First reaction to Horizon Zero Dawn!

I’ve played for 11 hours now so I think I can give my first reaction regarding the new post-post-apocalyptic open-world stunner, Horizon Zero Dawn. I’m not going to go into details or describe the world too much because I think everyone should play and experience it themselves!

First I have to say that the game is so freaking beautiful I can’t handle it sometimes. Not only are the graphics stunning, but the design of the world and it’s versatile scenery are something that the player can constantly look at in awe(at least before playing so much you get used to it). The weather conditions are well made and really affect how the game looks, also the sunset/rise are something I personally love(maybe because I never see them irl?) Because the game is so stunning I love that it has the “photo mode” which helps you take amazing screenshots. All the pics in this post are taken by me btw!

The world is hard to explain because you really should experience it yourself. Anyway it’s a so called post-post apocalyptic world where the nature covered ruins of the old world are a huge taboo and people live in tribes like they did before modern civilization. The protagonist named Aloy has found a device that helps her scan the environment and with it you can find out bits and pieces of history of the world. I myself am very interested in the lore of the game, but I don’t know a lot yet. The most interesting bit for me are the different animal like machines that somehow”evolve” Into new types of machines. 

The game works beautifully. Movement, fighting, crafting, hunting and all other parts of game play are well made. The skill tree is simple but it contains a lot of cool things to learn. Hunting is made interesting and it has a realistic feel because all animals and machines are different and thus need different approaches. There’s trapping, slinging bombs, shooting with different bows etc. The only thing that I’m a wee bit disappointed of is that climbing is a bit awkward at times(well it’s not a parkour game) and that there seems to be no proper tutorials available for new weapons.

I’m very happy to see that a big game like this has taken a realistic young woman as it’s protagonist, she’s pretty but not a super model, and she’s got an athletic body but she’s not pushing her boobs in your face. I also like how the game starts with Aloy being a kid, I won’t tell more so I won’t spoil it. Also there are some amazing np characters, my favorite is the war chief who’s a fucking tough lady. The face animation and  voice acting are also very brilliant. I strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a beautiful open-world adventure, mysterious story, awesome npcs and beast(/ human) slaying!

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