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[Deleted member 774430]

They said it redefined the open world genre cause it redefined it's openness: nothing is strictly necessary.

If you are too bored by it, go to Ganon and finish the game there. The game tells you can go there at any point pretty much within the first hour.

It's your decision to not go there and enjoy your time in Hyrule as much as you want.

The shrines, the towers, the divine beasts, the minigames, the sidequests, the korok seeds are all technically optional activities. There are some great examples of level design especially with the shrines, the puzzle on how to find them (sometimes it's related to quests, sometimes it requires exploration,...) or the puzzle inside of them.

Have you ever visited the islands on the east? there are some cool puzzles in there.

Even the music reflects the openness/wilderness as the sounds of nature are truly the stars so you don't really need some big heavy background music and it makes sense considering the post apocalyptic setting.

It's my favourite Zelda game as it breaks the traditional Zelda formula which was starting to feel stale (especially after Skyward Sword), but it throws lots of references and the genious parts are very subtle, this is not the kind of game that tells you in your face when there's an important moment.

 

[GHG]

i also hate nintendo for saying how revolutionary the game is, and how they coined the term 'open-air' because of how free it is. literally suck my crusty chode nintendo fuck you and your arrogance, especially when we've had open world games with actual perfected flight mechanics for fucking ages you arrogant cunts

if youre gunna try coin a new genre at least give it to a game deserving of it

Fuck yes.

Just Cause 2 onwards was the definition of great sandbox and shit everything else. They are great games to dive into and fool around in for a short while but not the types of games that you want to actually play to finish the story or anything the game actually tasks you with. It all falls apart the moment you start doing what you're supposed to do in the open world.

 

[Bakkus]

It's a pretty good game if your objective never reaches further than completing the game and all main dungeons. It's a very bad 'completionist' game. Here are my main gripes with the game:

World way too big for it's own good

Repetitive objectives

The combat has lots of exprementation to it, but the rewards are usually lousy, same goes for most of the sidequests.

Story, set pieces and characters are what makes a Zelda game memorable to me. This game had pretty much no story, no connection to any previous Zelda, and the characters were sooooo lame and unmemorable. The only exeption I can think of was that little professor lady who helps you build stuff, but she is just a ripoff of Edna from The Incredibles!

The world building is pretty much nonexistent which is a sin for an open world game. Tarrey Town could have been great, but it feels in the end way too empty and lifeless. What a waste. Snowboard minigame which you didn't cover, is terrible. Why? Because it contributes toward shield damage! Insane. As does Shield rolling everywhere else...

The Bowling minigame is great because you can exploit it easily to rack up like 100.000 rupees within an hour. Do that, and ignore most of the tedious sidequests which takes 2 digit minutes with lousy rewards... Yiga clan is underutilized with little payoff, Horses the same Rain...nuff said

The abilities you get after dungeons have flaws in their mehanics. The ones which have more than one usage before they have to charge up are stupid because after you've used one or two of Revali's ability for example, they don't charge back up to 3. You have to use all 3 before they charge back up. Annoyed me to no end.

 

[SLB1904]

I think the only thing that make this game special is the way you can play with physics everything else is dated.

 

[Leprech]

Without going on a long tangent (youtube is full of vids if you want that) on why it does many things ok even more things wrong and still uses some bad open world ideas from other bad open world games.
Yeah it was basically Nintendo(ddlers) first open world game.. kinda like many people in the past got their first taste of open world with oblivion, so the reactions from Nintendo gamers is not that shocking... but i did expected more from critics though.

 

[siekro1983]

its a 8.5-9 out of 10 for me, i loved it. it has way too many flaws to be considered close to being the best game of all time. the combat and weapon breaking was shit with no real challenge, traversal sucked, gliding was shit and the horse is useless. not to mention the shrines same old shit every shine. the main thing that zelda had against other open worlds was it was easy to navigate, because of it's simple world design.

 

[siekro1983]

Without going on a long tangent (youtube is full of vids if you want that) on why it does many things ok even more things wrong and still uses some bad open world ideas from other bad open world games.
Yeah it was basically Nintendo(ddlers) first open world game.. kinda like many people in the past got their first taste of open world with oblivion, so the reactions from Nintendo gamers is not that shocking... but i did expected more from critics though.

