The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[luth714]

7 minutes ago, Rowan Morrison said:

 

Don't forget your bow if there's lightning afoot.

 

I might as well strip naked and go dancing in the rain, just to be safe

[Broker]

Been messing about with capturing the Wii U, which seems pretty simple  Trying to get some video of a particular spawn point and this happens:

 

 

 

Spoilers for enemies, locations, gear etc.

[Girth Certificate]

30 minutes ago, Spainkiller said:

In all seriousness, though: Bolson is easily, easily the best character in the game, right?

 

I laughed really hard when one of his workers who I'd never even spoke to got a walking away scene with sad music for apparently no reason. I'll have to go find him and see what the story is.

[smac]

19 minutes ago, Spainkiller said:

In all seriousness, though: Bolson is easily, easily the best character in the game, right?

 

Gerudo thiccness aside, I mean.

 

Oh, yes.

 

Just try talking to him after you get something made, before he sits back down again...

 

4 minutes ago, Rowan Morrison said:

 

As I say, I didn't try shock arrows at all, but the fact that they're stuck into every tree made me think perhaps they were important, and he didn't seem to be using any himself (I may not have given him the chance). But I guess perhaps he used them against the Zora, I may not have paid full attention to all the dialogue in Zora's Domain.

 

 

He does use them, too, if you get too far from him after he spots you. Unfairly, as these bastards home in and drop vertically on you when he fires them.

 

1 minute ago, jonamok said:

Something rather stupid I did on the Goron boss last night:

 

  Hide contents

I decided (as with most bosses) to primarily use arrows, but was getting really frustrated that every time I nocked an arrow to fire, the fucker would hit me with an instant explosive fire attack, taking most of my hearts and leaving me on the deck. I scrabbled to my feet, ran to cover, scarfed some grub, jumped up in the air and drew to fire. Boom. Fireball flattens me out of nowhere again. Tried again. Same result. Even when I was in mostly cover. What? Now I'm starting to get really pissed off. Are they really so blatantly saying that I can't use a bow against this guy! Fucking hell.

 

Gonna get in his face then. Into the inventory to pick a better sword. Oh! What's this? I'm loaded with bomb arrows? As soon as I pull one out my quiver, the fucking thing explodes in the intense heat of the volcanic caldera. Muthafucker.  

 

 

Ha, I initially missed the obvious strategy, which is odd, because it's an absolutely classic Zelda boss strategy - but luckily, I packed

an ice sword on the off-chance; that makes short work of the fireballs; one hit and they fizzle.

 

In fact, it does make an interesting point about this game and the usual pattern of bosses. In a 'normal' Zelda

you get a special weapon in a dungeon; when it comes to the dungeon boss, you know you have to fight him using that special weapon. In this case, the key when he's firing fireballs at you is one of your special skills - but you don't have the usual hint that the boss will succumb to the weapon you just found because you have all your skills from the start. In this case, I recognized the behaviour just before the fireball, and worked out which classic Zelda bosses this harked back to...

[g wings]

I wish you could label the markers/symbols from the map so that you can remember what is actually being marked.

 

That's the biggest criticism of this game I can think of...

[MrCarrot]

30 minutes ago, jonamok said:

Something rather stupid I did on the Goron boss last night:

 

  Hide contents

I decided (as with most bosses) to primarily use arrows, but was getting really frustrated that every time I nocked an arrow to fire, the fucker would hit me with an instant explosive fire attack, taking most of my hearts and leaving me on the deck. I scrabbled to my feet, ran to cover, scarfed some grub, jumped up in the air and drew to fire. Boom. Fireball flattens me out of nowhere again. Tried again. Same result. Even when I was in mostly cover. What? Now I'm starting to get really pissed off. Are they really so blatantly saying that I can't use a bow against this guy! Fucking hell.

