#but it was a more minor complaint in botw

[watermelinoe]

like yes totk is technically much darker than other zelda games, but is there any emotional weight to it? when the plot consists of these out-of-context cutscenes that you can collect in any random order at any point in the game (or not at all) with zero impact on the plot or link himself? somehow the silly toon zelda game managed to make toon king daphnes of hyrule's sacrifice more heart-wrenching than king rauru of hyrule's, and the toon guy was literally a boat for most of the game

[roxyco-deliverygirl]

The more I think about totk the less I like it. Like I've played almost every zelda game (the only ones I haven't played are Zelda 2, the four swords games & oracle of ages because I played seasons) and totk is like, maybe bottom 3, the only thing saving it from actually being in the bottom is that none of my friends would play triforce heroes with me and that's significantly less fun without multiplayer (and there are some things I like in triforce more than totk, like being able to put Link in a dress, actually it’s just that) also at first I was going to end it there but then I remembered that they said there was no dlc because they'd done everything they wanted to do with this version of Hyrule which might mean no Hyrule warriors (the only redeeming point I would have given to totk) so fuck it here's every problem I have with it.

Story

So the story isn't very good, you go to a place, see Zelda be so incredibly suspicious (more on that later), secret stone demon king, repeat another 3 times. Then you learn about the 5th temple, secret stone demon king, now go kill Ganondorf.

And a barebones story can be fine, but it's frustrating that the some of the biggest complaints about botw were about the story, the only real difference is that instead of getting the divine beasts you're getting secret stones.

Weapon design

More specifically what I have a problem with is the monster horns. The monsters looked pretty good in botw but because of the weapon fuse mechanic every monster has a different horn so you can get different weapons (which also bloats the inventory but that's a minor issue I dont really care about) and they clearly designed them as weapons not as body parts so they looked good in botw but now they look kinda awkward in totk by having a sword or a scythe blade sticking out of their head, it's also kinda annoying that the new monsters like the aerocuda, gibdo and gleeok look really good and have weapon parts that fit into the designs much more naturally.

But I also have a problem with the weapons themselves. There's so much less variation than in botw. Weapons had different shapes like with the Yiga sickle or the spring loaded hammer or even the weak weppons like a broom or a farming tool, but totk doesn't have anything like that. It kinda reminds me of Monster Hunter World, where a lot of the weapons looked very similar to eachother and the only variation was the monster parts attached to them.

More story

The memories are kinda terrible. They have information thats wrong compared to the gameplay, and some spoilers that actually ruined some of the present day stuff that Link is doing. For stuff that's wrong: the great deku tree says that the master sword will get more powerful if its exposed to more sacred power, after you get it back from the light dragon it is identical to how it was at the beginning of the game and a lot weaker than it was if you did any of the botw dlc, I guess this is supposed to be about Ganondorf not being able to break the sword this time but he doesn't even try. And Mineru says that secret stones only amplify their owners' power, but the companions you get don't actually have their abilities amplified and are functionally identical to how they were before, and the secret stone aparantly gives them a new power of duplicating themselves.

The gameplay clashing with the story can be seen as nitpicking or whatever but the story ruining itself is so much worse. So if you finish the dragon tears before doing the temples, it makes Link look stupid or that he's actively withholding information from the team and leading them into traps on purpose. Link sees in the memories that Zelda turned herself into a dragon and that it's impossible to turn back, he knows that Zelda is still a dragon because you've seen her, it's pretty likely that you've touched the light dragon. You've also seen a memory where Ganondorf created an illusion of Zelda to assassinate Sonia. So whenever the new sages say they saw Zelda, Link knows for an absolute fact that they've been tricked, and he doesn't tell them. The worst offender of this is when you go to Hyrule Castle following "Zelda". Purah sees her through a telescope and Link doesn't say that it's an illusion from Ganondorf. He goes to her and gets ambushed by monsters six times in a row, then he goes into another ambush against the strongest version of the phantom Ganon boss. And sure you could do the dragon tears after, but there's nothing stopping you from spoiling yourself and no indication that one of the main quests in your quest log contains spoilers for the rest of the game.

General attitude to fans

This is a kinda minor problem that just rubbed me the wrong way. In botw there was a trick called whistle sprinting, where you could move faster without using your stamina by whistling and mashing the sprint button. In totk if you mash sprint like you would to whistle sprint, it actually drains your stamina faster. Sure it was an exploit or a glitch or whatever getting patched, but they clearly fixed the issue and then deliberately added a mechanic that would punish you for trying. People who know how to whistle sprint are mostly speedrunners or people who replayed the game a lot, as in the people who cared about the game the most, and they're getting punished because they love the game.

Treatment of the Zelda franchise as a whole

After the totk trailer, the next game released was a remake of Skyward Sword (my favourite Zelda game). Clearly making a comparison between the sky islands seen in totk and the sky islands of Skyward Sword. The story of Skyward Sword explained the continuity between Zelda games and turned it from a series of legends into a story across fate about how love and goodness will always be there to stop evil. Tears of the Kingdom pretty much explicitly says that all previous Zelda games aren't canon, not just botw's "they're in the ancient past and won't have any effect on this game" but fully overwriting the events of other games, Skyward sword ended with the sky islands descending and the people deciding to found a kingdom that would become Hyrule but in the dragon tear memories and what Mineru says about history, we know that the Zonai founded Hyrule. It feels like they don't like the previous games.

And there are a few other things that are smaller, like I don't like the Zonai powers compared to the Shieka slate, I think the memories feel disconnected since there's no zonai tech (other than one cooking pot), the weapons look completely different from anything we have access to and Rauru never uses any of the powers that Link gets from his arm (other than opening a door) it feels almost like the game and the story were made separately from eachother.

I don't want the next Zelda game to be like these games have been.

[anotherbeastarsblog]

No one asked but I wanna throw theories out there while everything's fresh. Mostly just minor complaints about TotK so far but I have an idea about the Rito I wanna share cause I'm gonna be working it into all future headcanons and story ideas.

