#(while BotW is all adventure - minimal puzzles) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pixelgrotto · 7 years

Photo

The potential of a blue tunic I remember when Breath of the Wild was first revealed in 2014, one of the first things that caught my eye in the trailer, aside from the huge world, was Link’s different attire. Instead of his usual green fairy boy tunic, he was decked out in a blue outfit and a hood. Nintendo had been teasing a “blue Link” for a while now, first testing the waters with his Wind Waker shirt and then the long anime scarf he wore in Hyrule Warriors. But they’d always stuck to the green garb in the end, because Nintendo is a traditional, conservative company comfortable with traditional, conservative things. Breath of the Wild was supposed to be something radical, though - an upgrade bringing The Legend of Zelda into the 21st century with modern game mechanics. I didn’t know for sure if the Big N would pull it off, but I thought that perhaps the blue tunic was a start, and I was optimistic in my impressions as the years went on.

Fast forward to 2017, and I finally beat the game about two weeks ago after four months of regular playing. I came as close to “100%” that I’m willing to go, with 155 hours under my belt, all 120 shrines found and the Trials of the Sword DLC completed. I only found 110 Korok Seeds, but that was more than enough, and at the moment, BotW owns the title of the second most time I’ve devoted to a first playthrough of a single-player game. (Number one still goes to The Witcher 3, which stole a staggering 215 hours from my life. Maybe BotW will get there when its next DLC pack comes out.) We’ve reached the point in BotW’s life cycle where we’re past the time of copious praise and now in the era of contrarian think pieces, like one that was published by Destructoid two days ago, entitled “Breaking down why Breath of the Wild is highly overrated.” And there’s a lot of stuff in that article, as well as in the complaints of other people on the internet who didn’t love the game as much as the enthusiast press, that makes sense. This was Nintendo’s first open world project, and while they clearly studied what makes the genre tick, they picked up a few bad habits along the way. The weapons break far too much, yes. The side quests, with the exception of a few like Tarrey Town, are forgettable and a far cry from anything in The Witcher 3. (In fact, a huge majority of the quests are little more than “find me 10 of this” affairs, straight out of World of Warcraft’s game design guide…in 2006.) The 900 collectible Korok Seeds business is extravagant and seems like Nintendo splurging on a lazy design trope, and much ado has been made on how the 120 shrines across the map could’ve been consolidated into something like 50 or 60. Speaking of the map, pretty much every negative review calls it “soulless,” and it is in some ways. It’s a bit too big, with certain regions like the jungle feeling half-baked. And while the game does feature cute towns, the people residing in them are largely simplistic NPCs who never seem to act like Calamity Ganon is a threat lurking around the corner…which is maybe due to the minimal (though charming in its own fairy tale way) plot, which is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible in order to give the player more options. But Zelda was never really a series like The Witcher, which focuses strongly on story. Zelda’s always been gameplay-driven, and for every flaw that Breath of the Wild has, it did three or four things with its mechanics that made me forgive. Clearing a Bokobolin camp by lighting the ground on fire to create a updraft, sailing into the air via paraglider, shooting a bomb arrow into a crack of their cave to ignite powder kegs and watching everything go BOOM in a massive explosion is thrilling the first time you do it and stays thrilling 100 hours in. Fighting Lynels, who initially seem frighteningly OP but become both manageable and farmable over time, is a rush that almost feels like it’s from another franchise entirely…a certain franchise with a name that begins with D and S. (Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna say it.) And while portions of the game’s map are underdeveloped, I’ve got to give a shout-out to the Gerudo region. I’ve normally lukewarm on desert areas in games, since I don’t really like deserts in real life. But with changing temperatures that force you to swap between different outfits in the day and night, giant desert worms hidden under the dunes, sand seal surfing (!!!) and an entire town filled with women who are not only the most interesting NPCs in the game, but are also all non-white and with surprisingly varied body types, Gerudo’s one of the best parts of BotW.

