The world of Horizon Forbidden West is large in scale, but as you explore, you’ll uncover many smaller secrets buried throughout its landscapes. Some of the most unexpected discoveries are three mysterious relics related to Midgard, the mythical kingdom featured in a certain Nordic action-adventure game from Santa Monica Studios.
At Guerrilla, we love to work with and agree with our fellow PlayStation Studios. That is why, hidden throughout the Western Forbidden, these special War Symbols pay homage to key figures.
The world of Horizon Forbidden West is large in scale, but as you explore, you’ll uncover many smaller secrets buried throughout its landscapes. Some of the most unexpected discoveries are three mysterious relics related to Midgard, the mythical kingdom featured in a certain Nordic action-adventure game by Santa Monica Studio.
At Guerrilla, we love to work with and agree with our fellow PlayStation Studios. That is why, hidden throughout the Western Forbidden, these special War Symbols pay homage to key figures.
By finding all three of these wood-carved figures, you’ll unlock access to a unique cosmetic reward for Aloy: the legendary Mark of War face paint worn by Kratos himself.
Each one of these collections has been placed in the world with careful consideration by our development team. While we’ll leave it to you to find their exact locations, we hope this behind-the-scenes piece will give you an idea of where to start your search.
We begin with an homage to Kratos’ iconic weapon, the Leviathan Ax. Off a beaten path, Aloy can find the fearsome steed buried in a tree. Scanning it with her Focus reveals a trail leading to an abandoned log cabin, mirroring Kratos’ house. Inside, the small Totem of War bears a resemblance to Kratos.
The Totem of Youth is close to an iconic landmark. As you approach, you’ll discover it’s fiercely guarded by a machine resembling the sentinel Helheim, a specific reference to Atreus.
Finally, the Totem of Brotherhood is found in a Cauldron-like structure on an island, reminiscent of one of the locations of Brok and Sindri’s smithy. We chose this site because the Huldra Brothers are a Norse equivalent of the Greek god Hephaestus (the name for Horizon Forbidden West’s machine-forging AI).
Elijah Houck, Senior World Designer at Guerrilla, comments: “We wanted them to be hidden, purposeful Easter eggs that are harder to find than other of our collections. “As a result, we decided not to provide them with map markers or quest tracking so that players can stumble across them naturally and draw their own conclusions about what the game means. different callbacks”.
Now that you know the story behind Horizon Forbidden West’s War Totems, we hope you’re inspired to download the game and go on a little Easter egg hunt. And if you found them, be sure to share your best photos of Aloy and the items on social media using #BeyondTheHorizon!
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Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.