Canonically Rito live human-length lifespans as a maximum, since no Rito were around in BotW were there for the calamity, but I think their adolescence lasts notably longer and they might have a near-total lack an elder stage.

Since all the kids in Rito Village in TotK were also in BotW we can compare them to kids elsewhere in game. Since the game won't just TELL ME how long it's been it's technically possible it's only been a year or two and that's why they don't seem much older, except the kids in Hateno seem to be (and Mattison was DEFINITELY) born after BotW and they all look at least as old if not older than the Rito kids looked in Botw.

Less evidence on the elder side obviously, since the only *old* Rito we ever see is Kaneli. Still, he only ever really looked and felt old because he was in a leadership position, had a beard, and like the general perception most people have of owls. In TotK they gave his model more wrinkles and a line about not being able to do what he used to but in BotW I'm pretty sure he only wasn't that active because it wasn't his job anymore.

Teba's new position as village elder seems kinda weird considering he sure looks to be in the prime of his life, and while it's possible the position isn't actually based on seniority I choose to take all this together to mean, like.

Teba's past retirement age and Tulin is like 20, and Rito are just like that. The culture is very warrior-centric because you can actually conceivably be a warrior your entire adult life. And we've already seen these games take on the idea of an expanded childhood with literal child Zora being in their 30s, this would just be another angle to contrast and compare that with, what does an elongated childhood mean for someone whom it's *not* proportional to the rest of their life, y'know?

[fantasyinvader]

Beat Echoes of Wisdom. Over pretty fun game. Kinda reminds me of Minish Cap, well implementing it's mechanics if a bit short in length. It's not quite the return to classic Zelda I want, but it actually feels like Zelda unlike BotW and TotK (which are both great games, just don't scratch the same itch). I actually liked how beating the game unlocks the map feature telling you where you got might crystals/heart pieces/stamps, making the post game easier on completionists with guides while keeping the main adventure more of an honest playthrough.

I do laugh a bit at the idea one of the best outfits to dress Zelda in is the silk Pjs to boost bed healing. Kinda wish there was a way to rest and regain energy as well.

I guess my two other complaints are relatively minor. 1) I dislike the traveling clothes Zelda unlocks after saving her father. It feels like a bad attempt to make her outfit more actiony to me, especially with the ponytail. I preferred putting her in the classic outfit, though I admit I missed the hood. 2) I wasn't a big fan of Zelda giving Link back his stuff to fight the final boss. I know, I know, they need to work together and that comes through mechanically with me stretching Null's arms for Link to slash, but the fact I need to give up a mechanic, an overpowered one at that, to finish the game just kinda ticks me off a bit.

I'm not going to go for 100% just yet. I started FF5 again recently and want to actually finish it for once before swinging and beating 6 for the first time.

Also, renaming the Triforce Prime Energy… Logan Paul, Mr. Beast, KSI, who gets which piece? I'm sorry, but I could not escape thinking that especially with all the Lunchly stuff going on.ime.

[powdermelonkeg]

Hello I would like to pick your brain about something. I like botw, but I kind of feel like the whole game being open world takes away from the feeling of getting to explore new places instead of adding to it? Because you can just go everywhere whenever you want to, things stop feeling very 'new'. Like in for instance twilight princess everything was really linear, but that did mean that every time you get access to a new part of the map it feels like you really get to fully explore it? And botw doesn't really have items either, but I remember loving how in many games you can go back to a previously visited area and then find more cool stuff because you now have the items needed to reach it. I wish botw had had more stuff like that too, because then it feels so much more like you get to explore? The world is really big and fun to look trough, but it also feels kind of empty? Except for koroks there don't seem to be any cool secrets to figure out and all puzzles are relegated to shrines. I want to get that feeling I had when I found out you could dig down in the goat barn when in wolf form again! Is this also something you've felt? Would you like more of these secret areas/unlockable areas?

YES. MORE THAN ANYTHING YES.

I think they did away with it because they couldn't figure out how to reconcile the traditional secret puzzles with an open world. Before, everything was linear; you go to a dungeon, you get a new item, the new item unlocks the next area, and so on.

While there are some really cool mechanics that BotW implemented to keep things interesting—like temperature and unique ingredients—after awhile, everything just feels like a retextured version of the last area. Climb cliff, run through grass, chop tree, empty out camp.

The thing is, I understand now why it is how it is. I still have suggestions to change it, but this isn't going to be a big complaint post like the last time this came up for me in 2021.

See, the big conflict is what the secrets WERE in previous games: they were collectables, heart pieces, rupees, and upgrades.

In an open world, you can't have key items in the dungeons; that brings back the linear format by forcing you to go in a specific boss order. But you still need incentive for people to DO your scattered dungeons. So you take the best weapon in the game, and lock it behind a heart cap—you have to have 13 hearts to draw the Master Sword.

But that means you can't have the heart pieces be the collectables. So you remove them from the overworld secret locations.

Without key items, you can't have upgrades; it's an either/or situation. You either have key items, or you have your varied, breakable weapons. If a key item beats a breakable weapon, then you'll never USE the breakable weapon, and it's pointless. And since you can't have key items in dungeons, you might as well go with the breakable items.

You can now sell gear instead of just buying. Rupees aren't as valuable anymore as a result, and your wallet is practically bottomless—Nintendo listened to the complaint of not fitting a gem in your wallet, but sacrificed the Rupeeconomy as a result. No longer a worthwhile secret, so it doesn't register as one when you find it; not like the red rupees up the OoT drawbridge chain or the silver rupee in the TP Kakariko bell.

Then collectables. Those they did keep, with the Korok seeds, but how do you make something like this easy enough to find that the reward is worth it? You put them EVERYWHERE. But because they're everywhere, they're not exciting, and because you don't need them all to get a worthwhile reward, you don't bother.

