In an interview with Game Informer, key members of Guerrilla Games have spoken about what they’d look to bring to a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel.
In regards to story, many players absolutely loved Aloy, which is why ensuring that a sequel would have an emotional connection would be important.
Narrative Director, John Gonzales said that “Should a sequel happen, our number one goal would be to respect that connection by doing our utmost to create a story that resonates just as deeply”. He continued by saying that “The team is absolutely humbled by the players’ response to the story and their emotional connection to Aloy’.
Director, Mathijs De Jong spoke a little bit about shortcomings in the game. “It’s been a big project for us and I’m really happy with how it all came together. There’s some parts that that don’t shine quite as brightly as others. We are closely looking at any critiques as part of plotting out our plans for the future of Horizon.”
Art Director, Jan-Bart Van Beek kept it incredibly simple, by saying more machines. “The machine are a lot of fun to design, build, animate and play with. I wish I could have done a hundred. But reality is a harsh mistress; it doesn’t allow you to make hundreds of machines.”
Honestly, I couldn’t agree more with this. One of the most disappointing about the game was the fact that later in the game, machines got very repetitive.
The team also went on to talk about how they believe they can improve weapon/load-out management, which was another small issue that I had with the game.
I’m all for a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel. The original game showed lots of promise, and I’d be keen to see where Guerrilla would take the series next. It’s clear they’ve learned a lot about open-world game development.
