The developers behind Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores addressed the decision to end the DLC, and as a result, the following review that bombarded the game suffered.
Pay attention, there will be spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores lower.
During the events of Burning Shores, Aloy meets Seika, “an ambitious marine from the Quen tribe determined to help her people survive.” Ahead of the DLC’s release, Seika was touted as a character who would be Aloy’s equal, with actress Ashley Burch even saying that “Aloy may have found an equal.”
Towards the end of Burning Shores, there is an option to make this match more romantic, and players can choose a dialogue option that leads to Aloy and Seika kiss. This kiss led to the DLC review bombed on Metacriticwith numerous negative comments regarding Aloy’s sexuality.
In a conversation with VGCstory director Ben McCaw and lead writer Annie Kittain discussed this backlash further, stating that they appreciated the constructive feedback, but found the unnecessarily negative comments “pretty easy to ignore”.
“We like it when they get constructive feedback about something or other. And we’re very happy when they say they don’t like one thing or another about almost any aspect of the game that they’ve really thought about,” McCaw shared.
“But when there’s that kind of outright negativity, I personally think it’s pretty easy to just detach and realize it’s a mentality that I’m never really going to be able to laugh at and stuff like that.”
As for which ending the developers thought was canon, it’s not that Aloy was gay or straight. Rather, the final choice of Burning Shores is more about mirroring Aloy’s journey in Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West.
“(Burning Shore’s final choice) is really a continuation of the theme that we have in both games, that she’s not ready for different types of social interactions because of her upbringing, and because of the huge challenges she faces ahead of her,” McCaw explained. , before saying he thinks each choice is viable.
Kitain, meanwhile, confirmed the fact that Aloy’s feelings for Seika are “still true,” but whether or not the couple will be seen kissing depends more on “whether the player thinks Aloy is ready to take the next step and have that romantic encounter.” is Aloy not there yet?
In any case, “it’s real,” Kyatyn explained.
Earlier this year, Guerrilla confirmed that Aloy’s adventures won’t end at Burning Shores, but another game in the Horizon series is in development.
In addition, we are also working on a television adaptation, p Executive producer of The Umbrella Academy attached to the project.