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Hello dear readers!
This time I wanted to write so hard about this game because I had the opportunity to play it a few days later of the launch day.
To this day I finished it with more than 150 hours of a mixture of emotions.
I genuinely enjoyed my play time with the game but honestly first, there's a lot to say about the game.
As my opinion I will say the great things that this game do and also the things that I didn't liked or I think they're plain bad.
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| Zelda new look is pretty welcoming |
I tried to get the most cold leveled head that I could while playing it.
To make it brief (and general) some parts of the game were epic and a lot of hype came to me in certain moments.
The other side was after finishing exploring the main areas and getting maybe 50 hours around, getting collectables and building stuff, but let's start with little to understand everything I want to point.
Collecting my thoughts about it wasn't easy but being ready to review the game with the most impartial way of explaining things that I can was a must so here we are.
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| I really liked the the first "map" Conservating the same feeling of BOTW beggining |
Something important is that no major spoilers of the story will be here.
Only maybe the first hour or less of the game, a little opinion about the main villain plus a lot of things using the new tools that this game presents.
End game gameplay things and nothing to critical or that will kill the experience, maybe it will only present another viewpoint of certain uses of the tools that the game has to offer.
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| Just like the first game you can be killed fairly easy on the beginning so strategy are very important |
First of all I have to clarify that I'm a huge fan of the series and I have played and beated all the games of the saga.
With the exception of Zelda II (I didn't really like the game), Spirit Tracks, never had the game or the opportunity to buy it, (very pricey for my wallet) and the strange CD-l ones.
My favorite one is and always had been Twilight Princess, one of the first games of the saga that I played and probably the reason I had to learn English (expect a review of it someday) - (Promise fulfilled - Zelda Twilight Princess)
It was one of those Zelda games that Link really felt like a hero and the people acknowledged him, very epic for me.
The point is that I had my fair share of Zelda games and on Breath Of The Wild I got almost 200 hours too so my review will be more like a journey to all the upgrades from BOTW to TOTK and my opinion of it.
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| See this and tell me that is not epic |
The story : |
The game starts a little time after the ending of BOTW with a full power Link under our control.
Our trusty master sword at his full power (courtesy of a dlc of the last game) and Zelda, both on a journey to the sub-world of Hyrule.
Saying in general, a lot of bad things happen and we awaken (Dejavoo) in a certain location with a weakened Link (the same state as beginning Link from BOTW).
This point is to incentive the shrines gameplay again but I didn't liked it a lot, maybe if we keep a couple of the things that we had at the ending, at least the Sheikah tablet.
In few words, not a restart as harsh as this one, but this comes off from my personal opinion.
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| Yeah, we start really powerful |
It's a good way to start a game, works and at the end it's what counts.
Slowly the story gets very interesting on certain points and I strongly suggest that you have finished BOTW before this game to get the importance of certain characters that appears again.
For me the principal villain makes a powerful stand as the enemy of Link in the story but unfortunately it never breaks that shell of enemy always waiting the hero for indefinitely time.
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| The story is a bit more important than on BOTW |
Underwhelming to me but as a personal opinion, a wasted opportunity to make a more memorable villain.
Hey, at least the design is pretty good and makes good use of the art direction to look menacing and cool at the same time.
| The Gameplay: |
Let's start with the meat of the game, just like BOTW we get our hands on an open world that's the start of the journey.
Secluded in a "tutorial map" the game explains the very basics of the controls.
Some tips about the combat and some shrines to learn to use and obtain the new powers from this game (the same structure of BOTW but on a more memorable location)
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| Collecting resources from enemies is important too |
Ultrahand:
We get the first power that is specifically posted in the way so almost always is the first one we obtain (Ultrahand).
You starts seeing the world in a different way, up to this point the game was basically BOTW extended edition, with this skill the game shows us the land of opportunity this game has to offer.
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| One of the first things that you have to build and you already have options, follow the contextual instructions or put together your own device or a giant bridge, you name it |
It's basically magnesis from BOTW but without the limit of metal objects.
You can grab almost anything in the game and move it around, the other function is that you can use what it's seem like magic glue to stick things.
Rotate on two directions, left and right and up to down.
