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Horizon Zero Dawn SPOILERS Thread

KC Denton

Member
I literally did not expect this kind of plot. It sounds like something a Japanese dev would make up lmao i love it.

I thought it was just gonna be a straightforward terminator type situation

Seems like there is a lot of meat there

The way Lamp is describing the plot so far, it sounds like the backstory has some shades of the
Titanomachina and Yurlungur backstory
in (2010/11 DS game spoilers)
Solatorobo,
although I'm sure there's some game or movie with more directly similar elements to Horizon that I'm forgetting.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
An older version.
It's a PhD engineer named Elisabet

What is this, Digital devil saga 2 or Guilty Gear? Lmao they are taking the japanese tropes and running wild with them.

I can't remember how many pieces of japanese media have had the 'your actually a super powered clone of some scientist from a billion years ago', but this is the first time i've ever seen a western dev put it into a AAA game
 

Socivol

Member
What happened in the ending?

Aloy stabs some kind of corrupted core and it takes her to some weird plane of existance where she confirms the name Elisabet Sobeck(the scientist) and stops HADES from executing which makes all of the machines that were trying to kill people stop. Then there are credits then you see Aloy find a body (cyborg body? it's a machine) of Elisabet and you hear a voice over of Elisabet talking to Gaia about not having time to have children and if she did it would be a girl that would change the world or something like that.

Then more credits then the core that Aloy destroyed sends out corruption as some people are looking at it and it goes to a guy and goes into a lantern he has one of those vision things that Aloy uses and talks to the corruption and walks up on one of those metal devils. He says there is more that it doesn't know then it ends.
 

soulluos

Member
Aloy stabs some kind of corrupted core and it takes her to some weird plane of existance where she confirms the name Elisabet something (the scientist) and stops HADES from executing which makes all of the machines that were trying to kill people stop. Then there are credits then you see Aloy find a body (cyborg body? it's a machine) of Elisabet and you hear a voice over of Elisabet talking to Gaia about not having time to have children and if she did it would be a girl that would change the world or something like that.

Then more credits then the core that Aloy destroyed sends out corruption as some people are looking at it and it goes to a guy and goes into a lantern he has one of those vision things that Aloy uses and talks to the corruption and walks up on one of those metal devils. He says there is more that it doesn't know then it ends.

Thanks
 

LotusHD

Banned
Lol they basically said fuck it, everybody knows this will most likely be a hit, may as well make them know for sure that a sequel is happening.
 

Socivol

Member
Lol they basically said fuck it, everybody knows this will most likely be a hit, may as well make them know for sure that a sequel is happening.

Basically I thought the final boss would be the Metal Devil so I was surprised it was not. I guess they are saving that for the sequel.
 

lumi7890

Member
Aloy stabs some kind of corrupted core and it takes her to some weird plane of existance where she confirms the name Elisabet something (the scientist) and stops HADES from executing which makes all of the machines that were trying to kill people stop. Then there are credits then you see Aloy find a body (cyborg body? it's a machine) of Elisabet and you hear a voice over of Elisabet talking to Gaia about not having time to have children and if she did it would be a girl that would change the world or something like that.

Then more credits then the core that Aloy destroyed sends out corruption as some people are looking at it and it goes to a guy and goes into a lantern he has one of those vision things that Aloy uses and talks to the corruption and walks up on one of those metal devils. He says there is more that it doesn't know then it ends.
So Gaia made aloy for Elisabet (kinda of interesting, since sis in sci-fi are usually the villain) interesting, maybe aloy was created to stop what elisabet stopped but is starting again. The rest sounds a lot like final fantasy 13.
 

hbkdx12

Member
So what exactly is the story as we know it?

Society went to shit and this primative post apocalyptic society was created that is run by robots and the robots are trying to create humans and the humans that are alive may actually be robots?

I feel like i have no grasp on what this story is, with or without the spoilers lol.
 

LotusHD

Banned
So what exactly is the story as we know it?

Society went to shit and this primative post apocalyptic society was created that is run by robots and the robots are trying to create humans and the humans that are alive may actually be robots?

I feel like i have no grasp on what this story is, with or without the spoilers lol.

