Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores - The Sound of Sylens (RIP Lance)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores - The Sound of Sylens (RIP Lance)

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exquisite tea: Apr 21, 2007; Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."

Little protip for the base: An ally having an exclamation point next means there's brand new dialogue, but a previously explored line turning white instead of grey also means that there's new dialogue based on recent plot developments. Gotta collect 'em all!

# ? Feb 28, 2022 12:38

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 12:56

Sentinel Red: Nov 13, 2007; Style > Content.

Regy Rusty posted:

Yeah, he sure was.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 14:06

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Am I losing my mind or does the "tag component" function do literally nothing? I'm trying to get Storm Cannons for upgrades, and I'm fighting Stormbirds, and there's something on them that's called a Storm Cannon, but I can't tell what it is, or where it is, and tagging it doesn't seem to make anything light up, and besides every time I look at it using the focus half its body lights up orange anyway. Also, using Easy Loot doesn't seem to make it drop them either. Where shoot thing?

# ? Feb 28, 2022 15:49

Klungar: Feb 12, 2008; Klungo make bessst ever video game, 'Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh World.'

Fedule posted:

Am I losing my mind or does the "tag component" function do literally nothing? I'm trying to get Storm Cannons for upgrades, and I'm fighting Stormbirds, and there's something on them that's called a Storm Cannon, but I can't tell what it is, or where it is, and tagging it doesn't seem to make anything light up, and besides every time I look at it using the focus half its body lights up orange anyway. Also, using Easy Loot doesn't seem to make it drop them either. Where shoot thing?

Tagging a part makes it light up purple while not in Focus mode.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 15:52

Lobok: Jul 13, 2006; Say Watt?

Fedule posted:

Am I losing my mind or does the "tag component" function do literally nothing? I'm trying to get Storm Cannons for upgrades, and I'm fighting Stormbirds, and there's something on them that's called a Storm Cannon, but I can't tell what it is, or where it is, and tagging it doesn't seem to make anything light up, and besides every time I look at it using the focus half its body lights up orange anyway. Also, using Easy Loot doesn't seem to make it drop them either. Where shoot thing?

When your Focus is active all of their parts will light up orange. If you tag parts then when your Focus is off they'll be purple. Also you can always go into your Notebook if you want a better look at the machine's model.

Not sure about the Cannon dropping. They should be part of the loot if you've got Easy Loot turned on.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 15:52

Happy Noodle Boy: Jul 3, 2002

Fedule posted:

Am I losing my mind or does the "tag component" function do literally nothing? I'm trying to get Storm Cannons for upgrades, and I'm fighting Stormbirds, and there's something on them that's called a Storm Cannon, but I can't tell what it is, or where it is, and tagging it doesn't seem to make anything light up, and besides every time I look at it using the focus half its body lights up orange anyway. Also, using Easy Loot doesn't seem to make it drop them either. Where shoot thing?

It�s the component/part on their chest. If you let it attack with it you literally won�t be able to miss it it�s where the energy spark starts building up. That thing, I think there�s more to it since knocking/blowing that up didn�t drop it for me. I think the armor plating around needs to go out first before you can detach it otherwise it just explodes.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 16:02

Phenotype: Jul 24, 2007; You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.

Finished the last of the three missions last night, and I'm very interested to see what the deal is with these Quen people. I have always been way more involved with the sci-fi stuff over the stuff with the present-day tribal factions, but they've done a really good job of coming up with story hooks and intrigue to keep it interesting. I laughed out loud at the end of that mission when Alva says "look who you're firing at! It's Elizabet Sobeck!" I also got a kick out of their weird culture -- they seem a little more advanced than most of the other tribes in that they actually use Focuses and study the data from the Old World, but conversely, it was easier for Varl and Erend to wrap their minds around all the Old World tech because they were coming from a place of total ignorance, whereas Alva already had an "understanding" of the Old World devices that interfered with Aloy trying to explain how things actually were.

Also super psyched to go on one final Hate Tour of Ted Faro's personal bunker. I plan on taking a poo poo on his pillow.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 16:12

Clarste: Apr 15, 2013; Just how many mistakes have you suffered on the way here?

An uncountable number, to be sure.

Happy Noodle Boy posted:

It�s the component/part on their chest. If you let it attack with it you literally won�t be able to miss it it�s where the energy spark starts building up. That thing, I think there�s more to it since knocking/blowing that up didn�t drop it for me. I think the armor plating around needs to go out first before you can detach it otherwise it just explodes.