Water is another thing, but a minor one; I do love underwater segments, like being able to find a treasure chest at the bottom of a lake, or a shortcut between locations. But water's not a requirement—Minish Cap doesn't let you go underwater, but it still hits the secret itch perfectly. My guess is that they didn't want to model cool stuff in the entire ocean in BotW, or that 3D swimming was difficult to program to be fun.

As for the lack of caves, my theory is that they saw the shrines AS their caves, and therefore, caves are redundant to the devs. You have your loading zones with puzzles, don't you?

So, here's what I would add in to make BotW feel more unique, both by area and by revitalizing the "secret to everybody" aspect:

Add more collectables. Not more Korok seeds, more VARIETY. There are bugs all over Hyrule—you could easily bring back the golden bugs from Twilight Princess by giving them a low spawn chance wherever those bugs naturally live. Or Kinstones from MC; you find a shard, now you have to find who has its other piece to unlock a new secret. Some other things might be archaeological finds from Old Hyrule that tell you about the world before the Calamity, with a museum you can fill up, or strange plants to fill up a greenhouse with by your house in Hateno.

Make the higher tiered enemies require different strategies. In Twilight Princess, there were lizalfos, then lizalfos variants that you had to maneuver around differently to get past their defenses. Lynels would be SO much cooler if a red Lynel was "smack it until it's dead," but a silver Lynel required you to jump on its back to slash its protective armor off to do any damage.

Put secret ingredients in VERY specific locations around the world. Maybe you can make a hearty mushroom skewer, but if you do it with a golden truffle from the highest point of Hebra, you can give it to someone in Akkala to get treasure marked on your map.

Make secret grottos. This is the big one; it could be a hole hidden in a tree trunk in Lost Woods, or a sand dune that blows away in a sandstorm, etc. Small pocket locations no one has touched before, with some cool environmental effects that make it feel unique, and some enemies to present a challenge. If it's too big to find them, you can make little glitches in the map you download from the tower that indicate their locations. You'll know you've found them all when you get a notification from your slate saying "Area Map Restored." Or if that's too on the nose, the memories you recover can reveal a handful of them.

But the biggest question is, what would the reward be? I explained above how BotW undercut its own systems; hearts aren't a reward, key items are null and void, rupees don't make an impact. So what's left?

The coolest thing BotW EVER did was the runes. They're key items unto themselves, but not just to get places; they change the way you interact with the entire WORLD. They're AMAZING.

So what if we ran further?

Right now, the way to upgrade your runes is via giving generic guardian parts to Purah. But they already have another purpose with Robbie's weapons; let him keep them.

Instead, you find specific Slate parts around the world and bring them to her. Tiny cog, big screw, power crystal, etc. Some people collect them and need to be convinced to give them up, some are hidden in treasure chests, one is around a Hinox's neck...

Then with that as one aspect, the secret grottos could also hide a small selection of new runes. Finding those would be a THRILL; what can you do with a timeshift circle around you? What new things could you find with a gale at your command? I have a list of hypothetical runes here that I think would fit in well.

Things don't have to be linear to be interesting. Nothing is stopping you from finding the guardian pilot rune from the beginning and storming Ganon's castle. But it would be really fun to be able to get some unique memories, wherever you went.

[ivehadanapophany]

I posted 26,218 times in 2021

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For every post I created, I reblogged 523.4 posts.

I added 1,861 tags in 2021

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Longest Tag: 100 characters

#i feel like u keep your loose change in a quirky container that looks fun like it has a dragon on it

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Just got a job???

4 notes • Posted 2021-11-19 22:32:26 GMT

#4

I want to preface this by saying I love rwby. I love the characters, I love the premise, the kid in me thinks it’s the coolest shit i’ve ever seen and it will always have a special place in my heart. Heck, some of the character design I do is still inspired by it! It’s fun to watch and I’m definitely going to continue keeping up with it. However. I have some major issues with the show itself and with the fandom around it.

I’m a trans, queer, mixed filipino man.

I take issue with the representation in the show.

I take issue with the writing in the show as well, but I’m mostly pissed about the representation, and how the fndm keeps harping on about how it’s the crowning jewel of rep and it’s really not.

there are videos that can explain this better than I can so I’ll link them here,

and here

the first video is the hbomberguy one (YEAH IT WAS A GOOD VIDEO. ACKNOWLEDGE THE SHOW HAS PROBLEMS) the second is by Thomas Vaccaro and talks more about all the racism problems.

if anybody has any other videos like those two, please link them! I want them!

Now to get to the Meat of the issue

It’s really frustrating how the fndm keeps swooning over the One gay couple in rwby and the Implied Maybe Bumblebee. Also shut up about Bumblebee. Love the ship, it’s great. It’s also Not fucking canon yet and it could have already been canon.

( i do love May as trans rep though, they didn’t fuck up with that one. May is great I don’t have complaints about her <3 I am also not a trans woman though, so listen to them!)

I’m mad that there’s no mlm rep and no trans men rep even though we could have had this for years. This show has no network restrictions! Do better!

The poc rep is horrendous. Already linked the videos and I’m Tired.

The worst part is that you guys (fndm) refuse to listen to poc and other queer people when they take issue with rwby! If anyone so much as breathes wrong in the direction of this show, you fall all over yourselves trying to come up with excuses for it! It’s bullshit! I’m so fed up with the fndm at this point, I was thinking about leaving the show for awhile.

basically, the point is to LISTEN when the minorities being badly represented say things! Just listen! You can still like the show, parts of it go really hard! I love the soundtrack, and some of the writing is actually decent! The monsters are cool and the weapons are cool. You know what’s not cool? RACISM.

anyways don’t talk to me if you’re gonna defend the writing of the fucking white fang.

