Hey, if you’re good enough, you can run straight to Ganon and take him down in 2 hours. You basically gotta be perfect though.
Protip: find the fairy fountains. For every one you find your armor rating almost doubles.
Just enjoy the experience and don’t look up anything. The best thing about the game is discovering all of the locations and mechanics for yourself.
The game constantly teaches you new things subliminally. It’s really masterfully made.
Yeah, I agree about the discovery. I have looked up a few things, however. Just small stuff like a few recipes and the general locations of a couple things. The game is so massive with so many secrets that I really don’t feel like I’m cheating myself so far. I also watched a handful of “stuff I wish I’d known when I started” videos, too. I am definitely NOT looking up anything about where to go next, though.
It’s just kind of crazy to be playing a Nintendo game and wondering “Now what?” in a good way. They just abandoned that type of design years ago and it’s damn refreshing to have it back, but still paired with that impeccable Nintendo design and difficulty curve.
It’s the best game of the decade IMO. Maybe the best since 2000.
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Now I want to play BOTW again…
I’ve said this before but it’s slowly dawning on me that it’s probably the greatest game ever made. I didn’t think I could have child-like memories of moments in a game anymore in my mid 30s, but I have dozens from that game. I’ve said Super Metroid and Link’s Awakening for my #1 and #2 for over 20 years so it feels like a huge thing to say.
On my quest, I started Axiom Verge and it’s superb. Way better at the Metroid thing than every other Metroid clone not called Metroid (especially all the Castlevania Metriod clones). Main character looks like a complete doof and the dialogue is ‘my first game’ but the world design and powers and progression are all fantastic.
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I “beat” Blazing Star on Switch. I’m not counting this one because I used a ton of credits and didn’t like the run. Tried limiting myself to only 3-5, but after a few stages it turned into pure bullet hell madness and my decent run up to that point fell apart.
I gave The Messenger on Switch a try and… I dunno. Not feeling great about it. It’s passable, but it doesn’t play like Ninja Gaiden and feels unpolished at times. I’m not seeing much creativity or purpose in the hit object + jump again mechanic since stages so far are very basic traversal. Bosses are way too easy so far. The wall hold move is bad: you very easily cling to walls and stay rooted in place until you move or jump off. This leads to frequent accidental wall grabs and really messes with your gameplay style to constantly be aware to “avoid touching walls” during critical moments. Some of the graphics also feel out of place for an NES inspired style. The music isn’t very good. And the self-aware, witty/sarcastic dialog was an off-putting surprise (they know they’re in a game). I was hoping for a straight take on the genre. Not saying it’s awful, it’s quite decent, but it’s so far not in the realm of games like Shovel Knight. I’m going to stick with it because I read it picks up in later stages.
edit: I’m now reading performance falls off a cliff and the game turns into a Metroidvania of sorts with tons of warp-less backtracking… why? FFS. Why couldn’t the dev do a really good straight take on the genre instead of the umpteenth mediocre Metroidvania released in the last few years?
Had no idea this one was out. It looked really neat. So, you didn’t personally get to the point where it goes from 8 to 16 bit style? Looks like most reviewers are liking it for the most part.
Not yet. Played through three stages and so far it hasn’t grabbed me yet. I plan to keep at it in the hope that it improves.
It’s by no means perfect, but it nails the feeling of exploration better than any game I’ve ever played.
I agree it may be the greatest game ever made. I’m very hesitant to go back to it though. Part of what made it so great was that feeling of discovery of exploring what felt like genuine wilderness. Retreading the same paths may feel a bit too familiar on a second play through.
I will definitely play it again. But I may just wait a while before doing so.
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I take back some of what I said before. The Messenger does pick up after the initial dull stages and has some nice platforming and bosses. Not looking forward to the backtracking that comes later tho.
I now fully expect another post in a few days with something like;
“Turns out the backtracking is completely organic and unique. Maybe I should play games before actually forming an opinion. My bad”
I haven’t played the game because it doesn’t seem like it appeals to me based on reviews and quick looks. :3
I stuck with it for a few hours and it was pretty boring to start. That’s an actual negative that’s not undone just because the game eventually improved, and I could see some dropping the game before it gets better.
I’m at the open map/backtracking. It’s okay for now but I could see this getting old soon. I read it’s a pain to get to a point far in the map, realize you’re in the wrong mode (8- or 16-bit) and have to backtrack a pretty long way to the nearest portal to change. If this is the case, then the game already peaked with the few hours in the middle.
I just wanted to use the opportunity to make light of what I was doing with the game when visually it looks like it should appeal to me.
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Yeah, the back tracking in order to backtrack again in the right mode sounds totally shitty.
Just beat the game boy version of Burai Fighter. I’m surprised at how good of a port it was. Though due to being on a small screen there’s way less enemies and projectiles so the game itself is really easy. It’s also missing the ground levels but those sucked anyway. Just found out it also had a gameboy color port called space marauder but for some reason it costs $80
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It totally is a solid GB game! I remember renting it back in the early 90s.
What a fun game this was on the switch. Very simple and really well done. I think it’s a $5 game on the eShop. Totally worth the price even if it’s really short.
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Loved it. The cool thing is you can go back and play it again with one of the other characters and have a somewhat different experience as they all play differently. It’s very cool.
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Yeah I’m looking forward to doing that when I have a hour to kill.
Hey, I did a thing and beat a game!
It took me a second try to get into Breath of the Wild: the first time I tried was with my wife, who’s a big Zelda fan, but she did not like the lack of traditional dungeons, and the openess of the world.
A few months later I restarted the game on my own, and something clicked. I got caught in the gameplay loop of shrines and upgrading gear, doing sidequests and unlocking divine beasts. Before completing the game, I made sure that I finished all 120 shrines and recalled all my memories.
This game has been praised to the moon Nd back all over the internet, so instead I’ll mention a few things I didn’t like:
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No dungeons / no variety in dungeons. Yes, there are shrines, and yes, there are Divine Beasts, but that’s really it. All 120 shrines look the same, all 4 divine beasts look the same, and the puzzles tend to repeat rather quickly. I fully missed the traditional Zelda dungeon, and reflecting back, I think it was because each Zelda dungeon is unique and an exciting way to progress in your quest. BotW had a lot of variety in it’s overworld, but I was disappointed in the puzzles.
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Combat. Most Zelda games have pretty bad combat, to be honest, but I was bored almost instantly with BotW’s. There was a lot of ways you could approach combat, but 9/10 it was easier/faster to use Stasis on your enemy then rush in and smash them with your weapon. I ended up avoiding enemies most of the time because the were a nuissance more than a fun gameplay element. And no, I didn’t really mind the weapon breaking system: by mid game I had an inventory full of great sword and would routinely pass others by because I just couldn’t hold them all.
Likewise, as 2b) Bosses. One of the strengths of the “old Zelda formula” is that you have to use the item you received in that dungeon to defeat the boss. Again, most bosses are easy, but at least there’s variety in them. In BotW, every boss is basically “Smash the dude until he dies”.
- WHERE’S MY DAMN ZELDA THEME? I get that the game was trying to be more ambient with it’s music, but especially at the end I was really missing the Zelda Overworld theme. It’s one of the most exciting, memorable musical cues in game history, but Nintendo has really shied away from using it in t’s entirety during the last few Zelda games. Yes, they put snippits of it here and there, but it wasn’t enough.
I may sound really negative here, but I’m nitpicking because the game really is excellent overall. I wouldn’t have played it for 70+ hours otherwise! Now… to play something SHORTER, lol.
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