I can't think of another way to say this so here we go:
This power is basically nothing short of a masterpiece, is so well done and at the same time uses a premise so basic that anybody can use.
Feeling of achievement comes with an exceptional work on the physics of the game, if a machine you build don't work, it's very likely that is your fault.
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| A 90% of the crazy devices that you can build will probably use this holy rocket |
All scaling to a minecart with a propulsor to a bird-like glider that you can modify to have it's own propulsion system.
Plus always you can simply use gravity to your advantage, these ideas are on the first hour of gameplay so don't worry about spoilers.
The point I'm trying to reach is that the world becomes so much richer with this tool and the game always encourages you to use it in a very softly way.
Imagine finding a machine broken and all the parts around so you can build it again or do something completely new.
If you can imagine it you probably can build it.
The downside is that after some hours using the system you come around to the idea that the way to obtain the materials to build things (not objects lying around) are way grinder than it seems at a first glance.
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| You will be around this machines... A lot |
Without explaining the materials that you need to obtain I can say that you naturally will get a lot only by exploring the world but if you build a ton of things then some grind is on session.
With that aside let me tell you that the game does an excellent job to make this tool an "optional" gig.
Don't misunderstand, there are sometimes that you have to build with left to no option, but always the materials needed to do the trick are nearby and the basic idea of the construction will be plain as the day.
These scenarios are a few but nothing to worry about if you don't like building, the game runs just fine without the use of Ultrahand so don't worry, that's the magic of a high quality game planning.
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| The most simple sometimes is the best |
The other powers will be explained very briefly not because they're not of the same importance, it's because the utility and reach of those.
Work more like a complement to the gameplay or a mobility help for some puzzles, an ideal situation because having one power so versatile and others that you don't use often will be more of a choice from the player than the design of the game.
| Fuse: |
You remember when in BOTW you had this cool weapon that was so strong and you had it for a while then breaked in thousands of pieces.
Well that still happens here but this power helps to mitigate at least a little, you can basically fuse anything that you can grab to your shields and weaponry.
Things like a rock and a stick to make a hammer, a log and a sword to make a fast maze or something more crazy like putting a flamethrower to you shield.
Fusing something to you weapon restore some of the durability but it will break eventually so keep that in mind, also you can put almost all the materials in the game to your arrows to get special effects.
Elemental arrows or things more unique like auto targeting arrows or explosive ones, trust me there's a lot of them and after a while the list will be so long that finding that exact item that you want to use might take a while.
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| Why use a stick when you can build a jumbo sized club |
Ascend :
This is a very self contained power, you can get through some "roofs" all the way to the surface.
Getting on a cave and using this power to get to the cliff of the mountain, getting above the platform that's off you reach.
It's simple and useful, the only restrictions are the distance between Link and the terrain that you want to ascend , it must be near him, not to far and that's it.
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| Very straightforward but useful on the exploration and certain puzzles |
Rewind :
The other self-contained power, basically this power makes you choose a target on the world, to make an easier identification of the things that work, all that you can grab with ultrahand will be susceptible to this power too.
Using it get back in time to some seconds before the target, the next you will see is the objective floating away following the path that was crossed before.
This is useful with some rocks that fall from the sky, you can use those and this power to get a high ground and better vision of your surroundings or get to some new lands.
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| I didn't used it a lot in puzzles but a lot on certain "experimentations" finished in my creation on a journey to the deep of a cliff |
My opinion on the basic systems :
The gameplay with the exception of those interactions with the new powers it's the same, combat, parry, flurry rush, the glider, sneaky gameplay, stamina, the way you recover health etc...
Are basically the same (that I didn't liked a little bit and I considered a pretty poor job because on my opinion the combat was a weak point of BOTW).
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| The hand to hand combat is an option |
On the bright side I started to see the combat as another resource and not as "the resource".
With a couple of days in and after visiting a pair of important locations, I found myself on a pretty good spot on materials, weaponry and ideas.
I started to see the combat as another mean to get something and was my mantra for the rest of the adventure.
Lasers, "grenades", special arrows, war machines, cars, drones, giant rocks, almost all that I meet had a use as a weapon.
