Why People Hate Breath of the Wild

Have you ever wondered how someone could hate a game as great as Breath of the Wild? Well then this video is for you. I've found out that there are 3 main reasons why some people hate this game. Lack of proper Zelda dungeons, lack of enemy variety and the weapon durability system. I compare Breath of the Wild to every other 3D Zelda game in this 3 categories to find out if these complaints are valid or not. Join me as I take a journey to find out why people hate one of the highest rated games of all time, Breath of the Wild.

[@KitsuneYojimbo]

I think my main complaint, aside from weapon durability was the massive breach of lore that was the Hylian Shield being able to be broken.

[@hanburgundy4317]

My biggest beef was technology. Tech has always been used very sparingly in Zelda games - we might see one or two pieces of tech, or even a whole dungeon dedicated to it, but the rest of the world is medieval fantasy. Motorcycles and robots and smart phones are EVERYWHERE in BOTW, and the only dungeons are ALL exclusively technological. The main plot revolves around tech. You can't escape it, unless you JUST wander the world, as even most side quests lead to shrines. That said, I love the game lol. The tech is annoying and the plot is very shallow (they try and make it seem deep by hiding it behind lost memories), and I HATE the breakable weapons, and the lack of true dungeons is lame, and there aren't any legendary weapons aside from the Master Sword - but the rest of the game is beautiful and it's so fun to play.

[@ImPersonNation]

@@hanburgundy4317 Finally a complaint that's actually viable. Been waiting for just someone to give me something other than 'it's just not how Zelda's supposed to be'.

[@rgerber]

@@hanburgundy4317 wait what, motorcycles? smartphones? technology? That sounds more like Final Fantasy than Zelda. Yes, Zelda is supposed to be medieval/spirit/fantasy

[@CanalDaLuise]

Well the Hylian Shield is nothing more than a normal Shield that you buy on OoT so... i think being able to break is ok

[@RustyBud]

@@hanburgundy4317 this game was set 100 years in the future from when link went into slumber tho

[@amit_patel654]

What I hated about this game was the lack of mystery - something previous Zeldas did so well. Sure, it was exciting discovering a new area, or seeing how certain side quests played out, but that was about it. What made previous games exciting was the discovery of new unique items. In this game, they pretty much take that away from you. Anytime you completed a shrine, “dungeon”, or opened a new chest, you pretty much knew what you were getting - either another weapon you’ve seen or already have, another spirit orb, or some common item like rupees or something. Remember when opening certain chests in previous games were exciting?

[@KennethSee]

I enjoyed the mystery of how Link lost the 1st time against Ganon unfold.

[@esmooth919]

At least I still looked forward to finding them, because those are valuable items nevertheless.

[@amit_patel654]

They fixed my complaints in Tears of the Kingdom 😊

[@goscrewyaself]

@@amit_patel654 only in the depths. Games still too shallow

[@AMidgetWalrus]

This. The lack of real loot, plus the lack of any real progression in weapons(endgame weapons break just as fast as earlygame weapons due to the enemies you fight being way thiccer) really just made it a flat experience to me. Glad to hear the sequel is better, I was genuinely disappointed when I heard weapon durability returns

[@TheChaosLupin]

Excellent work. Instead of the classic “you don’t like BOTW, you’re just wrong” you took the time to analyze why we some of us didn’t enjoy it at all and the result is “I loved it but I get why you didn’t like it”

[@pressaTD]

Thanks, I tried to look at it as objectively as possible while still trying to keep it entertaining. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@Buggaton]

None of the reviewers I watch called it a flawless masterpiece. Every single one pointed out the problems. Check out Joseph Anderson's BotW critique, even just the first five minutes.

[@cityonahill8687]

@Press A! The problem with me is that it is not a replay able game like Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time with Dungeons and puzzles, and etc. It did not have that same feel, also the health bar with the bosses. It felt like the same boss over and over. Every boss in The Legend of Zelda breath of the wild felt like the same boss with a health bar. Dark Souls and Elden ring have healthbars with their bosses, but the reason why those games are replayable is because you don't just have one character to choose from, you have the Knight, Warrior, Vagabond, Samurai, Hero, Bandit, Confessor, Prophet, Astrologer, Thief, assassin, and etc. All you have is one character to play in The Legend of Zelda breath of the Wild. The reason why link is replayable in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time is because the different themes of the dungeon and bosses. I have played that game and beat it over thousands of times. It is a replay able classic. The Legend of Zelda breath of the wild is a classic too, but it's not replay able. I have spent over 200 hours in The Legend of Zelda breath of the Wild. I'm done, but when tears of the kingdom comes with bosses and dungeons, maybe even exploring underwater. I will be playing that game over and over!!!

[@cityonahill8687]

@@squiggly_lines Nintendo hasn't even scratched the surface of what it could do. If we were still here 30 years from now, which we won't even come close to that. You would see a huge difference in Nintendo, PlayStation, and Microsoft. The graphics and gameplay hasn't even reached its full potential. Look at the world today and have you ever seen the horizon. Games will never get there because we don't have much time left, but in 30 years from now. You would see a huge difference. Things in the background wouldn't be popping up everywhere. You would see it so clear. For example, Elden Ring. I played and beat Elden Ring multiple times, but it is so not with its full potential in graphics. It's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it's not even close. Look at Hogwarts Legacy. It's not even close there yet. My best friend was amazed at what the PS4 Pro could do and I said, games hasn't even reached its full potential. Later on, He was amazed what the PS5 to do and he said, you are right. I told him, the PS5 is amazing, but it still hasn't reached its full potential. Nintendo is very smart, they are going very slow and they're making a lot of money. PlayStation and Microsoft are trying to speed up the process, but what they don't realize and many people don't realize is that we do not have much time here on this Earth for everything to be as a normal day. Nintendo doesn't even know it either. Just enjoy what they have because it will never reach its full potential. I have a relationship with God and that will reach way over our full potential. If you want a relationship with God, just Believe on the Son of God by putting your full Trust on the Redemptive work that, He did on the cross of calvary, He paid for the admission of all our sins past, present, and future sins. He was buried and He rose on the third day. You don't have to give up anything, you just come as you are. You believe in that, you are Saved and Sealed for the day of redemption and you cannot lose your salvation. He will never leave you or forsake you. The point is, just enjoy what they have because it won't last for long.

[@cityonahill8687]

@@squiggly_lines No one needs to act like the Jewish leaders and Pharisees. Many act like the Jewish leaders and Pharisees, but Jesus did not come for the righteous, but the sinners to repentance. Acting righteous is not the way to go.

