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[Alter_Fridge]

How the fuck did I own a Gameboy as a youth, adore Zelda 1, 2 and 3 and never even set eyes on Link's Awakening?

My younger self, I am disappoint

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

It's also a Wii U game. Also it is the worst 3D Zelda game ever made except for the incomplete and empty Wind Waker (and I don't say that lightly).

First, Twilight Princess is the worst of the 3D Zeldas. Good dungeons, but that’s it.

Second, you can’t use 2D and 3D to distinguish the types anymore, as most of the 2D Zeldas are now in 3D. Top Down Zeldas for the “2D” ones, and Ocarina Zeldas for the 3D ones.

Breath of the Wild is a distinctive 3rd type. It has very little in common with the other Zelda games, structurally and mechanically. I refer to it as the Skyrim Zeldas, but Sandbox Zeldas also works - assuming it is the blueprint for future games. Zelda 2 is its own thing, that kind of defined its own mini-genre (the Zelda 2-like). Also, the Four Swords Zeldas deserve their own category. There’s enough of them at this point, and separating them out allows Tri-Force Heroes to be recognized for the awesome game that it is.

Third, I’m convinced that people who dislike Breath of the Wild are just being disagreeable for attention. It is an extremely charming and competently made game, lacking the outstanding flaws of TP or WW, to the point that denying this seems like being a try hard. It’s okay for it to not be your cup of tea, but to say that it isn’t even a good game represents far too large a break from reality.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

It looks great to me overall, but you can't beat the original. Pixel perfection, and my favorite of all the classic Zelda entires.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

It’s okay for it to not be your cup of tea, but to say that it isn’t even a good game represents far too large a break from reality

yeah at this point i just tune out anyone that calls BOTW a bad game. i was visiting a friend a few weeks ago and he had started a new game and we just started playing around, pretty soon we realized an hour and a half had passed. both of us have played through and beaten the game already, it's just that fun to play.

then the next day i listened to a podcast by people that i like, where they just shat on BOTW the entire time. the reasons were very bad. the beast aren't like Shadow of Colossus (no shit, that's a one of the kind game), the horse doesn't travel to you instantaneously, cooking food takes forever (2-3 seconds too long to wait apparently), etc.

i'm like, alright dudes, have fun griping. i'll be over here exploring this vast colorful world. peace out.

 

[Jigsaah]

Announced during the direct, figured it deserved its own thread.

Is nobody else a little upset that there are Goombas in a proper Zelda game?

 

[Stitch]

There were goombas in the original game too

 

[Jigsaah]

There were goombas in the original game too

Really? Wow I didn't know that. Maybe I'm not as big of a Zelda fan as I thought. I played the Link to the past and of course the original. I didn't like the Zelda II. I don't actually remember this game.

 

[Yoshi]

Second, you can’t use 2D and 3D to distinguish the types anymore, as most of the 2D Zeldas are now in 3D. Top Down Zeldas for the “2D” ones, and Ocarina Zeldas for the 3D ones.

Well, 2D / 3D in this case refers to the movement options, not the engine.

Third, I’m convinced that people who dislike Breath of the Wild are just being disagreeable for attention. It is an extremely charming and competently made game, lacking the outstanding flaws of TP or WW, to the point that denying this seems like being a try hard. It’s okay for it to not be your cup of tea, but to say that it isn’t even a good game represents far too large a break from reality.

I said second worst 3D Zelda, that does not make it "not even a good game". Even the worst Zeldas, Zelda 2, TWW and BotW are still good games. However, disregarding my tea time habits, there are a lot of significant issues with BotW.
- The dungeons are short, easy and very similar to each other
- The shrines have a lot of redundant (strength test!) or way too simple content. Maybe half the shrines are worthwhile, but the puzzle difficulty never goes beyond first-three-dungeon territory
- The overworld is way too big, as a consequence, there is a lot of needless walking around; the game is not dense with meaningful content
- The game has a lot of mechanics that are burried behind busywork, in particular the item upgrading is supreme shit
- The game has a totally skewed difficult curve, starting out very harshly, then getting a LOT easier once you cannot be one-hit-killed anymore and then just progressively getting easier. This makes no sense, but is a consequence of the open world design
- Many mechanics are just cumbersome. Breaking weapons, always having to fiddle with the menus, rain, blood moon, all of this is just junk
- There are way too few enemy types spammed endlessly

There are a lot of well-designed aspects in BotW, but it is one of the most deeply flawed Zelda games in my eyes.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

#Phonepunk# Cooking does take "forever" if your idea of a crafting system is a menu with item-sprites on it. Even Minecraft still asks you to smelt an iron ingot, then use that ingot to build a sword, while also separately crafting a stick (for the handle).

