Board 8 > Epyo's Top 62 Things to Stumble Across in Breath of the Wild (+writeups)

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Epyo
10/21/20 4:44:11 PM
#101:


Yeah the 900 korok reward is great. I do have a coworker who went ahead and got them all. I tried to stop him, I said "didn't you hear what the reward is?? nintendo is begging you not to do this!" but he was like "yeah yeah, I can't resist though, I can't help it." He used a map too...come on man, it's just work at that point!

~~~~~

OK well that arrow korok is less good if there are multiple, so I will now write another entry to clear my palate. One more shrine after this one!

17. Shrine: Hawa Koth Shrine: The Current Solution



For some reason I find the first room of this shrine extremely aesthetically pleasing, so I made that the first image, above. (Beauty points.)

There's also a pretty funny middle section of this shrine, where you carry an electric orb across bridges, and if you carry it too close to some receptors, the bridge gets activated and flips over and you fall. OR you could do it on purpose, from a distance, and make the tiny guardian enemies on the bridge get flipped instead! It's a pretty silly section.

But the real beauty of this shrine is this extremely Legitimate Puzzle at the end:



I'm not sure what to say to analyze it, it's just a really good video game puzzle. You have to use your powers, but that's not all there is to it, you also have to use them smartly. I think I would rank it as the #2 best legitimate puzzle in the game, off the top of my head (#3 would be "Passing of the Gates" from earlier in the list, and #1 is still coming up later).

Even more impressive is that it manages to have Multiple Solutions, some being a bit cheaty, but multiple are pretty elegant. That's really hard to do, usually having a "good puzzle" means it has just one elegant solution. This is Breath of the Wild magic right here.

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Epyo
10/21/20 4:48:18 PM
#102:


Oh it's page 3! A good time for a recap:

62. Shrine: Katosa Aug Shrine: Katosa Aug Apparatus (motion controls minigolf)
61. Explorable Area: Fort Hateno
60. Tower: Hateno Tower
59. Shrine Quest: Master of the Wind (Kass)
58. Secret: Zora Helmet Treasure Chest
57. Shrine Quest: The Two Rings (Kass)
56. Shrine: Sho Dantu Shrine: Two Bombs
55. Divine Beast: Vah Rudania, Death Mountain
54. Shrine: Myahm Agana Shrine: Myahm Agana Apparatus
53. Tower: Central Tower
52. Explorable Area: Lanayru Promenade
51. Shrine: Etsu Korima Shrine: Path of Light (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
50. Side Quest: Missing in Action (In the canyon path to Gerudo Desert)
49. Korok: Orange pinwheel bow challenge, on Floria Bridge, Lake Floria
48. Side Quest: Death Mountains Secret
47. Shrine Quest: The Bird in the Mountains (Rito Village & Hebra Mountains)
46. Explorable Area: Bridge of Hylia
45. Shrine Quest: The Stolen Heirloom (Kakariko Village)
44. Cutscene: Urbosas Champions Ballad Cutscene (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
43. Shrine: Neez Yohma Shrine: Pushing Power (45 degree waterfall)
42. Explorable Area: Thyphlo Ruins (North of Hyrule Forest)
41. Shrine: Bareeda Naag Shrine: Cannon
40. Combat Sequence: Forgotten Temple
39. Shrine: Kaam Yatak Shrine: Trial of Power
38. Puzzle: Getting through the Lost Woods
37. Shrine: Takama Shiri Shrine: Dual Purpose (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
36. Shrine: Keive Tala Shrine: Big or Small (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
35. Minigame: Hebra Mountain Shield Surfing Through Hoops (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
34. Shrine: Yowaka Ita Shrine: Collected Soul (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
33. Shrine Quest: The Seven Heroines (Gerudo Desert)
32. Shrine Quest: Watch Out For the Flowers
31. Main Quest Segment: Carrying the blue flame to Hateno Ancient Tech Lab
30. Shrine: Shorah Hah Shrine: Blue Flame
29. Shrine: A Major Test of Strength+ (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
28. Combat Sequence: The winding path to Zoras Domain
27. Shrine: Rota Ooh Shrine: Passing of the Gates (weird axis rotating room with the door)
26. Side Quest: Miskos Treasure
25. Explorable Area: Forest of Spirits (on the Great Plateau)
24. Shrine Quest: Test of Wood
23. Explorable Area: Abandoned North Mine
22. Korok: The tippy tip top of Hyrule Castle
21. Shrine: Rohta Chigah Shrine: Stop to Start (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)
20. Shrine Quest: The Perfect Drink
19. Shrine Quest: Recital at Warblers Nest
18. Korok: Kakariko Village: The arrows on the entrance archway
17. Shrine: Hawa Koth Shrine: The Current Solution

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Jakyl25
10/21/20 5:40:14 PM
#103:


Epyo posted...
oh crap!! I did not know there was another one of these.