[@omegamatsu]

The problem isn't actually breakable weapons, but they are a symptom of a larger issue. Zelda previous had both extrinsic and intrinsic reasons for players to explore, usually weighted more towards extrinsic. BOTW increased the amount of intrinsic reasons, but lost an even greater amount of extrinsic reasons as a trade off. The durability system was supposedly put in to have players utilize more of their arsenal. Fair point, but permanently losing items feels bad. An improvement would have been a smith that is available to repair certain mid to high tier weapons with resources so you feel like you are actually progressing. Which brings me to the other point: progression. The reason I love the Zelda and Metroid series is mainly the feeling of when you get a new major item and you now see previously untraversable areas in a new light. BOTW has almost none of that. You get all your runes as part of the tutorial, and beyond that, the only significant permanent upgrades to your character are health and stamina upgrades, armor upgrades, and champion abilities. No dungeon items that recontextualize combat, exploration or mobility at all really. What is my motivation for looting enemy camps and exploring new areas once I realize the reward for my efforts is fleeting anyway. Thats my main gripe.

[@pressaTD]

You actually just explained in a very concise way, my problems with the game. A+ comment.

[@jaysistar2711]

Good points. Their new required features were not balanced against the (should have been) higher weighted previous game features that made it both "a Zelda game" and fun to play. It's a great feeling near the end of the game to see a "full" (not paged, unless there's a fixed number of pages) item screen for example.

[@caioleite5579]

The problem I have with itens in the older 3D Zelda games is that 90% of them arent fun to use, they only work as keys to be used in very specific situations. Like, what is the point of having a ton of itens if at the end of the day I will only the Master Sword and a shield? Maybe the bow too, but everything else is only useful in very specific situations. BOTW on the other hand gives a ton of weapon itens that are fun to use, I was very hyped when I got my first of those blue guardian swords that look like a lightsaber, and not because it would be a key to open certain arbitrary gates, but because it would be fun to smack enemies with it.

[@Outside998]

If they wanted to make players utilize more of their arsenal, why not create enemies that can only be killed with a certain type of weapon? For example, heavily armored enemies or rock types need to be attacked with blunt weapons, enemies that have small areas for attack with arrows, and so on and so forth. That would force the player to use more weapons, and it would solve the enemy variety issue.

[@Akalistos]

*_"The problem isn't actually breakable weapons, but they are a symptom of a larger issue."_* You forgot a few things here. *1: Open World Woes* - Like you said, BotW lack progression. There's a good dopamine rush you get when you complete a hard dungeons, figure out a complex puzzle or just manage one of seven McGuffin of Wisdom. In Breath of the Wild, you don't need anything. You can go directly to Ganon (if you break the game or get the runes) and just waltz in there. The items that might be helpful can be either acquired via Amiibo or you need to trek a semi-dead world. You can even kill him without one. If you thought that sailing the Hyrulian Sea was a borefest, it has nothing on BotW open world. There's billion challenge, sure, but they take a minute to complete, isn't satisfying and mostly not clever. You don't get your dopamine rush here. Worst of all, you don't sense that you are getting better, better equipped or just being ready to face Ganon. That's the problem with open world. Is all about size and quantity and not quality. *2: Discarded Legacy* - If you ask anyone above 14 year old to explain in as few words what the Legend of Zelda is about, everyone would tell you about A green clad Elf / Hylian hero. It's the basis. When I heard they wanted to see what make a Zelda tick by removing anything, the ICONIC tunic wouldn't even register in my mind. And yet, they did. You're give an blue shirt instead. The True tunic can only be unlocked via 100% the game which kinda defeat the whole thing. It should have been the other way around. Now, if you want your green hero in the game, you can always buy AMIIBO and save-scum until you got one of the legacy costume which will be inferior to the actual blue shirt. This sound weird but I know I'm not the only one. When the original concept for movie sonic dropped, a lot of old SEGA fan lost their collective shit until it was address. We care about how something we follow is portraited. It's also a scummy way to force amiibo down your collective throats. *3: Electric Powered Master Sword* - The Immortal sword of evil's bane that is essentially alive with the slumbering soul of a companions... need to recharge... to... function. Lore is important to a lot of people. That's why there were theories, timelines, point of reference and debate made about it. MATPAT of Game Theory's fame - or Infamy since he once stated that he get things wrong on purpose to make a better episode so often that TV TROPE is tracking the guy record - made millions upon millions out of the fan's love of lore. The dev could have done something lore wise but didn't bother which make the whole thing forced and stupid. Nah, You get nothing and we'll charge you for a unbreakable sword.

[@markherman1211]

I don't want to run around with a mullet in pajamas. I want a tunic and a hat. I need that tunic and hat to be green. I don't want to hunt for materials, I don't want to cook, I don't want vehicles at all and I don't give a s**t about outfits and cosmetics. All I want is Link and a classic, dungeon-filled quest with Zelda at the end. You can't "improve" perfection.

[@MotoMechzorz]

It was the lack of interesting rewards that wore on me during my playthrough. The reward for exploration is almost exclusively the seed guys or a shrine. There's so few interesting things or locations to actually find, its all so samey.

[@DeadAugur]

Oh wow. This sums my feelings up exactly. I feel it’s missing a sense of progression and when a lot of rewards for shrines is just a breakable weapon, idk, why even play it?

[@DanmakuFriedChicken]

this is absolutely my #1 complaint on this game. It plays into the durability system for me because I be like "hey i went all this way just to find a sword that will break in a few hits!...great"

[@bobfaget100]

It's missing everything. Its a bland game all around but they sold it off as "unique"

[@schnek8927]

@@bobfaget100 It really is just completely bland. Not a single aspect of the game is above mediocre, with most even being flat out bad... And it doesn't even look good! Am i the only one who sees it for the muddy and low-res blur that it is? Everyone keeps praising how beautiful it is, and here i am genuinely playing PS2 games that look ten times better... People just see fake grass in games and go "OMG GUD GRUFFICS!!!!1111". Anyway...

[@supremepony8255]

@@schnek8927 It was overrated in order to help sell the switch’s new hardware. Gaming journalist all lay in bed with these companies unless they feel locked out

[@ZeldaplusSmallville]

Thank God someone said it. I've played Zelda since I was a wee boy and I didn't even care to finish BOTW on the first play-through. It didn't feel like a Zelda game at all. Felt like the developers took Zelda-like aspects and put them in a completely different game.

[@KyleEvra]

Agreed.

[@nourata.5893]

FOR REAL

[@VTWS]

Same. I didn’t mind weapon durability, but you spend most of your time in the most generic open world ever, characters are boring kids’ show characters with no depth (same issue since Skyward Sword), dungeons are bad, shrines are just generic minigames, bosses are all the same boss, combat is worse dark souls, and being able to fly AND climb everything makes all traversal the same. In either shrines, dungeons or the overworld you spend most of your time walking around (often repetitively just to re-do a puzzle). BotW was an uncreative mash-up of every game gimmick that was commercially successful at the time, with a Zelda skin. And the sequel doubled down on that (it’s a sandbox game with a Zelda skin). Majora’s Mask wasn’t even meant to be a Zelda game but managed to keep the feel better than these ones.

