Date played: Match 10th
Platform: PS4
I've played so much Horizon yesterday, and I don't even know where to start! I should say that a lot of my time has been spent just exploring and navigating the world. There's some collectibles to find, some loot to get and some robots to fight just about everywhere on the map. This makes navigation a real joy... Camp fires are important too because they serve as fast travel points.
I cleared two corrupted zones. One of them had a Sawtooth, but I've been getting better and better at combat, and my weapons and skills are getting better, so they aren't as dangerous as before. I can easily take out a single Sawtooth now. In a group, they are still a big challenge though. The other corrupted zone had me fighting some new enemies, Chargers. These guys are like mountain ram or something, with two big horns. They are actually pretty tough since they have a lot of health.
When I have a long way to go, I usually don't use fast travel too much, I try to find a decent mount. I used a Broadhead, an ox-like robot, to travel towards Daytower, the border that divides the Carja and Nora lands. I also fought a group of Shell-Walkers, the same creature I had fought at the end of the Cauldron. They are crab-like and carry valuables on their back. They're pretty easy to take out though.
Along the way, I stumbled upon some new hunting grounds with 3 new challenges to complete. The first was real easy, I just had to set some Strider tanks on fire. The second was way harder for me, but mainly because I didn't really understand the elemental damage mechanics yet. I had to freeze some enemies, then kill them while frozen. However, I was reading the UI wrong... For an enemy to be considered frozen, shocked, stunned, etc, the little icon above their heads must be fully circled in white... Once I got that, the trial became way easier, using the freeze sling. The third trial was relatively easy too, as I just had to kill enemies who were shocked, which was easy to do with my powerful tripcaster.
Just before reaching Daytower, I found a bandit camp and cleared it with some stealth kills, then some fast bow shots without much trouble. Then, outside the Daytower gate, I had to fight a Corruptor. Since it was kind of busy with the Carja fighters, I just shot it from afar until it was dead.
The people of Daytower are all really cool, contrary to the Nora gossip. They were very helpful in giving me directions and general tips for navigating the Carja lands. Before leaving, I picked up a side quest that led me back east to investigate the destruction of a nearby village. When I got there, I followed some trails to find a man stranded on a small island in the middle of a lake. He was surrounded by a new enemy type, the Snapmaw.
These giant crocodile robots are extremely dangerous, particularly in close combat, but they are also pretty easy to take down. That's because they wear two blaze containers on top of their head. These are easy to hit with fire arrows, creating a least two big explosions. After that, they are pretty easy to kill off.
After this, I decided it was time to move past the borders of Nora land and adventure into the unknown lands of the Carja. Entering the new area was a real moment for me. It was absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous... I can't believe video games can look this good. Horizon is easily the most beautiful game I've ever played. While there are other games that look better in certain areas, like Uncharted's faces, The Order's impressive textures or Forza Horizon's sense of speed, Horizon manages to be beautiful all the damn time.
Aloy enters from the heights of Daytower, giving me an epic view of the new land, sprawling further than the eye can see. It was really something special... In the distance, I can see a gigantic robotic bird roaming the skies. I later learned that this was a Stormbird. There are big mountains, cliffs, forests, rivers and it's all so beautiful.
I should mention that I've spent a good amount of resources buying better versions of my weapons. This usually means more damage, but also more ammunition types. I've got like 5 or 6 types of damage available now. I'm also starting to run into a problem finding the right materials for tear ammo, some of the best ammo there is. I think I might have to start hunting specific robots to find the stuff I need. I'm also getting used to the ropecaster a bit more. It can completely tie down an enemy for up to 90 seconds, but it's pretty tricky to pull off on some of the enemies.
I found another hunting grounds set of trials, featuring some new machines to fight. Glinthawks are small, vulture-like robots that fly around and scavenge loot from robot carcasses. These guys are pretty fast, but they don't have that much health, so a few sniper shots can usually take them down. They shoot ice grenades though, so I can't take them lightly. Tramplers are kind of like rhinoceros or bison. They are very large, have big horns and a few components that can be exploited on their underbellies.
The first trial asked that I race the Glinthawks to some Watcher carcasses while avoiding the rampaging Tramplers. This was pretty easy, but I had to keep moving to survive. I also had to shoot the Glinthawks to make them move away from carcasses once in a while. The second trial asked that I tie down Tramplers with the ropecaster, then shoot their vulnerable bellies to remove some components. It took me two tries to get this one with the best score, but it wasn't too bad. The final trial was to tie down some Glinthawks with the ropecaster then hit them with the spear. I did this one pretty sloppily, just jumping in and shooting ropes like a madman, but it worked!
The game is definitely getting harder. While I have good weapons, decent armor and lots of skills, a mistake in combat can be fatal and might mean it's Game Over. Horizon really rewards careful planning and good improvisation. Brute force is usually a bad option. I'm finding myself scrambling to find healing herbs quite often.
