Board 8 > I can't tell if I'm having fun playing BotW. Please advise.

(+) Yeah! (+)

My friend recently got one of them fancy OLED switches, so he just gave me his old one with the one physical game he had -- BotW. Also let me borrow the amibo that gave me Epona, which is a dumb thing to gate behind a glorified Funko pop, but that's another topic entirely.

I've finished the plateau and starting wandering around doing shrines and climbing towers and whatnot for a few hours. Last night I just made my way to the Zora's because they wouldn't fucking leave me alone about it, but that's when I realized that I am feeling nothing about this game. Not good, not bad, it's just filling time mostly. I know I haven't done any of the dungeons yet, which I now assume are the animal mechs, but...

Someone hype train this thing for me. Or dehype, I don't really care. Make me feel anything.

I wish I could, but I felt the same way and ended up putting it down and moving on.

The best part of BotW to me was climbing a mountain, jumping off, and gliding to some place that looked cool.

If that doesn't excite you I would probably deliberately push towards a beast, and if you still aren't digging it after beating one then just drop it because not all games are for all people

If you feel nothing now I honestly dont think that will change and this is coming from somebody who loved the game until I finished my first dungeon and then the game bored me to death

I mean you can get horses in plenty of places. It's just specifically Epona, which doesn't really belong in this Zelda universe and is a good horse but nothing fantastic.

I did jump off one cliff and fly to an island where it was like "I'm taking all your shit, forage this island and survive, gl"

Which was definitely the best stretch so far. I mean, I got whomped and will have to go back later when I have better health and stuff, but it was fun at least.

game is pretty mediocre >_>

I've tried twice to beat it. Farthest I got was finishing 3 beasts and having like 85% of the map done, but the world just feels so empty

If the exploration aspect isn't grabbing you then I don't know if you'll have a change of opinion, that's basically the main hook for the game IMO.

FFDragon posted...

I did jump off one cliff and fly to an island where it was like "I'm taking all your shit, forage this island and survive, gl"

Which was definitely the best stretch so far. I mean, I got whomped and will have to go back later when I have better health and stuff, but it was fun at least.

This is what makes the game so good in my book - the world is filled with weird stuff like this that you just can't possibly expect and stumble upon organically while exploring.

FFDragon posted...

I know I haven't done any of the dungeons yet, which I now assume are the animal mechs, but...

don't count on the dungeons to change your mind tbh

xp1337 posted...

If the exploration aspect isn't grabbing you then I don't know if you'll have a change of opinion, that's basically the main hook for the game IMO.

yep

I love it but if you weren't hooked by the time you jumped off tutorial plateau then you probably won't be

maybe finding some of the memories and going to kakariko might help you feel a bit connected lore-wise, but it's mostly the exploration that hooked me

Dungeons are the weakest part of the game. Finding really cool scenarios like that island is the best part. Unfortunately they don't happen often enough imo but I still enjoyed the game

I did the kakariko-tech lab-kakariko loop before I started wandering and it just made me mad storywise.

Because the game wants to have its 100 year time jump with zero real consequences since everyone is still alive anyway somehow. And even those who aren't (king) just force ghost their way into things anyway.

The great Plateau and the early exploration right after was one of my favorite parts of the ggame. If that didn't hit for you then I'm not sure anything else will, unfortunately.

You might get some fun out of trying to raid Hyrule Castle, even if you dont try to take on Ganon

What if Breath Of The Wild 2 was delayed to 2023...as a Switch 2 exclusive? :3

@Anagram @LinkMarioSamus

Yeah, at this point, you have a good sense of what the game is. It doesn't really change from here on, although I guess you could change how you're doing stuff and see if you like it better that way.

go ahead and drop it imo. game is much closer to bad than good so youre not missing much

if you want to finish it then just do the dungeons and the bare minimum shrines. not sure how long itll take though. and dungeons are actually one of the better parts of the game!

(note dungeons are still awful)

My favorite Zelda! If the exploration isnt fun for you, you probably wont like the game and should try to get Odyssey or something!

love the game, but if it's not clicking with you I don't see what'll change that

I second the you should get Odyssey comment. Super Mario Odyssey is incredible.

BotW is one of my favorite Zelda games, but it's ultimately a game about going places (as in 100% journey, not necessarily destination) and messing with physics systems. You do occasionally find things but the world is pretty sparse and if you're not having fun "wandering around doing shrines and climbing towers and whatnot" then the game doesn't have much more to offer you.

The folks bringing up Odyssey are right on though since that game has the polar opposite design philosophy of BotW and is a straight up barrage of joy.

colliding posted...

if you weren't hooked by the time you jumped off tutorial plateau then you probably won't be

I didn't particularly care for the Plateau but I loved the game by the end!

