#keep on scrollin

First, the obvious disclaimers. I’m a white dude about to weigh in on cultural appropriation. I also worked on the game in question (I performed and edited a bunch of Foley for several of the game’s cinematics...cloth movement, armor, footsteps, weapons, jewelry, etc.). Also, mild spoiler warning I guess for the game’s general lore.

So does HZD hijack Native American culture (and stereotypes) in building its world? Yeah, absolutely. It barely takes a cursory glance of the characters’ outfits, weapons, and heavy-handed matriarchal brand of spirituality to confirm this. But as always, I’ve seen apologists coming out of the woodworks all over the the place defending it as necessary to the story and the world of the game.

And honestly? It is.

It is the bedrock upon which the game is thematically built. And the game does a surprisingly excellent job of selling it within its own context...but that’s missing the point entirely. 

This game doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s not enough to internally rationalize what it’s doing (you use a bow & arrow because it feels more tactile with the controller and lends itself to more immersive gameplay...characters have varied skin tones because they’re descendants of a modern day/near future America...Aloy is white because..... ehhhhhh.......). It’s not even enough to externally rationalize it either (Guerrilla is based in the Netherlands, at least we’ve got another strong female lead, at least we’ve got more POC characters than your average AAA title).