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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Zelda Breath of the Wild—First Zelda game

So I’ve never played a Zelda game before. I’m about 6 hours into BotW, and I’m honestly struggling to enjoy it so far. I’m creating this thread bc I want to know if I just need to give it more of a chance. I’ve always been a PlayStation guy, but since I got my Switch (first Nintendo console), Nintendo has definitively become my second favorite console company. 

Zelda has been my #1 most anticipated Nintendo game to play, and I expected to fall in love with it, so I’m really disappointed with my lack of love for it thus far.

Things I dislike so far:

-Biggest thing so far is just that I’m not finding the gameplay loop super interesting, rewarding, or addicting. This is causing me to have very little desire to do most side missions. I’m also not very interested in the story, but since I’ve never played a Zelda game before, I’m not sure if the story is supposed to be a major selling point. I do really love a good story in games, but I also play plenty of games that have no story at all. 

-Having to read every piece of dialogue. Never been a fan of this. The Japanese quirkiness is a bit hard for me as well. :/

-Controls are unorthodox and sometimes feel counterintuitive. Most significant examples I can think of right now are:  1. Sprinting with the B button isn’t my preference, since it disallows you from moving the camera around while sprinting. Overall not a major deal, but...why is the sprint button for the horse then mapped to the A button? I’m sure I’ll get use to it eventually, but right now I still mix it up sometimes. 2. Pressing X to jump also feels odd. Overall not a huge deal, but it makes it very difficult to sprint and go directly into a jump due to the location of those buttons at 6 and 12 o’clock. Admittedly, Ive never changed a control scheme for a game from the default, so I haven’t tried to look for this option yet. 

-Horse is difficult to control, and I don’t know why. He doesn’t seem to respond to my directioning sometimes. Is this bc I have to build a better bond first? I didn’t see any “bond” meter/level...

-Difficulty. There are many times where the game difficulty is fine and fair, but some other times it seems to incur a major spike, and I’m not sure why. Just spent 45min+ trying over and over to kill a group of 3 enemies, bc the one enemy needed to hit me only once to kill me. Have faced the same enemy prior, and this wasn’t the case. I also just took a similar amount of time trying to beat the “a moderate test of strength” shrine (I think that’s the name). I was doing well with it toward the end, but my hits were doing so ridiculously little to the mechanical enemy’s health bar that it was not only taking forever to beat it, but nearly all of my weapons broke by the time I got the enemy’s life just halfway down. I even used a weapon that has a level in the mid-30’s, and that seemed to do no more damage than my other mid-teens level weapons. The best I did was get the enemy’s life down halfway before deciding I was enjoying myself so little that I had to just give up—which I rarely do. Am I just in an area I’m not supposed to be? The difficulty of the other enemies in the area seem consistent, so not sure. Could it sometimes be due to the level of an enemy’s weapon?

-I just fast traveled while sitting on top of my horse, and the horse didn’t come with me. I’ve spent hours on that thing, and there seems to be some form of a bonding system, so I’m not thrilled about the idea of having to start with a new horse. Am I missing something here?

-Stamina:  I used my only upgrade so far to boost my stamina, but this did very little for my ability to sprint longer. The very short time you can sprint is quite annoying at the moment. I’m hoping this gets much better. 

Anyway, these are the negatives I can recall right now. I’m hoping that I’m either missing some things or just need to play longer, bc I’ve been excited for a long time to play this BotW. And clearly I would be in the absolute minority if I didn’t end up liking it, since it’s considered by so many to be one of the best games ever made. Hoping nostalgia doesn’t represent too much of what makes people love BotW, since this is my first Zelda. 

Man, I didn’t plan for this to be so long. I’m sorry. 



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pitzy272 said:

So I’ve never played a Zelda game before. I’m about 6 hours into BotW, and I’m honestly struggling to enjoy it so far. I’m creating this thread bc I want to know if I just need to give it more of a chance. I’ve always been a PlayStation guy, but since I got my Switch (first Nintendo console), Nintendo has definitively become my second favorite console company. 

Zelda has been my #1 most anticipated Nintendo game to play, and I expected to fall in love with it, so I’m really disappointed with my lack of love for it thus far.

Things I dislike so far:

-Biggest thing so far is just that I’m not finding the gameplay loop super interesting, rewarding, or addicting. This is causing me to have very little desire to do most side missions. I’m also not very interested in the story, but since I’ve never played a Zelda game before, I’m not sure if the story is supposed to be a major selling point. I do really love a good story in games, but I also play plenty of games that have no story at all. 

