Highlights

  • Introducing a new tribe with a unique language can enrich the lore of the Horizon franchise.
  • The languages of the past were lost in Horizon's lore, but it's still possible that a tribe developed a new language independently.
  • A new language twist in the story can provide challenges for Aloy and new gameplay elements for players such as collectibles, puzzles, and side quests in Horizon 3.

The Horizon franchise has deep and fascinating lore which provides players with a unique story and world. From the Time of Ashes to the Red Raids, the world of Horizon is full of history. However, there is one piece of lore that could lead to the opportunity of discovering new unique tribes, and that lore is related to Ted Faro and Project Zero Dawn.

In the first Horizon game, Horizon Zero Dawn, players learn that Ted Faro purged the Apollo program which held the knowledge of the human race, including the languages of the world. With all the knowledge of past languages lost, the new population all spoke one language. It would be interesting if Aloy encounters a new tribe that has created its own language over time, thus allowing players to discover new enticing information.

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New Tribes With a New Language Could Be Beneficial to the Lore of the Horizon Franchise

Horizon Tribes Lack Variety in Language

The world of the Horizon franchise is vast and there are potentially hundreds of clans and tribes throughout the world. So far, all the tribes that Aloy has already encountered all speak the same language due to the loss of the Apollo program, causing Zero Dawn to revert to its default language. Thus, the servitors in the Eleuthia Cradles who raised the first generation of new people only spoke the default language.

Nevertheless, there could still be the possibility of a tribe speaking a different language. Perhaps there’s a tribe that chose to develop their own language after emerging from the cradles, or maybe over time their language naturally changed and evolved into something new. This would certainly make for an interesting concept for Horizon, especially in the context of the Horizon franchise's current direction.

A New Language Would Provide a Twist to the Horizon Story

With new lore comes new elements to the story. If Aloy encounters a new tribe that speaks a different language, she would have to find a way to learn and translate this language to engage with them. If it’s not a language from the old world, then Aloy’s focus wouldn’t be able to translate it, which could lead to collectibles that aid in translation and provide the player with insight into why this tribe doesn’t speak the default language of Zero Dawn.

It would be interesting if there was an entire backstory about why that specific tribe doesn’t speak the default language. Perhaps they originally did but felt the need to create their own identity by developing a new language. An even more fascinating narrative, albeit a far-fetched one, would be if the tribe could speak the default language, but the language is outlawed for some reason, so only a few people are willing to speak it with Aloy. It would certainly add a new depth to the story seeing Aloy speak a new language.

A Fictional Language Could Provide New Gameplay Elements For Horizon 3aloy-alva-horizon-forbidden-west

New Collectables and Lore That Teach Aloy About Horizon's New Language

Adding a fictional language could introduce some new gameplay elements such as puzzles and collectible items. These collectible pieces in Horizon could aid Aloy by providing her with new words that she can add to her focus to help her learn the language and allow her to both communicate with this tribe, and use them for translation elsewhere. These collectibles could even shed a little light on how the language developed.

Language Puzzles and Unique Side Quests

When it comes to puzzles, Aloy could come across a piece of writing that is key to the story or a side quest, and these collectibles could help her understand the phrase. This could also provide a side quest with Aloy’s companion Alva, who has previously stated in a note that she found it unfair how the languages of the world were reduced to just one. Having a new language could certainly provide an intriguing personal/companion quest for Alva in Horizon 3, considering she has a love for knowledge and learning.