#the only sidequest that made me feel anything in botw

[syekick-powers]

i have such a problem with the way that sidequests are implemented in most video games these days.like. if you know me well enough you might hear me say that and be like "oh but sye, your favorite zelda game is majora's mask, which is MOSTLY sidequests! how can you say that you don't like sidequests??" and. tbh. majora's mask being my favorite zelda game is part of WHY i hate the way sidequests are put into video games these days.

like. in a lot of video games these days, it feels like sidequests are just kind of an afterthought. something to pad the expected play time of a game and give the player random tasks to keep them busy and give them various not-required-for-completion rewards. but really? most of these side quests are "go find x location, collect y materials, help z person, and report back to me." they don't have any emotional impact. their relative mechanical irrelevance is also echoed in a story and atmospheric irrelevance. most of these sidequests could be removed from the game and impact very little of the game's experience. the characters who give you these quests rarely cause much of an emotional impact. they rarely feel like fleshed out individuals and you're never given a reason to care about them beyond doing some random mindless errand for them and receiving 20 bucks for it or some shit.

like. yes. the meat of the playable content in majora's mask is, largely, sidequests. but those sidequests aren't just irrelevant little mindless tasks the game gives you to make the world feel bigger. the way the game is structured means that even the most inconsequential NPC feels like someone who is genuinely grappling with their imminent demise and just wants to accept their fate without feeling lingering regrets. even the most inconsequential sidequest for these NPCs feels like it has emotional and thematic impact, can get you easily attached to a character who has very few lines, and feels deeply emotionally fulfilling to finish, with appropriate rewards that weave perfectly into other sidequests. theoretically you could beat majora's mask without ever playing a non-story-vital quest, but doing so makes the game feel hollow, and makes the ultimate climactic battle a huge fucking struggle that is incredibly hard to beat on your own. the meat of the game's greater thematic message is woven into the sidequests irrevocably--you're supposed to care about the inhabitants of termina. you're supposed to want to help all these random strangers you've just met. the game is purpose-built to make you want to help people. these sidequests are not just tossed into the game to give players some extra playtime and maybe get a cool sword or some shit, they are necessary to the experience of majora's mask on a fundamental level. you cannot cut the sidequests out of MM without turning it into a gutted, hollow imitation of the themes it was created to convey. but i somehow doubt that the overall experience of playing tears of the kingdom would suffer all that much if they took out the sidequest for the girl who asks you to find all the fucking wells in hyrule for her.

also just. the sidequests in majora's mask are mechanically structured in such a way that completing each of them isn't just "talk to NPC, receive quest, go to place, get/discover thing, return to NPC, get reward". some of the quests in majora's mask require some complicated back and forth, like all the steps required to complete the anju and kafei sidequest. they feel less mechanically repetitive as well as less thematically repetitive. masks you get from x sidequest help solve y sidequest which then gets you a mask to help solve z sidequest. the way the game is structured makes every single sidequest a different experience both from a story perspective and a gameplay one.

idk ive just been playing a lot of totk lately and i keep avoiding as many of the sidequests as possible and my mom (who likes to watch me play) keeps asking me why i don't like sidequests. and it's hard to explain that i actually don't mind sidequests at all! i just don't like how sidequests are implemented in games these days because they feel like completely pointless filler that contribute nothing to the experience of the game they're in except forcing you to waste a few extra hours hunting for one very specific mushroom in a cave for some random fucking guy who decided to demand that you help him without giving you any choice in the matter. they aren't fun to engage in, they don't hold my attention, and most of them are fucking annoying as shit. i need to replay majora's mask again just so a sidequest can actually make me FEEL something.

[ganondoodle]

feeling much better now having gotten some sleep (the dont trust how you feel about yourself past 9pm is good advice no joke)

of course all my criticism of totk still applies but im feeling less depressed about it, tho i will say its honestly kinda baffling how many times the game actually got me interested and excited about stuff and then just kinda drops it in a dead end, of course they were those kind of things in botw as well but it seems much less .. balanced in totk

(not even just the big things like making me want to actively do something to help zelda turn back when it just gets solved on its own in the end, but also some lil things like the fact that so many NPCs tell you about that newly discovered animal species and when you find the dongos they are just gem vending maschines)

in the end i can say, no, i dont like totk, tho i still love the graphics and the way the world is made ( botw showed me jsut how immersive and alive a world can feel i love it to death), i liked the gameplay and that it kept the freedom botw had established, the bossfights are mostly fun (tho i wish you could refight more of them), i LOVE the yiga and im glad they got more of a spotlight, the music is FANTASTIC i keep catching myself humming along, alot of the sidequests are much bigger and feel like you are actually doing something, i like how the sages are a bit more integrated into the story, the majority of the new designs are great, both the japanese and german voice acting is great, and the end fight has some of the best build up i have ever experienced, my heart starts to race when that music build up starts even tho i have beaten it 3 times already-

