Topic: Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[Macphisto80]

Strangely this runs at 30fps portable and 20fps docked.

Must be a heck of a game to run at 20fps and be so highly rated.

It doesn't. It sometimes has dips into the 20fps range, but that's all it is. That's obviously a problem with the hardware, not the game itself.

[Macphisto80]

I've played about 13 hours of this, and I've only now just decided to go to the first story marker given to me as a place to go at the start of the game. I don't think I've ever played a game before that's felt as open and as intuitive. The world is massive, and it's so varied and interesting that it feels like you're part of a grand adventure of your own making. Amazing game.

[ThePeetmix]

I've played about 13 hours of this, and I've only now just decided to go to the first story marker given to me as a place to go at the start of the game. I don't think I've ever played a game before that's felt as open and as intuitive. The world is massive, and it's so varied and interesting that it feels like you're part of a grand adventure of your own making. Amazing game.

It is incredible. The world feels so alive and just makes me want to wander round and see what i find. Barely any urge to even progress the story at the moment. 

[bailey90]

How much are Wii U's going for these days? Really, really want this but I have no interest in getting a Switch.

[Lfsea]

How much are Wii U's going for these days? Really, really want this but I have no interest in getting a Switch.

You can get a well looked after Wii U basic for about 90 these days.

[Macphisto80]

Yeah, but I don't really see the point of paying that much for what is essentially a dead system. Zelda was the last game to be made for it.

[bailey90]

Yeah, but I don't really see the point of paying that much for what is essentially a dead system. Zelda was the last game to be made for it.

I can't pay £400+ just to play Zelda though.

And things like Mario and even Super Smash Bros have never really bothered me.

Plus the whole portable aspect of the Switch would literally have no benefit for me.

[Macphisto80]

I can't pay £400+ just to play Zelda though.

And things like Mario and even Super Smash Bros have never really bothered me.

Plus the whole portable aspect of the Switch would literally have no benefit for me.

Then you might have to wait a bit for Wii U prices to tank now that the Switch is out. I'd check Gumtree. Still, by the time you wait, you might even get your hands on a Switch to try. You never know: you might end up liking it.

[PaulF]

I can't pay £400+ just to play Zelda though.

And things like Mario and even Super Smash Bros have never really bothered me.

Plus the whole portable aspect of the Switch would literally have no benefit for me.

Buy a wii u, play zelda , sell it on?

[mattybeard]

Had 2 hours game time last night, needed to turn it off before I realised I hadn't progressed any quests at all. Damn the immerson!

[snez1]

However you do it, make sure you play this game.

The Witcher 3 was the most mind blowing videogame I'd experienced since the late 90's and I was severely concerned with how Nintendo could make an open world Zelda title that could get close to the majesty of that game, especially given the diminishing returns of the series since the Majora's Mask/Wind Waker days.

I'm 25 or so hours in and I can definitively say that I'm enjoying this FAR more than the Witcher. It's a masterpiece.

The openness of the world is incredible, Link handles like a dream and I LOVE that there is so little hand holding. There's no 'follow the red line to your goal' quests and there's no dumping of dozens of question marks and quest icons when you 'open' a new area of the map. It's all on you.

I walked in one direction for 2 hours the other night, exploring as I went. Eventually i came to a vast area that looked like something out of Avatar and decided I'd explore. 5 minutes later I'd realised that I'd stepped into an area I wasn't prepared for at all. Enemies were super strong and just battering me with one hit kills.

You think I'd be pissed that after two hours of traversal it had all been for nought but instead I just climbed to a high vantage point, marked some locations on my map for when I decide to go back there and set off in another direction to explore further.

They don't half make a lot of fuck ups but, to this day, no one makes special games quite like Nintendo.

Also, playing it on the Switch is brilliant.

Now go and play this game.

[puroresu_kid]

This game is insane.  I have played for about 12 hours and barely touched the story.  I am just wondering doing side quests for people.

The size and scope of the game is unreal.  I sit there playing this in my hand I cant believe it.   Had a two hour train ride on Saturday which just flew buy as I played Zelda.