[@glitchy000]

For me it's: - Exploration is exciting until the realization of every secret has the same answer - Story exists where it should be either all in or all out - Systems punish instead of rewarding (durability, stamina) - Less is more, more is less

[@eetuthereindeer6671]

The weapon durability system felt nasty. I understood it at the beginning of the game when you fought with sticks and wooden clubs but after getting some real smithed weapons they still break in a fight. You can't really be happy about a new cool weapon you found because 30 hits and its gone. I guess that does help weapon variety thought so you don't just end up using 2 weapons but it still feels weird

[@isodoubIet]

To me it really hindered weapon variety because I kept using bombs instead of those sharpened pringles the game likes to give you. And I know I'm not the only one because I have a highly upvoted comment on another video where I say basically this.

[@glitchy000]

There's a reason most of us skipped the Giant's Knife and Razor Sword.

[@lordhellstrande2763]

Weapon durability can and has been done right alongside a ton of weapon variety. The difference is BotW pretty much forces weapon variety rather than letting the player think "I want to use this for a change"

[@hiphopefx]

It causes me to use more common weapons, and horde my better weapons, so I’m rarely ever just out there using all the best gear that I possibly can. And when I’m actually using the weapon I actually want to be using, it breaks cause I’m having fun using the hell out of it.

[@DerezzedMan]

In 99% of games you fight with the same weapons throughout the whole game and that’s cool

[@TheDiamondSea]

There’s no proper reward for exploring or completing shrines, not only because of weapon durability but lack of weapon variety. And the shrines felt too disconnected from the overworld - just puzzles for the sake of having puzzles.

[@edwardblackhanded3285]

Yes, and thats good. Why ppl always want a reward. I just playing for fun, and i love puzzles so i dont need motivation for doing this. Are u training in real life to get something? Or read book for a reward? No! U do it because u like it just doing it.

[@obvioushieidude7668]

@@edwardblackhanded3285 Video games should NOT be like real life.

[@edwardblackhanded3285]

@@obvioushieidude7668 where i said videogames should be like in rl?

[@obvioushieidude7668]

@@edwardblackhanded3285 " Are u training in real life to get something? Or read book for a reward? No! U do it because u like it just doing it." Right here. Also you're wrong about the puzzles/shrines. They are mildly fun at first, but they get boring after awhile. Same with exploring. You explore this vast land with little to nothing in it, and get little to nothing out of it. There is no incentive to keep playing the game after beating the main quest. Speaking of the main quest, that is also lackluster.

[@edwardblackhanded3285]

@@obvioushieidude7668 but i dont mean there that game need to be real, you overthinking. Lol. But its true, if you do something only for reward thats means you dont like it for real, and pushes yourself for doing it. Just skip it. I will do shrines and dungeons even if there will be no reward. Caz i like solve puzzles. And yeah they should make it harder, some was rly boring. Thats true.

[@mrhobs]

You're forgetting perhaps the most important reason. Lack of emotionally compelling characters and story. (I did "only" put in 70 hours, barely accomplishing anything, so maybe all the good stuff is hidden in the next 70 hours...)

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

I've spent several hundred hours in the game and can confirm there's almost none of this. Zelda and her father get some development through the memories and diary entries but it's nothing like the personality you see in most of the other games, nothing like Tatl, Midna, or (even if you hate her) Fi. The other side characters are barely more than a singular anime stereotype, and the other world NPCs have no characterization at all.

[@mrhobs]

@@jonathanwilliams1271 Hmm... kinda depressing. You get alot with BOTW, but at a pretty hefty cost for those of us who love feeling like we're part of an actual story... Keep the sandbox gameplay to Super Mario please... heh.

[@YoUtUbEOFFICIALrealnotrick]

@@jonathanwilliams1271 That is so depressing

[@jeremyhahn2478]

I've honestly never hated a video game until this one. I wanted my money back. Zelda was my favorite franchise in gaming, but this game ruined it for me. It was just too boring and unrewarding. It felt like Nintendo made no effort in the game other than the visuals. Also, Link really needs more of a personality in this day and age. I just can't get into a story with a main character that does not speak or emote in a real way. I don't get why Nintendo is willing to change the working parts of the formula that people enjoy, but refuses to acknowledge the parts that need updating. This game just sucked.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

I was willing to give it a try as long as it was a standalone gimmick. LoZ has often implemented gimmicks in its titles, some better, some worse. If I didn't like one entry, I knew there would be another in a year or two that I could get behind. But TotK took OVER SIX YEARS and is the exact same bland open world design as BotW and has thoroughly and completely destroyed my love for what was once my favorite series.

[@williamferdon3088]

The weapon fragility was part of the awkward inventory system, which was the bigger problem. Combat getting interrupted by the need to equip another weapon by entering and exiting a menu.

[@firenze6478]

These mechanics really only work in actual survival games where resources actually need to be managed and not where your handed everything in excess and especially not in a series that used to be about Link’s progression.

[@MarshallTheArtist]

My biggest frustration with the game was the difficult control scheme, especially the automatic climbing whenever Link touches a wall.

[@TheDiamondSea]

Yeah my main issue is the combat system, which everyone else seems to love but I find very clunky and unintuitive.

[@glitchy000]

@@TheDiamondSea Not to mention hitting enemies makes a sort of squishy noise and they have next to no reaction. Critical hits feel good but are usually the result of breaking your weapon :/

[@iliveinapuddle986]

​@@TheDiamondSea I didn't like the combat system either, I could kind of get the lock-on and dodge mechanic but I could never get the timings right. Plus the weapons breaking meant that I kept having to stop mid-fight and switch to a different weapon and it broke the flow for me.

[@someeggplant]

Those were my major issues as well. Link wouldn't stop climbing, and the buttons were mapped unintuitively to the controller. Wouldn't be an issue if they let me map my own controller.

[@YoUtUbEOFFICIALrealnotrick]

Or how often you'd accidentally click the left analogue stick and start crouching in stealth mode. I read whole forum posts about this problem happening. The pro controller has a very sensitive analogue stick button and it happens constantly on the larger controller for the WiiU.

