|
Post by XAsstCoach on Mar 31, 2019 10:52:04 GMT -5
Horizon Zero Dawn: ok, the story is getting better. Just won the Proving only to be ambushed by the defilers. Then helped the Nora track down and slaughter the defilers, and making my way around.
I like how this plays better than Tomb Raider. I mean I’m running around for a long time, from clear skies to raining weather, also from dawn to dusk and back to dawn...whereas Tomb Raider the day does not appear to change unless your storyline requires it. Killing more boats and turkeys and I need their parts to modify the carry sacks. Getting better at killing the bots, though I found it kinda funny the gators were firing freezing bombs at me yet they were quite easy to kill with the fire arrow. Took a break after playing like 12 out of the past 16 hours. May be awhile until the next time I power the PS4 up.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Mar 31, 2019 11:41:33 GMT -5
I found it kinda funny the gators were firing freezing bombs at me yet they were quite easy to kill with the fire arrow. Isn't that standard? In the Elder Scrolls games, usually things that fight with frost are vulnerable to fire damage and things that fight with fire are vulnerable to frost damage.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Mar 31, 2019 12:21:47 GMT -5
Horizon Zero Dawn: ok, the story is getting better. Just won the Proving only to be ambushed by the defilers. Then helped the Nora track down and slaughter the defilers, and making my way around. I like how this plays better than Tomb Raider. I mean I’m running around for a long time, from clear skies to raining weather, also from dawn to dusk and back to dawn...whereas Tomb Raider the day does not appear to change unless your storyline requires it. Killing more boats and turkeys and I need their parts to modify the carry sacks. Getting better at killing the bots, though I found it kinda funny the gators were firing freezing bombs at me yet they were quite easy to kill with the fire arrow. Took a break after playing like 12 out of the past 16 hours. May be awhile until the next time I power the PS4 up. When you're doing open world stuff, you can see the shadows move pretty quickly. I'm not sure of the exact day/night cycle but during each gaming session, I've been able to see day and night and all kinds of weather in between. Also, with my multiple playthroughs, I've been able to do a bunch of missions at different times of the day -- sometimes in the morning, other times in the bright afternoon, and still others in pitch black night. It's interesting. This is not the case for all missions. For example, the Sawtooth mission you had to do for Rost can only be done at night. As for the Proving, I discovered in my 3rd play through that it's much easier to kill those bastards if I swung over to the right side, climbed up where they were shooting from and either kill them silently or shoot arrows at them. It was easier than sitting down on lower ground. Just get to higher ground. This was what made the multiple playthroughs so fun -- being able to do the same missions in a different way. I did the Revenge of the Nora mission AFTER I finished the Frozen Wilds DLC in 4/5 playthroughs. You get 6 new weapons and 3 new outfits during the course of the DLC. The weapons are pretty cool and often more fun to play with than the standard weapons from the main game. But I've also played the main game from beginning to end without playing the DLC. But you can do the DLC at almost anytime, but the earliest I started was Level 18-20. I hope you have the DLC because it's really fun.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Mar 31, 2019 12:27:27 GMT -5
I remember during the course of playing Horizon Zero Dawn, I would complete a mission and think, "Well, that was a cluster**k! I wish I could do this again." I'd always have this same thought, like, okay I know I just completed this mission but how could I do this better? So, when I got to the end of the game, I restarted. Hence, the 5 playthroughs. It was addictive.
I tried to do the New Game+ but it's absolutely boring because you're so much more powerful than anything out there. I stopped after a few missions. I just restarted from scratch. Truthfully, it was more fun starting from nothing and leveling up and upgrading skills and weapons.
|
|
|
Post by mln59 on Mar 31, 2019 12:34:56 GMT -5
shadow of the tomb raider.
i have reached the oil fields. about 62% complete. heading oot for a bit. will look to play later this evening
|
|
|
Post by XAsstCoach on Mar 31, 2019 18:41:27 GMT -5
I found it kinda funny the gators were firing freezing bombs at me yet they were quite easy to kill with the fire arrow. Isn't that standard? In the Elder Scrolls games, usually things that fight with frost are vulnerable to fire damage and things that fight with fire are vulnerable to frost damage. Was just amused by the irony...a gator (a warm weather reptile) mech shooting freezing stuff.
