Review: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

One of the best games of all time?

Without a doubt! The sense of openness is second to none. It makes you feel like you're actually Link, feeling your way around this foreign land, trying to figure out what's going on and how you're involved in it all. The exploration alone is stunning, and the puzzles in the shrines add so much to the experience.

Please let us know your thoughts when you tried it

10/10 despite brutal frame rate drops?

You could think of it like 10/10 = >95%. Doesn't mean perfect perfect. (as if anything could be)

Insanoflex said:
10/10 despite brutal frame rate drops?

You'll notice I didn't mark it down for sometimes having a slightly washed out look to its graphics, or having left over textures that are a hang-over from its Wii U roots, or even that wandering the world is more often than not done without any background music, just the surrounding sound effects to keep Link company.

Darkflame said:
You could think of it like 10/10 = >95%. Doesn't mean perfect perfect. (as if anything could be)

Well said.
I've got mine all setup and ready to go here, vastly looking forward to beginning this new story.

Darkflame said:
You could think of it like 10/10 = >95%. Doesn't mean perfect perfect. (as if anything could be)

Insanoflex said:

Darkflame said:
You could think of it like 10/10 = >95%. Doesn't mean perfect perfect. (as if anything could be)

perfect games do exist

As for Zelda, I find it hard to believe that this is so freaking good...
...which means that I now want to try it even more to find out

Plus it still looks way worse than any other open world game in 2017 this far. 
All looks the same, pretty dull world with almost nothing in it but the same fruits and eggs all the time. 

This game is good but not a 10/10 for someone who doesnt give a Zelda Bonus 

dadadaa (guest) said:
Plus it still looks way worse than any other open world game in 2017 this far. 
All looks the same, pretty dull world with almost nothing in it but the same fruits and eggs all the time. 

This game is good but not a 10/10 for someone who doesnt give a Zelda Bonus 

dadadaa (guest) said:
Plus it still looks way worse than any other open world game in 2017 this far. 
All looks the same, pretty dull world with almost nothing in it but the same fruits and eggs all the time. 

This game is good but not a 10/10 for someone who doesnt give a Zelda Bonus 

i can confirm the durability in this game is particularly low, especially for metallic weapons.

it is not realistic or fun for a steel claymore to break so easily, especially the way Link uses it. in real life you would never be able to shatter such a massive metal blade no matter how many times a human swung it at enemies or stone walls.

durability in games like this or RPGs in general have always been less fun than theyre worth.

as for the argument of "realism", the thing is about it is that realism is only good for a game if it makes the game more fun. breaking weapons is never fun. its a pain. especially since link cant fight with his bare hands.
 

I've been loving every minute so far. I've hardly even touched the story stuff, I'm just spending most of my time exploring and testing the waters. I get a lot of enjoyment just taking in the scenery. It really is a wonderful game, and so deserving of the reviews it's been getting

Yeah, taking this very slow right now. Got myself a horse.

dadadaa (guest) said:
Plus it still looks way worse than any other open world game in 2017 this far.
All looks the same, pretty dull world with almost nothing in it but the same fruits and eggs all the time.

This game is good but not a 10/10 for someone who doesnt give a Zelda Bonus.

So...a few months ago I decided to not get a Nintendo Switch on launch, and while I knew Zelda was coming to the Wii U I thought I'll just wait until I get a Switch so I wouldn't have to re-play through the beginning bit multiple times.

Then the reviews came in, and I gave in and preordered on the Wii U. Now I've seen it playing on the Switch for myself, I'm worried I'm going to play it too much on the Wii U. So far I've only played the opening hour, but I only stopped because of food. Now I'm scared to go back to it.

The morale of this over complicated story. Go buy a Switch and Zelda.

This game just keeps delivering. Just so overwhelmed right now.

Seriously, I can already see this being my favourite game ever.

it is certainly impressive in its scope and vast size... but i gotta say i still think majora is the better overall game.

breath seems like its only a bit better than TP.