Theres also one on the other entrance arch to Kakariko. Exit arch?
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Epyo
10/21/20 11:38:50 PM
#104:


well I guess 18 could be "the arrows on the kakariko entrance archways" plural, but the hyrule castle one still messes it up...

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16. Shrine Quest: The Crowned Beast (Kass)



This is the Kass World Riddle where he talks about mounting a beast with a crown of bone, or something like that. That's all he says, the rest is up to you.

It's such an awesome feeling here, when you suddenly have a hunch about what you're supposed to do. On one hand, it's the good feeling of having a hunch about any riddle: "Wait, crown of bone...do they mean like antlers? Hmmm maybe..."

On the other hand, it's the feeling of when you suddenly you realize a new mechanic might be allowed, that you somehow haven't realized. Like in the game Portal, realizing maybe you can put a portal on the floor and ceiling and loop forever. "Wait a minute, they wouldn't let me do this, right? No, they wouldn't... They would! OMG this game is awesome! What else can I mount???" Surprise mechanics like this really make a game immersive.

And then, the remaining work is actually a really fun Legitimate Gameplay challenge. I think the sneaking mechanics work surprisingly well in this game, and so does all the animal behavior, and this is a chance to seriously interact with both of those features. It's kind of like another hunting quest, like in Forest of Spirits, but better.

And if you don't like sneaking you can just drop on one from above somehow, so I'll throw in some Multi-Solution points, classic BotW.

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Epyo
10/22/20 11:52:15 PM
#105:


15. Side Quest: Tarrey Town



Yeah, gameplay-wise, it's a terrible quest chain. The wood farming is just plain dull, but also finding these characters is just a lot of work as well--there are so many people in the game. And you're likely to start this quest chain late in the game, so what are you supposed to do, go re-talk to every person you've ever met?

But it's all worth it for the Beauty of it. The final village is just gorgeous from every angle, especially at night with all the glowing lights everywhere. And the music! It might get this high on the list just for the great song, and how each character in the village adds their flavor to the song, somehow making it even better.

And the Jokes! It's worth it even just for the jokes! Or maybe it's one joke repeatedly, but honestly it doesn't get old to me, especially because the final punchline wedding cutscene at the very end, is a great payoff for it.

And, it's worth it because helping Link rebuild a little slice of Hyrule, is such a refreshing moment of optimism, in the post-apocalypse of the game, and modern media in general. I think it adds a powerful new angle to the Lore of the game.

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StartTheMachine
10/23/20 2:13:21 AM
#106:


Tarrey Town too low imho

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Epyo
10/23/20 9:12:00 PM
#107:


True but 15 is really high!!! All the stuff from now on is like my all-time favorite video game stuff! Especially the top 10, omg the top 10 is ridiculous.

14. Town: Hateno Village



If I'm honest with myself, Hateno really just gets this high on the list, because of the song. What a cool song. What the heck is that blowy instrument. I love that thing.

I do love pretty much everything about Hateno besides the song though. I love all the people being so nice, the guy who gives the tour, all the kids running around, everyone gossiping about Purah... It's got an amazing small town vibe or something. It feels like home. Big Beauty points.

I'm one of those players that will always talk to every character in a town in an RPG, and frankly it usually feels like a disappointment, but in Hateno, I had a great time. I really think the writing is one of the most underrated aspects of this game.

Impressively, they manage to put some surprisingly unique stuff here, that are both fun and useful! The shops of course, but also the dye workshop is super fun, and the dark statue is a really cool mechanic, the house you can buy to store weapons is useful, and of course the ancient tech lab (which also is lovable itself).

I was really glad to have good reasons to come back to Hateno again and again, 'cause I just like it.

Heck, even Tarrey Town's main Joke starts in Hateno! So if I give Tarrey Town joke points, I have to give some here too (especially since Hateno has so many more jokes than the one).

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Epyo
10/24/20 12:25:11 PM
#108:


Bit of a long writeup for this one, which I don't like, but it's such an interesting section, hard not to talk about it!