[@jinyboi]

The real problem with this game is the lack of a sense of mystery. Exploration was fun for the first few hours but things became stale but everything you do leads to a shrine or a korok seed

[@kippcharles3181]

Not having the hookshot in botw was such a missed opportunity. Imagine being able to hookshot up a mountain side, and then starting the climb. It would probably be the most useful the item has ever been The Gale Boomerang would also fit in perfectly with the game's physics. Hopefully they bring back traditional dungeons and dungeon items in botw2

[@ImPersonNation]

The gale boomerang, I'm getting a mental image of two things. 1: Spin attacking with a two hander to slowly lift up, and float a bit when/if the bar hits zero. 2: One handed spin attack causing a Revali's Gale of sorts (of course way less powerful) that you can ride with the glider.

[@Mitjitsu]

You get a special ability which helps you with that.

[@kippcharles3181]

@@Mitjitsu No reason why they can't coexist. The hookshot could be used for smaller cliffs so you can save Revali's Gale for later

[@Mitjitsu]

@@kippcharles3181 Given you can climb just about any surface in the the game the hookshot wouldn't have added that much.

[@drummasteraj]

The hook shot would’ve ruined the stamina system. Sure it charged urbosas ability to different tiers but that would be it, plus gliding and swimming. If you get the Zora armor though swimming is irrelevant.

[@gringomoderfoquer8287]

I don't think enemy variety is much of a preference thing. I'm confident no one would complain if there was more unique enemies

[@sharmac2504]

I feel like I'm just running around collecting mushrooms, nothing happens.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

These three are probably the MOST complained about Zelda elements, but there are actually a couple others that are almost as complained about: - Music: There is almost no music at all when exploring, the few times you hear it are in towns or cutscenes, and most of the real songs in BotW don't hold up against the other titles. This was a huge killing point for me and made it feel soulless. - Story: The NPCs have almost no personality besides a few of the secondary characters, and most of the "personality" that is present is just one-note anime stereotypes (Paya is the shy girl who likes the main character but won't say it, Urbosa is the stoic warrior, Mipha is the kind cleric, Impa is the elderly sage). There are a few standouts like Sidon but even he didn't really compare to Tatl, Midna, or even Darunia. The side quests are +90% fetch quests with no story at all. Meanwhile the main quest is no more than: "Hyrule failed to defend itself 100 years ago and lots of people died. Link must now try again." - Progression: Zelda has always had progression through the entire game, with items acting like not just situational weapons but also "keys" to "locks" through the game (ex. megaton hammer for rocks, fire arrows for ice blockades). For better or worse, at its core it's more of a Metroidvania than an open world game. BotW gives you nearly *_EVERYTHING_* within the first 30 minutes. You can enhance the abilities, HP count, and stamina, but it's not "new". The only thing that was marginally new was the armor sets, and they mainly just made Link look different though a few had unique minor buffs. Opening chests very quickly lost their magic when you knew what you would find 99% of the time would be something you've already found before. Of course with most complaints there's a lot of subjectiveness that makes some people tolerate the problems but that's another reason why lots of Zelda fans were disappointed.

[@rjrhodes4549]

Considering that no other Zelda even featured a weapons durability system, that should have counted against BotW.

[@cptmuffy]

Exactly my thoughts, he placed a question like it was undecided. Of course, the weapons' durability is a negative because it is not a Zelda thing. It never was.

[@YoUtUbEOFFICIALrealnotrick]

*the guy who uploaded the video is biased and has no idea how to compare or contrast any of the games in the series* They all have ups and downs, but they weren't as tepid and stupid as some of the decisions they made in Breath of the Wild.

[@phoenixreborn7579]

The thing I like about Zelda isn't just the dungeons, but also the rewards you get from the dungeons and how you can use them to interact with the world in new ways. You use these items to discover and unlock new areas. Breath of the Wild, beyond the plateau, has no such thing. You're only rewarded with heart pieces or bag upgrades. This makes the world feel rather empty and it discourages exploration substantially.

[@Jane-oz7pp]

My absolute rage when I spent half an hour climbing a cliff to find... yet another fucking korok.

[@saricubra2867]

​@@Jane-oz7pp That makes it a bad Action-Adventure game.

[@FlyingMonkey208]

I completely agree, this is exactly how i feel about BOTW.

[@rpgfanatic9719]

This is why legends Arceus is a better game without even trying, and Arceus is a bad game too.

[@HilariousReveal]

The main reason for disliking botw and by extension totk is the lack of rewards for exploration. If the main gimmick of the game is exploring, but the rewards for said exploration is incredibly uninteresting, then what is even the point?

[@rrsidentfrickhoe]

It's because a lot of zelda fans find exploring fun

[@HilariousReveal]

@@rrsidentfrickhoe what's fun about it?

[@rrsidentfrickhoe]

@@HilariousReveal 🤣you don't like exploring and call yourself a zelda fan

[@rrsidentfrickhoe]

@@HilariousReveal good exploration is my reward

[@HilariousReveal]

@@rrsidentfrickhoe I never called myself a zelda fan and I didn't say anything about not liking exploring. I said that the rewards for exploring is lackluster at best. How is it "good exploration" if there's no reward? That's just walking around...

[@theonewhowrotethis5681]

Giant's Knife from OoT and Razor Sword from MM are decent comparisons for durability. Giant's Knife has a durability of 8 while Razor Sword has a durability of 100. Both weapons can be reforged into better weapons (Giant's Knife -> Biggoron's Sword and Razor Sword -> Gilded Sword, respectively), so I'd make the argument that BotW really should've allowed you to reforge weapons into equal or better weapons once they break. Thanks for making this video!

[@pressaTD]

That’s a really good point, I totally forgot about both those weapons and even wind waker has those weapons you can pick up from enemies… looks like I messed up :/ lol glad you enjoyed the video though

[@lpfan4491]

Honestly, the comparison is still a bit scuffed. The Giant's Knive is meant to be a jokeweapon and a scam. It actually doesn't even interact with the Biggoron Sword at all(So one cannot really talk about reforging here, one simply does not need one for the other). And the Razor Sword is barely even used by players because it is always preferable to upgrade it to the stronger weapon. Ironically, I actually feel as though the deku sticks are the most logical comparison because their system is kinda the same except inversed, they break after a single hit each but one can have a stack of them for a certain amount of uses with double damage(Which imo is better balanced in the context of OOT's Damage-to-HP ratio, but that's another topic) and longer range. And that actually sorta unvails the true issue with Botw's system. Having breakable weapons as a resource in a game like this works better when there is a weaker true unbreakable(Like the kokiri sword) to fall back on. The mastersword is unavailable for as long as the player doesn't find it/Can't pull it and it is not a true unbreakable outside of the final boss(The long cooldown-timer basically disables it for the rest of a fight if it breaks).

[@JohnnyFromVirginia]

That’s the thing I wanted. If there were weapons I was really jazzed about, I should’ve been able to forge them to make them more durable, more deadly, more effective etc. sort of like Skyrim but dumbed down.

