Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West and DLC SPOILERS Thread

I've been using the Spinthorn Spike Thrower a lot, I gotta say, I love Spike Throwers. Aloy puts Olympians to shame. Haha. So far I probably prefer Zero Dawn, but I am absolutely going to miss my Spike Throwers when playing that game now.

Wait, what? You can ride different mounts now?!? I didn't know this!!!!

I rarely use the default one anyway since I have to get off every few seconds anyway. If I need to travel large distances I use camp fast travel. But I'd really like to ride a bigger mount. Damn, I need to try this!

As for the HDR, I don't really see much wrong with it. Or I've gotten used to it. The game is a bit bright but it looks way better than turning it off. I have my TV on low brightness anyway since I'm sensitive to it. I'm not sure though that is also true for the gaming setting. Need to check.

Btw did they fix Aloy's eye darting around? It seems fine now.

I LOVE having three companions in the base now. It gives off such BioWare vibes. Very well done. They'll chat about new stuff depending on story progress. And all the voice acting is superb.

I don't know how Guerilla did it but they're my favorite storytellers after CDPR now. I hope they continue to make amazing games. I'd be super thrilled about a new franchise too. Would play more Horizon though if the ending is not an ending again.

The mandatory follow-up quest to Posaidon was interesting. I'm still a bit undecided on the main story this time. At first I thought it was really stupid and the villains very cartoonish. And they still are. But it's also interesting and I'm eager to see where they go with this. Even if the main story's plot seems a bit hokey, the presentation and narrative are still great. And I'm having a blast with the game.

Can somebody who finished the game tell me if the 3 main quests are the majority of the game or more like first half? I feel like I'll need way more than 50h this time to do everything in the game.

Kappa Neko, I agree about the big villain being a bit cartoony. That said, the big villain is exactly whom I thought it would be after the first game. In fact, there have been no real surprises yet. I didn't predict every individual NPC, of course, but the story is just what I expected. My (no doubt) lengthy posts about it are probably here somewhere. I think expecting it prepared me for the cheesiness.

I remembered you feeling like the game was too bright, initially. Like me, you also got used to it. 😄 It's easy enough to pause the game and try out different in-game settings if you wish. I had gotten used to it but was so relieved when I made the switch. It looks so much better now. It was actually taxing my eyes so subtly that I wasn't noticing. I'm very light-sensitive, too.

I would feel bad about the mount "spoiler" but it sounds like you've made it far enough that it's more a case of being something you hadn't yet noticed. Bristlebacks and Clawstriders are mounts.

They're slower than Chargers. This doesn't make much sense in the case of Clawstriders, but I guess they were "balancing" them. 🙄 As with the artificial limit on traps, I don't think it makes any sense. Afraid we'll exclusively ride Clawstriders for most of the game? Of course we would. Why does that matter? Sigh. Still, an Elemental Clawstrider mount is a hell of a companion when fighting machines, especially machines vulnerable to their specific element.

OK, I checked my TV settings. It was at max brightness for gaming after all. Everything default. So I put it to "game" preset which seems to be a warmer tone, plus less bright despite being at max brightness there too. Huh. I'll roll with it and have a look if it makes much of a difference and if I even care so this point, having gotten used to the visuals of the game.

I had the most nerve wrecking seemingly endless battle against clamberjaws in the jungle today that seemed to keep respawning. It was total insanity. At some point I was out of healing. But I was not ready to abandon all the loot! So I circled around and found some healing. I think by the end it was like 10 dead machines. I had used up almost all traps. Bristlebacks joined in the fun too. There was one up on a ledge spotting me as I thought I was FINALLY alone to get the loot, omg...

Also, the first thunderjaw I killed during a quest must have been a training model. The one I found in the wild ate my acid traps like it was nothing. I think it detoned 7 of them and still wouldn't go down. There were drones circling it dealing damage that I had never seen before. First attempt I died. Second time I killed it but damn it was close.

I finally did the Kulrut, no big deal. Although that machine took a while to kill. So I'm about to hand in function no. 2. I still have about half the map to uncover!

