If the game would only have worthwhile achievements then something like a quest log would be suffice for the non-obvious ones. A quest log and quest item tab can be used to ensure the player knows they'll reuse an item.
What if it's a game without a quest log? Achievements are just a universal framework for this kind of thing. So developers don't have to reinvent the wheel with every game. Sounds like the kind of standardization that is a good thing for everybody involved, except for the gatekeepers who only want hard "achievements".
But one that has to be implemented from scratch by every developer. It's not universal. You can't just redefine shit because you don't like achievements.
