-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
I dropped Breath of the Wild, I simply find it boring
- Thread starter Deleted member 8106
- Start date
I had an ulterior motive, I wanted to make BotW look better, you see.
I can see this but I categorize it I guess. As time goes on mechanics get better, controls get better, graphics and so on. So replaying games can many times make the experience worse when there are clearly better ways to do what a game did back then. That said when I experience something like that I can say ok it didn't age well, but I don't let that alter my initial opinion of the game when I first played it.
I love sonic, I love 3D sonic even. The adventure games were such special games for their time, put many many hours mastering them. But yeah I can see the major major flaws those games had. It's hard to play some of the levels now. But if someone asks me what you think of sonic adventure 1 and 2 I'm going to still say they were some of my favorite games.
I knew a thread that was remotely negative about a Nintendo game would turn into a shitshow, so I'm glad I wasn't disappointed. Lot of people here that seem personally upset at other people's opinions. Oh well.
I share many of the concerns the OP expressed but I'm hopeful a sequel will give everyone what they want. Let's just hope it's sooner rather than later.
I share many of the concerns the OP expressed but I'm hopeful a sequel will give everyone what they want. Let's just hope it's sooner rather than later.
Let's not pretend the same doesn't happen when positive threads about Nintendo games are made or when people try to express opinions that aren't negative in general. Trying to make it out as if it's only one side at fault is rather disingenuous
This thread seems pretty civilized from my perspective. Differing opinions doesn't mean negativity. I may not think the game is as great as some of you, but my and some others intention was never negativity. People who loved it presented their point and those who didn't gave theirs. There's nothing bad or negative about civil discourse.
That is very true, both sides dont take to the other very well, but that is the nature of the beast I guess.
On the other hand I only remember one side ddosing over a review score, the nintendo side is a little over zealous when it comes to botw I find. Not saying everyone who likes botw is like this, one rotten apple spoils the bunch, but I think I would have to go with botw for having the most staunch defenders this year. That probably comes with the "best game of all time" territory though.
But again ya, both sides need to chill, its supposed to be about discussion.
To be fair, DDoSing and death threats to reviewers have been a thing before Zelda reviews too. Gaming fans can often be obnoxious. It's an all around thing.
Oh sure and those are bad folk. But there are just as many, if not more, who make drive by posts, saying that the game sucks, is over-rated, got free passes, people who like it can't think critically, people don't like it as much as they say they like it (Yes, this is an actual thing people have tried to argue), etc. It's only natural that there will be people defending the game when there are claims like that. People are fine to hate the game or dislike it or whatever, I dislike a ton of games that most people adore, like The Last of Us or Mass Effect, but I don't go around making nonsensical posts like that like how a lot of folk seem to when it comes to bashing Nintendo games. If people could try to adequately discuss their points without talking down to those who disagree with them, the discussion would be a lot better but that never happens
Hey, I've seen reviews and sites get death threats for giving a game a 9 of all things...or for choosing a different game for GOTY. A lot of gamers who spend too much time online are kinda nuts
Ya, I see it coming from both sides, I just think its heightened by the status of the game this time around. And then Nintendo is more likely to be attacked for the sake of attacking because it isnt a usual 1st console pick since it lacks a lot of major 3rd party titles. If you get one you are getting it because you like Nintendo, so people who dont have one are going to attack it cause they cant even play it. Its just kind of the perfect storm especially coming off the wuu, and everyone was trashing on Nintendo during that time to the turnaround that was the switch. Hopefully people will calm down after awards season.
true, people are crazy
Yep, bingo. I don't think people are wrong for criticizing Nintendo a lot or the game, to be fair, as some of the criticism is more than warranted, considering the kind of company Nintendo is and the consoles they make, for better or for worse. I just feel that some get rather hyperbolic with theirs and that kind of ends of detracting from their argument. It's why I try to avoid airing my criticisms as fact or exaggerate them as I do genuinely want to discuss games without trying to talk down to anyone. I always feel kinda like a dick whenever I end up saying something that could come across as arrogant
Unfortunately, yeah. In all honesty, I was pretty disgusted at how some folk reacted to Jim Sterling's score. Some saw him as a rightful savior and others saw him as a devil. People paid too close of an attention to his score as opposed to his review. While I didn't agree with everything he had to say, I could see where he was coming from and understand why he felt the way he felt
I dont even mind the hyperbole as long as there is an actually well thought out argument that can lead to discussion about the game, some people just get too caught up in the "us vs them" mentality that they just kind of gloss over a lot of the arguments and take it as the person saying that this is how everyone should feel about it. People just need to take a step back and realize that everyone is speaking from a point of subjectivity and opinions can differ, its all about making an environment conducive to discussion whether its what we like or what we dont.
