#i enjoyed botw at first but after beating it and all it just felt kinda boring and unsatisfying to replay

[ampersand-antics]

So I just beat TotK... and I have THOUGHTS

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

TOTK ENDING SPOILERS (OBVIOUSLY)

(I also think I got a secret ending? So spoilers for that)

I think the biggest accomplishment for me so far has been beating that malice-infused Silver Lynel under Hyrule Castle

So funny story, right after the spirit temple, I was like "Well I bet gdorf is under the castle, imma hop down there and see if I can find him." I went to the under-depths under the castle but I didn't see gdorf anywhere! I went past the likelikes and the horriblins and I didn't see any sign of gdorf so I left. Did the kogha depths quests (very much enjoyed the kogha depths quests they were epic!!!! (except I couldn't find the rito chasm)) and then kogha was like 'he's under the castle lol' and so I WENT BACK UNDER THE CASTLE and nothing was different!! And then I found the pass!! That had been there this whole time!!!

Uhhh thoughts on the castle... I loved it. I loved the enemies and how genuinely difficult it was, I loved the aesthetics, the music?? THE MUSIC!!!! oh my god I loved the music sosososo much. The way it progressed throughout the castle?? The way we went so far down was fuckin epic. I enjoyed it immensely. And I loved being able to be back in the first area - the echoes of going back to the beginning, cyclicalness, idk there's a much much deeper theme there but I don't have the words to express it.

I really enjoyed the fights with gdorf and I'm sososo glad he got rehydrated eventually. The hearts getting quite literally destroyed was an amazing twist. And the fact that he could flurry rush you??? I hated (loved) that sooooo much!!! At least he couldn't give like five attacks in return. I got out of that fight with two hearts left, and it was such a weird feeling to have full hearts and there only being two. The draconification was incredibly incharacter for gdorf but I still wasn't really expecting it. Just goes to show how fuckin strong link is, bc he felt THAT desperate. The dragon fight was kinda underwhelming tbh but I absolutely loved the aesthetics. I wish there was a way that the Demon dragon would still be there in the overworld. I'm glad Zelda came back, I'm sosososo glad she got her happy ending, I've heard a lot about how it felt cheap but honestly folks use 'the power of love' as a reason for so many things all the time so it's not bad. And the fact that there's an actual Explanation (sonia's and raaru's spirit powers, coming to finish the job?? Epicccc) one thing i didnt like (or think makes sense) is that links arm went back to normal all in all tho I really enjoyed it!!!!

I liked the secret ending too. I don't really know what to say about it (my brains going brrr rn and it's hard to actually articulate it)

The one thing about all this that really pissed me off was that things just went back to the way they'd been before. I mean, it really didn't have to. You could've kept the gloom by just being like "yeah for some reason all the gloom didn't go away". Then don't transform Zelda back into a human, just extract her, so there's the dragon form and the human form and you can still get horns, let link keep his arm and have mineru's construct be inhabited by an AI. Maybe even add a side quest series about getting rid of the gloom from hyrule/the depths via Zeldas light powers? As for Zelda herself, either go SMO style and have her pop up in random locations talking about stuff, have her stay in Hateno at her house and the school, or (and this would be really cool) make her into a companion! We already have the baseline for that with the other sages, she could have a moveset similar to Zeldas basic light moves in aoc, and maybe her sage ability could bathe a little area in sacred light and make it so gloom wasn't existent in it? Idk it could be super fun. And not having it matter at all in the end makes everything feel much much less meaningful.

All in all, I think i like totk less than botw. But not by much, they're both great games and I LOVE how totk built on botw. Maybe it's just the nostalgia talking, but there's just something I can't put my finger on that makes botw better than totk.

I'll keep updating this blog with more of playthrough!!

