4/5 ★ – daisytreloar's review of Horizon: Zero Dawn Complete Edition.

this took me a long time to get into – I found the inventory/upgrade system not particularly intuitive, and the combat not hugely enjoyable, and, at first, the world not very interesting (I’ve never been a massive fan of robots or anything mech) THAT SAID. As soon as I got to Meridian I was blown away! The landscapes became far more stunning and diverse, and the more I explored the world the more comfortable I felt roaming it. The story went from strength to strength and I found myself really engaged in its teasing reveals. The music is also top notch (added to my work playlist) and the whole schabang has got me super excited for Forbidden West. I’m a big fan of stealth and close combat so if the next game really doubled down on these elements (when I was trying to kill Eclipse warriors at close range I just sort of hacked them to death repetitively) I think it would benefit greatly. (P.S. yeah I admit I put the difficulty down to story mode and it was at that point I started getting in the flow a lot more. You’ve got to pick your battles and as I wasn’t enjoying the combat much anyway I just swallowed my pride and changed it. Don’t judge me) (P.P.S. Aloy date me pls)