Zelda BOTW

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I just finished the master sword DLC quest, not easy but I did it !

I have 250 hours on this game now… for me it’s a good indicator of a great game: playing it without getting bored.
But ok, now, I dont have very much left to do appart from collecting korogu (I have 477/900 at the moment but didn’t really focus hard on this) and the amiibo armor sets upgrades (I already upgraded all non amiibo armor sets). For those amiibo, I ordered amiibo mini cards from China (cheaper and doesn’t take all the space required to store those things), hope it will work.

Will be playing DLC part 2 for sure.

What about you guys ? who plays it ? where are you in the game ?

PS I know we talked about the game a bit in other discussions but there was no dedicated topic apparently !
PS2 another game I play quite a lot it Overwatch (+400hrs on Junkrat lol)

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I’m a major Zelda fan! I beat BOTW months ago, with all shrines completed and with the Tunic of the Wild acquired! I loved being able to go anywhere and climb on anything! This game really felt like an adventure finding and discovering the shrines! I also really liked those labyrinths/mazes found throughout the corners of the world!

I actually didn’t like the master sword DLC quest; not very fun imo. It felt more like a chore, something along the lines of Demon/Dark Souls a series I hate! But, I’m looking forward to the story DLC in December!

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How does Breath of the Wild compare to Skyrim in terms of secret caves and locales to explore? Do we have a game world that’s just as broad to live in?

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I think I had not played a Zelda since my gameboy age… which is quite old now !
I think this botw really succeeded in rebooting the series and attracting a new audience imo.
Of cours it’s never perfect, some would prefer a few things to be different: more variety in ennemies, some said they wanted music to be more present (I personally find it beautiful and subtly changed with day/night cycles. You can roam in the world and the soundtrack will be quiet, letting you focus on sounds of the wind, trees, wildlife and suddenly it will change when you face a miniboss etc).
So much poetry in this game when you play it for the first time. They had to do choices in development also due to contraint, and I think they did all right choices here.
It doesn’t matter if textures are not over detailed, this is not what you remember when playing this game. So I hope developers will understand this in the future, graphics are not everything. You need to instill a soul in the game, and so few manage to do that properly.

I also loved how the interface and map was clean and not overcharged with information (some ppl prefer to have a ton of info and markers).
I realize I don’t like when there are too many info and markers in the open world itself, looks messy and unrealistic and it soils my experience. That’s just a personal preference but to me it looks so much better this way.
One regret though, you can only place 100 markers yourself on the map and that’s not enough when you hunt the 120 mini bosses and want them all marked to ensure you’ve killed them all ! So I found a trick…

Like you, the sword quest was not my favorite part but you are happy when you have defeated this last white lynel with limited items.

This shrine hunt is inspiring, can you imagine a new Panzer Dragoon game A-RPG type where you would explore ancient caves/excavation sites to discover more of the universe and/or get new powers ?
I am still finalizing my text, sorry it took long due to parents illness lately

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I have never played it but am also extited and looking forward to play it when it comes on the switch end of the year !

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Don’t worry about locals to explore, there are many towns and villages and many landmarks to find and explore (ruins, temples, giant statues of deities, giant waterfalls, twin mountains, just to name a few). Absolutely no worries there!

There are some scattered caves yes, but most of these caves have shrines in them. But for the most part, there are not caves all over the place, which was one of the complaints by fans. But, that doesn’t hurt the game by any means. And just the areas were the shrines are hidden are so unique and varied. They feel naturally placed within the game world as part of the world itself. Finding a shrine and the area surrounding it feels exhilarating, because you’ve gone off the beaten path, maybe even climbed an entire mountain or explored a bunch of ruins, gone into a hidden cave and found a shrine at the back!

Apart from the 4 main dungeons, it’s all about discovering/finding the shrines…being able to go anywhere you want. The freedom to do anything in any order you please. And there are over 100 shrines hidden throughout every inch of the map, hidden in secret little places all over the place! You might fly down the back of a giant mountain and find one, you might walk through a cave with a giant waterfall and find one, you might walk through a ruined city within a lost ravine and find one, you might find one at the very top of a giant snowy mountain, you might stumble upon one in the middle of the ocean, of which you have to sail to and so on!!

So their placement feels very natural and organic and a wonder to discover within this engaging world they’ve created. A true sense of adventure imo! Also, being able to glide off of any high place, hills, mountains, with the glider is very fun!

The problem of repetition in Skyrim:

Going into the ruins of Skyrim got very repetitious, after a while. You would start to notice the same patterns, the same layouts used in previous ruins/caves.

BotW, shrines are always found in different locations that seem varied. And while the templates/design of the interiors of the shrines might seem the same, the “puzzles” are always different each time.

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I’m a bit scared now, skyrim might not be as fun based on your description and after having played botw

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I also find it great idea that they they decided to make weapons breakable.

Why ?

Because it forces you to explore to always refresh your stock (one exception with one weapon with a slightly different behavior).
And as a consequence it makes you focus more on your experience within the open world rather than having the perfect collection of weapons.

For instance, I will have to farm lynels if I want the strongest weapons. And at some point they will break. And that’s not a problem at all, you can still play with “not the very best” weapons, it will not do that much of difference. But you know if you want the ones with the most damage, you need to farm them on specific mini bosses.

Same with sets of armors, you can collect them all and upgrade them to the max, it is fun but it doesn’t feel mandatory to progress.
And not one set is that much stronger than others so you can still enjoy changing your equipment depending on the situation or the aesthetic you like at the moment.

Usually in other games, once you had progressed enough, your equipment was always the same and I found that a bit boring. It would have been too impacting on the game if you changed.

While in botw, all this doesn’t exist.

Now, I haven’t tried the expert mode, not sure this would still apply exactly the same

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Yes, it made finding treasure important and not just a waste; since your weapons break over time.

After playing BotW you will definitely feel a bit restrictive as far as what you can do in the environment, but Skyrim is still a good game which only gets repetitive if you try and do everything. Just play the main story if you want. And with the Switch you can play it on the go!

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Yea indeed this is a fantastic feature. I wanna play PD on the go too !

I mentionned the music that I liked but the music in hyrule castle started to get on my nerves !:grimacing:

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I personally didn’t like the absence of music in the overworld. I thought there were ways to play subtle adventure tunes in many of the different areas of the map without it becoming repetitive. Although, I understand the reason for the low-key piano music, it’s to compliment the wilderness and the creatures within it. Hearing the wind howling, the birds chirping, the animals scurrying…

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See, we all have different expectations on those details (no really details in fact).
I understand and respect your point but still I think this was a good choice they made to balance the game.

It highlights even more the epic moments when you face a boss, mini boss, etc… and when the music become more martial and present.

I do love those epic music we had in Panzer Dragoon but I also remember there were quieter moments “music-wise” and that imo balanced the game experience.

It is a bit like when you listen to your favorite music in the car. You can become overexcited and you loose attention to your environment. You might not see nice things on the road, it can even become dangerous at some point… Well I think it is a bit the same in video games, it is a matter of right balance. Good music is key but it cannot spoil the game itself.

Looking back, if the music was too good and too present when exploring the forest, I think we wouldn’t have had the same feeling of immersion.

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But there were ways they could have kept the exciting overwrold music playing in and out, making it subtle or non-subtle. Also, when you would enter a forest, mountain or snow area the music could be switched to the nice quiet tones like you say which fit the game so well.

At least general variations of an adventure theme. when you were on the main road/path could have been present. I don’t think low piano keys, or utter silence works entirely. I like to feel excited, and motivated when I explore as well as observant.

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whispering

I got mini amiibo cards and they work perfectly.