The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's sequel may not have had any kind of update in around 18 months, and that fact has left us in a state of real hankering for some open-world Zelda deliciousness. With that thinking in mind, our video team – myself, Jon and Zion – went back and played the original and simply had to talk about it. And we did – for over an hour.
It's hard to boil down an hour-long chat into a few lines, but the general gist of it is that we like it, which is already being described as the "hot take" of never. If you fancy just chilling out to the sound of three over-enthusiastic Zelda fans gushing about one of the greatest games of all time, then give that video up there a watch; we promise you won't be disappointed.
Comments 41
Opening the page and seeing "Breath of the Wild 2" in a headline made my heart stop.... don't do that. Giving me hope like that. First game was a truly amazing experience though.
Favorite game of all time, I know that some disagree but in my point of view this is the best zelda game I've invested around 150 hours and still find new things to do
I know many say stuff about this not being the first good open world game, and yes, people may credit Nintendo too much, but holy crap this game is good. I haven't played too many open world games, but I'm sure there's a reason people gravitate towards this one. When Nintendo does well, theres an extremely high level of quality and charm in their games
After clearing everything in Hyrule Warriors except the Korok seeds, I decided to pop my BotW cartridge back in and try to collect Korok seeds in that game instead.
I'll open the heros path feature and just try to explore the blank parts of my trail, and after 500 or so hours between 2 playthroughs, I'm still shocked at how much brand new stuff I come across that I've never seen before.
I just realized the bunny hat/postal service racing guy is in this game! (Or at least a racing guy with similar beady eyes and thick eyebrows)
It took a long time for me to wrap my head around the scope of this game, and then hoping back in after having a much fuller understanding has only made me appreciate it all the more.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pop some headphones on and pretend to be working for the next hour, while I listen to Alex and the boys validate my opinions.
The thing that got me with Breath of the Wild is that I didn't care what goodies were hidden behind the next hill or cliff. I just wanted to see the world, and it was wonderful.
Never heard of Breath of the Wild. This is a game now?
I loved botw. Its epic, surreal, and yada yada. The mission/quest log is one of it's greatest features. Taking a break from zelda and forgetting what objectives you were working on, their location, who you talked to, is what kept me from finishing zeldas of the past. Bless the person that made the quest log what it is for botw!
We'll see if NL addresses that point in the video. Totally ok if you don't. You're better at making content than me, because I don't make any content
It has the greatest disguised tutorial since world 1.1 of Super Mario Bros.
My personal score for this is 8/10. The forgettable boss battles and lack of themed dungeons killed it for me. The weapon breaking system didn’t help its case either. AND, the Master Sword should never dull. Ever.
My son got it for his birthday just recently. I had no inclination to play it at first and while there are plenty of elements I dislike, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy it.
I was also very suprised by how many Zelda II vibes it gave me. Zelda II is actually my shared fave with Zelda III, and I liked the throwbacks a lot.
I wasn't a great fan of BOTW but if they get rid of the utterly tedious collapsible weapons (did people actually find that fun??) and recipe making I might just give BOTW 2 a chance. Oh and bringing back memorable and catchy music (including for the overworld) would help too.
If they keep the open world but do the above I'd certainly keep an open mind to enjoying the sequel more.
definitely excited to see what they change about the overworld in the sequel! new settlements, towns, dungeons? Maybe even a new region? i hope they really change up the formula
@Clyde_Radcliffe
Disagree with all of that really.
I am a fan of the breakable weapons, encourages me to always find a new way to fight and nothing more satisfying than throwing a weapon that is just about to break into an enemies face! Honestly think if the weapons didn't break then the combat would get stale very quickly.
Cooking was also fun so want that kept.
The idea of an ever present overworld theme in a game this big sounds truly awful! The sounds of nature with ths occasional music fading in and out was perfect.
I would like proper dungeons and a wider variety of enemies in the sequel though so there is room for improvement to what is a masterpiece of a game.
It's the real open world game that's actually open, the freedom it gives you it is really special... the fact that you can actually finish the game right away, makes the journey all the more important.
It's a masterpiece, even if there's room for improvement
@TheFullAndy "Honestly think if the weapons didn't break then the combat would get stale very quickly"
Did you find it got stale in the older games? I found the collapsible weapons combat got stale, so much so that I ended up running past and avoiding most of the enemies... In the older games I liked battling them. It's interesting to hear a different perspective though and helps me understand why people enjoyed this feature.
