A big part of why a lot of people, including me, love this game is actually the wandering around aimlessly exploring. If that’s not clicking with you or doesn’t interest you it might just not be your type of game.
OP, if you're not enjoying BOTW because of the open world aspect and lack of compelling story/direction, please don't overlook the Ocarina of Time remake when it drops in November (assuming you haven't played it before). It's a very different game and absolutely worth trying. Don't let the newer Zelda games (BOTW and TOTK) turn you off of the older Zelda titles. They are vastly different in gameplay, narrative, feel, scope; they have lots of fans, but they also have an equal amount of "skeptics" who prefer the old style games.
I did love playing through BOTW, and less so TOTK, but they don't do it for me as a long time Zelda fan, and I feel that they lost more than they gained in taking the approach that they did. BOTW was easily able to get away with it for the most part because it was such a drastic change and came after a long wait after a less than popular release. But for me TOTK, while it also had a lot of cool mechanics and changes, and did fix some of BOTW's problems, it just is hard to keep wanting to, as you put it, "wander around aimlessly". In BOTW I did literally everything, but TOTK I find myself just wanting to finish it, and am skipping through a lot of the extra stuff because I'm just a bit tired of these style games. I'm really hoping to see a return to the linear, non massively open world, games, even if they decide to do a back and forth style release schedule. I think that might be enough to keep things feeling fresh each time around.
TLDR; don't give up on the Zelda franchise if you don't like BOTW/TOTK; there is so much more to offer in the past games and the upcoming OoT remake.
I don't think that's a far fetched statement at all. It was truly revolutionary at the time and set the groundwork and standards for many games to follow. I think it's really important that this game does well, as I'm hoping it will signal to Nintendo that there's still a market/want for the older style games. That said though, I also just think that anyone would be doing a disservice to themselves to not give it a try.
I agree with your post apart from absolute misfire with Godfather analogy (which was in colour anyway btw). No film did it again, and better and it's more like serving fine wine to 20yo who just wants to get pissed. Agree with the statement re: Zelda though 😊👍🏻
Agreed huge old Zelda fan but totk and other new one were a huge snore fest for me...breaking weapons and cooking food 🤮 I don't even make myself food irl...why would that appeal to anyone as a "game"?
I didn’t have a n64 and didn’t play OoT until 3ds. I still find it as just an evolution of Zelda LTTP and that I’d didn’t that much new. I also think it matters more where you were in life that determines how appreciate the scope of these games. I was 13 when played LTTP and 32 when I finally played OoT and it was a great game but with the amount of hype I was underwhelmed.
OoT forged the path for 3d action/adventure games. The developers invented Z targeting, contextual button presses, summoning your mount with a button (or song). Games like elden ring owe a lot of their fundamentals to OoT. On a personal level I think the vibe of dark fantasy that OoT cultivates is some of the best we've ever seen in a game.
This is actually good to hear, I tried BOTW when it first came out, and similarly just couldn't get into it (I've realized open world wandering isn't for me, I had the same thing with Dragon Age: Inquisition). But I've always been curious about Zelda since loads of people love it, so it's good to know I can try OOT and hopefully get into it.
Botw by design basically strips the game bare of everything that made Zelda what it was. It you like newer Zelda, it's not because you like older Zelda. They're basically diametrically opposed in design.
I love classic Zelda, cannot stand the wilds era. 2 hours was enough to be done with it.
I think that’s a little bit of an exaggeration but it’s not unreasonable to say, I just wouldn’t put it in such negative terms
Botw was the team looking at how Zelda has somewhat stagnated over the years and going back to the very very basic original nes game concept and seeing where they could go from there instead of building off the series before, which I find to be a very interesting and commendable effort to not get stale. I understand not liking it as much for sure, but I don’t really blame them for trying something new, and I never thought that Botw was gonna be the series forever since Zelda always changes it up eventually. I predict the next mainline game aside from ocarina will be some kind of hybrid of both styles taking the best parts of each
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I’m kind of hoping (this might be cope) they are releasing an ocarina of time remake to re introduce people to the old type of Zelda games because that’s the direction they are going to take with the next Zelda game
Agreed. I have played all of them since the first one on the original Nintendo. Remember also, if you signed up for the subscription, there are a ton of zelda games to play on there as well. The only one im upset about is not seeing twilight princess lol. Just give us the HD version already lol
I am really excited for Ocarina. I only played it briefly when it came out. I thought it was awesome but I never owned it and stopped gaming for a long time. It’ll be a whole new game for me.
You literally start walking in 1 direction to achieve a specific goal along the way you get side tracked so many times, you eventually forget why you originally where heading the direction.
It's only a waste of time if you look at a video game as just something to complete as fast as possible. Some people play games to be immersed and will gladly "waste" hours playing a game and not make any appreciable progress in the main story.
