<P> The game features an open world environment with a day - night cycle and dynamic weather system which can be seamlessly explored . The map is composed of forest, jungle, desert, and snowy mountain regions . Mountainous terrain is traversed with the employment of parkour, and aided by the use of zip - lines installed throughout the world . Corruption Zones constitute areas that heighten difficulty and are populated by corrupted machines that behave with more aggression . To uncover more of the map, one must scale large giraffe - like machines known as Tallnecks . Twenty - five robotic creature designs are present in the game . Save points and fast travel can be accessed by interacting with campfires, once discovered . </P> <P> The quest structure unfolds to accommodate the exploration of tribes, while the main story covers the entire world . Side quests involve Aloy completing tasks, like gathering materials, coming to the aid of individuals in danger of being killed, solving mysteries, assuming control of bandit camps, eliminating criminals and more difficult machines, accomplishing various challenges at any of the five Hunting Grounds, and obtaining an ancient armour that makes Aloy almost impervious to damage . A dialogue wheel is used to communicate with non-player characters . Collectibles include vantages that offer visual information of the Old World, metal flowers, which when acquired contain poetry, and old relics, such as ancient mugs and tribal artefacts . </P> <P> The story is set in the 31st century, in a world where humans have regressed to primitive tribal societies as a result of some unspecified calamity . Their technologically advanced predecessors are vaguely remembered as the "Old Ones ." Large robotic creatures known merely as "machines" now dominate the Earth . For the most part, they peacefully coexist with humans, who occasionally hunt them for parts . However, a phenomenon known as the "Derangement" has caused machines to become more aggressive towards humans, and larger and deadlier machines have begun to appear . There are three tribes that are prominently featured: the Nora, the Carja, and the Oseram . The Nora are fierce hunter - gatherers who live in the mountains and worship nature as the "All - Mother ." The Carja are desert - dwelling city builders who worship the Sun . The Oseram are tinkerers known for their metalworking, brewing, and arguing . </P> <P> Aloy was cast out from the Nora tribe at birth, raised by an outcast named Rost (JB Blanc). As a child, she obtained a Focus, a small augmented reality device that gives her special perceptive abilities . After coming of age, Aloy (Ashly Burch) enters a competition called the Proving to win the right to become a Nora Brave, and by extension, a member of the Nora tribe . Aloy wins the competition, but the Nora are suddenly attacked by cultists . Aloy is almost killed by their leader Helis (Crispin Freeman), but is saved by Rost, who sacrifices himself to save Aloy from a bomb . When Aloy awakes, a Matriarch explains that the cultists had gained control of corrupted machines . Aloy also learns that as an infant, she was found at the foot of a sealed door . An Oseram foreigner called Olin (Chook Sibtain) informs Aloy that the cultists are part of a group calling themselves the Eclipse . Olin indicates that the reason Aloy was targeted by the Eclipse was due to her resemblance to an Old World scientist named Dr. Elisabet Sobeck (also voiced by Burch). </P>

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