Regarding an Overworld theme, it wouldn't have to be the same continuously but could evolve and change organically for different areas and possibly weather conditions (similar to how Animal Crossing subtly changes the instrumentation during rain) Nintendo could easily include an option to turn off the music for those who prefer environmental sounds.
@Clyde_Radcliffe
The older games do not compare in scale to Breath of the Wild and were much more linear so the combat worked well in those games as is but I think it would stifle the combat in BotW.
Having said that I have no issues with options being available for everything so say there is an option for unbreakable weapons or a constant overworld theme. If it makes everyone happy then fair play.
@thecowgoesmoo87 Sameeee :/
Exploring the overworld and collecting treasure and loot was undeniably fun but the lack of enemy variety, lack of proper dungeons and all the shrines being visually so identical did hurt the game, as it tends to be the trend with the open world games (for whatever reason) I also found the minimalistic soundtrack really lame.
As someone who's not really the biggest fan of the series I'd still say It was among the best Zelda games ever made but still a far cry from Link to the Past.
I took a chance with the Zelda series when purchasing this game, having never played any of the series before.
I never went back.
This game is incredible to say the least. I think that the music perfectly matches the bittersweet beauty of the landscape. The weapon breaking system kept me exploring. The story and combat complemented each other wonderfully (albeit it lacked some dungeon variety in comparison to the wonderful A Link to the Past). What a masterpiece!
Man I just want a direct about BOTW2. Nintendo’s radio silence is killing me. Sadly I don’t have an hour to listen to the praise of this game, but no arguments here. Truly an amazing experience. I couldn’t put the game down, I always just had to see what was over the next hill.
@Realness 8 out of 10 for me as well. For me ocarina is like a beautiful steak and chips, whereas breath is that same steak and chips except eating the steak in tiny tiny chunks xx
Still have not beaten Gannon in BOTW. Nintendo Life Please don't ban me I own the game but just have not beaten it 'it is perfectly normal'
I understand there may be elements people dislike in this game or elements that are 'unorthodox' to a mainline Zelda, but God people need to stop acting 'woke' and 'cool' by hating on it and undermining how much of a masterpiece this game actually was.
It came out in a time where open world games were around every corner and followed absolutely the same formula over and over. This game came and shattered that formula and finally tried something new. It was hard for me to go back and play other open world games after Breath of the Wild because this game was just on a completely different level.
It may not be perfect, but anyone who says that Nintendo didn't make something amazing here is just lying to themselves. You may not appreciate it as much as others but acknowledge that 95% of people loved it much more than anything else released in recent years.
I think Breath of the Wild 2 can only improve from here on out.
I think Windwaker has a better open-world than breath of the wild, as does link to the past. Breath of the wild has really good level design, but they don't do anything with it.
@Varkster well the thing is it's not a masterpiece, and if it was, why then is it so easy to undermine that reality. A lot of the game's novelty comes from its deviation from the main series, which I can admit needed to be deviated from, but now that the deviation is done, a lot of Zelda fans (it seems like a lot anyhow) by comparing have re-evaluated the value of the older games, and find that those games have more going for them than botw.
Some people praise Zelda BotW for its huge, open world where you can go anywhere at any time. While huge worlds are great, I find that they overdid it with the size in that game, and a lot of places are bare and offer little to discover (except korok seeds and repetitive weapons). If they had reduced the size of the world by 50% by omitting these bare places, the world would feel more lively and purposeful. Also, Zelda is known for great stories. Just take Skyward Sword as an example (which is underrated IMO). The story in BotW is one of the weakest of all 3-D Zelda games, and if you ask me, the "freedom" and non-linearity comes at a high price in this regard.
Please BOTW 2 this year 2021
By say November 2021 it would have been
4 years and 8 months
Surely that is enough time for a follow on sequel, with existing stuff in place from BOTW 2.
Also we have not much lately from Nintendo’s own top in house studios. Nearly all their releases of late are from other party studios that they use.
By far the best zelda game I've ever played but definitely not the best open world game I've played. They need to make the combat more interesting and make the weapons last a little bit longer.
Tbh im worried the areas in the sequel will look all too similar to the first and there won't be too much new enemy types
As great as BotW is, it isn't without its flaws, or at least areas that could certainly be improved upon. For a game of such vast size, its comparative lack of actual, themed, full-sized Dungeons was seriously disappointing. Sure there were the hundred-plus shrines, but the challenges they offered were bite-sized and lacked the coherent themes (example: the Water Dungeon) that gave earlier efforts distinct personalities. The four Guardians offered more substantial exploration and puzzle-solving, but didn't scratch that same itch.
