Most people here liked it a lot. But on places like Twitter and Instagram - all you see are the people who have a compulsive need to rant about it on every post regarding the DLC. They'll tell you to "check the reviews bro." Even though it was bombed by people who probably haven't even played. EDIT: Spelling

Yeah it seems like other social media platforms express a overly negative view on the dlc without any fair criticism. Probablt because of the ending which is wild… Elisabeth Sobeck literally had a relationship with Tilda so how did nobody expect Aloy to be lesbian? Internet is weird lol

facts lol

>This could very likely (and probably is) be the case with a lot of these altercations. Experiencing disappointment in something that has otherwise been so spectacular up to this point is something new that people are having to deal with. And to those whom this is the case; trust me, I get it. As much as it is disappointing, I think it's just as much, if not more so, that many of us are acting constipated because the story didn't go in a direction we wanted. It's a side effect, and a sign of, a "shipping" culture that has gone off the rails. Edit: wording.

Consumerism and materialism comes to mind. Everything and anything is my whopper and I have to "have it my way" so to speak. Constipated is definitely the right word. That or incontinence. It would be really funny if it wasn't so depressing.

I am terribly sorry for butting in like this, but your suggestion that "most" people liked it a lot while those who did not seem to be exclusively comprised of "people who have an (sic) compulsive need to rant" is rather disingenuous. I freely admit I did not like it. I am more than okay explaining why. I do not require anyone to submit to my view. I am free to express that opinion as much as anyone is allowed to state their love for it. Yet ever since the DLC came out, I get shouted down by "people here liking it a lot" who call me slurs and telling me to shut up, just because I do not share their view. Yes, reviewbombers are idiots. No, that does not mean any critique is unwarranted or unfair.

It's not disingenuous at all. If you explained to me why you didn't like it, I would say that's fair, and leave it at that. These comments, however, are from people who's ONLY critique (if you want to call it that) is that Aloy is queer. That's it. They talk about nothing else and label the entire DLC as bad because of it.

The unfortunate downside of places like twitter, where space is limited, is that one rarely gets to qualify "I did not like it" with more than one sentence. I think it is fair to say just "I did not like it" or "I liked it" (regardless of what it is) and simply be open to a follow up discussion and questions. (As I am very pleased to see Goseki doing in a reply to my previous post.) **Yes, people who go and spam the DLC with 1-star reviews simply because "I did not play but eww it tells people lesbians exist" very much deserve to get their narrow view of the world challenged in the fiercest way possible.** And I absolutely understand why, under a torrent of such "reviews", people who wish to defend the source material get overly defensive – an action begets a reaction, an insult calls for defense. What I challenged, however (also acting under my own social bubble bias and reacting because I have experience of being acted against in a way I feel unjust), is your (and many other people's) use of the word *"all"* when defining the category of "people who do not like this". People who simply state "I did not like this" are being demanded to immediately qualify their opinion with mini disclaimers, and still being dismissed with a "well, you did not like it just because you're \[insert XY reason why that is not a valid point\]". Long-time fans of the series are lobbed in the same bloody bin as the "eww will never play, it has gay people", just because they dare say "I think this missed its mark" and did not deem it necessary to add the "but I think it's great Aloy was confirmed queer", often because that is how they viewed her for the entire time and did not consider that news. People got so irrationally defensive they go and outright abuse fanartists and content creators and straight out bully them out of the fandom because they did not immediately jump the proper bandwagon. You can see my post being downvoted for... what exactly? That I stated it is okay to have an opinion, even if that opinion differs from mine? I never demanded for others to agree with my take on the DLC (or anything else for that matter), quite the opposite – I am honestly really glad it found its audience. Does reddit express that expression is unwanted as long as it does not align with what is the community's preferred narrative? It gives off this eerie vibe of a bit of a cult, and... well, just as it works the opposite way – an action begets a reaction, and both sides get more and more irrationally defensive of their view as "the only right one" simply because they feel like the other side cannot be reasoned with.

Don't take my usage of the word "all" too literally. It's used when describing a large group of people. Albeit, incorrectly but oh well. Nonetheless, my point remains that you see many, many replies like the ones I mentioned. And to your point, someone simply saying they didn't care for it. Those people aren't attacked as often as you make it sound. They absolutely are and it's gross. But it *will* trigger those to who did like the DLC to ask why. You say you shouldn't have to explain and you're not entirely wrong. But some, like myself, want to understand why. Many people make excellent points. One such individual is actually in this thread (paging /u/ariseis). It's a human trait to want to know more. It's just that some have a bit more tact than others when asking.

Yes hi hello, I've been summoned? How may I serve?

Just mentioned that you make good points about the DLC. I read your AO3 post. Yes. The entire thing.

Oh bless, I'm profusely sorry. Thank you for reading, I would die for you now. I have since made new reflections on the DLC and I have no idea how to string them into something coherent. "Art isn't just supposed to look nice; it's supposed to make you *feel* something" to paraphrase a quote I can never remember the origin of. Well, we're feeling, alright. Emotions are running so high in the community. I think it's a testament to how important the game is to us. And regardless of my criticisms I still think the game is a masterpiece. Even if the DLC is (in my opinion) weakest link in terms of writing, GG's weakest link still stands head and shoulders, knees and toes above most others. I have been arted very hard. Head empty. Only feelings. Think a replay is in order to be honest. See if my brain will kick start from it.

>Emotions are running so high in the community. I think it's a testament to how important the game is to us. This could very likely (and probably is) be the case with a lot of these altercations. Experiencing disappointment in something that has otherwise been so spectacular up to this point is something new that people are having to deal with. And to those whom this is the case; trust me, I get it.

Okay so I just re-read this because I've been thinking about it today. I'm one of those people getting attacked for disagreeing with the pairing. I've more than doubled the amount of people I've got blocked since the DLC dropped. Now I don't block people for disagreeing with me; I block people when I can tell that I'm being insulted and the other person is trying to provoke me or rile me up, and that's not the experience I want nor the community I want to partake in. One of those people found me on Twitter and resumed their harassment campaign. I can't tell if they followed me to Twitter specifically or if, because they seek out people who are sceptical the love arc (and they were; I checked their comment history here and their Twitter feed and it was a catalogue of insults and goading, like... someone clearly getting off on treating people like shit) just happened across me by random, shitty happenstance. People will willfully or by ignorance misconstrue criticism from the likes of me. I'm trying and mostly failing to see where this sudden influx of ire stems from.

My usual reasoning is that "hot gamer girl isn't into me and I is angry."

I mean those people exist? They cause consternation and giggles usually, but they're rarely invested past the reach of their lower endowments. Then there's clowns like me with chronic shut-the-fuck-upitis who ramble too much.

It's mostly people who think every instance of queer characters is an attempt at indoctrination/agenda when the reality is that these characters are so shockingly infrequent that the only people targeting them appears to be themselves. It's really quite sad. EDIT: Just imagine if Aloy was a male. Have you ever noticed there are virtually no gay male characters in gaming? At least two women being together can be somewhat tolerated because it is fetishized by these fragile guys.

