• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.
U

unrealist

Member
Atomicfireman said:
I want to like this game but every time I watch gameplay footage, all I can think is "this looks dreadfully boring." Always always always fighting the red pig men, and the combat looks really dull (that bow looks awkward as hell to use). I don't know, I guess the game just isn't for me.

It does seem like a system seller based on these reviews though, which is something that Nintendo needs right now. Hopefully it will set a solid install base for the Switch going forward.
Click to expand...

Same goes for me for Witcher. Every time I watch gameplay footage, it is just talking and talking and rolling around.

Watching videos and playing will never be the same.
 
D

dampflokfreund

Banned
APZonerunner said:
I just want to chime in on this:
There are the 4 beasts and hyrule castle, obviously. The 4 beasts are the closest to a traditional dungeon (culminate with a boss etc) but are still quite different. Hyrule Castle is different because you can explore it at any time - in fact if you're brave even when you're weaker it's a good place to go for loot.

Beyond that, the shrines are scattered everywhere, and each of these is like a chunk of a traditional Zelda dungeon. I've seen shrines that are maybe 50% of a Child Link OOT dungeon (but harder) in size and I've seen ones that're one room. It really varies. There are also shrine quests where you have to find the shrine and THAT is the puzzle... overworld puzzles, basically. Mazes, custom challenges, all sorts. Anyway, my point is... you won't be wanting for 'dungeon-esque' content even if there aren't 'traditional' dungeons. There's definitely more dungeon content here than in your average Zelda, I think, it's just spread out across a massive world rather than concentrated into 8 tight spaces.

Not really spoilers, but spoilered to be very safe for the super sensitive. I've played over 50 hours, fwiw.
Click to expand...

I know about the Shrines, but I am not counting them, they might be great puzzle wise but they are not a replacement for a Zelda dungeon. Zelda dungeons are big labyrinths themed after their enviroment (shrines are looking all the same) you can get lost in them. Shrines are just puzzle rooms so they are not enough to fulfill my lust for dungeons, personally speaking.
 
D

DieNgamers

Member
Trickster said:
This is obviously one of those issues that can vary from person to person.

But I know that I personally find it incredibly frustrating, and can easily ruin my fun.
Click to expand...

Fair arguement. I can see how you feel, I just don't have that problem, luckily. I can appreciate smooth 60fps like anyone else, though ;) For racing or competetive games it's almost essential.
 
G

Goldenmoney

Member
I remember a while back Nintendo said this game has so much freedom that you could go right to the end and fight the final boss if you wanted to. Any reviews mention if this is still a thing?
 
C

CaviarMeths

Member
Incendiary said:
Yeah I'm kind of shocked people are so excited over this score. Zelda routinely scores high. Not saying the games don't deserve it by any means, obviously, but I was totally expecting a 95+ score for this Zelda considering how crazy the hype has been and how positive all the previews have been.
Click to expand...

There's "high" and then there's 98. A 98 may not seem much different from a 93, but that five point difference is something that only a handful of games in history have done. And it did it in the current review landscape, no less. Games don't get 98 anymore. They just don't.

Also, context matters. Read the actual reviews, not just the scores. Even by Zelda standards, this game is being called something special, a defining moment in video games history.
 
A

Atram

Member
dampflokfreund said:
That would be awesome. Are you sure about that? Have you beat the game? I heard there are also so called mazes but they are not really like dungeons but yeah.. mazes! Are you sure you aren't confuse them with dungeons?

Sorry that I am asking so much, if true it would be a dream come true
Click to expand...

Read Kotakus Review

And then there are the dungeons, whose nature I won't spoil but which are very different than any Zelda dungeon to date. Instead of introducing a series of stand-alone puzzle rooms, each of these dungeons serves as one big puzzle with its own rules and ideas. Breath of the Wild won't offer that traditional Zelda feeling that you're powering through dungeons that escalate in scale and complexity as you go, which may make some fans wistful, but this new Zelda has dungeons that feel plenty complex on their own. No hookshots or spinners necessary.
Click to expand...
 
Z

Zukkoyaki

Member
Situations like this are why I'm glad critics have calmed down a bit this generation and are exploring their scales a bit more. So when something breaks 90 we know without a doubt that it's something special.
 
L

LotusHD

Banned
Goldenmoney said:
I remember a while back Nintendo said this game has so much freedom that you could go right to the end and fight the final boss if you wanted to. Any reviews mention if this is still a thing?
Click to expand...

It's still a thing. They just don't recommend you try to do it lol
 
H

HyruleGuardian

Member
iFirez said:
These are the only 2 I disagree with, TP should be a little lower, closer to its HD remakes score tbh. Skyward Sword is worse so that should be nearer 80. All the rest I agree with though.
Click to expand...

I agree.

As a lifelong Zelda fan, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword don't belong in the same category as Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and the Wind Waker (which I believe deserve all the praise in the world).

