Horizon Forbidden West’s latest patch, 1.18, applied a ton of bug fixes and improvements to quests, activities, UI and UX, and more. One unrelated addition tacked onto the patch is a new Face Paint cosmetic in celebration of Pride. It may not be blatantly obvious upon first glance, at least not to the uninformed, but the rustic paint markings on Aloy’s face resemble the Pride flag’s colors and is named to honor this representation.
Fans have already begun sharing screenshots of their Aloy donning this distinguished Face Paint, which does not feel at all out of place in Horizon Forbidden West’s world with tribal garments and aesthetics. It blends in with the game’s other Face Paints appropriately while still paying tribute. Pride has certainly been celebrated in other games, but the nuance of Horizon Forbidden West’s Mark of Pride cosmetic should be celebrated for its ingenuity in how it was able to creatively translate the flag’s colors into a meaningful and unique design.
Forbidden West’s Mark of Pride Face Paint is Grounded in Horizon’s World
Horizon Forbidden West’s Face Paints are purely decorative, and therefore fans may not have endeavored to collect many of them if they only sought out items that could affect their abilities. Yet customization is an incredibly important part of games for a lot of players who want to express themselves.
Horizon Zero Dawn allows players to swap their outfits around, but Horizon Forbidden West’s addition of Face Paint is an even greater expression of customization, as it is highly diverse in terms of the colors and permeations players can equip. This includes darkened eye shadow, blush, and authentic stripe and paint work that may signify certain tribes such as the Nora, Oseram, Banuk, Utaru, and more. Horizon Forbidden West is third-person, and the player’s desired Face Paint is detailed in cutscenes and cinematic Valor Surge animations. The Mark of Pride Face Paint is subtle, but distinct in its design.
It does not err by carelessly slapping a Pride flag onto Aloy’s cheek, or recoloring an existing face paint design, and as a result the Face Paint remains firmly rooted in Horizon Forbidden West’s fictional world while representing a nonfictional self-affirmation. This distinction of having a new design sporting Pride flag colors suggests that Guerrilla wanted to present fans with something that could be baked naturally into the game’s world.
Other Games Could Learn from Horizon’s LGBTQIA+ Representation
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Horizon Forbidden West’s LGBTQIA+ representation could have simply been a color swap on one of Aloy’s outfits as an afterthought, which is what another game might have done if it felt a looming obligation to implement inclusion for attention's sake. In this case, the tradition of putting a Pride flag into one’s games can now be seen as stale and obligatory if a game’s attempt at inclusion lacks creativity.
The argument could be made that not having an instantly identifiable Pride flag is disguising or shrouding its representation, but having a one-to-one Pride flag without a meaningful way of implementing it could be worse. Inclusion for inclusion’s sake can be dismissive, and Horizon Forbidden West demonstrates it has taken care to implement its representation in a thoughtful way.
The recent controversy around a Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered modder removing the game’s Pride flags further exemplifies why representation is paramount, with Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales being two other prominent examples of honorable representation in games. More games should strive to find creative ways to implement Pride representation as Horizon Forbidden West has done.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.
