After offering new details about Aloy’s new design, her renewed abilities or the dangerous machines, Guerrilla Games has now wanted to talk about the stunning open world of Horizon Forbidden West. The deadly land of the Forbidden West will be the vast place where the events of this sequel unfold, offering numerous places to train, rest and upgrade equipment. These are shelters where the game’s settlements are located, being important both for Aloy and for the tribes that inhabit them.
The game’s settlements have been made to give credibility, wanting to show a visual narrative that stands up to a credible setting. To get it, NPCs have been created according to where they live, having different behaviors depending on the tribe to which they belong. Everything indicates that this will be one of the surprises of the game after Guerrilla has worked closely with other internal teams such as narrative, missions and environments, to make sure everything looks as authentic as possible.
Settlements with a history and a life of their own
“In all the settlements of the world you will find opportunities to live adventures“Explains Steven Lumpkin, Senior Designer at Guerrilla. «Too they will have their good share of merchants and sellers– The tailors, who will sell Aloy powerful (and beautiful!) new outfits in exchange for shards and machine parts; hunters, who offer an assortment of new tactical weapons; the herbalists, who will sell powerful potions that Aloy will be able to endure because of how tough it is; and the chefs, who will prepare restorative dishes that Aloy can bring to enhance her attributes”.
For her part, Annie Kitain, Guerrilla’s senior screenwriter, explains that the merchants will fit the context of their respective tribes. “A hunter from the Oseram tribe can behave more like a blacksmith who will forge weapons for hunters to wield on their forays. On the other hand, Tenakth Hunters will act as mayors, ensuring that their clan’s warriors are armed for combat.”.
Ultimately, the goal has been none other than Horizon Forbidden West to offer the player a world that seems more alive and credible than ever before. To see if it succeeds, it only remains to wait for the next February 18, 2022.