As the trailer reveals, Horizon Call of the Mountain will take gamers to a world filled with fighter robots, but this time around, Aloy is not the protagonist. Instead, the story will be told through the eyes of a new hero named Ryas. However, this does not mean that Aloy will not be making an appearance. To ensure that Horizon Call of the Mountain maintains its own identity and Ryas is able to flourish an independent character, though, the game should ensure it does not lean too heavily into Aloy’s story or become a Horizon Forbidden West side story.
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Ryas Deserves His Own Spotlight
Aloy’s story is certainly an interesting one. Her origin is plagued with mystery, as the Nora tribe finds her in the Sacred Mountain and nobody knows who her parents are. She is rejected by the tribe, and is forced to live as an outcast. Fortunately, she is raised by Rost, a gruff yet kind man who is also an outcast. Although Aloy first aspires to become a Nora member, when cultists attack the Nora tribe, her sights instead focus on bringing down the cultists, figuring out what is corrupting the machines, and discovering the secrets of her past.
Players spend a great deal of time attempting to understand Aloy, who is a likable yet enigmatic character. Despite growing up as an outcast, she demonstrates a capacity for empathy and selflessness, and she seems to not bear grudges against those who have wronged her. She has a strong sense of justice, and she believes in herself even when nobody else does. She is also fiercely independent, and she prefers to charge into danger alone rather than rely on friends.
Although many gamers would love to spend more time with Aloy and get to understand her more, Horizon Call of the Mountain is not the game for that. Instead, it should focus its attention on Ryas, who has his fair share of mysteries that deserve to be unpacked. As the trailer reveals, Ryas is a former Shadow Carja Warrior who is on a quest to redeem himself by taking down an enemy that threatens the Carja Sundom. Like Aloy, Ryas must brave the wild and defeat machines that cross his path, and that means making use of weapons and scaling perilously high mountains.
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The trailer portrays Ryas as an interesting character, but there are still several questions about him that remain unanswered. Players do not know anything about why he needs to repent, although as a former Shadow Carja Warrior, it is likely he has been part of some nefarious plots. The reason for his sudden change of heart is also still a mystery. To ensure that Ryas’ character is fully fleshed out, and gamers get to understand him and his motivations, it is best if Aloy takes a backseat, as she would most likely only draw attention away from the main star of the show.
Horizon’s World Can Flourish Without Aloy
While it is true that Aloy is a captivating character, the world she inhabits is equally enthralling. Despite being a dystopian world where human civilization has been destroyed, the beauty of nature shines through. Throughout Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, players can explored varied biomes, including vast, dusty deserts, lush rainforests, and sleepy meadows filled with curious peccaries. It is a dangerous place, however, and players need to be on the lookout for robot predators called machines who have a multitude of weapons in their arsenal.
The Horizon franchise does not need to focus on Aloy to tell a good story, and it can instead zoom in on several other aspects of the rich world Guerrilla Games has constructed. This was demonstrated in the Horizon comic book series, which focuses on Talanah, a Carja hunter who proves her strength and resilience by becoming Carja Hunter Lodge’s first female leader. The comics spend a good deal of time with Talanah as she goes on adventures and comes across machines such as Clawstriders. Although Talanah does cross paths with Aloy, there are several pages dedicated to Talanah alone, and her story is just as gripping as Aloy’s.
Through Ryas, new aspects of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon universe can be explored. In much the same way that the hunter Talanah helped gamers to understand more about the Carja tribe and its custom, Ryas could be a window into the Shadow Carja and their mysterious ways, and he could also introduce gamers to new machines that even Aloy has yet to discover. It could also open up avenues for the use of weapons and tools that Aloy would not consider.
A release date for Horizon Call of the Mountain has yet to be given, most likely because Sony has yet to reveal when PS VR2 will launch. However, it is clear that Call of the Mountain will be one of the headset’s flagship games. The trailer is breathtaking, and it shows that the game has the potential to stand independently without relying on Aloy or her story. While many gamers may be eager to spend more time with Aloy, Ryas is proving to be an intriguing enigma who deserves a game of his very own.
Horizon Call of the Mountain is in development for PS VR2.
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