Horizon Zero Dawn - Easy Allies Review

everyone who is not reading the texts under the videos is really missing out. Love it!

Tim Bechen

Great writing and editing on this one. Thanks for putting in the effort. Like Maxwell, I loved the footage you chose for the patreon-note at the end.

Domino Hurley

I think the angst is that this gen has seen a big drop in the number of games scoring 90+ , but that the quality of games is not lower and might even be higher. Personally I'm a bit worried that new IPs are going to be marginalised more and more if the only games allowed to score 90+ are from established franchises or developers with that top level of expectation e.g. Zelda, TLG. And I don't want people new to, or returning to console gaming to look at Metacritic and think wow, this gen really doesn't have as many masterpieces as previous gens, I wonder what went wrong?.. because nothing went wrong and we have just as many masterpieces and developers are working just as hard as ever.

Fantastic review, but I especially like your little added Patreon note here. I'm definitely at least part Brandon Jones. Looking forward to playing this 4 1/2 star game! Towers that walk hype! ^_^

Max Jahner

Great review. This will end at 87 or 86 MC

Great review! But the negative attitude (against the game) of some allies, probably had influence on the final score. Anyway, keep it up.

I don't get what everyone is so uptight over. Not every game this year is gonna be a solid 9. Despite how the game LOOKS, it's falling short on narrative. And while others will praise it to death simply for having a "Strong female lead character" that does not in it and of itself create a strong narrative. Rather than question why this score was lower, you might want to inspect why everyone else is so quick to throw 9s at it. I think the review did it justice, and told the truth. I'm curious what Jones couldn't discuss in it though. I personally am still more likely to play this game due to Jones' covering of it than from any other media/marketing I've seen of it thus far, so I thank him for that. It's just gonna take a backseat until after Zelda and maybe after Ghost Recon.

ZyloWolfBane

EZA seems to be lower on this game than the likes of GameSpot, Polygon, IGN, Kinda Funny, etc... (Relatively, 4.0 still a excellent score) Who all have it mid to high 9s. That combined with this review means it is a consensus great game critically so it is probably worth checking out. I think Horizon and Zelda are going to hurt each other though so close together

Brogan Trull

Dude Brandon, Your editing skills are on POINT with this review. I actually went back to the front of the video too make sure who edited it to say congrats. Very good review, best in the bizz.

Untill that 5 stars Drops =P

It just kept my expectations in check the whole time. I was invested for the XP, not the emotions - until the very end. - Brandon

Easy Allies

Yeah. I don't often (or really ever) disagree with EZA on a score, but the whole script of this review sounded like a 4.5. I can't wait to hear a group discussion on this to get more EZA opinions. But... now I have to go see what Kinda Funny thinks.

Shane Sanders

Outstanding review!

Jason Walstrom

I'm impressed embargo and review copies were given out so far in advance of release. That alone bodes well for the confidence the development team and publishers have in this game. Good review as well Brandon.

Mango

The review said that it was important to do side quests to unlock her abilities. Also it seems like there is a big chunk of the story they aren't allowed to talk about yet

Derek McCasky

From what I saw/heard in this review (and couple of others) this seems to still be the game I really want to play. I really don't know, but the slight graphical issues may be fixed with a day one patch.

Derrick DesRoches

I was very hyped about this game till I watched this review. I love story based games and character development. Even though Jones gave this game a 4/5 (Excellent) rating, is that all down to it's RPG and combat mechanics? Does the story and character development really take away from the game? Or did it just fall short of your expectations? Also, there was no mention of side quests. Does that mean there aren't any or are they of no importance?

Dileepan M

so is fair to say this looks better than Breath of the Wild ;)

John Meza

I'm so happy that you got a review copy from Playstation and managed to get the review up before the game even released! Thank you Jones! I'm also just learned that I'm also a Brandon Jones because I'm SO HYPED FOR THIS GAME OMG T_T

Nut Kon

Man I really want this game to sell well. The industry as a whole needs to be reminded that it's still worth taking chances on a new IP every now and then.

Reinbach

Ouch 4/5 is a bit lower than I expected given the tone of the review, and the game is one 90+ review from a 90 on metacritic... such a shame to see games like these denied the 90+ range that was handed out like candy in previous gens, I guess it's good that we are more critical this gen but then TLG got a 5/5 from EZA and though I love hat game it has many objective flaws in things like performance that Horizon seemingly doesn't have, and actually pushes the boundaries in terms of tech I don't know what scores mean anymore, I guess the answer to that is "don't worry about scores" which is fine but so long as they are given out, MC is a thing, and so long as MC is a thing, the financial future of devs are largely impacted by it... I'm sure GG will make bank regardless but I bet there's a significant sales difference between 89 and 90.

I realy enjoy this one

Kamos

Nicely done

GreatPowerfulOz

Great review, did the story effect your experience of the game that much?

Ibrahim Sozer

Although I don't mind reviews dropping later (should be done right instead of quick if you have to pick one imo) it's cool to see a review hit right after embargo. Good stuff, Jones!

Bill Kelly

Wow I'm guessing the embargo just ended. Excellent timing!

ZyloWolfBane