however, the story is both simple and incredible flat with lots of stuff that doesnt make sense especially when it was said to be a sequel, the zonau should have stayed a mystery imo, they failed to make me care about them even a little bit and often felt forcefully crammed into the world and its history, i think you could have told an incredible story taking place in the present and leave the past be the past, you easily could have connected botw and totk in a much better way than they did, i dont like how it changes aspects about botw all the while nigh ignoring it ever happened, it still feels like it was trying to be a replacement and not a sequel and all the referencing and callbacks to the old titles may have been done in good faith but that and including time travel yet again ultimately lead to people ripping each other to shreds over trying to prove its placed in the old timeline despite it making no sense at all and confusing people even more; often when the game made me care or be excited about something it was dropped in a dead end, there was a ton of missed opportunities and lost potential to tell a much more nuanced and interesting story/lore, and thinking about it only makes me sad for the things that could have been

overall i think my disappointment is outweighing my fun and the only way i can keep playing it while having fun is ignoring everything that isnt, which works quite well most of the time since im pretty much done with all story stuff but i keep slipping into my little rants nonetheless; i will say its making me a little worried about the future of the franchise, but i know im in the minority and maybe i will just have to accept that the new stuff wont be for me anymore and i should not hope for anything that interests me xD

except for some meme material or specific characters i love i dont think i will make much use of anything totk tried to establish, and i hope thats fine with the lot of you (<3) hopefully that also means my ranting days are over xD

anyway, back to making niche art i go! (sorry for making you endure these long ass rambling posts :,) )

[mememan93]

too 10 zelda games and why?

an ask? sick!! ok top 10 zelda games with reason coming up! (why cant i tag asks??)

1: skyward sword (duh)- Everything about this game is amazing, the soundtrack, the Npcs that feel like people, the puzzles, the controls, just everything! The storyline was linear, but really worth it! This might seem unpopular, but i also loved fi, from her aesthetic to her theme, hell i didnt mind her tips, no matter how many times i play through the game! People say they dont like having to fight the imprisoned/ghirahim 3 times. I loved the ghirahim fights and didnt mind doing it 3 times. And while the imprisoned was annoying, it was there because of plot consistency. The old woman says that too much power will draw it out, and if that didnt happen every time yall would be complaining about plot consistency. Skyward sword also had some of my favorite characters: Ghirahim and this version of Zelda!

2: Spirit tracks (wii u virtual console): this was my first Zelda game, I used to play it at family events with my cousin on his ds because social anxiety. You might think that i have it so high for nostalgia, and while that was the case for a while, i recently got the virtual console version, and played though it twice (you know when you do something recently it loses its nostalgia?) the soundtrack was great, i loved anjean, and zelda in that game was incredible. Taking the form of a phantom to help you, literally all of zeldas and links interactions were adorable. People said hey didnt like the touch controls and while they did take some getting used to, i adjusted kinda quickly, and when i played phantom hourglass afterwards, i kept dying cause the rolls were different.

3: Ocarina of time (3D): yes i didnt have an N64, fight me. Oot is a fan favorite, and for good reasons. It basically invented the zelda formula (if i have my release dates straight?) not counting alltp. Shiek is one of my favorite characters in anything ever, and admittedly, i did get a little sad when navi left. The soundtrack is good, but short when compared to other zelda games (that and it keeps getting taken off of youtube gdi!) again, ive never had an n64, so idk what the water temple was like back then, (i know about the iron boots gear screen) but from some of my cousins reactions, it seems to be a LOT better in the 3ds version

4: A link Between worlds: This is a really solid entry in the zelda series. Its got just enough difficulty that i dont remember literally everything, but easy enough that i can listen to something like TAZ while playing and understand whats happening in both. Ravio is a good character, though i wish you could steal for him. The items system was really cool, but i like that feeling of “whatre ya gonna get in this temple” that most zelda games have.

5. Minish cap (virtual console wii u): the minish cap is an all around pretty game. The graphics are just beautiful, the soundtrack is amazing, specially minish woods! And its got another of my fave characters, Vaati! Ezlo was also a great character, and sure the kinstones are annoying if youre tyring to 100% the game as are the figures, so this is why we dont 100% things! /s

6. Majoras Mask (3D): Disclaimer: i havent finished this, i was in ikana when my sister lost our copy of the game. But i know the story. MM is a game with only 4 dungeons, so it would seem short right? No, because of the 3 day system it takes longer than expected and wants you to plan out what youre doing. It had a lot of memorable sidequests and the masks were really fun as well. The soundtrack takes those OOT sounds and creates a whole new feel and its a heckin good time!

7. Twilight princess (wii): another game i havent finished! This time because spider scary, and im worried about encountering another one. Midna is super awesome, as is the wolf form and twilight sections, but on the wii, the controls are… awful. Anyone who complains about skyward swords motion controls has obviously never played this version of the game. Zant was cool, but then he was immediately overshadowed by ganondorf with little explanation. At least in Skyward sword ghirahim makes it clear that all he wants is demises resurrection. 

8. Wind waker (HD): for a lot of people this is their favorite, but idk it just never really clicked with me. Maybe its because i saved in the wind temple and Makar vanished so i had to reset my game? The soundtrack was good, but not really my fave, and i didnt like the king of red lions all that much. But other than that, it was a pretty solid game, just not one of my faves.

