Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Good to know. I might make it my next purchase after I finish BOTW (or at least clear Ganon and whatever is left afterwards) as I think you can use the NSO Voucher on it, right?

So I’ve now cleared all the memories bar the one inside the castle, as I figured I’d clear that when I go to face Ganon. I used a guide to show me where the memories are as I do not have the patience to mostly aimlessly bumble around the map looking for these things.

However, it was good, as it allowed me to do some structured exploration. Plonking the point down on the map, fast travelling a few points away from where I need to be and then work my way towards it to see what I missed along the way.

This was, generally, fruitful. I don’t think BOTW’s world is as interesting as people make it out to be, I think it’s padded with way too much unnecessary empty, open, space which can make exploration really tedious at times. Like, no matter how much people tell me it is all about the capital A Atmosphere, in my mind, the world could be much smaller and it would actually enhance the overall experience. That isn’t to say it isn’t sometimes just nice to wander around, soaking in this world and relaxing. For a game that can be really hard, it also knows how to be really chill, too. But it isn’t a world I want to spend hundreds of hours in, personally

However, either way, discovering new locations, further growing my bond with my horse, finding new shrines, side quests and seeds, all made the exploration feel rewarding and will surely all help when it comes to eventually facing down Ganon. I am gonna leave it there for now, however, and come back to face Ganon later.

Did you guys say there is some postgame stuff after this?

@Pizzamorg actually you need to find the one in the castle and then go back to Impa to continue that quest. Finding them all is not the end of it.

There’s no post game, just lots of things you can do before/after seeing the credits. The DLC in particular has stuff that might as well be post game though.

So I decided to go to the maze ruins for the armor set in my 100% mastermode run, and I somehow found the DLC travel medallion on complete accident. I honestly forgot where all the DLC chests were from my first playthrough, so I have to rediscover them.. and I wasn't just expecting to stumble upon one like I did last night. I also scored the Helmet for the outfit, which means I only have two more pieces of the set to get, and I believe that the Helmet was the hardest to get, due to the Guardians in the maze.

That maze basement is quite the experience.

@Eel Agreed. I thankfully stayed away from the Guardians though, given that you can tell where the active ones are with the time stop rune.

So I can’t figure out how to get to the tower, without facing Ganon first. I can’t get my bearings because it’s drowning in brutally strong enemies so I just have to run around like a headless chicken and always end up in the Sanctum.

Considering you all said Ganon was easy, I guess I am just straight garbage at video games because this doesn’t seem easy to me at all. The first time I faced him I got him to the Daruk’s protection phase and then the game just did not make it clear how to break the shield, so I eventually died through attrition.

I googled how to get through that phase but I dunno, he just slaughters me before I can get to that phase now. I don’t know what I am doing differently but it’s frustrating too as I can’t just go back into the fight when I die, I have to skip through like eight cutscenes first every time. Infuriating.

@Pizzamorg Oh, the first phase isn't that easy, unless you're over-equipped for it, or you cleared all of the divine beasts.

Yeah so the Divine Beasts cut him down to 50 percent health, then he moves into doing big fiery sweeps, spikey floor things and various ranged attacks. At some point after this he activates the protection and that is as far as I have been able to get.

It's been ages since I last faced off against Calamity Ganon itself, so I don't remember as much as I do for it's second phase.

Oh wait, so that was just all the first phase I guess. He has turned into Magnamalo and I have a magic bow now, with the princess giving me the brilliant advice of “shoot any glowing parts”. You mean on the giant, glowing, fire covered demon? I died the first time because the instructions were so utterly *****.

Heh, yeah @Pizzamorg that's the easier part, when she says shoot the glowing areas there should be big yellow glowing spots that crop up on him just shoot them, that's really all there is to it

This phase is probably the easiest final fight in the entire series honestly. It was just.. underwhelming to me, given how other Dark Beast Ganon fights generally are in the other games. In Twilight Princess, the thing was incredibly agile, and the entire fight just felt great. Here, they tried to do the cinematic boss route, but failed to actually realize what makes a cinematic boss great... so in it's stead, we just got whatever this boss was.

So that is Ganon beaten. Took me about 45ish hours. If there isn’t any postgame exactly, I might move onto Skyward Sword and close the book there. I am glad I pushed forwards and got to the end, rather than giving up but I am sorta happy to be done, too. I feel like I’ve had enough.

Overall I’d say it was maybe a low 8, high 7, not the game of the generation 10/10 flawless masterpiece I was led to expect. At times utterly infuriating, oftentimes just generally sorta tedious but in between simply magical. Some of the most refined, polished, gaming I have ever experienced. The way in wish the world asks you to push against it as hard as you can, just to see how far it can bend, makes it feel so truly alive unlike really any other open world title I’ve played. It is just a shame so much of the game is a massive empty field.

@VoidofLight Agreed, this game was amazing is almost every other way, and then we got that
I hateeee that boss so much, TP is probably the best of the series though
@Pizzamorg I get your complaints too, tbh that game can't be everyone's cup o' tea but I think it does quite well catering to as big of an audience as possible. If you're used to linear games, this games is NOT at all meant to be played like that, making it tricky to get used to at times.

That might be the first time I hear someone saying they died in the last fight heh.

Anyhow congrats! Did you manage to view all the memories in the end?

I love open world games, but I just think if we’re going to be critical of series like Far Cry for stagnant open worlds, we can’t then turn around and not be critical of BOTWs world, which comes with all of the Ubisoft jank and then some.

The BOTW physics engine, the various tools you have at your disposal and the way in which elements all interact is for sure magical, but so much of the world is so empty, so lifeless and the few things there are to do in the world are repeated endlessly. I dunno if it is just because of Nintendo or Zelda brand power, but this game seems to get away with things other such titles would be utterly lambasted for. You can’t sell tedium as atmosphere.

It is true though, I do prefer a more linear open world - if that makes sense. BOTW really only has like six points on it’s entire map (Impa’s town, the four beasts and the castle). Everything else is really up to you to find. Some people love that stuff and I can certainly understand the appeal. But I personally prefer an open world game that sends me on quests all over the map, so I can create sessions of structure, of goals. To me the idea of aimlessly wandering around and potentially achieving nothing for it isn’t appealing. I am happy to get lost in an open world, but only if the next objective can always be clearly labelled should I wish it to be.

I died like six times lol. I must be so ***** at games, haha.

And no, I didn’t realise it would literally just end and you’d get reset back to before the Ganon fight. I don’t really get how I am meant to get to the tower with so many guardians all over the castle.

It's always annoyed me in games how when you defeat the final boss that they reset back to just before that particular fight. Granted there are a lot more moving parts to BOTW to probably justify it unlike other games that have done it in the past.

Yeah I was hoping I would go back into the world just with the castle clear so I could get up to the tower but I guess not.

@FroZtedFlakerZz Yeah, it's the most disappointing Zelda boss I've ever experienced. Hopefully 2's final boss ends up being more of a challenge, and more impressive.