Horizon Forbidden West's Aloy is still in Genshin Impact, and it's still weird as hell

Remember when Aloy, the protagonist of the Horizon franchise that's become a tentpole open-world IP for PlayStation, was abruptly added to Chinese RPG Genshin Impact as a free playable character? We're coming up on two years since this bizarre crossover, which has recently resurfaced thanks to the message Aloy sent to Genshin players today, April 4, to mark her birthday, and I can still hardly believe it.

"I just finished taking some of those huge machines apart and started resting in my camp when I realized that today's my birthday," alternate-universe Aloy writes, apparently applying her dino-robot experience to Genshin's mech golems. "Since I'm not familiar with anyone else in this world, I guess you're the only one who can wish me a happy birthday."

Aloy's presence in Genshin Impact has always been strange, and it's only gotten weirder over time because she's still the only crossover character to come to the game. Like, at all. From any franchise. The roster is 67 original characters and... Aloy. When her release was announced in 2021, players expected Hoyoverse to add more crossover characters in the future, but that prediction hasn't materialized. The studio hasn't even added characters from its other games, which seemed like an easy sell.

Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores pre-order bonus — (Image credit: PlayStation/Guerrilla)

You also can't acquire Aloy anymore, and I truly cannot imagine the whiplash you'd get from starting Genshin Impact right now, getting to know its core cast of irresponsibly attractive gods and heroes, and then seeing Aloy From Horizon casually sidle into co-op.

I guess Aloy does make some kind of sense as a PlayStation ambassador. Genshin Impact is primarily a mobile game, and it's also available on PC, but it's still a PlayStation console exclusive despite a promised Switch port that's apparently been in the works for three years and counting. (Interestingly, an October 2022 report claims Xbox "regrets" losing Genshin to PlayStation and now wants a Chinese hit of its own.) I assume Aloy was added in as a way to cement the partnership between PlayStation and Hoyoverse, and perhaps to entreat some Horizon fans into trying the game. To be fair, if you do like Horizon, I would recommend trying Genshin as a great, free open-world game.

It also doesn't help that Aloy is among the worst characters in Genshin Impact, though I suppose it would be another problem if she was really strong and also impossible to get nowadays. Frankly, it's impressive that the game's newest five-star character, Dehya, managed to deliver an even worse kit than Aloy's. Aloy at least creates a bunch of energy particles and deals a chunk of damage with her elemental burst. She might be clunky and weak, but at least she functions, unlike Dehya. But even then, her abilities in Genshin never really meshed well with her hunting strategies in Horizon, which makes this even more unusual. At least chibi Genshin Aloy is cute, I guess?

For characters that don't suck, check out our Genshin Impact tier list.

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.