The moment that Horizon Forbidden West was announced I was ecstatic and waited patiently until the day it was here. I was ready to dive in and have more adventures with the wonderful Aloy once again. Right from the start Forbidden West hooks you in explaining that six months have gone by after defeating HADES and that Aloy is searching for a backup of GAIA in order to help the biosphere which is degrading. The game also gives an explanation for why Aloy doesn't have her upgraded equipment with Aloy stating she lost a lot of her items while looking for the GAIA backup. The setup for the game settings is very well done with being able to choose the difficulty that you prefer. I go with story mode because it allows me to enjoy the game without too much trouble and is easier on my arthritic hands. The accessibility for the game is pretty good with being able to adjust controls, sound settings, and there is a Tinnitus setting with the audio as well. I did appreciate the fact that I could adjust the settings easily so I could play the game the way I wanted.
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| Aloy begins her adventure. |
Aloy soon realizes her journey is going to take her into the Forbidden West and makes her way there. Along the way in the first area, I found myself stopping to explore everywhere. The world is even bigger here and I loved discovering new places. Exploration is highly encouraged because of new locations, side quests, and gorgeous vistas. The world of Forbidden West is quite beautiful and the fact that there is photo mode in the game is fantastic because you can get so many fantastic shots of the game.
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| An epic shot in photo mode. |
Another good thing with exploration is it's a great way to level grind as well as discover new machines. Aloy is able to scan these with her focus just like in the previous game and gather information on them. There are the usual machines including my personal favorite, a robot t-rex known as a thunderjaw and some new machines that range from elephants to triceratops. Combat in the game can be stealthy or full on melee, but whatever you choose the fights are fun. I preferred stealth, but could go toe to toe with the machines if I had to. Level grinding in the game is not a chore because of the many things to do in regards to exploration, story, and tons of side quests. When Aloy levels up she is able to unlock skills and upgrade them in the skill tree depending on what kind of build you want.
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| Aloy's skill trees. |
Aloy gets new weapons and tools during her travels to the west. Each weapon has different elements that work with each machine. My favorite weapon was a gauntlet shredder because it worked with my stealth build and could hit machines from long distances. The different tools could be used for things such as tearing down a crumbling wall or creating a new path. Each item could be upgraded at a workbench which could be found in villages and camps as long as you had the right materials.
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| Upgrading weapons at the workbench. |
The story for Forbidden West is definitely interesting. There were moments where when I thought the story couldn't get any wilder, it did. One of the elements I appreciated in the story was Aloy reflecting on how she felt about doing everything herself and struggling to accept help from her friends. I thought the slow burn of this was thoughtfully done as it showed how Aloy gradually came to understand that she didn't have to do everything alone and that it was okay to ask for help and rely on her friends for this big endeavor.
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| Aloy does a deep dive underwater. |
Forbidden West is very much a sci-fi story and there are some great cutscenes with pivotal moments and character development not just with Aloy, but with many of her companions like Varl and Erend. The west also introduces new people such as the tribes of the Tenakth, Utaru, and Quen. I loved all of them because they each brought something new and while different, they also showed how they all wanted to work together towards making a better world. Aloy herself is a force of nature as her reputation precedes her because of events in the first game and some pretty legendary things she gets to do in the current game. I feel where she really shines is during a lot of the side quests because it shows how far Aloy's reach goes with her willingness to help others and wanting to do the right thing. There are places where the story stumbles a bit, but overall it's really well told and I was invested and wanted to know what would happen next.
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| Aloy stops to take in a sunset view. |
There were definitely some quests that were my favorite such as one with an Oseram inventor who wanted to honor his grandfather's legacy of giving a great show with wonderful storytelling. There are characters that really stand out and there are quests that offer poignant moments such as holding onto the good memories you have of someone who passed away or doing the right thing even when it's scary or hard. The voice acting is fantastic all across the board for the main characters and minor characters and because of their brilliant performances this is what makes the writing for the story really shine.
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| Aloy on a tallneck. |
Now, it's time to talk about what doesn't work. There's a mini game in Forbidden West called Machine Strike. It's a board game that feels like a mix of battle chess and Stratego. There are a lot of rules to Machine Strike and I did manage to get through the tutorial and try out a couple matches, I did not find it fun at all. There's a lot of rules and things to remember. I do understand what they were trying to do, but it doesn't necessarily work for me. I tried it out and decided it was not for me. The other thing you can try is the melee pits. This is where Aloy can hone her battle skills with opponents or practice battle moves. The issue with the melee pits is they're very buggy. Sometimes, inputs don't work even though they were done correctly and the instructions are not clear at all for some. There's also a weird delay with the combo controls. It made these very frustrating to get through and they definitely need a rework.
Other than those couple of things, I loved Horizon Forbidden West. The overall game is fantastic and it's very clear Horizon is meant to be a trilogy and the ending sets up the intro to a third game beautifully. When you finish the game, you can go explore more and wrap up any side quests you may have missed. There is no new game plus yet, but that may change in the future like with Zero Dawn. Forbidden West story and world building wise gave me everything I wanted and I thoroughly enjoyed this grand adventure.
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| Aloy flies off on a Sunwing. |
*Horizon Forbidden West is available on the following platforms: Playstation 4 and Playstation 5
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