A lack of enemy variety is another weakness for BotW, especially considering its size and scope. Fighting the same variations of Moblins repeatedly, while it offered many opportunities for experimentation, got repetitive. Where were so many of the iconic enemies of Zeldas past, such as Tektites, Armos, Peahats, Keese, Like-Likes, etc.? They could have made each biome of BotW feel much more distinct had they been included.
Maybe BotW 2 will address these issues. After all, if the game's overworld remains roughly the same as the original, that's a ton of acreage to insert new stuff into. And since those assets are already pre-made, it gives Nintendo's development team the perfect opportunity to put some focus on adding more content that didn't make the cut the first time around.
BOTW is my all time fav hands down. Just the way Link can run explore the world around him is just amazing. No open world games I have played control so well and offer so much freedom to roam. I get its not the normal Zelda game but after all these years I was ready to break out of that mold and this game really surprised me. I am now jumping back in just to grind so I can level up all my outfits to max. Its honestly just an excuse to play again after putting so many hours in. I cannot wait for BOTW 2.
Probably won't bite on BOTW 2 if it doesn't feature at least some more linearity and makes exploring feel more rewarding because whilst I liked exploring in botw I often felt like I was lacking a purpose so if they could add that it would probably make it into my top 3 Zelda games
@Varkster: Believe it or not, people enjoy different video games
As a huge zelda fan, BotW was a pretty huge disappointment. Combat is extremely basic and the weapon durability is horrible. Weapons are clearly made of plastic because they break so fast. And it's even more lame that most of the weapons enemies have are low tier weapons because the game also lacks a variety of enemies. You're almost always fighting bokoblins and reskins of them
Music is also extremely underwhelming with barely any for "ambience" and what little is there is horrible. The music when you fight mini bosses sounds like someone hitting random piano notes.
There's a lot more issues this game has, especially with how repetitive exploring gets and how little reward it gives for exploring, but even so the Zelda fan in me still hopes BotW 2 can fix the many mistakes it made despite it just looking more of the same. At least ganondorf looks way cooler now
@Varkster Not everyone is acting "woke" and cool. There's these things called different tastes. And some people weren't that fond of it.
My main issues with BOTW was a lack of large caves (or nearly any caves at all), zero underwater exploration and that the bosses and shrines were incredibly same-y in look and style. And somehow because the exploration was kinda the main draw, beating Ganon was very anti-climatic.
But I'm still delighted to have played it and do agree it's a massive milestone in video gaming development. I'm hoping BOTW2 fixes all these issues and brings back some of the more creative diversity seen in some earlier Zelda titles.
I just started over again a few days ago and I'm having as much fun now as I did when I first played it on Wii U.
I played around 300 hours on Wii U without ever finishing it. I never even made it to the castle and despite playing it for another 100 hours or so on Switch when I bought it a couple of years ago, I still haven't been to the Castle. I also have the DLC but have yet to see any of it, except for the chests. Now I've started over again and this time I'm going to make sure I finish it.
One thing that really stood out to me when I started playing again was just how much better it feels to play than every open world game I've ever played. Nothing even comes close. I love The Witcher 3, it's one of the best games I've ever played but for me BOTW is even better..
@thecowgoesmoo87 Yep. Definitely some click baity but hard to blame them there is definitely a AAA Switch drought coming up.
@Tempestryke +1 for the not everybody is pretending to be woke. Good lord, I hope there's a backlash on the hypocrisy of the movement that wyppl women hijacked.
@Clyde_Radcliffe No it was unnecessarily punishable and at the very least should have been a hard mode option. Better would have been the ability to upgrade or craft a weapon but never losing it unless you wanted to sell it. There are definitely some things Genshin Impact did better than BOTW not that they are even in the same league but there are some better game elements.
Really Looking forward to playing this. It launched when I was in final year of college so it felt inappropriate to get into it. Then after college life happened and I never went back. Waiting for a 2 release date before I start
It's not a patch on Skyrim imho, far too many irritating mechanics that have to be endured and too much empty space.
@SortingHat What do I have to do with your comment?
@SortingHat Good to know the many factors and complications involved – we don't often think of these things, so thank you.
I'm sure the pressure to release it at the Switch launch was enormous – after all, I'd say the success of the Switch in those early months was almost entirely riding on the existence of that game.
I know I bought a Switch in its first week of release on the basis of that game. Without BOTW I'd have never been an early adopter like that.
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