Flying off the plateau is when you truly feel your shackles are released which is the best part of the game. I still vividly remember jumping off the north end and landing on a horse I then tamed

I made it 8 hours in and dropped it. Nothing about it snagged my attention unfortunately. I play all games that get a certain amount of hype and usually love them and see why they get great reviews. But this onejust couldnt get worthwhile entertainment out of it. Needed more storyor somethingcouldnt put my finger on it.

I loved every second of BotW, but agree, if youre not feeling it by now, you probably wont. Either drop it outright or maybe come back to it another time and see if youre in the mood for it then.

I think the Divine Beast dungeons are pretty good, albeit short, but if you're not enjoying it now then it's not going to improve enough to be worth it. Also the Zora dungeon is the weakest anyways.

I do recommend making a beeline for Hyrule Castle and trying to make your way through it. By far the coolest and most fun thing I ever did was head straight to Hyrule Castle as soon as I got a horse. Nothing else compares.

I gave the game about 15 hours and was never enjoying myself. Wasn't even neutral honesty, was an active dislike.

Honestly shocked by how many people here are agreeing that you should move on. Guess people are finally cooling on it.

Nah people still praise the hell out of the game, but its very easy to tell somebody if they arent enjoying it from the first few hours that theyre unlikely to ever start enjoying it because of how the game is.

Hyrule Castle is friggin awesome that's for sure

Yeah, BOTW is still maybe my favorite Zelda (or #2 behind MM depending on how I'm feeling) but I'm also not going to pretend otherwise that if you're not enjoying the exploration aspect it probably isn't your kind of game. BOTW goes pretty much all-in on that and if it's not for you then you're probably not going to enjoy it.

Will be interesting to see how the BotW discourse changes after more people play/finish Elden Ring since it's also very much a game about exploration and yet the structure and content of it's world is lightyears away (and IMO beyond) what BotW has on offer. At the same time actually moving through BotW's world is still a pretty much unbeatable experience, that's definitely where it shines the brightest.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I gave the game about 15 hours and was never enjoying myself. Wasn't even neutral honesty, was an active dislike.

Honestly shocked by how many people here are agreeing that you should move on. Guess people are finally cooling on it.

Nah, it's still a fantastic game, but I'm not going to encourage someone to keep playing if they're not feeling it once they've reached the point where they can say they understand what the game is about.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I gave the game about 15 hours and was never enjoying myself. Wasn't even neutral honesty, was an active dislike.

Honestly shocked by how many people here are agreeing that you should move on. Guess people are finally cooling on it.

On the contrary, I think its one of the greatest games ever.

But I mean some people think Halo is one of the greatest games ever and I dont play shooters so Ive never been interested. You are allowed to not like genres and BotW is absolutely a genre unto itself (Well, at least until Elden Ring came out)

TIL Legend of Zelda invented open world sandbox games

I must have woke up in an alternate timeline where Rockstar games never existed...

GranzonEx posted...

TIL Legend of Zelda invented open world sandbox games

I must have woke up in an alternate timeline where Rockstar games never existed...

There is a gulf between BotW style open world and check your minimap and head towards the dot games

I hate most open world games. They feel like work

It sure feels like work when your prized weapons break every 5 minutes and you constantly have to look for more...

Or when you start the game and it forces you to spend a few hours walking a barren map at a snail's pace without any means of quickly covering distances or when it takes 10 minutes to climb a tower to sync your mini map that would take AssCreed characters 10 seconds

I guess LoZ also invented immersion and detailed environments so you don't have a need to consult a minimap to get around, it's a shame all those other open world games out there don't have that Nintendo magic lol

I mean thats exactly the point. Climbing a tower is the game. It isnt open world where you just walk up to 50 spots and things light up on your map for no reason. even the typical open world actions have gameplay behind them.

Its obvious you dont like the game, but Im glad it isnt full of open world side quest fluff.

GranzonEx posted...

TIL Legend of Zelda invented open world sandbox games

I must have woke up in an alternate timeline where Rockstar games never existed...

is this a joke about how the original Legend of Zelda invented open world games

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I gave the game about 15 hours and was never enjoying myself. Wasn't even neutral honesty, was an active dislike.

Honestly shocked by how many people here are agreeing that you should move on. Guess people are finally cooling on it.

I definitely haven't cooled on it at all, easily #2 game in the series on a tier far above the rest of the series

but if someone else isn't enjoying their time with it I'm not gonna lie and say it changes. a lot of my absolute favourite games aren't for everyone

masterplum posted...

