I have such complicated thoughts about Breath of the Wild because, like. As a ZELDA GAME, I find it honestly a bit underwhelming.
But as an OPEN-WORLD SANDBOX GAME, it's the pinnacle of the genre and second-place doesn't even come close.
@witchfynder_finder this is interesting because i found it underwhelming and assumed it was because i didn't have a background in zelda games
@ebeth It's honestly NOTHING like other Zelda games, if anything I would expect a lack of experience with the series to enhance the experience for newcomers honestly.
@ebeth The game itself, as well as the way everyone has reacted to it, is fucking fascinating.
@witchfynder_finder maybe it's just not my thing then
idk i do think that the overwhelmingly positive reaction might have set an unfairly high expectation for me
but it just did not click with me most of the time. it definitely had moments, but i can't see myself rushing to finish it any time soon
@ebeth That's definitely possible, hype oftentimes can ruin a pretty-good thing for people.
How do you normally feel about open-world games as a whole?
@witchfynder_finder cautiously optimistic but often frustrated
i view games like morrowind or the witcher 3 as the height of the genre, i think mostly because i value story over sandbox. i want to be able to have *some* kind of meaningful interaction, preferably with another character, pretty much every few minutes
@ebeth Ahhh I think I see the rub, then, cos that's not what BotW is interested in. Like, the story is there and there are some good moments, but overall the game is just about exploring the world, finding new things, and just generally getting into trouble. So I can totally see why you would bounce off it; you just want different things.
@witchfynder_finder yeah exactly! i'm definitely not gonna judge someone for enjoying it more than me, i just think it wasn't what i was looking for from a game
@ebeth And that's totally valid! Different people want different things about of video games, and that's why we have so many!
@ebeth I DO think you might fuck with some more traditional Zelda titles, though!! The series tends to be a lot more story-driven and while they are linear, there's usually a lot of exploration packed in as well.
i have a friend who's embarking on a quarantine project of replaying all the zelda games and having played almost none of them i'm very interested to follow along with his experience
tbh from what i've heard i think i would enjoy them a lot i have just never been a nintendo kid so i'm coming to it all from scratch (except for mario, which i could play on my calculator)
@ebeth I would recommend skipping the NES games and starting with either A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time, personally. If you didn't grow up playing the original games, it's really hard to go back to them now (as is often the case with NES games, lbr). OR you could get the Link's Awakening remake on Switch. That was my first Zelda game, still remains my favourite, and the remake was honestly almost perfect.
@ebeth Link's Awakening is almost NOTHING like BotW. It's much more story-driven and has an actual emphasis on dungeons and puzzles while still giving you a world to explore (though it's not nearly as open as BotW, more areas open gradually as you progress and get new items).
@witchfynder_finder love story, love puzzles, love this journey for me
@ebeth Yeah, go try Link's Awakening, then
@witchfynder_finder @ebeth It's interesting, too, because the original Legend of Zelda is a lot more like BotW in terms of macro-scale game mechanic - you're just plorped down in a massive world with no prompting, and apart from a few items that gatekeep where you can go (ladder, power glove), there's nothing stopping you from wandering around and doing stuff in any order
@witchfynder_finder honestly i had a passing interest in the link's awakening remake but hesitated because of my feelings about botw
but i trust your videogame judgement so if you think it would be a good fit for me i'll definitely give it a shot. i'm ready for something else on switch after animal crossing tbh (i am not an animal crossing completionist, now that my house is in the ideal location i will check in with my villagers when i check in with them)