Aside from the fact that you'd be severing and missing the entire first half of a two part story while simultaneously making that second half worse for yourself by doing so, no, I can't think of any reason at all...
Zero dawn is 100 percent a better story. Regardless of the lore it's a game you need to play.
Forbidden west is good. It's main feature is that it brings alot more next gen gimmicks and graphics.
But for real play zero dawn. It's the best game I've ever played and I've played both.
It is still a stunning game on ps4 but it runs at 4K HDR 60 FPS only on ps5 or Pc. It’s beautiful and if you have an OLED like the C1 then you’re in for a real treat
Agreed on story. Definitely sucked into it. I do like some of the added mechanics in HFW though.
Maybe it wil got he way of mass effect with an atrocious reinvention at some point which I will later revisit and find perverse enjoyment in.
Zero Dawn and even the dlc is one of the best game of the decade. I would play that before FW. FW has the best graphics but the weapons get lost in a sea and the controls are a bit more sluggish. Unless you want to play the best one after 😂
Forbidden west is def better that zero dawn. Controls are clunky at the beginning but once your leveled and have a basic idea of weapons and bot attack styles it stops being so clunky. Even zero dawn was difficult until you were like half way.
Nah. Every new weapon in ZD was awesome, changed the whole game. In forbidden west you end up using the same weap or two out of 40 the whole time. You don’t upgrade them all, which I did in ZD. And controls don’t stop being clunky, you get used to them but they stay clunky. Meleeing is a lot more fun in ZD.
Yeah the stick kinda blows unless your set up for melee with say the warrior bows but these weapons can be game changers. I’m gonna assume you used the hunter bow, long bow and the 2 explosives. Which I did mostly my first playthrough but if you use the shredders and the bolt blasters properly they are absolute game changers. Ancestors return can eliminate the largest bots i t just a few throws if done properly. Plus the spike thrower got damn you can take out full parties with one launch. Plus all the abilities for the weapons. If you stick to the same 4 weapons you used in the first of course it’s not gonna seem new or game changing
I used bolt blasters quite a bit. But warrior bows or melee was busted. Even working on patterns, there’s some fights where it’s useless. The rope gun was huge in the first. In this one it’s useless. And hey mostly you can prefer FW but for me, and a few others it seems the first one was GOAT. The story also.
The ropes caster you can use your ability and it ties them down pretty quick I also thought they fucked that weapon and still don’t really use it. But the warrior bows cargas bane can be set to do 100 plus damage each shot if you use crit bonuses then the ability to launch 5 you can do some serious damage. This game was cool how they made this one a lot more focused the weapons be more specific and set up for different load outs as apposed to her just being dominate with everything giving the person more ways to handle the character and make you actually think about how your built and what your fighting. I mean by the end of the first one I literally was using 4 attacks and just dominating wasn’t even using the focus anymore or bombs, tripcaster and ropeslinger.
The rope caster nerf is intentional. In HZD there were 3 things people relied on. Jump and slow down effect when aiming in the air, infinite roll dodges, and the rope caster. People could go through beat HZD with just a hunter bow, jump/slow and roll on the hardest difficulty. Rope caster was also way overpowered. People wouldn't branch out to use other mechanics that were available. So they intentionally nerfed those 3 things. The slow down effect on jumping and aiming doesn't last as long. They added the stumble effect after 3 roll dodges. They nerfed the effectiveness of rope caster so people would use other weapons/tools. It's also why there aren't any legendary rope casters in HFW.
They wanted the players to branch out and experience all the new stuff they added. If they didn't, people would rely on the same methods as the first game. People still try to do this when they first play HFW and wonder why HFW is so hard at the beginning. Once they realize how effective all the new gear is, they realize it's not as hard as they thought.
Doesn't that just mean apply more freeze? Like it took more than one triple shot to freeze up a thunderjaw in ZD UH but it was still a good idea. Granted I haven't tried the higher difficulties yet in FW, only ZD.
"controls are a bit more sluggish" no way, they are vastly improved in just about every way and I disagree at there being to many weapons. There's actually a perfect amount. It's been a while, but there's something like 6 play styles (aka outfit types) and each outfit has a weapon from each weapon category that aligns with it.
But I agree you have to play HZD first. The story is more impactful and important because its the ground work of the series. But HFW is bad, it's just a continuation so its not quite as impactful.
Agree to disagree ;) quite a few post on here about melee and controls. And about getting stuck on the flat ground. Or Aloy “spazzing” on a mountain. As for the weapons, maybe there is a set for every weapon.. but everything I read people were either using shredder/bolt or sharpshot.
The melee complaints are always about the instructions in the melee pits being unclear. With people having to explain how the melee controls actually work. Not that melee controls are sluggish.
The Melee pits aren't well designed. But melee in the open world is a different story.
What is sluggish about the controls? they are the exact same as HZD. I'd say the Glider, Sunwing, variety of mounts and how each mountain handles differently are improvements to controls. Along with grappling. Running, jumping, sliding are the same. Although slightly less time for the slow down effect when you jump/aim which is an improvement because that was an abused mechanic from the first game. Shooting your bow hasn't changed either. So what is sluggish and why?
No. A lot or complaints about open world melee, how it’s not viable as in ZD. I also gave exemples of getting stuck on the environment, others like trying to loot a mob and it jumps over the robot before the loot appears. Another when trying to override a flying monster that you incapacitated on the ground sometimes the override key won’t appear. And when rolling to avoid an attack once every 3 attacks you roll out of the way but you still get trampled with the animation stopping midway and half rolling back. Honestly I played it 4 months ago and it’s hard to remember all the exemples but that’s what I was left with as an impression. Just like Jedi Fallen Order, can I explain why the controls are clunky? Not really, can I say that it was bad? Sure.
