The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[Obiwanshinobi]

Sensitive subject, eh?
Although the Link's new pair of eyes bound in the screenshots' desaturated colour palette looks like he's wearing contact lenses, the character design does not bode ill this time around. From the sound of E3 demo, however, what is Breath of the Wild going to do that Dragon's Dogma, 3D Grand Theft Auto etc. haven't done yet? Even the performance on Wii U seems to be somewhere near the latter on their original platforms.

It's all shaping up to become the Nintendo's Dragon's Dogma (development cost unprecedented in both companies' history), which is what I thought Nintendo needed most (to stop being so bloody cheap with their "big" titles production values), except Dragon's Dogma has hit three platforms now (apparently the Capcom's fastest seller on PC) and eventually sold quite handsomely.
Just who do Nintendo hope to get their money back from?

[Blinge]

Kids and casuals who'd never play Dragon's Dogma ?

Every publication will rate it 10/10 even if its a steaming pile of poop with a Zelda logo. It'll sell, and it'll sell systems.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Never mind breaking even; even if "NX" will BE this game (like Wii pretty much WAS Wii Sports), that leaves the question what's all that new about it (as "NX" is supposed to be something novel). Nothing else is announced about "NX", is it? Not even backwards compatibility confirmed. So, pulling the plug on Wii U so early on makes me wonder if they really expect this game (which, mechanically, seems to JUST catch up with TPP action adventure standards of today) to sell the new system "not at a loss" without making early adopters feel ridiculed.

[Skykid]

The only thing you're missing is that it's a Zelda game. Regardless of the structure, whether a Dragon's Dogma clone or whatnot, the essentials are still Zelda based, and that's it's primary hook (and advantage, potentially.)

The question of whether or not the Zelda part of it is any good is up in the air, however. It would be a return to form if it was, because the IP has been running out of steam for about a decade now.

[Strider77]

Ever since OOT and Majora's Poop...

[TransatlanticFoe]

Kids and casuals who'd never play Dragon's Dogma ?

Every publication will rate it 10/10 even if its a steaming pile of poop with a Zelda logo. It'll sell, and it'll sell systems.

I recall Gamespot gave Skyward Sword a 7, for its repetition and the general pointlessness of the motion plus implementation. So Zelda isn't critic-proof. But it does have a lot of expectation on its shoulders given the early Wii U tech demo that was never expanded on but desperately needed.

I do hope "open world" doesn't translate to "really padding this shit out" like Skyward Sword's brain-crushingly dull overworld. And indeed that NX isn't some shitty underpowered Android hybrid always online with VR tagged on last minute crap.

[Shoryukev]

I recall Gamespot gave Skyward Sword a 7, for its repetition and the general pointlessness of the motion plus implementation. So Zelda isn't critic-proof. But it does have a lot of expectation on its shoulders given the early Wii U tech demo that was never expanded on but desperately needed.

I do hope "open world" doesn't translate to "really padding this shit out" like Skyward Sword's brain-crushingly dull overworld. And indeed that NX isn't some shitty underpowered Android hybrid always online with VR tagged on last minute crap.

I agree 100%, I'm very worried about the open overworld being extremely dull. That and I don't want to point my sword like a compass and walk in the direction it tells me, I want to go on an adventure and find things myself.....in the words of egoraptor "maybe I should dowse for a better game" LOL.

I'm happy to see them trying something different since the format has been stale for awhile now, I just hope it's done well. I'm doing my best to withhold judgement until I see it on a store shelf.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Sounds like the first Legend of Zelda game since GBA days receiving mostly favourable first impressions from its buyers.

[guigui]

I also read great users review on the open world system, and currently deciding if this game will be the system buyer for me.
Has anyone here played it yet ?

[Shelcoof]

I also read great users review on the open world system, and currently deciding if this game will be the system buyer for me.
Has anyone here played it yet ?

Playing the Wii U version

Doing the tutorial for the old man...

So far I am not impressed but again I'm very very early in on it.. will reserve my opinion after I put in more hours

[Sumez]

Sounds like the first Legend of Zelda game since GBA days receiving mostly favourable first impressions from its buyers.

To be fair, it's only the third "main series" Zelda since then

[dunpeal2064]

I'm about 50 hours in so far. I think the game is fantastic, and I'm not a huge fan of either Zelda or the usual open world stuff.

[cools]

It's the best game I've played in a long, long time. Potentially the best 3D title I've ever played. I'm reserving judgement as to whether it takes the top spot in my all-time greats until I've had a few months of play with it.

The only thing you're missing is that it's a Zelda game. Regardless of the structure, whether a Dragon's Dogma clone or whatnot, the essentials are still Zelda based, and that's it's primary hook (and advantage, potentially.)

The question of whether or not the Zelda part of it is any good is up in the air, however. It would be a return to form if it was, because the IP has been running out of steam for about a decade now.

The Zelda part is pure branding.

[GaijinPunch]

Need to swipe my kids Wii-U. I don't think I'll be getting a Switch for a while.