[@Jeremy-yp8eh]

There's also the destructibility of the Deku shield in OoT and shield destructibility in Skyward Sword

[@glitchy000]

Low investment = breakable. High investment = unbreakable.

[@rgerber]

The kind of strict linearity and still having a sense of exploration. Each time you unlock a new are or get a item or action that suddenly makes sense and continuosly opens up the world is so rewarding. Everything kind of comes together. Thats what makes Zelda what it is. A beautifuly crafted construction where everything has it's purpose (maybe not the many grottos in OOT or way too much Rupees, or the bow you rarely even use and all the other stuff... but yeah)

[@schnek8927]

- "Each time you unlock a new are or get a item or action that suddenly makes sense and continuosly opens up the world is so rewarding. Everything kind of comes together. Thats what makes Zelda what it is." This is actually very important, and is something i feel even people who really like zelda games seem to overlook a lot. Seeing how your new items interact with and unlock new parts of the world is such a wonderfull aspect of zelda, and it's something the latest games are kind of missing... Even Twilight Princess, one of my favourites, doesn't do a great job at this. I love Phantom hourglass for this very reason. It's sense of progression with items is unrivalled in my opinion. Both in the new ways you can interact with the world, and how the new items are used in temples. (Especially the temple of the ocean king. I really don't get why so many people hate it, it's fantastic)

[@psychedelicartistry]

A fourth category you could've explored is lack of music variety/epic music. The music felt really meh in BoTW. Imagine going to Lon Lon Ranch remains and hearing the epic Malon's Theme or having a Sandship or Stone Tower Temple sounding track in the desert Camel, a water temple or great bay temple theme for the elephant, a fire temple/lanayru mines theme for the lizard and a city in the sky style theme for the Bird. Imagine if the dungeons were massive, as well. Hell, they could've hired like 5 more level designers specifically for the main dungeons, and turned them into puzzle box icons unrivaled by any Zelda game. I will give BotW a break, though, considering it was more of an experimentation game to see what worked and what didn't. Throwing a bunch of ideas at the wall and having a 97 meta critic score is still pretty impressive. I heard the new TotK has like seven dungeons in it, so I'm stoked to finally start playing it today. I know, though, that if I ever become a game dev, I can create a concept similar to the rotating parts of a dungeon and turn it into an epic puzzle box like the water temple. I have very good spatial awareness and do abstract artwork/write/photography so I'm very creative. Ideas like that, even though lacking in BotW, at the very least helped bring new ideas to the table.

[@YoUtUbEOFFICIALrealnotrick]

There is so little music that I often thought something was wrong with the game.

[@amsxXxevo8]

My biggest complaint is being such a massive world, it lacked flushed out dungeons. Like, its huge open world and it had less that dungeons than "oot" and the technology of that day. I feel they added all the shrines to fill it in. I mean, skyrim has sooo mush to do in the world. Sooo much dungeons. It really lacked there for me. I would have been ok with the breaking system if they had it where you could find ingredients to make a repair kits on the go. Compared to other games with breaking systems that the weapons break slower, they could have tuned them with an update.

[@lpfan4491]

What I don't like is that they felt the need to pad out the world with fillershrines. The shine of rewards-type of shrines is just worthless. Sure, they are harder to get to or involve a quest, but it's still so incredibly bootleg. It's like they couldn't think of any clever challenges anymore, so they just said "here you go, you earned it...maybe."

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

I feel like Skyrim also handled durability relatively well through enchanting. Your weapons never break, but the enchantments on them run out and some items have unique enchantments. Additionally, many enemies have vulnerabilities to specific types of enchantments. For example if I'm fighting mages, I'll switch to a sword that drains magicka, whereas if I'm fighting off undead I'll use Dawnbreaker. And the best part is that the enchantments can be RECHARGED, meaning it never feels like I'm wasting a good weapon on a weak enemy.

[@awindwaker4130]

My problem with the game was that you spend 80% of the time walking across an empty field. It gets boring. Where's the story, dungeons, etc? If you want to make an open world, great, but you can't leave it 80% empty.

[@spunchii134]

I also hate the boring empty map, the lack of rewards from exploring, the repetitive shrines, the insanely low stamina and how you need more then a full bar fur it to be useful. The lack of an overworld music (random piano key presses is not good enough to be looped for hours. I am also not the biggest fan of elemental effects, such as heat and cold. I find it annoying to have to carry extra armor just for that. Also there are from what i can think of, two items that can break. First is the big goron sword in Ocarina of time, and the second one is the wooden shield from various games that will burn up if you get hit by fire or fall in lava.

[@cruiz387]

Pretty much why I couldn’t get through it. I don’t hate it, but I just couldn’t find enough enjoyment in it to keep me invested. I’ll go back one day, but the lack of progression through dungeons was my biggest gripe.

[@danielfonville1840]

Damn man, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it I don't know why I like it so much I always come back to it.

[@shinnkun3730]

@@danielfonville1840 My main prob in this game is the storytelling and dungeons, For real dungeons in this game is freaking trash , its so easy compare to prev game like tp and ww. Prev title i get stuck and call it a day, with this one its so easy figured it out.

[@sarahsherratt6242]

To be honest I never finished either. It was dragging too much for me. Those dungeons felt so hollow for me. I didn't want to just go to the castle and just storm it, although I tried. It needed to be built up in story to make it worthwhile for me

[@YoUtUbEOFFICIALrealnotrick]

Are there really no fucking dungeons at all? Is it just shrines?

[@igormachado2194]

A lot of the complaints I have about this game are never adressed anywhere. Personally, I found it exausting how for every single upgrade you can buy you need materials. God, do I hate stopping whatever quest I'm engaged in to look for God knows how many ancient gagoos and monster bits so I can finally buy a sword or an upgrade I need. Also, sometimes you go to great lenghts to accomplish a subquest only for the reward to be very disappointing. This kind of thing made me stop doing these kinds of tasks later in the game. Another thing that bothered me - and this was specifically me, a person who mostly dislikes open world games, but is a huge Zelda fan - is how, even though you can complete the game in any order you want, trying do so before you complete at least 40 shrines is a bad idea, seeing as how some of the enemies can wipe out 7 hearts in a single attack. Adding to that the fact that over the course of a "mainline quest" ALL of your weapons will break and you'll end up using clubs by the end of it and it really makes me nostalgic for the linearity of the regular Zelda games, where the level of challenge is adapted to your progress in the game.

[@officialdazer]

You're right, he wrongly turned the huge number of problems with this game into 3 things unfairly and made an arbitrary check list instead of actually critiquing the game at its core.

[@Antonio-is2cn]

"Are we playing a Zelda game or Minecraft?"

