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[Bakkus]

I'm fairly sure people who say it's "empty" just want a game with a million icons splashed across the screen telling you what's there and lack the ability to explore on their own.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's empty, but I definitely think it lacks a lot of what makes previous Zeldas great. The biggest one being funny quirky NPC characters and main characters you care for, and a actual story not focused 99% on the past.

 

[MagnesG]

But isn't that repetitive from the outset, farming loot?



That's right, which implies you need to have enough hearts and better equipment, which in turn implies more repetitive grinding outside of those shrines.



That's right. But in other words; busywork for the sake of more busywork. There is absolutely no feeling of reward, even when you're about to attain the best possible equipment, or the last heart pieces I think.



As I said before; I do like the game's style. But the repetitive visuals and assets severely hampered my positive experience of the game.



Sorry, but I disagree. Can't recall any quest that made me jump for joy completing it.



I like ambiance, and I'm not even asking for "bombastic music" or something like that, it is just totally uninteresting and uninspired music I found in the game. And while there are moments of change, it left me very underwhelmed overall.

I'm sorry, lazy quote from me.

- Not sure about outset, you farm loot for foods, elixirs, quests and equipment upgrades, tons of them. It's an important part of the gameplay loop.
- Its not, it's just that you have better chance with more hearts and equipments, grinding is not the best term. Mastering mechanics by practicing them are more important. Parry and dodge timing for quick combos, minute sniping when gliding, comfortable and calm when using runes etc. The best fights I've ever had are when I tackles foes in barebones.
- I get the feeling of "no rewards" doing this, but for me the loots are essential, it's not meaningless when I use it for various stuffs plus all the weapons I get. These weapons are precious bullet for my next raids.
- They have different budget and business models, this is different from Sony and other open world 3rd parties. Sony's with its online profits and others from microtransactions and season passes (on single player), they get to prioritize graphics. That's how they have the budget to do fancy graphics, IMO. Nintendo, that's not their approach, they sell on floating profits based on titles. Also, I'm sure you can stand repetitive visuals if you had been gaming for a long time. I get the standards, but this is not the one, IMO.
- Should I lists the great quests that I found? I'm not jumping on joy either when I completed some, I know I had my fun when I managed to tackle their riddles or tracing a great path, or completely skipping the rules. That's my joy and adrenaline. Again though, It's been a long time since I get that feeling in any other games, what games that you had in mind having that feeling?
- For the musics, let's just agree to disagree. There's some who dislikes the approach even when they loved the game. It's a very diverge topic that I myself at least appreciate people having strong opinions upon it.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's empty, but I definitely think it lacks a lot of what makes previous Zeldas great. The biggest one being funny quirky NPC characters and main characters you care for, and a actual story not focused 99% on the past.

I found some of those quirky NPC characters and main characters that I care enough. It's not focusing 99% on the past, IMO at least only 60% of it. There's tons of things happening 100 years after.

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

Just stop playing if you don't like it

 

[trufflepigg]

climbing was cool for 10 minutes then got frustrating
fighting was brutal, worst part of the game, no incentive to battle enemies, more incentive to just walk by them
exploratoin was the best part of the game, but after so long you realize you're not really gonna find anything too unique or amazing

I say it's an average open world game, 8/10 for me

 

[Kamina]

If it feels boring to you then the game might just not be for you. It happens.
I liked it a lot, and the thought alone of a sequel makes me semi-hard.

 

[trufflepigg]

a bit off topic but would you ppl buy a switch just to play botw, mario+rabbids kingdom, super mario odyssey and maybe astral chain on a 4k TV without any interest in using the handheld mode or whatever is called? I have no reason to play multiplatforms on it because PC and my PS4 are the main platforms. So straight to the point just for those games would you buy a switch?

yeah i would
but i would buy it for mario maker 2, it's the best game on switch imho

i never use hand held mode, can't stand it

 

[Bakkus]

fighting was brutal, worst part of the game, no incentive to battle enemies, more incentive to just walk by them
exploratoin was the best part of the game, but after so long you realize you're not really gonna find anything too unique or amazing

Agree with this. But the biggest flaw for me other than what was already mentioned the sidequests. Bigger waste of time is hard to come by. Spend 30 minutes wandering around talking and fetching only to earn various stones? When you can make 50x the value of those stones in the same timeframe by exploiting the snow bowling minigame. Such a shame. Also they pretty much reused the king plot twist from Wind Waker and I saw it coming from a mile away.

