^^ yeah just press load game and you can see your playtime straight away.this is a spoiler free rant, for anybody who is interested lol.
I don't spend any time just wondering around with no aim. That applies to any game ever. I'm always doing something. Be it a side quest or main quest, finding a collectible etc.
So I levelled up quickly and mainly focused on the main story. I think I finished on about 8 side quests and 5 errands completed, I had barely any collectibles and had only done 2 hunting lodges. I'm doing all that after finishing the story.
I'm up to 35 hours now, with doing side content after the game but I think it'll only take me about 5 more hours to get the plat. After that though I'll finish up all the quests and it might take me past 45 hours
i like to create my own "journeys" in open world games, at least the interesting ones. where i mark up a place i want to go, and just head there, either on foot or on a mount. and what ever happens to me happens. in the witcher this usually got a detour with me finding a side mission and me taking it, and doing random stuff around the map. in Horizon i decided to go on foot for exploring, it takes more time but it makes things more interesting. if i see an interesting location in the distance i decide to head to it or i have a mission marker thats either a side/errand mission thats far away, and instead of fast traveling or going by mount, i go by foot, what happens next in unknown lol. i like finding new types of machines, and engaging with them, or even trying to avoid them, if i find a new side mission i take it on or at least just accept it and leave it for later, or get in an epic battle with a huge machine like the birdstorm or thunderjaw. and in the end my self made journey has a lot of things happening to it, and at times i dont even reach my destination and end up doing something else.
like my journey when i headed towards maridian. (dont know if i spelled it right). i was really far away, but decided i should go by foot. i reached the tallneck site thats by the lake in the dessert if you remember it, snapmaw's were all around the lake and i decided not to engage, so i wanted to go around the lake, only for those little dog bird machines to attack me. i think it was the first time i engage with them so it was a good fight. i got rid of them and continued on my way. i saw some machines, i think they are called tramplers, forgot, but they were big and i still hadnt fought them yet, and i think there was also some of those wolf like machines (not the big sawtooth, but the smaller ones), so yeah, fudge that i stealthed my way passed them.
i reached across the lake and headed towards maridian, too many machines where there and i was caught, i think by some longlegs, and fudgy hell, shame went down, this game throws everything it has got on you, so watchers and those wolfish machines were at me, and i iced up, i died. it spawned me back, on the lake near the tallneck, but it spawned me on a small island on the lake, and snapmaw's where all over, holly fudge! they were on too me quick and i ran for safety and got away, i was back at the place where i fought the small bird like machines, so i decided to go the same route as i did before. i tried to avoid the bird machines but couldnt, but i took them down quick this time. i went past the lack, and avoided the machines that killed me, but i noticed something on the right, it was like a town or something, i decided to head towards it, as i was going, i saw my first thunderjaw, and man, i was aching for some thunderjaw action since E3 2015.
i decided to head to the town first, see whats up there, stash up on some new equipment and resources because my resources were a bit low due to my journey and what gaming i did before it. (not long before it i had an epic fight with a stormbird). and i headed to the thunderjaw. i decided to not set up much traps and be sneaky and to go at it "head on" because i didnt want the fight to be easy and over quick, i wanted it to be "fair". the thunderjaw tore me a new one, it completely annihilated me. i spawned back at the small town where i was before and headed back at it again. this time i put more traps, but not enough, and it destroyed me again, both times other machines iced with me too, to make things harder. it was late at night at that time, so i decided ill continue the next day. the day after i was going to forget the thunderjaw, and head to maridian because the thunderajaw was too strong. but when i started playing and opened the game.... fudge it... that thunderjaw needs to go down... i headed towards it the third time. my choice of weapons was the hunter bow, the trip cast, the rattler, and the ropecaster. i set up traps and mines, more so then i did before, i knew how to fight it more, and it was go time. and epic battle ensued. and i emerged victorious. im not sure if other machines attacked me during as well, i think so, but i forgot. doesnt matter though. that marked up the end of this particular "journey". i headed back to the small town, stocked up and headed on my way.
i decided to not go to maridian after all, but to continue a side mission i had before that was far away, and that marked the start of another journey for me.
