Do you need to play Horizon Zero Dawn to understand Horizon Forbidden West?

Screenshot by Gamepur

Horizon Forbidden West follows upwardly the story of its predecessor, Zero Dawn, and also features many of the aforementioned characters from the get-go game. While the connection between the 2 titles is clear, it's possible ane might be inclined to jump right into Forbidden West, even if they haven't played the first game, given the sequel's refined gameplay. If y'all're in that oversupply, don't worry about being as well lost if you decide to skip over Zero Dawn; y'all don't have to play it to understand Forbidden Westward.

It seems developer Guerilla might have expected that players would either skip Zip Dawn, or forget certain parts of its story, so information technology included a brief video recapping the last game's story in Forbidden West. This video volition play upon launching the game for the offset fourth dimension, and information technology can too exist viewed past visiting the "Extras" menu, which is merely accessible via the main menu. The recap is narrated by Sylens, an important graphic symbol from Zero Dawn who also plays a pretty key role in Forbidden West.

The recap does a good task of walking you through Naught Dawn's main story beats. It should requite you a practiced idea of who Aloy is, and what she's trying to practice in Forbidden West. Yet, it won't necessarily fill yous in on a lot of the returning characters you'll encounter throughout the game. Many supporting characters from Zero Dawn make a return here, and without the prior context of who they are, you lot might find yourself confused if Aloy fondly greets someone yous happen to view as a stranger.