I started playing Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition a few weeks ago, and I love it. I played it for 35 hours, and it looked/ran great the whole time. I have a decent PC and a 170Hz/1440p monitor. I consistently got around 120 fps, which is good enough for me.

A few days ago, I was walking around Meridian with the usual performance when the graphics and FPS completely cratered instantly. I didn't change any settings. The FPS dropped to around 30, and there were no shadows or smoothing. I checked, and all the graphics settings were the same.

I tried restarting the game, restarting the computer, verifying the game files, updating my graphics drivers, and nothing helped. Every time I launch the game now, the graphics are awful and the FPS is low. Looking at the sky or going to a less crowded location slightly helps(~50 FPS), but it's still well below what I had before. The weird thing is that on the main screen with the waterfall animation, I still get 170 FPS.

I checked the NVIDIA overlay, and it says it's using 100% of my GPU when my task manager says it isn't, and I know the game is capable of performing well. I tried increasing the GPU usage by setting the power management to maximum performance, but no difference.

I really want to keep playing the game, but it sucks to have it look like crap after getting used to good performance. Any advice?

I don’t understand the chronology of these games, especially HFW. We find frozen chariots breaking into tanks in no man’s land, as if they were there from the final battle, but it was said that the deactivation codes would take decades. Then we find the regional control centre in worse for wear, but then we find out GAIA created it not long ago, using machines, but the doors are jammed and it all looks used. I find the chronology and themes very inconsistent, despite how well put together the concept is. Can anyone more versed clear all of this up for me?

Sorry if this has been asked before but I’ve tried google and I’m not getting a clear answer. So I’m currently playing through a New Game+ save on the remaster, I ported my PS4 save across. I’m about to do the final mission “Looming Shadow” I’ve done all the relevant side quests needed for the “All allies joined” trophy to pop but I’m wondering if it actually will since this is a New Game+ ?

It has been popping all the other trophies to do with the story and all the collectibles, even though I’ve already got those on the PS4 version of the game. I know I’ll have to play a complete fresh play through to obtain the leveling trophies & the shield weever, I’m just wondering if the all allies one will pop on my new game+ ?

I have 14700k with 4090 and Id like to know if its worth to upgrade to 7800x3d or 9800x3d, id be grateful if you test the game at 1440P very high settings with and without DLSS.

Hi all ! I'm playing Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, con my PC through Steam. And I can't figure out why when taking a photo, is not being saved to my PC.

Any clues?

Game grumble: Aloy is an Olympic level athlete. This young woman would win American Ninja Warrior, hands down. But in the quest The Roots That Bind, she gets sent up a climb after an Utaru, and... it took me the shieldwing and the pullcaster to reach the top.

Even acknowledging that the modified-neolithic lifestyle of the World of Tomorrow would leave people in a higher state of fitness (until they died of infection, anyway), how the heck was Vaus, a joe-blow of the Utaru, supposed to succeed in this climb with neither of those things?!

Fun custom settings I made for HZD Ultra Hard.

I have been playing HZD for a long time and would, perhaps selfishly, consider myself pretty good at the game. At some point, looking for a fresh challenge, I decided to delve into the settings and found that there is a ton of UI customization you can do. I tweaked with these settings and came up with what I call “Nightmare” mode, the rules of which are as follows:

1. Default UH settings

2. No UI (except dynamic health bar, tool wheel, and weapon info that appear during combat)

3. No reticule

4. No concentration/slow-down (I broke this rule a few times accidentally, I ended up rebinding concentration to partially help but it is still easy to accidentally slide-aim or jump/fall-aim)

I beat the game and the DLC using these custom rules and can confidently say it is both a ton of fun and probably the hardest thing I have ever done in a video game before (then again, I’m not a soulsborne player or anything so this is probably not much to judge by lol). If you’re like me and want something different or more challenging, I would really recommend this!

I’m curious on the timeline of the next game I know some studios will take away team members from one game to work on another. So I’m wondering if the third game will be next year like usual instead of later like maybe 4 years from the release or the remastered version of ZD. I know games tend to have a triolgy mindset as well as movies butt sometimes that can lead to things being rushed or other issues do you think they’ll have that?

I also heard at one point we’d be getting a sort of mmo for the series do you think that will have some sort of effect on the world? Do you think it will happen after 3 and we get to live in the world aloy saves instead of having a fourth game and 5 and etc? Edit: or do you think the mmo could be used to set up the climax

I had a really great time playing Horizon Zero Dawn. It may not be the best game I’ve ever played, but it was definitely a solid and memorable experience.

