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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild


Jimboxy
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The reviews aren't lying. This is without a doubt fast becoming my favourite Zelda game of all time. The very first mission you complete for the old man is in itself a sprawling adventure despite never leaving the starting area.

 

I don't want to say much because spoilers but I'll lay down some control impressions. At first I could see why people felt they would need a pro controller. The joy cons feel small and it's jarring after having a dualshock in your hands. However the controls were never problematic and after an hour of learning the buttons I was able to do everything I needed without a second thought. You do not need a pro to play botw any better than you can with the joy cons.

 

The system itself works as has been shown for almost 2 months now. Everything is clean and crisp. It's lacking Nintendo charm to the ui that both charmed and put people off the system but there's still no doubting this is a Nintendo product with the little touches it has.

 

Screen shot works great. Much much faster than ps4 as is going from the home menu to back to your suspended game. It's immediate. Images below are from my gameplay.

 

Finally I was worried Zelda might look a bit jaggie on my large screen much like the WiiU did but I'm happy to report it's actually more gorgeous than any stream I'd seen. Now if you'll excuse me I have a plateau to leave.

 

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It's a stunner. Pro controller is superb, I love it. Changed camera to fast as it was a bit slow moving it around, but other than that it's perfect. Perfect. Screenshot feature is sweet, too. 

 

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Played 3.5 hours earlier.

 

And you know what, its pretty good, marred with some horrendous frame-rate issues.

 

Love how there's no ridiculously long tutorial like TP and SS, just gives a brief cutscene and then throws you in to the open world after picking up some clothes.

 

First of all, the game is fucking stunning, I know it's a Switch game but the art style is so beautiful and my TV outputting in Upscaled 4K, it was a real sight to behold, vistas as far as the eye can see.

 

I love how the world feels alive, squirrels and birds running and flying about, butterflies buzzing, fish swimming in the ponds, everything feels alive and seamless.

 

The controls I'm still getting used to, part of the issue was getting used to a new controller AND a new very deep game at the same time. Feels similar to the WiiMote & Nunchuk handling both individual controllers but not quite as intuitive, I have very small hands for a bloke but even for me the controllers are a tad small, the analog stick for the right JoyCon feels really awkward and they slip around a lot in the hand.

 

The Cradle is amazing though, when I looked at it before I got a Switch I thought it looked unwieldy and cumbersome but its not like that at all, gives you an nice grip to hold on to and the 'controller' as a whole, very pleased I didn't shell out for a Pro controller now! Not needed at all in my view.

 

Back to Zelda, takes a while to get your head round how weapons, runes, cooking, degradation and health all work, some complex systems in there but things have clicked for me now after 3.5 hours or so, totally unlike any Zelda and not like a lot of games I'd played before.

 

What a game like this needs to succeed is that sense of wonder, curiosity and exploration that Skyrim had in spades. Its not quite as vivid in this but I'm happy to report it's well implemented in the game, I have already found myself going to investigate trails of smoke and towers to see what's there.

 

Combat and the combat puzzles aren't great, coming from something like Nioh which has such satisfying complex CQC it feels a lot like button mashing at times, press X and wail on a Bokoblin until dead, I will say though that I really like how you can plan encounters. See an enemy encampment in the distance and you can try to find a boulder to roll on them, sneak in or go in swash buckling and try to take them all on that way, you often get rewarded with a chest for taking out an encampment too.

 

The Runes function much like the key weapons of previous Zelda games, only picked up two so far but one was a magnetic power and the other a bomb power, sure there'll be many more as I go through the game and a lot of Shrines (mini dungeons) will task you with combining them the further into the game you get.

 

The elephant in the room? Frame rate, unfortunately it is truly horrendous, a lot of times when running about amongst trees or something it'll grind to a crawl, single digits stuff. One time when facing 4 enemies I got severe slowdown to, like the game was running through treacle, very disappointing.

 

But yeah, the game is good, but I'm not blown away by it so far, I'm glad they've changed as much as they have to the Zelda formula and I do want to get in and explore this humongous Hyrule but it's not as immerse or vivid an experience as something like Skyrim, still very early on though and not out the first area yet, more tonight/tomorrow.

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I must say I haven't encountered single digit frame rate. I have had slight slow down once. 25fps if I had to guess but nothing over a long time or gameplay affecting. Probably cus I'm not used to your fps standard tho. I kinda shrug it off and wouldn't know 60fps if it slapped my cock and told me to go deeper. 

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7 minutes ago, Blakey said:

You playing Handheld or TV mode @mr lakitu?

 

Heard the frame rate is much better in handheld but yet to try it myself.

 

TV. Looks beaut on our big tellies doesn't it. 

 

I wanna play but I've been nursing a headache since an awful day at work yesterday. I'm off until Thursday tho. 

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14 hours ago, mr lakitu said:

I'm off until Thursday tho. 

 

Wow, Zelda will get a pounding.

 

I've finished my first hour on this. I did love the fact that you wake up, go outside and kapow - games yours. After the horrendous hand holding of Skyward Sword this free will implementation was exactly what the series needed.

 

Of course there is a mian quest to follow, i'm currently locating shrines for the old man at the moment, just done the bomb one.

 

Spent a little time pissing about, got in to a fight with a couple of Bokogoboblin things, managed to fluke out a perfect dodge and my reward was some kind of attack flurry whre i gt a few super quick hits in with my club. I also came across two precariously perched bolders, just pushed one down a hill without looking and I panned the camera down just in time to see it roll over two bokogobolobilins which made me laugh.

 

Loving the Shiek shrines too, they are basically vantage points from Assassins Creed, you can see stuff and things after you activate them.

