History Awesome / HorizonForbiddenWest

* In a feat for the ages, Aloy is the first person in a thousand years to take down a Horus ([[WorfHadTheFlu albeit one suffering from centuries of exposure damage and piloted by a human instead of an AI]]) in combat, and she manages this with just a [[RockBeatsLaser bow and arrow.]]

* Crossing over with SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments, but it's great to see the once-lonely Aloy find love with Seyka, potentially sealed with a kiss.

* One of the Audio Logs proves just how loyal and [[BewareTheSillyOnes terrifying]] Travis Tate was. When he confronts the Far Zenith spy, he takes none of the traitor’s shit and promptly tortures him with sound into compliance. Tate may be a death-metal-lovinf pervert with a taste for the obscene and the accent of a hillbilly, but there’s a reason other than his programming skill why he was made the Alpha of the HADES sub-function. He also appears to be personally loyal to ''Elisabet herself'', which is not true of all Zero Dawn personnel given the circumstances surrounding their recruitment. In both games, Elisabet appears somewhat amused by his antics, something that had to be a bright spot given all the pressure she was under.

* The fact that Aloy takes on entire Rebel Camps and Outposts ''on her own'', technically routing most Rebel forces. Sure, she is sometimes accompanied by prisoners she rescues and the occasional ally, but for the most part, she does it all alone. This isn't like taking out Bandit Camps in the last game, the Rebels are organised and are much smarter/better trained than your average bandit. Just imagine Aloy sneaking them, eliminating upwards of twenty rebels in a camp, all without raising an alarm. Terrifying, but ''incredibly'' badass. It's really no wonder the Tenakth respect her purely on her strength and prowess alone, previously seen when she fights and defeats Regalla's champion in single combat during the Embassy attack.

* After months of speculation, it's confirmed: Aloy can override and ride flying machines! Late in the story, she gains the ability to override a Sunwing and take flight. And what is the first task she does with this new power of flight? [[spoiler:Drop an EMP device produced by a derelict Horus onto an invading army. She also realizes that she once again invoked a feat of tribal superstition, this time with the Tenakth, "riding upon the Wings of the Ten" in the process. She consigns herself to not winning that [[StopWorshippingMe insistence against revering her]].]]

* Zo delivering the killing blow to Erik, who earlier had killed Varl, ''using Varl's spear'' to run him through.

* Although the entire situation is tragic, Dr. Narong Somptow committing suicide before he could stop bad mutations in Ted's immortality treatments led to Ted getting a punishment he 100% deserved: being an unmoving mutated flesh mass for centuries. Reading between the lines, given Somptow told Ted he could use the energy in the reactor to help stabilise his deteriorating condition, it's entirely possible that Somptow ''intentionally'' caused this outcome for Ted, simply by giving him bad advice and counting on him not to have the [[DidntThinkThisThrough foresight]] to think that walking into ''a nuclear reactor'' was a bad idea. After all, if Ted couldn't think far enough ahead to save humanity, [[TooDumbToLive why would he do that for himself?]]

* When Aloy (and by extension, the audience) is introduced to Hekarro, leader of the [[BarbarianTribe Tenakth]], he looks every bit as tough and fearsome as one would expect. He tries to enlist Aloy's services so Regalla and her rebels can be stopped, and when Aloy mentions that she needs something, he has a very good idea of what she's talking about, thereby giving him something to bargain with: entry to the underground chamber, located under his very throne. Aloy isn't interested in being anyone's weapon, so one might expect [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Tenakth chieftain]] to rage and try to force her. Instead, Hekarro calmly demonstrates how, after literal decades of warring, he managed to ''peacefully'' unite the three Clans of the Tenakth.

* The fact that Aloy takes on entire Rebel Camps and Outposts ''on her own'', technically routing most Rebel forces. Sure, she is sometimes accompanied by prisoners she rescues and the occasional ally, but for the most part, she does it all alone. This isn't like taking out Bandit Camps in the last game, the Rebels are organised and are much smarter/better trained than your average bandit. Just imagine Aloy sneaking them, eliminating upwards of twenty rebels in a camp, all without raising an alarm. Terrifying, but ''incredibly'' badass. It's really no wonder the Tenakth respect her purely on her strength and prowess alone.

