We can only comment on what we have. We can't comment on the final game or the final storytelling. If the trailer isn't indicative of how the game feels, then it's a bad trailer.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Horizon Zero Dawn - Aloy's Journey Trailer, delayed to February 28th, 2017
- Thread starter nbnt
- Start date
We can only comment on what we have. We can't comment on the final game or the final storytelling. If the trailer isn't indicative of how the game feels, then it's a bad trailer.
We know how the game feels since the first trailer we got.The trailer is indicative in many ways of how the game feels, but it isnt necessary indicative of its dialogue, script or writing quality. We even have countless examples of trailers that try very hard to divulge information about the storyline.
Again, I am not against people saying they did not like something. I am certainly not the type that wants to hear praise and nothing more and I even get how people are skeptical when it comes to Guerilla and writing... But implying that the writing in general is bad from a 3 min trailer and 8 dialogue lines, is a bit harsh and perhaps a bit "biased" due to the history of said developer.
Seems completely fair to take the developer's history into consideration.
GG feels like this technically super proficient studio that just seems to lack good directors, I don't think much has changed in that regard.
They hired a bunch of Witcher 3 staff (including writer) for this game. Lets wait and see.
biglittleps
Member
You can't judge the story based on some short trailer.
Anyway :
- John Gonzales (Lead Writer for Fallout: New Vegas) and dialog writer who previously worked on Shadow of Mordor ( Nemesis system ) joined the writing team ( https://nl.linkedin.com/in/johnrgonzalez )
- They hired CD Projekt Red quest designers and other experienced RPG developers
- Lead cinematic artist/cinematic director of The Witcher 3
- A freelance writer from Blizzard joined the GG
- A game designer who worked on Elder Scrolls Online joined the GG
- And several creature artists and game designers who worked on Medieval RPGs
- in size and scope it will be comparable to Witcher 3
Edit : beaten
I thought the trailer was fine. Showed a lot of new things, and I'm fine with Aloy having a mysterious past that she's trying to uncover, especially if they're building this up into a series of games, I want Aloy to have a personality and character to her. The one Aloy tells to get out of her way, I'm assuming Aloy asked for her help, and for whatever reason she declined, which caused Aloy to say what she said, I don't think it was being mean just to be mean.
Curious how this'll work with young Aloy, probably like AC3 where it acts as a tutorial/ gives some story context. Delays fine as well, or at least it was until Persona got delayed to 2 weeks before this. February is going to be rough. Now at E3 I just want to know what side stuff is like, I'd love side quest with actual cutscenes and story like The Witcher did, or what a regular mission is like.
Curious how this'll work with young Aloy, probably like AC3 where it acts as a tutorial/ gives some story context. Delays fine as well, or at least it was until Persona got delayed to 2 weeks before this. February is going to be rough. Now at E3 I just want to know what side stuff is like, I'd love side quest with actual cutscenes and story like The Witcher did, or what a regular mission is like.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
How many people have noticed the roller-coaster in the distance?
https://youtu.be/AmGFUPxqzK4?t=4m45s
https://youtu.be/AmGFUPxqzK4?t=4m45s
thekiddfran
Member
People are hating on this game already?
Triggerhappytel
Member
It seems unlikely to me that they would announce a February release date when they knew it wouldn't come until much later in the year.
Unless this is a The Order-style flop, I can't imagine there won't be a sequel. Games of this scale are rarely (if ever?) developed without the intention to turn it into a franchise. And I'm sure the next game will be a good 3 years after Zero Dawn, so we probably won't see it until the PS5.
Ooh, intriguing Bruce - can you give any more info? I'd actually like someone else to try their hands at it other than Guerrilla; let the Netherlands lot concentrate on Horizon (I'm sure it will be taking all of their resources) and the Cambridge team on RIGS.
Gotta strive for that attention.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
Hating is the wrong word, unless you're referring to all the Neo comments. The dialogue is one thing that people (and myself) have questioned, and that question isn't without merit. There is definitely some bad lines in this but hopefully they get ironed out in the run up to launch.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
Same here. A few people have questioned the premise but I think it's got lots of potential.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Eh, this is obviously a big deal for Sony and Guerrilla, and they've clearly been trying to address their weaknesses by hiring appropriate staff. They're already great at gameplay, technical aspects and sometimes level design; so now it's time to focus on writing (the writing in Shadow Fall was seriously awful) and structure/game design.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
Very short-sighted view that doesn't take into account any additions they have made.
The onus is on them to prove us wrong, not the other way around.
Indeed, but having the pitchforks already at the ready, aint much fair either.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
There's no onus on anyone. I totally agree that the dialogue is weak and badly done in some sections but that's just an observation. I'm not taking the stance that they have to prove me wrong. I don't see it as a competition just a case of percentage really. There were weak lines in UC4. They didn't appear in the cutscenes but they were definitely there in some of the random conversations between the characters as we played. I'm confident that this game is going to be great but I have a little concern that the dialogue could be undercooked here and there. I noticed a few verb/subject switches that are typical of German grammar, so it could be that a member of the team wrote some of those lines for the trailer instead of the script writers they've brought in. Just simple things like 'crumbling ruins' are amateurish. It's tantamount to writing 'cascading waterfall'. But there's no 'onus' (that's taking it far too seriously) on anyone, just a hope from me that things get tightened up.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
Seriously, come on, pitchforks? Can we sit comfortably in the middle and not swing from one extreme to the other? 'Onus' on one side and 'pitchforks' on the other. This is the reason I seldom try to get into any conversation on here or other forums.