Critics are the same fanboy you see online. mario 3d wold was compete garbage and scored a 93,

 

[MagnesG]

I have so many questions.

I've just spoken to Impa (grandma?) and I'm cleaning up the shrines in the surrounding area of the Cuckariko Village. Is something crazy about to happen that will change my mind completely? Will I get a crazy new ability? Should I just ignore all these repetitive shrines/towers glowing in the distance and head east?

I'm ready to be struck down and have my eyes opened, come at me.

Just try defeating Ganon with least amount of time instead of asking tedious questions, you'll find your answer along the way.

Also, I almost forgot, why cont you swim properly in this game? Why can't you go underwater?

Why do you instantly drown when the stamina meter runs out? Did this man learn to swim before he could tread water?

Wtf are these questions? Because that's how the game is designed?

 

[Rodolink]

This was my playthrough the game and why it's an A tier even B tier in my Zelda list.
Locate tower - beat beast - locate tower - beat beast - locate tower - beat beast - locate tower - beat beast - get ms - kill ganon
On top of that add stupid weapon mechanics and lame dungeon design.
Looks wonderful, feels wonderful but is not my Zelda game.

 

[siekro1983]

This was my playthrough the game and why it's an A tier even B tier in my Zelda list.
Locate tower - beat beast - locate tower - beat beast - locate tower - beat beast - locate tower - beat beast - get ms - kill ganon
On top of that add stupid weapon mechanics and lame dungeon design.
Looks wonderful, feels wonderful but is not my Zelda game.

exploring the world and finding shrines was fun, the problem with these open world games they are never balanced, after about 30-40 shrines its starts getting stale, and your don't not even need to level up at all. plus why does link look like a female so much, and the story was 100% trash.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

It bears the Zelda title so therefore it is great regardless of your points! I mainly agree with you OP I don't get the "best game of the generation" title so many give it.

The problem is they simply don't make games like that anymore. Prey and Kingdom Come are the only two recent games that have given me a similar feeling to Morrowind and Gothic.

How? Kingdom Come is the blandest open world game to date. How can you compare it to Morrowind which felt otherworldly and unique?

 

[Great Hair]

Spoiler: It´s ok to doxx someone, if he or she is an arsehole!

 

[Stiflers Mom]

My experience with the game:
* walking through barren landscape
* approaching encampment of those red shit orks
* Weapon breaks

 

[GHG]

How? Kingdom Come is the blandest open world game to date. How can you compare it to Morrowind which felt otherworldly and unique?

It's not about the setting of the world so much but the nature of the game design. I can see why a lot of people would see the world as bland, its very grounded and you're not going to see any crazy things by going off the beaten track. That's the nature of the game thematically and I don't mind it so much because it fits here.

I didn't love Morrowind because of the crazy looking shit, I loved it for the crazy shit you could do and how the game makes you live by your actions.

For example you can mistakenly (and unknowingly) steal weapons from an NPC who is supposed to help you on a later mission and screw yourself in the process. When that NPC arrives to help, they will do so with no weapons and just stand there because you stole their shit earlier in the game. How about waiting until it's the time when everyone goes to church to break in to somewhere and steal an item you need for a quest instead of completing a sub-quest to acquire said item? It's the little touches like that which make game worlds believable and engaging, not climbing towers to unlock areas on a map.

 

[TMLT]

I really liked the emergent gameplay aspects, the crazy attention to detail and how beautiful and diverse the world was. The world is kind of "empty" in the sense of lack of NPCs, but not in terms of gameplay.

Weapon degradation was a pain in the ass though.

 

[AllyITA]

My experience with the game:
* walking through barren landscape
* approaching encampment of those red shit orks
* Weapon breaks

* walking through barren landscape with a lot of places to explore
* approaching encampment of those red shit orks
* Weapon breaks
*use the other 5 weapons i have in the inventory + bombs + arrows + heavy metal objects with magnesis power + fire + electricity to defeat the enemies
*restore my weapon stock with the ones of enemies i just defeated
*keep exploring


it may not be the perfect game for everybody (or the perfect game at all) but i enjoyed it LOTS of hours when it came out (more than 100) and i just restarted it from scratch.
i cannot say the same for the ubisoft stuff which i treat as a touristy look around paris/london/jerusalem from vantage points simulator. because the story/missions/game is just boring

 

[GeorgPrime]

I guess even when i enjoyed Breath of the Wild... i would say that Witcher 3 is the better Open World Game when it comes to Story, Sidequests, Content. I played Witcher 3 a few times. I played Breath of the Wild once and i wont ever 100 % it. The Korok Seeds for example are not worth gathering at all.

