Alright, let’s just get this out of the way: Horizon Forbidden West is absolutely gorgeous. Like, “stop running from that murderous machine just to admire the sunset” levels of gorgeous. Every time you think the game can’t look better, you climb a mountain and the game goes, “Hold my spear.”

You’re back in the boots of Aloy—robot-slaying, braid-swinging, super-serious heroine with a heart of… well, mostly sarcasm and trauma. This time she’s headed west (yep, the title checks out) into a new land filled with mystery, machine monstrosities, and people who always seem to have just one more side quest for you. Can’t a redhead save the world without collecting ten machine parts for some dude who lost his goat?

The combat? Still awesome. You’ve got bows, traps, gadgets, spears, and now a glidey parachute thing that lets you float off cliffs like some kind of post-apocalyptic. And the machines—hoo boy—bigger, meaner, and more creatively designed than ever. There’s a giant snake. There’s a robot mammoth. At some point, I’m pretty sure I fought a mechanical peacock.

Under all the flashy action, there’s a surprisingly deep story with twists, sci-fi weirdness, and some philosophical “What does it mean to be human?” stuff. It tries to tackle a lot—and while not every plot thread hits perfectly, you’ve got to respect the ambition. Plus, the characters (both new and returning) are way more fleshed out this time, and Aloy actually lets people help her once in a while. Growth!

Final Thoughts:
If you liked Zero Dawn, Forbidden West is like that—but upgraded, polished, and injected with even more robo-drama. It’s huge, heartfelt, occasionally hilarious (on purpose and not), and packed with moments that’ll stick with you. Also: underwater exploration! Finally, a game where I can panic-drown while being hunted by a mechanical crocodile.

Score?
Somewhere between “shut up and take my shards” and “I forgot to eat dinner again because of this game.”
Let’s call it a strong 9/10.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10.

I got Horizon Forbidden West for a great price—just $7 (44 reais)—and I really enjoyed Zero Dawn. The game picks up six months after the original, expanding the story and introducing a new area to explore. Most of the original characters return, and there are some great new additions as well.

Gameplay, which was already solid, is even better in Forbidden West—it's incredibly fun to play. They added new ways to travel around the map, which is a great improvement, and the graphics look better than ever, with great optimization.

I’d give the game a solid 8/10. The main downside for me was the story—I didn’t find it as compelling as Zero Dawn’s. Still, depending on the price, it’s absolutely worth playing. A really fun experience overall!

Consegui comprar Horizon Forbidden West por um ótimo preço — apenas R$44 — e tinha gostado muito do Zero Dawn. O jogo se passa seis meses após o original, expandindo a história e trazendo uma nova área no mapa. A maioria dos personagens do primeiro jogo está de volta, junto com boas adições novas.

A gameplay, que já era ótima, ficou ainda melhor no Forbidden West — é muito divertido de jogar. Foram adicionadas novas formas de locomoção, o que foi excelente, e os gráficos estão mais bonitos do que nunca, além de bem otimizados.

Dou uma nota sólida de 8/10. O ponto fraco, na minha opinião, é a história, que não achei tão envolvente quanto a do Zero Dawn. Mas, pelo preço certo, vale muito a pena — é um jogo muito divertido!

Some of HFW was better than HZD, but most of it wasn't nearly as good as HZD. The story of Zero Dawn was far more compelling and interesting, and the weapon/gear system was more intuitive. The weapons, override, and crafting systems in Forbidden West is bloated and cumbersome compared to Zero Dawn. You have to cross the map and beat a specific robot for a chance to get a specific part, just to be able to upgrade your items -- multiple times per item. Maybe that's ok for some hardcore gamers who like to spend loads of time running around for things, but I liked it better in Zero Dawn where if you got your item, all of the coil slots available for its tier of rarity were already unlocked.

HFW does introduce the glider, the Sunwing mount (a bit too late in the game though), and a few other mechanics which are really nice, but overall, the original Zero Dawn tops it.

HFW does not seem to favor stealth as much as HZD did. I love stealth gameplay, and HZD offered a lot of skills and outfits that made stealth gameplay absolutely broken and entertaining at the higher levels. Sadly, that experience was missing in HFW.

I would say that HFW's story wasn't so bad that it was entirely a turn off, and if they continue the franchise into a third game, I would definitely be up for playing it. I personally would prefer the weapon/modding system would be closer to the first game.

It's a neat game. You collect stuff. You shoot stuff. You collect stuff from the stuff you shoot. There is witty banter. Some of the banter attempts to be "hip" using colloquial parlance of the current day; within some margin of accuracy. Graphics are pretty. Animations are fluid. Motion and movement are acceptable. Climbing is decent. Story is unfolding as it should probably do. Colors are nice. Minimal shearing at medium settings. Folks seem to like the franchise so I figured I would give it a try. It's better than alright, less than stellar. I will probably play it for enough time to get bored and then not play it any more. But I like what they were going for. Sorta future-spacy, but apocolyptic-earthy, kind of a Planet o de Apes feel. I dig it. I wish I had more time to play.

The best graphics I’ve ever seen. Still the best.

Clearly this game was designed and built with love and care. I really appreciate the incredible details in the world. I also enjoy the story and characters a lot. I've been impressed with both Horizon games and I really hope the rumors of a third are true! Thank you to the creators for producing such an awesome series!

Basically everything you want in a sequel.

Just gotta say, I'm really loving Horizon Forbidden West! The combat is super satisfying and there's real strategy involved in taking down machines, not just button-mashing. The world is absolutely stunning too, every area feels historic and worth exploring. I like the story as well, it's sometimes too much but it actually feels like it’s moving forward, not just filler between missions. Plus, being able to grind for better gear like in other open world games makes it even more rewarding. Solid game overall.

Beware, it crashes on some systems. Crashes with my RTX-4080. Crashes with my RTX-5090. Z390, 80GB RAM. Up to date drivers. No OC. Attempted the community fixes. HZD was stable.

fun