# Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - now playing (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 27, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977 "2017-02-27T20:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/1 "2017-02-27T20:38:42Z")
OK, so no one is fully playing it until Friday, but I thought we should have a discussion thread for it. Thoughts? How would you rank it compared to other Zeldas? ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/2 "2017-02-27T23:06:09Z")
My copy should be showing up next week sometime. From what I hear I should be able to blow through it in a couple days, so I’ll post after that :). But seriously, I’m not sure I’ll want to participate in an open-spoiler thread until I’ve played through quite a bit. It’s supposed to be pretty non-linear, so even after playing a while people will probably be posting about stuff I haven’t seen. Even marked spoilers might not solve that though, I suppose. Really looking forward to playing it, in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/3 "2017-02-28T23:44:07Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > My copy should be showing up next week sometime. From what I hear I should be able to blow through it in a couple days, so I’ll post after that :). So it isn’t a super long game, then? I wasn’t sure what to make of it with its huge world and so forth. I mean, I guess it doesn’t look like a Skyrim type experience, but does it only have normal Zelda-length gameplay? 30+ hours? Or did they expand that more in this one? ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/4 "2017-03-01T01:43:32Z")
No that was sarcasm :). It’s supposed to be huge. But nonlinear, so you can explore in any direction, or even try to immediately head for the endgame stuff. That’s what I meant about the spoilers - you and I might both be halfway through the game’s content, but have seen different stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/5 "2017-03-01T23:12:28Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > No that was sarcasm :). It’s supposed to be huge. But nonlinear, so you can explore in any direction, or even try to immediately head for the endgame stuff. That’s what I meant about the spoilers - you and I might both be halfway through the game’s content, but have seen different stuff. Ah, OK. I just saw a guy, who seemed pretty legit, who played it through already. He said that: 1. It had no clock logging his hours, which he really thought it should. 2. It took him in his estimation 50 hours and it was a leisurely playthrough, not a rush. He also did not do everything, though, and figured he had at least 20 more hours of side-stuff if he wanted to go back. 3. He really liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/6 "2017-03-02T14:48:38Z")
Why have the first thread on a new game like this allow open spoilers? Either way I can’t believe the review scores coming in. Almost every major review site has given it a perfect or near perfect score. I haven’t even come across any clickbait reviews trashing the game which is unusual. I wasn’t even planning on getting it because the last few Zeldas have been a megabore but I preordered it on WiiU this morning after seeing all these reviews. Seems like Nintendo may have blown an opportunity by releasing this system selling console exclusive on WiiU the same day they release the Switch. There is literally no reason for me to get a Switch now. If this wasn’t on WiiU I would have a BIG reason to grab a Switch. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/7 "2017-03-02T16:43:08Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. It had no clock logging his hours, which he really thought it should. I guess if you install the parental controls app, you can track your playtime that way. That’s only on a per-title basis, rather than an individual game save, but it’s something. All the charges have hit my credit card, so I guess I’ll be starting in on this soon. I’m going to avoid the thread if it’s open spoilers, at least until I finish the main story. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/8 "2017-03-02T20:43:09Z")
I have a WiiU and am debating on whether I want to buy the WiiU version, or either a) get a Switch now, or b) wait and see if there are eventually enough games in the library to justify the purchase. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/9 "2017-03-02T22:20:45Z")
That’s the same debate I was having. I decided to go for a Switch now after all, even though being an early adopter often isn’t a great strategy. I haven’t regretted a Nintendo console purchase before, so I figured why not. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/10 "2017-03-02T22:26:31Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Seems like Nintendo may have blown an opportunity by releasing this system selling console exclusive on WiiU the same day they release the Switch. There is literally no reason for me to get a Switch now. If this wasn’t on WiiU I would have a BIG reason to grab a Switch. One may want to see some reviews on how it performs on a Wii U first, though. There have been some reports, even with the glowing reviews, that at times BOTW has framerate issues on the Switch. It likely would be even worse on the Wii U. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/11 "2017-03-02T23:28:24Z")
The reviews are pretty insane. I guess this is a shoe-in for every game of the year award. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/12 "2017-03-02T23:50:24Z")