I found some of those quirky NPC characters and main characters that I care enough.

Name some? I can only remember one, but she was a blatant ripoff of Edna from The Incredibles.

 

[MagnesG]

Name some? I can only remember one, but she was a blatant ripoff of Edna from The Incredibles.

Most of establishments, where I care enough to know the people there.
Kakariko village - The grandma who helped Zelda and Link escape (we got long backstories from that), Paya's quests with the guards, the woman who visits the grave, the kids, old people's story.
Hateno village - The carpenter and his quest, the woman who follows his husband, loli grandma professor and her assistant (his relatives met later)
Gerudo - The heiress and the guard, the lost guard, the old woman besides the statue, the bar and the secret club, the dude who sold you the clothes (lol), the outside dude with great boots.
Rito - the cutes singing sisters and their mother, the proud one with his injured friend, the old sage,
Zora - Zora's history/ the king, mipha's past/ all old freaks, the inn owner.

There's tons of more from other places and even obscure ones, all current things happening with interesting backstories and less forced. I enjoy a lot of conversations between them.

Edit: I'm remembering more, but I'm just gonna stop.

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

Imagine shitposting this hard to defend a shit game like Horizon Zero Dawn.

Disagree, i played both, but i liked HZD more 'iam done with Zelda, the franchise is running way to long and they just running out of new ideas.
HZD was for me revalation after Killzone. What a beautiful and fantastic game, i love it.

 

[godhandiscen]

This game is in my top five of all time. It is the first Zelda game I’ve ever played for more than one or two hours, and I am glad I did. It’s just amazing in terms of details and freedom. What the development team accomplished here was a masterpiece.

It gets better over time for sure.

 

[Vitacat]

BOTW is, overall, my favorite game of all time, and I'm pretty old (i.e. I was a kid when Pong and Space Invaders were new) and have played hundreds (maybe thousands if we count trying stuff in emulators for a few minutes) of games.

I accept that no game is right for everyone, i.e. I did not like the new GoW.

BOTW does start off slow, and I can see how some will find it boring at first. I recall not being too impressed at the start. But that impression quickly changed for me as I went further.

For me, BOTW was intoxicating, and as I played more the world became more alive and the deeper you go the more fascinating and magical experiences are unveiled in its many corners and crevices. To use a trite phrase, it really did make me feel like a kid again. I completed the game and have clocked over 150 hours overall, and have a new game plus to get back to. I've also started a new game using Cemu which is pretty awesome because you can make the game prettier than the real thing on Switch.

For those who don't "get" BOTW, well, it happens. Nothing is right for everyone. But it is/was definitely for me, so yes, I do think BOTW deserves every bit of praise and high marks it has received. I feel bad for people who don't enjoy it, because I enjoyed it beyond words.

 

[Azelover]

I still like classic Zelda better. But I was very impressed by the amount of things you can do in BotW.

You're playing it, and you wanna go places. And then you think "oh, maybe I should try this!", and then you do, and it works!

It's a very satisfying game. But, of course it's not for everyone.

 

[Hudo]

It's perfectly fine if the game is not for you. Maybe another game might be more fun instead. Don't force yourself if you don't have fun. For me though, Breath of the Wild is not only the best Zelda game (second best being Link's Awakening DX, btw) but the best open world game ever and in my top 10 favourite games of all time (and it got me back into gaming). And then there are games that many people like, like Fortnite or Red Dead Redemption 2, which were very boring to me.

Also: Fuck y'all, Arms is awesome.

