1641 replies to this topic

[Shane]

I think it's official that Breath of the Wild is 12 times bigger than Twilight Princess's world at the very least, not sure about Ocarina of Time. It'd be interesting to see world size comparisons for each 3D Zelda game.

[Anthus]

I added another image to my previous post that does just that, but I feel like it's not 100% accurate. Plus the botw map they use is the "beta" map. I just find it hard to believe based on that last image that oot's Hyrule could basically fill death Mountain lol. I think is only a little bigger than they show though so its close imo.

[strike]

What are people's opinion here: is BotW the best Zelda game?

-Strike

[Shane]

Debating if it is. It's definitely better than Skyward Sword for me and a few other 3D Zelda titles.

[Haylee]

Link's Awakening's my personal favorite still.

 

I'm honestly rather conflicted. I can't seem to see what everyone sees in the game. While yes it's open world, and there's a lot of cool stuff to explore, I just haven't had as much fun as everyone else. I can't seem to put my finger on exactly why that is.

[Eddy]

Very hard to say for me right now. I'm nearing the end story-wise but there's still so much more to do and I'm loving the game so much. At the moment it's definitely tied between Wind Waker and this for me, but I'm still not 100% sure yet.

[Anthus]

This is tied with AlttP and MM and WW for me. It's better than OoT, imo, waaaaaay better than SS, and a little better than TP for me. "Best" is highly subjective so is hard to say. Everyone will have different feelings and thoughts on the game.

[Adem]

DAAAANG, son. I'm digging this game so far. It's so interesting to be able to explore every nook and cranny of the world. I'm not very far in the story but I'm having a blast doing some side exploration and scavenging.

 

It's too early on for me to rate it but I'm already enjoying myself way more than I did with some of Zelda's previous titles. Skyward Sword, though an enjoyable game, felt quite anchored and restricted. Conversely, this game...Well, it doesn't.

 

That said, I realize I'm a bit late to the party. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves!

[Russ]

Definitely no. It's a good Zelda game, but it's got far too many issues to be the best. That title's still held by WW in my book. Though for all the hate it gets here, SS was also more enjoyable for me than BotW. BotW probably slides into third place for me. It had the potential to be the best, but it just messed up in a few too many areas. Off the top of my head, weapon durability being really unbalanced, bosses ranging from dull to awful, too many combat shrines, a lack of enemy variety (due in part to the aforementioned weapon issue), and some awful sequences that are "required" to view the main story (Thieves' Hideout and Lost Woods most prominently).

[Matthew]

You know, now that the hype has died down, I've got to admit that I'm somewhat disappointed by BotW. I haven't touched it in a week. I'll probably write some more of my thoughts later, because I have to go back to making dinner soon. It certainly isn't a bad game, but it's really not what I had hoped for.

[Eddard McHorn Van-Schnuder]

I am not ready to say it's the best, but it is easily my favorite. Mind you, I've always had a special place in my heart for open world games, and this game specicifcally is so clearly inspired by some of the games that happens to be very high on my list (that being The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption and so on). The Witcher 3 was supposedly even mentioned as one of the games the team researched during development, and that makes a lot of sense to me given how Breath of the Wild turned out.

 

I can absolutely see why it won't be everyone's favorite - the game certainly has problems, some bigger than others, and I will admit there are a couple of things that I really feel the game is missing. However I am also not as bothered by some of the things I see a lot of people complaining about, like the weapon system - which I actually think adds to the game, because it not only encourages more exploration, which is rewarded with more weapons, but it changes the way you think about their use, and once I got over the fact that I won't keep the weapons forever I started playing it like it was intended, I think. And now it's really satisfying to me to throw a weapon into a moblin's face and having it explode into those weird blue fragments and deal extra damage. It's just another intricacy of the combat system to me now, and I don't really mind. Especially given how you can more or less hoard one specific weapon if you really want to, so there's nothing stopping you from rolling around with 7 versions of the same sword - other than the time required to collect them.

 

There's two things I want from the DLC's: more traditional dungeons, and some sort of survival mode. I don't need enemies to hit harder, I want more reasons to spend time in the wild, and I want cooking to be about more than just regaining health and boosting certain stats, and the same goes for hunting. Adding a few simple new mechanics could help make those parts of the game a much more important thing, and I think that would go a long way considering how much time of the game is already being spent in the wild - and to be fair that is most of the game. I just want there to be a little more to do there than there already is, other than just raw exploration. I want reasons to stay at one area for a little, or maybe return to ones you've used as camps before, because you know the area well and you know there's a good supply of food and such nearby. Stuff like that would be cool to me, but I'm not gonna hope for too much. This is Zelda after all, not another one in an already way too big a list of survival games.

