[Megathread] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[Usagi Senshi]

I'm about halfway through the game and yeah, this is probably the best game Nintendo has made to date and the best open world game (sorry Dragon's Dogma) I've played to date.

Not even bullshit, game is just that good.

[Iamanerd]

I beat the game today, while everything was really fun for the most part, once I got to the end after doing all the side stuff I wanted I have to say the way to game ends is rather disappointing.

[Immitis]

I dont know how far into the game you were meant to be when you got to that island but holy fucking shit 5 hearts was clearly not it. took me about 5 hours worth of retries to beat it and when i did i felt so fucking awesome.

also sailing around the ocean with my korok leaf in a boat gave me some real heavy wind waker vibes and nostalgia

[Deleted]

So I don't know any zelda forum to post a (long) review so I think it is a place as good as any.

First the game is excellent I got it on Wii U and had a really good times with a lot of friend playing each time almost non-stop (the perk of being a student i guess). For me it the first successful open-world (I do love witcher 3 and somehow skyrim but their openworld were lacking things) and have a lot of great unique element to the Zelda franchise.
And if the game have immense qualities it has a lot of minor default that prevent me for having a perfect experience and they were easy thing to change. I don't want to talk to long about the good things because every one did it already and I don't have much more to say about it. Also spoilers not about the main story but gameplay mechanics and some location, i will try to be the less specific possible.

Open world
In most open world I played, I always felt like the map was just a pretext to add a shit ton of content, you don't explore the country, you just do quest in an area then jump to another and being to focused on those quests were distraction to the beautiful landscape of those games. In Botw there are few quest (for an open world) that are labeled as such, so most of the time you just wander, explore that mountain, that beach, that forest and so on...The shrine and koroks are small quest but not labeled that way, you just "found them" when in fact the game encourage you to find them.

General Gameplay
I always loved the casual "Z" targeting in Zelda, as the use of object. The endurance bar is very cool and climbing is one of the things I enjoyed much, swimming was painfully slow however. The specific set of armor and rpg grind (gear, stamina, life, special abilities) are well done. The combat is a bit generic on the long term but I did not mind it because the enemies had a lot of animation, weakness and style depending of their weapon it was enjoyable. Boss combat and grinding are a bit similar to dark souls and monster hunter. Of course the game is not crazy hard but I felt less like the game took me for a 5 years old. Some outdoor boss combat were cool, the Lynen are my personal favorite. The weapon breaking is not a problem at all, the inventory was.
The game is also strangely logical on many aspect we are not accostumed in games and the addition of physics was very nice.

I could say many great things about the games but i won't continue I just wanted to expose a few good point to expose the weakness.

Gear
Maybe my smallest concern about the game but one that occured a lot of time. Breaking stuff is not a big deal, you always will have always weapon. But opening a chest to find a medium weapon and your inventory being full is not very pleasent when it is the hundred times you have a 4 sec animation you have to go through twice. One solution would have been to put that gear not in chest but openly visible like you can see at multiple occasion in the game, and just put that precious ore in those chest.
Another complain is the elemental gear, it is very good looking but somehow not that powerful and to common. At some point in the game I had to choose between elemental weapon and twice stronger normal weapons and durability makes you choose the latter, keeping just one fire/ice weapon to fight elemental opponent or cold. Early in the game I found a special place on the top of a snowy mountain and got my first ice spear and it felt awesome. Latter I found weapon similar everywhere and my awesome discovery of that place just rewarded me with common gear. I would have made those elemental gear less frequent, stronger and with durability buff.
In the main quest you loot special weapons but those add no special effect, strong but mid-tier with no scaling and to repair them you need expensive stuff. That last part did not mind me, but the stuff was not special and it asked me to have a generic yet specific weapon that was hard to find. I wish you could buy those generic weapon but the blacksmith did not sell weapon. Once again I would had a special effect (elemental, durability, and kind of enchantment you find on other gear latter).

