Am I the only one that played all weekend long and got absolutely nowhere? I know there’s a big important job to do and I’m the only one that can do it, but I just can’t help getting distracted by all the shiny objects al✅ong the way. It’s been a long time since I last let myself get this lost in an open-world game, and I think it’s a testament to Horizon Forbidden West’s exceptional points of interest that I never feel like I’m wasting my time by getting sidetracked. All the optional activities scattered across the Forbidden West feel intentional and purposeful, largely thanks to clever narrative decisions and overlapping systems that make side quests matter. Unlike most open world games, nothing in Horizon Forbidden West ever feels like filler.
Modern open world games emphasize quantity over quality. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry fans may appreciate the opportunity to dump hundreds of hours in by roaming around the world checking off map markers by completing simple, similar tasks, but as someone that plays a lot of different games, I just can’t justify doing busy work. I appreciate when games respect my time and tend to avoid open world games for that reason. I didn’t even jive well with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Marvel’s Spider-Man - a universally beloved PS4 game - because of how much of a chore its missions we𒆙re. Maybe you liked finding hidden back packs and chasing pigeons, but I did not.
Horizon Forbidden West’s side activities are on a whole different level. Practically every question mark on the map leads to a unique challenge supported by an interesting story that rewards valuable i🐟tems for progression. There’s nothing I would consider busy work because each activity is worthwhile, either narratively or through its rewards. If there’s anything as pedestrian as chasing pigeons here, I haven’t found it.
Forbidden West does an incredible job of taking familiar activities and making them feel important and rewarding. Take the Rebel Camps for example. After encountering Regalla for the first time following the Embassy, you can choose to take on her rebel camps across the map to disrupt her rebellion. After clearing the first camp, you discover a stockpile of blast that would have been used to attack the Tenakth tribes. Most open world games have some version of bandit camps, but the🦹y’re typically idle, static locations where enemies sit and wait for you to kill them. Forbidden West gives the rebels intention and tells you that something terrible would have happened if you hadn’t stopped them, and it makes all the difference.
There are storylines injected into all of the activities that would otherwise be simple and repetitive. The Salvage Contracts are simple fetch quests that task you with hunting specific machines and bringing their parts back to the quest giver, but they're wrapped in a plot about a competition between armorers that each have their own idea for the most protective outfit. When you complete all the contract missions, you’re rewarded with an armor that combines all their best ideas into one. The Melee Pits seem like your typical combat arenas, but they’re actually a series of organized tests to determine the greatest fighter in the Forbidden West. By completing all of them, you get to battle Forbidden West's master fighter, The Enduring, and earn a permanent damage upgrade for your spear.
Melee Pits are also a great example of the way optional activities tie into your character progress. Instead of just off🔯ering experience points or money, many activities provide unique rewards that serve a greater purpose. Finding the 12 black boxes for Untalla might seem like a bog-standard fetch quest, but each box is locked behind a complex puzzle that often requires unlocked or upgraded tools before you can collect them. Each one provides an audio log that tells the story of how the aꩵircraft crashed, and finding them all rewards you with a legendary weapon you can’t get anywhere else.
Open world games are known for having giant maps overflowin🐈g with POIs, but Horizon Forbidden West goes to great lengths to make each of them interesting. It doesn’t hurt that the core robot-fighting gameplay is so strong either. Even when you’re just following map markers and hunting machines, you’re still gaining valuable crafting resources and practicing your ability to efficiently take down different types of machines. No matter how off track I get, I never feel like I’m wasting my time.
