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[FalsettoVibe]

It's hard to believe that it's already been one year since Horizon Forbidden West launched. On February 18, 2022, Guerrillas were eagerly waiting at their workstations as the game started rolling out to our global community.

Describing the feeling of a game launch day is challenging, though any developer in our industry will inherently understand the mixture of excitement, nervousness, and anticipation as we start seeing your reactions come in. We spend most of the day refreshing social media, checking stats, and reading through initial feedback — whilst, of course, sharing a moment with the team, relishing in the incredible achievements and outcomes of over four years of work, now out in the world.

To build on this excitement, Horizon Forbidden West also joins the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog starting February 21, 2023.

This past year, saw more than just the launch of Horizon Forbidden West; we also released a LEGO Tallneck into the wilds, created a dedicated TikTok channel, and dropped a lot of new merch, like the OST vinyl and a collection with ASOS. We were even able to finally meet some of our fans in person again at Twitchcon and gamescom!

It's been heart-warming to see the impact Aloy and her story have had on you, and we are so grateful for how our community expresses love and joy for our franchise. One of my personal joys is to scroll through the #BeyondTheHorizon hashtag and see the breathtaking Photo Mode shots from the virtual photography community; did you know you all spent a collective 211,000 hours in Photo Mode?

As a thank you for one year of passion, support, and excitement about Horizon Forbidden West, we want to indulge you with a small token of appreciation in the form of new PlayStation avatars, which will be available to download from PlayStation Store tomorrow.

Excited for Call of the mountain and the upcoming DLC!

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Incredible game. Going to start a 4th playthough soon to prep for the DLC.

 

[SlimySnake]

Surprised they still won’t reveal sales figures. Who the hell cares about MAUs in photo mode?

Game was top ten in the charts. It’s not like it sold poorly. Bizarre from Sony.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I wonder what its pre-bundle total sales were.

Surprised they still won’t reveal sales figures. Who the hell cares about MAUs in photo mode?

Game was top ten in the charts. It’s not like it sold poorly. Bizarre from Sony.

Probably means it didn't cross 10M. Sony only seems to announce good 3-7 days sales and milestones like 10M. My guess is that it sold around 7-8M

 

[diffusionx]

Still the best looking game out there IMO, shame about all the rest

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

Surprised they still won’t reveal sales figures. Who the hell cares about MAUs in photo mode?

Game was top ten in the charts. It’s not like it sold poorly. Bizarre from Sony.

Sony don't release software sales anymore, not even in financials. Right now they only celebrate record openings or particular milestones but that's rare

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

I wonder what its pre-bundle total sales were.

Probably means it didn't cross 10M. Sony only seems to announce good 3-7 days sales and milestones like 10M. My guess is that it sold around 7-8M

Word of mouth was not as strong for the sequel, anecdotally speaking .

 

[rofif]

Best looking game but a chore to play. Too many arrow types, enemy weakness types, colelctathons and bloat all around.
Story is just one huge exposition too even though it should be interesting.
After all, I liked the first one a bit more since it was more straight forward in gameplay and story... although was still not a big fan of it

 

[Umbasaborne]

The graphics are outstanding, and there were alot of smart new gameplay changes. My hope for a third game is that they came make the world feel more emergent and reactive. Definitely feels like some choices were made due to the power restraints of the ps4. It would be cool to see a thunderjaw leave its arena and try to attack a village for instance.

 

[Magic Carpet]

This gets my vote as best looking game of the generation. It will be hard to surpass the graphical and animation quality on display.
I agree with others that the game is lacking in the fun department.
I am very sour that a story element ruined a gameplay element I was looking forward to.

Spoiler: Downer rather than upper

Killing off a big character right before getting a flying machine absolutely ruined what should have been a literal high point in the game and turned it into a downer. I should have been excited about getting a flying dino but instead was pissed they killed off someone for NO good reason other than to kill someone off.

 

[rofif]

This gets my vote as best looking game of the generation. It will be hard to surpass the graphical and animation quality on display.
I agree with others that the game is lacking in the fun department.
I am very sour that a story element ruined a gameplay element I was looking forward to.

Spoiler: Downer rather than upper

Killing off a big character right before getting a flying machine absolutely ruined what should have been a literal high point in the game and turned it into a downer. I should have been excited about getting a flying dino but instead was pissed they killed off someone for NO good reason other than to kill someone off.

