A visual masterpiece with an equally captivating story, Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, has proved to be worth the five-year wait. Following Horizon Zero Dawn's narrative example, Horizon Forbidden West is conclusive to a singular ending. Players now are left to wonder if the flashpoint critical choices Aloy makes during the story influence the ending. The dialogue will influence the actions and course of characters, the world, and Aloy herself, which can cause pressure on the player's choices during certain moments of gameplay.
[Warning: Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West are below.]
To answer simply, no, there is not a huge impact on the story based on dialogue decisions alone. Choices instead help shape Aloy's personality and can change interactions with the characters later on. Each response has a different dialogue received depending on what is chosen. Horizon Forbidden West's critical choices will not affect the ending of the game. Regardless of selection, variations in dialogue outputs will only slightly vary. The only main differences are going to be how the player wants Aloy to be portrayed and mostly comes down to personal preference.
The best way to respond to choices during the first playthrough is by selecting the choices that the player thinks would align with the Aloy they view. Players will always end up at the same place, regardless of story choices. Horizon Forbidden West's Narrative Director, Benjamin McCaw, stated in in an interview with Everyeye about how choices made will have "extremely powerful consequences." However, there is no branching storyline and there is only one ending - and it won’t change based on the player’s decisions, inside or outside of conversations.
Horizon Forbidden West
Building from the story in Zero Dawn, Forbidden West expands on Aloy's character. There are three conversation types that players can choose from. These conversation choice types follow the same structure they did in Horizon Zero Dawn. "Fist" is the first option that allows for Aloy to confront challenges presented to her head-on and directly. "Brain" is another option that allows for Aloy to think more logically about a challenge or situation to find a solution. "Heart" is the last option that lets Aloy express heartfelt judgment, care, and feelings regarding the challenge or situation. These choices show multiple sides of Aloy, giving chances to see her character deeper.
To beat Horizon Forbidden West takes around 60 hours, including its main quest and side quests. The slight changes that dialogue choices bring allow for players to get some extra lore to the game and Aloy when doing a second or third playthrough, as multiple playthroughs would be required to explore all the critical choice options. Fully completing Horizon Forbidden West two or three times just for additional dialogue choices could be a challenge worth trying. In the end, critical choices don't matter in regards to the game's ending.
Source: Everyeye