There is a gulf between BotW style open world and check your minimap and head towards the dot games

I hate most open world games. They feel like work

I prefer the latter there. It doesnt bother me having maps, icons and going to the dot. BotWs freedom is the greatest strength it has, but also the greatest weakness because it means no region can really be any more challenging than the others. Well maybe second greatest weakness in the game itself because the first to me is being unbelievably massive and having extremely little of interest to find in the world. If youre wondering whats over that mountain or beyond the horizon its just more of the same emptiness 95% of the time.

It's littered with sidequests... it's just not listed as such but those shrines are sidequests...

An open world game shouldn't make it hard to traverse vast distances, shouldn't need you to catch your own horse. Climbing a tower shouldn't be so time intensive. Everything about BotW is designed to waste your time. That's everything an open world game shouldn't do. You get a car or horse within 5 minutes of the opening cinematics in GTA/RDR and then you can go do whatever you want in those games and never even have to interact with the story.

GranzonEx posted...

It's littered with sidequests... it's just not listed as such but those shrines are sidequests...

An open world game shouldn't make it hard to traverse vast distances, shouldn't need you to catch your own horse. Climbing a tower shouldn't be so time intensive. Everything about BotW is designed to waste your time. That's everything an open world game shouldn't do. You get a car or horse within 5 minutes of the opening cinematics in GTA/RDR and then you can go do whatever you want in those games and never even have to interact with the story.

....what...what even IS this take?!? I don't have time right now to unpack this...

Xiahou Shake posted...

Will be interesting to see how the BotW discourse changes after more people play/finish Elden Ring since it's also very much a game about exploration and yet the structure and content of it's world is lightyears away (and IMO beyond) what BotW has on offer. At the same time actually moving through BotW's world is still a pretty much unbeatable experience, that's definitely where it shines the brightest.

My thing with BotW's movement is that I don't think climbing and gliding are particularly fun on their own but the exploration can be. Being able to climb everything is a gamechanger, but once the joy and novelty wear off it's just another system. I've played games where the movement is more fun but BotW has a more sculpted game environment which is the real draw. Like...Arkham Knight has more fun gliding than BotW but if I could do Batman dives that totally changes exploration. Ultimately I think moving through BotW's game world still is entirely down to how you enjoy the world itself.

Haven't spent as much time with Elden Ring as Zelda but it's operating on a different axis with the same exploration principles. Your only movement tool is the horse but there's a surprising amount of dynamicism with it, with some similar situations as trying to outrun Guardians on Epona. Instead of climbing up mountains you are going down into dungeons and trying to find hidden nooks and crannies in a massive and dangerous world. Honestly, I said trying to storm Hyrule Castle underprepared was my favorite part of BotW and Elden Ring is a whole game of that.

Elden Ring is fear based exploration.

An Open World Terror Simulator (OWTS)

But then sometimes you find a Giant Turtle Pope with a silly hat.

I mean hey Breath of the Wild does that too! It's just a hot fish guy instead of a turtle pope. I haven't forgotten how when that game came out people lost their minds about how you could fuck off to the danger zone and get owned by a Lionel or whatever. People were calling it "the Dark Souls of Zelda" because we were still calling things "the Dark Souls of" everything else.

Truly, we have come full circle.

I wasn't super fond of BotW either. I liked the organic exploration of discovering new things, thought some of the shrines had neat puzzles, and thought the story was pretty good overall, but that's about it.

Everything inbetween is just not fun though. Combat got old after like 2-4 hours and then the game continues to completely flood you with exactly the same enemies for the entire length of it. The sheer amount of throw away shrines with 'test of strength' and the lack of depth on the Divine Beasts are just awful. Traveling around when not in a set-piece section isn't fun in any way and takes entirely too long (also, screw rain forever btw).

The game has some cool ideas I'd love to see adopted into other open world games but it has more misses than hits.

I fucking love Breath of the Wild but for me I was just immediately hooked by getting the parasail and realizing that I could just go fucking anywhere I want, like seeing a mountain off in the distance and being like 'yeah I want to go climb that' and then it takes like 20 minutes of travel to actually get to the point that I was able to see. Just jumping and flying and climbing around on shit, like, hell yeah. I think enjoyment of BotW totally hinges on whether or not that sparks joy for you even if there is no immediate reward or destination.

See that's the thing I felt that spark of joy of "see that mountain? go climb it" back in 2006 when Oblivion came out.

It's been in so many games at this point I'm just completely and utterly dead tired of it. I shouldn't need to spend 20 minutes literally doing nothing but picking a direction and holding forward through empty space (and no, scaling a mountain for the 300th time doesn't help, if anything its worse) to get to where the fun ACTUALLY is.

BotW is the first game that's ever really made going to a place fun for me - the world is just so beautiful and the parasail makes exploring really fun