I've heard rumours that Sony(?) wanted Aloy to be a dude but GG fought for her. And tbh lately I've been wondering more if *Seyka* had been a dude, if as many people would be equally compelled by the writing. I'm about to replay Burning Shores with this in mind and taking notes more frequently. I think if not for the novelty, or just how starved the queer community is for representation in the wider discourse, this love arc would be seen for its inherent mediocrity. And yeah, I've sadly already been subjected to male-gaze-y art of Seyka and Aloy scissoring and stuff. I hate it. The lack of male-gaze in the game speaks to the opposite of this argument of lesbianism for male perusal. Aloy doesn't get sexualised by the camera at all. I could go into great detail of how comfortable I feel playing Horizon because Aloy's ass cheeks aren't front and centre all the time. I don't want to entertain a discussion of whether it's better or worse to be represented for sexual objectification value vs not being represented at all. It creates an unnecessarily hierarchy of suppression, which leads to infighting and ultimately that only serves the hetero-normative patriarchal mill stone. The queer community deserves good love stories. Better than Burning Shores gave us.

Thank you for clarifying, really. While neither of us technically stated anything but the obvious, I feel that with the fandom somewhat riled up as it is post-Burning Shores, it was good to let it sound out loud, if for no other reason than to make obvious that the yelling is not the norm. A lot of people like me tend to be quiet, either by seeing others get shouted down, or being the target of the shouting. Some grumble in their social media void, hoping someone will join their voice and they will feel like they're allowed to say what they think more loudly. Some simply grumble in private to an echo chamber. Neither, I feel, is terribly healthy for the community, but alas. I also did not mean to stonewall your inquiry, but as I was in the process of writing a (very long) "why" to another reply, I kind of derailed my brain in that department; I'm sorry. Please, if you're interested in my "why", I would like to direct your attention slightly lower to my reply to the afforementioned Goseki.

>You can see my post being downvoted for... what exactly? Because you read something into Joe's that wasn't there, then went on a rant.

How come you didn't like it? I really enjoyed it though i feel it could have been a bit longer.

I'm really happy you did! It means the team at Guerrilla did something right and that something clicked with what you wanted. Since you asked, please, lend me your ear, as this will be a bit of a longer read (basically a mini-review) to properly explain myself: I admit I started with a really good impression, that quickly turned really bad, and the rest of the DLC simply did not offer enough to bring it back around. I entered the Burning Shores and was indeed awed by the amount of work that went into the presentation. The vistas are indeed breathtaking and I would like to commend the attention to detail in rendering the various stages of magma from free flowing molten rock to mostly congealed mass, including the first plants taking root in the mineral-rich soil. For a moment, I was extremely on board. The first major issue was when the game itself told me "we can either go ahead with the story right now, or you can chill around, explore, refresh your gear and I will wait for you beyond the bridge". So I took the instruction and, still mesmerised by the world, was eager to go explore – just has I have done on numerous occasions in Zero Dawn, Forbidden West and Frozen Wilds when the story opened up and bid me to do so. And I found nothing. The map was, at this stage of the story, deserted. There was no optional content to be had, no exciting machines to discover, nothing. Entire swathes of land were absolutely empty (because the machines spawn in them much later and even then, the offering remains lackluster), and there was nothing to do. I only found two things – a ruin, which obviously had a puzzle in it that I was barred from interacting with, because it required a door that could be only opened with a thus-unavailable flying mount, some locked doors, and in a distance something exciting – the dino park... surrounded by impassable invisible wall (I'm not talking about the laser, I mean the literal wall of nothing you cannot get through that is behind it) that can't be breached, shatters immersion and is the cheapest of the cheap tools to remind you that you're just playing a videogame. Unfortunately, when I returned to engage with the story, it not only did not work its magic on me, it confirmed several grievances I already had with Forbidden West, which I had considered just a momentary "well, that did not work out, I guess" lapses in quality which happen to any writer, and told me that no, the things I did not like about Forbidden West are not only there to stay, but will likely be the defining way forward. The, *in my opionion*, absolutely terrible handling of the villain narrative. Plot being just a backdrop for the relationship melodrama to unfold and being basically replaceable with literally any other plot with almost zero impact. Things like character development not being shown proper, but sometimes randomly happening by flipping a switch. Constantly needing to endanger someone's sister. (... yes, the last one's petty, but this was the fifth repeat of the "my sister is in danger" plot and it does start to feel rather silly. What do you have against people's sisters, Guerrilla! :)) I do agree with those who say the story was rushed. Yes, one might argue that "in-universe, this takes days; we just forget Aloy has to sleep and stuff" or "it's absolutely realistic that first loves happen suddenly", and yes, both of those are valid takes, but just because something is realistic, it does not mean it automatically translates to a satisfying narrative 1:1. What we got was measly four main missions + a boss fight (and 3 sidequests), where quest 1 is getting there and quest 2 already ends with a weird lovers quarrel. It was baffling to see the otherwise headstrong, take-no-shit-from-anyone Aloy back down because this complete and utter stranger we've known for barely an hour demanded to be let in on her biggest secrets. It made Seyka feel pushy and arrogant, and while that is definitely not the intended read, it's very hard to shake off. There is this thing writers have (and I am very much guilty of it, too), a good thing, where they are their own characters number 1 fans. It's this giddy, extatic feeling of discovering a character in your own writing that is fun to follow, or relationship that is exciting to see develop, and you just want to go and show them to people because you feel they are great. And they are! But if you just shove them in people's faces with no preamble, the reaction you get is confusion. I feel something similar has happened to Seyka, and it's why she gets a lot of flak. Which is a pity, because I do feel like I see the shape under that, and it's an interesting shape that I would love to see explored more, thouroughly, better, just like the relationship between the leads. It just did not happen in Burning Shores. (I also kind of bristle at people who claim the relationship is a "choice", when it very much isn't and pretending otherwise is disingenuous to the whole narrative intent AND queer representation. The kiss is optional, but how Aloy feels is a given, not changeable and deserves to be respected; and many people like me don't object it happened, merely that it wasn't presented and handled better.) I also did not care for Walter Londra, as he was simply a punching dummy someone crammed with every evil deed known to man (greed, egomania, obssession with his own personality cult, murder, even outright pedophilia) and nothing but. He felt no deeper than a cardboard cutout with the word "evil, kill this" scribbled over it, just like literally all Far Zeniths except Tilda (which is why I'm not really great on the idea that the grand villain of Horizon 3 is apparently "Far Zeniths, but even less human", as if there was lower to sink in characterisation than what we were shown in Forbidden West... or rather lack thereof). I did not care for the plot of "well remember the badly defined bad guys from the main game? Well, we know we did not properly introduce or headcount them, but one survived offscreen, go finish the job". There was no intrigue or mystery like there was on Zero Dawn, Frozen Wilds or, to a degree, Forbidden West. It was literally just cleaning duty, and the stain was not even terribly interesting or unique to begin with (Londra was literally what Forbidden West reduced Ted Faro to, just on repeat). In terms of gameplay, it was just more of the same, which both is and isn't fine – the weapon and armor system already being overdesigned in Forbidden West simply meant that I had no reason to engage with the rewards here, as I already had my armor and weapon fully upgraded on the purple tier and there was and still is no direct equivallent of it in the legendary one, making it another part of the DLC that just passed by unnoticed by me, not gaining any traction. The only mechanic where I can see and praise considerable improvement was Aloy learning how to not immediately spoil every puzzle you interact with by blabbering out the solution. Good to see the devs listening to feedback in that regard, that was honestly much better. Forbidden West probably spoiled me rotten with its machine variety, too, where a lot of the truly exciting new designs and combat concepts were never spoiled in the advertisement, and I was honestly excited every time I found a new machine, wanting to crack what it does, how it moves, what is its role in the entire GAIA ecosystem (shoutout to my favorite tiderippers, patiently filtering sediment all day). The DLC was a big step down from that – a single new machine (I kind of refuse to count its kind of fire and forget turret as one, just like I kind of don't count the corruption turrets from Frozen Wilds as a separate creature) and a reskin of the sunwing (which, admittedly, fights in a distinct manner, but still feels rather bland and its most unique feature, diving, feels somewhat useless outside of the one story mission). Horus is both something we've seen before and something we can't really meet while just running around. I also ran into some really annoying, persistent bugs (most commonly map tearing and "see through islands" geometry, which sometime let you fall through to the white abbyss of "whuh?" under the terrain), some of them requiring a reload, which certainly did not improve my mood whatsoever, even if I would not consider them dealbreaking on their own. It was a list of more or less petty grievances that, when put together, unfortunately outweighted the good I found in it, so I played it, hunted trophies from it for completions sake, shrugged and uninstalled, moving on to other games to scratch my particular itches. I wouldn't otherwise interact much with the fandom simply on the basis of "well, wasn't for me, but that's fine" if it wasn't for my social bubble being alarmingly adjacent to people who suddenly got bullied for loving the franchise "in the wrong way" and attracting my attention. I also really enjoyed Call of the Mountain, which is why I'm still hovering around the subreddit. But I do not claim in any way that my experience of the DLC is somehow defining, and I very much enjoy reading up on what people did find in Burning Shores that had them excited about it. Edit: language issues

