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[Dr.Hadji]

Good example: Goron Mines in Twilight Princess.

You have cases throughout where you'll walk on walls and ceilings with the Iron Boots, then cases where you'll use them to attach to cranes.

Early in on the dungeon, there's a bridge raised by ropes you need to cut through with your sword. You then get the bow, and can shoot through faraway ropes to lower bridges without having to climb up to the ropes.

Right before the boss room, you get a case where you need to attach to a crane with the Iron Boots, then shoot through ropes while hanging upside-down.

This is a great example. I know you're not the one I asked the question of but surely you can see that kind of stair stepping in BotW's puzzles as well? Though I will say, BotW's open nature to puzzle solutions can obscure that fact.

Jee Noh is a great example. Three rooms, three conveyor belts, three different challenges. Stair steps from...
1. Stasis conveyor belt to stop the motion of the ball.
2. Stasis the mini-guardian to stop the motion of the all.
3. Throw the ball over the first laser and stasis the ball to stop it from moving.

Though like a said above, the open nature of the solutions deters from strict stair stepping (as the video solves the shrine in a slightly different way).

 

[Addi]

Combat shrines are the worst I've seen so far. Haven't found any motion controlled shrines yet though—my opinion might change.

The shrine guardians are unique, but underused, and rarely difficult.

You haven't been to

Spoiler

Hateno

Village?

Well, I personally loved every single shrine with motion controls, but I'm apparently in the minority.

I loved them too. Looking at streams online, it seems a lot of people move the controls too much. The controls are actually really sensitive so if you take it easy it's no problem.

 

[Glass Shark]

I had discovered about 40 Shrines before I found a motion control one. Even now I've only found two so far. The

Spoiler

golf

one was frustrating me for a long time, but then I realized I was being an idiot and doing it completely wrong.

Spoiler

I was trying to shoot the ball over the gap instead of putting it around the bend. Once I actually realized what to do it only took me like 3 strokes.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

It's perfectly valid to prefer the old Zelda design paradigm. It's a very solid structure which funnels the player through a sequence of challenges. But this leads to an experience whose content and pacing is largely dictated by the developer.

BotW has been designed from the ground up to break the old formula. The result is basically a sandbox, where the player is free to choose what to do and how to do it. Of course this is not everyone's preference, and that's fine. But the game is so highly regarded precisely because a lot of people prefer the new design. (Partially because it is new, partially because they embrace the given freedom.) Spreading out the dungeon-like content makes sense in this kind of a structure, and the beast design also follows the same core idea of nonlinearity.

But hey, there is still the DLC, and who knows what they do with the next installment.

Yeah, I have zero qualms with what they did. I'm not a big sandbox game player so it's not as good as the old games for me, but it's again a testament to its quality that I like it as much as I do when I can't stand most sandbox type games.

I still applaud them for trying something new as my biggest gripe with Nintendo has been playing it too safe with their core IPs over the years. That Zelda went in a direction that wasn't my perfect cup of tea is still fine by me. Not every game is going to be, nor should be, a perfect match for me. And I know not to expect many that check all my boxes from Nintendo anymore just due to how my tastes have shifted more to narrative-driven experiences over gameplay-focused titles. Nintendo has long shifted to just being my palate cleanser between big story-driven RPGs etc.

 

[LegendofLex]

This is a great example. I know you're not the one I asked the question of but surely you can see that kind of stair stepping in BotW's puzzles as well? Though I will say, BotW's open nature to puzzle solutions can obscure that fact.

Jee Noh is a great example. Three rooms, three conveyor belts, three different challenges. Stair steps from...
1. Stasis conveyor belt to stop the motion of the ball.
2. Stasis the mini-guardian to stop the motion of the all.
3. Throw the ball over the first laser and stasis the ball to stop it from moving.

Though like a said above, the open nature of the solutions deters from strict stair stepping (as the video solves the shrine in a slightly different way).

Yeah, I don't disagree that BotW does in fact have some pretty good puzzle-scaffolding. The shrines are a great template for that.

I would love to see the "dungeons" be more bold in scaffolding their solutions, though. And I think it's possible without sacrificing openness. Past Zelda dungeons had a great solution for this in that you could often bomb your way through parts of a dungeon instead of taking the "correct" path, if you could intuit the location of a shortcut.

