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on March 20, 2017
As a gamer who was able to enjoy the original Legend of Zelda during it's prime, BoTW is an incredible achievement to the series. I haven't been so taken in by a Zelda game since the original. The world is so huge, with so many paths to take and ways to accomplish things. Too many games are plagued by being linear and needing to do X before you get to Y. I love that Zelda gives you a quick intro and then basically tells you to "have at it" as it sends you out into it's gigantic world. It helps to produce that "epic adventure" feeling while playing the game.
I feel like i've put a lot of time into the game until I look at my map and see how much of the world I still have left to see and explore. If you are looking for a game that you can really sink some hours into, Breath of The Wild is definitely a game to consider. It's a MUST OWN if you are a fan of the Zelda series for sure.
I feel like i've put a lot of time into the game until I look at my map and see how much of the world I still have left to see and explore. If you are looking for a game that you can really sink some hours into, Breath of The Wild is definitely a game to consider. It's a MUST OWN if you are a fan of the Zelda series for sure.
on May 19, 2017
Great game...In no way would I say one of the best games of all time though. Really was pumped for this plus with the hype up so damn high I was super excited.
The story is bland, this link is one of the most unexpressive boring links to date, the vast majority of side quests are borig filler. Most of the characters are underdeveloped or just bland tropes. Zelda comes off well though.
The best part of this game is the transversal through the world. I want every open world game let me climb everything.
If your buying a switch just for Zelda I would recommend downloading Cemu and trying it there first. It's not nearly as amazing as the reviews said it was. In no was is it a bad game...It's just not exceptional.
Still fun though
The story is bland, this link is one of the most unexpressive boring links to date, the vast majority of side quests are borig filler. Most of the characters are underdeveloped or just bland tropes. Zelda comes off well though.
The best part of this game is the transversal through the world. I want every open world game let me climb everything.
If your buying a switch just for Zelda I would recommend downloading Cemu and trying it there first. It's not nearly as amazing as the reviews said it was. In no was is it a bad game...It's just not exceptional.
Still fun though
on March 8, 2017
So now that I pissed off everyone with my title, on with the review.
Breath of the Wild surprised me because as the title says, I don't really like Zelda games. They never clicked with me for one reason or another. Which is funny because clones like Darksiders and Beyond Oasis on the Sega Genesis, I love! But I really have been enjoying this game. I really like Twilight Princess, that's the one I can say I enjoyed the most and love. I enjoyed the characters, the growth between Link and Midna, seeing her develop as a character really won me over.
I know a lot of people don't like durability because ...they like their games simple and dull, but it really keeps combat interesting in this game. You will be swapping weapons often whether you like it or not, they also function differently with attack values, durability, swing speed and how you can maneuver.
This game was obviously inspired by the likes of Skyrim and Farcry, you need to cook to make better healing items and they can even have special effects to resist the weather. It's not complex either and even me who doesn't care for this finds it simple and quick. Get ingredients, find a pot, light a fire, dump in, fud is dun. The Farcry inspiration is...the towers and random dungeons you can find. But they're not as frequent, useless and annoying. They managed to do what Ubisoft did, but make it good. Who knew. Thank you Nintendo for understanding that FUN is priority in a game and not irritating padding. Oh, also fire spreading is a fun mechanic they took and I'd say improved on in many ways. I wouldn't say climbing the towers but the trials offer interesting challenges with good variety to them
It's not perfect, the controls can be a bit finicky with powers and personally I find it hard to maneuver. Also, despite a patch it has some massive framedrops due to its vsyncing. The game runs at 30fps, if there's slowdown it drops to 20 and it's very obvious. Now before you comment saying "that's not important, wah wah wah" it's a flaw, low framerates strain my eyes as it is and yes it's not frequent, it's uncommon at best but it's still worth noting. I have very sensitive eyes and frame drops on a small screen I'm focused on does wear on my eyes.
The other issue is load times are pretty heavy, they vary from 10-40 seconds depending on the area you are loading into. But even dying, the load time is pretty harsh. While some may argue they know of other games with similar load times, that's not a positive thing. The shining light in this is with standby mode you don't need to load back into the game if you have put the system into sleep mode or hopped out of the game to go to the e-shop or something.
Combat is great, maybe the best it's ever been. You can do ztargeting or ...don't, play more like an action game, it does help, especially with some moves being required to ztarget (I think?) but it adds to it. As I said, durability has you switching weapons and using a variety of them to get by and it makes it fun, for me anyway. Weapon about to break? Fling it at the enemy! See a fire? Light your arrow and shoot it at a field of grass, fire!
There's random encounters and FINALLY a game with no difficulty/level scaling. Wander into the wrong neck of the woods? You'll find strong ass enemies that will happily punch your face in faster than you can say "MuscularSheikahAreSexy"
Is this game worth playing? Yes. At the time of writing this is the only must have Switch game (the others are either not my thing or they're too expensive), if you have a WiiU and you're not interested in a Switch? Get it on that, ignore the rumors. It runs just as well, the framerate dips happen in different areas and it also may be patched.
