Is Breath of the Wild a glorified egghunt?

[CMR | 522]

I agree with every negative thing said in this thread.  That said, I'm on my second play through and I love this game.  Despite all it's flaws it's just fun to play.

[ifightdragons | 234]

To OP: I disliked the game and stopped playing halfway through. Haven't touched it since. It felt more like a boring survival game than a Zelda to me.

What I disliked:

Weapons breaking, cooking, lack of real and varied dungeons, repeating puzzles, the enemies were either too easy or a bloody repetitive nuisance to fight, the ever changing weather, rain inhibits climbing, stamina dependent climbing, lightning always strikes anything metal you wear or carry, lack of memorable music and leitmotifs, the guardian type enemies, horse taming, upgrading your armor (geez), vast yet often empty environments...

What I liked:

The visuals, and exploring The Great Plateau for the very first time.

Edited February 1, 2020 by ifightdragons

[Andy_Bogomil | 816]

 The thing that made BotW different for me was the freedom to do just about whatever you want to beat the game. I see the plateau as a tutorial of sorts (which you don't really know when you first play) and then the rest of the game as one giant level to beat in any order or pace you desire. The gameplay was fun and enough to keep me going through until I beat it. I actually had a bit of a tough time going through the game originally as I skipped anything that wasn't essential any had pretty shitty gear and health when I finished the game... I didn't even know seeds expanded your inventory. 

While I agree with OP to an extend I think this game is more than just a glorified egg hunt because the sense of exploration makes the game. If it was more linear but similar goals it would had suffered (gotta go to this town and beat one dungeon first etc.). I do wish they would have dropped the number of shrines and made the devine beasts more unique or had more extensive dungeons but there are still some cool areas like the coliseum and the maze.  Also, people are still finding new things out about this game to this day which says something and how much attention to detail was out into the game. 

I don't disagree with a lot of the negatives posted above though and can understand people losing interest in the game of they don't get into it. There were definitely areas that were overly vast making the game tedious in spots. The shrines were also overly easy for the most part.

[TDIRunner | 2,791]

22 hours ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

 The thing that made BotW different for me was the freedom to do just about whatever you want to beat the game.

I remember the BOTW thread on NA when the game was new.  What was really cool about it was that everyone was trying to accomplish the same thing, but we all went about doing it in different ways.  

[Gloves | 11,890]

Just now, TDIRunner said:

I remember the BOTW thread on NA when the game was new.  What was really cool about it was that everyone was trying to accomplish the same thing, but we all went about doing it in different ways.  

Wait you guys were trying to find good Mipha hentai, too? 

[cartman | 195]

22 hours ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

 The thing that made BotW different for me was the freedom to do just about whatever you want to beat the game. I see the plateau as a tutorial of sorts (which you don't really know when you first play) and then the rest of the game as one giant level to beat in any order or pace you desire. The gameplay was fun and enough to keep me going through until I beat it. I actually had a bit of a tough time going through the game originally as I skipped anything that wasn't essential any had pretty shitty gear and health when I finished the game... I didn't even know seeds expanded your inventory. 

While I agree with OP to an extend I think this game is more than just a glorified egg hunt because the sense of exploration makes the game. If it was more linear but similar goals it would had suffered (gotta go to this town and beat one dungeon first etc.). I do wish they would have dropped the number of shrines and made the devine beasts more unique or had more extensive dungeons but there are still some cool areas like the coliseum and the maze.  Also, people are still finding new things out about this game to this day which says something and how much attention to detail was out into the game. 

I don't disagree with a lot of the negatives posted above though and can understand people losing interest in the game of they don't get into it. There were definitely areas that were overly vast making the game tedious in spots. The shrines were also overly easy for the most part.

But what is "do whatever you want" if there isn't much to do? Is swimming, climbing, skydiving considered doing things? What about hunting and gathering? Ofcourse it's all subjective but to me this kind of freedom falls flat if it isn't incorporated in something else. What if the shrines had enemies, varied and unique sometimes, traps like lava/holes in the ground with insta-death, jumping platforms and obstacles - would that have deterred or added from the games notion as it exists today?