|
|
|
Post by XAsstCoach on Mar 31, 2019 21:44:32 GMT -5
Horizon Zero Dawn: ok, the story is getting better. Just won the Proving only to be ambushed by the defilers. Then helped the Nora track down and slaughter the defilers, and making my way around. I like how this plays better than Tomb Raider. I mean I’m running around for a long time, from clear skies to raining weather, also from dawn to dusk and back to dawn...whereas Tomb Raider the day does not appear to change unless your storyline requires it. Killing more boats and turkeys and I need their parts to modify the carry sacks. Getting better at killing the bots, though I found it kinda funny the gators were firing freezing bombs at me yet they were quite easy to kill with the fire arrow. Took a break after playing like 12 out of the past 16 hours. May be awhile until the next time I power the PS4 up. When you're doing open world stuff, you can see the shadows move pretty quickly. I'm not sure of the exact day/night cycle but during each gaming session, I've been able to see day and night and all kinds of weather in between. Also, with my multiple playthroughs, I've been able to do a bunch of missions at different times of the day -- sometimes in the morning, other times in the bright afternoon, and still others in pitch black night. It's interesting. This is not the case for all missions. For example, the Sawtooth mission you had to do for Rost can only be done at night. As for the Proving, I discovered in my 3rd play through that it's much easier to kill those bastards if I swung over to the right side, climbed up where they were shooting from and either kill them silently or shoot arrows at them. It was easier than sitting down on lower ground. Just get to higher ground. This was what made the multiple playthroughs so fun -- being able to do the same missions in a different way. I did the Revenge of the Nora mission AFTER I finished the Frozen Wilds DLC in 4/5 playthroughs. You get 6 new weapons and 3 new outfits during the course of the DLC. The weapons are pretty cool and often more fun to play with than the standard weapons from the main game. But I've also played the main game from beginning to end without playing the DLC. But you can do the DLC at almost anytime, but the earliest I started was Level 18-20. I hope you have the DLC because it's really fun. The sniperbow was a weapon I recently purchased and I am liking it. Has such a devastating blow against the mechs, but it is slow so I can only shoot as many as I can before I have to run off. I especially like the sonic arrowhead that tears apart the machines bit by bit. Maybe I'll try the Frozen Wilds...see what other weapons I can collect.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Mar 31, 2019 22:22:30 GMT -5
When you're doing open world stuff, you can see the shadows move pretty quickly. I'm not sure of the exact day/night cycle but during each gaming session, I've been able to see day and night and all kinds of weather in between. Also, with my multiple playthroughs, I've been able to do a bunch of missions at different times of the day -- sometimes in the morning, other times in the bright afternoon, and still others in pitch black night. It's interesting. This is not the case for all missions. For example, the Sawtooth mission you had to do for Rost can only be done at night. As for the Proving, I discovered in my 3rd play through that it's much easier to kill those bastards if I swung over to the right side, climbed up where they were shooting from and either kill them silently or shoot arrows at them. It was easier than sitting down on lower ground. Just get to higher ground. This was what made the multiple playthroughs so fun -- being able to do the same missions in a different way. I did the Revenge of the Nora mission AFTER I finished the Frozen Wilds DLC in 4/5 playthroughs. You get 6 new weapons and 3 new outfits during the course of the DLC. The weapons are pretty cool and often more fun to play with than the standard weapons from the main game. But I've also played the main game from beginning to end without playing the DLC. But you can do the DLC at almost anytime, but the earliest I started was Level 18-20. I hope you have the DLC because it's really fun. The sniperbow was a weapon I recently purchased and I am liking it. Has such a devastating blow against the mechs, but it is slow so I can only shoot as many as I can before I have to run off. I especially like the sonic arrowhead that tears apart the machines bit by bit. Maybe I'll try the Frozen Wilds...see what other weapons I can collect. You mean the Sharpshot bow? When I played, I didn't spend any money on the lower class weapons. I saved up and went straight for the Shadow versions. More expensive but if you kill enough machines, you'll make a lot of metal shards. The Frozen Wilds DLC will give you upgraded versions of the Sharpshot Bow, Hunter Bow, and the War Bow, renamed PowerShot, Striker, and Champion, respectively. It will also give you three new weapons -- Stormslinger (shock), Icerail (freeze), and Forgefire (fire). They're better than anything you'll find in the main game. You can also buy better outfits for freeze (a MUST!), fire, and stealth. All these are much better than anything you'll find in the main game simply because the Frozen Wilds is a tougher game, so you'll need better weapons and outfits. More can be said but I'm sure you'll discover them for yourself.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Mar 31, 2019 22:25:21 GMT -5
Re. Frozen Wilds
You can't just jump in and collect all 9 weapons and outfits right off the bat. Some of the weapons can be bought with blue gleams but you won't make enough blue gleams unless you explore the place and complete some missions. Also, other weapons are mission-specific. I think you have to practically finish the Frozen Wilds to get all the good stuff. There are also much better mods in the Frozen Wilds.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Mar 31, 2019 22:35:30 GMT -5
Horizon Zero Dawn
Make sure you get all the collectibles (metal flowers, ancient cups, Banuk figures) because they're worth a lot of metal shards and you get some good mods. Also, if you collect all of them, you'll suddenly gain 6 skill points!