EDIT: I guess since I'm on the topic of cooking and crafting, what is the "better" cooking system that BotW falls short in comparison to? Like I mentioned above, Minecraft is significantly clunkier (go ahead and bake a cake in Minecraft). Or what about Monster Hunter World? No one complained about the "eating system" where you sat down at a campfire and ate a meal prior to battle, watching a (skippable) cutscene. That took longer, but no one batted an eye.

The process of cooking is weird. Why do I have to select a bunch of items and then interact with a cooking-pot? Hmm, I wonder if I could put other things in my arms and see how they interact. Like, what if I took these 5 octo balloons...?

What if I put a flint and some wood in my arms and dropped those? Could I make myself a fire? Ah, but what could I use for a steel?

I wonder if I carried a chicken around and got attacked?

Cooking in BotW is pure Zelda, without question. They puzzle-fied it while allowing the player to infer which ingredients do what and which items can be attached to what other items. Cooking is only one facet of an overall system of dynamic item interactions. Don't forget: you can simply lay food down on any source of fire and it will "cook" it, the only difference being that you won't be able to confer any bonuses.

Metal objects have numerous properties. Wooden objects have numerous properties. You can't use a stick or wooden club to strike a flint + wood to make campfire. A wooden shield won't attract lightning like a metal one will, but you can also use it as a source of kindling, in a pinch.

Need to descend the face of a mountain quickly? Use your hang-glider, or user your shield:

 

[Danjin44]

#Phonepunk# Cooking does take "forever" if your idea of a crafting system is a menu with item-sprites on it. Even Minecraft still asks you to smelt an iron ingot, then use that ingot to build a sword, while also separately crafting a stick (for the handle).

The process of cooking is weird. Why do I have to select a bunch of items and then interact with a cooking-pot? Hmm, I wonder if I could put other things in my arms and see how they interact. Like, what if I took these 5 octo balloons...?

What if I put a flint and some wood in my arms and dropped those? Could I make myself a fire? Ah, but what could I use for a steel?

I wonder if I carried a chicken around and got attacked?

Cooking in BotW is pure Zelda, without question. They puzzle-fied it while allowing the player to infer which ingredients do what and which items can be attached to what other items. Cooking is only one facet of an overall system of dynamic item interactions. Don't forget: you can simply lay food down on any source of fire and it will "cook" it, the only difference being that you won't be able to confer any bonuses.

Metal objects have numerous properties. Wooden objects have numerous properties. You can't use a stick or wooden club to strike a flint + wood to make campfire. A wooden shield won't attract lightning like a metal one will, but you can also use it as a source of kindling, in a pinch.

Need to descend the face of a mountain quickly? Use your hang-glider, or user your shield:

BotW is pure joy, I could never understand hate for it.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

This is beginning to derail, but I'll never understand the complaint that BoTW's world was "empty" / sparse. I'd call it the most consistently compelling open world to navigate that I've every played.

I suspect that a lot of it comes down to your interest in the little details. If you only measure the world by battles, enemy types, and traditional loot, perhaps you won't find as much as you expect; but there's so much to discover everywhere if you care about the systems (as hinted at above by DunDunDunpachi ), the unique impacts of weather / fire / wind / etc, the many native ingredients and cooking combinations opened up, the hints of difficult peaks and spots to try and reach that are always hanging the distance, the hunt for shrines hidden in unusual locations, etc. It's all beautiful and feels organic; other open world games typically feel so unbearably mechanical, as if you can feel the developer's mental wheels rustily churning along on autopilot, inserting equally spaced loot, battles, and fetch quests just to make you feel busy while experiencing nothing of value.

 

[Bryank75]

Looks great, I’ll be picking this up and I’m really excited about it.... so is my son.

