• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Legend of Zelda A Bit Dissatisfied With Breath of the Wild

sijon

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 18, 2015
Messages
667
Location
Canada
So I recently finished playing BOTW and although I had a great time with it, I can't help but feel it leaving a bad taste in my mouth. It was by no means a bad game, in fact it did a lot of things right in my opinion such as having specific armor you must wear in certain environments, combat elements like parrying and perfect dodge and a beautiful environment in which you are free to explore. Now the issues? Well, let my explain my opinion on the game.

First off, the game has, in my opinion, very weak story telling, at least compared to other titles in the series. We all know that Nintendo and the gang are very capable of creating interesting, engaging stories that make the player want to continue playing, digitally flipping the page, if you will. But for BOTW? It almost feels more of a task rather than being the legendary hero to save the world. Now this was problem was probably due to the writer (Akihito Toda I believe), not that I could write any better, in fact I am probably the least creative person ever to be quite honest haha. But compare it to 3D classics such as OOT and MM, Wind Waker or even Twilight Princess for example. What do they have in common? Engaging, interesting stories that make the concept of the game seem like it has a point. Even being in different timelines, the games still show how they relate to other story-lines from other games, making it feel all the more "legendary" and heroic. BOTW sadly, at least for me, just didn't give that same feeling. Maybe it did in its own way, maybe you people here may know something I don't that makes it's story somewhat competent, in which case feel free to let me know. But from my experience, it just didn't provide well in that aspect.
Now, enemies and combat, probably one of the games biggest strength and weakness in my opinion. It did so many things right, yet it still had many flaws. The games lack of enemy variety really makes exploring the world and different areas seem boring and repetitive. Everywhere you go, Bokoblin, Moblin, Chuchu and Lizalfos, with the occasional Keese and Stal variants of said enemies. Now, with that said, there are also plenty of interesting monster which you can find such as the Lynels, Talus, Hinox/Stalnox, Guardians and Molduga, all being relatively challenging and fun to fight. But eventually even these start becoming stale, and in some ways very easy. Attacks can easily be predicted and lack of different patterns or sequences in attacks make the combat almost purely memorization that true skill and reaction. What once was one of the harder enemies for me, the Lynel become a mere overworld enemy after around a half hour of fighting them and learning their patters, Eventually, the only way to get more of a challenge was to use weaker or no armor at all, which that too got stale as well. What annoys me more was no return of awesome enemies and minibosses such as Iron Knuckle or Darknut, which would be really fun to fight, as if they weren't already. It just seems like such a waste.

As for combat, well it alright, its certainly not something to write home about, especially since we had pretty competent combat systems already developed in say, TP or WW, heck even OOT. But by 2017, I was hoping we would see a good mix of what made the combat systems great. For example, in Twilight Princess, the hidden skills you could unlock made combat so much more interesting. It made you feel engaged in the game play, wanting to find more abilities to be the "ultimate swordsman". Part of what made TP combat interesting was that you had to learn and know when to use your abilities, such as the shield bash, helm splitter, jump slash and one of my personal favorites, the back slice. Each ability had its own uses, advantages and disadvantages in combat. Now add that to the already unique combat system of BOTW, and it would it make it so much more interesting, rather than just mashing "Y" and waiting to dodge or parry.
And lastly, the overall feel of the game, the environment. I cant be the only one that feels that such a vast, beautiful world was put to waste. So much room to run, but nothing to do or explore. I guess it gives it that relaxing, atmospheric tone, but even that gets old, especially in a game where after about 10 hours in, have experienced pretty much everything it has to offer. There are plenty of places to explore such as caves, lakes, mountains, even ruins of Hyrule itself (there are even ruins of Lon Lon Ranch, iirc). But what is the most you can get after exploring? A few mediocre weapons that you can probably find somewhere else. Perhaps a few rupees, that's about it. Not only that, the have almost little to no relevance whatsoever to the story, being an overworld paperweight if you will. You spend time exploring, only to be disappointed that it has nothing more to offer. Games like OOT, had things like this too, don't get me wrong, but it added that sense of mystery, and in some way, related to the story. Once again, BOTW just didn't fill that gap, that one major piece that made Zelda games awesome, the sense of mystery and discovery.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that, although I like BOTW, I can't help but feel like it was rushed, acting more of gimmick, a mere marketing strategy, perhaps to reel people into buying the Switch (which fortunately for me, I only got the Wii U version), especially after how hyped up it was. After around 5 years of waiting, after the E3 Zelda demo, I guess, I just expected more, especially considering all the aspects from previous titles that could have been implemented into this game. Well, I guess that's what makes each game unique and fun in their own way. Just like Smash, each game has it's own merits and drawbacks, its all up to our individual taste to discern from what is "good" or "not"

Well that's enough of me talking, I feel like sweaty idiot for having composed such a rant, but oh well, what more is there to do in the Summer anyway. Anyways, what do you guys think? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Do you think I could have been more in clear in certain parts? Let me know, i'm interested in hearing any of your thoughts :)
Thanks.

:link:
 
Last edited:

Vlade

Social Outcast
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
4,043
Location
Perth, Western Australia
I'm still playing through the game so haven't expanded your spoilers but I'm REALLY enjoying the game so far. It IS very different from all the other 3D Zelda games so I can understand that being a factor as to why people don't enjoy it.
 

sijon

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 18, 2015
Messages
667
Location
Canada
I'm still playing through the game so haven't expanded your spoilers but I'm REALLY enjoying the game so far. It IS very different from all the other 3D Zelda games so I can understand that being a factor as to why people don't enjoy it.
It is definitely a fun game, and I did enjoy it, don't get me wrong. But it just bugs me that they didn't implement what made the other Zeldas so good. I guess in a way, it makes each game unique and lets us play each game with a different experience, so thats good.
 

Arcadenik

Smash Legend
Joined
Jun 26, 2009
Messages
14,152
NNID
Arcadenik
I have not played BOTW since June. I already spent well over 350 hours on this. I'm pretty much done with it. It's a good game despite the flaws you pointed out.

I just wish that they included more human towns instead of too many stables.

The human towns are Kakariko Village, Hateno Village, Lurelin Village... that's it? Stables could have been villages. For example, East Akkala Stable (northeast stable with the blue lanterns) could have been Akkala Village.
 
Top Bottom