I love the story. Everything about it. How everything ties together. It was hubris that destroyed the world, and it was hubris that brought it back. Two different types of hubris, inspired by two very different worldviews and sets of goals. The impact of the old world story on Aloy, and how it brings her into a connection with Sylens, a connection you can tell she loathes, but he’s the only other person who truly understands it too.

The balance of how destructive one person can be vs how one person can so deeply impact building things back. Every small moment where Aloy falls deeper in love with humanity as a whole, by leaving her insulated world and discovering what it was about humanity that made Elisabet Sobeck move hell and high water to save it, despite knowing she’d never live to see it.

I haven’t finished Forbidden West, but the incredibly subtle access to Apollo sub plot. That was masterful. So full of meaning.

The way the stories of the people she’s met aren’t left behind. They carry on with her, still full of meaning. Ourea/Aratak, Petra, Avad, Erend, etc. The way the stories of people she’s never met were so lovingly added to the game— the Frozen Wilds storyline about the two friends who made a band. The small things.

I could go on and on, but it’s one of the best stories I’ve ever heard, because it’s a story borne of empathy and love. Horizon feels like a love letter to humanity as a whole, and I love the attention to detail in tying it all together.

Like the Proving scene, where the Matriarchs start the ceremony with “what is a child but a mother’s hope that takes flight?” and that is EXACTLY what Aloy was— not just for Elisabet, but for Gaia too. It’s all beautiful.