It runs well and looks great in tablet or TV mode. Again, I am FAR from a die-hard Zelda fan but I do find this game fun and I imagine fans of Zelda may get more mileage out of it than me. Like Skyrim? Zelda? ....Farcry...? You'd probably dig this game.
Breath of the Wild surprised me because as the title says, I don't really like Zelda games. They never clicked with me for one reason or another. Which is funny because clones like Darksiders and Beyond Oasis on the Sega Genesis, I love! But I really have been enjoying this game. I really like Twilight Princess, that's the one I can say I enjoyed the most and love. I enjoyed the characters, the growth between Link and Midna, seeing her develop as a character really won me over.
I know a lot of people don't like durability because ...they like their games simple and dull, but it really keeps combat interesting in this game. You will be swapping weapons often whether you like it or not, they also function differently with attack values, durability, swing speed and how you can maneuver.
This game was obviously inspired by the likes of Skyrim and Farcry, you need to cook to make better healing items and they can even have special effects to resist the weather. It's not complex either and even me who doesn't care for this finds it simple and quick. Get ingredients, find a pot, light a fire, dump in, fud is dun. The Farcry inspiration is...the towers and random dungeons you can find. But they're not as frequent, useless and annoying. They managed to do what Ubisoft did, but make it good. Who knew. Thank you Nintendo for understanding that FUN is priority in a game and not irritating padding. Oh, also fire spreading is a fun mechanic they took and I'd say improved on in many ways. I wouldn't say climbing the towers but the trials offer interesting challenges with good variety to them
It's not perfect, the controls can be a bit finicky with powers and personally I find it hard to maneuver. Also, despite a patch it has some massive framedrops due to its vsyncing. The game runs at 30fps, if there's slowdown it drops to 20 and it's very obvious. Now before you comment saying "that's not important, wah wah wah" it's a flaw, low framerates strain my eyes as it is and yes it's not frequent, it's uncommon at best but it's still worth noting. I have very sensitive eyes and frame drops on a small screen I'm focused on does wear on my eyes.
The other issue is load times are pretty heavy, they vary from 10-40 seconds depending on the area you are loading into. But even dying, the load time is pretty harsh. While some may argue they know of other games with similar load times, that's not a positive thing. The shining light in this is with standby mode you don't need to load back into the game if you have put the system into sleep mode or hopped out of the game to go to the e-shop or something.
Combat is great, maybe the best it's ever been. You can do ztargeting or ...don't, play more like an action game, it does help, especially with some moves being required to ztarget (I think?) but it adds to it. As I said, durability has you switching weapons and using a variety of them to get by and it makes it fun, for me anyway. Weapon about to break? Fling it at the enemy! See a fire? Light your arrow and shoot it at a field of grass, fire!
There's random encounters and FINALLY a game with no difficulty/level scaling. Wander into the wrong neck of the woods? You'll find strong ass enemies that will happily punch your face in faster than you can say "MuscularSheikahAreSexy"
Is this game worth playing? Yes. At the time of writing this is the only must have Switch game (the others are either not my thing or they're too expensive), if you have a WiiU and you're not interested in a Switch? Get it on that, ignore the rumors. It runs just as well, the framerate dips happen in different areas and it also may be patched.
It runs well and looks great in tablet or TV mode. Again, I am FAR from a die-hard Zelda fan but I do find this game fun and I imagine fans of Zelda may get more mileage out of it than me. Like Skyrim? Zelda? ....Farcry...? You'd probably dig this game.
on May 20, 2017
This is my review for as far as I got into the game. Game is great and there is plenty to do and explore in game; however, it has some drawbacks. One, when you are using your bow, it lacks lock-on...which make it highly inconvenient when you are in a tight spot with a difficult foe. Two, when you are using your melee weapons, it is highly advised that you have top notch weapons in your arsenal since they wear out after several hits. Three, the shrine locator used to finding shrines lacks direction...which makes finding a shrine difficult since you have to monitor your stamina. Overall, game is great and is definitely not for average gamers; however, lack of certain things make playing it a chore.
on March 19, 2017
Hot damn is this a fun game. But I hate collectathons which are kinda required to get the classic looking tunic for Link in this game as well as enough hearts to survive a single attack from high powered enemies.
on April 25, 2017
edit: Sorry this turned into a long review. There's actually more I wanted to mention but it's already too long.
I really wanted to give this 5 stars but couldn't quite get there.
I'm not really sure how to frame this review. I'll try and make it generic and not have any plot spoilers. I played this game at least once a day for about 6 weeks (march 11th - april 24th). I don't know of a way to see an official our count but guessing I would say between 150 and 250 hours - when I did finally beat it - I did do a lot of optional things though. Also, I only played it almost entirely with the pro controller" and a little bit with the Switch in portable-console-mode. Never used the detachable wireless controllers as a controller. I usually got around 2 1/2 - 3 hours as a portable by the way.
