How long does it take to beat Horizon Zero Dawn? Main Story and 100% Completion Time 

Horizon Zero Dawn has a huge open world with tons of things to do. The world of Horizon Zero Dawn is filled with vast lush areas to explore and secrets to discover. Apart from main story missions, there are plenty of side missions to do and various collectibles to collect.  

There are various storylines in Horizon Zero Dawn but the main storyline follows protagonist Aloy as she is tasked to take down corrupted machines in a post-apocalyptic world in order to learn more about where she came from. Here’s everything you need to know about the game’s completion time.  

Horizon Zero Dawn - Hands-On: 20 Minutes of Open World Gameplay | PS4

For completing the main story of Horizon Zero Dawn, you’ll require around 22 hours, and for completing the main story and side stuff, you’ll require around 44 hours. For a completionist run of the game, meaning completing everything the game has to offer, you’ll require around 60 hours.  

There’s also the DLC called Frozen Wilds, which can also increase your playtime but more on that later. Difficulty also comes into play when determining the playtime because choosing to play on a harder difficulty will increase the playtime. 

1. Difficulty 

Horizon Zero Dawn offers you 6 difficulty options before starting your journey which are: 

• Story 
• Easy 
• Normal 
• Hard 
• Very Hard 
• Ultra Hard 

Choosing the right difficulty is important depending on how you want to approach the game. Higher skilled players wanting a challenging experience should opt for the harder difficulties but if you just want to focus on the story without focusing too much on the action, then the Normal difficulty is perfect. Choosing a harder difficulty will also significantly increase your playtime.  

2. Is Horizon Zero Dawn a hard game? 

Horizon Zero Dawn can be pretty challenging even with the easier difficulties. But if you can familiarize yourself with the game’s mechanics and read enemy attack patterns, you’ll be used to the combat system in no time. 

It’s also worth noting that you can change the difficulty whenever you feel like the game is becoming a bit too challenging but you won’t be able to change it in New Game+. The only way to change the difficulty then is to start another New Game+ save. 

3. How long is The Frozen Wilds DLC? 

Horizon Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds DLC has its own story and side quests but it’s not as big as the base game. The DLC centers around Aloy exploring the Cut, Banuk land that is located to the North of Grave-Hoard. Players need not complete the base game in its entirety before starting the DLC.  

The Frozen Wild DLC’s main story takes an average of 8-10 hours to complete while completing the main story and all the side quests of the DLC will take you around 13 hours. If you’re aiming for a completionist run of the DLC, then it’ll take you around 18 hours.  

4. Will there be another Horizon game after Forbidden West? 

Given how big of a success Horizon Forbidden West was, it isn’t surprising that a third Horizon game will eventually arrive. Fans will be pleased to know that the developers have already confirmed that Horizon will be a trilogy of games.  

Forbidden West ends on a cliffhanger that sets up some things for Aloy’s next big journey. But don’t expect Horizon 3 to arrive anytime soon as Forbidden West took 5 years to develop. It might not take 5 years to develop Horizon 3 but it will still take a long time before we see anything from it. 

5. 100% Completion 

Completing the entirety of what Horizon Zero Dawn offers means not only just obtaining trophies but also completing side quests, and activities among various other things. Here’s all you need to do in order to obtain 100% completion: 

1. Complete the Story 
2. Complete all Side Quests 
3. Complete all Activities: 
   • Bandit Camps 
   • Cauldrons 
   • Corrupted Zones 
   • Hunting Grounds 
   • Tallnecks 
4. Complete all Errands 
5. Collect all Collectibles: 
   • Ancient Vessels 
   • Banuk Figures 
   • Datapoints 
   • Metal Flowers 
   • Power Cell Locations 
   • Stranded Items 
   • Vantages 

6. All Main Missions List 

Here’s a list of all the main missions you’ll need to complete in order to finish the story and all the recommended levels are also given with them: 

• A Gift From the Past 
• Lessons of the Wild 
• The Point of the Spear (recommended at level 3-5) 
• Mother’s Heart (recommended at level 4) 
• The Proving (recommended at level 5) 
• The Womb of the Mountain (recommended at level 7) 
• A Seeker at the Gates (recommended at level 12) 
• The War-Chief’s Trail (recommended at level 7) 
• Revenge of the Nora (recommended at level 11) 
• The City of the Sun (recommended at level 12) 
• The Field of the Fallen (recommended at level 17) 
• Maker’s End (recommended at level 14) 
• Into the Borderlands (recommended at level 15) 
• The Grave Hoard (recommended at level 18) 
• The Sun Shall Fall (recommended at level 20) 
• The Field of the Fallen (recommended at level 22) 
• To Curse the Darkness (recommended at level 25) 
• Deep Secrets of the Earth (recommended at level 27) 
• The Terror of the Sun (recommended at level 29) 
• The Heart of the Nora (recommended at level 31) 
• The Mountain That Fell (recommended at level 32) 
• The Looming Shadow (recommended at level 34) 
• The Face of Extinction (recommended at level 34) 

7. All Side Missions List 

Here’s a list of all the side missions that you’ll need to complete in order to achieve 100% completion of the game: 

• In Her Mother’s Footsteps 
• The Forgotten 
• Insult to Injury 
• Underequipped 
• Robbing the Rich 
• Hunters’ Blind 
• A Moment’s Peace 
• Fatal Inheritance 
• A Daughter’s Vengeance 
• Weapons of the Lodge 
• Honor the Fallen 
• Redmaw 
• Cause for Concern – Farewell 
• Acquired Taste 
• Sunstone Rock 
• Sun and Shadow 
• Traitor’s Bounty 
• Blood on Stone 
• Death from the Skies 
• Ancient Armory 
• Queen’s Gambit 
• Waterlogged 
• The Survivor 
• Frontier Justice 
• The Hunters Three 

8. All Errands 

Errands are basically side quests but they’re much smaller than normal side quests and they require only one task to be completed. Here’s a list of all the errands that can be found in the game: 

• Odd Grata 
• Hunting for the Lodge 
• Sanctuary 
• Luck of the Hunt 
• Collateral 
• Shortage of Supplies 
• To Old Acquaintance 
• Deadliest Game 
• Hammer and Steel 
• In Foreign Lands 
• Healer’s Oath 

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9. About Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn by Guerilla Games. An open-world, action adventure game, players control Aloy, a Nora hunter who is on a quest to reverse the effects of a strange crimson blight which is infecting the land. Set in a completely new world, Horizon Forbidden West has many new machines, threats and adventures for Aloy.