"Horizon: Forbidden West" is the perfect sequel to "Zero Dawn". I still have a few gripes with it but they are far, far fewer than the ones I had with the original: across the board this is a deeper, more compelling and polished experience!

This game comes with some of the best side missions in any Open World game I've played and some of the most diverse and intense combat encounters in any game I've played - no two fights are ever quite the same here.

The first game's story had its moments but the characters never landed for me past the intro, and the poor facial animations/repetitive camera angles certainly did not help. "Forbidden West" goes above and beyond in terms of presentation and also doubles down on character work - to phenomenal effect! It takes unsubtle inspiration from BioWare's "Mass Effect" series which works wonders here.

So what didn't I like? My few complaints mostly relate to the jank that peers through especially with the traversal still, despite major improvements - glitching through environments, reaching things you're not supposed to is still here. While a great deal of the Open World content is worthwhile, I'd be lying if I said that it couldn't have done with fewer Errands and Salvage Contracts.
This is all minor stuff really.

Overall, I loved this game. For its beauty and combat as I expected but also far more for its story and characters than I ever anticipated.