Topic: Breath of the wild extremely overrated or am I missing something?

@NNGaming900

I'd completely agree - they're just diluted as the game is so huge.

But that's fine by me - Zelda dungeons became very formulaic and rote decades ago. I get why people like that - they're comforting in their routine and the fundamental gameplay loop is a strong one. I just don't think that any game after Majora's Mask really added much to the concept other than giving them different themes. By the end of Twilight Princess I was basically at the point of groaning every time it became clear there was another dungeon that was going to stop my exploration for a solid hour or two.

I'm not happy to waste time in a videogame just going through the motions over and over again.

There are 5 "proper" dungeons in BoTW. They just don't function exactly like the ones in lttp. I found all 5 very interesting and satisfying - although I wish they hadn't all looked the same visually and that there had been more of them.

Some of the shrines (admittedly not a high proportion of them) were also structured like traditional Zelda dungeons with keys and large spatial puzzles. In a few cases they were actually longer and more intricate than some "proper" dungeons found in past games. Again - the big problem was that they all looked the same.

I've always said the storyline is not the point (because few have interesting storylines and narrative is very rarely prevalent), general setting, great characters and strong individual moments are far more important. The storyline of BoTW is basically exactly the same as the majority of Zelda games - it's just spread thin over 100 hours of gameplay.

If BoTW 2 turns out to be a narrative heavy game I think it would be to its detriment. Aside from the fact that Nintendo has a cack handed track record making such games (Metroid Other M comes to mind) the whole appeal of BoTW to me (and many others) is that the experience is emergent. Overlaying a strong narrative would break that to a certain point.

The game didn't even click on me after several minutes playing.
Maybe my brain didn't like the geometry, color pattern, gameplay style and storyline concept from BOTW.
I think i wasn't born to like kind of this game even i have tried for a while.

@damien33ad
I always try to be honest and I don't mind not being part of the general opinion. If I don't enjoy a game that most do, I'm happy for them. But I will voice my opinion about it in a respectful way. Sometimes it's the other way around, albeit less frequent, and I'll try to defend a game that's been received poorly. 'Heart of Darkness' is one that immediately comes to mind in that regard.

Although I really enjoyed the overall revamped formula, I must admit that having discovered the forgotten temple after around 170 hours, I really wish there was a dungeon attached to it. It's massive and heavily guarded by guardians, "there MUST BE something more to it, story wise, than just another shrine" I thought. I saw a missed opportunity there.
BOTW could easily had enough plot to be something like princess Mononoke which isn't an intricate movie and can also be enjoyed by a broad audience, which everyone knows to be nintendo's goal.
Then again, it is Miyazaki that I'm referring to, so you know...it doesn't happen every day.
If I have to guess, I say Aonuma felt that adding a more substantial plot could have driven away some players from freely exploring the overworld like you could once do in the first Zelda without feeling obliged to anyone.
It is said to be inspired by the first game anyway, so I totally understand Aonuma.
And may I also say: if you don't feel like you have any original story to tell around link zelda and ganondorf, it's best if you just stick to the basics, rather than feeling obliged to write something with the scope of lord of the rings but filled with modern commonplaces.
Lately I've been spoiled by too many "wannabe" TV series that i can tolerate.
To sum it: BOTW certainly doesn't invent anything new, but it is an overall achievement in game design IMHO. If anything, previous later Zelda titles should be reviewed again as extremely overrated.
Skyward word is a polished game with some interesting ideas, but god it was the photocopy of a photocopy of an ancient formula that was also recycling assets from within itself (flooded dungeons). Any journalist who gave Skyward sword a 10 is a fanboy and should not be trusted.
Of course if BOTW 2 manages to expand on this basis, with a more substantial plot, some dungeons, and even more variety in enemies and races, bringing back scrapped ideas like the comeback of the minish tribe, then it's easy to say it might top the first one.

@damien33ad Just my own opinion but considering how lacking in personality Link is I wouldn’t find it a deal breaker if he was replaced as long as the sword fighting/adventuring aspects aren’t changed.

