as part of your Coverage of Horizon Forbidden West, a Game Informer released a list of 8 promising improvements to the title.
Check out the link below.
1. Melhores cutscenes
We expect improved graphics with each new entry in a series, and so far, the images shown for the Forbidden West have been extremely impressive. But sometimes you have to see the game up close to really notice its finer points. “Some of the big updates we’ve made to our cinematics include full motion capture, better facial animation, and a top-notch cast,” says narrative director Benjamin McCaw. “This level of quality spans the entire game, including some of our secondary scenes.” In the demo for the cover story, dialogue exchanges felt more authentic between characters due to these improvements, and it was especially noticeable in the facial animations. Aloy can now convey much more with her body language and eyes.
2. Liveliest places
Guerrilla wants the settlements to be “more inhabited” and stimulating to explore. That means the townspeople will be more active and you’ll have little fun times throughout the day. “We’ve updated our civilians and settlements since the last game with an improved crowd system, better animations, and much better audio,” says McCaw. “So everything should feel a little more authentic and realistic.” During the demonstration, as we were heading towards a tavern, we saw people stumbling around outside, muttering incoherent sentiments and looking for their drink. Upon entering the royal tavern, things got livelier, with patrons passionately complaining about their problems, happily dancing together, and even a group happily singing about their drunkenness stories as they banged on the table to set the pace.
3. A revamped skill tree
Guerrilla has completely revamped the skill tree to give players more options to play however they want. It now features six different playstyles: warrior (melee), hunter (laying/disarming traps), hunter (ranged weapons), survivor (health/resources), infiltrator (stealth), and machine master (hacking) . It seems that each specialization has approximately 20-30 skills. Trees offer a mix of active abilities, such as using fewer resources in crafting, and passive boosts, such as low health regeneration. Each tree also has its own Surge Value, which are new special skills which can be performed as soon as you fill a gauge. Also, certain boosts and abilities can be upgraded to higher levels to increase their effectiveness. However, the biggest game changer is the outfit and plot boosts, which can cause certain skills to go beyond their level cap, boosting some stats by 300 percent.
4. More scanning skills and information
Aloy’s scanning abilities now reveal more valuable information than ever before. Getting around should be easier, as she can now scan the claw points, which are noted in yellow, in the environment. However, the most beneficial aspect is its ability to learn more about its mechanical opponents. Guerrilla wants to give players as much information as possible to inform their strategy, so you’ll find out more than just your weaknesses and key stats when you scan. Now you can learn everything from whether a machine has a key update feature to whether a part is indestructible. You can even find out if one of your weapons is detachable and can be used for your own gain. Aloy can also mark the pieces, giving them a purple hue.
5. Better side quest rewards
If you didn’t feel the side content was worth it in Zero Dawn, Guerrilla is working to change that in Forbidden West. Your solution? More interesting side quests and greater rewards for engaging with them. “There’s a lot more variety in that sense – a more sense of accomplishment that you actually get something cool in return for doing these quests,” says game director Mathijs de Jonge. “That was another part where we felt we had room for improvement. So you get a cool weapon or a cool outfit, something that is really useful for your next mission or activity.”
6. A less confusing HUD
If you thought there was a lot on the screen to keep up with in Horizon Zero Dawn, you were not alone. Guerrilla took this feedback seriously in Forbidden West and worked to have fewer distractions on screen. “By default, the game starts in a minimalist mode, where there is as little HUD information on the screen as possible,” explains de Jonge. “But in this mode, you can also just swipe up on the touchpad, and that will immediately bring up all the important information, like objectives, or maybe your health or your inventory.”
7. More time with mates
If you were hoping for better relationship building between Aloy and her companions, you’ll be happy to know that this was an area of focus for Guerrilla with the Forbidden West. The team has talked a lot about their efforts to improve their companion characters in hopes that players will form stronger connections with them. “The big focus, though, that we wanted to shift from the first to the second is for you to spend more time with the main characters,” says McCaw. “This is something we try to do consistently throughout the game. Not just for characters you meet throughout the main quest, but also for certain side quest characters; they don’t just leave after a mission.”
8. Ability to create jobs for upgrade parts
Do you really want to upgrade your weapon or armor, but don’t want to look around for the part you need? Now, with a click of a button in the crafting menu, you can create a job to find the resource you need. This will activate a quest and place a path on the map to where the machines that trap them reside. That means you’ll never have to waste time just waiting for the item to pop up randomly or wondering if it’s in the right place.
This is also a good thing as the machine parts will be more vital this time around. “In [Horizon Zero Dawn], it was more about the metal fragments,” says de Jonge. “In this game, we try to craft the machines and the encounters with them, so a lot of the upgrades also cost machine-specific resources. You have to go out and hunt down specific machines.”
Horizon Forbidden West will be released on February 18, 2022 for PS4 and PS5.
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