It's doing all the right things so far for me. It's clear this is one of the biggest Zelda games, but I'm not going to get hasty yet in deeming it the best in the series. Still definitely need to get through the meat of it, but it's certainly on the right track. It really feels like Miyamoto's original vision for the series realised, but just a shame it took 30 years to get there.

I'm hoping for more memorable characters, because the majority of NPCs are pretty plain. There's been a few notable ones creeping in though.

I'm really annoyed at Nintendo forcing the sprint button onto the face buttons too - for an open world game, or even any 3D adventure/RPG, sprint NEEDS to be on a shoulder button or the left stick button so you can move the camera around as you run. It becomes pretty important, especially when running around corners and such, as you can't see where you're going unless you let go of sprint and adjust the camera. It's one of the minor gripes I have with the game, but it has been extremely noticeable to me since it is a basic feature of most 3D games that keeps gameplay flowing and helps players see what's ahead immediately.

I have found myself upgrading the stamina meter more than my health. I find stamina has been much more important. Other observation is that this is a brutal game. Definitely forces you to get good at counterattacking and urges cooking for added defense.

Really good so far tho. I haven't got much sleep myself this weekend because of it.

i feel like sprinting should be pushing in the left analogue stick and crouching should be left shoulder.

targeting should be right analogue.

both jumping options are not natural since all past zelda games had A be jumping (side stepping or back flips) just feels weird and unnatural as is.

the absurdly low durability is a real issue. its retarded to have to carry multiples of the same weapon you like.

I'd defo keep targeting to ZL shoulder, since that's what Zelda has always used since the GameCube. Just comes naturally now. Trying to target with the right stick would be crap to me. But they have options to move sprint somewhere more useful, like L shoulder button or left stick, whilst crouch goes to either L or the X/B button where sprint is now. Then the slate item selection goes to whichever is unused. Really wish they provided more options instead of switching jump/sprint to different face buttons.

I'm okay with the jump where I have it now - on my B button. I didn't feel like the default of X to jump was best. You don't have to move your thumb with jump on B and attack on Y.

I think there is a case for durability being a tad over the top, but I don't think I've had too many issues with it so far. Depending on the situation, I might feel differently. It is annoying when you quickly lose a weapon you like.

If I knew a weapon was on the way out (flashing red in the inventory, or getting a warning message), I'd slam it against something hard just to get rid so I didn't get caught in an awkward situation. Sad when you've got a great weapon, but it's the reality of the game to keep you on the lookout for more stuff rather than relying on one item until the next upgrade possibly many hours later. It's meant to be a "adds variety" thing rather than "this is more realistic" thing, I felt.

One issue I've just remembered - once locked on to an enemy that takes some time to defeat and trying to constantly strafe around...had anyone else ended up accidentally crouching? I found that the way I pushed the left analogue when moving actually clicked the L3 function one too many times. More a flaw of the way I used the stick, possibly, but caught me out a few times, especially as I'd push deeper into the game quickly to test my skill against enemies I shouldn't really be taking on too early in the adventure. That's where I had so much fun - *just* making it up that cliff face, *just* scraping by against that super tough enemy, *just* getting across the icy plane before Link froze to death, etc.

( Edited 06.03.2017 21:24 by Adam Riley )

Not had any problems with durability yet. I like it, personally (even though I wasn't so sure before I got the game)  it encourages you to try out new weapons. There always enough weapons around, too. Either way, it's not like there won't be stronger weapons later on, the whole game you're constantly getting upgrades, just like any other Zelda game, it's just done in a different way.

I usually hate durability in games, but BotW handles it well. It's almost like a meta puzzle in itself; you have to really carefully consider what to bring along as well as what to use and when. I like this system a lot. It also expands the gameplay by forcing the use of different weapon types.

It's part of exactly what Zelda needed to shake up the formula. It's all well and good making enemies tougher, but there are a fair few new mechanics and skills to consider in order to succeed in battle here.

Just want to say how awesome the weather changes are. The density of fog, heavy winds, sunsets, water effects, thunderstorms (which are genuinely scary and amazing at the same time) all look gorgeous. Really impressed with the graphical side of things, despite the obvious poor performance in some respects.

( Edited 05.10.2018 01:40 by Azuardo )