The first demo took place in a place called Daunt, a canyon located not far from Heliaume, the territory of the Carjas. Daunt will be Aloy’s last stop before entering the Forbidden West which gives the game its name. Located at the start of the adventure, this area will allow the player to take his marks and discover the new mechanics of this sequel.
To get through the area, Aloy must first resolve the problem caused by the Bristlebacks infesting the valley below this elevator. One of the new machines in this sequel, Bristlebacks are similar to large boars and are sensitive to acid, which leads Aloy to make a detour to a nearby village to improve his bow and be able to use this new type of arrow.
The village in question is called Scoroc and is located in the place that now houses Zion National Park, a nature reserve in southwestern Utah, identifiable here by an iconic rock formation in the area, Angels Landing. These natural landmarks and other ruined monuments, which will not be limited to the San Francisco area, will be even more present in this sequel and will allow Aloy to locate on the map of our current world.
While walking around this village, the player will notice that Aloy’s status has changed a lot since his debut. Hitherto considered at best as a marginal and at worst as an outcast, she is here described as Savior by the locals. This new pressure on her shoulders will be part of character development, says narrative director Ben McCaw. Aloy will at least be able to count on the proximity of certain friends, such as the blacksmith Petra, who will offer to take him down a few pints at the tavern.
An enticing proposition, especially since Petra still seems attracted to Aloy on many levels, but the heroine decides to postpone this reunion to return to her story of acid arrows, which involves improving her basic bow. . The improvement of weapons as outfits is now carried out on workbenches designed for this purpose, while the making of ammunition and traps will be possible anywhere in nature.
Carefully chosen, these images highlight the expected improvements in the sense of life and agitation that emanates from the communities, with characters with authentic behaviors and occupations specific to the tribe to which they belong. This work on the creation of a living world was also discussed at length last month on the PlayStation Blog.
The side quests, in addition to offering more interesting rewards (outfits, weapons, resources) we will spend more time with the characters in the story. Game Informer was able to discover before everyone else one of these new fellow travelers, a certain Alva, present in the second demo presented to journalists. Located much further into the adventure and in a tropical environment, this second demo features a fight against a Crawler, the impressive giant snake unveiled in a trailer a few days ago.
On the mechanical side, we can already note that the old skill tree has completely changed. Aloy can now learn active and passive abilities by freely drawing in six classes / specializations: warrior, to trap, hunter, survivor, infiltrator and master machine. From close quarters combat and stealth to hacking and traps, each tree features between 20 and 30 skills to unlock. The special attack Valor Surge, which becomes accessible once the gauge is full by dint of fine play, also changes its nature according to the six classes.
Aloy’s scanning system now allows him to review machine components and their weaknesses. The scan detects the indestructible parts of the machine but also and above all the presence of a component necessary to improve a weapon or equipment. The need to recover materials from the machines will be much more emphasized than in the first opus, hence the addition of an option to “create a task” to find a specific component, which is then indicated by a marker. quest and a marked path to the machines carrying this component. This same scan will also be useful to highlight the points of the environment intended for climbing and the Attractor, the grappling hook that Aloy is now equipped with.
Source: Game Informer