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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Review Thread

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B

Big One

Banned
borghe said:
I LOVED Uncharted 4 and TLOU. and am enthralled by Horizon currently.. but for me, the draw and perfection of those games are the stories and adventures... gameplay wise... there wasn't really anything amazing in Uncharted 4. Horizon so far hasn't been much like "wow these game mechanics are incredible". It was never meant to be a knock... I just feel (opinions and all of that) that the modern day AAA adventure game experience has veered away from top notch or innovative game mechanics to a slightly more diluted gameplay experience used to drive forward and incredible narrative.

From the sound of it, BotW still works to deliver an absolutely vital gameplay experience.. I wouldn't rate Uncharted 4 any lower than the media did... but if you have me Uncharted 4 with better and more involved gameplay mechanics, I would definitely rate it higher (even if going from 9 to 10)
Click to expand...
Yep this has always been one of my gripes with a lot of modern games. Don't get me wrong, all of the games you listed generally do have great gameplay, but none of them really do anything all that innovative or fresh mechanically. This has kind of the itch From Software provides for the industry with it's games, and I think Zelda will also be along those same lines.
 
M

MTC100

Banned
LotusHD said:
You right. It's not even that I thought it'd be bad, I actually like all the 3D mainline Zelda games. (Yes Skyward Sword too.) But whenever I float around stuff like this being my GOTG contender, I always said it in a joking manner. You know open world and what not, ya never know. Then those previews came. Then the Edge review came. And that's when I first realized "Shit, maybe I was right to be this hyped"

Now with these reviews, it's a given lol
Click to expand...

True. My only concern is that there might come some attention seeking reviews that dare to give it an 8 or worse, just to get the traffic, this almost always happens. Still it will most likely end at an 97 score at least, even with some hate reviews -and that in a time where an Uncharted 4 only got a 93 and with this having had the highest score of the whole generation... 'till now.
 
M

MoonFrog

Member
Praise be!

Whew. What the hell, soooo many 10s. Sooo many. My god. I didn't think this happened like this any more...

Hope I like it :)
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Glad this apparently turned out amazing.

My Wii U copy is still "preparing" to ship from Best Buy. Would like to check it out some this weekend, but not biggie if it's delayed as I'm enthralled with Horizon right now anyway and won't really dive into Zelda until done with that. It got priority due to coming out first and my being more into story/character driven games than gameplay ones lately.

Hell of a time to be a gamer with Horizon, Zelda and Mass Effect (assuming it's at least a decent entry by series standards), along with every thing else out recently or soon. And it's Q1!
 
D

digitalrelic

Banned
I was going to wait to finish Horizon before I dove into BotW... But nah. Horizon is going on the back burner. An experience like this cannot be delayed.
 
Maximus P

Maximus P

Member
I'm really happy for Nintendo, they have a hit on their hands.

Shame some of the members on here have to use the score as a weapon in their fanboy battles. My ignore list has just got bigger.
 
T

TheSkullPrince

Member
Resident Evil 7, Horizon Zero Dawn, Zelda Breath of the Wild....3 months into 2017, 2017 will go down as one of the greatest video game years of all time.
 
D

Dad

Member
I really didn't think it was possible for a game to score this high in the current review climate. Holy shit
 
T

test_account

XP-39C²
borghe said:
I actually well up thinking about this and reading these reviews.. that it would seem we have a game... yes, a game... not an adventure experience (such as TLOU, Uncharted, Horizon, Halo, Assassins Creed, etc) that not only takes what is truly amazing from those titles/series, but stays planted firmly within not only its gaming roots, but also its storied history.. that it would seem the inspiration from the ORIGINAL is so clearly obvious..

Anouma-san has been a rockstar at NCL for over a decade now.. but hopefully he finally gets to join Miyamoto-san now in recognition as a legend in the industry who truly helped shape a fair chunk of the last 20ish years in the industry.
Click to expand...
Just curious, what makes this more of a game? Well, TLOU, Uncharted and Halo are all linear games, so i'm not sure those are that comparable in that regards.
 