The Shrines were fast food content and the boss dungeons where not really tasty too.

I hope they bring back real themed Dungons in Breath of the Wild 2 with different bosses. I really despise those copy and paste contents.

 

[Lanrutcon]

I couldn't get into it.

And this is from someone who spent 160+ hours on AC:Odyssey.

 

[GymWolf]

I bought a fucking switch for this game, my biggest mistake of this gen.

 

[kraspkibble]

my favourite Zelda and open world game.

it's not perfect but no other open world game has had me hooked. Closest would be Witcher 3. BOTW overtook Witcher 3 to become my most played open world game and 2nd most played game of all time.

can't wait for the sequel.

 

[Kev Kev]

Lol at these cringe, corny topic titles lately. And the OP isn’t much better. You sound like a 15 year old kid who just recently gained enough confidence to post on a GameFAQs message board for the first time.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

When i beat the game by actively avoiding as many of the games mechanics as i could then you know somethings wrong

 

[brian0057]

Considering that the "baby's first open world game" is orders of magnitudes better than Ubisoft open worlds not named Far Cry 2 and the last two Elder Scrolls games, I'd say they did a pretty good job.

 

[MagnesG]

Let people vote for what they want to vote, why get so salty about it? It doesn't matter if those people had played Skyrim, MGSV etc. or not, your opinion doesn't mean shit on other people's personal enjoyment on a game.

Though I played most of AAA open world titles too and still choose BOTW at the end.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I spent more than 100 hours on BOTW and just couldn't put it down for a good couple of weeks.

I tried one hour of The Witcher 3 and I was bored beyond boredom.

BOTW trimmed the useless fat off the classic open world formula and all that's left is gameplay, freedom and wonder. No card games, no crafting, no redundant and repetitive animations to skin killed animals, no holding a button to get off a horse, no useless lines of dialogue... one could go on.

The gameplay looks very basic but people have done incredible things with the game's physics engine.

 

[Saruhashi]

Hm.

I think a lot of times when people criticize a game they cast aside everything that the game was intending to do and focus instead on what they think the game should be doing.

Something I found interesting about BOTW is that people criticize the world for being empty. They are trying to create this desolate, lonely, "post apocalyptic" environment though. How can you do that and also have the world jammed full of stuff to do?
So, what if the developer intended for the world to feel the way it actually feels?

I think a large part of quality criticism comes from first understanding what the game is intending to provide and then criticizing the ways in which it fails to do that or to suggesting how it could be done better.

So, for example, "why is everyone mumbling random noises" and "standard save the princess, rid the world of evil story" and "lack of notable music, especially when roaming the open world" are really stupid and shallow criticisms. Especially the music one. The game deliberately sets out to do exactly what it does with the music.

Same with the towers. I can't remember how many there were in the game but I do remember that it was fun to figure out how to climb them, get to the top, look around for shrines or interesting stuff and then paraglide off to some appealing point in the distance.
Now, maybe that makes me a fucking idiot for enjoying something so simplistic and basic and overdone in gaming. Or the developers thought "you know this would be kind of fun" and my response is "yes, I absolutely agree this is awesome and I am glad it's in the game". I don't know.

I think those examples kind of illustrate where the developers wanted to do something but people are split on whether or not they like that. It's something that can't really be resolved if you either like it or don't and that's it.

I disagree completely that they are like Ubisoft towers but that's not something worth getting into, I think.

I never really get this "I think the game is shit, come at me" style of posting for popular games.
The fact of the matter is that the game is popular and the reasons for that popularity are easily found on the internet.
If I am to say "here is why BOTW is good" 3 years after the games release then I am just repeating the same points that have been made over and over and over by all the people who really liked the game.