Same goes for the Frozen Wilds DLC. Collect all pigments, animal figurines, and blue gleams for rewards!
They're not that difficult to find.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Apr 1, 2019 1:02:04 GMT -5
The Frozen Wilds DLC will give you upgraded versions of the Sharpshot Bow, Hunter Bow, and the War Bow, renamed PowerShot, Striker, and Champion, respectively. It will also give you three new weapons -- Stormslinger (shock), Icerail (freeze), and Forgefire (fire). They're better than anything you'll find in the main game. You can also buy better outfits for freeze (a MUST!), fire, and stealth. All these are much better than anything you'll find in the main game simply because the Frozen Wilds is a tougher game, so you'll need better weapons and outfits. Which brings us to the subject of balance. It's awfully hard to write an expansion DLC that doesn't unbalance the original game. If you don't give people anything new, they are disappointed. If you do give them something new, but it's not better than what they already have, they are disappointed. If you do give them something new and it's better than what they already have, then you've just messed up the balance in your original game. The Elder Scrolls IV (Oblivion) had a leveling system. As you leveled up, so did the opponents. And the random gear drops. This meant that many unique items that you picked up early in the game would be useless later in the game. That unique armor you got that was just a little better than steel armor was great when steel was the best you could get, but by the time you are wearing ebony armer it might as well have been made of cotton. So as you leveled up you would have to replace what had been your favorite stuff with new stuff. Then they added some DLC called "The Knights Of The Nine". This gave you magical armor and weapons that, when you returned them to the Priory Of The Nine, upgraded themselves! When you had steel they had stats like steel, but when you had ebony they had stats like ebony. Cool. But ... now there was no need to ever swap out your gear. You could just wear the holy relics for the entire game. And they were quite powerful. It definitely changed the balance of the game.
|
|
|
Post by XAsstCoach on Apr 1, 2019 1:33:26 GMT -5
The Frozen Wilds DLC will give you upgraded versions of the Sharpshot Bow, Hunter Bow, and the War Bow, renamed PowerShot, Striker, and Champion, respectively. It will also give you three new weapons -- Stormslinger (shock), Icerail (freeze), and Forgefire (fire). They're better than anything you'll find in the main game. You can also buy better outfits for freeze (a MUST!), fire, and stealth. All these are much better than anything you'll find in the main game simply because the Frozen Wilds is a tougher game, so you'll need better weapons and outfits. Which brings us to the subject of balance. It's awfully hard to write an expansion DLC that doesn't unbalance the original game. If you don't give people anything new, they are disappointed. If you do give them something new, but it's not better than what they already have, they are disappointed. If you do give them something new and it's better than what they already have, then you've just messed up the balance in your original game. The Elder Scrolls IV (Oblivion) had a leveling system. As you leveled up, so did the opponents. And the random gear drops. This meant that many unique items that you picked up early in the game would be useless later in the game. That unique armor you got that was just a little better than steel armor was great when steel was the best you could get, but by the time you are wearing ebony armer it might as well have been made of cotton. So as you leveled up you would have to replace what had been your favorite stuff with new stuff. Then they added some DLC called "The Knights Of The Nine". This gave you magical armor and weapons that, when you returned them to the Priory Of The Nine, upgraded themselves! When you had steel they had stats like steel, but when you had ebony they had stats like ebony. Cool. But ... now there was no need to ever swap out your gear. You could just wear the holy relics for the entire game. And they were quite powerful. It definitely changed the balance of the game. Interesting points.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Apr 1, 2019 10:59:33 GMT -5