~~~

13. Main Quest Segment: Infiltrate the Yiga Clan Hideout



This is a great high-variety adventure, each part being a surprising step in a new direction:

  1. Talking to the Gerudo about the Yiga and what you need to do
  2. Exploring northwest, looking for Karusa Valley
  3. Fighting through Karusa Valley, and figuring out korok and shrine along the way
  4. Silly puzzle room with the torches and banners
  5. Fun dialogue with Barta
  6. Simple stealth room
  7. Complicated stealth room
  8. Weird treasure chamber, requiring some thinking to find the exit
  9. Story-relevant dialogue scene and a big Surprise boss fight
  10. Start exploring Gerudo Highlands a little bit (optional but likely)
A lot of people don't like this section of the game, and I think it's usually because of step 6, complaining that there aren't enough options to get through that big stealth room. But I disagree! By removing the option of fighting your way through, you're forced to come up with solutions, since the easiest solution is gone! I found it very Multi-Solution and was happy to be forced to find one.

(Admittedly, I also just really like the stealth in the game--it's powerful, but fair, and creative... need to add Legitimate Gameplay points for step 6 too.)

But even if you don't like that step, c'mon it's like 10% of this huge chain of content!

This part also does some good stuff for Lore of the game. The Yiga clan is not just some randomly spawning enemies after all, they're an actual clan with hideouts, actual villains still fully at large, constantly messing with the Gerudo, who need your help. The stakes on this mission are pretty high, saving Barta, and finding a vital tool for getting into Vah Naboris!

Or if you don't care about the lore, you have to at least enjoy the silly execution of this segment. The banana stuff, the goofy big Yiga guys, and the Yiga boss gets massive Joke points from me, love him.

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andylt
10/24/20 12:48:45 PM
#109:


Tarrey Town is so good for all the reasons you said, one thing I hope for in the sequel is more of the rebuilding life post-apocalypse type stuff.

The room full of bananas alone makes Yiga Hideout worth it. Kohga being the only non-Ganon boss in the base game is very lol too. Really it's just a nice change of pace being in there, though I love pretty much everything in the Gerudo region. Iirc the Yiga spawns increase after beating that quest though, so screw that.

Edit: Kohga's music is legitimately really good too, forgot about that.

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Epyo
10/24/20 1:46:20 PM
#110:


Ughhh yes the banana room is so good, Kohga's music, sick af.

I'm also hoping for more rebuilding in BOTW2, but surprisingly the trailer looked like a darker game, which does sound awesome too.

I guess my #1 wish for BOTW2, is playing as Zelda tho

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Jakyl25
10/24/20 2:29:07 PM
#111:


andylt posted...
Iirc the Yiga spawns increase after beating that quest though, so screw that.


Yeah this is the one thing that demands you save Gerudo region for last; I wish there was a way to wipe them out, even if only temporarily
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Epyo
10/24/20 10:14:16 PM
#112:


12. Divine Beast: Vah Medoh, Rito Village



Everyone has that moment in Breath of the Wild, where they scan the horizon, and...wait...is that an airship?? This game is insane! I cannot wait to go there in 80 hours or whatever!

(And the experience lives up, it feels awesome up there, the Beautiful views of Hyrule are breathofthewild-taking.)

The puzzles are pretty good video game puzzles! Much better than Vah Rudania's for sure. (Legit Puzzle points.) There are wind-based ones, buttons to turn things on and off, tilting the ship to make things roll, stasis to stop things rolling, etc. And my favorite, tilting to the ship to paraglide-fly across a room, that feeling never gets old to me.

