Topic: Horizon: Zero: Dawn

@Th3solution How do you pose Aloy? I've been wanting something just like that, but I couldn't find a way to change her animation when the game was paused.

I also rarely mess with photo modes, but it really works with this game. Primarily because of the stunning environments.

I'll post just a few more.

Really liked the reflection of the sun on this lake. Got a few cool shots of it.

Took some awkward attempts, but I finally paused at just the right time to capture this great action shot of Aloy jumping into the fray with some machines.

A stunning sunset that painted the land red.

A lovely scene with some trees.

Haunting scene, especially with the foggy ruins of a long lost civilization peppering the background.

I found the mix of muted early morning sky colors and the rich glow of the Strider's optical unit to be striking.

Those are some fantastic screen captures. The “Huntress above the Sea of Fog” and the shot with the Strider are especially good.

@Ralizah You need to go into Photo mode on the game and there should be options for different facial expressions etc for Aloy. I think it might be clicking one of the sticks, but not entirely sure.

Awesome pics BTW.

@Ralizah Yeah, like Johnny says. I forget exactly, but you go to photo mode and there should be instructions. I also seem to remember it being clicking one of the sticks changes her pose (standing, sitting, lifting her arms, laying down, making a heart shape with her hands, etc, etc) Also her facial expressions can be changed if I recall, as well as of course the camera angle, etc. It looks like you’ve got most of the other stuff. You can also put on labels iirc

Ooooh those are some great screenshotty's @Ralizah !

I'd share some of mine but... I'm not the best at that sorta stuff and i'm not good at getting the image thing to work on here lol xD

Like johnny and solution says in photomode you can mess with all sorts of things like Aloy's pose and facial expresion (Though i didn't really use the face one all that much) ... it's on one of the many tabs and there's a bunch you can go through... It's pretty extensive... I have a good 100 or so screenshots on my PS4 from Horizon xD

I can defintely live with this being your next games you've beat thing instead of Digtal Devil Saga (unless i missed that while I was gone)

Thanks, folks. I might take some serious snaps of the Frozen Wilds once I get there, but, otherwise, I think I'm done with going for serious or moody photography, so I'll very much be playing around with expressions during the second half of the game (40+ hours in, and my next mission is to investigate a woman who looks like she might be Aloy's mother).

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I envy you people who focus on one game at a time. I'm ping-ponging between four or five different games right now.

With that said, there are a number of big releases coming out relatively soon, so I'm going to start buckling down. My targets for this month are Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (slowly, on PC; I wanted this to be my portable game, but the Switch port just had one too many issues for my liking), Digital Devil Saga, and the single-player portion of Mario Maker 2.

I'm going for the platinum in Horizon, and I'd like to get all the trophies I can before finishing the final story mission, so I probably have another month or two left with this game.

@RogerRoger That last screen capture is just fantastic. Every element of its composition is perfect.

Those are some classy screen shotty's @RogerRoger ! Bravo!

@RogerRoger Yeah, that battle with the Glinthawk I captured looks just like a bullshot. I wouldn't have believed it was an actual in-game screenshot if I hadn't captured it myself.

So, I got back to the game recently. I've now cleared out all of the bandit camps (and killed my affably psychopathic buddy Nil), overridden all the tallnecks, and am close to completing all of the side-quests, errands, and have one cauldron left to explore. Unsure if I'll entirely beat all of the side-quests before ending the game, but I'll absolutely be doing one or two more and exploring that last cauldron before I focus on finishing the story (the shadow carja king is sending an army to destroy my tribe, apparently, so I'm guessing the story is closing in on the final act; it's time to return to the pridelands and retake my throne from Sca... err, sorry; guess I have Lion King on the brain, seeing as that's my movie today ). I was originally planning on doing the DLC content before finishing the story, but I'd like to basically wrap up Horizon before Fire Emblem temporarily takes over my life. I still have a bunch of collectibles I need to grab, but I can save those for later: that platinum trophy ain't going anywhere.

I initially found the bandit camps to be kind of boring, but with the upgraded sneak attack and heavy stealth armor Aloy basically turns into the Predator, and it's quite funny picking them off one by one without ever openly revealing my presence.

Oh, and they haven't come out and said it yet, but I'm guessing Aloy is a clone of that scientist woman who came up with the Zero Dawn project?

