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[The Hermit]

I want to play this sooo bad

Send help

 

[reelbigtink]

Call me crazy, but most of that is music to my ears.

Same. Long traversals with nothing but the nature/ambiance of the game to accompany me is what I want.

Back in my EverQuest days I would pop SoW and run from one end of the world to the other. It was such a pleasant experience, even without quests and stuff to do in between. Just the occasional fight or run-in with a merchant.

 

[Speely]

Let me be clear - the difficulty is one of the very best things about this game.

Yes... YES!

 

[Carl7]

I will play this game on the switch in march 25. It's settled.

 

[Lilo_D]

It's one thing to read it, though, and another thing to experience it.

"Fuck man I just platinumed Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 and no-hit Orphan of Kos in the DLC these reviewers suck at games how hard could it... be... FUCK"

Let me be clear - the difficulty is one of the very best things about this game. I'm starting to wonder about enemy variety, though. Seemed really high at first, but now I'm thinking maybe every region has the same set of enemies, recoloured or tweaked. Would be a bit disappointing if true.

To truly experience it blindly is so good
Now I know it's hard to climb in the rain, I won't get the surprise/frustrating feeling when I experience it myself because I already know

 

[Twilight Princess]

I had a really frustrating play session there where I died 15 times in 90 minutes and made no progress. Just lost in an empty vast mountain range, and since it was raining I couldn't climb my way towards where I needed to go, and fast travelling would have only taken me backwards. The rain seemed to last forever, every enemy could one shot me... and yet this was the path to my next objective, as far as I could tell.

My enthusiasm is cooling a little bit as the systems sink in and I get used to them. The game world is definitely too large and empty. You spend a lot of time climbing mountains to avoid strong enemies, or finding vantage points to sail over them. There's just too much traversal time through areas with absolutely nothing at all in them, too many opportunities to avoid gameplay. And having all of the puzzles sequestered in the shrines doesn't help the liveliness of the overworld either.

Secondly, the weapon system (which I've liked) showed it's ugly side. I was raiding a high level area with mobs that can kill me in one hit. I was able to stand my own because I had a boomerang with a 36 attack stat. So I throw it at one of the dudes, well into my little sortie, and this time I fail to catch it. I flies off the cliff behind me and there's no way I'll ever find it. My next strongest weapon? Level 4. I went from being on a fair footing in terms of attack (but not defence) to having no hope and just having to fast travel away. In the last 4 hours I still haven't found as strong a weapon so I haven't been able to go back there. It's very strange to play a modern game that's so punitive in terms of loss of power. It's not bad... but I can see the frustration now.

Lastly, I was way too hard on the voice acting earlier. Later on in the game, and it is in fact serviceable, like the trailer suggested it would be. Zelda is very up and down, but at least she does have some ups. Other supporting characters are okay too. It's just some of the stuff at the start gave a terrible impression. So that's not as big a deal as I was making it out to be.



I think a lot of people will end up feeling like this, and I've certainly flirted with these feelings. It wasn't until I rocked up at my first village and started chatting to NPCs that I had that whimsical "Yeah, this is zelda" feeling.

And I mean, 12 hours in and no sign at all of any dungeon anywhere has me a little worried too. Where the hell are they?



I never noticed any slowdown in WWHD. Here it's absolutely appalling at times. Makes the game substantially less responsive. If you're sensitive to this framerate stuff buckle in... it's not pretty.



I've been going

Spoiler

stamina

but apparently that's the wrong decision. Oh well, I'm playing completely blind which is the great thing about all this. If I make mistakes I make mistakes.

Damn, my major concern from watching tree house demos was that the world felt really really empty and activities were sparse...do the shrines get interesting at least? People compare shrines to portal2 but from the demo they seem like a single dungeon room in previous zeldas to me...

 

[DecoReturns]

in Wind Waker HD, using the Cannon made the game stutter a lot.

Anyways, Those complaints are actually making me excited for the game, other then framerate, tho I never had a problem with Framerate dips

 

[Spine_Ripper]

It's one thing to read it, though, and another thing to experience it.

"Fuck man I just platinumed Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 and no-hit Orphan of Kos in the DLC these reviewers suck at games how hard could it... be... FUCK"

Let me be clear - the difficulty is one of the very best things about this game..