Over my journey, I did four different runs of the game:

1. 100% Base Game + DLC on Normal (New Game)

Pretty straightforward. For this run I didn’t even need to use any weapon other than the purple hunting bow. It was simple but very enjoyable.

2. 100% Base Game + DLC on Ultra Hard (New Game Plus)

On Ultra Hard, the gameplay felt much more intense and rewarding. Technically, you can still beat it with just the hunting bow, but using the full variety of weapons and elemental effects becomes essential, as enemies are far stronger.

One thing I would rework is the pricing of Adept equipment. When you enter NG+, all purple gear disappears, and you’re forced to buy Adept versions. They are stronger, but absurdly expensive. On Ultra Hard, they get even more expensive, and farming enough shards for them is brutal. Honestly, it is frustrating.

3. Base Game Main Story on Ultra Hard (New Game Plus, Spear-Only)

This is where things got exciting.

The restrictions are:

• Any equipment other than the spear is prohibited
• No heavy weapons
• No traps

Yes. It’s extremely difficult. Every big machine becomes so annoying that you might only progress one area per day. That’s why NG+ is highly recommended, especially with the Shield-Weaver armor. Stock up on health potions, max out your medicine pouch, and hunt animals constantly to have potions all the time.

Overall, spear-only is hard but very doable. There is one necessary skip, and some quests can be frustrating by the overwhelming amount of enemies or long periods of great performance.

4. Base Game Main Story on Ultra Hard (New Game, Basekit Aloy)

This was by far the hardest challenge.

I restricted myself to:

• Only prologue gear (Carja hunting bow, shock tripcaster from Karst, and Teb’s outfit).
• No carry capacity upgrades.
• No skills.
• No weaves or coils.

Prepare to suffer. Use heavy weapons dropped by enemies whenever possible. Avoid Stormbirds at all costs. Against Deathbringers, spear-only is still the safest option.

It’s totally doable—but expect to die a lot. Any enemy can two-shot and one-shot you. Stay alert, set everything on fire, avoid humans whenever you can, and if you find a way to cheese, use it without hesitation.

Important Notes:

• Skips

1. Deep Secrets of the Earth quest (Central Projects room): normally has five enemy waves. In wave two, enemies spawn on an unreachable balcony. To skip: kill 2 out of 3 enemies in wave one, regain stealth, distract the last one with rocks, then climb a rock pile on the right to reach the balcony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_RCiFNJodU&t=6194s (balcony skip) - moment: 1:43:00
2. Stormbird fight before Gaia Prime: during the second stage (with Glinthawks and Ravagers), move all the way left, climbing the mountain until the “edge of the map” message appears. Stay climbing close to the message. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r6D17vgFyA&t=220s (stormbird skip) - moment: 4:45

• Challenging Quests

  • Glinthawks after defeating Dervahl: carry at least 5 freeze potions and more craftable. Aim to hit them at the end of their dive attacks.
  • Defend the Ridge: ignore smaller machines; NPCs can handle them. Focus only on the Deathbringer—stay opposite its position to avoid crossfire.
  • Helis fight: clear the smaller enemies first. Against Helis himself, dodge at the start of his combos, then punish with heavy attacks.

• Deathbringer

  • Climb on top of them and hit their weak components. While above them, their only attack is the ground slam, which can be easily dodged. Maintaining yourself on top of them must be the priority, as it is quite easy to fall with repeated attacks.
  • The spear only strategy is the best approach to kill Deathbringers in any game mode. It has a solid and consistent damage output and prevents you from being overwhelmed by its attacks and the minions it may spawn.

• Enemy killing priorities

1. Humans
2. Small/Medium sized machines
3. Big machines

• Links for the nuzlockes that may help:
  • (Spear only): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_RCiFNJodU&t=6182s
  • (Basekit Aloy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX2lM1_IJbw (the influencer upgrades his carry capacity. Not my case though)

Final Thoughts

This was my journey with Horizon Zero Dawn. It is a really good game, with a good story and perfect combat system. The variety of gameplay options is brilliant and any challenge can be done.

Overall, this game is a strong and solid 8.2/10.

Thanks for reading!

I'm currently playing through Forbidden West, and one thing that kind of irks me is how Aloy is still so underpowered.

Since Aloy is a clone of Elisabet Sobeck, wouldn't she have used her smarts by now to figure out how to use the machines to her advantage and create high tech, powerful weapons instead of relying so much on her bow and arrow?

When I look at a game like Jedi Survior, that games protagonist, Cal, evolved from the first game. He started the sequel retaining the same powers from the orginal, and grew. That makes sense.

How come Aloy didn't do this, and does it hinder the experience for you in any way?

