Aloy is on an urgent mission in Horizon Forbidden West to solve the mysteries of numerous environmental calamities that threatens life on Earth. But she seemingly takes the longest way around if the game's opening cinematic is concerned. A fan traced the route Aloy took to go West, and it takes her amazingly far from where she needed to get to. Redditor The-Aziz posted the map from Horizon Zero Dawn and outlines the route that Aloy supposedly takes in the opening cinematic.
After plot circumstances reveal themselves to Aloy, she finally gets the information that points her towards The Forbidden West. Aloy leaves the Carja capital of Meridian, which seems innocuous enough. But if the game's opening credits cinematic is to be believed, Aloy turns back East. She retreats through the Carja's desert territory, passing the gates that lead into Mother's Embrace, the Nora territory. She ends up hugging the mountain range to the north as she finally resumes heading West, passing the Faro Automated Solutions headquarters in the process. She even returns to the Sun Ring, where she was held captive for a spell before fighting her way out.
Fans in the comments under the post ponder why Aloy chose this route in order to get to the West. The easiest way for Aloy to get to the West would be to take the river at the foot of the Meridian Mesa. Let's assume that wasn't an option, due to whatever lore territorial reasons persist. She still could have crossed over to the side where The Daunt is located much earlier. A commenter presented the idea that maybe these were locations she already visited before she got the clue to go West. However, the cinematic shows Aloy wearing the ceremonial Headpiece given to her by Sun King Avad, so it had to be after. Other comments joke that this is the path that players take when exploring the world of Horizon and is true to the user experience.
The answer to Aloy's mysterious path may just be "because opening montage." The music, In the Flood by Oleska Lozochuk and Ariana Gillis that accompanied the travel montage, is absolutely beautiful, just like the landscapes of Horizon Forbidden West. The music is somber but soulful as it overlays Aloy, determined to solve the mysteries of the Red Blight and unusual storms. And determined to bear the burden of being a genetic clone of Elisabeth Sobeck and the places only she can go.
The opening hours of Horizon Forbidden West lead Aloy onto a bunch of different missions and errands in order to get plot circumstances in order for the gates to the West to be opened. To think that she took an even longer way to get to the West is comical. The Plot to Horizon Forbidden West claims that the storms and the Red Blight could destroy life in months but Aloy burned at least 3 days on Charger horseback before the events in The Daunt that could take up even more time.
Horizon Forbidden West is out now on PS4 and PS5.