Neoleo2143
Member
On paper/at first glace Horizon really should wipe the floor with Zelda. But there's something about Breath of the Wild that just seems to...have a bit more heart. It's hard to articulate without sounding like a Zelda fanboy (which, while I'm a fan, I won't just blindly defend it), but there's something about the sparseness and character of Zelda that just wins me over. Things like Link shivering in the cold, to fire weapons being useless in the rain, to the overall meditative nature of it all, it just seems incredible to me.
None of that is to rag on Horizon. I've had that game preordered for years, and I can't fucking wait to play it. The visuals look incredible, the story is intriguing (though I'd be lying if I said I have a ton of confidence in Guerilla here), and the game just looks fun. But it also looks like a video game, in a way that Zelda doesn't. And again, that's totally fine.
It's like, Horizon is a Disney movie while Zelda is a Ghibli movie. I love them both, but for different reasons. They cater to similar markets and can touch on similar subjects, but they just feel different. I can completely sympathize with why some people prefer the constant engagement of a Pixar movie over the more passive tranquility of a Ghibli, that's purely a matter of taste.
But Disney movies are common as hell, and I don't get Ghibli film's too often, so I'm excited as hell Zelda.
I read this blog that stated that it's because Zelda knows when to Shut up and let the game world do the talking. Because Link doesn't have a companion like Midna to convey character the time around, the Game space itself has to pick up the slack and be a character that Link has to react to and play off. Otherwise the game will fail.