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Anyone play Zelda Breath Of The Wild and not like it?
- Thread starter Hoho for breakfast
- Start date
I like exploring in BotW. I have mixed feelings about the shrines, though, and I absolutely hate the combat and controls. As much as I enjoy exploring the world in BotW, I have to say that the combat infuriates me far too easily for me to look past it. Given the fact that I'm having a lot of difficulty in finding more shrines to explore, I'm getting to a point where I'll probably need to tackle more combat, and I have less drive to play the game, as a result.
I thought the dungeons are excellent. Sure, they are not as long as those from past Zelda games, but the puzzles are quite clever. I like that each one has their unique mechanic that you have to get familiar with in order to solve the puzzles. The dungeon music is excellent, as well. The dungeon bosses music is one of the very best I've heard. And the epic dungeon locations, don't even get me started on those...
While yes, they are quite small dungeons, what little they offer is fucking awesome.
While yes, they are quite small dungeons, what little they offer is fucking awesome.
Hoho for breakfast
Member
That's actually a good compromise idea imo. To not have the weapons break until a fight is over. One of my big complaints is how you have to switch weapons and pause everything in the middle of a fight and that'd solve that problem, and it would also obviously mean the weapons would be a little more durable but still break.
I'm knee-deep into the game and I'm starting to see these glaring faults as well.
BotW does so many amazing things right, but the fact that they fumbled the voice acting, boss fights, and dungeons of all things is superbly ironic. Not sure how they heard these dialogue lines in the studio and thought they sounded okay.
Not sure why they sacrificed most sense of item strategy with boss fights, and progression with dungeons for the sake of unlimited freedom. I feel like they didn't figure out how to compromise this aspect well.
In fact, I look fondly upon Skyward Sword and Majora's Mask for their puzzles. They were top tier item puzzles.
Here's its like...cool...lift a rock, there's a korok!
Or make an ice pillar or something. The puzzles aren't very unique yet for me (25 hours in)
Mostly everything else is amazing.
Game is great, but not +10 great or even +14 compared to Horizon or Yakuza 0 on the MC scale.
It's just another great game this spring, that's all. No mambo jumbo magic or something like that for me.
After 20 hours or so, some things are becoming tedious tbh. I will never be a fan of the weapon system and cooking is extremely time consuming and unfunny at this point. The game's difficulty curve is also rather strange. I've obtained two gamebreakers
in quick succession. Shrines started as fun, now it's busy-work.
9/10
It's just another great game this spring, that's all. No mambo jumbo magic or something like that for me.
After 20 hours or so, some things are becoming tedious tbh. I will never be a fan of the weapon system and cooking is extremely time consuming and unfunny at this point. The game's difficulty curve is also rather strange. I've obtained two gamebreakers
Stasis+ and Titan 1 gift
9/10
I normally hate durability mechanics too, but I'm finding it okay in this game so far. There are plenty of weapons to go through (I'm still throwing away weapons because I keep running into inventory limits), and it's counterbalanced by the fact that you have infinite bombs, so you always have a way to do damage, even without using your "consumables". I also just recently got a few good weapons from enemies, which means I don't even need to resort to the crappy wooden clubs that weaker enemies drop so commonly, at least for the foreseeable future.
I've actually started cutting down trees and fishing with bombs so that I don't use up axe durability and arrows. I feel like a horrible person lol.
OrbitalBeard
Member
It honestly does a handful of times, but it's pretty rare, especially when you consider how much time you'll be playing the game if it hooks you.
But it does happen. I'm thinking of one area in particular.
I think the dungeons in this game are absolutely fantastic, but they're definitely not traditional and I can see why that puts off some people, especially if they're the main reason you play the series.
I don't think they're a blemish on this game at all, though. They're such a small part of the experience. I think the setpiece lead-up to each one is comparable to the best action moments from a developer like Naughty Dog. I wasn't expecting setpieces like these in a Zelda game and I hope we get more like them in the future. I do hope some traditional dungeons make a return in subsequent games, though, I'm also hoping the DLC dungeon is classic Zelda.
The
Zora
Zora
I completed Lakebed Temple in waiting for BotW launch and the difference in dungeon quality is astounding.
