Breath of the Wild is a great game, but a not-so-great Zelda experience (Mild spoilers)

[Veknoid_Outcast]

AngryLittleAlchemist said:

Veknoid_Outcast said:
Glad you enjoyed it!

Yes, it's unlike Zelda 1992-2013. No, I don't think that's a bad thing per se.

I mean, I adore A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and The Wind Waker. I love that modern Zelda formula where you get a particular item in a themed dungeon, and with that item defeat the dungeon boss. It's a great formula that's made The Legend of Zelda the best video series of all time.

But a Zelda game doesn't need to conform to that standard to be great. The strength of BotW comes from its emergent gameplay, and from the way it encourages players to experiment with tool sets, enemy AI, and the game's physics and chemistry engines. It's all about freedom: freedom to experience a story or skip it; freedom to finish the dungeons; freedom to explore optional shrines; freedom to cook, or hunt, or collect, or ride a horse into the sunset.

BotW's dungeons and boss fights are on the weak side -- minus Hyrule Castle, which is spectacular -- but it makes up for those flaws in so many other ways.

I'm not going to talk about my opinion on the game, but let me interject a bit here. I understand that Wright's first few paragraphs are literally him saying that this isn't like other Zelda games and that he wants that Zelda charm, but a reply like this just feels like a way to shut down criticism. Wright's complaints don't really have as much to do with it not being Zelda enough and more to do with the fact that the substitutes for those Zelda elements are lacking in quality. At least in the way he explained it. These criticisms would stand with or without the gaming being a Zelda game. Being part of that franchise just makes more comparisons validated.

Yes, I understand. That's why my response answers both: 1) a Zelda game doesn't need to conform to the patterns and tropes of the last two decades of The Legend of Zelda to be a good Zelda game; and 2) the emergent gameplay and freedom of choice/mobility more than offsets what Wright has identified as weaknesses. 

Wright questions the quality of dungeons and shrines. In my post I agree they're relatively weak, but mitigated by other things. Wright criticizes the story, or, more accurately, his emotional attachment to the story. In my rant on freedom, I mention the story and how players can absorb as much or as little as they want -- a huge plus. He complains about shrines; I mention they're entirely optional. He laments that tools/items don't have a more pivotal role to play in dungeons; I argue that to "experiment with tool sets, enemy AI, and the game's physics and chemistry engines" is the true mark of BotW's genius.