9. Phantom hourglass (wii u virtual console): after i beat spirit tracks i just HAD to play phantom hourglass, and i gotta say, i was pretty disappointed… the temple of the ocean king was like the tower of spirits, but the time limit. Oh the time limit. Also they fucking nerfed tetra in this game cmon! Ceilia made navi nosies, which i found funny for some reason. Honestly, the only saving grace is linebeck. his theme is amazing, he did grow on me, and the final boss fight against him was *chefs kiss*

10: Botw (both wii u and switch): yeah i just dont really like botw all that much. Half of the soundtrack is pretty decent, but the other half is * 5 piano notes* “what you want MORE???” I didn’t like botw Zelda. At all. At best she was quirky and kinda annoying, and at worst she made me wanna slam my head into the wall. I also didnt care about the champions, no matter how much the game wanted me to. The divine beasts were pretty bad, and the shrines were just kinda tiresome. The graphics were pretty cool (THANK GOD THERE WERE NO SPIDERS) i mean its a cool game, just not a cool zelda game, ya know? Also this is the only game thats made my wii u crash. And it wasnt just one time. Do with that what you will

[thatwitchrevan]

Hey so I saw this botw ask meme and I wanted to do it since I’m not feeling great rn and I miss botw, and rather than have people send asks I just thought I’d go ahead and answer them all! So here they are!

🐉 - farosh, naydra, or dinraal?

I love them all so much but I think Naydra was probably my favorite just cause I felt connected to them through having to do the quest to uncorrupt them. That segment was awesome and harrowing to play and made me feel like a hero, and whenever I saw Naydra afterwards it made me really happy :) I love them all though.

❤️ - otp?

I have a few! I think my ULTIMATE otp for botw is Zelink because they’re the otp of the series and because they were just so sweet in this game. I feel like their love and friendship is so central to the entire game. However while playing I also fell deeply in love with Sidlink and afterwards got really into Revalink as well. They’re both just very sweet ships. And an honorable mention to Miphlink, because while I don’t really ship it romantically on Link’s side, the memories between them and Mipha’s feelings for Link are so sweet and I have many emotions.

🐴 - what is the name of your go-to horse?

Probably Minnie! As I remember I have three main horses: Minnie, Blue, and Dapple, and I tried to switch them out but I think I ended up riding Minnie most often because she was my first horse and I just adore her. I love them all a lot and they’re all good and beautiful horses, I just tended to go for Minnie!

📝 - is there anything you would change about the game?

A few things! Firstly, I want to pet the dogs! And maybe some of the other animals, but especially the dogs. I also really wish Link had hugged Zelda in one of the final cutscenes. I’d tweak weapon durability so it wasn’t so annoying. And I may also tweak the cooking/recipe system a little cause I found myself getting annoyed at that during the late game. I’d add more NPC dialogue with all NPCs but especially important ones like Sidon and Teba and Paya/Impa because once you complete their quests they only say the same things over and over and never update to reflect your progress or the world state. 

Oh, and this is a big one: POST GAME PLAY! I wanna play in Hyrule after beating Ganon, WITH Zelda, with all the NPCs recognizing that I’ve beat Ganon, with no Corruption or corrupted Guardians, and with fewer/less aggressive monsters and no Blood Moons. I just. Wanna run around Hyrule with my girlfriend and do sidequests. Nintendo please. 

🌎 - favourite & least favourite region?

My favorites are Akkala, Lanayru, Faron, and Necluda. I’m not the biggest fan of northern Hebra where it’s really really cold and snowy, but I do like the area around Rito Village a lot. 

🍃 - how many korok seeds have you collected?

A lot but not nearly all of them. There’s so many korok puzzles I’ve just passed because I didn’t feel like it lmao.

💠 - do you prefer to travel via the sheikah slate, by horse, or by foot?

On foot, usually. I always wanna collect things and explore and talk to NPCs. Which means it takes me a long time to get places and I get sidetracked and lost a lot. When I do take horses I often keep stopping to fight enemies, gather stuff, and check stuff out. So if I need to get somewhere quick I just fast travel. 

🗡 - favourite weapon set?

uhhhhhhh. I really like the Gerudo weapons?

🎼 - favourite soundtrack?

Zora’s domain and the Dragon themes. And Kakiriko Village. And the Field themes. 

🏆 - what was your divine beast order?

Vah Ruta, Vah Naboris, Vah Rudania, and Vah Medoh. I think I genuinely did them hardest to easiest by mistake. 

🍽 - favourite thing to cook? 

I... cannot quite remember. I know I cooked whole birds a lot, especially in Goron where I could just drop em on the ground. I made a lot of rice balls and kebabs as well.

📱 - favourite rune?

Probably magnesis.

👕 - what armour set do you wear most often?

The Gerudo vai outfit...

🎨 - did you ever make use of the dye shop in hateno village? if yes, which garment(s) did you dye?

