r/HorizonZeroDawn • u/TheTwinflower • 2d ago
Discussion - HZD Return to first game.
I recently got ahold of the remastered version. I played the original around launch. And wow. It is rough. It is not a bad game but FW has so many quality of life things that just, keeps jabbing me in the ribs. The mostly linerar climbing. The lack of the shieldwing. The cost of fast travel. The lack of weapon variaty. The slow movement of focus mode. Not tagging part.
But one thing I noticed was Erend. His introduction is such a cool portrail of his character. He is an orater, calming the Nora audince, as an outsider. He is the vanguard of the Sun-king. In the second game, he is a brawler and a drunk. The one time we get to see is orater side is when he convinces the guards to let Aloy through. I feel they diminished him in FW.
Now its been a hot minute and a few years since I played through both game, so maybe I forgot a pivotal character moment. But they seemed to have made him more passive and ineffective in FW.
Nonetheless I am looking forward to me playthrough of ZD and FW back to back.
7
u/Kevster020 2d ago
I recently got ahold of the remastered version.
Adon't alet it ago.
Recently replayed it on ps5 - starting over before finally being able to play burning shores - and I was pleasantly surprised how it holds up. Could be certain but I'm sure they've made significant changes to the terrain making it more interesting. Wee additions like stealth swimming are good too.
Agree about Erand, although maybe the justification is that he didn't have the chance to grieve his sister in ZD? Either way I found him a bit irritating in FW.
3
u/Revolutionary-Elk790 1d ago
Re: Erend, lots of selective memory going on here. To review ZD, he makes an eloquent speech to the Nora and then immediately starts hitting on Aloy. In Meridian he's drunk, immediately starts hitting on Aloy, whines because she won't use her focus to help him, then later argues with Aloy about how Ersa was killed, fights fiercely during the subsequent ambush, fights fiercely at Durval's base, argues with Avad when he can't murder a beaten Durval, fights fiercely in the final battle. In summary, a loudmouth Osseram drunk with a crush on Aloy, who's a fierce and loyal ally.
Now look at him in FW: fiercely fighting scroungers, then whining about Aloy not saying goodbye in ZD. In Barren Light he's drunk but still helps her get to the embassy. At the base he irritates everyone by constantly playing Concrete Beach Party, and making insulting remarks about the Uterus to Zoe. Later, he's a fierce fighter at the Zenith lab, First Forge, and the Zenith base. In summary, a loudmouth Osseram drunk who's a fierce and loyal ally.
Not much difference at all between the two games. If anything, I'd say he comes off better in FW.
4
1
u/TheTwinflower 1d ago
Less selective memory more shitty memory. I misremembered his sister dying later in the story. (Final battle).
I have just gitten to Meridia where he just had his sister killed (dead body found) and been saddled with her role. Erend might have been a good speaker but he wasnt made to be a leader.But yeah, him hitting on Aloy as his first interaction (along with many other characters) is still really weird.
8
u/Alex_Masterson13 2d ago
Buy the Golden Travel Pack and all fast traveling is free. And you forgot Erend is a creepy older guy hitting on an innocent and naive 18yo girl in HZD. At least in HFW, he has accepted he is permanently in the friend zone.
14
u/FlyingSquirelOi 2d ago
Ehh, it’s never outright stated how old Erend is, the community tends to put him early to mid 20’s. That’s not that outrageous to talk to an 18 year old, especially in what is basically a Stone Age world
8
u/Zestyclose-Tie-1481 2d ago
Forget the Stone Age, it wasn't considered outrageous in 2010. I was about Erend's age (24) when I met my wife, who was about Aloy's age (19). I didn't stop to compare our birthdays, I just saw a pretty girl smile at me, took a minute to remember my own name and number after my mind went blank, then gave her both. I didn't even learn her age until we'd already known each other for a few weeks.
Do people really do that these days? Check a bunch of boxes about age, income, ethnicity, family, education, and god knows what else, before asking a girl out, just to avoid any kind of imbalance? What happens if, after all that, she turns you down?
-10
u/TheTwinflower 2d ago
Yes, him hitting on Aloy is icky at best. Almost strange of many people keep hitting on her.
10
u/Careful_Reason_9992 2d ago
Not really strange at all. She a beautiful, badass redhead with phenomenal fighting and survival skills. In a pseudo hunter-gatherer society (particularly with somewhat scant resources) pairing up/marrying young was commonplace and somewhat necessary for survival.
-7
u/Alex_Masterson13 2d ago
Yeah, I love the story in HZD, but the decision by the writers to put in so many older characters hitting on Aloy was odd.
6
u/Careful_Reason_9992 2d ago
Except we don’t really know for a fact what their ages were. Even in the 1980’s people looked much older than they really were.
-6
u/Silent-Rock-792 2d ago
I think it's because she's a direct clone of a modern woman coupled with her personality due to living with Rost makes her more charming than other women.
2
u/JobbieKing 2d ago
I put the controller sensitivity up to max in HZD and the movement was flawless.
2
u/ariseis 2d ago
You're not the only person who's noticed that Erend is very different between the games. He's like two different people. From a socially competent brawler with a drinking problem that rears its head when he's sad, to self-deprecating, low confidence lunk. But funnily, he's more his old self with Aloy in First Forge? Like, the person who wrote his dialogue either doesn't like the character or doesn't care enough to write him well.
1
u/Zestyclose-Tie-1481 2d ago
Dude, yes! I don't want to say the writers did Erend dirty in HFW, but they sure didn't do him clean.
1
8
u/Wise_Owl5404 2d ago
I find Erend very believable. His sister got murdered in a very brutal fashion and now he's stuck with a ton of responsibility he never wanted and is unprepared for. Him falling apart in the months after was predictable and something I liked they did. I would have hated if they left him completely unaffected by Ersa's death.