LogFAQs > #968280375

Hi. I'm a BoTW hater and I'd like to start off by saying that I'm glad that you and (many, many) others have liked the game.

With that said I don't think the game looks good, maybe if you squint your eyes and blur your vision it looks better but it's not really that good looking, especially if you get too close to most objects or get too far, I do think there's a sweet spot where things look OK but it's not that great overall. That's fine though it came out on two outdated devices and even getting it to look as good as they did is impressive.
I disagree that they nailed anything. They put in the necessary biomes and called it a day. It doesn't make much sense how everything looks either, the place is supposed to be devastated by the destruction but you can probably count on one hand the locations that genuinely look that way.
The shit hit the fan 100 years ago but it looks like nobody even cares. There aren't enough grave sites, everyone is going about their jolly day as if they don't care that there is immanent threat right outside their "towns". Nobody is making/planning any form of counter offensive. Sure Ganon's forces respawn on every bloodmoon (and they're aware of it) but they can kill off 1 enemy camp and set up traps for when they eventually respawn, then move on to the next. That is just one sense of how the world is lifeless, the game tells you something happened, and you expect a certain reaction from the people but they don't react like it, so they're just going about like any other regular NPC that's just there to spew meaningless dialogue or give you another fetch quest. It makes the world feel so fake.
Then you have the fish people complain about rain? So they're upset that their "kingdom" might grow/expand due to flooding? I don't get it (forgive me it's been a while).
The bird people could just flee and find another spot to roost.
Gorons... already lived in an active volcano, I also don't get their problem.
The desert warriors... are warriors... that don't do anything... Nice abs though. But they should be the first to go out there and try to wrestle some land back from Ganon they don't even worship him here (IIRC).
Like nobody does anything, time just stopped for the world 100 years prior to us playing the game.
And if you say that the Divine Beasts are what's stopping them then I'd point you towards Hyrule Warriors: AoC (a game I didn't beat). The DB can already annihilate everyone, so them sitting with their thumbs up their ass doing nothing isn't much better than at least trying to fight back.

The opennes is one of the worst part. You can go almost anywhere sure but there's nothing of value to find or do there.
You either find another golden poop or a reskin of another weapon you already have, and it can have either better (unlikely) or worse stats (the game later provides you with "fuck you" arrows anyways). "What amazing thing could be found up that mountain over there?" "What might dwell in that forest?" "What might you find in the depths of that... pond?" The same trash you find everywhere. It's not unrestrained exploration/adventure/freedom, it's a complete lack of focus/direction.
The first game that comes to mind that is more open world than BoTW is Just Cause 2. It's been even longer since I've played that but I don't remember any restrictions and the ways to get around are more varied than in BoTW. We're now on JC4 I think and I can only assume that the exploration has gotten better/varied, but I could be VERY wrong. And hey at least you can go underwater in JC so that already beats the "freedom" to explore from BoTW.

The "just play" aspect is the only positive I find in BoTW, while most of it is just bullshit that doesn't interest me, I can see (and be impressed by) the way others try to incorporate many mechanics to "spice up" the gameplay. Playing with the physics can definitely be entertaining. For me it got boring after a while, it always took longer to setup a scenario where you focus on physics than to just go in there an wail on the enemy. But then again the combat itself wasn't that entertaining. Attacks with weapons of the same category are the same so there are only about 4-5 attack animations" pausing the game (quick menu too) to change up your weapon was a drag and ruined the flow. I would have liked being able to swap weapon on the fly like in some more actiony games but I understand that BoTW isn't that type of game.
The very forgiving dodge/parry system made any semblance of challenge null, being able to headshot an enemy into a stun or knockdown made combat lame as well. Overall combat was best avoided unless you wanted to waste your time and be rewarded with lesser items on average.

I could not possibly play this and think "ehh, mid game". To me it is absolutely a horrible game, it has no focus, no direction, it can't commit to a theme, but at least has OK physics, it has systems that "override" other systems making them pointless (red/yellow hearts). The saying "deep as a puddle" comes to mind. I consider it massively flawed and one of the worst Zelda titles I've ever played beating out SS for the worst, and I've beaten BoTW twice (neither time 100%).
All this mind you was just the tip of the iceberg. I've been saying all this since year one (I don't remember how long it took me to beat it IRL).
I don't understand how anyone can like it. It's so boring and lifeless. They just put in enough Easter eggs to keep people entertained and remind you that yeah you're playing a game with the Zelda title in it and called it a day.

To this day I can not believe that they even fucked up the Master Sword, and I'm not talking about it "breaking"/needing a recharge, I'm talking about its significance. The damn MS is supposed to mean something and yet it can be completely substituted for a freaking tree branch. Hell you can beat the game and not even pick it up, "Sword of Evil's Bane", "Sword that Seals the Darkness" my ass, the MS is supposed to be just as important as Zelda, Ganon or Link.