I was reserved toward Horizon ever since it was teased...then I was disappointed with setting and missed opportunity for Sony to make its first in-house open-world action-RPG something that can at least rival TES and Witcher. But as I suspected all along:

"Like most games of its ilk, Horizon Zero Dawn is at pains to walk the line between sophisticated and accessible. It's deeper and more narratively focused than, say, Far Cry, but still more of an action game than your average RPG.
....
As for its pedrigree as an RPG, it's fair to say that Horizon Zero Dawn is pretty basic. Guerilla is upfront about its intentions to craft an accessible and enjoyable action game with RPG elements, and they've intentionally avoided overly sophisticated systems. Whether you consider that a good thing or a bad thing is mostly down to taste, but it isn't exactly The Witcher 3."

As someone who thinks that open world action-RPG genre is massively underdeveloped and going in the wrong direction, it pains me to see yet another quasi action-RPG potentially setting new standards for future games to come.

I'm not trying to get into anything, but an article from 2011 is hardly indicative of an an indivual, or a site implying the Vita could "still" beat the 3DS. Gonna asume you misspoke.