 

Gonna get in his face then. Into the inventory to pick a better sword. Oh! What's this? I'm loaded with bomb arrows? As soon as I pull one out my quiver, the fucking thing explodes in the intense heat of the volcanic caldera. Muthafucker.  

 

 

I did the exact same thing the first time I tried fighting one of the 

 

Spoiler

Lava Taluses

 

on Death Mountain. I was all like "wtf, this explosion attack is a bit fucking unfair, there's no animation for it or anything how are you supposed to dodge it"! 

[Majora]

Wait, wait, wait. Hudson spoilers near the end of the whole Tarrey Town side quest.

 

 

He gets married? Wtf? What was all that 'you're so studly' and 'you're just a pup' stuff and the sad walk away all about in Hateno village? The English translation is of such good quality, there is no way the homoerotic subtext there was unintentional. I feel so betrayed. Go fuck yourself Hudson.

[luth714]

8 minutes ago, g wings said:

I wish you could label the markers/symbols from the map so that you can remember what is actually being marked.

 

That's the biggest criticism of this game I can think of...

 

Yeah, I wish I could use the gamepad and type in my own descriptions so I know what is there - as it stands I keep using stars and skulls and treasure chests, but most of the other stamps seem a bit the same (sword, bow and arrow...)

[Stolly]

I'm absolutely loving this game but after circa 30 hours of play I can't say that I'm getting anywhere fast. I keep getting side tracked, and side tracked on side tracks of side tracks 

 

So I'd collected 30 odd shock arrows for the humungous water elephant thingy but then had run out of decent swords and went exploring out west to see what I could get. Came across a tower guarded by guardians and shield reflected my way up that. Saw a distant shrine that turned out to be miles away and basically ran out of arrows (not touching the shock arrows) over there and wimped out of a 'slight test of strength' having made such an effort to get there. Completely wiped out a scull shaped camp on the way back, dyed my armour and upgraded some pieces at a fairy fountain, then went back to the starting zone to practise some fighting techniques, upgraded a couple of runes, had a vague but unsuccessful search for the kurok guy who will let me add spaces for weapons (basically looking at all the wooded areas I've thus far opened up on the map), killed a stone talus then did a myriad of side quests before returning to Zora's domain to fight my way into the elephant which I did, but busted all my bows in the process. I had a look at the first couple of puzzles there, quickly solved the first and have now zipped off bow hunting......... 

[Broker]

I confirmed that if you get hit by lightning whilst wearing the fell shock resistant clothes with the perk it does nothing btw  

 

Quick video showcasing all the armour sets:

 

 

[scottcr]

When you get too cocky trying to shield parry guardians...

 

[Lorfarius]

Wait... did a tree fall on you?

[RaoulSilva]

55 minutes ago, g wings said:

I wish you could label the markers/symbols from the map so that you can remember what is actually being marked.

 

That's the biggest criticism of this game I can think of...

 

I just use the same ones for certain things and combine them

 

star = shrine

sword = weapon

Treasure chest - treasure (combine with weapon icon if needeed)

Bow and arrow = archery challenge

Shield = special thing to go back for or where I believe something good is.

Pins = where I want to go or explore next. 

Diamond thing = tower

Leaf = Korok seed or rare ingredients when combined with treasure chest.

 

Skull and bow = Lynel

Skull and Shield = Talus

Skull and sword = Hinox

Star and sword=weapon in shrine to go back for

Star and Skull = enemy in shrine)

 

[mdn2]

17 minutes ago, scottcr said:

When you get too cocky trying to shield parry guardians...

 

We should really start a Zelda picture thread. It really is a beautiful game. 

[Fatsam]

12 hours ago, Spainkiller said:

The story's light as a sheet of paper for the same reason Ganon's mostly a background baddy: to not infuse the game with a false sense of urgency. People are shitting on the game's narrative all over the internet, but without knowing how important it is for the game's carefree, do-whatever-the-fuck-you-want feel. My previous favourite open world game of all time, The Phantom Pain, is proof of these two elements conflicting.

