I never want to hear male gamers use Barbie Horse Adventures again as a slur against casual/female gamers, because Red Dead 2 is absolutely Barbie Horse Adventures with beards and guns.— Caryn Vainio (@Hellchick) December 2, 2018
And the rejoinder:
The thing about “lul RDR2 is just Barbie horse riding for boys, who are hypocrites” is that, while yes the hypocrisy is real, a lot of the horse games made for girls actually have way more systemic depth— Wholesome Male-Presenting Nipple (@CosmicFunkonaut) December 2, 2018
RDR2’s horses are extremely impressive from an artistic standpoint, and they nailed the balance between realistic and fun when it comes to the mechanics of actually riding one around.— Wholesome Male-Presenting Nipple (@CosmicFunkonaut) December 2, 2018
But ultimately they are just glorified vehicles and inventory containers.
In girls’ games you’ll learn their biology, dietary needs, train, breed, and race them, send them to competitions (there’s even online multiplayer), manage your own stable...You don’t/can’t do any of this in RDR2 (or 1). Even Final Fantasy goes more in depth with Chocobos lol— Wholesome Male-Presenting Nipple (@CosmicFunkonaut) December 2, 2018
But the flipside is it can make all those features feel kinda empty. Like, I *wish* the horse systems in this game had the depth of Barbie Horseback Riding (or whatever it’s really called). I want the open world of this size and beauty that's just like, sandbox Be A Rancher— Wholesome Male-Presenting Nipple (@CosmicFunkonaut) December 2, 2018