The Horizon franchise has a rich history within its futuristic world, ensuring that fans of the series have a lot of content to experience. Aloy, the Horizon franchise’s protagonist, has quickly become one of the most influential and beloved video game characters, and her story is more than just the two base games, Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. The Horizon franchise has multiple comics, a DLC, and even a board game that is all considered canon within the series, giving fans different platforms to experience Aloy’s story.
When Horizon Zero Dawn was first released, fans immediately saw the scope at which Guerilla Games could expand their world. Through her side quests and encounters with NPCs, Aloy uncovers more information about the 28th century world she lives in. This burst of content, however, was just the start. A Horizon comic series and Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds, a DLC expansion, quickly showed fans that the series is much more than just some exciting open-world games, but a rich universe with plenty of avenues to explore.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn shows fans the emergence of Aloy, not only as a character that wants to return to the clan that has now outcast her, but also as a capable warrior who is not afraid of using Old World technology. Zero Dawn kick-started the entire franchise, and its immediate success built a massive fanbase in the PlayStation community, allowing Guerilla Games to build upon the world and create new content for fans to explore. Without the success of the first title, the Horizon franchise would not have become the PlayStation juggernaut it is now and would not have given Aloy the following that she now possesses.
Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation
Liberations is the second comic of the Horizon franchise and takes place during the events of Horizon Zero Dawn. It reveals the details behind the liberation of Meridian and the death of Erend’s sister, Ersa, the captain of the Carja Vanguard in Zero Dawn. The events are described by Erend as him and Aloy hunt for Dervahl, the person that kills Ersa in the events of Horizon Zero Dawn. This issue serves as a means for fans to better understand Erend’s character, as well as how Meridian was liberated from the old Sun-King.
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds
The Frozen Wilds sees Aloy travel to the Cut, the home of the Banuk tribe, to help them fight off a machine that is corrupting others and destroying a lot of the Banuk. It also serves to give fans more information about HEPHAESTUS, one of GAIA’s subordinates who will prove to instrumental in the second main installment of the series, Horizon Forbidden West. After successfully helping the Banuk and stopping HEPHAESTUS, Aloy is eventually informed that the A.I. Is still active, foreshadowing the events that will take place in future titles.
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Sunhawk
The first comic issued following the release of Horizon Zero Dawn, the Sunhawk is set after the events of the main game and follows one of Aloy’s allies Talanah, who fans met in the game. After Aloy disappears, Talanah discovers a new threat and must once more trust in her abilities as a hunter to defeat the machines. While she can defeat it, she learns of an entire new breed of machines, the Apex Machines, which fans get to fight in Horizon Forbidden West.
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game
While the board game is not story-focussed, it is still considered canon within the Horizon franchise and gives fans a few new insights into the machines and the hunter’s lodge. The game is described as semi-cooperative, as players will fight together to battle against machines. However, the player that amasses the most points during the hunt will emerge victorious. The game featured many elements that are now considered canon.
Horizon Forbidden West
Following the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy discovers a new threat that could eradicate all life on the planet, The Red Blight, and journeys to the Forbidden West to find a way to stop this plague. During her journey she learns of the Far Zeniths and their plan to steal the A.I. GAIA, the very thing that Aloy needs to save the planet. After fighting off the Zeniths and saving her sister clone Beta, Aloy and her friends learn of a new threat, the A.I. NEMESIS.
Horizon Call of The Mountain
The upcoming Horizon VR game, Call of The Mountain, is set to push the limits of the new VR hardware being released by PlayStation. Call of The Mountain will be experienced through the eyes of a new character and will allow fans to explore the wilds and possibly have some exciting encounters with machines. It has also been confirmed that fans will get to see Aloy and her friends in this upcoming game that is set to release early 2023.
The Horizon franchise is ever-expanding, and with a new installment in the main series already confirmed thanks to the events of Horizon Forbidden West, fans can expect a lot more content to drop. The different avenues that Guerilla Games has taken, from DLC expansions to comics, has opened several possibilities for where the franchise could go next. As fans now eagerly await the release of Call of The Mountain, and the eventual launch of the next main Horizon title, they can expect some more content to be released. This could come in the form of a new comic, an expansion for Forbidden West, or even an expansion to the board game.
Horizon Forbidden West is available for PS4 and PS5.