This also has one of my favorite video game moments. To get inside each wing of the bird, you have to get to a doorway on the outside far end of that wing (on the underside). One wing has a suspended trolley underneath, that you can ride to get to the door, if you tilt the ship... but on the other wing, the trolley is missing! What do?

...Maybe the solution was obvious, but my fear of heights just didn't want to even consider it. You have to tilt the bird and paraglide across, underneath the wing, to the doorway, with nothing below you but Hyrule, a mile down. Too scary for me, so I've never actually finished this dungeon

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StartTheMachine
10/25/20 2:25:22 AM
#113:


oh wow that's easily my least favorite Divine Beast in the game

So short and simple, but at least there are some interesting chests I guess. And you're joking about the not actually finishing it right? (E: Just realized you obviously are because you have to beat all the beasts to play Champion's Ballad)

Yiga Clan and Hateno are both super good though and would be high on my list too!

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Shonen_Bat
10/25/20 4:49:55 AM
#114:


Seeing the huge airship flying around early in the game was awesome, finding out later that it was just another divine beast was not as awesome but it was a cool moment.

Breath of the Wild has a lot of moments like that where you see something in the distance and think 'whoa, can't wait to check that out' but when you actually get there it's usually not that great

or neat concepts like the arrow korok from earlier in the list that get you interested to see what else they'll surprise you with, but then it turns out that's about it. It's what stops this from being a truly great game for me, they just went halfway on a lot of their coolest ideas.

thankfully Hyrule Castle didn't do this!

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Epyo
10/26/20 7:30:26 PM
#115:


Just pretend it's not a divine beast and then it's awesome again!

11. Secret: Hebra Great Skeleton



The "Leviathan Bones" side quest hints that there is a Great Skeleton hidden somewhere in the Hebra Mountains region, but doesn't say where. So, this inspires you to go on your own random exploration adventures (kinda like "48. Death Mountain's Secret", but on a 50x bigger scale!).

But as you continue to explore, you realize...this thing must be super well-hidden, because where the heck is it??

This is the sort of thing that makes exploration fun. I want to randomly explore a game world for cool secrets, but only if I know there's at least one more out there. Otherwise I'll run around for a little while and think "cool welp guess I basically saw everything, time to move on."

Knowing this huge secret is still out there, adds a lot of excitement to every little adventure up there!

The actual puzzle hiding this secret, is a super good one, the mechanic of it is really fun. It's a very challenging puzzle--it might even be too hard, but there's an easier version of the puzzle elsewhere in Hebra Mountains, to make sure you understand that the mechanic is possible, and there is something to solve here. So, it's fair! (Legitimate Puzzle points)

And the Surprise of solving the unassuming-looking puzzle and finding this huge thing, is the best part.

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Hbthebattle
10/26/20 7:36:50 PM
#116:


Fun Fact: people have managed to conclusively map the other two leviathan skeletons onto previous Zelda giant whales, but not this one

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andylt
10/26/20 7:43:45 PM
#117:


I loved the giant skeletons, I was a little disappointed by the giant white bird riddle in the area previously- it was a cool puzzle and super satisfying to figure out but part of me wanted to see a genuine massive bird flying around, and this made up for that. Anything that stands out from the surroundings and makes you just stop and wonder what it used to be... this game is so good at that.

I didn't know about the mapping either, is there more info on that?

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Epyo
10/26/20 8:01:26 PM
#118:


That sounds rad! Which games even had whales tho??

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hombad46
10/26/20 8:37:29 PM
#119:


Epyo posted...
That sounds rad! Which games even had whales tho??

Well off the top of my head there's Jabu Jabu

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CaptainOfCrush
10/26/20 9:27:50 PM
#120:


Shonen_Bat posted...
Seeing the huge airship flying around early in the game was awesome, finding out later that it was just another divine beast was not as awesome but it was a cool moment.

Breath of the Wild has a lot of moments like that where you see something in the distance and think 'whoa, can't wait to check that out' but when you actually get there it's usually not that great

I quite liked Vah Medoh, especially for its intro sequence. You're paragliding up wind currents and shooting down the defense system of a giant mecha bird - in bullet time - while dodging its lasers. That segment gets really slept on imo.

