Poll of the Day > Finally playing through Breath of the Wild.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I do want to give my two cents about when to do the final boss:

Only do the final boss when you feel you are ready to put the game down for a while.

I don't know if everyone or anyone had the same reaction that I did, but I did the final boss, reloaded my file, and just had ZERO motivation to do anything else. I did do a lot of exploring, 100+ shrines (not all 120 though), and maybe 200 korok seeds. I did a bunch of side quests and other random stuff too. But once I beat the boss, I turned it off and haven't turned it on since.

It has nothing to do with the quality of the game, mind you. I spent 100+ hours on it. But I think what kept me going is knowing that I still had the final boss left to do.

But as I mentioned, my motivation to return just dissipated after finishing the boss.
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Found the 12 memories!

Hmm, I was more of the opposite. Normally I don't like to continue playing a game on the same save after I beat the final boss, but BotW was an exception. I was trying to avoid any impressions and spoilers for the game, but I wanted to be able to get involved with those discussions while they were still hot (as usually I'm super late to the party on any game), so there was a point where I decided I should just finish it up.

I also didn't have as much stuff done as you, though. I think I was around 70-80 shrines, 100 Korok seeds and much fewer than 100 hours when I beat the boss. When I did eventually stop playing, I was much closer to your numbers - 125 hours, 200 Korok seeds and all 120 shrines, so I could see why you didn't have a big urge to continue.

At the pace TC is going, I don't think he'll be burnt out on the game by the time he beats it, but he also doesn't seem very interested in side stuff, so I'd be surprised if he continues playing after the boss.

There's a thirteenth???????

Blahhhh. At least this one is nearby.

I can't believe you did all the memories when you only have like... 25 shrines and one divine beast by my last count? Such an odd way to pace the game. Now I'm guessing you're going to go do all the remaining divine beasts in a row.

Are you at least exploring things along the way as you go to these memories? I fear that you're probably just looking them up at this point and heading straight to them without bothering to see what's in the area. I know I was pretty late to activate all the towers, as I felt like it was easier to get a good amount of coverage of each area that way. Once you get too much of the map, you can't tell the regions apart and it's hard to keep track of what all you've already explored. That's something the shrines also help with, but you seem to have given those a low priority.

I know I should probably stop telling you how to play the game, but I can't help it *shrug*

Criticism is appreciated.

I have 27 shrines, 1 beast, and 12 memories, currently looking for the thirteenth.

The way I've been playing is trying to go to all the towers so I can get all the regional maps, and stopping at a shrine if I came across it. The visual clues in the photos helped out a lot, especially the ones with the castle in the back, or the really obvious ones like the horse statue. Some I came upon accidentally like the praying place near Robbie's. it still took a few days, but whatever. It's done.

The most important part of a video game, to me, is the story, and that's what I'm getting done. Everything else is secondary.

TC, which towers have you gotten so far?

Or describe the regions you haven't gotten the map for, if that's shorter.

I'll tell you in a few minutes when I start playing again.

I don't have the top-middle section (West of Eldin) explored at all, or the middle left (north of Gerudo).

PurpIePerson posted...

I don't have the top-middle section (West of Eldin) explored at all

Try to remedy that...

PurpIePerson posted...

The most important part of a video game, to me, is the story, and that's what I'm getting done. Everything else is secondary.

Do you mean literally the story or do you mean the main quest? Because playing a game like BotW for the story is a mistake. Hopefully you'll do a fair amount of secondary stuff, but if that is the case I don't see why you would rush to do the memories first. It's not like the memories will go away if you don't do them immediately

I don't think I understand the difference between main quest and story? They're usually the same thing, no? You do the quest to advance the story. The memories were them the story of Zelda and Link and the rise of Ganon, now I'm continuing the story by playing through the beasts, and then I'll wrap up the story by beating ganon (unless there's something else that comes up in the middle of all of that, but I doubt it). If I still want to play after all that, I'll probably do side-quests, and then after that, finish shrine hunting.