PooBone
Member
I really, REALLY HATE the shrines. A bunch of identical looking rooms with shitty background music, (the music otherwise is beautiful, there's just not nearly enough of it) plus you have to watch/skip five identical animations every time you find one. One for activating the warp point, another as you get on the elevator, another one as you get off the elevator, and then when you beat it there's two more animations (text) and an inventory add screen that is identical EVERY SINGLE TIME. In addition to this annoyance, there's also the idea of what they replaced: an interesting underworld worth exploring.
UGH! I hate em.
Love the game otherwise.
UGH! I hate em.
Love the game otherwise.
Fuck. This has forever bothered me about Zelda games. Especially next to other Nintendo titles.
SpiceMelange
Member
Lakebed is one of the best dungeons ever made in Zelda. I really need to replay TP.
AdmiralMikey
Member
I'm not going to repeat everyone else's gripes about this game, but please know I share in just about all of them but nothing disappoints me more in this "Zelda" game than how the dungeons are handled.
Shrines with maybe 1-2 puzzles in them spread across the landscape and these poor, small excuses for "dungeons" are a huge blemish on this game in the lineage of Zelda. One thing that Zelda games have done very well starting with Link to the Past is what I like to call the "Rewards Drip". Zelda games in general have a very good balance of rewarding players for their time and ingenuity, and dungeons were the epitome of that rewards drip. Rewarding players with a varied collection of challenges, battles and actual, tangible rewards. The hours spent in previous games' dungeons are among the top highlights in my gaming history.
These new shrines and mini-dungeons leave me more with a shrug than a smile when I get through them, and come nowhere close to the full dungeons in previous games in the series, and making me trek for minutes at a time across a big, mostly empty landscape to get to the next unsatisfying pale shadow of a Zelda dungeon has not endeared me much to this game.
I'll admit, I have a long way to go still, but as of right now Breath of the Wild is a contender with Skyward Sword for my least favorite 3D Zelda.
The thing is each dungeon has its own leadup region that is distinct from the overworld. It's like how you had to go through that maze to get to the Forest Temple in OOT, but this time instead of a short puzzle / combat section there's a whole geographical region with its own side quests and mechanics and NPCs.
OrbitalBeard
Member
For sure. And I think that's because TP's main focus was on dungeons and the main focus of BotW is the overworld. If we actually get a game that puts an equal emphasis on both, it will be amazing. They're probably going to have to expand their team size and budget though.
I think BotW is a significantly better game than TP though. While shrines and
Divine Beasts
The Shrine Quest are probably my favorite aspect of the game.
I love the shrine mechanic, i'm always so excited to see what puzzle lurks inside when I find one.
yep. dungeon gameplay without being inside a dungeon.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Although I agree with you, you aren't gong to convince dungeon stalwarts that this is even close to the same thing. There's something about being inside an actual dungeon with small keys, a map, a compass, and a unique item that certain Zelda fans believe is impossible to top.
My only gripe with the dungeons in this is that they're too short. They're pretty creative and fun, though, I'd love to see the idea expanded in another game.
I've never been too crazy about puzzle solving though. To me, Zelda was always about the sense of adventure and discovery, so this game is pretty much a dream come true.
I do love the shrines, however. The puzzles are wonderful and I don't get tired of them because they're not mandatory and can clear them at my own pace.
Performance on Wii U is definitely garbage, though, I can tell you that's one thing I hate about the game lol.
Oh and weapon durability is fine, but they should last a bit longer. Having a normal sword break after two encounters is madness and makes no sense.
But yeah as it stands, it's the best Zelda game ever for me and it's not even close.
I've never been too crazy about puzzle solving though. To me, Zelda was always about the sense of adventure and discovery, so this game is pretty much a dream come true.
I do love the shrines, however. The puzzles are wonderful and I don't get tired of them because they're not mandatory and can clear them at my own pace.
Performance on Wii U is definitely garbage, though, I can tell you that's one thing I hate about the game lol.
Oh and weapon durability is fine, but they should last a bit longer. Having a normal sword break after two encounters is madness and makes no sense.