In BotW, it often felt like each puzzle in the Divine Beasts was self-contained, but with a common interface for manipulating the dungeon, so it was almost like you were playing five different shrines crammed in a single space. I'd prefer something that feels a bit more unified, and that gives you the opportunity to go "deeper" into the zone without necessarily requiring you to jump through a bunch of hoops.

 

[kunonabi]

Looking forward to them "reinventing the Zelda series" by taking us back to the forest, volcano, lake, desert, field, and castle again, this time with a new gameplay twist!



Difficulty isn't flat in Breath of the Wild, though.

Not only are the individual dungeons each of varying difficulty, so are the build-ups to the dungeons, and the enemies scale as you get further into the game.

no it's pretty flat. The dungeons and build-ups are all about the same with Gerudo being the only real exception. Yes, the enemies scale but it makes no real difference since flurry rush is just as effective in the beginning as it is the end. They might take more damage and dish out a little more but it isn't effectively more challenging when the patterns and strategy never change.

 

[LordofPwn]

almost 80 shrines completed
around 150 kurok seeds found

I want to find all shrines before I beat the game, right now that is proving to be difficult. I've recently had to turn the shrine sensor back on and I know it has a decent search radius but I run around an area that is "empty" on my map and no hits.

I also have not completed any of the beasts or visited any of those towns besides the Zora. and I know there will be a few shrines there but not 40. I also believe I've done 24 Shrine Quests

 

[LegendofLex]

no it's pretty flat. The dungeons and build-ups are all about the same with Gerudo being the only real exception. Yes, the enemies scale but it makes no real difference since flurry rush is just as effective in the beginning as it is the end. They might take more damage and dish out a little more but it isn't effectively more challenging when the patterns and strategy never change.

I mean,

there's barely any content build-up for the Rito dungeon

the Goron dungeon requires you to not only get up the mountain before you can access fire-repellent gear, but also get through an area with enemies firing high-powered arrows

the Zora dungeon requires you to get past the enemy-infested rainy area, with some enemies later on firing shock arrows that are terrifying in the rain

but, okay, I guess it's just flat.

I'm also pretty sure it's a very small minority of players who find the harder variants to be basically the same as the weaker ones.

 

[Firebrand]

Hyrule Castle question:

Spoiler

Is there more than 1 shrine to find in here? At 117 shrines now, and don't wanna find out many hours from now that they were in there, haha.

 

[Shrennin]

Special Edition of BotW is currently available at GameStop:

http://m.gamestop.com/product/ninte...7&sourceid=akgbls8splm-yld6inngxwygddd8y5bqjw

 

[ciD_Vain]

Hyrule Castle question:

Spoiler

Is there more than 1 shrine to find in here? At 117 shrines now, and don't wanna find out many hours from now that they were in there, haha.

Spoiler

Only 1.

It is in

Spoiler

the docks

 

[Akuun]

The combat shrines are probably the weakest part of the entire game. So, I agree with that for sure. I want combat shrines with lots of variety in the next game. I love the concept of them, but they need better execution.

Combat shrines started off as the only shrine type I couldn't beat (I found a

Spoiler

Major Test of Strength

shrine at 3 hearts and weapons that were ~10 damage at most lol), to more or less just a bonus level orb.

I still like seeing them because it's a short and sweet orb. I do wish they did more with the encounter design, though. The outdoor monster camps have dynamic settings with different elevations, weaknesses, and enemy placement. But the combat shrines are just that one guy in the same arena, every single time.

 

[Metroid]

Hyrule Castle question:

Spoiler

Is there more than 1 shrine to find in here? At 117 shrines now, and don't wanna find out many hours from now that they were in there, haha.

Just use a guide for the last three. I did it as well.

 

[duckroll]

Beat the Zora dungeon. That was really fun. I like how the manipulation involved on singular part of it rather than different parts of the body. The lead up to the dungeon was great too. 3 down now. I'm going to do a bunch of quests and stuff before going to Goronland.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

20 more shrines to go! It's insane that I've found 1/3 of the seeds lol

when I first heard of how many Shrines this game had and you could finish the game without clearing all of them. I was thinking that some of them would be nearly impossible to complete.

I was wrong, I had fun but never really got stuck for long.

 

[rhandino]

Combat shrines started off as the only shrine type I couldn't beat (I found a

Spoiler

Major Test of Strength

shrine at 3 hearts and weapons that were ~10 damage at most lol), to more or less just a bonus level orb.