and ya, really thats just a problem with the numbering system in general, everyone has expectations going in rather than viewing the content of the review, they judge on score
Why would it be only natural that people feel the need to defend against claims made in silly drive by posts? Most people ignore them and know what they are - crap posts designed to elicit a certain reaction. It's only a few ppl who feel the responsibility to defend against all evil.
Well that is why the hyperbole is annoying for me. Often times, it's not paired with a reasonably well thought out argument. It's often just taking a specific thing they observed or felt, positive or negative, and exaggerating it to hell and back, which makes it hard for me take the argument seriously to begin with, even if there could be a few valid points. But, yeah, some folk do seem to feel that a subjective argument someone is making is being presented as fact, even when the person isn't even trying to imply that, and it only gets worse when people get into their fandoms or groups, so to say
Yeah, it's a genuine issue with discussing games. Some will use them as an objective truth, others will dismiss them, as people cherry pick what counts and what doesn't. It's kind of why I prefer it when reviewers don't give scores so people can discuss what the reviewer said as opposed to arguing about the number he gave
Sometimes the bulk of discussion is drive by posts or parroting the stuff that would usually be found in drive by posts.
Because those same drive-by posts end up pushing the discussion in certain directions or clutter threads. Seen it happen in several threads, regardless of the game, from Bloodborne to Zelda to the Witcher to Uncharted and so on
I have to agree. For all it does right, there are so many annoyances, nuisances, or boring elements that I just can't bring myself to turn the game on again. As is typical for Zelda, there's a barebones story, so there's no real hook to keep you going when other elements fall flat. Lack of an engaging score didn't help.
And it has to be reiterated - the weapons breaking so quickly + the amount of time you spend in menus doing things like cooking or swapping gear is just brutal.
So you have a short attention span. It's not the game. Otherwise our whole industry is doomed, right? For a game that's getting so many awards and got countless perfect scores. Tell me, what are those people smoking?
Not much later in the game, you'll wish they broke faster. My inventory is always full and I feel like a hoarder.
It definitely depends on the degree of hyperbole, like saying something is "trash" or "garbage", I dont think equates to calling something "bad". My larger point was more that people need to read posts for the real ideas behind something, when someone says something is bad they arent saying that it is objectively bad for everyone, but rather subjectively bad for just them. There really is no way imho to display something as fact because nobody can say something is objectively good or bad and everyone should be able to recognize that everyone speaks from opinion when talking about what is good or bad in games. That being said there is a level of respect that should be given when in discussions, so saying something is trash is just kind of going overboard. At the end of the day we are all here because we like games and discussing them is supposed to be fun.
You're not the only one but t claiming of double standards require production of receipts.
I prefer it when there's more variety between the movesets of weapons than what's in BotW, and I would rather have it so that movesets and unique effects give reasons to switch weapons before a durability system does. A lot of the time, the variety between weapons in BotW is from the amounts of attack power, and most of the strategy in choosing weapons could end up being to choose when to use or stock different attack power ratings. It didn't feel like there was a lot of variety between weapons because of that.
After having an inventory full of higher level equipment, the durability system didn't give a reason for me to use the weaker stuff, since it wasn't a problem to have the stronger types of weapons. If I wanted to use weaker weapons, it was for another reason like using the temperatures of the flame and ice swords for something. It mostly led to more inventory management that didn't need to be there, so I don't like how the durability system turned out.
Mostly, I still liked the game and didn't drop it before finishing it.
