First, a tech issue. I had to apparently set the game to compatibility mode for Windows 8 in order for this game to function without crashing between ten minutes to an hour (or sometimes instantly) due to some memory leak error issue. Just wanted to mention that in case my review catches some Google searches.

Once again my review is roughly three years late, given I am playing the PC release. Some grander spoilers may already be known just through cultural osmosis, but I won't spend too much time talking about the story. It takes place somewhat immediately after the first game, within a few months. Aloy takes off almost immediately during the victory party from the first game as she's become privy to new information in short order: The terraforming system of the planet has gone haywire and the environment is becoming as deranged as the machines from the first game. It is Aloy's job to figure out why.

To wit, this game is very heavy on the "As You Know" ways of storytelling. "As you know' is in quoted verbatim by a character shortly after the prologue sequence. There's a lot of that as you explore dialog trees with your companions. I urge any players to just go ahead and play the first game. The general gameplay loop is very similar and beyond some janky face animations, Zero Dawn is a fine game on its own.

Meanwhile its sequel improves upon many aspects. Everything that worked, still works. The game is largely stealth-reliant as you hide in tall grass and snipe out some machine parts before they begin to notice you. Though many outfits in this game heavily rely on "lower health" statuses, a lot of them based around having half to thirty percent health which caters to folks that prefer the hack and slash melee. They'll do well here, with the right armor you will get a hefty dose of damage reduction. Frankly, I prefer to sneak around in the shadows and have half a machine's health half gone before they're even fully alerted. There's tricks for that as well, as the outfits in FW are significantly more nuanced. There's a late-game armor that adds more than one bonus to Concentration (slowing down time to give you a proper aim) and I have great joy sniping parts from the distance before a machine can turn towards me properly.

Speaking of equipment, that is expanded on greatly here. For good and for ill. It runs into the Sniper Elite issue of some sequels adding all manner of tools but other than laying down mines against vehicles, nothing really beats just sniping someone through a window. The same problem presents itself here. I still utilize the tripwire weapons to essentially protect myself from patrols as I begin my sniping spree, but the game introduces too many weapons that I haven't wasted much time trying to learn. We have some melee slicers that require timing to function. We get something that's essentially a machinegun (the projectiles are just wood instead), with a power move that lets you lay down the entire set of 30 shots within just a couple of seconds. In theory it's great damage but a large majority of machines seem to be far too agile for it to have been any use. Even the human enemies come with helmets you must snipe off first, making it impossible to go full stealth archer and pick off sentries before moving into the camps.

All these extra tools and nothing really compares to my trusty Hunter's Bow. Ammunition is cheap to produce, it aims quickly, has an ever-useful 2-3 arrow knock power, and does sufficient damage even on Hard difficulty. All in all, it just does what I need it to do and rarely find myself switching to any other weapon except to lay down some tripwires, and occasionally switching to the Sharpshooter bow for the very rare exception. Yet, I don't feel that it bloats the game too much as I'm sure many players will find some joy in trying to master the more fickle weaponry. And hey, they gave us six slots instead of four to encourage that very thing. So, kudos.

I needn't waste too much time on this fact but the game continues to be gorgeous. I'm an absolute sucker for weather conditions so all the rain, snow, and sandstorms throughout the game's various biomes just gives me a sense of comfort and immersion that I usually have to mod into my other open world games.

The map being dotted with icons is not the typical and tired Ubi-like fare. Most of the map icons are just sites for machines to assist you in your hunts when upgrading your gear, and generally just give you something to run into as you're traversing the world. You run into the occasional collection quest, like black boxes from Old World jets. They tend to lead to something tangible, like a new weapon, outfit, or some cosmetic face paint. It's usually something more concrete than "here's seven more old world watches to sell to a vendor".

Speaking of vendoring. There's a couple of aspects that I don't care fore, which kind of ties into the gear expansion. There's more on the ground to grab as there's a whole food mechanic I've yet to bother engaging with because I can't be bothered. I've picked up more peppers and basil than I care to say. Maybe it'll all be there for me in a NG+.

Secondly I'm getting rather tired of picking up watches and gold ingots out of treasure chests. It turns into something akin to busywork. Imagine if they just replaced all junk items with the game's main currency (metal shards), literally nothing would be lost in translation. It's just several extra buttons to press in a menu when you visit a town.

Still, I find the gameplay loop here comforting. I like running around and finding the Tallnecks to open my map up. I enjoy the very well paced power creep over time. I have eventually noticed that machines I used to be scared of in the first few hours, become barely a challenge at all a few hours later as their health drops halfway just because I shot off a couple of their tusks. So even with a goal in mind, I like veering off the path when I see a new machine icon because it inevitably has something I need to upgrade my weapon or outfit proper. Meeting new machines is intimidating but with the game's new 'job' system, you can make a custom quest and help you track where specific machines are, go get the items, and upgrade. It's a useful tool so you don't spend any time alt-tabbing, wondering where the hell a Clawstrider is. The game itself has a function to just tell you!

Sometimes I write reviews where it's two paragraphs of good followed by seven of bad with me just stating "the game is good though, trust me". That problem is not present here. I nitpick a bit about equipment I'm not familiar with and don't use and the ever-present annoyance of menu busywork when selling trash items. That's almost completely it in terms of nitpicks, as I continue to enjoy every other aspect of the game.

And if you liked the first, you will like this one as well.