Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Horses aren't very responsive depending on how good the Bond is.

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Yeah, my horse is from the very start of the game and she seems a bit sluggish to turn, even with a maxed out bond.

Saw the Red Dead/Zelda food comparison video you posted on the Link's Awakening thread. I thought it was interesting the BotW dev's stated RDR2 inspired some of their choices for BotW 2. I hope they keep the hand holding to a minimum in the sequel, since I have enjoyed getting back into the absolute lack of information this game gives and just figuring it out.

Finally got around to getting a switch and decided to play this game first given the amazing reviews. This was probably the most I've been disappointed in a game that I can remember. I doubt anyone cares about my opinion, but I felt like I wanted to leave my review somewhere just given how disappointed I was.

It is the first Zelda I have ever played, so maybe I lack the nostalgia that other's are experiencing, but I guess I just don't get the hype. It is a very good game, it is definitely unique and creative in some aspects, but the story, character, side quests, enemy, and dungeon design feels exceptionally lazy. There is basically like 6 or 7 total basic enemies that you fight throughout the game with various subcategories separated by color and HP. The dungeons/"shrines" are incredibly repetitive and have very little payoff, as the best you get out of it are breakable weapons and occasionally armor. The story is probably the most paper thin story I've ever seen in a console RPG. The main story essentially can be completed in about 30 minutes of gameplay. In fact, there is a youtube video of a guy that does it in 35 minutes. There is also no character development whatsoever and the side quests are boring. There is just very little payoff in this game. What's the point of grinding korok seeds past 50? What's the point of grinding out shrines past 40 when the best you are going to get is a weapon you can only use for 10 minutes? I just have no reason to keep playing when there are no backstories to anyone, no interesting side quests, no special weapons outside the master sword. I basically just got to a point in playing when I felt I was powerful enough to plow through Hyrule Castle, and then just did that. There was no emotional payoff because there was no character development, there was really only relief that I was finally finished with the game, as it had become tedious by the end. It seems that the creators of this game focused too much on making everything in the game environment interactive, and not enough on the things that give a game heart, like characters and story. There is just no emotion in this game, it just feels very hollow and robotic.

The only thing I can think of as to why this game is rated higher than a game like Witcher 3, which I consider to be about as perfect as an RPG can get given its exceptional story/characters/side quests/mini-games, is that 1. It is graded on a different scale given that it is a Nintendo game (much like how animated movies are graded on a different scale), and 2. Nostalgia. Again, it is a very good game, but it probably wouldn't even break the top 30 games I have ever played, much less one of the highest rated games ever on metacritic.

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Also... the Witcher 3 only has about the same amount of enemies, so I don't get that criticism.

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I guess if you count all of the different colored versions of enemies, they have the same amount; however, that leads back to my issue with lazy enemy design. I'm sure this is how it has been for all their previous installments; however, having not played previous Zelda games, I judge this game based on other open-world RPGs I have played, and this is pretty mediocre by those standards. It does some things exceptionally well, better than most other RPGs I've played, like artificial intelligence and their physics engine; however, it does other things so poorly that it is hard to ignore. I guess I just expect open-world RPGs to have a good story and fun sidequests, and I just didn't get that with this game.

I'm playing through it my first time as well. I totally agree with the enemies. I feel like I'm doing the same fight over and over again. But it's been like that since the early days, fighting the same creatures just different colors goes all the way back to the first game.

The shrines are fine because they give you a few different ways to knock them out. They could be easy with fire or shock arrows but a pain without them.

Otherwise it's a cool game. Plenty to do and a big size. It's not Witcher or Skyrim because it's not aimed at that age range. It's meant to be accessible to a much younger audience.

tallgrant said:

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I think the issue is you're expecting it to be an RPG. It's not.

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This is something that was not readily apparent to me when I bought it. From the game play and weapons and progression, etc, I assumed it was. Shame on me. For I agree with the above.

I did not think it was good. Not terrible, but also about 100% not for me. Again, something I did not realize when I purchased it. My bad. I wanted an in depth RPG playthrough. Something that I don't think it was billed as from what I remember but damn do I also feel like I was misled by a whole bunch of review videos I watched.

That being said, I have vowed to give it another shot. Mainly because I hate eating a $60 game in vain. Maybe a second go around will be different.

I love this game so much, although if you get a Hylian Shield you're simply too powerful.

I do agree that the ending felt flat. I was left with a feeling of "that's it?" after completing it. Very anticlimactic. LOVED the rest though, with the wide open map and the areas of exploration and such.

Probably the most relaxing game I have ever played. Based on reasons stated above there is little to no sense of urgency which in turn allows you to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the massive world for what it is.