What if that shrine where i created an ice block at the snowy mountain and waited for daylight sunshine to climb up on it and cast Link's shadow on the portal, what if the mountain itself opened up and there was some kind of world inside there? Instead of a treasure chest that gave me whatever weapon it was that i already had, now with increased durability or whatever the fuck it was.

When you go to that fountain fairy to increase your clothes, that feels like an interaction of substance. Except the shit she enhances i barely even need anymore at this point so yeah i don't know.

I don't think intertwining the exploration with more substance would lessen the game it would elevate it. 

 

[Andy_Bogomil | 816]

1 hour ago, cartman said:

But what is "do whatever you want" if there isn't much to do? Is swimming, climbing, skydiving considered doing things? What about hunting and gathering? Ofcourse it's all subjective but to me this kind of freedom falls flat if it isn't incorporated in something else. What if the shrines had enemies, varied and unique sometimes, traps like lava/holes in the ground with insta-death, jumping platforms and obstacles - would that have deterred or added from the games notion as it exists today?

What if that shrine where i created an ice block at the snowy mountain and waited for daylight sunshine to climb up on it and cast Link's shadow on the portal, what if the mountain itself opened up and there was some kind of world inside there? Instead of a treasure chest that gave me whatever weapon it was that i already had, now with increased durability or whatever the fuck it was.

When you go to that fountain fairy to increase your clothes, that feels like an interaction of substance. Except the shit she enhances i barely even need anymore at this point so yeah i don't know.

I don't think intertwining the exploration with more substance would lessen the game it would elevate it. 

 

Again, I don't disagree that the shrines and enemies could have been varied but you still had a lot of freedom compared to other Zelda games where items essential force you to beat the game in a somewhat defined path. Once you're off the plateau in this game you can pretty much go anywhere. Being able to see in the distance and think 'hmmm how do I get there?' or working on unlocking the towers, working towards better armor/clothes, fight the devine beasts, unlock shrines, kill some big enemies for better loot, find the memories, hunt for meat. A lot of that stuff was really fun to figure out and I see it more than just an egg hunt. The seeds were overdone and even though some of those other things didn't have massive impacts on the main game i still think there was enough freedom to make the game more interesting. Like runner said, everyone had a different approach on NA when the game first came out which is pretty chill. One of the reasons I liked this game more than odyssey which I thought was tedious as hell for the most part. 

 

Edited February 3, 2020 by Andy_Bogomil

[Ryan | 11]

I understand where you're coming from.  I played through about 3/4 of the game and got bored with it and traded it in.  That's not to say I didn't very much enjoy the first 1/2 or so.  Beautiful game and I'm glad I picked it up, but was also very glad when I made the conscious decision to move on to play something else!

[Kguillemette | 1,561]

One great thing about BOTW is when you are bored of questing, you can just storm the castle and take on the final boss whenever you want.

[TDIRunner | 2,791]

2 hours ago, Kguillemette said:

One great thing about BOTW is when you are bored of questing, you can just storm the castle and take on the final boss whenever you want.

That's exactly how I played it the first time through.  I remember thinking that I was equipped enough to storm the castle, but I was afraid that if I beat the game, I wouldn't want to keep playing, so I continued to quest and explore until I had done nearly everything and then I finally went to the castle. 

Hyrule Castle alone is an amazing experience.  

[Rooster | 124]

I thought BOTW was fantastic.  Many people don't seem to agree with me, but I liked the four ghosts that helped you out, and I thought their stories were really sad.  The graphics were outstanding, and I absolutely loved the style.  I liked that you could customize Link, and find all kinds of interesting different weapons.  The world is so big, and it felt satisfying to level up my stamina and being able to go to a new area because of it.

[CMR | 522]

I hope the sequel has about eight dungeons like Hyrule castle.

[Andy_Bogomil | 816]

1 hour ago, CMR said:

I hope the sequel has about eight dungeons like Hyrule castle.

Yes. I really hope it goes that direction. Free roam but more distinct dungeons. 