 

This is also why the memories can be found at your leisure and in the order you want: because it's nothing but extra pieces of the story, but only if you want them. (I'm pretty sure they were going to be fixed cutscenes initially, until, at one point, they realised how much better it'd be if they were used as an incentive to explore even more. This is a gameplay game after all.) Nintendo could've easily forced them on us, but, nope, this is about you and your personal Hyrule adventure, bitch. Go out and create your own narrative.

 

Personally, I wouldn't even have minded if they had cut out the four champions, LOL. I love the Dark Souls storytelling in this (the plethora of NPCs, the locations, the scattered journals, the level design, etc.) waaaaaaaay more than I enjoyed the obligatory cutscenes.

 

The world certainly tells its stories very well. You get a sense of a deep history, often referencing previous games, which is ace. You get a sense of the extent of Ganon’s impact and of populations surviving the dangers and just getting on with life. Given the size of the thing, I think they’ve done a superb job making the world feel populated and full of people worth saving. Importantly, you can interact with everybody. Everyone has something to say. 

 

I can't help but miss the journey Link and others have been on in previous Zeldas though. I miss the character and relationship development over the course of the game. That's what you are going to get with the hands off go the fuck where you like approach rather than being swept along on a linear adventure like in the past, but there must be something they could have done to beef up the core story without impacting on the exploration or imposing a false sense of urgency. The memory idea is great, but they could have told that tale a little bit more effectively or a different one altogether. And I don't see why they couldn't have included a more visible central baddy with personality. Maybe not Ganon, but perhaps a Ghirahim type popping up at divine beasts and Hyrule castle. Someone you get to know directly, through memories, and through conversations with others. Oh man, imagine the voice acting on that one.

[scottcr]

Some of my favourite photos that don't contain any spoilers... I love how quick and easy it is to grab a picture.

[jonamok]

Love the Link vs Chicken stand off.

[luth714]

Like a post apocalyptic spaghetti western stand off

[Davros sock drawer]

It is a gorgeous looking game, but I find that screenshots don't really do it justice. I include my own in that of course. There's just something about the ambient effects, the wind, the ripples on water, the lighting, that just doesn't come across in a still image.

 

Really wish you could capture and share clips. How do Youtube reviewers do it, via a PC?

[nakamura]

Is the grass. Best grass ever.

[Len]

14 hours ago, smac said:

 

Yeah, I worked out the movement, but not how to set 'em off!

 

Total opposite for me. I'm going in shortly.

[kensei]

24 minutes ago, Fatsam said:

 

The world certainly tells its stories very well. You get a sense of a deep history, often referencing previous games, which is ace. You get a sense of the extent of Ganon’s impact and of populations surviving the dangers and just getting on with life. Given the size of the thing, I think they’ve done a superb job making the world feel populated and full of people worth saving. Importantly, you can interact with everybody. Everyone has something to say. 

 

I can't help but miss the journey Link and others have been on in previous Zeldas though. I miss the character and relationship development over the course of the game. That's what you are going to get with the hands off go the fuck where you like approach rather than being swept along on a linear adventure like in the past, but there must be something they could have done to beef up the core story without impacting on the exploration or imposing a false sense of urgency. The memory idea is great, but they could have told that tale a little bit more effectively or a different one altogether. And I don't see why they couldn't have included a more visible central baddy with personality. Maybe not Ganon, but perhaps a Ghirahim type popping up at divine beasts and Hyrule castle. Someone you get to know directly, through memories, and through conversations with others. Oh man, imagine the voice acting on that one.

 

The games brief was open as possible, and I think it's impressive how all the elements have come together to fully realise that.

 

I've liked the plot bits I've seen so far though. Zelda is a giant nerd, which is brilliant.

