Originally known for its work on the Killzone series, Guerrilla has become a powerhouse thanks to its post-apocalyptic world of robotic animals and dinosaurs. Sony has so much confidence in the brand that spin-off Horizon Call of the Mountain will be the PlayStation VR2 headset’s killer app. However, while Guerrilla is likely deep into production on Call of the Mountain and figuring out details for a third mainline entry, there’s room for Forbidden West DLC that covers various potential narrative threads. Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West ahead.
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Getting Closure for Varl’s Death
An early portion of Horizon Forbidden West brings protagonist Aloy back to the Spire outside Meridian, where Horizon Zero Dawn set its climactic battle against the rogue AI HADES. If Guerrilla Games is willing to keep retreading old ground, there are plenty of reasons why DLC focused on the Nora Sacred Lands could work. Beyond technical arguments about how the region’s design could largely carry over from Zero Dawn, Aloy also has narrative justifications for going back.
On one hand, Forbidden West’s story ends with Aloy’s friends scattering to different parts of the globe to recruit allies for the fight against Nemesis; a new threat that’s making its way to Earth. While this quest would be a good reason for Aloy to return home (perhaps alongside her clone “sister” Beta), it would also offer up an excuse to meet up with Nora War-Chief Sona to discuss her son Varl’s death. Aloy has little time to grieve in Forbidden West, so there could be emotional moments that help her come to terms with the loss of a friend.
Connecting CYAN with GAIA
It seems likely Guerrilla Games will announce additional content for Forbidden West because of the precedent set by Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds DLC. Though it may be odd to revisit the same location established by its predecessor’s expansion, going back to The Cut has a similar narrative justification as the Nora Sacred Lands. Since Aloy and her friends are looking for allies, one of the most powerful may be the AI CYAN who runs Project Firebreak in former Yellowstone National Park.
Though CYAN was created to prevent volcanic activity from destroying that region, its built-in sentience and emotional capabilities led to the AI becoming friends with Banuk Shaman Ourea. Aloy saves CYAN from the corrupting influence of HEPHAESTUS, an AI tasked with designing climate-restoring machines for Project Zero Dawn’s guiding hand GAIA, and the two bond over sharing knowledge. A restored version of GAIA attempts to contact CYAN in Horizon Forbidden West, but CYAN refuses seemingly out of fear for being taken over again, so Aloy could assuage its concerns in a new DLC expansion.
Exploring Rost’s Ventures Outside the Sacred Lands
If Guerrilla Games wants Aloy to remain in the Forbidden West for any DLC endeavors, the studio could still explore a connection to her roots by diving deeper into Rost’s backstory. Rost is Aloy’s father figure in Zero Dawn, the outcast who adopts a seemingly cursed child after her immaculate conception in All-Mother Mountain (revealed to be the result of GAIA cloning its creator, Elisabet Sobeck, as a safeguard when it self-destructs to avoid being overtaken by Nemesis). He dies saving her from the Eclipse during an attack on the Proving ceremony.
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While Rost is a tough, yet caring father for Aloy who becomes a guiding moral compass, she does not find out why he was exiled from Nora society until late into Horizon Zero Dawn. High Matriarch Teersa reveals he took on the mantle of a Death-Seeker in order to freely leave the Sacred Lands after bandits killed Nora citizens outside their border - including his daughter Alana. Teersa suggests his pursuit of these bandits went as far as the Utaru lands, a significant portion of the world in Horizon Forbidden West, so Aloy and Beta could bond over learning about his time there.
Seeing More of Quen Society
A major draw to the Horizon franchise is seeing the way a new society blossoms in the shadow of a contemporary humanity that wipes itself out through reckless technological expansion. Horizon Forbidden West introduces numerous tribes populating what was once the western United States, including the nature-attuned Utaru and warring Tenakth. However, the Quen are perhaps its most interesting addition.
One reason Aloy is able to thrive among her contemporaries is that she embraces old-world technology like Faro Automated Solutions’ Focus - which feeds into her insatiable curiosity about the world and what came before. Most other tribes are ignorant or fearful of old-world tech, but the Quen similarly embrace it. This empire comes from somewhere across the Pacific Ocean and builds its society around “Diviners” who use outdated Focuses to learn the “Legacy” of those who came before. Quen companion Alva becomes disillusioned with her society’s control of information, but Forbidden West DLC could visit her homeland (perhaps introducing a new playable character) to see whether they can be convinced to help fight Nemesis.
Following Sylens’ Nemesis Research
With Nemesis being such a prominent threat going forward, a more direct examination of what its imminent arrival entails and how Aloy will stop it could be an interesting way to bridge the gap between titles. Nemesis is revealed to be a product of the Far Zeniths’ desire for immortality in the eleventh hour of Forbidden West, essentially an amalgam of personalities and knowledge from the richest people of old Earth that became sentient after centuries of abandonment.
Aloy and her friends stop the Far Zeniths in Forbidden West, but Nemesis still intends to destroy Earth as revenge against its creators. Sylens, a pseudo-antagonist in both Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, joins Aloy at the end of the latter title so that they can figure out a way to stop Nemesis. Talking to him after the main story suggests he already has a few leads, so DLC could emulate Zero Dawn missions where Sylens guided the player on increasingly dangerous investigations.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.
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