The developers behind Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores took note of the decision to end the DLC, and the subsequent reviews bombarding the game suffered as a result.
Please note that there will be spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores Below.
During the events of Burning Shores, Aloy meets Seyka, “an ambitious marine from the Quen tribe who stepped up to help her people survive.” Prior to the release of the DLC, Seyka was touted as a character who would be Aloy’s equal, with actress Ashly Burch even saying that “Aloy may have met her match”.
Towards the end of Burning Shores, there is a choice to make this match more romantic, and players can select a dialogue option that will result in Aloy and Seyka sharing a kiss. This kiss led to the DLC’s review being bombarded by Metacritic, with numerous negative comments regarding Aloy’s sexuality.
In conversation with VGCstory director Ben McCaw and head writer Annie Kittain further discussed this backlash, stating that they appreciated the constructive feedback, but found those comments that were unnecessarily negative “pretty easy to ignore”.
“We love when they have constructive feedback on this or that. And we’re perfectly happy when they say they don’t like this or that, about almost any aspect of the game that they’ve really thought about,” McCaw shared.
“But when there’s just this kind of blatant negativity, I personally find it pretty easy to just compartmentalize and realize that’s a mindset that I can never make fun of and stuff like that.”
As for which ending the developers think is canon, it’s not about whether Aloy is gay or straight. Rather, the final choice of Burning Shores is more to reflect Aloy’s journey in Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West.
“(Burning Shore’s final choices) really continue a theme that we have in both games, of her not being ready for different kinds of social interactions, because of her upbringing, but also because of the huge challenges she faces ,” McCaw explained before saying he felt either choice was viable.
Meanwhile, Kitain reinforced the fact that Aloy’s feelings for Seyka are “all still true,” but the option of whether or not the pair kiss is more “whether the player feels Aloy is ready to take the next step and have that romantic meeting or if Aloy is not there yet”.
Either way, “it’s valid,” Kytain explained.
Earlier this year, Guerrilla confirmed that Aloy’s adventures won’t end with Burning Shores, and another game in the Horizon series is in the works.
In addition to this, we are also working on a TV adaptation, with The Umbrella Academy executive producer attached to the project.
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