[pinksaphira11]

My Thoughts on BotW

I’ve been thinking about this for years, and I’ve found things that have changed how I see it several times and now, with Age of Calamity out, I just felt like I needed to get this off my chest. There will probably be lots of people that don’t like my opinion on it, and I’m sorry for that, but this is how I feel about the game. You don’t have to read this if you don’t want to. I’m not really a fan of the game. When I first heard about it and saw the trailers, I thought it sounded so cool and was really excited. But after seeing it, I found it was more disappointing than I’d been expecting. After thinking about it for a while, I think I have found a few of the reasons for this. It doesn’t feel like a Zelda game. It feels like an open world RPG like Skyrim, but with a Zelda skin and theme put over top of it. And with less custom options. It feels like it’s toeing that line between the two and that makes it only mediocre in both fields. I love Zelda games. One of the things I love about them, are the dungeons. Whole sections of the game where you don’t have to worry about wandering the overworld and just have to focus on the puzzles in that small (or at least smaller than the overworld) area. I recently went and replayed A Link Between Worlds because I’d gotten bored of Nonogram and wanted more entertaining puzzles. And when I got into the game, I rushed to the first dungeon because I wanted the puzzles that I knew would be there. And I had a blast doing them. Looking at BotW, I didn’t get that same fulfillment. There were a bunch of small dungeons scattered around, but they didn’t have these long bits where I could just enjoy a bunch of puzzles. It was just one puzzle, then back into the overworld that’s crawling with enemies. And I honestly don’t like fighting enemies in Zelda games, except for the dungeon bosses cause those are more like solving puzzles. But whenever I’m playing a Zelda game, the only reason I attack enemies is because I don’t want them sneaking up on and attacking me when I’m trying to do other things. And it’s just nerve wracking. The only dungeons I really liked were the Divine Beasts but there are only four of them and once they’re done, you don’t have anything else like them to be entertained by. I could just go beat Ganon at that point, but I’m the kind of person that likes to get everything, (except for the Korok seeds cause there are too many and it’s just a pain in the butt trying to find them) so I go do all the side quests and get all the shrines. I mean, I love learning more about the worlds I’m exploring, so why wouldn’t I want to get everything to make sure I know a lot about the world? But honestly, at the end of it all, it’s just such a drag in this one. Other Zelda games, there aren’t too many side quests and if there are, they’re usually short and pertain to the main quest, so I feel like it all ties together. In BotW, it just feels like you’re wandering and helping people, with not much having to do with you actually beating the game. I suppose that’s kinda the point with the game, but I’m not a fan of it. It doesn’t feel as simple as Zelda games should. And that simplicity is not bad. This article here says everything I could possibly say on the subject. https://goombastomp.com/zelda-good/ Now, if you like the game, great! I’m glad you have fun! But I am worried that this game could change everything. I’m worried that this game will change how they make Zelda games, games that people have loved for years! I’m worried it’ll make it so they no longer make the kind of games I have loved for a long time and will turn them all into things like BotW. I’m fine with some games like that, but I loved the old Zelda formula so much, I don’t want to see it disappear. This was a formula that was formed with the first two games helping Nintendo learn just what they needed to do to make it a great game series, and with A Link to the Past, they finally nailed it and it’s stayed that way since. Why? Because people love it. And just.... I’m worried. Because it’s changing now, and I can see it going well, but I can see it also making the series into something I no longer want to play. Now, this isn’t to say the game doesn’t have some merit. I LOVE the story of the game. It’s so creative! I just wish there were more story bits to learn in the game because I am very much into the story of games. If it doesn’t have a good story, I tend not to like the game, no matter how good the other aspects may be. This is a rare case where I like the story, but don’t really like the game. But, I do love how you can have Wolf Link with you, cause who the heck wouldn’t want a wolf fighting with them? And the trailer for the sequel? Oh my gosh, the look of the magic and the backwards, distorted music made me think of the Twili and I sincerely hope they bring that race back, because they were so cool but we hardly got to learn anything about them. (Yes, I may have Twilight Princess bias, but who does have bias for their first Zelda game?) So I am both excited and nervous for this BotW sequel. It could make or break the series, depending on how they make the game, and I’m hoping they take care to make it well. Thank you for listening to my opinion. I’d love to hear what you guys think of this, so long as we’re all being civil in the comments. (Also, for those of you who may have been curious/concerned about it, Hyrule Warriors is good in it’s own way because it’s not supposed to be the typical Zelda game, it’s supposed to be a beat ‘em up one. That’s why they’re under a different title. Which is what I feel like they kinda should have done for BotW, tbh, because it doesn't really feel like a Zelda game either.)

