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The Witcher 3 vs. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Thread starter .Pennywise
- Start date
DeaconOfTheDank
Member
I'm still a little salty after Bloodborne vs Witcher 3, but in this round I have to vote for the latter.
I'm a sucker for worldbuilding, narrative, and environmental storytelling and Witcher 3 has it in spades. Along with combat, those are the biggest reasons why I love the Soulsborne titles (including Sekiro) and its probably why I enjoyed RDR2 so much. Obviously, I'm a bit disappointed in Witcher's gameplay, but the rest of the offering more than makes up for that. Also, playing on PC with a couple of essential mods (PLM, HD Reworked, Immersive HUD, Immersive Camera, etc.) is just *chef's kiss*.
With BotW, the exploration was its best feature. While great for what it was, after you had seen everything, there wasn't a whole lot left to do except fiddle around with the physics + chemistry engine to kill enemies in amusing ways.
In the Witcher 3, exploring the map uncovered stories and quests that kept you engaged even if, for example, passing by the Hanged Man's Tree for the tenth time. Every time you passed by the tree, the atmosphere and themes of the game left you with a new impression and appreciation of the staggering detail put into the environment.
Anyhow, I can't vote anyways. Just wanted to give my two cents. Don't be mad at me, fellow Bloodbros.
I'm a sucker for worldbuilding, narrative, and environmental storytelling and Witcher 3 has it in spades. Along with combat, those are the biggest reasons why I love the Soulsborne titles (including Sekiro) and its probably why I enjoyed RDR2 so much. Obviously, I'm a bit disappointed in Witcher's gameplay, but the rest of the offering more than makes up for that. Also, playing on PC with a couple of essential mods (PLM, HD Reworked, Immersive HUD, Immersive Camera, etc.) is just *chef's kiss*.
With BotW, the exploration was its best feature. While great for what it was, after you had seen everything, there wasn't a whole lot left to do except fiddle around with the physics + chemistry engine to kill enemies in amusing ways.
In the Witcher 3, exploring the map uncovered stories and quests that kept you engaged even if, for example, passing by the Hanged Man's Tree for the tenth time. Every time you passed by the tree, the atmosphere and themes of the game left you with a new impression and appreciation of the staggering detail put into the environment.
Anyhow, I can't vote anyways. Just wanted to give my two cents. Don't be mad at me, fellow Bloodbros.
Humdinger
Member
Technically true, but how many people owned a Wii U and did not buy a Switch? Fifteen?
Xaero Gravity
NEXT LEVEL lame™
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OldBoyGamer
Banned
Easy one for me because I just didn’t get on with Witcher 3 at all.
BotW on the other hand blew me away. One of the greatest games ever made for me.
BotW on the other hand blew me away. One of the greatest games ever made for me.
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Mhmmm 2077
Member
Well, I'm one of them.
MagnesG
Banned
Less than 2 millions sold on WiiU, and those CEMU players are 99% pirates they won't gonna buy the game anyway.
Halo is Back
Member
Zelda is the overall better game imo
sid2vicious
Banned
(Good riddance...)
cartman414
Member
(Good riddance...)
Ok edgelord.
brenobnfm
Member
BotW is on PC, and it's 60 FPS.
Walter Matthau
Member
edit
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Humdinger
Member
Yeah, I'm sure there are a few. But speaking in broad strokes, it's like one small circle (Wii U) embedded inside a another, large circle (Switch). There's almost complete overlap -- nearly everyone who owned a Wii U will have bought a Switch. Compare that to the other platforms (PS4 vs. Xbox vs. PC vs. Switch). Although there is some overlap there, too, it's much smaller; they are tapping much different sets of people, a much broader range and scope.
The overall point is that BotW is a console exclusive, going up against Witcher, which appeared on every single platform there is. It's an unequal playing field. Witcher has an unfair advantage, because many more people have been exposed to it on a multiplatform site like GAF. Probably 25% of the members own a Switch, whereas 99% own one of the platforms Witcher appeared on.
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Mhmmm 2077
Member
well, can't do shit about, I can say that it's not my fault that Nintendo limited the game to only their consoles, which is a shitty argument, but idk what else I can say. The original The Last of Us held the record of given GOTY awards in a single year and that was an exclusive too... until The Witcher 3 has beaten that record, in a year where less GOTY awards was given too, but I know I'm biased. Happy to see my favourite game of all time win.
Xaero Gravity
NEXT LEVEL lame™
Humdinger
Member
Sure, everyone likes to be on the winning team.
I agree that exclusives can win lots of GOTY awards -- Zelda certainly did -- but note the difference between GOTY awards, which are usually decided by sites who have played all the major contenders, and this situation. Here, 75% of the people voting have never played one of the games. Fair contest? I don't think so.
