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Why Sony keeps treating Horizon like it's golden child?

EDMIX

Writes a lot, says very little
Like many have said, it sells really well and its rare for an IP out of the game to do something wild like 24 million its first entry.

That is by no means a normal thing to be shocked its getting sequels and other games, shows etc.

I know ya'll love Ratchet, Jak and Daxter, Sly etc, but none of those games moved these types of wild units BUT if they did, Sony would do the same thing.

Shows, films, sequels and support.

If an IP moves units, Sony will respond.

Are other ps franchises more deserving of this push

How many are moving 20 plus million?
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Who else would it be? Uncharted had an unfortunate movie, and the main story is done. God of War is in a similar situation. Last of Us, while very good, is depressing as fuck, and Ellie is missing a finger or two. Who else is there?

You probably hate Aloy, but those games sell really well, are made by a very competent studio, and look better than most things this gen. It's the perfect storm
 

Fbh

Member
Hulst might have some bias but I think it's a mix of the games selling well and the franchise sort of being versatile.

I agree Aloy is boring as fuck and I thought the plot in the second game was really bland. But the world itself is pretty cool and in theory allows for various approaches:
Big open world single player game, VR game, kid friendly Lego game, Monster Hunter style multiplayer game, MMO, village/tribe building mobile game, etc.

The world has a rather unique and recognizable style, and in a way Aloy being so bland means they can easily expand the IP beyond her story without people getting upset.
God of war without Kratos is hard to imagine, the world of uncharted without the main cast is just the real world, Ghost of Tsushima is Japan, TLOU without Ellie and Joel is just The Walking Dead with mushrooms, etc.
But even if you take away every main character, the world of Horizon is still really unique.
 

NeverYouMind

Gold Member
Robo-dinos.

Aloy is just the face of the franchise.
1a7.gif

How boring....
 

March Climber

Gold Member
Aloy is a pretty awful character too.
Aloy is kinda boring, tbh
They try too hard to make her stoic.
I like the story of the horizon series, just not Aloy as much.
I'll sadly have to Co-sign with the "Aloy is boring" takes.
How boring....

I think the people behind the Lego game are trying to fix this. Look at the trailer again and how expressive she is. It's almost like a different person.
 
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diffusionx

Gold Member
HFW was a horrible sequel to a great game but it’s the game that the guy in charge spearheaded and has led the entire company into having a massive blind spot. I am surprised they keep trying to push this franchise that at this point is not any good and with a horrid lead character.
 

Kumomeme

Member
open world game with dinasour mecha monster

think about it for a second. the bussiness potential it hold.
 

I'm nobody

Member
Why are u a gamer and why do u actually care
People who don't like her are probably sad that she dose not look like eve or Lara croft
Them who do are deep into the story as it is good

It's not mascot level it's just as people say milked and will keep going till ideas run out
Same as cod same as games like halo and destiny

Astro bot is Sony next mascot and it will never end 🤪
 

Paasei

Member
Started a NG+ not too long ago in Forbidden West. It’s incredible when it comes to graphics. Aloy just isn’t interesting, which is a shame.
Also It’s not a popular opinion here, but I do find the combat very fun. Shooting specific parts and weak points to kill a machine and/or stop it from being able to use certain abilities.
 

Dick Jones

Gold Member
Started a NG+ not too long ago in Forbidden West. It’s incredible when it comes to graphics. Aloy just isn’t interesting, which is a shame.
Also It’s not a popular opinion here, but I do find the combat very fun. Shooting specific parts and weak points to kill a machine and/or stop it from being able to use certain abilities.
Combat is great if you make use of all the weapons. Most complaints are by those on the lowest difficulty and spam melee. If the gameplay is weak, increase difficulty.
 

Fredrik

Member
Looking forward to when they unveil an actual AI Astro Bot like their Aibo dog.
That would be awesome! I love desktop bots, I have both Vector 2.0 and EMO on my desk right now, EMO is my favorite, not as suicidal as Vector which drives off the desk way too often.
 

Nydius

Gold Member
In terms of making a family-oriented coop Lego game, I really think Ratchet and Clank would have been a better option than Horizon.

If it wasn’t for Monster Hunter Wilds coming soon, the only Horizon crossover I would like to see is a Monster Hunter style clone where you are just a plain old tribe member, oblivious to what Aloy knows, no Focus unit, just your wits and weapon. All the elements are there to make an amazing Monster Hunter style game where players progress through harder machines until they’re tackling Thunderjaws and Slaughterspines.
 
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Codeblew

Member
There hasn't been one Sony IP I have liked this gen. I like the PS5 but their games have not been the reason I have a PS5.
 

Fredrik

Member
If it wasn’t for Monster Hunter Wilds coming soon, the only Horizon crossover I would like to see is a Monster Hunter style clone where you are just a plain old tribe member, oblivious to what Aloy knows, no Focus unit, just your wits and weapon. All the elements are there to make an amazing Monster Hunter style game where players progress through harder machines until they’re tackling Thunderjaws and Slaughterspines.
It’s kinda already there imo. And if they would remove human kills and just focus on the machines and maybe have a character creator to get rid of some design noise it would be perfect. They’re incredibly close to perfection with this IP.
 