Technically good for me, in case I end up playing this sooner than later after reviews surface. Feel like I can still play this and still be wowed by everything, spoilers be damned.
 

Socivol

Member
So Gaia made aloy for Elisabet (kinda of interesting, since sis in sci-fi are usually the villain) interesting, maybe aloy was created to stop what elisabet stopped but is starting again. The rest sounds a lot like final fantasy 13.

They also have the same exact voice which is how Aloy is able to deactivate HADES.
 

The Lamp

Member
What is this, Digital devil saga 2 or Guilty Gear? Lmao they are taking the japanese tropes and running wild with them.

I can't remember how many pieces of japanese media have had the 'your actually a super powered clone of some scientist from a billion years ago', but this is the first time i've ever seen a western dev put it into a AAA game

It's not quite as simple as that. Aloy was created from Gaia AI. I don't understand why her, though. The rest of humanity seems to be descendants of Gaia AI, but she seems to be an original spawn.

I'll type up the whole plot as I understand it later. It well weaves into the tribal politics
 
Lol they basically said fuck it, everybody knows this will most likely be a hit, may as well make them know for sure that a sequel is happening.

Yep story seem like it's part one of a bigger piece .
Sets up the character , the lore , world , robos etc etc
Which i don't mind .
 

hbkdx12

Member
Technically good for me, in case I end up playing this sooner than later after reviews surface. Feel like I can still play this and still be wowed by everything, spoilers be damned.

I don't mean in it a "this is all confusing" kind of way. I genuinely have no idea what the story is about other than society collapsed and now there's robotic dinosaurs and apparently Aloy is a robot. I'm more of a "it's about the journey rather than the destination" so i don't really care about spoiling the story or the ending as long as i can experience it unfolding but not having the foggiest idea of what's going on or what's at stake at the moment is killing my hype for the game as it's making it hard for me to be invested beyond the nice graphics and gameplay. Why has society collapsed? Why are their robot dinosaurs? What is Aloy after? Is she killing the dinosaurs as a means of survival and crafting or is it part of her overall goal? I'm sure these things get answered in the game but for whatever reason i just feel lost

So if someone has beaten the game or has a handle on the overall story that wouldn't mind summarizing things a bit, I'd greatly appreciate it.
 

The Lamp

Member
I don't mean in it a "this is all confusing" kind of way. I genuinely have no idea what the story is about other than society collapsed and now there's robotic dinosaurs and apparently Aloy is a robot. I'm more of a "it's about the journey rather than the destination" so i don't really care about spoiling the story or the ending as long as i can experience it unfolding but not having the foggiest idea of what's going on or what's at stake at the moment is killing my hype for the game as it's making it hard for me to be invested beyond the nice graphics and gameplay. Why has society collapsed? Why are their robot dinosaurs? What is Aloy after? Is she killing the dinosaurs as a means of survival and crafting or is it part of her overall goal? I'm sure these things get answered in the game but for whatever reason i just feel lost

So if someone has beaten the game or has a handle on the overall story that wouldn't mind summarizing things a bit, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Society collapsed because the richest company in the world built companion and peacekeeping robots for society. Their robots became so advanced they eventually started getting military and defense contracts and in order to prevent them from being misused, they made them impossible to hack. Their customers wanted more advancement, so the top models were able to weaponize like Metal Gear, consume biomass as fuel, and spawn more robots that replicate exponentially.

It got out of control due to a bug in the code and the corporation realized extinction was inevitable. The robots couldn't be hacked, they consumed all biomatter as fuel, and they had weapons.

So Elisabet started Project Zero Dawn. She gathered the worlds brightest humans and genetic diversity to create a "reboot" on life after the robots wipe it out.

The military led operations of indefinite human sacrifice against the machines to buy the PZD team time. Humans were endlessly killed for like 2 years so PZD could be planned.

PZD team created Gaia. An AI that could recreate the biosphere of earth. It would be equipped with creativity to create robots that help revitalize the environment to be liveavle again (alll the peaceful animal robots you see). After that, it can place animal species, then humans, then equip them with an archive of our past knowledge.

Somehow the archive wasn't passed down.