...this describes me and my thoughts. This is very good to hear. BRING IT.

 

[mdtauk]

This game is the real deal. It's very Zelda but it also borrows a lot on open world games. I'm very reminded of Witcher 3 in the way the world feels.

Majora's mask was always my favorite game not because of the dark theme but of how alive the world felt. In my 4 or so hours of play this already is above Majoras in how alive it feels.

Them's fightin' words! I hope to feel the same way

 

[OverturePT]

I had a really frustrating play session there where I died 15 times in 90 minutes and made no progress. Just lost in an empty vast mountain range, and since it was raining I couldn't climb my way towards where I needed to go, and fast travelling would have only taken me backwards. The rain seemed to last forever, every enemy could one shot me... and yet this was the path to my next objective, as far as I could tell.

My enthusiasm is cooling a little bit as the systems sink in and I get used to them. The game world is definitely too large and empty. You spend a lot of time climbing mountains to avoid strong enemies, or finding vantage points to sail over them. There's just too much traversal time through areas with absolutely nothing at all in them, too many opportunities to avoid gameplay. And having all of the puzzles sequestered in the shrines doesn't help the liveliness of the overworld either.

Secondly, the weapon system (which I've liked) showed it's ugly side. I was raiding a high level area with mobs that can kill me in one hit. I was able to stand my own because I had a boomerang with a 36 attack stat. So I throw it at one of the dudes, well into my little sortie, and this time I fail to catch it. I flies off the cliff behind me and there's no way I'll ever find it. My next strongest weapon? Level 4. I went from being on a fair footing in terms of attack (but not defence) to having no hope and just having to fast travel away. In the last 4 hours I still haven't found as strong a weapon so I haven't been able to go back there. It's very strange to play a modern game that's so punitive in terms of loss of power. It's not bad... but I can see the frustration now.

Lastly, I was way too hard on the voice acting earlier. Later on in the game, and it is in fact serviceable, like the trailer suggested it would be. Zelda is very up and down, but at least she does have some ups. Other supporting characters are okay too. It's just some of the stuff at the start gave a terrible impression. So that's not as big a deal as I was making it out to be.



I think a lot of people will end up feeling like this, and I've certainly flirted with these feelings. It wasn't until I rocked up at my first village and started chatting to NPCs that I had that whimsical "Yeah, this is zelda" feeling.

And I mean, 12 hours in and no sign at all of any dungeon anywhere has me a little worried too. Where the hell are they?



I never noticed any slowdown in WWHD. Here it's absolutely appalling at times. Makes the game substantially less responsive. If you're sensitive to this framerate stuff buckle in... it's not pretty.



I've been going

Spoiler

stamina

but apparently that's the wrong decision. Oh well, I'm playing completely blind which is the great thing about all this. If I make mistakes I make mistakes.

Seems clear that you weren't ready to wander around those places. You were purposely avoiding stuff and enemies by going high and flying above them. Didn't you kinda make it empty? If you have one high level weapon and the next one has a 4 for stats... I mean, shouldn't you be more prepared? Go back, maybe do something else or get ready for what you already know that awaits you?

It might not be for everyone, but that sounds very good to me.

 

[victreeb3l]

I had a really frustrating play session there where I died 15 times in 90 minutes and made no progress. Just lost in an empty vast mountain range, and since it was raining I couldn't climb my way towards where I needed to go, and fast travelling would have only taken me backwards. The rain seemed to last forever, every enemy could one shot me... and yet this was the path to my next objective, as far as I could tell.

My enthusiasm is cooling a little bit as the systems sink in and I get used to them. The game world is definitely too large and empty. You spend a lot of time climbing mountains to avoid strong enemies, or finding vantage points to sail over them. There's just too much traversal time through areas with absolutely nothing at all in them, too many opportunities to avoid gameplay. And having all of the puzzles sequestered in the shrines doesn't help the liveliness of the overworld either.