I'll preface this by saying the last zelda i finished was Ocarina, 20 years ago. Haven't really kept up with Nintendo or zelda since then. Maybe some old zeldas through emulation. Still have TP and skyward sword on my "to do list".
What would someone like me associate with a zelda game? A big over world with at least 8 dungeons of varying amounts of difficulty finding them, locked off areas that aren't accessible until certain items are found (like hookshot, the higher strength bracelet and the boomerang) and of course dungeons that include keys, a compass and a map.
Well this zelda has a twist and that idea: instead of 8 fairly large dungeons and areas locked away until you get certain items...there's 120 relatively short shrines only four of which are required to complete the game. And there aren't really areas locked away until you get a specific item. Maybe an area is extremely difficult with only 3 hears and no stamina but it's not physically impossible to get there.
This being an "open world" game I can't help but compare to other games of that kind, the freshest on my mind being the elder scrolls games. Skyrim for instance had weapon forging, marriages, a whole magical system, an economics system...far and away more complex than and in-depth than this in other words. But that's the way I have always remembered Zelda games: an "RPG" but much more "accessible" to kids and players who may not want to spend hundreds of hours doing everything. Actually if you were going to make an elder scrolls comparison Oblivion would be the most obvious in comparison (as I recall it had a lot of ...I want to say oblivion gates..that were optional to beat).
In BotW you don't really "level up" and there isn't actually an experience system. You finish shrines to get spirit orbs and then you upgrade either stamina (how long you can go before stopping to rest) or hearts (hit points). In other words you don't specialize in different skill sets. You can cook the best meal there is from the word go if you know the recipe and where to get the ingredients. And the same with archery and weapons skills: you don't get better and better at spears if you specialize in them, it's the same from the first moment as it is at the final fight. And I kind of like that.
Over the course of my play through I went through several stages:
1. starting the game, learning the controls, finding shrines and not towers with sheika slate scope, running from bokoblins...
2. blowing myself up with bombs, continually crouching while trying to run away from mini-bosses, seeing that game over screen a lot
3. being addicted to seeing what's over the next horizon, what's over there, staying up until 3am on a work night. This is probably the peak of the experience.
4. having uncovered the whole map, having to track down those final shrines and finishing the side quests
5. The final stage is kind of...frustrating. I didn't want to finish yet but there wasn't much left to do. The main point of side quests is get either money or "mad loot". But at some point I had "four-starred" my favorite armor and had 26k rupees so that kind of took away the motivation. So it was more "farming mini bosses" to get the ingredients and high level weapons I needed.
So I would say you reach "peak botw" around 12 hearts with two divine beasts under your belt.
What are the cons?
- As mentioned before, I kept crouching and very inconvenient times. The analog stick that is used for movement/running, when pushed down, makes Link crouch. This frustrated me to know end. I really wish there was a "disable crouch" option, even if temporary. Would made things so much easier.
- the technology used for the game is kind of...not powerful enough. For instance animals (or lizards) will run away and then simply disappear. For instances and dear will be right in front of me running circles and then just fade away right in front of me. I find this annoying. As is the sand seals and that can't pull me over rocks but can dive into rocks as if they were sand. It just seems like a lack of attention to detail or...maybe just a flaw in the technology. Really takes me out of the immersion.
- The music. Or rather lack thereof. There's a appropriate sounds when something is chasing after Link or there's a mini-boss in the area. But a lot of times it's either generic ambient music or no music at all, just wind blow through trees. I realize Nintendo isn't on forefront of technology but if you're really going to leave out music how about some way of importing custom music? Pandora? Something? Probably too much to ask.
- Even with the latest patch (as of april 25th 2017) I get some frame rate issues (I played with it on the dock/connected to a TV 99% of the time). Not very often and I don't remember it actually affecting game play. But that doesn't make it any less annoying.
- I have the physical version of the game and sometimes those loading times kind of get to me. Feels like I'm in the early 90s waiting for my 1x CD ROM to load. I did get a lot of tips for the loading screens, but I would still rather have faster loading.
Neutral:
- The weapon system. I think I figured out what they were going for: since there is no crafting or repair system for weapons and shields, this is the way the game upgrades your effectiveness. As you complete shrines and divine beasts the weapons slowly improve. Actually the enemies not all of them) slowly upgrade as well to be more difficult, thereby dropping improved weapons. It's supposed to be an organic thing, which it is up to a certain point.
- the motion controls: technically they "work" but I didn't appreciate them for things like aiming the bow so the first thing I did was turn them off. There are still shrines that make you use them though.
- the plot: not over the top great, no great twists or anything. Just a pretty straight forward thing. It's kind of like the plot of the movie "the blues brothers" now that I think about it. Link is "getting the band back together" for one last gig. And also bailing someone out of tough situation. Except link doesn't have a partner, it's just him trying to talk people into fighting again coming to the aid somebody. It's actually pretty impressive the way they pieced the plot together through these "memories" that are entirely optional and can be watched in any order yet still fits together into a cohesive whole by the end.
