The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Review By Ars Technica (arstechnica.com) 59
Kyle Orland writes via Ars Technica: At this point, the Legend of Zelda series operates on a rhythm so predictable you can practically set your watch to it. In a Zelda game, after an extremely slow-paced tutorial, you progress from puzzle-filled dungeon to puzzle-filled dungeon, finding in each one a key item that -- coincidentally -- is crucial to beating the dungeon boss and to finding the next dungeon. Between dungeons, you face perfunctory battles with simple enemies on a vast overworld map dotted with small towns and occasional mini-games and side-quests. Most of these give you rewards that are already so plentiful as to be practically worthless (oh, goodie, more rupees to fill my already full wallet). By the time you reach Ganon, your circuitous trip from point A to point B has given you a set of required powers that help you take on the big bad boss threatening the kingdom. Individual Zelda games each make slight variations to this formula, but the basic rhythm is there every time. And then there's the new Breath of the Wild (BotW), a Zelda game that throws off this established rhythm so quickly, and with such force, that it practically feels like a whole new genre. In doing so, Breath of the Wild offers a compelling take on a stagnating series, bringing a sense of wonder and excitement back to Zelda that hasn't been felt this strongly since the original NES game. "Breath of the Wild is my new favorite 3D Zelda game and in contention for the top spot in the series overall," Orland writes in ending. "Don't miss it." You can read his full review here
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Same tired plot.
Trite, ridiculous characters.
Boring tutorial.
Long, boring, open spaces.
Scenarios that don't make sense (hiding in a barrel, picking apples).
I like Zelda quite a bit, but watching this trailer made me want to go into the wild on a horse instead of sitting and playing a game.
Re: Confused. (Score:1)
Amazing. The same link tool us to 2 completely different reviews
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There's the Wii-U version if you have that system, which is apparently the superior version. Judging by several comparisons between the Switch version and the Wii-U: The Switch version was missing several graphic effects that the Wii-U had (Volumetric Fog, Lighting effects, etc). The only thing that can be said for the switch is the texture resolution was slightly better and not having the Volumetric Fog and Cloud effects made for sharper landscape images.
The launch of the Switch has so far been a botch
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Comprehension fail. The last sentence says that this Zelda breaks away from that tired formula.
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tbh, it looked like a negative review to me. A reviewer can't actually say too many negative things and get away with it, but the sarcasm was deep here. Basically:
Same tired plot.
Trite, ridiculous characters.
Boring tutorial.
Long, boring, open spaces.
Scenarios that don't make sense (hiding in a barrel, picking apples).
It seems that you stopped reading just before the part that says:
And then there's the new Breath of the Wild (BotW), a Zelda game that throws off this established rhythm so quickly, and with such force, that it practically feels like a whole new genre. In doing so, Breath of the Wild offers a compelling take on a stagnating series, bringing a sense of wonder and excitement back to Zelda that hasn't been felt this strongly since the original NES game.
RT.
Ars is not the only one (Score:5, Interesting)
Getting it as well on Wii U (Score:2)
Switch doesn't seem worth it to me, that Mario game is a little off-putting honestly! With my Wii U I can already enjoy it on the TV as well as off the TV playing in bed (or bathroom *cough*) if I want to. The Switch version doesn't offer me much else, and there's no reason for me to jump on a Switch now when there are bugs in the hardware (left controller losing sync often) and system + game bundles on the horizon for the holidays.
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system + game bundles on the horizon for the holidays
Dude... Come on, what? It's February.
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What point? You mean the holidays being far away? So are any other Switch games.... and with so many great games on other systems in the meantime it's not hard at all to pass the time until then, especially with the best Switch game being on my Wii U
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What's wrong with waiting 9 months? I really don't feel some insatiable urge to have it this instant just because
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Had this (and other) reviews even been *slightly* less positive, I probably would have not bothered with the Switch. This may change my mind, as Zelda is a long-time favorite of mine. I'll probably wait a while and see if there are at least a few other great games to pick up before I commit.
I only ended up buying a couple of decent games on the Wii, and didn't feel like the WiiU was worth the upgrade. I *loathed* the motion control gimmick stuck to nearly every games on the Wii, and was worried about the
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Never buy into the week-one hype when a game releases. A lot of game reviewers are either bought off by the studios or they're fanboys who really WANT to believe.
No Man's Sky is a great example. Got great reviews its first week. Only after the hype train slowed down and Sony stopped buying lots of ads did it suddenly dawn on people that the game sucked.
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Oh, I absolutely agree. Given experience with glitchy hardware, unexpectedly bad games, and so forth, my policy has been for quite a while to avoid preorders, and instead to wait a while for most new games and consoles to let the reviews all trickle out, not just from reviewers, but impressions by normal gamers as well.
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I don't blame Nintendo for this, players have pretty clearly shown that this is what they want to pay for, but it's still a sad day.
Wow, it must be good if Ars can't slam it. (Score:3)
Seems everything Nintendo related on that site is dipped in a sour grape sauce.
There's one insurmountable downside for me. (Score:1)
I'm not going to be a Switch just for this one game and I doubt I'll see any later additions to the catalogue that will make me change my mind. I bought a Wii for Twilight Princess, the Metroid Trilogy and Mario Galaxy, which was just about enough to justify the expense. The WiiU was unashamedly gimmick, there were no games to make it worth buying and unfortunately the Switch has gone even further down that path.