[mattybeard]

This game is insane.  I have played for about 12 hours and barely touched the story.  I am just wondering doing side quests for people.

The size and scope of the game is unreal.  I sit there playing this in my hand I cant believe it.   Had a two hour train ride on Saturday which just flew buy as I played Zelda.

How was the battery life?

[puroresu_kid]

How was the battery life?

I have found it ok. I got just under 3 hours with 50% brightness and wifi off.  I also had a powerbank with me which I started to use when it got down to 15%

http://www.lefigaro.fr/secteur/high-...-en-france.php

Objective completed for Nintendo in France. The distributor has sold 105.000 units of its new console, the Nintendo Switch, available from March 3rd. This is the best launch for Nintendo in France since the eighties. It is also the best launch of a console in France, between all the distributors, according to Nintendo. The french branch has fulfilled its objective, which was to match the sales of the Wii, who sold 95.000 units on its first weekend, in November 2007.

[Lfsea]

Begrudgingly after about 15 hours I've had to progress a touch in the story to allow me a few health and stamina upgrades.

I did a 3 hour real-time hike to one of the corners of the world earlier. Was absolutely enthralling. Got absolutely decked when I got there

A really clever thing about combat in this game is that it's tightly territorial. If you stray somewhere you definitely shouldn't be, the game doesn't punish you instantly. It lets you bid a hasty retreat without the enemies following you for too long.

Was going to go to the cinema last night. Bought my ticket and everything. Looked up from my game and it was 1am. Not even cross.

[puroresu_kid]

https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/839128496416829440

Fun Fact: Nintendo Switch sold more in these first 3 days than the PS4 did in its first two weeks. (France)


I didn't realise PS4 started so slow in France.

Nintendo Europe say Switch sold more in launch weekend than any other Nintendo hardware ever.

[Lfsea]

How's the stutter been for everyone? I've only had one 'uh oh' moment where there were 4 bokoblins, 2 of those things which look like slimes from DQ and the whole screen exploding after I threw a bomb. Nothing but the occasional stutter beyond that.

[PaulF]

Nintendo Europe say Switch sold more in launch weekend than any other Nintendo hardware ever.

Seems like an alternative-fact.
That said I guess wii sales really picked up around christmas. It sort of went viral when everyone fell in love with Wii sports.  The release titles were nothing stellar, so it was just the sad nintendo fans queuing up in Asda at midnight with a bottle of champers for the launch.....

[puroresu_kid]

Seems like an alternative-fact.
That said I guess wii sales really picked up around christmas. It sort of went viral when everyone fell in love with Wii sports.  The release titles were nothing stellar, so it was just the sad nintendo fans queuing up in Asda at midnight with a bottle of champers for the launch.....

Well the Wii is very hard to compare against for any platform as the first 18 months it was supply constrained.  It was forever sold out. 

[PaulF]

Well the Wii is very hard to compare against for any platform as the first 18 months it was supply constrained.  It was forever sold out. 

It wasn't in France, I drove over and bought 40

[bailey90]

Buy a wii u, play zelda , sell it on?

I think I'll have to do this yeah

[Macphisto80]

Begrudgingly after about 15 hours I've had to progress a touch in the story to allow me a few health and stamina upgrades.

I did a 3 hour real-time hike to one of the corners of the world earlier. Was absolutely enthralling. Got absolutely decked when I got there

A really clever thing about combat in this game is that it's tightly territorial. If you stray somewhere you definitely shouldn't be, the game doesn't punish you instantly. It lets you bid a hasty retreat without the enemies following you for too long.

Was going to go to the cinema last night. Bought my ticket and everything. Looked up from my game and it was 1am. Not even cross.

I did a similar thing last night. I went to the marker on the map, not because it was an objective I wanted to do, but because I'd been sidetracked doing something else and I just happened to come across it. What I found gobsmacking was that I realised that just by going there and interacting with an NPC that I had to talk to, that opened up "basic" abilities that I didn't even know existed for me. This after some 15 or so hours into the game, and I'd only realised that I haven't even started the game proper yet. No other game I have ever played has done that. The way this game is designed is just so simple, yet so involving. Zero, and I do mean zero, hand holding. You just have to figure stuff out as you go along, which makes it so rewarding. No game is touching this for a brave while. It's the watermark for every single developer in the industry to aspire to.

