Video game developer Guerrilla Games discusses some of the details for the story and RPG elements in its forthcoming open world title Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Following Horizon: Zero Dawn's latest trailer reveal for Tokyo Game Show 2016, Guerrilla Games sat down with the press outlet Game Informer to talk about some of the reasons why it has been reticent with details related to the title's story, citing its desire for fans to discover some its mysteries on their own. Not to mention, during the discussion, the studio also teased several of Horizon: Zero Dawn's collectible in-game items and some of the design choices behind the release's RPG elements.

As far as Horizon: Zero Dawn's narrative is concerned, according to the title's lead writer John Gonzalez, the game is set to have a main plot, in addition to plenty of extra goodies for those who enjoy delving into story and lore. In fact, it seems as if Horizon: Zero Dawn might be taking a page out of BioShock's book with the first-person shooter's popularization of voice-recorded diaries, as Guerrilla Games could be using a variation of the mechanic to share additional pieces of the tale so as to not interrupt gameplay.

"For people who are story junkies, for people who like to collect every audio log or text log out there, people who want to have a grand narrative to their game, I think they're going to be really surprised and delighted by what we have prepared for them."

Regarding Horizon: Zero Dawn's RPG aspects, it seems as if Guerrilla Games didn't want to overload fans with too much and will keep such elements at surface level. As it happens, the title's director Mathijs de Jonge stated that reigning such elements in boiled down to the developer making a design choice as the studio didn't want to overwhelm or befuddle players.

"What we wanted to avoid is complicated menus. We also didn't want to go too deep with the RPG features we were developing. We wanted to have a certain level of accessibility and understandability for players. We also didn't want to go too hardcore with stats, so at some point we just cut it off and said we weren't going to go any further because it would confuse players."

Taking all of this into consideration, it seems as if Guerrilla Games is doing its best to refine Horizon: Zero Dawn by utilizing familiar features from existing properties, while also working toward giving the title its own unique feel. With this being the case, most fans will likely understand and accept the game's delay into 2017, for it appears as if the studio not only wants Horizon: Zero Dawn to be accessible, but also distinctive. Of course, it will also be interesting to see whether or not the game will be able to outshine its competition in the graphics department also, as Guerrilla Games plans on harnessing all of the PS4 Pro's visual capabilities it can.

Horizon: Zero Dawn is currently set to release on February 28, 2017 as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.

Source: Game Informer (via GameSpot)