[namakes]

BotW opinion

Been thinking about it for a bit, so I guess I’ll write my own take on what I liked/didn’t like in BotW. Gonna put this under a cut ‘cause it’s long, and will contain spoilers (though really, there’s not much to spoil).

My current play time is about 115 hours, and I made a second file to try other dialogue prompts, too, so I at least sort of have a basis for this stuff.

First off, the characters felt like they had a lot of personality, which was great. Even people you don’t need to talk to at all, or ones you only get a side quest from felt like they weren’t just cutouts of each other. On the downside, I didn’t feel like the reborn Champions got treated equally. Zora’s domain gets the biggest “story” share, I felt, with the most dialogue and alternate options. Example being that there are a bunch of different possible cut-scenes to get when first meeting Sidon (at least 2-3), but if you climb in through the back window of The Gerudo throne room, it treats it as though you entered from the front. The Gorons, while they were pretty cool in this game, didn’t have anything new going on. The Rito seem to have gotten the worst hand in terms of story importance, and their place felt like a stop-and-go location (more like a stable) than a village under attack. Though Zora’s Domain seems to have the most dialogue/importance, it doesn’t feel much like a place people live in (I also felt it was annoying to try and get anywhere in it, especially when going from the East to West bridges). Gerudo town feels the most lively/lived in, and getting around is the easiest; it seemed to be the second “most important” story point.

On that note, the overall story seemed pretty lacking to me. While I enjoyed the game and the environment was fun to run around in (really liked climbing and flying), nothing felt very connected. While there is the supposed looming threat of Ganon, no one really... seems to care. The four towns have seemingly recently been attacked by the divine beasts so they have their own problems, but everyone else is pretty much fine. All in all, it wasn’t very compelling to go and beat Ganon, even though the first half of the fight was pretty good. The second half was way too easy, which was kinda lame. Also, there is no point to going through Hyrule Castle; you don’t need to treat it like a dungeon at all. The only reason to go inside is to get good loot. The easiest way up to Ganon is by swimming up the waterfalls and climbing up the back on the outside. I’m also disappointed Ganon didn’t have a conscience in this iteration, there was no cut-scene before the final battle, except for Zelda having a really short speech. Seeing the divine beasts do their thing was cool, though.

Next up, the battle system. While not bad, it wasn’t really very fun. Weapons break way too easily for the amount of hp enemies have, which leaves it feeling imbalanced, and mostly resulted in me running from most danger since it’s just annoying. I did like the quick attack after a perfect dodge though, and makes Lynels the only enemies really worth fighting (goods drops). Being able to eat mid-fight was nice, and the Blights were cool battles, as well as unique. As far as cooking goes, I feel pots should be more spread out, or you should be able to buy your own to take with you.

As far as cooking and material gathering goes, it doesn’t feel like messing around with dishes works very well. You can cook specific foods, but for the most part, you need pretty specific amounts of each ingredient or you’ll just get like, steamed mushrooms instead of pasta. Just tossing apples in a pot is the easiest, and once you get hearty radishes there’s no point in cooking with anything else (one radish + apples will give a full heal dish with extra hearts). Trying to find ingredients can be annoying, especially when you want something specific (stamina boosting foods, for example), and doesn’t usually feel worth the hassle. Might as well just cook what you’ve got. Having to get drops for upgrading armor is okay, but you need a lot of materials some times. Ganon doesn’t even do as much as a Lynel, so no worries if your stuff isn’t fully upgraded. Being able to buy ingredients is nice, at least.

One last note; while the changing environment is nice, and different weather is cool, does it have to rain so much. Especially in the mountain-y areas where they expect you to climb and there’s no shelter to pitch a fire and “wait out the rain”.

Anyway, overall I liked it. It was fun, and there’s lots to just run around and do, so if you just feel like some mindless mountain climbing it’s good. Unfortunately, the story after leaving the Plateau and passing through Kakariko to Hateno just kinda drops off, and isn’t very compelling. The memories are good cut-scenes and add to it, but they are a little annoying to locate sometimes (though the internet helps). Since the world is so huge (and you can’t name yourself), it doesn’t have a lot of replay value, but running around in one file is fine.

Also, 900 koroks. wow.

[mario8th]

dont read

Hey guys it’s been a while. Just kinda wanted to get this off my chest. Been thinking about it for the past few weeks.