Generally speaking, I feel like the Divine Beasts would have been much better received with more unique bosses and interiors/atmospheres. The complaints about the Blight bosses has been discussed to death, but the dungeons each had a very similar aesthetic, so they all blended together and felt samey. This is a pretty big sin for 3D Zelda dungeons, which for 20 years prior had done in excellent job in differentiating themselves.

Still, for a first attempt, I think BotW did an alright job with its dungeons.

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Jakyl25
10/26/20 11:56:47 PM
#121:


Epyo posted...
That sounds rad! Which games even had whales tho??


One is definitively Levias from Skyward Sword

Another is almost certainly the Wind Fish

The one in the ice is still up for debate
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HanOfTheNekos
10/27/20 9:16:54 AM
#122:


Jakyl25 posted...
One is definitively Levias from Skyward Sword

Another is almost certainly the Wind Fish

The one in the ice is still up for debate

I would've thought the desert one is Wind Waker Jabu, based on position on the map.

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andylt
10/27/20 11:57:14 AM
#123:


Found this but I don't know if I believe it:

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YyvkQsARPMo/W10CCgyshXI/AAAAAAAAYtw/SevjLYFShW87Lm8d42hNkWKP8GKJ4SNYACLcBGAs/s1600/tumblr_op87fqf0a51rg2fkco1_1280.png

I'm seeing people split on whether Wind Fish would be Gerudo or Hebra, personally I didn't think the Wind Fish would even have a skeleton. Levias seems to match up pretty perfectly though.

From the art book:

https://zeldauniverse.net/forums/Attachment/21019-Leviathans-jpg/

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Hbthebattle
10/27/20 12:03:58 PM
#124:


the Gerudo Leviathan is almost certainly the Wind Fish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlY1ad2q5V0

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andylt
10/27/20 3:23:33 PM
#125:


That's a really cool video, thanks for linking. Man I love this game. I don't think I'd taken note of just how many whale gods the series has had before >_>

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Jakyl25
10/27/20 3:59:07 PM
#126:


Zeltik is IMO the best Zelda theorist video producer

Go through his channel for lots of cool research
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CaptainOfCrush
10/27/20 4:21:25 PM
#127:


Zeltik is the Vaati of Zelda vids.

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Epyo
10/27/20 8:51:12 PM
#128:


That is a super cool video.

I am ok with the correct answer about the third leviathan being "it's just a mystery". That is also pretty neat.

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Epyo
10/27/20 9:35:52 PM
#129:


10. Tower: Akkala Citadel Ruins and Tower



I'm now realizing that Breath of the Wild's best gameplay moments, tend to be when it gets a little bit difficult. Probably because, this game gives you so many options for handling obstacles, it's nice when you really are pressured to not just run in swinging thoughtlessly!

And getting up onto Akkala Citadel is a great example, these flying guardians everywhere are no joke--you literally can't sword your way through here, you either have to sneak around 'em, or finally actually have to pull out those bomb arrows and guardian arrows you've been hoarding for 30 hours!

Then once you're up...there's this fantastic floor-is-lava platforming going on, surrounding the tower. There's a fun thing where you have to keep re-using this metal balance beam to get from building to building, and eventually use it to reach to the tower itself.



One unique thing they put in here, is close-quarters combat--there are tough enemies in all the ruins here, and you can't just run past them like most of the game, since you're doing all this careful platforming stuff. Plus, there's lots of nooks for treasure you wanna check out.

The close-quarters combat ends up being really fun, you're likely to use some stealth, or something funny like magnesis, or accidentally booping someone out into the corruption, killing them.

...Most importantly though, just look at that Citadel, that looks good as HECK man. Look at those little cannons. And the ruins up top?? So awesome. Plus Akkala looks cool in general with all the autumnal stuff.

(Mostly Beauty points, Legitimate Gameplay points, and also some Saturation points for all the cool intricacies to explore here.)

