Current Events > Finally started playing BotW, regretting I didn't do it earlier

(+) Yeah! (+)

nfearurspecimn posted...

I know you can use Urbosa's Fury. I forget the real method.

This, reflecting the beam, or using a perfect dodge to get a flurry attack all work.

s0nicfan posted...

This, reflecting the beam, or using a perfect dodge to get a flurry attack all work.

Ohh I never tried the perfect dodge. Didn't bother learning how he telegraphs his attacks. That makes a lot of sense.

scar the 1 posted...

Feels a bit weird that the most important part of the story requires getting almost to the very final fight, then leaving to report to Impa. I don't mind the nonlinear narrative, in fact I think it works quite well with how the game is also nonlinear. But this feels like they're hiding the most crucial bits behind an obstacle that kinda makes you lose steam a bit.

I'm a little torn on this. On one hand, Hyrule Castle being accessible from the start is one of the game's highlights design-wise, and I do enjoy sneaking in for certain gear / that shrine / that memory once during the midgame and getting your ass out before it gets stomped, and can headcanon a plot rationale around that. On the other, while BotW thankfully does avoid that usual pitfall that most open-world RPGs fall into - where it doesn't have a definitive final confrontation, and tries to rush you through the Main Quest so that you're left bumming around doing side missions until you get bored and quit - there's still a little too much open-world exploration to do around the top of the castle that shouldn't be there. The biggest offender is one of those DLC pieces of armor that's tucked away in the top of the tower, that pretty much requires you to look down on the final battle area and say to yourself 'sorry Zelda babe, I've still got shit to do.'

I know that's crossing the line into nitpick territory, but it's like if one of New Vegas' DLCs added a cool unique headgear that could only be gotten by sneaking into Legate Lanius' camp and stealing it from his nightstand; would invariably deflate the impact of the final confrontation.

Now it is time to find all 900 korok seeds

Our maybe Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity

masterpug53 posted...

I'm a little torn on this. On one hand, Hyrule Castle being accessible from the start is one of the game's highlights design-wise, and I do enjoy sneaking in for certain gear / that shrine / that memory once during the midgame and getting your ass out before it gets stomped, and can headcanon a plot rationale around that. On the other, while BotW thankfully does avoid that usual pitfall that most open-world RPGs fall into - where it doesn't have a definitive final confrontation, and tries to rush you through the Main Quest so that you're left bumming around doing side missions until you get bored and quit - there's still a little too much open-world exploration to do around the top of the castle that shouldn't be there. The biggest offender is one of those DLC pieces of armor that's tucked away in the top of the tower, that pretty much requires you to look down on the final battle area and say to yourself 'sorry Zelda babe, I've still got shit to do.'

I know that's crossing the line into nitpick territory, but it's like if one of New Vegas' DLCs added a cool unique headgear that could only be gotten by sneaking into Legate Lanius' camp and stealing it from his nightstand; would invariably deflate the impact of the final confrontation.

I agree that it's a highlight! And I don't mind secrets tucked away in various nooks and crannies of the castle itself. It's mostly the importance of the final memory, story-wise, that really throws a wrench in everything. Like, maybe they could have had a more romantic and personal final memory, and made this one more easily accessible, or even mandatory? It's a bit of a nitpicky thing to complain about, but then again so are a lot of my gripes with this game. I wouldn't say there are many major flaws in it.

Jabodie posted...

Now it is time to find all 900 korok seeds

Jabodie posted...

Our maybe Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity

Definitely won't be doing 900 korok seeds. Super especially because after like 341 there's no reward anymore, other than that final poop trophy. I'm a bit curious about Hyrule Warriors, but I'm not really sure that type of game will be up my alley. So maybe I'll wait until it's on sale or something.

Right. So to sum up this whole thing.

I immensely enjoyed this game. I've been a fan of the series since its conception, and specifically grew up with the NES games. BotW feels like a reimagining of what a 3D Zelda should be, and one that is more faithful to the free roaming nature of the original game. In fact, in that regard I'd say that BotW is almost the only sequel in the series that really lives up to the non-linear nature that LoZ championed. And I like that a lot.
Like mostly everyone, I would have of course liked more dungeon content. Heck, I wouldn't even have minded they keep it at just five/six (depending on if you count the DLC or not), but it would be neat if the dungeons were more than hubs for five puzzles each. But all in all I have a lot of thoughts like this - I love the game but it would be cool if x were a little bit more like y. All of them minor grievances that I can live without. The biggest downside after all is probably the DLC. It's not necessarily bad stuff, but all of it is stuff that I think should have been in the base game. A lot of it is just QoL stuff that makes the game nicer to play, like Majora's Mask, Korok Mask, teleporter thing, bike/summonable horse, upgraded divine beast powers. Then in the end what is actually extra content is like 16 shrines, a new divine beast, and the Master Sword trials. All good stuff, but a bit cheap to put in a paid DLC.

There are a lot of things I think worked really well. The open world (obviously) is one of them. Limited durability of the weapons another. I genuinely went from hating it to kinda not wanting to give it up. It adds more incentive to actually explore the whole world, not just for Koroks but for actual booty. Music and visuals were terrific, controls were great, puzzle design was good (let's ignore the motion control bits). Story I largely didn't mind, but I've never really cared much about the story of a Zelda game. All the major components of the game passed with flying colors. Definitely a 9/10 game, but definitely not a 10/10 game. But probably the best game I've played on the Switch. Looking forward to BotW 2 super much!

Thanks for following along on my journey CE, it was fun :)

Yeah I'm glad that you don't need anywhere near the final number of korok seeds to unlock all the goodies, so I didn't bother with collecting more than what was needed. It's not like the riddler trophies in Arkham games where you get either a nifty scene or an outright new area/level to explore and mission to do.

Overall how did you feel about the 4 divine beasts? Especially compared to the bite-sized puzzles of the shrines?

I know it is too late, but there is another way to open that blood moon shrine whenever you want.

Drop wood on the sensor plate and make a fire, then sleep until night. The red glow of the fire going out triggers the shrine.

Mistere Man posted... I know it is too late, but there is another way to open that blood moon shrine whenever you want.

Drop wood on the sensor plate and make a fire, then sleep until night. The red glow of the fire going out triggers the shrine.

Wait really! I should have thought of that. That's not so bad then. In the end once I had the teleporter it wasn't a big hassle to do anymore anyway.

saspa posted...

Overall how did you feel about the 4 divine beasts? Especially compared to the bite-sized puzzles of the shrines?

The puzzles themselves were great. I did one with a walkthrough because I was lazy but the rest I figured out for myself, and some of them were pretty tricky. The bosses were a bit too easy, and I wish there would have been more fighting challenges to change up the pace instead of just puzzles. And the biggest thing is that the quests surrounding them seemed a bit too short. Felt a bit like... oh that's it? You're just gonna let me in already? Ok then. The beasts themselves were fine.. but the way they look super epic and bombastic doesn't really map with how small their quests are.