- Charles

4 notes • Posted 2021-01-03 00:19:38 GMT

#3

I got in Dorian Electras 0.1 percent of listeners this year and im really proud i deserve a kiss from them??? 🥺😳💕✨🥰

7 notes • Posted 2021-12-06 23:11:36 GMT

#2

I hate this place i found out the zodiac killee thing from THE FUCKING DESTIEL MEME AAAAAA AAAA

8 notes • Posted 2021-10-06 23:03:14 GMT

#1

Why is undertale so much harder than deltarune i keep dying

11 notes • Posted 2021-12-12 00:40:01 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Been feeling under the weather all day so I finally started SWSH and put a couple hours into it here are some of my initial thoughts:

Chairman Rose: Welcome to the world of Pokemon! Me: Oh you’re definitely the bad guy. I’m definitely gonna have to kick your butt at some point I just know it

Ok first of all I just want to say I frickin love the poses I can do for my trainer card and the SECOND I saw this one I actually shouted “YES” out loud. Everyone, meet ya girl Orion. (I’ve since updated my shirt and tweaked a few things but I forgot to take a picture of that).

I love all the starters, but Soccer Is My Life so Scorbunny won me over (Grookey was a close second though)

I’m weak to bunny fistbumps.....

Hop is a sweetheart and I already know by the end of this game I'm gonna be crying...Hop you're trying so hard to be the best like your bro but I've been playing this game since before you were born, YOU HAVE NO CHANCE....

Hop's mom and my character's moms as soon as Hop and I are gone: FINALLY let's go have ladies night *high-fives*

Leon: *appears with his stupid ad-riddled cape and white booty shorts over white pants look* Me: gosh I can't believe how much smut I've seen of this dude on twitter Me after playing the game for 15 minutes: Oh he’s a handsome idiot, that’s why.

I booked it to the first clothing store I saw to change outfits, why you killing me with expensive fashion stuff SWSH???? Let me be a cheapskate in this game I’m begging you I DON’T WANNA PAY $20 FOR A SHIRT IRL OR IN A VIDEO GAME

It was actually super cool seeing all the gym leaders walk out an get introduced but for a moment I was like “Oh shoot am I gonna fight them all here??? Right now??? I mean I totally could but that sucks that I don’t get to go to different cities / gyms” and then the celebration ended and I was like “Oh ok then” lmao.

Which also begs the question: did all the gym leaders (minus one) just come on out specifically to walk across the stage and show off? Man no wonder Goth Gym Leader dude stayed home, I would’ve too

I forgot fighting gal wasn’t in this game.... :( I’m sorry fighting girl you were really cute but unfortunately the Galar Unicorn was also cute and I need me one of those

The only reason I know this dude’s name is because everyone ships him with Leon. His sly smile is really cool and I instantly liked him because he seems like he’ll be a fun character (also I have a dragon trainer bias) but then he whipped out his Rotom phone and took a selfie and that cracked me right up

Marnie was so much sweeter than I thought she'd be omg???? I'd die for you sweet goth girl

Bede (or as I like to call him, the Pink British Bastard): OHOHO YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUGH ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME? Me, oneshotting every single one of his Pokemon: yeah dude

Man I can tell I’ve been playing too much BOTW because my first reaction at seeing the wild area was “Wow that’s kinda small”

I did discover the other half of it later though so I’m somewhat mollified. I love the concept of it though! The only downside is if I see 10 of the same Pokemon in a bunch of grass I’m a little less-inclined to explore that section.

I wasn’t too impressed with the Dynamaxing thing when I first saw the ads for it but it seems fine (I still prefer the Mega-Evos though). I encountered one of the “Special” Raids while nyrooming around the Wild Area too so that was fun.

I'm always worried about under-leveling so I wound up dinking around in the wild area WAYYYY too long and over-leveled my starter and every other pokemon I had lmao

Speaking of, here's my current team layout:

I swapped out my Yamper a bit ago because I found a yellow glowy one and I already feel super bad.....Yamper I love you but GOOD STATS....

I genuinely feel HORRIBLE about switching her out for this new dude I'M SORRY COMPETITIVE POKEMON BREEDING IN XY HAS RUINED ME FOR POKEMON I'LL TRY NOT TO DO THIS TOO MUCH

Me seeing a tympole: Juliana!!! :D The same tympole: *zooms towards me at terrifying speeds* Me: JULIANA NO

I keep stopping Scorbunny (King Kazuma) from evolving because I DONT WANT MY BABY TO GO THROUGH HIS GRUMPY TEEN PHASE YET HES SO CUTE

The curry minigame things are so much fun please let me cook more  in video games I love it...

I think my biggest complaint so far is I wish soft-resetting was faster. I love all the “we’ll heal your Pokemon!” folks and the wandering Pokemon, that’s cool (and the little details like the Key Item Escape Rope and the reminders on the map of where I’m supposed to be going at the moment) and the instant access to the PC box. 

UH OK ONE MORE THING: I JUST RAN INTO AN EEVEE AND UHHHH THAT”S NOT WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE LITTLE BUDDY, DO YOU NEED TO SEE A VET?

Man that’s a bummer, I actually loved Eevee’s old cry. I’m assuming this was a switch after Let’s Go Eevee / Pikachu.

Wild Budew: *uses Worry Seed on my Yamper The Game: Yamper acquired Insomnia! Me, laughing hollowly: Me too

It’s gotten to the point where my Pokemon are so over-leveled I’m legit worried they’ll stop listening to me THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE...WHY DID I DINK AROUND IN THE WILD AREA FOR SO LONG...I’m actively avoiding trainers / pokemon battles trying to get to this dang gym

Milo: Can’t wait to see you at the stadium! :) Me, with my severely over-leveled team and OP fire-type starter Pokemon: Haha yeah....me too

Me: FINALLY the Gym is in sight! Hop: Actually you need to go somewhere else first! Me, shaking him by his shoulders: HOP YOU DON”T UNDERSTAND, I HAVE SIX MINOR-GODS ON MY TEAM I NEED A BADGE TO CONTROL THEM

“All companies running ads are owned by Mr. Rose” oh yeah he’s definitely a bad guy

Aw the little Grass-gym mission is cute, that’s a kinda fun new addition to the gym battles haha.

WHY are the NPC trainer dudes at the Grass gym so CUTE

Aw Milo is cute

“You can now catch Pokemon up to level 25!” ONLY 25??? You’re killing me SWSH

I like that the badges are all pieces of a puzzle! Neat little detail.

