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[NinSwitch] Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I've read enough user reviews to know that the game is far from a masterpiece, in fact a rather generic open world in the line of far cry, tomb raider, horizon... With shittier graphics (and terrible performance issues), uninspired story and missing any relatable characters. For hwat I read, if it didn't have "Zelda" in the title, the game would be getting very average reviews.
 
Well there seems to be no love here so ill give my 2 cents, been gaming for 30 years on all consoles less so the last 10 years, that's kids for you lol. Have only played around 10 hours but its just a fantastic game to play, i can't remember the last time a played a game where i don't wont to put the controller down, i just want to look over there or whats over that mountain it just draws me in, even with the game being somewhat unoptimized coming from the Wii U to switch, there are some dips down to 20fps in the long grass,although it's a locked 30fps in handheld. I can remember playing ocarina of time on N64 at 17fps by the way.It's difficult for me to rate it fully but it's in my all time top 5 games i have played at the moment they being, Ocarina of Time, SM64, Demon Souls, Gran Turismo and Jl Winning Eleven 9
 
I've never played a Zelda game before and this is my first. I'm absolutely engulfed in its world. I have a few niggles but they don't take away from the game. The other negative is the performance. I'd understand if it was happening on the Wii u but definitely not the switch docked.

I have the Wii u version BTW and really enjoying it for what it is. Whenever cemu has this game fully playable in 1080/4k, it will be a masterpiece there.
 
Well, those are great reviews. I trust reviews from veteran players as me, so I may be tempted on the future...
 
drekkard said:
I've read enough user reviews to know that the game is far from a masterpiece, in fact a rather generic open world in the line of far cry, tomb raider, horizon... With shittier graphics (and terrible performance issues), uninspired story and missing any relatable characters. For hwat I read, if it didn't have "Zelda" in the title, the game would be getting very average reviews.
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Ha!! This is MASSIVELY laughable. You've not played it... the game is an absolute masterpiece, you are completely missing the point.

* "Shittier graphics" - it hasnt got the power of the big 2 (3 if you count PC), but what it does it does it really well. The game is beautiful and alive. Go and watch the "Zelda vs Horizon" video on YT to see how many little touches Zelda has to make the world feel alive and interactive. Also in Zelda you can go ANYWHERE... thats pretty much never been done in an open world game before, no matter how they try to convince you otherwise.

* "Terrible Performace Issues" - the odd from drop (on Switch, dunno about Wii U) and given the point above, is perfectly understandable. There is a LOT going on all around you. Even talk of a patch incoming to smooth out the blips, which would be nice, but its nothing like a game breaker.

* "Uninspired Story" - People are saying its an amazing story especially for a Zelda game? I cant comment as I'm barely 20 hours in, but its certainly a good story.

Sorry, but your post is absolute unfounded nonsense!! You really need to play this game yourself to know how amazing it is. I cant stop thinking about it and always eager to play it as often as I can. Cant remember the last game to do that... if ever.
 
This is one of the best games that I have ever played.

Yes there are some technical issues but they are minor.

I have it on the switch and I am completely immersed in it. I have spent most of my spare time playing. Normally I stick to the main storyline for games, this is one of the very few games where I have not done that. I love the game world and I love exploring it. I have had so many random encounters through exploration.

This game is a masterpiece. It may not have the graphical power of some of the modern games but it has completely immersed me with it's world and gameplay.
 
kamy100 said:
This is one of the best games that I have ever played.

Yes there are some technical issues but they are minor.

I have it on the switch and I am completely immersed in it. I have spent most of my spare time playing. Normally I stick to the main storyline for games, this is one of the very few games where I have not done that. I love the game world and I love exploring it. I have had so many random encounters through exploration.

This game is a masterpiece. It may not have the graphical power of some of the modern games but it has completely immersed me with it's world and gameplay.
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Yup, this is how I feel exactly! I hate wasting time in anything I do, so if I get stuck in a game, or have to do the same shit over and over, I usually bail.

In this, if the story comes to a bit of a standstill, then the world is so vast and there is so much to see and do, that you just set off on your own little adventures (i.e. find 3 towers, or upgrade hearts to "6" so I can tackle the next bits of the story).

