Is the tide of public opinion turning against BOTW?

[ZixlerBavala]

I can remember very few games that have received the amount of love that Breath of the Wild got last year. It was hailed by dozens of publications as one of the best games ever made, and the general public spared no praise as well. Taken by the hype, I bought a Switch just to experience it first hand: it didn't disappoint me in the slightest. Granted, it was my first Zelda game, so I couldn't have compared it to the other games in the series, but it blew me away. It's one of the most immersive sandboxes I've played and I honestly can't imagine that I'll play a better one in the near future.

It's surprising to see that so many people seem to be disappointed with it, when such dissenting opinions were unheard of last year.

I'll use this thread as an example, although it's not the first place where I've seen such opinions being voiced:

These aren't enough examples, of course, to say that the general public's opinion on BOTW has shifted since last year. It is representative of a small dissident minority that was nowhere to be seen in 2017, though.

Is BOTW's status as one of the best games of all time going to be retroactively questioned? In other words, has the honeymoon phase ended?

 

[ILikeFeet]

no

 

[Deleted member 2791]

no

 

[Deleted member 1413]

When you're the best selling game of your franchise and over 10M people have played it, you're going to have some people that don't like it.
No

 

[RROCKMAN]

no

 

[Deleted member 24118]

There were plenty of contrarian opinions in 2017.

 

[JCHandsom]

Nah, it'll always be considered a contender for GOTG.

 

[bottledfox]

No.

 

[wiggler]

hell no

 

[KoolAid]

pointing out a thread about disappointing games is dumb because those that liked it are not gonna speak on it

 

[Dary]

zeldacycle.jpg

 

[Pascal]

No

 

[Deleted member 2474]

Absolutely no.

 

[Jbone115]

Not any more than any other popular game. There's no such thing as a game that everybody likes, as seen by the posters the OP cited, but BOTW is clearly still a beloved game by many.

 

[SantaC]

It is great game, but the dungeons are weak.

 

[Platy]

If anything, that just means that a new zelda is coming =P

Thinking a zelda is bad when a new is coming is like standard zelda cycle. With time people will go back to BOTW is one of the best games ever

 

[DGenerator]

First off, ERA =/= "public opinion" at large. That's your first mistake.

Second, "let me cherrypick recent forum posts to present a thesis" is a misguided approach to prove anything, especially when people were negative about BOTW in 2017, as well.

 

[Raijinto]

No.

 

[TheMoon]

Don't be silly.

You're looking at quotes from a thread specifically asking for negative opinions.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

Era polls stay tenuous

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

Not everyone is going to like every game

 

[Imran]

Era has always had an axe to grind with the game. By and large people haven't changed their opinions of it. It still continues to sell remarkably well, stories about it tend to get a higher than average number of viewers, developers still hold meetings of what to do in a post-BOTW world.

The only place anyone talks about it as a disappointment is within the reactionary world of message boards.

 

[Neoxon]

I liked it then & I still do now, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

 

[Pimienta]

Lol no. Most games wish it had the legs it has. It hasn't left NPD lol

Resetera =! normal public. How many times does this have to be repeated.

 

[ghibli99]

No. In fact, I appreciate it even more now, after 300-ish hours. What is this obsession with trying to drag something down? You can love something, see its flaws, but still think it is wonderful.

 

[DrArchon]

I think it's the best Zelda game in ages, but I'm surprised more people didn't hate it when it 1st came out.

It's so unlike the previous games, you'd have to figure a bunch of people would be put off.

 

[Deleted member 13642]

I mean.. I think it's a boring, empty game that isn't worth playing. And I mean, the absolute poster child for overrated. But I don't think a ton of other people feel that way.

 

[Deleted member 31092]

What? No. GOTY 2017, game of the decade.

 

[Karu]

I played it for the first time in June.

Did not like it at all.

Tried again later.

Now I understand why most like it and I think aspects of it are truly masterful, but...

I still don't really like it.

 

[Richietto]

Have you seen how well BotW is still selling? The hype is still real and it's what you buy the system for easily (not that there isn't a ton of incredible software otherwise)

 

[snausages]

I dont really care about Zelda and I think Switch is a disappointing system but BOTW is one of the greatest games I've played.

 

[Much]

As with all games, people have their complaints and that's okay. Having not played BOTW, it certainly seems to get a lot of praise. I don't think that's changing.

 

[Invisible Cities]

It's the usual case where big fans jump in day-one, and more casual players get in later.

So the huge fans are always the initial reviewers and give the game a perfect score, and then reviews normalize lower as the wider audience gets to it.

You see this all the time with movies.

 

[goldenpp73]

I wish I could forget it and replay it again.

 

[AndreGX]

It's a very good and ambitious game with some significant problems. I feel the same now as I did when it released, and I look forward to a sequel that addresses its shortcomings.

 

[Edgar]

Same way public opinion turned against RDR, TLOU, Skyrim , W3, ME2, HL2.

 

[Enrico25]

ResetEra hates every game ever created. It's not just Breath of the Wild.

 

[SkyOdin]

No. The game's incredible legs for sales demonstrates that it is still exciting for the general gaming audience.

There is just a vocal minority who is really persistent in their complaints for some reason. There are always going to be detractors for any game though, so that's fine.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

the people who don't like it make a lot of noise

this "backlash" had already been in full effect last year and it still sweeped goty awards

 

[Deleted member 4093]

No, stop trying to manufacture some fake opinions

 

[blacktout]

No, this is just part of the natural process that follows the release of a great work. There's a period of widespread praise, then after the conversation moves on it's mostly the dissenters who still want to talk about it since they feel their perspective is underappreciated. And then, in a few years, it'll be talked about as a classic and people will find reasons to compare future Zelda games unfavorably to it.

 

[RespectThySole]

Point me to a game that everyone here likes OP. The game sold a lot so of course it's going to have a lot of people who dislike it just based on numbers

 

[Sylmaron]

The public opinion will always turn, it's a given. That said it was a very good game but not without flaws.

 

[NoKisum]

Isn't this with every Zelda game? The new one is trash, and the previous one is the GOAT. Then a newer game comes out and the "trash" is now GOAT.

 

[Imran]

The thing I love about the OP is the implication that everyone who loved it at the the launch (which was the vast majority of people) are slowly starting to realize they disliked it, apropos of nothing.

 

[Axisofweevils]

Nope. Still the best Zelda game. Completely deserving of all its praise. One of my top 5 games of all time.

 

[Jump_Button]

They are always some who think they too cool for something everyone else likes

 

[Zedark]

I think you just came upon an unlucky streak of people who don't like it. Everywhere I look BOTW gets huge amounts of respect and praise.

NPD threads are always a strange place with obscure opinions and arguments lol.

 

[Azzanadra]

Well I just got a Switch 2 months ago and was pretty disappointed myself, it wasn't what i wanted but I could see why so many loved it. I don't think public opinion is turning on it to be honest, just a handful of hardcore gamers on an enthusiast forums isn't indicative of larger public opinion.

 

[Deleted member 4976]

No.