City of Dinosaur-Riding Angels
What did I say about Horizon Forbidden West last time? That it plays to the "same strengths" and hits the "same highs" as Zero Dawn? Well, yeah, though that's an awfully succinct way to describe a world I've spent over a hundred hours in.
I'd forgotten how varied this map is: from canyons and deserts to forests and beaches, icy mountain peaks and treetop villages to overgrown skyscrapers and
Forbidden West's world is so damn captivating, I really couldn't help but keep returning to wring out every last drop of it.
And the second time around, it was pretty easy for me to ignore trivial shortcomings like inventory management. (Just had to always remember to "refill from stash.")
The plot isn't as jaw-dropping as Zero Dawn's - a high bar for sure - and ultimately Far Zenith felt more like a setup for Aloy's next game. Her motley crew of allies, though, help add meaning to this journey: it's always a delight listening to Erend's struggles with technology, to Kotallo's swearings of vengeance, to Alva's manic joy for data.
As for Burning Shores, well -- like Frozen Wilds before it, this expansion is a perfectly serviceable and enjoyable addition to the main game, not much more.
Londra's story tries to embellish those rascally Zeniths with a deep-dive into one particular narcissist, but it doesn't add much substance to the space wizards we already knew. (Though his Pangea Park is a fun excuse for glib Jurassic Park references.) And new companion Seyka has an engaging personality, but is no substitute for the group of friends that came along with Aloy in the main game.
Flying on a ptero-bot mount was a thrilling, climactic upgrade in Forbidden West, unlocking free exploration of the whole map; creating a new problem in Burning Shores, whose new map would be trivialized if you could fly over it immediately. It was smart of Guerrilla Games to invent a flight block that you could later remove, so once you defeat Londra's anti-air space-magic laser, you can fly around LA's ruins too -- it's just a shame that the main game's grand capstone moment had to be undone (and then rehashed) for the expansion's sake.
I wish Burning Shores had added more off-the-beaten-path sidequests and activities. I mean, what's here is fine, a little unraveling of the Quen's org chart and some more flight recorder stories from Operation: Enduring Victory, I just ... wanted more.
Not that the "complete edition" package of Forbidden West is lacking content. Man. The hundred-plus hours I clocked uncovering this world's mysteries, solving its people's problems, upgrading my weapons to blow up robot dinosaurs, I loved all of it.
Except maybe those Gauntlet Run races. Could do without those in Horizon 3.
Progress: finished on Normal, 95.96% main game progression, 92.00% Burning Shores progression