 

[Terenty]

How can ppl say they find Rdr 2 boring and then go and praise botw?
Rdr 2 has an astronomical amount of unique, hand crafted content throughout its giant map and botw doesn't have even a 1/100 of it. Is it really so interesting to play with physics and find ways to dispatch the same 10 or whatever mobs?

What do you do in botw for 500 hours?

 

[888]

As far as I’m concerned the game sucks. I hate more is the mechanics in it. I swear if another weapons breaks I quit! I mean I quit years ago on it but I’ll quit again!

 

[Kenpachii]

The game is pure gameplay, something i missed for a long time.

It's a jump back to the past where games where all about exploring and figuring stuff out yourself. Instead of move from a to b to see the next explosion dude bro cutscene.

Or anno 2019, have to walk through a advertisement show of genders.

The only problem i have are the dungeons they are dull and not challanging even remotely. I liked the more meaningful OOT dungeons. Luckely modding fixes that.

 

[MagnesG]

How can ppl say they find Rdr 2 boring and then go and praise botw?
Rdr 2 has an astronomical amount of unique, hand crafted content throughout its giant map and botw doesn't have even a 1/100 of it. Is it really so interesting to play with physics and find ways to dispatch the same 10 or whatever mobs?

What do you do in botw for 500 hours?

I'm only on my 300+ hours, I explore more because I kept finding something, new quests I missed, unsolved riddles, unchecked terrains of hero's path. Then I start master mode. Also, the DLC contents.

 

[Danjin44]

How can ppl say they find Rdr 2 boring and then go and praise botw?
Rdr 2 has an astronomical amount of unique, hand crafted content throughout its giant map, where exploration is truly rewarding and botw doesn't have even a 1/100 of it. Is it really so interesting to play with physics and find ways to dispatch the same 10 or whatever mobs?

What do you do in botw for 500 hours?

Well for one not everybody in to RDR2’s sim like gameplay and it’s pain in the ass to control for sake of “immersion” and another thing is RDR2 doesn’t know what it wants to be, immersive open world or linear cinematic game. Because once you start a story mission, it’s super limiting and linear.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Disagree, i played both, but i liked HZD more 'iam done with Zelda, the franchise is running way to long and they just running out of new ideas.
HZD was for me revalation after Killzone. What a beautiful and fantastic game, i love it.

I don't understand this, BOTW had way more unique ideas and gameplay mechanics than HZD. You might like HZD more for whatever weird reason, but saying that Zelda is running out of ideas while praising Assassin's Creed Zero Dawn is way outlandish.

 

[Danjin44]

I don't understand this, BOTW had way more unique ideas and gameplay mechanics than HZD. You might like HZD more for whatever weird reason, but saying that Zelda is running out of ideas while praising Assassin's Creed Zero Dawn is way outlandish.

This mostly my personal opinion but HZD has the type of open world design I hate the most. Its not really good for exploration, and its not interactive and it doesn't have fun traversal but it just look pretty, it basically window dressing, this type of open world made to show off the graphics rather than serves the gameplay.

 

[kiiltz]

This was one of the better pieces criticizing the game I think: Breaking down why Breath of the Wild is highly overrated

not too shabby for game journalism but he exposed himself as a pleb the second he said "most stop collecting at 30-50". rookie numbers

and I'm still laughing at the ppl complaining about weapon durability in a game that spoonfeeds you weapons.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

This mostly my personal opinion but HZD has the type of open world design I hate the most. Its not really good for exploration, and its not interactive and it doesn't have fun traversal but it just look pretty, it basically window dressing, this type of open world made to show off the graphics rather than serves the gameplay.

agreed





For those complaining about the world... it actually feels alive and organic, while other popular open-world games feel like stiff plastic backdrops that immediately break the sense of wonder.

 

[BigBooper]

a bit off topic but would you ppl buy a switch just to play botw, mario+rabbids kingdom, super mario odyssey and maybe astral chain on a 4k TV without any interest in using the handheld mode or whatever is called? I have no reason to play multiplatforms on it because PC and my PS4 are the main platforms. So straight to the point just for those games would you buy a switch?