- optional quests and mini-games. To expand your inventory capacity (for melee weapons/bows/shields) you have to trade in korok seeds. You find korok seeds but searching out of the way places for things that "seem out of place". Like a circle of rocks obviously missing a piece to make a full circle. Complete the circle, get a seed. Collect enough seeds and trade them for more inventory capacity. So you explore the world, solve some minor puzzles and in trade you "earn" more inventory space. It seems fair (I found just under 200 seeds, which sounds like a lot until you find out there's 900 total). There's also a take-a-pic-of-everything mini game thing. I was wondering at the start why there was no central repository explaining all the various enemies. And then I got the thing that allowed for photo taking. So it's "build-your-own beastiary". I don't know that there's a reward for a complete repository. But it is helpful. There's also some other mini-games like gliding for the longest and riding a shield down a snow path. Those are fun more than anything.
- the way the monsters (and most everything else) re-spawns: I think I like it. I mean it's kind of explained in the context of the plot and it's relatively predictable. I once got stuck on a certain island the night before that re-spawn event. It was like living through "groundhog day" having to beat the island multiple times to try and finish it. In the "late game" you may start to plan all your adventures around the next re-spawn.
Positives:
- It is a very compelling open world. I spent many a night exploring random areas, trying to finish puzzles in shrines and fighting various mini bosses. It's often hard to put down.
- the gained abilities from the start of the game makes it very fun to experiment. And the shrines make you "think outside the box" in your creative use of these abilities to solve the puzzle.
- speaking of abilities, almost always when i couldn't figure out puzzle the answer seemed to be "use crynosis" (giant pillar of ice). Not sure why I had so much trouble remembering that was a thing.
- I actually like a lot of the mini bosses. The Hinox (giant one-eyed things that seem to enjoy sleeping) were intimidating at first but eventually quite fun to fight. And a good source of relatively high power bows. Among other things.
- the recipe/cooking system. I still don't know all the super-great recipes by name/by heart. But I know enough the create enhancements for speed/stealth/heart recovery/recovery+extra hearts/attack up/defense up/recover stamina/extra stamina wheels. And that's what I really want anyway. Never did figure out what good all those blocks of salt are for. Guess that's why I have hundreds of them.
- I like the logic of the game. For instance in the starter area is a required shrine but the area is too cold to go through without losing hearts. You only have three hearts so this is rather important. There are hints of a recipe that will provide cold resistance as well as a way to get a warm vest. But I didn't know how to cook or that the "warm doublet" was an option. So as is probably logical i used a torch to provide just enough warmth to get through the cold area. Of course there are also bad guys to get through along the way and the torch goes out when you switch to a weapon so then you have to find some place to re-light a torch. You can also light wood weapons on fire of course. And actually where you start finding element enhanced weapons this works the same way: in the hot desert equip a great ice sword to stay a little cooler (and a fireblade to stay a little warmer). There's also things like ice-based enemies that die in one hit with a fire weapon, and fire enemies that die from ice weapons. Just makes sense.
- Actually, you indirectly learn how to do with lightning strikes pretty quickly (if you have metal weapons equipped you'll likely get struck by lightning). And this knowledge comes in handy with the electricity-based puzzles (metal weapons conduct electricity). As does water. Comes in handy for disabling groups of enemies standing in water.
- It seems like for every "that's not fair" element you find there is a "that's very generous of you" element to counter it. For instance it's not at all difficult to stumble across an enemy entirely over your head in abilities/hit points/etc. and can insta-kill you without much more than a look. As if to counter this you have the transportation/beam out ability you get pretty much first thing. At any moment/any time you can bring up the map and warp away without any consequences of any kind. About to drown? Or part way up a mountain and out of stamina? Laser about the take your head off? No problem, bring up the map and warp away. Doesn't cost any rupees or hearts or anything nor are there restrictions around enemies being around etc. Insta-gone.
- the armor system: lets just say collect everything you see that you can pick up. Every much room, every firefly, every apple, every horn. Because you will need it, and I don't think there's any sort of limit to how big that stack of teeth can get (or I didn't find the limit, anyway). You'll need it to upgrade your armor, which you will want to do for the "set bonus". There's the fireproof suit for walking around on death mountain without instantly catching on fire. There's the rock climbing suit for super fast climbing, there's the sheika outfit for super-stealth, there also one for extreme cold and extreme heat. The one that allows for walking around inside in a volcano doesn't help for traveling in the desert. Not sure why. Point is you will probably want that extreme cold outfit upgrade so you're "unfreezable" and the rubber suite upgraded so your "unshockable". And extreme heat one so you're not dressed as...well lets not spoil the surprise.
