I just finished BOTW, and it's the first Nintendo game I've played in many, many years.
In the beginning it took a couple of hours to get into it, but once I got to Kakariko I was HOOKED. I couldn't wait to come back and continue exploring, having those little joys with the regular new discoveries the game gave you. I couldn't wait to get to the next area and the next villages.
For the next 50 hours or so I continued to stay hooked, but then after I was 2 divine beasts in and had done half the map, the wonder really started to wear off. The joys become fewer and fewer, with longer and longer periods of struggling to stay engaged while I waited for something new to happen. The game unfortunately started to become a drag for these long periods.
I've seen a lot of fuss about how BOTW is the best open world ever etc. but honestly I started to dread reaching new towers. It may not reveal loads of map markers like other open world games, but it effectively did the same thing by revealing all these named locations that you would have to go to and trundle around while looking for something interesting. For me it didn't really escape the open world trappings that people claim to hate so much.
Usually the only thing waiting for you at these locations was yet another repetitive af Korok "puzzle" (that's being generous). Very occasionally you would find an actually novel area.
After the last divine beast I'd had enough suffering through wandering around aimlessly and just wanted the game to be over. Now, you could say that I brought this upon myself by exploring unnecessarily, but the problem is you don't always know which areas will have something interesting before you actually get there. I'm also the type of person to want to see everything the game has to offer. To the game's credit it does a decent job of directing you to some of the most interesting places through dialogue.
In the end I got 130 hours out of the game and I guess I only left with 3 areas unexplored, so maybe I don't have a right to complain, but looking back for the second half many of those hours weren't very enjoyable. I really wish there had been more of a story to hook me in, and the main quest was strangely unfulfilling. I also feel like having more complex side quests that really expanded upon the lore/characters would have made the exploration really rewarding.
I don't regret playing BOTW (and it's still a great game), but I should have just stuck rigidly to only the central POIs, occasionally venturing out to see the obviously different places on the map.
In the beginning it took a couple of hours to get into it, but once I got to Kakariko I was HOOKED. I couldn't wait to come back and continue exploring, having those little joys with the regular new discoveries the game gave you. I couldn't wait to get to the next area and the next villages.
For the next 50 hours or so I continued to stay hooked, but then after I was 2 divine beasts in and had done half the map, the wonder really started to wear off. The joys become fewer and fewer, with longer and longer periods of struggling to stay engaged while I waited for something new to happen. The game unfortunately started to become a drag for these long periods.
I've seen a lot of fuss about how BOTW is the best open world ever etc. but honestly I started to dread reaching new towers. It may not reveal loads of map markers like other open world games, but it effectively did the same thing by revealing all these named locations that you would have to go to and trundle around while looking for something interesting. For me it didn't really escape the open world trappings that people claim to hate so much.
Usually the only thing waiting for you at these locations was yet another repetitive af Korok "puzzle" (that's being generous). Very occasionally you would find an actually novel area.
After the last divine beast I'd had enough suffering through wandering around aimlessly and just wanted the game to be over. Now, you could say that I brought this upon myself by exploring unnecessarily, but the problem is you don't always know which areas will have something interesting before you actually get there. I'm also the type of person to want to see everything the game has to offer. To the game's credit it does a decent job of directing you to some of the most interesting places through dialogue.
In the end I got 130 hours out of the game and I guess I only left with 3 areas unexplored, so maybe I don't have a right to complain, but looking back for the second half many of those hours weren't very enjoyable. I really wish there had been more of a story to hook me in, and the main quest was strangely unfulfilling. I also feel like having more complex side quests that really expanded upon the lore/characters would have made the exploration really rewarding.
I don't regret playing BOTW (and it's still a great game), but I should have just stuck rigidly to only the central POIs, occasionally venturing out to see the obviously different places on the map.
