This might seem controversial but I do not think you need to play Horizon Zero Dawn before Forbidden West. As mentioned in my review, there is a good bit of hand-holding in the beginning. During this time, the game does beat you over the head, so to speak, with the events of the first game. It acts as if you did not play that game and it is all pretty much unskippable. It is not the best at introducing you to all of the characters from the previous game but I don’t remember them anyway. I was still able to enjoy my time with the game and I don’t see any reason why you can’t, either. And then there is the fact that Horizon Forbidden West is just a much better gameplay experience. I still think there are some outdated parts of this game and it is even an improvement over the original. Unless you really want to see how much it has improved, I think newcomers should just jump straight into Forbidden West.