On top of that it is actually kind of difficult to properly criticize a game you really really like. I don't know how accurate this is but according to my Switch profile I've played the game for a few hundred hours and it is my most played on the console so for me that is for sure a 9 or 10 out of 10 game. Trust me, I am not investing that kind of time into something I am not interested in. So, yeah, something I spent that much time on and actually enjoyed it enough to keep going back and keep spending time is on any "best of all time" list I might have.

I can only say I've been playing games since the late 80s/early 90s and it would never occur to me to try and deconstruct something I legitimately loved sinking loads of hours into. It's just weird. In the end I spent hundreds of enjoyable hours with the game so what's the point in trying to balanced?

Similarly I don't feel any need to justify why I liked it.

This will always be the problem with massively popular games and games that get very positive review scores.
People come into the game thinking it's going to change their world forever and then it doesn't.
Or you end up thinking "wait I actually don't like this! WTF!? I was lied to!".
That doesn't really invalidate that other people did like it though.

It's one of those weird games where you will get people who didn't like it being told "you don't get it" and you'll get people who did like it being told "you only give it a pass because it's Nintendo".

At the end of the day I believe that anyone who plays videogames can at least understand the appeal of this game even if it is not to their tastes.
On top of that I would say that if you handed this game to anyone who is into gaming then more often that not they will really like the game.

Does the "Zelda" brand maybe buy the game some additional goodwill? Probably.
I would argue that this is true in all entertainment and even just in business.
Though it could also be that the result of years of positive results with a target market leads to products that are better and better at connecting with that market.

 

[Hendrick's]

I don't get it either. I have tried three times now to get into this game, but it just bores me to tears. The controls are weird, it doesn't looks very good (the Switch is disappointing hardware), and don't get me started on the weapon durability and stamina. It's also a very sandboxy game, which in this case is a detriment as it's not a very fun one to be in.

 

[Saruhashi]

• Old man give me your paraglider
• Oh look a fetch quest
• Repetitive shrines
• Hey old man, just give me your jacket, I don't want to have to throw random shit in a pot in the hope you'll give it to me until I give up
• It's a bit cold up here lads
• Old man was just a troll, he wasn't really old
• Went back to the hut and he left me the jacket there anyway, what a waste of ingredients, thanks buddy
• Limited weapon slots despite your weapons breaking after just farting on them
• WHY CAN THIS LITTLE MAN CHOP DOWN TREES IN A COUPLE OF SWIPES AND COOK CRAZY DISHES BY CHUCKING RANDOM SHIT IN A DIRTY POT BUT CAN'T CRAFT ARROWS?
• Tedious boat mechanics... an oversized leaf? Really?
• Why is everyone mumbling random noises?
• Standard save the princess, rid the world of evil story
• Lack of notable music, especially when roaming the open world
• "Don't step on my flowers!!!" crazy lady insta-fail...

Also what's with this Cinema Sins wannabe stuff?

 

[GHG]

Also what's with this Cinema Sins wannabe stuff?

I have no idea what that is.

It was 3am, I'd just played the game for a while and wanted to share my thoughts but didn't have the energy to write in a style that I usually do, so did much of it in bullet point form as thoughts came to me chronologically. Sorry if you didn't like it or if it offended you.

If you read my other posts throughout this thread they might give you further insight as to where I'm coming from and why my opinion is what it is on the game.

And for what it's worth I can absolutely understand why some people adore the game, especially if it's their first experience with an open world game. What I take issue with is the utter bullshit that has been said about this game in the last couple of years that has built this game up to be something it quite frankly isn't. It's not an open world palate cleanser, it's a bog standard open world game, warts and all.

 

[Saruhashi]

And for what it's worth I can absolutely understand why some people adore the game, especially if it's their first experience with an open world game. What I take issue with is the utter bullshit that has been said about this game in the last couple of years that has built this game up to be something it quite frankly isn't. It's not an open world palate cleanser, it's a bog standard open world game, warts and all.

Nope. Not my first open world game by a long distance.
I actually found the game was significantly more streamlined and more conducive to exploration compared to other open worlds.

