Zelda V. Horizon

No doubt. I recognize a good story can carry 'OK'-gameplay through to the end. But one would not consider it then for GOTY would they? One would not still give that 5-stars? I mean, I realize that it does happen a lot, but I was explaining that I do not share that judgement. I can appreciate a good story, but even something like The Last of Us I played because the actual gameplay was good and fun. I realize a lot of people hate the type of story BioShock Infinite told, but I really like that type of story but I would've never put that game on my GOTY list just for its story (even though it is one of the most fun ones I've ever experienced).

To each their own for sure, just explaining how things are for me.

@zevvion: Ya different priorities and preferences for different people. Inside was my favorite game last year just because I loved the atmosphere and style of the game so much. It brought out emotions in me stronger than almost any video game I've played. That game benefits from it's brevity though. I doubt I would feel as strongly about it if it lasted for 8+ hours.

For what it's worth I loved Bioshock Infinite. The game play was fine to good, but the story and world is what did it for me.

I've completed both and I don't understand how anyone could prefer Breath of the Wild over Horizon, it feels like such a bare bones product in every way.

Horizon all the way for me. I really enjoyed the story and world.

BotW is way too open for my taste. I prefer games where the story propels me forward rather than the go wherever and do whatever you want and see what happens.

I think I'd go for Zelda in a direct comparison, maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it but Horizon became frustrating when every other inch of the map had a bunch of enemies on it, so I never wanted to actually explore the beautiful world and instead had to slow to a crawl and stealth through or run around stuff all the time. Also I kept running into big dirty invisible walls that weren't mapped to any geometry early on and that bummed me out every time. I gave the two games a lot of breathing room because I knew I'd compare them if I played them one after the other, but Horizon didn't really grab me even after a few months of waiting. Not because of Zelda comparisons, but because all the activities in the game were too derivative of stuff I've done too much in other open world games now. Fucking.... fuck bandit camps! Stop it! Please!!

I want a wingsuit/glider equivalent in every open world game now though. Not being able to jump off high areas and survive is lame. Horizon didn't even let me jump off some of them!