Mark Brown's (aka Game Maker's Toolkit) video about Design by Subtraction [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmSBIyT0ih0] is the video that really made me realize why my favorite games resonate so much. My favorite games are mainly the ones that focus on one specific thing and being the best at that specific thing. After watching that video a year or so ago, I realized it's because those games only focus on their core without adding extraneous elements that would only dilute the experience. So many games nowadays, especially since the open world trend started, basically just throw in elements that are just there because every other game has it (like say crafting or Arkham combat) instead of having said elements because they support the core of the game. And that brings me to Horizon and how it accomplishes only supporting the core experience by basically using common elements found in many games both properly and in a reserved manner.
-The open world itself supports both the theme and mechanics of the game, an actual rare thing in most open world games. Firstly, the open world is required to house the game's machine enemies. And, the world itself isn't very big but focused on density and diversity instead. From the thematic aspect, the open world also fits perfectly with Aloy's journey of discovering a world she doesn't know. Even the core story never has "the end of the world" looming in the background while Aloy partakes is some pointless quest or mini-game. Everything you do in the open world feels like something Aloy needs to do on her journey. Even highly regarded games like Witcher 3 fail at that aspect.
-The quests themselves are very limited in number with the game having less than 50 actual quests. Now, Horizon doesn't have the best designed quests by any stretch, but every one of them is there for a reason regardless of the quality of the quest itself. Most games have you come to a new city and you see at least 10+ NPCs with exclamation marks above their heads whereas in Horizon, there's like 2 NPCs that are quest givers per city. The game isn't going to artificially extend or pad anything for game length.
-The collectibles are very reserved in nature and are always there for world building purposes (whether old world or new world). The first "wow" moment I had in Horizon was picking up the first Metal Flower and the box popping up saying 1/30 instead of 1/100+. Horizon has basically Ubisoft's radio towers with the Tallnecks but there's only 6 of them (not 20 or so), they fit the world in their function, and they're like 100 times cooler than a radio tower. Horizon's vantage points, again, teach you about the world. Nothing feels like you're just doing it because it's on a to-do list.
-The combat was designed completely with fighting the games large machine enemies in mind. The obvious downside was that the human combat was average at best. I'd rather the combat support the core game experience than the other way around. For example, Witcher 3's combat should have prioritized monster combat as witchers are monster hunters; however, it was obvious the combat system was designed with humanoid combat in mind thereby making monster combat just "meh" instead of the highlight of the game it should've been. I feel Horizon needed the human combat for thematic purposes because the story wasn't just machines=bad, humans=good obviously. I just wish the combat was better, giving just a couple more melee options like say a juggle move to hit enemies in the air then shoot them with a bow would be a great addition to the sequel.
Horizon isn't some revolutionary open world game that reinvents the wheel. It merely took already established game elements seen in many many games but applied them in a manner to support the core game instead of diluting it. Everything you did as Aloy felt like something Aloy needed to do to complete her journey and that's why Horizon resonated so much better then the latest flavor-of-the-month open world game.
-The open world itself supports both the theme and mechanics of the game, an actual rare thing in most open world games. Firstly, the open world is required to house the game's machine enemies. And, the world itself isn't very big but focused on density and diversity instead. From the thematic aspect, the open world also fits perfectly with Aloy's journey of discovering a world she doesn't know. Even the core story never has "the end of the world" looming in the background while Aloy partakes is some pointless quest or mini-game. Everything you do in the open world feels like something Aloy needs to do on her journey. Even highly regarded games like Witcher 3 fail at that aspect.
-The quests themselves are very limited in number with the game having less than 50 actual quests. Now, Horizon doesn't have the best designed quests by any stretch, but every one of them is there for a reason regardless of the quality of the quest itself. Most games have you come to a new city and you see at least 10+ NPCs with exclamation marks above their heads whereas in Horizon, there's like 2 NPCs that are quest givers per city. The game isn't going to artificially extend or pad anything for game length.
-The collectibles are very reserved in nature and are always there for world building purposes (whether old world or new world). The first "wow" moment I had in Horizon was picking up the first Metal Flower and the box popping up saying 1/30 instead of 1/100+. Horizon has basically Ubisoft's radio towers with the Tallnecks but there's only 6 of them (not 20 or so), they fit the world in their function, and they're like 100 times cooler than a radio tower. Horizon's vantage points, again, teach you about the world. Nothing feels like you're just doing it because it's on a to-do list.
-The combat was designed completely with fighting the games large machine enemies in mind. The obvious downside was that the human combat was average at best. I'd rather the combat support the core game experience than the other way around. For example, Witcher 3's combat should have prioritized monster combat as witchers are monster hunters; however, it was obvious the combat system was designed with humanoid combat in mind thereby making monster combat just "meh" instead of the highlight of the game it should've been. I feel Horizon needed the human combat for thematic purposes because the story wasn't just machines=bad, humans=good obviously. I just wish the combat was better, giving just a couple more melee options like say a juggle move to hit enemies in the air then shoot them with a bow would be a great addition to the sequel.
Horizon isn't some revolutionary open world game that reinvents the wheel. It merely took already established game elements seen in many many games but applied them in a manner to support the core game instead of diluting it. Everything you did as Aloy felt like something Aloy needed to do to complete her journey and that's why Horizon resonated so much better then the latest flavor-of-the-month open world game.