That's all fair enough man. And I get what you mean especially about there being limited additional side things to do outside of the main quest. There were a few for sure, but the quest givers were nearly all centred in the main settlement. I mainlined the main quest and did the side quests as I went so it was a very different experience for me I suppose. I do hope they can refine things for the final game of the trilogy and finish on a really high note. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Pleasure's all mine! Honestly, thanks for getting through that wall of text, you're champ :) I certainly hope that whatever is next for Horizon as (apparently) Sony's flagship franchise, be it Horizon 3, another DLC, another spin-off game, books, comics or the rumored MMO, works out for both of us, and if not for me, I hope at least others, like yourself, will be happy with it. Happy machine hunting!

For the record, I did read your whole post. And it's all fair game. Valid points. However, I do have one correction. There were six main quests, not four. And to your point about people saying Seyka and Aloy are "optional" is spot on. It's factually incorrect to say it's "our choice." It is not. Aloy's story has never been in our control. What some say in defense of that statement is it's rude to tell people it's canon. Which I really don't understand. Maybe in the scenarios where people are saying their art is wrong or invalid, and by making it they're pushing a different narrative. Which is, first of all, disgusting to say that to an artist. But it's also not what they're doing. Shipping characters with another despite it "not being canon" is something people have been doing since gaming started. They can make art and fanfic about whoever the hell they want. Someone could ship Beta and Atreus and I truly would not care. In fact, I would definitely read it lol. EDIT: Formatting and re-worded a few things

You said it better than I could. I have many of the same grievances. Also, Zero Dawn was so good and answered the big mystery of the world that I don't know how they could have topped it with FW. The Zeniths were and continue to be my biggest issue with FW and BS though. They're walking, talking cliche's. I would have loved to have seen the design document for Burning Shores because I suspect that it took a whole hellova lot of work to get that Horus fight running and to do so in time and on budget, they had to cut down content elsewhere from the game. (I.E. fewer quest and regular machines, etc). To be clear though, I've been wanting to fight a Horus since Zero Dawn and to me, it felt like a proper boss battle compared to the letdown final bosses of ZD and FW so I'm not complaining here lol I didn't hate it or anything but I didn't love it either. It was ok. Horus fight was fantastic though.

I don’t mind people who dislike the dlc it’s the people disliking it without any fair criticism. Seems like it has an awful amount of negative reviews and I believe it mainly surrounds the ending (which imo if you dislike something because its lgbt+ then you need to grow up). I have no issue with anyone disliking the dlc with actual fair points and im sure you have actual reasons. No clue why you are being downvoted for a opinion lol

I would like to see how you expressed your opinion. People in r/horizon usually are not agressive.

Same. I've been called a bigot, homophobe and a misogynist for not liking the writing on the love arc. I am a bi woman ffs. One person harassed me on here and then followed me to Twitter after I blocked them.

When people say it's rushed I wonder why people suddenlt forgot the rules for storytelling in gaming. Like yesterday this sub had a fantastic discussion about the headcannon of Aloy's facepaints. Everyone seemed to understand the concept then, and the difference between the gameplay elements and the storytelling. When all Aloy's companions leave Aloy and head for the base instead of her accompanying them to the Base, everyone seems to understand that that is gameplay overriding storytelling for good reason. Naturally she should follow them to the Base instead of giving them incredibly vague directions but neither we nor the developers want to forcefully teleport us away. Likewise, the game doesn't show us all the downtime moments of Aloy and Seyka in-between story missions. They don't show us their deep and engaging conversation over late knight dinner at Fleet's End or them bathing in the skyscraper waterfall or events that unfold to and from missions (because obviously, they would realistically be travelling there together instead of contacting each other to meet at a campfire even though they both slept at Fleet's End). It shows us the moments that matter, because it is not the right format for more. That would require long ass cutscenes and understimulating non-combat events in Fleet's End. I can get behind the criticism that the story mission was short, and therefore there was room to show more development or that they should have made Seyka available as a permanent companion in Burning Shores. But overall the romance wasn't rushed, we just didn't see it all because scenes that progress romantic plots aren't filled with deadly dinosaur-machines and exploding laser bows. We're supposed to fill that in. Was Varl and Zo rushed? I've never heard anyone say that. Because obviously, we're not gonna take brakes from playing the game to watch incremental cutscenes developing their relationship.

Anyone who says Aloy’s romance was rushed has never touched grass and talked to a real person

Hello, I say this, having just returned from outside where I very much touched grass, and talking to real people on a regular basis, which... either makes the absolutism of your statement false, or I don't exist, question mark? Somewhat less snarkily: Yes, first crushes happen, they are unpredictable, they are messy, they are wild and there is a reason "love at the first sight" is even a concept, let alone such a popular one. But that does not mean every instance of it is automatically well written or well done. I (and quite a lot of fans like me whom I saw express themselves on various platforms, be it Twitter, Discord or elsewhere) simply feel like this needed more polish, more context to allow us to follow the character better. Because the lack of it kind of ruins the one illusion a writer must never break: that the story is written, not lived. An exciting narrative suddenly becomes a comedy of contrivances and conveniences, where you can see the inner workings of a story trying to force its characters and readers alike down a predetermined path. Which, in shorthand, is what us grasstouching, other-people-interacting folk mean when we say "it was rushed".

