About:
Consoles: Playstation
Released: 2017
Fixes: Post-Apocalyptic Stories, Your Favorite Gamer Type is “Archer”, Sucker For World-Building
Forget it’s been forever since my first video game review post! I’m back! I spent the better part of this year playing—and replaying—video games more than I felt like sorting out my thoughts about them, but I think it’s time! I’ve recently upgraded to the PS5 now that certain new releases aren’t backwards compatible with my PS4, boo hisssss, so I just finished a replay of Horizon Forbidden West in order to play its PS5-exclusive DLC.
Before I can talk about how fun that game is, we should discuss its predecessor, Horizon Zero Dawn, which…I actually didn’t like that much. *ducks tomatoes*
The Download
Crumbling ancient ruins, harsh mountainous winters, machines created in the shape of long-extinct animals, and tribal communities. This is the world that Nora outcast, Aloy, lives in. Abandoned at birth, Aloy has grown up in the care of another outcast, the taciturn Rost, but all she longs for is a place within the Nora tribe that turned its back on her (girl, forget those losers).
As a young girl, Aloy got lost in some ancient ruins and found a “Focus”, an almost magical-like piece of technology that allows her an augmented view of the world, able to pick up on lost technological messages and hidden information.
Now a young adult with everything to prove, Aloy must venture out of her comfort zone after cultists attack the Nora, leaving behind everything she’s ever known to go on the adventure of a lifetime, seeking out the answers of her past and ultimate truth of the Ancient Ones’ demise.
It’s-A Me, [Protagonist]!
The world of fantasy loves a red-headed female protagonist, and Aloy (voiced by Ashly Burch) is no exception. Her in-game hair has a life of its own as it wiggles and floats about at her every movement, and it is as highly distracting as it is hi-larious. Aloy has a massive chip on her shoulder because of her outcast status, single-mindedly spending day after day honing her fighting, climbing, and hunting skills so she can pass the Nora’s Proving and finally win a place in the tribe.
Many gamers LOVE Aloy, and while I can see what they like, I personally didn’t fall in love with her in this game. I remember her being dry, overly serious, and kinda uptight. She does go through some character growth, but, to me, the worldbuilding and the exploration of the mystery of this post-apocalyptic world was more compelling than Aloy on her own. (Also, as a purely shallow note, I dislike the name Aloy. It is not pleasing to the ear at all.)
NPCs: Notable Paramours & Chums
While I am usually all about romance in my media, there is no place for it in the story or game mechanics. There are some hints Aloy may be bi or gay but nothing is ever confirmed because in the long run, it has zero bearing on her current story. I did like that this game is very feminist and LGBTQ+ friendly, as there is a noticeable effort of diversity in the side characters and their inner lives.
I can’t recall strong feelings for any of the side characters except for two: Erend (voiced by John Hopkins), an Oseram guard with a missing sister, and mother-cussin’ Sylens, a secretive know-it-all who also has a Focus and guides Aloy throughout the game towards the truth. Sylens’ voice and likeness come from the late, amazing actor, Lance Reddick, and he knew how to deliver a line dripping with disdain.
Finish Them!
Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the major villains and their stories lest I give too much away, but trust you will seethe with rage at the actions of rich white men (I know; must be Tuesday). There’s also a mad-king who enjoys throwing people into a pit to fit against machines, Roman Gladiator style, and extremist cultists trying to block Aloy’s progress.
Leveled Up
- Like in TLoU, I loved seeing the post-apocalyptic structures overgrown with plants and trying to figure out what we were looking at, or seeing how Aloy’s people repurposed things in ways different from their intended uses.
- The idea of the machine animals being taken out by a simple bow and spear combo is a bit laughable even as you work your way up to things like electric arrows and fancy spear upgrades, but as the player who wants to stand in the back and kill things from afar, I do love that “archer” as a playstyle is the default.
You Have Died Of Dysentery
Alright, I know you’re still reading because you want to know why I didn’t love your favorite game, and I know I am very much in the minority on this.
- Beautiful but painful to look at. I swear, I constantly had the hardest time understanding just WTF I was LOOKING at! Everything was so colorful during the “daytime” with dense foliage everywhere, to the point where it was overstimulating. It was often impossible to spot something you’re “searching” for in Focus mode, essentially a light purple circle overlay, and I ended up dreading a vital part of the gameplay.
- Tough fighting mechanics. On every machine, there are different salvage or armor parts to hit for resources or to reduce armor. The focus can help you find these specific areas to hit, but with GOD AS MY WITNESS, it was effing impossible to stay on a specific spot and shoot it. While I do not have the best hand-eye coordination, the machines would move too fast once they spotted you for this to be fun. I settled for the “spray and pray” method, basically just hitting the enemy with my highest damage weapon as many times as possible.
- Flat writing. It wasn’t the worst character writing I’ve ever seen, but there was a lack of depth, finesse, and intrigue to many of the interactions. You don’t get to pick Aloy’s reactions; it’s just a convo wheel with specific topics to ask of other characters, and every conversation felt very plain.
- So. Many. Cut-Scenes. I feel for the developers, because what is the best way to slowly reveal the secrets of people a thousand years gone? I’m not sure, but they took a look around and said: purple-tinged holographic diaries it is! For large chunks of time I could put the controller down completely as I watched minutes-long cut-scenes of different characters explaining what was going on. You can’t even skip through cut-scene dialogue if you read fast. It ground the pacing of the game to a screeching halt.
Press “F” To Pay Respects
Pour one out for the sling and ropecaster weapons that stayed in my arsenal basically untouched after a few sloppy attempts to figure out the mechanics.
Why You Should Pick Up The Controller
You like open-world gameplay that rewards exploration as you uncover countless audio recordings and text-based messages that bring to life a world long gone and introduce you to the current-day factions and history.
As much as I bitched about Horizon Zero Dawn, the trailers for Horizon Forbidden West completely drew me back in, and I bought the sequel on release day. To my great delight, everything I disliked about the first game had been “fixed”, including things I didn’t even touch on above but were extremely helpful, like a stash, for those who obsessively collect resources like moi. (More on that game later!)
I wouldn’t say it isn’t worth playing HZD to get to the sequel, because there is a lot of lore that, frankly, you need to know in order to care about HFW. If you want to be cheeky, I’m sure someone online has strung all the cut-scenes together to make a mini-movie to get you up to speed.
After The Credits
HZD has a DLC called The Frozen Wilds, and, as mentioned, there is a sequel that came out in 2022. Earlier this year Forbidden West also got a DLC, Burning Shores, which will have to tide us over until the third (and, I assume, final?) game comes out god-knows-when.
Supposedly there will be a TV show, though it’s probably in pre-pre-pre-production.
Have you played the Horizon franchise? Are you an Aloy stan? Let us know in the comments!