Yeah, the cannon is locked in by a metal strap thing. You can shoot the cannon through the strap, but if you don't break off the armor first the cannon just gets destroyed instead of knocked off.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 16:19

Hipster Occultist: Aug 16, 2008; _{He's an ancient, obscure god. You probably haven't heard of him.}

Ending spoilers

So GAIA has every AI process but Hephaestus now, meaning even the whole terraforming disaster that drove the plot is still a major issue and not at all resolved.

Kinda hoping they release DLC that tidies that up, but I have a feel that Hephaestus was left free so we could still have insane dino robots to fight in the third game.

Hipster Occultist fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Feb 28, 2022

# ? Feb 28, 2022 16:26

Jimbot: Jul 22, 2008

Warning, incoming meandering long mess of a post

quote:

This is going to be a rambling mess. The first half will be the negative stuff, the back half will be positive. There�s no real flow to any of it, I try to lead my points into another but it�s mostly just a detailed list of key elements I had thoughts on.

This game and me had a super rocky start. I made it through the tutorial area well enough and even into the open world proper with No Man�s Land but something about it wasn�t grabbing me � the combat. I noticed I wasn�t really having fun. I wasn�t having fun at all, actually. Enemies hit like trucks and were super aggressive. They had several attack each and quite a lot of them had bananas range. I was playing on Hard because I did so with the first game, but it just wasn�t so. I was close to putting it down. But I swallowed my pride (why I even have one about difficulty is beyond me) and lowered the difficulty. I should have started with Normal. I recommend Normal to everyone. Game instantly became more enjoyable for me. The quick and hard-hitting enemies were still there but Normal helped just enough that it became an enjoyable challenge instead of a frustrating one. I can place some blame on me for not doing this sooner and it is called �Hard� after all, but the game�s on-boarding for combat is not good.

I adore this game a whole lot. It�s a diamond in the rough. A not-great opening hours, open world busywork and other bloat really chipped away at the solid core, but it only made surface scratches to this masterpiece. I�ll go into the detail of what works and what didn�t. I have a lot to say on both. I�ll start with the negatives because I enjoy finish reading thoughts on something more when they end on positive notes.

Most of my negatives stem from the usual open world formula. The kind of reflexive motions we go through when playing these kind of games. I think these problems came ahead in this game because it�s a sequel and even after playing the first one I built up in my head things I wish they�d change but ended up not doing so.

I�m at the point in my life where I�m just not interested in resource gathering anymore. The majority of this game�s world, and it is a gorgeous one, is spoiled by not going five feet without coming across wood for bow ammo, or berry bushes for health or plants used in food recipes. I rather be enjoying the scenery between scraps, not scrounging around to replenish my depleted health and ammo resources. I don�t know the solution to this but I wish they�d scaled this back severely. It�s not fun, it doesn�t add anything to the game and it just disrupts your traversal. Just want to clarify that this doesn�t extend to machine resources since that stuff ties directly into the game�s combat and equipment loot. You�re a hunter and hunt machines, so it makes sense that�d you would go after them to get their parts to upgrade the things that help you hunt them better.

Speaking of collecting stuff, regular fauna hunting is back. You need to hunt them to upgrade your ammo capacity and it�s just boring. It�s better than it was in the first game, considering fish or other animals rarely had any bones for you to harvest from them for your arrow pouch � those things are more common now. But it�s still all busywork that doesn�t add anything to the game. All this resource stuff ties into one of the biggest problems:

Bloat! This game is bloated. I don�t mean the side content, which I�ll talk about later, but just the amount of STUFF in the game. When it comes to an arsenal of weapons and gear, I believe less is more. This game has coded weapons that you can buy or receive as rewards. There are dozens of them to sift through and it is a confusing mess of weapons with different perks and elemental types. Each has a radically different function and use. You�re almost paralyzed with choice and it�s just overwhelming. They should give you baseline weapons to upgrade into to these rarity categories, unlocking perks and elemental ammo as you go instead of opening a shop and finding several new bows, all named differently, that look like they do the same thing as what you currently have (except they don�t).