After having an inventory full of higher level equipment, the durability system didn't give a reason for me to use the weaker stuff, since it wasn't a problem to have the stronger types of weapons. If I wanted to use weaker weapons, it was for another reason like using the temperatures of the flame and ice swords for something. It mostly led to more inventory management that didn't need to be there, so I don't like how the durability system turned out.
Mostly, I still liked the game and didn't drop it before finishing it.
A bit of off-topic, in regards of Witcher 3.
I bought the GOTY edition during the Black Friday Sale and while I've gone on record numerous times in GAF and in here saying that I couldn't stand playing Witcher 3 for more than 10 minutes at most before, for some reason right now it clicks with me and I've been playing it non-stop for more than 40 hours-ish. Still level 15 and hanging out in Novigrad.
While I am playing it though, I am struck by the amount of "bad open world designs" littering the game, and how, despite being a game chock full of it, it's still managed to gain a reputation as one of the best games of all time for many. I am talking about designs that many would complain if they're in other games. Stuff like:
- How the game practically hand-holds you all the time by giving you dotted lines, icons on maps, etc etc, and a constant reminder of what you need to do under the minimap. Now, one might say, hey, you can turn off all the HUD and icons if you want! Sure, but if you do so, the game will literally stop functioning, as in you will be having a dysfunctional time playing it since the game doesn't do direction well--in quests, NPC simply stated "in the woods" or "west of here" with no clear direction, so if you don't turn on the icons/huds you'll be having a terrible time trying to find the exact location because the world simply isn't designed well in terms of giving the player proper direction.
- The amount of miscellaneous gameplay icons strewn around the map are incredible. On par perhaps with the worst of Assassin's Creed games, with the Notice Boards functionally works the same as Assassin's Creed's towers whereas once you visit them you will be given icons to visit for gameplay opportunities. It's just insane. Again, one might say that you don't have to visit all those icons, but so many diagrams/alchemy recipes/good equipment are locked behind those icons, so you'd be disbarring yourselves from so many things if you chose to ignore them, especially if you're playing on Deathmarch where every little new equipment/recipes/diagrams can help immensely with progressing smoothly.
- The amount of Witcher's Sense missions, oh man.... it's especially aggravating where you are expected to find a specific thing in a large circle and the game won't progress unless Geralt find/examine that specific stuff.... It's terrible quest designs, imo, and also an example of how adamant the game shackles the player in its intent to completely handhold him/her.
Etc etc.
Witcher 3 definitely sits on the high list for me because it has a large story that has encompassed so much until the 3rd game. And the 3rd game really does exposition well in 80% of the cases or so. The gameplay while good was never great because the skill tree is mostly useless. It's one of the worst trees I have ever seen, and they clearly didn't flesh it out right.
But hey when the HD project hits 5.0 it's even more of a gorgeous and beautiful world to be in. Gwent is good fun, and the overall aesthetic is brilliant. I still have not finished the DLC. I am waiting for Halk to get to 5.0 where he has redone a lot more stuff like Vanilla and added so much to the game's detail. Only a couple games come close to Witcher 3 modded. Some like Horizon and Origins surpass it in ways.
Beyond that I feel combat is decent. I never found it terrible on Deathmarch, I just wish difficulty and what not had better AI and the skill tree was actually useful outside of combat and signs for the most part. At no point did I ever feel like using bombs, crossbows, or any crafting stuff in my skill tree. It's pointless.
But kind of like BotW I love the game despite its flaws. But BotW stands out more to me because it's lacking any characters I actually care about, and its world seems infinitely less sophisticated than Witcher 3. I need more from Zelda in this regard. I really want that fantasy ghibli type story from them. They had it going with Wind Waker a bit, they just need to go beyond that.
Horizon has the best HUD in gaming, and Witcher 3 could have done better. What is there is decent, and you can turn things off with mods a bit. The game is so large though that you usually need to use your map a lot. IDK, it is serviceable, but yes Witcher 3 does also get boring. What keeps me going is the mature realism of the whole thing.
So I have a short attention span for not liking the fact that you have to spend time going through menus to drop stuff in a pot hundreds of times throughout the game? After a while it's just not fun and gets in the way of doing other things. I didn't insult people that like the game, so I'm not sure why you're insulting me.
