Current Events > Is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild the Definitive Zelda?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Well...

Define definitive
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Fuck no. Wind Waker is.

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A Link to the Past is the definitive 2D Zelda

Ocarina of Time is the definitive 3D Zelda

Breath of the Wild is radically different than the norm

No. It is very good, but its lack of dungeons ultimately keep it from the title.

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Compsognathus posted...

No. It is very good, but its lack of dungeons ultimately keep it from the title.

Doesn't even have to be a lack of dungeons, Majora's Mask has the same amount but they're all different while BotW feels like it has one dungeon split into four

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I guess I don't even consider the Beast as dungeons. The only consider Hyrule Castle to be a proper dungeon by Zelda standards.

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it's barely even a game

Honestly Twilight Princess probably is. Either that or Ocarina, for 3D at least. For 2D I'd say a link to the Past

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It was a major disappointment IMO

The large open world was cool but the lack of dungeons and items kinda ruined it for me

Twilight Princess is the definitive 3d Zelda imo.

BotW is its own thing though.

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In the long run it will probably be seen as a definitive open world game more than a definitive Zelda game if that makes sense.

Similar to Mario 64 it's the start of a new direction for the series that will probably be visited again while older styles are also revisited.

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to me it is definitely the best. easily the most fleshed out game zelda has to offer. the fact that it's difficulty isn't forced down due being on tracks like other 3d zelda games certainly helps out.

cmiller4642 posted...

A Link to the Past is the definitive 2D Zelda

Ocarina of Time is the definitive 3D Zelda

Breath of the Wild is radically different than the norm

This

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The lack of dungeons didn't matter to me. The Divine beast were dungeons enough. And the shrine were like mini-dungeons all over the place. Some were even pretty long. And some shrines had stuff to do just to get the shrine. So, lack on dungeons never really felt like a good criticism to me. Though, I know others feel that way... And like someone else said, MM (my favorite game) had the same amount. That being said, these were similar, but still acting differently based on which beast it was. While they all look similar, it doesn't really matter since they act different. Of course they would look similar, though. They were basically built together as a set, and by the same group, I would think...
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It's definitely something. Something I wouldn't classify as good but it's definitely something.

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It's at the top for sure, and it deserves the critical acclaim it got.

But I'm not sure if there CAN be a definitive zelda game, I don't think a single Zelda game can really represent all of them definitively, BOTW is so different from some of the other Zelda games.

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Conflict posted...

Absolutely not

It might be your favorite Zelda but it's not by any means a definitive one

Nearly the exact post I was going to make.

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I don't really consider any Zelda definitive. They generally all have different strengths. I guess LttP is the closest there is.

It is among people who played the very first game when it came out.

The 3D games have been fun, but BOTW was the most zelda thing since The Legend of Zelda.

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That's a weird way of saying A Link to the Past

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s0nicfan posted...

It is among people who played the very first game when it came out.

The 3D games have been fun, but BOTW was the most zelda thing since The Legend of Zelda.

I don't agree. The first one had 9 dungeons and special subweapon items. BotW was in its own direction.

malenz posted...

I don't agree. The first one had 9 dungeons and special subweapon items. BotW was in its own direction.

It's not about the number of dungeons. It's about being put in a world and being left to explore and discover, to forge your own path in whatever order you choose.

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s0nicfan posted...

It's not about the number of dungeons. It's about being put in a world and being left to explore and discover, to forge your own path in whatever order you choose.

It's nice that you're only focusing on half of what makes Zelda great to fit your narrative

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SSJKirby posted...

It's nice that you're only focusing on half of what makes Zelda great to fit your narrative

You know the developers have outright said they went back to the original for inspiration yeah?

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and they did half of a good job

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Yes

s0nicfan posted...

It is among people who played the very first game when it came out.

The 3D games have been fun, but BOTW was the most zelda thing since The Legend of Zelda.

Yep this. For anyone who grew up playing the first game when that's all there was to the whole Zelda Franchise, BotW is a return to form. It's only "radically different" because OoT and its clones are themselves radically different from the original source.

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Nah, Zelda on the CD-i

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Yep this. For anyone who grew up playing the first game when that's all there was to the whole Zelda Franchise, BotW is a return to form. It's only "radically different" because OoT and its clones are themselves radically different from the original source.

And to be clear I'm not saying the new games are bad at all. They're great. But the argument being made here is that Mega Man 9 wasn't a true mega man because it wasn't like MMX.

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In Zelda 1 you get a variety of items to increase your combat capability, your exploration ability or both. Finding a dungeon in Zelda 1, and every zelda game beyond that was exciting because the item you got changed things.

In breath of the wild you start off with all your items (minus the camera but who cares), two of them are bombs. What do you get in dungeons? a Heart Container but there's only 4 of them so nothing to look forward to. Exploration majority of the time amounts to finding a shrine, which only gives 1/4 of a heart container or stamina vessel. Yippie.