-Having to read every piece of dialogue. Never been a fan of this. The Japanese quirkiness is a bit hard for me as well. :/

-Controls are unorthodox and sometimes feel counterintuitive. Most significant examples I can think of right now are:  1. Sprinting with the B button isn’t my preference, since it disallows you from moving the camera around while sprinting. Overall not a major deal, but...why is the sprint button for the horse then mapped to the A button? I’m sure I’ll get use to it eventually, but right now I still mix it up sometimes. 2. Pressing X to jump also feels odd. Overall not a huge deal, but it makes it very difficult to sprint and go directly into a jump due to the location of those buttons at 6 and 12 o’clock. Admittedly, Ive never changed a control scheme for a game from the default, so I haven’t tried to look for this option yet. 

-Horse is difficult to control, and I don’t know why. He doesn’t seem to respond to my directioning sometimes. Is this bc I have to build a better bond first? I didn’t see any “bond” meter/level...

-Difficulty. There are many times where the game difficulty is fine and fair, but some other times it seems to incur a major spike, and I’m not sure why. Just spent 45min+ trying over and over to kill a group of 3 enemies, bc the one enemy needed to hit me only once to kill me. Have faced the same enemy prior, and this wasn’t the case. I also just took a similar amount of time trying to beat the “a moderate test of strength” shrine (I think that’s the name). I was doing well with it toward the end, but my hits were doing so ridiculously little to the mechanical enemy’s health bar that it was not only taking forever to beat it, but nearly all of my weapons broke by the time I got the enemy’s life just halfway down. I even used a weapon that has a level in the mid-30’s, and that seemed to do no more damage than my other mid-teens level weapons. The best I did was get the enemy’s life down halfway before deciding I was enjoying myself so little that I had to just give up—which I rarely do. Am I just in an area I’m not supposed to be? The difficulty of the other enemies in the area seem consistent, so not sure. Could it sometimes be due to the level of an enemy’s weapon?

-I just fast traveled while sitting on top of my horse, and the horse didn’t come with me. I’ve spent hours on that thing, and there seems to be some form of a bonding system, so I’m not thrilled about the idea of having to start with a new horse. Am I missing something here?

-Stamina:  I used my only upgrade so far to boost my stamina, but this did very little for my ability to sprint longer. The very short time you can sprint is quite annoying at the moment. I’m hoping this gets much better. 

Anyway, these are the negatives I can recall right now. I’m hoping that I’m either missing some things or just need to play longer, bc I’ve been excited for a long time to play this BotW. And clearly I would be in the absolute minority if I didn’t end up liking it, since it’s considered by so many to be one of the best games ever made. Hoping nostalgia doesn’t represent too much of what makes people love BotW, since this is my first Zelda. 

Man, I didn’t plan for this to be so long. I’m sorry. 

Botw isn't really representative of what other Zelda games are like.  So, just because you don't enjoy this doesn't mean you won't enjoy others.  As for your criticisms, maybe this just isn't your style of game.

You can change the sprint button... I think there are two options for it. 

You need to bond with your horse before it will listen to you.  You can check your bond at a stable.  It shouldn't take terribly long to max out your bond, simply soothe the horse with L, or feed it apples.

The game lets you travel anywhere you wish more or less.  This means that you're going to encounter enemies that are way above your current capabilities.  If there's a group of enemies that is taking you 45 minutes to kill, then you should honestly be avoiding them, or you need some other strategies.  It is theortetically possible to beat any enemy at any point, but you're better off spending time getting more powerful weapons.

In regards to test of strength in particular, are you able to dodge/flurry rush consistently?  If not, you're gonna have a bad time.  Also, ancient weapons are better at taking out ancient enemies.  And, if you're still using basic armor, you're probably going to go down in a few hits.  You can come back to a shrine at any time, so no need to be stubborn.  If you're getting your ass kicked come back later.

If your stamina is problematic for you, increase it.  IDK what more can be said about that.  

Overall, BOTW doesn't hold your hand which is actually different than most other Zelda games.  While other Zelda games guide you along so that you're never able to access a challenge you're not equipped for, it's quite possible for that to happen in this game.  You can even go charging into the main boss fight almost immediately after the game starts.  It's possible, and expected, that you're going to run into situations you're not ready for.  The whole game is basically about preparing yourself for more difficult challenges.  Whether or not you'll find that fun, I can't say.  I love the game, but even with a game that's almost universally praised, it's just not going to click with some people.  



