The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Discussion

[Olimar12345]

BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FIT

Spoiler

10,000 YEARS AGO WE BATTLED GANON AND MADE ALL THESE STATUES
so it at least has to happen 10,000 years after any of the games...

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Spoiler

Okay, so it happens 10,000 years after another game. What's wrong with that?

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You're trying so hard to find things to complain about -__-

[mikey]

what the crap I'm not complaining
I'm trying to figure out the best timeline placement and it doesn't work super great

EDIT: although... this is a pretty great place to dump all the bad game design decisions that they made.  I blame iwata tbh

[Nebbles]

I've been a bit lazy with playing, but I love how open ended the puzzles seem to be. There's more than one solution to most of them, and it's really fun.

[Dude]

Spoiler

I think it's after tp but at the same point in time as wind waker would have been which explains why rito people and koroks are there as well as gerudos and zoras

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[swimswamit]

I blame iwata tbh

:[

[Olimar12345]

Don't worry, noc just does this.

[mikey]

:[

Spoiler

I think it's after tp but at the same point in time as wind waker would have been which explains why rito people and koroks are there as well as gerudos and zoras

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Spoiler

The problem with the child timeline is how heavily ganon has been involved in the backstory.  I'm starting to think that I misunderstood impa and that the guardians were created perhaps after skyward sword.  I know they were buried in the ground between 10,000 and 100 years B.L. (Before Link wakes up), but I thought they were used to seal ganon 10,000 years ago.  That's why it doesn't really fit ANYWHERE.
As a side note, I think it would be cool if in OoT Ganondorf turning into the beast (story-wise) always resulted in the hero being defeated- that is, the child and adult timelines happen with him crushed by his building and not turning into the beast, since beast ganon only appears in the downfall timeline.

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game design

I want to start off by saying they did do a really good job on a lot of things.  The quest log, for example, provides a function similar to the dowsing ability in skyward sword.  Not only does it help keep track of the many many things that go on in BotW, it also helps out when you're not really sure where people are talking about (I wish someone could point out Sefula Hill for me though) and the marker on your map keeps you oriented when you have to go over or around a large obstacle.
The shrines are little nuggets of pure Zelda and they're my favorite part of the game so far.  There are a few things about them that I wish they did better, like making some of them longer (closer to 30 minutes maybe?) would be appreciated.  I'd also like them to be more easily accessible and more frequently scattered.
What nebbles mentioned is also well done.  On release day I got to watch 5 separate people play through the entire plateau and not one of them did it exactly the same way or in the same order.  They did a good job making the play experience unique and that gives it a lot of freshness.
Of course, when you've got a game this ambitious it can't be perfect.  Some of these are just my personal dislikes in gaming (which are valid!) and some are legitimately questionable/bad game design.  First, the one that I bring up most often: breakable weapons.  There are weapons everywhere, and the more common ones can easily be replaced.  However, rarer things like Guardian Swords, the Flameblade, the Frostspear, and to a lesser extent the rods and Phrenic Bow are very powerful or unique but also breakable.  Why is this bad?  Well, these items take effort to get, they're not just held by random enemies.  Once you learn that weapons are breakable, you're more careful with your items and you're not going to use them for dumb things.  However, it leads to something like "I have this awesome item, but I won't use it because I have a weaker item here".  Expendability quickly becomes the most important attribute of an item, which turns the typical RPG "weapon paradigm" upside down.  Essentially, more powerful weapons are actually worse than weaker weapons.  It's worse than simply not having the powerful weapons because they take up item slots for weapons you would readily use.  If you think that's not a bad thing regardless of how much you like it you've got a problem.
Sure, this world is huge, but there's... not much... stuff in it.  And when I say stuff, I mean there's not content.  There's stuff to fill the space between point A and point B, but none of it is particularly relevant or fun after the novelty wears off.  It takes you X amount of time to head straight from said point A to B, but then you also have to account for the height difference and potential factors that mean you have to take an alternate route and suddenly 70% of your non-shrine time is spent simply traveling between points.  Warps help with this, but when you're heading to an area you haven't explored yet, you can't take shortcuts.  Maybe this was their intent, but it just wastes precious time that could be spent completing the aforementioned shrines (which is basically the only reason to play BotW).  When I started playing at first, when heading to a shrine I would keep getting more and more sidetracked trying to kill animals or catch a deer or kill enemies but I've fortunately gotten over that and now most of the travel time is boring.  If they had just scaled the world down by, say, 25 or so percent it would have been a lot more bearable.
"But what about horses?" You now ask.  Well, to be frank, horses are worse than walking on foot.  Sure, they're faster, but seeing as they can't climb slopes, they're useless for making any real progress.  I mean, catching them is fun and all but at some point you're gonna have to jump ship and leave your horse sitting there to climb a cliff or something.  And then you have to go all the way to a stable to pick it up again, or you can try finding it if you want.  The real solution to making the travel time bearable would have been simple.  What about a pair of seven-league boots?  Come on, guys.
Speaking of items, where are they?  The combat items like the bow, boomerang, and deku branch (lol) all appear as weapons, but what about the fun ones, like the hookshot?  The Iron Boots?  Those kinds of items make exploration fun.  Having all the tools you need to solve a problem from the outset isn't necessarily bad game design, but I prefer what has been referred to as the "Miyamoto framework".  Basically, you have door A which is locked.  Door A needs key B to open, but you can't get key B unless you do task C first.  This creates artificial depth where an area you've previously explored feels bigger than it actually is because you can suddenly do a lot more there than you used to.
Another downside to the large environment is their music choice.  Rather than go with a universal "Overworld Theme" they instead have the occasional ambient noises.  Since we don't have a version of the game with music everywhere, it's impossible to say how annoying it would have gotten, but I can't help but think OoT's Hyrule Field would have been long enough to fill the space during the day.
An aside:  Voice acting is terrible.  I want to run my ears through a paper shredder.  Especially Zelda, she's just unbearable.
At the end of the day BotW plays more like a Western RPG than an action/puzzle/adventure game.  The "selling point" of the game I think is its environment.  Climbing to the top of the tower and being shown the entire area is pretty breathtaking.  I just wish there was more stuff in that environment than enemies, koroks, and animals.