This thread scares me. I've never been able to get into an open world game without an incredibly strong narrative pull to bring me along. Horizon is probably the first that I ever actually completed, and that was just mainlining the story with a few side quests for weapons and abilities. Skyrim, Fallout, Farcry, none of them have been able to capture my attention.
Nearly everyone loves BotW, And I love and have beaten every Zelda game other than 2. I WANT to play this, and I feel like I need to try, but I also fear that I'll just waste 60 bucks. (I'm sure it's better than Horizon, however there doesn't seem to be much of a narrative main quest line for me to follow...)
Should I give it a go? Will this be the one to change my view on open world games?
Nearly everyone loves BotW, And I love and have beaten every Zelda game other than 2. I WANT to play this, and I feel like I need to try, but I also fear that I'll just waste 60 bucks. (I'm sure it's better than Horizon, however there doesn't seem to be much of a narrative main quest line for me to follow...)
Should I give it a go? Will this be the one to change my view on open world games?
If what you value is a good story to go along to motivate you to do the adventure then this isn't true. Don't just assume HZD is not as good as Zelda just because the latter game is more hyped. I haven't played HZD myself yet and while I see Zelda's overworld exploration as superior HZD would very easily be a better game in my book for having better combat and an actual worthwhile story. Zelda is only good if you dig stuff like Minecraft and want to see it mixed with adventure and exploration in a world that feels quite alive and at times mysterious. Saying it's "mysterious" though irritates me as I write it, because I think the general tone of the game is way too saccharine.
Also, weirdly, Witcher 3 feels more like Zelda to me as in, the kind of Zelda-vibe I'm expecting since OoT or TP. It has these caves where the music shifts and is very reminiscent of dungeon music from Ocarina of Time. I've actually seen others claim TW3 has Zelda influences before. Anywhoo I couldn't be bothered to finish BotW after 20 hours of play. The dungeons really are the least interesting in the 3D series, the shrines can go shove right off in my book, and despite exploration feeling well done, I really lack a sense of adventure; of there being some sense of larger-than-life purpose and importance to the journey I take as a player. It just feels like meandering to me.
Have you ever 100%ed Wind Waker? How you felt about going out and exploring the non-story stuff in Wind Waker by your own initiative is probably a good barometer for how you'd feel about Breath of the Wild. Bear in mind that the marginal space is put to much better use in BotW than TWW's ocean purely by virtue of it having the same land-based traversal as the denser areas. But the kinds of stuff you find are like TWW's optional islands, except instead of being arranged in a uniform grid they're more organically integrated with the game's fields, mountains, forests, and ruins.
Don't expect a strong narrative out of this game; do expect a Zelda game that just has a bunch of space to explore and lots of things that might draw your attention away from the main quest if they catch your eye. The game isn't constantly throwing quests and dungeons in your face; it relies on your curiosity to draw you to the extras.
Last edited:
I agree with the OP. I didn't love BotW very much. I think a big problem for me was the lack of music and the open world. I am not a huge open world fan, and music is a critical part of gaming for me. For what it's worth I love Windwaker, Twilight Princess, LttP, Majora's Mask, Minish Cap, and OoT. I am happy for the series though that so many people love it.
BotW had some nice atmospheric pieces, but yeah, there should have been more music. And I don't know what they were thinking with those battle pieces.
Don't worry about it, OP. It happens. It's fine to not like a game that's generally popular. I didn't enjoy FF7 when I played it, to the point where I gave up and stopped playing before Disc 1 even finished.
Maybe put it down for a few weeks and try again. You might gain a new appreciation for it.
Maybe put it down for a few weeks and try again. You might gain a new appreciation for it.
No, I agree with you that they can improve cooking and inventory. Just in general, it is definitely not a boring game unless you really have a short attention span.
Create the same thread about Horizon and you'll get the exact same shit show. People are crazy over exclusive games.
I love both BotW and Horizon.
Fun is nice, but I also like seeing ideas challenged and discussion happen. Yes it is over something as trivial as a videogame, but it is still an opportunity for critical thought and introspection.