Yes I got a second Gerudo vai outfit and dyed it. I also dyed one of my Hebra coats red.

⚔ - which boss fight did you enjoy the most?

hmmm... I think my favorite Blight was Wind Blight. I also enjoyed some of the Talus fights. And Calamity Ganon was stressful but fun.

🔶 - what was your favourite shrine quest?

I enjoyed the fire ones!

🎥 - what is your favourite memory?

Any memory where Zelda is actually happy, even for a moment.

💭 - most memorable moment?

Picking up the final memory by Twin Peaks Stable right before going to the castle ;-;

✨ - which armour pieces/sets have you upgraded completely?

I don’t think I finished any.

🛡️ - shield surfing or paragliding?

Paragliding! I love shield surfing but paragliding is so much more versatile and forgiving. 

🏠 - if you could live in any of the settlements, which one would it be? why?

Kakiriko or Hateno. They’re so homey and the people there are so nice, and the early game nostalgia is strong. 

🖼️ - what do you have mounted on the walls in link’s house?

Spare elemental weapons, and a few bows and shields.

🔮 - did you opt for full life hearts or full stamina?

I don’t think I maxed out either but I tried to balance while slightly prioritizing hearts. 

[dont-ever-forget-the-tears]

Since all four Divine Beasts were free, I headed back to Kakariko to tell Impa the good news.

It was a bit sad. She seemed to blame herself a bit for being unable to protect the Champions.

:( But she was heartened that their spirits hadn’t given up, and urged Link to go finish off Calamity Ganon. Of course, I had no intention of doing that right away. I stuck around Kakariko and found a new sidequest I had yet to complete:

Calm down, Link. After this, another event in the village activated. Someone had stolen the heirloom from Impa’s house. This heirloom was quite clearly the key to open up a Shrine close to the nearby Great Fairy Fountain. Annnd it had been stolen right after Paya had determined that she needed to give it to me. Of course. Paya was nervous because of the break-in, so Impa asked Link to hang around her for the day. This didn’t involve anything interesting; it just cut to dusk. Paya said that the guards out front hadn’t seen anyone break in, and said that if Link saw anyone suspicious moving about at night, he should stay away. ...Which obviously meant “follow them”, naturally. So I took up a spot on a nearby roof and waited. There were a few people who were moving around “suspiciously”, but it was one of the guards, Dorian, who I followed up and out of the town to the area where the Shrine key needed to be used. And a member of the Yiga Clan appeared!

After I fought and defeated the guy, Dorian confessed that he used to be a member of the Yiga, but he left them when he met his wife and they had a family. ...And the Yiga had killed his wife and threatened to do the same to his kids, and Impa and Paya unless he fed them information about Link and Kakariko. After I used the key to uncover the shrine, he asked Link to keep these details a secret in order to protect his kids, and vowed to protect them and the village, no matter the cost.

Sometime after this, I snuck back into Hyrule Castle. Not with the intention of finishing the game or anything! I’d heard about an entrance on the west side, and now that I’d freed all the Divine Beasts I was feeling bold enough to take a look. It led to the prison of the castle and while I was exploring I fought a Stalnox in the remains of what was once a test of the Royal Guard, and received a very special prize:

I also uncovered a Shrine at the castle, so I could warp back there at any time! The path eventually led me to the library, where I found the King’s study and his journal. That was a depressing accounting of his thoughts on the lead up to Calamity Ganon’s return, and his ruthless push to get Zelda to awaken her powers. It’s extra depressing because he acknowledged how unfair he was being to her, and was going to give up and let her do what she wanted if her visit to the Spring of Wisdom failed to awaken her power. :(

Exploring the castle more, I found this sword:

Master Sword knock off. Also, this happened:

Only glitch I encountered in the game. Frozen enemies normally drop to the ground instead of floating away...

After I got bored with exploring the castle, I left and started tracking down shrines that I had not found yet. One of these involved a sidequest with a familiar looking object:

Of course, it’s not REALLY the Mirror of Twilight, it’s just a reference... And here’s another silly thing with a shrine key:

Also, I went to a broken down Colosseum and fought/rode the toughest variety of Lynel for the challenge:

And I completed these cool outfits:

Once I’d tracked down and completed every possible shrine I could find outside of my destination, I finally headed to the Lost Woods and made it through there. I didn’t even work out the “trick” to navigate it then, it was just by trial and error. But I found what I was looking for:

And met the Deku Tree:

He warned Link that the sword tested those who sought to claim it, and said that if he attempted to draw the sword in a weakened state it would kill him. And it really would, because attempting to draw the sword actually eats up your hearts. Of course, by this point, I had more than enough to draw it:

Once Link drew it, he had a flashback to Zelda leaving the sword there. She promised the sword that Link would come back to it one day, even if he was deprived of his memories. And she asked the Deku Tree to relay a message to Link when he returned and started to say something (probably that she loves him) but the Deku Tree interrupted her and said that it would sound better coming from her. And then she put the Master Sword in its pedestal:

And back in the present, I received the Master Sword:

It’s weapon that will not break, although it will exhaust its power and become unusable for a time instead. And it doubles in power when used against Ganon or enemies tainted with Malice!