- the combat system: the sooner you learn the parry/super dodge system the better off you'll be. Took me forever to get the hang of it. But it's definitely worth it. Lets just say you can kill the guardians in the starter area with nothing more than a pot lid...
How much one likes this game I think will be directly proportional to how open one is to open world games (like the elder scrolls series). I never had any trouble figuring out where to go or what to do next in this game (and Impa is there to remind you). The plot is entirely optional as are the "divine beasts" and 116 of 120 shrines. You can waste time time and do whatever you want in any random order you like. That's either terrifyingly flexible or wonderfully freeing, depending on your tastes. Think of it as a really watered down version of all the famous open world franchises. Which isn't a bad thing.
One tip to leave you with: that area around Zora's domain, the long windy road with all the lizard men, that is definitely the place for gathering arrows. And you will run low on arrows...a lot. I was doing that every re-spawn time for a while there.
I really wanted to give this 5 stars but couldn't quite get there.
I'm not really sure how to frame this review. I'll try and make it generic and not have any plot spoilers. I played this game at least once a day for about 6 weeks (march 11th - april 24th). I don't know of a way to see an official our count but guessing I would say between 150 and 250 hours - when I did finally beat it - I did do a lot of optional things though. Also, I only played it almost entirely with the pro controller" and a little bit with the Switch in portable-console-mode. Never used the detachable wireless controllers as a controller. I usually got around 2 1/2 - 3 hours as a portable by the way.
I'll preface this by saying the last zelda i finished was Ocarina, 20 years ago. Haven't really kept up with Nintendo or zelda since then. Maybe some old zeldas through emulation. Still have TP and skyward sword on my "to do list".
What would someone like me associate with a zelda game? A big over world with at least 8 dungeons of varying amounts of difficulty finding them, locked off areas that aren't accessible until certain items are found (like hookshot, the higher strength bracelet and the boomerang) and of course dungeons that include keys, a compass and a map.
Well this zelda has a twist and that idea: instead of 8 fairly large dungeons and areas locked away until you get certain items...there's 120 relatively short shrines only four of which are required to complete the game. And there aren't really areas locked away until you get a specific item. Maybe an area is extremely difficult with only 3 hears and no stamina but it's not physically impossible to get there.
This being an "open world" game I can't help but compare to other games of that kind, the freshest on my mind being the elder scrolls games. Skyrim for instance had weapon forging, marriages, a whole magical system, an economics system...far and away more complex than and in-depth than this in other words. But that's the way I have always remembered Zelda games: an "RPG" but much more "accessible" to kids and players who may not want to spend hundreds of hours doing everything. Actually if you were going to make an elder scrolls comparison Oblivion would be the most obvious in comparison (as I recall it had a lot of ...I want to say oblivion gates..that were optional to beat).
In BotW you don't really "level up" and there isn't actually an experience system. You finish shrines to get spirit orbs and then you upgrade either stamina (how long you can go before stopping to rest) or hearts (hit points). In other words you don't specialize in different skill sets. You can cook the best meal there is from the word go if you know the recipe and where to get the ingredients. And the same with archery and weapons skills: you don't get better and better at spears if you specialize in them, it's the same from the first moment as it is at the final fight. And I kind of like that.
Over the course of my play through I went through several stages:
1. starting the game, learning the controls, finding shrines and not towers with sheika slate scope, running from bokoblins...
2. blowing myself up with bombs, continually crouching while trying to run away from mini-bosses, seeing that game over screen a lot
3. being addicted to seeing what's over the next horizon, what's over there, staying up until 3am on a work night. This is probably the peak of the experience.
4. having uncovered the whole map, having to track down those final shrines and finishing the side quests
5. The final stage is kind of...frustrating. I didn't want to finish yet but there wasn't much left to do. The main point of side quests is get either money or "mad loot". But at some point I had "four-starred" my favorite armor and had 26k rupees so that kind of took away the motivation. So it was more "farming mini bosses" to get the ingredients and high level weapons I needed.
So I would say you reach "peak botw" around 12 hearts with two divine beasts under your belt.
What are the cons?
- As mentioned before, I kept crouching and very inconvenient times. The analog stick that is used for movement/running, when pushed down, makes Link crouch. This frustrated me to know end. I really wish there was a "disable crouch" option, even if temporary. Would made things so much easier.
- the technology used for the game is kind of...not powerful enough. For instance animals (or lizards) will run away and then simply disappear. For instances and dear will be right in front of me running circles and then just fade away right in front of me. I find this annoying. As is the sand seals and that can't pull me over rocks but can dive into rocks as if they were sand. It just seems like a lack of attention to detail or...maybe just a flaw in the technology. Really takes me out of the immersion.
- The music. Or rather lack thereof. There's a appropriate sounds when something is chasing after Link or there's a mini-boss in the area. But a lot of times it's either generic ambient music or no music at all, just wind blow through trees. I realize Nintendo isn't on forefront of technology but if you're really going to leave out music how about some way of importing custom music? Pandora? Something? Probably too much to ask.
