Horizon Forbidden West:Burning Shorescomes packed with new and returning characters, all of whom leave a special impact on the players during their journey through the Burning Shores — post-apocalypse Los Angeles. While flying through the sky and delving into dangerous old-world ruins, Aloy will meet with and get to know a variety of characters.
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Some are villainous, while others are heroic…with just a few stuck somewhere in between. The characters in this DLC offers dynamic performances that stand among the best of thegreat characters from Forbidden West’s base game.
Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores included below
While he isn’t in the DLC for very long — Sylens sets you on the path at the start of the Burning Shores campaign, and he makes an brief appearance at the end — he still holds an incredible presence in the story. It’s a shame to think this will be Lance Reddick’s final performance as this iconic character, but for his limited role here, he plays the part beautifully.
While continuing to be his normal enigmatic self who values his own contributions above all else, he’s increasingly appreciative of Aloy’s contributions, continuing a character shift started in the base game.
Kina is Seyka’s sister and a true devotee to Londra. She is not brainwashed like many other of Londra’s more violent devotees; instead, she’s a true believer — someone who has fully bought into Londra’s cult of personality. Kina works more so as a foil for Seyka — showing how Seyka deals with the fact that someone she cares deeply for has become so drawn into Londra’s false promises.
She does eventually recover from her Londra worship, but it’s a difficult realization, recognizing what kind of person Londra truly was.
First introduced during the main campaign as a doubter of the promises of Walter Londra, he helps Seyka and Aloypass the Devotion Tests. He later returns in the In His Wake side quest. He’s experienced apparent benevolence from superiors back home from Quen Compliance and had that turned against him and his father.
He offers a deeper insight into Landra’s promises and into his methods of gaining so many followers among the Quen survivors.
Theoa is encountered during the side quest The Splinter Within. She’s a bit of a revolutionary, working in secret to undermine Compliance. She’s seen first-hand how dangerous Compliance is, how they breed suspicion and tear families apart.
She’s hoping to acquire a cache of focuses in order to use that knowledge to render Compliance obsolete — put knowledge in the hands of the people — and maybe even overthrow them. She might not have a lot of screen time, but Theoa offers a deeper glimpse into the harsh rule of Compliance over Quen society.
6Admiral Geritt
The wizened leader of the waylaid Quen expedition, he sees his people’s future in the hands of Seyka. He tends to butt heads with Compliance, and overall is a man who admires unconventional approaches — especially when they yield results.
So many people seem determined to wallow in their plight, so he puts a fair amount of stock in Seyka’s resourcefulness and determination, even siding with her in major clashes with Compliance.
Londra’s AI assistant might feel pretty minor at first, but AI play a huge role on the Horizon franchise, and it’s clear from this one’s few interactions that there’s more depth than it lets on. Londra continually adjusts Nova’s empathy matrix to avoid Nova’s “feelings” toward the harm they might be causing.
Later on, it is revealed that Nova is chafing against Londra’s constant manipulation so terribly that it actually craves its own destruction — a release from existence, offering a unique perspective from our other AI interactions in the series.
A familiar face from Horizon Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds DLC, Gildun makes an appearance in one of Burning Shores’ side quests:A Stranger In The Dark. For being present in only the one side quest, he leaves quite an impact from his incredible writing and voice acting.
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Gildun is once again found trapped in a dangerous delve, and through the course of helping him explore, Aloy and Gildun share some wonderfully heartfelt moments. Aloy offering him one of her focuses at the end truly shows how much his friendship means to her.
3Walter Londra
The final surviving Zenith, Londra acts as the main antagonist throughout the Burning Shores storyline. He’s arrogant, and despite his sense of superiority, he does take Aloy seriously as a threat (she killed the rest of the Zeniths, after all).
As the story unfolds, the depths of his depravity and self-adoration are explored thoroughly. His use of mind control, psychological manipulation, and his blatant disregard for the lives of others earns his place as one of the most truly despicable villains of the Horizon series.
The co-lead to Burning Shores’ campaign, Seyka is a similar spirit to Aloy, determined to do what is right and needed, rather than rigidly following the traditions of her tribe. She’s a bit headstrong, and she cares deeply for her missing sister, endearing her to Aloy throughout the storyline.
She’s the primary character Aloy interacts with throughout the DLC, and the two share fantastic chemistry throughout as they get to know each other better.
Aloy is absolutely at her best here in the Burning Shores. Often being heroic to a fault, even in the base game, she can feel more like a generic protagonist than an actual person.
In the Burning Shores, her humanity shines brightly. She shows a playful, vulnerable side, one only glimpsed occasionally in Zero Dawn or Forbidden West’s campaign. This deepening of her character builds upon her growth from the base game, continuing to humanize her beautifully. Aloy’s performance in Burning Shores is a fantastic template for the character moving forward.