I still like seeing them because it's a short and sweet orb. I do wish they did more with the encounter design, though. The outdoor monster camps have dynamic settings with different elevations, weaknesses, and enemy placement. But the combat shrines are just that one guy in the same arena, every single time.

To be fair some of the shrines are in different types of arenas that expect of you the use of some runes.

I think they could have been improved if they added win conditions like survive a wave of enemies or beat a guardian using only 1 weapon and so.

 

[Common Knowledge]

Special Edition of BotW is currently available at GameStop:

http://m.gamestop.com/product/ninte...7&sourceid=akgbls8splm-yld6inngxwygddd8y5bqjw

Ugh, I feel dirty for buying this despite already having the game. But I was one of the victims of the Amazon pre-order massacre so I was still bummed from that.

Oh well. If there's one series where I can live with being an impulsive, unreasonable spender, it's Zelda.

 

[Red]

You haven't been to

Spoiler

Hateno

Village?



I loved them too. Looking at streams online, it seems a lot of people move the controls too much. The controls are actually really sensitive so if you take it easy it's no problem.

I haven't been to any villages yet.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

out of 900 seeds I only found 89 so far. I have no idea why I should not get a seed under every Little Rock I pick up. I mean there is 900 out there why hide them so much?

 

[Firebrand]

Just use a guide for the last three. I did it as well.

You find a note. It reads in weak scribbles: So close... must not yield... head hurts... La-Mulana (?!)...

But yeah, I'll check out a few more spots that I might have been hasty to go through the first time, then I'll go finish the game. It's a great game, but after an obscene amount of hours running up and down the hills of Hyrule I don't think I'm enjoying it that much anymore, haha. Looking forward to see the story through.

 

[ColdPizza]

out of 900 seeds I only found 89 so far. I have no idea why I should not get a seed under every Little Rock I pick up. I mean there is 900 out there why hide them so much?

As you keep playing it sort of becomes apparent for the most part where you can expect to find them.

 

[Red]

out of 900 seeds I only found 89 so far. I have no idea why I should not get a seed under every Little Rock I pick up. I mean there is 900 out there why hide them so much?

Sincerely yours,
Ubisoft

 

[xviper]

i'm lost

i have the following main quests

Spoiler

Destory Ganon
Free the divine beasts
Captured memories

what should i do first ?? they seem out of my level and i think i'm missing something

 

[maxcriden]

I guess what I'm saying is that I'd rather Nintendo not treat every other Zelda game like it has to be a benchmark title and instead for them to take a benchmark and explore it further with a bunch of new content and more dynamism.

You can still get monumentally popular, successful, well-loved games out of that approach - just look at Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. The "core gameplay" is largely the same, just with more layers and - importantly - a ton of settings, enemies, and characters that didn't exist in the first Mario game.

What use is a benchmark game if they immediately abandon the benchmark with the next game? I know Skyward Sword isn't the best Zelda game, but it still sucks that so much time was spent on adapting that game for the motion controls only for those controls to be dropped like a hot potato afterwards. The same would be true of the open world structure, physics/chemistry engine, and other trappings of Breath of the Wild.

Ok, I see what you're saying (though for me Skyward Sword is potentially the best Zelda game!). I originally thought you were thinking something along the lines of: "BOTW isn't a sufficiently thorough reinvention of Zelda mechanics" but my understanding now is that you mean "some conventions of Zelda, like aesthetic, do not require fixing and should be carried over if they work." Specifically here, you mean the open world structure, PhysChem engine, etc. I think I agree that some aspects should not be wasted and should be carried over. But... while I agree that motion controls for example are sad to have been worked so thoroughly on and then lost (for now), (a) they were carried over to Nintendo Land, at least that is something; (b) they can be picked back up when the system and gaming appetite is ready for it again and refined at that point; (c) some of the Skyward Sword particulars, like the Stamina Wheel and motion-controlled Special Items (Runes in lieu of the Beetle, for example) were carried over to this game. And probably more things that I'm not thinking of. I don't want the metaphorical (Leviathan, in more ways than one) bones of BOTW to be lost efforts, either. But, I do think the PhysChem mechanics can be adapted to new structures, like using only completely different kinds of elements and ideas, and trading in open air calm for indoor open world wackiness, for example, while still refining those mechanics and in that way they would not be going to waste.

i'm lost

i have the following main quests

Spoiler

Destory Ganon
Free the divine beasts
Captured memories

what should i do first ?? they seem out of my level and i think i'm missing something

What major tasks have you done so far?

