It's one of my favorite games, and yet I can admit it's for everyone.

That said, the gripes with the controls seem to be an issue for many modern gamers. I loved Spider-Man as well, but the point of the gameplay is completely different.

In SotC, the controls shouldn't feel like your flying through the air doing whatever you want like a superhero. I actually enjoyed the immersion allowed by how tactile it feels. When the colossi move, Wander and you feel like you have to really hold on (him the monster, you the buttons on the control). Also, getting through a desolate world is another part of the immersion, but if you had controls like in Uncharted, what would there be to do? Just press forward? You would bounce off everything because of the assist and there's nothing else to do but travel and find/beat bosses (aside from the small side things like killing lizards), so making you work for it actually makes sense to me. Finally, the controls with Agro (the horse) seem to be hard, but they make sense. It's like steering a horse. You don't ride horses like you do motorcycles. Most games aim for ease, but this game wants you to be in its world. The controls, as polarizing as they are to some, seem completely intentional no matter if the game was made back 2005 or now.

I won't try to convince you to finish the game, because it just may not be your style. But if you do, embrace the design and don't try to mold it into other games that make things simple, easy, and gamey. Not saying those games suck. Like I said, I loved Spider-Man. But this is not that type of game.

The ending has a very big payoff, but if you can't overlook the game design. It might not be worth it to you.

*Edit just realized you beat it. Good on you for sticking it out. I typically just give up on games that I know aren't up my ally, because I don't have the time as a full-time working adult. But the types of games I like are super atmospheric and/or offer challenge. Bloodborne is another favorite.

I actually found the horse riding fine - it actually does provide a lot of steer assist when you're going over bridges, through forest, ravines etc. There were times when the game decided I couldn't go into full gallop which was annoying but not that big a deal.

And I'm not against difficult games. Probably my favourite game of all time is FTL & I've beat than on hard with multiple ships. But the difficulty I enjoy is one which challenges your decision-making, problem-solving, strategy and even your coordination (a la Spiderman). The difficulty I don't like is one which stems from trying to overcome flawed or sluggish controls or a bad camera.

The fact that it took me multiple attempts at the final boss actually detracted from the experience for me as when I'm scaling him for the umpteenth time after falling off because of imprecise jumping or excessive thrashing I'm thinking how much I want it to be over rather than marvelling at the awesome scale and design - which is what I should be doing. It's not about being overpowered - it's about being comfortably in control of intuitive controls.

I don't want to sound overly negative though - I guess the complaining comes from a place of frustration, as not many games hit the highs of SOTC, but then it seems to needlessly trip itself up with some relatively basic issues. It's only because I enjoyed some parts so much that I care enough to complain - if that makes sense...

I had the same frustration while playing the remaster. That final boss requires some odd timing. As far as I remember you can stab him somewhere so he holds still and it becomes quite easy. Or maybe it was shoot his other hand with an arrow. There is a way to make it a lot more easy.

I also had that frustration at the huge boss where you have to climb up the castle walls every time. There is also a 'shortcut' there yet like Dark Souls, you have to stumble upon it. If I had a better memory I would play it again. Ico has a frustrating part as well, where you have to time a ball launch or something. And TLG simply has a bug where Trico stops responding if you do things in the wrong order :/ No game is perfect.

Hence it's nice to have all that down time in between the bosses :)

The two games are nothing alike!

I spend an hour exploring this area, there is no reason to go there, nothing to find, no distractions, just peace.


Exploring the map is reward on its own. I don't need a fight every few minutes or a trinket.


I recently started to play Forza Horizon 4. Great game, yet after a few days I was burned out on it already. Icons everywhere. Do one race, 3 more pop up. At some point I figured I wasn't having fun anymore, the game had turned into a giant to do list.

BotW luckily kept the icon nonsense hidden, However there I couldn't move normally anymore either after the assassins kept popping up and the 'regular' enemies had all leveled up the maximum. It's nice to have a game where you can simply wander around without getting interrupted all the time. The student did not become the master, the student missed the point. That is, if the games were anything alike. What keeps me moving forward is my curiosity to see what's beyond the next hill, around the next corner, in that cave, what's hidden in the forest etc.

Yeah, it's weird how even the most unlikely games get compared to BotW, when those games have really nothing major in common with each other, other than being games.

I'd say they have more in common than not. There are differences sure, but they both feature exploration, the strategic scaling of huge features (mountains in BOTW & Colossi in SOTC), a kind of haunting atmosphere in a decaying ancient world and in both you're a dude running about with a sword and bow trying to save/help a princess... It's not like comparing either one of them to Tetris, for instance...

I know this will strike some as sacrilegious, but if you swapped out the Divine Beasts for the Colossi and fixed the gripes with the controls, I think that it'd truly be the ultimate combination (I think most people agree the boss fights in BOTW were actually pretty average compared to the rest of the game).

In some other dimension maybe that game exists :)

In one game you desecrate a mysterious forbidden deserted land for your own personal gain, in the other you set out to restore the land and free the inhabitants from a century of pending doom. Yes both feature climbing and a dude with a sword.

Praey foar thay goawds might be that game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/494430/Praey_for_the_Gods/

Nice - they've even included the hook-shot :)

In the summary it's says it's being developed by a team of 3... that seems insane to me... unless it ends up in development for 20 years!

If you were in that situation, would you feel overpowered or comfortable?

Yeah, that's what the game's trying to do.