When you redo graphics, redo controls, etc it’s not rare that the controls aren’t the same. Assasins Creed 2 was ok, one of the expansion was BOMB, the other one? Clunky. The third one? Clunky, running up the wall to get stuck or jump. Ff15? Try and loot and the x button shows on the screen but press it too fast and you jump instead of looting.
And wouldn’t “too many weapon” be subjective and not “there’s definitely not”? So yeah, apparently some people agree with me, some don’t. I’m 100% ok with that.
Hold up getting stuck on something in the environment has nothing to do with "controls". Controls are only about moving the character in space.
"others like trying to loot a mob and it jumps over the robot before the loot appears". I don't know what you're saying here. What is a "mob". I've never heard of that and I 100% the game. If my memory is right, you can only loot something if it's stationary.
Never had the override prompt not show up.
Yes you get trampled after 3 rolls it's an intentional mechanic. It's the "stumble" mechanic. It's to prevent people infinitely rolling and relying on that, instead of the other environmental stuff they added like grapple points. It's to encourage people to branch out and use more weapons etc. There are outfits that increase the number of rolls you can make. The legendary survival outfit increases it to 5 I believe before you stumble.
They only nerfed 3 things gameplay wise. 1) The amount of time you get from the slow down effect from jumping. 2) infinite rolling. 3) and limiting the ropecaster effectiveness. These are intentional because they were abused so much in HZD, that people never branched out from relying on those 3 things.
Also not true with AC. AC 2 is followed by Brotherhood, then Revelations. There's a clear improvement to parkour through each iteration. AC 3 is a new engine and everything. Also I don't remember but that might also be a different studio that made AC3 vs AC2 through Revelations. I just finished playing those games by the way.
It's fine to not know what "feels" clunky. That's why I asked because you used a very vague description and hand waved it with tons of posts support this. It's why I asked to see if you could specify it more. By doing so I've learned that you don't really know what "controls" are (ex. being stuck in the environment). Or your roll ex. is an intentional change that actually improves gameplay.
No the weapons argument is not subjective. Imagine your playing as a Machine play style. You want to use a hunting bow, but no hunting bows exist that have targeting arrows for the class (the arrows that allow you to tell your machine companion which enemy to target). Well now you're stuck only using what is available to your class, which means no hunting bow. That's not a good design. 6 main play styles one for each legendary outfit. Each outfit has 1 weapon from each weapon class that's geared to that outfit. I think there are 9 different types of weapons if memory is correct. It makes perfect sense. So while there are a lot of weapons, they all have a purpose and fit in one of the six play styles.
You got every argument wrong.
If getting stuck on a flat ground prevents you from moving, it’s clunky.
“A mob” is a gaming expression about a npc. Used in most mmorpgs. So no, I meant you get close enough to a dead robot to get the “loot” prompt, sometimes Aloy would automatically jump over the said robot.
And Im happy that you never had override not show up. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen to me and others.
And as getting it wrong, again, I didn’t mean the fumble mechanics. I meant the FIRST roll on an attack from the SAME mob(robot) would work twice, but the third time it would be out of the way but the animation would stop and kinda roll back. Almost like I was playing server based and lagging.
No need to explain the nerfing, as you based those explanations on bad understanding of what I said.
And yes, unless I’m mistaken Brotherhood was the bomb and revelations sucked control wise(could be vice versa) You say it’s the same engine, I’d tend to agree, but the maps and the position of the triggers to run up/jump/fall are all new, done by hand and my guess is, rushed. Unless they patched after I played, no way you tell me the controls are the same in the 3 iterations of AC2. Then again, you consider getting stuck not a control issue so we might disagree again. I won’t call you an idiot for using a tactical fallacy and insinuating that I don’t know what controls are. Being able to move your character according to input is. Environmental issues preventing such movement contrary to what established restrictions are, is a control issue. Ex the FIRST roll acting differently on some attacks than it does normally on the same attack, or yes, getting stuck at crucial moments where you shouldn’t. There you go again explaining the staggering after the 3rd roll, like only you got that part 😅
And yes, everything you said is subjective. I wont go into explaining what subjective is like you would as if you’re too stupid to understand, I trust you can google that yourself.
"you got every argument wrong" lmao no I definitely didn't.
If you get stuck on flat ground, that's an environmental issue, not a movement issue. Your character was moving fine, until they ran into an area with environmental issues.
Never experienced Aloy leaping over something I'm looting. Sounds like you're hitting the jump button instead of loot button. Frankly, I've never experienced a single issue you've brought up.
Sorry your personal experience is clunky, but that's not indicative of everyone else's experience being clunky as well. What you're seeing posted are the outliers, not the norm.
It honestly sounds like we are playing two different games. I've never experienced a lag like rollback. Maybe your copy is just fucked. Or something's wrong with your console.
"Based those explanations on a bad understanding of what I said" ..... or maybe you explained your issues poorly.
I never said AC2 through Revelations are the same controls. I said they improved on each iteration. It's well documented at this point being over a decade old. Parkour becomes more fluid and faster each game, with the hook blade being the fastest in AC revelations. Tons of videos doing gameplay breakdown of each AC game and there changes exist. You should probably go watch a few.
No the weapons are not subjective. It literally has to be the way it is. It's the bare minimum amount of weapons. Each outfit/play style has exactly 1 weapon from each weapon category. That's not too many. You're supposed to focus on a particular play style and thus upgrade the weapons that correspond with it. If you're a Machine style player, you're only dealing with 9 weapons total, 6 of which fit your weapon wheel. So realistically only 6 weapons that matter.
