Firstly, this game absolutely nails 2 things. Exploration, and "game feel". The world is stunning, interesting, and so much fun to explore. On top of that the feeling of running around, rolling, sneaking, and using weapons is fantastic! I found climbing the long-necks to be one of the most unique and cool aspects of the game

With regards to the story, it's OK. On the good side, I was surprisingly satisfied with the explanation for why things are the way they are. There wasn't any moments I was like, 'but, why?' (which I was expecting with such a weird world). However, despite how interesting the world is, the actual campaign story is just okay. It honestly spends too much time trying to explain all the lore, and setting up a totally uninspiring final boss, and not enough time fleshing out any interesting characters and locations in the world. Regardless, Aloy is a likeable character, and there are at least a few good story beats (the prologue is also nice).

Where this game feels the weakest is in boss fights. Thankfully, there aren't many, but the ones that do exist shoot themselves in the foot by making the enemies massive. The fights ultimately come down to you just hiding and shooting as many arrows as you can into 1 or 2 places for about 10-15 minutes. The mid-teir enemies (like the t-rex thing) are far more fun and challenging since they chase you down and you actually need to react.

Finally, a small nitpick I have with the game is combat variety. The game has enough ideas for enemies and a few different ways to fight them, that you can get through the game without it getting too repetitive. However, this game struggles with a common game design challenge, where the player will find the more efficient way to fight enemies, and once they do, they will never have any real reason to change. I found that I reached that point around 3/4 of the way through, which isn't bad, but having some more options for melee would have been nice. Your mileage may vary..

Overall fantastic game, easily 8/10 maybe 9/10 for me

Firstly, this game absolutely nails 2 things. Exploration, and "game feel". The world is stunning, interesting, and so much fun to explore. On top of that the feeling of running around, rolling, sneaking, and using weapons is fantastic! I found climbing the long-necks to be one of the most unique and cool aspects of the game With regards to the story, it's OK. On the good side, I was surprisingly satisfied with the explanation for why things are the way they are. There wasn't any moments I was like, 'but, why?' (which I was expecting with such a weird world). However, despite how interesting the world is, the actual campaign story is just okay. It honestly spends too much time trying to explain all the lore, and setting up a totally uninspiring final boss, and not enough time fleshing out any interesting characters and locations in the world. Regardless, Aloy is a likeable character, and there are at least a few good story beats (the prologue is also nice). Where this game feels the weakest is in boss fights. Thankfully, there aren't many, but the ones that do exist shoot themselves in the foot by making the enemies massive. The fights ultimately come down to you just hiding and shooting as many arrows as you can into 1 or 2 places for about 10-15 minutes. The mid-teir enemies (like the t-rex thing) are far more fun and challenging since they chase you down and you actually need to react. Finally, a small nitpick I have with the game is combat variety. The game has enough ideas for enemies and a few different ways to fight them, that you can get through the game without it getting too repetitive. However, this game struggles with a common game design challenge, where the player will find the more efficient way to fight enemies, and once they do, they will never have any real reason to change. I found that I reached that point around 3/4 of the way through, which isn't bad, but having some more options for melee would have been nice. Your mileage may vary.. Overall fantastic game, easily 8/10 maybe 9/10 for me