Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

@Tsurii You mean that thing that happens once in a blue moon? (...if you get the hint...).

@gcunit Yup, that road to Twin Peaks was nothing special, but you're in for a ride. There's a lot more variety in the rest of Hyrule.

Just found this quote from Hidemaro Fujibayashi, who directed both BotW and SS.
I think it's rather funny and it shows that Nintendo, as a collective of authors/developers, can really produce wonderful, deep and meaningful games (such as Breath of the Wild or 1-2-Switch), but if you take them individually, they really are just a bunch of pathological liars:

“When we were developing the game for the Wii U, we had touch features implemented as you have seen. Once we began to develop the game in tandem for the Switch, we aimed to provide the same gameplay experience across both on Switch and Wii U.”

“In doing our testing without the touch features we noticed looking back and forth between the GamePad and the screen actually took a little something away from this type of Zelda game.”

“Without the touch features it actually turned out to be a really strong gameplay experience. After more experimentation and testing out, we realized that this is the best way to experience the game. That’s how we ended up with the current gameplay style in the production version.”

“There was no hesitation or reluctance in removing those features because we felt the way it is now is the best way to play the game.”

So, in Fujibayashi's words, glancing down at the GamePad for a split second takes away from the immersion in the game world, but having to exit the game by PAUSING it to bring up a map on the TV screen doesn't. Geez, I just wish they were honest and said "We didn't want the WiiU version to have features the Switch version doesn't have, because that's the one we're ultimately trying to sell".
Plus I just noticed that BotW on WiiU is basically sold out in most places - Amazon doesn't carry it anymore and GameStop has even removed the listing from the website - they are really trying hard to screw WiiU owners over...

@spizzamarozzi Aonuma used the argument that you don't want to drive and look down at a GPS on your lap at the same time... That's why I never take any of their words at face value. The second screen of the Wii U was once the biggest innovation in gaming according to Nintendo. When it didn't sell, that idea was dropped immediately and suddenly it is breaking the immersion.. Yeah, right..

@spizzamarozzi I think they are just being honest with themselves. The gamepad wasn't as revolutionary as they thought it would be. It isn't lying so much as admitting the truth to themselves. They did however learn the most valuable thing the gamepad did, which is the central concept of the switch (Off-TV Play).

As for Breath of the Wild, I am fairly sure that it is pushing the Wii U to the absolute limit. It is the first game I've played in a long time that if you hit the home button there is a delay when returning because the game has to reload in everything. That tells me there is possibly some trickery happening to make everything work, and adding in dual displays might of been just a little too much.

@Tsurii There's an island off the east coast, is that the island? I shall get there ASAP.

Lol, if Nintendo wanted to 'screw Wii U owners over' they would have only announced the DLC for Switch and released the Wii U disc in April. Hell, if they really wanted to get the point across they could have canceled the Wii U version months ago.

But they didn't do any of that and Breath of the Wild has neither HD rumble nor dual screen gimmicks and is none the worse for it. Don't make something out of nothing.

@Tsurii I'm on my way there, but a comet landed in the region south of it. Haven't been there yet, but I want to get that thing first, whatever it is. So I'm making a small detour. It landed on a cliff, and right before I arrived at that cliff, it started raining...

Edit: Wait, you can only get those comets at night? That's stupid.. I couldn't even progress any further due to the rain.. I HAD to wait until morning..

Any tips? I've visited the first 2 villages story wise. And I want to make some money by selling off some of my wares.
What's the best place to sell at? I'm pretty sure those traveling merchants rip you off.

@Spanjard Not really, I don't think there's much of a difference between the merchants and the stores. Because with the things you're selling, who knows if you're going to need it some time. Don't sell everything of a certain item, always keep around 10-20 if you have a lot of them.

You can also try to complete side quests for money and other rewards.

Oh man, that fight with the minotaur is rough! He wrecked me several times. Basically forced me to learn correct dodge timing, because the only way I could kill him was by triggering flurry rush every time he attacked.

That felt like a fight from a Souls game.

Not releasing the game on WiiU would have caused quite a stir considering the game was promised, developed and showcased for WiiU first and foremost. I don't understand the April disc + no DLC portion of the comment though - it sounds like one of those random things people on the internet say every now and then to prove a point, but it doesn't follow any logic.
WiiU owners were screwed if only for the fact that additional features were there and fully formed but got removed without a real reason, full stop.

It's none of the worse for it, but it could have been more special. I don't think anybody would have complained with a map on the GamePad on WiiU or with HD Rumble on Switch. Maybe just the Nintendo Puritans, who enjoy gaming only if it comes with various forms of castration.

Kill as many Stone Talus as you can. They're walking treasure troves if you can kill it.

@Octane Oh ok, I was actually hoping that.

With some of these enemies you really need to know what kind of weapon is best suited. I just waisted 3 of my best weapons on one of these dudes lol. Only took 1 hit with a certain elemental weapon...

@Tsurii I'm on that island. Easier said than done, I thought you were talking about that tiny island with a shrine on it. I do love this challenge though, although that boss fight may prove to be quite difficult..

I found a shrine right before that island thing, and it had a boss battle that I was really really underpowered for. One hit was an instant death. I went through all my weapons and arrows. Eventually it just started shooting lasers when it was near death so I spent like 15 minutes running around it dropping bombs. I actually won, surprisingly

@Operative2-0 He was tough.. Now get over to that other island!

@spizzamarozzi I believe performance also had something to do with the removal of the second screen functions.

Not only does it mean both versions are identical, but the wiiu doesn't need to waste power on it.

We know the wiiu version of the game is a bit rough when it comes to frame rates, imagine it if the gamepad screen was used extensively as well.

However, I wouldn't expect them to go and say "oh yes we removed it because our console is too weak for it".

@Meowpheel Rendering a couple of menu icons doesn't require a lot though.. Like, almost nothing.

It's not just a couple of menus though. At its most basic, it would've been the same as the slate is in-game, but live all the time.

It may not seem like much, but dual screen gaming is more complex than people give it credit for. And even if it's just a small difference in performance, it's till a difference.

@Meowpheel It's just a map and an album though. What the Sheikah Slate does isn't complicated at all. The game renders a mini-map on screen, so there's no reason why that couldn't have been on the GamePad instead (talking about technical reasons).