The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Like Wario First Thing in the Morning)

Right, first half hour impressions.  Game looks lovely, although I'm sure everybody already knew that.  Even the Wii U version is a looker though, this is however to its occasional detriment.  Thus far the frame-rate hasn't been all that much of an issue, with the only visible drops being during sections where the camera was super close in spaces with lots of foliage.  Even then the drops, while noticeable, weren't what I would call impactful, I could see them getting more obvious during sections of particular stress, but in comparison to many other open world games I've played so far they've been exceptionally good.  Of course it is very early days yet, so we'll see how frame-rate holds up.  

Gameplay's great, my only gripes being the control layout, I wish the ability to toggle between weapons was on some button other than the right d-pad, as it forces you to remove your thumb from the stick to access, why this is an issue should be rather obvious when being engaged by an enemy.     Aside from that the game controls about as intuitively as you'd expect from a main-line Nintendo game.  Difficulty's good, got flat out killed in one shot by a blue bokoblin when I stumbled across and agro'd an enemy stronghold whose forces promptly charged me.  Also had some fun with the food mechanic, only found acorns and mushrooms so far but there was an odd sense of satisfaction tossing them in to a fire I'd hijacked after killing its resident bokoblin's and retrieving them after they'd cooked.

Oh god this game is amaaaaazing. Its been far too long since a game like this, good gameplay, great world map, and, best of all, minimal handholding! Game pretty much goes "here's the world, here's how you play, here's your goals, bye!" Even then it doesn't explain everything, completing the first mission required figuring out certain mechanics and then applying them in a way that would get me to where I needed to go.


If this were any other Zelda you can bet

gameplay spoilers for the first area of the map:

And don't think my "too much handholding" criticism applies to Nintendo alone, most games do it nowadays. Its been a very long time since I've had to genuinely sit down and figure out how to overcome something.

Speaking of handholding, the difficulty this time is pretty damn nice, the game has genuine threats, I've been killed several times. And oh god the gameplay is so good, I didn't know how much I wanted a open world where I could do whatever I wanted until they gave it to me!

Chuffing Bokoblins, ruining everything for everyone. Thus far I've only come across the red type, they're bad enough.

I do like how there's a couple of obvious set-pieces but Nintendo doesn't handhold you into them: there's the setup, it's obvious what to do, but we're letting you do it yourself so you feel clever, even though you're not.

Enjoying it thus far. But it does require a lot of time set aside to muck about with everything, I can tell that much!

This is a very pretty game.

Super early thoughts:

Spoiler:

S'alright I s'pose.

Spoiler:

This is a bit special, isn't it? I've played about four or five hours and I feel like I've barely touched the game. It's been chock full of special moments too... one of my favourites so far was:

No story spoilers:

As an extension of that story, this game is pretty damn tough! The enemies take some strategy to kill, especially if they're in larger groups, and the environment can be unforgiving too. Right, enough chinwagging... back to Hyrule.

I've found a negative about the game!  The title screen.  It's low-effort rubbish.

Everything else remains great.  I've just broken out of the plateau - Moses, I thought that was big.  And then I got murdered three times by a blue Bokoblin (you're not wrong Jay), so I took the coward's route and sniped them to death.

What are we thinking about the voice acting so far?

Personally... I'm quite liking it! It's not as hammy as I'd thought it might be.

It's quite hammy, let's be fair.  Americans trying to do English voices.  It could be worse, of course.

Also, holy crap the enemies in Hyrule Field proper are slaughtering me.  Especially the damn Lizalfos with their boomerang things. There's a hint of Xenoblade X in the whole 'stealth not brawling' approach I'm being strongly encouraged (by death) to follow.

EDIT: Horsey!

I'm about 7hrs in but like Jay I feel I've barely scratched the surface.

This is so damn good! I've had so many hilarious non-scripted moments that has left me wishing Switch had the record video feature right now.  

Just a fun moment I had against a Bokoblin:

I also died to that Blue Bokoblin a couple times but got sweet revenge when I knocked his weapon out his hand & then used it against him.

---

Jay wrote:

What are we thinking about the voice acting so far?

Aye it's pretty good.

I'm having a lot of fun with this so far, it's nice being able to switch between TV and handheld mode without any noticeable loss in quality

Also, keep off the flowers

Spoiler:

Further thoughts: I love this game. The last time I remember getting a new game and instantly loving it so much I didn't want to do anything else was MGSV. Here's hoping the ending is a little better (though I wasn't personally bothered by the end of Metal Gear.)

I've enjoyed the voice acting so far. I'm actually glad they haven't used it for every line, as I think it's helped keep the quality up on the characters who matter.