Shrines and Koroks
Shrines were good, simple for most but always different (at least for the first 50 i did). However you are locked in small cutscenes when you enter/exit. You can skip them, but you have to click 4 times to skip and the last animation (very pretty) is unskipable and take 5-10 sec. Not much you would say but you will do them again and again. The "reward" shrines are my main problem. Sometimes you will find special area and you feel your exploration is rewarded, those challenge are unique and can be more complicated that they seem. A huge temple forgotten, 7 huge gerudo statues, a challenging island in the south east, another in the dark, some with a puzzle and so on. But the reward is always the same, a shrine take 5 second to come up, you enter by skipping 3 times, you grab the loot, but your inventory is full so you redo it again and you go through the final animation. It breaks the pace with a 20 sec chore to grab a medium loot.
And seeing the shrine appearing make the reward less apealing. I discover those 3 sources, and did extra things but for the game it is not more important that those shrine near every town. I would have prefered a chest appearing than a 20 sec animation.
The koroks are the same problem, I do not mind them but they lock you in a few second animation, not much but a problem when you know there are hundreds. At least i could drop a stone on those hiding under it.

Enemies
The game as a lot of enemies with different tier according to their color. Stronger tiers of enemy gain better strengh, loot, a shit ton of hp and are less dumb in combat, but the huge gap of pv is frustratring sometimes. The last tiers of enemy have a loooooot of hp and you have to rely on cheesy techniques to kill them the fastest possible.
The boss are cools for a Zelda game but there is no middle ground between small enemies and boss. One or two addition of stronger yet common enemies in zelda game (like the darknut/stalfos) would have been good. There are the yuga officers but they are too unfrequent.

Side Quest
the game has a lot of side quest and most of them are meaningless. Some seems meaning less but clearing a camp at a specific location will show you a bigger thing in the environment that you would not have seen before and that is well done. However that does not happen often, most are meaningless, just grab me some loot and i give you 100 rupee. And once again there are environment quest like those trial outdoor I mention, but they don't feel special because they are not different than open shrine and it is a shame because there are beautiful hidden places in the game.

Main Quest
The main quest is a bit too easy but unequal. Not a huge spoiler but at some point the main quest will have 4 objectives and the two closest to south are well done, you have to explore stuff, do a chain of quest meet various character. Yet the other two closest to north are really really short, it is solved in an hour for one and in 20 minutes for the other one (we did count). Moreover when you finish that part you can return to the closest hub and discover that some side quest are available and once more the south offer way more content (and quality content) that the north. I wonder if at somepoint the dev were rushed for those area.

So yes I wrote a lot of things, and i could talk more about the awesome horses but are practical in only 3 areas of the games, tedious armor crafting and other small thing but I already feel like I wrote two much.

[Thelxi]

I'm really enjoying the game. Exceeded my expectations. I hope that weapons breaking is a one-time thing though, and not the standard for all future Zelda games.

[fangless]

Like i said why would we want another replay of Ocarina of time. We had those for 20 years now. Skyward sword and Twilight princess showed them and us that the formula was tired. How much zelda was taken out is highly subjective here.. Its closer to the original 8/16 bit Zelda, so it me it lost nothing, infact it gained alot more. Makes something like twilight princess feels terrible and even Ocarina of time barebone to me. Zelda to me is exploration and puzzles. Breath of the wild put 100% of its focus on this.

Don't tarnish the name of LttP by saying that Botw is close to it o_O LttP is still basically the blueprint of everything that is Zelda.

Just having exploration and puzzles... that could be basically any game. Nothing that is extraordinally fun in Botw is something that is unique to the Zelda franchise. People are gushing over things that are just game design choices that a lot of games have used over the years. That's my point.

That said, I still really appreciate the scope of the overworld map they created, the world is interesting to be in, all of that. They did a good job constructing the intangibles.

My problem is there's many Zelda tropes they left out, which when you add them all up, leaves a mostly generic game that could of been called anything besides Legend of Zelda, and no one would of been the wiser.

[infinitemeridian]

This game has flaws for sure, but it's just so damn good that I can overlook them. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction for the series and hope the next game can improve upon the base that BoTW has created.

I'm about 20ish hours in, still haven't even done one dungeon, but the things I don't like are:

Enemy diversity:

There area only a handful of different enemy types and then a bunch of reskins. Was really hoping for more diversity.

Weapon Durability:

It's not as big a deal as others make it out, but it can be annoying, and I would prefer if most weapons had a bit more durability.