[doggodysk-blog]

I seriously underrated The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

**Some minor spoilers contained in this review**

I won’t beat around the bush, BOTW isn’t just the best game I’ve played this year, it’s the best game I’ve played in a long, long time. Maybe ever. This is coming from someone who was skeptical of an open-world Zelda game, as Ocarina of Time was my favorite Zelda game before this, I really enjoyed the traditional dungeon and progression.

I don’t say “potentially the best game I’ve ever played” lightly. I went into this game critically, looking for things it didn’t do well. And, of course, there are some things it doesn’t do quite as well as others. However, overall, the game is a true masterpiece and a testament to everything Nintendo’s creative minds are capable of. I truly think that nearly everything implemented in this game is implemented nearly perfectly.

The Not So Good

This is all I can think of for negatives. While this seems like a long list, a lot of critical thinking about the game went into this, and, for the most part, these are all very minor. I cannot stress this enough, these negatives DO NOT even come close to detracting from the overall experience of the game. I am only listing these to try to be as objective and honest as I can, as I believe calling it a “perfect” game would be disingenuous.

Graphics and Art

The game can drop in FPS pretty significantly, particularly when there are a lot of particles or in large fights.

Some character models aren’t very visually appealing. Compared to the beauty of the world, character models are somewhat lackluster, particularly their faces.

Enemies

Enemy difficulty can be a little low. The first time or two, Major Tests of Strength or Hinoxes or Lynels were tricky. However, after those times, I never really struggled to fight them and win. I’m sure my thoughts on this will change once I start my Master playthrough.

There isn’t an enormous amount of enemy variations.

Puzzles

Some puzzles can be a bit finicky, especially motion control puzzles. Usually it’s not too bad and just requires a few tries, but it can be bothersome at times.

While they were fun and well designed, the Divine Beasts really didn’t take much time to get through compared to the rest of the game. I would have liked to see them take a tad bit longer.

Considering how there is no way (that I know of) to locate Korok Seed puzzles via the map/Shiekah Locator, it can be somewhat tedious to expand your inventory. Perhaps it would be better if you needed an extra seed every two upgrades instead of one, or implement a way to find the seeds.

*Further reading has shown that this problem is solved by one of the DLC’s which I have not read yet.

Weapons and Items

While the weapon durability system is a lot better than I expected it to be, and I actually think the system as a whole adds to the game, I think weapons should all have a bit more durability.

Special arrows are a bit expensive, and hard to find from chests and enemy bases. I would like to see them show up in chests a bit more often, especially considering the amount of basic swords and bows I find. This affected me more than it may affect other people, because I have been going for a stealth-archer style character.

Mechanics and Systems

Link is weirdly bad at swimming, considering how good he is at climbing. There have been times where I was feet from shore and drowned. This can be pretty frustrating.

The Shrine locator is a bit noisy.

In some areas, it rains just a tad bit too much.

Personal Complaints

This is a personal preference and not objective nor does it really detract from the game, but I don’t like the fact that there is voice acting. I prefer Zelda games to only have the unintelligible noise when you interact with someone and background music.

This is a complaint of mine personally but also a testament to the scope of the game: there’s a bit too much to do. I’m a completionist and really like to complete games I play 100%, especially if they are games I really enjoy. There is just so much. The most tedious is the astounding 700 Korok seeds. I plan on completing everything but the Korok seeds, but the fact that there are so many of them is a bit annoying to me as a completionist.

The Good

As I’ve already said, this game is astounding. One could write a book about how incredible the game design of BoTW is. It’s simultaneously intricate yet simple, easy yet with an infinite skill ceiling. This game will be studied by developers for years to come.

The World of BoTW

The world is gorgeous, and huge. Everywhere I go, I am struck by the beauty and the atmosphere. Every ridge I climb up, I come across a beautiful landscape view. I personally don’t enjoy exploring open-world games that much in general, but BOTW has completely changed that. Everywhere I explore is fun and exciting.

Continuing off of the last point in the last paragraph, the world is dense. I’m very rarely bored while roaming through the world. Whether it’s needing to go quickly so that my Fire Resistance Potion doesn’t wear off, needing to stealthily navigate a field to avoid Guardians, coming across a large Bokoblin camp, seeing old chests hidden in lakes, finding interesting NPC’s and doing missions for them, or simply coming across shrines and towers, there is always something to do.

The world is fully open, but you’re never lost. In a lot of open-world games, I find myself going in a direction where I shouldn’t be and either be turned back because I shouldn’t go that way or getting lost. In BoTW, they deter exploration into later areas by putting you up against enemies that are difficult. You could push your way through, but it will be challenging, and you are usually naturally and intuitively led on a path of enemies that of an appropriate difficulty. Before going into the game, I felt I would feel overloaded with options, but I usually am able to intuitively do what seems right to me. This fully open-world also makes the game excellent for speed running, as you are only limited by how good you are.

The Beauty in the Details

The Towns and Villages are all thought out with incredible amounts of detail. They each have distinct cultures and histories that are reflected through the architecture, lifestyle, and personalities of the NPC’s. Whether it’s a laid-back beach village or a prosperous, modern town that was mostly unaffected by the Calamity, each town and village is fun and engaging to explore.

Speaking of NPC’s, they’re very well-written. Even basic NPC’s in towns and on paths all have personality quirks that make them entertaining to talk to. BoTW has perhaps the most well-written NPC’s in any game I’ve played. Every one has a witty anecdote or hints at a treasure or shrine.

The world is full of small bits of history that paint a large picture of the history of the world of Hyrule. Each book you read or slate you find tells a story, and when you put them together, you get a fully fleshed out history of not just Hyrule, but each area and each Village.

Puzzles and Quests

The quests are abundant and fun. There are few “filler” quests that I have come across, almost all of them are either genuinely fun or very short. My favorite of these quests are Shrine quests, which offer puzzles in the forms of riddles. These are very creative and often times quite tricky to decipher.

