Horizon Forbidden West: More Beautiful Review

It's a fantastic achievement if a developer studio manages to build a new title that is a huge hit in the market, whose genre is even different from what they've known so far. This is what Guerrilla Games managed to achieve with Horizon Zero Dawn a few years ago. Not only did they deviate from Killzone - the giant FPS franchise that has been in their DNA all this time, Guerrilla also succeeded in concocting a solid RPG action game with a world design and story that continues to provoke curiosity about Horizon Zero Dawn. Interest for the sequel series - Horizon Forbidden West is at its peak. The reason? First, because Sony immediately flaunted it as one of the games that deserves to be anticipated on the Playstation 5, their latest generation console. The premiere trailer that was released showcased better visualization quality, a mysterious world, and also a new threat that appeared with a more eye-catching design. Although in the end, it was also confirmed for the Playstation 4. Second? The world still offers so much room to be explored, which comes with one big question - whether Horizon Forbidden West is still able to offer the same or more interesting side of the story.

Plot

It didn't take long for Aloy to discover that the earth, despite his efforts, was still slowly but surely moving toward death. There is a Blight outbreak that makes crops, including crops, fall apart. There are also irrational storms that continue to make torrential rains and winds pouring down, drowning areas that should even be dry. For Aloy, this problem as well as the answer is believed to be in the West.

The only solution he can think of is to find a copy of Gaia, the parent program for Zero Dawn, which was designed from the ground up to restore life to life on Earth after the post-apocalyptic phase that occurred. But this journey is of course not easy, considering that the West is a different location from the East. It contains a variety of different tribes which are divided into various clans, each of which has its own culture. Worse yet? A rebellion under a figure named Regalla is taking place. Everything gets worse when Regalla also comes with the ability to control machines like Aloy. So, what is really going on in the world today? Can Aloy find a copy of Gaia and bring Zero Dawn back to life? Will they be successful in overcoming this problem? Who is the new mysterious human figure like Tilda who suddenly appears? All the answers to these questions you can get by playing this Horizon Forbidden West.

Wilder

Familiar is the word we would choose to describe the Horizon Forbidden West experience on the surface. That like Horizon Zero Dawn, it is an action RPG game with an open-world concept that allows you to explore the world freely from the moment you set foot there. There will be main missions that need to be completed to move the story and side missions scattered for extra rewards if you are diligent. Among them? Of course the fight is not only against machines, but also humans. Of course, you still have the ability to override the machines, controlling them as vehicles or allies to fight together. For this one, more engine variants also means an abundance of extra choices for you. However, that doesn't mean that Guerrilla Games doesn't inject new things into Horizon Forbidden West. One of the most significant? Of course Aloy's climbing ability is now more expanded. That is no longer limited to specific locations which usually contain yellow edges as an indication that he can be climbed, Aloy can now freely climb cliffs and mountains for extra mobility. You just need to activate focus to find routes you can climb instantly. We can't determine for ourselves whether these routes are randomly generated each time your Focus is activated or if they are predefined from the start. One thing is for sure, it opens up new challenges as well as new potentials for Aloy's exploration. Still, it's not as free as any kind of surface-climbing platform Nintendo has to offer Link in Breath of the Wild by comparison.

Another extra exploration thing that doesn't seem surprising anymore if you've watched the various trailers and gameplay demos available, is the presence of Shieldwing. It's basically a "parachute" that will now give you more freedom to not only jump from high places and land safely, but also to reach locations that catch your eye from the closest point. It may sound insignificant, but the presence of Shieldwing combined with a freer climbing action makes Aloy's vertical movement more reliable now. Even in certain situations, such as when you are inspecting the headquarters of the rebels or about to attack the machine suddenly from above, these two things will be the biggest contributors. Unfortunately, having the opportunity to move freely from the start doesn't mean you'll be able to just finish everything you come across. Horizon Forbidden West also comes with a few Metroidvania elements, where slowly but surely according to progress, Aloy will be armed with more supporting equipment that allows him to open various doors or puzzles that he couldn't open before. Some are even related to the main and side missions, which you won't be able to complete without the equipment. The good news? Every piece of this essential piece of equipment is not to be missed.