 

[LegendofLex]

i'm lost

i have the following main quests

Spoiler

Destory Ganon
Free the divine beasts
Captured memories

what should i do first ?? they seem out of my level and i think i'm missing something

#1 is the end of the game

It reeeeeeally doesn't matter for the other two.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

i'm lost

i have the following main quests

Spoiler

Destory Ganon
Free the divine beasts
Captured memories

what should i do first ?? they seem out of my level and i think i'm missing something

There's no real structure. No spoilers below beyond just what those missions are and their impacts on progress, just flagged to be safe.

Spoiler

Destroy Ganon is just going straight to the castle and final boss. You can do it anytime, but it's difficulty if you aren't powered up and haven't done other things.

Doing the Divine Beasts first is basically the "standard" path to go through before tackling Ganon. They can be done in any order.

The Memories are optional and fill in story bits, finding all of them gives an extra scene in the ending, but it doesn't affect the gameplay or your leveling etc.

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

I have 43 shrines. I wouldn't say I've checked everywhere, but I have been to pretty much every location, and I don't see any new shrines when I get up high and look around anywhere. I haven't begun a thorough search but it still seems shocking that there are 77 left. How many are locked/hidden behind shrine quests? Haven't done many of those.

 

[Crayolan]

i'm lost

i have the following main quests

Spoiler

Destory Ganon
Free the divine beasts
Captured memories

what should i do first ?? they seem out of my level and i think i'm missing something

Do 2. 1 is literally "fight the final boss" and 3 isn't really feasible unless you've been around the world a bit already and have a good feel for where things are relative to major landmarks. You will also no doubt stumble onto some of the locations for 3 just by chance.

Or just explore and bump into stuff naturally. Whatever you prefer.

 

[xviper]

What major tasks have you done so far?

i've done the following:

Spoiler

Find the fairy faountain
Locked mementos
seek out impa
the isolated plateau
follow the sheikah slate

should i do

Spoiler

the divine beasts

?? it seems way too hard for my level

is there a quest i missed or something ?

 

[LegendofLex]

should i do

Spoiler

the divine beasts

?? it seems way too hard for my level

By the time you actually reach any of the Divine Beasts, you'll be prepared for them.

 

[BashNasty]

i've done the following:

Spoiler

Find the fairy faountain
Locked mementos
seek out impa
the isolated plateau
follow the sheikah slate

should i do

Spoiler

the divine beasts

?? it seems way too hard for my level

is there a quest i missed or something ?

You're not missing anything, the entire point of the game is that you can do what you want, when you want. No real structure, this is very much a make your own adventure game, and that's what makes it the absolutely brilliant game that so many people are gushing over. My advice is to go explore the world, you're guaranteed to find all sorts of cool stuff.

That said, a good starting point would be to start looking for shrines to start upgrading your stats. They're all over the place. Climbing towers to reveal chunks of the map wouldn't be a terrible thing to do either. Set a waypoint and start heading to a tower, just be prepared to get really distracted along the way.

 

[xviper]

By the time you actually reach any of the Divine Beasts, you'll be prepared for them.

so there is no other main quests ?? i have to do

Spoiler

the Divine beasts

to unlock new main quests ?

 

[xviper]

You're not missing anything, the entire point of the game is that you can do what you want, when you want. No real structure, this is very much a make your own adventure game, and that's what makes it the absolutely brilliant game that so many people are gushing over. My advice is to go explore the world, you're guaranteed to find all sorts of cool stuff.

That said, a good starting point would be to start looking for shrines to start upgrading your stats. They're all over the place. Climbing towers to reveal chunks of the map wouldn't be a terrible thing to do either. Set a waypoint and start heading to a tower, just be prepared to get really distracted along the way.

i've done about 14 shrines now, really amazing, got lots of weapons and food

where can i find good armor ? i have 800 rupees, i don't do stealth so i just need an armor with good defense

 

[BashNasty]

so there is no other main quests ?? i have to do

Spoiler

the Divine beasts

to unlock new main quests ?

You'll stumble across all sorts of side quests along the way that will help you with the main quest, but the three main quests you've listed are the only "main" quests.

The actual main quest, though, is to go out into that huge world and have an adventure. It seems like you're putting too much emphasis on structure, that's not what BotW is about. Explore the world and have fun, you'll progress naturally.

Edit: very small spoiler about an armor location

Spoiler

you can buy a set of nice defensive armor in Hateno village.

