Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition PS5 4K 60FPS - Part 21 - The Face of Extinction (Ending+Review)
0My thoughts after finishing this game...
I was not a fan of this game at all. I really pushed through considering this was brought out by one of Sony's top publishers, but if I'm totally honest, this game was just...average. And not in a good way.
To start off, this game came out in 2017 and the facial animations alone look like they came from a low level PS2 game. On top of that, The Last of Us came out at the end of the PS3 life cycle and had miles better in-game facial animations, and that title released five years prior in 2012. I don't know what was going on with the development team, but the uncanny faces become extremely distracting and they're a constant throughout.
The open world just copies every game from 2010-2016 with its design. Yes, there are times where it looked amazing, especially the nighttime scenery, but outside of that, I was left extremely bored and inpatient. Beyond the machines, there's just endless copy-and-paste mountains that go on for MILES with nothing to do in-between. And if that wasn't bad enough, you won't get that many travel packs until midway through, meaning you waste so much time going from one end of the map to the other. All of it just feels like immense bloat to pad the game time, which I can't stand. Just give me a solid 6-10 hour game instead of a 20-40 hour-plus snooze-fest.
Which brings me to the next point. Monsters. Yes, the world and lore revolves around machines, but there's nothing groundbreaking about them. And once you face the first couple, you've seen all the enemy variety. They have weak spots which you can see with Aloy's Focus, but again, they're quite similar in design.
As for the story...I really couldn't get into it. Aloy is such a "pick-me girl" that it's hard to take the narrative seriously. On top of that, the voice acting wasn't anything that captured my attention and rather than be bad, it was just...flat. That's the best way I can describe it. And for people saying the lore was in the files, this is giving serious FFXIII vibes, and not in a good way. Don't defend poor characterization with supplemental files. It's an action/adventure game, at least that's what they were marketing it as. Show. Don't tell.
This game to me basically felt like Assassin's Creed + Machines which should've made for a fun time. But the longer this narrative dragged on, the more bored I got with it and couldn't wait to finish the game. Unlike Ezio, Aloy isn't nearly as likable, nor as charming on screen, and the supporting characters even less so. The gameplay loop gets boring fast and unlike the previous game, there's nothing to do throughout the map and the cities themselves are no better.
Regarding the DLC, I didn't even bother with it considering how much I wanted to finish this game, so I won't be commenting on that front. As for the main game...
Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition - 5/10 (I was beyond bored throughout)
Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition on PS5 - 7/10 (load times were not great, even for a late-entry PS4 game)
The only winner that came out on top from all of this was Sony's Marketing/PR Division. They must've spent a fortune because they really managed to sucker people into hyping this game up all throughout social media and sold a staggering 30 million copies. I don't know...this game was not it for me and I'm hard pressed to even play Forbidden West after how mundane the open-world concept was for Zero Dawn. Even bad games can be fun at times due to absurdity (think Heavy Rain), but as for this...everything was just...dry. This game was extremely tedious to get through and...honestly, a chore.
The best way I can sum up this game, is by none other than Deena from Jersey Shore.
"She’s boring. There is nothing to her. She's just there. She’s like furniture."
Sorry Guerrilla Games. You guys did an amazing job with Killzone, but I'm going to have to pass on Forbidden West, since it's more of the same as Zero Dawn and I couldn't for the life of me get into this title.
As for the overall winner, congrats to Sony's marketing division. You guys deserve an award lol.
Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition PS5 4K 60FPS [Playlist]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6QvRRxniPCF1q1k3N27uvrnymm47cyAD
Follow me: https://linktr.ee/richardbisso
#horizonzerodawn #ps5 #guerrillagames
Other Videos By Richard Bisso
Other Statistics
Horizon Zero Dawn Statistics For Richard Bisso
Currently, Richard Bisso has 74 views for Horizon Zero Dawn across 21 videos. About 11 hours worth of Horizon Zero Dawn videos were uploaded to his channel, or 1.15% of the total watchable video on Richard Bisso's YouTube channel.