There was still more to do before I left the forest, because the Koroks gave me some trials to do! I had to seek out several shrines in the forest. At the end of the last one, I was told that I had conquered them all and I should go to the Forgotten Temple. And there I found three chest waiting for me. The items within made up a brand new outfit:

So Link DID have his own traditional outfit in this game after all! With all this done, I finally went back to Hyrule Castle and entered the area where I would fight Ganon. As soon as I arrived, Zelda was unable to hold him back any longer and he was unleashed:

That’s the creepiest Ganon I’ve ever seen. Fortunately for me, the Champions chose this moment to unleash their attacks:

That cut his HP down by a whopping half, and then it was all up to Link. The first part of the fight was pretty much like every other boss: just had to deal damage to him. After he lost a certain amount of HP though, he put up an annoying shield and I had to bounce his Guardian Laser attack back at him to break through it to deal damage, which was a bit tougher. Once his HP was down to zero, he exploded. But of course, the fight was not over. Link was teleported outside the castle to Epona, and Ganon took a much more familiar shape:

Zelda gave Link the Bow of Light and a pep talk:

And then it was fight time once again! This fight was pretty easy, just had to shoot the glowing points. It wasn’t long before the final spot opened up on his head. When I shot that, Zelda popped out of Ganon and finished him off with the power of the Triforce:

...Honestly, I kinda wish they’d had the courage to let Zelda age and be an old lady by the time Link wakes. I suppose they’ll say her goddess powers prevented it or something...

ANYWAY. Zelda and Link were reunited, and she told him she had been watching over him and said she’d never lost faith in him, and asked him a very important question:

:’) And so the two of them left Hyrule Castle behind and moved forward to the future as the king and other Champions watched over them:

And that was the end, apart from that little bit afterward where Link and Zelda were making plans to head to Zora’s Domain because Vah Ruta had stopped working. I would’ve been interested to see what was going on there, but alas... They’re moving on without me:

And even with the game completed, I still have no idea where BotW is supposed to fall on the timeline. But I still stand by my pre-playthrough guess of “probably the Downfall timeline, and probably not the Child timeline”.

[deebormzone]

Deep Breath

It’s been about a month since The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out, and I haven’t said anything about it yet.

I beat the Wii U version of the game. I’m staying away from the Switch for now since the console has a few technical issues and almost no games. If they clean up their act a bit, it’ll probably be worth it during the holidays alongside Mario Odyssey.

Here’s what I thought about the wildest Zelda game yet.

Is it the best Zelda game? The question comes up fairly often.

I think it has to be. It’s the biggest, but also the most detailed, a huge world built to be explored. The only way an older Zelda game can top it is if you’re ranking them based on their quality “for their time”, and I only care about whether a game is good right now.

It’s very different from the usual Zelda format, which was largely unchanged since Link to the Past. Some have said it’s not a Zelda game at all, but if the essence of Zelda is exploration, Breath of the Wild does a better job of capturing that essence than the rest.

When I started the game, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt. It seemed a little basic, and I wasn’t feeling as enthusiastic as the previewers leaping at the chance to climb stuff. On the contrary, climbing felt like a slow hassle. But things picked up once I made it off the plateau. I may have just been bored by the parts I had already seen.

Once the game had really started, everything was golden. I had loads of fun running around, fighting tough enemies, cooking various types of skewer, and engaging in my number one most favorite video game activity: gettin’ stuff. Some people hate the weapon durability, but not me. Low durability means weapons everywhere, which means more gettin’ stuff. It’s similar to one of my favorite games, Dead Rising, which is one of the reasons I was looking forward to Breath of the Wild so much.

As an extra treat, the world of Hyrule is more fleshed out than ever. All the characters have proper names and unique dialogue. The races (Zora, Goron, Korok, Rito, Gerudo) have beautiful settlements and full sets of equipment and weapons. The Gerudo in particular have gone from being reclusive bandits to having one of the nicest settlements in the game. There are plenty of little moments across the world that are great fun to experience, a couple of favorites being attacks by Yiga clan assassins, the sidequest to build a new town, and the appearance of the blood moon.

Despite all the good to be found in Breath of the Wild, some parts got on my nerves. Shrines, for example. Whenever I found a shrine, I was punished by having to solve a puzzle. I know it’s not kosher to complain about puzzle-solving in a Zelda game, but in this one they’re just roadblocks in the way of fun adventuring. Worst of all are the “apparatus” shrines, which force you to use motion controls to rotate the environment. I like playing with the Pro controller, and whenever an apparatus comes up, I have to go across the room to get the Wii U gamepad. Then the controls are floaty and awful. There’s no reason not to let me tilt the apparatus with a control stick, Monkey Ball style, but they just had to shoehorn in their shitty gimmick. They use it infrequently, but it’s always a letdown when it shows up.

