Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores serves fans an important dessert that wraps up the main course of the campaign in a satisfying way. A dangerous new sandbox and an intriguing story await Aloy, offering a happy ending as well as providing some glimpses into the future.
Unlike Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds DLC, which is a nice but skippable side story, Burning Shores has enough decent plot progression to make it closer to the play requirements. Taking place shortly after the sequel’s epilogue, this short story sees Aloy travel to the remains of a destroyed volcano in Los Angeles to confront perhaps the series’ most enigmatic villain. movie. The adventure takes some interesting turns and offers what I most wanted: a potential narrative blueprint for a third game. Burning Shores’ conclusion lays a good foundation for how Aloy and friends will tackle the next threat, so dull PlayStation 4 owners have to accept to watch it on YouTube. I also enjoyed spending more time with Quen, my favorite faction in Forbidden West, especially since they introduced us to Seyka, Aloy’s new companion and one of the main Burning highlights. Shores.
This capable warrior serves as the catalyst for the story of Burning Shores and sticks with Aloy throughout the expansion. Seyka is essentially a more charismatic version of Aloy herself: steadfast and sometimes a bit stubborn, but gentle and loving to those in trouble, while also having a lovely sense of humour. While the blossoming of their relationship feels a bit rushed to accommodate the DLC’s shorter run time, the two female hunters do have some interesting interactions, such as exchanging humorous observations. funny while exploring the dilapidated dinosaur amusement park. I hope we see more Seyka in the future as she has quickly risen to a higher position among the best characters of the series.
The islands that make up the former Tinseltown look surprisingly beautiful; Volcanic lava rivers offer a major visual change. It’s a shame that these melting hazards don’t affect gameplay more directly, but LA presents an interesting emphasis on verticality to take more advantage of your flying mount. The skyscrapers boast hidden entrances and secrets that lie many floors above ground, allowing me to travel more distances from Sunwing or Waterwing, a new swimming variant that is now my favorite mount. . Aerial versions of the VR landscape puzzle further encourage aerial flying, to the point where flying overshadows Aloy’s new motorboat. Despite being the central mode of transportation for the Burning Shores, the boat’s slower speed and its accessibility tethered to the harbor can’t overcome the thrill and convenience of flying anywhere. at will (or fast-moving, for that matter). As a result, I rarely use it outside of the required segments.
Some of the new machines that take over Burning Shores, such as a giant frog and oversized mechanical flies, aren’t as awe-inspiring as some existing machines, but they offer exciting new experiments in your fighting prowess. In addition to killing these enemies for new upgrade parts, I’ve spent most of my time hunting for a valuable new resource called Brimstone, glowing crystals that are used as raw materials. Main crafting for Burning Shores’ powerful new legendary armor and weapons set. I appreciate that Matchstone is relatively abundant, allowing me to quickly acquire a new armory and wardrobe.
However, aside from getting a powerful new gun midway through the expansion, Burning Shores doesn’t introduce features that significantly shake up encounters. However, Seyka’s near-constant presence adds a welcome helping hand in the fray. She’s really helpful, often separating enemies on her own or tying them up with ropes so I can rush in to kill them. From the outset, puzzle solving has neat cooperative advantages, such as Aloy and Seyka working together to build each other’s climbs using siege weapons. These sequences might fool you into thinking you’re playing with another real person, although I wish these women had more obstacles to work through together for the rest of the experience.
Burning Shores is an exciting end to Aloy’s sophomore year outing. It’s more like Forbidden West with a few interesting wrinkles, meaning it’s a good reminder of the things the game got right while retaining some of the old headaches (like holding hands while solving problems). quiz). More than anything, Aloy’s trip to Hollywood proves its existence by meaningfully building upon the original game’s story, paving the way for the next title to take off.
