Game Debate #2: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[noiseredux | 232]

9/10 for me. Top tier Zelda, rubbing elbows with my other series favorites - LTTP and Wind Waker. My only reluctance in giving it the 10 is that it feels too soon for me to properly evaluate within the big picture. It's probably a 10. But I need time. I feel like I need the context of whatever comes next to feel confident in that. It's an incredible game, though, and a truly unique experience within the franchise anyway. And I still seem to revisit it annually even though I've had it since launch.

[tbone3969 | 316]

9/10 for me.  Couldn't put the game down at all.  Needed to beat it.  It was just so much fun to play and explore.  If you add in the portability factor for the Switch version then I would say 10/10.  This game made me excited to go to work everyday as I could get 45 minutes to an hour play time in each way on the subway to work.  Having two young children made my commute the only time I could play for weeks sometimes.  I found myself sitting in the subway stations some times to beat that boss or explore that one area.  Was late to work and dinner often because of it.  Wife was not happy, lol.

[noiseredux | 232]

12 minutes ago, tbone3969 said:

If you add in the portability factor for the Switch version then I would say 10/10. 

yeah, for me there was something amazing about playing a game like this while sitting outside in the fresh air.

[cartman | 195]

22 minutes ago, noiseredux said:

9/10 for me. Top tier Zelda, rubbing elbows with my other series favorites - LTTP and Wind Waker. My only reluctance in giving it the 10 is that it feels too soon for me to properly evaluate within the big picture. It's probably a 10. But I need time. I feel like I need the context of whatever comes next to feel confident in that. It's an incredible game, though, and a truly unique experience within the franchise anyway. And I still seem to revisit it annually even though I've had it since launch.

Yeah i don't know about that this to me is the type of game that you experience once rather than having replayability. It's not neccessarily a bad thing but there are some of those games and movies that are structured in a way where you experience it once and then put it away. I'm having a love-hate relationship with finding the shrines right now but i can't envision wanting to start from scratch and find them all yet again. Can't envision finding the old king, getting the paraglider and opening up the map, visiting the races and regaining control of the robot monsters again after i've already done it once. Once i've absorbed the whole experience the game is pretty much done with.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

11 minutes ago, cartman said:

Yeah i don't know about that this to me is the type of game that you experience once rather than having replayability. It's not neccessarily a bad thing but there are some of those games and movies that are structured in a way where you experience it once and then put it away. I'm having a love-hate relationship with finding the shrines right now but i can't envision wanting to start from scratch and find them all yet again. Can't envision finding the old king, getting the paraglider and opening up the map, visiting the races and regaining control of the robot monsters again after i've already done it once. Once i've absorbed the whole experience the game is pretty much done with.

The thing of the game for me was that it's basically utilization of the map and items you got just from foraging. Want good weapons? Go to Hyrule castle and loot the place. Need to fight a bunch of baddies? Cook up 3x attack, slap on the barbarian amor and spin around w a two handed weapon and start spinning. Need to do see big damage? Loot some lynels that have 1 handed swords. 

 

I feel like the focus on shrines are over rated too when most of the hearts and stamina can be had through food if you need extra. Especially if you're playing on normal and not master mode. 

I played the game twice through and it didn't really change anything, except the 2nd time was on master mode w the dlc. There's not much to do outside explore, take in the story through the landscape and memories, read the journals and diaries and fight Gannon. Hell, I skipped all the divine beasts my 2nd go just to experience the boss rush. 

There's just so many ways to play it that every play through is different. Hell, you don't even need the paraglider if you can pull off the shelf surf bounce. 

But I'm fully bias since I have 250 hrs in the game. 

[noiseredux | 232]

I think I've approached this game differently than you guys - and differently than any other Zelda game that I've ever played. Which is to say that even though I got it at launch, I still haven't beaten it. Every 6 months or so, I dump some time into it. Sometimes I'm playing with the focus of really advancing things, other times I'm just dicking around, picking  a direction to go explore and just do whatever. It's like a weird leisurely game that I feel like I'll play like this for years, and I almost don't care if I ever beat it. It's like taking a vacation or something.

[Gloves | 12,251]

4 hours ago, Jeevan said:

why is that hard to believe......i have yet to want a switch.......it think the only thing i would use it for would be virtual console or whatever it is nowadays.........

why waste money on that when i can buy carts  

Edit:  maybe not "believe" but why is it hard to wrap your head around maybe?

