GAME REVIEW: Horizon Zero Dawn (2017; Remastered)
Horizon Zero Dawn was made by Guerilla Games and released by Sony Entertainment all the way back in 2017, so I’m a little late to the party on this one, it seems. A full 9 years late, no less. And yet, I’m so delighted that I finally got around to playing it. Why? Because it was great! It checked just about every box that I want checked when I play an open-world action/adventure RPG, including the rarest box! So why did I decide to play it after all these years of having it on my list? Honestly, I was bored and got Lego Horizon Adventures on PS+ and I was very genuinely curious how much of that goofy child-friendly story was actually the same in Horizon Zero Dawn.
Art, Sound, & Design
This game is straight-up totally gorgeous. Apart from the incredible graphics, the character and world design is phenomenal. It takes very stripped-down cultures and blend them magnificently with the dregs of the old world (AKA pre-apocalyptic America)’s extremely advanced technology. The creature designs are fantastic, unique, and original, as well as really cool. It’s also worth saying, this game translated spectacularly into Lego format!
I’m also a big fan of the culture designs, such as the Nora, Carja, Oseram, Shadow Carja, and Banuk. Each of them are different and unique, but they all make sense within the game’s worldbuilding and lore. The cultures themselves are also well-though-out and well-rounded, making each group of people seem interesting, each with flaws and strengths, as well as their own village and clothing designs. Awesome!
The music, for the most part, didn’t stand out a lot per se, like it did in Skyrim, but it did suit the atmosphere. I’ll pretty much only complain if the music draws me out of immersion, but that never happened in this game, and the moments I did notice the music, it was for positive reasons.
As a bonus, I started playing the game on the original PS4 version (on the PS5) but eventually figured out that I could transfer my save to the newer PS5 version. The graphics are definitely cleaner, not that they were bad before, and some small details were improved, like the slightly overly large mouths were made more realistic.
Gameplay
So, here’s where I confess up-front that I played this game mostly in story mode. Why, you might ask, as I’m a lifelong gamer and I love exploring game mechanics, especially in games with good mechanics. The answer be simple, my friends: I do not actually have the time to play long-form open-world RPGs anymore. I still do it once in a blue moon when there’s a game of interest, like this one, but I don’t want to be playing longer than I need to via tedious long battles. I’m mostly here for the story, after all. If I want a tough battle, I’ll go play a Soulsborne game (or worse, I’ll pick up Silksong again), and if I want to slog through tedious endless random encounters, I’ll go replay Dragon Age: Inquisition (love the game, btw, I just hated that it took me 2 minutes to kill a bear in the woods on a random encounter, even on easy difficulties).
That said, this game had wonderful mechanics and playing on story mode wasn’t necessarily “easy” per se, I just didn’t die in battle more than once (and that one time, I wasn’t paying attention at all). I didn’t even explore the range of traps and bombs and whatnot that Aloy has at her disposal, but I did have a lot of fun with different weapons, the tripcaster and ropecaster, and some of the crazy shooter guns you get towards the end (loved the Stormcaster for its power (and limitations), hated the Icerail for its slowness). There are also some really heavy-duty guns that you can pick up from bodies and machines now and then that are rather fun to use just because of how destructive they are.
I also love a game where I get to sneak around with a bow and snipe people from a distance. This was one of my favorite aspects of Skyrim, but in that game, you end up getting so OP that you can be squat-walking next to people and they don’t notice you there, so it gets pretty ridiculous. That was never the case in this game. I was perhaps a bit annoyed at a couple points that you could only hide in the red-haired grass and not any other foliage or bushes, etc., but that’s a really minor complaint and I understand it within the limitations of game development. I had an absolute blast playing this game through a couple times and I thought the hunting mechanics were diverse and a lot of fun. I also loved that you could scan the enemies for weaknesses, so you could knock pieces of machines and that sort of thing. So much fun!
