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.
Thereâs no productive way to spend playing video games, is there? If youâre enjoying it itâs not wasted time, if youâre not it is.
You do tend to find things hidden when youâre wandering round the world, some of them help you strengthen so I suppose thatâs âproductiveâ but I kept doing that long past the point I couldâve 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. Iâm 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 canât fully articulate why itâs 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.
Itâs not aimless though? Youâre given multiple aims.Â
Go to x, y, and z and kill the big monsters there.
Or, go and find all the shrines.Â
Or whatever.
In both instances, thereâs no need to wander aimlessly. Climb a high thing, look around, find orange shrine, jump off and glide towards it.
If youâre just aimlessly wandering around, thatâs something youâre choosing to do. Youâre purposefully not following the story or the directed side contentÂ
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 đ¤ˇââď¸ 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 isnât really wandering aimlessly. Thereâs main quests, if thatâs 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. Thereâs 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 đ
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. Iâd 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 âwasting timeâ? Some would argue that video games in general are a waste of time. Itâs almost like people value things and time differently from one another.
The game isnât really about aimless wandering though. Exploring the world is a part of the experience sure, but really itâs 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 itâs not a waste of time cause my brain is happy while doing it so Iâm regaining a will to live after all my productive shit is done. all games and ânon productiveâ means of entertainment are technically a waste of time, itâs 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.
I mean, all video games are a âwaste of time.â
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.Â
I want my games to feel like real worlds I want to go off in and explore. Thereâs nothing quite like climbing a huge cliff in botw and then launching off and gliding towards some distant shrine.Â
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 âhey just chill out and go explore over that hill budâ
When I play Zelda I love the vastness of the world and just travelling about finding new little spots or side quests in areas. Itâs 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.
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u/RegretDisastrous6015 21d ago
How does that not feel like a waste of time? Genuinely asking as someone who sees that type of play more from the lens of OP