I don't think that point is really arguable. I also don't think it's all that important. I'm just pointing out the inequity, not asking for reparations or demanding a recount (lol).
In the end, more people here voted for Witcher than they did for BotW. That's fine, but it doesn't really change anything. The people who loved Witcher still love Witcher, and the people who preferred BotW still prefer BotW.
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Werewolf Jones
Gold Member
This board has trash taste. Can't even be mad. Glad I never participated.
brenobnfm
Member
gtfoh BotW is lucky to be in the final at all, Bloodborne (an exclusive btw) would have kicked BotW ass all day.
GymWolf
Member
sid2vicious
Banned
300 of my friends wanted to vote Witcher 3 but accidently voted for BOTW, our bad.
Ah yes, the "taste is subjective" so "no way I'm wrong" aka "doesn't change anything" argument, I expected this response from someone who cannot come to grips with losing. Your right in the sense it "doesn't change" the fact the better game won. There were other games I enjoyed that didn't make it, but even so, I can't deny Witcher 3 is the better product overall. Once you get over your ego and realize Zelda is not all its cracked up to be, 452 people or the bigger picture aka the final result shows that majority of people see beyond BOTW acclaim and actually see an imperfect game not worthy of GOTG. That's perspective for you, polls are not meant to change your individual opinion, it's just most people don't agree with you that's all.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Gameplay vs Story
Story wins.
NeoGAF fails again!
Story wins.
NeoGAF fails again!
Wunray
Member
Congrats to the Witcher 3, it really is a once in a lifetime game and a masterpiece at that. It's a shame my bloodborne brethren couldn't pull through, I guess gameplay isn't king to them. Oh well 2nd place isn't that bad, tbh it's going to shake out like that across the internet with BoTW and TW3 trading spots between 1st and 2nd.
Tschumi
Member
I'm glad about this, I've long said to myself that Witcher 3 is my top game of all time, and I'm glad to see it's been borne out here.
A final word.
Meme combat is not enough reason to discount this game. And by meme, I mean meme - by that I'm saying it is an internet fad to shit on W3's combat - I personally loved it. Did I find it to be as challenging as f*cking Dark Souls? No. Did I go in wanting it to be? No? Jesus~ Witcher combat has been a unique and somewhat technical proposition ever since the Witcher 1, compared to earlier titles Witcher 3 was sharp and snappy. I never encountered any of those stupid meme gifs of Gryphons, I dunno, getting stuck in trees, in my 200 hours of playing this game.
I went into Witcher 3 not knowing what to expect. I came to it late, all I had seen of the game was a brief, impossibly beautiful looking bit of gameplay on a mountaintop which I thought must surely have been a pre-rendered cutscene. I knew the Witcher 2 was beautiful, but it didn't run on my old computer so I didn't think Witcher 3 would, obviously. However, their improved graphics engine not only ran buttery smooth on my aged PC, it looked drop dead gorgeous even when falling short of max settings. When I later moved to an Alienware 17, I saw the game in its full glory.
Beyond the visuals, I experienced a world that perfectly captured the windswept, rainy landscapes of my childhood in Belgium and Germany - replete with wonderful gore and corpses, great looking armour, pretty good character faces, and a huge, detailed map. I had a blast with this game. More and more points of interest popped up around the map and I loved resolving every last one of them. And that all fails to include the story... and Gwent - the addictive, if easy, card game which spawned a much more complex spinoff title.
Shall I count the ways in which this game got through to me? Exploration. Detail. Setting. Characters. Dialogue. Atmosphere. Length. Breadth. Variation. Visuals. Music. No other game in my life has got through to me on so many levels.
Has it aged a bit? Yes. But name me a goddamn game (besides vanilla wow i guess, maybe half life 2? I personally think Crysis will always look gorgeous...) that hasn't?
This game has won the generation for a host of damn good reasons. Other games were fantastic and rightly received praise - my top 4 would have definitely included both MGS5 and W3 so in that sense I'm satisfied with this poll.
Thanks Karma. <3
A final word.
Meme combat is not enough reason to discount this game. And by meme, I mean meme - by that I'm saying it is an internet fad to shit on W3's combat - I personally loved it. Did I find it to be as challenging as f*cking Dark Souls? No. Did I go in wanting it to be? No? Jesus~ Witcher combat has been a unique and somewhat technical proposition ever since the Witcher 1, compared to earlier titles Witcher 3 was sharp and snappy. I never encountered any of those stupid meme gifs of Gryphons, I dunno, getting stuck in trees, in my 200 hours of playing this game.