Things I dislike so far:

-Biggest thing so far is just that I’m not finding the gameplay loop super interesting, rewarding, or addicting. This is causing me to have very little desire to do most side missions. I’m also not very interested in the story, but since I’ve never played a Zelda game before, I’m not sure if the story is supposed to be a major selling point. I do really love a good story in games, but I also play plenty of games that have no story at all. 

-Having to read every piece of dialogue. Never been a fan of this. The Japanese quirkiness is a bit hard for me as well. :/

Depends on where you are at right now, but yea the story in this game is mostly told from details ingame more than narration. If you already have the quest with the memories, it won't get much better. But of course overall the plateau isn't really interesting, it's a tutorial. So with 6 hours i'm assuming you probably left it not a long time ago. So it should get better but again this game isn't strong for it's story elements. 

A lot of the story is told by dialogues from characters tho, so if you only take it from cutscenes it will really be lacking. The whole games just has details that you have to put togheter by yourself. 

-Controls are unorthodox and sometimes feel counterintuitive. Most significant examples I can think of right now are:  1. Sprinting with the B button isn’t my preference, since it disallows you from moving the camera around while sprinting. Overall not a major deal, but...why is the sprint button for the horse then mapped to the A button? I’m sure I’ll get use to it eventually, but right now I still mix it up sometimes. 2. Pressing X to jump also feels odd. Overall not a huge deal, but it makes it very difficult to sprint and go directly into a jump due to the location of those buttons at 6 and 12 o’clock. Admittedly, Ive never changed a control scheme for a game from the default, so I haven’t tried to look for this option yet. 

You'll definitely get use to it but yea it did feel a bit weird in the beginning. Also, i think there is an option to change the button setting but it's been a while since i checked so maybe i'm wrong.

-Horse is difficult to control, and I don’t know why. He doesn’t seem to respond to my directioning sometimes. Is this bc I have to build a better bond first? I didn’t see any “bond” meter/level...

Yes you do have to get a better bond with it. By soothing it or giving the horse food. You'll have stations where you can put your horse and you can see there your bond level. It shouldn't be too long.

-Difficulty. There are many times where the game difficulty is fine and fair, but some other times it seems to incur a major spike, and I’m not sure why. Just spent 45min+ trying over and over to kill a group of 3 enemies, bc the one enemy needed to hit me only once to kill me. Have faced the same enemy prior, and this wasn’t the case. I also just took a similar amount of time trying to beat the “a moderate test of strength” shrine (I think that’s the name). I was doing well with it toward the end, but my hits were doing so ridiculously little to the mechanical enemy’s health bar that it was not only taking forever to beat it, but nearly all of my weapons broke by the time I got the enemy’s life just halfway down. I even used a weapon that has a level in the mid-30’s, and that seemed to do no more damage than my other mid-teens level weapons. The best I did was get the enemy’s life down halfway before deciding I was enjoying myself so little that I had to just give up—which I rarely do. Am I just in an area I’m not supposed to be? The difficulty of the other enemies in the area seem consistent, so not sure. Could it sometimes be due to the level of an enemy’s weapon?

The game is the most open world there could be. So you will eventually, like this, get into areas that are a bit too hard. There is Impa's quest that you already have that is quite important to get early in the game (for story elements, you can go ahead and not do it right away but i still highly recommend.)

-I just fast traveled while sitting on top of my horse, and the horse didn’t come with me. I’ve spent hours on that thing, and there seems to be some form of a bonding system, so I’m not thrilled about the idea of having to start with a new horse. Am I missing something here?

Yes, no horse will be registered to you if you don't go the those stations i was talking about. There is multiples ones across the land and you should find one by following trails. There is a few close to the left and right of the plateau. The horse will be indicated on the map after you register it and you can do other stuff like keep it at the station and take another one or call it from a moderately far distance and it will come to you by itself. 

-Stamina:  I used my only upgrade so far to boost my stamina, but this did very little for my ability to sprint longer. The very short time you can sprint is quite annoying at the moment. I’m hoping this gets much better. 

Yes, it will get a lot better. You can cook stuff to help you regain stamina or help you go faster etc. So maybe try that in the early game. It's mainly to manage your ability to climb too much in early game.

