Horizon Forbidden West players debate aggressive enemies and difficulty levels

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Forbidden West's enemies are aggressive, but that might be the whole point

The Shrouded Heights Vista Point in Horizon Forbidden West
(Image credit: Guerrilla Games)

Horizon Forbidden West players are avidly debating the difficulty of Guerrilla's new sequel, and how to deal with aggressive enemies.

Last week, shortly after Horizon Forbidden West first launched, the subreddit post below gained popularity. The user themselves writes that while they're playing on the 'Very Hard' difficulty for added challenge, they're finding regular enemies in the sequel to be incredibly aggressive, more so than usual, and the general sentiment from the responses is agreement.

The user just below comes at it from a slightly different angle. They write that they actually turned the difficulty of Horizon Forbidden West down to the low 'Story' mode due to especially aggressive behaviour from enemies. However, they note that this behaviour actually gels with the narrative of Forbidden West, which sees protagonist Aloy exploring increased aggression from the machines.

Finally, the user just below recommends against turning the difficulty down to 'Story' mode. They suggest that others might want to customize their difficulty settings instead, and whack 'Enemy Health' down to 'Easy,' so that enemies bite the dirt sooner. Rather than just knock the whole difficulty level down, the user wants others to explore the finer options in the settings.

Having played a bit of Horizon Forbidden West, there's no doubt enemy behaviour is generally more aggressive, but as the previous user noted, this does actually match the sequel's story really well. Perhaps Guerrilla will adjust enemy behaviour, or present even more detailed difficulty options in the settings, if enough players speak up.

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Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.