Horizon Zero Dawn: Remastered - Review

Earth remains theirs.

Console: PlayStation 5

So, I’m one of those weirdos who was actually happy when the long-rumoured remaster of Horizon Zero Dawn ended up being true. For a second there, I thought maybe some wires had been crossed with Lego Horizon Adventures, a retelling of Zero Dawn by Guerilla in Lego form. That was a surprising announcement, and I certainly have nothing against it, but I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t the remaster.

Why? Well, not only do I really like Horizon, but I never played the original all that extensively. Looking back, my time with the game was pretty much a straight shot through the campaign. I never bothered with the hunting grounds and thus completely missed out on Tallanah and the Hunter's Lodge. I never did Petra's quests, never raided all Bandit Camps, and missed much more.

I was already eying a replay and this remaster, for the low upgrade price of 10,- is the perfect excuse for me to do so. And better looking to boot.
Let’s not make this introduction any longer; let’s talk about what Nixxes did to make this great game shine on the PS5.

This remaster seems to have had a mission statement: to make the 2017 original look just as good as its 2022 sequel. In that, Nixxes has succeeded with flying colours. Grab a still from both games and put them side by side, and it’s hard to tell which is which if no unique landmarks are in view.

They did this by pulling as many assets from the sequel as possible and applying them to Zero Dawn. Where they couldn’t reuse assets, they created new ones to match. The result is that this remaster is nearly a 1:1 match with Forbidden West, still one of the best-looking games on the PS5 years later in my humble opinion.

However, this isn’t quite true for dialogue scenes. One of the biggest criticisms of the original (one I shared) was the stiffness of the character models. There is still some of that weird, stiff rigging but Nixxes also re-recorded and mocapped over 10 hours of dialogue, significantly improving movement and facial expressiveness for those. I haven’t gotten to the more emotive Aloy moments yet, those you see shared online, but I’m looking forward to seeing how they now look.

Nixxes has done a lot more than this to make it look so much better but this is the stuff I felt worth mentioning. If you want it all, there’s an entire blog post that I recommend you give a read.

This visual transformation isn’t a perfect job though. There’s quite a bit of clipping, usually small stuff like a finger poking through a cape or a strand of hair going through Aloy’s cheek. Minor, but pretty admittedly distracting. 

Not as distracting as the dialogue issues though. For on reason or another, Aloy can spout voice clips completely unrelated to what's happening on screen. Weird. 

I also don’t understand why Aloy’s spear still disappears from her back. I noticed this in the original but brushed it off as something they couldn’t get to work. In Forbidden West, however, the spear is always there, so I don’t get why it vanishes in this remaster. The game imports its models and animations, no? So what's the problem? If anybody knows, please do tell me.

Some welcoming changes that were made are all the extra options in the settings menu. From accessibility options like larger font sizes, turning off pickup animations to save time on item gathering and more. A lot of stuff that makes the experience more convenient, customizable and thus welcoming to all kinds of players. You can even import your old Horizon Zero Dawn save if you want so you can continue right where you left off or start a new adventure in New Game Plus. 

The obligatory comparison between the 2017 original and te 2024 remaster. Credit: Rajman Gaming HD because I msyelf failed to make a better one.

The visual upgrades and related improvements are impressive, but that’s really all she wrote. The DualSense integration is neat but again standard and no game-changer by any stretch of the imagination. Performance wise there isn’t much to talk about. The typical graphics and performance modes with a ‘high performance’ mode for the PS5 pro. If, like me, you were hoping for some gameplay tweaks and additions, you’ll be disappointed. 

This is a remaster, not a remake, so I never expected big changes like the shieldglider. That's just not in this project’s scope, nor does the game need major changes—the foundations are solid and very fun. Nevertheless, there are some small fry this remaster disappointingly didn’t address.

Besides the spear issue, there’s also the lack of transmog; I like wearing the standard outfit with all the stats of late-game gear. I’m basic like that. Fast travel is still locked to travel packs instead of being available through campfires which leads to an unhealthy amount of slow backtracing if you don't hunt to make more travel bags, and we’re back to limited item slots, so inventory juggling is still a thing.

Do these issues affect the experience that much? No, they don’t, but they’re quality-of-life improvements I really miss—things that would’ve pushed this remaster that extra mile. I’m still hoping that, through very popular request, transmog will be added sooner rather than later.

Before closing out, a quick tip and a few words on the story. Even though this is a remaster of a game I’ve already played, the story buff in me can’t resist talking about the narrative a bit.

I remember the story being tighter and more focused than the sequel, largely because the central mystery was more compelling. That still holds true, though I wonder how well it’ll hold up in a second playthrough now that I know the big picture. Time will tell.

That tip? Set the HUD elements to dynamic. There are a lot of display elements on screen, some of which are quite large. This way, elements like the health bar only pop up when you’re in combat, giving you a clearer view and making me feel more relaxed. Less info for my brain to process, you know?

Conclusion

With Horizon Zero Dawn: Remastered, Nixxes achieved what they set out to do: bring the 2017 original in line with its sequel by making it look just as good. There are even some unexpected updates, like re-recorded and fully mo-capped dialogue that address issues in the original. All this makes the game a real looker and up to current-generation standards, though I can’t say I wasn’t hoping for a bit more. I didn’t expect the world with this remaster, but some additional minor gameplay tweaks would’ve put a nice bow on it, adding convenience to the experience.

Even so, these aren’t big deals, especially if you’ve never played Horizon Zero Dawn before. The polished visuals make this the best way for newcomers and veterans alike to (re-)experience the game in its best possible light.

I definitely plan to keep going past the five hours I put into it for this review, and who knows—I might just talk about this game again when I’ve played through it all!