I have never played it as I stated above, love from n64 back tho.  and of course OG link's awakening!

He HAS a Switch, and claims to only use it for YOUTUBE of all things. 

[Jeevan | 9,155]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

He HAS a Switch, and claims to only use it for YOUTUBE of all things. 

I had a wii and all i used it for was virtual console albeit the wii sucked lol

[Gloves | 12,251]

7 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

I had a wii and all i used it for was virtual console albeit the wii sucked lol

That's totally fine, there was no other real way of playing the VC.

He's using a SWITCH for YOUTUBE.

[noiseredux | 232]

I'll be honest, I didn't even know YT was Switch.

[Deadeye | 1,601]

I put 9/10.  I loved playing it.  I really got into it, put over 120 hours into it.  I enjoyed the shrines, formal dungeons would have been better though.  Breaking weapons is something that some people real don't like.  I am fine with it.  It gives me a reason to keep collecting and trying new weapons.  If not, you would just get the best weapon and hold on to it forever. 

The biggest negative to me, and real it is just for all open world games, once I am done with doing everything in a single play-through, I don't have an urge to re-play it.  I tried to two year later, lost interest. 

[cartman | 195]

4 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

The thing of the game for me was that it's basically utilization of the map and items you got just from foraging. Want good weapons? Go to Hyrule castle and loot the place. Need to fight a bunch of baddies? Cook up 3x attack, slap on the barbarian amor and spin around w a two handed weapon and start spinning. Need to do see big damage? Loot some lynels that have 1 handed swords. 

 

I feel like the focus on shrines are over rated too when most of the hearts and stamina can be had through food if you need extra. Especially if you're playing on normal and not master mode. 

I played the game twice through and it didn't really change anything, except the 2nd time was on master mode w the dlc. There's not much to do outside explore, take in the story through the landscape and memories, read the journals and diaries and fight Gannon. Hell, I skipped all the divine beasts my 2nd go just to experience the boss rush. 

There's just so many ways to play it that every play through is different. Hell, you don't even need the paraglider if you can pull off the shelf surf bounce. 

But I'm fully bias since I have 250 hrs in the game. 

To me the shrines are pretty much the highlight of the exploration even if they're not very exciting challenge-wise as such once you get into them. If i was the creator of this game i would've utilized a more platform-action type of challenge where you can fall to your death and there would be enemies to fight and archery elements where those enemies are placed around the room and could be picked off from distance. Some aspects of attacking a grub stroghold in the open world and you're going around strategically picking them off the towers with your bow, i would've added some aspects of that in the shrines. And some shrine i would make a path leading to a whole unique ecosystem like those found on the main map, maybe an underworld cave type of thing. I like the idea of a simple shrine opening up a new world. But overall they felt dull both in terms of moving a metal box from point A to B and in terms of fighting a single little robot.

I wish foraging was a necessity rather than me artifically giving it purpose like i'm doing right now because i'm never really in need of anything. Most of the food items i never use nor the mix of ingredients to make the dishes. Most of the powerup are pointless and the only meaningful combat is against the Lynels and Hinoxes pretty much i find myself running past the small grubs because fighting them just feels like a chore.

Perhaps the game should've elevated the grinding aspect like getting xp and levels from killings and the shopping should matter more than it does now. I think everything in this game could've been done much better than it is.

[RH | 5,206]

I'm not looking to bash the game and I've recently spoken about this over in the unpopular opinions thread, but what kills the experience for me is the breakable weapons.  Some people love it but I, personally, tolerate it at best.

Regardless of that requirement, I still would have given the game an 8.5-9.0 when I was playing it.  But, recently, I went back to it and I just couldn't really get into it.  I kind of just explore Hyrule a little, enjoy the experience and I put it back down.  I want to get back in the game, but all of that fetching, building, etc. just gets old really quick for me, so now it's just a job of avoiding enemies and exploring the land, and since I already did that top-to-bottom on the map, there's not much reason to come back.

Regardless, I felt it was a solid 7.5/10 so I rounded up to 8/10.  I do think the game at least deserves that score.

Edited June 19, 2020 by RH

[Sumez | 3,153]

If the breakable weapons "kill the experience", and the game is still an 8/10, that says a lot about the quality at display.  

