WARNING: Major Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West's Burning Shores DLC AheadHorizon Forbidden West has received DLC titled Burning Shores, and it has Aloy investigating a new threat and completing some unfinished business with the Far Zeniths. During her time in this new region, she meets a brave Quen warrior named Seyka, and the two have a romantic fling. For many, this was a touching example of character growth which sees Aloy go from a closed-off and fiercely independent heroine to one who is capable of showing her vulnerable side to others. However, others have disliked the side plot, leading to a massive review bombing of the DLC.
There are many reasons for the review bombing Horizon Forbidden West's DLC, and one of the complaints is that for many, part of Aloy's appeal was her lack of romantic entanglements. This has even led to some championing Aloy as an asexual character. From this, it becomes evident that there is a real craving for positively represented asexual characters in gaming.
The Review Bombing of Burning Shores
Burning Shores is arguably one of the best-looking games available on PS5 at present. The environments and near photorealistic graphics are nearly impossible to not fall in love with, and the increased emphasis on underwater exploration has given gamers more splendorous sights to behold. Gameplay has also seen many improvements, with new skills and valor surges added to Aloy's skill tree.
The DLC also reveals a lot more of Aloy's romantic side, and Aloy and Seyka can share a kiss. This is very noteworthy, as positive depictions of LGBT characters aid in making gaming more accessible to all and making a wide range of gamers feel represented. Unfortunately, it has also led to a lot of review bombing, and the game currently sits with a user score rating of 3.3 on Metacritic, which is considerably lower than its critic score of 82.
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores Proves Gaming Needs More Asexual Characters
Some critics of Burning Shores have been lamenting over the loss of Aloy as a potentially asexual character in games. Asexual people are certainly capable of having romantic attraction and relationships, though Aloy's lack of responsiveness to flirting in past games has caused fans to suspect that she may be entirely uninterested in relationships of any sort.
Aloy's sexuality is likely something Guerrilla Games has been plotting for a long time. In hindsight, it becomes a little more obvious that this may have always been the intended character arc for her, especially when she is compared to Elisabet Sobeck who was also in a same-sex relationship with Tilda van der Meer.
Nevertheless, it appears that there is a genuine desire for more asexual characters in gaming, and this may explain why it is so heartbreaking for some that Aloy may not fill this role. Positive depictions of asexuality are few and far between in gaming, with the most popular asexual character in gaming perhaps being The Outer World's Parvati Holcomb (who, coincidentally, is voiced by Ashly Burch who also serves as Aloy's voice actress).
The solution to this problem isn't to retcon existing characters, as positive depictions of queer female relationships are also desperately needed in gaming. Instead, there need to be more asexual characters in gaming. With how large the gaming industry is, there is certainly more than enough space for the depiction of the full breadth of human experiences.
Horizon Forbidden West is available on PS4 and PS5.