Secondly, the weapon system (which I've liked) showed it's ugly side. I was raiding a high level area with mobs that can kill me in one hit. I was able to stand my own because I had a boomerang with a 36 attack stat. So I throw it at one of the dudes, well into my little sortie, and this time I fail to catch it. I flies off the cliff behind me and there's no way I'll ever find it. My next strongest weapon? Level 4. I went from being on a fair footing in terms of attack (but not defence) to having no hope and just having to fast travel away. In the last 4 hours I still haven't found as strong a weapon so I haven't been able to go back there. It's very strange to play a modern game that's so punitive in terms of loss of power. It's not bad... but I can see the frustration now.

Lastly, I was way too hard on the voice acting earlier. Later on in the game, and it is in fact serviceable, like the trailer suggested it would be. Zelda is very up and down, but at least she does have some ups. Other supporting characters are okay too. It's just some of the stuff at the start gave a terrible impression. So that's not as big a deal as I was making it out to be.



I think a lot of people will end up feeling like this, and I've certainly flirted with these feelings. It wasn't until I rocked up at my first village and started chatting to NPCs that I had that whimsical "Yeah, this is zelda" feeling.

And I mean, 12 hours in and no sign at all of any dungeon anywhere has me a little worried too. Where the hell are they?



I never noticed any slowdown in WWHD. Here it's absolutely appalling at times. Makes the game substantially less responsive. If you're sensitive to this framerate stuff buckle in... it's not pretty.



I've been going

Spoiler

stamina

but apparently that's the wrong decision. Oh well, I'm playing completely blind which is the great thing about all this. If I make mistakes I make mistakes.

Reminds me a lot of XCX which means Im even more hyped!

 

[Neoleo2143]

The only concern is the framerate, might make the game harder than it needs to be but the Switch Version has no real issues with that apparently and so reviews won't take that into account, regardless of how people experience the game.

Though, Griss, if you're worried about the difficulty, that's quite the thing. Makes me wonder how the Hard mode they plan to implement will turn out.

Also on the enemies, I don't think there's a whole lot of enemies, the game gets a lot more out of the AI and enemy set ups more than it does their actual variety.

 

[Askherserenity]

My enthusiasm is cooling a little bit as the systems sink in and I get used to them. The game world is definitely too large and empty. You spend a lot of time climbing mountains to avoid strong enemies, or finding vantage points to sail over them. There's just too much traversal time through areas with absolutely nothing at all in them, too many opportunities to avoid gameplay. And having all of the puzzles sequestered in the shrines doesn't help the liveliness of the overworld either.

Damn, that's strange to hear. I'm having the complete opposite experience. I feel like this game rewards you for exploring all the time! More than most open world games. I've yet to run into a barren area. There's always tiny puzzles around the world for some loot, enemy ambushes, camps, npc's, wildlife, materials to collect, shrines, world bosses, etc.

It feels very lived in to me. As lived in as any wilderness would be I guess.

But I guess all that might mean different things to different people.

Also, why are you avoiding enemy interactions and flying over stuff? Were they just way too difficult? I haven't had to do that at all but it kinda sounds like you're just fast traveling around the land in a way.

 

[arlucool]

I had a really frustrating play session there where I died 15 times in 90 minutes and made no progress. Just lost in an empty vast mountain range, and since it was raining I couldn't climb my way towards where I needed to go, and fast travelling would have only taken me backwards. The rain seemed to last forever, every enemy could one shot me... and yet this was the path to my next objective, as far as I could tell.

The game encourages you to experiment with cooking and potion making. There are potions that up your stamina temporarily (I hope this is not a spoiler at this point...). I myself not leaving the Plateau until I master the dodge/parry mechanics.

 

[m051293]

Damn, that's strange to hear. I'm having the complete opposite experience. I feel like this game rewards you for exploring all the time! More than most open world games. I've yet to run into a barren area. There's always tiny puzzles around the world for some loot, enemy ambushes, camps, npc's, wildlife, materials to collect, shrines, world bosses, etc.

It feels very lived in to me. As lived in as any wilderness would be I guess.

But I guess all that might mean different things to different people.

Considering the sheer size of the world, perhaps you guys have just experienced vastly different areas? It hasn't really been that long for this type of game honestly.