This also ties into the game�s on-boarding problem. The first hour or so is spent in a pretty linear opening mission that establishes the story, characters, motivations and some summaries of the first game. All these things are done really well. What isn�t done well is setting up the mechanics you�ll be using. Yes, it explains and let�s you practice the basics of traversal and stealth. Even the basics of combat, but that�s it. You learn about ammo types after you get a weapon, so if you see an icon you don�t recognize you are out of luck until you buy it, after which you�ll receive two paragraphs explaining that ammo to you.

Same with weapons. You�re never really given a chance to experiment, consequence free, with the different weapons and elements. Nothing is gated by the game so you can get every weapon in the game almost immediately but you will receive no situation in which that weapon would be extra useful to demonstrate to you the best time to use it. I think this stuff is what leads to people just plink-plonking enemies to death with the hunter�s bow and people calling the combat monotonous because the game doesn�t let you get the practice in or offer you any training to gives you some basic weapon and elemental combos for you to try and get experimenting with. It�s frustrating because the game does this with the new melee system and it�s amazing. It tells you the combos to use, and gives you dummies to try them out on to see how they work.

As I said, most of these aren�t unique to Horizon, it�s just the game that was a tipping point for me. I hope they change things up for the third one otherwise I think it�d just be too stale. Now that the unpleasant negatives are over, time for me to gush relentlessly over the stuff I enjoyed � which was everything else.

The combat, despite having a super rocky start for me and on-boarding issues is still super fun and satisfying. The power behind the attacks is tremendous, aided by the sound design and damage models of your enemies. Nailing weak spots for a massive explosion of sparks and damage or watching all the armor plating being blasted off never gets old. The abilities you unlock in the skill trees really add flavor and options for you and the valor surges can make hard fights into cakewalks.

Speaking of sound design, it�s flawless. From the machine sounds giving you clear audio indicators of when they�re going to attack, to the soundscapes of each area of the world, the power behind your weapons to all the performances, and the music. It�s all incredible. Folks need to be winning awards for the sound in this game from the actors to the composer and sound designers. There isn�t a single bad performance in this game. Some of the strongest ones are even from one-off NPCs in side missions that you can easily miss. The music for just running a round is very understated and changes with each area but fits perfectly and reacts to the condition of the world.

https://twitter.com/shinobi602/status/1497972998753636361

A spoiler for the end of a cauldron. But stuff like this is present through-out the entire game and just as unexpected.

Seriously, the voice work is some of the best in the business. The performances and directions are fantastic. Each player brings such life and nuance to their characters and feels like actual people who are the result of the society they grew up in instead of one defining personality stretched to its breaking point. Special props go to the lead, Ashley Burch, who has such amazing range. I won�t spoil anything but she runs the gamut of emotions and delivery in this game.

The game world is one of the best and most realized worlds in an open world game. Each major settlement feels lived in. The NPCs going about their business or doing work, all beautifully animated. It captures a new civilization building upon the bones of the old perfectly. The major settlements you visit are wholly unique to their culture and they�re built out of the ruins of the wold in really fun and creative ways. Inbetween you�re running through nature reclaiming civilization with the story of the final days all around you. The area is where the final stand of humanity against the machine swarm that destroyed everything happened, so you can see that battlefield and it perfectly paints the last, desperate effort against an unstoppable force. The color palette they use to sell this fantastic world has higher than normal color saturation, this world is different than ours. It gives nature a warm hue to everything that makes it all inviting despite the dangers within it. I�d compare it to the likes of Fury Road with how saturated the color is.

The new world cultures are better introduced and explained. The game is a whole lot better connecting the old world with the new. In the first game you really don�t learn the roots of the different clans in the game. You get highlights of them. You experience both the bad and good aspects of it but you never really experience their history so there was a disconnect. The old world mystery ended up being more interesting than the new world politics. Here, you�re given a real good reason to care about the Tenakth. Their entire pantheon is on display and you�re shown how they interpret these old world images and incorporating them into their way of life. But it�s also a messy society, as one often is, that has a great many faults. I can�t speak to appropriation, it�s not my place and I�m not knowledgeable enough to point things out. I don�t think anything here is as uncomfortable as the Banuk got and maybe Guerrilla thought so too because everything about them is wholly absent from the game except one character.

I�d be remiss not to talk about the side content. Almost all of it is as produced and well written as the main story missions. Most of them fill out the world in interesting ways while others are isolated mini stories that are often heart-felt, sometimes melancholy. Some of the finest acting in the game are from a few of these easy-to-miss side missions. A few of them even change the state of the world, which was unexpected.

