Guerilla Games' Horizon Forbidden West offers a decent amount of side quests, and most of them respect the player's time. Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel may be among the few outliers in the action RPG genre where side stories don't feel pointless or disconnected from the overarching narrative. In fact, almost every side mission in Horizon Forbidden West is tied to the main plot, even some of the less important ones.
[Warning: Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West are below.]
Having many side activities in an open-world adventure is not necessarily bad; however, many of them can be classified as time-consuming chores and inconsequential in recent titles. Recent action RPGs like Assassin's Creed Odyssey have often been criticized for reducing side quests to random encounters that only serve to distract players without giving any meaningful rewards in return. But that's not the case for Horizon Forbidden West, as the game's mantra for side activities are weighted with important lore and meaningful rewards that make tackling them worthwhile.
Players who want to take a break from the serious tone of some side stories can also participate in mini-games like Horizon Forbidden West's Machine Strike, practice combat in melee pits, or solve puzzles in Relic Ruins and earn meaningful rewards in the process. Like Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West's side activities and main story quests are often level-gated but can be tackled even if Aloy is of a lower level. Sure, taking on these missions at a lower level can be challenging, but the game never punishes the player for attempting them with extremely tough enemies. In short, Horizon Forbidden West does not suffer from the same problems as some of the more recent open-world games, as most side quests aren't mundane and offer great rewards.
How Horizon Forbidden West's Side Missions Are Weighted
Horizon Forbidden West's side missions are not just tasks to tick off from the Quests list. Many of them tell poignant tales associated with the many tribes Aloy encounters in Horizon Forbidden West. Since each tribe has different beliefs and practices, their problems are well rooted in those cultural intricacies. For example, an agrarian tribe called "Utaru" faces many issues with the fertility of their lands in Plainsong due to the Red Blight. To heal Plainsong, Aloy must help her companion Zo by installing reboot codes on the land-gods. Similarly, a sect of the Tenakth clan is highly dependent on a nearby river. Their society is being adversely affected as the river has been polluted by red algae. Aloy must find the reason behind this poisoning and help the people of Thornmarsh before the water gets deadly.
While most side quests in Horizon Forbidden West are connected to the main story, few offer conclusions to story arcs from the previous game. For example, clearing one particular Rebel Camp early in the game results in a mini-boss fight with one of Aloy's returning adversaries in Horizon Forbidden West. Another major side story involves Talanah's search for Amadis, a continuation of an account from the comic books. It suffices to say that many of these side stories offer significant payoffs as they would often end with intense mini-boss battles and never let players think it was a waste of time.
Clearing Side Quests Take Less Time in Horizon Forbidden West
Some open-world games can stretch for multiple square miles but are often barren, offering empty environments that aren't very engaging. Traveling between objectives on endless roads acts as a way to extend play-time in games, even with numerous fast travel points. However, fast travel camps are almost always strategically placed near objectives that players will encounter. What's neat is that Aloy doesn't even need to interact with these fast travel points in Horizon Forbidden West to unlock them for fast travel. As soon as Aloy spots a nearby camp, that specific location automatically unlocks as a fast travel point for players to use later. While this isn't a new feature for the Horizon franchise, it still makes a big difference in saving time when players have already explored the vast map and don't want to travel vast distances in order to complete side quests.
However, exploring and traveling to objectives becomes an even easier task as players progress through the main story. At some point, Aloy will be able to use a flying mount, making even the harder-to-reach areas accessible. Furthermore, flying over the many vistas of Horizon Forbidden West removes the hassle of dealing with Apex machines, roads laden with obstacles, and aggressive Tenakth rebels that might come in the way. In a way, one can say that after unlocking the flying mount, players can have an unfettered experience when completing side activities, especially after beating the main story.
Horizon Forbidden West's Meaningful Rewards Makes All The Difference
Completing side quests wouldn't mean a thing if they didn't yield worthwhile rewards. Besides providing XP, side quests in Horizon Forbidden West also reward players significant amounts of Skill Points, essential weapons (such as a Guardian Tripcaster), and upgrade items that allow Aloy to upgrade armors. In addition, when clearing Cauldrons, players unlock an array of new machines that can be used as mounts and overrides. Some of these machines travel faster, while others, such as a Bristleback, can assist Aloy greatly in Horizon Forbidden West during intense combat situations.
These examples are just scratching the surface of side stories in Horizon Forbidden West but players can rest assured, there's always a worthwhile reward to acquire, no matter which side activity players choose to do. By offering good rewards and balanced activities that still feel connected to the main story, the side quests in Horizon Forbidden West prove just how impressive they are. This keeps Horizon Forbidden West from feeling as empty as some other open-world games, and it actually incentives players to finish side quests.