I would finish with saying that the game does have some nostalgia elements but it is pretty impossible it is the reason people love it so much since the game literally exploded the franchise records of sales and many people played it as their first Zelda game. The game does get a bit to get used to it, it is also a pretty open and free game more based on exploration. You will find out some tricks and while you play and will understand it better. If not, it's okay. The game isn't perfect and there is elements i hope they polish in the sequel. But overall it is a really great experience and you should enjoy it i think. Don't bother getting all the seeds btw.



With all due respect, sounds to me like you should check out some tricks on YouTube to get through the game more easily. 45+ minutes for a group of enemies that I'm going to assume are either moblins or lizalfos it's just too much, and it's possible to beat the guardians of the moderate tests in a snap, even with poor equipment.



My bet with The_Liquid_Laser: I think the Switch won't surpass the PS2 as the best selling system of all time. If it does, I'll play a game of a list that The_Liquid_Laser will provide, I will have to play it for 50 hours or complete it, whatever comes first. 

As others have said, Breath of the Wild isn't anything like previous Zelda games, I really enjoy the game but it's not necessarily my favorite in the series and understand the issues you are having with it, my only recommendation is to either keep trying it with maybe a guide so things feel like theres a bit more structure and so you can have an idea what you are working towards, or just if possible try out another more classic styled 3D Zelda game like Twilight Princess since it is much more story oriented, darker, and more sense of structure to the game.



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JWeinCom said:
pitzy272 said:

-Snippety snip-

Botw isn't really representative of what other Zelda games are like.  So, just because you don't enjoy this doesn't mean you won't enjoy others.  As for your criticisms, maybe this just isn't your style of game.

You can change the sprint button... I think there are two options for it. 

You need to bond with your horse before it will listen to you.  You can check your bond at a stable.  It shouldn't take terribly long to max out your bond, simply soothe the horse with L, or feed it apples.

The game lets you travel anywhere you wish more or less.  This means that you're going to encounter enemies that are way above your current capabilities.  If there's a group of enemies that is taking you 45 minutes to kill, then you should honestly be avoiding them, or you need some other strategies.  It is theortetically possible to beat any enemy at any point, but you're better off spending time getting more powerful weapons.

In regards to test of strength in particular, are you able to dodge/flurry rush consistently?  If not, you're gonna have a bad time.  Also, ancient weapons are better at taking out ancient enemies.  And, if you're still using basic armor, you're probably going to go down in a few hits.  You can come back to a shrine at any time, so no need to be stubborn.  If you're getting your ass kicked come back later.

If your stamina is problematic for you, increase it.  IDK what more can be said about that.  

Overall, BOTW doesn't hold your hand which is actually different than most other Zelda games.  While other Zelda games guide you along so that you're never able to access a challenge you're not equipped for, it's quite possible for that to happen in this game.  You can even go charging into the main boss fight almost immediately after the game starts.  It's possible, and expected, that you're going to run into situations you're not ready for.  The whole game is basically about preparing yourself for more difficult challenges.  Whether or not you'll find that fun, I can't say.  I love the game, but even with a game that's almost universally praised, it's just not going to click with some people.  

Thanks for everything you wrote. A lot of this is helpful to read. 
Nice. I didn’t know I could feed my horse apples. Or that I could use a stable. 
I can hold the shield button then jump to the side. IDR if that was specifically called dodging yet. If so, I definitely haven’t mastered that yet. I guess I’m used to just pressing a single button to dodge. Been getting a little better at parrying, but it’s hard to time. Idk what a flurry rush is. I’m pretty sure I can’t do that yet...

Very good to know about ancient weapons. Haven’t come across one yet. 
I don’t have armor. I just bought the Hylian clothing set. 
Thanks again for your response!



I've been a Zelda fan since I liked videogames. My first was A Link to the Past. My favourite Zelda (and game ever) is Ocarina of Time.
I have played Breath of the Wild through twice. The first time, I found how much of a departure from the normal Zelda formula to be jarring... I couldn't enjoy it as much because to me it didn't feel like Zelda. On its own, I thought the game was a great game, just not a great Zelda game.

Playing through the second time I just appreciated everything more. I loved it more for being different; for being able to change the franchise in such a fundamental way and still be engaging. I will say, the story that is there I love. But there is just not enough of it (cutscenes I mean). I'm in the minority but I love the voice acting in this game, especially Zelda herself, who has my favourite design in the series. I can't really explain my feelings for this game like I want... I love this game, though not perfect, I think it has many aspects that are the best so far in the series. That being said, despite its huge popularity, I would never recommend this game as the first game to play to anybody who is interested in the Zelda series as a whole.