So if you haven’t figured it out by now, I enjoyed the game very much despite its flaws, and while it’ll take some time to determine if it can outclass the impact that Ocarina of Time had on me in 1999, I do think that it lived up to my expectations. Above all, I like how it went back to the franchise’s roots, essentially re-creating the feel of Zelda 1 (an early example of an open world game) with a new coat of paint inspired by Hayao Miyazaki. By doing this, BotW effectively broke the “eight linear dungeons with items doled out in-between” formula that the series had become so reliant upon over the last few years, and as someone who quickly becomes bored with formula, such a change was gratifying to experience. (Heck, I know I’m in the minority here, but I never really played Zelda for the dungeons and puzzle-solving in the first place - I played it for the series’ sense of adventure.) Yes, just like that Destructoid article mentioned, there are plenty of things that Nintendo needs to refine, but if they combine all of the good parts from BotW with a few less shrines, a more intimate world, the side quests of Majora’s Mask and the characterization of Wind Waker, we should have some darn solid sequels coming in the near future.

And to go back to the blue tunic, my initial thoughts on giving Link an aqua appearance turned out to be right after all. The blue tunic is not only unique and contemporary; it’s also a tangible representation of BotW moving in a different direction from its peers. Furthermore, since it’s Link’s new default, it pulls off the cool trick of making his green getup, which is unlockable via Amiibo or by clearing all 120 shrines, seem “old school” in a good, desirable way, rather than a tired, traditional one. It’s a reinvigorating new look for new times, in other words. Blue to stand out from the green wilderness that Link explores in-game, and blue to differentiate Breath of the Wild from its predecessors as a bold beginning as fresh as sea breeze.

I say…bring on the blue. Art courtesy of Nintendo.

#pixel grotto #favorites #video games #the legend of zelda #zelda #zelda no densetsu #breath of the wild

4 notes · View notes

infraredpenguin · 7 years

Text

First Impressions - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

It’s usually a good sign when you sit down to play a game at 2 in the morning just to get a quick taste, only to look up and see it’s daylight outside. That’s exactly what happened last night when I first experienced the latest entry in the legendary Zelda franchise. Before I continue, I should probably say that I am playing Breath of the Wild on the Wii U, so I can’t speak to performance on that console.

Right out of the gate, I was actually pretty pissed off. Why? Well, because the Wii U gamepad has a persistent notification to switch to playing solely on its screen, and this notification is constantly fading in and out. I have a hard time dealing with stuff in the periphery of my vision, so this was extremely aggravating at first. I tried finding ways of turning off the screen or making use of my Wii Pro controllers, only for nothing to help alleviate this frankly idiotic flaw.

Thankfully, after an hour of playtime, I was so enthralled I completely forgot about my gamepad’s screen.

I will say, however, that I’m sick of companies fucking with their customer-base, doing shit like Nintendo has done here, essentially gutting the Wii U version of the game (a game they were definitely selling Wii U hopes on before) to promote their new console. They definitely had map and inventory functionality on the Wii U gamepad before, as well as examples of this kind of stuff in other games like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess HD. The gutting of these features for parity with the Switch, is shameful and insulting, but I digress.

Breath of the Wild is a fantastic game, and the degradation of what could have been doesn’t change that. So, here are a few major impressions I’ve had with the game so far:

1. The world is beautiful and awe-inspiring. From the art style to the sheer, terrifying scope of it, this is a world that begs you to explore it, and BotW has provided a multitude of reasons to do so. You’re really not forced into doing anything you don’t want to. Even the starting region, the Great Plateau, despite having a critical path to it prior to opening up the rest of Hyrule, gives you a staggering amount of leeway in terms of approaching your objectives and satisfying your explorative urges. Being a huge explorer-type, myself, I am legitimately fearful of what this game is going to do to my psyche... How will I escape from the lure of the wild?

2. The lack of handholding is refreshing and well executed. With minimal guidance that you almost have to seek out yourself, the game expects you to figure things out. The ways in which different objects react to each other, how Link behaves using different tools, and other elements such as the surprisingly engaging cooking system, all encourage the player to explore in some way or another. Death is a constant companion, or at least the threat of it is if you plan on being truly adventurous. Thankfully, all of this is backed up by a surprisingly robust save system for a Zelda game, ensuring you never lose too much progress and allowing you to dictate the flow of your experience.