I really don’t get why PlayStation don’t do more titles like this, things that don’t depend just on cutting edge graphics and cinematics.
They should have bought Housemarque and a few smaller studios to put out quirky rpgs and gameplay focused titles.

 

[cartman414]

Ocarina was the most empty.

 

[Codes 208]

BotW is pure joy, I could never understand hate for it.

Because it beat your favorite game for goty that’s why./s

Or atleast that’s the general approach I guess. While not my favorite Zelda, it was still a very good game that saw 500+ hrs from me.

I wonder if we’ll see remakes of the oracle games down the line. Imo those are by far the most underrated in the series

 

[trufflepigg]

Ocarina was the most empty.

Go on....

I don't have patience for boring games, that's what I've noticed over the years. I put down Skyward Sword within 2 hours, and with BOTW I completed 3 of the 4 dungeons or whatever. That's all I can say, Skyward Sword had such a bad opening sequence I couldn't even bare it with the thought that the rest of the game may be that slow. BOTW was good, but not what I really want from a Zelda game. The breakable weapons, boring Dungeons, non-urgent / not-engaging main story are the opposite of what I want in Zelda. That said, they did so much right that I wouldn't complain if they followed up with a direct sequel.



Back on topic, Mario Maker 2 is now my most hyped game of 2019

edit: this is not the topic I thought it was

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

- The shrines have a lot of redundant (strength test!) or way too simple content. Maybe half the shrines are worthwhile, but the puzzle difficulty never goes beyond first-three-dungeon territory

Half the shrines being worthwhile is still 150 worthwhile shrines.

- The overworld is way too big, as a consequence, there is a lot of needless walking around; the game is not dense with meaningful content

The content is in the interaction of the game systems.

- The game has a lot of mechanics that are burried behind busywork, in particular the item upgrading is supreme shit

Hmm. Not sure I agree, but I can see why you think that. If you don’t enjoy the gameplay, then gameplay becomes busywork. I enjoyed the gameplay.

- The game has a totally skewed difficult curve, starting out very harshly, then getting a LOT easier once you cannot be one-hit-killed anymore and then just progressively getting easier. This makes no sense, but is a consequence of the open world design

If you end up in difficult encounters, you’ll run through your good weapons and healing stuff. Towards the end of the game, you might be taking out guardians with sticks. Being prepared isn’t the same as it being easy. If you want a challenge, try playing unprepared.

- Many mechanics are just cumbersome. Breaking weapons, always having to fiddle with the menus, rain, blood moon, all of this is just junk

Breaking weapons is one of the best things about the game. Similar to Dead Rising, you are surrounded by tools at all times, and if you could keep the best tools forever, you’d just use the tiny chainsaws for the whole game. Breaking weapons creates tension, forces you to adapt, and makes the premise of getting the same item as a reward still rewarding.

- There are way too few enemy types spammed endlessly

The enemies are individually much smarter in BotW. In other games, you’d have the sword goblin, the spear goblin, and the bow goblin. In BotW, you just have the Goblin. He’ll use a bow until he runs out of arrows, then grab a spear. Knock him down and disarm him, he’ll go grab the sword.

There are a lot of well-designed aspects in BotW, but it is one of the most deeply flawed Zelda games in my eyes.

Objectively incorrect.

 

[Raynes]

I don't know why anyone would play this ugly lego zelda abomination over the original.

 

[Danjin44]

I don't know why anyone would play this ugly lego zelda abomination over the original.

Because not everyone finds the game "ugly", I know it might sound too crazy for you.

 

[Raynes]

Because not everyone finds the game "ugly", I know it might sound too crazy for you.

Fair enough, not ugly to some, but I'm curious if people think this looks better than the original.

 

[LucidFeuer]

Not a fan of the art style they went for. Looks like those crap Secret of Mana remake, it simply doesn't work with that 3D.

The proportions are wrong, the scales are wrong, the colors are wrong, the angle is wrong etc...

Nice idea ruined buy a cheap execution. Might consider it only if they include the original from Gameboy color.

 

[Yoshi]

Half the shrines being worthwhile is still 150 worthwhile shrines.

120/2=60<<150.

The content is in the interaction of the game systems.

The systems are OK, but they are not enough to carry the game on itself, a game like Zelda is very dependent on the individually designed challenges, but BotW is filled with garbage content such as enemy camps that are almost identical to each other and not in the least challenging.

