You've got to feel for the Horizon series. It's one of PlayStation's biggest hitters, included in the fancy new PlayStation studios logo, held in the same breath as The Last of Us and God of War, and recognised as one of the best new IPs of the last generation. But there's just... something. It's timing, it's fate, it's a lack of something intangible. Horizon might be held up as one of PlayStation's gems, but few think it shines quite as bright as The Last of Us or God of War, even as they compare them. Even its status as the best new IP of the PS4 era was usurped late in the day by Ghost of Tsushima. Gamers and Horizon are like lovers in a romcom, always just missing each other. Now, it's happening again.
When Horizon Zero Dawn launched, it boasted a fresh open world, a new character, and a statement of intent. This is gaming in the modern day. Unfortunately, its launch date collided with Breath of the Wild. While Aloy's adventures looked better than Link's travails, Horizon was just a regular open world map. It was bigger, more vibrant, and full of life, but we'd seen it all before. You climb where there's paint, the game slowly unveils more of the map as you progress the story, you clear quest markers - you know, an open world game. Perhaps the best version of what we'd seen before, but nevertheless it was what we had seen before. Breath of the Wild was unlike anything we had seen before.
Breath of the Wild threw the rulebook in the bin by letting you go anywhere and do anything. It was wide and open, yet still curated with bending mountain paths and swirling rivers that strategically led you to where the game wanted you to go while allowing you to abandon paths and pick up new trails all on your own. It wasn't for everyone - it wasn't for me - but it laid bare all of the flaws with stale open world design. No matter how good Zero Dawn was, it was a symbol of what games used to be, not what they could be.
Still, Horizon did okay. It sold 20 million copies and notched up an 89 on Metacritic. It was a highly successful game that everyone involved with had a right to be proud of. But it felt like a snapshot of the past, to be held up against Nintendo's dazzling vision of the future. Work got underway on the sequel, which became Forbidden West. It built on Zero Dawn and modernised a little bit - there were still quest markers and an unlockable map, but for the most part it tried to live up to fresh expectations. It came out the same week as Elden Ring.
Much like Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring ignored typical conventions in favour of player freedom. While you played through Aloy's story in Forbidden West, Elden Ring made you co-author of the story by handing a pen and a blank page over to you. Again, it wasn't for everyone. Again, it wasn't for me. But you have to recognise the power of these games to subvert traditions and take everyone else along for the ride. Upholding traditions, no matter how strong your grasp, will never compete with someone willing to subvert.
Now, Horizon is releasing a substantial expansion pack, Burning Shores. It will build on what the base game had to offer, letting Aloy fly and dive and wander through the remains of Los Angeles. There is no game set to reinvent what it means to be a video game out soon (Tears of the Kingdom is still a month away), but Burning Shores will be buried under the avalanche of Minecraft Legends, Dead Island 2, Cassette Beasts, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Redfall, all out a week or so either side of Burning Shores. None of those will draw the oxygen that Zelda or Elden Ring got, but together they could turn the Burning Shores into a dying ember.
I'm in a strange spot with Horizon because I think it's better than a lot of people give it credit for, but also disagree with the calls that it's a masterpiece. I gave Forbidden West a 4/5 and despite being on the lower end of the average I think more people have come around to my thinking on it. But as someone who did not click with either of the games that derailed Horizon's hype, it's a shame to see it buried so often. Maybe one day gamers and Horizon can finally kiss.