Adventures in Horizon Forbidden West's Side Quests: Part 2

Continuing my journey through the Forbidden West, I remain impressed with the way the team at Guerilla synthesized worldbuilding, main line story, and character development in the quick little detours off the beaten path. I'll jump right into it.

Side Quest #4: "The Twilight Path"

The quest sets up an unscrupulous business owner named Tolland against a group of refugees who follow the Shadow Carja religion. They're basically squatting on an area full of salvage that Tolland wants to recover. He's willing to send a goon squad in to intimidate or even kill the Shadow Carja to get them to move. Aloy decides to intervene.

Again, it's a solid inciting incident that is convincing enough to pull Aloy from her main quest. I also loved how the refugees are Shadow Carja, which is a direct reference to the story from the last game. On the one hand, it's great to see that this game is a continuation of a broader story and consequences from the last game's events are playing out in the world beyond Aloy's experience. On the other hand, now that I think about it, people who didn't play the first game probably paused so they could hit Google up for the backstory here. While inconvenient to those players, it's a creative choice I agree with because the overall world is richer for it. Nobody would expect to jump into Season 2 of a show without lacking context, so that's a hit the uninitiated player has to take.

Aloy is not having it with religion this time around.

The quest's progression involves Aloy fighting off a group of goons attacking the refugees. She then tries to talk the refugees into leaving before they're murdered. They won't go until their prophet returns from a mountaintop. Aloy climbs up to retrieve the prophet.

Once up the mountain, Aloy must fight through some machines to find the prophet. He's been wounded during the climb and after encountering the machines. He asks Aloy to retrieve an artifact from a local tower. Ironically, it's the very artifact that Tolland was eager to salvage. Getting it is a simple matter of some more climbing. 

Aloy returns to the prophet with the artifact, only for him to die of his wounds. Aloy returns to the refugees with the artifact, which they can then use to purchase supplies and land to live on. Tolland is angry but doesn't dare mess with Aloy. 

Overall, it's a mission of mercy that's become a trademark of Aloy's character in both games. It's well-executed. However, I also notice another element of her character bubble to the surface during the quest's storyline -- Aloy's disdain for religious fervor. 

Aloy makes it clear she believes the only sensible choice is for the refugees to move on for their own safety. She doesn't hesitate to express her frustration at every turn when the refugees insist on waiting for their prophet, or when the prophet refuses medical care or help because he must wait on his god's message. This isn't the first time we've seen Aloy having no time for spiritual nonsense, but this case is unique. In most of her interactions with NPCs, the player gets a moment to choose a dialogue path. They can select a response that is either philosophical, passionate, or hard-nosed, to emphasize one of Aloy's character traits. That option never appears in this quest. Aloy doesn't try to appeal to the prophet's higher theological mindset or empathize with his belief that he must complete a sacred mission. She goes straight to criticizing him for blind faith. 

The team doesn't make Aloy totally heartless. She has a true moment of reflection upon finding the prophet has died. Is she finally forced to empathize a bit, or does she regret being so harsh to a dying man? It's left for the player to interpret, and for that reason and the way it's executed, it stands out to me as one of the best side quests in either Horizon game so far. 

I get that Aloy is more in tune with the realities of her world and knows most of what's in the religious scriptures is B.S., but I think it's telling about what the writers decided to do with the character by drawing a hard line in the sand on her principles regarding spiritual leaders. I'm eager to see how it plays out.