Alright, prepare for a gushing review. It took me about a month to play through this game, partially because I went ahead and did - literally - everything. I enjoyed it through and through.
I do enjoy my third person action games, seeing as I'm playing through the Assassin's Creed series (I only got to Unity so don't judge), I played Prototype when it came out, and so on. This one was recommended by a friend, and I was quite skeptical about hunting robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow. The beginning was story-light, as I was adjusting to this weird reality, so let me talk about the first thing that hits you: game mechanics.
Obviously at first you are small and weak, and stalking a single robot horse in the dense bushes starts your adrenaline pumping. The stealth mechanics are well defined, and since I can't aim for crap, this is what I started out with.
I then transitioned to using traps. How else to kill a giant robot crocodile?
Set up a bunch of traps, then trigger the hostile robots who usually oblige me and walk into them.
There's even a leap-of-faith type mechanic, where you rappel down from set points. Such as the head of a giant robot giraffe.
I liked everything, including melee, shooting, traps (probably the most fun), stealth (so well defined), free running and wall climbing (only where well defined handholds are). So actually less free running than Assassin's Creed, but everything is well defined, and so less frustrating. Except when the game somehow expects you to frog jump up rocks.
Alright, on to the next compelling aspect: visuals.
Hot damn.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. I played through the Frozen Wilds expansion as well, which I also heartily recommend.
Talk about realistic clouds.
Lights inside caves.
But I think the moon-bathed nightscapes were my favorites.
Except when the stars are up.
So, just wow.
Right, story time.
Like most games that permit it, I thoroughly ignored the main storyline and did every possible sidequest before. I was completely lost in this world, with its stone age tribes using robot parts in their gear.
And on the way, I met a bucket load of interesting and well written characters.
I thought it was all garnish. But guess what. When the final battle arrives, they all come together to help you. Including, but not limited to...
The warchief of your original clan.
The tinker you saved from the bandits and then tested her new cannon.
The girl you saved after she ran away with her boyfriend or something.
The literal psychopath who enjoys killing bandits.
And your hunting master.
Every bit of side story, including ones I never dreamed of having an end-game impact, is revisited. Like the one where you enter a hunting club, battle robots, prejudice, sexism and racism, and help your designated hunting master become club chief.
Speaking of, the entire storyline radiates girl power. Your protagonist, Aloy; the old world scientist, Elisabeth Sobeck; and lots and lots of side characters are women. Including this eskimo-esque shaman.
But it all makes sense. Diversity in a native american and/or eskimo and/or roman style tribe? Makes sense in this world. Women leading? Yep. Shooting arrows at giant robot panthers? Gotcha. And none of this is ever front-and-center. It just is. Worldbuilding at its finest. Take note, show developers.
...and I still didn't say anything about the story itself. I don't want to spoil it for you. Let's just say that the world I played in was bright and colorful, and when I got to know the backstory, I did a double take at the grim darkness of it all. Which is a huge plus, given my background in Warhammer!
Finally, honorable mention goes to the small details that increase immersion, from Aloy breathing hard after a long run, to the occasional yo mama joke...
...to the way Aloy tries to make sense of her world. She was raised in isolation, and so she doesn't understand (know of?) love and sex. As such, there is no romance in the game, although at least one guy tries to make a thing of it. The one feeling she does explore, is her love of her adoptive father.
Nope, this game does not pull its sucker punches.
There's also a full fledged expansion to the game; when I recover a bit, I will have a go at The Forbidden West.
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