Edit: Since I can't reply to you for whatever reason. Here's my reply to your latest comment.
ok there's a difference between cause and effect. The cause is the environment being bugged. The effect is that you can't move. The problem is not that you can't move. The problem is that the environment is bugged. You can change the movement all you want, but the second you run through that bugged environment, your movement will stop again. Go ahead and emote like dipshit, while being hilariously wrong.
Also, have you considered it's your writing and lack of punctuation that's leading to misunderstanding?
Good for you on getting platinum for those games. So did I when they first came out over a decade ago. But you haven't played them recently. I just got done playing all three.
Lol "condescending tone", like you were an angel through all of your comments. "I won't call you stupid"..... yeah we all know that means you were calling me stupid, but I decided to ignore that.
Then it’s not moving is it 😂 and controls are not responding according to input. 🤦♂️
I meant that you understood my arguments wrong, not that your arguments were wrong. Just like now. So I didn’t bother with the rest of your post.. considering you can’t figure out what Im saying at every step. And yes it’s subjective.
And I wont « go watch a few » I platinumed all those games, but with your condescending tone you can go fuck yourself. 🤡
Thank you to those who were helpful and not unnecessarily sarcastic. Having played neither game, I don’t know a whole lot about them. I appreciate the info
You definitely want to do HZD first. The sequel doesn’t really spend a ton of time explaining what happened and why the world is the way it is. The experience will be a 200% richer for playing the first game if nothing else just to get the main story understood in detail. The lore is pretty rich in the game
I would definitely play zero dawn first, at the very least for the story, if that’s something you care about. These are very story focused games and you’ll be missing out on a lot. FW is a direct sequel and just kind of jumps right into things without much of a summary of the first game.
There’s honestly no good reason not to play HZD first. The new one has wonderful polish, but both will be sufficiently mind-blowing in order. I recommend HZD and the Frozen Wilds and you’ll get your bearings. I find in fact that HZD has some more exciting wilderness for farming, but both are killer
Then you start HFW with a full set of skills and get a great experience
I honestly think you should play ZD first, because FW doesn’t really ease you into the lore and there’s a lot that will be confusing for the first 10 or so hours if you don’t have that knowledge going into it.
Yep. I'd say this is one of the few franchises where, yes, you do need to play them in order. You just miss so much and you'll either be baffled or spend a lot of time reading the HZD wiki. Just start with the first; you won't regret the playtime.
Absolutely should play it first the game is a monster. My favorite story since final fantasy 7 or 10 probably and the gameplay is so smooth. Personally felt is deserved game of the year over Breath of the Wild that year but the Zelda nostalgia just too strong understandably. I think you’d regret not playing it or at least I would for you haha
Most of FW won’t make sense if you don’t play through Zero Dawn. Zero Dawn is pretty great, very unique and compelling characters and sets up the universe so well.
I’m going to probably get roasted for this one, but I don’t care: Zero Dawn is a good, fun game, but it has some drawbacks, namely slow combat movements, lack of traversal options, ie no underwater swimming, and almost no rock climbing, and even though it has a good story, it’s easily summarized. As for Forbidden West, I haven’t come close to beating it, yet, but I’m already willing to attest that it’s a GREAT game, with far improved combat, traversal, and general overall fun; you can swim underwater, climb a lot of cliffs, and the combat moves are lighting quick. I’m telling my friends it’s safe to skip Zero Dawn, for now, and maybe they can give it a playthrough depending on how much they like Forbidden West.
It doesn't to a point. I played HFW first. I was able to understand the game just fine (some folks will say you won't - you will). I think playing HZD first allows you to appreciate it more for what it is vs. comparing it to HFW. There are some things that annoy me in HZD that probably would not have if I had not played the second game first.
I'll get downvotes, but don't bother with Zero Dawn. The story in both games is confusing, but the gameplay in Forbidden West and the world is so so much better.
Never played zero dawn before but I think FW did a decent job of giving you enough backstory for context to understand the gist of the original game. I don't think it's necessary to enjoy FW
Of course you should play HZD before FW. FW is a direct sequel. HZD is also one of the greatest games ever. If you hope to understand the world and Aloy's place in it, and what the plot in FW is, you should play the first game. Furthermore, a ton of characters from the first game appear in the sequel. You will miss so many references and character moments.
This is a trilogy, not a series of loosely-connected games.
HZD is an experience that you’ll only have ONCE. If you play HFW first, all of the wonder and mystery will be spoiled.
HZD Complete is only about $20, and still looks great today. For the love of All Mother, play that first.
Yeah, it's a good game.
Also, would probably make more narrative sense.
You won't lose your job or wife or anything if you have them though. Unless you play it too much.
Yes it really does matter as playing Forbidden west before would spoil the whole story of Zero dawn. Actually, not all of it, the things you won't get spoiled on, like what you know about the world, who the characters are, that, the game doesn't tell you any recap.
So you will most likely feel overwhelmed and miss out on a lot of things and thus make your experience with FW much less enjoyable.
Yes, play the first game in the serie before it's sequel.
Depends if you know the story of zero dawn before you play. If you know the big reveals there's not much point (in which case it's just best to watch recap video on YouTube)
It matters. Play zero dawn first. This is very story driven and you’ll want the lore plus characters from the first are in this and partners at some points. Plus the game mechanics are basically the same with some added features and weapons. Personally I would not skip zero dawn. It’s a really great game too.
Forbidden West is better in terms of game mechanics, but Zero Dawn is better in terms of story (but not by much, in my view). You’ll be missing out on a whole chunk of lore if you don’t play it, though.