Stasis challenges also bug me. These are physics-based puzzles requiring you to freeze a boulder or something, then hit it with your weapons to send it flying. The trouble here is twofold: it wastes weapon durability, and the boulder’s direction is based on your imprecise position and direction. My response is to avoid using Stasis whenever possible, and I have to give the game credit for allowing alternate solutions... sometimes.

The game feels weakest when forcing specific playstyles. The low point of the whole game, for me, was a stealth-escort mission in the Korok Woods. I usually don’t bother with stealth in any game because it’s slow. Breath of the Wild has a well-developed stealth system, and the best thing about it is that I can ignore it completely and fight with honor instead. The Korok escort, however, is very slow, and there is no escape.

I was a bit let down by the game’s ending, which was a standard “you saved princess. youve winner” ending. Maybe it’s foolish to expect anything more from this series, but it seemed abrupt after all the visions of the past fleshing out Zelda and Friends. Also disappointing: this game’s Ganon has given up on being a character and has decided to be a large spider instead. I guess we all feel that way from time to time, but Calamity Ganon is not very interesting. A shame, but there are so many other interesting folks in the game that it isn’t a huge loss.

Something unfortunate happened once I had finished the main plot: the game didn’t feel as fun. I didn’t get nearly as much pleasure from exploring because nothing held any value. Wearing a full suit of upgraded Soldier’s Armor kept enemies from being able to hurt me. The cooking system, a joy at first, became dull as soon as I realized the best recipe is always one radish plus anything. Maybe it’s just me?

Now, I’m especially interested in the game’s Hard Mode. It’s being added this summer as paid DLC, which is pretty scummy unless real effort goes into building it. My cynical side (I don’t actually have any other sides) is sure it’ll be a hack job with higher damage numbers, but if they’re charging for it there’s a small chance they’re preparing something special.

How special? Here’s a Hard Mode idea I’d pay for: Play as Zelda. Reverse the plot, sealing Link in Hyrule Castle while Zelda sleeps. She’s about the same size and build as Link, and they even wear the same clothes half the time. Making her playable shouldn’t be much of a stretch from a modeling perspective. Besides other Hard Mode changes, Zelda isn’t combat trained, so playing as her would naturally be harder. Give her the chance to forge her own path, just like she wishes in Link’s memories. Loads of people have been asking for it. There’s even a precedent: entering your name as Zelda activates Hard Mode in Zelda 1, and Breath of the Wild takes a lot of inspiration from that game.

Princess Difficulty is such a perfect fit that it almost feels inevitable, but it would screw up their obligatory princess-rescue plot and also ruin all their Hilarious Jokes™ in which Link dresses as a woman. So Hard Mode will probably just be bigger numbers for $20.

Breath of the Wild is most fun as an under-geared, wimpy hero fighting to survive against a dangerous world. My favorite part of the game was Eventide Isle, which takes all your equipment and makes you start from scratch. I was sad to learn it was the only challenge of its kind. How about a game made up of a hundred Eventide challenges? I’d be down for that.

Speaking of which, now that I’ve finished Breath of the Wild, I’m curious about where the Zelda series will go next. BotW feels like a new era, and director Aonuma has said future titles will use a similar open-world structure (which he calls “open-air” because Nintendo loves making shit up). So what’s the next step on this new, airier path?

It might be a mistake to wish for a revisit of the old during a time of new beginnings, but I will anyway: this would be a great time to revisit Majora’s Mask. Breath of the Wild’s detailed open world would pair well with Majora’s scheduled events, adding a fourth dimension to exploration. It could also let me indulge my love of starting over with nothing! Do regular people like that sort of thing too?

To recap... Breath of the Wild is a breath of fresh air for an old series, and I’m sure loads of game journalists have used that metaphor already. Its few flaws are eclipsed by hours of raw adventure. It’s a great game, sorely needed after some mediocre titles, and I’m excited to see what Nintendo does next.

[sage-nebula]

Okay, well, I’m going to need to do fourteen more shrines, apparently, before I can get the Master Sword, thanks to there apparently being a thirteen heart requirement just to draw it, which is absolute bullshit.

And I know you’re thinking, “Scrawlers, you’re just salty because you want the Sword now and you instead have to go do more little mini dungeons,” but no, that’s not why I’m mad. I don’t care that I’m having my play time extended, especially since a.) I don’t want the game to end, and b.) getting the Master Sword is apparently optional for some reason, so technically I could go straight to Ganon if I wanted to, and could probably find a way to beat him regardless. (I’m guessing that they’re treating the Master Sword like the Fierce Deity’s Mask, which doesn’t make sense since it’s the Master Sword, but whatever.) I’m annoyed because this is kind of---no, scratch that, it is a pretty big slap in the face to Zelda lore, and that pisses me off.

The Master Sword was created by the demi-goddess Hylia so that her chosen Hero would be able to fight Demise. Straight up, that’s why the Master Sword exists. Because of this, the Master Sword is only able to be wielded by Hylia’s chosen Hero. No one else can draw it from the pedestals, no one else can wield it. The Sword of Evil’s Bane is strictly for the Hero. That’s how it has always been.

