Come on, only a week left until we get our hands on Horizon Forbidden West. But before that, Guerrilla Games has many things to tell us and to show us. Already, although the qualities of the game engine should be enough to impress us, it is with a cinematic in computer graphics that the developers have chosen to amaze us. And inevitably, aloy and theWest Prohibited have never looked so beautiful.
Next, it is on accessibility that Guerrilla Games decided to linger. A long post from PlayStation-Blog taught us more about accessibility and experience customization options, including adjustable difficulty level. In particular, there is an interesting system of Copilotallowing a second player to assist the direction of the first via a second controller.
We’re only a few days away from the release of Horizon Forbidden West, and we wanted to show you some of the accessibility features that will be coming to players. From the beginning of the game’s development, we decided to make it accessible to as many fans as possible and to create an immersive and accessible experience for everyone. Some of these features were already present in Horizon Zero Dawn, but we’ve since learned a lot about our players’ needs and added new ones.
We hope that these features will allow us to offer you the most suitable experience for your needs and we look forward to your opinion, thanks to which we can optimize them.
General accessibility settings
Some options are automatically activated as soon as the game is started. This is particularly the case for subtitles. You can also change its size and background for better visibility. You can select your preferred language (for audio and subtitles) when you first launch the game.
In the game menu, you’ll find the Notebook, an extensive encyclopedia that contains information on characters, machines, and data points around the world. We wanted to make sure that players can easily find in-game help if needed, so we’ve added a separate Tutorials section for you to learn about game mechanics or controls.
Difficulty levels
We realize that every player wants a difficulty to suit their needs in the Forbidden West, so we’re offering five difficulty levels to give you the experience you want. These range from Story Mode, which makes combat easier and lets you focus on exploration and the storyline, to Very Hard Mode, which offers an extreme combat experience for those looking to put their skills to the test. .
We also offer you to customize your level of difficulty. You will be able to adjust the level of damage that Aloy inflicts or suffers, for more flexible fights.
Horizon Forbidden West emphasizes hunting machines, as well as plundering their resources to craft ammo and upgrade gear. Many of these resources can be destroyed if not detached before machine disposal. This can be tricky, so we have an easy Loot system. With the Easy Loot option, any resources still attached to the machine when it is eliminated will be added to its loot. This reduces the need to detach these components during combat. The system is enabled by default for Story and Easy modes and is optional in Custom mode.
Gamepad settings
Aloy is a talented and agile hunter. It is therefore important that the controls are as intuitive and comfortable as possible, so that she can use all her skills. With that in mind, we’re giving you plenty of options to make ordering as accessible as possible.
In Horizon Forbidden West, the commands are preset (including left-handed mode), but they are fully modifiable, with advice and warnings on potential conflicts. This means that you will be able to customize the action of all the buttons. You will also be able to choose between Hold and Toggle on/off as needed, and invert the X and Y axes.
We are also introducing the Copilot system, which allows the use of a second controller with inverted controls. This feature simply requires a second controller (DualSense on PS5 and Dualshock 4 on PS4) and a second user profile. The Copilote system was put in place thanks to the feedback and support of our visually impaired accessibility consultant!
In Horizon Forbidden West, you will also find an optional motion detection function. Using the controller’s built-in gyroscope and accelerometer, you’ll be able to make intuitive micro-adjustments when shooting while aiming for even more precision.
You’ll also have sliders for motion sensitivity, as well as blind spot settings for the joysticks. You will also be able to quickly switch between weapons and reverse the functionality of the left stick and right stick for character movement and camera movement.
Since the PS5 version of the game uses adaptive triggers and vibration, we’ve also added settings for players who aren’t suited for those options. You will be able to change the intensity of the vibrations during cutscenes, movements, fights, in the UI or in the environment, but also deactivate the adaptive triggers when you wield weapons.
In-game help settings
These settings are intended to help players who are having difficulty with certain aspects of the game.
Regarding weapons and combat, you will be able, for example, to adjust the slow motion speed when the weapon wheel (which allows you to quickly equip a weapon) is activated. You can also activate Aim Assist. You can increase the duration of Concentration, which temporarily slows down time when you aim with your bow, or even activate Automatic Concentration (if you have Concentration left), which allows you not to have to activate it in the middle of combat. if you are in trouble.
There are other auto settings to save you time, including Auto Sprint, Auto Heal (when your health is below 50%), and Auto Wingegide (which deploys when you fall from a height, once the skill is unlocked). We also offer a setting called Climbing Annotations: Always On, which makes climbable areas easier to see without focus. Please note that some of these automatic settings only work with Story/Easy and Custom modes.
The Horizon Forbidden West map is particularly large, so we’ve put in place orientation tools to help you navigate this dynamic world. You can choose to explore the world with few guidelines, or benefit from markers to help you reach the destination of your quest. The same goes for waypoints, which are dynamic markers to help you navigate. For longer journeys, you can select the Mount follows the route option, so that your mount takes you to your destination without your intervention.
You can also choose to display reminders on how to use skills, weapons, or how to approach certain enemies. If you restart the game after turning off your console, a Story So Far screen will appear to help you get back into the swing of things. Although PS4 players may encounter a loading screen from time to time (so they will benefit from its helpful hints), PS5 players can choose between Informative and Immediate modes, since the game loads much faster. and that some prefer to be able to read the hints.
Visual and audio settings
Some parameters are specifically aimed at reducing any inconvenience felt by our players. Visually, you’ll be able to adjust camera shake and motion blur settings, as well as customize the entire game’s HUD to choose what information you want to see, and when.
You will also be able to choose the size of the subtitles and whether they are displayed on a background or not.
At the audio level, you have individual settings for music, dialogue and sound effects. You’ll also be able to force mono audio and disable tinnitus effects, which are trigger sounds (e.g. screaming machines) similar to tinnitus.
In the PS5 version, you will also be able to decrease the volume of machine, weapon and explosion sounds, as well as ambient sounds. This will be especially useful for people who can’t stand being over-stimulated.
This is only part of the game’s features, and we will continue to look for ways to make Horizon Forbidden West even more accessible. We therefore look forward to your feedback in the weeks to come! Many thanks to our accessibility consultants and testers, but also to our own colleagues at Guerilla and PlayStation Studios for their valuable support and help during development.
Guerrilla take the opportunity to slip in some encouraging information before moving on: Horizon Zero Dawn Just Passed 20 Million Players and One Billion Hours Playedphenomenal figures that bode well for the success of Forbidden West. He can be pre-ordered for €65.99 ahead of its February 18 release on PS4 and PS5.