A gaming masterpiece
After I got my PS5, I did a quick write up about this game when I was just a couple hours in, but now that I am a little over 10 hours in, I can some better insights on the game. Well, to be honest, this game is absolutely amazing. It is one of the best games that I have ever played and I can see why it has so many perfect ratings.
You are Aloy, a Nora outcast that was raised by a father figure named Rost, who is also an outcast of the Nora tribe. Aloy does not know anything about her real family and that is part her quest, to find out who she really is and what her purpose is.
Aloy trains her whole life up until she is a teenager to be able to compete and win in the "Proving" which is basically the Nora Tribe's way of proving their skills as a warrior. If she completes the Proving, she will be allowed to be let back into the tribe and no longer be an outcast. But she has her sights set on winning the whole proving and not just finishing it.
The night before the Proving, she is allowed into the tribe's village to take part in the celebration.
But not everyone is happy to see her and still treat her as an outcast. She does make one friend with one of her competitors though and things start to look like they will get better for her.
Aloy wins the Proving and becomes a part of the tribe. But the joy is short lived as a rival tribe attacks everyone, killing the majority of the competitors, including her new friend.
Aloy does her best to fight off the attackers and kills the majority of them, but she is no match for the bandit leader.
Luckily Rost comes to her rescue and fights off the bandit leader.
As Rost fights off the bandit leader, Aloy is able to get away, but not before an explosion kills Rost and sends her flying off a cliff.
Aloy is found and brought into the sacred Nora temple and treated for her wounds.
The village matriarch that treated her begins to tell her of her past and how she came to the village. It was in this temple that she was found when she was just a baby.
Some of the other matriarchs believed that she was cursed as a child and that is why she was outcast from the tribe.
Aloy is given the title of Seeker within the tribe, which allows her to leave the sacred tribal lands and go after those that attacked her tribe. She is also on a quest to learn about herself and where she came from.
Inside of the sacred lands, everything seems primitive. We really have no idea what time this game is set in or how the machines came to be, but as we begin to explore, we learn that it is about 1000 years from now and that something happened to humanity that caused everything to collapse and machines took over.
Aloy learns different abilities that allow her to take charge of the machines.
The game is pretty massive and there is a ton of exploration to do. So many artifacts that give some insights into the world and what happened to it. The scale of the game is huge.
The graphics are amazing. Some of the best I have ever seen in a video game. The attention to detail in some of the monsters is pretty crazy.
Like this massive monster here. If you look closely, you can see dirt all over its mouth area where it has been scooping up piles of dirt.
The combat can get pretty insane. Each machine has its own weaknesses that need to be exploited to be able to defeat them. This huge monster has several weak points that need to be struck before it is vulnerable to attack.
Crafting is a major part of the game and you won't get anywhere if you are not collecting all of the different items. Normally I do not like a lot of the crafting in these types of games and crafting can see like a huge chore, but with this game, everything that you collect has a purpose and the crafting is pretty rewarding.
These gazelle type machines have "blaze" canisters on their backs that are their weak points and when you hit them, they can break off. They are used to create some different fire type weapons, like fire arrows and if you hit these canisters with a fire arrow, they will explode causing massive damage.
I made it to the second large city and it is crazy how different these people living compared to the Nora Tribe in their sacred lands. It is like I am progressing through human evolution. Another thing that is pretty awesome is how much detail the developers have put into creating this world.
I was exploring in the city last night and as I approached some geese, they began honking at me then I heard a boar off in the distance and it got louder as it approached. The sound design on this game is next level. Even when you wander around the cities, you can heard people whispering to each other about your character if she is wearing something that is from another part of the world. This game really is one of the most immersive gaming experiences I have ever had.
Horizon Forbidden West, which is the sequel is going to be releasing some time soon and it looks so awesome. I can't wait to finish this first one and I will be looking forward to playing this next one.
Overall, this game is a must play. I have been looking forward to playing this since it launched and I am so glad that I finally have a PS5 and I am able to play this. It is crazy to see how much games have evolved over the years into these types of masterpieces. If you have played this game, let me know how you
liked it and if you haven't played it, hopefully you get the opportunity to do so soon because it really is one of the greatest games ever made.
