Just really not a fan of the machine combat. That's why I decided to stop playing. The equipment sandbox (settings traps, using different kind of arrows, etc.) is perfectly fine. In fact that's what drew me into the game initially. I was really excited to use them tactically to take down different types of machines.

The problem is that every machine past the first few weak types is a bullet sponge. You have to knock of their armor slowly, pumping arrows into them and doing only 1 damage at a time, so you can eventually deal more damage (60-90), or deal reasonable damage immediately with a hard to land critical hit. They can also kill Aloy in a few hits which I guess makes sense for giant machines, granted. Ok, so play tactically right? Fine. But the worst part is that once you aggro one machine, you aggro them all in a whole area. So even if you use your items intelligently to take down one machine, by the time you're halfway done using traps/bombs to stun it with an elemental weakness, run in and get a critical hit, then retreat, you got anywhere from 2-10 or more machines all swarming you at once before you even killed the first one.

And its a shame too, because I really liked the setting as well. It reminds me of Numenera or other science fantasy settings, a really underappreciated genre. There was a way to make this concept work too. Just put less machines on the map. spread them out more, don't make them fight in packs, and give more XP per machine kill. That would make individual machines more rewarding and fun to fight. Instead the game wants you to just avoid the combat, I guess? Which makes it a pain in the ass to go anywhere, because the machines are literally all over the entire map.

Putting the game on easier difficulties doesn't really fix the problem either. Sure, it makes machines beatable, but then you're just cartoonishly watching Aloy shrug off mortal wounds from a swarm of machines like Wonder Woman. Not exactly fun either. So its a deeper design flaw.

Then you got all the generic open world quest design where you do boring fetch quests for NPCs, don't make any choices, etc. Its your typical side quests for busy work/collectibles.

I was mildly invested in the story and wanted to learn more about the setting, but it isn't worth playing for that. Especially when the voice acting and writing is so poor in a lot of places.

One thing I will say is that the visuals are amazing. Proof positive modern games don't need experimental military hardware to look amazing while also running well. AAA developers should take note for that, but maybe not everything else in the game.

Just really not a fan of the machine combat. That's why I decided to stop playing. The equipment sandbox (settings traps, using different kind of arrows, etc.) is perfectly fine. In fact that's what drew me into the game initially. I was really excited to use them tactically to take down different types of machines. The problem is that every machine past the first few weak types is a bullet sponge. You have to knock of their armor slowly, pumping arrows into them and doing only 1 damage at a time, so you can eventually deal more damage (60-90), or deal reasonable damage immediately with a hard to land critical hit. They can also kill Aloy in a few hits which I guess makes sense for giant machines, granted. Ok, so play tactically right? Fine. But the worst part is that once you aggro one machine, you aggro them all in a whole area. So even if you use your items intelligently to take down one machine, by the time you're halfway done using traps/bombs to stun it with an elemental weakness, run in and get a critical hit, then retreat, you got anywhere from 2-10 or more machines all swarming you at once before you even killed the first one. And its a shame too, because I really liked the setting as well. It reminds me of Numenera or other science fantasy settings, a really underappreciated genre. There was a way to make this concept work too. Just put less machines on the map. spread them out more, don't make them fight in packs, and give more XP per machine kill. That would make individual machines more rewarding and fun to fight. Instead the game wants you to just avoid the combat, I guess? Which makes it a pain in the ass to go anywhere, because the machines are literally all over the entire map. Putting the game on easier difficulties doesn't really fix the problem either. Sure, it makes machines beatable, but then you're just cartoonishly watching Aloy shrug off mortal wounds from a swarm of machines like Wonder Woman. Not exactly fun either. So its a deeper design flaw. Then you got all the generic open world quest design where you do boring fetch quests for NPCs, don't make any choices, etc. Its your typical side quests for busy work/collectibles. I was mildly invested in the story and wanted to learn more about the setting, but it isn't worth playing for that. Especially when the voice acting and writing is so poor in a lot of places. One thing I will say is that the visuals are amazing. Proof positive modern games don't need experimental military hardware to look amazing while also running well. AAA developers should take note for that, but maybe not everything else in the game.