Horizon Forbidden West is a game about saving the world, fighting prehistoric robots, and picking tons and tons of stuff up off the ground. Thankfully that last part just got even easier with the action-RPG’s free new PlayStation 5 update which adds a host of accessibility features, including the option to auto-pickup every random branch, herb, and crafting resource you run across in its sprawling open world.
Ahead of the paid Burning Shores DLC that launches on April 19, 2022’s map game of the year received a free update for everyone on PS5 whether they buy the expansion or not. Patch 1.21 includes larger font sizes, new camera options, and more navigation assistance. A thalassophobia-friendly mode even lets Alloy breathe underwater and makes it easier to see while diving. But one of the biggest quality-of-life improvements overall is a new auto-pickup setting that makes looting easier than ever.
Simply go to the settings menu, scroll over to accessibility, and select “auto-pickup” near the bottom of the list. Doing so will make every tiny inverted triangle symbol in the wild simply disappear as you walk over. No more pressing triangle every five seconds while exploring, or frantically scrambling to collect healing berries while rolling around in tense fights.
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There are a few caveats. Auto-pickup won’t work if your inventory is full, and you need to send the excess loot to stash. It also doesn’t work on fallen enemies or chests. Still, both of these issues are pretty easy to fix by simply not managing your inventory like an animal and using the “easy loot” option from the custom difficulty settings menu. Developer Guerrilla Games has improved looting a bunch since the first Horizon Zero Dawn, and one of the most tedious parts of the sci-fi franchise is now a cinch.
Unfortunately, as mentioned above, this patch only seems to apply to the PS5 version of the game. PS4 owners were already frustrated that the cross-gen game’s big DLC expansion is “next-gen” only, and missing out on the new patch’s conveniences and significant new accessibility options is another major bummer. Sony explained that Burning Shores’ campaign makes use of new cloud tech and other visual flourishes that couldn’t be supported on PS4, but it’s not exactly clear what would keep things like new colorblindness settings from being cross-gen. Kotaku reached out to Sony for clarification.
On PS5, at least, Horizon Forbidden West has never looked or played better.