- Even with the latest patch (as of april 25th 2017) I get some frame rate issues (I played with it on the dock/connected to a TV 99% of the time). Not very often and I don't remember it actually affecting game play. But that doesn't make it any less annoying.
- I have the physical version of the game and sometimes those loading times kind of get to me. Feels like I'm in the early 90s waiting for my 1x CD ROM to load. I did get a lot of tips for the loading screens, but I would still rather have faster loading.
Neutral:
- The weapon system. I think I figured out what they were going for: since there is no crafting or repair system for weapons and shields, this is the way the game upgrades your effectiveness. As you complete shrines and divine beasts the weapons slowly improve. Actually the enemies not all of them) slowly upgrade as well to be more difficult, thereby dropping improved weapons. It's supposed to be an organic thing, which it is up to a certain point.
- the motion controls: technically they "work" but I didn't appreciate them for things like aiming the bow so the first thing I did was turn them off. There are still shrines that make you use them though.
- the plot: not over the top great, no great twists or anything. Just a pretty straight forward thing. It's kind of like the plot of the movie "the blues brothers" now that I think about it. Link is "getting the band back together" for one last gig. And also bailing someone out of tough situation. Except link doesn't have a partner, it's just him trying to talk people into fighting again coming to the aid somebody. It's actually pretty impressive the way they pieced the plot together through these "memories" that are entirely optional and can be watched in any order yet still fits together into a cohesive whole by the end.
- optional quests and mini-games. To expand your inventory capacity (for melee weapons/bows/shields) you have to trade in korok seeds. You find korok seeds but searching out of the way places for things that "seem out of place". Like a circle of rocks obviously missing a piece to make a full circle. Complete the circle, get a seed. Collect enough seeds and trade them for more inventory capacity. So you explore the world, solve some minor puzzles and in trade you "earn" more inventory space. It seems fair (I found just under 200 seeds, which sounds like a lot until you find out there's 900 total). There's also a take-a-pic-of-everything mini game thing. I was wondering at the start why there was no central repository explaining all the various enemies. And then I got the thing that allowed for photo taking. So it's "build-your-own beastiary". I don't know that there's a reward for a complete repository. But it is helpful. There's also some other mini-games like gliding for the longest and riding a shield down a snow path. Those are fun more than anything.
- the way the monsters (and most everything else) re-spawns: I think I like it. I mean it's kind of explained in the context of the plot and it's relatively predictable. I once got stuck on a certain island the night before that re-spawn event. It was like living through "groundhog day" having to beat the island multiple times to try and finish it. In the "late game" you may start to plan all your adventures around the next re-spawn.
Positives:
- It is a very compelling open world. I spent many a night exploring random areas, trying to finish puzzles in shrines and fighting various mini bosses. It's often hard to put down.
- the gained abilities from the start of the game makes it very fun to experiment. And the shrines make you "think outside the box" in your creative use of these abilities to solve the puzzle.
- speaking of abilities, almost always when i couldn't figure out puzzle the answer seemed to be "use crynosis" (giant pillar of ice). Not sure why I had so much trouble remembering that was a thing.
- I actually like a lot of the mini bosses. The Hinox (giant one-eyed things that seem to enjoy sleeping) were intimidating at first but eventually quite fun to fight. And a good source of relatively high power bows. Among other things.
- the recipe/cooking system. I still don't know all the super-great recipes by name/by heart. But I know enough the create enhancements for speed/stealth/heart recovery/recovery+extra hearts/attack up/defense up/recover stamina/extra stamina wheels. And that's what I really want anyway. Never did figure out what good all those blocks of salt are for. Guess that's why I have hundreds of them.
- I like the logic of the game. For instance in the starter area is a required shrine but the area is too cold to go through without losing hearts. You only have three hearts so this is rather important. There are hints of a recipe that will provide cold resistance as well as a way to get a warm vest. But I didn't know how to cook or that the "warm doublet" was an option. So as is probably logical i used a torch to provide just enough warmth to get through the cold area. Of course there are also bad guys to get through along the way and the torch goes out when you switch to a weapon so then you have to find some place to re-light a torch. You can also light wood weapons on fire of course. And actually where you start finding element enhanced weapons this works the same way: in the hot desert equip a great ice sword to stay a little cooler (and a fireblade to stay a little warmer). There's also things like ice-based enemies that die in one hit with a fire weapon, and fire enemies that die from ice weapons. Just makes sense.
- Actually, you indirectly learn how to do with lightning strikes pretty quickly (if you have metal weapons equipped you'll likely get struck by lightning). And this knowledge comes in handy with the electricity-based puzzles (metal weapons conduct electricity). As does water. Comes in handy for disabling groups of enemies standing in water.
