Horizon Forbidden West was released in February 2022 to critical acclaim, with most people in agreement that, while undeniably playing it a little safe at times, the game successfully built on everything that its predecessor had done well. Praise was heaped on the ranged combat, the narrative, and the eye-popping visuals. Graphically, it is probably among the PlayStation 5’s best games. Despite its many strengths though, Horizon Forbidden West got a few things wrong, with traversal being one of the most glaring among these.
RELATED: Forspoken’s Story Makes a Good Case for a Customizable Home
Forspoken’s Traversal Can Learn From Aloy’s Adventures in the Forbidden West
Aloy’s adventures in Horizon Forbidden West span an incredible amount of varied terrain. From vast, sandy deserts to rugged mountains, the landscape is tough on the young adventurer, but luckily she has many options at her fingertips to help with her quest. She has a glider that can be used to cover long-distance descents, as well as the ability to override progressively more powerful machines. Eventually, toward the game’s climax, Aloy is able to override flying machines, effectively giving her free rein over the map. For large sections of the game before this though, in order to scale to higher altitudes, Aloy must do things the old-fashioned way: by climbing.
Climbing in particular was an area of the gameplay where 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn drew some criticism. The game’s clunky, unbalanced mechanics made it difficult to know where Aloy was able to climb, with grip holds not always appearing in obvious locations. This made it imperative that Forbidden West got this specific part of the gameplay right. Unfortunately, despite a marked improvement, something about the game’s climbing mechanics still doesn’t quite feel right. Flawed input and grab detection make it much tougher to ascend sections of terrain than it needs to be.
Judging by footage seen so far, Forspoken is placing a huge emphasis on fast, fluid traversal, so Frey’s options need to be just as plentiful as Aloy’s. She has already been shown to use a vast array of magic to her benefit in a number of ways, not least to help with the efficient exploration of Athia. Several clips have shown her zipping around the map at high speeds. Additionally, Forspoken may feature some interesting boss battles, thanks to its varied and unique combat which seemingly places an emphasis on wide-ranging AoE attacks that are designed for crowd control, rather than melee encounters.
Frey’s quest promises to be wrought with danger and mystery. She will need to use all of her resources in order to survive. There are currently no confirmed vehicles in the game, or methods of transport that don’t involve magic, so the importance of the traversal mechanics feeling suitably fluid and smooth cannot be understated. Marvel’s Spider-Man, released on PS4 in 2018, was a shining example of traversal in an open world done correctly, with Spidey’s web-swinging across New York being one of the game’s highlights. If Luminous Productions is able to stick the landing with Frey’s movement, it should go a long way to ensuring Forspoken is a success.
Forspoken is set to release January 24, 2023 for PC and PS5.
MORE: Forspoken’s Use of New York City Could Be Crucial