Lack of Zelda Tools:

Bring back things like the Magnet boots or the hookshot. I love the physics engine and the sheika slate compliments it well, but it would have been nice to have other things to look forward to, besides what I'm given initially at the start of the game.

Crafting Menu:

Game should have some sort of book that keeps track of recipes you discover.

Music:

Biggest gripe for me so far honestly. Music in Zelda has always been stellar, and though the music in this isn't TERRIBLE, it's just not up to snuff with WW or TP. The overworld/battle music is pretty terrible to be honest, and doesn't fit for ever area. I should not hear plinks on a piano in the middle of the desert - give me sitars and chanting or something. The battle music is bad and the boss music has been forgettable. I love the main theme though.

Oh and also the amount of time spent in menus is another huge annoyance. Why do we need to pause the game to heal? Makes it too easy and I open up the menu WAY to many times in just one fight.

[Pony Soldier]

This game has flaws for sure, but it's just so damn good that I can overlook them. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction for the series and hope the next game can improve upon the base that BoTW has created.

I'm about 20ish hours in, still haven't even done one dungeon, but the things I don't like are:

Enemy diversity:

There area only a handful of different enemy types and then a bunch of reskins. Was really hoping for more diversity.

Weapon Durability:

It's not as big a deal as others make it out, but it can be annoying, and I would prefer if most weapons had a bit more durability.

Lack of Zelda Tools:

Bring back things like the Magnet boots or the hookshot. I love the physics engine and the sheika slate compliments it well, but it would have been nice to have other things to look forward to, besides what I'm given initially at the start of the game.

Crafting Menu:

Game should have some sort of book that keeps track of recipes you discover.

Music:

Biggest gripe for me so far honestly. Music in Zelda has always been stellar, and though the music in this isn't TERRIBLE, it's just not up to snuff with WW or TP. The overworld/battle music is pretty terrible to be honest, and doesn't fit for ever area. I should not hear plinks on a piano in the middle of the desert - give me sitars and chanting or something. The battle music is bad and the boss music has been forgettable. I love the main theme though.

Oh and also the amount of time spent in menus is another huge annoyance. Why do we need to pause the game to heal? Makes it too easy and I open up the menu WAY to many times in just one fight.

Yeah I'm in the same boat here. I love the game a lot. Seriously one of the best Zelda games ever and probably my game of the year so far but it definitely has it's annoyances and problems that fortunately I am able to overlook and deal with.

My number one gripe about the game so far is the weapon durability and how often they break. I mean it makes the weapons feel like their plastic and fragile. You'll get this seemingly epic/legendary type of weapon but it's not as exciting as it should be because you know it's going to break after a few uses and when it's gone it's gone. So that legendary feel the weapon has is quickly taken away because of the durability. It's not really the durability system itself but how fast these weapons break and it makes having legendary type weapons pointless because it's like what legendary weapon would break after fighting a lowly bokoblin? I'm not that far into the game right now only beat he first dungeon so I'm hoping there's some sort of way to at least repair weapons or even buy them back or maybe even enchant them to give them more durability. Just something to help us keep our favorite weapons longer. The way Witcher 3 handled the durability system I thought was a perfect balance. Something breaks you just repair it with a repair kit. Simple.

I also agree that this game needs it's classic Zelda tools like the hookshot and special boots. Not that it feels empty without them or anything but a Zelda game without it's special gadgets to use is just weird. The Shiekah Slate is awesome for what it does but I feel like we get everything way too fast and it kills the excitement you used to get in the previous Zelda games for doing a special challenge or mission or beating a dungeon and you'd get a new gadget to use that would unlock new features and places in the game. Now you'd do some special mission or challenge and all you would get is some rupees, food, or a weapon that'll break after 20 or so swings.

All in all though I freakin love this game. I must easily have like 30+ hours in it and I only beat the first dungeon and I still find myself getting excited to get back to it whenever I'm at work or just out some place. It's just those two things that bother me the most right now. Although I will also agree that this game could have benefited from having a way to quickly eat food or use a potion instead of opening the menu so often. I find myself dying a lot because I simply just don't feel like opening the menu in a middle of a fight. But again, it's something I can deal with.

