Board 8 > Epyo's Top 62 Things to Stumble Across in Breath of the Wild (+writeups)

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Epyo
09/15/20 10:18:12 PM
#1:


ABOUT ME:

I've been wanting to write more lists on Board 8 for years, 'cause it's a thing I like doing, and it's the content I most enjoy reading on the board.

I'm finishing up that Office Characters one, and I did a complete ranking of all WoW zones back during the WotLK expansion, I liked that one a lot.

Anyway, I've been doing a third playthrough of the video game called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild lately, and I'm just about done. And I thought, this would be a really fun list to make as I'm wrapping up!

I'll probably post 1-3 entries per night or so.

METHOD:

These are the things that are eligible for this list:

  • Shrines
  • Quests
  • Divine Beasts (NOT including the quests before you get inside the divine beast, I'd put those in the "Quests" category)
  • Single Specific Koroks
  • Minigames
  • Puzzles
  • Towers
  • Cutscenes
  • Secrets
  • Combat sequences
  • Explorable areas (Focusing on navigating it, exploring it, looking at it, doing normal breath of the wild stuff like fighting dudes, looking for koroks, looking for shrines/resources/secrets.)
  • Towns (Focusing on the shops, dialogue with citizens, architecture, music, exploring it, stuff like that. Including quests that don't make you leave the town.)
  • And possibly more!
Im not allowing entries like The first time you find a korok, or The first time you fight a lynel. I just dont think thats as fun of a list, thatll just end up being a list of gameplay elements.

CRITERIA:

I think when making a ranking list, its best to start with what factors were looking for:

  • Surprise factor: When something catches you by surprise and makes you say oh wow, really? Huge points for that.
  • Beauty/atmosphere factor: When something just looks really cool, or sounds really good, or just generally feels good, also huge points.
  • Confusion factor: This is a fairly unique thing about Breath of the Wild: sometimes you enter a room and youre just absolutely bewildered at what youre supposed to be doing, or what youre even looking at. Youre confused. Its pretty fun.
  • Saturation factor: Sometimes they just pack a ton of semi-interesting stuff in one small space, and youre excited by the possibilities of what to do first, and thats just super fun, as you interact with each bit.
  • Legitimate puzzle factor: A puzzle that is legitimately well-designed, by traditional puzzle standards.
  • Many-solutions factor: A puzzle that is fun because it has a lot of differing solutions, so the player feels like they found their own way. Good for the games feeling of a personalized adventure. I think a legitimate puzzle is slightly better, but this is fun too.
  • Legitimate gameplay factor: A moment that feels like a video game, for example, an enjoyable test of skill, especially if the skills involved are the central skills in the game (e.g. combat, aim, movement).
  • World riddles factor: When the game asks you to think about the world. Like if you have to use your map and think about how to do a quest. Or when you have to think about what the heck Kass just said. (This is one of the most underappreciated parts of video games IMO. This is the main reason I love vanilla WoW so much.)
  • Interesting lore factor: It doesnt happen that often, but some of the story and lore in this game is pretty good. Most of it is fine, but some of it is great.
  • Joke factor: Some things in this game are just funny. And thats enough.


And these aspects would disqualify something from making the list:

  • Poor replayability: If its not fun at all the second time you play through the game, thats big minus points. There are shrines with simple fun physics puzzles, that are just a chore to play the second time because theyre so obvious and rote.
  • Duplicate content: Fighting a lynel is fun the first few times, not so much the tenth.
  • Annoyingly difficult: There are a few koroks in this game that are just obnoxiously hard. I do kinda respect it, but I dont like it.


WHY "STUMBLE ACROSS"?

I think if someone tells you to go do anything on this list, and you go do it, you won't be impressed at all. Because really, a lot of this stuff isn't that impressive. But when you "stumble across" this stuff on your own adventures, it magnifies the fun. 'Cause stumbling across stuff is what the game is all about! That's my opinion, anyway.

SPOILERS?

Yeah I mean, we're gonna spoil a lot of stuff, to some degree. But for a lot of stuff, like shrines, I'll try to link a video at the top of the writeup, and then you can scrub through it briefly to see if you've done that shrine yet. And if you haven't done it, you can skip the post.

But yeaaah if you're in the middle of a playthrough, maybe don't read this.

OPINION ON WEAPON DURABILITY?

Eh, it's fine. I think there are probably better solutions to what they were trying to solve, but I respect this solution.

DLC?

Yeah, DLC stuff is eligible for this list. Lots of stuff from DLC2 is in here. BUT all of it is like, generic names of shrines and stuff, so it'll be pretty easy to skip those posts.

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Epyo
09/15/20 10:25:07 PM
#2:


62. Shrine: Katosa Aug Shrine: Katosa Aug Apparatus

This shrine right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk24MIBcy8M

It's the motion controlled minigolf shrine! You control a gigantic stone golf putter, and you slam it into a giant rock ball, to putt it into a hole.

This makes the list entirely due to Joke Factor. Well actually, I thought it felt pretty darn good, and it felt like it took a little bit of actual skill to complete the second hole, where the ball must follow a curved slope. So, giving it a few points for Legitimate Gameplay Factor.

