Ahead ofHorizon Forbidden West’s release, some fans wondered if Guerrilla Games would expand Aloy’s arsenal of melee weapons. New ranged weapons seemed guaranteed, givenHorizon Zero Dawn’s own breath of ranged weapons, butZero Dawnstuck closely to spear combat when it came to melee.Horizon Forbidden Westdidn’t end up offering Aloy new weapons, but it at least introduced more melee techniques to keep it fresh. Nevertheless,Horizon’s melee combat has a lot of room left to improve, and perhaps the best way for Guerrilla Games to improve melee would be adding new melee weapons through the tribal alliance against NEMESIS.
It’s not totally clear yet whatHorizon 3will look like, butHorizon Forbidden West’s ending suggests that it’ll revolve around the tribes of post-apocalyptic Earth banding together to defeatFar Zenith’s rogue AI. Aloy’s friends are already working on appealing their communities for support, so hopefully they’ll cooperate for the greater good. Teaming up with the unified tribes would mean Aloy is surrounded by unique weapons and equipment from each of theHorizonfranchise’s unique civilizations; that in turn could give her the perfect opportunity to broaden her melee repertoire in preparation for her showdown with an intergalactic AI threat.
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Horizon 3’s Nemesis Gives Aloy a Chance to Learn New Skills
Aloy may love spearfighting, but theHorizonworld has a lot more melee weapons than that.Erend Vanguardsmanfights with a heavy hammer, Kotallo rushes into melee with a jagged sword, and so on. While Aloy gladly accepts new ranged weapons as quest rewards throughout the Forbidden West, she oddly never decides to branch out into melee equipment. Given how outlandishHorizon’s ranged weapons are getting, it seems high time that Aloy experiments some more with melee gear as well. If she can adapt to oddities like the Shredder Gauntlet, then surely she can master the sword.
The impending tribal alliance gives her ample opportunity to train with new melee gear. As they prepare for NEMESIS' arrival together, Aloy might reunite with skilled fighters from each of the tribes and get an opportunity to study under them to master new melee weapons.Horizon Zero DawnandForbidden Westdon’t make a big deal out of Aloy learning to use new ranged weapons, but melee weapons could require more rigorous tutorials in order to differentiate them better. SinceHorizonhas gone so long without diversifying melee weapons, it’d make sense to integrate them in a more demanding way to show off the change.
Elaborate melee training quests would give Aloy time to catch up with each of her allies and even strengthen the bonds between the tribes. Both mainlineHorizongames showcase the fraught politics between the tribes, so Aloy is bound to be keeping the peace regardless. Displaying prowess with each tribe’s signature melee weapons could be one great way for Aloy to earn the respect of allies who still doubt her and the fight against Nemesis.Horizon Forbidden West’s Melee Pitscould evolve from optional minigames into crucial plot events that direct the course of the alliance.
Given that Aloy tends to carry spears with a lot of emotional significance to her, Guerrilla probably isn’t planning on swapping it out for an axe or a hammer anytime soon, but it ought to consider making a change anyway. Aloy’s spear may be special to her, but knowingHorizon’s knack for storytelling,Horizon 3could easily add emotional significance to each of Aloy’s new melee weapons. So long as Aloy goes on a journey with her new weapons in the same way that she does with her human allies, her expanded arsenal could feel right at home. If the melee weapons come fromHorizon’s unified tribes, then pouring emotion into them will be all the easier.
Horizon Forbidden Westis available now for PS4 and PS5.
