Heh, the link in this spoiler shows up visible for me in IE11. I’d report it, but wumpus would just tell me to upgrade my old-ass OS that is riddled with security holes, and I can’t take that kind of abuse today. :(
Just edited it to try and make it spoiler free even if the link is revealed. Can you check if it worked please?
Yeah it’s just link text that isn’t properly blurred in this rickety old browser. Looks good.
Wonder if the designers had any idea this could be done when they finished with the game.
That’s some crazy fast travel!
Okay, so Breath of the Wild is pretty good. It’s easily my favorite Zelda game.
I finished off the tutorial area last evening and have been exploring the wider world this evening. I’ve found a few shrines, climbed a few towers, killed a bunch of those goblin things, and am now working my way toward the first village to get the last rune ability (the camera one mentioned upthread, I assume). It’s mostly clicking with me so far. I doubt it will end up being my favorite game or even in the discussion, but I’m glad I bought this. I love climbing a tower, looking around and thinking, “oh, that looks cool,” and then making my way toward whatever I saw. It nails that feeling of exploration I was hoping for.
I also like how minimal much of the game is. The map and HUD aren’t cluttered and there’s surprisingly little hand-holding compared to other open-world games. It gives you just enough information to keep you on track (assuming you want to be on track) without overburdening you with markers and arrows. I’ve read some people complain that the world feels empty, but it feels about right to me. One of my problems with The Witcher 3 was how you would come across something every few steps. Here, things are more spaced out, giving you time to breathe and stroll about. Frankly, it could stand to be a little less busy since that was what I was expecting. The restrained score’s not bad either, coming and going and making use of silence the way the world itself uses emptiness. I would still like for the colors to be more saturated, but the art style doesn’t bother me, it just doesn’t impress me that much.
Also, the combat is more fluid so far than The Witcher 3 and Elder Scrolls. I haven’t fought any ‘bosses’ yet, but I expect it will hold up fine when I do. Based on the first few hours, I’m thinking it’s a bit below The Witcher 3 overall, but a class above Skyrim (and Oblivion, et al.). I often lose interest in games around 10-15 hours, but I’m feeling confident that Breath of the Wild will be an exception.
I’d be interested in what you think after some time off the plateau.
Random advice:
when you get stamina vs heart upgrades, choose stamina if you’re into exploration.
Consider turning the HUD off.
Approach stuff the way you want to.
That’s the best thing about Breath of the Wild is you can play however you want. So many solutions are available to whatever obstacle you want to take on. You can even decide to just not take them on! I got all the shrines and memories and finished the main quest. I’m soon going back to do the DLC. I tinkered with it a little bit, but I want to see it through. It’s such an incredible place to visit.
I’ll second this. Choose stamina, mostly, until you have 2 full stamina wheels. It makes the game more fun.
It’s important to note there is a fairly painless way to swap between hearts and stamina, so don’t feel you have to go stamina early on if the combat is challenging you a little too much, either. I went with more hearts than I originally intended to early on but maxed out my stamina nearly all at once when the time was right.
I am several hours past the plateau and I’m still enjoying it. I’ve found a few areas that do not seem to have any significance to the game aside from being pretty, which I like. I’m also (mostly) liking the shrine puzzles. They might not be on par with, say, Portal, but they’re interesting enough and always seem to have multiple solutions. I usually find puzzles in games tedious, but not these.
I’m starting to focus on finding the memories since that seems like a good way to explore the world. However, I think it’s time I either find some better armor or get heart upgrades. There are certain areas I want to go to that I can’t because the enemies there kill me in one hit. I’ve spotted two of the divine beasts and am curious as to how combat against them works. They look so massive I’m imagining a Shadow of the Colossus-type scenario. I assume I can go to one of the villages that the beasts are menacing without being locked-in to fighting one, right? I know where the fish people live and want to see it, but I’m afraid if I go there I’ll have to fight an enemy I’m clearly not ready for.
The game never locks you into anything. You can step away from everything, so explore without fear.
Yeah the only more guided moments come from of you follow the road to the first couple towns from the plateau.
Good to know. Fishtown, here I come!
Don’t forget food. A well cooked meal can give you a massive boost of hearts or armour.
I second the food approach. Get the full stealth armor set and then it is easy to sneak up on fish, reindeer, etc. I found it easier to make heart boosting food than stamina boosting food, which is why I upgraded stamina first. YMMV.
I also headed south from Hateno Village and explored Lurelin Village and areas around it before going to the Zora. It was a good way to get some good ingredients and 3-4 shrines. My favorite shrine in the game is on an island down there.
You can also find some good weapons relatively easily by heading NW and NNE from the tutorial plateau. Those areas helped me get over an initial slump before tackling the Zora.
I wore the stealth armor for much of the game. Having that ability to sneak up on nearly everything is almost game breaking. It certainly makes a lot of stuff easier if you’re patient and have a light touch on the sticks to move slowly.
Yeah the stamina food is good to have though if you get stuck mid-climb somewhere. :)
Yeah, it’s funny. A friend of mine completed the game, loved it, but in comparing notes, we approached it differently and yeah, it’s striking. Like, he didn’t cook a damn thing. He brawled far more. He was watching me at one point and said he was sure he’d never even seen the area I was messing with.
He’s curious when I get to the end game because he thinks he managed the skip the lead in to it because of something he did.