Horizon: Zero Dawn Still Looks Amazing in Pixel Art

Now I want this to be a thing.

I doubt I would be interested. I don't see how 2D can give that freedom - do I go left or right? Its not like you can suddenly decide to want to go and investigate something, go where you want etc - you can't go to the mountains in the background on a whim but are forced to go left or right. Combat too would be so much more limited as would stealth. The only way Stealth could work is it was 2.5D like the Assassins Creed Chronicles.
Visually its not a patch on the world Guerrilla Games created and whilst visuals aren't the be all and end all, you can't deny how stunning Horizon is and how much that actually adds to experience. Its why Photo Mode is so popular.
I know some may enjoy 2D games but I find them so restrictive, so limited, so basic and so 1980's and I lived through that era once...

Love it

Sony should collaborate with yacht club games and make 2D horizon and god of war for ps4 and vita

@BAMozzy There where enough great 2D games. I still would buy a Super Metriod 2D game. Mario was also great in 2D andere this looks awsome to.

Is kinda funny that there is a compass at the top.

Aloy looks so cute as a 2D sprite.

I think there is something just beautiful about pixel art, that still holds up.

Hah not sure how the compass would work, but I love that the flowers still have the little markers over them. I'd def buy it!

@JoeBlogs I think you have missed the point! Its not about comparing a 2D with a modern 3D game at all. The article is about what if Horizon was turned into a 2D experience and therefore losing a lot of what made Horizon 'special'. Losing that open world experience for much more linear movement, losing the freedom to decide where to go, losing all the nuances of the combat etc

Fortunately games have evolved to give us experiences like Horizon, Even as a piece of artwork, Horizon looks so much better so why anyone would want to turn it into pixel-art, I have no idea. Maybe to show just how far gaming has come?

Design is always more important than graphical detail.
I loved the visuals in that game, and Photo Mode was a smart addition.

It's beautiful enough that I collected every vessel and flower, and encountered nearly every machine area.
This is in spite of finding the writing meh. Story is good, writing is blahblahblah, combat is great (if repetitive. Needed more enemy types for the varied environs), visuals are stunning.
The colours, the views from atop... anything! If you just wanna look at pretty things, but don't mind shooting robots, get it for that alone!

I beat it, and sold it. I'm glad I played it. I wish more people were critical of how expository the dialogue is, because I want the sequel to be more subtle and weave the story into the game more.

@BAMozzy Metroid et al are arguably open world in many ways. I personally find them boring as you inevitably do a ton of backtracking, but you still do have choices as to what you do in those big mazes.
Less of a promlem in top down games, the original example is, of course, The Legend of Zelda.

Pixel art can be beautiful, too. Things don't need to be realistic and high-res to be beautiful. See also: impressionism.

@BAMozzy "Do I go left, or right?" Or up, or down, or in the door that connects to an entirely different area, that connects to others and back again... there are many ways to work within movement on a 2D plane.
I personally prefer more linear sidescrollers or top- down for more open games, but it can be done.

This is cool! Speaking of 2D, I was thinking yesterday that if Sony ever tried to do something like a PlayStation all stars type game again, Aloy would work super well in that environment.

Yeah i think its BAMozzy who misses the point with this one.

I would certainly play it. Ideally on my phone whilst commuting!

I want this to be a real thing now.

Pixel art ftw!

@BAMozzy after playing salt and sanctuary , I can imagine 3D->2D game conversion can work . I also thought that in 2D you are so much limited ...... but it's not true.

@Fuzzy833 I am NOT missing the point. The art is a 'hypothetical' what if the game was 16bit era instead of being made today on much more powerful hardware.

@TheGZeus Up and down or into a door tends to be where the game dictates you can go in these directions. They could go the 'top down' route to offer more freedom or restrict it to those maze type maps where you can only go through selected points like a door at the top, bottom, left and/or right.

However in the case above, it is strictly 2D. You can't go up (other than jump) or down, can't go 'in', can't go 'round' the Watcher (you could pass the watcher but that's not the same as going around it). You can literally only go left (back) or right (forward). You cannot suddenly decide to make your way to the mountains to see whats over there and IF they are accessible at all, then you can only reach them if and when the game dictates. You can't decide you need to hunt resources for crafting and go off hunting them, make your way to hunt specific Robots for a quest or just for fun, Scaling a Tallneck (even if possible in this case) wouldn't be anywhere near as impressive in fact, apart from the 'dialogue', I can't think of any aspect of Horizon that would translate well to a 2D game like this.

Yes they could make a 2D Horizon in a 'metroid' style which could be 'fun' but its still not as nuanced as Horizon: Zero Dawn.

@BAMozzy soooooo... a game done in a different style would be different...

It's not as though there are no barriers in horizon. Half the map is story locked. There are cliffs and mountains that you have to circumnavigate...

You're used to 3D games. We get it.