Horizon 2: Forbidden West
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Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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They're both good, large games, HFW is a way more well-put-together game than ER overall. Has better combat too, and probably better itemization.
But it was definitely a very bad decision to go head-to-head with a huge multiplatform release on a console that people are still having a hard time getting.
But it was definitely a very bad decision to go head-to-head with a huge multiplatform release on a console that people are still having a hard time getting.
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Daezuel
Potato del Grande
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It's almost like I was saying this in this thread and was told this was gonna be more popular probably because souls games aren't for everyone.
I look forward to playing this game someday but no way in hell do I believe it'll top Elden Ring.
Lenas
Trump's Staff
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I could see Horizon being a more, "complete game". That being said, there is an undeniable trait that souls games have, that really attracts this kind of attention - the hype reminded somewhat of an MMO release in that people were really excited to play it from the get go, throw their heads against the wall with that level of difficulty, and really have a communal feeling of going through it at the same time as others.
Also, as said, PS5s have been scarce, and Elden Ring apparently sold about twice as many copies as Forbidden West, which is somewhat expected with context.
Hateyou
Not Great, Not Terrible
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While Horizon is a good game, I’m really tired of the 200 ? symbols all over my map, fetch quests, repetitive quests, following dots on my mini map, etc in open world games. Elden Ring is so refreshing with its “Here’s a world, go explore it” approach. Those devs crying that ER is higher rated are stupid. How about try to understand why it’s getting rated better and maybe learn something from it and improve on the next game rather than whining and saying “my games better!”
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Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Are these people designing good games or designing games to be praised on social media?Horizon devs a little salty Elden Ring getting such high critic reviews while HFW is sitting at a respectable 88/100 (83% users).
It is pretty telling that dev is mad that "quest design" isn't recognized in HFW, when the entire point of people loving ER is that quests aren't baby spoon fed you like every western RPG now.
first guy also works at ubisoft lol
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I think this is a big factor as well. It's simple, and simple is fun.
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Singh'sSpot
Blackwing Lair Raider
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The fuck do you mean it's "way more well out together"? Has better combat? Oh you mean the dollar discount Tomb Raider 2013 combat, got it.
Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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I typed up something long and thoughtful but I deleted it and instead I will just say that Elden Ring has too much brown.
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SimSimSalabim
Molten Core Raider
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Horizon has a lot of SJW crap in it. Most of it is subtle, but occasionally they beat you over the head with it. Based on this, it wouldn’t surprise me if Twitter Cred was important to at least part of the design team.
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sakkath
Trakanon Raider
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Like the part where the superhero female main character is complaining that the gun is too heavy for her, so the crippled one armed man picks it up and carries it for her?
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Hateyou
Not Great, Not Terrible
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Denamian
Night Janitor
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He's a white guy painted white for double oppression points.
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Qhue
Tranny Chaser
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HFW is a much better overall entertainment product. The synergy of combat and crafting, the overall flow of battle, the epic story and quest design etc.
Elden Ring is a game about edging. It punches you in the dick over and over and then doles out a bit of endorphins before slamming another hit in. The combat is okay at best, especially anything ranged which suffers from stupid center-of-mass based line of sight issues. The story is...absolute shit. There is nothing at all engaging about the story or 'quest design' in Elden Ring. It hangs it's entire narrative on 'creepy gothic body horror' mixed with LOTR fan fic.
Elden Ring is a game about edging. It punches you in the dick over and over and then doles out a bit of endorphins before slamming another hit in. The combat is okay at best, especially anything ranged which suffers from stupid center-of-mass based line of sight issues. The story is...absolute shit. There is nothing at all engaging about the story or 'quest design' in Elden Ring. It hangs it's entire narrative on 'creepy gothic body horror' mixed with LOTR fan fic.
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TJT
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I think the Elden Rings story is good. Just like Bloodborne's was good. It is not narrated to you though and you are supposed to fill in the gaps yourself. There's an elegance to just giving the player a world full of stuff to do without resorting to a map of Points of Interest and going through all of them like a mindless grocery list when you hit up Publix. As well as not bothering to explain things to you constantly.
Qhue
it does require you to give somewhat of a shit about it and read item descriptions and whatnot though. As that is how story elements are given to you in all Souls games. As opposed to being forced into dialogues that just tell you what is going on.
Like, you can take the starter weapons and armor and go through the entire game with just that. If you want. You would have to just upgrade it as you naturally find upgrade mats from exploring around.
This is not an inaccurate meme. The HFW and other similar "open world" games suffer from just having so much of the same shit in them. We've all played this game in numerous forms over the past 5+ years.
Qhue
it does require you to give somewhat of a shit about it and read item descriptions and whatnot though. As that is how story elements are given to you in all Souls games. As opposed to being forced into dialogues that just tell you what is going on.Like, you can take the starter weapons and armor and go through the entire game with just that. If you want. You would have to just upgrade it as you naturally find upgrade mats from exploring around.
This is not an inaccurate meme. The HFW and other similar "open world" games suffer from just having so much of the same shit in them. We've all played this game in numerous forms over the past 5+ years.
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Chris
Potato del Grande
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They confuse "best satnav design" with "game design".Horizon devs a little salty Elden Ring getting such high critic reviews while HFW is sitting at a respectable 88/100 (83% users).
It is pretty telling that dev is mad that "quest design" isn't recognized in HFW, when the entire point of people loving ER is that quests aren't baby spoon fed you like every western RPG now.
first guy also works at ubisoft lol
Yeah I'm sure that Mr Ubisoft's UX is as smooth as a McDonald's ordering terminal, but it's playing parts of the game experience for you.
Elden Ring has the weird acheivement of making me absolutly fucking furious with it but also getting me back for more punishment. I'm having an emotional reaction which satnav devices just can't provide.
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Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
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Yeah I enjoyed/am enjoying both for different reasons. Those devs might be salty because they have bonus clauses tied to critical reception or something. Elden Ring is by no means perfect, but the world/level design isn’t even in the same ballpark as HFW.
For example, with Elden Ring I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been looking around for items and “stumbled upon” a super secret area/path that made me feel like the cleverest mofo in the world for finding it (but there were actually some subtle cues baked into the design that funneled my interest to that location). Contrast that with HFW where I’m just mindlessly going to the spot marked on my HUD/GPS. Those experiences aren’t remotely comparable and the devs should appreciate that the different designs are going to have significantly different impacts on players. Maybe the more senior devs do and those tweets are from the junior knuckleheads that aren’t at the stage of creative/professional development to understand it yet?
For example, with Elden Ring I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been looking around for items and “stumbled upon” a super secret area/path that made me feel like the cleverest mofo in the world for finding it (but there were actually some subtle cues baked into the design that funneled my interest to that location). Contrast that with HFW where I’m just mindlessly going to the spot marked on my HUD/GPS. Those experiences aren’t remotely comparable and the devs should appreciate that the different designs are going to have significantly different impacts on players. Maybe the more senior devs do and those tweets are from the junior knuckleheads that aren’t at the stage of creative/professional development to understand it yet?