This game, however, seems to be changing that. Now, apparently, anyone can pull it from the pedestal so long as they’re strong enough. Oh sure, the Great Deku Tree says that ~it’s not about physical strength, but about what’s within~, but that’s obviously bullshit given that your hearts are your physical strength. Even if they wanted to suddenly try and make a play at, “no, your hearts represent your Determination!” (thanks, Undertale), that doesn’t make sense since a.) that’s never been established, and b.) it’s pretty obvious when you’re getting the shit kicked out of you that your hearts are your physical health. So with that said, this makes it seem like literally anyone could pull the Master Sword from the pedestal so long as they were strong enough, and yet the Hero---the one chosen by the goddesses to fight Demise---can’t. He can’t unless he has enough hearts. Despite the fact that this is his sword, made specifically for him, and that all other Heroes have been able to draw it no problem, he suddenly can’t because . . . he doesn’t have enough hearts.

That’s bullshit.

The Hero of Time was able to yank it from the pedestal after clearing the three kid dungeons to get the Spiritual Stones. I haven’t counted the pieces of heart in OoT in a long time, but I feel like it’s impossible to have thirteen hearts by the time you go to the Temple of Time and draw the Master Sword for the first time. And whether or not it’s impossible, the fact remains that you don’t have to. You can just get the three Heart Containers from the Deku Tree, Dodongo’s Cavern, and Jabu-Jabu respectively and still yank the Master Sword out of its pedestal. And yet you can’t do that in BotW? You have to have thirteen hearts first? Why? Is he not good enough to be the Hero? Is this because he died once? Is this because he spent 100 years recovering from being dead and the Great Deku Tree is a pissbaby? Like, really, I want to know why he can’t suddenly pull this Sword from the stone when it is quite literally his sword and, lore-wise, he should be the only one who can draw it, the only one for whom it slides free like it was stuck in soft butter rather than solid rock.

I’m sure that once I have the thirteen hearts and I manage to draw it I’ll get some blah blah speech about how now I have finally proven I have the Spirit of the Hero, but that’s too little, too late considering they’re slapping on a physical fitness heart requirement and completely ignoring the fact that Link has, by this time, freed all of the Divine Beasts and seen all of the memories and should therefore get the Sword as is custom because of the previously established lore. Like, hell, I could even see having a heart requirement to make sure you play through the main story first, but for fucksake, I did play through the main story, so why am I being denied this until I complete enough sidequests? If it were anything else I literally would not care, but the Master Sword?

And like---I get that they’re breaking formula with a lot of things, and for the most part I’ve loved it. I love, love, love, L O V E the fact that you don’t have to wear the goddamn green tunic, which I have been sick of since Wind Waker. I love the fact that the main dungeons are pretty short, because having to go through an hour long dungeon with a bunch of aggravating key puzzles was extremely tedious. I love that you can do things in any order. I love that you cook and eat food to regain health instead of finding hearts. I don’t love that your weapons break constantly and that you always have to find new ones, but I can live with that. I can tolerate it, whatever. All of those things are fine deviations from tradition. All of those things are fine to break formula with. But, again, the Master Sword?

The Master Sword is not like the green tunic. The green tunic really has no place in the lore aside from “well, it’s recognizable.” This is even lampshaded to an effect in Wind Waker, wherein Outset Tradition has boys dress up as the Hero when they come of age simply because that’s the outfit the stories always depicted the Hero wearing. Because of this, the tunic is not important. You can do away with the tunic and nothing will change, nothing bad will happen.

The Master Sword is different. As established, the Master Sword has a very, very important place in the lore. The Master Sword is as important as Link himself is. It’s as important as Zelda, or Ganon. It’s as important as the Triforce, though the Triforce hasn’t been in every game. Regardless, making the Master Sword “optional” to break from tradition and making it so that Link has to actively work to get it in this sense is . . . well, asinine, tbh. It’s one thing if the Master Sword was damaged and needed repair. We’ve done that before (to an extent) in Wind Waker, and that was understandable. But even then, Link was still able to pull the Sword from the pedestal because he is the Hero, and therefore the only one who can. Have the Sword be rusty, broken, in disrepair, de-powered, whatever, but to bar him from drawing it? To do that and then say “well, it’s optional anyway lol”? What’s even more ridiculous is that it’s been established about seventy different ways in this game that Link has to be the one to fight and defeat Ganon because he is the Hero. What they’ve somehow failed to realize while writing this narrative is that the reason why the HERO has to kill Ganon is because he is the only one who can wield the Master Sword, and the Master Sword, a.k.a. the Sword of Evil’s Bane, is a NECESSITY FOR GANON’S DEFEAT.

Like, for fucksake, this is not rocket science!!

I just---I’ve loved (or at least have been fine with) so many of the breaks in tradition, but this is the one that I can’t accept. The Master Sword should not be optional. I’m kind of---okay, let’s be honest, I’m really aghast that it is. I get the whole “you can go to Ganon straightaway” thing, but let’s be real: Even though that’s possible, it’s not feasible. You’re not going to win (probably) if you fight him with a tree branch. I mean, maybe if you’re really lucky, but odds are you’d die. Either way, I feel like the Master Sword should be a requirement, just as much as freeing the Divine Beasts is a requirement. The fact that it’s not, and that apparently this Link doesn’t qualify as a Hero enough to be able to do the one thing the Hero is guaranteed to do thanks to the goddesses, has actually made me angry.