Hmm. Not sure I agree, but I can see why you think that. If you don’t enjoy the gameplay, then gameplay becomes busywork. I enjoyed the gameplay.

Even if I enjoy the gameplay, it is never an excuse for grinding. And the upgrades require grinding. There is no mental or dexterious challenge in accumulating the required resources, it is just a matter of repeating simple tasks (which is why I completed the game with non-upgraded armor).

If you end up in difficult encounters, you’ll run through your good weapons and healing stuff. Towards the end of the game, you might be taking out guardians with sticks. Being prepared isn’t the same as it being easy. If you want a challenge, try playing unprepared.

I can take out everything in the game with bombs (except the final boss). Much of the challenge in Zelda BotW in the beginning comes from the harsh one hit kills. Having more heart containers, the master sword, better bombs, better armor is not merely being prepared, it is making the game (much) easier. Due to the "you can go everywhere" approach, no sensible scaling of difficulty happens. The puzzles are the simplest of all the 3D Zeldas, the fights start harsh but get easy (not easier than in most 3D Zeldas though, if you do not collect better armor, but also not more difficult) and even the path finding gets easier. All three gameplay elements (puzzle, fighting, exploration) just get easier, only one of the gameplay elements starts at a challenging level.

Breaking weapons is one of the best things about the game. Similar to Dead Rising, you are surrounded by tools at all times, and if you could keep the best tools forever, you’d just use the tiny chainsaws for the whole game. Breaking weapons creates tension, forces you to adapt, and makes the premise of getting the same item as a reward still rewarding.

Having no reliable weapon is annoying and being forced to enter the menu everytime a weapon breaks is cumbersome, especially if the weapons break so fast. In the end I just did everything with bombs and Master Sword (when available), because the game was just getting on my nerves constantly. The weapons break so fast that if you stumble on a hard test of power early on, your weapons will not suffice to kill the enemy (without relying on bombs, which, incidentally, are quite easy to learn in a way that these challenges are very easy).

The enemies are individually much smarter in BotW. In other games, you’d have the sword goblin, the spear goblin, and the bow goblin. In BotW, you just have the Goblin. He’ll use a bow until he runs out of arrows, then grab a spear. Knock him down and disarm him, he’ll go grab the sword.

If large parts of the game consist of nothing but spam of small enemies, even if they can choose different weapons from their surroundings, it is a huge issue if there are only few. All other Zeldas have more enemies, even if you disregard variants as you did above. BotW's standard enemies have some variety to them, but if you are half awake you know their behavioural patterns within few hours.

Objectively incorrect.

No.

 

[BigBooper]

I so wanted to love BOTW and did for the first three hours or so, so much that I then went and got the season pass. Then I burned out hard. The weapon breaking is just bad game design imo.

On topic, this looks pretty good. I liked 3D dot game heroes. If I buy a Switch again I'll probably pick it up.

 

[Breakage]

I think the problem with this more plastic toy-like look is that it feels artificial and clinical. The charming warmth of the low-tech 2D Zelda Game Boy visuals is gone. (I have a similar opinion in regard to the original FF7 and the remake.) It's like when your favourite childhood cartoon gets a CGI makeover– something is lost when the visuals become more realistic.

 

[iconmaster]

I'm curious if people think this looks better than the original.

Of course? The Game Boy original demonstrates excellent pixel art skill within the limitations, but this remake is gorgeous.

 

[Type_Raver]

Detractors are always going to exist and find something; its difficult to please everyone.

I love the look and the idea of a 2D Zelda and look forward to this remake!
Though I wish it was an original title...

 

[LOLCats]

Welp between Fire Emblem and Links Awakening, i will definitely get a switch now. But if Awakening is like 2020 or 2021 then ill just wait until then. I would need both of these games released to spend that switch money.

edit: trailer says 2019. Well okay then. Id say Nintendo finally got me excited about a couple titles for the switch.

 

[GreenAlien]

I think it looks great and really fun. Never played the old one, so this is perfect. I hope N remakes more of their old games/handheld only line-up like that.

 

[JimboJones]

It's nice to see 2D Zelda still getting love.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

BotW is pure joy, I could never understand hate for it.