I don't see the need to get into that since the internet is full of people already explaining why, in their opinion, it is a fresh take on open world games.
It was not my first open world experience by any means and I still found it to be new and interesting and better than a lot of stuff that came before.

The problem is that you are confusing your own opinion with fact.
Or at least you are not tempering "this game is built up to be something it isn't" with some kind of disclaimer such as "for me" or "in my opinion".

There are people for whom this will be the best game they've played. I don't see how this can be effectively contradicted or broken down?
A certain group of people reckon it's the best game of the decade. Whatever. Maybe we agree. Maybe we don't. I don't see a way of contradicting it though.

"Baby's first open world game" is one approach, I guess.
Imply that people who think it's awesome are a bit dumb or inexperienced or immature as a method to invalidate their opinion.
Oh it must be because it's your first open world game? That's why you like BOTW. I see.
Seems like the most dishonest approach.

"I personally didn't like the thing therefore the people who did like it are talking utter bullshit and must be dumb or inexperienced with games" is a nonsense stance to take. Easily dismissed because plenty of the people praising the game had played a ton of open worlds before.

If you sincerely think that anyone who adores this game only does so because it's their first open world then honestly that belief only calls your own competence into question.

What is this? Baby's first video game criticism?

At this point really the only thing we can do is attempt to contextualize.

What game would you suggest I try that has been built up over the years and completely matches that hype step by step?

 

[Jacknapes]

Going into Breath of the Wild myself having played many Zelda games in the past, i can safely say that the open world environment suits a game like this. The world is rife for exploration and letting you go where you want without restrictions. Fair enough, the early part does limit you a bit until you get more stamina or health in order to really start conquering the hills and mountains. Past Zelda games have held your hand on a near-set route, sort of "go here and collect X" and "clear this dungeon to progress". Breath of the Wild uses the Great Plateux starting area as the perfect place for you to learn the skills you'll need to survive in Hyrule (the Sheikah slate powers, cooking etc)

In a way, Breath of the Wild goes back to the series roots of pure exploration.

That's not to say the game is perfect, no. The 10/10 ratings i do find hard to agree with. Don't get me wrong, the Shrines and Towers are a good idea. Shrines in particular, as they offer small dungeon experiences with a small reward at the end (plus some of them provide sheer satisfaction for completing). The main 4 Divine Beasts offer larger dungeon-like experiences for those wanting it). I get the weapon durability was put in place to let you discover new ways of combat, but i'd have liked a permanent weapon or two that didn't break as an option (Master Sword doesn't count as such). And i'd have liked to see a few more Hyrule residents in settlements across the land, and not just in the towns.

Maybe the game could have had a few more proper dungeons outside the Divine Beasts, or included as part of the quest to get to them.

I like that Nintendo gave the option of either playing for 200+ hours or 30 minutes to beat the game. Either go in prepared or like you've just got out of bed.

 

[joe_zazen]

Haha, yeah. Zelda botw is hype is crazy. it is one of the few poeces of corporate media that people treat like an epiphany.

Idk, i guess we all want meaning in our lives and some choose to try to find it in a video game. Fact remains, you do what you do in most other big budget corporate games: sit in front of a screen pretending to kill stuff by pressing plastic buttons in order to fool your brain into feeling a sense of progression and achievement. I always get the sense that someone is trying to sell me something when enthusiasts enthuse, especially critics.

Hello, my name is joe. Have you thought about inviting Zelda into your heart?

 

[Kumomeme]

What you expected when you play this game?..basically most of your concern is presented in other open world game..stuff like repetitive content,market, recycle asset etc basically exist almost everywhere..I understand but alteast this game managed to tackled those issue better..mind you, open world scope is big..its not easy to crafted the world with tons of unique content..thats why open world game tend to have recycled asset and content.

i dont know what you actually want..you want original idea? we live in age where developers inspired by each other..even if they didnt, they might still come out with similliar solution to tackle the idea.Why you didnt like oldman give glider? you want waifu? play genshin impact when it release later.

stuff about marker, most of open world out there had it.But atleast this game handled the marker different than other game..compare to game like skyrim and assasins creed, you didnt much feel obliged to blindly immediately to follow the mark..also to get there is not just 'walk straight' to the marker...its not just 'follow the marker straight, ignore everythin, run over everything'...they did good job to avoid this stuff...they even did better than game like skyrim or assasins creed or even witcher 3...also the game still fun to explore even if you turn of the marker though.