But yeah as it stands, it's the best Zelda game ever for me and it's not even close.
The shrines despite being short still offer some of the best puzzles in the Zelda series to date. I think Nintendo not having to focus too much of their energy on the structure of eight or nine dungeons makes it much easier for the team to create simple fun mind bending puzzles that the player can be rewarded with by exploring. Which is the main focus of the game.
biggersmaller
Banned
I'm not a graphics whore but...eeesh. Textures loading 2 feet from Link, jaggies, and an often applied haze effect really is distracting.
Otherwise love the game. Including the Shrines. I was frankly sick of being stuck in a dungeon for hours on end after replaying the GC titles and to those who say it's a "departure" - go back and play NES Zelda and see how long a dungeon lasts.
Otherwise love the game. Including the Shrines. I was frankly sick of being stuck in a dungeon for hours on end after replaying the GC titles and to those who say it's a "departure" - go back and play NES Zelda and see how long a dungeon lasts.
PSFan
Member
Don't forget the Boss Key.
LegendofLex
Member
I have no problem with the amount of time it takes to clear the dungeons in BotW. What I have a problem with is:
1) They don't seem to have very many enemies, and then they're just basic mini Guardian grunts. The dungeons in the original games were really dangerous with lots of enemies and even introduced enemies you didn't see anywhere else.
2) The original dungeons were labyrinths that you had to navigate in just the right way to get to the boss, but the dungeons aren't like that at all in BotW - they're just a series of scattered puzzles. The kinds of puzzles we've got now would make a nice endpoint to open the boss door in an otherwise maze-like dungeon.
1) They don't seem to have very many enemies, and then they're just basic mini Guardian grunts. The dungeons in the original games were really dangerous with lots of enemies and even introduced enemies you didn't see anywhere else.
2) The original dungeons were labyrinths that you had to navigate in just the right way to get to the boss, but the dungeons aren't like that at all in BotW - they're just a series of scattered puzzles. The kinds of puzzles we've got now would make a nice endpoint to open the boss door in an otherwise maze-like dungeon.
Good point. Leading up to the
zora
divine beast
DeviousAngel
Member
My personal gripes about 40 hours in:
1) Horses are fun to tame but they're kind useless most times. I wish Epona's song was in so I could call them from anywhere. I only use them near stables when I have to explore a wide open field, or in central Hyrule field to take down guardians. Other than that I stick to the skies!
2) The recipe book... first I though it was a silly suggestion but it would be nice to choose a recipe from the book and make it instantaneously.
3) It does rain a lot for a game that requires tons of climbing lol
That said, I'm finding a lot of the gripes people have are some of my favourite things about it. There's also something to be said about judging the game within the first few hours. I mean for me it didn't even click completely until hour 10 or so:
- Yes there's a weapon durability system and, at the beginning of the game when everything is wooden or rusted, they break real easy. However after a while you just say fuck it. Weapons, shields and ingredients aren't meant to be preserved (you'll find more). You experiment, you adapt. There's also the fact that...
- Situations can be approached in dozens of different ways, even battle. We've been conditioned by the Zelda series to approach an enemy head on and swing a sword until it dies. No more. Boulders, explosives, dropping metal objects, bombs, sniping, shock/freezing for crowd control, booby traps, stealth kills, stealing weapons, distracting with food, distracting with sound, stasis projectiles, etc etc etc.
- Don't get me wrong, as someone who's played OoT at least 35 times by now I do miss the longer, themed dungeons. However, breaking up adventuring with shrine puzzles is actually a clever idea to implement a "dungeon" structure in such a massive world. Shrines seem to be scattered almost perfectly to culminate a two hour bout of exploration with something cool. If there were 10 big dungeons in the game, there would be a lot of puzzle-dry spells.
- I'm a hardcore completionist but I think this may be the first game I decide to just play for fun. I could spend all the time in the world filling the compendia and getting every item/weapon but you know what? I just don't think it reflects the game. This is about survival. It's about minimalism and making what you have work. So you didn't get all the korok seeds... big deal.
- Stats. Not sure why the lack of them is an issue. Link only gets stronger as far as hearts and stamina are concerned. The rest is player growth and adaptability, which I think is really cool.