He’s ultimately just an avatar with a basic background of some kid who rises to become a hero and in BOTW he didn’t look like the traditional Link with the green tunic missing at first and once I did get the tunic I switch it back as he just bled into the green background too much.

When I was playing Cadence Of Hyrule and Hyrule Warriors I was finding myself gravitating towards the other characters more so than Link.

Actually thinking about it I’d love to see people’s reaction to Tingle or Linkle becoming the new avatar.

@damien33ad Zelda is about having a multi tool character and alarge variety of physical interactivities with the world. Dungeons are closed level design but you can make the same level design in an open environment as BOTW did. But really people who don't see the difference of gameplay between BOTW and any other open world game should question their capacity to judge the game design of a game and the value of their opinion. No other open world game uses as much game mechanics as BOTW. Lately a game like Ghost of Tsushima feels like a very lazy game in its game design.

@glaemay here I totally agree. Other open world games I played since felt empty in comparison.
I feel the most important thing the team did was with the map. Of course you obtain map pieces with Ubisoft towers, BUT! Then they don't fill your map with pins of a to do list you didn't compile yourself.
That way I actually used the game map as a real map and I enjoyed the exploration.

Yeah the actual map and world design is fantastic, it's one of my main thoughts as I was playing it is the way the actual landscape is designed to invite and lead you willingly as opposed to other open world games where they rely on markers to tell you where to go is something that takes a lot of work.

Because it could never be that people just like something you don't, right? Makes way more sense that everybody who likes BotW is just pretending, so they can sound smart and cultured...

I really hope, for your sake, you don't actually believe this drivel you posted.

@jump
Awh, I love Link! He's my favorite character from any media, actually.

@rallydefault Really? What is it you're gravitating to because he doesn't really have a personality?

I can see liking him but just not to level of above all other fictional characters.

@damien33ad
I don't like BotW either, and have voiced that opinion on this thread as well, but clearly we're in the minority and I don't think there's anything to gain by going on and on about it. Most people really enjoy BotW, try to be happy for them and move on. There're better ways to spend your time and energy. 😉

That's alright. I'm sure there are some people who just jump on the bandwagon and indeed only praise it because it gets praise from others. I however would never like something, just because it has gotten good reviews, or because (a lot of) other people like it. Yet I loved BotW.

I think saying it's objectively a bad game is false though. It's your opinion it's a bad game and that's fine, but it's definitely not an objectively bad game.

@damien33ad
Alright, fair enough. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. 🤗

I feel like this fight comes to personal preference sure botw is not my favourite zelda game but that's probably cause i'm not really into open world games there is no wrong opinion tbh

@Shulkalot @damien33ad
You're not the only ones. I even tried but couldn't get into it. I've kind of thought that BOTW has been overrated since the day it launched. What didn't help with that was when Jim Sterling got DDOS'ed for giving BOTW a 7/10. People think that the Metroid fanbase has their salty moments. I especially have thought that it was overrated, ever since it won GOTY at The Game Awards.

@damien33ad I did grow up with him...

I never said I didn't like him just that there's not much about him. In regards to your comparison, Mario actually has a lot of unique quirks where as Link's main traits are common stock among loads of characters. In any case as much as I like him I would never put him on a bar above others like Indiana Jones, James Bond, Batman, Homer Simpson or any number of beloved characters you can think which brought my surprise.

@damien33ad it’s lazy just to say people would welcome playing as Zelda due to politics because you don’t like the idea yourself. The character has her own earned popularity, Tetra and Sheik are particularly popular versions on Zelda.

I also don't think the main character necessarily needs to be "Link". He's not like other series mascots, he typically isn't the same person between each game. He's just a reincarnated hero, and some times he's not even that (like in the case of Wind Waker). His appearance already differs greatly between games, I don't think it would be that much of a difference if he had a different hair colour/gender/name. I think it would be nice if they at least added the green tunic as an Easter Egg, similar to what they did in BoTW.

We've had multiple Zelda games without even Zelda and they still feel like Zelda games (Link's Awakening, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons). I'm not saying it should become the trend, but I don't think she's necessary for it to feel like a Zelda game.