I guess every open-world should be a giant island to simply not use "invisible walls"... even tho you'd be doing the exact same, just different method.

I don't think it fails at exploration. I would agree though that its limited. But not to the point where i see it as a problem.Further more I feel its one of those things that they can expand on and do better in its inevitable sequel.

A problem I have with the game though, and i fear this probably applies to all but a handful of games these days.... its is difficulty. Yes taking down the machines is a skill based thing but once you have mastered the game and how to use your weapons and move right like all skill based things it becomes easy.

I simply would have wanted the cauldrons to be fucking hard. And a number of dungeons or what not to have hard environment based puzzles.Like if i made this game, I would make the cauldrons so hard that when anyone stands at their entrance they literally will tremble with fear.

It's a pity, I already heard about the invisible walls elsewhere. Also bad that you cannot climb and go everywhere. Still a great games, but hold back by it's design flaws to achieve even bigger greatness.

As I see it, also the interaction with the environment is limited. It looks great but does not react to the player. A bit oldschool.

I'm sure it is still big fun for most people.

Why bring Zelda into this? Cannot Horizon be judged on it's own?

As far as my playing of it has taught me, there are no invisible walls. There is certainly water and mountains there but they're not the same as invisible walls.

Nope. OP mentions shortly Zelda, but does not compare.

There are at the end of the world. Basically, you are inside a big box. A really big box, with no ceiling for some reason.

This is where HZD fails. https://medium.com/@dialacina/what-we-talk-about-when-we-dont-talk-about-natives-60f4af9ef675#.19opc3w67

I love Horizon, but it does have three major quirks that should be tweaked for the sequel.

1. The scripted climbing is awful. So many surfaces look very climbable but aren't. This extends to platforming, as again Aloy only uses her hands to grab the environment at specific places. She even has a rope & grappling hook. I don't want her to control like Batman, but she's got the tools.

2. NPCs have odd facial animation (at least not as bad as MEA), most are completely noninteractive (Witcher 3 managed this better), and - a personal quibble of mine I realize - almost all the males sound & act completely pathetic (in a near caveman setting, it makes for some cognitive dissonance).

3. The different tribes could use further characterization to differentiate them. Outside of religion & politics the peoples seem too similar - no speech patterns, accents, etc.

The invisible walls wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't as close to the play area. I barely won against a stormbird in the northern regions, and as I approach it to loot I got the "turn around or we're reloading your last save" message, made looting a tense situation for no reason.

Really? *yawn*