- Voice acting. It's kinda bad but at the same time it's kinda Zelda-esque. I can't greally get hung up on something like this lol
1) Horses are fun to tame but they're kind useless most times. I wish Epona's song was in so I could call them from anywhere. I only use them near stables when I have to explore a wide open field, or in central Hyrule field to take down guardians. Other than that I stick to the skies!
2) The recipe book... first I though it was a silly suggestion but it would be nice to choose a recipe from the book and make it instantaneously.
3) It does rain a lot for a game that requires tons of climbing lol
That said, I'm finding a lot of the gripes people have are some of my favourite things about it. There's also something to be said about judging the game within the first few hours. I mean for me it didn't even click completely until hour 10 or so:
- Yes there's a weapon durability system and, at the beginning of the game when everything is wooden or rusted, they break real easy. However after a while you just say fuck it. Weapons, shields and ingredients aren't meant to be preserved (you'll find more). You experiment, you adapt. There's also the fact that...
- Situations can be approached in dozens of different ways, even battle. We've been conditioned by the Zelda series to approach an enemy head on and swing a sword until it dies. No more. Boulders, explosives, dropping metal objects, bombs, sniping, shock/freezing for crowd control, booby traps, stealth kills, stealing weapons, distracting with food, distracting with sound, stasis projectiles, etc etc etc.
- Don't get me wrong, as someone who's played OoT at least 35 times by now I do miss the longer, themed dungeons. However, breaking up adventuring with shrine puzzles is actually a clever idea to implement a "dungeon" structure in such a massive world. Shrines seem to be scattered almost perfectly to culminate a two hour bout of exploration with something cool. If there were 10 big dungeons in the game, there would be a lot of puzzle-dry spells.
- I'm a hardcore completionist but I think this may be the first game I decide to just play for fun. I could spend all the time in the world filling the compendia and getting every item/weapon but you know what? I just don't think it reflects the game. This is about survival. It's about minimalism and making what you have work. So you didn't get all the korok seeds... big deal.
- Stats. Not sure why the lack of them is an issue. Link only gets stronger as far as hearts and stamina are concerned. The rest is player growth and adaptability, which I think is really cool.
- Voice acting. It's kinda bad but at the same time it's kinda Zelda-esque. I can't greally get hung up on something like this lol
DieNgamers
Member
This is a bit random but having seen in mentioned on this last page: I'm replaying Zelda Twilight Princess at the moment and...wow. I forgot what a downgrade to (even) Wind Waker this was. I won't miss the traditional dungeons, let's just say it this way.
Zelda dungeons haven't been metroidvania style labyrinths for a long time now anyway, they've been linear series of rooms since Twilight Princess without any meaningful interaction between them. In the past you had to think about stuff like how changing something in one room would affect the entire dungeon, but now all the rooms are self-contained puzzled with no macroscopic element to them like raising water levels and such. The Portal-esque structure of mini rooms that focus entirely on a single concept is actually more elegant than a string of arbitrarily put together single-room puzzles, what I'm saying is I prefer BotW's approach over Skyward Swords' but I would rather they go back to dungeons acting as mini metroid maps.
That's awesome to hear, I loved the focused, wide-linear level design before
Zora's Domain
I went from being in the first main area of the game, thinking why am I so gimped and why everything takes forever in this game to really enjoying it. Once I got the paraglider it was amazing how much the game opens up. I was honestly close to selling the game because I didn't think it was for me, but once I got past that part and got a handle on the controls I've been enjoying it since.
The only issue I have is that the dungeons could be incorporated into the world better. I'd like to explore a volcano and see a hole, go in and boom volcano dungeon. That and some more enemy types.
I love the shrines. There's a good mix of shrines that are isolated and others that are built within the world. I don't much care for the story or other narrative things (if you're playing videogames for the stories I think that's a misuse of time imo).
What the game sets out to do, it does fantastically and without parallel, but there are some rough edges here and there. Definitely a 10 though
I love the shrines. There's a good mix of shrines that are isolated and others that are built within the world. I don't much care for the story or other narrative things (if you're playing videogames for the stories I think that's a misuse of time imo).
