cormack12
Gold Member
Source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/making-horizon-zero-dawn-suitable-for-eight-year-olds
"Guerrilla has tonnes of Lego fans in the studio," explains James Windeler, narrative director at Guerrilla Games. "We have people with entire rooms devoted to Lego. There are stories about how we prototyped the first machines in Horizon: Zero Dawn out of Duplo. So there is a connection with Lego.
"Also, some of the devs have been working on Horizon for the better part of a decade, and they've had kids in that time and they're looking for the opportunity to do something a little lighter in tone that their kids can play.
"It is inspired by Horizon: Zero Dawn. You will notice iconic scenes from the first game, and Aloy's search for her mother is the heart of story that evolves into an adventure with higher stakes. But it isn't a one-to-one mapping of the first game. It draws from it. It's not a re-telling. It's not a parody. There are lots of nods and references to Horizon, but you don't have to be a Horizon fan for the humour to hit. It's meant to be much broader than that."
It's a co-op title that wants to appeal to eight-year-olds as much as existing fans.
"We wanted it to appeal to a younger audience with silliness and slapstick and more visual comedy, with dressing up as bananas and that sort-of thing," Windeler adds. "But then, there is also the more sophisticated self-referential humour that is characteristic of the Lego movies where it makes fun of itself and the storytelling conventions in general."
"A lot of what happens in the world, like the destruction of the old world… that's a pretty heavy theme for an eight-year-old. So we needed to find ways to keep that present in the story, because it is essential to Horizon. But it is also not something we leaned on. You won't find some of those devastating reveals from the first game, like those corporate masterminds dead around the table or anything like that.
"It definitely isn't our primary goal to make this an entry point for younger people into Horizon," insists Windeler. "But it is definitely part of what we are trying to do.
"Guerrilla has tonnes of Lego fans in the studio," explains James Windeler, narrative director at Guerrilla Games. "We have people with entire rooms devoted to Lego. There are stories about how we prototyped the first machines in Horizon: Zero Dawn out of Duplo. So there is a connection with Lego.
"Also, some of the devs have been working on Horizon for the better part of a decade, and they've had kids in that time and they're looking for the opportunity to do something a little lighter in tone that their kids can play.
"It is inspired by Horizon: Zero Dawn. You will notice iconic scenes from the first game, and Aloy's search for her mother is the heart of story that evolves into an adventure with higher stakes. But it isn't a one-to-one mapping of the first game. It draws from it. It's not a re-telling. It's not a parody. There are lots of nods and references to Horizon, but you don't have to be a Horizon fan for the humour to hit. It's meant to be much broader than that."
It's a co-op title that wants to appeal to eight-year-olds as much as existing fans.
"We wanted it to appeal to a younger audience with silliness and slapstick and more visual comedy, with dressing up as bananas and that sort-of thing," Windeler adds. "But then, there is also the more sophisticated self-referential humour that is characteristic of the Lego movies where it makes fun of itself and the storytelling conventions in general."
"A lot of what happens in the world, like the destruction of the old world… that's a pretty heavy theme for an eight-year-old. So we needed to find ways to keep that present in the story, because it is essential to Horizon. But it is also not something we leaned on. You won't find some of those devastating reveals from the first game, like those corporate masterminds dead around the table or anything like that.
"It definitely isn't our primary goal to make this an entry point for younger people into Horizon," insists Windeler. "But it is definitely part of what we are trying to do.