I did enjoy the little bits of story the flashbacks offered. But of course none of that is mandatory. In fact you have to go out of your way to seek it out if you want to see it. By design Nintendo's intention was for this to be a "True" open world game in that you can go straight to the final boss and beat the game right away if you choose. You can take or leave the entire story, dungeons, sidequests, etc. if you wish. Whatever you want to do or not do is up to you. Every other open world game I've played at least forces you through certain story elements before beating the game is possible, absent of using glitches, etc.

If combat seems dull to you I would highly recommend the 'Trial of the Sword' DLC. I too was not the biggest fan of combat in this game at first but man.... Trial of the Sword is perhaps the most thrilling combat experience that can be had outside of the Dark Souls series, in my opinion.

Hoping they take the gameplay of this game and improve on the story for the second one.

CDub06 said:

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TriumphForks said:

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Based on reasons stated above there is little to no sense of urgency which in turn allows you to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the massive world for what it is.

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Sounds like someone forgot that Zelda is fighting with all her might while she waits on you.

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Meh....it's been 100 years. She can wait a few more minutes while I explore this shrine over here.

Totally agree on the final fight being too easy. (As well as all the blight Ganon's being way too similar to each other.)

The best boss fight in the game was actually in the DLC. That was super fun, and actually challenging.

I'm almost done with my Master Mode playthrough, which I picked back up again last week.

Currently on the final dungeon of the DLC. Once I get the motorcyle I can actually use it to do some shrine-hunting, which I'm excited about. The first time, once I got the motorcycle I had nothing left to do except drive around aimlessly.

I am by no means a 'gamer' and haven't played much but sports games in the two decades. However, my 10 year old son got this game for Christmas and over a week long break of staying at home we spent a lot of time together playing and exploring it. It is beautiful and a ton of fun. As somebody who hadn't really played a video game like this in a long time it is absolutely amazing how far they have come.

Anyway, as with everything of interest, I knew there would be a ten + page thread on TexAgs discussing it so I searched it up and thoroughly enjoyed reading ya'lls reaction to going through it for the first time. I have no idea how many hours we have put in and have only been to the top of about 5 towers and maybe 20 or 30 shrines but we are still having fun.

How bad is the degrading weapon part of this game? Broken weapons, etc always annoy me and seeing the way they are described in this game has kept me away. I think it would drive me mad if I did a bunch of work to get some weapon that is destroyed routinely in a fight.

Pretty annoying at the beginning. However, there are a ton of weapons around, later in the game you'll find stronger ones, and I thought it was a neat mechanic to get you to try it different weapons rather than always using the same ones.

redeyeone said:

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How bad is the degrading weapon part of this game? Broken weapons, etc always annoy me and seeing the way they are described in this game has kept me away. I think it would drive me mad if I did a bunch of work to get some weapon that is destroyed routinely in a fight.

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Breath of the Wild is probably my favorite game of at least the past 5 or 6 years.

The weapon durability at it's best...isn't great. I understand what Nintendo was going for with the system, but I don't think it works. Many weapons only last 20-30 or so hits before breaking even for some of the stronger weapons in the game.

It definitely takes some reframing to not let the system annoy you too much. For instance Breath of the Wild for me becomes much more about the journey rather than the rewards. If you can get past the idea of doing something for a reward and more doing something because the doing is enjoyable then I think at the very least you can minimize the annoyance.

Of course finding the game/journey enjoyable to begin with is subjective so your mileage may vary.

Degradation is not enough to cause a problem in the game. In fact, I agree with the above post that I like how it forces you to use different types of weapons.

Now, when you play on Master Quest, it is a HUGE deal. You start to make strategic decisions about whether to even attack a camp or you attack it in a different way. You can't just run in and pound everything. A single enemy could use up all the durability of one of your weapons.

Again, fantastic game, but Master Quest mode is now my only way of playing it.

Thanks for the info on the weapon degradation. I will give it a try. I went to download it and it cost 59.00. For some reason I thought they would have discounted it some by now. It has been out for several years, hasn't it?

redeyeone said:

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Thanks for the info on the weapon degradation. I will give it a try. I went to download it and it cost 59.00. For some reason I thought they would have discounted it some by now. It has been out for several years, hasn't it?

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Yeah... but greatest game ever. Price will not go down.

Try picking up a used copy at Gamestop or something. It came out on launch day, and is still probably the headline game of the system.

It's worth every dollar.

Good point in the used copy at GameStop. I will take that route.

Check out Sam's Club. I managed to get a copy for $29 on Switch about 3 weeks ago.

Anyone who wants to play basically the same game, check out Fenyx, Immortal Rising. Actually has some funny dialogue in it too.

Weapon durability annoyed me greatly early in my playthrough but eventually I learned the locations of really good weapons that respawned at every blood moon. For my money Trial of the Sword was one of my favorite game segments in a long time and really helped me appreciate all of the game's mechanics.

My son just got this on PS5 and is liking it. I plan to try it out after I finish The Last Of Us.