And if you hate fun and silly things, well, there are only two holes, and the second is optional. So no big deal!

I appreciate that they did not let shrines always follow the rule of threes. Sometimes, two is enough.

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Epyo
09/17/20 7:46:26 PM
#3:


61. Explorable Area: Fort Hateno

It's this place:



Environmental storytelling is pretty trite, but I really enjoyed this use of it. Just by looking at it, you can tell some clearly important battle happened at this wall, perhaps somebody's "last stand". And then, there's a great payoff, 100 hours later, when you learn who's "last stand" it was. So, huge points for the Lore Factor here.

If you're into scavenging every single dead guardian for parts, there's a good chance you'll get a surprise from the, like, one-ish that actually activate. That was pretty well done I thought, since you'll probably approach so many of them without activating any. Good Surprise Factor.

I also like the presence of that random professor guy in the tiny house on the other side of the wall. He's a nice touch, just an interesting guy to talk to and learn some lore. Why the frig can't he figure out this riddle.

I also really like the korok on top of the gateway, it's a pretty tough bow challenge, where you hit the tiny pots flying above the treeline. Good Saturation Factor here with all the stuff to do!

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Epyo
09/19/20 9:22:25 PM
#4:


60. Tower: Hateno Tower



The towers are one of my favorite things about the game. I love the atmospheric music when you get close to them, I love how each one is slightly different.

Really, these don't particularly long on the list, because they aren't that different from each other.

BUT I decided to squeeze this one barely onto the list, because I think the thorns wrapping around it look particularly nice looking, in a "wild" sort of way, earning some Beauty/Atmosphere Factor points. Plus the view of hateno village and its laboratory are great (but that's true of most towers).

I'm also giving it some Multiple Solution points, because you get to decide how you want to burn the thorns (I like how they hint at this by putting a nearby cooking pot), or I'm pretty sure you can strategically climb around the backside and avoid the thorns (right?? or can you). You're also very likely to come to this tower early, before you have very many cheat codes to get to the top.

I also like that when you're entering the Hateno valley, you've got an obvious choice between following the path to the village, or following the path to the Tower. Tough choice! So, there's kinda a little bit of Saturation Factor there. But I'm not even going to bold it.

I will admit this is not the only Tower on the list.

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inchbytes
09/19/20 9:26:03 PM
#5:


nice topic. tag

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pjbasis
09/19/20 9:39:44 PM
#6:


Epyo posted...
Environmental storytelling is pretty trite,

nooo

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Epyo
09/19/20 9:47:06 PM
#7:


Isn't it though?? It always ends up being dead bodies or skeletons, in precarious positions. ...dang it, even in this case, they are robot dead bodies.

I guess what I meant was, it usually ends up being trite, although maybe the concept of "environmental storytelling" itself isn't trite.

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Paratroopa1
09/19/20 9:52:48 PM
#8:


I don't think environmental storytelling has become trite unless it's used in the absolute most trite ways, which I can't think of BOTW ever doing

anyway, this is a cool idea for a list
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Epyo
09/19/20 11:00:27 PM
#9:


Dang, I'm enjoying taking pictures of each one, and now I regret posting a random youtube video in the first post, for Katosa Aug shrine...

59. Shrine Quest: Master of the Wind (Kass)



Kass quests are a good example of World Riddles: quests or riddles that make you think about the world or environment, and therefore, make you roleplay a little bit. You have to read something, and then actually understand what the text said.

Games have drifted away from this, sadly. These days, they give you waypoints, and compass markers, and worse yet, they highlight the things in the environment that are important. You barely have to use your eyes!

Kass is one of several clever ways that Breath of the Wild has world riddles, in a way that fits the game's lore...kinda. (But also, he kinda does not make any sense. Why is there this bird, with these 4 line songs, that give puzzles to our hero?? That's ok, I'll give him some Joke Factor points.)

Unfortunately, as much as I love Kass, a lot of his quests are a bit disappointing, in hindsight. It's usually pretty obvious what you have to do, and you're done in like 10 seconds. Or you just have to be somewhere at a certain time of day, and it's just irritating. (Some are good though!)

I think this Kass Quest is pretty good, because of the Confusion Factor. What Kass said makes some sense...but what the heck are we even looking at? This structure of rocks in the area, require some studying, and some bomb placement, to figure out how it's supposed to work. It's fun!

I'll throw in some Multi-Solution points, because some of those rocks are actually hard to bomb, because of all the wind blowing your bombs around!

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Epyo
09/20/20 10:46:18 AM
#10:


58. Secret: Zora Helmet Treasure Chest

No picture for this one, just in case anyone hasn't found the Zora Helmet, and wants to go look for it. Although if you keep reading, you'll get some hints on how to begin to find it.

There are two ways to find this, and I love both ways (so, it gets Multi-Solution points.):

Solution 1: You are simply exploring, and you notice this chest, which is a little bit more difficult to get to than most chests. After doing some work, you finally get the chest, expecting a sapphire or some rupees...and it's a Zora Friggin Helmet??? Just hidden randomly out here in the wild??? Now that deserves some Surprise Factor points.