[Deleted]

I dont want to buy a new console just for one game.

If Nintendo just would go multi platform..

[Tommy T]

To be honest. The £300 for the Switch alone is pretty much worth it, just for this game...maybe...

Yes. I have no regrets.

[Nmkyungri]

I dont want to buy a new console just for one game.

If Nintendo just would go multi platform..

One game isn't worth that don't be like some of the crazy guys here who would give up anything for more of this game. It's good easily a 8 of 10 but CEMU is already cracking the Switch and Zelda both are in the process of being emulated and should be playable within a few months.

[Tech614]

One game isn't worth that don't be like some of the crazy guys here who would give up anything for more of this game. It's good easily a 8 of 10 but CEMU is already cracking the Switch and Zelda both are in the process of being emulated and should be playable within a few months.

CEMU is a Wii U emulator and has jack shit to do with the Switch. They are in the process of making the Wii U version run on it.

Not sure what fantasy world you live in where you think the Switch is going to be emulated in a few months but lol... Even the Vita which is a similar architecture and far weaker then both the Switch and Wii U isn't emulated yet.

Wii U emulation came along so quickly thanks to it being largely the exact same as the Wii and Gamecube, just with more horse power. Unless people actually get their hands on internal documents on how the Switch works it will be years before they figure out a way to emulate it.

[everydaygamer]

Beat the final boss today it was pretty good fight can't imagine doing it without at least the master sword though. It was disappointing that his second form is basically just a victory lap with no real challenge.

Gotta say with how challenging this game is I am really curious as to how hard mode will make the game more difficult. But in the meantime still have alot more to explore.

[Immitis]

i got to lanayru and found a centaur lookin fucker. dude was pretty hard.

[Orange Joe]

Don't tarnish the name of LttP by saying that Botw is close to it o_O LttP is still basically the blueprint of everything that is Zelda.

Just having exploration and puzzles... that could be basically any game. Nothing that is extraordinally fun in Botw is something that is unique to the Zelda franchise. People are gushing over things that are just game design choices that a lot of games have used over the years. That's my point.

That said, I still really appreciate the scope of the overworld map they created, the world is interesting to be in, all of that. They did a good job constructing the intangibles.

My problem is there's many Zelda tropes they left out, which when you add them all up, leaves a mostly generic game that could of been called anything besides Legend of Zelda, and no one would of been the wiser.

FYI I'm pretty sure he is talking about the first zelda on the NES. not LttP on the SNES.

[minteK917]

Beat the final boss today it was pretty good fight can't imagine doing it without at least the master sword though. It was disappointing that his second form is basically just a victory lap with no real challenge.

Yeah kinda sad because dark beast ganon looks boss, but its just like here, you already won lol.

[DaGhostDS]

After the run from here to there, kill thing come back barebone game that people called a masterpiece that was Twilight Princess they had a lot of work to do, no idea about Skyward sword, never owned any Wii or Wii U.

Breath seem like a great game that i will probably never play, im not the kind of guy who waste 500$ on a console for 1-2 games, which is a bit sad.

FYI I'm pretty sure he is talking about the first zelda on the NES. not LttP on the SNES.

Both actually he said the original 8 bit (nes) / 16 bit (snes) games.

[Orange Joe]

After the run from here to there, kill thing come back barebone game that people called a masterpiece that was Twilight Princess they had a lot of work to do, no idea about Skyward sword, never owned any Wii or Wii U.

Breath seem like a great game that i will probably never play, im not the kind of guy who waste 500$ on a console for 1-2 games, which is a bit sad.



Both actually he said the original 8 bit (nes) / 16 bit (snes) games.

HE didn't say games. He said Zelda. Maybe he did mean both, but I took it as the original and he wasn't sure it it was 8/16.

[Remilia]

https://twitter.com/redkyabe_S/statu...812992/photo/1
10/10

[Graeham]

I dont want to buy a new console just for one game.

If Nintendo just would go multi platform..

That's pretty much how I feel too. Link's Awakening was one of the first games I ever played and I remember it fondly - but Nintendo consoles haven't appealed to me in the same way as the PC and Playstation 1/2/3/4 have.