But from everything I've seen of Breath of the Wild, it really does look like a return to form - and beyond.
 
C

Caelus

Member
dampflokfreund said:
I know about the Shrines, but I am not counting them, they might be great puzzle wise but they are not a replacement for a Zelda dungeon. Zelda dungeons are big labyrinths themed after their enviroment (shrines are looking all the same) you can get lost in them. Shrines are just puzzle rooms so they are not enough to fulfill my lust for dungeons
Click to expand...

My spoiler free answer for you is that while the answer people give you is technically correct, you're rewarded for exploring the far reaches of the overworld.
 
G

Greddleok

Member
enbred said:
I don't quite get the "I'm not buying a system for one game, even if I really want to play said game" rationale.

After I'm done with Zelda, if there is nothing else compelling me to keep the system, I'll sell it along with my physical copy of the game. With the likely shortages I probably won't lose much if any money (so it would be like I rented the system and the game until I was done with it), and I might even end up making a profit. So it's a no brainer for me.

Granted I don't want to play anything else right now (I have a big backlog that I haven't touched in ages) and don't own an Xbone or PS4 (nor do I want them)... So in a way I'm hoping/banking on Zelda breaking my the curse of my recent disinterest in games.

If I had other titles that I was excited to play now then it would be a different equation.
Click to expand...


Because I can get it on WiiU...
 
Charles Brandon

Charles Brandon

Member
Goldenmoney said:
I remember a while back Nintendo said this game has so much freedom that you could go right to the end and fight the final boss if you wanted to. Any reviews mention if this is still a thing?
Click to expand...

I don't know about reviews but in one of the preview videos someone said that they did it.
 
D

dampflokfreund

Banned
Atram said:
Read Kotakus Review
Click to expand...

I know that. They are talking about the
4 Divine Beasts

I mean dungeons that are not them or Shrines and are not part of the story.

Caelus said:
My spoiler free answer for you is that while the answer people give you is technically correct, you're rewarded for exploring the far reaches of the overworld.
Click to expand...

One last thing:
you are not talking about the Shrines, right?
 
A

APZonerunner

Member
dampflokfreund said:
I know about the Shrines, but I am not counting them, they might be great puzzle wise but they are not a replacement for a Zelda dungeon. Zelda dungeons are big labyrinths themed after their enviroment (shrines are looking all the same) you can get lost in them. Shrines are just puzzle rooms so they are not enough to fulfill my lust for dungeons
Click to expand...

Shrines are
Not strictly speaking just puzzle rooms. Often, like I say, shrines can be the reward for environmental puzzles. There's a couple of huge labyrinth mazes in the corners of the map for instance - and if you work your way through them, a shrine is your reward at the middle. One of my favourite puzzles in the game took me about an hour. It was all out on a specific island of the world, and the reward for that was a shrine. So there's not just the "puzzle rooms" inside the shrines, but a lot else besides attached to them.

Are there cavernous places with room after room, locked doors and small keys though? No. It's not what the game is going for.
 
M

Malus

Member
I was gonna be impressed if Zelda hit 94 with how much tougher review scores have been lately. At worst it might drop to 96 as more reviews roll in. I'm stunned frankly.
 
K

King of Cups

Member
Fleet_of_Foot said:
Can someone explain to me what (if anything) Zelda Amiibo will do in this game? I have the Link Amiibo from Smash Brothers and the Wolf Amiibo that came with Twilight Princess HD. Do they do anything? I read something about Wolf Amiibo doing something, if you actually used it in Twilight Princess. I didn't use it, in fact it's still in the package. So will it be of any help to me in BotW?

And what about the new BotW Amiibo? Do they do anything?
Click to expand...

This has pretty much all of the amiibo rewards.

https://youtu.be/r_vf2hPo0JM
 
A

Alrus

Member
I'm still a bit in disbelief that it managed to get a 98 Metascore, I expected greatness but that's such a major achievement.

Toad.T said:
...So how in the fuck is Mario Oddesy going to top this then?
Click to expand...

Mario Odyssey needs to top Galaxy 2, that'd be a better comparison.

And there's no way it'll reach that same level of consensus, I don't think you can really reinvent Mario at this point.
 
O

othersteve

Member
I addressed the dungeons controversy in my review companion article here. Quoting part of that:

Claim: Breath of the Wild’s dungeons are small and boring

I wanted to lead off with this one because I could not disagree more with it. As I mentioned in my review, I would consider myself a serious fan of the dungeons in Zelda games, so much so that I think I would generally define most games in the series primarily based on the dungeons they feature. So I would like to think that I would be more affected than most by any sort of deficiency in the realm of dungeon quality.