Its just constantly giving you something to do, even if its not pushing you through the story or objectives etc. The rewards for side quests are brilliant - yes, initially you think you are not getting anything decent when given the quest, but then the NPC will drop a little hint, or help with something you have been stuck on - which then pushes you off on a new adventure.

I've honestly not played anything like it in my life!
 
pboreham said:
Ha!! This is MASSIVELY laughable. You've not played it... the game is an absolute masterpiece, you are completely missing the point.
Sorry, but your post is absolute unfounded nonsense!! You really need to play this game yourself to know how amazing it is. I cant stop thinking about it and always eager to play it as often as I can. Cant remember the last game to do that... if ever.
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I read a lot of user reviews that were putting a lot of focus on those issues. But as I said in the next post, before yours, I trust veteran reviewers from EVO web a lot more than anyone else, and I will definitely try the game in the upcoming future.

Just drop some lines now and then to see if the game keeps that high level of brilliance further on.
 
Wish Wii U never got a port of this game.

Seems like it was first developed on Wii U, thats why the game is cursed with 20 FPS.

Imagine this developed for Switch, I'm sure Switch could run it over 60 FPS. Its just the Wii U screwing up the game.

Maybe a patch will get released soon, offering a smooth locked 30 FPS, anf 60FPS while docked.
 
Sami 1999 said:
Wish Wii U never got a port of this game.

Seems like it was first developed on Wii U, thats why the game is cursed with 20 FPS.

Imagine this developed for Switch, I'm sure Switch could run it over 60 FPS. Its just the Wii U screwing up the game.

Maybe a patch will get released soon, offering a smooth locked 30 FPS, anf 60FPS while docked.
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Yea the performance would be better you'd expect - but I just think its a shame as it must have stopped thousands and thousands of Switch sales as people with the Wii U just decided not to jump ship. Made it an easy choice to overlook the Switch.
 
drekkard said:
I read a lot of user reviews that were putting a lot of focus on those issues. But as I said in the next post, before yours, I trust veteran reviewers from EVO web a lot more than anyone else, and I will definitely try the game in the upcoming future.

Just drop some lines now and then to see if the game keeps that high level of brilliance further on.
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It actually feels very lively to me compared to other open world games, where many times even though were fun, felt empty or dead. There's more interaction with your surroundings that makes the game feel more "alive" to me. The performance isn't the best but the art direction is nice. It can get repetitive after a while but I guess that's normal in open world games, but the variety in shrine puzzles adds something to the overall flavor imo. I find myself running, climbing and gliding throughout the world most of the time, even though fast travel is available when you unlock shrines.

On the "go anywhere" note, I literally found my way through to the castle early, did some damage, took a few things and bolted. Wanted to give them (Castle goons) a taste of what's to come later ;)

What I like most about the game though, the many different ways you can approach things from fighting to solving puzzles. You can get very creative trying many different and weird things that might just work perfectly and end up feeling very proud of yourself, lol.



Sami 1999 said:
Wish Wii U never got a port of this game.

Seems like it was first developed on Wii U, thats why the game is cursed with 20 FPS.

Imagine this developed for Switch, I'm sure Switch could run it over 60 FPS. Its just the Wii U screwing up the game.

Maybe a patch will get released soon, offering a smooth locked 30 FPS, anf 60FPS while docked.
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The Switch isn't that more powerful than the Wii U to make it magically support 60fps at 900p. The Wii U has around 160~ gflops while the Switch is near (less than) 400 gflops. That's not enough power for 60fps for a demanding game like Zelda. Other less demanding games can do it of course. The PS4 is around 1.8tflops and PS4 Pro 4.2tflops and even with that jump in tflops it still won't have all games jump to 60fps, especially very demanding ones, so go figure what a miniscule 160gflops to 400gflops would do. They could've given us PS4 power levels in 2017 for much cheaper than a PS4 was in 2013 of course and enjoyed much better looking and performing Nintendo games, but they wanted a tablet and had to go with ARM so this is what they have to work with, and for a tablet, it's good enough now.

Just don't get your hopes too high and enjoy it for what it is.
 
pboreham said:
I just think its a shame as it must have stopped thousands and thousands of Switch sales as people with the Wii U just decided not to jump ship. Made it an easy choice to overlook the Switch.
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I find it bizarre that you wish people were forced into buying a console, that seems like the opposite of choice and a fair state of play for consumers... Surely if it's the only game they'd be interested in anyway, it's a GOOD thing they don't have to spend £300 to play it?!
 
