Current Events > Breath of the Wild is still a masterpiece.

(+) Yeah! (+)

CE is a very jaded place - I once posted a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard song that was like a Turkish-inspired club song, and somebody told me that it was the worst song they'd ever listened to. That was probably the most direct negative feedback I've ever gotten over something so pointless.

And CE is especially jaded about stuff like Breath of the Wild. Mario Odyssey, too. But that's a topic for another time - nothing has gotten such a weirdly bitter reaction like Breath of the Wild.

I just picked the game up again for the first time in four years, and it still holds up. It's a masterwork of the open world sandbox genre, the open world looks lush and gorgeous to this day and they nailed the quiet, contemplative tone that comes with the juxtaposition between the thriving, natural, green world and the bones of the conquered civilization that it sprang up around.

The openness of the setting is unmatched, too. You can go anywhere. You can climb anything. This is the most open that an open-world game has ever been, the only unreasonable video game progress gates are around the play area and in a handful of areas like the Hyrule Woods. Nobody has been able to capture that unrestrained feeling, that freedom to go anywhere you want, like Breath of the Wild has. The game is almost six years old, and nothing has really approached its level of freedom or polish since.

I understand that people feel like there's nothing to do, but to me? What you do is play. You explore, you try shit out, you tinker and run and explore. This game captures that feeling of "play" that other games lack. I can respect if you feel like it lacks focus, but the lack of focus is absolutely, without question, the point of the game. And it excels because of it.

Like I don't think I understand how someone could play this and just go "ehh, mid game". I can respect that someone feels that way, but I don't understand it. Even in the face of a direct competitor like Immortals: Fenyx Rising, BotW stands out for its quality. Its stripped back nature and gentle, encouraging sense of freedom makes Breath of the Wild a truly inimitable game, and I do genuinely still believe that it's a masterpiece.

I bounced off it rather quickly.

Only Zelda game I actually really liked was Wind Waker, tbh. >_>

BotW is a game I could have liked if not for its more tedious elements, which almost feels more frustrating in a way than it would have if the game were just flat out bad. (Even if I did like it though, I still wouldn't think it's a good Zelda game -- it deviates too much from the core Zelda experience for me to really regard it like one. Same feeling I had about A Link Between Worlds.)

My "bitterness" mainly comes from the fact that this was pretty much the title I got a Switch for, which made it feel like a big wasted investment at the time once I realized how I really felt about the game. It took some time afterward, but the Switch library eventually expanded enough to the point I at least don't feel like getting it was a waste anymore.

Meh

Mario Odyssey is amazing and BotW is average and I don't even mind the weapon breaking system I actually like it

I tried to climb a rock but it started raining.

Masterpiece? More like master piece of shit!

...jk I always go straight for the Sheik costume and play the rest of the game as a ninja/rogue it's so good

I vastly prefer other Zelda titles, to be honest. But anyway, to each their own.

I put maybe 30 hours into it at first, didn't finish it, and was kinda lukewarm on it at the time.

I've since put another 60 hours in. It's a special game, with a sense of discovery that nothing else I've played can match.

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.

Delta_Force posted...

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.

A lot of the games don't even feature the Master Sword or have it as entirely optional.

Breath of the Wild gets boring fast

I only own sony consoles so Ive never played a zelda game if i ever get a Nintendo system i will try some zelda games

I remember starting it and playing for about 15 hours and really liking the cooking mechanic. Then never picking the game up ever again. It's like Assassin's Creed Odyssey with worse combat, dialogue, and graphics.

lennethsoki posted...

A lot of the games don't even feature the Master Sword or have it as entirely optional.

A lot of games don't feature Ganon as the main villain, what's your point?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

The song is called Intrasport

One thing I really appreciated is the smooth and responsive controls. It's fitting given he climbs everything, but Link parkours through this world - it's the first time he's felt almost as nimble as Mario. I played Witcher III a couple years after BotW, and in comparison, Geralt controlled like he was burdened with cement shoes.

It's not CE only, every popular thing is going to have very vocal detractors. BOTW isn't for everyone. Open world especially is going to be a very mixed bag for people.

I think it's one of the best games I've ever played. The Zelda series as a whole can do no wrong in my opinion. Every title I've played has been very good, if not great.

it is still the best open world game imo.

It's a good game that got BTFO'd twice in the same week it came out

Weapons Breaking holds the game back so very much

Oh it's a piece all right.

Everyone's allowed to be wrong about some things

BotW aka Nintendo ran out of good ideas and is just riffing on open world games

YoBlazer posted...

One thing I really appreciated is the smooth and responsive controls. It's fitting given he climbs everything, but Link parkours through this world - it's the first time he's felt almost as nimble as Mario. I played Witcher III a couple years after BotW, and in comparison, Geralt controlled like he was burdened with cement shoes.

It was so refreshing having an open world game that actually felt free. Like I literally can climb the mountain and not awkwardly run up it on the right angles and hope the character doesn't slip down it like they're standing on a slippery slide.

Most open world games are so rigid with what you're actually allowed to do and often forget to make the act of actually moving and exploring an open world fun. That's the fundamental thing that BOTW gets right.

Billyionaire posted...

BotW aka Nintendo ran out of good ideas and is just riffing on open world games

Eh, I'd say that it even helped further expand what people would expect in open world games.

I love the physics in the game. Its one of my favorite parts. I also love turning the map off and just going in any direction. You're not completely blocked off by barriers like in most games. Anywhere you want to go, you go.

I love Breath of the Wild and I won't say its the best game ever because I prefer older Zelda games over it but it was fantastic.