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Every action adventure The game comes with its own unique style of play, baked in. The battle is intricately organized; tools and weapons – from health promotion to special bombs and traps – are plentiful. Many of them are designed with the intention of players switching between melee and remote combat, depending on the type of battle in which they are. It is beautiful.
But for those who delete buttons, these carefully crafted systems are almost useless. For people who fight like me, the “strategy” of the games – if you can call it that – is just a mixture of adrenaline, panic and anxiety. If there is a tool to be used in a particular battle, you can count on the fact that I will ignore it, unless victory is impossible without it. When a battle requires more than one button (maybe two if we’re talking about a remote battle), there’s a good chance I’ll never finish. If I can’t knock plastic to win, I hit the sidewalk to find another challenge.
That all changed a few weeks ago when I started Horizon Zero Dawn in New Game +. For those who may not know, this is the feature that allows you to start a whole new game, but with all your equipment, skills and other achievements from your previous conquest intact. It’s a terrible name, but a great feature – and when I started my refreshing game (I’m getting ready for Horizon Forbidden West2022 edition), it provided a whole new way to learn how to play.
The first time I played Horizon Zero Dawn, my battle was not worthy of Aloy. I used melee much more than remotely (although melee battle is one of the worse features of the game) and didn’t even bother to check the enemy’s weaknesses. Part of that was anxiety, but beyond that, Zero dawn has a wonderful story and I was eager to find out how it ended. The battle from a distance just made it too difficult and time consuming to get where I wanted to go.
Starting with New Game +, however, let’s start at level 55 with my intact ancient armor. I was practically invincible. As such, I did not panic when the machines rushed at me. And armor protection meant I could take a few blows while trying different tools and tactics. Oh, and since playing New Game + was a lot easier (no tutorials), I was less eager to get to the end.
It turned out that New Game + was the perfect opportunity for me to really understand how to play Horizon Zero Dawn. The armor gave me the confidence I needed to figure out how Tripcaster worked, or to use Ropecaster to tie a few Glinthawks so I could beat them in time (you’re no idea how difficult they are to kill if you rely on a melee battle).
If you are a fan of learning exactly how to play any game, this may seem ridiculous. But the fact is, Horizon Zero Dawn is a challenge even with the easiest settings. Getting the extra New Game + pillow really helped me appreciate the intricacies of the way the title was meant to be played.
That’s why I’m such an advocate for immortality settings in video games. If you end up dying 20 times while just trying to figure out how to use a tool, you’re almost guaranteed to think, “I’m just going to rush in and start rocking!” Instead of finding art in this kind of battle. If you’re designing a complex combat system and want as many people as possible to actually use it, then giving people an extra boost through Immortality Mode or New Game + isn’t just a good idea – it’s life-saving.
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