I was glad to see the Zelda series getting a comeback like that after the wishy-washy skyward sword.

[RH | 5,206]

4 minutes ago, Sumez said:

If the breakable weapons "kill the experience", and the game is still an 8/10, that says a lot about the quality at display.  

I was glad to see the Zelda series getting a comeback like that after the wishy-washy skyward sword.

Yeah, I kind of only pointed out the flaws.  Regarding RPGs/action games, with the exception of having to round up ammunition in FPSs, I just hate the idea of having to run around looking for what you need.  Upgrading to better armor and equipment is one thing, but having stuff break, forcing you to diverge from they story has been a pet peeve of mine since the first time I experienced it, which was Final Fantasy Legends.

BUT, this game was truly amazing.  There is a lot of variation in the weapons and armor so it's kind of integrated into the experience. You are constantly exploring Hyrule and there was a reasonable balance between the need to upgrade and what you were finding along the way, regardless of the path you took to play the game.  It was non-linear and yet you still found your way through the story.  Plus, it really, really felt like what I would imagine a GIANT Hyrule world would feel like.

The loss in points came because I feel like I want to replay the game.  Actually... I still have 1 dungeon left and Hyrule castle.  So... yeah, I never finished the game.  When I went back to it, I was kind of motivated to try and finish the game but it was the need to rebuild my inventory that caused me to toss the game aside and not care anymore.  I needed more equipment, and I just didn't want to do that before rushing into the next castle.  That wouldn't be a big of a deal if I had to do it to intentionally get new equipment I'd not yet acquired.  But, the truth is, I was going to basically run around and reacquire stuff I had had in the past but had break in combat.  And, yeah, that thought was just to tedious.  It felt like unnecessary backtracking.

[docile tapeworm | 4,268]

9 hours ago, Gloves said:

I just... don't get it?

what else is i love TLOZ, links awakening and OOT. but the rest of the series i can take it or leave it

i think when i downloaded doom when it was first available was the last time i played a game on my switch.

i have like 6-7 sealed games. i buy them but never get around to playing any of them... maybe my daughter will enjoy it someday?

[zeppelin03 | 314]

For the people who played Master Mode, did you feel it really changed the game?  The base game does get fairly easy after you upgrade armor once or twice and accumulate some weapons.  That would be my only complaint and I bet Master Mode resolves it.

[peg | 382]

I feel like you are creating these topics just to fuck with me.  Would be a 0/10 if I actually sat down and tried to play it, but that's never going to fucking happen so I guess I'll be kind and just vote "not interested".

 

Have I talked about the last boss of this game yet?  The one with most innovative and complex attack patterns in all of video gaming lore?  The 20 minute circle dodge broke new ground.  Have I talked about how Zelda has been a terrible franchise for at least the last 25 years?  Ok, yes, yes I have.

Edited June 19, 2020 by peg

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,122]

3 hours ago, Jeevan said:

I had a wii and all i used it for was virtual console albeit the wii sucked lol

At least I wasn't the only one.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,918]

15 minutes ago, peg said:

I feel like you are creating these topics just to fuck with me.  Would be a 0/10 if I actually sat down and tried to play it, but that's never going to fucking happen so I guess I'll be kind and just vote "not interested".

There's 1 game you love in the first 20 or so planned installments.  The rest... 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,918]

I wouldn't rule it out

[Silent Hill | 284]

7/10 -  Good attempt at a different format, but had some critical issues for me personally. Lack of formal dungeons, breakable weapons, climbing while raining, etc. I'm sure the next entry will be much better. I'd still rather play Link's Awakening, LTTP or OoT any day of the week. 

 

 

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

51 minutes ago, ChickenTendas4PokeyEater said:

Yes! LA>Alttp any day in my books,

Yeah, I definitely prefer the "classic-sized" Link of LA, versus the more Willow-like Link of ALTTP.

Just makes it all "feel" different. 

[CodysGameRoom | 2,013]

Absolutely incredible game. 10/10 no doubt.

[Hammerfestus | 4,100]

I’d like to play BotW at some point but I don’t want to play it $50 worth.  
 

also, I get it.  We’ve got a Switch that basically collects dust.  If I pull it out, my play usually consists of a couple of games of Tetris 99.  Or like 20 minutes of Zelda 2.