There was also an AI named HADES created. It was expected that Gaia wouldn't terraform perfectly the first time, so in case they needed to reset what she created, HADES exists to destroy life and biosphere again as a hard reboot.

The PZD team medically euthanized themselves or preserved themselves in Elysium (a sanctuary) to grow old and die while the earth is reborn.

Somehow, Gaia was corrupted to start making evil machines, or HADES took control. Not sure yet.

HADES is the Metal Devil the Nora tribe fears that challenged All-Mother (Gaia) and she struck him down. Aloy was "born" in that conflict.

One of the tribes wants to use HADES to take control of the other tribes because of a political coup that murdered the old king of Meridian.

Other stuff too.

I'll explain more in detail later
 

hbkdx12

Member
Society collapsed because the richest company in the world built companion and peacekeeping robots for society. Their robots became so advanced they eventually started getting military and defense contracts and in order to prevent them from being misused, they made them impossible to hack. Their customers wanted more advancement, so the top models were able to weaponize like Metal Gear, consume biomass as fuel, and spawn more robots that replicate exponentially.

It got out of control and the corporation realized extinction was inevitable. The robots couldn't be hacked, they consumed all biomatter as fuel, and they had weapons.

So Elisabet started Project Zero Dawn. She gathered the worlds brightest humans and genetic diversity to create a "reboot" on life after the robots wipe it out.

The military led operations of indefinite human sacrifice against the machines to buy the PZD team time. Humans were endlessly killed for like 2 years so PZD could be planned.

PZD team created Gaia. An AI that could recreate the biosphere of earth. It would be equipped with creativity to create robots that help revitalize the environment to be liveavle again (alll the peaceful animal robots you see). After that, it can place animal species, then humans, then equip them with an archive of our past knowledge.

Somehow the archive wasn't passed down.

There was also an AI named HADES created. It was expected that Gaia wouldn't terraform perfectly the first time, so in case they needed to reset what she created, HADES exists to destroy life and biosphere again as a hard reboot.

The PZD team medically euthanized themselves or preserved themselves in Elysium (a sanctuary) to grow old and die while the earth is reborn.

Somehow, Gaia was corrupted to start making evil machines, or HADES took control. Not sure yet.

HADES is the Metal Devil the Nora tribe fears that challenged All-Mother (Gaia) and she struck him down. Aloy was "born" in that conflict.

One of the tribes wants to use HADES to take control of the other tribes because of a political coup that murdered the old king of Meridian.

Other stuff too.

I'll explain more in detail later

Thank you so much for this. Just those first few paragraphs was enough to have things click in a way that makes me more interested how all this is handled. Thanks.
 
Aloy stabs some kind of corrupted core and it takes her to some weird plane of existance where she confirms the name Elisabet Sobeck(the scientist) and stops HADES from executing which makes all of the machines that were trying to kill people stop. Then there are credits then you see Aloy find a body (cyborg body? it's a machine) of Elisabet and you hear a voice over of Elisabet talking to Gaia about not having time to have children and if she did it would be a girl that would change the world or something like that.

Then more credits then the core that Aloy destroyed sends out corruption as some people are looking at it and it goes to a guy and goes into a lantern he has one of those vision things that Aloy uses and talks to the corruption and walks up on one of those metal devils. He says there is more that it doesn't know then it ends.

So basically, Aloy beat the bad guy that was keeping the real bad guy in check?
 
Somehow the archive wasn't passed down.

There was also an AI named HADES created. It was expected that Gaia wouldn't terraform perfectly the first time, so in case they needed to reset what she created, HADES exists to destroy life and biosphere again as a hard reboot.

Faro destroyed the archive. He thought that by giving all the knowledge to the new mankind, they will make the same mistakes.

Somehow, Gaia was corrupted to start making evil machines, or HADES took control. Not sure yet.

Hades was corrupted by the swarm of Faro's robots because of a hatch malfunction. Hades took control and Gaia sacrificed it self to save mankind.
 

KC Denton

Member
This game takes place in our world right? Any idea where?

If this image from SlasherJPC is any indication, it takes place somewhere in Colorado (very close to Cheyenne Mountain/NORAD, which could be a Terminator reference?)

EDIT: Wait is it ever hinted at in the game that the Nora tribe got its name from NORAD?

