Horizon Zero Dawn is one of my favorite games of all time. The world was expertly crafted, combat was unique and consistently engaging, and the narrative was nothing short of addictive.

After being disappointed that Zero Dawn’s DLC, The Frozen Wilds, didn’t continue the core narrative, Forbidden West quickly became one of my most anticipated games when it was announced in 2020. I pre-ordered the PlayStation version with every intention to play it as soon as it released, but life (work) got in the way - something that seems to happen more easily with these large, open-world, RPG games than any genre other for me.

Forbidden West’s re-release on PC in early 2024 was perfect timing for my schedule, and I dove in with the same voraciousness as Zero Dawn seven years (yikes) prior. A few thoughts:

  • I loved being back in the world - it felt significantly larger than Zero Dawn, and new features like Sunwing flying reinforced the game’s awe-inspiring scale. It’s also graphically gorgeous - maybe the best looking game I’ve ever played.

  • I loved experiencing Aloy’s character and gameplay growth - both in her demeanor and how combat expanded - in the aftermath of the first game. Horizon is at its best when it focuses on how Aloy’s personality and morality have been molded by her ascent from outcast to savior. Those themes were explored deeply and masterfully in Forbidden West.

    • While I thought the overarching narrative was intriguing, it was also contrived and messy in spots, and the process of playing through it was more… annoying than Zero Dawn. The story takes a hard sci-fi turn that I found a bit jarring. It made for an awesome conclusion, but it almost felt like it was developed separately from the narrative of the first game… like the team realized they need to set up a “big bad” for Aloy to defeat at the end of the trilogy that the first game definitely didn’t establish, so it was shoehorned into this game less adroitly than would have been ideal.

    • From a gameplay perspective, the main story was loosely constructed around the concept of recovering X relics from Y areas to power up Z MacGuffin. Despite the eventual payoff, a checklist-based main story is not what I wanted from a game that is also one big checklist itself (just an unbelievably number of POIs asking to be cleared/investigated).

  • As an RPG, I think Forbidden West was mildly overdeveloped. It has basically every RPG system under the sun - weapons, armor, crafting, talent points, factions, collectibles, etc. Weapons and armor, in particular, just felt like “number go up” - not particularly engaging or impactful.

Lastly, the Burning Shores DLC deserves a special shoutout. Though it also doesn’t directly continue the narrative like Zero Dawn’s story DLC, I found it much more connected and relevant to Forbidden West’s world and story. It has one of my favorite final boss battles of any game, and the antagonist - portrayed by Sam Witwer - was a highlight.

I’m looking forward to the eventual third game - just hoping for a tighter narrative with slightly-more-focused RPG elements.