What the game sets out to do, it does fantastically and without parallel, but there are some rough edges here and there. Definitely a 10 though
LegendofLex
Member
When I read your first sentence, my reaction was basically "Zelda games haven't been open-world action RPGs for a long time now, either, and look at Breath of the Wild now."
;p
Treacherous labyrinthine dungeons with their own enemy ecosystems are another convention I'd like to see revived while the newer dungeon design philosophies recede into the background. Shrines can definitely stay, though.
LegendofLex
Member
Depending on how you approach certain regions, you may find yourself working your way toward each of the main dungeons through a more linear pathway. I'm guessing that's what people are talking about.
There are a few really excellent examples of things like this. They've been really surprising and fun as far as I've seen so far. They're sort of overworld "puzzle areas" that once completed, reward you with a puzzle-less shrine. There are some mighty impressive ones.
I guess I have to keep looking, the only blessing shrines I've found are from
the Korok forest, Eventide Island, and a bombable wall in a cliffside.
I've been completely obsessed by this game since first booting it up but I have to agree with some of the negatives mentioned in this thread.
My list, in no particular order:
- Enemy variety could be a lot better than fighting through countless camps of the same three types so far (save for less frequent, but very welcome other enemies sprinkled in between).
- Voice acting is quite inconsistent and jarring in places, and that is coming from someone who rarely gets bothered by such things. Maybe they should have gone with the team behind the Souls games instead?
- Getting what seem to be the four main items to use in shrines right at the beginning of the game is something that greatly limits the puzzle designs in shrines as the developers can only be sure of those being in the player's possession.
- Shrines are mostly too short and I also don't really like their unified high-tech / clean look.
- Weapons break far too quickly, especially the metal ones, and it makes little sense in terms of world building that there are no vendors who sell basic weapons nor that there aren't any smiths who can fix them. I would have liked a system where more valuable weapons could be repaired by, for instance, using a somewhat rare item or tool. Being a master swordsman, it would also make sense that Link would gradually perfect his skills with each weapon type and that they would start to break less quickly as a result. (I can't get the image out of my mind that Link is not so much saving Hyrule but that he is trying to get his hands on and then destroy as many weapons as he can.)
- Some of the frequently repeated cutscenes are starting to get on my nerves, especially the unskippable Blood Moon one and all the skippable Shrine ones (that still take up time even when skipped).
Other than these I really like the game and consider it a monumental experience. I can't wait to explore the rest of its vast world and visit the other domains.
My list, in no particular order:
- Enemy variety could be a lot better than fighting through countless camps of the same three types so far (save for less frequent, but very welcome other enemies sprinkled in between).
- Voice acting is quite inconsistent and jarring in places, and that is coming from someone who rarely gets bothered by such things. Maybe they should have gone with the team behind the Souls games instead?
- Getting what seem to be the four main items to use in shrines right at the beginning of the game is something that greatly limits the puzzle designs in shrines as the developers can only be sure of those being in the player's possession.
- Shrines are mostly too short and I also don't really like their unified high-tech / clean look.
- Weapons break far too quickly, especially the metal ones, and it makes little sense in terms of world building that there are no vendors who sell basic weapons nor that there aren't any smiths who can fix them. I would have liked a system where more valuable weapons could be repaired by, for instance, using a somewhat rare item or tool. Being a master swordsman, it would also make sense that Link would gradually perfect his skills with each weapon type and that they would start to break less quickly as a result. (I can't get the image out of my mind that Link is not so much saving Hyrule but that he is trying to get his hands on and then destroy as many weapons as he can.)
- Some of the frequently repeated cutscenes are starting to get on my nerves, especially the unskippable Blood Moon one and all the skippable Shrine ones (that still take up time even when skipped).
Other than these I really like the game and consider it a monumental experience. I can't wait to explore the rest of its vast world and visit the other domains.
there are traditional dungeon-like bosses in the overworld, I'll say that
Megalosaro
Banned
This has already surpassed majora's mask and links awakening as my favorite zelda. I have my complaints. I don't love the voice acting. And yeah, enemy variety could he better. Could use more music being played. But overall, sublime. Best open world game I've played
Blood Moon cutscene is skippable, just sometimes they switch the skip button to + instead of X for whatever reason
I've only played it for a little bit, but it's just alright so far. It's a shame that it runs poorly in spots and doesn't look that great. Better graphics would go a long way in a game such as this.
