Forbidden Horizon West‘s burning shores The DLC is out this week, and with it comes the reveal that the protagonist Aloy is queer. And not only that, it finally gives the hero, who has a famous tendency to try to take on too much alone, the option of entering into a romantic relationship for the first time in the series.

spoilers for Forbidden Horizon West and burning shores continue:

The DLC launched on April 19 on PlayStation 5, with the PS4 version notably not receiving the expansion due to technical limitations. The $20 update brings some new content and some quality of life changes, but it also sends Aloy to HorizonThe post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles, California. While there, he meets a woman named Seyka, played by actress Kylie Liya Page. Aloy engages Seyka in her quest to save the world from the space-traveling Nemesis machines that are on their way to destroy the planet, as revealed at the end of forbidden west. In addition to delving into Seyka’s personal history involving her strained relationship with her sister and her past as a Marine, the two bond over feeling disenfranchised from their homes, the impending (second) apocalypse, and finding hope in a seemingly hopeless situation.

As the two’s story unfolds throughout the expansion, it becomes clear that there is romantic tension between them. Aloy, who is usually quite stoic and confident, is overwhelmed with uneasy nervousness. It’s quite apparent in her first interactions that she’s struggling with this, and she even says so in a monologue before the climactic scene of the romance, admitting that she doesn’t understand why she’s so nervous about seeing Seyka.

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When Aloy meets Seyka, the latter admits her feelings for our hero, and the player is given the choice to confess Aloy’s feelings or reject Seyka. If she chooses to continue the relationship, the two share a kiss. After this, they both admit that they have a lot of work ahead of them and they don’t know when they will see each other again, but Seyka asks Aloy not to forget about her, to which Aloy promises that he won’t. This kind of feels like a way for the writers to acknowledge that Seyka isn’t part of the main game, so when you go back to forbidden westafter the game, you can do it without wondering where your new girlfriend is. She’s out doing her thing, and everyone can meet up later. This will most likely be in a future update or eventual third Horizon the Guerrilla game is certainly working after forbidden westThe suspense of ‘s.

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Before this, Horizon the games occasionally had flirty dialogue options with male characters, but these interactions never escalated into a full-blown romantic relationship. Inevitably, there will be some predictable homophobic naysayers who claim that because romance with Seyka is optional, Aloy can be categorized as straight, but even the options to decline the relationship aren’t framed as her saying she’s not interested in women, it’s that she’s not looking for a relationship while saving the world. So no matter how you slice it, burning shores makes it clear that Aloy is a fag.

That being said, I’m a bit disappointed that Aloy’s rarity is hijacked in post-launch DLC instead of being expressed in the main game. I felt similar when The last of us did the same to Ellie, revealing that she was a lesbian at the time. Left behind downloadable content. with a little luck Horizon go on The last of us‘ example and makes up for it by making Aloy’s relationship with Seyka a central part of the upcoming game as The Last of Us Part II did with Ellie and ignoble.