Nydius

Gold Member
It’s kinda already there imo. And if they would remove human kills and just focus on the machines and maybe have a character creator to get rid of some design noise it would be perfect. They’re incredibly close to perfection with this IP.

Agreed. Depending on how ambitious they’d feel like getting, they’ve now introduced enough varied tribes in the game that they could integrate them into the character creator with various passive boosts to both self and coop partners based on tribal lore.
 

midnightAI

Member
HFW was a horrible sequel to a great game but it’s the game that the guy in charge spearheaded and has led the entire company into having a massive blind spot. I am surprised they keep trying to push this franchise that at this point is not any good and with a horrid lead character.
And I thought it was way better.

Or are you talking purely story, in which case, maybe? But it's hardly horrible.

Everything other than story is much improved in my opinion, especially combat which is one of the main focuses of the gameplay. Oh and graphically amazing of course.
 

midnightAI

Member
Agreed. Depending on how ambitious they’d feel like getting, they’ve now introduced enough varied tribes in the game that they could integrate them into the character creator with various passive boosts to both self and coop partners based on tribal lore.
I can see them finishing up Aloys story for the trilogy but having other games, maybe even a second trilogy, set in the same universe.

I think it would be interesting if they could somehow merge the Killzone universe with the Horizon universe, and FPS against helghast utilising the robots in that world would be cool as hell.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
If you let go of your own confirmation bias for a moment OP, you’ll see the reason. I think Horizon is boring as shit, but it’s sold tens of millions…. That’s why. Silly thread.
 
Horizon needs to sell without bundling with consoles. And it needs to have some buzz outside core gaming circles.

Sony prefers to stay out of touch pretending everything is fine.

If this franchise takes off after Lego game, well and good. If not, they should abandon it. Pretty sure they wont.
 

Three

Member
People like boring characters. Makes the game interesting, when you aren't that invested in the story.

A great story would distract you from the gameplay, but a shit story would make you invest more in to the gameplay.

It's why I like Skyrim. Shit story, but great open world.
People like stoic main characters because it makes them connect better as that person if they don't have some outlandish responses in conversation. Half life also has an empty shell of a character in Gordan Freeman who doesn't even say a single word so that the player feels more connected as that person. Skyrim's, Half life's and Horizon's stories are good though.
 
Are other ps franchises more deserving of this push or has Herman Hulst vanity project gone too far? It's just an ok game!
No other franchise deserves it more. Not because of Aloy. But because of the world they created.
dinosaurs. no guns. robots. nature. future. you can adapt this world into any genre.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
I can see them finishing up Aloys story for the trilogy but having other games, maybe even a second trilogy, set in the same universe.

I think it would be interesting if they could somehow merge the Killzone universe with the Horizon universe, and FPS against helghast utilising the robots in that world would be cool as hell.
Oohhhh I want that.

The Killzone storyline revolved around Helghan and Vekta, so the end of modern civilisation could have easily taken place on Earth within the same universe.
 
First game that launched the pc ports initiative.
First (and only?) ps studios game for psvr2.
And now first game that launches on a Nintendo system.

Aloy is in Fortnite, Genshin Impact and Monster Hunter. I bet they're gonna try to make her appear in the next smash bros.
A remake, a gaas and a TV show are also coming.
Are other ps franchises more deserving of this push or has Herman Hulst vanity project gone too far? It's just an ok game!
Same can be said how MS is milking the Halo franchise till Kingdom come, but Halo Infinite backfired....sometimes its better to stop and make something new....
 
I liked the first game for its graphics and original combat against the machines. But the rest (gameplay, story, characters, melee combat) is average / bad and the world incredibly uninteresting and they never improved those parts in the sequel. The fact that the game story is pandering most of the woke agenda isn't helping much obviously but that wouldn't be a problem if the gameplay and world were interesting.

But adamsapple adamsapple is right on this one. It's so obvious why.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
I think Horizon is boring as fuck but it sold tens of millions of copies making it a core pillar of the Playstation brand for PS4, PS5 and PSVR, has a unique and extremely recognizable style to it and it caters to a very wide variety of players. It's a very flexible IP. Plus the lead is a strong independent woman.
 

Markio128

Gold Member
I think Horizon is boring as fuck but it sold tens of millions of copies making it a core pillar of the Playstation brand for PS4, PS5 and PSVR, has a unique and extremely recognizable style to it and it caters to a very wide variety of players. It's a very flexible IP. Plus the lead is a strong independent woman.
Strong independent women in video games is not a new thing, so lets not die on that hill.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
I dunno, outside of this site it resonates with millions of people not to mention it's one of the best looking open world games out there providing some seriously diverse biomes to explore, the main gameplay loop clicked with me and coupled with those insane visuals it was a pretty cool game, a solid 85 in my book, same with Days Gone
 

mdkirby

Member
I wish they’d drop aloy, she’s insufferable a highly unlikeable. I’d much rather they gave the mantle to Zo, she’s much more likeable and interesting. Hell I’d even take a spin off where you play as that old world architect duo.
 
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