the game praised for how they did open world right...dont forget, there lot of open world game out there, but many of it didnt manage to get it right and as their first open world game, they did it far better than others.If you pay close attention, you can see all the stuff of interest is placed well, including terrain design among and it fit nicely with tower and glider.

also

Vast open spaces of NOTHING

like really? if you walk abit basically there tons of things to see and do...for Witcher 3 they had these " 40 second" rule where player must see something of interest in those period of time and this game basically nailed the aspect..and dont forget, its not easy to do open world game especially is their first.Not just about game design, also about technical stuff that need to be tackled on..its different than open area or linear game...with all stuff with physic, dynamic weather while try to maintaining stable fps while travesing the area on bascially turbo version of ps360 console is not easy.From my understanding everytime devs making game there tend to be tons of stuff to be sacrifice for.Remember why GTA V on ps360 hailed as technical achievement?Even square enix with brand new state of the art engine also struggled with their first open world game.

Shrine just few minute of challenge..they did good job to makesure player dont spend long time there..do it fast and get out before get boring and you cant blame there for repetitive design..making open world game is bigger scope than other..its common for open world game to have recycled asset.This game even developed for around 5-6 years though.Making asset is one of process that take longer time than others, if i not mistaken.

and the game did great job for vertical aspect of exploration and despite of 'barren world' they did terrain design well, fit with the game's gameplay mechanic.I didnt see they add glider and climbing mechanic for no reason.


the game had flaw, for sure like below average combat mechanic despite they nailed the responsive animation and hitweight/box..but overall gameplay flow, how did they tackled open world game, they did great job

I dont know what you expect, you actually probably had problem with overall of current open world game design trend which is i also understand, but dont use this game as scapegoat.
Basically you had problem with how most of open world game out there.Basically it had nothing to do exclusively with this game .You actually just dissapointed to see similliar stuff again thats all.

 

[daveonezero]

Yeah I played 8-10 hours and I think it took that long to get the controls down. I've been out of console gaming for a bit but after that it really clicked.

I also heard a while back that this is more of a stealth game. I valued my resources at the beginning. Avoided most combat. Slowly built up my resources. Explored. Cooked. Gained strength. Now 20 or so hours in this game is amazing.

I love how things actually matter.

In most games weather doesn't matter. In most games weapons only do one thing. The elements in this game that work together make it something very special.

I like how it deals with progression. Slowly building up your equipment until your carrying around a decent set of bows, shields and weapons. AT this point I have a bunch that I can choose from plus empty spaces to pick up enemy weapons.

I'm having a great time and think it is a very different game. it isn't Just Cause where you can do everything and go everywhere from the beginning. It is a bit slower paces and takes some though to actually traverse the world.

If you give it a chance. Really dive in. Make methodical choices and play with the systems it is very rewarding.

I just really didn't find the criticism of weapon durability, rain/thunder, and other rules or limits bad things. I think it really ads consistency to the rules and makes the game amazing. You Arne't some super hero at the beginning.

 

[Dontero]

You are too hard at folks. This was for most of nintendo fans first time they played open world game. Some might even tried something like Xenobalde Chronicles or X open worlds which were even emptier than Zeldas so for them suddenly having to climb tower is neat.

Also it is nintendo game. By default standard rules go out of window as there is horde of journos who salivate at names like nintendo or zelda. The same criticism that they give to other games like bad graphics suddenly don't apply to nintendo games because "it is nintendo"


BOTW has some cool things like climbing etc but overall like you said it is Nintendo first knack at open world game.

I mean people don't even realize that if you remove weapon durability like they wanted it would instantly remove need for 90% of that word as there would be no reason for exploration and gathering materials.

 

[10000]

I enjoyed ocarina of time more than this, such a huge letdown

 

[MagnesG]

I appreciate reading the salty replies plus how much creativity being put in every now and then. It's like constantly reminding everyone how much bloated shit open world game design originally is that some can't help getting triggered when majority of people could suddenly genuinely enjoy something for once when a different spin was incorporated, even as solid of an execution per gameplay loop as this one. Suddenly all the positives are conveniently ignored or "doesn't count" caused "copied".

