Horizon Forbidden West

With upgrades to every aspect of the game- gameplay, AI, upgrade systems, skill trees, and graphics, Horizon Forbidden West was an absolute triumph. Cauldrons are no longer wash-rinse-repeat; stories you encounter and engage in require real choices; the decisions you make will affect the way the ending plays out. In over 30 years of experience in gaming, I cannot recall any other sequel being as strong a follow up as this. I cannot recommend it enough.

Aloy is back to try to figure how to reboot GAIA, new friends, new enemies, and lots of machines to destroy. The scenery is beautiful, the soundtrack is amazing, and the world even more expansive. I'm not even half way through the game yet, but I am in awe of this masterpiece. If you loved Zero Dawn, you'll definitely love Forbidden West. Oh, and Aloy is still my spirit animal. Now, I must go, there's a cauldron I need to make my way into.

Holy heck. This game is STUNNING. Easily the most beautiful looking game I've ever played. Brilliant story, well written and intriguing characters, challenging combat, tons of side activities, easy and fun to get lost just exploring/hunting, and just purely phenomenal. Aloy's return is glorious.

If you like open world RPGs then there really isn't one better than the Horizon arc. It's highly immersive with third person gameplay and compared to the first game in the series, it's bigger, richer with interactions and side quests, and has far more developed gameplay interactions with respect to combat and navigating the social and physical world. The protagonist is Aloy, a clone of the main scientist that developed the means for all life on Earth to be given a second chance after a 'whoops apocalypse' mistake by the 'Old Ones', who was made as a desperate measure by the AI controlling the terraforming system when, for reasons yet unknown, the AI is destroyed and everything starts to go haywire, threatening life on Earth once again. The visible instruments of this terraforming system are machines with a wide variety of terraforming jobs and physical forms from dinosaurs to cattle, which have run amok with no AI to guide them. The machines and some other characters that she meets get in the way of Aloy's mission; and they have to be destroyed, overridden and used for transport, or circumvented by other means. If you've never played it before you're in for a long-lasting treat. If you haven't played the original game, I would recommend you start there, as it is just as enjoyable and will add context.

One of the best games ever! Must play to understand, unbelievable!! Love it, took 30 hours to get to the end, but it's certain I will play much more than that!! Congratulations to the studio who have made this masterpiece!!