- It seems like for every "that's not fair" element you find there is a "that's very generous of you" element to counter it. For instance it's not at all difficult to stumble across an enemy entirely over your head in abilities/hit points/etc. and can insta-kill you without much more than a look. As if to counter this you have the transportation/beam out ability you get pretty much first thing. At any moment/any time you can bring up the map and warp away without any consequences of any kind. About to drown? Or part way up a mountain and out of stamina? Laser about the take your head off? No problem, bring up the map and warp away. Doesn't cost any rupees or hearts or anything nor are there restrictions around enemies being around etc. Insta-gone.
- the armor system: lets just say collect everything you see that you can pick up. Every much room, every firefly, every apple, every horn. Because you will need it, and I don't think there's any sort of limit to how big that stack of teeth can get (or I didn't find the limit, anyway). You'll need it to upgrade your armor, which you will want to do for the "set bonus". There's the fireproof suit for walking around on death mountain without instantly catching on fire. There's the rock climbing suit for super fast climbing, there's the sheika outfit for super-stealth, there also one for extreme cold and extreme heat. The one that allows for walking around inside in a volcano doesn't help for traveling in the desert. Not sure why. Point is you will probably want that extreme cold outfit upgrade so you're "unfreezable" and the rubber suite upgraded so your "unshockable". And extreme heat one so you're not dressed as...well lets not spoil the surprise.
- the combat system: the sooner you learn the parry/super dodge system the better off you'll be. Took me forever to get the hang of it. But it's definitely worth it. Lets just say you can kill the guardians in the starter area with nothing more than a pot lid...
How much one likes this game I think will be directly proportional to how open one is to open world games (like the elder scrolls series). I never had any trouble figuring out where to go or what to do next in this game (and Impa is there to remind you). The plot is entirely optional as are the "divine beasts" and 116 of 120 shrines. You can waste time time and do whatever you want in any random order you like. That's either terrifyingly flexible or wonderfully freeing, depending on your tastes. Think of it as a really watered down version of all the famous open world franchises. Which isn't a bad thing.
One tip to leave you with: that area around Zora's domain, the long windy road with all the lizard men, that is definitely the place for gathering arrows. And you will run low on arrows...a lot. I was doing that every re-spawn time for a while there.
on March 8, 2017
How do you make the Legend of Zelda relevant again? By destroying the definition of what a game like the Legend of Zelda is supposed to be. Where do I start with this game? How about the fact you really go can anywhere you want- horizontally and vertically. How about the fact the physics in this game actually matter and you can truly manipulate and approach every situation differently because of it. How about adding voice acting and cutscenes and some of the best writing I have ever read in a video game?
I don't know where to begin(just like the game). I have been preparing for a hardcore open world game in Hyrule for years. I knew that eventually, Nintendo would take Zelda in this direction so I needed to prepare myself. It all started with Portal 1 and 2, then Skyrim, then the Last of Us, then the Souls series and Bloodborne. Each of the game series I listed you can see influenced the final product. From the quick, challenging and fun puzzles( just like Portal) in the shrines and dungeons. The open world discovery from Skyrim, the survival aspect and utilizing all your resources like the Last of Us, and the difficult but rewarding enemy and boss encounters like the Souls series.
It also borrows from the Ubisoft model of climbing a tower to open up a portion of the map but unlike the Ubisoft model nothing shows up on the map. You need to find and mark the locations you need to explore. I play with HUD off which helps me really learn the environment and look at the map like a true adventure. It is so refreshing to venture off into a large land mass because you see something in the horizon. I spent 4 hours last night just exploring and find new secrets that I missed in the beginning area. I am currently in the eastern part of the map and I had a feeling in my gut I needed to go back to where it all started since I had new equipment and understood the world design better. Man, I beat two Guardians, got 15 Korok seeds, finish 8 shrines and just discovered parts of the map that are wonderous.
If you want your hand to be held and everything to be easy, this game is not for you. It is not as hard as a Dark Souls or Bloodborne but you can make it that hard if you want by venturing into areas with underpowered equipment. This game has spoiled me. I can't look or play other games now if the gameplay isn't tight and the world isn't magical. I play games to lost myself and forget about the issues of my life and the world. I don't care about graphics. I want to have fun, I want a challenge. I want to use my brain as well as my skills to get through a tough area or boss. Every time I fail, I know it is because of me. Either I am rushing, not mentality ready for the fight, or overlooking an aspect of the game.
This game is easily in my top 5 favorite games of all time. Not sure of the rankings yet but I worry for Portal 2 and FF7. That's it- go out and get it. The Wii U is the only Nintendo system I never owned. The Switch is fantastic. I do recommend a pro controller. I use the pro controller for tough fights since I need the dexterity. But I play on the handheld when I just want to explore areas with enemies I know I can beat while looking for new shrines to complete. If you don't have money for a console and one of the greatest games ever just wait till the Holidays. But if you are like me and hate cookie cutter games like Ubisoft open-world games(Rayman Legends is awesome) then please go get this game. You will not regret it.