Those various cheap downplaying efforts - Baby's first, Ninty's double standards etc. are just astounding though, as we all know those are so full of shit anyway, as always. But it still keeps coming in!

Makes it is easy to know which ones are the actual morons.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

more like Big Daddy's Last Open World You Ever Need to Play

 

[GeorgPrime]

I enjoyed ocarina of time more than this, such a huge letdown

I can sign this. Ocarina of Time gabe me more than Breath of the wild. Ineven like Alttp more

 

[LordKasual]

Yall, look.

This is THE most Zelda-feeling game i've played since the originals.....This game is a REAL Adventure, the game does not hold your hand for fucking anything.

1) start the game

2) You get the glider and all of your standard abilities in the first 2-3 hours

3) The game says "Ganon is right over here, you can see him from almost anywhere on the map. Go fight him LITERALLY whenever the fuck you want"

4) Do whatever you need to get strong enough, go fight him. You don't need any artifacts, you don't need any friends. You just need to be able to beat Ganon's ass. The progression is literally only locked by your actual ability to kill the final boss.


You don't even have to get the Master Sword, you literally have to go find it and work to obtain it. I probably had like 30 hours of playtime in before i even remembered that the Master Sword existed, and once i found it I didn't even have the prerequisites to get it because i prioritized stamina over hearts.

"Not a zelda game", this is THE most Zelda experience ever. You literally just turn the game on, wonder in a random direction, find gear/goodies/abilities/upgrades/puzzles and the game NEVER gets in your way or forcibly guides you down boring story paths.

And it's not like those baby-mode ass modern Zelda games....you will get straight dropped if you wonder into the wrong place in this game, this is the first Nintendo game i feel like i've ever played since the NES days that isn't afraid to actually kill you.

Breath of the Wild is a modern version of the original Legend of Zelda on NES. It's only not like Zelda if you're used to what Zelda has become since after Majora's Mask, where they constantly hold your hand the entire game.



Also, everyone do yourself a favor, play on Master Mode. It basically enhances every mechanic of the game, specifically the importance of cooking and weapon durability. It essentially turns the game into a Survival Adventure game, which is significant as it means that it makes almost every weapon/item you come across functionally useful. Even average, common or particularly weak weapons.

 

[daveonezero]

Also, everyone do yourself a favor, play on Master Mode. It basically enhances every mechanic of the game, specifically the importance of cooking and weapon durability. It essentially turns the game into a Survival Adventure game, which is significant as it means that it makes almost every weapon/item you come across functionally useful. Even average, common or particularly weak weapons.

I already went in with the approach of a survival/stealth game but did not put it on master mode. I am already not great at the combat. Took 10 hours or so getting used to the controls (they are a little weird) but I still sort of avoid big monsters because I haven't mastered parry/dodge.

I'm wondering if I should switch over. I really just got to the point of things clicking and being able to survive a bit more because of decent inventory and meals. I have played a bunch but want it to last a while and wondering if it will get too easy here soon.

 

[MisterBrimstone]

Even if I agree on many points, making a list like that can make any game look like shit.

 

[LordKasual]

I already went in with the approach of a survival/stealth game but did not put it on master mode. I am already not great at the combat. Took 10 hours or so getting used to the controls (they are a little weird) but I still sort of avoid big monsters because I haven't mastered parry/dodge.

I'm wondering if I should switch over. I really just got to the point of things clicking and being able to survive a bit more because of decent inventory and meals. I have played a bunch but want it to last a while and wondering if it will get too easy here soon.

Master Mode basically takes every enemy in the game and +1's their level, and the highest level is replaced with a new color. This pretty much means that for a long time you'll have to pick and choose your battles.

Also, enemies regenerate health if they don't take damage for long enough, which basically prevents you from cheesing or chipping out enemies, and forces you to commit to fights (otherwise you're just wasting your durability) and strategize during big mob fights. This is why i say it makes EVERYTHING you find important, because you will need everything you find, and it makes food extremely important because you'll need it at times to either not get one-shot by mobs, or not have your weapons break before you actually kill something.