3. Combat is dynamic and satisfying, but ‘ho boy, the controls for this game are a battle in and of themselves. Simply put, controlling Link with the Wii U gamepad feels kind of janky, and this is coming from someone who actually quite likes the gamepad. I’ve never felt as clumsy playing the Zelda HD remakes or Xenoblade Chronicles X or any other of a multitude of Wii U games I love as I do playing Breath of the Wild. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something just feels off, feels slightly unresponsive, and nowhere was this more apparent than in the fight against a hidden boss enemy in the starting area.

Beating this stony adversary felt like it required some arcane contortion of my hands, trying to juggle the Z-lock with the camera and jumping, running, and attacking. I blame a great deal of this on the binding of jump and run, diametrically opposed to one another on the X and B buttons. Now sure, once I went into the options and swapped them so jump was set to B and cancel/run set to X, things started falling into place a little better. Just picture trying to fight something by attacking with Y while dodge is either on B or X. One of those configurations is more natural for your thumb, plain and simple.

Unfortunately, even after some hours, I’m still not 100% in love with the control scheme. Using the wrong attack or accessing the wrong quick inventory isn’t exactly routine, but it happens often enough. Ultimately, it forces me to wonder why in the hell you can swap controls between 2 specific buttons but can’t reconfigure everything to your liking. This is nothing new with games, and is just one more way that developers disrespect their audience (especially disabled gamers, but that’s a topic for another day). There’s just no reason for it to be this way when it could be so much better.

4. That being said, there’s so much in this game to love that the janky controls are a comparatively minor concern. Once you leave the Great Plateau for the wider world it’s hard not to feel unbridled excitement for what’s waiting for you out there. This game has so far captured my sense of wonder and adventure better than any open world game I’ve played before (and I’ve played a ton). The best part is how much direct agency you have as a player, and the best example of that is in this game’s version of Ubisoft’s ICONIC™ Map Towers.

Rather than literally every other game with some form or another of a tower wot fills out your map, the Sheikah Towers expect you to do all the hard work. Sure, you climb them and it fills out your map, but only visually by drawing in some actual details into an otherwise featureless dark expanse. It reveals no Points of Interest, no objectives, and perhaps just as important, no other map towers!

Instead, you are expected to either wander aimlessly (a perfectly valid pursuit), or bring out your Sheikah Slate’s scope function, and cast your gaze all around the majestic world surrounding you from your lofty vantage. And if you do see something interesting in the distance, you simply place a marker pin from the scope and can then choose to convert that pin into different stamps on your map for future reference.

You don’t even have to be at a dedicated tower to do this!

I found myself exploring a ruined building at the top of a tall hill, thought it had a clear perspective on the surrounding locale, and decided to take out my scope for some marking right then and there. I sought out visible Sheikah Towers and marked them, as well as nearby Shrines and marked those too. I even saw some imposing foes in the distance and slapped down some skulls for future reference. The Sheikah Scope makes it a painless, and above all else, a satisfying experience.

Breath of the Wild is one of the only open world games in recent memory that actually trusts its players to their own agency, and it is infinitely better for it.

5. Right now, my favorite part of the game is easily discovering my little Korok buddies in the environment? Why, you ask? Because they are adorable, obviously... In all seriousness though, the fact that you have to keep your eye out for strangeness in your travels and solve a few mini-puzzles here and there makes them one of the best incentives for active exploration I’ve seen in a game. There may be some patterns to watch out for, but I’ve discovered at least 10 different ways for these forest fairies to manifest in the world, and I’m sure I’ll stumble across many more. I managed to find 15 of the little scamps before leaving the confines of the Great Plateau, and it was tempting to look for more!

So there you have it, my initial impressions of the latest Zelda game. Obviously it’s not perfect by any means, but I do think it has the potential to be the greatest expression of what an open world game can be if we stop trying to make everything painfully obvious.

I can’t wait to see the rest of this enormous world and how the story plays out, but who knows how long that will take...

#first impressions #the legend of zelda: breath of the wild #zelda #breath of the wild #nintendo #wii u #the legend of zelda

1 note · View note