A game within Horizon Forbidden West called Machine Strike has captured players' interest, but how does it compare to another well-known minigame - Gwent from The Witcher 3? The rules to Machine Strike are relatively straightforward. It's a turn-based minigame where players use and collect pieces that resemble the machines in-game. Each piece comes with various stats and skills and is played on an eight-by-eight board with up to six different terrains. The player can either get 7 victory points during each match or destroy all enemy pieces to win.
In contrast, Gwent from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is much deeper than Horizon Forbidden West's Machine Strike. From each card's various faction to the variety of decks the player can create to even specialized hero cards, Gwent showed so much potential in The Witcher 3 that a standalone Witcher Gwent card game was announced. Gwent even had a questline in The Witcher 3 that added nuance and complexity, even accumulating to a high stakes tournament by the end, further immersing the character within the questline.
However, compared to each other, Horizon Forbidden West's Machine Strike is better than Gwent in simplicity and practicality to the narrative. Similar to Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Orlog or Mass Effect's Quasar, Machine Strike is influenced by the game's setting and s world-building. Whereas, despite providing an entirely new experience, Gwent's complexity may conflict with the flow of the main Witcher narrative and feel out of place.
Horizon Forbidden West's Machine Strike Fits Better Than Gwent
Similar to how Horizon Forbidden West improves on Zero Dawn from melee combat to overall scale, Forbidden West's Machine Strike improves on Gwent through its simplicity and naturally integrating into the game. Machine Strike both benefits from a simplistic tutorial, especially if players know board games while immersing the player in the setting. All the pieces for the game are either crafted or bought on top of looking like the various machines the player will face. As players collect more pieces the process immerses players in the role of Aloy, while the similarity to the machines connects the players to the pieces.
On the other hand, Gwent is more akin to real-world card games such as Magic: The Gathering, mirroring in complexity. As a result, Gwent feels like a different experience to the main narrative, making the game feel more of a spin-off like other card-based video games like Hearthstone than a minigame in The Witcher 3. The questline also feels more of a spoof of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, rewarding players hero cards of the main characters from Ciri, Yennefer, to even Geralt, further detaching from the seriousness of the narrative.
Both Machine Strike and Gwent are meant to give the player a break from the main game and do that task perfectly. However, as complex and deep as Gwent is, it's an experience that might feel overwhelming for players, especially given that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a massive enough game. Machine Strike not only adds to the length to beat Horizon Forbidden West but offers a more ive and low-pressure experience. It isn't easy to directly compare either game as both bring various features and mechanics. However, when considering the simplicity of Horizon Forbidden West's Machine Strike and how it fits in the narrative, it beats Gwent, hands down.
