Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Forbidden West is one of the most anticipated games coming to the PlayStation 5, but some fans thought Horizon Zero Dawn protagonist Aloy looked a little different in a recent gameplay reveal. Fans have been debating back and forth about whether or not the Horizon Forbidden West protagonist has actually had any noteworthy changes, spawning a rather heated discourse across social media over the weekend.

Horizon Forbidden West got its first gameplay reveal in May during a surprise PlayStation State of Play. The event showed off some stellar graphics, highlighting the power of the PS5 – though the upcoming game will also be available on PS4. It’s clear that developer Guerilla is already squeezing a lot of power out of the new console, with its hyper-realistic water, gorgeous environments, and incredibly detailed character models.

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That said, some fans of the original game have responded negatively to how Aloy looks in Horizon Forbidden West, with the potential design difference having been documented and shared by alicefb on Reddit. Some say it appears that her cheeks have gotten puffier, but many argue that the perceived changes likely just come down to improved PS5 lighting and different camera angles being utilized. Fewer still claim that the character now looks “less feminine,” but that vocal minority has been thoroughly debated and disagreed with since a tweet by ApexAlphaJ went viral. Response tweets by the likes of Santa Monic Studio’s Alanah Pearce have gained much more traction online since the initial gameplay trailer backlash, and the overall response on social media grew more positive overall during the weekend.

Overall, Aloy still looks largely the same, and whatever changes have theoretically been made to her design are quite minimal. Whatever the case, Horizon Forbidden West looks stunning. Many have pointed out that Aloy has a very natural, realistic look, and isn’t able to contort her face with makeup due to living in a post apocalyptic scenario. It’ll be easier to tell whether or not there are actual changes when the game comes out, but this feels more like the great puddle debate that came around the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018. Insomniac claimed at that time that no changes had been made to some puddles that appeared to have vanished from the game, and that it was merely changes in lighting.

For now, Horizon Forbidden West has no release date, but Guerilla has stated that development is still on track. Sony previously stated that the game was aiming for a late 2021 release, but it’s unclear if that has shifted at all. The lack of a release date definitely seems as if Sony is trying to be flexible and not commit to 2021 entirely in case it needs to move to 2022, but perhaps more will be revealed later this summer.

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Source: alicefb/Reddit, Alanah Pearce/Twitter, ApexAlphaJ/Twitter, GOTY_Jacob/Twitter

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Cade Onder
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Cade Onder is a 20-year old video game, movie, and chicken tender enthusiast. He has been writing about games since he was 14 and is always trying to learn more about the gaming industry. You can follow him on Twitter @Cade_Onder for bad jokes, bad takes, and pictures of chicken tenders.

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