[@M4rioL]

This channel is going to blow up. Guaranteed. You’re doing everything right my dudes

[@pressaTD]

Don’t worry, remember you when we have a million subs!!

[@phyllojoe5346]

@@pressaTD I just found you guys and was super surprised of few you had! High production quality

[@richardstilettos420]

I really like these videos where you go in depth as to what people don't like about games instead of just saying "I'm right, you're wrong!" I have never played BOTW. After hearing about the weapon degradation system, I was immediately uninterested. My friends tried to tell me that it doesn't hinder the experience, but weapon degradation always reminds me of Silent Hill Origins.

[@pressaTD]

Yeah I feel like the weapon system is a big turn off for a lot of people. In practice it’s not as bad as it seems but I can see how it’s a deal breaker for a lot of people.

[@TheChaosLupin]

Weapon degradation was what made me quit the game

[@williamgunderson7365]

@@pressaTD it basically was for me in the end, even though I’ve been a huge Zelda fan since I played OOT on the N64 as a five year old. Ocarina and Wind Waker made the franchise for me and were a huge part of my childhood.

[@SoupyMittens]

the weapon system is fine, it just makes it so that you cant just get some god weapon and use it for the rest of the game

[@SoupyMittens]

@@shadow4040 Its not really a Zelda game, but its probably my favorite game of all time. The original Zelda formula needs a bit of a break

[@nappa1381]

I personally wish that BOTW had a weapon degradation system similar to the one found in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. It would allow players to still keep weapons they're really fond of, giving them the opportunity to repair them with the appropriate materials, while also giving incentive to gather and use other weapons when their favorites inevitably degrade. The equipment in BOTW just feels too disposable, and it feels even worse when you find a weapon with really good bonus stats, because you know it won't last.

[@yourehereforthatarentyou]

i really fucking love the drill spears in this game but there’s so few of them it’s not even worth looking for any to use bc i know they’ll be gone before i know it

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

No weapon degradation. It’s NOT Zelda.

[@Soradus]

I just wish BOTW had REAL dungeons in the open world area. They could have also had unbreakable unique items that make world travel easier or faster, or even more fun! I love BOTW, I just wish it had a more Zelda aspect to it.

[@dvsdez]

Master sword only unbreakable weapon unfortunately

[@yourheroes5874]

My honest opinion, for me the whole world feels barren sometimes. Leaving a town, landmark, ruins. There isn’t really much of anything but trees, fields, and water. Nothing screams hey explore here. The game heavily relied on quest and repetitive dungeons to get people

[@kyordannydelvalle523]

How people rightfully scrutinized repetitive sidequests from ubisoft, bethesda but are too forgiving for botw and totk boring and repetitive sidequests that unlike other open world, at least they give you story, information of the world or the npc are interesting to talk to whereas botw and totk they are generic trope that all their character amount to is asking link for the most basic things when they can do it themselves.

[@thebreakdown96]

The other thing I didnt really like was kind of the lack of boss fights, those are some of the most epic and memorable parts of each Zelda game. Also there's kind of a feeling of loneliness in the game the towns and npcs not being nearly as funny, memorable or reoccurring as other Zelda titles. For example the way you always run into tingle in other titles or even the pirates in Wind waker, even the boat is a character that talks to you, not to mention the allies you pick up to help you out along the way like Medli etc. or even Navi who's always by your side in Ocarina of time. We all have "Hey Listen!" burned into our minds from when we were kids. There's nothing really like that in Botw, it feels like kinda of an empty barely populated world.

[@nickhippen2850]

I mean, the game does technically take place after the apocalypse. Would be kind of weird if there were huge cities everywhere.

[@thebreakdown96]

@@nickhippen2850 you don't really need huge cities just good reoccurring characters. Bro or just someone! no tingle, No Navi, no talking boat buddy, u just spend all your time killing the same goblins or getting drenched and sliding down the sides of mountains

[@stefanlynch3210]

@@thebreakdown96 they had beetle and that's about it. But I do agree.

[@DemiCape]

@@thebreakdown96There was the bird guy that plays an instrument everywhere, I found him interesting, so breath of the wild do have some characters that are like that.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

@@DemiCape But Kass is not a companion. Sure you see him for eight shrines and sometimes at stables, but that's not remotely the same thing, and with how big the world is, those sightings end up a terribly small amount of the play time.

[@SilverSpireZ]

Weapon durability and the lack of proper dungeons were a huge turnoff, and are why I have struggled to even make significant progress in the game after multiple attempts. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of the series, but I have played several Zelda games before. And the most gripping part of those games were the dungeons and the feeling of progression you get from them. Breath of the Wild lacks both of those for me, especially when your only rewards are several dozen mini-shrines that end super quickly, weapons that I don’t want to use because they’ll break after a couple minutes, and Korok Seeds that pad out the runtime. I’m a fan of something like Metroid because it always feels like you’re progressing towards something, and you’re always finding new tools that can help you on your journey; thus, you have a reason to explore every nook and cranny of the world. It doesn’t matter how big your world is to me. If it’s not fun to explore, why bother? I get why so many people love it, but I just don’t. I always heard from my friends that are fans that what people love the most about BotW is that it completely changes the Zelda formula, and what people hate the most about BotW is that it completely changes the Zelda formula. And that seems to ring true the more time passes. If TotK manages to fix progression and weapon durability, then it’ll likely be much more appealing to me and several others.

[@TheLeetCasualGamer]

Two brief things that I don't like about BOTW Part of a Zelda game for me is having some limit on what you can do from the lack of tools you carry at the start. It makes it feel like you're finding things to conquer the land further. BOTW feels too free to a point of lacking incentive to progress. Repetitive rewards. Since everything is a shrine or camp, what's giving me the urge to explore the world. Just do all the easy shrines and get the same reward. Anyway, nice to hear a more neutral voice on this address things we don't like. It's just a lot more pleasant then a lot of areas on this topic.

[@BlaizeTheDragon]

It's why I liked skyward swords upgradeable tools. It made all chests exciting because, who knows, it could have a material you need to make the beetle or something better. Now I fully respect the sheika slate can be upgraded but it's more or less just a trip to the woods and back and it's only a cooldown upgrade for the most part.

[@roundninja]

You could compare BotW to a popular non-Zelda game with weapon durability, such as Dark Souls or World of Warcraft. My estimate is that compared to those, the weapons break too fast. If you ask me, the very existence of weapon durability in Zelda may be a bad idea, because it undermines the sense of joy in exploration and discovery, and makes combat more unpleasant.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

I really don't understand the love people have for exploration. I wish I could get as into it as them but the more I adventured, the more I realized how repetitive everything was. "Oh, there are trees here. Oh look, there are trees there too... wow, a mountain! I haven't seen that before..." it started to feel like the entire thing was randomly computer generated, and I'm honestly not convinced that's not the case.