@RogerRoger Violence is the only thing that gave him joy in life. He's fundamentally unfit for life in a civilized society, which means he'd eventually lose control of himself and hurt people who don't deserve to be hurt. I think he realized this and wanted someone who he bonded with through violence and who saw his true face to deal with him, rather than to be put down like an animal by a society that completely rejects him.

All cauldrons explored.
All errands and side-quests completed (including that annoying one where you act as a supplier for a nutjob who guzzles machine oil and trips balls). The Shield-Weaver armor was a bit of a pain to get, but it's worth the trouble. Aloy is basically invincible now.
Basically the only things I have left to do aside from completing the main plot are hunting down the rest of the collectibles: vantage points, flowers, and banuk figurines. Oh, and complete my skill tree. Despite being level 53, I still have 15 points left unaccounted for, for some reason. That's all busy work, though.

I'm ready for the end of the game.

Enjoy it @Ralizah !

Seems I'm the only one who spared Nil however... I just couldn't do what you and Roger did

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I did, however, spare the dude in the Curious Proposal sidequest who lied to Aloy to get her to walk into an ambush, so I'm not completely cold-blooded.

@RogerRoger My problem with the vantage points is that they heavily involve the game's climbing system, and the climbing system is one of the few things I genuinely don't enjoy in this game. In general, the collectibles all involve hunting for climbing spots or pixel hunting, and it's just not terribly engaging or fun.

I'll definitely be collecting them all at some point, as I want the platinum trophy for this title, but they don't really add to the game for me.

Besides, one of the best things about this game is how naturally you stumble across really gorgeous landscapes as you're adventuring. The sights I've come across randomly beat the pants off any of the 8 or so vantage points I've unlocked so far.

@RogerRoger Beats the awkward geometry clipping that passes for climbing in Skyrim, at least. Although this game allows you to Skyrim up some environments as well.

Thankfully, the game controls beautifully otherwise. Aloy's movement is SO responsive and tight, which, in general, seems to be missing from most "realistic" Western AAA titles I've played.

So, I beat the game last night. I'll need a little while to process my thoughts. Was kind of underwhelmed by the last mission, though. It felt very... perfunctory, like they finished creating this great game and only dimly realized that they'd need to give it a closing act. And that last scene is massive sequel bait!

@Ralizah Yes, the ending was a let down. Fun journey though. HZD2 is gunna be polllllished.

@RogerRoger @Kidfried @Ralizah I found the climbing sections of HZD to be decent enough, but the frustrating part is definitely the “pixel hunting.” (thanks for the good descriptive term there 😄) I remember more than once realizing where I needed to go but searched for an hour not knowing where the ledge or handhold was on the mountain to be able to get there. Running around to the other side of the mountain, only to find no pathway there either. At least once I recall just quitting in frustration and then when I resumed the game the next day, there it was plain as day — one of those yellow rope or handholds nailed into the face of the cliff. Two minutes later I was up on the peak where I needed to be. Grrr. Hopefully the sequel fixes this design issue. It really only happened a couple times to me before I became accustomed to noticing those handholds, but still. Nevertheless I thought once you get going up the prescribed path, the climbing was actually pretty easy and hard to mess up. Aloy typically jumps and scales nimbly and automatically as long as you push the analog stick in the right direction and it’s pretty hard to flub up and fall.
Assassins Creed is a little more fiddly with the input that is required to get climbing quickly. It’s been a while since my last AC game but I recall it being more cumbersome. It’s complicated by the fact that you’re usually climbing buildings (or trees as the case may be in AC3) frantically because you’re usually chasing someone, being chased, hunting, or tailing a target in a timed stealth mission. The urgency of the action really magnifies the poor accuracy or weird input mechanics. Early in my AC experience I felt “all thumbs.”

As it relates to the HZD issue of finding the prescribed way up the cliff — I really appreciated the difficulty options provided in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, whereby in the game’s settings you are able to choose the difficulty of seeing the climbable ledges; on the easiest difficulty, the ledges and handholds of the required climbing path are not-so-subtly marked with while paint. Yet, if a person wants a more immersive experience aesthetically, then you can have the highest difficulty where they are not marked and you can engage in “pixel hunting” if you find that enjoyable. I wish more games did this. (Incidentally in SotTR the customization is really great of being able to specify separate difficulty for the platforming/exploring, the puzzles, and the combat. If you want easy exploration with marked ledges but yet want more challenging combat, you can specify that. I know of no other games that have this innovation. Hopefully it catches on)