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andylt
10/27/20 9:54:39 PM
#130:


After this game I can't go back to standard Ubisoft-style towers, BotW just does it so well in making each one a unique challenge to fit its surrounding area. Akkala is among the best for sure, but they're pretty much all good iirc. Gerudo's poking out of the endless depths, the guardians all firing lasers at you at Central, getting around the ice in Hebra, they really make it feel satisfying to reach the top.

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StartTheMachine
10/28/20 12:40:15 AM
#131:


Man yeah, my second playthrough reminded just how great every tower in this game is, but Akkala's I do think is the best of the best. But I'm just a sucker for Akkala in general.

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Jakyl25
10/28/20 2:16:18 AM
#132:


Epyo posted...
That is a super cool video.

I am ok with the correct answer about the third leviathan being "it's just a mystery". It's all cool enough already!


Its nice to have something like that where it kind of hints at the idea that there are so many Legends of Zelda that happened before BotW that we havent seen them all yet
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Epyo
10/28/20 6:49:47 PM
#133:


Its nice to have something like that where it kind of hints at the idea that there are so many Legends of Zelda that happened before BotW that we havent seen them all yet

yes yes yes this ^!

~~~~~

yeah Akkala rules let's do more akkala stuff:

9. Explorable Area: Lomei Labyrinth Island, in Akkala



These labyrinths are probably the most mysterious things in Breath of the Wild. They are weird, Confusing, creepy, ominous...and also really really fun to explore, because there are so many secrets to find (Saturation points).

Once again, this game is best when it's a little bit challenging, and these labyrinths are going to bewilder and maybe even frustrate you a little bit. You'll have no shame in trying to cheat the system, climbing the walls, walking on top of them, using the map and tracing a route from the end (which won't even help much). It's fun to feel like you're cheating and still having trouble!

This particular one is the most threatening of them, probably because of the additional flying guardians and scary full-size guardian living in it. But also it just looks so ominous--probably because there's no real way to get there, there's no bridge, no stairs, nothing. It doesn't even make sense for this thing to exist, it's like an apparition. (Needs some Beauty points for the mood.)

By the time you're doing your third labyrinth, you might be kinda sick of them, which generally prevents these from making it onto this list...

...except, this particular labyrinth has my favorite Surprise I have ever experienced in a game. It's that gigantic secret underground cavern room, underneath the maze, the mysterious guardian graveyard. I would love to watch a montage of streamers reacting to that room.

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CaptainOfCrush
10/28/20 6:54:53 PM
#134:


Since it's separated from the rest of the overworld, that island was one of the topographic points that most piqued my interest (along with Eventide and maybe Vah Medoh). Definitely worth it, too. From a distance, the labyrinths seem pretty easy to solve since they're so basic in their geometry. Once you enter... nope!

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andylt
10/28/20 7:45:39 PM
#135:


I love that labyrinth for all the reasons you state (that bottom level scared the heck out of me, I was ready for a reward after solving the challenges but nope, guardian hell!). Unfortunately it was the first one I came across so I expected the others to be just as hard and have a bunch of secrets too, sadly they're much less interesting! Weird as I'd figure most players would come to this one first, with it standing out so much on the map and being the closest to the 'first' Divine Beast.

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Epyo
10/28/20 8:11:56 PM
#136:


andylt posted...
I was ready for a reward after solving the challenges but nope, guardian hell!

Although in DLC1 they did add a good reward down there too (I think, or maybe dlc2)! Which was a good idea I thought

(EDIT: ohhh wait there already was a reward down there originally too huh)