I went into Witcher 3 not knowing what to expect. I came to it late, all I had seen of the game was a brief, impossibly beautiful looking bit of gameplay on a mountaintop which I thought must surely have been a pre-rendered cutscene. I knew the Witcher 2 was beautiful, but it didn't run on my old computer so I didn't think Witcher 3 would, obviously. However, their improved graphics engine not only ran buttery smooth on my aged PC, it looked drop dead gorgeous even when falling short of max settings. When I later moved to an Alienware 17, I saw the game in its full glory.
Beyond the visuals, I experienced a world that perfectly captured the windswept, rainy landscapes of my childhood in Belgium and Germany - replete with wonderful gore and corpses, great looking armour, pretty good character faces, and a huge, detailed map. I had a blast with this game. More and more points of interest popped up around the map and I loved resolving every last one of them. And that all fails to include the story... and Gwent - the addictive, if easy, card game which spawned a much more complex spinoff title.
Shall I count the ways in which this game got through to me? Exploration. Detail. Setting. Characters. Dialogue. Atmosphere. Length. Breadth. Variation. Visuals. Music. No other game in my life has got through to me on so many levels.
Has it aged a bit? Yes. But name me a goddamn game (besides vanilla wow i guess, maybe half life 2? I personally think Crysis will always look gorgeous...) that hasn't?
This game has won the generation for a host of damn good reasons. Other games were fantastic and rightly received praise - my top 4 would have definitely included both MGS5 and W3 so in that sense I'm satisfied with this poll.
Thanks Karma. <3
cartman414
Member
Divinity Original Sin 2 was robbed.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
I would just like to point out...
Fortnite made 20x more $$$ than both these games combined, is still dominating today (3 years after release) while these have been totally irrelevant for years, brought 1,000,000x more joy to gamers around the planet, and altered the trajectory of the industry significantly more than either BotW or W3.
But this is a cute award.
Fortnite made 20x more $$$ than both these games combined, is still dominating today (3 years after release) while these have been totally irrelevant for years, brought 1,000,000x more joy to gamers around the planet, and altered the trajectory of the industry significantly more than either BotW or W3.
But this is a cute award.
MagnesG
Banned
Using your metrics mobile gacha games did better x3.
And you forgot the amount of development, support and marketing cost of the game throughout the years.
"More joy"
"Altered the trajectory of the industry"
Those ^^ are just top tier bullshit.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Only, the DNA of Fortnite is pure traditional gameplay. It has more in common with Halo, Gears of War, Minecraft etc than mobile gatcha games.
The amount of marketing was rather small for Fortnite as well when compared with BotW and W3 which had massive marketing budgets. It flourished based on word of mouth which is the highest praise.
So this NeoGAF award is cute. Gaming historians will remember Fortnite in 50 years, not BotW or W3.
MagnesG
Banned
Don't discount mobile gatcha games, like your word it can bring more joy to people just from the emergent gacha gameplay.
And stop bullshitting me with Fornite having less marketing budgets and flourishing using word of mouth. Even the latest update had Marvel characters slotted in, you thought that was all free and no marketing? Fuck off with your delusions.
I didn't take the award seriously either, but your hot take is obviously more more pathetic than those who got to the fanboy heat.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
GotG type awards go to traditional gaming experiences. IE PC, PlayStation, XBox, Switch games. Mobile gatcha games aren't considered for such an honor.
If I can take you back to 2017, when Fortnite launched, you'll see it had basically zero marketing budget. It exploded on the basis of it's design merit only. Again, W3 and BotW pre release marketing dwarfed Fortnites. Word of mouth is telling.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Fortnite was doing shit on its merits, PUBG brought the BR craze, Fortnite haphazardly added that mode to capitalize on the hype yet was free so went big on that, abandoned the previously "main" mode left unfinished behind a paywall nobody bothers with in face of BR micros, the rest is history.
If it wasn't for that it'd have gone the way of Paragon.
There are many (other) mobile games you've never heard of grossing waaay more money if you really think that trumps quality. And no, nobody's going to remember it when the next post-BR fad comes along, people barely remember UT ffs (sadly enough), what are you even trying to say here, lol.
If it wasn't for that it'd have gone the way of Paragon.
There are many (other) mobile games you've never heard of grossing waaay more money if you really think that trumps quality. And no, nobody's going to remember it when the next post-BR fad comes along, people barely remember UT ffs (sadly enough), what are you even trying to say here, lol.
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MagnesG
Banned
Fornite which was developed and still in development by Epic games have zero marketing budget pre launch? Are kidding me? Why do you think they want to get those Tencent money then?
The game had its mildly success initially but only when the Battle Royale mode launched that the game exploded, and only with continuous marketing that the game can sustain its course until now.
