If you missed it, Aloy wasrevealed to be queer in Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC, and as expected,people threw fits. They were so upset, in fact, that they proceeded toreview bomb the DLC, claiming that the entire game has been ruined because two women kissed on screen. Metacritic’s user reviews are flooded with low reviews citing “LGBT propaganda”, “woke culture”, and vague but prolific use of the word “agenda”.
People are mad, and I’m sure Sony expected this. They had much the same reaction to Ellie turning out to be a lesbian inThe Last of Us’ Left Behind DLC. Gamers push hard against change in the industry, especially if that means having to see women smooching. We can see Geralt sleeping with absolutely every woman he comes across inThe Witcher, but god forbid two women should kiss for ten seconds or dare to have muscles.
Related:Can We Be Normal About Aloy’s Queerness Please
In the past, Sony has stood by developers’ decisions to focus games on queer relationships. Ellie of The Last of Us is the protagonist of the company’s other biggest franchise, and her relationship with Dina was a major part of the game. It wasn’t the focus, or the main theme, but it was a big part of the story. I want to see something like that for Horizon’s next game,which has already been confirmed to be in development.
I don’t think relationships or a character’s sexuality have to be the focus of a game. Games that revolve around romance as a major theme aren’t interesting to me, and I also don’t like feeling like a relationship has been shoehorned into a game to add spice. That applies regardless of whether the protagonist is queer or not. A game’s characters deserve to be developed well and believably, as do the relationships between them. I was sold on Ellie and Dina. I believed the complexities of their relationship, as well as what drew them to each other in the first place.
I feel the same about the Left Behind DLC. Although it was short, it established the relationship between Ellie and Riley, and told a story concisely and sharply, introducing Ellie’s queerness as it did so. It’s not quite the same with Horizon Forbidden West. Non-homophobic, critical reviews have highlighted that they were unconvinced by Aloy’s relationship with Seyka because they had only just met, and already seemed to be extremely into each other. Perhaps this was U-haul lesbian representation, but many fans weren’t sold on the characters’ development or their relationship.
Despite that, I do think that the relationship should be given a chance to expand – or at the very least, that Aloy’s sexuality shouldn’t be shelved for the third game. It doesn’t have to be a main focus, and I don’t think it should be, but I don’t want her sexuality to be relegated to just the DLC for some cheeky token representation, never to be brought up again. Her relationships with other characters could be explored, as well as her relationship with Seyka.
I don’t like the Horizon games that much, but I do think that the franchise’s power to shape the gaming landscape is important and should be used. If that means exposing homophobic gamers to more women flirting, then I am all for that. In the same way that Ellie’s queerness was an integral part of her story, Aloy’s should be as well. As the newest addition to Playstation’s extremely short roster of queer characters, it would be a shame if this part of her character gets sidelined.
