Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Unless you're playing the 3DS Gummy Bears game, where just touching it with the last pixel of the tip of your feet means instant death.

So after 30 mins the horse was still treading water and trying to find a way onto land, and while I was waiting for it to drown (it didn't) I finally realised that there is actually one thing you cannot do in this game, no matter what I do it wont let me defect to the Yiga clan.

"Hey new member, aren't you a little.... short to be a member of the Yiga Clan?"

"Hyeah."

Not to mention they kind of have only one goal right now, and it's killing Link.

Don't take that away from them.

@Nicolaison
No! Come on, Aonuma, you're the king of making every game different, that's what you're known for! Don't fall into the trap of rehashing the same open-world formula like everyone else does!

How is it any different than rehashing the same non open world formula for 20 years? I'd certainly rather have open world than not.

Besides, just because the game is open world doesn't mean every successor is automatically going to be identical or "rehashed", just as a non-open world doesn't mean every successor is going to be identical or "rehashed". The only difference is one has loading screens and one doesn't.

I mean surely you're not advocating going back to a non-open world... which has been rehashed for the last 30 years? Whereas Nintendo has only two open world games to their name in the entire history of their video games. They need an open world staple in their portfolio, a huge amazing, super hype game everyone can get behind and look forward to every generation... and this is it. And at least by being open world, Zelda can bring more variety and fresh ideas over the next 30 years than non-open worlds Zeldas could have ever hoped to bring during their 30 year reign.

@Meowpheel 3DS Gummy Bears game?

What causes fruit to respawn on trees?

@DarthNocturnal Nope. Its for a Korok puzzles. Leaving respawns the trees, not the fruit.

@Nintenerdguy I would be into a Paper Zelda. I used to be a huge fan of the Paper Mario series, but at this point they've completely thrown everything I loved about the first two games right out the window. I don't know if Paper Zelda could really be the same as the first two Paper Mario games, but if it was at least similar, I would be all over it.

Is there something wrong with me that I am more scared of a Hinox than a Guardian or Lynel? Maybe it is because I'm running across stronger Hinoxs now and still just have red Lynels roaming my map.

Also, Eventide island was way easier than I had read. There is a real easy way to defeat the group on the tallest hill (the part that most concerned me), but I can't get my phone to allow me full editing so I can block out my message. Let me know if someone is stumped and I can help you make easy work of that group.

@JohnBlackstar I didn't find it very hard either. Granted, I had a decent number of hearts which definitely helped, but I still didn't die once. The only hard part was the Hinox, and even then I just ran away from it and threw bombs at it until it died.

@DarthNocturnal Well their leader already has a name that starts with K.

Yes it's a thing, it even got a minigolf spinoff.

They're both terribad, although not entirely impossible to enjoy... If you have some tolerance for shovelware.

The reason The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario were great is that they possessed the same 3D metroidvania environments and progression that both the Metroid Prime Trilogy and first five 3D Zelda games had. But if Nintendo isn't willing to fill its most expansive and expensive Zelda title ever with more than self-described resource efficient copy-paste 'puzzles,' and those other two series have been neglected since 2007 now, what make you think they put in the work to make a spin-off Zelda with the same appeal of the old games when it'll just sell less than a main entry? If they were going to make a full Zelda game again, don't you think they would just name and market it as a full Zelda game?

@KirbytheVampire I had to be cautious; I only had four hearts when I reached it. If I would've known what I was getting in to I would have waited for sure.

I took my family to frozen yogurt tonight and the 16-18 year old girl there started talking to me about Zelda (had a Mario shirt on). She was telling me about how she had already beat two divine beasts. I had to shyly admit I had yet to beat one. I thought just getting to the Ridgeland Tower was tough.

@DarthNocturnal

@Tsurii

Yeah, I was hoping that the DLC I bought for the WiiU version was transferable on the Switch version (kinda like how the DLC worked for Hyrule Warriors between 3DS and WiiU). However, it was not to be. I had to by the DLC separately on the Switch version (even though my Nintendo eShop accounts are linked between both consoles). So just thought I should point that out in case anyone else who has both versions of BotW was wondering. I bought it on both, but if you intend to only get the DLC on one of them, best bet is to buy it on the one you're likely to play most!

