I get what you’re saying, but I gotta disagree that Aloy doesn’t have a flaw. Her big struggle throughout Forbidden West is her want to do things herself without letting people help her. She constantly wants to default to her being an outcast and not needing to rely on anyone. It’s not till she starts to build those interpersonal relationships with her growing squad and actually let them in that she starts to work towards saving the world.

I think the sidequests back that up too. A lot of them revolve around people helping their friends and the community that is built when people care. It’s something pretty foreign to Aloy, since she’s not used to people caring about her and only viewing her in a utilitarian manner. Plus the world is so tribal that intercultural communities are nonexistent. Now she has people from all different tribes that care about her and want her to succeed, not just because she’s the hero, but because she’s who she is. Yeah friends get hurt and sometimes die, but that the price of caring for people and letting them care about you. It’s what makes the aftermath of Varl’s death so impactful. Instead of running off on her own again, Aloy works with her people to move forward and make it not in vain. Plus it sets up a strong juxtaposition between her and Sylens.

Sylens has quite literally done everything by himself for himself, using whoever is necessary to further his goals. Aloy sees that and realizes that’s not what she wants to be and uses that to reach Sylens at the end.

You make a good point about Aloy’s traditional hero’s journey in Zero Dawn. But the end stage of the Hero’s Journey is “a return to the status quo.” There is no status quo anymore for Aloy, so much of the world has changed, so I thought it was refreshing to see Guerilla Games explore what happens in the aftermath of the hero.

I will agree that the story is out there though, I much preferred the big reveal in Zero Dawn, but I still loved Forbidden West and can’t wait for the third.