The biggest complaint I see from BOTW is the weapon durability system. While I understand people have frustrations with that, they also praise the exploration of the game. Well the durability system plays into that exploration. This is one of the reasons where Immortals Fenyx Rising fails to be like BOTW. Think about it, if you're worried about your inventory you're gonna want to explore more to get more and powerful weapons to add to your arsenal. In Immortals FR you don't feel compelled to really explore the world. Not just because you don't have to worry about inventory, but also it's a game where you go from Point A to B. BOTW let's you choose where to go and what to do. If Immortals FR was a linear game it would be almost no different than what it is now, but BOTW would be a completely different game.

People hate the durability system, but when you think about it and after playing Immortals FR you see that the durability system plays a part of exploration of the world.

Oh, I understand what they were going for. However I still disagree. I went the Gerudo, Rito route first as well, however without the knowledge of what might be useful later / somewhere else. What ingredients to look for / keep etc. Sure the weapons were stronger yet it didn't change the fact that after every fight and nearly during every fight I was in the inventory, swapping, discarding, selecting stuff. It breaks the flow, simple as that.

BotW, 96, too much inventory management :p

BotW had some odd enemy scaling as well btw. Random enemies scale with you, yet the area based enemies become super easy. Which kinda sucked since the  weapons dropped by the area based enemies are worthless for random encounters, and you don't want to use the good weapons to dispatch the fodder. More swapping! (I got harassed by those clan idiots for the longest time lol)

BotW had a lot of good things going for it. The basic mechanics of the combat were good. The world was a joy to explore (though that appeal goes away once you've seen everything there is to see). The visuals were lovely. The survival mechanics and interactivity with the environments were interesting. But while the game has a solid foundation, the rest of the structure is lacking. Degrading weapons that break over time. No proper themed dungeons. Limited roster of enemy types by series standards. Heart pieces earned by completing a bunch of repetitive mini-shrines. And of course certain elements that are typical of open-world tedium, including climbing towers to be able to view parts of the world map and having to gather resources to craft things, expand your inventory slots, etc.

It's a decent enough game, but in my book it's not even the best Zelda game, much less in the running for best game ever. Overall, I give it a 7/10.

That's the reason why I always kept going with the game for multiple days of 10+ hours in playtime. It does the job so masterfully !

It's a semi off-topic...If you're into games focuesd on exploration and discovery (and also into some puzzle solving) I suggest you to check out Outer Wilds. That game is a legitimate masterpiece... It has a very different style of gamplay but it nails the sense of exploration even better than BOTW imo.

I've been reading lots of praise for Outer wilds, yet being on a timer goes against everything I enjoy about exploration and discovery. I don't know, it sounds interesting, yet the 22 minute start over loop is what stops me from getting it. It goes against relaxing and taking in the views, watching the sun set etc.

What do you even do the last 5 minutes of the cycle, no point in going on, just wait for it to restart? It sounds stressful.

The great thing about that game is that it can be all of it...it is realxing, stressfull, claustrophobic, a little creepy at times, melanchonic and peacefull all at once...depending on what are you doing, where you go in the solar system, and how you are playing. Just like BOTW the player has complete agency over progression perhaps even more...so it's up to you to decide the pacing. Of course to solve some riddles you have to be aware of time and.... yes it happens, you may have to start over some sections if time is over in an incovenient moment...but that is also part of the challange.

If you're interested to try go in knowing as little as possible...game progression is completely based your information and knowledge...any gameplay video could be a potential spoiler. It's usless to say at this point I definetly recommend it.

As for you last question...what do you do in the last 5 minutes? That's when you relax, after all the end of the loop is inevitable...

The great thing about that game is that it can be all of it...it is realxing, stressfull, claustrophobic, a little creepy at times, melanchonic and peacefull all at once...depending on what are you doing, where you go in the solar system, and how you are playing. Just like BOTW the player has complete agency over progression perhaps even more...so it's up to you to decide the pacing. Of course to solve some riddles you have to be aware of time and.... yes it happens, you may have to start over some sections if time is over in an incovenient moment...but that is also part of the challange.

If you're interested to try go in knowing as little as possible...game progression is completely based your information and knowledge...any gameplay video could be a potential spoiler. It's usless to say at this point I definetly recommend it.

As for you last question...what do you do in the last 5 minutes? That's when you relax, after all the end of the loop is inevitable...