Horizon: Zero Dawn developer diaries provide insight on designing the quests, story, and Aloy

By Stephany Nunneley

Three weeks ahead of release, Guerrilla Games has posted three developer diaries for its action-RPG Horizon: Zero Dawn.

The first video features the team discussing how it went from developing first-person shooters such as Killzone, to an action RPG title like Horizon: Zero Dawn.

According to studio co-founder Hermen Hulst, it is the “single most ambitious project” the studio has ever developed, partly due to the challenge of transitioning from one genre to another, especially one which featured elements the designers were less familiar with.

In the video above, the teams discusses how it needed to invest in hiring new members since storytelling would play “a central role.” Writing talent along with quest designers were brought in to form a new group within the organizationand started helping “flesh out a rich narrative and extensive history” for the game’s world.

In the third and final video above, viewers are given a better look at Aloy, and the design process which brought her to life. According to the developers, this was long, and “difficult process,” and something the studio has touched upon previously.

Because the team felt it was “vitally important” to get her right, she went through many iterations until the team settled on the Aloy seen in the game.

First pitched to Sony in 2010, Horizon: Zero Dawn releases on February 28 for PS4.

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