Jesus people, come on.
Dude it was obviously an extreme response to an extreme suggestion. My post was exactly aiming at that.
Which extreme post?
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
Yes, but offering an extreme in reaction to an extreme moves the conversation away from the people who want to have a more balanced conversation. Before you know it we get dragged into it and end having to explain why we are not part of those extremes. That conversation can then never really take place. Nobody talking sensibly about the dialogue is 'hating on the game'.
I never said post, I said suggestion and I was referring to the -imo extreme- notion that the writing in this game is going to be bad, all that coming from 8-9 lines on a 3 minute trailer.
Yes i can find that a bit extreme.
You are right on this, I agree.
It's not extreme. A bit hasty maybe, but if people see bland gameplay in a trailer they will voice their worries over the final games gameplay. Same with writing. It's nothing new or extreme. People try to envision and guess the outcome based on the material released so far.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Jesus guys; will you give it a rest. Yes the writing and storytelling in Killzone has always been awful. Yes, it's likely to be much better in Horizon. Until we have more than two brief trailers, we're not going to know either way.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
I think you'll find that people with differing opinions extend beyond the confines of Neogaf.
I'm pretty sure you can use 'crumbling' as a modifier for 'ruin', as a ruin isn't by definition crumbling.
A brief Google also indicates this (once you get past the DS and other gaming references that use the phrase. Here's a description from Getty Images:
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detai...pura-sri-high-res-stock-photography/455239333
A brief Google also indicates this (once you get past the DS and other gaming references that use the phrase. Here's a description from Getty Images:
http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detai...pura-sri-high-res-stock-photography/455239333
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
You can but it's bad writing. A ruin is a crumbled or crumbling building so 'ruins' is enough. 'Crumbling building' is acceptable but not very tight. It's seen as overwriting and superfluous. This is what editors are for. The whole point of this trailer was to create mystery and that mystery will be part of the enjoyment of the game. This mystery should be woven into the narrative and part of the subtext or theme. The questions I'm referring to here are: Who is Eloy and Where does she come from? Perfectly good questions that add intrigue. So, when the main protagonist directly asks 'Why am I an outcast' and 'who is my mother' it shows there could be a lack of exposition and they've opted to short cut narrative with dialogue. These are things to be shown, not things to be said. Again that's bad writing. But I will add there is a possibility that context could alleviate it a little.
ND don't make these mistakes. That's what makes TLOU so damned good. Apart from the strangely placed 'It's called luck ... and it will run out.'
Anyway, enough of this. Has anyone else seen this undulating roller-coaster in the game?:
https://youtu.be/AmGFUPxqzK4?t=4m45s
John Wick
Member
It's just dialogue for a trailer. It probably won't even be in the final game. Also it's nowhere near as bad as people are making it out to be
I don't see how the person you quoted stated his opinion as fact. People are just judging what they've seen so far
ok bruh you're right hail sony
Well at the beginning of this thread the popular opinion was that it is Neo footage. Later on it looks like more and more people believe it is actual PS4 footage. No1 knows really. Judging by previous showings (which were presumably PS4), this one looks extremely clean so we have to wait I guess.
I did ask Dictator in this thread, unfortunately, he didn't reply.
Edit: With all the accusations going on in this thread, I should clarify that I do not strictly think this is Neo footage. The improvements here over last year's demo could definitely just be optimizations. However, the IQ improvements are significant enough to be downsampling. Though, to be fair, good TAA implementation can look like downsampling at times, like in Uncharted 4 and DOOM recently.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
We do have a demo of it running on the PS4 last year so there's that.
KinofChaos
Banned
People already have their mind madeup about the story , seems no matter what Guerilla does some just are quick to pile on them because of past efforts...lets wait and see how it turns about before trashing the whole thing? jesus. Devs can't improve apparently.
Nobody's trashing the whole thing
the writing/VA in this trailer just didn't seem that great
KinofChaos
Banned
Go read the thread...Not great true, some are calling it the worst they have ever seen, it's trash ......hyperbole. Seems about on par fr most AAA games to be honest.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
KinofChaos
Banned
I don't think you understand my post. I am not saying it's trash., I am saying people said it was. Yes a couple people have said it was the worst they ever heard, feel free to read the thread, I even quoted one posted pages earlier.
GribbleGrunger
Dreams in Digital
I don't think you've understood my post.
edit: Why have you changed 'worse they've ever seen' to 'worse they ever heard'?
Well sure, for someone who is going to buy a Neo anyway, its normal that you dont care.
People though that dont intend on buying a Neo 100%, have a legit question regarding what system this footage is running on.