Finally, the overarching story in this game was quite good. Almost all the story missions were new revelations about the world and expanded the worldbuilding to new and interesting places. I feel the ending itself was a bit rushed and didn�t satisfactory denouement for a certain character but the twist, while kind out of left field, was really rad and kind of changes everything. The villains of the story weren�t as strong or developed as they could have been but they worked as a broad representation of an idea than the villain in the first game was. They were tied to the old world better too and reinforced the environmentalist and anti-capitalist themes of the game a whole lot more too.

I think I may do a (much much) shorter spoiler post talking about the themes. I�m not used to talking politics so I can�t really express my views in a super clear manner but I have words on this game and how it does things. Mostly positive.

Anyway, TL;DR of this mess is the game is super awesome that steps into pitfalls of the genre but it�s minor compared to how good everything else is. If you liked Witcher 3 this game is a perfect companion to it. 69.420/8.8

# ? Feb 28, 2022 17:49

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Often I notice when going into an incidental cutscene in the open word (like calling someone for a quest) that the time and weather instantly change to something completely different and then instantly change back after the cutscene ends. Is this a glitch or is the game just Like That?

# ? Feb 28, 2022 18:34

Boogalo: Jul 8, 2012; Meep Meep

Fedule posted:

Often I notice when going into an incidental cutscene in the open word (like calling someone for a quest) that the time and weather instantly change to something completely different and then instantly change back after the cutscene ends. Is this a glitch or is the game just Like That?

The time is tied to the quest so it looks cool. There will also be times where they play with time so that as you run over a crest during a quest or just for first traversal you'll get the perfect sunrise , sunset, or moonglow to make that spot look as good as possible.

Its hilarious cheating but I'm all for it.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 18:42

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Speaking of the new world cultures. I just finished aether and: The Tenakth is basically a cargo cult based on the US military. Stuff like the Kulruth can be explained by them watching displays that talked about how the soldiers kept in shape with training by staging combat amongst themselves. Even the tattoos they get is based on the tattoos the soldiers would get to mark victories and camaraderie.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 18:45

theCalamity: Oct 23, 2010; Cry Havoc and let slip the Hogs of War

Hipster Occultist posted:

Ending spoilers

So GAIA has every AI process but Hephaestus now, meaning even the whole terraforming disaster that drove the plot is still a major issue and not at all resolved.

Kinda hoping they release DLC that tidies that up, but I have a feel that Hephaestus was left free so we could still have insane dino robots to fight in the third game.

Continuing ending spoilers:

There is a data pad near Beta in the base that talks about how with most of her subordinate functions now, GAIA is able to stabilize the biosphere up to a year or so. It really should�ve been revealed in a conversation and not a data pad. I beat the game a week ago and didn�t notice that data of until a couple of days ago.

But yeah, they obviously can�t have Hephaestus back in the fold because then the machines would be docile. What COULD happen is that Nemesis takes over the cauldron network for the next game

# ? Feb 28, 2022 18:49

Ursine Catastrophe: Nov 9, 2009; It's a lovely morning in the void and you are a horrible lady-in-waiting.

don't ask how i know; Dinosaur Gum

theCalamity posted:

Continuing ending spoilers:

There is a data pad near Beta in the base that talks about how with most of her subordinate functions now, GAIA is able to stabilize the biosphere up to a year or so. It really should�ve been revealed in a conversation and not a data pad. I beat the game a week ago and didn�t notice that data of until a couple of days ago.

But yeah, they obviously can�t have Hephaestus back in the fold because then the machines would be docile. What COULD happen is that Nemesis takes over the cauldron network for the next game

I mean, they spent so much time emphasizing that Hephaestus is in the cloud and can self-modify, that it being captured and then released opens up a lot of gameplay options like

- It copies itself-or-part-of-itself into cauldrons and then severs the network connection so all the ones you deal with in HZD3 require you going to them physically

- The same idea but on a per-robot basis instead of entire cauldrons, where Heph just takes over subsets of robots

- Another CYAN-esque thing where it takes over Elysium's resident AI or something

- Instead of cauldrons it manages to maintain residence in the Zenith bot builder

The "tech" aspect of the series was already rule of cool and it's only getting moreso so there's a lot of wiggle room that they could run with even from just what's been established