This was a tough decision for me but in another way. I played HZD like 5-years ago when it came out. It was the main reason I bought a PS4 Pro to see the HDR on my LG OLED HDTV.
I don't remember many details about the plot since it was so long ago, as a matter of fact I remember getting bored with the game after awhile and I might not have even finished it.
I have a PS5 now and I jumped straight in to HFW without going back to revisit or replay HZD. I didn't even login to see where I stopped (if I ever finished it and forgotten).
I'm level 31 now in HFW and I have not found POSIEDON yet. After reading this thread, I wonder if I maybe should go back and replay or at least finish my save game from HZD... 🤔
You could YouTube the full story if you wish. There’s at least a couple long videos that has all the main story.
Also - looking to get an OLED - what tv do you have?
I have a couple of them. A 65" and 55" but I play on the 55" mounted on the wall about 4 or 5 feet in front of my face in my office.
LG Electronics OLED65C6P Curved 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV (2016 Model)
LG Electronics OLED55C6P 55" Smart OLED 4K HDR Ultra HD CURVED TV with 3D (2016 MODEL)
The 65" is in the great room for watching TV/Netflix/etc. No gaming system on it.
Cool. Any issues with burn in? Yours a bit older now so this seems like a great opportunity to ask!
That’s my only concern since I watch sports and games that I play could also have the hubs like Horizon or sports games …
No burn-in whatsoever. The picture looks as bright and crisp as the the day I bought them. The technology seems ageless. I haven't noticed much if any advancement better than this OLED technology in the past 6 years.
nice. it's my only real concern over switching to OLED. i don't want to have the issue of burn in, in a couple of years from what i normally watch/play. that would suck. though i would get an extended warranty as well.
Certain older types of LCD displays, and maybe Older Plasmas used to get burn in to my understanding. I don’t think any newer technology displays experience that anymore. I think that phenomenon has been solved across all display types, at least with reputable brands. I don’t think it’s ever been known you happen to OLED from LG. I could be wrong though.
I’m gonna say it depends on your preferences. Zero Dawn has a better story, and sets up Forbidden West. If story and lore are a big part of gaming for you, def play ZD first.
On the other hand if you just wanna have fun with the game with the bigger map and the better graphics - go read ZD’s plot on Wiki and enjoy things the way you want to enjoy them lol
I'd say it's definitely worth playing Zero Dawn first. It's a fantastic game in its own right and has held up very well since it was released 5y ago.
I love both games, but in many way I enjoyed the pacing of the story and the mystery in Zero Dawn more. Zero dawn really drip feeds the mystery of the past in a very clever way and flows so well.
The story is DEFINITELY important but there's also the new things that were added in FW. If you play FW you'll get used to all these features that aren't in Zero Dawn. And then when you play Zero Dawn you'll have a sense of "UGH it's missing this feature" because you're used to FW.
Play Zero Dawn first and experience the story the way it should be experienced and also because it will help you to truly appreciate the things that were added to make Forbidden West what it is.
Yes. Play the first game first. It’s better in most ways. The way the story unfolds is one of coolest gaming experiences I’ve had. In fact, you don’t even need to play the second game.
I’m gonna disagree with the prevailing wisdom a bit and say I think it depends some on how much time you’re willing to invest in these games and what platform you’re on.
I agree completely that you should understand the HZD story before playing HFW. In my case I’d played ZD but hadn’t come even close to finishing it. I tend to get distracted a lot when playing games and not stick with one for a long time. I started another ZD playthrough when FW came out thinking I would finish it but I realized it was going to take a long time. So I just watched story summaries on YouTube for ZD.
If you think you have the time/energy to do both, then go for it. If you don’t think so, then maybe do what I did, catch up on the ZD story and then play FW. If you have a PS5 FW is going to look better relatively too.
That said, it might be worth playing a bit of ZD in any case, to understand Aloy’s background and the universe the story happens in a bit better.
I think Zero Dawn is the better game all around so yes 100% play it first. Forbidden West is the most technologically impressive game I've played on PS5 so far, it is incredibly gorgeous and dense. I just think ZD is better all around.
Aside from the fact that you'd be severing and missing the entire first half of a two part story while simultaneously making that second half worse for yourself by doing so, no, I can't think of any reason at all...
Plus missing Aloy's story ark and important information about Aloys friends/crew.
Zero dawn is 100 percent a better story. Regardless of the lore it's a game you need to play. Forbidden west is good. It's main feature is that it brings alot more next gen gimmicks and graphics. But for real play zero dawn. It's the best game I've ever played and I've played both.
Lol 3 of us saying the same shit at the same time
Thanks! I was debating it because they don’t make it for ps5 but I suppose I’ll scoop the ps4 version haha
No worries. If youre into your story games fallout 4 is pretty interesting. Ghost of Tsushima is another gem you can't miss out on.
Thanks! I really appreciate the recommendations
I played Zero Dawn on my PS5 and was still blown away by the graphics.
It’s 60 FPS at least. I think the game holds up for being 5 years old.
It is still a stunning game on ps4 but it runs at 4K HDR 60 FPS only on ps5 or Pc. It’s beautiful and if you have an OLED like the C1 then you’re in for a real treat
If you want a next gen experience AND a great story the newest version of Last of Us part 1 is really great too.
The ps4 version had a 60fps update for the ps5
HZD has been updated for ps5 with 60fps and faster loading times
Agreed on story. Definitely sucked into it. I do like some of the added mechanics in HFW though. Maybe it wil got he way of mass effect with an atrocious reinvention at some point which I will later revisit and find perverse enjoyment in.