 

[ckaneo]

The dungeons aren't exactly hidden. I'm not quite sure how you are missing them. Or I should say the path to them.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Griss, sounds like youre doing things you shouldnt be doing. You shouldnt have to progress in the game by avoiding enemies all the time. Climbing around them and sailing past them. Why dont you find what you need in order to progress in an area where you can live and grow? Stop tryna fight enemies stronger than you. Sounds like it might not be your kind of game or Zelda. Youre looking for dungeons yet barely have any weapons to defeat some enemies. Sounds like you wont even be able to beat the dungeon either then.

 

[Askherserenity]

Considering the sheer size of the world, perhaps you guys have just experienced vastly different areas? It hasn't really been that long for this type of game honestly.

Absolutely! And also, I haven't been following the quest marker at all. Got off the plateau and I've just been roaming around exploring so vastly different experiences I'm sure.

 

[Lilo_D]

I remember in the starting area, there is a ring of stone which miss one piece, in their demo so many people just ignore it which is apparently a tiny puzzle

 

[RobertM]

Damn, my major concern from watching tree house demos was that the world felt really really empty and activities were sparse...do the shrines get interesting at least? People compare shrines to portal2 but from the demo they seem like a single dungeon room in previous zeldas to me...

I wouldn't be too concerned about the world being sparse. Wherever you go there is a camp with enemies, a treasure you have to figure out how to get to, or little puzzles. The shrines that I have encountered haven't been long or difficult, I guess you can say it's a single dungeon room. I like figuring how to get the treasure chests in the shrines, some were not as straight forward and a nice change of pace.

 

[Askherserenity]

I remember in the starting area, there is a ring of stone which miss one piece, in their demo so many people just ignore it which is apparently a tiny puzzle

There are tons of those all over the place that I bet 95% of the people playing won't ever find.

 

[Twilight Princess]

Griss, sounds like youre doing things you shouldnt be doing. You shouldnt have to progress in the game by avoiding enemies all the time. Climbing around them and sailing past them. Why dont you find what you need in order to progress in an area where you can live and grow? Stop tryna fight enemies stronger than you. Sounds like it might not be your kind of game or Zelda. Youre looking for dungeons yet barely have any weapons to defeat some enemies. Sounds like you wont even be able to beat the dungeon either then.

I'm guessing he's avoiding them because he wants better gear but doesn't want to grind enemies his level(?). I don't know how the game handles loot, wouldn't killing higher lv enemies give you better loot tho? Weapons breaking as a core gameplay element might make the game way more grindy than past zeldas. Unless you can repair them? In the e3 demos they just diappear so I don't know...

 

[Nickle]

Griss, out of curiosity, what are your favorite Zelda games?

 

[ckaneo]

I'm guessing he's avoiding them because he wants better gear but doesn't want to grind enemies his level(?). I don't know how the game handles loot, wouldn't killing higher lv enemies give you better loot tho? Weapons breaking as a core gameplay element might make the game way more grindy than past zeldas. Unless you can repair them? In the e3 demos they just diappear so I don't know...

The thing is, it's very easy to take an enemies weapon away with bombs. So you always have a good weapons around without grinding as the enemies you fight give you theirs. Except guardians, run like hell if you see them.

As for OP I'm not quite sure what he's doing but the main story path in the beginning wasnt particularly difficult especially if he hasn't reached a dungeon yet.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

There are tons of those all over the place that I bet 95% of the people playing won't ever find.

Yep. The game apparently has tons of The Witness-style environmental puzzles, which excites the hell out of me.

Ha, that's exactly what my brother said while we were playing.

oh god yes

 

[Askherserenity]

Yep. The game apparently has tons of The Witness-style environmental puzzles, which excites the hell out of me.

Ha, that's exactly what my brother said while we were playing.

 

[Twilight Princess]

The thing is, it's very easy to take an enemies weapon away with bombs. So you always have a good weapons around without grinding as the enemies you fight give you theirs. Except guardians, run like he'll if you see them.

As for OP I'm not quite sure what he's doing but the main story path in the beginning wasnt particularly difficult especially if he hasn't reached a dungeon yet.

The inventory is limied though and you have so many weapons with different functions, I can see why he's having problems. And he wants to process, not stay in the same area just to get weapons.