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| A giant golem with a flamethrower? Sign me in! |
For the close quarters combat, the fuse does a good job of making a wide variety of weaponry but this is more an illusion than a gameplay changer, stick with me a while.
Fuse only changes the numbers of damage and some effects like doing elemental damage or making a weapon that on hit sends flying an opponent.
The weapons function is the same and so is the gameplay, a spear will have the same moveset with a sword attached to it than if you attach a giant boulder or if you don't attach anything at all.
Same goes for the swords, claymores and magic staffs (in my opinion this is a bad point)
Ultrahand construction is so well done that hits harder that something so important like the hand to hand combat remained so basic and other implementations reached a new standard for quality.
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| Why use a sword when you can make contact grenades and go crazy |
The enemies also comes recharged, there are new additions to the roster like the hands, oh boy the hands, or like I said the hell on Hyrule.
Also the particular characteristic of the armor that some enemies wear and you need a "hammer weapon" to break it or some solid damage like an explosive .
The bosses also comes with a redesigned face and on gameplay too so we don't feel like we are fighting the same boss four times before another boss.
By far one of the most hated parts of BOTW, they also have the same charismatic look that look menacing at the same time, a good upgrade.
The map :
You are exploring the same Hyrule that BOTW had, but that's not a bad thing, if you have fresh the memory of the other game maybe some zones will appear the same or very similar.
This constant comparison works wonders because in the story context this is a Hyrule on the road of reconstruction.
The Tone & Atmosphere:
You can see this everywhere you go, the people you meet, the villages that you can visit, the solitary travelers that you meet, all have a great distinction with the BOTW population.
More lively, less terrorized by the monsters and more willing to work for a better place than waiting for the monsters to destroy everything.
Hell! there's even people with pots for helmets fighting the monsters around to make the world a more peacefully place.
This takes a more meaningful term because they do it fully knowing that the enemies will appear again some days later.
Is a very good point for the design, we are in the very strict mean of the word exploring the same land but the atmosphere and tone of the population is very different.
The most lively Hyrule of the series, even more than the market of Ocarina Of Time or the city of the Hyrule Castle of Twilight Princess.
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| Link is no doubt the hero , but that doesn´t mean that the courage on the population are lost |
There are another two additions to the map, the depths and the sky, I will only tell that they hide some very interesting zones but specifically the depths have the problem of very large areas of nothing but dense darkness.
Sky lands aren't as big as it looks to be, both are worth exploring for resources, the depths over all, hide some valuable things but the game is more rich on the surface of Hyrule by far.
Dungeons:
Another thing to mention that BOTW left a very sour taste to me, the game now has properly "dungeons"
Some of them particularity unique, others not too sharp but is a good step in the right direction.
They have a lot better atmosphere, a particular style for every one of them and the bosses aren't copies.
This will be appreciated a lot in the near future and I only hope that they will finally master the dungeons great themes and particularities of the predecesors of the saga in the sequels or new games.
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| Scary isn't it? |
In conclusion :
The game is excellent, has some bad points but the good ones are so well achieved that it's imposible to not give some extra points for the construction.
At the same time strikes so strange that a system so sophisticated are accompanied by a so basic with almost no tweaks combat.
But hey you still you have the options to raid the enemy bases with a Megazord, an attack helicopter, a tank or some other crazy thing's that your imagination can work out.
This inmmensely giant sea of opportunities is why this game will be put high on the story as one of the best of the saga, with all said I must confess that the game strikes me a lot as a "bridge" game for a theorical third entry.
With some new systems on an almost untouched core gameplay from BOTW and resolving some of the problems of the other game but in the end nothing so abysmal to not remember those days with BOTW when we are playing TOTK, making me wonder a lot about what will be on the future of the saga.
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| The sky isn't the limit anymore |
Just a opinion based on facts from the game, any detail that's worth a mention and I forget I'm sorry but I tried to cover the maximum amount of ground without touching some things that it's better to keep as a surprise and at the same time mantain the spoilers to a minimum.
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| The fact that everything you see can be explored it's still one of the best sensations this game has to offer |
| Thanks for the oportunity of letting my opinion be checked out! |
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