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:13

Ulio: Feb 17, 2011

Jimbot posted:

Warning, incoming meandering long mess of a post

Anyway, TL;DR of this mess is the game is super awesome that steps into pitfalls of the genre but it�s minor compared to how good everything else is. If you liked Witcher 3 this game is a perfect companion to it. 69.420/8.8

I agree with most of your criticisms but I was wondering if you played the first game? Because Zero Dawn is as bloated with poo poo tons of tools/weapons/combat mechanics/crafting resources every 3 step as this one is. Aloy being a hunter is kind of a bad excuse to make the crafting system such a big part of the game. That part of her life is literally only relevant when she lives with the Nora and goes through their hunting rituals/tests. I love when narrative interwines with game design but here it doesn't make that much sense. Like you said it's done in such an awful and intrusive way. It's absolutely horrendous game design imo. Spamming triangle is not rewarding or interesting for the player. You just do it because it's beneficial and everything has a resource cost attached to it to this game. Crafting seems like the in vogue mechanic with game devs right now. Even Elden Ring added for some reason.

Imo this is why I loved Ghost of Tsushima's game design for the open world, they were stuff to collect in the open world but it was done in a natural interesting way. You would see a shrine on top of a mountain or a fox or a golden bird. They were not littered every step of the way. Most of the open world was similar to something like Shadow of the Colossus it's just you and your horse but from time to time you get something interesting. I feel like game devs have this false idea that players need to be engaged 24/7 with something interesting. These are the flaws people point toward AC, when you open the map in a AC game it's littered with markers for side activity. It's similar in Horizon Forbidden West but it's got a better combat system, story which lets it get away with less criticism on those fronts.

That being said I agree with you, this game has the same flaws as most open world games but it also has lots of great things. Imo the single best thing in this series is the enemy design. Each encounter is different, it feels like a mini game of Monster Hunter. In Assassin Creed you stab everyone, the exact same way. Horizon doesn't really tell you how important weakpoints/chemical reactions are but once you go through the combat with that in my mind. It's a much more tactical third person shooter than a action game. On higher difficulties it's much better to wait for a Clawstrider to do his scream attack and hit his weakpoint for a easy shock state then try to tear his limbs. I wish the devs did a better job showing the strength of the combat because it's better than most open world games but on normal you can probably just spam normal arrows and get by.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:21

Fabulous Knight: Nov 11, 2011

Errm is it possible to leave/pause a quest if it features a companion character? I'm currently doing a side quest The Burning Blooms and I feel as though I have encountered a mandatory boss that is just slightly too tough at the moment. Unfortunately the quest has brought a guest character along and if I deactivate this quest and activate another it doesn't look like they're going anywhere. I feel like reloading from an earlier point may be my only option here.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:46

Jimbot: Jul 22, 2008

Yeah, that's what I mean. I accepted/more lenient to that bloat in the first game because it was Guerrilla's first foray into the genre and it was a good starting off point. It was mechanically safe. I was also in a better spot five years ago so my mood and mental state was overall better so I was more forgiving of the bloat. Even at the time, after I finished the game I talked to others saying that they really have to get away from all those stand genre conventions. Tsushima is what I thought often about too. It had stuff to do and the dreaded icons but it also had a gorgeous world with a really fun and minimalist guide to finding things.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:48

exquisite tea: Apr 21, 2007; Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."

They'll hang out in that area indefinitely until you come back. Protip for that specific fight though: There are log traps all around the area that you can use to crash the Shellsnapper, even if you can't do a lot of damage to it yourself.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:49

isk: Oct 3, 2007; You don't want me owing you

Fabulous Knight posted:

Errm is it possible to leave/pause a quest if it features a companion character? I'm currently doing a side quest The Burning Blooms and I feel as though I have encountered a mandatory boss that is just slightly too tough at the moment. Unfortunately the quest has brought a guest character along and if I deactivate this quest and activate another it doesn't look like they're going anywhere. I feel like reloading from an earlier point may be my only option here.