What the heck kind of game, would hide such a valuable piece of loot in such a "random" spot? I love it--and the resulting implication, that any random chest you find could have something like this, is pretty awesome.

Solution 2: While you're working on the quest to find the 10 tablet engravings across the Zora region, if you actually read and comprehend them (the quest doesn't care if you do), they give an obfuscated clue to the location of this Helmet.

This is that World Riddle stuff I've been talking about, and it's so awesome that this particular riddle is not a quest itself, instead it is hidden within the content of another quest. You have to basically roleplay as Link, and actually think about the tablets you're reading, to even notice the riddle. Genius!

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Epyo
09/21/20 12:08:06 AM
#11:


57. Shrine Quest: The Two Rings (Kass)



I read Kass's World Riddle, and then studied the strange rocks in the area, and it quickly dawned on me what he was asking me to do, and I got a big grin on my face. What a goofy fun thing for this game to ask you to do. In another game, this might be an achievement I don't care about, but in this game, it's part of the hero's mystical journey.

And it takes some work, there are a lot of angles to think about about! So this is the first puzzle on the list to get Legitimate Puzzle points.

I remember this puzzle pretty fondly, and want to rank it higher, but I have to admit, it's not as fun the second time...however my third time through, a couple years had passed, and I did have to re-figure it out again, so that was fun.

But I will throw in some tiny Beauty Factor points because the rocks do look cool and it's a nice little meadow by that bridge.

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Epyo
09/21/20 9:50:21 PM
#12:


56. Sho Dantu Shrine: "Two Bombs"



Most Breath of the Wild shrines are so hyper-focused on having multiple solutions, that they usually feel more a bit more like playgrounds, or lightly obstacled rooms, than puzzles.

So, it's a real shock and delight, when a shrine does have a Legitimate Puzzle, like this one!

Is it an ingenious puzzle? Not really! But it will give you a pause, and make you say "wait wait. wait. but. ah crap, it's not as easy as I thought."

It also has a nice little design with the "simple puzzle", "harder puzzle", "actual puzzle", following the rule of threes. Good job!

And last, I'll throw in some Confusion Factor points, because you get into that third room and think "what the heck is going on in here, why is all of this necessary". And then it turns out, it really all was necessary!

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Epyo
09/22/20 7:48:25 PM
#13:


Honorable Mention: Divine Beast Vah Ruta (Zora Kingdom)

The divine beasts are practically made for this list, since they're really good at achieving lots of the "factors" that this list is looking for.

BUT I decided not to put Vah Ruta on the list. It doesn't have the cool views outside the divine beast like most of the divine beasts do. And it doesn't have the saturation factor that other divine beasts have, because the puzzles are kinda shown in a linear sequence, instead of lots of them begging attention all at once.

Also I think a lot of the puzzles are simply "do you understand how to move the trunk", but it's so easy to forget that you can move the trunk, because they don't teach it to you that well, in my opinion, and it's such a weird mechanic, how it sprays water. It's hard to even realize that it is spraying water.

The boss is pretty good though, and Mipha's background story is neat, so I think it deserves an honorable mention!

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Epyo
09/22/20 7:54:13 PM
#14:


55. Divine Beast: Vah Rudania (Death Mountain)



(This does not include the quests before the beast, such as the Yunobo stealth section, which I don't like. I mentioned in the intro that the quests before the beast don't count!)

Vah Rudania gets lots of Beauty points, especially for the crazy environment outside the windows--the fire in the air and the volcano itself is so intense, it's exciting just standing still on the outdoor parts of the beast. Also, it feels really good to glide across the inner big room while it is flipping onto its side. That is really fun.

I'd also give it some decent Saturation points--when you're in the main room, you look around, and there are so many puzzles to investigate! This is also good for replayability--you probably don't do the puzzles in the same order every time. AND there is at least one very secret chest somewhere to find if you crawl around the outer shell a lot, if I remember correctly (I've only seen it in videos).

I'll even throw in some Confusion points for the weird ball-in-a-tube contraption in the middle of the room, even though I don't think it really turned out to be a great puzzle. Actually, none of the puzzles really turned out that great. The thing where everything is dark at first is potentially cool, but they don't do much with it. Also the boss is pretty dumb.

Can only give a few tiny Lore Factor points: Daruk lore doesn't have much going on, compared to other champions, I think.

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Epyo
09/23/20 3:04:16 PM
#15:


54. Shrine: Myahm Agana Shrine: Myahm Agana Apparatus



One of the most widely despised shrines in the game! But hey, if you make a game that takes some risks, you're bound to make some people mad!

This shrine invests heavily into its Multi-Solution Factor, because it has one obvious solution, but it is the worst solution by far, compared to the other solutions. You're practically guaranteed to mess up the obvious solution once, since the controls are terrible.

But then, you discover a new ball will spawn and drop into the maze. And if you're lucky, you'll realize you can pre-spin the maze and drop the ball right at the end! The 200 iq solution. And if you're really lucky, you'll get frustrated enough to spin the maze upside-down, where there's no maze at all. 5000 iq solution.

