While Naughty Dog may still rule the Sony roost to many, Horizon is quickly becoming the best franchise in the company's first party. Aloy is a great character, and her rise from outcast to savior in Horizon Zero Dawn is seamless, so her quest in Horizon Forbidden West feels thoroughly justified as she braves the harsh environments of the American west coast. Following the dangers to the sunny shores of San Francisco and finding an enemy in the Far Zeniths, Aloy's story is far from over, and the third game in what is surely going to be a trilogy needs to do something new to stay relevant, borrowing from other games of the last generation.
Horizon's American setting is gorgeous, but it's not the only game to present the pretty side of the USA. Death Stranding is very different from Guerrilla's latest works, as it provides a unique gameplay loop that isn't that familiar to fans. It's polarizing, but its relationship with online play is something that wholeheartedly adds to the experience. Horizon has always been single-player focused with no connectivity between players, but the narrative direction the series is heading may mean that it could be best served implementing online features similar to Kojima's latest project, making each feat in the game feel like an achievement for players everywhere.
Death Stranding Feels like a Collaborative Effort
Death Stranding is cryptic in its storytelling and character development, as it is the tale of one man attempting to reconnect the isolated colonies of the USA after a cataclysmic event. BT's and harsh terrain make the task a near-impossible one, but it's made easier by the influence of other players, who assist in making the land more manageable to traverse and exist in by adding ladders, cairns, watch towers, and signs. It's a lovely way to make a lonely story feel like it sits in a populated world, and while players don't enter other people's games, their presence is felt throughout.
It's a collaborative effort that makes the story beats feel all the more impactful, as well as making the world far less difficult to overcome. The real challenge of Death Stranding is the setting itself, as scaling a mountain or passing a river can each feel like genuine accomplishments. The same can't be said of Horizon, though, which boasts some of the best gameplay, visuals, and landscapes in the open-world genre, but doesn't take anywhere near as many risks as Kojima's latest effort. For some, Death Stranding is boring, but for others it's a lesson on how even the small things can prove to be difficult, and having other players' influence can ease the challenge.
Horizon's Story is About Bringing People Together
While Horizon Zero Dawn felt like a lonely experience as Aloy traverses the world alone, stopping only to interact with who she needs to, Horizon Forbidden West's base makes it feel like a team effort. Alva's optimistic glow and Erend's grumbly aura do well to offset Aloy's often-serious nature, and though the base's inhabitants don't spend much time out in the wild, they do their part to momentarily stop the threat to Earth. The conclusion of Forbidden West shows that there is a far bigger problem to worry about than bandits and machines, with the revelation from Tilda showing that the mistakes of the Far Zeniths are coming back to haunt the planet they once called home.
With Nemesis being the ultimate threat of Horizon, there's a requirement for all hands to thoroughly be on deck. Unlike Helis in the first game, it's an enemy that Aloy cannot fight alone, and outside help like Death Stranding implements would improve her chances massively. The story in Horizon Forbidden West is about bringing people together to stop such an existential threat, and online features can make an otherwise hostile land a little less difficult to overcome. Narratively it could make sense, too, as Aloy herself is a clone of Elizabet Sobeck, so having others also playing as Aloy helping each other wouldn't be completely out of the realm of possibility.
Online Elements are Becoming Commonplace in 2022
Though single-player and multiplayer-centric titles usually operate in different genres and use different formats, there have been a handful of story-focused games that have implemented a subtle, yet important online feature to further add to the immersion, information, and efficiency of a game. The emotional adventure in 2012's Journey would have been far less impactful if real-world players didn't help each other along the way. It's seamless, beautiful, and critical to the experience while never explicitly telling the player that the game had overt online elements.
Online leaderboards and hints from players in Bloodborne or drop-in-drop-out online co-op like Stardew Valley are great ways that a game can utilize an internet connection to make an experience even better. Online features don't have to be overbearing, and recent years have proven that single-player games can massively benefit from them. Horizon is no different, and though few fans would want a squad-based first-person shooter in the Horizon IP, it could be improved by the assistance of others, just as Death Stranding was.
Plenty of games could learn from Death Stranding's minimalist, yet important utilization of online features, but the themes of Horizon make it perhaps the most perfect fit. The threat of Nemesis to both Aloy and Earth is huge, and the conclusion of Horizon Forbidden West wastes no time in telling players of its ferocity. Allowing players to work together would be a feat Aloy herself would be proud of, as much of her time is spent making warring tribes play nice and see the bigger picture. Death Stranding is strange, but its handling of online features is something that should absolutely be replicated by Guerrilla.
Horizon Forbidden West is available for PS4 and PS5.