No. I did that exact thing and I ended up selling a bundle of those three games, switch and pro controller on Ebay. They were simply underwhelming to me in different ways. Mario Rabbids is amazing because it's good when everyone expected it to be bad. It's not amazingly good. There are many tactical games like it that are much better. Mario Odyssey also was underwhelming. I liked it, but it never felt amazing like 64 or Galaxy. The moons all over kind of made everything seem trivial. Zelda BOTW, my experience mirrors most of the OP.

I think if you are interested in other games too though it would be a better deal. I already have a Wii U, so I already owned Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, Bayonetta 2. If I wanted to get re-released WiiU games along with Luigi's Mansion and upcoming Switch games, that would be different.

 

[Silent Viper]

Biggest crime this industry is committed is by giving this overrated boring PoS game Goty award.

Empty bland world with stupid systems and people give it Goty smh

 

[Danjin44]

Biggest crime this industry is committed is by giving this overrated boring PoS game Goty award.

Empty bland world with stupid systems and people give it Goty smh

Yeah, it must be crime people praising a game you personally don't like. How dare they!!!

 

[Grinchy]

climbing was cool for 10 minutes then got frustrating
fighting was brutal, worst part of the game, no incentive to battle enemies, more incentive to just walk by them
exploratoin was the best part of the game, but after so long you realize you're not really gonna find anything too unique or amazing

I say it's an average open world game, 8/10 for me

You should write reviews for IGN.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Remember this is Nintendo's Zelda debut title for this generation, I think you obviously can't live up to Ocarina of Time but I think its still a GOTY contender.

 

[Nester99]

I am stuck at 20 hours, have not killed a beast, just walk around aimlessly looking for shrines for a purpose I can’t grasp. I just feel lost, like nothing matters.

Weapon Durability makes everything seem so fleeting.

 

[GamesAreFun]

I am stuck at 20 hours, have not killed a beast, just walk around aimlessly looking for shrines for a purpose I can’t grasp. I just feel lost, like nothing matters.

Weapon Durability makes everything seem so fleeting.

Follow the main story quests? It gives you more direction and plot, and sends you to the main settlements.

 

[its_justJEFF]

hey guys

i just started this after getting a switch through work. started with zelda as ive always been a fan of said series.

but bloody hell is this boring.

does it get better as you go on or??

Same boat, honestly. I get that ppl LOVE this game, but I found it boring. I put a good 20-30 hrs into it then I just stopped. Ppl just have to realize that just because someone doesn't love the game you love, doesn't make that game any less than what it is to you.

 

[iconmaster]

The hot take "Breath of the Wild is boring" is itself boring.

Critics have spoken, the market has spoken, you're in the minority and that's completely fine. But a lot of people seem to talk as if folks shouldn't think so highly of BotW, when of course there's no convincing anyone to change an opinion on a game either way.

Breath of the Wild sold over 14 million copies and is the bestselling Zelda of all time so resign yourself to seeing one or two more in the same style.

 

[Danjin44]

The hot take "Breath of the Wild is boring" is itself boring.

Critics have spoken, the market has spoken, you're in the minority and that's completely fine. But a lot of people seem to talk as if folks shouldn't think so highly of BotW, when of course there's no convincing anyone to change an opinion on a game either way.

I’m issue isn’t people don’t like BotW, that’s fine it’s their taste and preference. Real issue is some people act as it’s wrong to like BotW and some of them literary get triggered by it.

 

[joe_zazen]

This was one of the better pieces criticizing the game I think: Breaking down why Breath of the Wild is highly overrated

Good article. It summarises the issue i have with the over the top praise of the game: the game is heavily flawed and it isn’t revolutionary, yet every critic and most nintendo fans think it should be THE template for Nintendo (and the whole industry!)going forward.

But hey, maybe i am wrong and every open world game should follow this genre defining, masterful template as it makes people feel the wonder of childhood again.