1doesnotsimply

I had finished 3 Zelda before, and I am a Nintendo guy.
It took me more than 5 hours to feel well into this one, and today it is one of my favorite game ever. It is actually the only one game I could play these last 8 years without being speedrunning, but just relaxing.



xMetroid said:

Things I dislike so far:

-Biggest thing so far is just that I’m not finding the gameplay loop super interesting, rewarding, or addicting. This is causing me to have very little desire to do most side missions. I’m also not very interested in the story, but since I’ve never played a Zelda game before, I’m not sure if the story is supposed to be a major selling point. I do really love a good story in games, but I also play plenty of games that have no story at all. 

-Having to read every piece of dialogue. Never been a fan of this. The Japanese quirkiness is a bit hard for me as well. :/

Depends on where you are at right now, but yea the story in this game is mostly told from details ingame more than narration. If you already have the quest with the memories, it won't get much better. But of course overall the plateau isn't really interesting, it's a tutorial. So with 6 hours i'm assuming you probably left it not a long time ago. So it should get better but again this game isn't strong for it's story elements. 

A lot of the story is told by dialogues from characters tho, so if you only take it from cutscenes it will really be lacking. The whole games just has details that you have to put togheter by yourself. 

-Controls are unorthodox and sometimes feel counterintuitive. Most significant examples I can think of right now are:  1. Sprinting with the B button isn’t my preference, since it disallows you from moving the camera around while sprinting. Overall not a major deal, but...why is the sprint button for the horse then mapped to the A button? I’m sure I’ll get use to it eventually, but right now I still mix it up sometimes. 2. Pressing X to jump also feels odd. Overall not a huge deal, but it makes it very difficult to sprint and go directly into a jump due to the location of those buttons at 6 and 12 o’clock. Admittedly, Ive never changed a control scheme for a game from the default, so I haven’t tried to look for this option yet. 

You'll definitely get use to it but yea it did feel a bit weird in the beginning. Also, i think there is an option to change the button setting but it's been a while since i checked so maybe i'm wrong.

-Horse is difficult to control, and I don’t know why. He doesn’t seem to respond to my directioning sometimes. Is this bc I have to build a better bond first? I didn’t see any “bond” meter/level...

Yes you do have to get a better bond with it. By soothing it or giving the horse food. You'll have stations where you can put your horse and you can see there your bond level. It shouldn't be too long.

-Difficulty. There are many times where the game difficulty is fine and fair, but some other times it seems to incur a major spike, and I’m not sure why. Just spent 45min+ trying over and over to kill a group of 3 enemies, bc the one enemy needed to hit me only once to kill me. Have faced the same enemy prior, and this wasn’t the case. I also just took a similar amount of time trying to beat the “a moderate test of strength” shrine (I think that’s the name). I was doing well with it toward the end, but my hits were doing so ridiculously little to the mechanical enemy’s health bar that it was not only taking forever to beat it, but nearly all of my weapons broke by the time I got the enemy’s life just halfway down. I even used a weapon that has a level in the mid-30’s, and that seemed to do no more damage than my other mid-teens level weapons. The best I did was get the enemy’s life down halfway before deciding I was enjoying myself so little that I had to just give up—which I rarely do. Am I just in an area I’m not supposed to be? The difficulty of the other enemies in the area seem consistent, so not sure. Could it sometimes be due to the level of an enemy’s weapon?

The game is the most open world there could be. So you will eventually, like this, get into areas that are a bit too hard. There is Impa's quest that you already have that is quite important to get early in the game (for story elements, you can go ahead and not do it right away but i still highly recommend.)

-I just fast traveled while sitting on top of my horse, and the horse didn’t come with me. I’ve spent hours on that thing, and there seems to be some form of a bonding system, so I’m not thrilled about the idea of having to start with a new horse. Am I missing something here?

Yes, no horse will be registered to you if you don't go the those stations i was talking about. There is multiples ones across the land and you should find one by following trails. There is a few close to the left and right of the plateau. The horse will be indicated on the map after you register it and you can do other stuff like keep it at the station and take another one or call it from a moderately far distance and it will come to you by itself. 

-Stamina:  I used my only upgrade so far to boost my stamina, but this did very little for my ability to sprint longer. The very short time you can sprint is quite annoying at the moment. I’m hoping this gets much better. 

