Hi Developer! Another fellow developer here. I love the thoughtfulness of your feedback, as it's well written. I however feel like you are looking at it from the wrong player perspective, which is limiting how you can perceive the game. Please allow me to give you some rebuttal.
First, as a developer, you need to understand there are a LOT of types of players out there. You played the game to completion, which is something for an average game, is usually around 5% of your audience at best. Most players won't do everything in your game. This doesn't mean you need to make that 100% experience any worse, but it does mean you need to make sure the experience works for all player types. I'll get into that a bit more...
So, normally I would agree with you. I also personally HATE open world games. However, it's very important here to note that Nintendo's primary goal here was to make a game like Zelda 1, a game like Miyamoto's old experiences as a child exploring, a game where you are truly on an adventure. Exploring a large vast world. I don't disagree with your philosophy at Moon, but I do think player experience is being ignored if you have a hard and fast rule. In this case, Nintendo is focusing on pacing and separation, where they want the player to look around, choose a goal, journey towards that goal, then experience that goal. Each element of that player journey should be meaningful. If it was too short or dense, then choice paralysis can kick in, as well that part of the journey is no longer meaningful, and instead becomes a chore.
As a developer, I'm sure you understand the concept of limited resources, so the question comes is it worth that artists time, or that engineers time, and for what gain? So a small puzzle will feel a little different? That's probably not the best use of resources, that could instead go somewhere else.
In addition, as I mentioned about player experience, not every player is going to do every shrine. If 95% of your audience will only do half the shrines, is it that detrimental if a few repeat (and let's be fair, they don't actually REPEAT, they are just super similar...no different that certain stars in Mario 64 for example.)
So if I sound harsh, I apologize...but this is where you're missing that Nintendo design mentality. Each shrine was designed in a way that it could be your first. (I know, you're thinking Major ones wouldn't fit that bill.) But the point is if you had such a stark difference in difficulty, you risk ruining a players experience because they happened to stumble onto this particular shrine. Each shrine is meant to be about the same, and could be your very first.
The same is true with Korok seeds. They are meant to be a small thing to reward being observant. That's it. Not some series of challenges to overcome with a difficulty curve. It's clear that's why there are 900 of them...and why you hear most players go "Wow I only have like 40-60!" They are meant to cover a wide range of player experiences, so the likeliness of people finding a few is very high.
Same comments as before. I kind of agree with this one, but everything comes at a cost. When I saw my 3rd skull cave with a lantern hanging though, I wondered if it's a bit much as well. This could just be some small level design of making sure similar structure types feel different enough.
There's a lot in this one so let me try to break it down.
If combat didn't pause, it would likely be to difficult for a large audience. Again, Nintendo's goal is accessibility, and while I know it sort of "dampers the experience" for seasoned gamers, trying to imagine a less skilled gamer running from enemies trying to bring out the next weapon seems less than ideal for that audience.
Shield Surfing is indeed complex. I agree with that. As a developer though, pointing out the problem is 10% of the battle. The other 90% is finding a better solution. Thought?
And lastly I watched that UI video. While it starts off well enough, the solution is sort of specialized. The suggested UI that pops up would ONLY WORK for chest instances. If this UI popped up each time you tried to pick up a weapon, that would pause game play even more, which would be really annoying every time you accidentally picked up a stick. It does improve the chest opening part though for sure! So again, its a question of resources and return.
I haven't done enough to get a full grasp here, but overall I'd likely agree. These always seem like super optional stuff, which is why they never seem that meaningful.
You'd of course be right. Again, resources. Nintendo chose to focus on the WORLD, not the dungeons. I'd barely even call the beasts dungeons.
Anyway, just my 2 cents. Knowing how GAF works, I likely put too much time into a response no one will read anyway. If you have any questions, PM me as I don't read GAF that often anymore.