What they could do was develop it on Switch first, and then downgrade it for Wii U.

Or to be honest, they should just patch it and enable Triple Buffer so that the game wouldn't drop to 20 FPS from 30 FPS all of a sudden. I think majority of us here will rather enjoy 27 FPS with some stutters instead of 20 FPS which wbasically looks worse anyway.
 
Chris Davies said:
I find it bizarre that you wish people were forced into buying a console, that seems like the opposite of choice and a fair state of play for consumers... Surely if it's the only game they'd be interested in anyway, it's a GOOD thing they don't have to spend £300 to play it?!
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Would just be nice to have an even bigger install base, but then I guess selfishly, it would have made it even more stressful to get one for launch day :)
 
There's a new update out according to the net and I haven't tried it yet.
Anyone here tried? Any performance improvements?
 
Apparently massively improves frame rate - not to a solid 30 constantly, but much much better.

Lami said:
There's a new update out according to the net and I haven't tried it yet.
Anyone here tried? Any performance improvements?
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I bought my son a switch for XMas 2017 so I won't be able to play this game untill he goes to sleep Christmas night. Ocarina of Time is one of the most magical experiences I have ever had in gaming. I can not wait.
 
but a new Zelda should be in development for the Switch so buying it for just one game isn't true. More like two games. Nintendo really needs one more major IP.
A new Metroid needs to come out too. When i was a kid, my brother and i played the hell out of Metroid. The memories....:CRY:
 
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Been playing it for the last week or two and I can honestly say - its gameplay is one of the best I have seen in this type of games, ever. On any console.
It blows the likes of Skyrim out of the water.

Im quite shocked how a game with such... cartoonish graphics, can have so much depth when it comes to gameplay.
Physics is fantastic. Combat is fantastic.
Weather effects are fantastic.

Story-wise its.... meh, nothing I would not expect from Zelda, but holy shit how good it plays...

Horse riding is as good, if not better than RdR2. Climbing is as good, if not better than Assassins Creed. Combat is almost as fun as Dark Souls..

Enemies AI is fun and engaging. When they drop their weapon - they are trying to retrieve it. When they fall from a horse - they try to mount it again.

And every encounter can be tackled in so many ways that its mindblowing..
Enemy camp in the valley below?

- You can go all in, fighting them all
- you can lure them one by one
- you can shot a flaming arrow into a barrel with gun powder and blow them all up
- you can climb a hill above them, cut a tree and roll it down at them..
Scouting a place and deciding how to take them is as fun as combat itself.

Basically - if you think that something should be possible - it probably is..

And its a first game I ever played, where I decided to cross the mountain and had to turn back half way through. I felt like Gandalf trying to cross the mountain in LOTR. Weather just defeated me.

I was giving out that Nintendo still has it in store for full price after few years, but it is worth every penny.

Brilliant game.
 
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Emroth said:
Been playing it for the last week or two and I can honestly say - its gameplay is one of the best I have seen in this type of games, ever. On any console.
It blows the likes of Skyrim out of the water.

Im quite shocked how a game with such... cartoonish graphics, can have so much depth when it comes to gameplay.
Physics is fantastic. Combat is fantastic.
Weather effects are fantastic.

Story-wise its.... meh, nothing I would not expect from Zelda, but holy shit how good it plays...

Horse riding is as good, if not better than RdR2. Climbing is as good, if not better than Assassins Creed. Combat is almost as fun as Dark Souls..

Enemies AI is fun and engaging. When they drop their weapon - they are trying to retrieve it. When they fall from a horse - they try to mount it again.

And every encounter can be tackled in so many ways that its mindblowing..
Enemy camp in the valley below?

- You can go all in, fighting them all
- you can lure them one by one
- you can shot a flaming arrow into a barrel with gun powder and blow them all up
- you can climb a hill above them, cut a tree and roll it down at them..
Scouting a place and deciding how to take them is as fun as combat itself.

Basically - if you think that something should be possible - it probably is..

And its a first game I ever played, where I decided to cross the mountain and had to turn back half way through. I felt like Gandalf trying to cross the mountain in LOTR. Weather just defeated me.

I was giving out that Nintendo still has it in store for full price after few years, but it is worth every penny.

Brilliant game.
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Welcome to Nintendo Club EmEs??? :P

How did you played it? Docked or portable?