Wait, the trophy doesn't require us to scan every variation of each machine, does it? Now that I think about it, though, I probably have scanned every variation in the game. I'll check tomorrow. I know I've seem Sentry Scroungers, but I bet they weren't Apex. It was too early in the game. Now I'm going to have to watch for those guys. Maybe they'll spawn in the Daunt or NML at night?

One of the two machines I'm missing is right behind the Clawstrider on the list. Since they're generally listed in order of toughness and challenge, I have a suspect. The place where the story goes next makes me all the more confident in my suspicion. The second missing machine is the last on the list. I imagine I'll see it near the very end of the story.


Kappa Neko, you went all out checking TV settings! I'm happy with my TV settings, so I don't mess with those. I was referencing the visuals settings in the Forbidden West's Settings menu. They're much easier and less intrusive to adjust! I knocked Brightness down to -4 and Highlights down to -8. (Both have a starting point of zero.) It's worked well for me.


For most of today, I hung out with my pup son. 😄 I love that little dude. He was happy to have things back to normal, with normal being us attached at the hip and no sharing me with the PS4. I managed to play for a couple of hours in the evening.

I completed a number of quests in and around Plainsong. Resolving the level 15 quest I discovered yesterday in No Man's Land setup an additional new quest in Plainsong. I was able to help a couple of the same characters again.

I also discovered two other quests in Plainsong. I love how the quests in this game have real stories, interesting scenarios, and good acting. They really made an effort here, and it shows. Naturally, I completed everything I discovered.

I helped Zo complete something important to her and did the same for Kotallo. It was a productive two hours.


I reached level 50 today. I'm still filling in skills here and there, but Aloy's pretty powerful now. I have several Legendary weapons and two such armors. I've reached the point where I just ride past whatever is around, unconcerned with being attacked. If they attack, they get added to my resources stash. 😆

The game becomes far less difficult once you have the correct ammunition for any challenge. That's pretty much the entire point to the gear-acquisition metagame. I'm loathe to restart from scratch after playing so long to accumulate this stuff. Ah, well. There's plenty of stuff left to go, yet.

Also, the machines in Forbidden West are downright passive. I guess it's probably because I always play HZD on Ultra Hard. UH made excellent changes to machine aggression, behaviors, etc... It has always felt like UH allows me to play in the world the NPCs describe rather than a toned down version. I'll be eagerly awaiting Ultra Hard (and NG+) for Forbidden West.

I saved for the evening after turning in the penultimate ornament to Stemmur. I love that dude and Morland as well. That group is a standout among many good NPCs. (Morland's face reminds me of Nathan Drake, and his name reminds me of Morlan on the Citadel.)

Tomorrow, I'll go into the southern lowlands to see what's happening in The Valley of the Fallen. I may try once more to win another race. We'll see. I want that weapon! 🤨 Then, it's off into the farthest west.

After finishing Forbidden West, I decided to start another playthrough of Zero Dawn, and noticed that Ashly Burch's voice is noticeably deeper in Forbidden West. I call it the Jack Sparrow effect. She's great, though. I think everyone in the main cast is fantastic, with the exception being Carrie-Anne Moss, who unfortunately phoned it in.

I got some more trophies in FW, including unlocking all cauldrons and overriding 10 machine types. I don't think I'm going for platinum at this time, however, because I don't feel like playing Strike and completing all the hunter trials.

I completed the Sea of Sands quest. I have to say it's probably my favorite quest.

Did you know in 1956 Elvis Parsley perfarmed in Las Vegas?


These guys are excellent in the game



Went back to my first playthrough to collect a few things. I like some of the comments from Stemmur


Went for another ride in the sky with Morlund

I am as well. My first playthrough has most stuff. Collecting the materials is a pain. I mean how many seagulls to I have to kill to get a gull feather? 

She's more confident, matured from her experience from the events of dealing with all the stuff she faced in Dawn.