I just cant help the feeling that the over the top praise came about as a response to the real worry that Nintendo could have been fucked pre march 2017 with the wii u failure and mobile phones. Fans wanted Nintendo to succeed, so making the narrative that this launch game was an absolute ‘must have’ and literally the best game ever, made sense in order to hype Switch sales.

 

[Nethernova]

The best game ever made that I've played since my Atari 2600 days.

 

[Keihart]

a bit off topic but would you ppl buy a switch just to play botw, mario+rabbids kingdom, super mario odyssey and maybe astral chain on a 4k TV without any interest in using the handheld mode or whatever is called? I have no reason to play multiplatforms on it because PC and my PS4 are the main platforms. So straight to the point just for those games would you buy a switch?

I play mostly Smash, BoTW and Odyssey, maybe some neogeo here and there, mostly those 3 games. Still haven't regreted it. I mostly play on PS4 although i do have a decent gaming capable PC.

 

[EightBit Man]

I just cant help the feeling that the over the top praise came about as a response to the real worry that Nintendo could be have been fucked pre march 2017 with the wii u failure and mobile phones. Fans wanted Nintendo to succeed, so making the narrative that this launch game was an absolute ‘must have’ and literally the best game ever, made sense in order to hype Switch sales.

That's what I think too. Well said. Nintendo was in it's momentum at the time, and the hype surrounding the game was well beyond reasonable levels. So, that leaves us with the questions; did we get fooled, or did we allow ourselves to be fooled by it? Super Mario Odyssey was also incredibly hyped, with a continuous stream of news surrounding the game day after day, but that game got at least some criticism from it's fanbase in retrospect. Why this is not the case with this game is a mystery to me.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

BOTW is, overall, my favorite game of all time, and I'm pretty old (i.e. I was a kid when Pong and Space Invaders were new) and have played hundreds (maybe thousands if we count trying stuff in emulators for a few minutes) of games.

...

Yeah, this post. The original Legend of Zelda was the second video game I ever played (just after Mario, of course, on my brand new cutting edge NES), and although I've enjoyed the entire series, nothing has captured the wonder of the original game like BoTW, to the point where I absolutely think this entry alone should define the gameplay style for the whole franchise going forward.

That's what I think too. Well said. Nintendo was in it's momentum at the time, and the hype surrounding the game was well beyond reasonable levels. So, that leaves us with the questions; did we get fooled, or did we allow ourselves to be fooled by it?

This is far off base. I watched a lot of social media reactions to BoTW when it arrived, and it had an extremely broad pool of people getting lost in it, very much unlike the prior entries. Rather than being a phenomenon mostly of the existing fanbase, the sales dwarfed the number of people who played any of the recent 3D games in the franchise. So it's not about Zelda-fan expectations.

Also, anecdotally: I am a series fan, and I went into this one extremely critical--I wasn't hyped at all. For the sole reason that I felt chasing after the (IMO) absolutely mind-numbing design of "open" games like Skyrim would destroy this series; I preferred careful, tight clockwork design of dungeons, etc to just chasing after huge freeform areas full of sidequests. But I threw that disdain away very quickly when giving it a try, and realizing someone finally fixed the (mostly) horrific open-world genre.

 

[Danjin44]

That's what I think too. Well said. Nintendo was in it's momentum at the time, and the hype surrounding the game was well beyond reasonable levels. So, that leaves us with the questions; did we get fooled, or did we allow ourselves to be fooled by it? Super Mario Odyssey was also incredibly hyped, with a continuous stream of news surrounding the game day after day, but that game got at least some criticism from it's fanbase in retrospect. Why this is not the case with this game is a mystery to me.

This might sound crazy but is it possible people played BotW and enjoyed it? People call Witcher 3 and RDR2 game of generation but those games have fair their own share of issues that turn some people off but despite of that they still enjoyed, same thing with BotW. it has its issues but still lots of people played it and enjoyed enough that for them its become GOTY.