I also don't really like the controls. Just doesn't feel natural yet, and I'm not sure it ever will honestly.
I also don't really like the controls. Just doesn't feel natural yet, and I'm not sure it ever will honestly.
That's pretty interesting, I feel like BotW has one of the best rewards drips of all the Zelda games. Wind Waker I thought did a bad job of this, but the shrines are great. Once I reach a shrine I'm just as excited about the puzzle/treasure/orb as I am about unlocking a new warp point to be able to get back there. Makes adventuring out into the unknown really fun once you finally are able to get that checkpoint
Huge Succeeded
Banned
that's kind of exactly what happens, but you're Link, and your skills are built upon perfected from being made to utilize weapons in differing scenarios constantly, sort of like how I describe in this post:
I'm better at the game, I use my weapons far more effectively now, and while I don't have a tendancy to hoard specific weapons because I think the game plays better when I don't, I can still manage my weapon degradation better after being made to experiment with the other tools and combat options at my disposal, too. I sort of look at weapons like they're expendable special ammo, with their own particular functions, for the omnipresent 'weapon' that is Link's arms. If that makes any sense. Barreling through loads of weapons is like having a constantly adapting and evolving suite of tools at my disposal at all times, especially moreso now that I'm exploring further and there's no shortage of good shit around.
omgwtfbentime
Member
I need to play more but so far the only problems I really have are the performance in towns (hardly a dealbreaker and playing on Wii U), wish their were more musical themes instead of just always ambient (which while nice, I would like something in between the two), and the Shrines look too samey and don't offer the same variety and charm of a typical Zelda game and sometimes don't feel rewarding enough. While I really enjoy climbing as a mechanic, I wish it offered more variety and challenge, it's not entirely engaging.
I'm a firm believer that I am often way more critical of the things I love though, and I am so in love with this game. I honestly haven't been so grabbed by a game in a long while... and it's a really nice feeling. There's such a compelling allure to Breath of the Wild and it's hard to put my finger QUITE ON what it is...
I'm a firm believer that I am often way more critical of the things I love though, and I am so in love with this game. I honestly haven't been so grabbed by a game in a long while... and it's a really nice feeling. There's such a compelling allure to Breath of the Wild and it's hard to put my finger QUITE ON what it is...
Huge Succeeded
Banned
Ever since I figured out this little quirk, it's made climbing a bit more engaging (in the sense that now I more carefully plan out a path up a cliffside, looking for all the spots where I can clamber instead of climbing to regain stamina, before I commit) and a whole lot faster (even without the speed potions I'm basically constantly using). All you do is hit (B) or (X), whatever your release - not jump - button is, while holding forward on the analog stick. You'll fall back a little bit, start clambering to climb again, and regain stamina all the while.
Where have you been finding bomb arrows? I can't find them for shit.
MisterGrey3000
Member
Same here actually.
I haven't encountered anything dungeon-like in the overworld.
Maybe some folks have a different idea of what "dungeon-like" means or something.
When I think of dungeon-like I think of places like Lanayru in SS; where you have to work with the time-shift stones to briefly breath the past's life into the present's dead environment, or use bombs to knock down walls to create platforms, or use the beetle to drop bombs on shelled enemies in order to cross a pond of deadly quicksand, all in succession of each other- like a traditional Zelda dungeon.
The most I've had to worry about in BotW's overworld is "Am I going to die because this place too cold/hot", "Are these monsters going to one shot me?", and "Do I have enough food to make the long trip??". Those are the only formidable obstacles attempting to thwart the player, the vast majority of environmental obstacles can be completely circumvented because that's the whole point of the game.
I'm thinking that VO was most likely a pretty late addition; No matter how well-written or charming it manages to be, plot/story comes second to compelling game mechanics and systems with LoZ.
They probably just didn't plan to have the time or money to wring really good performances out of these actors.
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