The sprawling map that Horizon Forbidden West presents is packed with luscious environments, stunning visuals, engaging side activities, and challenging battles across a west coast landscape that never fails to impress. The change in location from the Rocky Mountains of Horizon Zero Dawn was a welcome one, as the differences in architecture and weather do well to demonstrate the impressive power of the PS5. The game's many vista points show just how far the setting has fallen, and while pushing further west worked wonders for the 2022 title, the conclusion of its story opens up the possibility of yet another relocation.
Horizon Forbidden West is the most sociable Aloy has ever been, slowly recruiting new characters to her cause through the events of the game, resulting in a real team effort in the story's closing stages. One such character, the delightfully uplifting Alva, a Diviner from the distant Quen tribe, encounters Aloy in the game's back half, and immediately becomes a fan favorite. Coming to the USA as part of a research expedition of the Old Ones, Alva's home across the Pacific Ocean opens up the possibility of the inevitable follow-up to Horizon Forbidden West being set far from the shores of San Francisco.
West of the Forbidden West
Aloy first comes into contact with the Quen in the quest 'Seeds of the Past' when a temporary alliance is formed with Alva when the former is looking for Test Station Ivy. The quest gave players a significant amount of context as to who the Quen are, how they operate, and the values they hold, and Alva being a researcher of the Old Ones means it gave some much-needed exposition to the history of the game's world. In the very first conversation between the two, Alva mentions that her homeland across the Pacific is ravaged by "freakish weather, terrible storms, and blistering droughts", which greatly differs from the luscious and vibrant landscape of the Forbidden West.
Uprooting Aloy and placing her in such a hostile location could do well to keep the franchise moving in a positive direction. Though it would be all too easy to present yet another sun-soaked USA skyline, the drastically different culture of eastern Asia would feel truly unique. The Quen's place in the story is to demonstrate that there is a whole world of knowledge that Aloy doesn't have, as their culture is so reliant on what happened before the events of the game. Sending the Horizon franchise across the ocean would give Aloy access to a wealth of information while presenting an entirely new playground for players to submerge themselves in.
The Forbidden West, and The Unexplored East
Though the tribes, machines, points of interest, and allies that litter both the Forbidden West and the Rocky Mountains of the first game are impressively diverse, the cultural differences between the United States and southeast Asia are massive. The land is different, its people hold different values, and flora and fauna are unfamiliar to those who reside in the west. This opens up a world of possibilities for the inevitable third entry in the Horizon series, as it could present all-new tribes, open-world obstacles, and even more new and dangerous machines to overcome in battle.
It's not clear where, specifically, the Quen are from, as the story takes place centuries after the demise of the world that players know. However, Alva's insistence that they hail from across the Pacific Ocean places their settlements around the East China Sea, surrounding places like Taiwan, Shanghai, and Kyushu, Japan. Each of the aforementioned places are significantly different from what Aloy knows, and though she has two games of development and questing behind her, bringing the character to such unfamiliar surroundings could do well to further add to the tension as she, yet again, has to become at home in the unknown. Aloy's beginnings as an outcast do well to make her fit in wherever she goes, and it could be a good trait to have in such unexplored lands.
Though each of the Horizon games are landmark titles for the PlayStation brand, the locations on offer aren't significantly different from one another. The sandy beaches of the Forbidden West are wholly unique, but with this only taking up the western side of the map, the rest doesn't feel massively different to the Colorado and Utah-set Horizon Zero Dawn. Sending Aloy and her unlikely crew of memorable companions to the home of the Quen could not only serve to give the story more exposition and provide players with more content to explore, but it could also deliver a truly fresh setting for the players and Aloy to master.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4, and PS5.