[@rwdplz1]

I've been playing and beating Zelda games since 1987, I just played BotW for the first time today for an hour - and I hated it. Dull, boring, uninspired, tedious, it feels like a Zelda-themed game. Started looking around, and it looks like the game is just polarizing AF. The breaking weapons is just the worst part of the game.

[@Roflcrabs]

It's such a sad realization. Gonna assume you have at least 10 years on me, I grew up with Ocarina of Time and I played every entry at some point. Obviously we have our favorites and least favorites but at the very least each entry was a fun time and offered a satisfying journey in my opinion. Botw though.. besides the weapons breaking I did enjoy the first few hours in the honeymoon phase. Zelda games being bad just didn't compute for me but after about 20 hours I hated the game. I really tried but the content repeats to a disgusting degree. What I'm saying is you hated it after an hour.. you should play it out of morbid curiosity just to see how bad it gets. Outside of like 5 bosses and 8 NPCs every asset in the game is recycled and reused to pad out gameplay time and milk it for what it's worth. It is breathtakingly insulting and the fact that people have completed it and come away satisfied makes me weep for humantiy.

[@Ianmar1]

​@@RoflcrabsThe people who enjoy it have very short attention spans, and are in need of constant distraction. ADHD is on the rise. I miss the delayed gratification of the previous entries.

[@chemicalbeef3128]

​@Roflcrabs "oh no, people aren't as bitter as me and like different things! I therefore fear for humanity because I'm a narcissist and everything has to be how I want it to be"

[@chemicalbeef3128]

​@Ianmar1 potentially the stupidest conclusion on this thread of incels.

[@aneasteregg8171]

You know, if it were just some game I don't like that others love, that would be whatever. One of many, I'd just shrug it off as "not for me". But the fact it is part of a series I absolutely love, while making huge changes that massively detract from the experience for me? That's what makes feel a sense of vitriol for it. Because, in all probability, it's killed off the classic 3D Zelda formula. Why would Nintendo bother going back when they're making more money than ever with the new style?

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

That's what makes this my most disliked game ever. On its own merits, it's a fun time, while flawed it's still at least a 7/10. But the fact that this is all we'll see for a loooong time (likely decades), and that development for these takes more time than can ever be justified (SIX years for $70 DLC), that's why I despise it. I'm just done with Zelda until they get tired of this bland system.

[@firenze6478]

The problem with weapon durability isn’t that they break too often. It’s that it’s a pointless constant nuisance that only matters in trial of the sword where you are actually limited but takes away from weapons feeling like actual rewards for progress with no benefit in return since you are never stressed for weapons excess in extremely rare scenarios . It’s literally the same mechanics that made people hate paper mario sticker star It’s li

[@jamespuso1627]

Like you said at the end, it's a matter of preference, but in a pretty big way. Breath of the Wild is a very different kind of game from prior 3D Zelda games and liking those doesn't mean you're going to like it and some of us don't. I wouldn't say I hate Breath of the Wild but there's just nothing about it I particularly like.

[@zappixcubing]

A few months ago I thought botw wasn’t a good Zelda game Now I’m starting to think botw is just a bad game in general

[@Roflcrabs]

Glad to hear it. Too used to hearing "didn't like it at first but then got really into it and now my place is filled with Korok plushies!"

[@pitshoster401]

Yeah I can't agree with people who say "its a good game, just not a good Zelda game". I think its a bad game in general and its absolutely dogshit as a Zelda game.

[@chemicalbeef3128]

​@@pitshoster401it's not a bad game just because you suck at it. Maybe get good?

[@pitshoster401]

@@chemicalbeef3128 what a stupid thing to say lmao

[@bobdrakenzil4785]

The music. I felt everywhere I went in BotW was kind of generic because of the missing zelda themes associated with places like in previous games.

[@cptmuffy]

Yes! This. Thank you. Where were the Koji Kondo themes? This was no Zelda game.

[@laurancestreet1874]

I never understood why Rupies were so freaking rare in the game despite being necessary to get at least decent gear, which will later break anyway😂 Plus the cold and hot weather system was annoying and made me literally throw the cartridge out my window

[@BarcelonaMove]

I watched one of your videos because the KZbin algorithm said so, but maaaaan I've found gold in a 6150 subscriptors channel. Great job!

[@kobudo]

The problem isn’t that a good weapon breaks after defeating two dozen lizalfos or whatever. The problem is that after defeating those random overworld enemies, you’re going to wind up trading that one good weapon for maybe ten awful weapons. The game punishes you for going out and exploring the overworld map for no good reason. A decent fight with a lynel or two will result in a completely different weapons inventory, and maybe a few less shields to choose from. It’s really a trash system where even good items are just… eventual trash.

[@mattb6522]

I don't hate Breath of the Wild, but it is more that I'm just not really into open world games and wanted a more traditional Zelda experience. The thing I liked about previous Zelda games is the moment-to-moment action that kept the pace of the game moving. I just always enjoyed the traditional Zelda formula with exploring dungeons, getting item and defeating big bad boss. I appreciate Nintendo doing something new with the series, but I just hope that they don't completely abandon "traditional" Zelda games. I did enjoy the Link's Awakening remake, so I would love to see them make a new traditional Zelda that can run alongside the open world Zelda games. Just give Zelda fans more options to play the games they like.

[@glitchy000]

The issue with weapon durability is a psychological one. I don't know if engaging in combat will get me a solid return on my investment. If I expend durability on a tough enemy camp, I may still not be rewarded with equal or better quality weapons. Not engaging is the pragmatic choice. OR, I could abuse shock weaponry to force enemies to drop their weapons and ice weaponry to maximize damage to optimize results and minimize losses. This means at least 50% of the battle is in menus. Breakable weapons also can put the player in a no-win situation where the enemies can attack without weapons, but Link cannot except with low-damage bombs or environmental hazards that are also destructible or may not be present at all. Combined with the combat feeling like hitting a pile of wet rags outside of critical hits, combat isn't fun and isn't worth engaging with.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

One of the biggest things for me is progression. Zelda has always been a metroidvania to some extent, with items unlocking different parts of the world. Imagine playing a Metroid game where you get all the powers, suits, and abilities in the tutorial and just wander around abandoned labs. You would feel betrayed as the consumer, and that's why a lot of old fans moved away from the franchise.