Plateau :

Combat is excellent. I've said elsewhere, the jump from earlier Zeldas to this is amazing. The levelof freedom and creativity the game affords you changes everything. Instead of stiffly blocking, dodging and hitting one enemy at a time, this games asks me to think, to sneak, to strategise. Generous restarting means death isn't too frustrating, but victory is still very satisfying. Personal best moment so far:

Spoiler:

Agreed with Athrun on the satisfaction of solving one's own puzzles. Here's hoping for more of that!

For Athers and Andy: Did

item from literally the first dungeon:

remind you of

thing from book we've read:

Last thing I want to mention:

Plateau:

I could type about this game all day, but I'd rather go and play it.

SOO GOOD!

I'm too hyped from playing Zelda until silly 'o clock, so some more thoughts:

This feels like the game Peter Molyneux's been trying to sell us for decades now. The thing is, in Zelda it's not hyperbole. See that mountain? You can actually walk to it. See this group of enemies? There are dozens of different ways you can take them on and you'll feel awesome no matter which way you pick. I've had countless moments of open-world joy that I don't think anybody else on GNamer would have experienced - such is the nature of open world games, after all - and they feel special because they're my moments. This is easily the best open-world game I've played, and if the pace keeps up throughout my adventure, it could end up being my favourite game.

On a darker note...

Silly map location name spoilers, absolutely nothing major in the slightest:

Where I'm to:

What Drunka is saying about this and MGSV can also be applied to FFXV but those both had their faults be it the ending of MGSV which I was fine with along with the cut mission or in FFXV case Chapter 13, I'm yet to pick a real fault with Zelda.

masofdas wrote:

I'm yet to pick a real fault with Zelda.

Andy will tell you the fault: you only get fun gameplay encounters, not achievements or trophies. What's the point?

I was hoping for Medals for Nintendo's games to be honest at least, certainly a fault with the Switch but it may come when online comes proper or something.

I literally can't conceive of an issue I care about less.

I'd rather it had them, just for people who want them. I couldn't give a monkey's either.

It's a odd one as like I said before it's about ecosystem and for 3rd parties they will always be bought on PS4 now due to trophies and with the lack of them on Switch that unless a game really suits the system.

First party will always be the big draw like always for Nintendo systems and they've never had them but with thier Medal system for the mobile games seemed a new approach, I'd like have to see that to continue.

For the record, when I was talking about lack of reward I didn't mean achievements I meant that they give you naff all in return for going out and collecting 10 pain in the arse bugs. I'd have been better off going out mining.

I am enjoying this on the whole, but I'm worried that the core content is too short and that the side content isn't a whole lot of fun (aside from the shrines). The seeds often boil down to move stone or pick up rock, the side quests mostly - get 5/10 items and there's not much story to go along with it (I've had one side quest that actually raised a smile so far).

From what I can tell the main story seems to just be the beasts and I've done all of them and I reckon I could quite easily go and finish the game now. I'm finishing off the map and I'll pursue the non collectathon side quests but I think I'll be pretty thoroughly done by the end of the day.

To me this is a really good game, but it's just not a Zelda game. I miss the dungeons & I don't think the Shrines or the Beasts are anywhere near the quality of a proper Zelda dungeon.

I'm feeling very differently to you, but my natural instinct has been to actively seek out every little bit and bob as soon as I see it. Who knows when I'll start moving towards the main stuff? And the combat, movement and exploration is so fun in its own right, I don't need anything more than an excuse to do more of it.

I think it captures the emotions Zelda games make me feel perfectly, just in an all new way. Shrines are like a couple of rooms of a dungeon, and the overworld itself is more interesting than ever before. I think I prefer this approach as I'm never doing any one thing for long enough that I get bored.

In less serious news: Making

this comparison:

has done well for me on twitter today. Context.

See, I had to push on because roaming about the world meant using up my weapons/encountering an enemy that was "too hard" and dying.

It reminds me a lot of Dragon's Dogma at times, especially with how easy it was to wander into somewhere totally inappropriate. I'm enjoying it more now, though weapons being a breakable resource is really starting to take its toll (and I've upped my weapon pouch size already too...), plus the weapons I'm finding seem to be getting worse...

To be honest, the side content and its rewards mean absolutely nothing to me because I've spent about 15-20 hours already just wandering the wilderness finding shrines. If I want to take a break from wandering, I'll go do a side quest or two. I don't think this is a game that will gel with a driven completionist like yourself Andy - you'll probably end up burning yourself out.

For me though, the fun stems from the adventure itself. I think this is the first Zelda I've played that feels like a proper adventure. It's so easy to get distracted by something you've spotted in the distance and end up on a two hour detour away from your actual goal, and I think that's fantastic. No other Zelda game I've played has instilled that sense of adventure in me.

I can totally see how Andy has ended up coming to the conclusions he has, but the way I've played means I've just had an utterly different experience so far. I'm even enjoying the weapons: it forces me to swap and change up my fighting style all the time, and really get to grips with all the different techniques and stuff.