Tag: Horizon Zero Dawn

Book Review, Books

Moon Reads: Horizon Zero Dawn Peach Momoko Poster Book

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If you saw me review the comics as they came out for Horizon Zero Dawn , then you’ll know I loved the artwork of Peach Momoko so a poster book with all of the art, yes please! This was just too hard to pass when I am so in love with both the games and the artwork used in the comics and their covers. Honestly, they’ve done so well with artists involved in the project.

The poster book itself is relatively simple. It contains a bunch of posters alongside a couple of extra pages to provide details of the posters and overall feel. But mostly you get a solid poster collection inside a book, and you know what is the best part?

No?

You can detach the posters easily and then display them. My Lego Tallneck had some fun scanning them alongside the watchers that had cornered Aloy…. I tried to be creative, ok? I have a lot of merch but not enough space for all the beautiful posters in a single surface.

As a heads up that those are not ALL of the posters, I just ran out of space to display them all together the rest are on another bookcase side). And I had a lot of fun figuring out how to match them and make them look cute together. I also tried to add the collectable figures I have from the preorders but again, not enough space, so please enjoy some of my chaos in trying to create a cute scene and display the great content of this book.

If you are now intrigued and want to see the missing posters or collect them for yourself, you can preorder via the following links:

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

Book Review, Gaming

Moon Reads: The Official Horizon Zero Dawn Colouring Book

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The Official Horizon Zero Dawn Colouring Book

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

I streamed last Thursday as I coloured on this book, so if you are interested, you may see the Video on Demand for it here. I spend ages colouring hair and going through the book and also showing off the Art of Book because I own that one. Overall it was a bit of chatting, colouring and fun followed by some gameplay of the Frozen Wilds part.

The book gets a 4.5 because it has one of my pet peeves, that the two-page spread pictures do not consider a bleed margin for the inside where the book is glued together and therefore you lose some of the artwork to that bend in the book as you cant flatten it completely. Otherwise, mostly the art is based on the comics rather than the game which is something we did discuss more at length during the stream.

It includes scenes from both of the comics, however not all of them are spoilers and if you don’t know the story then they may just seem like pretty pieces of artwork of the characters. I do recommend also checking out both comic volumes as they are amazing and good fun. You can find the first here, and the second here reviewed by yours truly!

Obviously I couldn’t resist showing off some of the HZD merch and hopefully you agree that the book is gorgeous and if you like the game and colouring, this is a wonderful choice!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Horizon Zero Dawn Liberation

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Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation by Anne Toole, Elmer Damaso, Bryan Valenza and Jim Campbell

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Read before: No

Ownership: A friend requested it form the publisher for me because I love Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Frobidden West and the whole story and world.

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

If you have read the first main book on the Sunhawk and a little bit of a taster before Horizon Forbiddne West came out, I reviewed the volumes here. It was a good book delving on Tallanah and finding new beasts, which gave a good introduction to what the new game would bring.

Liberation is different in that it is instead giving us more backstory, the parts of Erend’s story and how his sister became the amazing person she was, how they ended up being part of the Oseram who helped Sun King Avad dethrone his father, and all that. The art as usual is amazing, and the story was interesting as we have Erend trying to tell his story while they track one of the relevant characters to the past of him and his sister. Aloy is being very much herself, which I liked because she definitely sometimes feels like she has bigger priorities and bigger things, and then it is her friends who love her who bring her down back tot he world and go “hey, you have things to worry about, but so do we, and we can help each other, no one is an island”.

It was just a very very nice comic for me to read, it added to the lore, explained the relationship and love Sun King Avad had for Ersa, and just how much everyone could admire her and why. It showed too why Erend has big shoes to fill and how unfit for it he is and yet how hard he tries. And of course, it shows us how different Aloy is to this and how much she tries to understand this part fo the story and world that she was never a part of because of how she was an Outcast and set aside and then suddenly had to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders without really choosing to. And yes, we know she could have said no, but that would not be true to herself. She ahs a big heart despite sometimes forgetting it.

Highly recommend adding this book to your comic collection and to your Aloy and her friend’s collection. It is as good or even better than the first one.

Book Review

The Art Of Horizon Zero Dawn Review

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It is no secret I am a gamer. Not the sexy-lick-a-controller kind, but the “oh my gosh I will scream at the screen because Lara Croft just fell off a cliff after the 12th attempt to do that part”.

I am also a stupidly loyal one, I fell in love with Bethesda’s games (Dishonored and Fallout 3) so now I have all of the Dishonored games on my computer, XBox360 and PS4 (just so I can play them whenever, I’d probably have them on my mobile if it was possible).

Trust me, I can rave about any Bioshock game or one of the previously named ones (also Alice Madness Returns, Batman games, Lego games, etc). But I am also careful of trying new games from developers I have never played a game from before.

However, my love for Horizon Zero Dawn blossomed not because I saw adverts for it as a game, but rather because Loish (Lois Van Baarle) released some of the “concept art” she had done for the design of Aloy.

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I have been following Loish’s work for over 10 years, so I knew that if she had contributed to this game, I would have to play it, even if it was JUST for the artwork. I bought a PS4 just so I could play HZD, my birthday present was buying a bundle of console and game. That much I love her artwork (and gaming).

Needless to say, I LOVE this game. If you haven’t played, you have to. The story poses some very interesting technological questions (and about humanity), the gameplay is interesting and has an “Open World” feel. And of course, the artwork and design are stunning.

(I know this is the weirdest review of a book I have ever made, I promise there is a book review somewhere in here!)

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So much I love this game I preordered Funko’s (Aloy and a Watcher), bought licensed pins of Aloy and a Thunderjaw (they are awesome!), and bought the soundtrack CD for it.

The only thing missing was this book. And I couldn’t have that, so I got the book too.

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The Art of Horizon Zero Dawn by Paul Davies

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20pxMoonKestrel Logo2 20pxMoonKestrel Logo2 20pxMoonKestrel Logo2 20pxMoonKestrel Logo2 20px

I have several “Art Of” books and I have to say that the quality of this one is stunning. It does NOT lack artwork (sometimes some of the books say too much and have very little art or nothing new). This is full of artwork and details but also explanations about why they chose to do certain things.

It made me want to draw all the characters + creatures there and then as I was reading it. And it also made me want to play the game again. (And of course, it has some of the sketches/pieces Loish did, so win win).

I just have to say that is one of the best “Art Of” books I have ever had. Blown away by it.

Moon recommends

You play Horizon Zero Dawn, and maybe follow Loish. She has two artwork books (she started them on Kickstarter and the second one is just coming out in March). And of course, if you like books about the art of, buy this one.