How to progress time in Horizon Forbidden West

Players who want to play Horizon Forbidden West at a certain time of the day will have to use the option to progress time, but the feature can be tough to find. Many action RPGs have this option available at all times, but Aloy will need to go through a different process if players want to change the time of day.

While Horizon Forbidden West has plenty of tutorials that pop up as the game progresses, changing the time of day isn't outlined for players. But the time of day can certainly change the tone of the game and it can be beneficial for stealthily fighting machines or taking out Rebel camps.

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Specific camps can be used to progress time in Horizon Forbidden West

Use the fires to change time within the game. (Image via PlayStation)

There are a ton of campfires around the map, but not all of them will progress time in Horizon Forbidden West. Instead, players will have to find specific shelters which are marked by a fire with a roof rather than the usual camfire symbol. These shelters will contain a stash for Aloy, a campfire to save at, and a seat that players can use to progress time.

In these shelters, players will know they can progress time when the symbol to progress time, which is a simple clock hovering over a chair, appears. All Aloy will need to do is sit down and a few options will appear. Typical save options will be available, but a fourth option to skip time will be present at the bottom of the list. When this is chosen, Aloy will sit forward and players can choose a vague time of day to progress towards.

For example, if it is night time, Aloy can progress five hours to morning, nine hours to afternoon, and so on. The system is simple, but it can be easy to miss for those that haven't discovered shelters yet.

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How does time work in Horizon Forbidden West?

The day and night cycle in Horizon Forbidden West is fairly long, so players certainly have more than enough time to see the biomes in different lighting. However, that also makes it important to find shelters for those that like a certain time of day when they play.

Time itself doesn't seem to affect the game much at all, meaning machines and NPCs will act the same regardless of the time of day. On top of that, players who like the photo mode can manually change the lighting in their photos if they don't want to skip the time itself in the West.