Like in this thread, there was a discussion about what is or isn't intellectual dishonesty. That kind of stuff is great. Of course when it is just people trying to score points or attacking each other or selling something, then it is rather shite.
I like to think though, that if people get used to having ideas challenged and thinking critically about something as inconsequential as disposable highly commercial videogames from billion dollar corporations, then they might be better able to do it when the stakes are real.
I beat wind waker way back at launch, I remember liking it, but I definitly didn't explore all the extra content and found it daunting. I think I get a bit of "analysis paralysis" I just end up feeling overwhelmed or something. It's hard to explain, and sounds kind of silly but yeah.
I love me some dark souls, and I don't give a hoot about the lore or story in those games, but the gameplay is relatively linear... I suppose I need a strong story or linear gameplay. Thanks for the response tho! The comparison to wind waker makes a lot of sense.
Last edited:
Interesting, I kept Witcher 3 at bay for the same reasons, too big of an open world, thinking i'd get overwhelmed for sure. But if it has a good main story to bring me through, I could definitely see myself giving that a shot in the future. I got about 1/2 way through the Witcher 2 before it lost me, however i'd assume CD Project Red has honed their craft some in the time since then, and ive certainly heard and read enough to think so as well. Improved combat and story, etc... But hearing it compared to Zelda is definitely an added attraction.
OP
OP
Well, I think this post is needed, I like to be honst and backstep on my mistakes, when possible. And this is a good chance to do it.
During the christmas holiday, since this thread generated a huge amount of replies, I decided to get back to Breath of the Wild. My friend wouldn't use his WiiU, since he was in vacation to his parents, so I asked him if he could lend me the console. My save was still here, and I decided to proceed. Many suggested here to try, at least, to defeat the first divine beast. And this is exactly what I did. I leaved the town with the scientist (the point in which I dropped the game for the first time) and I proceeded with the main quest only, doing shrines in the middle and activating towers to enable teleport. And...well, I liked the game. When I actually reached the first city, the Zora's one, I did the little quest to retrieve thunder arrows, and than I opened the way to the divine beast, and than I entered it to find a dungeon.
Many complains were about those dungeons being all the same, but for me, it was not a problem. What I found is a very well designed dungeon, the fact you need to rotate it to reach inaccesible sections (at first) was something new. And you also need to think, it's not just a matter of rotating stuff. It was a proper Zelda dungeon. I felt the vibe of past games' dungeons, and I liked it. The boss was nothing spectacular, quite a serviceable boss, but the story cutscenes were so good, I loved them.
And I decided to proceed. I did the Goron dungeon netx, the Gerudo and lastly the one with flying humanoid birds (can't remember the name), And I honestly liked all of them regardless, even if bosses were a bit disappoiting since they are not designed around an item which you need to use in order to defeat them like in the bast, but it's understandable.
After this, I got the Master Sword. I had exactly 13 hearts, since I read about it, and I think the Lost Woods iteration in this game is probably the best one of all Zelda titles. I really liked the mood, the graphics and the soundtrack in this area, it was something special.
Finally, I went to Hyrule Castle, finding some memories along the way. And reading some diary bits found in some rooms, and again the design of this area is awesome, it really feels like a desperate attempt to save the world the one Link is trying to achieve. Deadly machines everywhere which oneshot you (well, almost, since they left me with 1/4 of heart when they hit me), and suddently the last boss fight, which was quite epic.
When the ending credits rolled, I decided to go for all memories, since I loved the story so much. I think the 100 years gap is a really good narrative, even if abused, and the fact you don't know everything about what happened in the middle made it so engaging.
In the ending, now I understand why so many people love the game, and it totally deserves the GOTY award it won.
But still, there are also the issues I described in the first post (weapon durability, the stamina, the huge open-world with yeah, a lot of "empty" spaces in the middle, with nothing but enemies with some chests), but I passed over them very happily to be honest. I skipped pretty much every sides, if not some to gather enough money to power-up my Champion tunic at least once, and still I enjoyed the game a lot.
