Yeah, this is another gushing thread about BotW because the game freaking deserves it and I only played it now. I also expect this game to continue to be praised for many years to come so I guess people will have to deal with it.
One common discussion regarding the Zelda games is whether the next entry in the franchise will reach or even surpass Ocarina of Time. Many say that it would be impossible, times are different, you can't ever quite recreate that moment again. My take is, well, BotW just did it.
OoT is regarded as one of the best videogames of all time because it had it all. The timing was right, it was the first 3D game in the franchise right at the time the industry was shifting to polygons and it ended up doing lots of things for the first time and influencing other games for many years, its targeting system is probably replicated by lots of games even today. So it was a game that not only had an insane amount of polish and quality, it was novel. I think it was that combination of doing something very fresh and potentially hugely influential and also executing it perfectly that put OoT on the pedestal it is, and it was earned.
This is why I think BotW is another OoT moment. For starters, it represents a huge leap in the franchise. After OoT we've had two styles of Zelda, 3D and 2D, and after BotW we will probably have a third style, open world Zelda. Second, it might not look that novel at first glance since open world games are abundant, but other games had also had 3D environments at the time, but none did it quite like OoT, and sure as hell no one has done open world like BotW did. It twists and perfects the concept to a point that it feels fresh and makes it hard to go back to other games that aren't like it.
On top of that, the game is magnificently executed. It is incredible when you look back and think that this was this team's first open world game. They didn't gradually reached this level of quality, they just started from scratch and totally nailed it first time. What is most impressive is that their last console game was freaking Skyward Sword, a game that is the diametric opposite of BotW. You could do a meme about it, Aonuma one day randomly hearing about open world games and being like "ok, hold my beer".
Many people will say the game has lots of flaws to be considered perfect, but I don't agree. BotW's quirks do not hold it back from shining, and for most of them I can completely understand why they did it like that. Weapon durability, lack of full fledged dungeons, they might be a deal breaker for some but I don't think anyone can deny they make sense, they are coherent to what the game is trying to do. I consider these not flaws per se, but just room for improvement. They are doing a sequel now and I'm pretty sure they will address these point in unexpected ways that we didn't even know we wanted, but we do. I doubt Aonuma will deal with the dungeon issue simply by putting old style dungeons in the game, I'm sure they will come up with another solution that will feel classier and better and still coherent with the game's intent.
So yeah, all things considered, I'm advocating BotW did reach OoT level, and will always be remembered as an influence and a high point for this industry. The mission seemed impossible, but I say they did it. Kudos, Zelda team.
One common discussion regarding the Zelda games is whether the next entry in the franchise will reach or even surpass Ocarina of Time. Many say that it would be impossible, times are different, you can't ever quite recreate that moment again. My take is, well, BotW just did it.
OoT is regarded as one of the best videogames of all time because it had it all. The timing was right, it was the first 3D game in the franchise right at the time the industry was shifting to polygons and it ended up doing lots of things for the first time and influencing other games for many years, its targeting system is probably replicated by lots of games even today. So it was a game that not only had an insane amount of polish and quality, it was novel. I think it was that combination of doing something very fresh and potentially hugely influential and also executing it perfectly that put OoT on the pedestal it is, and it was earned.
This is why I think BotW is another OoT moment. For starters, it represents a huge leap in the franchise. After OoT we've had two styles of Zelda, 3D and 2D, and after BotW we will probably have a third style, open world Zelda. Second, it might not look that novel at first glance since open world games are abundant, but other games had also had 3D environments at the time, but none did it quite like OoT, and sure as hell no one has done open world like BotW did. It twists and perfects the concept to a point that it feels fresh and makes it hard to go back to other games that aren't like it.
On top of that, the game is magnificently executed. It is incredible when you look back and think that this was this team's first open world game. They didn't gradually reached this level of quality, they just started from scratch and totally nailed it first time. What is most impressive is that their last console game was freaking Skyward Sword, a game that is the diametric opposite of BotW. You could do a meme about it, Aonuma one day randomly hearing about open world games and being like "ok, hold my beer".
Many people will say the game has lots of flaws to be considered perfect, but I don't agree. BotW's quirks do not hold it back from shining, and for most of them I can completely understand why they did it like that. Weapon durability, lack of full fledged dungeons, they might be a deal breaker for some but I don't think anyone can deny they make sense, they are coherent to what the game is trying to do. I consider these not flaws per se, but just room for improvement. They are doing a sequel now and I'm pretty sure they will address these point in unexpected ways that we didn't even know we wanted, but we do. I doubt Aonuma will deal with the dungeon issue simply by putting old style dungeons in the game, I'm sure they will come up with another solution that will feel classier and better and still coherent with the game's intent.
So yeah, all things considered, I'm advocating BotW did reach OoT level, and will always be remembered as an influence and a high point for this industry. The mission seemed impossible, but I say they did it. Kudos, Zelda team.