[Austin | 4]

Finding your Korok seeds and completing all the shrines is certainly a glorified egg hunt. But most games of this nature (open world) are like this, filled with frivolous things unnecessary to the main campaign. Some people like this, others see them for what they are (a time sink with little reward).

Personally, I enjoyed seeking out the shrines. Many were cleverly hidden. The shrines themselves were fun too.

Simply exploring the land was the most enjoyable thing to me about the game. The climbing was amazing and I'd often find myself looking up, saying, "Hm, that's going to be close.. I don't know if I can make it, but I think I just might..", start climbing, then just barely make it. Very satisfying test of my judgement.

I enjoy the combat a lot as well. Defeating enemies never really got boring for me with all the different ways I could go about it.

For anyone that doesn't want to give this game a try because of all the little side things you can do, just focus on the main quest line then. It's fun.. and I guarantee you will still get sidetracked. A lot of the extra stuff is fluff, but it's addictive fluff.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Austin

[Tanooki | 4,958]

Here's my two cents.  No it's not an egg hunt, optionally it could be, realistically unless you're some 100% do it all sadist it most definitely is not.  A post or two really hit on it talking about spending vast hours just seeing what was behind the next tree, hiding in the next grass, what's under that rock.  Do you know what that sounds almost exactly like?  Miyamoto and his folksy stories about his childhood, how he came up with the original Zelda concept, and again with gardening and Pikmin one of his last truly new creations.  That's why the game works, despite being some open world typical mess, because it doesn't feel like a chore, a job, a pain in the ass to get around, basically a job after your real job.  They made it in a way you want to throw another hour at it, then realize damn I screwed up I've been playing for 5hrs and my battery died.

I almost can't stand, and don't, most open world games.  I'll play and get tired, even if I care for them (I have Skyrim on Switch too I'll never finish.)  This one though, while I didn't go insane, I did have at least 50 hours on it and did get the nice sword and shield, took out Ganon and did probably 1/2 the shrines at the least and probably 1/4 to 1/3 of the seeds as that did seem like a bit excessive to say the least.  I found the game challenging and fun to explore as it was fresh.  Zelda was some played out sad re-run that has been done for 20 years and got more stale by the release.  This made my like and love playing the franchise again which says a lot.  I wasn't even going to initially buy it I was so put off, but for some reason I did, and I regret ever feeling bad towards it before playing it because it fixed so many problems with the series that just got old.

[StanJr | 7]

Since I'm 14 I wanted to live in Hyrule.  This game allows that in ways that no previous game really did.  Some days I go traipsing through the landscape seeking out shrines, some days I bum around the Gerudo (or other) town picking up side quests or shopping, some days I just cook and see how many different recipes and elixirs I can create, some days I go parts hunting so I can improve my armor sets, some days I go after the Divine Beasts, some days I sneak into Hyrule Castle to plunder the really good stuff you find there, some days I just ride Zelda's horse around and see if there are places I haven't explored (the Hero's Path in the DLC has been wonderful in this regard!).  But for me there is always something to do in Hyrule and I love it!  This is my second play through and this time in Master Mode.  I'm having as much fun as I did the first time through if not more.  The DLC has added a lot of new fun stuff to find and do.

I think like a lot of open world games this appeals to me (and others) who like a more immersive experience in a fantasy world.  "On rails" games limit your access to the depth of the world, but a game like BotW removes those barriers and lets you decide what you want to get out of the experience.  That's what does it for me.  

If BotW is a gloried egg hunt, then I have my basket and I'm ready to go!

[retrogamingdev | 5]

I think BOTW isn't for everyone, despite the fact that I think it is amazing. You are definitely going to be just exploring, a LOT. And to that end, I think they did an excellent job on making an open world style game, yet keep it feeling organic in the way the story evolves (or doesn't if you don't want to bother). My only two gripes with the game is the shrines (they feel like mini-games instead of story progression pieces) and the speed at which weapons break. I like the durability aspect, but I honestly feel like it is too fast - maybe slow it down by about half.