Horizon Forbidden West™ Complete Edition Review Summary
Last updated: 2026-06-26
- Stunning graphics and visuals
- Engaging combat and mechanics
- Strong story and characters
- Weaker than predecessor
- Bugs and crashes present
- Aloy spoils puzzles
Emotions
Archetypes
Hardware
Windows 12-15GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAMpositiveWindows 8-11GB VRAMpositive
Snapshot History
Positive
Negative
1,437
82%
18%
114
99%
- Sample precision
- Helpful reviews
- 84%
- Unhelpful reviews
- 8%
- Protest reviews
- 8%
- 1%Helpful reviews with positive sentiment
- 99%Helpful reviews with negative sentiment
- Positive points
- 114
- Negative points
- 510
- Gameplay points
- 113
- Perf. points
- 41
- Rec. points
- 76
- Misc points
- 0
| Point | Description | Importance |
|---|---|---|
Stunning Graphics and Visuals
| The game consistently receives high praise for its visual quality, including graphics, character models, lighting, textures, weather effects, and art direction. The Decima engine is highlighted for delivering a beautiful and optimized experience. | 99% |
Engaging Combat and Mechanics
| Combat and mechanics are described as engaging, fun, and improved from the first game, with many machines, skills, weapons, and tactical use of the environment. Side quests are varied and not repetitive, contributing to overall enjoyment. | 54% |
Strong Story and Characters
| The story benefits from visual storytelling, cinematic set pieces, and more lively dialogue, with well-developed characters like Varl and Gaia. The lore is enriched through dialogues and notes, and older characters are remembered fondly. | 52% |
Beautiful and Explorable World
| The open world is praised for its beauty, variety, and exploration opportunities, including interesting locations like caves and tactical environmental interactions. Collectibles are plentiful without border walls. | 34% |
Cool New Machine Designs
| New machine types look cool and are well-designed, with favorites like Slitherfang. However, some note a slight design downgrade from HZD. | 24% |
DLC Shines with Focus
| The DLC is noted for having a smaller condensed map, a better final fight, better music, and no graphical bugs from the main game. The final mission is particularly well-received. | 17% |
Flexible Flying Mount
| The ability to fly on a mount allows for skipping traversal, which is appreciated for convenience. | 17% |
Stable and Bug-Free Experience
| The game is marked as almost bug-free with no bugs reported, indicating strong technical stability. | 12% |
Varied and Engaging Side Quests
| Side quests are described as excellent, varied, and not repetitive, adding depth to the experience. | 12% |
Convenient Autopickup and Stash
| The autopickup and stash features are appreciated for improving gameplay convenience. | 7% |
Attractive Worldbuilding and Monsters
| The worldbuilding and monster design are found attractive and engaging for players. | 7% |
Enjoyable Soundtrack
| The soundtrack is noted as enjoyable, contributing to the game's atmosphere. | 7% |
Brilliant Art Direction
| Art direction is highlighted as brilliant, reinforcing the visual praise. | 7% |
Abundant Animated Cutscenes
| Many animated cutscenes and dialogues enhance the narrative delivery. | 7% |
Context-Aware Dialogue
| Context-aware dialogue adds depth and responsiveness to interactions. | 7% |
Interesting Settings and Activities
| Interesting settings like the base dome and photo matching interest points are noted as engaging. | 7% |
Cool Machine Override Feature
| Overriding machines is considered a cool idea that enhances gameplay interactivity. | 7% |
Fun Machine Minigame
| The machine mini-game (Stychka mashin) is mentioned as a fun addition. | 6% |