More Believable NPCs
An open world should be more than just a way to facilitate non-linear gameplay, it should create a believable and immersive environment that feels busy and alive, too. And as interesting as Horizon’s thematic setting and narrative premise is, there is, at times, something a little off about the behavior of the NPCs.
What is with the NPCs’ lack of acknowledging their surroundings? Run into them at full speed, jump on their heads, observe them happily sitting in the pouring rain without a single comment – Horizon’s NPCs might be the easiest going, placid people I’ve ever met. Nothing fazes them! Don’t get me wrong, I admire a happy-go-lucky attitude as much as the next man, but Horizon’s population is borderline creepy.
Beyond the strangeness of their mannerisms from afar, they don’t get any more believable up close, either. For a game that does such a wonderful job animating facial expressions, there’s something a bit bland about the way the interactions with the NPCs play out. There just isn’t much personality to them. They issue quests in a similar way to other open world RPGs, but where the colorful character of NPCs in those games made them feel genuine and memorable, in Horizon, they’re vanilla to the point of indifference. The NPCs are never quite bold enough to be eccentric, deceitful enough to be evil, or so cute as to be endearing; void of these enduring traits, Horizon’s NPCs don’t give a satisfactory weight to the stories that motivate the game’s side quests.