Not 100% certain for that specific quest, but I've done that in a couple other companion/guest quests with no issue. They said they're gonna chill there and to re-signal at the fire when I returned. When I did, we got right back to it

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:51

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Looking at the shopping list for legendary weapon upgrades like 😩

# ? Feb 28, 2022 19:53

Lord Hydronium: Sep 25, 2007; Non, je ne regrette rien

Is there a place to reliably find/buy a blue or higher blastsling with regular explosive bombs? I'm about halfway or so through the game and still using a green one I got back in the Daunt. (edit: never mind, found one)

Also I finally decided to try out a boltblaster and, along with the skill that lets you empty the whole clip at once, it fucks poo poo up. :stare:

Lord Hydronium fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Mar 1, 2022

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:03

BitBasher: Jun 6, 2004; You've got to know the rules before you can break 'em. Otherwise, it's no fun.

Fedule posted:

e: apparently, the half moon slash replaces the first hit of the basic attack chain, so it wasn't the pause attacks loving with me but the fact that the game completely forgot to explain the thing it was supposed to be teaching me to do. The melee combos seem cool and are trying to be technical but honestly it's just another of the many mechanics that I'm just not going to use because this isn't a melee action game at all? Like some of the pause combos will be more efficient against humans but let's be real, having pause combos doesn't make you Platinum (and this still isn't as good an attempt at trying to be Platinum as Dad of Boy), nobody's going to be thinking about half moon slash combos outside of the fight pits.

I disagree with the bolded part? I use it a lot because it moves me rapidly up to melee range which is a lot faster than running. I use it in most any fight that isn't 1 on 1, and you can combo it into guard/armor breaker or leap off. If you are charged up it turns into half moon to advance a decent distance instantly, leap off which sets the charge on them and then instantly shoot it off while they are stunned for big damage and blowing off armor. Half moon lets you deliver that without having to be next to them or run up to them if they are anywhere remotely near you.

Fedule posted:

What is it about specifically the quips about overrides that seems to be completely hosed? Every time I call a mount, Aloy's all "need to find the right Cauldron to override this!" but then I did Second Verse and as soon as the cutscene ended Aloy is stood next to the newly revived land god and she says "oh hey I can override Plowhorns now! Let's try it out!"

Yeah, it has to be a bug, even for a mission she will comment that I can't override the enemy I can approaching that I can definitely override.

CMYK BLYAT! posted:

nothing annoys me more than the "rarity" system for ammo resources. congratulations! a purple machine carcass reward! must be something good!

it's more volatile sludge. you have more than 200 stored up. you will never shoot enough plasma ammo to consume it all. almost every machine drops it, constantly

merely green rarity machine muscle, by comparison, is something i need to buy from merchants frequently, because basic sharpshot arrows are my #1 resource sink

I agree it shouldn't be purple but Volatile Sludge is also used for advanced precision arrows for the sharpshot bow which I use a bunch of, because even with all the crafting the perks it's 2 sludge for 5 arrows. I have to lay off those arrows because it's easy to use more sludge than I am bringing in. I would be using those more than basic sharpshot arrows but I can't because of Sludge scarcity. They hit like a freight train.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:13

effervescible: Jun 29, 2012; i will eat your soul

I got an adhesive/explosive blastsling as a reward for the Oldgrowth errand quest in Plainsong. Haven't used the adhesive yet but I'm happily blowing poo poo up.

Edit - lol ignore me, I apparently can't read and didn't see the blue part.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:14

Boogalo: Jul 8, 2012; Meep Meep

With all of the perks, Advanced sharpshot gets down to 1 sludge per pack if you craft them at a bench at least. I tend to only use them with powershots since they become ammo-less at max rank.

It feels weird relying on sharpshot for damage more than the hunter bow. It's draw speed doesn't feel like much of a detriment at all and I go through so much muscle. Hunter bow might just be out of favor since rapid plinking parts is so much less effective than in ZD. Enemies are so aggressive I only have chance for one sharpshot usually between having to dodge and the RoF of hunter doesn't make up for that.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:18

Eyud: Aug 5, 2006

Jimbot posted:

Warning, incoming meandering long mess of a post

Anyway, TL;DR of this mess is the game is super awesome that steps into pitfalls of the genre but it�s minor compared to how good everything else is. If you liked Witcher 3 this game is a perfect companion to it. 69.420/8.8

Big agree with this post, especially the part about the sound and music, playing this game on good speakers is awesome.

I finished yesterday and have been running around grabbing collectibles and whatnot despite having a million other games to play. Game just owns.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:19

BitBasher: Jun 6, 2004; You've got to know the rules before you can break 'em. Otherwise, it's no fun.