This is a pretty early shrine, so you're encouraged for the rest of the game to not simply look for the most obvious solution, in any situation you're in. That's pretty powerful!

I'll throw in some Joke Factor points because it's pretty funny. Also I like that there is that chest hidden in the maze, that's a cool secret. It's fun to have to crawl through the giant maze yourself.

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Epyo
09/24/20 7:10:14 PM
#16:


53. Tower: Central Tower



This place is dangerous as heck! Big Legitimate Gameplay factor here. When you approach this tower, you're getting aimed at by 2 or 3 stationary guardians, and you're also worried about a couple other full guardians walking around, dangerously close. So it's a really fun combat puzzle of making mad line-of-sight dashes to the tower.

Then when climbing the tower, you've got lasers pointed at you as you climb, and you always just barely make it to the next safe ledge, before getting shot.

Some decent Multi-Solution points here too. For example, you can build ice blocks if the ground is wet, and that'll help you break line-of-sight to the various guardians. And since it's a circle, there's many ways to approach the tower.

Or of course, you can fight some of the guardians...but, there's no evidence that you're going to get any weapons back as a reward, so it costs a lot of resources to do this, especially if you're early in the game.

Another thing cool, is that there's a good chance you'll come here early, since it's so close to the plateau, and you might get scared and give up and teleport away. It's a really fun thing in open world games, to be exposed to areas that feel "too dangerous".

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Epyo
09/24/20 11:26:57 PM
#17:


52. Explorable Area: Lanayru Promenade



(that picture is way too rad for a zelda game)

This is something I think Breath of the Wild could have used a lot more of--more interesting big architectures to explore and fight in. Fighting in fields is all right, attacking the various enemy tree encampments is fun, but it all gets old quick. When you explore and fight, in big ol' ruins like this, it is video game magic, I think.

Definitely need to award Beauty Factor points, I just love the look of the ruined bricks and arches. It's just such a weird idea too--giant ruins in a river canyon? I'm fascinated by the idea of this place. Nice that they threw in a waterfall for good measure.

And because the walls are so tall, and there is so much water, you're really encouraged to actually fight, unlike 95% of other combat areas in the game where it's so easy to avoid combat. So I have to give some Legitimate Gameplay points here. Also some Saturation points because you just look around and see a lot of interesting nooks and crannies to check for koroks, chests, and shrines.

And there's a good chance you're walking through here to look for the memory that the paintbrush head guy tells you is on the other side. That memory's Lore is pretty good, deserves a point or two. Also just the existence of this place feels like some lore, kinda.

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Cybat
09/25/20 10:07:16 AM
#18:


tag, great idea for a topic. I don't know how other people feel about this but my memory of some of these locations is not that great so I would appreciate an extra photo or two depending on the size of the area.

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Jakyl25
09/25/20 10:38:54 AM
#19:


Epyo posted...
Or of course, you can fight some of the guardians...but, there's no evidence that you're going to get any weapons back as a reward, so it costs a lot of resources to do this, especially if you're early in the game.


Do people just not parry their lasers back at them?
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Hbthebattle
09/25/20 1:18:13 PM
#20:


Jakyl25 posted...


Do people just not parry their lasers back at them?

That's hard to do for a new player
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VintageGin
09/25/20 1:57:24 PM
#21:


Really cool idea for a list, and I like the write-ups so far! Part of it is making me want to go back and play BotW again but it's hard to recapture the magic of doing these things for the first time.

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Epyo
09/25/20 9:20:15 PM
#22:


Oooh thanks for the kind words =]

Do people just not parry their lasers back at them?

I'm really impressed by people who can do that. I can do it sometimes, but mostly I end up just burning through my shields and/or keep having to heal. (I didn't even know you could do it anyways, until watching someone stream the game after I finished my own first run.)

I don't know how other people feel about this but my memory of some of these locations is not that great so I would appreciate an extra photo or two depending on the size of the area.

Hmmm maybe that's a good idea, I just assume everyone has played this game like 8 times. The pictures are so big though...well then again, the pictures the Switch takes are such low quality anyway, I bet I can just shrink them down a lot, and fit more pictures in the same space.

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Epyo
09/25/20 9:58:08 PM
#23:


Also since I already had it downloaded, here's another Lanayru Promenade screenshot that I liked:



OK next one!

53. Shrine: Etsu Korima Shrine: "Path of Light" (Champion's Ballad, DLC Pack 2)



Champion's Ballad (DLC Pack 2) has a lot of good shrines, including this one, in my opinion. This is a pitch black darkness shrine, which I'll give some Beauty points for right away, because dark areas in this game feel weird and cool (and look terrible in pictures).

This is a "gauntlet" style of shrine, where there aren't really puzzles, it's simply a linear series of obstacles to get past. I like that style a lot, you feel Indiana Jonesy, as you get around each trap. Legitimate Gameplay! Furthermore, this is one of the 4 "One Hit Kill" shrines, where if you get hit by anything, you die instantly, making the traps more exciting!

The obstacles are all pretty easy to maneuver, but because it's so dark, you end up walking extremely slowly anyway, so it's tense.

