Horizon Zero Dawn – How to Choose the Right Difficulty Setting

Horizon Zero Dawn – How to Choose the Right Difficulty Setting

Sometimes it can be tough to figure out exactly which difficulty setting is best for you when you start up a new game. Players just now diving into Horizon Zero Dawn might be unsure of how they should proceed, so we put together this article to help you choose which difficulty setting works best for you.

In this article we’ll discuss what each difficulty setting in Horizon Zero Dawn does, as well as how your chosen difficulty setting affects the trophies that you can earn in the game.

How to Choose the Right Difficulty Setting

Choosing the right difficulty setting in Horizon Zero Dawn is important, because it allows you to choose how the game will play for you. Higher skilled players who want a challenging experience will want to choose higher difficulty settings, while those who want an average or easy experience, and just want to be in it for the story, can always choose to go with an easier difficulty setting.

But, how exactly does difficulty setting affect the gameplay in Horizon Zero Dawn?

Based on some time testing out a few of the different options, difficulty in Horizon Zero Dawn really only seems to affect the amount of items found (finding higher quality items is much harder on higher difficulty), and the amount of damage that both Aloy and enemies dish out. The enemy’s HP amount also seems to rise a little on higher setting, but we were really unable to tell if that’s simply because it takes more hits to kill them, or if it actually becomes a higher number.

Either way, the difficulty settings are broken down like this, depending on how you want to play it.

Easy – For those just looking to explore the beauty of Horizon Zero Dawn and take in the story.

Normal – The perfect setting for those who want to enjoy the game’s challenges, but also don’t want things to be too tough.

Hard – For experience players who have played multiple action role-playing games. The challenge here is much greater than anything you’ll find in Normal and Easy.

Very Hard – Built specifically for those who want every battle to be a challenge. The hardest difficulty available.

How Does Difficulty Affect Trophies?

Unlike some games, Horizon Zero Dawn doesn’t actually have any trophies that are bound to the chosen difficulty of the game. This means completionists can turn the game down to Easy, and still manage to walk away with the game’s Platinum Trophy.

Of course, you won’t get all the challenge of the game, but that’s perfectly fine if all you want is story and trophies. So, difficulty doesn’t really have that big of a bearing on the achievements that players want to acquire in Horizon Zero Dawn, and that’s okay.

Those looking for more of a challenge can up their difficulty (or lower it) at any time from the game’s pause menu, so if you find yourself struggling too much, don’t be afraid to bump things down a bit. We promise not to tell anybody.

For more helpful articles like this, be sure to return to our Horizon Zero Dawn guide, where we teach you things like how to fast travel,how to get the best weapons, and more.