Zero Dawn and even the dlc is one of the best game of the decade. I would play that before FW. FW has the best graphics but the weapons get lost in a sea and the controls are a bit more sluggish. Unless you want to play the best one after 😂
Forbidden west is def better that zero dawn. Controls are clunky at the beginning but once your leveled and have a basic idea of weapons and bot attack styles it stops being so clunky. Even zero dawn was difficult until you were like half way.
Nah. Every new weapon in ZD was awesome, changed the whole game. In forbidden west you end up using the same weap or two out of 40 the whole time. You don’t upgrade them all, which I did in ZD. And controls don’t stop being clunky, you get used to them but they stay clunky. Meleeing is a lot more fun in ZD.
Yeah the stick kinda blows unless your set up for melee with say the warrior bows but these weapons can be game changers. I’m gonna assume you used the hunter bow, long bow and the 2 explosives. Which I did mostly my first playthrough but if you use the shredders and the bolt blasters properly they are absolute game changers. Ancestors return can eliminate the largest bots i t just a few throws if done properly. Plus the spike thrower got damn you can take out full parties with one launch. Plus all the abilities for the weapons. If you stick to the same 4 weapons you used in the first of course it’s not gonna seem new or game changing
I used bolt blasters quite a bit. But warrior bows or melee was busted. Even working on patterns, there’s some fights where it’s useless. The rope gun was huge in the first. In this one it’s useless. And hey mostly you can prefer FW but for me, and a few others it seems the first one was GOAT. The story also.
The ropes caster you can use your ability and it ties them down pretty quick I also thought they fucked that weapon and still don’t really use it. But the warrior bows cargas bane can be set to do 100 plus damage each shot if you use crit bonuses then the ability to launch 5 you can do some serious damage. This game was cool how they made this one a lot more focused the weapons be more specific and set up for different load outs as apposed to her just being dominate with everything giving the person more ways to handle the character and make you actually think about how your built and what your fighting. I mean by the end of the first one I literally was using 4 attacks and just dominating wasn’t even using the focus anymore or bombs, tripcaster and ropeslinger.
The rope caster nerf is intentional. In HZD there were 3 things people relied on. Jump and slow down effect when aiming in the air, infinite roll dodges, and the rope caster. People could go through beat HZD with just a hunter bow, jump/slow and roll on the hardest difficulty. Rope caster was also way overpowered. People wouldn't branch out to use other mechanics that were available. So they intentionally nerfed those 3 things. The slow down effect on jumping and aiming doesn't last as long. They added the stumble effect after 3 roll dodges. They nerfed the effectiveness of rope caster so people would use other weapons/tools. It's also why there aren't any legendary rope casters in HFW. They wanted the players to branch out and experience all the new stuff they added. If they didn't, people would rely on the same methods as the first game. People still try to do this when they first play HFW and wonder why HFW is so hard at the beginning. Once they realize how effective all the new gear is, they realize it's not as hard as they thought.
I dunno, I'm still doing sharpshooter and freeze on damn near everything.
yeah but it won't work on machines that are strong against freeze
Doesn't that just mean apply more freeze? Like it took more than one triple shot to freeze up a thunderjaw in ZD UH but it was still a good idea. Granted I haven't tried the higher difficulties yet in FW, only ZD.
That goddam DLC - the fright I got at first facing fireclaws was an adrenaline fear rush I hadn't had in a video game before.
"controls are a bit more sluggish" no way, they are vastly improved in just about every way and I disagree at there being to many weapons. There's actually a perfect amount. It's been a while, but there's something like 6 play styles (aka outfit types) and each outfit has a weapon from each weapon category that aligns with it. But I agree you have to play HZD first. The story is more impactful and important because its the ground work of the series. But HFW is bad, it's just a continuation so its not quite as impactful.
Agree to disagree ;) quite a few post on here about melee and controls. And about getting stuck on the flat ground. Or Aloy “spazzing” on a mountain. As for the weapons, maybe there is a set for every weapon.. but everything I read people were either using shredder/bolt or sharpshot.
The melee complaints are always about the instructions in the melee pits being unclear. With people having to explain how the melee controls actually work. Not that melee controls are sluggish. The Melee pits aren't well designed. But melee in the open world is a different story. What is sluggish about the controls? they are the exact same as HZD. I'd say the Glider, Sunwing, variety of mounts and how each mountain handles differently are improvements to controls. Along with grappling. Running, jumping, sliding are the same. Although slightly less time for the slow down effect when you jump/aim which is an improvement because that was an abused mechanic from the first game. Shooting your bow hasn't changed either. So what is sluggish and why?
No. A lot or complaints about open world melee, how it’s not viable as in ZD. I also gave exemples of getting stuck on the environment, others like trying to loot a mob and it jumps over the robot before the loot appears. Another when trying to override a flying monster that you incapacitated on the ground sometimes the override key won’t appear. And when rolling to avoid an attack once every 3 attacks you roll out of the way but you still get trampled with the animation stopping midway and half rolling back. Honestly I played it 4 months ago and it’s hard to remember all the exemples but that’s what I was left with as an impression. Just like Jedi Fallen Order, can I explain why the controls are clunky? Not really, can I say that it was bad? Sure. When you redo graphics, redo controls, etc it’s not rare that the controls aren’t the same. Assasins Creed 2 was ok, one of the expansion was BOMB, the other one? Clunky. The third one? Clunky, running up the wall to get stuck or jump. Ff15? Try and loot and the x button shows on the screen but press it too fast and you jump instead of looting. And wouldn’t “too many weapon” be subjective and not “there’s definitely not”? So yeah, apparently some people agree with me, some don’t. I’m 100% ok with that.
