OldBoyGamer
Banned
Is it fair to say you want other games to make you feel the way botw did? or is it just a nuts and bolts feature checklist thing? If it is feelings, well you probably wont get that if you have a history with Zelda that stretches to your childhood.
That's an interesting question. I think it's actually both. The nuts and bolts of how it all worked out for me - the way I personally played the game - and the feelings I had as a result of that.
I can't pinpoint one single thing - one single mechanic or feature. In general, I think it was just that the world created - and everything in that world - hung together so perfectly within it's rules and restrictions. That's why many arguments talking about hating one mechanic or another don't really matter to me. Because almost everything worked in unison within the realms of the world created. It was like watching the insides of a super complex clock. Seeing the cogs turn in perfect timing. And yes, every now and then, a cog would slip a tooth. But then it would just fit right back in again. The things I struggled with didn't matter because I learned how to overcome them - or at times, even better, use them to my advantage. The weapons breaking system was like that for me. The tower system was like that for me. The outfit system was like that for me. The cooking system was like that for me. The traversal system was like that for me. That feeling of coming against a problem and then slowly learning how to overcome it, not just with puzzles, but just the general game, is almost unprecedented for me.
Unison in an unrestricted world. Those two things together created an amazing experience for me - one that I'm struggling to find anywhere else.
It's like. I'm playing GoW. There's nothing wrong with the game right? It's a bloody good game. But I'm pushing forward on the pad. And then Kratos moves to the right along the path. Wait. What's going on? I'm still pushing forward though?? There is no path. There is no forest. It's just background geometry. That's a tiny example but a potent one - the game is controlling me - I'm not controlling the game. I never felt that way in BotW. Even when I felt out of control (like on the back of a dodgy horse), I was still in control.