I don't even remember who you are talking about lol

 

[SlimySnake]

I wonder what its pre-bundle total sales were.

Probably means it didn't cross 10M. Sony only seems to announce good 3-7 days sales and milestones like 10M. My guess is that it sold around 7-8M

Sony don't release software sales anymore, not even in financials. Right now they only celebrate record openings or particular milestones but that's rare

Not sure if true. Demon Souls, Ratchet and Returnal figures were all announced. 1.3 mil, 1 mil and 500k respectively. The PC totals of GOW, Horizon and Days Gone were also revealed in a powerpoint slide to investors.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Best looking game but a chore to play. Too many arrow types, enemy weakness types, colelctathons and bloat all around.
Story is just one huge exposition too even though it should be interesting.
After all, I liked the first one a bit more since it was more straight forward in gameplay and story... although was still not a big fan of it

Frankly I never felt a need to use anything except the explosive spikes and drill spikes.

There was a lot of weapon variety but you could narrow it down pretty well if you tried.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Word of mouth was not as strong for the sequel, anecdotally speaking .

That's because everyone was talking about Elden Ring.

Major snafu on sonys part having both games released about a week of each other. Two RPGs, two time sinks... it's like they sent it out to die. They should have delayed the release by like a month... or even two.

Not a to of people will or can even afford to spend $140 on two very similar games in under 10 days. Anecdotally speaking, I know of three people that opted to get elden ring and put off Horizon ti after. Only one of those three actually ended up getting it.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Top 10 in sales npd of 2022 it sold extremely well not sure why a 1 year anniversary isn't a good time to announce sales

 

[Fbh]

Just finished it recently and really enjoyed it even though I did have some issues with it, particularly the writing and the somewhat unrewarding exploration.
But the core gameplay is fun, the combat is still among the best in the action adventure open world genre and the visuals are incredible even at 60fps.

Best looking game but a chore to play. Too many arrow types, enemy weakness types, colelctathons and bloat all around.

True, though Ice + a strong long bow destroys almost anything. But yeah the colectathon was annoying. I get what they were going for with a Monster Hunter inspired upgrade system but it felt annoying having to go farm specific machine parts to upgrade weapons and armor . It's one of the reason why I just stuck with one of the early bows and armors for most of the game.

I also think it made exploration unrewarding, because most of what you find through exploration is either money or valuables to sell for money. Except Money is almost useless in the game and I never felt I was even remotely close of running out of it.

 

[The Cockatrice]

My 2022 goty. King of visuals atm. This will be a beast when it launches on PC.

 

[Punished Miku]

I'll probably pick it up eventually just to see the graphics.

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

Not sure if true. Demon Souls, Ratchet and Returnal figures were all announced. 1.3 mil, 1 mil and 500k respectively. The PC totals of GOW, Horizon and Days Gone were also revealed in a powerpoint slide to investors.

The only new title added was Ragnarok this quarter thanks to the record opening but without further updates to older titles. For example in their financial report the last official update for The Last of Us 2 is at 4 millions (launch) despite having the Naughy Dog media manager annouced the 10 millions milestone on the PlayStation Blog. There are plenty of reasons to disclose numbers, but the only official numbers are those released in financial reports. Outside of those, their announcements are pretty random and not predictable. We can't be sure if a game would receive a sales update at certain milestones or not, they decide on a game by game basis.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I wonder if they are going to stealth patch in something new?

 

[Punished Miku]

I wonder if they are going to stealth patch in something new?

I'm thinking the DLC is going to be more than $20. Definitely a lot of marketing for the series right now, and it was at the Game Awards, so it appears they're treating it like a major release.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Not a to of people will or can even afford to spend $140 on two very similar games in under 10 days. Anecdotally speaking, I know of three people that opted to get elden ring and put off Horizon ti after. Only one of those three actually ended up getting it.

I am one of those people. Look, why play one of the best looking games and risk being disappointed in a From software game when you can go directly into one of their best games ever made?
I planned to finish Elden ring and then go to Horizon. I have yet to finish Elden ring ( i am in the snow close to the end but not there yet) and GOW Ragnarok came out. 85 hours later I have to finish GOW and Elden ring before Horizon. By the way do you know if buying the game will be required for the dlc or not? I plan to buy both when the DLC is out. I fear that taking the free edition this month would mean not be eligible for the DLC.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I'm thinking the DLC is going to be more than $20. Definitely a lot of marketing for the series right now, and it was at the Game Awards, so it appears they're treating it like a major release.