I'll just have to give this one a miss; not even a new Zelda game is enough to make me buy a Swi
Re:There's one insurmountable downside for me. (Score:5, Informative)
Just as an FYI this game is also being released on the Wii-U. So you don't actually have to choose between buying a Switch or missing BotW. That's a false-choice dichotomy.
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Did you miss the part about his whole post implying that BotW is indeed such a game? And note that he didn't even actually say whether he bought a Wii-U or not, he merely implied that it wasn't worth it. Guys like you and him spend so much time talking about how much they don't want to buy Nintendo stuff I''d really think it'd even eventually become obvious to even yourselves that you doth protest too much.
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It seems you're concentrating so much your diatribe that you aren't even bothering to note who it is you're replying to.
Don't bother writing any more replies on my account; it's not worth the effort of sifting through them for an actual point.
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Did you miss the part about not buying a WiiU because there was nothing in the catalogue to make it worth it? A single Zelda game, no matter how good, is not going to change that
With a new console out, Wii Us are likely to come onto the used market, making it significantly cheaper to acquire, potentially enough so that it is worth it for the one game.
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Not sure how many will. For me, the Wii U will probably be my last Nintendo console, but I'm going to hang onto it, especially since it's the only way I can still play my dozen-or-so Wii games. I'll buy the new Zelda game and play it on my Wii U, but its availability on the Wii U becomes just yet another reason why I never need to look at getting a Switch.
Fuck Ars Technica (Score:3)
They bitch about the same old Zelda formula in the new game, but then praise Pokemon Sun & Moon for being the same old pokemon formula.
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They bitch about the same old Zelda formula in the new game
So, you didn't even manage to make it to the end of the summary, I see? Directly from the summary:
And then there's the new Breath of the Wild (BotW), a Zelda game that throws off this established rhythm so quickly, and with such force, that it practically feels like a whole new genre. In doing so, Breath of the Wild offers a compelling take on a stagnating series, bringing a sense of wonder and excitement back to Zelda that hasn't been felt this strongly since the original NES game.
If you think that's complaining about the same old formula being played out again, you clearly need to work on your reading comprehension.
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A fan of non sequiturs, I see?
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I simply pointed out that the OP's reading comprehension left something to be desired. Nothing you said contradicts, addresses, or in any way relates to that point. Instead, you engaged in juvenile name calling, espoused baseless conspiracy theories, and then launched into a tirade over an unrelated topic.
If you want to rant about random topics, by my guest, but don't expect me to care.
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See subject: I point out verifiable data the President of the United States thinks CNN (arstechnica's parent) = trash
Okay, and? How does any of that relate to anything I said? I was talking about what Ars' review said, not whether or not Ars is a quality organization.
The fact is, I don't read Ars, nor have I ever read Ars on a regular basis. I used to go there once a year to read John Siracusa's annual OS X reviews, but he quit doing those a few years ago, so I don't even have that reason to go there any more. Frankly, I don't care what you, the President, or anyone else thinks about them, since I have no vested interest
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So, you read the heading, but didn't even make it through his one-line post and my response? Had you done so, you'd have realized that he was making some very specific accusations against Ars, which was what I addressed in my response to him, and that his heading had nothing to do with the rest of what was said. Your failure to realize that suggests you're guilty of the exact same lack of reading comprehension that he was guilty of.
As for the rest, paint me with whatever false brush you want. Once again, un
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Thanks for taking the time to respond. Allow me to reiterate:
As for the rest, paint me with whatever false brush you want. Once again, until it relates back to the topic at-hand, I have no reason to concern myself with unsubstantiated rants that an unidentified person who claims to be APK makes online.
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Repeating unfounded accusations about topics I don't care about neither makes them come true nor does it make me magically care about them, I'm afraid. You seem to be rather wound up about this though.
As for the rest, paint me with whatever false brush you want. Once again, until it relates back to the topic at-hand, I have no reason to concern myself with unsubstantiated rants that an unidentified person who claims to be APK makes online.
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APK and I have had lengthy, civil conversations several times in the past. I've used this pseudonym in every interaction we've had and he's had no problem with me using it. And because I use a pseudonym (as opposed to posting anonymously), I have a posting history that stretches back for years to back that up.
In contrast, you've been posting anonymously. In addition to not remembering the encounters I just mentioned, you've also failed to demonstrate evidence of your identity when it was called into questio
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I am, literally, APK.
There's no proof of that, and if you think I'm playing word games or playing with semantics, you don't understand what either of those things are.
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Answer the question in my subject
I already did when I said it was a pseudonym, which brings us back around to the topic of poor reading comprehension that I've been trying to discuss this entire time...
As for those being your initials, where's the proof you say you've provided? You're an Anonymous Coward who has provided links to other posts made by Anonymous Cowards. None of that proves anything. I could respond to you as an Anonymous Coward and sign my posts with APK's initials, but that doesn't make me APK.
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Thanks for admitting you use a FAKE NAME online for your FAKE LIFE.
...says the Anonymous Coward who hasn't provided any evidence to support a single claim he's made regarding his identity.
Besides which, if you think that using a pseudonym is proof of poor character, then apparently you count "Anubis IV" among an elite crowd of pseudonyms linked to people of poor character like Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Mark Twain, Buddha, Banksy, Muhammad Ali, Yogi Berra, Malcolm X, and many, many others, all of whom are more well known by their pseudonyms than their real names.
Pseudo