"Main quest" as in both story and gameplay. When you said you play games for the "story", I didn't know if you meant you were strictly just interested in the narrative, cutscenes, etc. or if you cared about the gameplay too.

I can sort of identify with wanting to just play the main quest in most games, though I don't play a lot of open world games. When I started playing BotW I felt like it wouldn't be good for me to approach it that way. Of course, Zelda games in general have always been a bit of an exception for me in that approach. I don't think that people who are mainly interested in the main quest of a game are really the target audience for open-world games.

Ah, just the story then. I like that video games are interactive, but I'd really prefer more of an interactive movie approach than most games give (that's probably why the Metal Gear series is one of my favorites). If there's a game that's getting good reviews and I'm interested in it, I'm way more likely to watch the cutscenes online somewhere than actually play it.

I am definitely not the target audience of this game lol.

You're killing me

PurpIePerson posted...

Ah, just the story then. I like that video games are interactive, but I'd really prefer more of an interactive movie approach than most games give (that's probably why the Metal Gear series is one of my favorites). If there's a game that's getting good reviews and I'm interested in it, I'm way more likely to watch the cutscenes online somewhere than actually play it.

I am definitely not the target audience of this game lol.

Luckily for you, the trends towards everything essentially being Dragon's Lair is still ongoing.

DorkLink posted...

You're killing me

Gameplay is story filler. Usually. There are some big exceptions.

Questionmarktarius posted...

PurpIePerson posted...

Ah, just the story then. I like that video games are interactive, but I'd really prefer more of an interactive movie approach than most games give (that's probably why the Metal Gear series is one of my favorites). If there's a game that's getting good reviews and I'm interested in it, I'm way more likely to watch the cutscenes online somewhere than actually play it.

I am definitely not the target audience of this game lol.

Luckily for you, the trends towards everything essentially being Dragon's Lair is still ongoing.

Don't know what you mean.

PurpIePerson posted...

Don't know what you mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-dg4J9_nes
That was back in 1983.

PurpIePerson posted...

Gameplay is story filler. Usually. There are some big exceptions.

Big exceptions such as almost all of gaming? Maybe you predominantly play games where what you said is true, but we've already established that you've got a pretty narrow perspective on gaming. Generally, it's almost the opposite that is true most of the time. A story in games is just an excuse that serves the gameplay.

And if you really care that much about story, you probably shouldn't play games at all because even the more story-driven ones tend to be pretty weak compared to other means of storytelling

DorkLink posted...

PurpIePerson posted...

Gameplay is story filler. Usually. There are some big exceptions.

Big exceptions such as almost all of gaming? Maybe you predominantly play games where what you said is true, but we've already established that you've got a pretty narrow perspective on gaming. Generally, it's almost the opposite that is true most of the time. A story in games is just an excuse that serves the gameplay.

And if you really care that much about story, you probably shouldn't play games at all because even the more story-driven ones tend to be pretty weak compared to other means of storytelling

yeah, that's what I'm saying. imo, gameplay usually just gets in the way of storytelling, and that's most definitely why I very rarely play games lol. I'm not the gaming type/

Some video games have great stories though, and they're fun to watch and not play through. Some stories are so good that they're worth playing (Kingdom Hearts and OoT, for example). Metal Gear is the only series I know that gets it nearly perfect almost every time. Or like, I know it doesn't really count, but the walkaround games in Homestuck are great fun. It's literally just walking around talking to people, learning stories and legends and maybe fighting the occasional monster that dies in a hit or two.

The big exception I was talking about, though, is when a game doesn't have a big story at all. I've never played it, but I've seen walkthroughs of Shadow of the Colossus, and that game is obviously not meant to be played for the story, more for the scenery and atmosphere, so there's very little story to begin with. Or demo games like Linger in Shadows.

anyway, update.

Found the 13th memory, piece of cake. I'd already been through that section of the map and had a pretty good idea of where it was. Found the spot in maybe 10 minutes.

With all memories found, I'm now making my way to do the Divine Beasts. I went to the desert, got some girl clothes with the money some guy gave me to talk to a fairy (which I'll probably try to do when I finish this beast), snuck into town, talked to the princess or whatever, nabbed a sand seal, got to the hideout, and then I stopped. Kinda hyped about this, tbh.