It is a day 1 for me, I loved both games.

 

[mansoor1980]

tech wise this is the best studio in the industry , also helps that they have an awesome art department

 

[DenchDeckard]

I guess its worth doing this video?

Is this what devs do now?

 

[DeepEnigma]

I guess its worth doing this video?

Is this what devs do now?

 

[DenchDeckard]

I mean, watching a video to tell us about the MAU's of a photo mode...sounds great lol.

The girl with the ladder in her tights though...She seems nice.

 

[ViciousAgenda]

Please patch the chatter out of the game.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I mean, watching a video to tell us about the MAU's of a photo mode...sounds great lol.

The girl with the ladder in her tights though...She seems nice.

These types of videos are nothing new.

 

[Sentenza]

I'd like to repeat a long tradition and hijack this thread to celebrate the Elden Ring anniversary instead!

 

[SeraphJan]

Great piece of work, despite the haters

The game is very polished, subjective preference aside, that is one of the most important aspect of a product.

For my personal preference, I do like the story in the first game HZD much more.

 

[dDoc]

Finished and liked HZD.

This somehow didnt peak my interest, especially after reading about Aloy's constant chatter and lack of real RPG/skill progression.

 

[nowhat]

tech wise this is the best studio in the industry , also helps that they have an awesome art department

If you're interested in "how the sausage is made", here's a GDC talk about the outsourcing process:



Basically, much of the groundwork is done in-house. But the minute details, like really putting the detail into the 3D models, is outsourced. This requires strong art direction (and general design documents) beforehand. And obviously Guerrilla really improved their internal processes when compared to making the first game.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

If you're interested in "how the sausage is made", here's a GDC talk about the outsourcing process:



Basically, much of the groundwork is done in-house. But the minute details, like really putting the detail into the 3D models, is outsourced. This requires strong art direction (and general design documents) beforehand. And obviously Guerrilla really improved their internal processes when compared to making the first game.

uh? someone called me?

 

[nowhat]

uh? someone called me?

I've seen your sausage, not interested, sorry.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Still the best looking game out there IMO, shame about all the rest

The most disappointing aspect is that, despite having impressive technology to bring the game world to life, the game design and storytelling are subpar hurting the game a great deal. if they dont take the feedback to heart; we could see the third game reception dropping to the high 70s

 

[diffusionx]

The most disappointing aspect is that, despite having impressive technology to bring the game world to life, the game design and storytelling are subpar hurting the game a great deal. if they dont take the feedback to heart; we could see the third game reception dropping to the high 70s

The problem is that they didn’t advance the gameplay enough while the storytelling and characters were a major step back. Maybe the gameplay didn’t advance enough because it was a PS4 game, I dunno, but yea, it wasn’t good enough IMO. Long shot but maybe the DLC will be a major step forward since it is not bound to PS4.

 

[MikeM]

That's because everyone was talking about Elden Ring.

Major snafu on sonys part having both games released about a week of each other. Two RPGs, two time sinks... it's like they sent it out to die. They should have delayed the release by like a month... or even two.

Not a to of people will or can even afford to spend $140 on two very similar games in under 10 days. Anecdotally speaking, I know of three people that opted to get elden ring and put off Horizon ti after. Only one of those three actually ended up getting it.

Or even justify the time. HFW took me well over a month to finish because career and kids. I couldn’t imagine buying both day 1 and trying to finish both at the same time.

 

[SeraphJan]

The most disappointing aspect is that, despite having impressive technology to bring the game world to life, the game design and storytelling are subpar hurting the game a great deal. if they dont take the feedback to heart; we could see the third game reception dropping to the high 70s

Agree with the story, but the gameplay is more of a if not broken why fix type of things, radical overhaul to an otherwise working mechanic in a franchise comes huge risk with little reward.

But even for story I still can't imaging how they could make it better than the first. This is why games like Elden Ring and BoTW are smart in their storytelling department, what I would call a passive way of telling story, let player figure out the story by reading lore themselves, is a smart move, it require far less effort on the developer side while still being praised by the consumer, especially for an open world design, traditional narrative just doesn't work well with open world.