[luth714]

15 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

It is a gorgeous looking game, but I find that screenshots don't really do it justice. I include my own in that of course. There's just something about the ambient effects, the wind, the ripples on water, the lighting, that just doesn't come across in a still image.

 

Really wish you could capture and share clips. How do Youtube reviewers do it, via a PC?

 

I agree. Was going to take a photo last night, but somehow didn't see what I was seeing. Needs a gif, nice 5 seconds or so of movement. And the ambient sound too.

[scottcr]

After playing for about 60 hours... it still amazes me.  I'm nowhere near finished.

 

Some things I'd like to see in DLC or a followup...  I'll spoiler though, just in case

 

Caves.  A cave system with underground town/village/dungeon what-have you.

 

Swimming.  Being able to 'fly under the sea' with the Zora fin in Skyward sword was great.  

 

A bit more of a 'face' to your enemy... as mentioned above, some one like Ghirahim or Zaant. 

 

Dark world... or time travel.. or seaons... something that really makes a difference to your surroundings.

 

and no invisible walls... I was a bit sad when I explored as far north as I could just to be stopped by an invisible wall and that I couldn't go any farther, even though there was a massive expanse of land before me.

 

 

[Lorfarius]

Just now, scottcr said:

After playing for about 60 hours... it still amazes me.  I'm nowhere near finished.

 

Some things I'd like to see in DLC or a followup...  I'll spoiler though, just in case

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

Caves.  A cave system with underground town/village/dungeon what-have you.

 

Swimming.  Being able to 'fly under the sea' with the Zora fin in Skyward sword was great.  

 

A bit more of a 'face' to your enemy... as mentioned above, some one like Ghirahim or Zaant. 

 

Dark world... or time travel.. or seaons... something that really makes a difference to your surroundings.

 

and no invisible walls... I was a bit sad when I explored as far north as I could just to be stopped by an invisible wall and that I couldn't go any farther, even though there was a massive expanse of land before me.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

I never even thought about caves during my travels! It is odd there's no system of them anywhere.

 

[GwiDan]

26 minutes ago, luth714 said:

Like a post apocalyptic spaghetti western stand off

 

Meggsican standoff. 

[scottcr]

5 minutes ago, Spainkiller said:

  Hide contents

No systems, no, but there are definitely caves. Some of them even house some of the shrines.

 

I'd like some interconnected areas akin to Dark Souls. A castle area with the layout of Undead Burg would fit Zelda so, so well. Hyrule Castle in this is one step into that direction, I guess.

 

 

yeah

 

 

I've found some caves, but I suppose I mean proper underground cave systems... where you go down and get the fuck lost and when you find your way out you're like one of the kids from Indiana Jones and the Temple of doom and can't see properly.

[Broker]

35 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

It is a gorgeous looking game, but I find that screenshots don't really do it justice. I include my own in that of course. There's just something about the ambient effects, the wind, the ripples on water, the lighting, that just doesn't come across in a still image.

 

Really wish you could capture and share clips. How do Youtube reviewers do it, via a PC?

 

I've got a Roxio Gamecap HD Pro that cost about £50 and seems to capture the Wii U beautifully. Does pretty much require a PC and two screens though.

[scottcr]

35 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

It is a gorgeous looking game, but I find that screenshots don't really do it justice. I include my own in that of course. There's just something about the ambient effects, the wind, the ripples on water, the lighting, that just doesn't come across in a still image.

 

Really wish you could capture and share clips. How do Youtube reviewers do it, via a PC?

 

definitely - I was gliding to land on an open plain earlier and it was raining and sunny at the same time.  It looked *gorgeous* but screenshots just didn't do it justice.

[Davros sock drawer]

Just now, scottcr said:

 

definitely - I was gliding to land on an open plain earlier and it was raining and sunny at the same time.  It looked *gorgeous* but screenshots just didn't do it justice.

 

It does that "sunshine on a rainy day" effect so well, where the rocks are still wet but the sun is shining. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen that in a game.