BotW sucked me in for 170+ hours, so yeah great game, best in a long time. It's not perfect, which is good, still room for something better to come along :)

I enjoyed it best while leaving the towers last to unlock. Revealing the land and all the landmarks kinda spoils the fun of exploring. That way it also doesn't matter if you have pro hud or not, mini map is blank. And it's always fun to reveal the map afterwards and compare your mental map to the real thing.

One frustration I had with the game was the limited inventory space for weapons. I didn't go to Kakariko village until 80 hours in (started out South to the desert) yet going there first to at least get two more weapon inventory spaces makes the weapon breaking mechanic a lot less annoying.

That's an interesting viewpoint, though I don't think I fully understand it. I mean you can improve your play in any game, and it's moreso important in games that have ever-evolving gameplay as you'll have to adapt to new strategys and challenges. In BotW though, once you figure out the best way to kill an enemy, you can just stick to that strategy because there's no further challenge to make you improve. Shoot a Guardian in the eye, destroy it's legs, rinse repeat for the rest of the game. Better rewards with better performance is also a concept in most games, and while stat increases are always good, stuff that lets you do new things and explore new areas are great atleast imo.

Yeah, I agree. This is Nintendo saying "hold my beer" to every other open-world game. It doesn't need achievements, like you said, or "artificial game lengtheners" for that matter. All the gameplay systems -- hunting, cooking, crafting, exploring, fighting, cataloging, questing -- work so fluidly together, in a world that feels alive and lived-in. The freedom of control and movement is extraordinary, and the physics system that underpins the whole experience allows amazing player improvisation.

It's a watershed moment, for Nintendo and for open-world games. And the scary thing is that the formula has room for improvement.

Well, what about God of war though? You still going to play that?

That is one of the problems of BOTW. I think this strategy would work better if enemies got progressively more difficult based on your skill level. I wouldn't want an upgrade system since I think it has been overdone... but there is still room for improvement with this concept. 

Breath of the Wild does exploration and immersion really well and along with its physics engine it's a world that's fun to mess around in, kind of like in the GTA games. It's not a perfect game by any means but compared to other open world games like MGS V or Ubisoft titles, it nails the fundamentals down.

Nothing beats Morrowind when it comes to open world.

I agree, one of the best experiences I ever had with any videogame, miles better than any other open world I have ever played, not in every aspect but in general, the feeling of wonder while playing it is something else.

I just felt it brought me more into the game. Instead of following a icon on the mini map i just explored. I used the surrounding environments to get my bearings. With it on, I would just see the glowing green icon and rotate so my mini map shows that in front of me and head towards it.

It basically does what he liked. It turns off handholding even further.

Nothing beats Morrowind when it comes to world. Open world, BotW is way better. I can actually see the world, for one thing, and when I swing my sword I actually hit what the sword contacts. There are physics and puzzles built on them. But, even the later ES haven't matched the hundreds of hours I sunk into Morrowind. It hasn't aged well, but the lore and world are still so interesting even today. :D