One such piece of equipment is a dive kit for Aloy which is ready to allow him to stay underwater for an indefinite period of time, which will be available via one of the main missions. Being one of the new exploration actions that Guerrilla Games continues to sell via a variety of available trailers, Aloy's diving ability, unfortunately, ends up not being as exciting as imagined. Diving does provide a unique challenge in the design of a new level that can now be implemented thanks to the presence of this mechanic, one of which is also shown to be quite dramatic and pleasing to the eye. He's hurt by two things - Aloy's sometimes unintuitive swimming moves and the fact that you only hide when a new machine lurks. That's right, you can't fight. In fact, fighting and battling with machines is one of the most fantastic and fun parts of Horizon Forbidden West, as is Horizon Zero Dawn. Fighting machines small or large, each with their own animations, weapons, and gimmicks is always fun and never boring. Of course, you are still strengthened by the ability to remove their small parts one by one for extra resources or even heavy weapons that you can use right away. How cool? Even the heavy weaponry you can take off of them isn't always overpowered. They usually come with limited ammo and not enough damage to kill them instantly.

For the action side, Horizon Forbidden West also comes with various improvements, one of which is Focus. No longer just providing half-hearted information, Focus will now give you more knowledge about the machine you are fighting, piece by piece. That's right, you didn't read it wrong - it comes in sections. Focus will now tell you which parts of the machine you can remove, which ones contain the most resources if they end up remaining undamaged by your attacks, which elements make each of these parts vulnerable, to which parts contain the materials you need to destroy them. the process of upgrading weapons, armor, to crafting ammo which of course, is back in this series. This new Focus makes you better prepared, especially with the option to tag the body parts that you think are important, making them change color to make it easier for you to recognize even in panic conditions. With an element-based weakness system and vulnerable body parts available on nearly every machine, Horizon Forbidden West's battles aren't always about throwing as many javelin or arrows as you have at your disposal. Sometimes, exploiting this information as effectively as possible will make your battles faster, safer and more resource efficient.

As an example? When you fight a machine like a bear - Fireclaw for example. Attacking blindly to remove his armor piece by piece would take a long time, while avoiding his brutal AOE attacks. But if you use the electric arrows for the four reactors on the back? It always produces an explosive effect that makes the bear silent for quite a long time. Cool again? If you understand he has a weak extra reactor because the Purgewater is hidden in his back armor, you can start "digging". Everything is unlocked with just one Focus and a more detailed examination of each piece of information. In addition to the various existing weapons, along with the RPG concept that he applied in the first series, Horizon Forbidden West still comes with a level system, skill points, and skill tree. The difference? The skill tree which is now divided into more categories is no longer limited to only increasing certain statuses or functions, but also adding active skills to weapon variants and special attacks called Valor Surge.

Active skills act like active skills in all RPG games, where using a resource called Stamina, you can execute as many times as you want. With each skill tree containing an active skill for a specific weapon, the decision to focus on a particular skill tree may not just be affected by what focus it has to offer. Each weapon has three active skills that you can change in real-time when you enter the weapon change wheel. Arrows and bows for example? You can choose between volley attacks, shooting 3 arrows at once, and a super sonic arrow without damage which is more effective at making the enemy fall in a stun condition. You will rely on this skill for an effective machine kill action.

Full of Stories

One that is applied in the Playstation 5's "Fidelity" mode is the lighting system which now follows the visual cut-scene for the previous version. In some areas, especially when you enter the Cauldron area, it's not hard to see how fantastic the new lighting system is, which also makes the short cut-scenes of Aloy's conversation look even better. Thumbs up also deserve to be directed at the accurate texture of the material presented, especially for the paint texture that is now attached to many NPC faces considering that they are part of the culture. Seeing how this paint sticks “roughly” over the character's face the way it should work always makes us smile. But in the end, like the first series, the appeal of the world of Horizon Forbidden West always lies in the world that it stretches. That unlike many open-world worlds in most games, Guerrilla Games always has extra attention to detail to make sure it's "alive". In Horizon Forbidden West, in the west, these tribes have their own culture, clothing, and ethics. As an example? Those who live in Plainsong use singing as their main communication tool with their god, who turns out to be the machines that have been helping them grow crops. Those who live in Bulwark are arrogant because their village has a defense system that has always been considered impenetrable. You will also now meet the ruins of large buildings, huge oceans, and meadows full of Blights that injure you. The way Guerrilla presents the world of Horizon Forbidden West is one of its main strengths.

