The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[shirubagan]

Completely fluked the Shrouded Shrine quest as I dropped my torch and couldn't light it. 

 

Also so came up with a great way of

 

stealing spheres from Hinoxes:

Use stasis on them while they're sleeping and it gives you enough time to climb it, steal the sphere and run far enough away for them to be unable to catch you.
 

 

[Danster]

7 minutes ago, g wings said:

 

From what I've seen around there are some ways to make it easier.

If you're really struggling...

 

Spoiler

Then the Hinox an be killed with a bit of time. Stand on a cliff where he can't do anything other than throw rocks at you, easy to dodge. Then throw bombs at him until he is dead.

 

Also any rusty weapons you find dotted around can be cleared up using the octorock on the coast just past the raft.

 

[shirubagan]

2 hours ago, Thwomp said:

Eventide just keeps hammering me 

 

See my post above  

[Delargey]

On the Tarry town quest can someone give me a vague hint to find the bird person. I've talked to everyone in the village, I think, and had a look around the surrounding area.

[layten]

58 minutes ago, Delargey said:

On the Tarry town quest can someone give me a vague hint to find the bird person. I've talked to everyone in the village, I think, and had a look around the surrounding area.

Did you talk to every Rito in the village?

[kensei]

3 hours ago, Fatsam said:

 

I think it's just a limited development time issue. They've gone for 120 shines because that's an appropriate number for the size of the world and they've made an ace job of placing and hiding them in the environment. And they've done their best designing puzzles for as many as they could. Then they've filled the rest with theses incredibly similar or identical fights. Not ideal, maybe they would have got around to putting a bit more variety in there if they'd had time,  but the game had to be released at some point. 

 

As the game progresses though, it becomes even more about the enjoyment of finding or revealing a shrine. If there are puzzles to solve inside, that's a bonus. If it's a test of strength, it will be over very quickly. Which I quite liked, because it demonstrates how far I've come and how much stronger Link is. And I want them to be over quickly if it's just another three armed spinny robot.

 

The part where I felt the lack of enemy variety and becoming too powerful hurt my experience was with the divine beast bosses and Calamity Ganon himself. Apart form slight variations, they all feel far too similar and can be dispatched in the same way, using your regular combat methods, and very easily if you're powerful.   My expectations were pretty high though. Main bosses were the one area where I was properly disappointed with the game.

 

I did really like all those action sequences that are a bit like one part of a boss fight though. Similar to using you spinner up the walls against Stallord in Twilight Princess, and very much like using your Loft Wing to attack the weak points of the parasite infected Lavias before you jump onto it for a game of ping pong. 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know, I think they planned the combat shrines from the start. Wind Waker had a cave of trials where they escalated in difficulty, and I don't think it's the only one.

 

They could have three more mini guardians in there, or different enemy types or focused on someone who could one shot you or has insane HP. None of that takes a lot of Dev time - your just placing what you already have. If you are spending Dev time, you've a blank room to chuck your processing power on - make some big ass super Guardians.

 

There is a touch of that in that some rooms have watery floors you could use Cryonis on etc. But overall it's a missed opportunity.

[Fatsam]

Yeah, combat Shrines were always going to be in it. I just suspect that there were originally going to be fewer of them and more puzzle ones. You're right though, chucking in one or more of the mini guardians would have been an easy thing to do. Is there some reason why two of them together wouldn't work? 

[Bazjam]

Been playing this about a week now and I'm totally smitten with it. I find it hard to pinpoint what's so brilliant about this game, but I guess it's mainly to do with the world itself. I just find myself wanting to examine every field and hilltop I pass. Unlike many open world games it doesn't feel like it's been cut and pasted together. Instead it feels like every inch has been lovingly assembled. 

 

I'm having to restrict myself to playing this handheld whenever I get spare time throughout the day and early evening, whilst playing Yakuza 0 and Nier Automata at night desperately trying to finish at least one of them in time for Persona 5. What times we live in.

[g wings]

18 minutes ago, Bazjam said:

I just find myself wanting to examine every field and hilltop I pass. Unlike many open world games it doesn't feel like it's been cut and pasted together. Instead it feels like every inch has been lovingly assembled. 

 

That's how I feel. It's wonderfully designed and full of so much stuff. With all the hidden shrines and korok seeds I find myself exploring everything and everywhere. 