[Shoryukev]

I'm probably about 15 hours in and really enjoying myself. I don't buy into the hype on Zelda titles anymore after not enjoying TP and SS, but I bought BotW (Wii-u version) for my wife and after seeing her play it I got sucked in. I'm enjoying the exploration aspect, and I love that I can venture way out further from where I should be at my current character state.

I applaud nintendo for taking a bit of a chance and not just repeating the same formula yet again. At first I was a little upset by the inherent shallowness of the shrines, but they seem to be getting bigger. I'm on about my 25th shrine and they now have multiple layers and doors locked with keys.....hopefully they will have bosses in them at some point.

Spoiler

Some of the combat trial shrines are a load of fun. I found a major combat trial but haven't been courageous enough to tackle it. I came across my first of the 4 divine beasts (or whatever they are called), holy shit they are menacing looking. I sure hope I get to battle that thing LOL. Found a fairy fountain and got my armor upgraded a while back, I hope a later fountain lets you upgrade weapons and stuff like LttP did.

[Skykid]

It's the best game I've played in a long, long time. Potentially the best 3D title I've ever played

Wow, if it's that good I may get a Switch for it earlier than intended. I was planning to hold out for the inevitable hardware upgrade.

[Sumez]

I'd hold out for the hardware upgrade. Get a Wii U instead, they can be acquired really cheap at this point, and it has a ton of great games.

[CIT]

Has a hardware update even been announced yet?

I still haven't been able to track down a cheap Wuu. Wanna jump in now that region-free is possible via softmod, but the price just doesn't seem to come down, even on used systems.

[ryu]

I've played for a few hours. Really liking what I have played, but apparently there's only a handful of different enemy types - a real bummer considering the size of the map and number of mini dungeons. No real dungeons either and all the shrines are probably in the same visual style with the same handful of puzzle types repated over and over. Only a small selection of tools compared to previous installments of the series. As far as geographic variety is concerned I'm worried that there aren't even any caves in the game.

It starts off really good, but the criticism around makes it sound like a prototype of the game you'd expect it to be.

Wanna jump in now that region-free is possible via softmod

Please tell me more.

[CIT]

Please tell me more.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/regionhax-ho ... iu.448468/

[ryu]

Please tell me more.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/regionhax-ho ... iu.448468/

Thanks! I have no idea what these *Nand things are though. Will have to look that open. Looks like it work on any OS version?

[CIT]

Thanks! I have no idea what these *Nand things are though. Will have to look that open. Looks like it work on any OS version?

They're just different types of custom firmware/homebrew channels. I haven't actually tried it yet (for lack of a Wii U). There's some more info here, that may be more useful as a step-by-step.

[cools]

It's the best game I've played in a long, long time. Potentially the best 3D title I've ever played

Wow, if it's that good I may get a Switch for it earlier than intended. I was planning to hold out for the inevitable hardware upgrade.

It isn't perfect, and neither is the Switch - but then nothing in gaming is. In as far back as I can rememeber I've genuinely not experienced such wonder and joy at a game as I'm having.

I'd get in now. Before everything has been pored over, said, spilt and spoilt and you're sick of people who have played it banging on about it.

It's a brilliant game. Not a tutorial led, QTE driven, unskippable cutscene story.

[Sumez]

It's a brilliant game. Not a tutorial led, QTE driven, unskippable cutscene story.

So it's not Skyward Sword then. That's good to hear.

[Deadliar]

Alt title: The only reason to buy a Switch

[Shoryukev]

It's a brilliant game. Not a tutorial led, QTE driven, unskippable cutscene story.

So it's not Skyward Sword then. That's good to hear.

I HATED Skyward Dowse. It did not feel like an adventure at all, thankfully BotW is much better in that regard.

Last night was my third night in a row I found myself staying up much later than I should have playing the game (I have to get up early for work). I haven't had that kind of connection with a modern game in a long time.

I'm now quite deep into it and starting to have a few minor gripes with the game, but overall it has been a blast. I really wish there was some sort of house or chest I could use for item storage. I find myself hoarding my best weapons and not using them because they break, but then I get to a point where I'm holding nothing but good equipment and I have to use it on weak enemies and it feels like a waste. I'm also starting to get a tad bit tired of the visual aesthetic of the shrines, but then again I've done about 40 of them now.

I've been doing a lot of aimless exploring, and it's fun seeing the different environments and finding the shrines. I think the combat trials are my favorite.

[Sumez]

Picking up a Wii U copy tonight. Turned out someone I know was selling her copy 30% off because she got a Switch version, so I'll be playing the game much earlier than I had anticipated.

But I'm also getting Nier Automata today... and I won't have time to play either until Sunday. Hard knock first world life

[cools]

I really wish there was some sort of house or chest I could use for item storage.

Surprise!

[Immryr]

from what I've seen this game does really great, and does seem to do the big open world thing really well. The lack of big traditional style dungeons is the only thing that worries me a bit.

Not that I have anything to play the game on anyway...

[Shoryukev]

Surprise!

Normally I hate spoilers, but if you're telling me I'll find one eventually then I'm happy LOL

The lack of big traditional style dungeons is the only thing that worries me a bit.

I'm getting closer to some of the main quest objectives, and it's hinting there might be some larger scale dungeons that aren't shrines. Fingers crossed!