After several fairly easy obstacles, you start to let your guard down...suddenly multiple Guardian Scouts drop from the sky! Pretty good payoff, worth good Surprise Factor points. If you think quickly, you might instantly come up with tactics to not get hit, but if you don't, one of 'em will probably shoot ya, and then yer insta-ded.

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Epyo
09/26/20 4:35:59 PM
#24:


52. Side Quest: Missing in Action (In the canyon path to Gerudo Desert)



On your way to Gerudo Desert, you'll travel through these long and winding canyons that are really tall, and you'll see all this rickety scaffolding in the sky. And if you're like me, you'll be like "oh my god I wanna explore and fight on those, that looks rad, there are so many little areas to explore up there!" (Deserves a few Saturation points and Beauty points.)

Sure enough, the designers end up giving you a good reason, with this side quest: someone at the end of the canyon reports that they got jumped by bokoblins and ran for it, but their 4 friends got captured somewhere in the canyon, and can you please go look for them (world riddle!). Turns out, they're not on the ground anymore, they're trapped all over the scaffolding areas!

Fighting all these enemies, while carefully balancing on these surprisingly narrow beams, is a unique Legitimate Gameplay environment. One wrong step, and you get a 200-foot fall! Although that goes for the enemies too, which is fun. I was saying this game needs more environments for fighting, besides fields...well I forgot about this one, this one is good!

Finally, the quest ends with a pretty good payoff joke: the friends have all decided not to be friends with the quest-giver anymore, since he totally abandoned his friends as soon as the bokoblins showed up. I'll give ya some Joke Factor points for that.

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CaptainOfCrush
09/26/20 9:13:34 PM
#25:


Just found this great topic and am eager for every update!

Regarding laser parries: at the "standard" distance (the distance at which Guardians no longer move towards you), you can get a perfect parry almost every time by activating the parry as soon as you see blue laser energy enshroud the Guardian's eye - this happens an instant before it fires. This method doesn't work nearly as well in Master Mode, though.

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Jakyl25
09/26/20 10:51:03 PM
#26:


Yeah Ive heard in Master Mode they vary the timing. Never tried it though.

My parries are based on audio cues so the visual trick is new to me
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Epyo
09/26/20 11:41:35 PM
#27:


Thanks for reading!