[Strafe]

Mounted archery challenge can fuck right off. Even using a Lynel bow, which is a 5 spread shot can't miss weapon, I've maxed out at 11. Help!

[LaParka]

Had a bit of a break from this game as I was playing it just a bit too much (is that a thing?). Turned it on a few days ago and only lasted half an hour before switching it off again. Something wasn't quite right and I didn't want to force it. Turned it on again Wednesday evening and the sense of joy when I first started playing has come back. Pretty much binged on it over the last few nights, had to turn it off at 2 am last night!

 

I've pretty much ignored the four beasts and just decided to have a wander around. I'm trying to find as many Korok seeds as possible and instead of forcing you to do pointless, trivial tasks, the korok seed hunt just rewards you for being inquisitive. See a pattern of rocks, theres a Korok hiding there. See a row of trees, theres going to be a Korok etc.

 

Ended up on an Island and it

stripped me off all my gear and told me to go and complete the quest. I was so reliant on just having decent weapons and armour that i'd become slightly lazy. Had a fit of annoyance as I couldn't get the final sphere from the Hinox as I was trying to kill him with essentially a twig and he kept wiping me out. instead I hatched on the idea of just gliding down onto his chest, stealing the sphere and running away as fast as possible! When I got all my gear back I decided to go back and finish him off. still feel slightly guilty for doing that, as he was just minding his business sleeping away.

 

Wandered round a bit further to where it was a bit snowy and stumbled across

a dragon who was covered in the tainted goo stuff. Cleared all that away and revealed another shrine.

 

Finally, I took a guardian without resorting to using guardian arrows. I couldn't get the timing right with my shield, and if I blocked it, the laser would go off at a different angle. Tried for about half an hour before giving up and looking up some guides. Being an idiot, I must have missed the part where it says you have your shield out, but you also have to parry the laser shot. I was timing it to put my shield up instead of parry -  Once I realised how dim I was being, had another go and smashed the guardian right in his stupid laser face. 

 

still noped out of all the Major Test of Strength shrines....

[Davros sock drawer]

The last couple of shrines I've done have been really good puzzles. Particularly enjoyed the one near Outskirt Stables (Rota Ooh).

[Davros sock drawer]

Also, my new steed...

 

 

[RaoulSilva]

Finally found a Moblin club. 

[g wings]

21 minutes ago, RaoulSilva said:

Finally found a Moblin club. 

 

What are they needed for? I had two and dumped them...

[CheekyLee]

6 hours ago, Colonel Panic said:

 

Where in Hyrule do I get that mask?

You have to find Kilton. Which means you have to find him, then find him again once he's buggered off.

 

They're for the FINAL BOSS ... um ...that little shit Nebb, @g wings. No idea if anyone else had a problem getting one, but it took me the best part of a week before I finally found a Moblin weedy enough to be holding one.

[dataDave]

22 minutes ago, g wings said:

 

What are they needed for? I had two and dumped them...

 

One of the Hateno kids starts a side-quest where he wants you to bring him different weapons to inspect.

[g wings]

@CheekyLee @Fallows. Thanks, forgot about that quest!

 

Went on a mammoth korok seed hunt last night and then traded them for slots. Had over 50 so got plenty of space now so no more need to dump kit all the time.

[Majora]

And finished. The last boss was ok and the ending was pretty underwhelming. Oh well. It's all about the journey and all that. The end credits are making me realise that the game has more memorable songs than I thought though. 

 

The Great Plateau feels so long ago now...on the whole it's a fantastic achievement but not without some room for improvement I think. I started to feel a bit burnt out near the end as I don't think the game quite manages to avoid the feeling of open world repetition setting in eventually. But then I feel that way with every open world game ever made, and BotW definitely staved it off for longer than most. And the first, oooh, 50 hours or so I played was the best gaming experience I've had since the first Dark Souls. After that, when the thrill of discovery dimmed a bit, it was 'only' excellent. 

 

10/10 will eagerly await hard mode and DLC. 

[Rudderless]

I'm still not suffering burnout yet and I'm 120 hours in now. I'm really keen to finish all the shrines (I've got eight left now, and they're getting harder to locate) as well as filling my compendium as much as I can. Then - finally! - I might move on.