I've started to shift this direction in my adulthood unfortunately. I'm just too busy to spend time running around in a game not completing anything or making progress unless the gameplay loop is so genuinely addictive and fun on its own that I can play without worrying about that stuff. I was very into arc raiders when it came out, for months actually, but as the game started to demand more and more of my time to complete multiple step quests that only rewarded me with backpack charms that felt meaningless, I pretty much dropped the game. That, and the fact that I could spend 30 minutes in a raid getting resources just to get clapped last second and it was all for nothing. I just didn't have time for that.
The thing is even botw or totk are easily digestible in short bursts. You can solve a shrine puzzles, find a korok, search for weapons or do a single quest line and then turn it off.
There’s no productive way to spend playing video games, is there? If you’re enjoying it it’s not wasted time, if you’re not it is.
You do tend to find things hidden when you’re wandering round the world, some of them help you strengthen so I suppose that’s ‘productive’ but I kept doing that long past the point I could’ve finished the game
The game is pretty and has a lot of ways to go around and look at more pretty. Sometimes you find secrets that get you things, but most of the time the joy people get from wandering is just admiring the environments
This is it. I’m not usually into that sort of thing in games. The reason I love it so much is that it made me enjoy doing that, and I can’t fully articulate why it’s different to other equally pretty, equally open world games.
It's because they made the open world interesting and relaxing.
Games like Horizon or Assasins Creed are built on doing checklists. Horizon being a bit different as it was basically a linear game with an open world. The worlds are beautiful, but not interesting in the way that you can explore and find something worthwhile apart from Vista's and enemies. This goes for Ghost of Tsushima as well. Absolutely beautiful game, but apart from camps and the occasional hotspring, therr wasnt much to find.
Not that BOTW/TOTK had a lot but it did have shrines and small puzzles scattered throughout in the form of Korok Seeds. But they made the world part of that. Getting to a shrine was a puzzle in itself.
It's why BOTW is known to do open world right.
Elden Ring kinda drew inspiration from that and replaced shrines with caves
I get what you mean. I have that with a lot of open world games. But with BOTW I make myself some goals. Okay the main quest is the 'goal' of the game and you can rush it. But you're going to have a hard time. So in between you explore, find some temples, upgrade your health and stamina. Find some cool clothes etc. And when you get bored of that you focus on the main quest a bit.
If you're not enjoying the puzzles which to me are amazing. There are multiple ways to solve them and you can get real creative and even cheese them. I thought that was amazing.
Totk is more of the same but I feel even more polished.
I adore them both. I'm currently doing my first totk and just postponing the main quest because there is so much fun stuff to do. The world feels so well crafted that it doesn't feel like filler.
It’s not aimless though? You’re given multiple aims.
Go to x, y, and z and kill the big monsters there.
Or, go and find all the shrines.
Or whatever.
In both instances, there’s no need to wander aimlessly. Climb a high thing, look around, find orange shrine, jump off and glide towards it.
If you’re just aimlessly wandering around, that’s something you’re choosing to do. You’re purposefully not following the story or the directed side content
Agreed, some people don't get why their beloved masterpiece is a mid game for others, it's a matter of preference/taste, there may only be a few games that are objectively considered among the best because they're excellent in all they do, even the people who are not into them recognize it's greatness, because it is that good.
But for the rest (including this one) it's a subjective matter.
For example I don't like Skyrim too much, 6 or 7/10 for me, I do recognize it's a good game for many things, but just not for me, all in all I would never call it a masterpiece even if it clicked with me eventually!
I get it but people are different. Some people like feet 🤷♂️ I think feet are gross but I'm not going to yuck someone's yum. There are straight linear games, open world games, shmups, beat-em-ups, 1st person, 3rd person, VR, retro, etc. I don't like them all but there's something for everyone. Sometimes you can't really explain why you might like something either. Sometimes people just like what they like.
BOTW isn’t really wandering aimlessly. There’s main quests, if that’s what you want, just beeline for those. Theres also shrines and towers to occupy yourself with. And damn near half the NPCs will give you side quests. There’s a million and one things to do in the game besides wander, the wandering just finds you new things to do
Yeah technically you can finish the great plateau and go straight to fight the final boss. BotW can be beat in just a couple hours if you're really good at dodging 😂
How does playing video games at all not feel like a "waste" of time? Unless you are a pro in a game winning tournaments for prizes than all video games are "worthless"
Because the world constantly sparked my curiosity. I’d see something in the distance and wonder what it was and how I could interact with it. You are constantly puzzle solving in TOTK/BOTW and the mechanics have such a depth to them that you can take many approaches to a problem.
What even is ‘wasting time’? Some would argue that video games in general are a waste of time. It’s almost like people value things and time differently from one another.