I was pretty certain I was just going to pick this up for the WiiU but I caved in and will try to get a Switch at Gamestop at midnight or Target tomorrow morning. The one negative I read about BOTW on the Switch was that the Joy-Con grip it comes with was cramped for larger hands and they recommended spending the extra on the Pro Controller. This also gives you the convenience of charging the joy-con controllers while you play conected to a TV. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/13 "2017-03-03T14:25:35Z")
Meh, so I watched the Giant Bomb quick look of this and… my excitement kind of went out the window. I think I’ve just moved past Nintendo games at this point. The large empty halls, the motion control puzzles, the silly monsters, the straight out of a weird anime characters. Nothign resonated with me. People seem to love the shit out of it though, especially the mainstream press, it’s reviewing very well. I think it’s just not for me anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/14 "2017-03-03T15:41:25Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I was pretty certain I was just going to pick this up for the WiiU but I caved in and will try to get a Switch at Gamestop at midnight or Target tomorrow morning. The one negative I read about BOTW on the Switch was that the Joy-Con grip it comes with was cramped for larger hands and they recommended spending the extra on the Pro Controller. This also gives you the convenience of charging the joy-con controllers while you play conected to a TV. Did you get one? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/15 "2017-03-03T15:54:17Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Did you get one? Went to Gamestop around 11:30 and they said all the extras (5) were claimed by those that were in line. The people in line had apparently been there since 6 pm. Drove by BestBuy and seeing a line of 30+ people decided to pass. Went to Target this morning 10 minutes before they opened, joined the line and was given a ticket to claim #10 of the thirteen they had available. When the doors opened there were still 2 unclaimed and by the time I checked out they were all gone. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/16 "2017-03-03T18:42:41Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > I have a WiiU and am debating on whether I want to buy the WiiU version, or either a) get a Switch now, or b) wait and see if there are eventually enough games in the library to justify the purchase. yeah, yeah. You are fooling no-one. You just want to talk yourself into buying it and you need to be seen to mull it over for a bit until you cave in and buy it. so having mulled it over for a bit you now have the SD official sanction to go and buy it! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/17 "2017-03-03T19:16:50Z")
I opened it up and set it up over my lunch break and played a total of 20 minutes on a 60" plasma set. Initital negatives if I have to come up with some: -The graphics look washed out to me? Even in early screen shots of the game everything had this sort of gray/white haze over it. And it’s still there on the final product. Whereas Wind Waker had vibrant sharp colors BOTW has a dull film over it. The sleep chambers blacks were a washed out gray and the opening title screen from the overlook wasn’t as majestic as it could be since it seemed to be viewed through a fog. -The controls feel cramped for me. I bought the pro-controller but haven’t used it yet so that should solve the problem playing on the big screen but the joy-con grip I couldn’t see playing with for extended sessions. In portable mode the joy-con controllers are mounted on the sides of the screen but still feel small. Especially trying to reach that bottom left joystick with your thumb. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/18 "2017-03-03T21:23:31Z")
Been playing it on WiiU for a few hours now. The first few hours of the last few Zelda games have been excruciatingly paced with mindnumbing tutorials and ultra boring NPC interactions. This one is very different for sure. The game pretty much starts right away. No tutorials or long winded NPCs. Seems like a very good game so far. I just finished the opening “plateau” area where you get all of the special skills before being released into the open world proper. Even the plateau area is large with alot of exploration to be done. I’ve seen graphics comparisons between the WiiU and Switch versions and they look virtually identical. The WiiU one looks fine with the only noticeable graphical issue being the lack of AA. Otherwise it’s pretty good so far. WAY better than Twilight Princess and Windwaker. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/19 "2017-03-03T22:05:41Z")
Yeah, resolution is really the main difference: [http://animelover.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/32264380c0765a7459a5ed46\_1484567468.png](http://animelover.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/32264380c0765a7459a5ed46_1484567468.png) ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977/20 "2017-03-04T02:04:30Z")
It’s been a very long time since I last bought a game both on physical media and on release day, but I picked up a copy for the Wii U yesterday. I realized pretty quickly, though, that I’m going to need a Wii U pro controller to actually enjoy it, as I kinda hate using the second-screen-gamepad thing. Now I’m having a bit of buyer’s remorse that I didn’t just pick up a whole Switch package. I mean, I’m inevitably going to buy one eventually when the next Smash Bros. comes out… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-now-playing-open-spoilers/780977.md?page=2)