The Frozen Wilds DLC will give you upgraded versions of the Sharpshot Bow, Hunter Bow, and the War Bow, renamed PowerShot, Striker, and Champion, respectively. It will also give you three new weapons -- Stormslinger (shock), Icerail (freeze), and Forgefire (fire). They're better than anything you'll find in the main game. You can also buy better outfits for freeze (a MUST!), fire, and stealth. All these are much better than anything you'll find in the main game simply because the Frozen Wilds is a tougher game, so you'll need better weapons and outfits. Which brings us to the subject of balance. It's awfully hard to write an expansion DLC that doesn't unbalance the original game. If you don't give people anything new, they are disappointed. If you do give them something new, but it's not better than what they already have, they are disappointed. If you do give them something new and it's better than what they already have, then you've just messed up the balance in your original game. The Elder Scrolls IV (Oblivion) had a leveling system. As you leveled up, so did the opponents. And the random gear drops. This meant that many unique items that you picked up early in the game would be useless later in the game. That unique armor you got that was just a little better than steel armor was great when steel was the best you could get, but by the time you are wearing ebony armer it might as well have been made of cotton. So as you leveled up you would have to replace what had been your favorite stuff with new stuff. Then they added some DLC called "The Knights Of The Nine". This gave you magical armor and weapons that, when you returned them to the Priory Of The Nine, upgraded themselves! When you had steel they had stats like steel, but when you had ebony they had stats like ebony. Cool. But ... now there was no need to ever swap out your gear. You could just wear the holy relics for the entire game. And they were quite powerful. It definitely changed the balance of the game. Borderlands series already solved this. The initial NORMAL mode, you can make the game as easy or as difficult as you like by over leveling or under leveling. You can go in and out of DLCs as if it’s part of the main game. Seamless. It’s like fast travel. However, the game won’t let you over level too much because all the missions step up (e.g., 3 levels) with you. But this step up is static so you can still be overleveled. After you beat NORMAL mode, several other modes open up including one where the game levels up along with you. So, whatever powerful weapon you found along the way will not give you that much more of an advantage because every enemy is at your level. And all the enemies have literally transformed into more badass versions of their original selves. Such is not the case with Horizon Zero Dawn. New Game + is so boring because you can go around and destroy all mutthas without breaking a sweat — with or without the cool weapons.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Apr 1, 2019 11:10:05 GMT -5
Horizon Zero Dawn incorporates levels kind of loosely. They’re not the same levels as in Borderlands where your level is incorporated into DAMAGE calculations. Thus, the higher your level, the higher your damage against enemies, both output and input. In HZD, damage calculations are based on the weapon’s base damage (just a static number) plus MODS. So, the better mods you find, the more damage you inflict.
The level in HZD only affects your health level in +10 increments. So, in the beginning, you’re at health=200. At the next level, your health is at 210, and so on. So, when you face off against deadlier enemies, it just means that at lower levels, you’re more likely to get killed after 2-3 hits.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Apr 1, 2019 12:01:16 GMT -5
Borderlands series already solved this. The initial NORMAL mode, you can make the game as easy or as difficult as you like by over leveling or under leveling. You can go in and out of DLCs as if it’s part of the main game. Seamless. It’s like fast travel. However, the game won’t let you over level too much because all the missions step up (e.g., 3 levels) with you. But this step up is static so you can still be overleveled. After you beat NORMAL mode, several other modes open up including one where the game levels up along with you. So, whatever powerful weapon you found along the way will not give you that much more of an advantage because every enemy is at your level. And all the enemies have literally transformed into more badass versions of their original selves. Yeah, well, you just described leveling. As I said, Oblivion had leveling. Leveling has its own problems. What I'm talking about is when a DLC introduces a new challenge and also provides the means of overcoming it, but that happens to obsolete the original game. Just like you describe for HZD, where the new Frozen Wilds stuff was better than the original, so it makes the original top-tier stuff obsolete. Leveling can't fix this, really. (It also can make games more grindy and remove some of the sense of accomplishment. Morrowind did not level, which meant some of the dungeons and quests were just bloody impossible for low level characters. But it also provided a sense of satisfaction when you return at level 30 to that dungeon that wiped you out at level 10, but this time you crush it.)
|
|