The puzzle system is well-thought and a refreshing shift from traditional puzzles. The tutorial section does a good job of introducing the basic concepts of the Sheikah Slate’s abilities as well as showing that puzzles often have more to them than meets the eye. The player quickly learns that most puzzles have a relatively basic main path following a certain theme, and side paths which offer secret rewards for taking the themes learned from the main puzzle, and making them more complex.

Mechanics and Systems

The stealth system is, surprisingly, extremely well done. I went into the game knowing stealth was a possibility, but thinking it wouldn’t be a fully-fleshed system. Regardless of that, I knew I wanted to attempt a stealth playthrough, and wow. After honing my skills for the first few hours of the game, such as landing headshots, target selection, and use of my environment, I could easily clear most camps without being detected with some thought. As someone who loves stealth games, I really appreciate this system.

Outside of perhaps Dark Souls, the sword fighting system is the best of any game I’ve played. It does an excellent job of being interactive, rewarding good timing, giving you options, and allowing for personal skill progression. At first, I was slightly concerned that the controls weren’t very intuitive and that I would struggle to implement it in fights, however, with just minutes of practice, I was able to get a solid grasp of it. The sword combat system is an excellent example of “Easy to Learn, Hard to Master.”

The physics and weather systems make the world feel alive. I haven’t played a game that has put this much attention to science details. The biology of the animals matches their terrain. Things that you think should work, work. If you have a metal weapon out in a thunderstorm, you’ll get struck by lightning. Hot air will rise, so if you set something on fire, you are able to use that to your advantage. Rain makes things slippery, but usually not impassable (if you have enough stamina).

Additional Aspects

There are a lot of fun things to do on the side of the game, such as experimenting with cooking and potions, or filling out your Hyrule Compendium. There is always something to keep you from getting bored.

I’m a sucker for games with multiple playstyles, and the armor system in the game does that very well. For instance, I played mostly with the stealth armor, but you could also use armor that helps you climb better, swim faster, or be protected from certain elements. Another thing the armor system does very well is give you collecting options. You can buy pieces of armor from stores around the land, or you can earn them from various missions.

While the game doesn’t require exploration, it encourages it in a very natural way. If you want to upgrade your health or stamina, or want to get more inventory, or want better food and potions, or want more powerful weapons, then you’ll have to explore. None of these are required to finish the game whatsoever, but are accessible and fun to look for. I believe that the natural and flawless way that they encourage you to explore the beautiful open world they have created is the pinnacle of all of the excellent game design that BoTW exhibits, and future open-world games will look to BoTW for inspiration for how to create their own worlds.

Summary

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the best thing the gaming community has scene in quite some time. It marks a positive shift not only for the Legend of Zelda franchise, but for open-world games as a whole. Despite its few minor flaws, this game is a masterpiece from the largest of scales down to the tiniest of details.

[goodmorningawfulbye]

in basically whole-hearted agreement with what z-raid said about BotW, I’d like to make a few additions.

Like she said, let’s not pretend that perfect scores are proof of a perfect game.  Nor let us forget that Skyward Sword got mostly high or perfect scores. Even so, people are still making the same complaints about its story/gameplay/art direction they have for six years now (and saying BotW’s characters are better than SS’s and that that was the only thing SS had going for it) and I get it, I’m one of SS’s biggest fans so I’ll be biased towards it, and what do I know? but BotW’s characters tended to lack personality unless they were plot-important, so my feelings aside, I can’t agree the characters were better.

Second, and I’ve been saying this the whole time, “innovation” shouldn’t have taken precedence over a cohesive story, especially when one of the biggest concepts in the game was there being 2 big fights against Calamity Ganon-- one 10,00 years before the game’s events (and I wanted more details about when that was... was it the battle between Demise and Hylia?), and the other taking place 100 years ago. This part is fine, we had references to the prior battles in other titles, but mostly it was in the context of Hyrule’s history or a discussion people like Impa had with Link and/or Zelda, not every single NPC having commentary on it (also, no offense to Kass as a historian of sorts. that’s fine). Innovation also shouldn’t have taken precedence over playability (like z-raid said)  The inventory was a time suck on every front, and it was way too easy to lose things or pick up the wrong thing (also, minor complaint, I wish I didn’t have to hit A to pick up little things like seeds and such; that used to be automatic). More and smaller shrines =/= better than distinct temples and dungeons (I also had a complaint related, about the music. I like the music, but none of it is as distinctive to an area as it is in other games which I find disappointing), it’s just more work and travel time finding them. And that’s not discussing the shrine quests, which are often cryptic and time-consuming. I could take or leave the voice acting (though I did like certain performances), but I kind of hope they don’t do it again, or at the very least, don’t expand it any further.

[pixelgrotto]

The potential of a blue tunic  I remember when Breath of the Wild was first revealed in 2014, one of the first things that caught my eye in the trailer, aside from the huge world, was Link’s different attire. Instead of his usual green fairy boy tunic, he was decked out in a blue outfit and a hood. Nintendo had been teasing a “blue Link” for a while now, first testing the waters with his Wind Waker shirt and then the long anime scarf he wore in Hyrule Warriors. But they’d always stuck to the green garb in the end, because Nintendo is a traditional, conservative company comfortable with traditional, conservative things. Breath of the Wild was supposed to be something radical, though - an upgrade bringing The Legend of Zelda into the 21st century with modern game mechanics. I didn’t know for sure if the Big N would pull it off, but I thought that perhaps the blue tunic was a start, and I was optimistic in my impressions as the years went on. 