Along with Aloy's departure to the west, you will meet more variants of monsters that are not available in the main series. We ended up falling in love with all kinds of variants of the latest monsters, which are still designed based on a particular animal or dinosaur. The new small variants are stunning, but it's the big variants that captivated us. We meet a giant cobra named Slitherfang who also often "hugs" a tall and agile structure, there is also a Tremortusk like a big and fierce Mammoth, to Clamberjaw - the monkey who is able to cling to a vertical plane and shoot deadly projectiles. More monsters means more challenges, complete with a more brutally designed “Apex” variant. Another fantastic thing that deserves to be celebrated also comes from the details of the costume design, both for Aloy and the tribes he meets. The presentation in terms of music is no less impressive. There are several tracks that end up sticking in our brains, such as the tracks that play in our brains when you are dealing with more brutal giant monsters like Tremortusk and Slaughterspine. The hum of the heavy bass seems to be voicing their threatening screams indirectly, making those of you who already panic even more panicked. There are also tracks that play softly to represent the culture that you no longer just see, but also hear, such as the songs of the Plainsong people who they believe make the earth a better place to live.

As for the implementation of DualSense technology, we can say that for the Playstation 5 version, Horizon Forbidden West seems to bring the implementation of Adaptive Trigger for the best bow and arrow action so far. For every dart you pull and release, you'll be able to feel the power it has to offer. Haptic Feedback also works in its proper capacity, where not only big things, Aloy's small movements such as using the Shieldwing from a height which is sure to produce air pressure will also translate well in the palm of your hand.

Side Mission

Of all the activities available, the most exciting in our opinion is the Arena. Guerrilla Games seems to understand that fighting against the machines is the main attraction of this game and because of that, the arena is created. As one might predict, it will contain the opportunity to test your skills against a predetermined set of machines. Arena is the best place to pursue specific resources - Medals that can be exchanged for the strongest weapons, armor, and accessories in the game. Cool again? For the final challenge in each category, this game also provides global Leaderboards to see which user managed to achieve the fastest time to complete it. This may motivate you to act more effectively and re-test your skills. But of all the extras that Horizon Forbidden West has to offer, thumbs up deserves to be directed to the way they handle the existing side missions. That as in the first series, learning from the success of The Witcher 3, the side missions offered by this series are no longer just empty requests that ask you to collect or eradicate something, without a clear story. Each side mission you encounter will come with a solid story, some of which even managed to touch our hearts. This is the best approach.

Before diving deep, Guerrilla Games also seems to make the presentation side of this side mission one of the priority improvements. If in the first series most side missions were present in a bland story style, where the story was usually presented only in dialogue between Aloy and NPC characters with alternate face zoom, he now has more camera angle variations in Horizon Forbidden West. Zoom out, blur, facial reactions, now clearly visible world backgrounds, lighting effects, everything makes this side of the presentation look so much better. Some even come with special cut-scenes that make things even more dramatic. The solidity of this side mission is also rooted in the reward side, most of which feel worth pursuing. But in the end, it's the quality and variety of the story that makes it charming. The fact that the quality of this story is as solid as the side missions with random NPCs you find in the city and the important companion characters also in the main story is testimony to what Guerilla Games has accomplished with it. The good news? Each of these side missions is also from what we've been through, coming with introductions, conflicts, and always satisfying conclusions.

One of our favorite stories? When we were asked for help in tracking down an old warrior who went missing from a village. A little exploration process makes it easy to track, where he can be found stalking a group of machines moving in the same area. The old warrior asks Aloy to help clean the engine and save his patrol team which he believes is in trouble. The struggle with the NPC who is still actively helping to overcome these machines ends with a touching story. He only found a small memorial containing the weapons of his patrol members which were now neatly arranged. No threat, no conflict, just a veteran battling with dementia who kept bringing him back to the precarious situation. Our hearts are touched.

Conclusion

Horizon Forbidden West is an experience that will feel familiar, but refined into something that feels fiercer and wilder to those who have tasted the first series. One of the main strengths comes from the story that takes the already solid sci-fi story from this first series to a new level that comes rational and provokes curiosity at the same time. He is then wrapped in a battle against a new engine, a new mechanic that fixes some problems in the previous series, side quests with an equally stunning story, a variety of exciting activities, and also a more solid exploration action with more flexible climbing abilities and the existence of a shieldwing on it. It doesn't look revolutionary in terms of the overall experience, but this second series will perfect what you've loved before.