Horizon Forbidden West is the long-awaited sequel to 2017's open-world action RPG Horizon Zero Dawn. Many were surprised when the first installment was announced at E3 2015 as an action RPG, a new direction for a studio previously known for making first-person shooters.
Horizon Zero Dawn was a critical and commercial hit, and Horizon Forbidden West aims to recapitulate the booming success of its predecessor. But for that to happen, perhaps Forbidden West should take a new approach and dive further into its successful RPG elements.
The Lack of RPG Elements in Horizon Zero Dawn
Early gameplay reveals and Guerrilla Games' past endeavors seemed to indicate that Horizon Zero Dawn would be a game that would prioritize combat over the story. However, Horizon Zero Dawn offers a surprisingly deep dystopian plot that's very well fleshed out. Guerrilla Games did a fine job establishing the lore of its post-post-apocalyptic universe that feels authentic, believable, and worth caring about. On top of that, Aloy is an admirable protagonist who has the spotlight all for herself throughout the story.
Although the story feels fresh, it lacks major RPG tropes. For instance, there are no diverging pathways, and the dialogue options, despite being extensive, don't offer real consequences to the story. There are no multiple endings, no choice and consequence, and no emphasis on the story that would differentiate it from a non-RPG, which is a shame because the game's open-world has a ton of potential of portraying a non-linear storyline with real choice and consequences. It is even more surprising because Guerrilla Games hired John Gonzalez, who worked on Fallout: New Vegas, as the lead writer and narrative director for Horizon Zero Dawn.
Horizon Zero Dawn's fun and frantic combat, on the other hand, dips its toes a little into Capcom's best-selling Monster Hunter games. Like in Monster Hunter, each machine roaming the open-world of Horizon Zero Dawn has its own purpose. For example, Grazers forage in groups to produce blaze-an important crafting material, whereas Tallnecks monitor the weather. However, combat in Horizon Zero Dawn is not as deeply layered as the Monster Hunter games. It doesn't mean that the combat in Horizon Zero Dawn isn't tactical, though it quickly becomes stale due to a lack of unique weapons and weapons attributes.
Horizon Zero Dawn's biggest weakness is perhaps the lack of variety in its weapons. The primary weapon has only three variants whose each subsequent upgrade doesn't offer game-changing stats, making combat painfully repetitive after sinking a couple of hours. Every enemy encounter remains challenging and nerve-wracking, and defeating them feels satisfying though the lack of unique weapons and no significant upgrades can make these encounters a chore. For a combat-focused action RPG, Horizon Zero Dawn's combat is surprisingly simple.
Interestingly, most of these design choices and Horizon Zero Dawn's simple combat and story structure were on purpose. Even before the game's release, Guerrilla Games had remained clear about the kind of experience Horizon Zero Dawn was going to be. As revealed, the developers didn't want to overburden players with complex gameplay mechanics. As much as this makes sense, the lack of depth in RPG elements could also be due to Guerrilla's lack of experience in making such games.
What Horizon Forbidden West Could Learn From Horizon Zero Dawn
So far, Horizon Forbidden West seems to be a step in the right direction. The 14 minutes long State of Play gameplay demo gives a glimpse of some of the gameplay changes from the first game. Aloy retains her bow but has picked up a few new neat tricks and tools along the way. The spear can now be overclocked to cause high-damage effects. It seems players will also be able to perform different combos with the spear, all of which have different uses and effects. Aloy also has a launcher that can be used to throw firey spikes on the enemies. Furthermore, smoke bombs can be used to create diversions. While these subtle new additions are not enough to offer unique playstyle experiences like a traditional RPG, they still seem fun and add much more variety to the combat than the first game. Hopefully, they are just a few of the many weapons and tools players will find in the game.
Sadly, the gameplay trailer doesn't reveal anything about the weapons and armor upgrades. Horizon Zero Dawn tinkered with the loot system a little, starting from green as uncommon to purple at rare. Horizon Forbidden West loot system must be more refined in which every weapon upgrade offer perks leads to different gameplay experiences. Given how there won't be any class systems, the loot is one aspect where Horizon Forbidden West could lean heavily to establish its RPG roots, all the while taking inspiration from other loot-driven games such as Nioh or Destiny.
Just like Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West will feature multiple tribes, each with its own motives and principles. The state of play presentation gave a detailed look at one of the game's rebel tribes called Tenakth who has the ability to override machines. While it would be nice to have branching storylines and morality-based choices in Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy's heroic nature would mean taking an approach similar to Mass Effect's Commander Shepard. Additionally, the game could tinker a little with the game's tribes, adding faction quests that shape the game's universe outside of the main story.
Horizon Forbidden West could take a page out of Skyrim where the players had the option to side with one of the two factions and take part in the civil war questline that doesn't influence the main story but changes the outlook of Skyrim over the course of the journey. In Horizon Forbidden West, this would mean that Aloy could only side with good tribes rather than evil ones, but even that would be a welcome change and a step in the right direction for an action RPG title like this. The game's narrative director Ben Mccaw has confirmed that stopping the blight is just one of the many mysteries Aloy will uncover in the game, so hopefully, there is a possibility of pursuing other storylines that could have lasting consequences in Horizon Forbidden West's post-post-apocalyptic world.
Horizon Forbidden West launches Holiday 2021 for PS4 and PS5.