In the distance, south of the trials, I saw a Tallneck roaming around, so I decided to go take a look and see if I could climb it. The area was surrounded by Snapmaws, so I cleared it carefully, then climbed the Tallneck. I still have a long way to go to reach Meridian, so I'm not sure what I want to do next...
Platform: PS4
I've played so much Horizon yesterday, and I don't even know where to start! I should say that a lot of my time has been spent just exploring and navigating the world. There's some collectibles to find, some loot to get and some robots to fight just about everywhere on the map. This makes navigation a real joy... Camp fires are important too because they serve as fast travel points.
I cleared two corrupted zones. One of them had a Sawtooth, but I've been getting better and better at combat, and my weapons and skills are getting better, so they aren't as dangerous as before. I can easily take out a single Sawtooth now. In a group, they are still a big challenge though. The other corrupted zone had me fighting some new enemies, Chargers. These guys are like mountain ram or something, with two big horns. They are actually pretty tough since they have a lot of health.
When I have a long way to go, I usually don't use fast travel too much, I try to find a decent mount. I used a Broadhead, an ox-like robot, to travel towards Daytower, the border that divides the Carja and Nora lands. I also fought a group of Shell-Walkers, the same creature I had fought at the end of the Cauldron. They are crab-like and carry valuables on their back. They're pretty easy to take out though.
Along the way, I stumbled upon some new hunting grounds with 3 new challenges to complete. The first was real easy, I just had to set some Strider tanks on fire. The second was way harder for me, but mainly because I didn't really understand the elemental damage mechanics yet. I had to freeze some enemies, then kill them while frozen. However, I was reading the UI wrong... For an enemy to be considered frozen, shocked, stunned, etc, the little icon above their heads must be fully circled in white... Once I got that, the trial became way easier, using the freeze sling. The third trial was relatively easy too, as I just had to kill enemies who were shocked, which was easy to do with my powerful tripcaster.
Just before reaching Daytower, I found a bandit camp and cleared it with some stealth kills, then some fast bow shots without much trouble. Then, outside the Daytower gate, I had to fight a Corruptor. Since it was kind of busy with the Carja fighters, I just shot it from afar until it was dead.
The people of Daytower are all really cool, contrary to the Nora gossip. They were very helpful in giving me directions and general tips for navigating the Carja lands. Before leaving, I picked up a side quest that led me back east to investigate the destruction of a nearby village. When I got there, I followed some trails to find a man stranded on a small island in the middle of a lake. He was surrounded by a new enemy type, the Snapmaw.
These giant crocodile robots are extremely dangerous, particularly in close combat, but they are also pretty easy to take down. That's because they wear two blaze containers on top of their head. These are easy to hit with fire arrows, creating a least two big explosions. After that, they are pretty easy to kill off.
After this, I decided it was time to move past the borders of Nora land and adventure into the unknown lands of the Carja. Entering the new area was a real moment for me. It was absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous... I can't believe video games can look this good. Horizon is easily the most beautiful game I've ever played. While there are other games that look better in certain areas, like Uncharted's faces, The Order's impressive textures or Forza Horizon's sense of speed, Horizon manages to be beautiful all the damn time.
Aloy enters from the heights of Daytower, giving me an epic view of the new land, sprawling further than the eye can see. It was really something special... In the distance, I can see a gigantic robotic bird roaming the skies. I later learned that this was a Stormbird. There are big mountains, cliffs, forests, rivers and it's all so beautiful.
I should mention that I've spent a good amount of resources buying better versions of my weapons. This usually means more damage, but also more ammunition types. I've got like 5 or 6 types of damage available now. I'm also starting to run into a problem finding the right materials for tear ammo, some of the best ammo there is. I think I might have to start hunting specific robots to find the stuff I need. I'm also getting used to the ropecaster a bit more. It can completely tie down an enemy for up to 90 seconds, but it's pretty tricky to pull off on some of the enemies.
 |
| Glinthawks are fun to fight! |
The first trial asked that I race the Glinthawks to some Watcher carcasses while avoiding the rampaging Tramplers. This was pretty easy, but I had to keep moving to survive. I also had to shoot the Glinthawks to make them move away from carcasses once in a while. The second trial asked that I tie down Tramplers with the ropecaster, then shoot their vulnerable bellies to remove some components. It took me two tries to get this one with the best score, but it wasn't too bad. The final trial was to tie down some Glinthawks with the ropecaster then hit them with the spear. I did this one pretty sloppily, just jumping in and shooting ropes like a madman, but it worked!
The game is definitely getting harder. While I have good weapons, decent armor and lots of skills, a mistake in combat can be fatal and might mean it's Game Over. Horizon really rewards careful planning and good improvisation. Brute force is usually a bad option. I'm finding myself scrambling to find healing herbs quite often.
In the distance, south of the trials, I saw a Tallneck roaming around, so I decided to go take a look and see if I could climb it. The area was surrounded by Snapmaws, so I cleared it carefully, then climbed the Tallneck. I still have a long way to go to reach Meridian, so I'm not sure what I want to do next...
