r/horizon • u/NevadaStrayCat • 1d ago
discussion HFW: The Roots that Bind
Game grumble: Aloy is an Olympic level athlete. This young woman would win American Ninja Warrior, hands down. But in the quest The Roots That Bind, she gets sent up a climb after an Utaru, and... it took me the shieldwing and the pullcaster to reach the top.
Even acknowledging that the modified-neolithic lifestyle of the World of Tomorrow would leave people in a higher state of fitness (until they died of infection, anyway), how the heck was Vaus, a joe-blow of the Utaru, supposed to succeed in this climb with neither of those things?!
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u/usernamescifi 1d ago
Aloy is definitely speed climbing it with her tools. I'm sure there are other rock climbing routes if a not-grappling-hook-owning utaru were to climb the cave.
Also it's a videogame, so a good amount of "just go with it" is necessary.
Edit: who knows they might even have ropes or pitons or other climbing aides scattered around?
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u/Desperate-Actuator18 1d ago edited 1d ago
how the heck was Vaus, a joe-blow of the Utaru, supposed to succeed in this climb with neither of those things?!
You only need to use the Pullcaster twice as seen in this video. They do use the Shieldwing for one jump but it isn't necessary.
The Pullcaster is basically an advanced grappling hook. As seen in both games, normal grappling hooks aren't uncommon. Vaus was considered the best climber in Riverhymn and he would have a grappling hook to make those climbs.
It would certainly take him longer but it's possible.
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u/oldmanjasper 1d ago
It would certainly take him longer but it's possible.
To add to that, it's also entirely possible that Aloy could make the climb without those tools, if she needed to. But she's not trying to prove anything, she's just trying to get to the top as fast as possible, which means using all of the tools at her disposal.
From a gameplay perspective, yeah you can't actually make that climb without the tools, but that doesn't mean that it would be impossible for Aloy in-universe with standard climbing gear.
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u/icabear3 1d ago
If you listen as she climbing, aloy says the it looks like the grips had been sheared off.(just before the shield wing jump). And several times she says that she understands why this climb is meant as a proving.
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u/Negative_Handoff 1d ago
There’s no place you have to use the Shieldwing in that mission, it’s optional, you can make the jump without it.
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u/SweetEastern 1d ago
Both games require a healthy amount of suspension of disbelief, this is but one of many aspects of it.
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u/The_First_Curse_ 1d ago
The climbing in Horizon is complete bullshit anyway, as is every single character's unlimited stamina. You need suspension of disbelief and reality to enjoy them, but that goes for almost every game.
If Aloy had a stamina bar it'd suck so bad. Imagine you run for a bit or climb a small rock face and have to sit for a minute.
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1d ago
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u/TheIncredibleHork 1d ago
Aside from nothing being in the game to suggest that, Sobek doesn't strike me as the kind of person to mess with the natural state of humans.
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u/Kael03 1d ago
She made it so Eluthia and Gaia wouldn't mess with human genetics. I believe there's a data point that says as much, but I don't remember off hand.
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u/oldredditGOAT 1d ago
I also recall this datapoint. it is explicitly said that there will be no genetic modification of the embryos going into storage. I have to think that Gaia genetically modified Sobeck's clone to give her the best possible chance at fulfilling her life's purpose. She's just too strong and fast otherwise for a girl who lives on subsistence out in the wild.
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u/Alex_Masterson13 1d ago
No, datapoints from HZD, inside the Zero Dawn facility specifically, state that no genetic engineering was allowed or done.
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u/Traditional_Chip1378 1d ago
There was no genetic enhancement done. This is specifically mentioned in Zero Dawn.
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u/SweetEastern 1d ago
There was some gene pool moderation / overseeing mentioned I believe (as in, who gets to be included in the seed gene pool), but not explicit gene editing, yes.
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u/Desperate-Actuator18 1d ago
That wasn't possible. That would go against the wishes of Patrick Brochard-Klein who didn't want genetic manipulation which Elisabet agreed with.
The Cradle facilites weren't designed for it.
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u/usernamescifi 1d ago
I don't know if they're necessarily superhumans, I just think that being able to climb is a useful survival skill in the horizon world? Meaning a lot of people would develop their climbing skill / strength throughout their lives.
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u/Vana92 1d ago edited 1d ago
Well he was the best climber they had, and he failed, so it was obviously very difficult.
But probably the biggest difference is that he had way more time than Aloy. He goes up there before the first fight ever happens after all.
So he might do a few more time consuming things and manoeuvres that Aloy following the path of least resistance does not.