Just when you've mastered the basics, Horizon's massive world opens up. Aloy's first journey out west provides a remarkable sense of discovery; the new desert landscape is teeming with different, deadlier machines, along with new settlements to explore and beautiful vistas to behold. Horizon's mysteries really sink their teeth in here; while it may lack the power and meaningful choices of narrative-driven series like The Witcher and Mass Effect, Guerrilla has crafted compelling lore for its post-apocalyptic world. Unlike most open-world games, I looked forward to finding new audio logs and emails. Most importantly, Horizon isn't afraid to delve deep into heady sci-fi topics, and the myriad mysteries it sets up are all answered in a marathon of revelations and explanations toward the end of the game. Despite its flaws and foibles, Horizon's story unexpectedly became one of the major driving forces of the game for me.