[Anthus]

My biggest complaints are, lack of enemy variety, lack of variety in shrines, visually (I mean, can we get some palette swaps? Even Z1 gave us that ), and

the dungeons. They're not bad at all on their own, but as massive as the world is, and as long as it took, I expected way more (at least 8-10). Bosses are okay, and weapon durability isn't that bad, for me. The main story and dungeons that you can't reenter are over fairly quickly, if you choose so, so you're left with not much to do lore wise with the rest of the game. I really like the shrine idea though. Hope it's a mainstay.

Every game has flaws, but I still really do like this game. After Skyward Sword I kinda started losing hope. SS had great dungeons but everything else sucked imo, and when I first saw the BotW reveal, back in 2014, I thought, "Here we go again, another gimmicky game no one asked for."

I'm glad I couldn't have been more wrong. It's.. A breath of fresh air for the series as its formula of old began to lose its luster.

[The Satellite]

A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Wind Waker are the titans in my mind. While Breath of the Wild in my opinion completely demolishes the other entries in the series, it's those three I have a harder time judging against. Breath of the Wild's very essence of freedom sets it far apart from nearly the rest of the series, creating an environment where you set the pace, and I appreciate that so much. Just as much, if not more so, than the moments I could in past games, like the first Zelda, or to a lesser extent A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time. There's just so much you can do, but whether you actually do it is up to you, with the only limits being your own skill and wits. I can't stress enough how much I love a big, open world to explore in Zelda games; sure, they don't have to be on this scale, or even have to have the same gimmick of "do the story, or just go straight to the end." But it's certainly helpful and keeps you from feeling stifled, like some entries tended to do.

 

But there are areas in which it's lacking a bit when compared to previous games: Story and dungeons. Now, the story's good, but it's less of a focus, and seems to mostly be about the characterization of a few characters rather than spinning a grand narrative. You also get more tales about the current lore or land itself from other NPCs, using them to flesh out the world and keep it feeling like a living one. That's not a problem. I like it a lot, honestly, though at the end of the day, instead of being wowed by a good story, I just sit and think "These were some really cool characters that I liked and identified with, mostly."

 

And the dungeons (of the "traditional" variety, mind you, not the shrines)... Are good. Very creative even. Though I did find them somewhat lacking in the areas of combat and visual aesthetic variety. I don't mind them feeling somewhat short, because they still felt satisfying, though I wouldn't have minded a few more.

 

These are areas that Zeldas in the past were, in general, stronger in. Obviously not all of them, because there have been some games with meh dungeons or boring or outright bad story. Of course, when I think of story in a Zelda game, I'm pretty much always gonna have Wind Waker come to the forefront of my mind, and when I think of dungeons, well, I have a lot of games pop up! Hell, nearly all of them from A Link to the Past onward! Arguably, it's the dungeons I care more about, because if I want my great story, I'll just replay Wind Waker or Link's Awakening, meanwhile dungeons have been a constant staple and most of the games have delivered at least a couple memorable labyrinths.

 

That's not to say Breath of the Wild doesn't make up for these faults, mind you; see my first paragraph. Sure, there's a couple annoyances, such as not being able to manage inventory when you open a chest if your inventory's full, it can be somewhat tedious navigating the inventory, there could be a little more music, etc., but hey, I hate that A Link to the Past doesn't start you with the health you saved with and your starting locations are limited instead of where you last were and that doesn't stop me from loving the game.

 

... should've used Link's Awakening as the example instead. Its annoyances are some of the worst in the series and yet it's still an amazing game. Ah well.

 

Also lest we forget the "tedious sailing" or "agonizing Triforce hunt" complaints about Wind Waker, except screw all ya'll I love both of those things.

 

Anyway. It really depends on what you go for in a Zelda game. If you want total freedom of exploration and adventure, go for this game. If you prefer sweeping through well-made dungeons with a stronger narrative, this one might not be for you. Personally I enjoy both styles, but I tend to gravitate towards ones that offer me more freedom of choice. I would love them to make another game like this one... but maybe... make some dungeons more like the old ones next time? With more of them? Please?

[Jared]

Shrine help spoiler (Help me!)

 

Spoiler

Does anyone know how to complete the shrine in Korok Forest? I know you need to use the constellations...but what??

[Russ]

Spoiler

That one's a bit dumb. In the foreground, you'll see four patterns on the wall. Each has slots to put the orange orbs in. If you look to the left or right, you'll see torches. 1,2,3,4, or 5 of them. Basically, what you have to do is count how many times a constellation appears on the far wall, then put the orb in the right numbered slot in the foreground. So if a constellation shows up three times on the far wall, drop the orb in the slot at the intersection of that constellation on the near wall and the cluster of three torches on the left/right.