Please Don't Make Me Play As Young Aloy In Horizon Forbidden West

thegamer.com:

Horizon Forbidden West is less than a month away, and it might just be my most anticipated game of 2022. As much as I love Pokemon, I just can’t trust it not to fumble its great ideas, and despite the universal love for God of War, I always prefered the sense of adventure in Horizon over the restricted narrative-driven flow of God of War. There are a ton of great games in line for 2022, and my favourite come December will probably be one I haven’t even thought about yet, but right now, Horizon is the one I’m looking forward to most. That said, please don’t make me play as child Aloy again.

Here’s the thing with children - they suck. I do not like them. Have you ever tried to hold a conversation with a five year old? They just sort of stare at you then waffle on for 45 minutes about the penny they found down the side of the sofa, before asking you a completely unrelated question like “what are clouds made of?” They’re boring and annoying and often sticky. No thanks. Children, that is. I have no idea if clouds are sticky because I have no idea what they’re made of. Water, but like, not. Right? Anyway, go away and stop making me feel stupid.

Related: A Non-Combat Horizon Game Would Be Incredible

Flashbacks are an important part of storytelling. They help establish context, provide us with the history of our characters, and show how they’ve grown. Many stories employ flashbacks liberally, using them less as the foundation for the story but a fundamental part of the unfolding narrative. When games, particularly adventure games, use them though, they typically work in the same way. You play as a child version of the hero, experiencing the same basic mechanics but in a slightly different way. As far as I know, nobody ever