Fast forward to 2017, and I finally beat the game about two weeks ago after four months of regular playing. I came as close to “100%” that I’m willing to go, with 155 hours under my belt, all 120 shrines found and the Trials of the Sword DLC completed. I only found 110 Korok Seeds, but that was more than enough, and at the moment, BotW owns the title of the second most time I’ve devoted to a first playthrough of a single-player game. (Number one still goes to The Witcher 3, which stole a staggering 215 hours from my life. Maybe BotW will get there when its next DLC pack comes out.)  We’ve reached the point in BotW’s life cycle where we’re past the time of copious praise and now in the era of contrarian think pieces, like one that was published by Destructoid two days ago, entitled “Breaking down why Breath of the Wild is highly overrated.” And there’s a lot of stuff in that article, as well as in the complaints of other people on the internet who didn’t love the game as much as the enthusiast press, that makes sense. This was Nintendo’s first open world project, and while they clearly studied what makes the genre tick, they picked up a few bad habits along the way. The weapons break far too much, yes. The side quests, with the exception of a few like Tarrey Town, are forgettable and a far cry from anything in The Witcher 3. (In fact, a huge majority of the quests are little more than “find me 10 of this” affairs, straight out of World of Warcraft’s game design guide…in 2006.) The 900 collectible Korok Seeds business is extravagant and seems like Nintendo splurging on a lazy design trope, and much ado has been made on how the 120 shrines across the map could’ve been consolidated into something like 50 or 60. Speaking of the map, pretty much every negative review calls it “soulless,” and it is in some ways. It’s a bit too big, with certain regions like the jungle feeling half-baked. And while the game does feature cute towns, the people residing in them are largely simplistic NPCs who never seem to act like Calamity Ganon is a threat lurking around the corner…which is maybe due to the minimal (though charming in its own fairy tale way) plot, which is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible in order to give the player more options.  But Zelda was never really a series like The Witcher, which focuses strongly on story. Zelda’s always been gameplay-driven, and for every flaw that Breath of the Wild has, it did three or four things with its mechanics that made me forgive. Clearing a Bokobolin camp by lighting the ground on fire to create a updraft, sailing into the air via paraglider, shooting a bomb arrow into a crack of their cave to ignite powder kegs and watching everything go BOOM in a massive explosion is thrilling the first time you do it and stays thrilling 100 hours in. Fighting Lynels, who initially seem frighteningly OP but become both manageable and farmable over time, is a rush that almost feels like it’s from another franchise entirely…a certain franchise with a name that begins with D and S. (Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna say it.) And while portions of the game’s map are underdeveloped, I’ve got to give a shout-out to the Gerudo region. I’ve normally lukewarm on desert areas in games, since I don’t really like deserts in real life. But with changing temperatures that force you to swap between different outfits in the day and night, giant desert worms hidden under the dunes, sand seal surfing (!!!) and an entire town filled with women who are not only the most interesting NPCs in the game, but are also all non-white and with surprisingly varied body types, Gerudo’s one of the best parts of BotW.

So if you haven’t figured it out by now, I enjoyed the game very much despite its flaws, and while it’ll take some time to determine if it can outclass the impact that Ocarina of Time had on me in 1999, I do think that it lived up to my expectations. Above all, I like how it went back to the franchise’s roots, essentially re-creating the feel of Zelda 1 (an early example of an open world game) with a new coat of paint inspired by Hayao Miyazaki. By doing this, BotW effectively broke the “eight linear dungeons with items doled out in-between” formula that the series had become so reliant upon over the last few years, and as someone who quickly becomes bored with formula, such a change was gratifying to experience. (Heck, I know I’m in the minority here, but I never really played Zelda for the dungeons and puzzle-solving in the first place - I played it for the series’ sense of adventure.) Yes, just like that Destructoid article mentioned, there are plenty of things that Nintendo needs to refine, but if they combine all of the good parts from BotW with a few less shrines, a more intimate world, the side quests of Majora’s Mask and the characterization of Wind Waker, we should have some darn solid sequels coming in the near future. 

And to go back to the blue tunic, my initial thoughts on giving Link an aqua appearance turned out to be right after all. The blue tunic is not only unique and contemporary; it’s also a tangible representation of BotW moving in a different direction from its peers. Furthermore, since it’s Link’s new default, it pulls off the cool trick of making his green getup, which is unlockable via Amiibo or by clearing all 120 shrines, seem “old school” in a good, desirable way, rather than a tired, traditional one. It’s a reinvigorating new look for new times, in other words. Blue to stand out from the green wilderness that Link explores in-game, and blue to differentiate Breath of the Wild from its predecessors as a bold beginning as fresh as sea breeze. 

I say…bring on the blue. Art courtesy of Nintendo.

[hollowtones]

now that i’ve had some time to, like... mull on it?

BotW’s english dub is pretty good, aside from some minor complaints & personal preferences (accents get weird sometimes, i wish sidon’s VA was more energetic, i wish the deku tree sounded older, etc. little things!)

the only real major complaint i have about it is how it doesn’t always match up terribly great with the lip sync... though that’s admittedly not the fault of the voice actors, & i acknowledge that that’d be kind of a tricky thing to get synced up for multiple languages 

also - the french dub? also pretty damn good, from the bits i’ve heard

[thiswebsiteisbooty]

Nintendo Switch Writeup

So I won’t lie this is super late because I’ve been too busy playing. That said, I’ve had about two days with the system now so I think I have a fair amount to say. This particular write up is going to focus specifically on the hardware itself. I might talk about games in a few snippits but that’s for a later post. If you don’t want to read the whole long write-up, the tl;dr edition is simply: aside from a few minor complaints, I really like the system.If you’re going to dive into it though, I’m gonna break it down piece by piece, and then give an overall feeling.

Dock: So first off, the dock is simply that. A dock. You’ll notice immediately that there isn’t really a whole lot to it. A couple of USB ports in the front, and then the HDMI , USB and power port in the back. You slip the tablet in the opening, and that’s how you get the game to play on the TV. Pick it up and it’s back on the tablet. I’m happy to say that the transition from television to tablet is literally seamless. Pick up the tablet and it immediately changes screens. I’m not certain whether its my television or this is how it generally works, however the transition from tablet to television does take a couple of seconds. But unless you’re trying to switch say, in the middle of a fight or race, it’s genuinely negligible. All in all though I have to say, for someone who’s been playing video games for years, it’s a little mystifying to see the thing that’s actually connected to the television not actually do much, and be so minimal of connecting pieces.