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andylt
10/28/20 8:35:44 PM
#137:


Yeah sorry I meant that I thought the hard part was over and let my guard down, pretty sure I died there to those guardians. Or maybe Mipha's Grace saved me idr. Still an unpleasant surprise (in a good way)!

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Hbthebattle
10/28/20 9:22:58 PM
#138:


andylt posted...
I love that labyrinth for all the reasons you state (that bottom level scared the heck out of me, I was ready for a reward after solving the challenges but nope, guardian hell!). Unfortunately it was the first one I came across so I expected the others to be just as hard and have a bunch of secrets too, sadly they're much less interesting! Weird as I'd figure most players would come to this one first, with it standing out so much on the map and being the closest to the 'first' Divine Beast.
I think the most common route is to to go clockwise from Vah Ruta, so most players go to the desert (and thus, South Lomei Labrynith) and Akkala is one of the last places they explore

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Epyo
10/29/20 8:47:42 PM
#139:


8. Divine Beast: Vah Naboris, Gerudo Desert



If I remember correctly, I mostly added "Confusion Factor" as one of the criteria for this list, because of how much I love the feeling of nonstop total bewilderment that is the essence of Vah Naboris.

Each time I've entered this dungeon, my first twenty minutes are just wandering and flying around in that main room, trying to figure out what the heck I'm looking at, or supposed to be doing. Someone missed a day in dungeon design class (and I'm glad!). But, it makes every little step of progress feel extra satisfying. For example, finally making it to the upper humps of the camel is way more exciting than it has any right to be, but it feels great after being so confused in the giant tube for so long.

So, it's a unique dungeon. I'm not even sure if it has anything I would call a "puzzle". Just confusion.

Besides that, the feeling of riding in the giant camel as it travels around the desert, with its absurdly large legs stomping right next to you, is unexpectedly very rad, it might actually be even cooler than the airship. (Beauty Factor). This is the most intimidating beast for sure.

The boss is good, I enjoy it. A little less trivial than the others, and the room layout is fun to fight in.

Lastly, that hilarious treasure chest hanging from a rope, just out of reach. Someday I will successfully get it, instead of accidentally dropping it out into the desert. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Breath_of_the_Wild/comments/64ud7f )

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CaptainOfCrush
10/30/20 12:49:57 AM
#140:


Epyo posted...
Lastly, that hilarious treasure chest hanging from a rope, just out of reach. Someday I will successfully get it, instead of accidentally dropping it out into the desert. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Breath_of_the_Wild/comments/64ud7f )
So glad you mentioned this lol. My first time through, I somehow nailed the Stasis -> Arrow -> Magnesis combo on the first try, but it was such a lucky fluke that I still feel there's gotta be an "easy" way to get this chest that I just haven't thought of yet.

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Hbthebattle
10/30/20 12:58:22 AM
#141:


CaptainOfCrush posted...
So glad you mentioned this lol. My first time through, I somehow nailed the Stasis -> Arrow -> Magnesis combo on the first try, but it was such a lucky fluke that I still feel there's gotta be an "easy" way to get this chest that I just haven't thought of yet.
Fire a flame arrow close enough to the rope to ignite it without snapping it, than use magnesis while the rope burns

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Epyo
10/30/20 1:32:44 AM
#142:


Hbthebattle posted...
I think the most common route is to to go clockwise from Vah Ruta, so most players go to the desert (and thus, South Lomei Labrynith) and Akkala is one of the last places they explore

Ohh I always figured the most common route was counter-clockwise starting with Vah Ruta, so desert being last! At least, I think I remember a reddit survey that came up with that answer, around when the game was released.