How's the stutter been for everyone? I've only had one 'uh oh' moment where there were 4 bokoblins, 2 of those things which look like slimes from DQ and the whole screen exploding after I threw a bomb. Nothing but the occasional stutter beyond that.

I'm playing it on the Wii U, and it does chug here and there, but only whenever there's really dense areas that are casting shadows all over the place. It typically seems to do it in villages for some reason. It's a pity, because it's literally the only thing I can fault the game on; but then again, that being said, with a world this massive and containing so much detail, the lack of bugs, glitches and such that generally plague massive open world games like this are non existent so far, which in itself is a testimony on how polished the game actually is.

[Broad Spectrum]

Fucking hell, I'm saving up for a Pro, but every time I come in this thread I'm growing more and more tempted to buy the Switch. I was originally planning on buying the Pro for Red Dead, but Horizon:Zero Dawn has swayed me to get it soon as really. But if this Zelda game is Witcher 3 standard, I don't think I'll manage too much longer without playing it properly!

Is it better than the N64 Zelda games, in particular the story and characters? Always loved that about the old ones, especially Ocarina of Time.

[Macphisto80]

Is it better than the N64 Zelda games, in particular the story and characters? Always loved that about the old ones, especially Ocarina of Time.

Even though I've put something like 20 hours, or thereabouts, into the game so far, I've done very little of the story, but early indicators (if you can call them that) are that it's surpassing Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for me. I got some serious Link to the Past and Ocarina vibes from where I was at last night.

[Lfsea]

Is it better than the N64 Zelda games, in particular the story and characters? Always loved that about the old ones, especially Ocarina of Time.

Tricky one.

It's getting on for the 20th anniversary of OOT and time has not been kind on a lot of it, so it's difficult to do a direct comparison. However, I have felt the same emotions and awe in BOTW as I felt playing OOT in the late nineties.

It feels like fuck all today, but that first moment when you leave the Deku Tree and enter Hyrule field was an absolute 'bloody hell' moment back then. It seems like nothing now, but it was mind-bending back then. If you hadn't had the privilege of playing Panzer Dragoon Saga (let's be frank, almost no one had in 1998) this openness was a complete first and our reactions were commensurate with that.

We've seen it all before in gaming since then, but this has managed to retain the star dust that most of the series has had in spades. That they're still doing it nearly 30 games in is nothing short of astonishing. What is bona fide astonishing is that this game - the 27th in the series - can evoke the feelings that the fourth (ignoring Link's awakening on the GB) one managed.

That we're even talking about BOTW in the same breath as OOT is the biggest compliment possible.

[snez1]

Started playing around 6.30 last night. My 'accomplishments' were as follows:

I managed to find - but failed to tame - a certain horse specific to a quest.
Find and kill my first Hinox after finally deciding to venture close -ish- to Hyrule Castle.
Battle my way up to the very top of a Colosseum that I just happened upon when exploring - Lots of tough monsters there, died a few times.
Complete a combat shrine against the strongest enemy I've seen to date.
Find a place called Eventide Island. Absolutely brilliant. I hope you all find it too. So much fun.

Look up... and it's 2am.

I must have poured 30+ hours into this already and I still only have 8 hearts, have only completed around 25 shrines and been to one dungeon. There are vast, vast areas of the map I haven't even been to yet.

I'll say it again to anyone on the fence; just find a way to play this. Even if it means buying and then selling a Switch after completion. It'll be worth your £50 loss and then some.

[mattybeard]

The one thing I hate about this game? The wife likes it so she takes the Switch off me and ends up playing her game save instead of mine

I'm decided to progress the game and started walking towards the marker for the first of 4 things (I'll leave it cryptic for spoilers).

I love how of us all posting in this thread, barely any of us seem anywhere near the end.