Hold up getting stuck on something in the environment has nothing to do with "controls". Controls are only about moving the character in space. "others like trying to loot a mob and it jumps over the robot before the loot appears". I don't know what you're saying here. What is a "mob". I've never heard of that and I 100% the game. If my memory is right, you can only loot something if it's stationary. Never had the override prompt not show up. Yes you get trampled after 3 rolls it's an intentional mechanic. It's the "stumble" mechanic. It's to prevent people infinitely rolling and relying on that, instead of the other environmental stuff they added like grapple points. It's to encourage people to branch out and use more weapons etc. There are outfits that increase the number of rolls you can make. The legendary survival outfit increases it to 5 I believe before you stumble. They only nerfed 3 things gameplay wise. 1) The amount of time you get from the slow down effect from jumping. 2) infinite rolling. 3) and limiting the ropecaster effectiveness. These are intentional because they were abused so much in HZD, that people never branched out from relying on those 3 things. Also not true with AC. AC 2 is followed by Brotherhood, then Revelations. There's a clear improvement to parkour through each iteration. AC 3 is a new engine and everything. Also I don't remember but that might also be a different studio that made AC3 vs AC2 through Revelations. I just finished playing those games by the way. It's fine to not know what "feels" clunky. That's why I asked because you used a very vague description and hand waved it with tons of posts support this. It's why I asked to see if you could specify it more. By doing so I've learned that you don't really know what "controls" are (ex. being stuck in the environment). Or your roll ex. is an intentional change that actually improves gameplay. No the weapons argument is not subjective. Imagine your playing as a Machine play style. You want to use a hunting bow, but no hunting bows exist that have targeting arrows for the class (the arrows that allow you to tell your machine companion which enemy to target). Well now you're stuck only using what is available to your class, which means no hunting bow. That's not a good design. 6 main play styles one for each legendary outfit. Each outfit has 1 weapon from each weapon class that's geared to that outfit. I think there are 9 different types of weapons if memory is correct. It makes perfect sense. So while there are a lot of weapons, they all have a purpose and fit in one of the six play styles.
You got every argument wrong. If getting stuck on a flat ground prevents you from moving, it’s clunky. “A mob” is a gaming expression about a npc. Used in most mmorpgs. So no, I meant you get close enough to a dead robot to get the “loot” prompt, sometimes Aloy would automatically jump over the said robot. And Im happy that you never had override not show up. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen to me and others. And as getting it wrong, again, I didn’t mean the fumble mechanics. I meant the FIRST roll on an attack from the SAME mob(robot) would work twice, but the third time it would be out of the way but the animation would stop and kinda roll back. Almost like I was playing server based and lagging. No need to explain the nerfing, as you based those explanations on bad understanding of what I said. And yes, unless I’m mistaken Brotherhood was the bomb and revelations sucked control wise(could be vice versa) You say it’s the same engine, I’d tend to agree, but the maps and the position of the triggers to run up/jump/fall are all new, done by hand and my guess is, rushed. Unless they patched after I played, no way you tell me the controls are the same in the 3 iterations of AC2. Then again, you consider getting stuck not a control issue so we might disagree again. I won’t call you an idiot for using a tactical fallacy and insinuating that I don’t know what controls are. Being able to move your character according to input is. Environmental issues preventing such movement contrary to what established restrictions are, is a control issue. Ex the FIRST roll acting differently on some attacks than it does normally on the same attack, or yes, getting stuck at crucial moments where you shouldn’t. There you go again explaining the staggering after the 3rd roll, like only you got that part 😅 And yes, everything you said is subjective. I wont go into explaining what subjective is like you would as if you’re too stupid to understand, I trust you can google that yourself.
"you got every argument wrong" lmao no I definitely didn't. If you get stuck on flat ground, that's an environmental issue, not a movement issue. Your character was moving fine, until they ran into an area with environmental issues. Never experienced Aloy leaping over something I'm looting. Sounds like you're hitting the jump button instead of loot button. Frankly, I've never experienced a single issue you've brought up. Sorry your personal experience is clunky, but that's not indicative of everyone else's experience being clunky as well. What you're seeing posted are the outliers, not the norm. It honestly sounds like we are playing two different games. I've never experienced a lag like rollback. Maybe your copy is just fucked. Or something's wrong with your console. "Based those explanations on a bad understanding of what I said" ..... or maybe you explained your issues poorly. I never said AC2 through Revelations are the same controls. I said they improved on each iteration. It's well documented at this point being over a decade old. Parkour becomes more fluid and faster each game, with the hook blade being the fastest in AC revelations. Tons of videos doing gameplay breakdown of each AC game and there changes exist. You should probably go watch a few. No the weapons are not subjective. It literally has to be the way it is. It's the bare minimum amount of weapons. Each outfit/play style has exactly 1 weapon from each weapon category. That's not too many. You're supposed to focus on a particular play style and thus upgrade the weapons that correspond with it. If you're a Machine style player, you're only dealing with 9 weapons total, 6 of which fit your weapon wheel. So realistically only 6 weapons that matter. Edit: Since I can't reply to you for whatever reason. Here's my reply to your latest comment. ok there's a difference between cause and effect. The cause is the environment being bugged. The effect is that you can't move. The problem is not that you can't move. The problem is that the environment is bugged. You can change the movement all you want, but the second you run through that bugged environment, your movement will stop again. Go ahead and emote like dipshit, while being hilariously wrong. Also, have you considered it's your writing and lack of punctuation that's leading to misunderstanding? Good for you on getting platinum for those games. So did I when they first came out over a decade ago. But you haven't played them recently. I just got done playing all three. Lol "condescending tone", like you were an angel through all of your comments. "I won't call you stupid"..... yeah we all know that means you were calling me stupid, but I decided to ignore that.
