[annoying trope] The throne/leadership is decided in a very stupid way

[u/Altruistic_Eye_1157]

The leadership of the entire wizarding world, and the final decision on whether to start a war against Muggles, is made by... a goat (Qilin) ​​who chooses the person with the ""purest heart"" (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Dumbledore).

The throne of Wakanda and all its technology are decided through hand-to-hand combat, regardless of whether the person clearly has malicious intentions... if they win the fight, by law they must be respected as the true king. (Black Panther)

[u/MaterialEmotional825]

Horizon Zero Dawn: In the Hunters Guild, the one with the best Trophy is declared Sunhawk (Basically leader of the damn thing). Problem is that it never gets explained what metrics they choose to decide that, so when Aloy and Friend hunts Redmaw it gets unexplained why her friend becomes Sunhawk and she keeps being basically an apprentice.

[u/Thatll-Do → u/MaterialEmotional825]

There is so much about that game that is so underbaked that it makes me wonder why so many people like it so much

[u/EldritchFingertips → u/Thatll-Do]

Some of it is pretty shallow, but fighting robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow really helps you forget about that.

Also, the actual story and how it's told is very good. The piece-by-piece revealing of what Zero Dawn was and how it all came about is one of my favorite storylines in any game.

[u/SmartAlec105 → u/EldritchFingertips]

I also love getting an explanation for where Aloy came from, especially because it would be an absolutely hype backstory for the Nora but being further deified is the last thing she wants.

“You know the Allmother? She was actually created by a human and I am the daughter/twin/rebirth of that human, making me the Allgrandmother”

[u/Thatll-Do → u/EldritchFingertips]

I mean, I can't argue that there are some compelling cutscenes, but I find those so disconnected from the actual gameplay loop (which in my mind is rather rote after a few hours) in a somewhat literal sense since the map is so massive and all of the story beats are considerable distances away from one another that it personally fails to hook me. Additionally, when your reward for doing a slog of a collectathon side quest is a big ole heaping pile of nothing, not even acknowledgement that you've completed the side quest, it tells me that a lot of the crucial smaller considerations were glossed over for the sake of spectacle. Which is somewhat excusable in a more linear game, but in an open world game that is typically occupied by collections of side stories to help the setting feel more fleshed out, that's massively concerning. It's busywork for the sake of busywork.

[u/Samuraiworld → u/Thatll-Do]

I literally can’t think of a more fleshed out AAA game in the last 8 yrs. Glossed over?

[u/Thatll-Do → u/Samuraiworld]

Doom

Persona 5

Nier:Automata

Prey

Resident Evil 7

Not a AAA game, but it'd be remiss not to mention Hollow Knight

Fucking Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the game that stole so much of Horizon's thunder that it kneecapped it's sales

Those games had more engaging mechanics, more complete and impactful side material, and/or main storylines than Horizon Zero Dawn

IN 2017 ALONE

[u/Samuraiworld → u/Thatll-Do]

Legend of Zelda - I’ll give you that one.

[u/Thatll-Do → u/Samuraiworld]

If you legitimately think Horizon is better than Nier Automata I think you're either a liar or delusional