The Overlooked issues of Horizon Zero Dawn

It has taken me a couple of weeks but I have finished Horizon Zero Dawn. And I mean finished. Like, platinum trophy finished. Other than the joy of hunting giant mechanical moles, dinosaurs and crocodiles there is nothing for me to return to the game for. So this review, whilst late, is a more complete opinion on the biggest release on the Playstation so far this year. The reason I’m writing this piece is that I feel that reviewers’ general need to get content out quickly can mean certain aspects of a game can go unaddressed. HZD’s strengths have been well counted for; the praise for the awesome visuals, enthralling combat and enemy design has been well sung by now. I am not going to contest any of these points, they all stand up throughout the game making HZD the very good game which they have said it is. What I do want to highlight is some issues which weighed it down somewhat and which if Guerrilla Games were to make a second open world RPG, I’d hope would be addressed.

The first and biggest issue I had with the game was some sloppily edited cutscenes and conversations which really took me out of the moment and meant key turning points in the plot didn’t have the weight that they should have. In Horizon Zero Dawn, more than any game I can remember, i could really tell that the dialogue was made up of completely separately recorded sentences which have been cut up and glued together. An example of this issue is a cutscene early on in the game at “the proving”. Things go wrong, very wrong, at a traditional event of the tribe to which Aloy, the main protagonist, belongs. This is supposed to be a huge plot moment that really sets up the rest of the narrative as well as have an emotional weight as some named characters die (as well as many unnamed members of the tribe). I came out of that scene confused as to who exactly had actually died, rather nonplussed as to what is happening and a bit bemused by the schlockiness of it all. It’s quite disappointing because the Guerrilla Games show they can put together a beautiful cut scene with the prologue that plays before you even press start game; they do so again right at the end with a touching epilogue that ties together the story of Aloy’s mission to find her roots. The cutscenes and dialogues between these two highlights, however, range between average and seriously sloppy. This effected my capability to invest in the story, get attached to some of the characters and really appreciate some of the side missions as much as I should have.

A second weakness of the game, I think, comes down mostly to this being the first game of the difficult open world-RPG genre that Guerrilla have made: teething problems were inevitable but are actually quite few and fare between so kudos for that. A very important part of an open world RPG is how the world and, this who inhabit it, interacts with you and the protagonist you are playing with. Horizon’s world seemed to treat me as a very special and important heroine before I’d really done anything to deserve it. The first time Aloy enters Meridian (the large city in the game) the guards are giving her special salutes as she passes and in various conversations we almost seemed to revered. A status seems to have been awarded to us which, by our actions so far, we have done little to deserve. When this is compared to the juggernaut of the genre, Skyrim, you can see the difference. In Skyrim, you can enter any city at the start of the game and be treated no differently by anybody. It is only when you’ve shown yourself to be dragon born, become a Thane of whichever hold you’re in or completed particular side missions for people that a level of respect is given (and even then, only by some). This helps give the player the impression that they are one of many who inhabit a natural world. In Horizon, it can sometimes feel very much like the world has been built purposefully around you for you to be its hero: This is obviously true for all games but when you’re made to remember that but it does break the immersion. I was also going to include a bit in this review asking for more side quests but am currently drowning in them playing through Mass Effect Andromeda so yeah; better too few than too many I suppose.

I’m very aware this will come off as a negative review. It isn’t. It is just that I do not feel it is worth, at this point, repeating all the praise that has been, justly, heaped on this game. The combat is absolutely immense and something I loved about it is that it really teaches you to use trial and error to try and work out how best to take on each machine they throw at you in this game so as to hone improve your technique for next time. Hopefully Guerrilla can apply that concept of trial and error to their probable sequel and touch up a few issues that were present. If they do, HZD2 could just be one of the greatest Playstation games ever.