I've been given the 'A Rare Find Quest' & have activated it but when i go back to Trott & talk to him there's not an option to give him the item he wants even though i have it ( hope that makes sense lol ) Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong? Many thanks

I'm nowhere near as far as some people on here but (in deciding to have a lunch hour off the game for a change) I've got a few observations I feel like I need to share. Feel free to ignore!

Aha!
One of the things I love about BoTW is the way that the world seems to have been designed in the way that 'Capability Brown' landscaped country gardens were. The landscape frames a landmark in the distance, naturally drawing your attention to it but you can't keep it in sight all the way. It's a really clever bit of design in the game as it is in real life.

Shrines v dungeons
I know a lot of people love Zelda dungeons but I much preferred the approach of shrines. Dungeons were basically a linear collection of puzzle rooms anyway.

Where I do think the shrines are a bit lacking is in their lack of character. In game those monks would have had their own personalities but they all look and feel exactly the same. It's not something that really hurts the game to me but it's a bit strange that in a game where just about every NPC has loads of quirky character that there are 120 of them who seem pretty much identical and bland. They all say the same things. A bit of Majora's Mask "in the moon" style cryptic reflection would have done a world of good.

Being dead is no excuse for not being an interesting character! Even in BoTW there are other dead characters who appear fully formed so why not the monks?

The story
I've not found all of the memories yet (the Guardians don't seem to want me to find the first one on Hyrule Field) so my views might yet change but I like the story. I think the idea that the main characters are told they have a "destiny" but it seems like a destiny that's been constructed for them is a great and subversive one.

Where I feel it's perhaps a bit lacking, and where I'm a bit disappointed so far (although again I'm hoping it'll change as I find more memories!) is that Gannon doesn't feel like a fully formed or sympathetic character. In Wind Waker Gannon was a great character - not just a power hungry manifestation of evil. He had an agenda that you could relate to.

That's hard for most Zelda games to do because normally you only meet Gannon right at the end. BoTW's structure of memories presented a chance to "meet" Gannon negotiating with Hyrule before he raised the calamity - if none of the memories I'm yet to find does this I'll consider it a big missed opportunity.

...Especially because it doesn't seem like a big jump to turn Gannon's story into a dark reflection of Zelda's - that as a male Gerudo he's told he has a destiny to overhaul Hyrule whether he wants to or not.

The silent hand of the developers

Everyone has their own story of how they go through the game but it seems most people go East first and then end up in Zora's Domain. The game literally suggests you that way but even without that it funnels you that way - from the tower Mount Hylia blocks your view North and West.

You can only see North and West from the shrine at the top of the mountain but most people probably won't spend much time scouting around from there early on because it's so cold. It's such a subtle piece of design.

Degradable weapons are the realisation of a long term ambition for Zelda
It was a nice novelty in Wind Waker that you could pick up weapons dropped by enemies but it had basically no advantage that made it worthwhile. Breakable weapons changes that - it forces you to use different weapons and forces you not to become too attached to them.

They could have forced you to change weapons in different ways - like having certain enemies that are only weak to spears, certain enemies that are only weak to clubs etc. but that's not really fun (see Metroid Prime 2...). I know why some critics hate it because they have OCD but, honestly, I think the mechanic fits the series well.

On enemy variety...
I've read a few comments that enemy variety is poor but I don't think I agree. Every enemy can yield just about any weapon. A Lizalfos armed with a spear is a very different prospect to one armed with a sword and shield and a different prospect to one armed with a two handed sword.

They feel very different to fight which is the reason you want different enemies.

It's an RPG with no 'hard levelling'
That's why you can go and fight the final boss in the game straight away. If you're clever you can steal the most powerful weapons in the game from enemies pretty much straight away. Link doesn't need to fight for 100 hours to level up his strength before he can use them!

It's such a delicate balance - with the system of spirit orbs and armour upgrades - gradually empowering you as you play, allowing grinding for ingredients to help but never requiring it and always rewarding skill over wasting your time. I think this might be the most understated achievement of BoTW.

I don't want to spend 50 hours grinding in an RPG - I don't have time to do that. Zelda shows you achieve the same things that grinding does in a more fun way.