Ohhh well maybe that was my problem then, I didn't try to parry until my second playthrough, but it was a master mode playthrough...

~~~~~

(also oh wow I screwed up my numbers, we're on 49 now)

49. Korok: Orange pinwheel bow challenge, on Floria Bridge, Lake Floria



Lake Floria is the realllllly pretty lake, surrounded by waterfalls, that's in pretty much every 3d video game. Except this time, there's a really cool rickety wooden bridge across it! Lots of Beauty points, although just beauty isn't quite enough to make this list.

But I think what squeezes it onto the list, is that they gave you a reason to just hang out on the bridge and take it all in--they put an obvious Korok Pinwheel Bow Challenge right in the center of the bridge, can't miss it. These are always fun I think, especially this one, in such a cool looking place.

Minigames like this always annoyed me in past Zelda games, where they'd often be inside an ugly shop in a town, and there'd be so much dialogue for each attempt. But here, they can just be built-in to the wild environments, a huge improvement I think. This is a great example.

And it's kind of a hard one, where you're shooting balloons really far away (slight Legitimate Gameplay points). I think the designers' hope was, you'd be stuck attempting it long enough, that all of a sudden, Farosh will fly straight down in front of you, and go under your bridge, on one of his usual routes, giving you huge unexpected Surprise points.

Why does Farosh love bridges so much anyway.

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Epyo
09/27/20 6:15:01 PM
#28:


48. Side Quest: Death Mountains Secret




I LOVE THIS BIDDLE GORON! He's so cute and funny. He's intentionally keeping his mouth half-submerged so you can't understand him. Take all my cute Joke points, all of them. And he's all like "ha ha I bet you can't understand me right now, right? Good good, I have a World Riddle for you...".

His riddle is really just: "hey I hid some treasure somewhere on the path ahead, if you find it, you can keep it."

And in Breath of the Wild, sometimes that's all you need! A good excuse to get out, and explore every inch, of some little area. If it wasn't for this dumb side quest, I probably wouldn't have explored that particular part of Eldin of as closely as I did, as it didn't look very notable--but I'm glad I did, because it was fun--there were enemies to fight, koroks to notice, shrines to find, more quests to uncover, etc.

I'm gonna give some Legitimate Gameplay points too, because all 3 times I played this puzzle, I walked right past the treasure several times before finally finding it. You really gotta flex your observation skills with this one, in my opinion. There's not really a puzzle here, but man, just fair effective camouflage going on.

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CaptainOfCrush
09/27/20 6:38:27 PM
#29:


I'm a fan of that quest too - really wholesome humor and good incentive to explore, as you said. Originally, I thought the treasure itself was a little disappointing, but tbqh the Drillshaft is one of the most useful items in the game and a worthy spoil.

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Epyo
09/27/20 6:42:41 PM
#30:


Yeah spears are underrated, because the numbers on them aren't big!

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Epyo
09/28/20 12:56:50 AM
#31:


47. Shrine Quest: The Bird in the Mountains (Rito Village & Hebra Mountains)



In this quest, a young Rito Village citizen points up to a tree, way up in Hebra Mountains, and says their grandpa was up there a long time ago, and saw a huge white bird, flew toward it, and saw "something really important" in its belly.

This is like, the perfect World Riddle side quest. It points you to where you should go, not with a UI waypoint, but just by pointing to an actual object far in the distance. Then you have to go on an intense Legitimate Gameplay adventure into the bitter cold, through the mountain passes, filled with ice lizalfos and confusing harsh terrain, probably without a map.

Then, once you're there, you've got to think hard about what the grandfather's story actually meant, and look very closely around at your surroundings, to figure out the riddle. (Without getting distracted by the Beautiful vista you're seeing, another reward for your harsh adventure.)

And once you figure it out, it's a pretty nice Surprise twist. The mechanic at play here, is one of my favorite adventure game mechanics, ever since I first saw it in Riven (as well as another recent popular point-and-click adventure game I super love), and personally I was hoping this game would have a lot more of it. But maybe they'll come back to it in the next game.

Decided not to put it higher on the list, only because the replay value isn't great.

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CaptainOfCrush
09/28/20 9:20:47 AM
#32:


^ Loved that one. The moment where everything clicks and you see your reward in the distance... so good.

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andylt
09/28/20 12:59:55 PM
#33:


Great topic, I'm remembering all these cool bits I completely forgot about as the list goes. The bird in the mountains was a super satisfying one, it really demonstrates how detailed and crafted the world is.

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Epyo
09/28/20 8:41:55 PM
#34:


Yeah this was a hard list to make, 'cause there really is a ton of stuff!

46. Explorable Area: Bridge of Hylia



Bridge of Eldin was my favorite stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I always thought, man there should be a bridge this huge and epic in a real Zelda game! I uhh never played Twilight Princess.

And maaaaan this one is so Beautiful and huge. Probably one of the best-looking things in the game. The first time I saw it from the Great Plateau, I was shocked, I could barely believe it was in the game, and that I would actually be able to go touch it and cross it. It looked like the sort of thing you only ever see in the background of some video game level.

And this thing is absolutely Saturated with koroks. Possibly the highest concentration of koroks in the game. One of them I quite like, is a "teleporting flower" korok that forces you to climb way too far upside-down under the bridge, making me cringe from extreme vertigo.

And also one of the most hilariously hard to find koroks in the game, I'll spoiler tag it just in case, but eh it's just a korok: on one of the support structures, there's a tiny ledge with a random tree branch, the kind you can pick up as a weapon. If you go down there and pick it up...boom, korok. What!!

And lastly, this is a good example of forced combat, which I think this game should have more of--you can't really get around fighting these lizalfos, unless you reaaalllly want to. So adding some Legitimate Gameplay points.

Yeah but anyway, mostly the beauty.

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CaptainOfCrush
09/28/20 11:21:42 PM
#35:


IIRC it also spawns Farosh at midnight, which looks pretty epic.

(two of my favorite memories with this game, which I'll probably post about later, revolve around the dragons)

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Epyo
09/29/20 8:12:16 PM
#36:


Riiiiight yeah that looks insanely cool. ooh I am excited to hear dragon stories.

~~~~~

45. Shrine Quest: The Stolen Heirloom (Kakariko Village)



This is a story quest that I bet most players don't find, because it's gated behind some other quests in Kakariko, that are also hard to find. This is the quest that finally deals with that glowing Ball, next to Impa, that you're not allowed to touch, even though you've wanted to so bad, for the past 100 hours, when the heck is Paya gonna let you touch it, it's clearly meant for Link, come on Paya I need to touch that ball with everything I have.

(Big Joke points for Paya, love that character a lot.)

The gameplay of the quest is pretty on-rails, it's much more about the story, and the Surprises during it. You keep having to do forced stealth, to follow suspicious villagers at night, only to find out they were not the thief, even though the game intentionally made them look ridiculously suspicious.

Then, it is revealed what is really going on, and honestly I thought it was a pretty good dark twist, for such a random obscure story in the game, I was fairly impressed. It ends up doing a really good job of building out more Lore of the Yiga clan.

Lastly, it doesn't overstay it's welcome, it gets all of this done very quickly. I like Breath of the Wild because you don't get stuck in on-rails story sequences much. Hiding one like this, and making me get invested first, made it totally more fun.

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Epyo
09/29/20 9:50:08 PM
#37:


44. Cutscene: Urbosas Champions Ballad Cutscene (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)



I thought this cutscene was sick as hell. Do I have a way to give Sick as Hell points? Crap I forgot to add that category to my spreadsheet. Definitely the best of the 4 Champions' cutscenes added in Champion's Ballad. (Other 3 are kinda bad.)

Well, I can give high Beauty points, I'm thinking it's probably the best-looking cutscene in the game. Look at that picture above, for example--that's some pretty cool composition!