* The opening set piece reminds us how much of a badass Aloy is. Scaling a shuttle launch site to bring the craft down on the heads of a trio of Slitherfangs, Aloy falls ''with'' the debris and manages to land unscathed, only for one of the massive cobras to apparently have survived and have one final scrap with her. It fully gets the player back in the swing of things, and reinforces how dangerous the machines are.
* An understated one for Varl occurred during the six month TimeSkip Aloy spent running from ruin to ruin searching for a GAIA backup. While Aloy's ability to tame machines is well-known, and the player will have long since gotten used to using them to get around, not many people have figured out how to properly replicate the feat InUniverse, especially the xenophobic and isolated Nora tribe. Varl had to push himself to follow Aloy's trail ''on foot'' for those months catching up to her, pushing himself so far that he hasn't even shaved by the time he does find Aloy, out of no reason than obligation to help her and [[YouAreNotAlone lessen her burden a little]]. The Nora were so superstitious that they thought entering the ruins of the Old Ones would curse them, and whilst he's more flexible and open-minded than some of his fellows, Varl still does believe in their tribal superstitions. Despite that, he ''still'' followed Aloy's trail through multiple ruins alone, just to help her. It's no wonder that Aloy was so touched by the gesture that she gave him a focus, even though he technically didn't need to see the secrets of the Old Ones to aid her through the ruins.

* One of the Audio Logs proves just how loyal and [[BewareTheSillyOnes terrifying]] Travis Tate was. When he confronts the Far Zenith spy, he takes none of the traitor’s shit and promptly tortures him with sound into compliance. Tate may be a pervert with the accent of a hillbilly, but there’s a reason other than his programming skill why he was made the Alpha of HADES. He also appears to be personally loyal to Elisabet ''herself'', which is not true of all Zero Dawn personnel given the circumstances surrounding their recruitment. In both games she appears somewhat amused by his antics, something that had to be a bright spot given all the pressure she was under.

* When Aloy (and by extension, the audience) is introduced to Hekarro, leader of the [[BarbarianTribe Tenakth]], he looks every bit as tough and fearsome as one would expect. He tries to enlist Aloy's services so Regalla and her rebels can be stopped, and when Aloy mentions that she needs something, he has a very good idea of what she's talking about, thereby giving him something to bargain with: entry to the underground chamber, located under his very throne. Aloy isn't interested in being anyone's weapon, so one might expect [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Tenakth cheftain]] to rage and try to force her. Instead, Hekarro demonstrates how, after literal decades of warring, he managed to ''peacefully'' unite the three Clans of the Tenakth.

* When a group of Rebel Tenakth killed a Zenith. Though it was a pyrrhic victory and all of them died, just the fact that a group of primitive tribals even by the new worlds standard took down an enemy with a so far impenetrable shield and her support, thanks to a well executed ambush, an experimental prototype weapon and the Zenith's sheer arrogance blinding her to the impending danger as one of them charged her down with a hastily-retrieved machete. The look on the Zenith's face when her shield collapsed was a bit cathartic.

* The sidequest ''A Twilight Path'' has Aloy sizing up to an Oseram bully named Tolland to protect a group of former Shadow Carja refugees. The compassionate and insightful responses have Aloy tell him to cut his losses / invoke salvage rights, but the confrontational option has Aloy pull an '[[YouHaveNoIdeaWhoYoureDealingWith You now who I am?]]". Tolland tries to retaliate that he and his three goonies [[MuggingTheMonster can take her on]], but all his henchmen immediately back off. By this point, Aloy has multiple feats underneath her belt (taking on entire bandit camps on her own, fighting huge killer machines, and facing off the Shadow Carja army), an Oseram bully is ''nothing'' for her.

'''Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to all [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments Awesome]] pages. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Proceed at your own risk]].'''

!! Story

!!Meta
* The sheer visual effects and utter beauty of the game world, taking everything from the first game and fantastically turning it UpToEleven.
** Following this, the character and facial animation has improved by leaps and bounds. Gone are the somewhat goofy expressions of the first game.
* The "State of Play" video which features a number of new abilities, new enemies, and new machines including the titanic Tremortusk (which Aloy fights alone ''on foot'') and the Clawstriders, also known as ''Horizon's'' answer to '''Velociraptors'''!!!