Anywho, I dunno if I actually want any of you to answer, but the Master Sword keeps being brought up. Can I just go get that whenever? Just explore some forest areas until I find it? Is the Master Sword breakable <_< I don't want to get it and then break it fighting regular monsters on my way to the fourth beast or something.

Can I just go get that whenever?

You can find it whenever, but can't actually pull it until you have 12 hearts.

Is the Master Sword breakable

It works basically like all the other weapons but when it "breaks" it just activates a cooldown period where you can't use it for a while until it recharges.

that's a solid reason to go shrine hunting. I think I have 9 hearts right now. It'll be ten after this beast (assuming I heart like last time). eight shrines, a great fairy adventure, and a sword quest before my next beast seems like fun.

Actually you need 13 hearts to get the Master Sword, hence my comment on min # of shrines + 4 divine beasts, if you bothered to do the math (or more shrines and less beasts).

Also, pretty sure there's a memory locked behind retrieving the Master Sword that counts towards getting the full ending, which is why I kept bringing the above up when you said you wanted to get all the memories.

Now that you've found it and are so far along, you may as well get it soon. It shreds the divine beast bosses better than nearly any other 1H weapons you can find at the moment and most 2H ones, as well (it does double damage against them).

Fun fact: I rarely used the Master Sword because when it gets "low on energy", I thought that indicated you were supposed to let it charge back up. So I ended up just letting it sit in my inventory for a while and then eventually when I got tired of it still being in the "damaged" state, I decided I'd just use it up and see what happens. It's a bit of a confusing mechanic. I don't remember the exact way the game tells you not to overuse it, but whatever it was I interpreted it to mean it consistently recharged.

DorkLink posted...

Fun fact: I rarely used the Master Sword because when it gets "low on energy", I thought that indicated you were supposed to let it charge back up. So I ended up just letting it sit in my inventory for a while and then eventually when I got tired of it still being in the "damaged" state, I decided I'd just use it up and see what happens. It's a bit of a confusing mechanic. I don't remember the exact way the game tells you not to overuse it, but whatever it was I interpreted it to mean it consistently recharged.

If you have and used any of the champion abilities (other than the one that's only 1 use before it's out, of course) you can pretty much just ascertain it works in the same stupid fashion where it doesn't start to replenish until completely used up.

I'm inside the camel beast now.

So, this divine beast was a lot more fun than the elephant. Loved the puzzles to get the terminals in this one; I really struggled with it for some reason.

But the boss was really easy and kind of a let down. Water Ganon was a lot harder, what with having to balance the ice rune and the swimming and the aiming arrows and all. Thunder Ganon was just avoid being hit + flurry hit until dead. It took me about three tries to get the timing down perfectly, but the fight was super simple. Like I've had "tests of power" shrines that were harder than this guy, and the one guardian I took down took way longer. Ah well. The gerudo girl is way cuter than the fish girl, tho, for whatever that's worth.

Anyway, I'm spending the next day or two or three getting myself to 13 hearts (currently at 10) and then trying to find the Master Sword before taking on the next divine beast (which I think is gonna be the bird one).

It's gonna take some exploring but with 90+ our there I'm sure it won't be too bad.

Yeah I'm burnt out on BotW. This'll probably be it for me.

Yeah, the game is very drawn-out. Too much freedom to do whatever and I miss the actual temples.

Most quests just reward you with yet another shrine. It's ridiculous and lazy, seeing as how a lot of the content inside the shrines or the way to reveal the shrine looks and feels like it was designed like a child. Like Nintendo decided to have a "Bring Your Kid to Work" day and all those kids took turns throwing out ideas for shrines.

I mean, seriously? Ride a male deer onto onto one of those metal x's with the bulls-eye painted on them and a shrine appears? What kind of silly goober designed that shit? It makes no fucking sense.