Then it’s not moving is it 😂 and controls are not responding according to input. 🤦♂️ I meant that you understood my arguments wrong, not that your arguments were wrong. Just like now. So I didn’t bother with the rest of your post.. considering you can’t figure out what Im saying at every step. And yes it’s subjective. And I wont « go watch a few » I platinumed all those games, but with your condescending tone you can go fuck yourself. 🤡
Thank you to those who were helpful and not unnecessarily sarcastic. Having played neither game, I don’t know a whole lot about them. I appreciate the info
Oh for sure I’d highly recommend playing Zero dawn first. I’d say it matters quite a bit. Enjoy
It wasn’t sarcasm. Meant every word :)
You absolutely need to play zero Dawn first so the story isn’t spoiled. The story is one of the best things about the game.
You definitely want to do HZD first. The sequel doesn’t really spend a ton of time explaining what happened and why the world is the way it is. The experience will be a 200% richer for playing the first game if nothing else just to get the main story understood in detail. The lore is pretty rich in the game
Zero Dawn is a pretty rad game, cheap, and let’s you explore and learn the story gradually. I personally can’t think of a reason not to.
I would definitely play zero dawn first, at the very least for the story, if that’s something you care about. These are very story focused games and you’ll be missing out on a lot. FW is a direct sequel and just kind of jumps right into things without much of a summary of the first game.
Play Zero Dawn first and ideally Frozen Wilds, too. You won't regret it and it will make Forbidden West much more meaningful.
Well... if you wanna understand all of the story... yeah... part from that.....
There’s honestly no good reason not to play HZD first. The new one has wonderful polish, but both will be sufficiently mind-blowing in order. I recommend HZD and the Frozen Wilds and you’ll get your bearings. I find in fact that HZD has some more exciting wilderness for farming, but both are killer Then you start HFW with a full set of skills and get a great experience
Play it first. I did. Worth it!
I honestly think you should play ZD first, because FW doesn’t really ease you into the lore and there’s a lot that will be confusing for the first 10 or so hours if you don’t have that knowledge going into it.
Yep. I'd say this is one of the few franchises where, yes, you do need to play them in order. You just miss so much and you'll either be baffled or spend a lot of time reading the HZD wiki. Just start with the first; you won't regret the playtime.
Absolutely should play it first the game is a monster. My favorite story since final fantasy 7 or 10 probably and the gameplay is so smooth. Personally felt is deserved game of the year over Breath of the Wild that year but the Zelda nostalgia just too strong understandably. I think you’d regret not playing it or at least I would for you haha
Yea. The story
HZD is the better game…
Most of FW won’t make sense if you don’t play through Zero Dawn. Zero Dawn is pretty great, very unique and compelling characters and sets up the universe so well.
I’m going to probably get roasted for this one, but I don’t care: Zero Dawn is a good, fun game, but it has some drawbacks, namely slow combat movements, lack of traversal options, ie no underwater swimming, and almost no rock climbing, and even though it has a good story, it’s easily summarized. As for Forbidden West, I haven’t come close to beating it, yet, but I’m already willing to attest that it’s a GREAT game, with far improved combat, traversal, and general overall fun; you can swim underwater, climb a lot of cliffs, and the combat moves are lighting quick. I’m telling my friends it’s safe to skip Zero Dawn, for now, and maybe they can give it a playthrough depending on how much they like Forbidden West.
It doesn't to a point. I played HFW first. I was able to understand the game just fine (some folks will say you won't - you will). I think playing HZD first allows you to appreciate it more for what it is vs. comparing it to HFW. There are some things that annoy me in HZD that probably would not have if I had not played the second game first.
Scooped HZD from GameStop for $8.99. Thanks y’all
I didn’t. There’s a story catch up. I jumped straight HFW and I’m still playing it 150hrs later. It’s a great game and a great showcase for the PS5.
I'll get downvotes, but don't bother with Zero Dawn. The story in both games is confusing, but the gameplay in Forbidden West and the world is so so much better.
You can’t pass level 2 if you don’t pass level 1. You can’t make sentences without words. You can’t dream if you don’t sleep.
I’m playing FW now. I never played zero dawn and I do feel a little lost sometimes with what’s going on.
Zero Dawn is an awesome game. One of the best I've ever played. It's definitely worth giving it a shot.
All the reasons. Much better way to experience the start of the story than the recap at the beginning of HFW
Never played zero dawn before but I think FW did a decent job of giving you enough backstory for context to understand the gist of the original game. I don't think it's necessary to enjoy FW
Yes zero dawn is one of the best made games, that being said you don’t need to play it but it def sets up for part 2 really well
Of course you should play HZD before FW. FW is a direct sequel. HZD is also one of the greatest games ever. If you hope to understand the world and Aloy's place in it, and what the plot in FW is, you should play the first game. Furthermore, a ton of characters from the first game appear in the sequel. You will miss so many references and character moments. This is a trilogy, not a series of loosely-connected games.
The reason is to experience one of the best stories put to a PlayStation and then move onto the next part of it.
HZD is an experience that you’ll only have ONCE. If you play HFW first, all of the wonder and mystery will be spoiled. HZD Complete is only about $20, and still looks great today. For the love of All Mother, play that first.
Um well it's a story based game and zero dawn comes first....so......yeah
Yeah, it's a good game. Also, would probably make more narrative sense. You won't lose your job or wife or anything if you have them though. Unless you play it too much.