~~~~~

7. Shrine: Mah Eliya Shrine: Secret Stairway (Champions Ballad, DLC Pack 2)



One room, one puzzle. That's all you need sometimes!

It's a masterpiece of a puzzle. It's wildly Multi-Solution and creativity-friendly, but somehow at the same time, the main mechanics of the puzzle are veryelegant LegitimatePuzzle stuff.

If you watch people solve this puzzle e.g. on streams or youtube, it's a comedy of errors every time, as people stumble and improv to get to the top. Youtube guides say things like "ok and then you're supposed to do this, and then you simply need to do this next", not realizing their set of absurd steps barely matches the next video's steps, or the next video's.

There are also a bunch of cheaty solutions (e.g. octo balloons), but that's fine, that can be fun too if that's what you want to do!

Best shrine in the game I think, because it is the best example of Breath of the Wild's special puzzle style!

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Epyo
10/30/20 1:35:05 AM
#143:


That was the last shrine!!

Hbthebattle posted...
Solution: Fire a flame arrow close enough to the rope to ignite it without snapping it, than use magnesis while the rope burns

Ohhhhh that's so freaking smart!!!!!!!!

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Epyo
10/30/20 9:37:26 PM
#144:


6. Town: Gerudo Town



It is seal-iously mind-blowing, how much silly and fun stuff got packed into Gerudo Town. It is Joke heaven. I am in love with it. Fun highlights that I recall are:

  • Rjiu's pun-addicted pet sand seal.
  • Dating class.
  • Boots guy. (Gimme them boots, boots guy!)
  • The old lady next to the goddess statue. (Not funny, just cool.)
  • The soldier barracks. (If the captain finds out... probably 100 laps around Gerudo Desert...again...)
  • Depressed lady who can't stop eating hydromelon.
  • Lady who's waiting patiently in line for the spa as you use it over and over.
And of course the best part, dressing up as a Vai. Figuring out the steps to do it is fun in itself, but then once you're in town, it adds a lot of extra spice to every interaction, seeing how people act, seeing who can figure you out. And just more comedy opportunities.

Riju is great. She has a diary, stuffed sand seals, and slouches on her throne telling guard Builara stuff like "oh calm down Builara, he's fine". Easily the most likable of the divine beast quest giver friends.

Gerudo Town even has the relevance to Yiga clan side plots of the game (Lore bonus points).

Also the extra quest with the Thunder Helm was a brilliant idea, giving the player a reason to keep hanging out and talking to the citizens, becoming their hero, making us fall in love with the town even more.



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andylt
10/30/20 9:47:22 PM
#145:


Best town in the game by a wide margin. I feel for the people who came to Gerudo first and thought the rest of the divine beast towns would be as detailed and fun as that one! Not a dig at the others, just shows how impressive Gerudo Town is. Sidon >> Riju though imo.

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Epyo
10/30/20 9:56:12 PM
#146:


ughhhhhh I hate sidon! he's so embarrassing!

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andylt
10/30/20 9:57:49 PM
#147:


He is endearing and nice and Link's best friend! Yunobo is alright too imo if only for the moment when he sees Daruk again.

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Jakyl25
10/30/20 10:31:17 PM
#148:


Epyo posted...
It is seal-iously mind-blowing, how much silly and fun stuff got packed into Gerudo Town. It is Joke heaven. I am in love with it. Fun highlights that I recall are:

Rjiu's pun-addicted pet sand seal.
Dating class.
Boots guy. (Gimme them boots, boots guy!)
The old lady next to the goddess statue. (Not funny, just cool.)
The soldier barracks. (If the captain finds out... probably 100 laps around Gerudo Desert...again...)
Depressed lady who can't stop eating hydromelon.
Lady who's waiting patiently in line for the spa as you use it over and over.


The fact that they let a male Goron in because no one can distinguish Goron genders
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Epyo
10/30/20 10:36:55 PM
#149:


Jakyl25 posted...
The fact that they let a male Goron in because no one can distinguish Goron genders

omfg

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Epyo
10/31/20 3:54:43 PM
#150:


5. Combat Sequence: Eventide Island



See that abandoned island in the distance? You can go there. Pretty cool huh. And what happens as soon as you hit the ground, has got to be one of the biggest non-plot Surprises in video games.

The entire game is flipped on its head--all your clothes, weapons, items, everything is taken away, and a voice tells you you can't leave, until you track down and conquer three puzzles.

Suddenly the game is fresh again. Hunting and gathering seem to matter again. Gathering up tree branches as weapons matters again, cooking matters, every little enemy matters, a Hinox is actually a seal-ious problem again.

It's a great example of the fundamental promise of open world adventure video games, finally being 100% delivered--see a thing, adventure your way to get there, it turns out to be something interesting, and you finish it, and then repeat. The game we've dreamed of, actually exists.

(Big Legit Gameplay points, and World Riddle points as you track down and solve the Multi-Solution puzzle/challenges.)

So why only position #5? I feel like the correct strategies undermine the island's potential idea of "starting from scratch"--the best way to get an orb? Just steal it. Other solutions are actually terrible--don't do weapon gathering or meal prep, if you actually fight the Hinox, it's gonna be tedious, or you're gonna end up just exploiting his pathing so you can throw explosives at him.

In addition, the first time I played this, explosions blew the upper plateau's orb way out into the water. It took me over an hour to actually get it back on the island and back up the plateau. It was pretty miserable.

And pretty awesome.

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