The new game is just a bigger, better version of the old game - same engine, graphics. Gameplay and progression superstructure is identical but there are some important differences in Link’s special abilities which create new gameplay possibilities (particularly with the puzzle solving that drives a lot of the progress). So in terms of actually enjoying the game BotW won’t give you much of a different experience - it is the original masterpiece though so I can see why you would want to experience that.
The story in BotW felt far stronger, which is important. I appreciate that more having played TotK - perhaps it will come together second half, that can happen, but early / mid game it’s very mid placeholder stuff.
Does anyone else find the sage ability implementation annoying?
I wish you could activate them with a long press of a button, like in BOTW. I dislike having to track down the avatar, and sometimes the ability gets activated at an inoportune time, like when I’m trying to pick up an object then[/spoiler] (spoilers for the Rito quest) [spoiler]Tulin flies up and blows it off a cliff. They’re useful enough that I’m not turning it off yet, but I can imagine it’ll be too much once I’ve finished the rest of temples, and there are multiple avatars getting in the way.
OH MY GOD I JUST HAD ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREAT VIDEO GAME MOMENTS IN MY LIFE.
My daughter and I were playing and we saw something in the distance, went to it, and we literally paused the game and cheered. We called the whole family together. It’s all we’ve been talking about.
Massive spoiler below unless you have played a lot and know everything:
We saw the Light Dragon and approached it. It had a glow in its head. THE MASTER SWORD! We pulled it out. Much cheering. You had to see this moment to realize how amazing it was for us.
I agree with this article that points out that possibly no sequel has ever improved on such an amazing game as much as this one. It kind of makes Breath of the Wild look more and more like a demo and this is the final product. And I LOVE Breath of the Wild.
I don’t remember if this was possible in BotW, but while traveling with Yunobo, I saw a deer, so I launched him at it. The deer promptly caught fire, collapsed, and turned into a pile of seared steaks.
Arghhhhh! I’m holding off from playing this until I’ve got the mind-space and work commitments to allow me to get lost in it.
The spoilers are killing me but I’m not clicking.
My daughter and son are both deep into it and are loving it and I suspect that they too came across a serious “moment” as you suggest Mahaloth, They’d not divulge it to me but they promise it was well worth looking forward to. My daughter particularly found it as emotional as Bob-omb sacrificing himself in “Paper Mario, the Origami King”
See, I can do spoilers as well,
I may have to crack soon, and I think we’ll have to buy another copy seeing as there are four of us and two Switches.
I broke down and bought this, and my daughter and I have been playing it intermittently.
I… I don’t like it. I’m finding it a little tedious, and I’m bouncing off so many core elements of the gameplay that I’m not sure whether it’s worth continuing. It’s obviously a masterfully crafted game, but maybe one crafted for someone other than me.
It’s funny, because paired with Mahaloth’s play-along thread for Elden Ring it really illustrates how dramatically people can differ in their reasons for playing video games and the things that they want. I feel like there’s an interesting discussion there, albeit not one that fits into this thread.
Going for massive refinement, rather than doing anything genuinely new, is going to bounce some players off the game definitely. I was a bit surprised to see that approach but I don’t really know much about Nintendo’s design philosophy (I bought a switch just to play this game). I love the gameplay - sharpened up an already superb engine and laid on massive spaces to explore. So I think it is worth persevering with to a level where you’re comfortable manipulating Link’s abilities, as they’re really fun and add a lot to the game.
The story / lore is really poor though - think Star Wars remake levels of creativity, and it does impact things. Just sucks some impetus out of playing - like you’re gazing at acres upon acres of Zeldan wallpaper for not much point. If I put it down tomorrow I wouldn’t GAS from this perspective.
One aspect of the game I really like is how it merges a baggy, sandbox level of building things with the extremely polished style of the overall game. I’ve completed shrines with some absolutely raggedy-ass constructions and strats - it’s a nice contrast imo.