 

[EscapeArtist]

Its not a dumb mechanic when every single enemy has a weapon. I havent seen anyone say they've run out of weapons. I think of it like hotline miami, you're supposed to be grabbing things, beating dudes, throwing it at another dude, keep going. I want to try going in to a camp with no weapons and stealing them and throwing them etc

This is actually an interesting comparison, I love Hotline Miami and how you can base your strategy around enemies and what you're carrying/what you will eventually pick up to use on other enemies. Can't wait to play this game on Friday. Until then.....Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

I'm guessing he's avoiding them because he wants better gear but doesn't want to grind enemies his level(?). I don't know how the game handles loot, wouldn't killing higher lv enemies give you better loot tho? Weapons breaking as a core gameplay element might make the game way more grindy than past zeldas. Unless you can repair them? In the e3 demos they just diappear so I don't know...

But you can always just find a new weapon the weapons are everywhere. The great plateau is designed around this specifically to mold you into how the game works. If you jump right off that fucker in the begining without playing around in there the game might be hard. Your first weapon is like a tree branch, then you take the boboklin stick, them you take the boboklin club then you get the chest with the sword. Its an extremely subtle progression system. Thats why the game can be very hard at times because it trains you into enjoying exploration and growing. Its not like you can run out of weapons, you always gonna have weapons unless you take the 3 you found and think you gonna beat the whole game with them. This game doesnt work like that.

 

[OverturePT]

The inventory is limied though and you have so many weapons with different functions, I can see why he's having problems. And he wants to process, not stay in the same area just to get weapons.

You get weapons every step of the way, having only one weapon with decent stats and the next one has an attack as low as 4 is unthinkable unless you are avoiding everything. Even on the plateau you have stronger weapons iirc. Inventory is also expandable pretty early on fairly easily.

 

[ckaneo]

The inventory is limied though and you have so many weapons with different functions, I can see why he's having problems. And he wants to process, not stay in the same area just to get weapons.

I guess it's hard to tell without seeing. But he can always warp to a warp point and then head in an easier direction

 

[A.J.]

I had a really frustrating play session there where I died 15 times in 90 minutes and made no progress. Just lost in an empty vast mountain range, and since it was raining I couldn't climb my way towards where I needed to go, and fast travelling would have only taken me backwards. The rain seemed to last forever, every enemy could one shot me... and yet this was the path to my next objective, as far as I could tell.

My enthusiasm is cooling a little bit as the systems sink in and I get used to them. The game world is definitely too large and empty. You spend a lot of time climbing mountains to avoid strong enemies, or finding vantage points to sail over them. There's just too much traversal time through areas with absolutely nothing at all in them, too many opportunities to avoid gameplay. And having all of the puzzles sequestered in the shrines doesn't help the liveliness of the overworld either.

Secondly, the weapon system (which I've liked) showed it's ugly side. I was raiding a high level area with mobs that can kill me in one hit. I was able to stand my own because I had a boomerang with a 36 attack stat. So I throw it at one of the dudes, well into my little sortie, and this time I fail to catch it. I flies off the cliff behind me and there's no way I'll ever find it. My next strongest weapon? Level 4. I went from being on a fair footing in terms of attack (but not defence) to having no hope and just having to fast travel away. In the last 4 hours I still haven't found as strong a weapon so I haven't been able to go back there. It's very strange to play a modern game that's so punitive in terms of loss of power. It's not bad... but I can see the frustration now.

Lastly, I was way too hard on the voice acting earlier. Later on in the game, and it is in fact serviceable, like the trailer suggested it would be. Zelda is very up and down, but at least she does have some ups. Other supporting characters are okay too. It's just some of the stuff at the start gave a terrible impression. So that's not as big a deal as I was making it out to be.



I think a lot of people will end up feeling like this, and I've certainly flirted with these feelings. It wasn't until I rocked up at my first village and started chatting to NPCs that I had that whimsical "Yeah, this is zelda" feeling.

And I mean, 12 hours in and no sign at all of any dungeon anywhere has me a little worried too. Where the hell are they?



I never noticed any slowdown in WWHD. Here it's absolutely appalling at times. Makes the game substantially less responsive. If you're sensitive to this framerate stuff buckle in... it's not pretty.



I've been going

Spoiler

stamina

but apparently that's the wrong decision. Oh well, I'm playing completely blind which is the great thing about all this. If I make mistakes I make mistakes.

