Going Platinum: Horizon Forbidden West, a Very Good Sequel People Love to Hate 1
Image: Push Square

Platinum Trophy #35: Horizon Forbidden West

Date Earned: 23rd February 2022

Dopamine Index:

I'm going to be very honest with you: I put off writing this Going Platinum for days.

Not because I dislike Horizon Forbidden West (far from it), but because I'm just really tired of the same conversations circling around whenever the game is brought up.

There are a lot of vocal people that love an opportunity to tell you how bad they think it is. There are defenders (like me) who frequently point to the series' impressive sales as some sort of proof that it's beloved.

In this sense, Horizon is the Avatar of video games. Many people love talking about how much they hate James Cameron's sci-fi action flicks, but they're among the highest-grossing movies ever made. I'm doing that weighing-things-up-in-my-hands gesture, if you'd like to imagine that.

It's just not very interesting to have this back-and-forth anymore; I feel like we barely talk about the game itself at this point.

That's a shame, because there's so much to discuss.

For example, I think my main criticism with Forbidden West is that it felt like the writers didn't quite know what to do with Aloy after her brilliant origin story in Horizon Zero Dawn.

They set up this fantastic character with a fascinating backstory, and it tied up quite neatly at the end as she finally came to terms with who she was. Now what? I guess she could travel to the west coast? Because of a weird corruption or whatever?

The setup works fine, but I do think Aloy feels a little flat in the sequel because that mystery that was really driving her in the first game is gone, and it's not replaced with anything quite as interesting.

I do really like how bonkers the story goes, though. No spoilers, but there are some really fun twists and turns that I'm excited to see expanded upon in Horizon 3 (see you in 2032).

It's by no means perfect, and I can certainly understand people who don't like the story. It makes some big choices that aren't for everyone, but that's sort of why I like it. It's leaning in so hard.

In basically every other department, I think Forbidden West is a better game than its predecessor. There's more to do at any given moment, side quests are much improved, the tribes are more interesting, the world is more varied, the machines are fun as hell to fight — I really think it's a great sequel in numerous ways.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that discourse about games could and should be far more interesting than "This is amazing/this is terrible" — we could be talking about all the cool stuff the game attempts to achieve, and whether we think it did. Wouldn't that be nice?

I guess I should at least mention the Trophies, seeing as that's kind of the anchor of this feature I came up with — fun list!

As alluded, I played Forbidden West for review, but I was also tasked with making guides, meaning I put in a lot of hours and naturally earned the platinum after scouring every inch of it.

In typical Sony fashion, the Trophies are not particularly challenging, but they do encourage you to at least check out every aspect, like the Machine Strike mini game and the combat arenas.

There's not a whole lot to write home about in terms of the plat, then, but I really enjoyed my time with Forbidden West and can't wait for the next major instalment.

Cheers, Horizon Forbidden West.

Do you have the platinum Trophy for Horizon Forbidden West? Tell us in the comments section below.