Glad i bought this super amazing "Return to form" Zelda game that really shows what the series is really about. A whole lot of nothing apparently.

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Bat178 posted...

Fuck no. Wind Waker is.

This, extremely.

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You clearly didn't actually play BOTW if you think all there is to find is heart pieces. What was your actual first zelda game? Spirit tracks?

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Sorry, weapons and shields designed to break and be discarded are also what you can find. Love it. What an amazing game.

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You know what's a better game in the series that's more like Zelda 1? Link's Awakening.

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You can also find armor like the climbing gear.

I don't think the end reward is the only point of exploring and figuring out puzzles personally.

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There are also little turds scattered across the land, hidden away by the same 10-20 "puzzles".

You know... Like in the original.
/s

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No. It's barely Zelda. It has some concepts in common with Zelda, but it's more like a standard free-roam game with a Zelda theme than it is like a Zelda game proper.

Zelda used to be the game that other developers imitated; now Zelda is imitating others.

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Gobstoppers12 posted...

No. It's barely Zelda. It has some concepts in common with Zelda, but it's more like a standard free-roam game with a Zelda theme than it is like a Zelda game proper.

Zelda used to be the game that other developers imitated; now Zelda is imitating others.

BOTW is gonna be the most copied Zelda game since Ocarina

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SSJKirby posted...

In breath of the wild you start off with all your items

No, you start with 4 items + the paraglider.

You are completely discounting the tremendous itemization BotW has and simply placed them outside of dungeons.

All of the following are items in BotW that you would normally find in a dungeon.
Boomerang, Bow + multiple kinds of arrows, 3 different wands, shields, torch, Stronger armor, hammer, the 4 hero powers, and the korok leaf

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Darmik posted...

You know the developers have outright said they went back to the original for inspiration yeah?

For inspiration yeah, but dungeons have become one of the biggest defining aspects of Zelda, so a game with no dungeons is missing a big part of what makes Zelda, Zelda.

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SSJKirby posted...

Sorry, weapons and shields designed to break and be discarded are also what you can find. Love it. What an amazing game.

And the great fairies. And the hidden Labyrinths. The master sword. The dragons. The challenge Island. Things to upgrade your abilities. New armor sets. Roaming NPCs that can only be found certain times of day. Ruins from before the fall. Memories that can be unlocked if you find the right Vista. And that's not even counting things added from modern games like side quests, the town you can form and slowly grow, catching horses, Etc.

If all you did is jump into the game and play for an hour or two I could see how you would think that the game is empty space. But the game does a fantastic job rewarding exploration.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

No, you start with 4 items + the paraglider.

You are completely discounting the tremendous itemization BotW has and simply placed them outside of dungeons.

All of the following are items in BotW that you would normally find in a dungeon.
Boomerang, Bow + multiple kinds of arrows, 3 different wands, shields, torch, Stronger armor, hammer, the 4 hero powers, and the korok leaf

You dont even start with the paraglider :/

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BigDoinks posted...

You dont even start with the paraglider :/

I don't personally consider the game starting until you make it off the plateau. I mean technically Zelda 1 didn't even start you with the sword. If we go back that far to the beginning BotW also starts you with nothing

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Rikiaz posted...

For inspiration yeah, but dungeons have become one of the biggest defining aspects of Zelda, so a game with no dungeons is missing a big part of what makes Zelda, Zelda.

Which were there in the form of Divine Beasts and Shrines. Even the mazes to an extent.

Like you're entitled to your opinion that they aren't as good but they're not disregarded either. Traditional Zelda dungeons don't really for the feeling of freedom BOTW is going for so there was always going to be some sort of change.

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Darmik posted...

BOTW is gonna be the most copied Zelda game since Ocarina

It already copies a hundred other games, though. The only truly 'new' aspect is the weapon durability (which sucks). We've had open-world physics playgrounds before. Even on that point, BotW has a huge world with only a handful of interesting locations. It's mostly filler.

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Bat178 posted...

Fuck no. Wind Waker is.

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Gobstoppers12 posted...

It already copies a hundred other games, though. The only truly 'new' aspect is the weapon durability (which sucks). We've had open-world physics playgrounds before. Even on that point, BotW has a huge world with only a handful of interesting locations. It's mostly filler.

Not really. Open world games were heading in a mission focused direction. You follow the waypoints to play through the scripted section or clear out other icons on the map. Of course there are games that followed a similar template with their own spin (The Witcher 3 for example) which also influenced future games.

BOTW is about exploration and experimentation. There is nothing locking you out from anything in the game once you're past the tutorial. You are able to climb anything in the world. The world is designed like a theme park that catches your attention with landmarks and points of interests.

If you're gonna say "Well this specific thing was found in game x" well welcome to video games. Combining existing elements in a new way can be innovation in itself. I don't know any games before BOTW that play like it.

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