I Hate Glinthawks

Horizon Zero Dawn is a game that I deliberately avoided learning much about. It did not look like something I would normally play. It appeared on the PS4 recently (there are multiple accounts) and next thing I knew I was playing it obsessively. I really get the love for this title. You get to play the entire tutorial as an adorable little girl. Main game coming of age Aloy starts out with some moves.

She is attractive, the NPC’s are attractive and the environments are attractive which make the robots appear even more unnatural and terrifying. The game play reminds me of Far Cry Primal but Horizon Zero Dawn is post apocalyptic science fiction so everything is possible and plausible. Denizens are articulate and even literate. The resource based economy is a little grindy but the game is generous with XP. Even though it’s obvious what caused societal collapse there is much mystery surrounding Aloy, her society and the weird machines. The game is lore deep. It is mostly a strategy game but all combat styles are useful. You are bound to get caught unawares and forced to melee your way out of trouble. Aloy has allies that come to her aid but sadly she’s mostly on her own. The friendly NPC’s she meets on the road always lead her into more peril. I spent the first third of the game creeping around like the little tutorial girl. I really did not like getting close to machines. Glinthawks and Stalkers were the bane of my existence. Grinding for gear was of course the answer. Tinker became my favourite skill.

I had a little trouble fully understanding my bows but for the most part game play is straightforward and the user interface is well designed. I hate to admit it but I teared up a little at the story’s conclusion. It’s just so darn touching.

This is almost a perfect game and I have no idea where to put it on my top games of the last decade list. I left a lot of things uncompleted because I simply didn’t want to do them. This is one game where a new game plus mode makes a lot of sense but I currently have no desire to play again. It’s a pretty land filled with way too much peril for a tourist like me.