Hi, friends! One of my favorite game franchises is Guerrilla Games’s Horizon series. I actually got the first game– Horizon: Zero Dawn –for free as a part of Playstation’s Play at Home initiative during the pandemic. The world immediately captivated me. I vividly remember sitting in my room at night and being infuriated that my bluetooth earbuds died, and I didn’t have any wired ones to keep playing! Leading up to Horizon: Forbidden West’s release, I had dreams about what the game would be like, and I was so excited to get home on Sunday morning to spend the rest of the day playing. (I actually considered skipping my violin lesson the next day to have more time to play.)
I played Forbidden West on a Playstation 5, so I didn’t get to experience the mind-blowing graphics. I was, unfortunately, aware that a minority of players were upset by how the developers remodeled the protagonist Aloy.
What was this group worked up about, and were their qualms reasonable? The short answer is no. The long answer is…
Let’s take a look at Aloy in both games. In Zero Dawn, her overall skull-shape is longer. Her skin is relatively smooth, though there are a few wrinkles between her eyebrows and we can make out a few pores. That’s basically it. When I look at Aloy in Forbidden West, I am blown away by the graphical improvements. Her face is clearly textured: in close-ups, you can clearly make out her pores, the wrinkles between her eyes stand out more proudly, and her nose and cheeks are decorated with redness associated with rosacea. If you look closely to the right of her face where the light hits, you can see the light soften as it bounces off of the hair on her face (more on this in a bit). When I first saw the comparison between Aloy in the two games, I was so happy to see a character I love made more realistic because the developers had the tools to do so.
I love showing my mom pictures of Aloy and asking her what she thinks of her. My mom will say, “She looks like some woman with red hair.” Then I’ll tell her that she is looking at a video game character, and she doesn’t believe it.
Unfortunately, not everyone sees it this way.
One of the biggest criticisms I see about Forbidden West Aloy is that the developers made her “fat.” This group wonders how a woman who is as active as Aloy– climbing cliffs, running from machine animals, hunting, jogging, zip lining, etc.– can be fat. What I (and many others) argue is that she is not fat. The developers simply filled out her cheeks and gave her a less pronounced jawline.
As someone with the same exact face shape as Aloy, these critiques sometimes hurt. When I finally see a fictional character that represents something about me, something that is not conventionally attractive, these characteristics are deemed as unhealthy and even ugly. Yes, I am chubby (unlike Aloy), but even if I wanted to lose weight, my jawline wouldn’t change. A group of gamers has deemed Aloy’s face shape, and therefore mine, unattractive, and that’s just rude.
Additionally, why would it matter if Aloy was fat? Her weight doesn’t change who she is as a person, and Aloy being fat wouldn’t make her any less pretty. We are slowly inching toward a societal understanding that weight does not always determine health. Yes, it can sometimes reveal aspects of a person’s health, but weight isn’t health. The only time weight becomes problematic is when it limits a person’s ability to move by putting stress on joints, makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood to all parts of the body, or makes it difficult for the body to function properly because of lack of energy. Even with this knowledge, weight isn’t the core problem– overeating and under-eating are caused by other factors.
There is another small group of people who were shocked by Aloy’s facial hair. Actually, we were all shocked by Aloy’s facial hair. It is amazing that a video game is able to create a level of detail so small. What this particular group was shocked about was the fact that a woman had facial hair at all.
There’s not much to say about this beyond: women do have facial hair. We have light hairs covering our face, particularly on the cheeks. While some women shave these hairs, they are still completely natural, and Aloy– living in a post-post-apocalyptic world– doesn’t have the ability or desire to remove these hairs.
There’s not much to say about this beyond: women do have facial hair. We have light hairs covering our face, particularly on the cheeks. While some women shave these hairs, they are still completely natural, and Aloy– living in a post-post-apocalyptic world– doesn’t have the ability or desire to remove these hairs.
What all of this is leading me to is my frustration that not even a fictional woman can exist without her body being analyzed. The things Aloy is being ridiculed for are the things she cannot change. She can shave her facial hair, but it will grow back. And nothing she does will change the shape of her face.
I’m incredibly grateful to the developers for depicting not only a realistic character but a character we don’t often see in video games or media in general. She has hair and blemishes and wrinkles on her face, her teeth are crooked, her eyebrows are asymmetrical, and she has a round face. It’s important for those who create characters to create a diverse cast, not a handful of archetypes that our society tells us is “best.”
I am getting mad while writing this, so I’m going to end it here. The remaster of Horizon: Zero Dawn was recently released, and I’m so excited to buy and play it after I finish Days Gone. No matter what anyone says about Aloy and no matter what she looks like, she is still an empathetic, passionate, and badass woman. She’s one of my favorite characters, and I look forward to finally playing Burning Shores– the Forbidden West DLC– and the final game in this trilogy.
Love ya!
Lauren Raimbault – Social Media Editor, Prose Editor & Blogger: Lauren is a Lewis University Senior studying English with a concentration in General Writing. She also mentors her peers at the university’s Writing Center. In addition to her academic pursuits, Lauren has played the violin since 2011 and currently serves as Concertmaster for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra. She also recently began learning bass guitar and plays in her university’s jazz band. When not writing or practicing, she enjoys reading thrillers and fantasy novels, crocheting, and playing video games.