Secrets are at the forefront of Horizon Zero Dawn. A large portion of the plot follows the protagonist, Aloy, as she searches for answers for what happened in the past. What happened to make the world to make it overrun by mechanical beasts? Why has everyone reverted to tribalistic societies?
Ever since its launch in 2017 Horizon has been one of the many gems in the PS4 treasure chest. Its success has even led to it being the big end reveal to the PS5 video game showcase. That kind of fan response has led to a community thriving with various theories about the game's world.
WARNING: Spoilers for later parts of the story and the end of the game.
10 MAKE NO SENSE: Logo Connects To The Game To Other Worlds
Almost every video game has easter eggs or references to other properties. However, sometimes comparisons between them can go too far.
In what remains of Denver, players can find an abandoned and derelict Denver Stadium. Scanning it reveals a logo that is remarkably similar to the one for RIGS: Mechanized Combat League. Some think this could make Horizon and RIGS: Mechanized Combat League part of the same world. There are a few other references to other games within the Horizon as well. Many say it means the game connects a whole world of video games in an MCU style universe. However, most every player who made that association was joking. So this theory isn't anything to be taken seriously.
9 MAKE SENSE: Death Stranding Connections
As pointed out in a Horizon easter egg video by GamingBolt, there are several references to the game Death Stranding within Zero Dawn.
Players can find a necklace, shackles, and even a baby that were featured prominently in the trailers for Death Stranding. Many think that these easter eggs are there because Death Stranding was made using the Decima engine that was also used by Horizon Zero Dawn. The engine has also been used by other games such as the Until Dawn games and Killzone Shadow Fall.
8 MAKES NO SENSE: The Triforce
At one point in the game, players can find a painting on the side of a cliff that resembles the Triforce. That's a prominent symbol from The Legend ofZelda series. Some have suggested that this is a nod to the beloved video game series. However, this painting could also have other references as well.
The three triangle symbol appears in a variety of real-world cultures. A thousand years ago it was the crest for the powerful Hojo Clan from Japan. In Japan, the symbol is still used today by various companies. It's similar to an American company using something like a variation on the Superman shield.
7 MAKE SENSE: Real-Life Locations
Throughout the game, there are a variety of locations that bear more than a passing resemblance to real-life locations. Through these players are able to tell where exactly on the map places are supposed to correspond to in real life.
The valley Aloy grows up in, Nora's Sacred Land, has various locations from Denver and Colorado Springs. The Carja capital city Meridian is situated on top of what used to be called Eagle Canyon in Utah. Finally, The Cut (where the Frozen Wilds DLC takes place) is on the remains of the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
6 MAKES NO SENSE: Differences Between Real Life And The Game
The map in Horizon Zero Dawn is meant to take place in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Montana. However, its hard to justify why all of this is so close to each other when in real life even a car ride between Denver and Utah could take hours.
Some have guessed that during the vast amount of time between the end of the world and the beginning of Horizon the Earth has shifted and caused areas to move closer together. However, its more likely this was just the developers taking creative liberties to have more varied geography for the game.
5 MAKE SENSE: Co-Op In The Sequel
An interview with a developer who worked on the first game indicated that at one point Horizon was supposed to have a co-op mode. However, so features wouldn't be dropped the co-op mode was cut out of the game.
However, it seems this idea could be revived in a sequel. Leaks suggest that the collaborative mode could be coming back. Forbidden West promotional art adds fuel to the fire as well. Aloy's friend Talanah appears in a recently released poster and she seems to be front and center of an upcoming comic book series.
4 MAKES NO SENSE: Flying On Birds In The Sequel
In the first Horizon, Aloy was eventually able to override certain machines and then use them like horses to get from place to place. In the sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, many are hoping this feature is upgraded to allow them to soar through the sky.
One of the new robots spotlighted in the trailer resembled a pterodactyl. Some have been hopeful that they could mount the creature and explore the world from an entirely new perspective. However, it isn't likely to happen. The first game limited fast travel so that players wouldn't skip past beautiful scenery. Gliding over it might have a similar consequence of hiding the finer details on the ground.
3 MAKE SENSE: Confirmed Theory (Back-Door)
If there's any fan-theory on this list that's true its this one. A developer even confirmed it!
In a Reddit AMA, one player asked why one of the game's antagonists, Ted Faro, was able to override a program that would have given future humans access to knowledge on how to rebuild society. Faro, who only financed the team assembling this knowledge, shouldn't have had the ability to change the program at all.
However, the lead writer on the game Ben Mccaw confirmed that Faro was able to override the program because he had his own engineers create a backdoor for him.
2 MAKES NO SENSE: Aloy Is A Robot
Aloy has the unique ability to scan machines and can defeat them more easily than anyone else. A few have theorized there's one that could make Aloy different. Even if she is using an earpiece to analyze robots maybe there is more to her than meets the eye. The circumstances of her birth are mysterious as well. She is a clone, is it possible her origins are even more inhuman than what's been revealed so far? Its an outlandish theory that probably doesn't hold much weight. Or does it?
1 MAKE SENSE: Who Activated Hades?
After Aloy defeats the evil HADES A.I. at the end of the game the program flies off before he can be fully vanquished. He finally is shown to have been trapped by Sylens who then asks the program who sent the signal that activated it in the first place.
One possible theory is that the one who sent the signal could be a clone of Ted Faro. Elisabet Sobeck, who had attempted to stop Faro in the past, is Aloy's "mother" since Aloy is a clone of her. Could Sobeck and Faro possibly be continuing their fight through clones?
NEXT: 10 Animals That Should Get the Horizon Treatment in Forbidden West