Another successful evening of HZD, this time on the couch! Destroyed a couple of bandit camps, made my own Robot Wars and left off during a hot hunt. I’ve leveled up to 30, and decided to unlock the skill that lets me quietly assassinate the heavier baddies. I’ve racked up quite a few side-quests now that I’m further into the plotline, looking forward to seeing what else unfolds!
Adventure Games
I Found Wikipedia
Still uncovering the main plot in HZD. The more I discover, the more incredibly insane it is. Had to destroy another Deathbringer tonight, this time with working legs. Felt like I was fighting a Metal Gear, but in a Tomb Raider game. You can tell this game is very Playstation.
Good Huntin’
The hunt is still going well! Mostly spent tonight looking for metal flowers and ancient vessels. Also hunted machines and animals, found a couple of vantage points/audio logs. Fun game is fun. 🙂
More Answers Than Questions
The more I play of this, the more questions I find needing an answer. Last night I uncovered a good chunk of why the world has been thrown back to tribalism, and as I expected it goes all the way back to corporations fucking things over. FARO in this universe is basically Tesla if Elon went too fucking far. They manufactured “Peace keeping machines” that were used for war, and were able too replicate themselves using organic organisms. The amount of lawsuits and problems I’ve found strewn throughout the data logs pokes fun at how a big corp fucked things up for the whole world.
Then I’m also left wondering… who is this woman who looks like Aloy? Is she a mother? Or is she an ancestor from what they refer to as “The Old World”? The holograms and data are from centuries ago in this universe, and it makes it all the more interesting. Each time I come back to this game I gain about ten questions for every one or two answers I find. It’s almost like having my own interactive soap opera to play!
Next time I play I’m poised to solve another cauldron. I came close to doing it tonight, but I reached the final chamber right as it was time to call it quits.
To be continued, I guess. 😛
A Walk Through Nibel
My desktop has been rendering the last chunk of animation for the Skyrim video, so I’ve been making some more progress in Ori and the Blind Forest on Steam Deck. It’s actually kinda funny to think that last night I was playing a Playstation game, and now I’ve shifted over to an XBox game, and I don’t even need to own both consoles! 😛 I mostly ventured through Black Root Burrows., and doing what you would typically do in a metroidvania and circle back to older areas after learning new abilities. Mostly finding life and ability cells, and opening up sealed off areas. Fun stuff.
Was actually having a conversation about this at work the other day with another co-worker bud. One of her fave genres is metroidvania, we actually talk about Bloodstained Ritual of the Night on a few occasions, and I’ve also shared other ones with her like the Shantae series and recently Dust. She plays on Playstation, though we do like to dish out on games in general, among other subjects. It’s nice having a few work friends to help the day feel less hellish.
The Hunt Continues
See… I had plans to wrap up my animation project, but there was an empty couch in need of a tired body after a long work week, and an imagination in dire need of a cinematic fix with a side of tea. I only meant to play for a couple hours, but it ended up being the rest of the evening… this game is just too good. Found some new machines to study… and kill. I also saved the city of Meridian from a very punchable protagonist (not the guy in the above picture) and did tons of exploration.
I may or may not continue this tomorrow… or maybe a little more tonight! 😛
Palace and Chill
Took on some Glinthawks tonight and advanced the plot a little in Horizon Zero Dawn. Instead of fast traveling I’ve been walking all over the place looking for treasures and settlements, and maybe the occasional Machine skirmish. I wish I knew more people to talk about this game with. Other than a couple friends between work and online, everyone else I know either thinks it’s too boring, or they find Aloy to be too “woke” *aka* she’s not fuckable enough. Though to me she’s probably one of the best female protagonists since Lara Croft. In fact, Aloy seems more like classic Lara than the current spin of Lara ala Crystal Dynamics. Aloy explores, learns from her environment and adapts, she crafts arrows and other items like modern Lara but without the annoying whining.
Wish I could have played more tonight, but at least I moved the main quest along, and I’m in position for next time.
Knock Knock, Open Thread
Think after tonight I’ll give HZD a little break. I’ve already put in over 40 hours into it! Tonight I completed a couple quests, but spent most of it stealthily exploring the environment. Played a little extra tonight to celebrate finishing another SFM render, will probably do more animating tomorrow night, and pick a different game to chill with… possibly something more demonic. Tomorrow’s my Friday, so the sky’s the limit!
Open Thread!
The Spirit Of Machines
Tonight I found a village where the humans and machines were peaceful towards one another… for awhile anyway.
Most areas of the game have machines that will make no bones about attack you, unless of course you hack them yourself. Of course it wasn’t meant to last, and I ended up having to kill the once friendly machines. The more I play this the more I wonder what plunged civilization into a second stone-age. Somehow I get the feeling a billionaire manchild might possibly have something to do with it, but it’ll be several play sessions before I figure it out methinks.
My Trusty Steed
Don’t mind me… just having a totally normal evening in Horizon Zero Dawn. Currently making my way to a tribe of Banuk to study their friendly machines. I swear, one hour isn’t enough to dedicate to this game… but I’ll have to make due.