[Lfsea]

Was utterly fucked after an overnight shift this morning, but thought I'd just have a quick hour on BOTW. Was absolutely glorious. Ended up traipsing for an hour through the pissing rain and and snowy hills and finding a random shrine, which was *just* about doable with my current skills. Didn't need to do anything else and was more than content to stop there knowing there is so much more ahead. Another reason to love it.

[PaulF]

Oh dear, it appears ive ordered myself a copy . Now, do I spend five years playing thorough OoT, MM , Ww and the wii ones with my six year old before opening it?

[GinKop]

Oh dear, it appears ive ordered myself a copy . Now, do I spend five years playing thorough OoT, MM , Ww and the wii ones with my six year old before opening it?

Haha I am planning on doing something similar (although my 19 month old will be asking to play Paw Patrol instead).

Have absolutely loved reading through this thread. Been a long while since I've read one (even at two pages) from start to finish.

[SheikhMo]

I've read that Koji Kondo hasn't composed any of the soundtrack for this, is the soundtrack as good as Ocarina of Time?

[puroresu_kid]

Being killed by lightning is something else lol

I've only got 5 hearts.  Just doing one of the divine beats now.

[Macphisto80]

I've read that Koji Kondo hasn't composed any of the soundtrack for this, is the soundtrack as good as Ocarina of Time?

The soundtrack is amazing, especially the newer themes, which has got this very traditional Japanese sound to it, but at the same time it sounds typically Zelda. The classic themes are still there, but when you are out roaming, it's got a very minimalistic electronic-sounding ambient soundtrack that will sometimes change to a very slowed down version of Zelda's Lullaby if you listen carefully enough to it.

[Macphisto80]

Decided to travel to a large part of the map I'd not yet visited last night. I started playing at around 9pm. The next time I checked the time, it was 5:30 in the morning. Some of the environmental/time of day puzzles are amazing. You even have to find shade in the desert, which is constantly changing because of the Sun. I've never played a game like it.

[puroresu_kid]

I've read that Koji Kondo hasn't composed any of the soundtrack for this, is the soundtrack as good as Ocarina of Time?

One thing that disappoints me about this game is the music.

[Lfsea]

One thing that disappoints me about this game is the music.

I don't see another solution for the music. It's a potentially infinite journey and there is a finite size on the game carts. I just don't think it would have been possible to manifest a more robust soundtrack given the various limitations.

I quite like the moments of calm, being surrounded by just the sounds of nature and only getting actual music when the scenario dictates.

[G1-tiga]

Got the Switch and Zelda on Thursday, due to a mates party and of course Liverpool v Burnley I have hardly had much time to actually play.

The time I have had though has been nothing short of unbelievable. The way in which combat can be dealt with in almost any way you choose. The use of the slate to manipulate the environment in any way you like and the sheer freedom of it all has simply took my breath away. I'm looking forward to finishing work today purely because tonight will be the first time I'll be able to sit down with the game for about 2-3 hours solid.  If you're reading this and still undecided, I urge you to play this game.

[Macphisto80]

I don't see another solution for the music. It's a potentially infinite journey and there is a finite size on the game carts. I just don't think it would have been possible to manifest a more robust soundtrack given the various limitations.

I quite like the moments of calm, being surrounded by just the sounds of nature and only getting actual music when the scenario dictates.

Yeah, I personally think the music is brilliant. It fits with the overall themes and style of the game. Having loud, grandiose style orchestrated music like OOT playing throughout would be jarring. The music in the overworld only really exists to clue the player into environmental and night and day changes, which works well. I don't think it'll end up having a recognisable classic like previous games did, though, even though some of them are in there.

[puroresu_kid]

Came across my first Hinox and wasted arrows hitting him in the eye but eventually took him down.

There is one shrine, cant remember which one where you have to move a ball in a little maze.  Motion controls, its torture and infuriating!!!

[mattybeard]

Came across my first Hinox and wasted arrows hitting him in the eye but eventually took him down.

There is one shrine, cant remember which one where you have to move a ball in a little maze.  Motion controls, its torture and infuriating!!!

Was your Switch docked or not? It was much easier for me with the controller only, undocked Switch made it almost impossible.