 

Ive had no beef with the controls, i have small child like hands that are perfectly suited for the joycons. I'm still getting used to what button does what but the joycons feel great, i've had no issues at all. I've not noticed any framerate issue's yet but it's early days, not that I give too much of a fuck about that sort of thing.

 

So all thumbs up from me so far, looks crisp, sounds great and plays well - crackin start.

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Been playing this all day, its just so incredible. Its got all the good bits from the series as well as all the good bits from other games too. 

 

Not really done much story stuff to be honest but enjoyed all the time I've spent with it. Can't wait to play more and I'm in absolutely no rush to get certain things done. 

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Played a lot myself today. Probably 10hrs played total but that doesn't really mean anything in a game this open.

 

I'd just gotten to a certain wet domain when I turned it off. Getting there is a right trek but at various stages I could tell I was cutting chunks out using an item.

 

I got something for the slate that suddenly opened the game up into a different genre altogether too.

 

One thing they need to fix on the switch is you can only upload one picture at a time which is annoying. No spoilers it's just vistas and very early clothing.

 

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Few pics from the opening area:

 

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Played probably another 8 or so hours since my last post, maybe more, doesn't feel like a dent at all like others have mentioned, one mahoosive game.

 

Finished off the main mission in the opening area and was let loose in the larger world.

 

Not really sure what to make of it, at times I absolutely love it but others I find myself a little bored with it. The huge problem for me so far is that the open world just hasn't been that interesting really, it seems at this point I've learnt pretty much all the systems the game has and it has shown me all its cards so to speak, and I'm just kind of wanting more.

 

Some of the Shrines are great, I came across one the other night which was a really high level one that took me about 30 minutes to finish that was bloody great, echos of Zelda dungeons of old with tons of decent loot, but most of them I've found take about 10 minutes to do and I find myself saying 'Is that it?' afterwards.

 

From an Art Design perspective they just aren't that interesting either, they all look the same and have that clinical Metal Gear VR missions kind of look to them, instead of eagerly making my way to one looking forward to what's inside I find myself thinking 'ah, guess I have to go do that Shrine', they just aren't deep enough for my particular tastes, something like Skyrim with its seemingly endless dungeons, shrines, towns, caves etc. That make you want to see what's round the next corner of them, and want to get to the end just isn't really present in this, Skyrim seems so much more vivid and gives you such a greater sense of place and the world at large. The sense of wonder is lacking for me now I've seen everything there is to see and the world just seems a little barren really.

 

I think its got that MGSV issue really in that it gives you this huge open world, and leaves you to do your thing in your way which I laud it for, exactly the same with the story too just giving you a simple carrot on the end of a stick to keep you invested but not laying it on thick with myriad cutscenes and exposition. Unfortunately, as a result of this there just isn't anything that interesting to do after a while, once you've snuck up on a Bokoblin camp a few times you know what to expect, same with the Shrines, same with the Stables and Towers, cool the first time you experience them but once you know what to expect they just don't resonate that highly for me.

 

The horses are kind of odd too, some seem to throw me of straight away whereas others I can seemingly jump on and tame without soothing at all? Doesn't make too much sense, only managed to tame one (named it Alan) and take it back to a Stable so far, tried to catch a few others but to no avail. Horse combat is cool too, in theory at least, but the controls aren't tight enough to make it feel like the medieval duel it should do, instead you awkwardly attempt to circle around an enemy whilst trying not to get one-shotted by a spear or arrows until you know it off its horse and then can wail on it after another massive turning circle.

 

Thankfully the frame-rate issues are non-existent in Handheld mode, runs incredibly smooth at 30fps, the game still manages to pop even on the 720p Tablet screen, colours look incredibly vivid and well realised to but I'm still getting frequent drops in TV mode which is frustrating.

 

Don't want to be too down on the game too early, as I have completely ignored the main story after getting out of the opening area and gone off exploring, I'm just hoping it gets better and that there's more to it than it appears, fingers crossed it has got a few more cards up its sleeve.

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I think we're playing 2 different games :lol:

 

How have you seen everything there is to see if you've not followed any of the story since leaving the first area? :wacko: Then you say you don't want to be too down on it too early like you've only been in a couple of areas?

 

Anyway it's a shame you're not loving it so much.

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I kinda get that some people might get a bit bored sometimes, it almost comes with the teritory of being dumped in a massive map with the ability to go where you want. At all depends what happens in the direction you choose to go, I mean if you stumble upon two or three bare zones in a row your gonna be a little underwhelmed I guess.

 

I've just got the paraglider and am free! I chose to go where i'd seen a couple of shrines, this happened to be in Gerudo Desert which is fucking huge and quite frankly dangerous. Big skeleton dudes, big electric chuchu things, wolves - scray times. I did however managed to climb very high up using a series of walk ways and the gliding to the other side where I met some Gorons. Jolly chaps they were too but I'm unequipped for what they have in store for me currently.

 

So... i glided back across but farther along to a walkway that had some ladders which was a bonus as I'd noticed a tower up there. It was a lot further away that it looked and the journey was fraught with mild peril. When I finally got there it looked like I couldn't get up the fucker and I cursed. Then, I engaged my old man brain and worked shit out and got to the top and all was wonderful. Then the wife woke up.

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I'm abut eight hours in now and absolutely in love with this game. There's just so much to see and do. I've managed to find some.pretty cool gear already that boosts some abilities nicely, and I think the shrings are great - remind me of portal. Didn't have any issues with the horses, they're wild horses after all, you'd expect some to be harder to tame than others. 

 

The world is great though, full of.mystery and intrigue. It takes me back to playing Link to the Past for the first time all those years ago.

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