Current Events > Skyrim was a better open world game than Breath of the Wild. *spoilers for both*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yeah, I get it, the physics and engine of Skyrim are wonky and don't always work properly.

The simple fact of the matter is that Skyrim gives you more to do that gives you more agency in the world. If I want to be a creepy murdering sociopath, Skyrim will let me do that.If I want to steal everything from every home and sell it, go for it.

If I want to be a member of a murderous cult, cool. If I want to run around shouting at people and making them tumble over a mountain top, cool. If I want to make a troll fight a dragon... it's hard, but I can make it happen.

I have agency over a world that is large, sprawling, and populated.

I don't dislike Breath of the Wild. I would say it's probably my second favourite of the 3D Zelda titles. It is fun, it makes great use of its natural world and presents a couple really interesting moments in that world. There was just so much underutilized space, not enough variety of enemies, not enough dungeons.
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I mean, Breath of the Wild can let you do tons of things your own way, but I agree there weren't enough enemies and not enough proper dungeons. I kinda wish it took longer to clear the Divine Beasts, myself. The concept of altering the entire dungeon to help solve individual puzzles was very cool, but the issue is that they lasted barely any longer than shrines.
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Whats up with all the Breath of the Wild posting today?
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Turbam posted...

Whats up with all the Breath of the Wild posting today?

Might as well pull an MGS2 like the other day and just make everything about BotW/other Zelda games for a while.
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Turbam posted...

Whats up with all the Breath of the Wild posting today?

I posted that I started the game and people went nuts.
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Never played BOTW but Skyrim was one of the shallowest open world experiences I've ever played.
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botw wasn't packed with tons of bugs so it automatically wins
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Hexenherz posted...

Never played BOTW but Skyrim was one of the shallowest open world experiences I've ever played.

Then avoid BotW, it's far more shallow. At least Skyrim has content.
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IMO for an open world game to be good it has to have 3 key elements:

1. stories & scenarios that draw you in
2. linearity when you need it
3. side content that feels rewarding & important to take part in

in the case of a game like Skyrim, you hit all 3 of these. while the main story is ass, the little mini stories around the game are fun scenarios where you need to help someone, mediate a dispute, interact with characters and resolve things in multiple ways, etc. when you need some structure in the game there are linear story missions and dungeons to take part in that give you a sense of focus. then there is side content where you feel important, like you had an impact on a dispute or group, you get good rewards, and the tasks tend to be at least varied in their presentation.

botw by comparison has none of these. in the 10 hours or so i played there is basically no story except for the tired zelda framework we have seen for like 20+ years, there's absolutely no structure besides the little mini dungeons, and a lot of the side content like cooking and killing goblin camps feels more like busy work than anything meaningful or dynamic.

overall i think botw is just a crappy open world game that gets by because it has zelda written on the box. otherwise it feels like a paint by numbers ubisoft game
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Skyrim started to feel like a job halfway through, when you're inundated by quests and half of them are pretty boring.

Haven't played BotW. I really wanted to like Skyrim.

I'll give it another try.
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Skyrim with mods>pretty much anything tbh
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Yes Breath is fairly overrated but sheesh there's enough topics about it.
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I personally hated Skyrim and loved BoTW, but Skyrim has already cemented itself as a classic game that won't be forgotten. It was a huge step up for its time. I think BoTW will merely be remembered as that open world Zelda game.
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Turbam posted...

Whats up with all the Breath of the Wild posting today?

Post-Christmas. Lots of people probably got it and/or a Switch.
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@green butter posted...

IMO for an open world game to be good it has to have 3 key elements:

1. stories & scenarios that draw you in
2. linearity when you need it
3. side content that feels rewarding & important to take part in

...

botw by comparison has none of these. in the 10 hours or so i played there is basically no story except for the tired zelda framework we have seen for like 20+ years, there's absolutely no structure besides the little mini dungeons, and a lot of the side content like cooking and killing goblin camps feels more like busy work than anything meaningful or dynamic.

overall i think botw is just a crappy open world game that gets by because it has zelda written on the box. otherwise it feels like a paint by numbers ubisoft game

You're literately putting BotW's features in the wrong categories and getting mad they don't meet your questionable standards. Just to play by your rules though;

1. The stories and scenarios are the memories you find and acquainting yourself with the village of each champion. Getting to know the zoras who remember their princess trying to get stabbed by your "Master Sword" 100 years ago. Riding Broseph the Shark to shoot thunder arrows at the divine beast.

2. The linearity comes from following the dots on your map to find the 4 villages; not from shrines or whatever you tried to pin it on. When you get the the villages they tell you how to continue the story, if you need more handholding than that play Hallway Simulator XIII.

3. Shrines are the side content, not cooking and monster forts; those are just gameplay features.
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