Horizon Zero Dawn: The Story Behind the Metal Flowers

gamerant.com:

Horizon Zero Dawn is home to both natural and mechanical marvels. Those on the mechanical side are innovations created by GAIA and the terraforming system’s subordinate functions. Though many of the animal-like machines are deadly to the unarmed traveler, there also exist harmless devices such as the game’s Metal Flowers.

Metal Flowers are scattered throughout the map of Horizon Zero Dawn and serve as one of the game’s main collectibles. Much like the other collectibles, there’s some lore to be gleaned from the mechanical flora. In this case, the Metal Flowers hold snatches of DEMETER’s creation, as well as hints to what might happen in Horizon Forbidden West.

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There are a total of 30 Metal Flowers that can be found on the map, each surrounded by a triangle of bushes with violet flowers. The machine itself takes on the shape of a flower with long, pointed petals, and in its center is what looks to be a canister. To collect all the Metal Flowers, Aloy can purchase a special map that marks rough estimations of each collectible’s location.

Once the player has collected all 30 Metal Flowers, they can trade these with a merchant in Meridian named Kudiv. In return, Kudiv will reward them with special Treasure Boxes. The player can also ask them about what they know about these Metal Flowers. Kudiv will reply that the Metal Flowers are in great demand among his clientele. Though not much is known about their origins, they were said to have first appeared right after the Derangement, so Kudiv theorizes that the Metal Flowers might sprout from the tears of the Sun.

However, the true nature of the Metal Flowers is far less mystical. In the Notebook section of the menu, it’s written