Uh, no peg

 

[Codes 208]

I think the problem with this more plastic toy-like look is that it feels artificial and clinical. The charming warmth of the low-tech 2D Zelda Game Boy visuals is gone. (I have a similar opinion in regard to the original FF7 and the remake.) It's like when your favourite childhood cartoon gets a CGI makeover– something is lost when the visuals become more realistic.

I see where you’re going but I don’t neccesssrily agree. Not to that extent anyway. This doesn’t look to be a drastic change to the formula or mood of the older games, all the tile work looks pretty spot on in comparison and the gameplay looks relatively more defined yet classic. It’s not as drastic as a change as going from RE2 to REmake 2

But of course this is still pretty early. I personally love the art design (though I do agree it wouldn’t have hurt if they went with a style similar to the opening that was defined with the oracle games (since those were direct prequels to LA)

But if you think about it, this cutesy look makes sense to the theme of the game since

Spoiler

its all a dream anyway.

 

[StormCell]

I will never not love BotW.

For all the reasons DunDunDunpachi listed. No sandbox world gets it right so consistently. When it rains, ponding occurs in low-lying areas. Yep, sure enough I can use cryonis on the ponding water!

 

[Shaqazooloo]

Good news for me since I've never played Links Awakening and I'm not into playing the Game boy version, so I'm pretty excited for this.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Fair enough, not ugly to some, but I'm curious if people think this looks better than the original.

they are two separate things. the gameboy original is a minimalist masterpiece, with just 4 shades of grey making up all the art. what people imagine when they look at an image that low definition and yet that story-driven is going to be hard to top. it is a bit like reading a book vs. watching a movie; you can imagine everything yourself, you are so much freer to be creative with your enjoyment of the media, and imagination plays a larger role.

for some, a simplified cgi diorama world may function on the same level of abstraction as pixelated sprites. with any piece of media, part of the experience is going on in your imagination. after all, it is just a series of still images you are witnessing in rapid succession, your imagination is required to put things together. or, perhaps i should say "an imagination" since some work demand you cheat by setting it to auto-pilot.

the Gameboy was not a user friendly machine to have when it came out, and without a backlit screen, it was hard to even see what was going on. so this can be a good remake of the game to bring that same great story to the masses. this new one doesn't have to top the old one, or even compete, just pay tribute. it can be it's own thing. i'm sure there will be lots new in it. both can exist. the original will always be regarded well -- and with the release of this dedication, even moreso.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[SegaShack]

One of my favorite games, but I am not happy how they made the game scroll instead of using panels that you go between. I adore the original but this looks zoomed out and the filter / blur looks a bit weird to me.

Also the original game is more zoomed out, allowing you to see more judging from the comparison. The new one is very zoomed in.

The acoustic soundtrack doesn’t capture the same style and excitement as the original. This is why making a soundtrack entirely orchestral can make things boring. What you need is a mix of electronic/synth and instrumentation. If this trailer song is the overworld theme it went from being exciting and upbeat to some kind of “quirky acoustic indie” music.







I hope to hear more and am not nitpicking but just saying how I feel about the game. The original will always exist either way so I am not bothered.

 

[thelodius]

I mean sure it looks nice but I can't help but feel that Nintendo's lack of risk will be their downfall.

 

[SegaShack]

I mean sure it looks nice but I can't help but feel that Nintendo's lack of risk will be their downfall.

It seems to be the trend, we have sequels that fail to further a series or remakes/ports of existing games. Kirby and Yoshi come to mind as series that have stagnated after the snes/n64 and are incredibly dull. Pokemon has been the same game for 20 years straight. Zelda was definitely stagnant post MM with most games trying to unsuccesfully copy the OOT formula.

It doesn’t help that modern Nintendo fans seem to clamor for the same experiences again. For me I love the originals of any title and just play those if I want that experience. Not sure why this remake trend is so huge.

 

[iconmaster]

How did I own a Gameboy as a youth, adore Zelda 1, 2 and 3 and never even set eyes on Link's Awakening?

You're in for a treat. Link's Awakening has one of the best premises, and one of the most poignant endings, of any Zelda game.