Yes, it will get a lot better. You can cook stuff to help you regain stamina or help you go faster etc. So maybe try that in the early game. It's mainly to manage your ability to climb too much in early game.

I would finish with saying that the game does have some nostalgia elements but it is pretty impossible it is the reason people love it so much since the game literally exploded the franchise records of sales and many people played it as their first Zelda game. The game does get a bit to get used to it, it is also a pretty open and free game more based on exploration. You will find out some tricks and while you play and will understand it better. If not, it's okay. The game isn't perfect and there is elements i hope they polish in the sequel. But overall it is a really great experience and you should enjoy it i think. Don't bother getting all the seeds btw.

Thanks for all the info and tips!!

I just unlocked the memories mission, but it seemed like it would be tedious and boring to find all the locations. :/ Do you recommend doing it?

I went from the Great Plateau to West Necluda to the Mount Lanayru area. I was planning next to work on traveling to the Divine Beasts. Approaching the one furthest East soon.

Thanks for all the info about the horse/stables. Was wondering if the horse would eventually come to me. I kept calling it but the damn thing never came ha. 



pitzy272 said:
JWeinCom said:

Botw isn't really representative of what other Zelda games are like.  So, just because you don't enjoy this doesn't mean you won't enjoy others.  As for your criticisms, maybe this just isn't your style of game.

You can change the sprint button... I think there are two options for it. 

You need to bond with your horse before it will listen to you.  You can check your bond at a stable.  It shouldn't take terribly long to max out your bond, simply soothe the horse with L, or feed it apples.

The game lets you travel anywhere you wish more or less.  This means that you're going to encounter enemies that are way above your current capabilities.  If there's a group of enemies that is taking you 45 minutes to kill, then you should honestly be avoiding them, or you need some other strategies.  It is theortetically possible to beat any enemy at any point, but you're better off spending time getting more powerful weapons.

In regards to test of strength in particular, are you able to dodge/flurry rush consistently?  If not, you're gonna have a bad time.  Also, ancient weapons are better at taking out ancient enemies.  And, if you're still using basic armor, you're probably going to go down in a few hits.  You can come back to a shrine at any time, so no need to be stubborn.  If you're getting your ass kicked come back later.

If your stamina is problematic for you, increase it.  IDK what more can be said about that.  

Overall, BOTW doesn't hold your hand which is actually different than most other Zelda games.  While other Zelda games guide you along so that you're never able to access a challenge you're not equipped for, it's quite possible for that to happen in this game.  You can even go charging into the main boss fight almost immediately after the game starts.  It's possible, and expected, that you're going to run into situations you're not ready for.  The whole game is basically about preparing yourself for more difficult challenges.  Whether or not you'll find that fun, I can't say.  I love the game, but even with a game that's almost universally praised, it's just not going to click with some people.  

Thanks for everything you wrote. A lot of this is helpful to read. 
Nice. I didn’t know I could feed my horse apples. Or that I could use a stable. 
I can hold the shield button then jump to the side. IDR if that was specifically called dodging yet. If so, I definitely haven’t mastered that yet. I guess I’m used to just pressing a single button to dodge. Been getting a little better at parrying, but it’s hard to time. Idk what a flurry rush is. I’m pretty sure I can’t do that yet...

Very good to know about ancient weapons. Haven’t come across one yet. 
I don’t have armor. I just bought the Hylian clothing set. 
Thanks again for your response!

No problem.  

A couple of things.  If you get a horse take it to a stable.  It will stay there, and you can retrieve it later.  Also, it keeps whatever bond level you have, so you don't have to capture new horses every time. 

If you either jump to the side or backflip away right before an enemy hits you, time will slow down and you can mash the attack button to get 4-5 hits in while time is slowed.  This is essential to beating the tests of strength, because those enemies have a lot of health.  The timing is also a lot easier than parrying imo.  

Are you following the main quests, or just kind of wandering around?  If you stick to the main quests early on, they'll either directly tell, or guide you to a lot of these features. For example, I'm pretty sure one of the early quests forces you to go right past a stable.  So if you haven't been doing that, I'd recommend it for the first few hours.

Hope these tips help you enjoy the game more.  And of course there are a lot of videos that will also give you some good starting tips. Unlike other Zelda games, this one really doesn't give you a lot of direction. If something feels too hard, it's probably because there's a better way to do it.