 

I decided to have a thorough mooch around Hyrule Castle today, because the first time I raced through it to Ganon. Must have discovered half a dozen weapons I hadn't seen elsewhere in the game, found a shrine and got the special treasure in the lockup before heading back out and killing all the Guardians I encountered on the way. 

 

It's funny, when I was playing this early on I thought there was no way it needed a Hard mode and felt sure I wouldn't even bother trying it. But now I'm quite keen on the idea. I hope it's something more interesting than just having enemies hit harder or take more damage before they die.

 

I almost can't believe I'm saying any of this. I just don't play single-player games for 120 hours. And I certainly don't finish games that are already quite challenging and look forward to playing them on a harder difficulty setting. But I guess this is no ordinary game. 

[palaver]

It suffers from some of the same issues as a lot of other open world games where a few tasks become a bit rote and the difficulty level seems to err on the side of the player not actually playing, but there are still so many moments where I'll pan the camera around and think "Ooh, what's that?!" and have to scale a mountain or two just to see.

[kensei]

I think there are actually maybe only a few changes needed to make this properly hard

 

 

* Dark Souls style needing stamina for all actions

* Preventing or Limiting healing during combat

* Can't eat while climbing

* Only allowed to change weapons in the quick menus

* Up the environmental hazards damage to frozen water levels

* Require you to eat regularly by costing you hearts if you don't

* Up damage and reactions on beast bosses

 

Obviously, I hope they'll go further, but just that and it'd be a difficult game.

[Fatsam]

* Play with the left joycon behind your back.

[Davros sock drawer]

I love this game so much.

 

I never thought a Zelda game would give me the same "feels" as Ocarina did - my first, and always my favourite. But somehow this is managing it. 

 

I've opened up a few more map sections now, and even the names of some locations are giving me goosebumps...

[the_debaser]

60 hours in, the 4 divine beast are done, I've done about 70 shrines and have only 90 koroks. Gonna get to 100 shrines then head to Ganon and kick his arse. 

 

Is it the the best game ever? Maybe. 

[Majora]

21 minutes ago, palaver said:

It suffers from some of the same issues as a lot of other open world games where a few tasks become a bit rote and the difficulty level seems to err on the side of the player not actually playing, but there are still so many moments where I'll pan the camera around and think "Ooh, what's that?!" and have to scale a mountain or two just to see.

 

In a nutshell, yeah. For example I stopped bothering with the bandit tree houses/camps in the last quarter or so of the game because they were feeling rote. I'll write a lot more on this game another time because I feel like I have a lot to say about it. But, essentially I did get to a point where I felt like the game had nothing more to offer to reward me (in terms of pure progression) through poking around. 

 

In the early game, when you're weak, it's well worth going out of your way to explore and also to take on the bandit camps. Your inventory is limited so you want to find Korok seeds. Your weapons break easily so you want to fight enemies to get better ones. You want the contents of the chests in enemy camps because at that point in the game 10 arrows feels like a lifesaver. 

 

Around maybe halfway to two thirds of the way in, I had unlocked all weapon inventory slots except one, which was due to cost around 55 seeds I think. So when you need that amount just for one expansion, getting 1 seed feels like it barely makes a dent. But even then, I didn't even need that slot. I already had so many weapons and wasn't even using half of them. And not just that, I had so many good weapons. And I had tons of arrows. So raiding camps seemed pointless. Occasionally I did and it was never worth the effort whereas early on it was. 

 

And then I started noticing that my weapons were so good that the stuff I was finding in chests in the shrines and in the world felt mediocre in comparison, and barely felt like rewards at all. So ultimately, all the systems and loops designed to keep me engaged and interested in exploring just stopped mattering at a certain point which had a knock-on effect on my desire to do certain things. Especially when I clocked on that the game shows its hand in terms of enemy variety a bit too early. I still enjoyed finding the shrines and stables but I started to stick to the main quest more. 

 

It's still an amazing game though. I can tell it's going to be a while before I stop missing being able to climb anywhere in other games. 

 

[kensei]

14 minutes ago, palaver said:

It suffers from some of the same issues as a lot of other open world games where a few tasks become a bit rote and the difficulty level seems to err on the side of the player not actually playing, but there are still so many moments where I'll pan the camera around and think "Ooh, what's that?!" and have to scale a mountain or two just to see.