Boogalo posted:

With all of the perks, Advanced sharpshot gets down to 1 sludge per pack if you craft them at a bench at least. I tend to only use them with powershots since they become ammo-less at max rank.

When I use them I usually use more than my inventory, so usually this isn't a good option for me. I mean I do when I can, it just doesn't present itself often. I'm usually using them 3 shots at a time with Braced Shot against large targets.

Boogalo posted:

It feels weird relying on sharpshot for damage more than the hunter bow. It's draw speed doesn't feel like much of a detriment at all and I go through so much muscle. Hunter bow might just be out of favor since rapid plinking parts is so much less effective than in ZD. Enemies are so aggressive I only have chance for one sharpshot usually between having to dodge and the RoF of hunter doesn't make up for that.

I feel the exact opposite? The only time I use a sharpshot bow in a protracted fight is if I'm using it as a sledgehammer with Braced Shot, which I can only use twice then it doesn't come back for a long time. I use the hunter bow with advanced hunter arrows most of the time in actual fights when moving around. I still remove components with that without much of an issue. Two or three shots in focus slow motion removes pieces just fine and isn't hard at all to pull off on Hard. Only flying targets move around so much to really be a problem for targeting individual components, like Sunwings with their shield generators and such. The hunter bows do all of my heavy lifting for explosive elemental canisters and physical damage, I don't use Warrior bows basically at all.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:31

Yngwie Mangosteen: Aug 23, 2007

Fabulous Knight posted:

Errm is it possible to leave/pause a quest if it features a companion character? I'm currently doing a side quest The Burning Blooms and I feel as though I have encountered a mandatory boss that is just slightly too tough at the moment. Unfortunately the quest has brought a guest character along and if I deactivate this quest and activate another it doesn't look like they're going anywhere. I feel like reloading from an earlier point may be my only option here.

Yes, just leave and come back.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:43

Megera: Sep 9, 2008

those poor miners in the Daunt, it took me 5 days to finally go back and rescue them, but they were still very happy to see me when I met them back at Chainscrape

# ? Feb 28, 2022 20:47

Qtotonibudinibudet: Nov 7, 2011; Omich poluyobok, skazhi ty narkoman? ya prosto tozhe gde to tam zhivu, mogli by vmeste uyobyvat' narkotiki

BitBasher posted:

When I use them I usually use more than my inventory, so usually this isn't a good option for me. I mean I do when I can, it just doesn't present itself often. I'm usually using them 3 shots at a time with Braced Shot against large targets.

I feel the exact opposite? The only time I use a sharpshot bow in a protracted fight is if I'm using it as a sledgehammer with Braced Shot, which I can only use twice then it doesn't come back for a long time. I use the hunter bow with advanced hunter arrows most of the time in actual fights when moving around. I still remove components with that without much of an issue. Two or three shots in focus slow motion removes pieces just fine and isn't hard at all to pull off on Hard. Only flying targets move around so much to really be a problem for targeting individual components, like Sunwings with their shield generators and such. The hunter bows do all of my heavy lifting for explosive elemental canisters and physical damage, I don't use Warrior bows basically at all.

i used to use the warrior bows to plink smaller enemies, but then got to the point where melee was more effective (because of quick knockdown) and i had enough HP to risk getting melee'd by them

i cannot fathom using the boltcaster though, it's got a wonderful combination of making you slower, a weird slow reload (that pops out unexpectedly), low range, and surprisingly low DPS/elemental buildup for all its limitations. i suspect it, like the rattler (because it is the rattler) has the lowest usage percentage across players

# ? Feb 28, 2022 22:06

Boogalo: Jul 8, 2012; Meep Meep

I loved the rattler in ZD. Freeze something then open up, it would be devoid of all armor by the time you had to craft more bolts.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 22:12

ShadowedFlames: Dec 26, 2009; Shoot this guy in the face.; Fallen Rib

My go-to load out ran roughly like so:

Hunter bow with normal/advanced hunter arrows, normal fire arrows (main weapon)

Warrior bow, acid/shock/frost arrows (surprisingly quick at elemental status buildup),l

Sharpshot bow, normal/plasma/HONK arrows

Boltcaster, Frost/shock/plasma ammo

Spikethrower, normal/explosive and replaced later by the one that gives light DOT on a full power normal spike

The sixth spot was for whatever else would be handy (blast sling, ropecaster, tripcaster, etc.).