So this is, the apology post, but I think it was needed. I don't think this is, by far, the best Zelda game ever created, since I read many posts here describing it in that way, but for sure is one of the best Zelda. To make it better, in my opinion (and according to my taste), Nintendo should have make a smaller over-world, with much less weapons (with infinite durability, or at least an increased durability like Witcher 3 and the option to repair them, so you can stick with some weapons for the entire game), less shrines (the one I did were actually good, and some of them challenging: the first time I tried the game I found the few shrines I completed way too easy, but you will find even harder ones, which don't resolve in a couple of minutes, like the Blue Flame dungeon in example), and much more proper dungeons. But we can't rewrite history and talking about this is just pointless, the juice of this post is, if you don't like the game immediately, stick with it a bit more: if after the first Divine Beast (and so the first story bit) you still don't like it, it's good to drop it. Otherwise, you could change your mind like happened with me.
During the christmas holiday, since this thread generated a huge amount of replies, I decided to get back to Breath of the Wild. My friend wouldn't use his WiiU, since he was in vacation to his parents, so I asked him if he could lend me the console. My save was still here, and I decided to proceed. Many suggested here to try, at least, to defeat the first divine beast. And this is exactly what I did. I leaved the town with the scientist (the point in which I dropped the game for the first time) and I proceeded with the main quest only, doing shrines in the middle and activating towers to enable teleport. And...well, I liked the game. When I actually reached the first city, the Zora's one, I did the little quest to retrieve thunder arrows, and than I opened the way to the divine beast, and than I entered it to find a dungeon.
Many complains were about those dungeons being all the same, but for me, it was not a problem. What I found is a very well designed dungeon, the fact you need to rotate it to reach inaccesible sections (at first) was something new. And you also need to think, it's not just a matter of rotating stuff. It was a proper Zelda dungeon. I felt the vibe of past games' dungeons, and I liked it. The boss was nothing spectacular, quite a serviceable boss, but the story cutscenes were so good, I loved them.
And I decided to proceed. I did the Goron dungeon netx, the Gerudo and lastly the one with flying humanoid birds (can't remember the name), And I honestly liked all of them regardless, even if bosses were a bit disappoiting since they are not designed around an item which you need to use in order to defeat them like in the bast, but it's understandable.
After this, I got the Master Sword. I had exactly 13 hearts, since I read about it, and I think the Lost Woods iteration in this game is probably the best one of all Zelda titles. I really liked the mood, the graphics and the soundtrack in this area, it was something special.
Finally, I went to Hyrule Castle, finding some memories along the way. And reading some diary bits found in some rooms, and again the design of this area is awesome, it really feels like a desperate attempt to save the world the one Link is trying to achieve. Deadly machines everywhere which oneshot you (well, almost, since they left me with 1/4 of heart when they hit me), and suddently the last boss fight, which was quite epic.
When the ending credits rolled, I decided to go for all memories, since I loved the story so much. I think the 100 years gap is a really good narrative, even if abused, and the fact you don't know everything about what happened in the middle made it so engaging.
In the ending, now I understand why so many people love the game, and it totally deserves the GOTY award it won.
But still, there are also the issues I described in the first post (weapon durability, the stamina, the huge open-world with yeah, a lot of "empty" spaces in the middle, with nothing but enemies with some chests), but I passed over them very happily to be honest. I skipped pretty much every sides, if not some to gather enough money to power-up my Champion tunic at least once, and still I enjoyed the game a lot.
So this is, the apology post, but I think it was needed. I don't think this is, by far, the best Zelda game ever created, since I read many posts here describing it in that way, but for sure is one of the best Zelda. To make it better, in my opinion (and according to my taste), Nintendo should have make a smaller over-world, with much less weapons (with infinite durability, or at least an increased durability like Witcher 3 and the option to repair them, so you can stick with some weapons for the entire game), less shrines (the one I did were actually good, and some of them challenging: the first time I tried the game I found the few shrines I completed way too easy, but you will find even harder ones, which don't resolve in a couple of minutes, like the Blue Flame dungeon in example), and much more proper dungeons. But we can't rewrite history and talking about this is just pointless, the juice of this post is, if you don't like the game immediately, stick with it a bit more: if after the first Divine Beast (and so the first story bit) you still don't like it, it's good to drop it. Otherwise, you could change your mind like happened with me.