* One of the Audio Logs proves just how loyal and [[BewareTheSillyOnes terrifying]] Travis Tate was. When he confronts the Far Zenith spy, he takes none of the traitor’s shit and promptly tortures him with sound into compliance. Tate may be a pervert with the accent of a hillbilly, but there’s a reason other than his programming skill why he was made the Alpha of HADES.
** He also appears to be personally loyal to Elisabet ''herself'', which is not true of all Zero Dawn personnel given the circumstances surrounding their recruitment. In both games she appears somewhat amused by his antics, something that had to be a bright spot given all the pressure she was under.

* After months of speculation, it's confirmed: Aloy can override and ride flying machines! Late in the story, she gains the ability to override a Sunwing and take flight.
** And what is the first task she does with this new power of flight? [[spoiler:Drop an EMP device produced by a derelict Horus onto an invading army. She also realizes that she once again invoked a feat of tribal superstition, this time with the Tenakth, "riding upon the Wings of the Ten" in the process. She consigns herself to not winning that [[StopWorshippingMe insistence against revering her]].]]

** Sylens also proves to be a skilled engineer when he's able to counter the Far Zenith shields, bringing them down and letting the team win.
* If spared, Regalla gets the warrior's death she craves by holding off a small army of Specters. She's then given a warrior's funeral by Hekarro.

** She actually manages to single-handedly ''kill'' a Specter just with her greatsword. It took Aloy a harsh fight just to kill one, and Regalla slew it with only three sword swings.

* Zo delivering the killing blow to Erik, who earlier had killed Varl.

** And what is the first task she does with this new power of flight? Drop an EMP device produced by a derelict Horus onto an invading army. [[spoiler:She also realizes that she once again invoked a feat of tribal superstition, this time with the Tenakth, "riding upon the Wings of the Ten" in the process. She consigns herself to not winning that [[StopWorshippingMe insistence against revering her]].]]

* The opening setpeice to remind us how much of a badass Aloy is. Scaling a shuttle launch site to bring the craft down on the heads of a trio of Slitherfangs, Aloy falls ''with'' the debris and manages to land unscathed, only for one of the massive cobras to apparently have survived and have one final scrap with her. It fully gets the player back in the swing of things, and reinforces how dangerous the machines are.
* An understated one for Varl occurred during the six month TimeSkip Aloy spent running from ruin to ruin searching for a GAIA backup. Whilst Aloy's ability to tame machines is well-known, and the the player will have long since gotten used to using them to get around, not many people have figured out how to properly replicate the feat InUniverse, especially the xenophobic and isolated Nora tribe. Varl had to push himself to follow Aloy's trail ''on foot'' for those months catching up to her, pushing himself so far that he hasn't even shaved by the time he does find Aloy, out of no reason than obligation to help her and [[YouAreNotAlone lessen her burden a little]]. The Nora were so superstitious that they thought entering the ruins of the Old Ones would curse them, and whilst he's more flexible and open-minded than some of his fellows, Varl still does believe in their tribal superstitions. Despite that, he ''still'' followed Aloy's trail through multiple ruins alone, just to help her. It's no wonder that Aloy was so touched by the gesture that she gave him a focus, even though he technically didn't need to see the secrets of the Old Ones to aid her through the ruins.

* Although the entire situation is tragic, Dr. Narong Somptow committing suicide before he could stop bad mutations in Ted's immortality treatments led to Ted getting a punishment he 100% deserved: being an unmoving mutated flesh mass for centuries. Reading between the lines, given Somptow told Ted he could use the energy in the reactor to help stabilise his deteriorating condition, it's entirely possible that Somptow ''intentionally'' caused this outcome for Ted, simply by giving him bad advice and counting on him not to have the [[DidntThinkThisThrough foresight]] to think that walking into ''a nuclear rector'' was a bad idea. After all, if Ted couldn't think far enough ahead to save humanity, [[TooDumbToLive why would he do that for himself?]]