Durrzerker
Banned
Disclaimer: Any criticisms or complaints posted here are not meant to be taken as an attempt at objective complaints or knocks on the game. My problems with the game are wholly a product of what I learned about my tastes in playing it.
So I finally got a Switch last week due to being stuck doing nights at work with little to do (we are encouraged to play games or watch Netflix to stay awake, not much to do due to Hurricane Harvey cleanup shutting our plant down) and naturally my first game was BOTW. Few things going into this.
-This is my first Zelda game.
-This is my first Nintendo console
-I 100% played in Portable mode, never docked.
So tonight I took down Ganon and, uh...eh. In a nutshell I walked away from the game remarkably unimpressed, yet acknowledging the game itself is brilliant. What they did with BotW is incredibly impressive, I just learned a deep lesson that none of it is shit I care about in a game.
Let's talk about what I liked first. First off, the scale of the world and the inclusion of such complex physics is amazing. There were so many times I was floored by what I could do, like creating fires to make updrafts, tossing bombs that Octoroks would inhale, being able to leap off cliffs while carrying stuff with Daruks Protection - all very cool. I also enjoyed Link here. Despite being a silent protagonist his dialogue actually portrays him as kind of a shitty brat which I find hilarious.
BOTW is creative, well-designed, and a labor of love. I felt and enjoyed that. But...
All in all I didn't hate the game, I just walked away very...whelmed. My list of complaints grew longer, complaints I didn't expect. I learned about myself as a gamer, what I do and do not like, and I have BOTW to thank for it.
Let's discuss what I call my investment ratio. In every game, there is content I love and content I don't love. I'm willing to put up with X of the latter if I get Y of the former. Before BOTW I had only a vague sense of which was which. I could tell you games I loved but never really what I loved about them except in broad strokes. Same with games I hated. But as I played BOTW, my investment ratio constantly sputtered, and I learned why when I thought on it.
-I expect certain amounts of heavy 'story delivery' such as cutscenes in games. The longer the game, the more I want. I'm not talking about lore or worldbuilding (as you might expect I hate Dark Souls) but actual character cutscenes, with people conversing and shit happening. BOTW is very light on this, with only a few main story scenes and the 'captured memories' quests. In a six hour action game or the sort, I would have been fine, but for a game as staggeringly long as BOTW I was annoyed by the relative lack of story. I learned here a lot about why I love games like Witcher but hate hames like Soulsborne; because the longer a game is to me, the more attachment to the plot I want, and I get pissed off of I feel like I got shortshafted here. This theme of attachment is a frequent one, you will see.
-I have a strong need for aggression and viciousness in combat. For all Breath of the Wild does to encourage variety and creativity, my biggest problem is I never felt like I got a chance to just rip shit up. Again, this isn't me knocking the game. I play lots of roguelikes. I know the appeal of scarcity in games. But what I didn't realize until now is I get stressed and increasingly dissatisfied if I play a huge, open game and never reach the point of just being able to fearlessly rampage across the countryside. I identify heavily as a 'berserker' in games. Asura from Asura's Wrath is my ideal game protagonist, and in RPGs I always favor the warrior/barbarian/screaming psychopath. I grew up in a very controlled and powerless environment, and I gradually realized I seek a place to feel wild and crazy in games. Denying me this with constant need to watch out for silver enemies and my weapons breaking was frustrating in large part due to the length of the game. I feel like I got berserker blueballed.
-Permanent progression is critical to me and BOTW doesn't have enough. Yes, you upgrade armors and gain Champions Gifts, but the lack of a growing moveset on Link and the shortlived weapons sucked the fun out of combat for me. I like both action games and RPGs, but just as I expect a strong amount of story from RPGs, I want my endgamw character to feel nothing like he did at the beginning. Again, I realize that combat isn't the point of Zelda, but that brings me to the next point.
-I need a lot of combat or a lot of story or both. I don't invest much in anything else. I love action games. Ninja Gaiden is amazing. DMC is my jams. I love RPGs. They are my favorite genre, from Mass Effect to Tyranny to Witcher. But this is where the investment ratio comes in. I realized I play games for three things: sick loot, character story, and awesome new moves. When I go into a quest, I wanna come out of it with an awesome cutscene, a new sword, or a new special move. Not three FUCKING RADISHES YOU PIECE OF SHIT KOROK I WILL EAT YOUR GREEN BEAN LOOKING ASS.
Ahem.
Exploration. Adventure. Lore. Worldbuilding. Discovery. Creative problem solving. Puzzles. These are all things that BOTW does incredibly well. Speaking from a design standpoint, the game is probably a masterpiece, not that I'm qualified to say so. For people who love those things, I am glad BOTW exists. But I've realized those aspects of a game are like the spices to the meat and potatoes of story, combat development, and character growth to me. I don't care about exploration without the context of story. I've always wondered why I could never get into Dark Souls, Monster Hunter, or the like. They are great games, but I need a certain amount of these aspects per hour.
So in a way, even though I didn't like BOTW that much, I'm glad I played it. It taught me a lot about the kind of gamer I am, and the priorities I have in what I play.