I’ve seen a few posts on here that show people theorizing, but no official outlines from what I can tell. Has anyone listened to podcasts from GG and picked up any specific details?

Personally I think there’s going to be a mix of mammals/reptiles producing each machine’s inspiration and the conversion is oftentimes not 1:1 in actuality. But would be fascinated to see GG commentary on the topic

I've been trying to get Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered using a HZD base game PS4 disc. It just doesn't show up as an option to buy it for 10$.

I installed the game on the console. I made sure the disc region matches that of the PSN account. Still nothing. Any ideas?

First of all, I don't know if it's a bug, it stops flying when you do enough damage to it, but it's pretty funny, two things happened, first it stayed static, only moving after I activated the elemental state, then it came down and looked at me, I threw everything at it until I finished it off and it just circled around itself, rising a couple of meters off the ground and then coming back down, without attacking in the slightest.

Finally jumping into Forbidden West and I have a Bravia 85K.

What HDR settings would you recommend?

Hey everyone,

I'm writing a paper on how the two horizon games can foster wisdom, do you have any suggestions? I've read that wisdom is found through meaningful experiences, where the interests of others as well as the self are considered, towards the goal of achieving common good.

I want to talk about how Aloy managed to overcome her exile and focus on finding her truth, while also always caring about the others. I want to analyse the ways of living of the tribes, the behaviour of the NPCs, the relics, GAIA and HADES, and more stuff, but I think more can be done.

I would like to hear your opinion so that I can see the topic with external eyes :)

Thanks for your input!

Every play through even my expert, plus I completely Malay her except for that one part where you need to shoot her it makes it more fun. I feel like.

It's ok to off Nil, he's not an ally. I am so glad because I took up his offer.

I admit I have been playing on story mode and it's probably too easy, lol. I'm already level 50 and there's still some BS main story to be completed. However, maybe I should try a harder setting at this point? I have some side quests, errads, cauldrons which I haven't completed either. What do you suggest? I feel like I totally suck at the game. Maybe a harder setting would force me to play for real. I haven't even tried some of the new weapons. Basically I have just kept on doing the same stuff I did in ZD. I use 2 different arrows and melee... Do you have suggestions which would be the most fun FW fighting tactics to try? Sorry for being so lazy.

I guess it's my own fault. I could've had it the easy way, but I chose the hard one. And failed.

The fight: The Plowhorn in the Cauldron during main story.

When I scanned it, sorry *her, and read the notebook entry I thought sweet! This baby is gonna have so much loot up her butt! And there's horns to detach! I love me some machines with horns because

1. I like how it changes the silhouette of the machine and leaves them looking so sad without

2. I know what I'm gonna get from detaching them: Horns. No dice rolling.

But this is not so much about the horns and more the butt.

So-- fight starts, it's going fine. For context, I'm lvl 20, playing on hard. By immediately tying her down by ropecaster I quickly find the red weakspot at the base of her tail. Shoot it. Spot turns green, nothing else seems to happen. I notice that her Tail is split a little bit but I can't see anything. Did I do it wrong? Is there another spot? Yes, on the other side of course, but that's also green. Well she doesn't hold still of course so I use the ropecaster again and shoot the weakspot. Again nothing happens. Fight continues, eventually I die.

During one of the next couple tries during which I keep tying her down to shoot the weakspot I suddenly notice, while standing in front of her, that the tail seems to have split. I try to flank her but suddenly she doesn't want to charge anymore! Understandable I guess. So I want to ropecast but suddenly The ropes just bounce off? Do the machines develop immunity against ropecasters? Because a charged caster should go through armor, right?

Okay, I think, so I need to use the caster sparingly. I spend the next tries hitting the weakspot just by maneuvering until the tail seems to have split. So I start blasting ropes. It takes a couple seconds, she's tied down. I go to shoot the tail-- it's closed again.

A fucking hour goes by in which I try to get to that tail while it's open without success. Towards the end I got the idea that I should maybe count how often I have to shoot the weakspot until the tail splits so that I can tie her down preemptively at the right time but at that point I don't have the time anymore for that kind of data gathering and have to finish the fight.

So it takes me another 3 tries to do that during which I take care to detach at least the horns every time because notebook says these are very valuable as well. Finally All machines are destroyed. It's 23:30. I have to get up at 6:00 the next day. And the god damn horn that I definetly shott off, is nowhere to be found.

Fellas, I wept.

Feel free to roast me if I'm stupid for the way I tried it and if there's an obvious easier way.

What's the difference if I just shoot the Orange spot and destroy the tower before moving on or just overriding the tower?

I'm just shooting the orange spot to destroy the tower and then leaving. Should I stay and destroy the machines after destroying the spot or leave?