It’s nearly 5am. I’m salty and pissy af. I’m going to bed. 

[sweetchcolate]

BotW, story, and open world?

tldr: I understand the appeal/need of putting pieces of lore together on your own and finding out more about this Hyrule, but I feel the game was too light on story elements and character development. 

I think that with such an open world, there were a lot of compromises to be made on story elements: since the player can go anywhere anytime, you can’t have a structured linear story to go along. I’ve seen a few comments (on YouTube) that say that despite the big map, the story was lacking, and it’s exactly because the map is so big that the story can’t be the focus of the game. 

Let’s consider a game like SS: it was heavily plot-driven, funneling the player from point A to point B because your goal is “find Zelda”. Straightforward, and it makes sense in context. There was little freedom outside of the mandatory areas, besides sidequests, because the story couldn’t allow for the player to get side-tracked and lost. Which is why the map seems so big, yet is so small.

But with BotW, since the usual “find dungeon, explore, fight boss” tradition was tossed aside in favor of exploration, it means that the story can’t be as linear as previous titles. You can’t tell us “go to A, then B, then C” to reach the ending… and claim “it’s an open world; you’re free to do whatever” in the same breath. Because you can go and defeat Ganon minutes after booting up the game and since you can reach the ending without having to bother with the plot, story has to take second place.

The memories is actually a neat way of adding little details to the characters, but overall, I find them pretty unsatisfying as an overarching narrative (they’re WAYYY too short. Except for the cutscenes about the fall of Hyrule/Link’s fate/Zelda finally using her powers: those were great in terms of action and length.) After witnessing the memories, I remembered wanting to see more, to develop whatever tension or relationship they had brought under light. Because you can stumble on them in any order, they have to be self-explanatory, but also hammer down the same message as every other memory: Zelda is a scholar, she’s afraid of failure, Mipha is demure, has feelings for Link, Urbosa is the mom friend, Revali is a jerk. There can’t be any kind of development considered it’s all memories and that the people are DEAD. 

Which is why I was disappointed a bit: from the trailers, I thought that Link would have to go to each Divine Beast and defeat them in order to save the Champions. When seeing Zora’s domain, all the talks about Mipha made me super hyped to go to the Divine Beast, finally reunite with her, and hopefully get some information!

Though the game kept dropping hint that she didn’t survive, that no one had seen her in a 100 years, I kept hoping: “Nah, Mipha’s just stuck in Vah Ruta, like Zelda is with Ganon. She has to be okay, right?”

And then you reach the beast, defeat the boss, and there she is: Mipha’s Spirit.

;_;

I think it would have been much more compelling had the Champions been locked in battle for 100 years in their Divine Beasts, just like Zelda with Ganon, instead of plain dead. Had you been able to save them and have them accompany you, the character development problem could have been solved: you’d learn more about them, about Zelda, their reaction to this new Hyrule, but also help Link with his past. You could also have them have special interests, give you tips/advice, point out historical elements (“did you know this place once used to be a piece of the sky” or whatever) to make the world feel alive. And if you don’t want them tagging along, you could drop them off in their respective villages. 

So yeah, wish there were more memories and that they were longer.

Otherwise, I’m a bit sad that the different races you meet don’t really help you further than defeating the Diving Beast: imagine if you had Sidon or Riju or Teba travel with you as the “new” champions. To learn more about them, their races, their worries and their hopes. You meet them once or twice overall, and not for a very long time as that, so I feel they’re quickly forgotten. They’re nothing more than fancy plot-mandated NPCs… 

I think that the fault with the story is that it’s very self-contained: you do something, but it has little overall/long-reaching consequences. Fighting the Yiga feels more like a sidequest then something truly important. 

And so, the story could have been region-tied: you enter a region, and then particular events start happening, building up in intensity. It’s only when you reach a certain village that the region’s plot gets kicked into full gear. So while the game isn’t forcing you to go to place A or B to discover the plot, you still get some semblance of story.

Let’s say I apply that logic to the Yigas: as soon as you wake up in the Shrine of Resurrection, not only do you meet random Yigas, but you hear people complain about them, about how much agressive they’ve become, how they’re started to roam Hyrule in search of an old hero. When you reach the Gerudo desert, the Yigas pop up even more often and in bigger numbers. And then once you defeat them, you could have the NPCs go “oh, neat, haven’t seen a Yiga in a while,” because in the shadows, the Yiga were planning a revenge against Link. And so you’d have to face them twice, thrice, who knows. 

Anything to have the story elements already present have more importance before you reach the plot-point, but also AFTER. 

Eh, this is way too long. I like the open-world concept, but I like plot as well (hence why I like SS so much despite its shortcomings). It’s difficult to balance both though :P