OW5z2BN.jpg
 

lumi7890

Member
Society collapsed because the richest company in the world built companion and peacekeeping robots for society. Their robots became so advanced they eventually started getting military and defense contracts and in order to prevent them from being misused, they made them impossible to hack. Their customers wanted more advancement, so the top models were able to weaponize like Metal Gear, consume biomass as fuel, and spawn more robots that replicate exponentially.

It got out of control due to a bug in the code and the corporation realized extinction was inevitable. The robots couldn't be hacked, they consumed all biomatter as fuel, and they had weapons.

So Elisabet started Project Zero Dawn. She gathered the worlds brightest humans and genetic diversity to create a "reboot" on life after the robots wipe it out.

The military led operations of indefinite human sacrifice against the machines to buy the PZD team time. Humans were endlessly killed for like 2 years so PZD could be planned.

PZD team created Gaia. An AI that could recreate the biosphere of earth. It would be equipped with creativity to create robots that help revitalize the environment to be liveavle again (alll the peaceful animal robots you see). After that, it can place animal species, then humans, then equip them with an archive of our past knowledge.

Somehow the archive wasn't passed down.

There was also an AI named HADES created. It was expected that Gaia wouldn't terraform perfectly the first time, so in case they needed to reset what she created, HADES exists to destroy life and biosphere again as a hard reboot.

The PZD team medically euthanized themselves or preserved themselves in Elysium (a sanctuary) to grow old and die while the earth is reborn.

Somehow, Gaia was corrupted to start making evil machines, or HADES took control. Not sure yet.

HADES is the Metal Devil the Nora tribe fears that challenged All-Mother (Gaia) and she struck him down. Aloy was "born" in that conflict.

One of the tribes wants to use HADES to take control of the other tribes because of a political coup that murdered the old king of Meridian.

Other stuff too.

I'll explain more in detail later
So it's a similar plot to final fantasy 13, except written well.
 

Mendrox

Member
I read the spoilers and still don't get the plot lol

It's 2017.

The world creates more robots that help us. Government loves them and some are hired as security guards. The government makes them unhackable. The robots love eating biomass and they recreate themselves to populate the world themselves. Because they are unhackable they cannot be stopped.

Some cool woman thought "wow okay humanity will disappear, let's collect every diverse human and geniuses". They then created Gaia and Hades AI. Gaia creates the world after it ends (many years later) and Hades is just their to reboot everything again if Gaia fails at first.

Gaia starts out being bad and we have this game. Gaia rekt Hades shit once and Aloy was born and is the DNA clone of the woman that created everything which is also the reason that she can stop Hades cause of the same voice and all.

Somehow like this.
 
It's 2017.

The world creates more robots that help us. Government loves them and some are hired as security guards. The government makes them unhackable. The robots love eating biomass and they recreate themselves to populate the world themselves. Because they are unhackable they cannot be stopped.

Some cool woman thought "wow okay humanity will disappear, let's collect every diverse human and geniuses". They then created Gaia and Hades AI. Gaia creates the world after it ends (many years later) and Hades is just their to reboot everything again if Gaia fails at first.

Gaia starts out being bad and we have this game. Gaia rekt Hades shit once and Aloy was born and is the DNA clone of the woman that created everything which is also the reason that she can stop Hades cause of the same voice and all.

Somehow like this.

I think this is right but it starts at around 2060 not 2017, I THINK, if I remember my playthrough correctly.
 

nitrowolf2

Neo Member
MAKE A HARD SAVE GUYS BEFORE YOU BEAT THE GAME

Yes, you can continue playing after you beat it, HOWEVER, it glitched one of my sidequests as the requirements for it were achieved during the final level, which it wasn't intended to be so I cant't turn the quest in. luckily I made a hardsave.

If you are wondering which quest, it's the first hunting Lodge one you get (not hnting trials, this is seperate) asking you to collect kill trophies.
 

Carcetti

Member
Noting some people have beat the game and well...

I'm like an inch away from 100% completion, missing 2/5 of something that's really well hidden and not something I'd want to even mention here in plain sight because it's a cool thing to find for yourself in the game world. If you know what I'm talking about, I'd love to compare notes in PM...
 
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