6 Philosophical Ideas That Make Horizon Zero Dawn Even Better

There's no doubt that the plot of Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the deepest and thoughtful in recent video game history. Even without basic philosophical training you can identify notions of choice, destiny or religion, just to mention a few. The story is very engaging and interesting, but what is most important is that it doesn't disappoint.

This is achieved through asking the right questions and not coming up with forced - or, at times, any - answers.

Some of the answers may be reached, at least partially, through applying basic philosophical ideas. Simultaneously, these ideas can create even more confusion - they may leave even more questions unanswered, as they open up issues otherwise not taken into consideration - but it's important to consider this approach regardless, just to show how deep the game really is.

While these may seem trivial to some (the game does feature a lot of shooting giant robot dinosaurs in the face, after all), these philosophical ideas need to be stated and applied, if only to further the understanding of the narrative for those that didn't take them into consideration during their first playthrough.

It must be also noted that the list contains a lot of spoilers, so make sure you've completed the game first before continuing.

Democritus was a firm believer in determinism - how one event determines the outcome if others, even not purely connected with the primary occurrence. This theory is based on history and basic physics i.e. through the analysis of the past, we can (supposedly) predict the future.

While not always applicable in real life, determinism is what makes Aloy the savior of not only her tribe, but the whole planet Earth. GAIA recreates her programmer, Elisabeth Sobeck, and determines her future. She programs "future Sobeck" to find the Focus and gives her features that will allow her to re-enter the facility and destroy HADES. When Aloy learns this, she reacts with anger, shouting: "I'm an instrument!"

But as she comes to herself, she does what is supposed to be done. Even though HADES corrupted GAIA and Aloy needed to do a lot in order to learn her destiny, once learned, there was simply no escaping it.