 

[Fbh]

Looks great. Love the tilt shift style visuals of the world. I kinda wish they made Link look a bit more like he does in the animated intro but overall this looks like a lot of fun.
Never played the original (or anything much on gameboy aside from Pokemon) so this will be cool.

It's going to be $60 though, right?

How the fuck did I own a Gameboy as a youth, adore Zelda 1, 2 and 3 and never even set eyes on Link's Awakening?

My younger self, I am disappoint

You mean my pokemon red and gold machine could play other games?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Mr Hyde]

Now that I think about it, I would love a remake of Brave Fencer Musashi done in the same cute fashion as Link´s Awakening. I think this artstyle would suit Musashi well.

 

[Saruhashi]

The weapon breaking is just bad game design imo.

I always thought the weapon breaking was good game design personally.
It's interesting to make your actual weapons a consumable.

Sort of like giving out small amounts of ammo in survival games. I think it suits the game. All this discarded gear lying around so you can't just pick up a good weapon at hour 5 and still be using that at hour 50.

A thing about a lot of other games is that you will naturally settle on one specific weapon or weapon type and just use that same one for the rest of the game. In a lot of games your weapon and your character build is connected to the kind of weapons you can use.

If the game has like 50 different weapons then how many of those will the average player even try out?

BotW mixed that up significantly and personally I thought it was a cool mechanic. Throwing your almost broken weapon at an enemy for extra damage is also a neat little feature.

It's sort of like 2 extremes where in Skyrim everyone becomes a stealthy assassin but in BotW you get maybe 2 or 3 rounds of combat per weapon then you need something else. I don't think either is inherently good or bad. Both are different and good in their own ways.

I think a cool take on Souls and Bloodborne could be, for example, that the world is littered with all these discarded tools and weapons and you have to just use what's lying around until it breaks instead of finding the "top 5 early game items" and running through the game with those and leveling them up as you go along.

A lot of roguelikes do something similar where each run comes with a different set of gear/items/weapons.
I like that aspect of BotW.

Also, Link's Awakening is one of my all time greats so looking forward to this.

 

[Saruhashi]

The process of cooking is weird. Why do I have to select a bunch of items and then interact with a cooking-pot? Hmm, I wonder if I could put other things in my arms and see how they interact. Like, what if I took these 5 octo balloons...?

What if I put a flint and some wood in my arms and dropped those? Could I make myself a fire? Ah, but what could I use for a steel?

I wonder if I carried a chicken around and got attacked?

Need to descend the face of a mountain quickly? Use your hang-glider, or user your shield:

I think that many people overlook a simple concept when they critique BotW (and Mario Odyssey too, in my opinion). That being the concept of "play".

Like the criticism might be that the game isn't challenging enough or the story isn't deep enough or "it's for little kids".

Sometimes I feel like Nintendo gave people a sandbox and then they're like "wait, you want me to PLAY with this wtf Nintendo".

Yeah, you CAN take out everything in the game with bombs but where's the fun in that?
You don't have to do it that way.

BotW definitely offers TONS of scope for the player to get creative but I think a huge part of that is that the player needs to "play along" with the premise.

 

[HaveButOneLife]

I'm pre-ordering this I don't care. Even if that art style looks like a wannabe Yoshi game.

It looks like clay. Should have made it cel-shaded instead.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I think that many people overlook a simple concept when they critique BotW (and Mario Odyssey too, in my opinion). That being the concept of "play".

Like the criticism might be that the game isn't challenging enough or the story isn't deep enough or "it's for little kids".

Sometimes I feel like Nintendo gave people a sandbox and then they're like "wait, you want me to PLAY with this wtf Nintendo".

Yeah, you CAN take out everything in the game with bombs but where's the fun in that?
You don't have to do it that way.

BotW definitely offers TONS of scope for the player to get creative but I think a huge part of that is that the player needs to "play along" with the premise.

Right, but this is where the complaints/suspicions that people who rag on the game come in.

No one bats an eye that you must painstakingly build up your resources in Minecraft survival mode. No one bats an eye when you have to manually dig through blocks of dirt in Terraria. No one bats an eye at the simplicity of the combat in Elder Scrolls games.

BotW was revealed gaming public with no subterfuge about what kind of game it was going to be. It wore its Elder Scrolls and Minecraft influences on its sleeve.

