![]() ![]() Aloy spends a good amount of time in the opening section with her friend and fellow Nora, Varl, but this is mainly due to having him be the vessel through which the tutorial mission is delivered. Somehow the beginning is a bit of a slog by rehashing a lot of what transpired in Horizon Zero Dawn, while simultaneously feeling rushed and underdeveloped. Horizon Forbidden West takes a while to really get going. If I'm finding myself disappointed that it fell short of one of the best video games of all time, it's only because it came so close to getting there.Honestly, the story was really hit and miss for me. I had more fun, I was more intrigued by the world-building, and I cried exactly one more time than I did during the last one. Horizon Forbidden West has more character and heartfelt moments than almost any other game of its kind that I've ever played, and I'll almost certainly remember it more clearly than I did its predecessor. I just found myself less engaged than I'd been a few hours earlier.Īll that said, I feel like I'm grading on an unfair curve. Not completely devoid of emotion, mind you. But most of the biggest emotional beats were wrapped up before the climax, which made the final act feel a bit rote. Or, failing a satisfying exploration of these themes, maybe I could hope for more moments of connection between the characters. I could practically feel the game screaming through the bars of its self-imposed cage to ask big questions like: Where does courage come from? How do the bonds we form with others affect who we become? Can we ever escape the sins of the wealthy and powerful? Or are we doomed merely by their existence? In so many instances, it lives up to that potential.Īt the same time, it seemed to lack the conviction to follow through on some of the narrative ideas and relationships it set up. It's not enough to say there's potential in this game's story. ![]() Horizon Forbidden West takes its narrative in some interesting new directions, and one scene in particular made me tear up at a moment when I didn't expect to be so invested. No one will be asking “Where could they go from here?” after this one.Īnd yet, I wish my brain had never made the connection to Mass Effect 2 at all. And, without spoiling anything, this game sets up a much more obvious sequel. It had to.īy the time the game's climax came around-when Aloy and her associates plan a grand mission that sounds like it's almost certainly going to get everyone killed - the idle comparison to Mass Effect 2 became a bit too on the nose. In hindsight, the story was always going to get bigger. They're entirely optional, but if you value the connections you make with your friends in the game, they're worthwhile. Unlike Mass Effect 2, there's essentially no punishment if you skip them. Like Mass Effect 2, the game features individual quests for the various companions that join you over the course of the game. It's a little thing, but it made the story land just a bit more for me. Just to double-check, I reloaded a save and did the puzzle again without missing anything, and Aloy never asked for help. The NPC complied, and I was able to finish the puzzle without backtracking. ![]() To my complete shock, Aloy called out to one of her companions who were along for the mission, and asked them to stand on the platform, so I could continue shooting the pillars. ![]() However, I missed one of the pillars on my first playthrough and started to climb before I'd lined them all up. One platforming puzzle requires Aloy to stand on a platform and shoot some pillars in order to progress. Other times, this was reinforced in ways that were so subtle, I almost missed them. ![]()
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