 

[EightBit Man]

This might sound crazy but is it possible people played BotW and enjoyed it? People call Witcher 3 and RDR2 game of generation but those games have fair their own share of issues that turn some people off but despite of that they still enjoyed, same thing with BotW. it has its issues but still lots of people played it and enjoyed enough that for them its become GOTY.

That's true, and I'm not denying that fact. But let's be honest. Even Jim Sterling had to deal with rabbid Nintendo fans that were angry at his "criticism" (he was actually fond of the game). Yes, I do believe there are genuine fans of the game, and I tip my hat to them. Hell, I was one myself for some time until I came slowly to the realization that it wasn't the game the media made it out to be. But I'm well aware that the hype surrounding the game also influenced people beyond their rational faculty. And it's very easy to do; buy a game and convince yourself, with the help of outlets, that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Speaking of The Witcher 3; I think that game does the open world thing a whole lot better in my opinion, even though I also have some problems with it, and it's not even my favorite title in the series.

 

[ROMhack]

Man, this thread makes me want to replay the game so much.

I'm so torn between buying the game again or heading back to my dad's to pick up my Wii U.

Edit: On the subject of it being overrated, I suggest not judging games by how a mass collection of players feel about them. I totally understand the skepticism because I don't understand why people love certain other games (e.g. The Last of Us) but if you're willing to engage with why people love it then I'm sure you'll find we all have our individual reasons. For me, the aesthetics are unbelievable. I loved roaming around looking for things, climbing, stumbling on random stuff and taking in the atmosphere/music. It's a totally simplistic way of explaining why I love it but playing the game creating a certain mood which I've never felt in any other game - you aren't me though so I wouldn't expect you to feel the same way.

 

[Danjin44]

That's true, and I'm not denying that fact. But let's be honest. Even Jim Sterling had to deal with rabbid Nintendo fans that were angry at his "criticism" (he was actually fond of the game). Yes, I do believe there are genuine fans of the game, and I tip my hat to them. Hell, I was one myself for some time until I came slowly to the realization that it wasn't the game the media made it out to be. But I'm well aware that the hype surrounding the game also influenced people beyond their rational faculty. And it's very easy to do; buy a game and convince yourself, with the help of outlets, that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Speaking of The Witcher 3; I think that game does the open world thing a whole lot better in my opinion, even though I also have some problems with it, and it's not even my favorite title in the series.

Thats basically case with every game with high score. As I said many, many times people need to hype for a game based on info and gameplay footage they themselves see not from other people hyping. RDR2 got bunch of 10/10 scores and lot of people hyping the crap out of the game but I played games long enough to know my own taste and not get caught up on other people's hype.

 

[Fat Frog]

BOTW is a good game but we all know Nintendoboys are pushing the game so as it can shine as the GOTG.(same for Sonyboys with Bloodborn)
You want a proof ? Nimtendo Era just humiliated the PC engine mini in the latest mini consoles poll...(less than 2%)

75% of the "players" voted for a good but disapointing Snes Mini, laughing at PC Engine mini.("Who cares about that")

Dear Konami, dear Sega, please release your consoles very soon. Some "players" need education lol.

 

[Lionel Richie]

This mostly my personal opinion but HZD has the type of open world design I hate the most. Its not really good for exploration, and its not interactive and it doesn't have fun traversal but it just look pretty, it basically window dressing, this type of open world made to show off the graphics rather than serves the gameplay.

Agreed, there's no reward for exploration. And the way you encounter enemies is really fucking stupid, you just get a lot of them at the same time. If you want to engage them, you have to be at least somewhat stealthy and stealth in Horizon is positively moronic. But since you have to constantly manage resources and gather shits and stones for ammo, the best strategy is to just always run past everything. The core gameplay loop sucks balls.

 

[Berserking Guts]

I just loved how all the various systems (enemy AI, weather conditions, physics, and so on) all complimented and fed into each other. It made for some insanely fun gameplay dynamics and creativity.

BotW is the most fun and realized open world next to RDR2 for me.