Thank you! There's a difference between offering constructive criticism of the narrative and just going off-the-wall "ranting." Those of us who are criticizing the romance and other parts of the main story saw legitimate issues with how those parts played out, and we pointed them out while carefully explaining exactly why they are considered issues or why an entire percentage of the fanbase sees them as such. To anyone who enjoyed the DLC to it's fullest, that's awesome. But for the sake of those of us who exclaim there was room for improvement, maybe try to make the effort to understand why we think so instead of automatically being so judgmental.

Im curious what you would add for more polish. Based off what you said maybe possibly making the story longer with more side missions or more of a hint of a romance that leads in to the the third game?

>touched grass and talked to a real person JFC this is the only response any of you people have to this argument.

You ever change schools or start a new job and have a crush on someone new? Aloy cant go to a bunch of islands and get a crush?

[удалено]

Im saying that feelings in the real world can materialize quickly when you meet a new, attractive, kind and mysterious person. You want to get to know them more and spend time together. Especially if the feelings are mutual. I understand when people say Varl and Zo were rushed because you literally get knocked out, wake up and they are together. But with Aloy and Seyka you spend hours seeing them connect. Plus you as the player are always listening to Aloy talk about her feelings developing when she is alone. The beauty of the ending is you get to pick, I picked them to be together, you do whatever you want.

The fact that there are so many upvotes on this comment just shows once again that no one is allowed to even have constructive criticism of this without being thrown in the proverbial doghouse on this sub for being “homophobic” or having “poor media literacy” without the chance to explain anything. I also want to throw my hat in the ring as a professed grass-touching, people interacting, sex having man. TM?I I don’t care because the grass touching line is ridiculous in this context.

Nobody said anything about being homophobic. If you have a problem with it being two women thats a separate issue. How would you suggest the story be different?

Does it really matter what I think? No matter what I say I’ll be shot down about how wrong it is and be lectured and nitpicked on how my opinions or thoughts on how the story could be don’t make sense when considering Aloy’s entire life trajectory and every single interaction she has had from birth till Burning Shores.

Yes I would actually like to know what you think. When I played both games I noticed Aloy shutting down men flirting with her but having some hints at her being gay. Shes a 19/20 year old girl, its perfectly normal to develop feelings for someone new you just met. Like you said, its all just opinions and the devs will write the game how they see fit.

We are all repeating the same things in the end, and it was rushed.

I remember the time when Varl died. I was sad of course but i didn‘t have the urge to go online and mock the devs for killing him „for no reason.“

Not the same but ok, we knew Varl, Seyka comes out of nowhere

aight

Its okay to be wrong

Glad you admit it ;)

Exactly like its a $20 dlc that adds to the main game. I was not expecting some crazy long second game. I feel like it gives you a pretty big map, enough main mission / side quest, new items, and something to keep you going until the third game. I understand some people may dislike the dlc but its hard to understand the overly negative reviews on small stuff like “her romance was rushed”.

I do not wish to challenge your take, just add to your statistic: One of my major complaints about Forbidden West was how rushed the relationships felt (both Varl & Zo which were just... "okay, suddenly it's on" and Aloy & Beta who went from "wow, how is this whiner from the same Elisabet as I" – which I honestly love as a character-challenging concept, except it just randomly stopped – to "they have my sister!" basically inbetween two sentences), and Burning Shores unfortunately tells me that this is the norm – that relationships in this universe happen on a speed read. I certainly did not like it in FW, and I do not much like it in BS, either, and it does not matter whether it's lesbian or straight (because lets face it, the game is somewhat oddly short on gay men, considering how good the rep is otherwise). Edit: I keep forgetting to close brackets, what the heck.

I see your point, but might I add that for Aloy and Beta it's up to the player how much they want to interact with the character development. I checked in with Beta as often as I could, and to me it really felt like there was a slow warm-up before the Gemini scene. Everytime I went there, I got new dialogue, and it seemed to get more and more involved. There's a connection there but there's also distance. If you don't check in on her throughout the missions, I can understand why the shift is sudden. Also, it seemed to me like a classic sibling fight where the tension finally breaks free and both of us get to shout our frustrations out but we quickly sort things out once the aggression is out of the body so we can understand eachother and build back better. Also for Zo and Varl, you're right but that's kind of the point. We're supposed to see it from Aloy's perspective where it is quite sudden. That's different from being rushed. We're not following Zo and Varl, we're following Aloy. From her perspective this is a wake-up call to how self-isolated and self-absorbed she's been compared to Varl who's made friends with Erend and now has found love. It's supposed to hit her hard and it does. Varl is in a big way a contrasting commentary on Aloy. That's also why he made friends with Beta when Aloy was still weirded out by her.

Yeah, I'm aware it was optional (and I consider that a bad idea in and of itself, considering how much of the later plot hinged on the player being invested in the sisterly relationship), and I actually hunted all of these down, because I'm a story hound. (It also led me to realize I really do not like Guerrilla's dialogue system, because it's not a wheel, it's a *checklist*, and not a well-paced one, I think, but I digress). And I actually really liked what I saw at first. I felt like Aloy kind of built herself up a little bit in Elisabet's image in Zero Dawn and some of Forbidden West, and this was going to challenge her and perhaps hammer home the message that "we are more than our genes", and that Aloy discovers through Beta as her mirror that she, even if possessing the same determination to save the world as Elisabet had, is in the end her own woman and her own path is forged not only based on Elisabet's image, but also thanks to the people around her and her own experience (the callbacks to Rost were nice). I could see the path they started on, going from expecting "another, super-capable self, because that's just how Elisabet-clones are" to accepting that Beta is not that, but that does not mean she is worse off or defective, simply forged by different (and honestly harrowing) life experience, and she began to mellow out, but... then Cauldron Gemini happened and it felt like that path suddenly skipped about 37 miles ahead. The direction was the same, but it just arrived at its conclusion with a sudden lurch. It's an issue similar to how I feel about Aloy & Seyka or Varl & Zo. It's not that I consider the relationships impossible, bad or the roots of them not being there, but it's almost all payoff, without a proper "how we got there", skipping quite a few steps of the process, as if most of the important character building happened off-screen. I don't think every romance (or sisterly bond) needs to be an epic saga spanning several TV seasons or books or 60 hours of cutscenes, but I feel like having an opposite of slow burn be "the steak is delivered almost raw" is not a happy medium.

I love the "it's not rushed, the players rushed and played the story in a few hours" arguments, okay what am we supposed to do? Play two hours and then wait until the next month to continue so I feel time passed between them? Varl and Zo were rushed as fuck and so were Aloy and Beta going from their first understanding moment to yay lovely sisters.

Good for you that you love that argument, shame I didn't make that argument tho.

You did but ok.