I’ve seen numerous reports of people throwing around quantified statements about the “length” of the game’s dungeons, one claim which even references a “10 minute” completion time of the first dungeon. This is absolutely ridiculous—even more so than an attempt to quantify the actual length of the game or main questline in terms of hours and minutes. The problem with this approach is that it assumes that the average length of the dungeon completion process is directly related to the amount of time required to complete the dungeon. Of course, as we all know from past Zelda games and even more heavily-focused puzzle-oriented games (such as, for instance, the Professor Layton series), if a person knows the solution to a puzzle, it can be completely extremely quickly. Such is the nature of any puzzle, including some of the world’s most challenging puzzles. But that doesn’t make them any less challenging—and arguably, it may actually make them more compelling. Simplicity and elegance are often inextricably linked.
Click to expand...

Spoilers are very minor.

I realize not everyone will agree on this point as it is certainly divisive. However this is my interpretation of the situation.
 
P

PrimeBeef

Member
ultrazilla said:
Come with me into Hyrule! I'm 45 and excited as a kid opening presents Christmas Day!

Got my notification from Amazon this morning the Switch is otw to my home(Detroit area) this morning and my brother bought me a Zelda:BOTW Special Edition as a birthday present for me(turned 45 Feb 24!)!

Man, could you imagine if Nintendo came out afterwards and said "Oh, one last thing we forgot, you can play co-op locally or online with a friend!" I'd faint!!
Click to expand...

41 and told the wife this morning I felt like a 4 yo waiting for Christmas.
 
K

Kageshinzo

Member
Coffinhal said:
Scores don't mean anything, sorry to teach you this. The void that this thread is built on confirms this.
Click to expand...

CeXws_TVIAAqgWV.jpg
 
B

Bubba_Sparks

Member
HyruleGuardian said:
Some perspective on Review scores. Here are the top Metacritic scores for games released since 2012 (the last 5+ years).

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017): 98
Grand Theft Auto V (2013): 97
The Last of Us (2013): 95
BioShock Infinite (2013): 94
Super Mario 3D World (2013): 93
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phanton Pain (2015): 93
Mass Effect 3 (2012): 93
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2013): 93
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015): 93

Everything else got a 92 or lower.
Click to expand...

Man, Mass Effect 3 seems like such an outlier given what transpired with the games ending. Though I did enjoy my time playing through it.

I remember being blown away by GTA V simply from a technical perspective. When you think of what Rockstar was able to achieve on Xbox 360 / PS3 given their technical limitations it becomes all the more impressive.

Zelda BoTW is going to go down with the likes of GTA V, TLoUS, and The Witcher 3 as one of those once in a generation games.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
APZonerunner said:
Shrines are
Not strictly speaking just puzzle rooms. Often, like I say, shrines can be the reward for environmental puzzles. There's a couple of huge labyrinth mazes in the corners of the map for instance - and if you work your way through them, a shrine is your reward at the middle. One of my favourite puzzles in the game took me about an hour. It was all out on a specific island of the world, and the reward for that was a shrine. So there's not just the "puzzle rooms" inside the shrines, but a lot else besides attached to them.

Are there cavernous places with room after room, locked doors and small keys though? No. It's not what the game is going for.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I keep hearing that rationalization but it still doesnt really address the issue.
 
mhayes86

mhayes86

Member
Goldenmoney said:
I remember a while back Nintendo said this game has so much freedom that you could go right to the end and fight the final boss if you wanted to. Any reviews mention if this is still a thing?
Click to expand...

Not that I've seen so far, but I think GameXplain had a spoiler-free preview recently where someone tried. I'll like the video if I can find it.

I won't even bother trying that until at least a second playthrough because I'm too excited to explore!
 
A

andymcc

Banned
Can we take the spoiler tagged shit out of this thread, there's an impressions thread for just that. Not hard to accidentally tap those walls of black on Mobile.
 
F

FinalAres

Member
Can we please not witch-hunt people who don't agree with your opinion, especially given few of us have played the game yet.

The problem is that Zelda games always get ridiculously high scores even when they don't deserve it, because the American games media is sodden with fanboys.

It sounds like this game is truly special, and I'm sure a few months/years from now we'll look at BOTW as being one of the greats.

But you can hardly be surprised that people are sceptical when games like Twilight Princess and Skyward sword were also hailed as GOATs and ground breaking back when they were released, when they were really both formulaic and kind of behind the times.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | Review Thread
Analysis Review 2 3
147
7K
TikiLagoonSam replied
  • Poll
Zelda Open Air Duology vs God of War Norse Duology - which do you prefer?
30
2K
Podge replied
Nintendo is probably leaving millions of dollars off their books not supporting PC
2 3 4 5
212
11K
LarsQMorient replied
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom |OT| The Legend of Link? Tri Harder!
|OT| 2 3 4 5
214
8K
sloppyjoe_gamer replied
Nintendo Updates Top 10 Best-Selling Switch Games
Sales-Age
48
3K
Davevil replied
Top Bottom