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[Maelstrom]

About the voice acting: I didn't think it was that bad. Granted, it wasn't good. The lip-synching was horrible, however.
And remember, I'm one of the guys who was mad we couldn't use JP voices.

[mikey]

part of the reason I hate it is that it sort of ruins your own expectations for what they sound like.  I mean mipha's voice fits better than everyone elses but zelda no, king no, everyone else I've come across no

[DocDoom2]

The voice acting might be one of the most divisive (is that the word?) things in BotW, simply due to the fact that everyone imagines different characters with different types of voices.
So there's no way to please everyone... (So far the King's and Zelda's voices haven't matched up with what I imagined, and Impa's voice actor seems like she's trying to hard to sound old xD)
That being said, despite some of the small flaws of the game, I'm really enjoying it. All the references to past games are so fun to discover too!
My current progress is in spoilers for those who don't have the game/don't want to know.

Spoiler

I'm currently on my way to Haterno village. I'm glad I upgraded my hearts and not my stamina because that Yiga Clan guy dealt three and a half hearts of damage!

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[Zeila]

The voice acting might be one of the most divisive (is that the word?) things in BotW, simply due to the fact that everyone imagines different characters with different types of voices.
So there's no way to please everyone... (So far the King's and Zelda's voices haven't matched up with what I imagined, and Impa's voice actor seems like she's trying to hard to sound old xD)
That being said, despite some of the small flaws of the game, I'm really enjoying it. All the references to past games are so fun to discover too!
My current progress is in spoilers for those who don't have the game/don't want to know.

Spoiler

I'm currently on my way to Haterno village. I'm glad I upgraded my hearts and not my stamina because that Yiga Clan guy dealt three and a half hearts of damage!

[close]

I totally agree. Zelda's voice is almost off putting imo, but I still found most of it to be tolerable. Also,

Spoiler

I upgraded one heart and the rest stamina (I think I have 2 and 2/5 wheels), and honestly I think stamina upgrades are so much more worthwhile. Health upgrades are easier to come by for me than stamina ones, and some give up to at least +12 extra hearts. Also, when I fought one of the lynels, I noticed that my health dropped to half a heart regardless of whether I had 6 or 9 hearts for certain attacks

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[mikey]

Yeah stamina is pretty good, but you can always just exchange them at the demon statue.  Stamina upgrades help you catch the white horse and make climbing and swimming so much easier

[Dude]

But what about getting

Spoiler

the master sword

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[Olimar12345]

He probably hasn't gotten that far yet.

[mikey]

That's why you exchange them at the demon statue