I’m mainly curious now what they will do for the next Zelda. What makes Tears of the Kingdom great, and this was a huge risk, is that they started with a complete map from Breath of the Wild and then spent 5+ years enhancing and adding on to it.
I have to think they will design a new world for the next game, though. And probably not make Breath of the Wild 3, but a new Link and Zelda.
I just began the “Goron Area” in the game, by the way. I have 60+ hours and this is only my second main storyline region, not including a brief Depths-Storyline area I did to get the 5th power.
Don’t know if I’d call using the same map a huge risk but they have certainly added a lot, it’s not window dressing - I like the Depths.
There’s some very tight design with the map istm - on the one hand Link is ridiculously OP and the glider plus ways to gain tremendous altitude could easily break the map. But it doesn’t ime, it’s a fantastic world to explore despite having some turbo-charged methods at your disposal.
I’ve done three of the main areas and will prob chill for a bit doing shrines and small quests before the fourth (Gerudo). My kid has completed the storyline game and you get pretty strong with the team behind you. He was complaining to me that dragon scales for upgrades are far harder to get than in BotW.
The Caves, The Wells, The Sky Islands(Skyrule?), and The Depths really make the game feel like a whole new world even though the main overworld is technically the same.
It really does feel like a whole new game; I hardly ever think about the fact it is kind of BotW again.
If you want a great little device to build that costs only 9 Zoanite( and often you will have the parts), look up how to build a “Two Fan Cycle”. It is simply two fans and a control stick and if you fiddle with those parts enough, you can make a very useful floating cycle that you can control.
Great in the depths, useful everywhere. I used one to get to a Sky Island higher than I had ever been(1800 elevation, I think).
Very minimal battery use for it as well, which is great since I have 3 batteries total after 60+ hours.
Speaking of which, I completely missed that auto-build can create things out of nothing. I thought you had to have all the pieces laying around, so I’ve barely used it.
So I’ve played more - the game does get a lot better when you get the paraglider! - and I like it quite a bit more than I did before. I’ll definitely keep going at this point.
That said, I still don’t love it as much as the rest of this thread, and I think I’ve pinpointed why: I think I’m sick of Link. I’ve been playing as Link for 35 years now (!), and in all that time he’s never shown a single personality trait besides “plucky.” Since he’s not customizable there’s no way to sort of role play a personality for him like I would in a FromSoft game or a Dragon Age game, but he’s not a compelling character like your Kratoses or your Batmans or your Joels Miller. He’s just a cipher who makes annoying sounds all the time and does whatever is asked of him for no reason other than because he’s in a video game. This is obviously a me thing and not a the game thing, though.
You can pay with Zoanite and it will fill the gaps of anything you don’t have. I have found two machines that dispense fans and control sticks, so I almost always have them in my inventory and can make my flying motorcycle free of charge.
I would actually advise you follow the main story through the Rito area it is clearly pointing you to. They actually hide some opening portions behind the completion task of doing one dungeon. I don’t know why…but there are tons of upgades and quests that won’t start until you do one dungeon.
I have now spent 40+ hours after the first dungeon and have yet to do a second one, though my daughter and I decided to pursue a second one recently.
Another neat experience that has minor spoilers related to bosses and The Depths:
I was wandering the Depths, flying my little two fan cycle…and I saw a creature flying around. Not a dragon. Wait. No way. NO. WAY.
It was Colgera, the boss from the first temple I did(Wind Temple). Yep, I was able to re-fight him, though I am not sure if he was any tougher. I got a full 1/3 battery upgrade free of charge(heh) for beating him.
I have done the first four and so have a lot of freedom to do whatever I want for awhile. I have very poor weapons and have not tried to utilize all the fancy stuff too much. I have not taken the time to learn what in the heck to do with the zonate and crystal. I need to find a good guide to understanding it.
I have over 1000 pieces of zonate. I’m trying to collect a bunch of Korok seeds so I can expand my inventory and get better at fighting since I’m supposed to go to the castle next. eek