While I'm still in a bit of a high after school starting, the last half of summer I've been more depressed than ever before. And while it's only week two this high is quickly wearing off as well. Probably started wearing off at about day 3 even. 

Every day when I have time to think to myself I immediately go to everything that I despise about myself. I think about how terrible of a person I am. How it's impossible for anybody to actually like or care about me. I think how I'm awkward, how I can't talk to people, how I can't meet people, and how I'm deathly afraid of reversing these things. How I'll never amount to anything, how I'll never make friends, how I'll never get a significant other, how I'll my life is a waste. 

A big utter waste. 

And I think about these things on a daily, if not hourly basis. Especially over summer, I was falling asleep hours after going to bed due to these thoughts constantly barraging my mind.

I've had these thoughts since my freshman year of high school, and now as a college senior they've only gotten worse. I've never felt more lonely in my entire life. I tell myself that even people I consider friends would discard me in seconds. 

It might be worse this year due to actually having been invited out to things over summer. 

But the amount of times I was invited to something I could count on one hand. The amount of times I wasn't ghosted even less than that. And even in those times I did go out while enjoying the moment I'd leave hating myself even more. 

Two times I've been invited out it was to "go to the club" and that unearthed a part of me that I'm very ashamed to still have. I'm not a drinker, and I don't typically like newer music, and so physically being dragged onto the dance floor was new for me. I could be chatting away having a grand 'ol time at the booth, but when I left I became a different person. I became high school freshman me. 

High school Freshman me was the worst persona I've ever met. He was afraid to talk to anybody, afraid to do anything out of his comfort zone, didn't know how to act around anybody or anything, and wanted to slink into the corner and play a game in every situation ever. 

And in the past 7 years I have tried my hardest to grow away from that person, but this situation firmly planted me back there. I couldn't move. I couldn't dance to the beat. I couldn't even sway to it. I couldn't look at other people, I couldn't do anything. And I don't know why. It was as if every cylinder in my brain was telling me what I'm doing is wrong and I need to leave. I even considered sneaking off multiple times. Many multiple times, because I just could not physically to it. 

Since then I've been thinking about those times a lot, and I can barely come up with reasons why I can't do it.  Being in these types of situations is one of my biggest fears. I'll keep subjecting myself to it because it's important to grow as a person, but it is so so so hard for me to do it. 

The other two times I went out was more of a small get together form and I walked out feeling just as useless after those as well. Both times I was surrounded by a bunch of people, and while I was having a good time interacting with them, I felt that taking my out of the situation would probably not affect the dynamics at all. It'd probably make the event more pleasant. 

I felt absolutely useless. That nobody actually wanted me there. That I was a needless addition that could be removed with zero harm. Which was only made worse the second time when we started a rousing game of "Never Have I Ever" (A card game with lists of naughty things to have done, first to have done 10 of those things wins).

While others in the room were getting to totals in the 20's and 30's, I was sitting at an even 0 the entire night. There were so many activities on those cards I wish had been in my life, but I'm just so pathetic I'd literally done none of them. At a certain point I questioned why I was still playing since the result was always a guaranteed "no" whenever a thing was chosen. 

Most of the cards had some sort of sexual activity to them, which I immedietaly said no too because I've never been laid. Heck, I've never even kissed a girl, never even held hands, have barely talked to girls. And I don't think I ever will. 

Both these types of events made me think a lot about myself, my life, and how much I hate both of them. I've done nothing fun. I sit around playing games all day because nobody wants to be around me. And because that's all I've been doing all my entire life I Don't Know how to talk to people, just worsening the problem. 

Some good things happened in the last few weeks. Started school. Is going well so far. I picked up a second lab section, so I can work less at my bad job. I transferred out of my old department to one I hate a bit less. I bought Nier: Automata for $20 off and played through it. Still reeling over that 3rd playthrough. Almost 100% completed Zelda BotW on Master Quest. Didn't have time to finish it off. Great game. Lost the 1st Splatfest, but won the second. That was pretty fun. Watched The Defenders on Netflix. An overall pretty good show. Lotta flaws but enjoyable nonetheless. 

tl/dr I hate myself and the only good parts of my summer were perpetuating the reasons why I do.