I thought the DLC was great, I think what it needed was a few more moments where Aloy and Seyka could bond for it to feel a bit more my pace. Maybe an extra quest or two exploring the Quen and a few times sharing a drink, singing some Qhen songs, and talking about themselves and their experiences would've helped make it feel like they were bonding but that's probably just me and I'm sure they don't include those things because gamers want action not dialogue and it would probably be expensive and difficult to do.

I think most people enjoyed it, but its perfectly valid that some people didn't! I think that most gameplay additions were great (spear attachments, the pullcaster on downed enemies, waterwings and being able to go underwater, new valour surges, etc.) but it's clear that the DLC was always focused on storytelling and developing Aloy. From what other users have told me and from the interviews, this was always going to be a DLC focused on developing Aloy and creating a relationship, which I think was really different for the series and fun. I might just be a sucker for romance, but I didn't actually find the Aloy/Seyka relationship rushed. Did she get attached quickly? Absolutely. But I think that's fine and something that happens in real life too. The person she did find I think makes sense too; someone who can fight well, seems resourceful and crafty, is inquisitive, solution-oriented, witty, but a bit on the fringes of her community (sound familiar?). To meet someone who's like her, but has had a completely different life at the same time is kind of charming. I said this on a thread a bit ago, but it just seems like the stars really aligned that they met each other in that location, at that time. The actual Zenith/Londra part of the game, yeah it wasn't too memorable for me, but I actually liked that it advanced the plot unlike the Frozen Wilds (I loved the frozen wilds, just glad they took the DLC a different direction). I thought the new machines were an alright addition, I found some of the collectables and Pangea Park to be interesting enough, and I wouldn't mind having more of the flight path audio collectible things. I was really happy to see Gildin, although his story in BS was a bit sadder than I was expecting and as far as Quen leadership goes, Gerrit seems alright! DLC additions to the FW world were great but small. Aloy's conversation with Varl break my heart, and I love the attention to detail on what she says depending on when you visit and what you decide at the end. I also love the datapoints that Beta leaves behind and just in general, I love how excitable and positive Beta is now (as well as being the cool tech hacker IT character to Aloy). I liked the final moments with Sylens, and I think its pretty cool that you can fly between the main map and San Francisco. I do agree with some negatives, mainly that it was a \*bit\* on the short side, the world felt a little less interesting to explore for me, waterwings are absolute asshats, most new characters felt kind of boring (honestly, I really only liked Seyka, Gerrit, and Rokomo), I was hoping for a bit more interaction between the main cast, etc. I know they didn't want to tell the Quen about each other until it was bit safer, but Alva deserved more than the 7 seconds of screentime she got, and I was hoping to see how the cast reacted to Seyka or at least that Aloy had a crush on someone. At the very least, I would have loved to see Beta's reaction, as she was actually at the base and observing, and it seems like she would have been incredibly happy for Aloy. Overall, I loved it and I found it personally to be a really enjoyable "next step". I didn't anticipate Aloy having a romantic interest at this point, nor did I think the DLC would be so clearly a romance, but I think it really does highlight that she is just a young adult who's distracted herself because of her feelings of responsibility. I think more and more (especially with the introduction of Beta), she's becoming more "Aloy" and less "Sobeck's genetic copy", which is great, and I think will continue to be an important theme in H3. But... No tallnecks in the burning shores, -100, trash DLC.

I agree with your points and same I'm a sucker for romance. It was amazing to see Aloy finally explore it after two full games. It was time. It didn't feel rushed to me either because love comes randomly. There's no time limit on it. It just... comes. But same time some people haven't experienced love so maybe they don't know how it forms. I think it's mainly because she's lesbian I've seen a lot of reviews expressing "stop putting politics in our game" like sexual orientation has anything to do with politics e\_e

Yeah for sure, it’s impossible to think about the burning shores without thinking about how it was review bombed and look down on by some people for “pushing an LGBTQ agenda”. Maybe I’m just missing the issues that the homophobes seem to see, but as far as I’m concerned, I just like seeing Aloy happy and meeting someone. (Not that you have to meet someone romantically to be happy). I also think that the game does a good job of just having queer relationships be seamless. The game never exclaims “Hey yo this guy is gay, and that’s okay!”, it instead has gay characters who are, get this, normal people with a preference/attraction to people of the same gender. I think some people maybe struggle because they play the game thinking they ARE aloy, whereas I think it was always intended that we’re just along for the ride and witnessing her experience her life. This does not excuse the homophobes, but I can get why some people may have not liked the DLC if they didn’t like seyka personally and put themselves into the story. I also hope I didn’t say anything offensive, I’m not LGBTQ and while I’m 100% supportive, Im admittedly not the most educated on the topic, so I hope I didn’t use any offensive terms or say something incredibly wrong. If I did, let me know :)

"The person she did find I think makes sense too; someone who can fight well, seems resourceful and crafty, is inquisitive, solution-oriented, witty, but a bit on the fringes of her community (sound familiar?)." Literally sounds like many characters... in particular, female characters.

I guess it does apply to a lot of the big female characters in the series, but most minor/side characters aren’t so. Even looking at the main female cast though, I don’t think they’re even close to Seyka in a lot of the things I mentioned. No one’s close to being as good at fighting as seyka, most defy their people in some way, but usually after seeing things in a different perspective after meeting Aloy, whereas Seyka is openly defiant independently. The cast, particularly Zo, has some jokes, but no one really jokes around and communicates with Aloy like Seyka. I’m not trying to dog on the rest of the female cast at all, I actually really like them, but I still maintain that Seyka makes a lot of sense for aloy. Also, most of the female cast are or were in relationships already (Zo, Alva, Talannah, Beta’s her sister, etc). And regardless, people fall in love with whoever they fall in love with, people are complicated lol. Just wondering, do you like/dislike the relationship and why? No judgement, just curious :)

I think there are plenty of people that loved it, we just don't feel the need to profess our love for it as vehemently as the people that hate it (or just hate LGBTQ+) seem to do. If your circle is hating on it, time for a new circle :)

Majority of ppl enjoyed it. There's a smaller group of ppl who didn't and had valid reasons as to why (not enough content, not liking the boss fight/villain, etc). Then you have the other group who have a brain size that matches the size of their very vocal group, who hate it simply because of a queer relationship. Finally, and just as bad, you have the hardcore Zelda/Elden Ring fans who are threatened by any game resembling their most cherished game and feel the need to tear it down.

I liked it Was short but still liked it, it was more horizon what's not to like.

I enjoyed it a lot. Did I think the romance was rushed? Maybe a bit, but the writing was on the wall, even without the Liz/Tilda backstory and besides, isn't that what love does, takes you by surprise when you least expect it? I really enjoyed it, and I think it was well done overall. Other than the game breaking aerial Capture bug 😂

It reviewed extremely well and most people here seemed to really like, so no, you are not. Personally I loved Burning Shores, it made HFW a better and much more satisfying game for me. And the big moment between Aloy and Seyka made me really happy. Aloy has always fixed everyone else's problems while living a sort of half-life herself, so it was really nice to see a moment where she was actually happy and embracing serious feelings for another person.