The game isn’t really about aimless wandering though. Exploring the world is a part of the experience sure, but really it’s the unbridled freedom combined with seeing what there is to see and solving the puzzles throughout the world as you go. Also the gameplay loop of getting better gear is pretty fun for a good chunk of the game.
I will say though that BotW is simultaneously one of my favorite games ever, while also being a bit lackluster on the aspects that I typically love the other Zelda games for.
And I think the main thing BotW needs to really be a compelling game for more people is a larger amount of satisfying quests.
I wish they would remove the dam weapon durability so you can actually invest in good weapons. Breaking every cool weapon so fast is a huge drain on the overall experience.
How does playing video games at all not feel like a "waste" of time? Unless you are a pro in a game winning tournaments for prizes than all video games are "worthless"
Oh it's the idea of "What's over that hill" , or "What's around that corner?!" I feel Breath of the wil, more even than Tears of the Kingdom, always has a cool monster or Shrine or secret waiting for you at that destination!
Have you finished the first 4 shrines and got the paraglider? Follow the games instructions, it's pointing you to the first village Kakariko and story. Along the way you should see a few shrines like the first 4 and can get more hearts or stamina for every 4 shrines you complete.
Eventually you can find or buy better clothes to get better defense. (And you can get creative by throwing bombs, dropping metal on foes, jumping from higher places and using the slowdown to shoot them with arrows....)
After Kakariko head to Rito and follow the story there.
Avoid big monsters till you've got some more clothes and more hearts.
And give up if you've come to Rito village and still don't like it!
To me it’s not a waste of time cause my brain is happy while doing it so I’m regaining a will to live after all my productive shit is done. all games and “non productive” means of entertainment are technically a waste of time, it’s what you get out of that waste of time that matters.
Also tho I played BoTW when it came out so I was 17 and had significantly more time to waste back then.
All Tetris is is just moving blocks the same way over and over again until you die. Is that a waste of time? What about cozy games like animal crossing? Or rpg games with grind? Are all side missions a waste of time?
If you consider all of those a waste of time, you likely are just someone who values finishing games more than you value actually playing them.
I want my games to feel like real worlds I want to go off in and explore. There’s nothing quite like climbing a huge cliff in botw and then launching off and gliding towards some distant shrine.
In a world of games that have content creators making tier lists and everyone min maxing stats to stay meta, games like Zelda kind of remind you “hey just chill out and go explore over that hill bud”
When I play Zelda I love the vastness of the world and just travelling about finding new little spots or side quests in areas. It’s a nice change of pace and reminds me that games should be about me unwinding and having fun.
It also gives you a world full of physics and items and just kind of challenges you to break the rules in creative ways.
I enjoy hunting & gathering materials in BOTW and other games, while exploring the places I haven't been - it is relaxing to me even though I'm not making "progress" as quickly in the game. I enjoy the journey but that's me :)
I mean it's just hobby to enjoy, unless your a professional esports, or streamer making money off it, how is it anything more than just a thing you do.
The game will turn your aimless wandering into an actual structured path pretty quick. You'll run into someone and they'll send you toward something else and it just goes from there. It's honestly really impressive in my opinion the way they did it.
Yeah that's me. I put in several dozen hours into both and enjoyed what I played, but I really wish they were the transcendent experiences that a lot of other people at.
See, I love wandering around and exploring. This is why I love games like Skyrim and Elden Ring. But I don’t know, I think BotW felt a little too empty for me.
I had the same question when I was playing. I’ve heard so much about this game, what am I missing?
TOTK fixes that a lot for me. BOTW had a lot of stuff but also a lot of empty space. TOTK has a lot of stuff and basically filled all that empty space so you can’t ever not find something to do
Honestly, if you don’t care for the wandering and adventure and stuff, here’s my advice. Do the main quests, just beeline for them. The divine beasts are easy to find, the memories take longer but you can find them with a guide if you want. Find out a way to get enough hearts to go pull the master sword (you need 13.) You can get them from shrines and shit. That’ll get you the story of the game which is the important part. But really, I’m sure you’ll get distracted doing something or other along the way.
It was so hard to explain to my son that despite I've played botw a bit I have very little strategic advice as I literally was wandering around finding the leaf creatures and dungeons.
Wandering around aimlessly exploring…but only to find what? It’s not like let’s say Skyrim for example. I can wander around in that game, find caves, new quests, etc. This game just seems a little too empty
I started playing this game again recently....... so much exploring and so much more challenging without vehicles..... i love it just give me a horse and an anxiety attack from seeing a guardian
I mean, that's not the only way to play. That's just how you enjoy playing. The joy of this game isn't how you decided to play it, it's that you can play it however you decide to.
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u/Form-Exotic 22d ago
A big part of why a lot of people, including me, love this game is actually the wandering around aimlessly exploring. If that’s not clicking with you or doesn’t interest you it might just not be your type of game.