 

[LegendofLex]

so there is no other main quests ?? i have to do

Spoiler

the Divine beasts

to unlock new main quests ?

Basically.

There isn't much of a linear structure to the main game. You can

Spoiler

get the memories (or not), free the Divine Beasts (or not), and beat Ganon at basically any time, depending on what you feel like doing. Each of the Divine Beasts requires you to clear a few intermediary main objectives, but otherwise you're on your own.

As soon as you leave the plateau, you're free to do whatever you want. You can even ignore most of the main quest if you want to.

 

[xviper]

thank you guys, i got it now, there is no such thing as "main quests", everything in this game is a main quest, i'll try to take out the

Spoiler

Desert Divine beast now

 

[maxcriden]

thank you guys, i got it now, there is no such thing as "main quests", everything in this game is a main quest, i'll try to take out the

Spoiler

Desert Divine beast now

I see your questions were answered excellently above. Personally I assumed the order they're listed in the quest guide was the "recommended" order but I'm sure it's ok to do them however you like. Have fun! And enjoy getting purposefully lost in the world and taking those scenic routes wherever they might crop up, going off the beaten path is very rewarding in this game and can help lead you to new shrines, people with sidequests, and villages ... not to mention dangerous and exotic locales.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I have 43 shrines. I wouldn't say I've checked everywhere, but I have been to pretty much every location, and I don't see any new shrines when I get up high and look around anywhere. I haven't begun a thorough search but it still seems shocking that there are 77 left. How many are locked/hidden behind shrine quests? Haven't done many of those.

There are probably only about 20-30 shrine quests. Do you have your Sheikah Sensor set to shrines? It should be going off like crazy if you only have 43 shrines.

 

[Addi]

thank you guys, i got it now, there is no such thing as "main quests", everything in this game is a main quest, i'll try to take out the

Spoiler

Desert Divine beast now

Just a little tip: that one is the hardest of the four

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

There are probably only about 20-30 shrine quests. Do you have your Sheikah Sensor set to shrines? It should be going off like crazy if you only have 43 shrines.

42 quests, actually.

But yeah, I didn't hit the wall until I was over 100 Shrines.

 

[VistraNorrez]

120 hours into the game, I've decided to retrace my journey. Starting at the Great Plateau, it's amazing all the things I've missed. Some obvious, some hidden but it's put a new light on what I thought were familiar areas.

 

[Nickle]

thank you guys, i got it now, there is no such thing as "main quests", everything in this game is a main quest, i'll try to take out the

Spoiler

Desert Divine beast now

I would recommend not doing that one first, not because it will be too difficult to complete, but because the top left and bottom right ones are better suited for doing first.

 

[Glass Shark]

thank you guys, i got it now, there is no such thing as "main quests", everything in this game is a main quest, i'll try to take out the

Spoiler

Desert Divine beast now

If you're not too far along, I'd recommend doing the one in the snowy mountains first. You get a great ability there that will make traversal in the rest of the game better and more enjoyable. Plus it's probably the easiest one and will ramp you up for the rest of the game.

 

[FreedomFighter]

120 hours into the game, I've decided to retrace my journey. Starting at the Great Plateau, it's amazing all the things I've missed. Some obvious, some hidden but it's put a new light on what I thought were familiar areas.

That's a good idea. I did this on the Plateau and found a few Korok seeds l totally would've missed.

 

[Addi]

I give up the

Spoiler

mounted arching

mini game. I suck at it, but I really want the prize

Made a Talus kill a guardian though, that was awesome. Cut of the guardian's legs off and the Talus then punched it of a high cliff. Found the loot in a lake a the bottom of the cliff.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I give up the

Spoiler

mounted arching

mini game. I suck at it, but I really want the prize

Use a 3x bow with bomb arrows.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Cut of the guardian's legs off

wait what

 

[Rhaknar]

gonna take my switch to work tonight and have a go at proper handheld mode. Taking it from the dock to the bed doesnt count >_>

 

[Nyoro SF]

I would recommend not doing that one first, not because it will be too difficult to complete, but because the top left and bottom right ones are better suited for doing first.

Yes. Doing the top left one first unlocks a fun ability which speeds up traversal.

If I were to replay the game again I would probably go for that one first, and would recommend other new players to do it too.

 

[TheJoRu]

Lol, 105 hours in and out of nowhere I discover a brand new stable (

Spoiler

Highland Stable

) in a part of the world I must've first visited like 80-90 hours prior.