In February/March of 2017 gamers were enjoying an embarrassment of riches. With both Horizon Zero Dawn and Zelda: Breath of the Wild releasing within close proximity of each other, players had two of the best games from this current generation available to play.
But since the two games released only a few days apart, it was hard not to compare them to one another. In many cases, the comparison only highlighted how different the games are and what developers can do with an open-world setting, but one element stood out: the climbing.
Horizon and Zelda Comparisons
In Horizon Zero Dawn, players are not given much freedom to explore as Aloy. Like the Uncharted series, Horizon Zero Dawn tries to clearly indicate where players can climb using yellow surfaces and textures. It’s by no means a flaw in Horizon Zero Dawn’s design, as the climbing and platforming are enjoyable, but when compared to Zelda: Breath of the Wild it can be jarring.
In Nintendo’s Switch launch game, players are able to climb on practically any surface. Scaling a mountain has a sense of freedom because there is no obvious path. The game never tells the player where to jump, where to grab, and if they are bold enough, anything is possible.
It’s unfair to compare the two and expect Horizon Zero Dawn to feature the same climbing mechanics as Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but those who immediately went from one to the other took notice. By no means did that hinder the opinion of one game versus the other, but it did highlight the design principles of each team.
Each game's developer put their priorities in different places, and to tell the story it wanted to tell, Guerrilla needed a more guided experience. That being said, it would be great to see Horizon Zero Dawn 2 take from Zelda’s page in a sequel.
Where Horizon Zero Dawn 2 Can Get Better
While Guerrilla Games has yet to confirm Horizon Zero Dawn 2, rumors have suggested that the game is deep in development for the PS5. It wouldn’t have been surprising to see the game at Sony’s PS5 event this past week, with a couple of Guerrilla devs hinting that fans should tune in. However, Sony made the decision to postpone the event and keep the focus on the push for positive change in America.
Whenever Horizon Zero Dawn 2 is revealed, the hope is that the PS5 will offer the game more freedom. It doesn’t have to be completely freeform like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but even just the ability to choose a climbing pathway in a given space would be a great change. The PS4 era of games (and even before that) have kept to a rigid structure when it comes to climbing/platforming, and a lot of that has to do with hardware limitations. If the PS5 is as powerful as Sony suggests, then players might see a Horizon Zero Dawn 2 that does away with the yellow handholds.
Each subsequent console generation has opened up gameplay experiences to new possibilities. The early eras were focused on linearity (with exceptions) but as the hardware got better, the games got bigger. Grand Theft Auto 3’s open world pales in comparison to Red Dead Redemption 2's map.
So for Horizon Zero Dawn 2, it would be great to see the game take the capabilities of the PS5 and push towards more freedom. It would be one element that would take an already-great series and push it to new heights.