On that note, Switch game recommendations very welcome.
So I finally got a Switch last week due to being stuck doing nights at work with little to do (we are encouraged to play games or watch Netflix to stay awake, not much to do due to Hurricane Harvey cleanup shutting our plant down) and naturally my first game was BOTW. Few things going into this.
-This is my first Zelda game.
-This is my first Nintendo console
-I 100% played in Portable mode, never docked.
So tonight I took down Ganon and, uh...eh. In a nutshell I walked away from the game remarkably unimpressed, yet acknowledging the game itself is brilliant. What they did with BotW is incredibly impressive, I just learned a deep lesson that none of it is shit I care about in a game.
Let's talk about what I liked first. First off, the scale of the world and the inclusion of such complex physics is amazing. There were so many times I was floored by what I could do, like creating fires to make updrafts, tossing bombs that Octoroks would inhale, being able to leap off cliffs while carrying stuff with Daruks Protection - all very cool. I also enjoyed Link here. Despite being a silent protagonist his dialogue actually portrays him as kind of a shitty brat which I find hilarious.
BOTW is creative, well-designed, and a labor of love. I felt and enjoyed that. But...
All in all I didn't hate the game, I just walked away very...whelmed. My list of complaints grew longer, complaints I didn't expect. I learned about myself as a gamer, what I do and do not like, and I have BOTW to thank for it.
Let's discuss what I call my investment ratio. In every game, there is content I love and content I don't love. I'm willing to put up with X of the latter if I get Y of the former. Before BOTW I had only a vague sense of which was which. I could tell you games I loved but never really what I loved about them except in broad strokes. Same with games I hated. But as I played BOTW, my investment ratio constantly sputtered, and I learned why when I thought on it.
-I expect certain amounts of heavy 'story delivery' such as cutscenes in games. The longer the game, the more I want. I'm not talking about lore or worldbuilding (as you might expect I hate Dark Souls) but actual character cutscenes, with people conversing and shit happening. BOTW is very light on this, with only a few main story scenes and the 'captured memories' quests. In a six hour action game or the sort, I would have been fine, but for a game as staggeringly long as BOTW I was annoyed by the relative lack of story. I learned here a lot about why I love games like Witcher but hate hames like Soulsborne; because the longer a game is to me, the more attachment to the plot I want, and I get pissed off of I feel like I got shortshafted here. This theme of attachment is a frequent one, you will see.
-I have a strong need for aggression and viciousness in combat. For all Breath of the Wild does to encourage variety and creativity, my biggest problem is I never felt like I got a chance to just rip shit up. Again, this isn't me knocking the game. I play lots of roguelikes. I know the appeal of scarcity in games. But what I didn't realize until now is I get stressed and increasingly dissatisfied if I play a huge, open game and never reach the point of just being able to fearlessly rampage across the countryside. I identify heavily as a 'berserker' in games. Asura from Asura's Wrath is my ideal game protagonist, and in RPGs I always favor the warrior/barbarian/screaming psychopath. I grew up in a very controlled and powerless environment, and I gradually realized I seek a place to feel wild and crazy in games. Denying me this with constant need to watch out for silver enemies and my weapons breaking was frustrating in large part due to the length of the game. I feel like I got berserker blueballed.
-Permanent progression is critical to me and BOTW doesn't have enough. Yes, you upgrade armors and gain Champions Gifts, but the lack of a growing moveset on Link and the shortlived weapons sucked the fun out of combat for me. I like both action games and RPGs, but just as I expect a strong amount of story from RPGs, I want my endgamw character to feel nothing like he did at the beginning. Again, I realize that combat isn't the point of Zelda, but that brings me to the next point.
-I need a lot of combat or a lot of story or both. I don't invest much in anything else. I love action games. Ninja Gaiden is amazing. DMC is my jams. I love RPGs. They are my favorite genre, from Mass Effect to Tyranny to Witcher. But this is where the investment ratio comes in. I realized I play games for three things: sick loot, character story, and awesome new moves. When I go into a quest, I wanna come out of it with an awesome cutscene, a new sword, or a new special move. Not three FUCKING RADISHES YOU PIECE OF SHIT KOROK I WILL EAT YOUR GREEN BEAN LOOKING ASS.
Ahem.
Exploration. Adventure. Lore. Worldbuilding. Discovery. Creative problem solving. Puzzles. These are all things that BOTW does incredibly well. Speaking from a design standpoint, the game is probably a masterpiece, not that I'm qualified to say so. For people who love those things, I am glad BOTW exists. But I've realized those aspects of a game are like the spices to the meat and potatoes of story, combat development, and character growth to me. I don't care about exploration without the context of story. I've always wondered why I could never get into Dark Souls, Monster Hunter, or the like. They are great games, but I need a certain amount of these aspects per hour.
So in a way, even though I didn't like BOTW that much, I'm glad I played it. It taught me a lot about the kind of gamer I am, and the priorities I have in what I play.
On that note, Switch game recommendations very welcome.