Personally, I think it was too hardcore for people who expect to min/max their game and discover things using waypoint arrows and dotted lines leading them to the treasure. Cooking is a "pain" because you have to spend a few minutes tweaking your meals for the best bonuses and buffs. However, hard enemies and punishing environments will instill a sense of gratitude for these specialized items.

I don't see how this is any different than building yet another 4-sided room to protect yourself from creepers or digging out yet another mineshaft to get more iron for your busted equipment, or searching through yet another cave full of goblins to find a Silver Sword in a chest at the end.

 

[BigBooper]

S Saruhashi It's probably not a surprise that I also don't like Roguelikes.
I view the restrictions in a different way. The game forces you to pick up and play with all these boring swords. That reduces the variety because it reduces my flexibility. Instead of finding a good weapon and using it until I find a better one, I'm forced to use bad weapons and save the good, interesting ones for later. Even then, since the good ones also break so easily, I didn't want to use them even when I needed to.

 

[Saruhashi]

S Saruhashi It's probably not a surprise that I also don't like Roguelikes.
I view the restrictions in a different way. The game forces you to pick up and play with all these boring swords. That reduces the variety because it reduces my flexibility. Instead of finding a good weapon and using it until I find a better one, I'm forced to use bad weapons and save the good, interesting ones for later. Even then, since the good ones also break so easily, I didn't want to use them even when I needed to.

Yeah, I wouldn't say you are wrong. Just different folks have different tastes.

Fundamentally, a single player game is about interaction between the game and the player.
If you aren't feeling the interaction then that's fair enough.

I like roguelikes specifically for that "mixing it up" feeling where I can have a good or bad run and it's a bit more of an unpredictable thing.
So when I into a fight in BotW and my weapon is gone and I only have garbage that's part of the fun for me. That's a big part of the interaction there.

To expand a bit... so I go into one of those "Test of Strength" shrines and within 2 hits "your Awesome Weapon is badly damaged" and I'm giving it "fucksakes you goddamn motherfucker" in the living room and then I have nothing else and I get my arse handed to me... THAT is the experience for me. That's what I feel like I signed up for really. I like that idea that the game is letting me do a lot but at the same time saying "not today buddy, you are out of good weapons and it's time to die".

Even saving a weapon is like that interplay between the devs and the game and the player.
Oh yeah, I got that awesome weapon and it for sure won't be wasted on blue Bokoblins!
Shit, I might even just take that thing back to my house in Hateno Village and hang it on the wall.

I don't see it as a restriction but more of a different way to play.

To expand here too... I think it can come down to how much time you have to play. I can see why a restriction isn't just the game saying "no, you can't just do what you like" but is also a thing where I had 2 hours to game tonight and I am spending half of it seeking out an Eightfold Blade and a Lynel Crusher to batter that asshole guardian in Muwo Jeem shrine. So it's like maybe that can feel like the game doesn't respect your time. I dunno.

 

[Shaqazooloo]

I'm wondering what people expected it to look like? Considering the handheld games, this looks like it's inline with what they've done in the past except better.

 

[alf717]

I think the art style is a bit odd. Gonna need to see more and I'll decide closer to release day. But what I say is most troublesome is the music. The chintzy music for the title screen sounded real bad. I also hope this art style doesn't force a sub 60 FPS.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

The weapon breaking is just bad game design imo.

i love it. every other game i just use one weapon over and over the whole game. i'm upgrading that weapon, why should i put anything into other weapons? thinking about the fictional BOTW where i only use one sword the whole game and that sounds boring to me.

this actually makes you seek out new weapons. your arsenal is not static, it's continuously dynamic. i love it. it's something that most games don't do. most games also don't let you take the weapon from pretty much any enemy. again, that's something you can do with this system.

I'm wondering what people expected it to look like? Considering the handheld games, this looks like it's inline with what they've done in the past except better.

i guess people thought it was going to look like the intro cutscene? which sounds great but also like a fantasy wish. i mean when i was 8 and saw Contra for the first time in an arcade i thought it would be rad to play a game that looked like the intro cutscene but quickly realized that isn't going to happen.

i just wonder how they wanted to translate FMV anime style into a purely top-down 2D game. have there actually been any decent examples of this with purely 2D art?

 

[Fuz]

It looks adorable