I really tried to like the sequel. I started it up not once, not twice... three times! But on every try I got discouraged by the very grainy graphics, the boring story and the uninteresting characters. Also controls weren´t as smooth as last time. I tried a lot to improve graphics. I asked the Internet, I asked ChatGPT, I asked my IT spouse. Nothing would help with the grainy image. Everything looked blurred. Faces also weren´t as pretty as in the first game. During dialog I caught myself checking my phone. It just couldn´t hold my attention. Characters were also not too great. Aloy in particular was rude, always in a hurry and very condescending towards men. All men are idiots here and can only be saved by the ladys. I am a girl gamer myself and I like representation, but make it believable. Controls are a bit imprecise, which led me to jump off very high towers more than I like to admit. So, for me a very regrettable "not recommend". Very regrettable indeed since...

After finishing all the main quests, side quests, collectibles, and the Burning Shores DLC in over 114 hours of gameplay, I just want to share my personal thoughts. Just as a note, I’ve already played Horizon Zero Dawn before, so this is coming from that experience. I feel like a lot of things have been improved compared to the previous game. I don’t even need to talk about the visuals—obviously, with a 4-year gap, the graphics and visual quality are absolutely stunning. One of the improvements I noticed is that Coils and Weaves can now be stacked in your inventory, making it way more spacious and easier to manage. Weapon upgrades are now more progressive, the world feels more alive, and you can even randomly talk to some NPCs now (even if they only say generic lines). In this sequel, we get tons of new features like the Shieldwing, Pullcaster, diving gear, and a more flexible climbing system that makes exploration much easier. We also get to face new, more brutal and aggr...

The game is bloated, overdesigned and has completly lost the charm of the first one. Combat in particular is way worse. Controling Aloy is clunky and finicky, machines have instant gap closer and ranged attacks with either insane AOE or homing projectiles. Most of the time your dodge/roll is useless. It's not hard, it's tedious and not fun The writing is still mediocre and female-centric.

I was really enjoying this game, much like I enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn. However, after 42.7 hours of playing the game, the audio just stopped working on it. No game or menu sounds, no matter what I have done to try and fix the problem. Every other game works on my computer just fine except for this one. I finally got to the point with customer service where Steam said to contact Sony and Sony said to contact Steam. As I am well past being able to get a refund, this is really the only way I can warn others. Many people seem to have played the game through without this issue, but that wasn't my experience.

Near perfect sequel. The praise I can give this game is far greater than my only two minor complaints; those being the climbing/parkour snap is clunky and there is just a bit too much hand holding which can be made better but not all together eliminated. The climbing snap can be improved by having the climbable surfaces indicator always on in settings to show where you can and cant climb, but the mechanic itself is awkward at times.

It's not that game is *bad* per se, it's just that.....well, yes actually it is bad. Go buy Zero Dawn instead. This is not the sequel you've been looking for. First of all, the story is just dumb. If it's the same writer (and I'd be surprised if it was) as they first one then they were high while they wrote this one. It's garbage. The dialog is also not near as good. They completely jumped the shark. I won't spoil stuff, except to say it's really, really stupid. And worse yet, it does a disservice to the first game. But let's talk about gameplay. Well, they turned the nice, tight, clean combat system into an absolute mess. Better have acid and fire and cold and electric arrows for different monster types! Which I think is fine for an RPG but this is no RPG. Also way more of an emphases on hitting the exact part of the enemies that they want you to, instead of just fighting the way you want to fight. It's their way or the highway. And "their way" is, well, stupid. And the climbing syste...

Gameplay wise, it's more of the last game. But when it comes to the story it's a drag to get through. In the first game, Aloy being salty and untrusting of people made sense, since we watched how she was treated by her own tribe. But, doing that game we made friends and had a more open Aloy. The begining of this game, we're back to salty, untrusting Aloy. And I get it's because she feels the presure of being the chosen one, but her pushing just mean to all her friends just put me off the charecter, and everything that was build up through the last game is just thrown on the floor. I really want to finish the game, to see how the story ends, but it's just painful to get there.

Spoiler free review. After thoroughly enjoying the first game I wish I never started playing the sequel. Even though I waited months for it to be sold on PC. The moment I started playing I noticed just how bad the audio is. I honestly thought my PC had issues processing audio - I use external DAC and a headset and no game so far had any issues with this setup but I was still sceptical. After watching videos online I had my confirmation that in fact it was the sound design that was sub-par to say the least. It feels as if sometimes half of audio is absent but that's just how it is. Never mind, I ploughed through, maybe this will change. Next thing was infuriating controls e.g. double arrow tap means dive and roll. I dove off many cliffs until I finally changed the controls. Talking about cliffs - the climbing mechanics are outright annoying. I don't enjoy them, nor I found them useful, might as well not have them in game. Felt half baked, bit like audio. Next onto the foes. I would ...

In this second game unfortunately, the beauty of the world is undermined by a weak narrative structure and underwhelming character arcs. The story often feels bloated with exposition, lacking any emotional beat, and it fails to deliver a compelling or cohesive arc. Many characters remain flat, and the pacing struggles to balance worldbuilding with forward momentum. However, the biggest disappointment comes at the end. Instead of a satisfying resolution, the game closes with a poorly executed cliffhanger that feels more like a business decision than a creative one. After investing dozens of hours, it left me feeling that I did all for nothing. Fkn ridiculous. It really left a very bad taste, I did not finish the DLC, and proceeded to uninstall it. For me, that ending was a dealbreaker. Buy it only if it's on sale. Fortunately, I bought it with discount.

Great game, great performance. You can see that it was crafted with love. Soundtrack is sick, graphics breathtaking.