Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

@UmniKnight That's just speculation.

Anyway, looking at the contents of the first DLC Pack, I don't expect it to be anything like Blood & Wine in terms scale and contents. I'm not even sure if I'm interested at all if it's more of the same.

The dungeons were pretty short and the bosses were disappointing, so unless it's radically different from the existing dungeons, I might even skip the DLC.

@Octane Disappointing? Huh, I found them a nice fight, especially thunderblight Ganon, that one really caught me off guard with it's speed. That said, Ganon was very easy, especially since Silver Lynels with a good club beat him to a pulp in difficulty and damage.

I'll probably buy it and see, I can use something extra to kill time, though I suspect September and onward will have me suitably entertained

@UmniKnight There were only four and their designs were pretty much copy-pastes. Compared to the 7-8 uniquely themed bosses from previous Zelda games, this was a big step backward IMO.

They'd better not bring out a 5th Divine Beast or something. Those were undoubtedly the worst dungeons in any 3D Zelda game, at least out of the ones I've played.

@Octane Could be, I've only played TP and BotW, and didn't finish TP, so I guess I'm less biased because of that? I dunno, I had no qualms with those dungeons, even if they were copy pastes. They had a very solid air of "something went really wrong here" to them.

Actually, now that I've thought about it, I think there's a chance that the DLC dungeon could be (potential spoilers here if I'm right. People who haven't beaten the game yet also shouldn't read the spoilers at all) Vah Ruta. If you unlock that cutscene at the end of the game, Zelda mentions that Vah Ruta is having technical difficulties or whatever, and then she and Link set off to find out what the problem is. Could just be coincidence, but who knows. I'm not sure how it would work, considering we already went through Vah Ruta in the main game, but maybe it gets reconstructed somehow or something?

@KirbyTheVampire Can you imagine Link putting on a headset "This is your Hyrulian help-desk adventurer speaking, how can I help you?"

@KirbyTheVampire I kinda figured that is where the DLC would go. Perhaps Mipha gets some closure with Link? He is walking around wearing her engagement ring after all (Zora Armor)...

@shadow-wolf Worst case scenario the Guardian shields auto deflect some beams (check the description so you don't get fried because it varies by shield level) so you can use those for parry training rather than burning up the good stuff. There are also youtube videos showing you how to parry if you get frustrated.

@UmniKnight It'd probably sound more like "Hyaghh! Hyaghh! Aiiih! Yah! Uhn!"

@UmniKnight I see. Yeah, I guess that could influence your opinion. Other Zelda games always had elaborateand themed dungeons with unique bosses (and mini-bosses too). Having played nearly every single Zelda game, the dungeons in BOTW felt a bit lacklustre.

@Ryu_Niiyama That's possible, too. Seems like he had the closest relationship with her out of the other 4. At the very least she should have some part in the story, considering it's called The Champions' Ballad.

@KirbyTheVampire Those pesky monsters always interrupting Link's job.

@Pigeon I'm glad you aren't in charge of zelda lol, i cannot stand linear games that are point A to B games and cover it up with cinematic story-telling and hoards of boring dialog (ya you witcher 3)

I can definitely understand the fatigue of open games, especially since this one falls somewhat into the same monotony that others do. Although I had no problem playing this for hundreds of hours, I feel the fatigue now, and I really do hope the next Zelda adventure is linear and straightforward.

I suppose, as an exception, I would enjoy another open world Zelda that fixes every personal problem I had with this one. Cut the monotony and make dungeons more themed and unique, add real impossible barriers so that the vast overworld becomes a puzzle (as was hinted during BotW's E3 2014 reveal), add more shrine-quests or equivalent overworld events that don't always lead to the same thing, have a more satisfying story-driven ending with a difficult final fight, maybe tone-up the overworld music a bit, minimize OHKO weapons and underhanded solutions to problems. So, basically, only if Nintendo somehow read my mind and crafted the perfect sequel. That's asking a lot.

So yeah, I'm rooting for a linear Zelda next time. I'd be excited to see what Aonuma does next, as long as it's not more of this.

You know you could just skip the sidequest and go from point A to B and still beat the game, no use to wish the games next release is more simplified and ruin it for us hardcore open world types lol

Amen to that. Of course, either way I'll play the heck out of it.

@ReeLongbow You say linear is simplified, but I think of it more like "diverting more effort to the main quest." Of course just playing the main quest of open-world games isn't going to give you the same experience as a story-driven linear experience. And it doesn't even really apply to Breath of the Wild, because in a way, everything in the game IS the main quest. Everything points toward the center, toward the end. To "just play the main quest," you're either implying the full game or the hour long Plateau-to-Castle runthrough. i.e., if you're playing BotW, you're subscribing to the open-world experience whether you like it or not.

And there are fans of linear and fans of open-world. Either way, one of those groups are going to be disappointed, when you get right down to it. No sense making anyone feel guilty by saying that their wish for a new game "ruins it for others."

Also, "hardcore?" Lmao. I'm not even gonna touch that one.

@Operative2-0 Amen to that as well. Fatigue or no fatigue, I'm gonna play every Zelda game until I die

@DarthNocturnal I just don't know how many others agree with me that the game needs more boundaries and limitations, which is probably my number one critique of their open-air formula. The lack-luster ending will probably reach their ears, though. In fact, I have high hopes that it reached their ears early enough and they're trying their best on the upcoming story DLC to make up for it.

@Nicolai limitation? Naa

Glad to see you guys are catching up with me. The thing is though, even the linear Zeldas were never straightforward. You would still have to solve puzzles and figure out where to go in the world to progress. What Breath of the Wild forgot is that it's a puzzle series as much as it is an action/adventure one, and limitations are necessary for puzzles. Just climbing or gliding over everything isn't fun.

I hope the next Zelda takes some of the new functionality, gives back all of the old items, and crafts the world with the intentionality past games had. What I mean is, if you keep all of Breath of the Wild's uses for trees and then place those trees intentionally instead of randomly, you can use trees to ford rivers or to float down inaccessible canyons. And of course dungeons, a much longer main quest, worthwhile writing and cutscenes, and characters that journey with you. Seriously, just put the people who wrote Twilight Princess back on it and get the lady who did the cutscenes — they were so good!

@MegaTen Witcher 3 has a better story than Breath of the Wild, but that doesn't make it good. I feel like that game is fighting itself. The linear main plot doesn't need to be set in an open world and it just turns into a slog because of the wild goose chase plot and clunky, more difficult than it has any right to be gameplay. Also the ending was random as hell.