And I can give some Surprise points for the events of the cutscene itself, which I won't bother to analyze further, because you could just watch it instead.

And I can give some Lore points: I thought what was shown about Urbosa and Zelda's relationship was pretty interesting, like the contrast of their intense formality in the throne room, but intense friendship outside of the throne room.

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CaptainOfCrush
09/30/20 1:51:37 AM
#38:


Urbosa for Smash

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Epyo
10/01/20 12:49:13 AM
#39:


oh HELL yes urbosa for smash. I could see that happening too, with the upcoming hyrule warriors release on the way..

~~~~~

43. Shrine: Neez Yohma Shrine: Pushing Power



This is the shrine in the Zora city, so most people are going to do it, and I think this was a good shrine to put there, because it's kinda the epitome of Breath of the Wild shrine design:

You get in there, and it's got that cool Confusion Factor where you don't quite know what you're looking at. Then as you walk around and study the pieces, it starts to make sense, you see what the challenge is: get the ball at the top past all the physics obstacles to the goal at the bottom.

And, there are a surprising number of Multiple Solutions to get the ball past each obstacle. Personally I felt like I had to use my own creativity throughout the shrine. Then I watched someone else play the shrine, and their solutions were indeed pretty different!

There are actually a bunch of shrines where you "rube goldberg" a giant sphere, down a waterfall, into a hole, but I like this one more because you're inside the puzzle the whole time, rather than manipulating it from a distance like usual. So I'ma give it some Beauty Factor points because it just feels cool to be inside the puzzle.

Not my favorite shrine, but I think it objectively deserves credit.

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andylt
10/01/20 8:13:06 AM
#40:


Epyo posted...
And also one of the most hilariously hard to find koroks in the game, I'll spoiler tag it just in case, but eh it's just a korok: on one of the support structures, there's a tiny ledge with a random tree branch, the kind you can pick up as a weapon. If you go down there and pick it up...boom, korok. What!!

I am suddenly very glad I didn't bother to get all the koroks (stopped hunting after whenever the last upgrade was). And yeah I love all the areas where dragons show up but Farosh's appearances are the most stunningly beautiful with the way it winds around the bridge and the waterfalls etc.

Good shout on the Urbosa cutscene, her/Zelda's relationship is one of the strongest in the game and I wish it showed more stuff like that.

I know people miss the 'proper' dungeons but man the shrines are so cool, usually perfectly bitesize sections of unique gimmicks/puzzles like that Zora one, you couldn't just shove that into a regular dungeon in any other Zelda.

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Epyo
10/01/20 7:34:55 PM
#41:


Yeah that's a good point, you probably could not stick a puzzle like that in a typical themed zelda dungeon. It's too abstract and arbitrary, it'd feel out of place.

But shrines, on the other hand, are all about being abstract and weird, so it's a fun change of pace. And that's what Breath of the Wild is all about, inventing fun new stuff, breaking away from the old, for better or worse.

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Epyo
10/01/20 10:00:55 PM
#42:


42. Explorable Area: Thyphlo Ruins (Pitch black forest ruins)



A lot of people call this one of their favorite parts of the game! And that makes sense, because it gets points tons of this list's criteria types:

Beauty points because the darkness in this game looks so cool, and this is likely to be your first encounter with it. The dim torches scattered about, are a really cool mood too. Feels good to light them (if you think of it...which I totally did not think of during my current playthrough). I'll give it some Multi Solution points for that (I kinda just stumbled around with Magnesis on).

I'll give it some Confusion and Saturation points, because you have no idea what you're even looking for at first, you're just stumbling around investigating every little thing that catches your eye. I respect that they don't light up the area once you've finished it--so you're never quite sure you understood the layout whatsoever...

The actual challenge you have to do here, could have been more interesting I think, you just have to find and take down a particular enemy. It's the Surprise Factor of stumbling across what you have to do, and being mad about it, that's the fun part. And just, the surprise factor of walking in to this random forest and realizing it is pitch black.

Deserves Legitimate Gameplay points too, because dark ruins are indeed a cool environment to blindly fight in. I said this game didn't have enough cool environments to fight in, but I forgot this one.

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MegamanX
10/01/20 11:11:43 PM
#43:


tag

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Epyo
10/02/20 12:15:11 AM
#44:


41. Shrine: Bareeda Naag Shrine: Cannon



First of all, the cannons in this game are awesome. The sound and power...mmm.

In fact, anything to do with bombs in this game, feels super good, these shiekah bombs are just so satisfying. I guess it's the sound effect. And, it's so clever that you put bombs in things to, like, "ghetto power" them, like these cannons, and the minecarts, and stuff.

OK, anyway, the shrine. It's actually really hard! You have to shoot a cannonball at the target, but, there are all these barriers moving back and forth, in the way, at different speeds. So you have to shoot at exactly the right time, but sometimes it feels like you have to wait 30 seconds, until the cycle repeats. Massive Legitimate Gameplay points, loved the challenge of this.

And then after that... they give you an even harder optional one, with more barriers! Rad.

And here's the twist, which I did not figure out, but I saw someone else do it, and it blew my mind...you can stasis a barrier, to make the whole thing easier. So, definitely giving Multiple Solution points for that.

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Epyo
10/02/20 8:29:51 PM
#45:


40. Combat Sequence: Forgotten Temple



If you haven't been in here yet, maybe go check it out first!

Similar to the Thyphlo Ruins, this is a regular looking set of ruins you stumble across randomly, and it looks pretty tame and harmless, so you walk in...and suddenly, you discover a big Surprise: it's a huge indoor gauntlet of guardian turrets, as far as you can see--up high, down low, to the side, on balconies, they're everywhere...and they're all waking up to look at you. Either take action, or run for your life.

Very cool and unique. I love that there is no ceremony here, this isn't a dungeon, this isn't a shrine, it's just a doorway you stumble upon, with a ridiculous amount of danger, and presumably, some reward on the other side.

I thought it was exciting as hell to try to get through it--there's no simple trick to it, you've got to take it one step at a time, plotting out your next movement. You can fight them, or just run from safe spot to safe spot, although nowhere really feels that safe. Gonna award a ton of Legitimate Gameplay points, I would say the most of anything on the list so far.

Deserves a lot of Beauty points in my opinion as well, the indoor architecture is really interesting and intricate. I also love how old it looks, and how the entrance is so run-down, that you have to climb up to get to the doorway, there aren't stairs or anything.

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Jakyl25
10/02/20 8:37:36 PM
#46:


Zelda theorists have laid out the case that this is 100% meant to be the shrine from Skyward Sword

You can even see where that tree is busting out of its old room
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Epyo
10/03/20 5:20:44 PM
#47:


ahhhhhh that is awesome. I only got like 20 minutes into that game so I would not know.

But I like the idea of zelda theorists.