Not sure I like the idea of being able to lose a boomerang like that.

 

[WiiRevolution1]

Welp I beat my ALBW replay.

Welp now I have nothing to do.

Welp not enough time to rebeat another Zelda game.

Welp don't feel like playing any other game except BOTW.

Welp.

Welp.

Welp.

FFS can I get hooked into a game/video/anything for the next three days? Please? No?

I'm just going to stare at a wall for the next three days. FML.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Not sure I like the idea of being able to lose a boomerang like that.

Well it sounds like he forgot to tell you that he didnt catch it. He didnt just lose it, he forgot to catch the boomerang

 

[OverturePT]

Well it sounds like he forgot to tell you that he didnt catch it. He didnt just lose it, he forgot to catch the boomerang

He did say he failed to catch the boomerang. I find that little mechanic pretty cool though.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

Not sure I like the idea of being able to lose a boomerang like that.

Sounds like something that would be my own fault that would make the game more difficult, which is what I like out of difficulty.

 

[LotusHD]

Not sure I like the idea of being able to lose a boomerang like that.

I think it's pretty cool. If it worked like past games, it'd probably be "broken", because then you just kill the monsters from a distance.

 

[Speely]

Sounds like something that would be my own fault that would make the game more difficult, which is what I like out of difficulty.

Bingo. Difficulty based on performance rather than just stats.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Sounds like something that would be my own fault that would make the game more difficult, which is what I like out of difficulty.

Its just a realy cool mechanic. It reminds me of active reload in gears of war.

 

[DecoReturns]

it would be pretty cool if enemies could catch your boomerang and annoying

 

[EloquentM]

Wait how're people on gaf playing already?!

 

[DecoReturns]

Wait how're people on gaf playing already?!

Broken streetdate in Europe and Mexico(my cousin got his copy) and I'm positive some illegal downloaded the game.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Wait how're people on gaf playing already?!

Box of cheerios with game included

 

[EloquentM]

Broken streetdate in Europe and Mexico(my cousin got his copy) and I'm positive some illegal downloaded the game.

👀

Box of cheerios with game included

You a damn fool

 

[Lizardus]

Wow, a Zelda game is too hard for people? Can't wait to play it. I've put thousands of hours in Monster Hunter since 2008.

Regarding combat, don't you still have bombs and runes if you break all your weapons? Can runes be used offensively?

 

[CharminUltra]

Hype level

 

[Hindl]

Wow, a Zelda game is too hard for people? Can't wait to play it. I've put thousands of hours in Monster Hunter since 2008.

Regarding combat, don't you still have bombs and runes if you break all your weapons? Can runes be used offensively?

Yes you can get creative with the runes. Like using magnesis to pick up a boulder or enemy weapon and just swing it thru people. Or use stasis on a bomb and hit it to make it fly into an enemy camp before exploding. Or just drop bombs while paragliding from above

 

[Azcyatl]

Already playing here too, im digging some nice aspects of the survival genre, but some other "little tidbits" are slowly infuriating me. When a weapon breaks it doesn't change automatically to the next in the inventory, you have to activate the submenu for weapons in order to change.

That pause in between change of weapons after every break just kills some nice momentum in the fights.

 

[Stalwart]

Wow, a Zelda game is too hard for people? Can't wait to play it. I've put thousands of hours in Monster Hunter since 2008.

Regarding combat, don't you still have bombs and runes if you break all your weapons? Can runes be used offensively?

Yeah runes are always available to be used even if you don't have any weapons, so even if that odd situation happens you still have a way to fight back. Bombs do some pretty good damage and the higher you drop something with the magnet rune the more damage it does.

Already playing here too, im digging some nice aspects of the survival genre, but some other "little tidbits" are slowly infuriating me. When a weapon breaks it doesn't change automatically to the next in the inventory, you have to activate the submenu for weapons in order to change.

That pause in between change of weapons after every break just kills some nice momentum in the fights.

Yeah I really hate this too, wish weapons would auto go to the next one in queue.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

I actually enjoy sneaking around enemies in XCX and then going back and destroying them later on if I had missions around that area. I wonder if its just as enjoyable in BotW as well.