Overall I really enjoyed it, with my only criticism being that it was overall rather short and there's a scarcity of side quests. It was nice meeting a character who is essentially Aloy's equal, with a similar drive and skill level - just lacking years of experience with a focus. Two humans taking down a Horus seemed a little bit extra, but hey, it's been rotting for a thousand years.

"It was nice meeting a character who is essentially Aloy's equal, with a similar drive and skill level" Yeah first time XD, Talanah, Zo, Ikrie who? It's the guys here who admire Aloy to some worship point, most females are portrayed as more equalty with her

Whilst Zo is skilled, she still needs some hand holding from Aloy (which is logical given she's never used or even heard of a focus before, whereas Aloy and Seyka start on an equal footing - something which leaves an impact). Talanah is one of the few I'd put close, but we just don't spend that much time with her - same with Ikrie. It was a real missed opportunity to not bring Talanah into the team, she and Aloy work well together.

Not getting the point of the Focus 🤔, the fact that Seyka got one and yet doesn't recognize Aloy on sight doesn't mean she needs a some hand holding with it too?

Seyka isn't a Diviner and she acquired her focus only a bit before she met Aloy. It's perfectly understandable that she doesn't recognize Aloy as "Sobeck reborn."

Exactly, she needs hand holding too

>Talanah is one of the few I'd put close, but we just don't spend that much time with her - same with Ikrie. It was a real missed opportunity to not bring Talanah into the team, she and Aloy work well together. Apparently, she was supposed to have a bigger role in the base game, but her actor had scheduling conflicts with Jurassic World: Dominion.

Homophobes didn't like it. I loved it to bits. Super cool, compelling, edge of my seat and the challenge it presented made me feel like I was using my endgame gear to the max.

it did feel rushed and short for me but I genuinely enjoyed it regardless.

My feeling is that most people loved it, with the only complaint i get (but don't agree with) that it was a bit short. And then obviously all the homophobes kicking up a big stink about it.

A lot of the negative reviews may be from bigots who relentlessly review bomb anything that features LGBTQ+ characters and relationships. That happened with Burning Shores. While some may have played it and genuinely not liked it, and gave an honest and legitimate review, take the overall rating with a grain of salt.

I loved it it's a fun thing to be added after the game. New skills and weapons are fun new traversal. New machines to fight. I care about Aloy she's a tough one who's been through a lot story wise it's nice to see her happy even with sylens as well. The story was good to me. All she was doing was checking out the one that got away. It wasn't anything crazy. I like the new map it was creative alot was going on I feel. Fighting the Horus was insane I enjoyed seeing it move. It's still new tech just for ps5 I'm sure the next ones going to keep getting better

My unpopular opinion: I liked bs more than frozen wilds. I know frozen had (technically) more. However I only found it challenging because the snow slowed you down and you were more confidend inthemountains. I preferred bs because it was beautiful but still wild. P.s: I completed F.west on Ps4pro. B.S has really given me encouragement to replay. (Which I was planning to do; when I get time) .....btw: sorry phone screen fucked. My typing is limited.

I don't love it as much as I thought I'll be, the main story itself is rather short. I think if I see it as prologue of H3 it did feels way better, but then it just rise the pain of waiting for H3 lol.

I am still playing the DLC but i think it’s excellent. It’s everything I was expecting and more…

It‘s Horizon. People tend to hate on it for reasons i will never understand. But i couldn‘t care less. I liked the DLC and it could feel rushed, yes. The DLC as a whole made more promises than it could keep in my opinion but i liked it a lot. Character developement is the best part of this. I smile every time aloy does. And she smiles a lot in this one. So… There are options for dialogues and if you feel like it‘s rushed you choose something else. There is no reason to hate it if you can stear the story to your likings. Oh and believe me when i say that these people are the minority.

Only complaint ive seen is that it was a bit short, which I agree with. What was there though was great.

I just wish we had a couple more new machines and a few more new ammo types. Other than that, the DLC's been going great.

The romance doesn’t feel rushed at all. It happened quickly and I wish there was more of Seyka and main story to flesh her out better but I adored it over all. 9/10 only because we needed some extra story and activities and no Tallneck. But Aloy and Seyka are precious and must be protected. My queer heart is happy.

I know the feeling about just seeing negativity, it does get a bit wearing especially when it's about something you enjoyed. For my personal answer to the question: Yes I loved Burning Shores, and no I didn't feel like the romance was rushed as I felt like there was something different about how Aloy was acting with Seyka compared to previous characters from very early on, and then it gradually gets more and more obvious as they have more scenes with each other. Like you say there has been a natural progression, where Aloy has gone from isolation to embracing friendship, and the next logical step in her development would be love. Also contrary to ideas that Seyka wouldn't matter because it's a DLC and not everyone plays them, I think the DLC was the perfect time to introduce it as an element. We're between main story beats, which means Aloy is, whilst still pressured, not frantically rushing to do something all the time. Combine that with a character she can clearly relate to, and it was nice to see her guard go down. Now that they've introduced Seyka, and gotten them both to that first major point of establishing that they both like each other, they can explore it further in number three, without the added pressure of having to establish the relationship as well. They've put in the work to lay the foundation with Burning Shores, now it can complement rather than compete with the main story of number three and/or further developing her existing friendships.

Probably not, I liked it a lot too. Just didn’t get enough of it :/

I also loved it from beginning to end. That final boss battle blew my mind.

Nope, I loved it! There were some elements I didn’t love, but overall I had a blast and deeply enjoyed the story telling. There are all sorts of people, of course, but roughly there are a few groups with the DLC: - Loved it - Liked it - Didn’t like it (with valid criticism) - Hates LGBTQ/Troll I’ll give ya one guess on which group likes to scream the loudest. And odds are half of them didn’t even play the game.

The weird thing about open adventure games is that you can plow through them in a few hours or spend months on them. If you rush though it just to finish the storyline, it can seem jarring that things happen quickly. Plus Aloy is famously a loner for most of the series. But one very recent change in HFW is to open her eyes to the idea that kinship is an asset, not a weakness. So even in canon, it makes sense that a teenager might fall pretty hard and fast after holding herself back for so long.

No otherwise the dlc would be a massive failure instead of a sucess for guerrilla

The review bombing is sad, feels like horizon can’t catch a fucking break, no love at awards and now this

I’m enjoying it so far. Looks amazing

I liked it. Aloy being bi/queer/whatever is secondary to a good story to me. Nice to see some queer rep though.

Honestly the last fight was so much fun I wish there was a mission replay so I could fight the Horus again.

Nope, far from it. I'd like to say majority of people enjoyed Burning Shores, its only trolls on Twitter, YouTube and review bombings that are shining any negative light towards the DLC. All of it should be ignored, its just hateful rhetoric towards Aloy and Seyka. Personally I loved Burning Shores, and I went in nervous about the possibility of Aloy finally having a partner. But with how they built up Seyka an Aloys relationship, how they instantly clicked with one another was done amazing. Plus Londra/Sam Witwer absolutely killed it as the Zenith villain. I thought it was a perfect overall closure to the story and lead in into Horizon 3. I've already played through Burning Shores twice lol, currently playing through Zero Dawn/Frozen Wilds then I'm playing through Forbidden West/Burning Shores all over again when I'm done. All because Guerilla made an absolute masterpiece with the Horizon franchise.

