WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

It’s been more than a month since the release of Horizon: Forbidden West’s DLC, Burning Shores and the reviews came in hot. There were plenty of raves that the game is a treat as are the visuals. But what really made the most waves on the is that the fiery redhead heroine gets a partner. In more ways than one.

Aloy was first introduced in Horizon Zero Dawn as an outcast, so being on her own was expected. Understandably, when you’re treated like a pariah since childhood, warming up to people isn’t exactly second nature.

The burden of being The One

She picks up new friends, even some potentially interested parties along the way but the game steers us from expecting that they’ll be tagging along for the long run. By the game’s sequel, she is still Ms. Independent, but with blossoming character development in terms of her interpersonal relationships

While there’s a bit of attraction and tension with men and women alike thrown in-game, Aloy never gets into anything no matter how hard you try to flirt. (Yes, we tried). Horizon clearly didn’t focus on finding her mate, given that there is indeed a lot on Aloy’s plate.

She even admits in dialogue that her mission as The One created to save the world, is a full-time occupation that she can’t think of anything else. Fair enough, you go do what you gotta do, girl.

Along came Seyka

With the introduction of Seyka in Burning Shores, it would’ve been easy to dismiss that sure, they have chemistry but nothing’s going to happen. We’ve gone so far with Aloy embracing singlehood by choice, why would it change now?

That’s probably what made this DLC stand out. After becoming partners in crime, the pair share an intimate conversation where they first met to consider pursuing something more. The player option to engage in a romance probably has the audience saying “finally” or asking, “why now?”, and those who appear to take issue in Seyka’s sex are asking “why?”

But the better question is, WHY NOT?

Seyka is no stranger to duty and purpose, being intent in rescuing her sister and tribespeople from Burning Shore’s main villain, Walter Londra. She is headstrong, agile, and fierce — qualities she shares with our main girl. Aloy also learns to rely on someone for help, which is a big deal.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise either that Aloy would take on a lady love: Forbidden West final boss Tilda did express that she loved Elizabet Sobeck — Aloy’s clone source or “mother” — more than we know. Who’s to say that the genetic copy of the apple would fall far from the tree? Ultimately, should the player to decide to let Aloy initiate a romance, it’s not the end of the world if it’s a girl. Actually, they even saved it together.

SEE ALSO: Horizon Forbidden West Review: Back to save us from machines

Burning Shores

The story of Burning Shores picks up directly where Horizon Forbidden West left off. It contains additional content for Horizon Forbidden West, including new characters and experiences in a stunning yet hazardous new area.

To enter the Burning Shores, you must complete the main quest (up to and including Singularity) in the PS5 version of Horizon Forbidden West. Following the main quest, the player will receive a call over Aloy’s Focus, beginning the DLC.

Perhaps easily the best showcase game of the PlayStation (PS5) that anyone can easily jump into is making its way to PC. Insomniac Games’ Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart follows the growing list of PlayStation exclusives making its way to PC. It’s coming on July 26.

PC Features

Nixxes Software worked with Insomniac to make this happen. And they’re not simply porting the game to PC. They are also adding features especially made for PC gamers. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on PC will have support for multiple types of monitors. Whether you’re using 21:9, 32:9 and up to 48:9 resolutions for triple monitor setups, you can rest assured that you’ll have a grand time with this inter-dimensional adventure. Both gameplay and cutscenes are optimized for ultra-wide screens.

The game also supports now unlocked framerates. You can choose from NVIDIA DLSS 3, AMD FSR 2, Intel XeSS and Insomniac Games’ Temporal Injection. NVIDIA Reflex and image quality enhancing NVIDIA DLAA are also supported.

Availability

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be available on Steam and in the Epic Games Store. You may head to the aforementioned stores now to Wishlist or pre-purchase the game. If you pre-purchase ahead of launch, you’ll get access to the following in-game items early in your playthrough:

• Pixelizer Weapon
• Carbonox Armor set

SEE ALSO: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Review

Acer has expanded its premium gaming lineup with the launch of the new Predator Triton 16 gaming laptop.

The powerful 19.9mm-thick device runs on the latest 13th Gen Intel Core i9 processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs, along with up to 32GB of DDR5 memory and up to 2TB of PCIe M.2 storage to withstand games that require even the heaviest of workloads.

Its dual Gen AeroBlade 3D fans, Vortex Flow technology, and liquid metal grease cooling capabilities ensure that the laptop delivers on providing gamers the ultimate experience.

The laptop has a 16-inch (2560 x 1600) WQXGA IPS display with up to 240Hz refresh rate and support for NVIDIA Advanced Optimus and G-Sync.

Connectivity-wise, the PredatorSense key and dedicated PredatorSense app enables seamless customization on the keyboard keys, user interface, management control systems, and more.

The device also comes with Intel Killer DoubleShot Pro and Wi-Fi 6E, as well as two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an HDMI 2.1, a USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt 4, and a microSD card reader.

When purchased, the laptop also comes with one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.