On the battlefield, Aloy might have been a lot tougher.
According to the game’s handbook, Aloy was previously equipped with a shield and spear and used to scale mechanical animals.
A user managed to get their hands on the official handbook for “Horizon Forbidden West”, and unearthed some cut gameplay information therein, according to a post on the Horizon subreddit earlier today. According to the user, game director Mathijs de Jonge reports that Aloy was supposed to climb machinery with both a shield and a spear, but both were eliminated for technical reasons.
Forbidden West fans will recall that Aloy did get her hands on a shield at some point in the sequel. However, by the time the protagonist obtains the gadget, it has been extensively damaged in battle, so she decides to use it as an improvised glider instead.
The climbing spear, on the other hand, would have given Forbidden West a completely new traversal component. Instead of cautiously creeping up to them and stabbing her spear into them for a brief hack, Aloy might have zipped through the air right to the robots and overridden them.
The user hopes that both of these components will be in the upcoming Horizon game. Given how the ending of Guerrilla’s “Horizon Forbidden West“ explicitly sets up the next game in the series (for a reminder, see our “Horizon Forbidden West” ending explained guide), it’s easy to speculate about Aloy’s future journey.