Some people claim it's antireligious. Others say it's racist (this claim even made it to the news)
From those who played it...is any of this protests true, or is it the usual internet storm in a teacup?
Some people claim it's antireligious. Others say it's racist (this claim even made it to the news)
From those who played it...is any of this protests true, or is it the usual internet storm in a teacup?
I've just enjoyed playing the game, but that's how I usually roll and don't let any social media storm ruin my enjoyment. Can't say that any of this rings any bells for me.
I also remember your thread about Diablo. There's no satanic robot imagery in this game and Aloy doesn't need to do a dark arts ritual to progress in the story, so you don't have to like and worship the Devil to enjoy Horizon: Zero Dawn.
If we really want to stretch it, though, I suppose there is a sort of reference to Hell in the story...but if someone's made a problem out of that, it really is some internet bullshit at it's finest.
Wait, is there a controversy in this game?
I beat it after about 25-30 hours and while there are some story bits that I could see as being related to certain... beliefs, they are hardly taking a stance or claiming one is wrong and another is not. This might be the single most ridiculous thing to boycott over.
I was well of aware of that. I simply wanted to check if Internet was uselessly inflating things.
I was not disappointed
The game is extraordinarily pro religion and pro freedom of religion (moreso than any game I've ever played including Super Noah's Ark 3D), even making the extreme connection that a nascent AI would create a religion to honor its creator. The world state of Horizon itself is actually sort of like a world without any evolutionary aspects, the wildlife/humanity remain completely unchanged from their initial state (except for the Machines which clearly aren't biological, actually that's one MORE level deeper than I thought, interesting).
The game is made by Europeans so one assumes they're not devoutly religious or anything but are simply evoking an acceptance clause a la CS Lewis.
As far as feminism/racism is concerned only a ludicrously stupid person who has absolutely no grasp of historical context would make that claim. The game doesn't even have race actually, just tribes; obviously prehistorical/near prehistorical tribes would have lines of division. The concept of race being an issue isn't even in the human consciousness in this game, which is questionable perhaps but also rather novel considering they're all technically Americans and ideally in like 500 years Americans would stop being assholes and accept everyone.
Women do absolutely everything in Horizon, there is no limitation placed on them and clearly Aloy is a superior specimen as a human being/genetic code; despite (could think up a better word, my apologies) being a woman.
Wait, there is some kind of controversy about this game? What the hell... can people just enjoy the great world and story they've created without "reading into the deeper meaning".
I don't think it is a simple as something vs. something else. All in all I find it to be a story about preservation of life. Yes, there are anti-scientific and anti-religious undertones. Those are not the main takeaways. The world ended, once due to rampant machines and was restored due to a drastic plan of global reconstitution. The world will end again due to zealots activating the rampant machines (again). Aloy must stop them. The recording from Elisabet at the end pretty much sums it up when she mentions that her mother told her to "make [her] smarts count for something good. Use them to heal and keep the world" The anti- scientific angle does not fly here because science is use to both destroy and resurrect the world in the end. The Ant-religion perspective does not fir entirely here either because Aloy was given the freedom she needed to carry out her mission due to Tersa interpreting Aloy's existence as divine providence. This means that neither science, nor religion are inherently good or bad. Instead, I think the game sends the message that both are dangerous if taken to extremes but both can be used for good as well. As @donchipotle said "Free thinking". We must choose what we do with the knowledge we have.
I'm just happy to have an outwardly atheistic protagonist in some form of media. I rarely see that unless they are meant to find religion as part of their story arc.
While she comes off as a bit condescending, I kind of enjoy her little quips when someone says something along the lines of "thank god for this or that" and she just flatly says, "umm, no I'm the one out there risking my neck, not god."
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