Tablet: Predictably, the screen is a bit on the small side, but not small enough to be a major problem. The system itself actually keeps a fairly decent charge. I was able to play BotW off console for about 3-4 hours before I got the low battery warning. There’s a kickstand which is nice if you want to play on a Joycon grip or the Joycons individually, however I noticed that for certain games, such as BotW and it’s minimap, it’s a little too hard to see specific things on the system at that distance. It’ll be nice for Netflix/Youtube if/when that happens, and good for games without a lot tiny details on screen. Framerate wise I honestly haven’t seen any real difference between on television and on the tablet, which is nice. It is of course possible that it’ll be different for other games that come out later down the road, however I can say that you can enjoy that for BotW at least, you can enjoy the exact same frame rate whether or not you’re playing on the tablet itself or on television.

Joycon: I’m pretty happy to say that the joycons are actually a lot more comfortable that I felt like they would be. For those of us like me that have particularly large hands you might have had concerns about the size but both of them individually is actually fairly comfortable. Now playing a game on one joycon by itself probably won’t be fun, for say Mario Kart 8, so if you’re planning on playing multiplayer in any capacity, the preferred way will be for both parties to have their own system, especially since splitscreen on the small tablet might be a bit of a pain, but I feel like that goes without saying. One thing I do wish is that there was a way to turn the system off using the a joycon like you could with a Wii Remote. You can put the system to sleep, but if you want to turn it all the way off you’re going to have to hold the systems own power button. Not really a big deal, just a wish.

Joycon Charging Grip: Now this I will say is probably my biggest complaint about the system overall. Nintendo said at the press conference that there was going to be a Joycon grip that charged the individual joycons, and that there was going to be a Joycon Grip that came with your system. However what they didn’t really make clear was that the one that came with your systems will not actually charge the individual joycons. So if you want one that will charge them, you have to pay extra for it. Also keep in mind that the grip itself does not hold a charge, therefore it’s only charging the joycons so long as its actually plugged in. That being said, however, the thing isn’t really that expensive, and you can plug it right into the dock, essentially making it a plug in controller. The primary use for it, outside of giving you a more traditional controller to play with, is to essentially keep your joycons charged during lengthy, on television play sessions. Some might find that use a tad limited considering the joycons are supposed to keep a charge of about 20 hours, so some will probably opt out of getting one, however it is nice to have if you’re going to be playing at home a lot.

Overall, I have to be perfectly honest, I really like this system so far. I think it has heaps of potential moving forward, and is honestly maybe one of the most innovative things I’ve ever seen from Nintendo. I can’t really recall the last time I was this excited about a system. From here, all that will matter is the game lineup. If Nintendo can provide a good, or at least decent lineup of games, then they have a really great system on their hands. If they can provide a great lineup of games, combining strong first and third party offerings, then I really do believe that the Nintendo Switch could be the system that puts Nintendo back on the forefront of console gaming. In the end of course, only time will tell. The only thing I will say, is I worry where Nintendo will go from here. I’m not certain what they could possibly do with their next system that would outdo this one, but of course that’s a problem for a good while from now.

[nintendoswitch]

My thoughts on the Nintendo Switch!

First is the launch date and pricing. Super happy with the March 3rd launch date, nice and early and not what I was expecting at all!! $299 price point is what is killing a lot of people though. I think that rumors of a $249 price point really put expectations at a place the shouldn’t have been. Kimishima said very early on they would not be selling this console at a loss like the Wii U, so this price is not surprising at all. What is killer is those prices for the accessories. $80 for Joy-Cons? $70 for a Pro Controller? Yikes. They also mentioned paid online, which no one is a fan of but honestly if the price is low and the quality of online is improved, I won’t be too upset. During the presentation I was surprised how much they were focusing on HD rumble and motion controls…it almost seems that this the Wii successor they wanted, even though I thought they would move away from that. I’ve heard the screen on the console itself looks FANTASTIC which is great and the games themselves look so lively and crisp, I’m not a huge specs guy but I was really impressed!

Another fun complaint to see is the fact that the Switch’s launch lineup is pretty feeble apart from Breath of the Wild. Apparently that’s going to be the kicker and will put the Switch in the dirt for sure but guess what had an even worse launch lineup? The 3DS. Look where that thing is now? Honestly, BotW will keep me occupied for so long I won’t even need another game until Splatoon 2 comes out.

I should probably get to the games now, which is the really exciting part for me! I’ve never been so excited for a Zelda game before, Breath of the Wild is going to be amazing and it’s such a strong start to the Switch’s launch (I cried during the most recent trailer)! The next major title is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in April. Now I love Mario Kart and will be buying this but I’ve heard all there is added is a new Battle Mode, Inklings and that’s it. No new regular race tracks. Well come summer we have Splatoon 2! What a perfect summer game, I love all the new weapons and specials and the trailer was PACKED with new things to look at. I really think this game will be just as amazing as the first one. ARMS™ actually looks really amazing, they said what they showed is just a demo and more content will be in the full game. It looks like the Splatoon of fighting games and that’s really exciting! I hope it does well and I’m glad Nintendo has already made another new IP! Finally, in the Holiday season we have Super Mario Odyssey. Looks amazing and it’s confirmed it’s going back to the style of Sunshine/64 and Sunshine is my favorite 3D Mario game so I’m THRILLED. I’m really excited for Fire Emblem Warriors. Loved Hyrule Warriors and I don’t see why this can’t be just as great (praying for Azura to be in there). I wish 1 2 Switch was a pack-in but oh well, Nintendo will see that no one will buy that thing for $50.

To wrap up, I’m excited for the Switch. I really am! Even though it seems everyone around me isn’t I have my faith in it and I’m so excited to really grow my library, plus E3 is gonna be bomb as fuck this year! With the Switch fresh in the market, tons of game announcements are still out there waiting to be made! I hope I gave some optimism to some people and that you enjoyed reading my opinions!