~~~~~

39. Shrine: Kaam Yatak Shrine: Trial of Power



This is probably the most universally loved shrine, and it's not my favorite but I definitely love it as well. If you don't remember which one this is, it's a really really long shrine in hyrule field, with like 7ish puzzles in a row, usually involving stasis, usually to make boulders bust open giant stone doors.

This is one of the only things I put on the list that doesn't really fit the criteria factors. The puzzles aren't very clever or interesting or funny, and they're only slightly multi-solution.

I think why it's so good is just that the puzzles just keep coming. Don't like the current puzzle? Who cares, you're already on the next one. And the next one.And just, watching those boulders bust down doors feels good.

Admittedly, this one puzzle below is pretty memorable. It's not hard to figure out, but it takes some orchestration to get it to work, which feels pretty good.


(The giant stone doors are behind the player, here.)

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Epyo
10/03/20 11:23:15 PM
#48:


38. Puzzle: Getting through the Lost Woods



I'm actually not sure how most people feel about this puzzle! But IMO, there are two extremely good reasons to put this on the list:

Beauty: The atmosphere is fantastic. It's magic, how you walk 20 feet on the trail into the forest, and suddenly it's like you're in another world, a spooky misty world. And every little detail looks GOOD and you wanna stare at everything forever, like the torches so bright and orange. The music is especially bewildering, even more than usual.

Legitimate Puzzle: I thought it was brilliant! I thought they gave the right clues, and performing the solution is exciting, unlike some other Zelda game Lost Woods puzzles, which are just tedious I think.

And the theme of the solution is so smart, it feels like you're following a secret hint of nature itself, it doesn't feel like a game puzzle. And it's especially clever, considering the name of the game itself, Breath of the Wild... So yeah, all-time great video game puzzle I think.

Replay value isn't so great, otherwise I would put it higher. Also the loading screen when you fail is annoying I admit.

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StartTheMachine
10/04/20 4:25:07 AM
#49:


Dude this is a 10/10 topic. I just finished my first replay of this game a few weeks ago, doing all 136 shrines, and it was my first Master Mode run. (Aside: Trial of the Sword on Master Mode was nuts, but I eventually managed after finally learning how to do floor 10 of the beginning trials.)

Yeah, the mystery of the world and the plethora of surprises it holds is the best part of this game. There's so much strangeness the first time through. Even though you're not including things like your first encounter with a Lynel or Divine Beast, there's still so many memorable areas like Thundra Plateau, Thyphlo Ruins, any of the mazes on a first encounter, Eventide Island, Satori Mountain, pretty much the entirety of Akkala (gotta be number one tower right?)...I could go on and on. This was an excellent idea for a list.

Having spent 450 hours in this world now, it stinks that the allure and mystique is mostly gone. But this topic should be a fun way to relive those early moments.

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StartTheMachine
10/04/20 5:10:11 AM
#50:


Jakyl25 posted...
Zelda theorists have laid out the case that this is 100% meant to be the shrine from Skyward Sword

You can even see where that tree is busting out of its old room

You don't need to be a theorist for that one, it's completely obvious! The giant goddess statue model is 100% the exact goddess statue from Skyward Sword. It's about as apparent as the Temple of Time being modeled after OoT's.

Also Skyward Sword is my favorite Zelda and the Forgotten Temple housed the second last shrine I had to find on my first playthrough, so it was a very cool surprise. I thought I had seen it all by that point.

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