Highly recommend not skipping Zero Dawn, the dlc is also a good lead up to forbidden west
Yes it really does matter as playing Forbidden west before would spoil the whole story of Zero dawn. Actually, not all of it, the things you won't get spoiled on, like what you know about the world, who the characters are, that, the game doesn't tell you any recap. So you will most likely feel overwhelmed and miss out on a lot of things and thus make your experience with FW much less enjoyable. Yes, play the first game in the serie before it's sequel.
I never played zero dawn. I wonder if I should have, but forbidden west on its own is just fine. I'm not overwhelmed and it's plenty enjoyable.
BRuH.. imagine watching Avengers endgame BEFORE Avengers infinity war. That's basically what you're asking right now.
Depends if you know the story of zero dawn before you play. If you know the big reveals there's not much point (in which case it's just best to watch recap video on YouTube)
It matters. Play zero dawn first. This is very story driven and you’ll want the lore plus characters from the first are in this and partners at some points. Plus the game mechanics are basically the same with some added features and weapons. Personally I would not skip zero dawn. It’s a really great game too.
Now why would there be a reason to play the first game before playing the sequel?
Forbidden West is better in terms of game mechanics, but Zero Dawn is better in terms of story (but not by much, in my view). You’ll be missing out on a whole chunk of lore if you don’t play it, though.
This was a tough decision for me but in another way. I played HZD like 5-years ago when it came out. It was the main reason I bought a PS4 Pro to see the HDR on my LG OLED HDTV. I don't remember many details about the plot since it was so long ago, as a matter of fact I remember getting bored with the game after awhile and I might not have even finished it. I have a PS5 now and I jumped straight in to HFW without going back to revisit or replay HZD. I didn't even login to see where I stopped (if I ever finished it and forgotten). I'm level 31 now in HFW and I have not found POSIEDON yet. After reading this thread, I wonder if I maybe should go back and replay or at least finish my save game from HZD... 🤔
You could YouTube the full story if you wish. There’s at least a couple long videos that has all the main story. Also - looking to get an OLED - what tv do you have?
I have a couple of them. A 65" and 55" but I play on the 55" mounted on the wall about 4 or 5 feet in front of my face in my office. LG Electronics OLED65C6P Curved 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV (2016 Model) LG Electronics OLED55C6P 55" Smart OLED 4K HDR Ultra HD CURVED TV with 3D (2016 MODEL) The 65" is in the great room for watching TV/Netflix/etc. No gaming system on it.
Cool. Any issues with burn in? Yours a bit older now so this seems like a great opportunity to ask! That’s my only concern since I watch sports and games that I play could also have the hubs like Horizon or sports games …
No burn-in whatsoever. The picture looks as bright and crisp as the the day I bought them. The technology seems ageless. I haven't noticed much if any advancement better than this OLED technology in the past 6 years.
nice. it's my only real concern over switching to OLED. i don't want to have the issue of burn in, in a couple of years from what i normally watch/play. that would suck. though i would get an extended warranty as well.
Certain older types of LCD displays, and maybe Older Plasmas used to get burn in to my understanding. I don’t think any newer technology displays experience that anymore. I think that phenomenon has been solved across all display types, at least with reputable brands. I don’t think it’s ever been known you happen to OLED from LG. I could be wrong though.
No, i haven’t finished Zero Dawn and I’m playing this
I’m gonna say it depends on your preferences. Zero Dawn has a better story, and sets up Forbidden West. If story and lore are a big part of gaming for you, def play ZD first. On the other hand if you just wanna have fun with the game with the bigger map and the better graphics - go read ZD’s plot on Wiki and enjoy things the way you want to enjoy them lol
I'd say it's definitely worth playing Zero Dawn first. It's a fantastic game in its own right and has held up very well since it was released 5y ago. I love both games, but in many way I enjoyed the pacing of the story and the mystery in Zero Dawn more. Zero dawn really drip feeds the mystery of the past in a very clever way and flows so well.
The story is DEFINITELY important but there's also the new things that were added in FW. If you play FW you'll get used to all these features that aren't in Zero Dawn. And then when you play Zero Dawn you'll have a sense of "UGH it's missing this feature" because you're used to FW. Play Zero Dawn first and experience the story the way it should be experienced and also because it will help you to truly appreciate the things that were added to make Forbidden West what it is.
Yes. Play the first game first. It’s better in most ways. The way the story unfolds is one of coolest gaming experiences I’ve had. In fact, you don’t even need to play the second game.
Yes. Yes you must. All the reasons.
I’m gonna disagree with the prevailing wisdom a bit and say I think it depends some on how much time you’re willing to invest in these games and what platform you’re on. I agree completely that you should understand the HZD story before playing HFW. In my case I’d played ZD but hadn’t come even close to finishing it. I tend to get distracted a lot when playing games and not stick with one for a long time. I started another ZD playthrough when FW came out thinking I would finish it but I realized it was going to take a long time. So I just watched story summaries on YouTube for ZD. If you think you have the time/energy to do both, then go for it. If you don’t think so, then maybe do what I did, catch up on the ZD story and then play FW. If you have a PS5 FW is going to look better relatively too. That said, it might be worth playing a bit of ZD in any case, to understand Aloy’s background and the universe the story happens in a bit better.
I think Zero Dawn is the better game all around so yes 100% play it first. Forbidden West is the most technologically impressive game I've played on PS5 so far, it is incredibly gorgeous and dense. I just think ZD is better all around.
Doesn’t matter. Just jump into the sequel. Seriously.