Summary
It’s been just over a year sinceHorizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC expansion was released and details onHorizon 3are still sparse. While Burning Shores suggests that Aloy may travel eastward into the remnants of mainland United States to look for 21st-century-era weapons to destroy Nemesis, the exact plotline and setting ofHorizon 3remains unknown.
Despite these possible leads, Aloy is likely to encounter new tribes in the next mainlineHorizongame. With these new tribes, fans may have to begrudgingly repeat story beats from bothHorizon Forbidden WestandZero Dawn. Story beats that relate to the ever-useful, augmented reality device, the Focus.
The History of the Focus in the Horizon Franchise
The small, triangle-shapedFocus was first introduced inHorizon Zero Dawnwhen Aloy discovered one as a young girl in an ancient ruin. With a Focus, people can communicate from far distances and display videos, maps, or digital objects via holograms. In a sense, Focuses are smart devices allowing people to access troves of data. However, players often use the Focus to scan and analyze various machines to learn about their functions, strengths, and weaknesses in order to effectively take them down. Focuses can further be used to track machines’ routine paths and unknown audio sources.
In terms of the Focus’ in-universe lore, the Focus was developed by the 21st century tech company Faro Automated Solutions, the company owned by Ted Faro and the same company that would go on to cause the Faro Plague that destroyed all life on Earth. Whilethe Focus was a common civilian devicein the 21st century, the Focus is now an uncommon device found among the post-apocalyptic tribes 1,000 years later. This was due to the informational APOLLO subroutine of the GAIA AI being deleted by Faro so as to prevent the devastating mistakes humanity made from happening again. Originally, APOLLO was designed to give newly birthed humans Focuses to help develop the new world.
Focus-Use Among Tribes
Oftentimes, the Focus would only be utilized by ruin scavengers who found them. However, some tribes discovered hidden troves of Focus devices which helped them develop their societies further than others. This was the case withthe far western Quen Empirewho accessed larger, older, less efficient versions of the Focus that were more akin to a headset. Sylens additionally repaired several Focuses for the Carja rebel faction, the Eclipse, though these would later be neutralized by Aloy inHorizon: Zero Dawn.
While Aloy uses the Focus in bothHorizon Forbidden WestandZero Dawn, the Focus is not used byHorizon Call of the Mountain’s protagonist Ryas.
The Focus’ Potential Role in Horizon 3
If players have the Burning Shores DLC installed, a datapoint labeled “Aloy This is For You” can be found. It details how Erend is heading back to the Claim and Meridian to recruit and prepare people for the eventual fight with the Nemesis AI. Here, Erend mentions that he gathered a bunch of Focuses and plans on giving them to old friends and potential new allies to better comprehend the fight ahead of them. If parts ofHorizon 3take place in the Claim or Meridian, it may have Aloy teach new or old characters such as Sun-King Avad, Vanasha, and Teb to use the Focus and prepare nearby tribes for attack.
New tribes and companions will likely be encountered inHorizon 3, probably causing players toteach new companions how to use the Focusjust as Aloy did with Erend, Kotallo, and Zo inHorizon Forbidden West. If there are 21st-century war facilities still relatively intact eastward, some tribes may reside in them but be unable to access their weapons without the use of a Focus. This could be a way Aloy earns these tribes’ respect and loyalty, especially if they perceive Aloy as a Living Ancestor just as the Quen did. While teaching old and new followers how to use a Focus may be repetitive, it may serve as a critical turning point in combating Nemesis.