So basically, you'll be avoiding small enemies just like big ones. If nothing else, you'll learn how to fight, how to sneak, and how to run away.

i also hate nintendo for saying how revolutionary the game is, and how they coined the term 'open-air' because of how free it is. literally suck my crusty chode nintendo fuck you and your arrogance, especially when we've had open world games with actual perfected flight mechanics for fucking ages you arrogant cunts

if youre gunna try coin a new genre at least give it to a game deserving of it

i hate the propaganda around Nintendo titles more than anything, and it also bothered me how Nintendo loyalists who'd never seen anything like an open world, inverse kinematics, or physics engines on their consoles before act like BotW was the first game to do any of it.

But the one thing I will say Zelda excels at (and i'd argue that Japanese Developers in general are very good at this) is being focused enough in open world design to know what the player is going to want to do.

Even Final Fantasy XV, a game with a particularly empty world, seemed to know exactly what i wanted out of an open world -- the ability to get into BIG ASS, challenging fights, and the ability to explore to find big hidden optional dungeons that give me cool gear at the end. Its open world isnt nearly as expanded as a game like Just Cause or GTA, but it does exactly what it needs to. Metal Gear Solid 5 is another one....the game is literally unfinished, but they did manage to perfect the gameplay formula enough to fool people into thinking they were playing a real game.


BotW's mechanics are all designed around exploration, looting, and combat. And while none of its mechanics are particularly NEW, it's one of the only games ive played that leverages them in a way that is always ACTUALLY in line with the main objective.

And in that way, BotW is absolutely revolutionary. The one thing that kills me about western Open World games is that the sandbox is always more fun than the main objective. There's usually a disconnect between the two, and most games have plots that don't allow them to overlap.

In BotW, sandboxing IS the main objective. Goofing/wondering around doesn't set you back, and progressing actively allows you to goof off and wonder around in new places. Final Fantasy 15 did this to some extent as well...not to mention the whole game was a camping/roadtrip where you got to see pictures of the neat places you wondered around in. Wondering around is how you found the hidden tombs that obtained the Royal Arms, which not only had a significant story impact, but literally gave you new abilities and great stats. MGS5 too, infiltrating and kidnapping people was built into the core objective of the game.

 

[its_Ditz]

.

 

[V4skunk]

I say at least half the people posting in this thread don't even own a Switch let alone even played Botw.

 

[kiphalfton]

They said it redefined the open world genre cause it redefined it's openness: nothing is strictly necessary.

If you are too bored by it, go to Ganon and finish the game there. The game tells you can go there at any point pretty much within the first hour.

It's your decision to not go there and enjoy your time in Hyrule as much as you want.

The shrines, the towers, the divine beasts, the minigames, the sidequests, the korok seeds are all technically optional activities. There are some great examples of level design especially with the shrines, the puzzle on how to find them (sometimes it's related to quests, sometimes it requires exploration,...) or the puzzle inside of them.

Have you ever visited the islands on the east? there are some cool puzzles in there.

Even the music reflects the openness/wilderness as the sounds of nature are truly the stars so you don't really need some big heavy background music and it makes sense considering the post apocalyptic setting.

It's my favourite Zelda game as it breaks the traditional Zelda formula which was starting to feel stale (especially after Skyward Sword), but it throws lots of references and the genious parts are very subtle, this is not the kind of game that tells you in your face when there's an important moment.

Let's not pretend like you can beat ganon, without really struggling, that early in the game.

 

[Thaedolus]

LordKasual knows what’s up

 

[Stiflers Mom]

I hate combat in this game so much. And only because of that shit weapon breaking.
You bring a whole truckload of sworda to a fucking moblin hideout, and you USE UP FUCKING ALL OF THEM.

that is so incredibly stupid.

 

[SirTerry-T]

"A very average game".
..and they say comedy is dead.

 

[MagnesG]

I hate combat in this game so much. And only because of that shit weapon breaking.
You bring a whole truckload of sworda to a fucking moblin hideout, and you USE UP FUCKING ALL OF THEM.

that is so incredibly stupid.

You're not supposed to bruteforce button mashing basic combos.

That's incredibly stupid of a move, and people can already smell bullshit just from that statement.