 

The difficulty is tricky. I think this is hard enough that a large sections of people that buy it will find it pretty difficult. But if you've rinsed Dark Souls or are a Street Fighter master like a lot on the forum, it plateaus a lot mid game.

 

That said, I disrespected a pack of Stalfos tonight and got my ass handed to me.

[Petrousgyre]

Little details in the audio; when you pause the game the music gets panned from far left and right to the centre. There's tiny little snippets of the blood moon theme played occasionally when it's not a blood moon, just to keep you on your toes. The use of sound and music might actually be my favourite thing about this Zelda.

 

Just discovered a Molduga, really rather unexpectedly! 

[palaver]

26 minutes ago, Majora said:

It's still an amazing game though. I can tell it's going to be a while before I stop missing being able to climb anywhere in other games. 

 

Absolutely, I think the way the world is always a pleasure to traverse is one of its crowning achievements, and there's always a balance between a natural feeling environment and there being something out there on the horizon that makes you want to go there.

[kensei]

1 hour ago, Majora said:

 

In a nutshell, yeah. For example I stopped bothering with the bandit tree houses/camps in the last quarter or so of the game because they were feeling rote. I'll write a lot more on this game another time because I feel like I have a lot to say about it. But, essentially I did get to a point where I felt like the game had nothing more to offer to reward me (in terms of pure progression) through poking around. 

 

In the early game, when you're weak, it's well worth going out of your way to explore and also to take on the bandit camps. Your inventory is limited so you want to find Korok seeds. Your weapons break easily so you want to fight enemies to get better ones. You want the contents of the chests in enemy camps because at that point in the game 10 arrows feels like a lifesaver. 

 

Around maybe halfway to two thirds of the way in, I had unlocked all weapon inventory slots except one, which was due to cost around 55 seeds I think. So when you need that amount just for one expansion, getting 1 seed feels like it barely makes a dent. But even then, I didn't even need that slot. I already had so many weapons and wasn't even using half of them. And not just that, I had so many good weapons. And I had tons of arrows. So raiding camps seemed pointless. Occasionally I did and it was never worth the effort whereas early on it was. 

 

And then I started noticing that my weapons were so good that the stuff I was finding in chests in the shrines and in the world felt mediocre in comparison, and barely felt like rewards at all. So ultimately, all the systems and loops designed to keep me engaged and interested in exploring just stopped mattering at a certain point which had a knock-on effect on my desire to do certain things. Especially when I clocked on that the game shows its hand in terms of enemy variety a bit too early. I still enjoyed finding the shrines and stables but I started to stick to the main quest more. 

 

It's still an amazing game though. I can tell it's going to be a while before I stop missing being able to climb anywhere in other games. 

 

 

There's a lot of truth to this, but I think there's a play style thing in it as well. I never really bothered with the Bandit Camps for the loot. At best it was giving me a temporary boost. I only did them because fighting the enemies was fun. That's still true - the white ones are tough, and drop a load of gemstones if you kill them.

 

I also only really did the chests in the shrines because they usually required another puzzle. The shrine itself was the reward, a little micro dungeon slice. I'd never really rush back to top up strength or  stamina either; pretty early on you can cope with what you've  got. From midway combat shrines were always a bit of a letdown. 

 

Similarly with Koroks, I didn't hunt them, I just solved little puzzles in front of me and got them. I've got nowhere near as many as you - I think I can still get an 8 side upgrade, but by a large I still have a big arsenal of strong weapons.

 

What's pushing me toward endgame is that I've finally opened the entire map. I opened a section, explored at random, had a look for interesting features and when it looked like I'd enough, I moved on. I saved the Beasts as special quests and doled them out at strategic points of the game. I've over 100 shrines done and one left.

 

After that, I want to mop up a few side quests and onto Gannon. I don't want to double back over the map finding the last ballachey shrines, I'll probably use a guide. And still get distracted by odds bits, as I still am this far in.

 

Theres definitely tweaks you'd make to make the endgame more compelling; open dual power food might help to make it still  useful once you've most of the gear, for example. But for, it's been an open world game defined by not chasing stats, but the experiences in it. That's what's made it seem so refreshing I think.