F

ForkNetwork

Banned
Am I the only one who's not gushing because of the scores some previous Zelda games have received?. Skyward Sword has a 93, Twilight Princess has a 97 and PH has over 90
 
T

The Last One

Member
Griss said:
Not only am I happy that I got to play an incredible GotY Zelda, I'm also happy that the series can finally move on.

For years we were slaves to the Link to the Past framework. 'Find three things in dungeons, something happens, find three / six things in more dungeons, fight Ganondorf.' It had become so rote in so many of these games.

This game throws not some of that out, but all of it. The only Zelda game it resembles in framework is the original. And that's glorious, because the original is one of my favourite games of all time, as well as my first. And from now on, the LttP framework can stay retired. It served well, but it's over.

Zelda has assumed its original identity again. It has come home.
Click to expand...

JESUS, GRISS

JUST STOP. I'm overhyped :((((
 
G

Griss

Member
borghe said:
I LOVED Uncharted 4 and TLOU. and am enthralled by Horizon currently.. but for me, the draw and perfection of those games are the stories and adventures... gameplay wise... there wasn't really anything amazing in Uncharted 4. Horizon so far hasn't been much like "wow these game mechanics are incredible". It was never meant to be a knock... I just feel (opinions and all of that) that the modern day AAA adventure game experience has veered away from top notch or innovative game mechanics to a slightly more diluted gameplay experience used to drive forward and incredible narrative.

From the sound of it, BotW still works to deliver an absolutely vital gameplay experience.. I wouldn't rate Uncharted 4 any lower than the media did... but if you have me Uncharted 4 with better and more involved gameplay mechanics, I would definitely rate it higher (even if going from 9 to 10)
Click to expand...

People will get upset, but you're ultimately right... Zelda's primary appeal is ludo-centric - the act of playing it is amazing. Everything is based on gameplay systems, and all of those systems are great, from combat to cooking. On the other hand, the story is nothing special at all, and you could say the execution is poor by other AAA studio standards. Of course, here it serves its purpose just fine (and is a big improvement from past Zeldas), but it's not the appeal.

In all of those other games the narrative is a big part of what keeps you playing, and the gameplay systems are nowhere near as complex or varied (or fun) as Zelda's, and typically serve to just keep you ticking over through the story the developer wants to tell. If you stripped away the narrative and had nothing left but the gameplay it might get old quite quickly.

It's a question of how ludo-centric a game is, really. Zelda feels totally different to those other games. I commonly thought of Super Mario games while playing BotW. Because the world isn't really a real place to explore like it is in other games (IQ too weak, textures too blurry etc) but controlling Link in this world is the appeal, like in a Mario game.
 
M

Murkas

Member
"Zelda BotW review thread, hey let's just take a look, the last 3D Zelda game I finished was Wind Waker and got bored of Twilight Princess 1 hour in. Probably be a standard Zelda game with 7s, 8s and some 9s. Usual Zelda post Wind Waker."

"Hey guys what's going on in this threa-"

*Perfect scores*

"Aww shit."

Really impressed but I don't think I'm crazy enough to splash out on a Switch for one game unless it's Monster Hunter.

Unless I trade in my old Wii U collection and some random games here and there to knock the price down...
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Big One said:
Yep this has always been one of my gripes with a lot of modern games. Don't get me wrong, all of the games you listed generally do have great gameplay, but none of them really do anything all that innovative or fresh mechanically. This has kind of the itch From Software provides for the industry with it's games, and I think Zelda will also be along those same lines.
Click to expand...
I guess it would have helped to point out games that DID currently have amazing gameplay, like From titles.. at the same time thoug.. those games generally fall behind on storytelling and narrative compared to Uncharted and TLOU.. hoping from what I'm reading on Zelda that it straddles it much closer.. closest for me otherwise would be like Red Dead Redemption.
 