Strike is a pain. I got lucky getting the trophy for that. I had no idea what I was doing. The hunter trials weren't bad. I had to go to youtube to understand the requirements. The same with the melee pits. Those were poorly worded. Saw a comment on youtube that cleared things up to understand what the game was asking.

The platinum trophy isn't bad. I believe Dawn was harder to get.

It's not really about the challenge. I just don't feel like doing them.

Edit: Maybe I'm still too traumatised from the shell-walker challenge in HZD. I only ever played that after they patched it to make it harder.

SofaJockey, I saw what you meant about the Alpha Sentinel Scrounger not being in the game. I never scanned one, and I'm three of three on Scroungers.

It makes sense, in this case. Wouldn't an Alpha Sentinel Scrounger simply be a Scrapper? Scrappers seem to just be the more combat-ready version of the Scrounger.


I really enjoy the Hunting Grounds. That said, I left those in Forbidden West, along with the Fighting Pits, for the post-game. They will be something to enjoy after the main story has concluded. I likewise need to finish the races.

I'm sure I could've put the rewards to good use, but I seem well enough armed to finish the game easily. I'll make sure everything is 100% for my eventual NG+.

I finally have all purple gear. No idea how to get legendary gear...

I realized why I suck at Strike and cannot beat players: all my pieces are green... They have crap attack power. FINALLY, after dozens of hours I have found one carver that actually sells better ones! I could only afford a blue one though. The resource requirements for everything in this game are insane. Was that the case with HZD as well? I don't recall it being this tough.

Most of my gear progression has been blocked by missing materials for ages. Even when I go out and try to get parts, I don't manage. Like the clamberjaws tails. These bastards move around so fast I can't even hit it in slow motion often enough.

Killed my first slitherfang in the wilds no problem but of course didn't get what I needed.
I'm always out of machine muscle now too, so I'm low on traps all the time. Ugh. Getting slightly frustrated with the grind I would have to go through to get all this stuff.

Tried another hunting ground (I've completed 2 so far relatively easy once I understood the instructions which was not always the case...) and I don't understand how I'm supposed to shock a tremortusk. I have shock arrows and they don't even come close to getting the job done. The meter is like 10% full after I've unloaded everything I've got. WTF. Shock trip wires do nothing, either. How is this supposed to work?? My bow is a purple warrior bow with shock ammo. I don't understand.

The follow up quest to Morlund was again amazing. That Stormbird though, that took a while... Also I did not expect this quests to take like an hour. I went to bed way too late last night, think it would be an easy fetch and be done quest. Very funny stuff though!

It's a bit annoying that new quests won't show up on the map until you're actually there. Guess I'll have to revisit ALL settlements then!
Just as well, I need new face paint to go with my new Nora outfit. Been running around with Carja face paint on the red tenakth outfit. Which is a great combination. My favorite outfit so far too and great stats. Not too fond of most of the face paint though. Btw that tenakth tribe with black/red/yellow face paint keeps cracking me up. They should be called the German soccer fans tribe, lol.

Man, the base feels like I'm playing a BioWare game. All this banter, I LOVE IT!

That oseram sidequest about using a bristleback to find buried loot? Yeah fuck the machine respawn rate! The one in the ruin tunnel? Took forever to clear it out. I decide to do a quick save, I come back from 50 feet over and the machines are back. Thanks... By the time I killed them again my bristleback was dead. I go find a new one, I return. Respawn. Managed to get the bristleback to dig the stuff up before it got attacked and destroyed. I decided, fuck this shit, took the loot and ran...

I also hated that quest. Though I made it worse by setting my Bristleback to aggressive, it was wandering all over the place "investigating", I'm thinking is it actually looking for the scrap or am I just getting jerked around. Yeah, I pretty much was. LOL. When I tried again in passive mode it went a lot better. As for the machines, I ended up just waiting for them to leave after killing the human enemies.

I'm also enjoying the banter. Aloy's dating advice... not great. Haha. The narrator guy is pretty funny, I wish he had more lines.

Aww. That look when Aloy's made a new friend, just the slightest grin.