Not to mention that getting the Master Sword early in the game breaks all degree of difficulty. Hell, you can ignore all shrines except the first couple you need for the Sheikah Tablet apps and go straight to Ganon and it'll be a much more reward fight then if you get all heart containers, the master sword, all armor, etc and then go fight Ganon. Ganon's a fucking pushover at that point.

Plus, the game states that it's on the tip of being lost to Ganon and it's the end of days. Yet, all the people in the towns make no mention of this, like they're fine and oblivious to the state. Hell, it's supposed to be a post-apocalypse Hyrule, but it's anything but that. All the villages and towns and areas with actual people are fine.

The variety of monsters is a fucking joke too and while there are different ways to fight them, the monotony of the endless fights and monsters returning from blood moons makes it all ridiculous. Please, let me kill something I haven't already killed a hundred of. Thank god for Muldugas.

I agree with mostly all of that

PurpIePerson posted...

Yeah I'm burnt out on BotW. This'll probably be it for me.

laaame


I found that I got more burnt out on it the more I did main objectives. Maybe you would have gotten burnt out regardless, but I tried to warn you

I'm burnt out after trying to explore and find shrines. Stuffs boring and doesn't flesh out the story at all.

You suck

I was putting off Breath of the Wild for a while because I thought it looked empty and boring. I finally played it, and I couldn't set the controller down for 8 hours. I don't even care that much for video games anymore.

It's pretty good. I haven't liked a game this much since Arkham.

The graphics may be ass, but the art direction is so good it's probably the prettiest game I've ever played anyway.

Foilage! Why can't every game do foilage this well? They did it on the Wii U. No excuse.
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DorkLink posted...

You suck

wow rude

Yellow posted...

I was putting off Breath of the Wild for a while because I thought it looked empty and boring. I finally played it, and I couldn't set the controller down for 8 hours. I don't even care that much for video games anymore.

It's pretty good. I haven't liked a game this much since Arkham.

The graphics may be ass, but the art direction is so good it's probably the prettiest game I've ever played anyway.

Foilage! Why can't every game do foilage this well? They did it on the Wii U. No excuse.

it was a very pretty game but I think the openness was a bit too open

Apparently I'm more bored of everything else than I am of BotW. Found another 2 shrines.

Making my way to the death mountain beast.

Made it inside the lizard. Getting here was annoying

That was literally the easiest thing ever. Fireblight was a joke

Got the Master Sword :3

Time to take down the last beasty

At least now one of my six weapons for sure won't break on me so I don't have to worry about that. And I can use the MS for things like cutting trees or breaking rocks.

I killed windblight with only bomb arrows. Didn't get to use the MS at all lol

PurpIePerson posted...

Made it inside the lizard. Getting here was annoying

Did you find the metal blocks on the mountainside to smash the sentries with, or did you actually stealth your way through it?

EDIT: And yeah, the Bird beast is pitifully easy to board and is the easiest dungeon. Windblight was the hardest Ganon-blight boss for me, but I also did that dungeon 2nd and probably missed some clue about how to fight him. I think the Bird's meant to be the easy/starter dungeon.

I shot down all the sentries with bombs

Did you get any shrines along the way or do anything interesting besides Divine Beasts?

uhhh yeah sorta. I think I'm at 39 shrines, 9 korok seeds, 4 divine beasts, and I have the Master Sword.

I did the whole bird beast without ever buying or wearing warm clothes, too, because I didn't have money. That was sort of fun, but a bit annoying.

I'll probably try to beat ganon tomorrow, and then see if I feel like doing some side-quests or finding more shrines.

N-nine... nine Korok seeds? How do you even



Earlier you were sort of complaining about having your weapons breaking, do you even realize that the Korok seeds can be used to add inventory slots? And also that the seeds are everywhere and incredibly easy to find once you understand what type of puzzles they use? If you only have nine it sounds like you must have only been finding the most obvious types.

I had no idea what the seeds were for, so I never bothered hunting for them. Adding slots is kinda cool I guess, but weapons are everywhere and I've never broken more than 3 in one fight so it seems pretty unnecessary. Do you just collect them and an extra slot opens up when you get a certain number?