Here's a list of things i didn't like in botw/want them to improve in botw 2

[coolharry]

mZuzek said:

Finale said:

The game doesn't have enough meaningful rewards. Look,i know to some people climbing by itself is satisfactory, and the way the land is made makes the game feel like a great fantasy adventure and whatever, but to me it is not enough. While you're going by in botw, the number of meaningful things to do, to me, is limited. You can either hunt korok seeds, look for a shrine or just go to the next story path. Most of the time you find something different or weird, it is related to those three things, and it just makes them feel less special. the korok puzzles often catch you off guard, but it also just mean that every time i see something weird in the overworld i already know what it is beforehand; just a korok seed puzzle. Sometimes you find old structures, like a maze or a fallen castle, but i also already know what they are; a path to a shrine that will give me something. It makes the world feel less special.

As i said before, i do understand it isn't like this to everyone. I know that to some people, simply being in the maze and finding your way is already enough as a reward, but i'm not like that. I do enjoy being in the maze, but knowing that its just the same shrine model that i see everyone in the overworld just makes me tired. It is an aesthetic problem i admit, but i dont think that makes it not important regardless. On that maze example, if the reward was the same( a piece of armor, if i'm not mistaken) but the location in which you get it is an old altar, or if there's an old warrior boss rooting in a deceased dungeon waiting for you, it makes it way more engaging. It tells you about the world, and it makes it more memorable. So i hope that they diversify in the sequel. Make some of the korok puzzles different things, with a different context; it makes all the difference. Don't tie every weapon/armor reward to a shrine, it just makes it feel less special.

Yeah, this is my big issue with the game too. I was so invested in exploring that world, it was a magical, adventurous feeling for a while, but it quickly started fading away the moment I began to realize every interesting-looking thing would turn out to be either a shrine or a korok seed. Even worse when I started to understand which ones would turn out to be a shrine, and which ones were a korok seed. Standardizing the rewards like that just eats away at any feeling of wonder and excitement. Not because the reward isn't worth it, but because you already know what it is - and finding out what things are is half the fun of exploring anyway.

I have other gripes too. I don't mind the combat system too much, besides a few changes I'd make such as making dodges and flurry rush less OP, but what I am really annoyed by is the lack of enemy variety and the bad enemy design (HP sponges). It got really boring when the tough late-game enemies were just a 5000 HP monster you had to waste all your arsenal on, by doing the same repetitive dodges and attacks you learn during the first 200 HP. Late-game enemies should be tough because they're difficult to battle against, not because they have a lot of HP.

About the story, I didn't mind the way it was handled in Breath of the Wild, although I was very disappointed about the ending, especially with the final boss being something straight out of Link's Crossbow Training. But, other than having a decent ending with a decent final boss, I would like to see a more in-depth story, with actual progression and stuff. Don't tell me the whole backstory within the first 4 hours of the game. Again, not something I particularly disliked about the BotW approach, just something I'd rather not see again in later games.

I completely agree. But the repetetive nature is just going to happen when you do not have a story and the game is lacking in variety of different enemies/shrines and temples. Zelda did copy a lot of other games like dragon's dogma and improved on them, but they 'forgot' to put in a lot of different bosses. Making those temples and shrines so extremely generic looking didn't help either.   I am playing The Witcher 3 a the moment, and even the average side quest has a better story then the whole of BotW and we don't even have to compare the variety of the other things. It seems that Nintendo spend all their time on the world building, and minimized expenses on the story/temples and enemies. 

The reason why the Great Plateau is so good, is because everything is new and because you are able to die. You're exploring, keep learning new things and keep encountering new enemies and you do everything for the first time. For the rest of the game you have the exploring, but that's about it. Because most other things only feel repetitive after a while and the real exitcement is missing. Instead of 'hey, a new boss/temple/shrine', it's  'oh, another one of those'. For example,  the castle was actually really good because it had a different tension than the rest of the game.

Finding another same looking shrine can't feel that exiting after the 80th time ;)