 

[spectyre]

I haven't played BOTW but years ago I bought a Gamecube and played Wind Waker and Twilight Princess because I've always heard how great they were. I put 15-25 hours in and I just was not having any fun. I find most of Nintendo's first party output to be tedious. It's a shame. Nintendo fans seem to really love those games and I really wanted to like them... but in the end they just irritated me.

 

[Chairman Tickles]

This is an aimless game. There isn't anything of particular interest that drives you, and there isn't anything meaningful to find. I already went into a lot of detail on why the game did not appeal to me at all (in another thread).

The main problem of BotW is that everything is pointless (= no reward) and nothing is particularly fun to do, so why would I even bother doing these things ? Problem is that when I remove all the stuff that is not fun/interesting, the only thing that remains is Ganon's Castle...

They probably saw how much the stuff was pointless because of how you are more or less forced into doing those tiny shrines in order to raise your HP. And the artificial difficulty curve that comes with the game. You can do the 4 "dungeons" (more like giant puzzles) in whatever order because there did not even bother trying to be smart by having the difficulty adapt in those. Thus they don't have any meaningful enemy in them, except for the copy pasted boss you get for each "dungeon".

Why would I fight with a group of mobs ? I will use weapons to gain weapons = useless.
Why would I complete this shrine ? I will use weapons to get weapons, and maybe a material that I don't need anyway to complete the game. If I already have HP = useless.
Why would I do fetch-quests ? They are boring in other games, they are just as much in Zelda ) = useless.

Where is the sense of achievement after completing the dungeon by beating a difficult, unique boss ? After getting a new item that opens up new exploration possibilities ? None of this exists in BotW, and these are the core elements that define a Zelda game. And BotW should have added this one right there :
Where is the sense of achievement after discovering the hidden dungeon inside the woods ? BotW does not even introduce this. There are a few instances of stuff hidden, but what is the reward ? A fucking shrine.

BotW is a sandbox where you are given everything at the beginning of the game and will never gain anything else during the entire playthrough. You are simply given a vast world to explore aimlessly. And this is not for me.

You skipped the part where the gameplay and puzzles are actually fun to do and exploration in itself is fun. By your metrics everything that isn't a CRPG with slowly rising arbitrary numbered stats is pointless and a bad game. i.e what's the point of completing levels in Mario Galaxy. You don't get anything except progression to another level.

 

[PhoenixTank]

You should write reviews for IGN.

Just need to change that 8/10 to a 7.9/10 and they're ready!

 

[joe_zazen]

That's true, and I'm not denying that fact. But let's be honest. Even Jim Sterling had to deal with rabbid Nintendo fans that were angry at his "criticism" (he was actually fond of the game). Yes, I do believe there are genuine fans of the game, and I tip my hat to them. Hell, I was one myself for some time until I came slowly to the realization that it wasn't the game the media made it out to be. But I'm well aware that the hype surrounding the game also influenced people beyond their rational faculty. And it's very easy to do; buy a game and convince yourself, with the help of outlets, that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Speaking of The Witcher 3; I think that game does the open world thing a whole lot better in my opinion, even though I also have some problems with it, and it's not even my favorite title in the series.

Oh yeah, forgot about that 7/10. He stopped reviewing games for like a year after that.

 

[peronmls]

It’s a great game if you’re willing to give time to invest in it.

My personal opinion is that while it has faults, it’s still a masterpiece like Ocarina of Time was when it released.

It’s a very polished game with tons and tons of surprises.

It’s also the first “free roam” Zelda that doesn’t have a linear progression like the games prior. So it might be hard for some people to adjust who are used to prior games.

I’ve always found it to be an extremely relaxing game to play with tons of places to explore.

I dont like free roam. Hope it goes back to linear. Take me on the adventure and I'll fight through the challenges. I dont like looking for things to do.

 

[highrider]

Naah, BOTW is awesome. Particularly if you don’t generally go crazy for open world games like me. But Nintendo stuff isn’t for everyone, I get that, just the sexy people