Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition

I can say only - AMAZING! The story was like no other.. 10/10

Big, beautiful open-world game about fighting robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow and solving the mystery of the main character's birth. When those things are the focus, this game sings - when those are not the focus, it can begin to get pretty tedious.

The combat is fast and snappy, with plenty of options on how to approach most battles. The robots range in scope and feel appropriate to each area of the map. Movement is, especially compared to other AAA contemporaries, very free and fun. And the world is exceptionally well-realized with multiple biomes and people groups that interact to build extensive lore.

Unfortunately, the primary way of getting that lore across is through dialogue or flavor text. The game tells you most of its story instead of showing you the story. And it can get REALLY tedious the longer you go on (kind of like this review). Do we really need to hear 50 dialogue options about a girl with daddy issues who ran away from home to be with a boy from the enemy tribe? At the best times that attention to story detail really immerses you in the world, but at other times it seriously slows down the pace of gameplay and makes the player less likely to engage with more important dialogue and flavor text.

Ultimately, the game's negatives are easy enough to overlook when compared to the bombastic setting (fighting robot dinosaurs with bows and spears!), free movement, and fun combat.

Platted and all DLC 100%, just need to tackle ng+ on the highest difficulty. Superb game, really satisfying gameplay, and RIP Lance Reddick. You had the greatest voice.

can't wait for the second one

Can’t remember the last time I finished a game with 100% completion. The story is amazing, the mystery of the world becoming what it is im the game is masterfully crafted. The characters do take a back seat in comparison to the lore and the story, but it does not feel our of place. The game looks incredible, the only minor complaint I have is the motion capture, which was either not present for the main game, or was incredibly lacking (sorted out in the DLC). The other minor complaint is that the world can sometimes feel empty outside the mission areas, but I guess that’s what we get for expecting huge open worlds in every game nowadays. Combat is interesting and, while the game has many similar activities compared to other open worlds, they all have some unique feature (remember climbing towers to unlock a portion of the map? Now you’re climbing a robot!).

Great game. Loved the experience.