T

tapedeck

Do I win a prize for talking about my penis on the Internet???
Decided to do in-store pickup from Best Buy tomorrow for the Wii U version, I ain't waiting till Tuesday for Amazon delivery, fuck that. And from the hands on impressions it seems to hold up really well against the Switch version...damn I haven't been this excited for a videogame in a while.
 
R

RareFantasy64

Member
I love Nintendo. They really did something viewed as impossible (releasing a Zelda that felt as innovative and exciting as OOT upon release). I am so proud of Aonuma, Fujibayashi and the all the brave, dedicated people who worked on making this game a reality
 
A

afternoon delight

Member
Griss said:
For years we were slaves to the Link to the Past framework. 'Find three things in dungeons, something happens, find three / six things in more dungeons, fight Ganondorf.' It had become so rote in so many of these games.

This game throws not some of that out, but all of it. The only Zelda game it resembles in framework is the original. And that's glorious, because the original is one of my favourite games of all time, as well as my first. And from now on, the LttP framework can stay retired. It served well, but it's over.
Click to expand...
latest
 
TissueBox

TissueBox

Member
HYYPED!

Zelda and the team at Nintendo really are the Beatles of gaming. Great to see such great strides being made in both the narrative and open-word elements of the series.

...seriously it's just always so uplifting to see a game series know where to go and how to go about it... constantly creating, reiterating, but working at it, not just getting lazy. Zelda is a great reminder of tour de force development in all technical and creative areas. Can't wait to play it myself.
 
A

Aroll

Member
Pleasantly surprised. I always knew based on playing it at E3 that it was special. Potentially greatest game ever made special? Yeah... didn't see that coming.
 
D

Distresssss

Member
I think that if the game keeps getting critic scores on Metacritic that are perfect it could reach 99. Game forums would explode even more than they already are.

I honestly have nothing to really contribute other than to say, "give me this game now."
 
B

blackflag

Member
ForkNetwork said:
Am I the only one who's not gushing because of the scores some previous Zelda games have received?. Skyward Sword has a 93, Twilight Princess has a 97 and PH has over 90
Click to expand...

Pretty much me too.

I can't wait to get my switch tomorrow to check it out but Horizon is so good I don't think I'll be able to play Zelda for awhile but now I'm curious. I'm just thinking in my head...how can this game possibly be better than Horizon
 
Z

zXe

Member
TissueBox said:
HYYPED!

Zelda and the team at Nintendo really are the Beatles of gaming. Great to see such great strides being made in both the narrative and open-word elements of the series.

...seriously it's just always so uplifting to see a game series know where to go and how to go about it... constantly creating, reiterating, but working at it, not just getting lazy. Zelda is a great reminder of tour de force development in all technical and creative areas. Can't wait to play it myself.
Click to expand...

I hope not, because the beatles are terribly overrated.
 
G

Grakl

Member
Murkas said:
"Zelda BotW review thread, hey let's just take a look, the last 3D Zelda game I finished was Wind Waker and got bored of Twilight Princess 1 hour in. Probably be a standard Zelda game with 7s, 8s and some 9s. Usual Zelda post Wind Waker."

"Hey guys what's going on in this threa-"

*Perfect scores*

"Aww shit."

Really impressed but I don't think I'm crazy enough to splash out on a Switch for one game unless it's Monster Hunter.

Unless I trade in my old Wii U collection and some random games here and there to knock the price down...
Click to expand...
Lol very few Zeldas get 7s, 8s, some 9s. Twilight princess got like a 95
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
Griss said:
People will get upset, but you're ultimately right... Zelda's primary appeal is ludo-centric - the act of playing it is amazing. Everything is based on gameplay systems, and all of those systems are great, from combat to cooking. On the other hand, the story is nothing special at all, and you could say the execution is poor by other AAA studio standards. Of course, here it serves its purpose just fine (and is a big improvement from past Zeldas), but it's not the appeal.

