Despite being rival exclusive PlayStation and Nintendo franchises,Horizonand modernLegend of Zeldatitles share many characteristics with one another. For one, bothHorizonandLegend of Zelda: Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomare open-world games centered around their protagonists exploring and fighting rogue machines. Each majorHorizonrelease additionally debuted the same year asBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom, withZero Dawnreleasing in 2017 andForbidden Westreleasing in 2023. While the two franchises are similar, Guerrilla Games can still take inspiration fromTears of the Kingdom’s Shrines of Light to expandHorizon 3’s Cauldrons.
Shrines of Light and Cauldrons Explained
InLegend of the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Link will encounter several dungeons in caves and open landscapes called Shrines of Light. While a few Shrines are set up as tutorials for archery, shields, and other combat mechanics, most of them will challenge players’ minds with complex puzzles, such as theGikaku Shrinerequiring Link to catapult to multiple sky islands to retrieve a green crystal.
Each shrine additionally holds several chests that feature rare or useful loot such as diamonds, bombs, and armor like the Zonaite Shin Guards. If players manage to complete all152 Shrines of Light inLegend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, they’ll be rewarded with the Ancient Hero’s Aspect armor at the Temple of Time.
InHorizon Zero Dawn,Horizon Forbidden West, andLEGO Horizon Adventures, Aloy can encounter several undergroundProject Zero Dawn facilities known as Cauldrons. These labyrinths were overseen by the AI subfunction HEPHAESTUS and designed to build and repair the many animalistic machines that roamHorizon’s post-apocalyptic landscapes. In eachHorizongame, Aloy can travel through Cauldrons, solving brief puzzles and defeating small machines, until she comes upon a Cauldron core, which is typically protected by a massive machine serving as a mini-boss.
Once the machine is defeated, Aloy can override the Cauldrons’ cores and gain the ability to override other machine types to aid her in battle or traversal. Compared toZelda’s Shrines, Cauldrons are far less numerous, with theHorizonseries only featuring 12 Cauldrons, including:
Horizon 3’s Potential Shrine-inspired Cauldrons
Unlike Cauldrons, Shrines inLegend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomare far less uniform and consistent with one another, with some being able to be completed in mere minutes while others require far more time to finish. Cauldrons, meanwhile, are fairly similar to each other across the wholeHorizonfranchise. WhileHorizon Forbidden Westimproved uponZero Dawn’s Cauldronsby featuring more complex puzzles and fear-inducing boss fights, particularly with Cauldron KAPPA’s water-centric Apex Tideripper boss fight, most Cauldrons still felt too similar and offered little incentive for completion. Aside from accessing other machines’ overrides, Cauldrons only rewarded Aloy with basic machine parts, some modifications, and Medicinal Grey Omen fungi.
Cauldrons are likely to return in the thirdHorizongame to allow Aloy to override the game’s expected new machine types, but Guerrilla Games could introduce several new, smaller but more varied Cauldrons based onTears of the Kingdom’s Shrines. These smaller Cauldrons could be explained by having been created by HEPHAESTUS or Nemesis and feature more treacherous puzzles and encounters thanks to the use of Far Zenith technology. Instead of rewarding Aloy with basic loot, completing these new Cauldrons could reward players with rare armor and weapon variants. Completing all of these new Cauldrons could additionally allow Aloy to override Far Zenith-based machines as noFar Zenith machines inHorizonForbidden Westwere overrideable. These rewards and challenges could better incentivize players to try out the new Cauldrons.