Even on average a typical AA game would have 4:1 scale when comparing marketing vs development costs. Only ignorant indies would launch their games with zero marketing budget.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
"Basically zero marketing budget". Key word "Basically".
It obviously had a small marketing budget, but compared to BotW or W3? Lol
People hate to hear it, but word of mouth played a massive role in Fortnites success.
Word of mouth is the purest form of growth a game can get.
MagnesG
Banned
I'm done if you continue to deflect and only cherry pick your case.
You obviously can't comprehend how much a "small marketing budget" means for a GAAS and how they need to continue pumping out more money for marketing, bigger than other budgets to sustain the cycle.
WoM are what that sustains the evergreen sales of W3 and BOTW years after launch, minus W3 ports and remaster efforts. Fortnite needs continuous big marketing and ads for people to continue spending money on Vbucks, of course WoM also helps but it's impossible for the game to survive just from that alone.
You're starting off with a botched narrative and still going for it. You just don't learn.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
There's absolutely no way to look at Fortnites meteoric rise in it's first 6 months, and say marketing was largely the reason why it succeeded. It's impossible.
The game was openly mocked by gamers and gaming media alike for being a PUBG knockoff. Haters called it a cheap kids game early on. There were no commercials. No big marketing events. Nothing.
I'll try looking for the article, but Fortnite Battle Royale was made by 11 Epic employees in 7 weeks. Does that sound like Epic was flushing marketing channels with $$$?
It blew up because people played a game they weren't expecting to like and fell in love.
Hell, even today it has pretty lame Marvel Avengers marketing crossover and we last heard it's getting 25 million daily active players.
Contrast that with the marketing and hype that Avengers Destiny clone got a few weeks ago and that game is already dead.
If we could measure and bottle the amount of pure fun and joy Fortnite produced over the last 3.5 years, no game would come close. That matters when it comes to GotG.
Tschumi
Member
I don't think you're pointing out anything, i think you're just giving your take. That's valid. I personally think it's a joke to compare fortnite to these, or probably any of the top 10 games we decided with this poll.. but that's just me...
A couple more thoughts on your opinions:
...I particularly liked "1,000,000x more joy", fanboy gush par excellence
...And altering a trajectory? Are you high? Classic example of not seeing the forest for the trees, to think Witcher 3 had no impact.. okay so fortnite had themed seasons (big whoop) and you are now or have been an addict, i don't go on any forum and say WoW from vanilla to WotLK was the best game ever, even though i was addicted as hell to it, played it more and had more great moments playing it than any other games.
you're a cute fan with cute opinions, I'm also totemo kawaii desu…thanks for contributing~
MagnesG
Banned
Don't forget that you're comparing this to SP GOTG contenders.
And don't confuse marketing costs with development costs, different metrics especially for a GAAS. One could make games with no pay (self made) but still needs a small fortune for maketing.
The 22.5 millions numbers is impressive though. Still it's DAU numbers which means people could just log in and that count as one, on big events it's easier to reach those numbers when you look at Fortnite's scale.
Gamers mocked GAAS games all the time, especially when it's true it is a knockoff for PUBG BR. Marketing doesn't means only big commercials and events. Even simple google ads, and search boost are substantial in marketing budgets.
Avengers is destined to die from the start, but I bet if it had a somewhat decent BR mode it could thrive, plus marketing.
Your last pure joy statement = mobile games included. I can somewhat agree that Fortnite is a beast but comparing it to SP games while also ignoring mobile titles? Nah.
Mhmmm 2077
Member
just because BotW has half-assed story, doesn't mean that TW3 has half-assed gameplay. I'm sure you will disagree on both of these arguments anyway.
Humdinger
Member
lol, what a tiny-minded, defensive, irrational projection of a response.
Kev Kev
Member
voter fraud. it was rigged. recount please. im suing
.Pennywise
lol yes im jk... sad that i even have to put this but ims ure someone wouldnt have gotten it
.Pennywise
lol yes im jk... sad that i even have to put this but ims ure someone wouldnt have gotten it
Barnabot
Member
Every Hyrule warrior is gansgta until the next contender of every GOTG contest starts singing in polish.
Next time bring a worthy contender to take down The Witcher 3. Or else is gonna be Witcher 3 all over again.
I don't think The Witcher 3 winning again was the ideal imo but I'm sure as hell BOTW shouldn't win this either.
Next time bring a worthy contender to take down The Witcher 3. Or else is gonna be Witcher 3 all over again.
I don't think The Witcher 3 winning again was the ideal imo but I'm sure as hell BOTW shouldn't win this either.
sid2vicious
Banned
I assume you're referring to your pathetic attempt of a retort. I take it you conceded, since you have nothing of value to say, just don't let the door hit you on the way out.
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