I will say that the hunting grounds were a bit annoying at times, because they’re pretending to be skill challenges, but let’s be honest: there are a lot of random elements at play in there. Some of the challenges were really fun, but some of them were tedious and frustrating to complete. I guess that’s the case with most in-game challenges though.
Story & Characters
A+ story, no complaints. And here’s where I’ll state a likely controversial opinion, which is that I actually thought this game was better than Skyrim (no question) and as good if not better than my previous #1 open-world RPG, Witcher 3. How dare I? Because of the story.
Let’s be honest here. Skyrim does not have much of a story to phone home about. We all know this, we accept it, and we love and play the game endlessly regardless of its story quality. The game doesn’t suffer significantly from a lack of strong story because there’s simply so much to it. Witcher 3, on the other hand, does have a decent story with some interesting options for endings, but it’s very easy to miss things in that game that can have significant outcomes on the ending, and it seems to benefit players to have actually read the books (though it’s not necessary). Simultaneously, the game must dance around the actual game lore and the book lore, and it does so well, but there’s less freedom to play in someone else’s world than there is when you create a new one fresh.
The story in HZD is honestly fantastic. They do a great job of creating intrigue up front: why was Aloy abandoned as a baby? Who is her mother? Why was Rost exiled? Why does Teersa care? Why are the Nora so cool while also kind of assholes? Why are the machines turning hostile? I was hooked from ground zero by the intriguing world and plot they set up.
Then, the trickling out of information throughout the game is really well-done. The game pretty much allows you to play through the plot in a linear manner if you’re so inclined, but there are enough side quests and errands for those of us who just want to exist in the world and run around taking care of business, while more endgame-oriented players can skip all that noise. Also, the level requirements per progress are masterfully done—bravo!
Also, the makers of HZD, seemingly unintentionally (per a quick Google search), created a feminist masterpiece, which is the aforementioned rare box that it checked for me. I’m not just talking about the female lead or the matriarchal Nora society either. For example, though, Aloy doesn’t have any romance options in the game (even though I could name multiple characters who seemed romanceable). She also never once puts on an outfit that’s meant for the male gaze; she’s pretty much always in either basic tunics or some sort of warrior’s garb.
Also, the spread of power is pretty balanced. The Nora are matriarchal but that doesn’t mean there aren’t men in high-status positions. Women are regularly in positions of power as well, such as Sona the war chief (Nora) or Petra Forgewoman (Oseram). Nevertheless, the Carja still have a king, so it’s not all woo-woo-women for people who get butthurt over that. Plus, the respect with which characters like Varl and Errend treat Aloy is fantastic—there’s a scene at the end of the game before the final battle when Varl opens up to Aloy about how cool she is and how intimidated he is by her, and it’s maybe my favorite moment from the game (I’d link it but I’ve never found that scene on YouTube, sadly). As well, it doesn’t pander either, as there are some women in the game who are definitely villains of their instances. The dialog always seems broadly respectful too—not a lot of implying that women are weak and inferior, as the game is constantly proving that to be untrue. Brilliant! I could gush about this for hours.
There are also still patriarchies—Aloy mentions that for example, the Carja priests cannot be women, and I believe the Oseram also implied that women are considered inferior, but some of them, like Petra Forgewoman, have set out and made communities of their own, which rules. So when it comes to equality and representation, I thought this game really hit the ball out of the park.
Overall
I loved it! Straight-up, this is the best open-world RPG I’ve played since Witcher 3 and I’m only sorry that it took me this long to get into it, especially after hearing pretty across-the-board good things about it. The only thing that really annoys me is that, I am the kind of OCD person who will hunt for trophies and when I swapped from the PS4 to PS5 version of the game, a bunch of the trophies didn’t transfer over, and I can’t get them in the NG+ either, which is a pain in my arse. But I can also imagine myself replaying this game in the future to the point where that’s not an issue. On the whole, this game comes highly recommended by yours truly. Now, here’s hoping Horizon Forbidden West goes on sale sometime sooner than later, so I can get on it as well!
