Like a lot of PlayStation first-party games, Horizon Forbidden West seems to have been made with accessibility in mind. The optional features in the game help to ensure players of many kinds can enjoy Aloy’s latest grand adventure, and some of them arguably make the game better no matter who you are. While everyone has their preferences and needs, we want to highlight a few quick and easy options you may want to toggle in Horizon Forbidden West if you’re looking to alter the game in sometimes small but important ways. Each of these features can be found in the game’s settings under the General or Accessibility tabs, or sometimes both.
1. Waypoint Pathfinding: Guided or Explorer
Think of waypoint pathfinding as the highlighted route on your GPS in a game like Grand Theft Auto. When using Guided mode, you’ll be prompted to follow the on-screen waypoint every step of the way. At intersections, you’ll know which direction is the optimal one to your destination, and it helps you avoid getting lost. If you prefer less UI information, you should instead use Explorer mode, which still gives you a destination waypoint, but does not direct you road by road. You can even toggle the endpoint marker on or off with Quest Pathfinding.
2. Mount Follows Road
The world of the Forbidden West is enormous, so a lot of your time will be spent riding a mount getting from Point A to Point B. Though plenty of exciting distractions may tease you into taking a detour, if you want help staying on course or maybe even need to use the bathroom, you can tell your mount to stay on the road and head toward your destination by toggling this feature. Be aware that, sometimes, you’ll pass hostile enemies, such as warring factions and machines, so it’s not exactly a set-it-and-forget-it mode, but it can be helpful for Aloy’s longer treks.
3. Co-Pilot
Horizon Forbidden West can actually be played in local co-op–sort of. By signing into a second profile on a second controller, two players can work together to play as Aloy. This can be really empowering for players who may want or need someone else by their side during their adventure. Personally, I’ve enjoyed using it with my daughter, who is very new to games but is enamored with Aloy as a character. So long as you have a second controller and a second profile, you can activate this feature with a simple toggle and enjoy Forbidden West locally with a friend.
4. Auto Heal
Aloy’s adventure won’t necessarily be easy, and while you’re tearing components, targeting weak spots, and dodging machines, you may lose track of her own wellbeing. If you’d like, you can turn on auto-healing, which replenishes Aloy’s HP for you as soon as it dips below 50%. Once you’re out of combat entirely, it will also fully heal Aloy back to 100% HP.
5. Weapon Wheel Slowdown
When you open your weapon wheel, time slows down similarly to how it does when you’re using Concentration in combat. By default, the weapon wheel slows time a bit, but you can slow it down even further–or not at all if you’d like. The options for this setting include Normal, Slower, Slowest, and None, and by default, it’ll be set to normal. Aloy’s arsenal is expansive and quite detailed, though, so if you need a breather in the middle of combat, consider turning this option to Slower or Slowest.
For more helpful hints in Horizon Forbidden West, check out how to prevent fall damage using the glider.
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