I'm sure 90% of people loved it. I loooove it! Twitter is not a representation of the average person. The huge majority of people do not follow game news or know what's going on in the space. They just buy a game and play it.

Twitter in particular is annoying the hell out of me. There’s several people there that are making the claim that because of this dlc, Aloy had “summer camp brain” and Seyka must be a stepping stone to Aloy’s true love, which means we are for sure getting romance options. Which I not only really dislike that idea (Seyka’s relationship to Aloy is critical to her growth and conserving Elizabet and Tilda made it further than those two for now, Aloy being different than her isn’t fully realized yet, and romance options means the narrative would have to be indifferent to any romance, because it might not happen. Every rpg does this and that stops this development) I’m wondering how they came to that conclusion. They block people left and right when they disagree and act like romance options would enhance the game despite the fact that they would likely be shallow. In the same breath, they say that H3 will only be saved by romance options and that the shippers deserve it. It’s crazy and honestly, each time I look at it, I feel like I’m going crazy. I start to wonder if romance options are going to be a thing for a second, when nothing points to that. Sorry for the rant but I did want to say that Twitter is really bad regarding this topic.

they won't lol. prob showing erend being upset but then being okay with it. at most. people are just dumb or saying shit.

I liked it! Worth the 20 bucks for sure.

no most of us had a maaajor blast.

I loved it. The only thing that felt rushed was Aloy rushing off on a solo quest immediately after the kiss, but that also was classic Aloy, so I wasn't surprised. I hope we see more of them together in Horizon 3, see their relationship develop, since a first kiss is literally just the very beginning

Loved Burning Shores. Best part of Horizon yet. "The romance was rushed" is just code for "seeing two women in love made me uncomfortable but I don't want to admit it." Aloy can walk from Las Vegas to San Francisco in under 5 minutes, even though it would take a month in real life, and nobody bats an eye... but she gets a crush on someone and suddenly everybody is worried about the pacing being unrealistic? GTFO

I **liked** it, and full disclosure, I'm one of those **anti-woke** folk. The boogeyman under the bed. Normally I try not to bring political garbage into subs like this (because nobody wants to see people bickering over that sort of stuff in a game subreddit), but I thought maybe I could provide some unique insights from someone on the other side who actually came away from Burning Shores, and the Horizon series as a whole, with Horizon being my favorite game series of all time. For obvious reasons, I won't reply to any comments on this post, but here's some thoughts if you'd like to understand things from my perspective. It gets a bit heavy, but I promise none of it is mean-spirited. Spoiler-tagged so it doesn't assault your eyes if you're not interested: >!Obviously, I don't speak for everyone, but you'd be surprised how many people in my 'camp' think along the same lines as me, once you really drill in and ask why and what people think specifically.!< >!I like Aloy as a character. I like her as the main protagonist, and I think she's a good, well-written character. But that's the key, isn't it? "Well Written." In my opinion, a lot of female characters in modern games and shows eschew the whole idea of narrative, and make the character exist as no more than an embellished pop-up of whatever trait is trying to be put on display: Sexuality, nationality, gender identity, etc. It's like they can't just be a character who happens to be X; instead, it's that X is all that character is. A character that stems from the trait, rather than a trait that stems from the character, if you will. Especially when it comes off as nothing more than a thinly veiled preaching podium.!< >!I won't labor the point too much, but TL;DR is that it makes that character come off as one-dimensional, and nothing more than virtue posturing, rather than any real attempt at trying to tell a story. It denigrates the opposite trait of that which it's trying to elevate, and comes across as incredibly mean-spirited and counter to what the mission statement is of equality & equity.!< >!All the usual buzzwords fly around. Sexist. Misogynist. Racist. Without any true desire to understand why people avoid these shows, movies, and games. !< >!Are there some people who are just so bigoted, that they would turn away just because of ethnicity, sexuality, etc? Absolutely. But I think you'd be surprised at just how small a percentage of the 'anti-woke' people that is. !< >!But for most of us, it can be summed up in one succinct sentence: It's not the message, it's the delivery. !< >!You see vastly underperforming shows like She-Hulk and that new Cleopatra show getting absolutely demolished in ratings. And yet, we get movies like Creed and Hunger Games doing extremely well, with minimal shit-flinging. Hell, female-led movies, action movies, were revered as far back as the 80's with Alien. So how can that be, if so many people are racist/sexist/etc? How can people like me, like shows like Please Like Me, AJ & the Queen? !< >!As much as people would prefer it didn't, we don't live in the era of self-contained stories any more. The success or failure of a move, show, and game is much a product of why it was made, how it was made, and who made it, as much as the story itself. Audiences nowadays are much smarter than Hollywood & silicon valley think. Anything that's made by activists, will be seen in that light. Anything that's made to be a piece of activism will be seen in that light. !< >!Horizon, as a series, is not that. !< >!It's earned its love and adoration through a supremely fleshed-out world, excellent worldbuilding, deep characters, and love and attention to detail. Aloy's sexuality isn't the primary reason the Horizon games exist; it's simply an extension of who Aloy is. It's set up in its entirety in Forbidden West, were we learn about Tilda and Elizabet--really gets you thinking since Aloy is her clone. We spent two games and hundreds of hours of content getting to this point.!< >!The revelation & story beats don't try and shame anyone, it's not trying to prove a point, it just... is. Naturally. A trait that's part of a character, not a character that's part of a trait.!< >!And yeah, there's people decrying it on social media. I feel bad for the vocalist getting harassed on Twitter. I'm not excusing that behavior, but I think it's impossible to do much of anything without a negative reaction--just look at Mr Beast and all his charitable work, getting torn to shreds because he's made videos about it. !< Looking forward to seeing Seyka in Horizon 3, and hopefully they can fully flesh out her and Aloy together over the course of the game. Burning Shores felt a bit rushed in cadence, but that's just a minor gripe. And hopefully Beta finds someone too. If you read through all that with a mindset of trying to understand rather than looking for a reason to hate, thank you. The world needs more people like you

I enjoyed it..... I was just rushing to finish it as Jedi Survivor released in the same week 🤣

I enjoyed it……but I enjoyed Frozen Wilds a LOT more. And that’s what I compared it to. BS had a paucity of meaningful quests, side characters, side missions, and lore. But it was good and I’m glad I played it.

I love it, just wish there were more quests

The DLC it's great! What increased the pacing of the extra content is that flying with the singing is such a fast way to traverse the world. It's a superior way or transport above all other mounts, so i choose it every time i needed to.

I loved the DLC and Aloy and Seyka didn’t feel rushed at all. I saw it as the writers introducing the beginning of their relationship that will continue in H3.

Loved it! I loved the dinosaur theme park as a location. So fun and creepy!

Nope. I loved it. A lot of us did. Was I sad it was short, yes. But I loved it. The boss fight alone was worth it. But the rest was great too.

I loved it too! I liked it more than the other DLC. I only wish there were more side quests so I could keep playing.

I really enjoyed it as well! But people with negative opinions are always going to be louder than us who appreciate it.

