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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Revisiting Breath of the Wild

So I have made it clear in the past that although there were aspects of this game that I loved very much (the art style, Zelda's design and voice being my favourite in the series), it was far from my favourite Zelda game. I completed the Wii U version 100% when it came out. I got all the Korok seeds, upgraded every piece of gear, completed every side quest, etc. I felt ultimately underwhelmed when I was finished with it.

I was given the Switch version a few months back and decided to start a new file. I bought the DLC again. I decided to do things differently this time. I usually strive for 100% completion in Zelda games because I feel a sense of accomplishment and I genuinely enjoy it. With Breath of the Wild, I did not. I found the grind too tedious. Waiting around to farm dragon pieces and star fragments took tens of hours on my first playthrough... Trying to get every Korok seed was annoying because of the weather. The rain hindered my progress often.  

This playthrough I decided to upgrade only the armor that was really necessary (and the Fierce Deity armor because I love it so much), only get the Korok seeds that I would come across while exploring. I am 4 shrines away from all and I haven't touched the DLC yet. I've clocked in over 80 hours this playthrough and I can say now that I genuinely love this game. I am really happy I went back to it. There are still issues I have with it (not enough story elements, breakable weapons, rain, music, last boss, dungeons). 

It is still not my favourite Zelda game, but I came to appreciate it much more. It has a lot of potential that can be reached with the sequel that has me extremely excited. 





1doesnotsimply

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BotW is my all time favorite game, but doesn't feel like Zelda to me. Simply put I loved the freedom.



I think it's an empty husk of a game and revisiting it only shows more how lifeless it is.

It's very pretty, though.



Isn't the point of the game to be lifeless? Ganon destroyed hyrule, not much remains and nature took over. Kind of like how Fallout is all rubble and dust.



It truly is the GotG in my eyes. Very excited for the sequel.

The way BotW is set up is not to be 100 percent, as you said that can be very tedious. It is set up so that no two playthroughs have to be exactly the same, and content should be found as you explore rather than as a checklist. A masterpiece through and through, and I am glad you are findong more enjoyment with a different approach.

It does have flaws though. Some things I hope to see in the sequel...

Traditional Dungeons
More emphasis on story
More enemy types
More varied bosses



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BotW is my least favourite 3D Zelda (MM not counting, which I've dropped fairly early) and I had to sit through my son's playthrough as well (he only played it when I was sitting with him and I had no heart to tell him no).
All I can say that after his playthrough I found BotW having even more problems than when I've played it - I really hope they fix this new formula in BotW2, because for me this one falls completely flat.



Bad side quests, lack of variety with copy and pasted content, lack of gadgets/items to add more mechanics to dungeons, pityful rewards for combat meaning halfway through the game I just started ignoring all random enemy encounters.

Its a well polished game but it has major flaws imo. Despite all these drawbacks it's still an 8/10 for me because what is there is high quality and it's full of charm.

I think BOTW is an incredibly overrated game, and the sequel will hopefully fix the flaws the original had and be a much better game. No "bring me 55 rushrooms" quests thanks.

And you're right BOTW is more fun when you don't try and do everything.

Odyssey is the switch's masterpiece not botw



Same for me. Its a very pretty game and its enganging at times, but ultimately felt the overall experience a little flat and underwhelming.

Ive finished the game and I have revisited it in 2 ocassions, in one I got past the third divine beast and got bored. Left it midgame. And in the other one I couldnt past the second cause once more I was getting bored. I tried going different routes on both ocassions but its really feels all the same.

I get why some people love it, but I guess its just not for me, I guess I like my Zeldas with longer and more traditional dungeons instead of a ton of mini puzzles.



Barkley said:

Odyssey is the switch's masterpiece not botw

I maybe the odd man out, I found Mario vs Rabbids to be a masterpiece and better than Odyssey.  



I've been wanting to do a replay for quite some time now, especially with all of the knowledge I've earned in my first playthrough. Glad to see it holds up!