If both, did you notice performance difference?

I've read recently a review from a dedicated Zelda fan, in greek switch FB page and a lot people said the same as you.
Everything from mechanics to gameplay is astonishing , except for it lacks the "original soul" of a Zelda game.
 
I play it both ways. Didnt really notice any performance issues either way.
I heard it had problems at the start, but I presume they were all patched at this stage.

I was never a huge fan of Zelda, so Im not sure what they mean by "Zelda Soul".
I approached it same as any other open world rpg.
Until now I only played some mario games and this weird one, where animals live on the island.
So I was quite shocked that this little console was able to pull something like Zelda off. If it was ported to PS4, even the way it is now, it would still be an amazing game by ps4 standards.
 
Next to the things you've mentioned, what I really like is the size of the world. For me it is nearly perfect. It has all kinds of climate zones, a desert hot as hell, a freezing ice world etc. but at no point the world is too big. Everything I see, I can visit. I barely finish rpgs because of the oversized worlds, my last finished one before Breath of the Wild was Gothic 2 (anybody else hyped for the remake of Gothic btw?). Nevertheless you can dig hundereds of hours in the game, even after finishing it I come back every now and then just for a little visit. Clearly one of my top 3 all-time games.
 
This may sound controversial (and late, 'cause I only got to play this recently thanks to a close friend that lent me his Nintendo Switch just for this) but I've found this game to be extremely over-rated. Yeah, maybe I'm getting too old for this shit (I'm currently 43), but for some reason, game just didn't click at all. Before getting the switch I tried it on an emulator (CEMU, if I'm not mistaken) and was disappointed because my old PC can't run it to the fullest potential (bigger draw distances, at least 1080p resolution and such). But then seeing the switch in action, made me think that even my old 970 and i5 processor made a better job. Which is no surprise, the Switch is virtually a handheld / cellphone with a bigger screen, which you can plug it on a TV. As @Emroth said, I think it's really remarkable what Nintendo could pull off with this game on the switch hardware.

But not as much as the technical issues (which are nothing major, apart for some low draw distances and unsatisfactory upscaling, which seems kinda normal when you play a switch game on a 60" TV), some of the game elements REALLY turned me down, such as:

- Breakable weapons: yes, I know chests get refilled on blood moons, but still, those are still extremely irritating.
- Stamina: not sure if any Zelda game after both N64 "classics" (OoT and MM) had stamina bars/circles (in this case), but stamina's pretty useless IMO. I understand the stamina "circle" for climbing, but not for hang gliding. I sincerely believe the game would be much better without these two, but I guess it's my fault: if I owned a better PC (no way to upgrade it anytime soon) I could play it on the emulator, with these 2 included (not to mention mandatory) mods --> "no stamina" (or "infinite stamina") and "unbreakable weapons".
- Generic enemies: sure, there are some cool bosses, but the most usual enemies are those pig-look-a-likes and lizard-like ones.
- Exploration: unrewarding. There are no more classic dungeons (like in classic Zelda games). They were replaced by more than a hundred or so shrines that all look the exact same, only filled with uninspiring puzzles. Oh, and those irritating na-na-na-na-na korok seeds. Ugh.
- Horse riding: downright pathetic when compared to other games that make horse-riding an important element. I mean, this is Skyrim level (a game from 2011) stuff. I guess it's maybe an incentive to get that motorcycle, who knows.
- Combat: unsatisfactory until you get some good/cool weapons. But then they'll break, and you'll have to resort to "duplicate weapons / transfer durability" glitches, so you have a stock of your favorite weapons... So yeah, just great... You need to glitch the game to make it more enjoyable.
- Story and characters: just too childish for my taste. Sure, maybe my (old) age is to blame here. I've nothing against fantasy adventures and/or fantasy RPG's. Like, I really dug Witcher 3, but the quests and interesting characters (and obviously more adult themes) held it together for me. Nothing like that in Zelda (and understandably so).

And I'm sure my age factors in when I find "A Link to The Past" (for the Super NES, which I played when I was almost a teenager in the early 90's) and "Ocarina of Time" (which I played on the N64 by the late nineties, as an early adult) MUCH MORE groundbreaking games (for the time they were released, obviously) than "Breath of The Wild".

Please don't hate / flame me :))
 
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