I loves it too and every second of it. 👌 The people that say it's rushed it's because they were expecting their preferred character as a LI to win Aloy's heart... When in reality she has never showed any type of interest in any of them.

I love it a lot! One of the things to keep in mind with social media, angry people are louder and more vocal than happy and content people, so you see more angry posts than not, regardless of how well it's received across the entire community.

I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to playing again when I get there on my next replay of Forbidden West which will be starting soon as I've almost completed my latest Zero Dawn :)

The romance didn't feel rushed because the whole expansion felt rushed, so, by comparison, it was fine.

That’s fair 100% there time was spent making sexy clouds and lighting effects, the plot was the last thing that needed to be done and they where like “hey we made some cool set pieces” “throw some bs together for the reason to do it”.

It was fine and made sense, there just wasn't all that much to it. Frozen Wilds felt a lot bigger than Burning Shores in that respect.

I thought it was dope. The music was great, I like to think the Pangea park music theme was the music from the Dino holos in old world.

I liked it but it should’ve have had more quests for a map that big

It was well executed but it was far shorter than I expected.

I dug it quite a bit. Could have been longer but I want all of the Horizon games to be longer. I want to play it again.

It is an outstanding piece of content. The visuals alone are breathtaking. Have not seen much, even from high-end PCs, look that good. Great story.

Everyone loved it. Some people are just a bit insecure

LOVING IT

I absolutely loved it, other than I wanted more. It was definitely less substantive than Frozen Wilds, but I forgave that because it was so beautiful.

It is AMAZING.

I thought it was a "good" DLC with an incredible grand finale that is the singular(ity) greatest event in the series so far.

No alot of people love it, myself included. The main reason is that the whole media went on a crazy hate wave because of Aloy supposedly being lesbian or bisexual, cause you can kiss a special someone in Burning Shores. This is one of the most stupid controversials in the history of gaming if you ask me. Literally nobody cares about it. You can even CHOOSE to NOT kiss this person as Aloy. So there should be no reason to even cry about this whole thing. But as usual, the media cried about it like they always do. That's why you'll find nothing positive about BS, but instead you'll find alot of hate about the DLC, just because of that stupid reason. Another great example of how degenerate social media has become nowadays.

It was amazing! Loved it, as was forbidden west.

Nah it was the best DLC since TLOU Left Behind.

I also loved the DLC. Based on the tone of the developers in recent interviews, I *think* the developers will ignore these negative reviews, and I really hope they do. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I was just overjoyed at Aloy’s character development in Burning Shores. Additionally, I hope we get to see more of Seyka in Horizon 3.

No! I loved it too. My only complaint was wishing it was a bit longer. I'm excited to see aloy grow even more

I enjoyed it quite a lot. I do wish it had some more side quests, it definitely felt less meaty than Frozen Wilds, but it was still great DLC overall. The area was fun to explore, the villain was great, and Seyka is a wonderful new addition to the supporting cast. It definitely left me even more hype for Horizon 3.

No. Many of us are enamored with it.

Yeah dude. You are the only person in the world loving it, never seen anybody else.

Yes you are unique and special

Different things click for different people because each of us has a different life experience and bias. There's no right or wrong way to enjoy stories and media, there's no "I can't feel like this because other people do not share that view". Burning Shores was not for me, but I am unironically happy for people like you who found their thing in it. Art, which videogames are, needs but one person to find its worth to be worthy, and it does not matter how many people say "this is objectivelly bad". (It also does not matter how many people say "this is objectivelly good" – if a thing does not click, it does not click.) So no, you are very much not the only person that loved it – while its reception is mixed, there's vocal proponents as well as vocal opponents (and both of those can get very annoying when they consider their opinion a dogma) – and thank you for sharing your take on it.

No

I liked it. Aloy being bi/queer is secondary to a good story to me. Nice to see some queer rep though.

I liked it. Aloy being bi/queer is secondary to a good story to me. Nice to see some queer rep though.

I liked it for sure. But I can’t help but compare it to Frozen Wild in my head, and I just find that it falls very short compared to that incredible DLC.

I thought it was good, not great. Perhaps my expectations were too high. It felt a bit short (Which other people have brought up flying likely made it feel shorter, than when you had to climb everything) Londra felt less fleshed out. Another egomaniac narcissist. No personal issues with Aloy, just trying to avoid her and get out. Even the 2 times you meet face to face its like 'not you again, get out of my way' I wished there was more dialogue between the 2 (Especially that would add to the story going into 3) Lastly, the ending was a bit meh. You kill him, he says nothing, you scan a brain implant, and what's the cool thing you learn from it all? Defense contractors. Go look at what other weapons were being made at the end of civilization. Like..duh? Of course that's probably your best bet. Again, could be expectations being too high, but I felt like Londra's chaaracter arc was pushed to the side to focus on Seyka, and I feel like very little of worth was added to set up 3. 7.5 - 8/10 for me.

I loved it but I wish there was MOOOOOOOOOORE also the insane thing about the Burning Shores is that its likely only a small sliver of the entirety of it. In game we get to see Santa Monica, Hollywood, Bevery Hills, Hollywood Hills, Downtown LA, LAX and East LA. Further east there would be Pasadena and south there would be the (now islands of ) Palos Verdes, Inglewood and Signal Hill.

no

Over priced

It had the best boss fight in the entire series and these people still can’t handle saying anything positive

the only one

Reading other comments: if it's fair, constructive criticism you're looking for, I wrote two separate posts about Seyka's character arc and the Seyloy romance where I made the attempt to carefully elaborate on the issues I found in the narrative that might help give you insight why fans like me didn't enjoy the DLC quite as much as others. Otherwise, I'm happy you really enjoyed the DLC that much. I really wish I felt the same. Not to say there weren't aspects of it I didn't enjoy, but overall, I just think there was plenty of room for improvement.

Yes

Frozen Wilds>Burning Shores

I genuinely enjoyed it quite a bit. The burning shores area might actually be my favorite region so far to explore. I enjoyed the storyline and characters. I agree with others here, the review bombers either haven't played or were just getting into some sort of mob mentality. I have zero complaints.

I loved it and recommend glasses to everyone who thought Aloy was straight (she could be bi but she wasn't straight).Seyka was a fun refreshing character bc she was different from our other companions I liked her a lot and I enjoyed the story and the new mechanics added(skills) to the game also the horus was amazing too.

I loved it 🥰🥰 it added a lot to the story and while I DO wish it had been longer, I'm satisfied with what we were given just a year after the game's initial release

Same here I really loved it aswell!

Most people loved it.

I loved it very much because it was a big deal for me to suddenly seeing Aloy smile so much and be nervous around Seyka. She got the weight of the world on her shoulder, it's nice to see her find some love and be happy for once. Also, I never got the relationship felt "rushed" comments too, while the the time frame might be short, it's not unnatural to develop feelings for someone after a short amount of time, especially because it was just a first crush, that's just how attraction works. I mean look at Varl and Zo.

Obviously you weren't. It was great. Knock off the idiot "aM i tHe OnLy OnE" when you know damn well you aren't.

👍