If You Won't Give Aloy A Girlfriend, Make Her Asexual
Horizon Forbidden West goes heavier on the RPG elements than Zero Dawn does. The game gets bigger in scope, and there is a greater array of weapons, armour, upgrades, and oh so many menus to look through. There is a huge element of the RPG genre being missed out here though, and that's the romance. Aloy is now two games deep into a dry spell, and it doesn't seem like that will be over any time soon.
It's not like Aloy is short of options. Erend returns in the Forbidden West, and clearly still holds a candle for her. Talanah comes back here too, and would be an ideal girlfriend for Aloy. One of the few characters Aloy meets who does not instantly fawn over her ability or her heritage, and can hold her own in battle, Talanah is the prime candidate, even if Erend has been doing the Horizon-era equivalent of holding a boombox outside Aloy's bedroom window all this time.
Related: Horizon Forbidden West Review - Sony Has Done It Again, But Should It Do Something New?
Alva, a new character here, would also be an excellent partner for Aloy. She arrives later on in the game as a scholar of the Old Ones, and unlike the other brutish warriors you encounter, is far more inquisitive and intelligent than the rest of the cast. A handful of others offer potential romantic partners too, and with the fate of the world in Aloy's hands, you'd think the game would want to take the time to examine the humanity beneath the characters rather than just the very basic 'I need to save my tribe' desires most of them discuss.
On the rare occasion Horizon does explore its characters, it shines, but it's far too rare and shallow to matter. A love story might seem like a cheap way to offer more depth, but Horizon isn't putting in the yards on doing it
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