Destructoid: Breaking down why Breath of the Wild is highly overrated

[Mnementh]

RolStoppable said:

Mnementh said:

I like about BOTWs story, that it isn't told, but discovered. Usually you have long cutscenes or whatever that tell you the story. In this case you have only the memories as cutscenes. Other than that you discover the stories simply by discovering the ruins. Do I need a cutscene to know Hateno was under siege? No, I just need to discover the enormous amount of broken Guardians before the walls. I really like if you learn about the backgrounds this way. I have to look around. But someone else goes through it without thinking why all the guardians lay around here. He may complain the game has no story, because he didn't discover it. But it feels rewarding making the discoveries on my own.

The author of the article claims that nothing in the world of Breath of the Wild is facing a threat.

He seems to have forgotten that the game starts off with Link awakening from a 100-year-long slumber and being told that Zelda can't keep Ganon in the area of Hyrule Castle for much longer. The author says all villages look unharmed, but that shouldn't be surprising because the peoples of Hyrule had 100 years to rebuild a living space for themselves. But everywhere outside of the villages you come across ruins, so it's evident that Hyrule used to be populated in a much denser manner and that the level of destruction was massive 100 years ago; this is especially true in the central area of the map. All those ruins show the imminent future of Hyrule if the hero doesn't act.

Actually it's even more than that. All viallages that are intact are at the border of the map in mountain areas or protected (in case of Hateno through the wall). Outside these few villages the civilizations spreads through the stables, which are glorified tents, so it has an improvisional tone. It's easy to see that these stables develop into stable settlements, but currently they aren't. So if he isn't seeing the destruction of Hyrule it is because he isn't looking. As I said, this game is designed so that you have to discover the background story instead of telling you (with a few exceptions). So he didn't discover it (because playing with metaphorical closed eyes probably), so the world feels instantly more empty and the story more hollow.