I remember when zelda was first announced and Aonuma said "you see that mountain? you can go there" i remember a lot of people making fun of him on forums saying zelda would finally do things that games from 2005 did, that he wouldn't reinvent the open-world genre.

i imagine him saying "who's laughing now?"

But honestly i think we should keep comparations of horizon and zelda away, one game aims photorealistic gfx and story while the other aims on adventure and exploration, it's like comparing mario kart to gran turismo, they are the same genre but with different targets.

The only invisible walls are the edges of the map, and lacking the stamina to climb to the top of something.

Oh, and there's disabling climbing in the shrines and main dungeons. I suppose that's only done to keep players from just climing to the main objectives.

No you can't go east forever but that wasn't Zelda's intention anyway. The term is 'open world', not 'infinite world'. The question is flawed in the first hand. And HZD can't do that either, for the record.

I've yet to encounter this in 100 hours of playing.  Not denying that it's there, or that anyother player zipping through the game/map at a faster pace wouldn't encounter the edge of the world sooner, because obviously the world/world map do not go on forever.  However, the OP is describing enountering invisible walls when trying to shortcut to locations adjacent to each other.  This does not happen in Breath of the Wild.

Some people were implying that you can or it doesn't have any boundaries like any other open world game does. Some are more free than other but they all have that same rule. 

No i love the combat and the machines in horizon. I also loved that outside having the right weapons it was still always a skill based affair. You still at least have to aim and dodge and run and al that stuff. 

And this isn't a knock on the game, but like all skill based game mechanics eventually you get really good at doing what you are supposed to do. The task in turn doesn't get easier because the game is easy but rather because you have goten better.

This is where enviromental challenges come in.... and this shortcoming is often the case with all games that do it. If I amde this game, I would take the cauldrons (since there are only 5 of them and they are one time affairs) and make them hard as nails. I would also have made them all optional. Conquering one wouldn't only give you access to some extremely rare materials to craft really powerful ammo or even use to trade for certain items but will also naturally allow you overide machines that would ultimately make your playthrough in the world proper a little easier. 

But the cost you pay for all that would be some mind bending extremely difficult level. So hard that most would just not even bother with it.

I still don't see why there is such a rivalry between these two. It's crazy. It's like the rivalry between Uncharted 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider. They're only similar to people who haven't​ played both. Both are excellent in what they set out to do.

*edited. Thanks, Rol!*

Well, I am not averse to represent different cultures, but as far as I see it Horizon is a game in a completely fictional setting. It is not historical. The inhabitants of the world aren't native americans, native australians, native celtic tribes or native germanic tribes (that were called barbarians by the 'civilized' roman empire). So applying the logic the figures in the game represent some native, maybe american natives, makes in my opinion as much sense as asking why in a science fiction setting there are green but no black aliens.

They are taking from specific cultures but not aknowledging or crediting them. Not a single Native in the game where it has Native aspects alll over it. Now ina  world where humans live in tribal like settings they also would be a bit more tan being in the sun all day long for hundreds or thousands of years. They do not have the complexion of Conan O Brien. So they still in fact are white washing. Turok for how stupid it is is more accurate and that's what is crazy.

No, there is an end to it. But geography makes it really hard to reach that borders. I tried because I was nosy, and it was actually hard to get to the border. It is far outside. I was going through a sandstorm, that deactivates the map, I didn't try at the other sides.

In Horizon it seems not so hard to hit these walls and it is pretty near a settlement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWwI2KfP3sE

But basically: If Zelda had invisible walls at every step, would that change it how to look at Horizon?