Ashly Burch as Aloy in Horizon: Zero Dawn

Ashly Burch, Aloy

Prior to becoming Aloy in Horizon: Zero Dawn, Burch had already made her mark in video games by playing Tiny Tina in Borderlands 2, as well as Chloe in Life is Strange. But what made her turn as Aloy so different was the massive scale of the role, and the game itself: it’s a 30-plus hour jaunt, and Burch was there to record every single line, every step of the way.

She took particular pride in making Aloy feel like a fully realized character.

“When we create female characters, I think often there is a tendency to kind of make female characters emotionally bulletproof,” Burch told Engadget in an interview. “You’ve heard people talk about the ‘capital-S Strong Female Character’ who’s sort of humorless and doesn’t really have a spark and is sort of flawless in their execution. They just don’t feel like fully fleshed out, real characters. And I really didn’t want Aloy to feel that way.”

Burch’s work in Horizon helped cement what would become an all-around great video game experience. And Burch hasn’t let up since then, either, helping write an episode of the cartoon Adventure Time that earned her an Emmy, and continuing to voice characters in games like Fortnite, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and Life is Strange: Before the Storm.

Based on the reception Horizon received, there’s a good chance we’ll see her as Aloy again in the future.

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