#anyway. new zelda game is so so exciting but now the hype has worn off i am left with the Fear

[luxrayz64]

i need to be put down someone needs to just erase the concept of the legend of zelda from my brain forever because totk and the team behind it is not gonna stop pissing me off ever. for fucks sake aonuma limitations are not a bad thing and players often cannot be trusted with player freedom. if you want me to come up with a creative solution to a puzzle you need to put limitations on it.

the most well regarded parts of breath of the wild - the great plateau, eventide island - are well regarded because of the limitations they put on the player. you cannot have meaningful progression in a game without limitations.

people crave efficiency, and without limitations in place, players will take the path of least resistance. they won't engage with the possibilities of the ultrahand mechanic in order to take that korok from point a to point b - they'll make the hoverbike, or just pick the fucker up and walk it there. players have to limit themselves in order to reach the games full potential, and idk about you guys but im not fucking doing that.

which is why when aonuma says that he thinks the only reason people prefer the formula of the older zelda games is nostalgia, it makes me want to goddamn hit things. I dont want to create my own fun! that is your job! I never minded the linearity of the older games, because it challenged me - to solve that puzzle as intended, fight that enemy as intended. that 'as intended' is important here, because there was no quick and easy trick to get around it. I couldn't rocket shield my way around a dungeon. I had to engage with the game on the game's terms, and the more freedom players have, the less players will be willing to do that.

and for sure, there is fun to be had in 'cheating' the game. I had fun climbing around the fire temple to beat it in unintended ways (because the puzzles were boring and it felt poorly designed and I got sick of trying to beat it the 'intended' way), and on my second go around of botw I learned windbombing specifically to try and cheat the shrines.

but it gets to a fucking point in totk where you at no point have to actually engage with the game, because there is always a 'correct' answer that does not challenge the player at all. there is always the hoverbike, always a rocket shield. there is no reason to engage with the games mechanics, and at what point is it even worth playing? and the answer to that question is different for everyone, but personally I just don't see the fucking point in it