In all of those other games the narrative is a big part of what keeps you playing, and the gameplay systems are nowhere near as complex or varied (or fun) as Zelda's, and typically serve to just keep you ticking over through the story the developer wants to tell. If you stripped away the narrative and had nothing left but the gameplay it might get old quite quickly.

It's a question of how ludo-centric a game is, really. Zelda feels totally different to those other games. I commonly thought of Super Mario games while playing BotW. Because the world isn't really a real place to explore like it is in other games (IQ too weak, textures too blurry etc) but controlling Link in this world is the appeal, like in a Mario game.
Click to expand...

Excellent description. This is essentially how I feel when I watch footage of the game, and I'm glad it comes across while playing it too.

Anecdotally, I loved the Witcher 3 specifically for it's narrative and lore, but after Blood and Wine released I just had no desire to play through that game again due specifically to the gameplay mechanics being fairly poor. This Zelda is sounding almost like the antithesis of that, where you'll want to go back in later to experience the pure joy of controlling the game.

That's an incredible feeling as a gamer.
 
T

TheDinoman

Member
Seeing both this game and Mario Odyssey come out in the same year is so beautiful to the eyes. They're both the most exciting and fresh installments their respective series have had in years.

It just makes me wish Nintendo could give the same treatment to other franchises of theirs that have been on the decline. Particularly, Star Fox, Paper Mario and Metroid.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Griss said:
Not only am I happy that I got to play an incredible GotY Zelda, I'm also happy that the series can finally move on.

For years we were slaves to the Link to the Past framework. 'Find three things in dungeons, something happens, find three / six things in more dungeons, fight Ganondorf.' It had become so rote in so many of these games.

This game throws not some of that out, but all of it. The only Zelda game it resembles in framework is the original. And that's glorious, because the original is one of my favourite games of all time, as well as my first. And from now on, the LttP framework can stay retired. It served well, but it's over.

Zelda has assumed its original identity again. It has come home.
Click to expand...

This right here! That's what gets me interested in this game. The series had become increasingly formulaic.
 
A

Aaronrules380

Member
Distresssss said:
I think that if the game keeps getting critic scores on Metacritic that are perfect it could reach 99. Game forums would explode even more than they already are.

I honestly have nothing to really contribute other than to say, "give me this game now."
Click to expand...

metacritic weights scores based on the review source, and the major reviewers have all given scores already. I'd be surprised if it really changes in either direction at this point
 
J

Jacobson

Member
Murkas said:
Really impressed but I don't think I'm crazy enough to splash out on a Switch for one game unless it's Monster Hunter.
Click to expand...

I'd rip my dick off if Monster Hunter doesn't come to the switch. I'm 100% sure a new monster hunter for the switch will be announced, and also pokemon
 
W

WhiskerFrisker

Member
borghe said:
I LOVED Uncharted 4 and TLOU. and am enthralled by Horizon currently.. but for me, the draw and perfection of those games are the stories and adventures... gameplay wise... there wasn't really anything amazing in Uncharted 4. Horizon so far hasn't been much like "wow these game mechanics are incredible". It was never meant to be a knock... I just feel (opinions and all of that) that the modern day AAA adventure game experience has veered away from top notch or innovative game mechanics to a slightly more diluted gameplay experience used to drive forward and incredible narrative.

From the sound of it, BotW still works to deliver an absolutely vital gameplay experience.. I wouldn't rate Uncharted 4 any lower than the media did... but if you have me Uncharted 4 with better and more involved gameplay mechanics, I would definitely rate it higher (even if going from 9 to 10)


Who said they didn't? None of the games I mentioned are anything less than amazing.. but that doesn't mean a game can't come out that is better.. I touched on the very small area in those games I felt lacking (a fairly homogenized and inconsequential gameplay experience propelling forward an amazing narrative).. it doesn't mean they aren't incredible games, which they are.. people need to not be so sensitive..
Click to expand...
I have no idea how you can say that Horizon has an inconsequential gameplay experience.
 
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