Update: What I said above is true about this game up to a certain point. I just beat the main story, 90 shrines, 150 korok seeds and good amount of side quests completed. First off, I hate Calamity Ganon and everything Hyrule Castle. It is the worst part of the game. I will not ruin the game here but for a game where you spend 80-90 hours being creative and doing different puzzles, this area is not creative and just a fight fest. I did not struggle with any of the battles before Ganon but you can avoid them all if you wish. There are no puzzles to get to Ganon. It was the most disappointing boss battle in the game.
I have dropped the score to a 4.5 because the mini bosses on the world map are always fun, everything else is fun in the game but I would recommend beating the game either as soon as possible or doing everything else before facing Ganon. I just cannot play any longer. After 115 hours, I felt it was time to beat Ganon. Those 5 hours walking to the castle, and telling I will not skip any area to get to Ganon felt like a chore. Still a fantastic game that suffers from the usual RPG issue of overstaying its welcome and having lackluster final boss.
Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, A Link to the Past are all still better games since they did not leave me with this sour taste at the end. I might change my mind in the future but this is my fresh update after watching the credits.
I don't know where to begin(just like the game). I have been preparing for a hardcore open world game in Hyrule for years. I knew that eventually, Nintendo would take Zelda in this direction so I needed to prepare myself. It all started with Portal 1 and 2, then Skyrim, then the Last of Us, then the Souls series and Bloodborne. Each of the game series I listed you can see influenced the final product. From the quick, challenging and fun puzzles( just like Portal) in the shrines and dungeons. The open world discovery from Skyrim, the survival aspect and utilizing all your resources like the Last of Us, and the difficult but rewarding enemy and boss encounters like the Souls series.
It also borrows from the Ubisoft model of climbing a tower to open up a portion of the map but unlike the Ubisoft model nothing shows up on the map. You need to find and mark the locations you need to explore. I play with HUD off which helps me really learn the environment and look at the map like a true adventure. It is so refreshing to venture off into a large land mass because you see something in the horizon. I spent 4 hours last night just exploring and find new secrets that I missed in the beginning area. I am currently in the eastern part of the map and I had a feeling in my gut I needed to go back to where it all started since I had new equipment and understood the world design better. Man, I beat two Guardians, got 15 Korok seeds, finish 8 shrines and just discovered parts of the map that are wonderous.
If you want your hand to be held and everything to be easy, this game is not for you. It is not as hard as a Dark Souls or Bloodborne but you can make it that hard if you want by venturing into areas with underpowered equipment. This game has spoiled me. I can't look or play other games now if the gameplay isn't tight and the world isn't magical. I play games to lost myself and forget about the issues of my life and the world. I don't care about graphics. I want to have fun, I want a challenge. I want to use my brain as well as my skills to get through a tough area or boss. Every time I fail, I know it is because of me. Either I am rushing, not mentality ready for the fight, or overlooking an aspect of the game.
This game is easily in my top 5 favorite games of all time. Not sure of the rankings yet but I worry for Portal 2 and FF7. That's it- go out and get it. The Wii U is the only Nintendo system I never owned. The Switch is fantastic. I do recommend a pro controller. I use the pro controller for tough fights since I need the dexterity. But I play on the handheld when I just want to explore areas with enemies I know I can beat while looking for new shrines to complete. If you don't have money for a console and one of the greatest games ever just wait till the Holidays. But if you are like me and hate cookie cutter games like Ubisoft open-world games(Rayman Legends is awesome) then please go get this game. You will not regret it.
Update: What I said above is true about this game up to a certain point. I just beat the main story, 90 shrines, 150 korok seeds and good amount of side quests completed. First off, I hate Calamity Ganon and everything Hyrule Castle. It is the worst part of the game. I will not ruin the game here but for a game where you spend 80-90 hours being creative and doing different puzzles, this area is not creative and just a fight fest. I did not struggle with any of the battles before Ganon but you can avoid them all if you wish. There are no puzzles to get to Ganon. It was the most disappointing boss battle in the game.
I have dropped the score to a 4.5 because the mini bosses on the world map are always fun, everything else is fun in the game but I would recommend beating the game either as soon as possible or doing everything else before facing Ganon. I just cannot play any longer. After 115 hours, I felt it was time to beat Ganon. Those 5 hours walking to the castle, and telling I will not skip any area to get to Ganon felt like a chore. Still a fantastic game that suffers from the usual RPG issue of overstaying its welcome and having lackluster final boss.
Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, A Link to the Past are all still better games since they did not leave me with this sour taste at the end. I might change my mind in the future but this is my fresh update after watching the credits.
on April 4, 2017
The game is great overall, but way too easy.
All of the boss battles, including the final boss, were such a joke it was kind of a letdown.
But, I like the new direction of the game. Just make it more challenging next time.
All of the boss battles, including the final boss, were such a joke it was kind of a letdown.
But, I like the new direction of the game. Just make it more challenging next time.
on May 4, 2017
Better than I thought it's a keeper.
