-locked to death with no way to fight it. Melee has been mechanically improved, but severely under-utilized, which is unfortunate.
For the story, I felt that the last act was really good up until the final boss, which felt a bit rushed and out-of-place.
Aside from that though, Horizon: Forbidden West is a fantastic sequel, and seeing as they've set up a third installment, I'm excited to see what will happen next in the story.