 

[Ainem Enamas]

I like that developers care about their work and as long it spreads good!

 

[EverydayBeast]

Played the first one and not the second that’s shocking to PlayStation fanboys but I’ll remind everyone leaving killzone was dumb, raising prices on games ($70) and I can’t remember something memorable from the first Horizon, and you want me to get ready for DLC? The base game should be enough it’s like the buyers syndrome, I’m saying before we call it a franchise let’s see Horizon stay around for years Horizon still feels like a young game to me, the characters aren’t spectacular, the weapons stink and I think Aloy hasn’t faced a memorable villain YET.

 

[Sentenza]

Well, Elden Ring jokes aside, I played few hours of Horizon Zero Dawn (like, 15) and I was bored out my mind, so Forbidden West barely even registered on my hype radar.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I am one of those people. Look, why play one of the best looking games and risk being disappointed in a From software game when you can go directly into one of their best games ever made?
I planned to finish Elden ring and then go to Horizon. I have yet to finish Elden ring ( i am in the snow close to the end but not there yet) and GOW Ragnarok came out. 85 hours later I have to finish GOW and Elden ring before Horizon. By the way do you know if buying the game will be required for the dlc or not? I plan to buy both when the DLC is out. I fear that taking the free edition this month would mean not be eligible for the DLC.

DLC tends to be sold as a standalone. But who knows? I would thnk they would say something if you had to get the game to get the DLC

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The first 10 hours of that game are a real chore, but if you don't uninstall it at that point, there's a small chance it becomes less laborious the rest of the way.

 

[Fake]

Surprised they still won’t reveal sales figures. Who the hell cares about MAUs in photo mode?

Game was top ten in the charts. It’s not like it sold poorly. Bizarre from Sony.

Lets be honest here, this franchise never was that great in comparison with others from Sony, not to mention terribles decision about release date.

Horizon will always about graphics. The rest of this franchise is niche. I got the first game day one and was OKish, the DLC made a night/day difference from the base game.

They will probably englobe the franchise sales plus the VR game from now.

I'll be honest, was a damn good call from someone inside Sony to not kill Kratos because that franchise is probably the best Sony can offer right now.

 

[Vick]

This is so far the most underrated game played this gen. GAF reception of the game is one of those things you just fail to understand and borderline feel alternate reality. Most of criticism I've read doesn't make any sense.

Great combat, responsive and precise controls, top tier enemy design and move set, stunning free-roam, fun traversal, best underwater sections I've ever played and some really, really special and soulful moments I'll actually never forget like Vegas.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Lets be honest here, this franchise never was that great in comparison with others from Sony, not to mention terribles decision about release date.

Horizon will always about graphics. The rest of this franchise is niche. I got the first game day one and was OKish, the DLC made a night/day difference from the base game.

They will probably englobe the franchise sales plus the VR game from now.

I'll be honest, was a damn good call from someone inside Sony to not kill Kratos because that franchise is probably the best Sony can offer right now.

Not much honest about this post. Hate it or love it, Horizon: ZD alone has sold 20+ million copies. You can hardly label the franchise as niche.
Also, GoW can arguably be considered the best, but it is 100% not the only good/profitable franchise from Sony.

 

[Vick]

Horizon will always about graphics.

And combat, and creature design, and lore, and environments.

I got the first game day one and was OKish, the DLC made a night/day difference from the base game.

Zero Dawn > Frozen Wilds.

I'll be honest, was a damn good call from someone inside Sony to not kill Kratos because that franchise is probably the best Sony can offer right now.

After Forbidden West and Ragnarok, I care about Horizon 3 and couldn't give a shit about Atreus future adventures.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Didn't this win GAFs 2022 "Game I Bought but Didn't Play" award?

 

[El Pistolero]

Surprised they still won’t reveal sales figures. Who the hell cares about MAUs in photo mode?

Game was top ten in the charts. It’s not like it sold poorly. Bizarre from Sony.

It's not, once you understand their modus operandi: They only reveal numbers with fanfare when records got shattered. HFW must have sold really, really well, but next to what GOWR has achieved sales wise, the figures might not have looked as mighty. Plus, it's Sony we're talking about...Their communication is sparse on this subject.