
A Small Story With A Huge Payoff - Sam Hallahan If you’ve already mastered the Arena or finished the game on Ultra-Hard, you’ll probably breeze through the Burning Shores with little difficulty. This expansion is very plot-focused, so there won’t be any combat challenges that really test your skills.

From a gameplay perspective, there isn’t much new besides some top-tier Legendaries. You’ll hardly notice that Aloy’s companions aren’t present thanks to brilliant new characters like Seyka and a truly detestable villain. Players who are in it for the lore will find plenty of new things to discover. The Burning Shores offer a highly satisfying coda to Horizon: Forbidden West. On the final boss battle, he notes, “It rivals boss fights in so many other triple-A blockbusters out there right now, setting a new bar for the biggest upcoming current-gen games.” While Hallahan worried that Burning Shores would feel a little disappointing, especially compared to the pedigree of the series, he was happy to be proven wrong. The relationship that forms between Sekya and Aloy is an endearing and entertaining one, according to Hallahan, and he is excited to see more of the two of them as the series moves forward. While Hallahan found the story to be serviceable, he praised the introduction of a new character, Sekya, who he calls “scene-stealing.”

He felt it was a waste of a fun new mechanic, as he saw no reason to use it once flying was back on the table.īurning Shores’ storylike begins right where Forbidden West’s ended, giving a sense of narrative cohesion. Hallahan praised the inclusion of a new mode of traversal - a boat but found it a little pointless once Aloy’s trusty Sunwing is reintroduced. I’m so glad to be proven wrong, as it still burns as bright as ever, and with a dauntless new character taking part in one of the most momentous fights we’ve ever seen Aloy face.
