Even ignoring the actually rare setting and well done world building, Aloy’s growth from kid out of her depth into the Savior of the planet, and how she reacts to primitive tribal cultures with beliefs she knows are outright laughable are really well done and really well executed. I’m more of a “play games for the mechanics” person and that’s what originally got and kept me hooked, but the writing works well.
I think the writing is fine and have some major notes tbh, but damn if the Operation: Enduring Victory reveal and summary discussion among the generals wasn’t jaw dropping. Aloy is a joy to watch too. Great dialogue sometimes, just overall a fun character.
To me she seemed incredibly stiff and wooden in the first game, with only a couple moments where she really emoted.
I watched a bit of the second one, and it seems like they characterized her a lot more this time around, especially during the first fight with the giant snake robot.
All the characters were super stiff and kinda cheaply animated on facial expressions on the first one, and it’s clear they invested heavy to fix that on the follow up, where all characters are way better at conveying emotions.
I mean, yes the facial animations (although I’ll say the subtle/weird faces worked for that one murderer dude) but also Ashly Burch/A lot in general. I know she’s a fantastic VA, so it might have just been the direction or something, but in the second her voice feels more emotional
Horizon has good writing, but somehow all of it is in the lore and none of it in the actual story you play.
and how she reacts to primitive tribal cultures with beliefs she knows are outright laughable are really well done and really well executed.
This is the most annoying part of the writing for me, because it happens every other conversation. At that point just make her look directly at the camera and say “this guy, am I right, player? He’s not like us, the civilized people” and get it over with
Maybe because I played it after Witcher 3 but I ended up dropping the first game because I found the characters so dull, and side quests were especially lacking. Funny thing is I played BOTW afterwards and that hooked me despite worse graphics and much weaker story, but the gameplay and exploration I found so fun.
It’s one of the best written games I’ve played.
Even ignoring the actually rare setting and well done world building, Aloy’s growth from kid out of her depth into the Savior of the planet, and how she reacts to primitive tribal cultures with beliefs she knows are outright laughable are really well done and really well executed. I’m more of a “play games for the mechanics” person and that’s what originally got and kept me hooked, but the writing works well.
I think the writing is fine and have some major notes tbh, but damn if the Operation: Enduring Victory reveal and summary discussion among the generals wasn’t jaw dropping. Aloy is a joy to watch too. Great dialogue sometimes, just overall a fun character.
To me she seemed incredibly stiff and wooden in the first game, with only a couple moments where she really emoted.
I watched a bit of the second one, and it seems like they characterized her a lot more this time around, especially during the first fight with the giant snake robot.
All the characters were super stiff and kinda cheaply animated on facial expressions on the first one, and it’s clear they invested heavy to fix that on the follow up, where all characters are way better at conveying emotions.
I mean, yes the facial animations (although I’ll say the subtle/weird faces worked for that one murderer dude) but also Ashly Burch/A lot in general. I know she’s a fantastic VA, so it might have just been the direction or something, but in the second her voice feels more emotional
Come on mate she’s just got the tism. I grew up as a bright kid with autism who questioned absolutely everything and I related to Aloy like hell.
Horizon has good writing, but somehow all of it is in the lore and none of it in the actual story you play.
This is the most annoying part of the writing for me, because it happens every other conversation. At that point just make her look directly at the camera and say “this guy, am I right, player? He’s not like us, the civilized people” and get it over with
Maybe because I played it after Witcher 3 but I ended up dropping the first game because I found the characters so dull, and side quests were especially lacking. Funny thing is I played BOTW afterwards and that hooked me despite worse graphics and much weaker story, but the gameplay and exploration I found so fun.
Side quests are definitely filler content. I did a few but not much interesting stuff there. Yhe setting and backstory is what made it for me.