That did me enough to get through. I actually like the boltcaster and I know I�m in the minority for that.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 23:26

Unreal_One: Aug 18, 2010; Now you know how I don't like to use the sit-down gun, but this morning we just don't have time for mucking about.

I like the boltblaster more than the rattler. Part of it is the stamina ability that turns you into a machine gun, filling up basically any elemental damage regardless of weaknesses is real good. The reload being bugged is pretty bad, though.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 23:40

Madurai: Jun 26, 2012

Sentinel Red posted:

�That is between me and my sister.�

HELL YEAH, LET�S FUCKIN� GO ALOY

Dammit, it�s too late too keep going tonight. Tomorrow then.

No block, just the dodge/dive.

It is the absolutely best gently caress-yeah moment of the game.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 00:05

Phenotype: Jul 24, 2007; You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.

I wanted to like the boltblaster (and the rattler) but they just don't have enough oomph. I wouldn't mind the chunky startup and weird reloads so much if it did a lot more damage than it does when it's finally time to let rip. Felt like I'd go through all the trouble, get to unload into a robot from close range, and I'd burn a craft's worth of ammo to do slightly more damage than if I'd been aiming at components with the bows. Maybe give them a knockdown if you hit with 5+ shots? I wanted a little more acknowledgement that I'd just whipped out the equivalent of a machine gun in a world full of bows and spears.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 00:20

exquisite tea: Apr 21, 2007; Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."

Ashly Burch is always good but she really killed it this time around. I thought the way she darkened Aloy's speaking register was a great choice to show how she was trying to look and sound more like Elisabet. Then you get someone like Beta who is recognizably different despite literally being the same person.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 00:21

BitBasher: Jun 6, 2004; You've got to know the rules before you can break 'em. Otherwise, it's no fun.

CMYK BLYAT! posted:

i cannot fathom using the boltcaster though, it's got a wonderful combination of making you slower, a weird slow reload (that pops out unexpectedly), low range, and surprisingly low DPS/elemental buildup for all its limitations. i suspect it, like the rattler (because it is the rattler) has the lowest usage percentage across players

Me either, I just couldn't gel with that thing at all.

My loadout is like 4 bows of various flavors usually 2 Hunter and 2 Sharpshot to cover elementals, an explosive spike thrower which is saved almost exclusively for PowerShots and a Ropecaster which I never actually use. I need to branch out more. Maybe replace the ropecaster with the purple warrior bow I just got that has 3 different elemental arrows.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 00:30

Madurai: Jun 26, 2012

Phenotype posted:

I wanted to like the boltblaster (and the rattler) but they just don't have enough oomph. I wouldn't mind the chunky startup and weird reloads so much if it did a lot more damage than it does when it's finally time to let rip. Felt like I'd go through all the trouble, get to unload into a robot from close range, and I'd burn a craft's worth of ammo to do slightly more damage than if I'd been aiming at components with the bows. Maybe give them a knockdown if you hit with 5+ shots? I wanted a little more acknowledgement that I'd just whipped out the equivalent of a machine gun in a world full of bows and spears.

It has the standard problem of Video Game Machinegun: game balancers who've decided that rapid-fire weapons just can't do anything other than dink you with lots of little hits, rather than guarantee you get one hit.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 00:31

isk: Oct 3, 2007; You don't want me owing you

exquisite tea posted:

Ashly Burch is always good but she really killed it this time around. I thought the way she darkened Aloy's speaking register was a great choice to show how she was trying to look and sound more like Elisabet. Then you get someone like Beta who is recognizably different despite literally being the same person.

Agreed. I'm reminded of Matthew Mercer's work in the Pillars of Eternity games, specifically how he VAs Eder, Aloth, and Iselmyr. Each has their own distinct voice, and they all sound plausible.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 00:31

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 12:56

Lord Hydronium: Sep 25, 2007; Non, je ne regrette rien

Cauldron Iota is a lot of fun. That's the one that's also a Tallneck. I like how this game continues HZD's trend of every Cauldron and Tallneck being different and having its own distinct gimmick. It keeps what could be a standard open world repeated activity fresh, and also makes it kind of silly when the game is criticized as formulaic or repetitive; there's very clearly a lot of care put into every element here.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 01:15

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores - The Sound of Sylens (RIP Lance)

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