[@ultra9349]

Ganon’s tower in windwaker has the light arrows which are required to kill ganon and open a door

[@Mediocremiimakings]

My problems: -weapon durability -Rain -Blood Moon -Keo Ruug Shrine -Barely passes as a Zelda game. (Lack of dungeons) -Bokoblins when they swing the spear around in circles -Secret of the Snowy Peaks (vague instructions) -Only being able to use Amiibo once a day -Hestu’s Gift -Mipha’s Grace cooldown (25 min) while the others being about 10. -Enemy Repetition -Lynels -Some enemies being able to know who is behind the majora mask -Boomerangs not coming back sometimes -Apparatus shrines -Minor, Modest, Major Tests of Strength, NEEDS ENEMY VARIETIES. -Yigas coming out of nowhere (LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE 🥷) -Lynel in the final trial -TBH, it’s too realistic for me :( -Skywatchers -Shields breaking after a failed parry attempt from a guardian laser -Malice -Finally finding a mineable rock, only to have it have amber in it instead of flint (ok that one is a bit specific) -Link making noises every time he swings his sword -Daruk’s Protection not being wanted when shielding (YES I KNOW YOU CAN TURN IT OFF!!!) -The obscene amount of Koroks you look for 🖐️😔🔫 don’t @ me…

[@exist_to_resist7414]

Funny thing about the weapon endurance system is that they break way more often than let's say a game like dark souls where your weapons deteriorate at a much les annoying pace and you can actually repair them. BOTW has a system clearly inferior to other games with a weapon durability system.

[@zackkelley2940]

See also Elderscrolls Morrowind and Fallout New Vegas for durability systems that are reasonably balanced and well done. The durability of weapons in BOTW is so low as to be nonsensical. Even the humble soup ladle should be able to take out more than a single Bokoglin. Then you have metal weapons that should be able to take out a small army before they should give out (Especially since most of the enemies you'll be fighting aren't... wearing... armor). Quadruple the durability of the BOTW weapons and you might at least be somewhere in the ballpark of reasonable.

[@Spaceman_Sp1ff]

Lack of enemies and dungeons are definitely complaints I can get behind, but the weapon breakage was never really a big deal to me. Admittedly it is a little annoying in the first few hours when the only weapons available are boko bats and rusty swords, but once you leave the plateau the game just piles weapons onto you. If there was a shortage strong weapons I could understand the complaint, but in my experience I never had any trouble whatsoever stockpiling them. Matter of fact, more often than not I was debating which of my weapons was the weakest so I could replace it with a fifth savage lynel sword+ or something. Plus the breakage system creates a situation where the player is going to end up using all weapon types, and that diversity really helps to diminish the issue of enemy variety by changing Link’s attack patters.

[@jaynajuly2140]

This was a fun video essay! I appreciate the time you put into gathering data

[@pressaTD]

It took me longer then I would like to admit doing this one lol, but thank you

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

I still remember the feeling of first leaving the plateau, excited for all the new items I would find, dungeons I would complete, characters to grow attached to... this is the most bland Zelda I've ever seen.

[@Nate-ob4pb]

So I played BoTW first in 2018 - didnt love it. It was just too big and boring for me. I wandered for hours to find nothing. I had no way to navigate so I wandered around in circles. I had Mario Odyssey at the time and focused on that. I booted it up a few times between then and 2019 - I got to Ganon's castle but only found 2 of the 4 great fairies and was too weak to make it past the guardians. I tried again in 2021 with the DLC and the intention to do everything. Took it really slow and did everything. I put it down, we had a baby, bought a house - didnt play it again until 2023. I finished my game, found all the fairies, did all the dungeons, and kicken Ganon's ass easily. Did 80 shrines - it was amazing.

[@kuzuthunder1964]

At the time I was done with the tutorial I thought I would love this game. A big open world with exciting quests/dungeons/loot, exploration and bossess, everything I could ask for. However, I soon realized that the I have already experienced everything in the tutorial. No new powers, same bossess, where I went the scenery was the same with the exception of gerudo and death mountains. Climbing everywhere was a good idea but the execution here make it feel like a chore, especially with the rain. Shrines are just some simple puzzles and combat encounters. Story is almost unexisting in this game. Bossess were just reskins. In a game where the goal of the game depends on the player I value variety and this game absolutely lacks that. And the music. I do not understand how a Zelda game has a soundtrack this boring. You hear the same piano notes for the majority of the playtrough. Physics were the only thing I liked about this game despite multiple attemps at getting into it. I still don’t. I respect the people that gives this a 10/10 but it would be great if everyone as civilized as you were against critics.

[@VictoryReviews]

Yeah the dungeons and puzzles in BOTW are absolutely abysmal. Truly awful but I'm excited for the sequel to fix that!

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

Well the sequel is out. While there are themes, the dungeons are still little more than activating terminals, and still no keys. General consensus is that the puzzle shrines are a lot easier in TotK and there are a lot less puzzles compared to BotW, apparently a third of them (48) are blessings, still many combat shrines, and a lot more training shrines.

[@bleb87]

I just found it so boring, like everything in it was unsuprising. It felt aimless. I knew what the main goal was but felt no urgency to do it. The world felt dead and soulless. I couldn't connect. Im an hyper aware almost everyone disagrees with me, so it IS probably me who is the issue and not the game. I spent 16 hours in game, and I just didn't get hooked.

[@glitchy000]

- OoT's Ganon's Tower has the Golden Gauntlets which is required to beat the dungeon. - BotW's DLC Final Trial does have a boss at the end. - BotW's dungeons arguably do not have unique themes inside the DBs themselves. - Weapon durability is present in OoT (Giant's Knife, Deku Stick, Deku Shield), MM (Razor Sword, Deku Stick), and Skyward Sword (all shields except Hylian)

[@RyukenAtrineas]

There's one test you could have done for the comparison - Majora's Mask's Razor Sword. It gives you 100 hits before losing its sharpness and being the Kokiri sword again. How many bad guys can you slay with the Razor Sword in 100 hits? Compare that to the weapons in BotW and how many you can slay with those. On top of this, the weapons breaking also feels like a punishment for using weapons too much, especially with no way to fix them. I personally would carry around Lynel weapons, but just about never use them because I didn't want them to break and it took so much effort to get them. If there was a way to maintain or fix weapons, it wouldn't be such an issue. Like, take two damaged weapons, combine them and give the durability from one weapon to another, destroying the first weapon, but preserving the second. Even if they had to be the same weapon type. Like, a spear couldn't combine with a bow, it has to be two spears or two bows. Something like that.

[@lpfan4491]

That view on it doesn't particularly work conceptually, considering the game directly encourages the player to break their weapons.

[@drummasteraj]

You literally do more damage breaking a weapon on an enemy 😂. People really be bitching about an extra layer of strategy because they can’t just hack and slash their way through the game. Sure Lynel weapons are strong, but if you spend the time to actually learn their combos Lynels are easy asf to fight. Plus Royal guard weapons literally say they break easier in their description, it’s called get good.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

The huge thing about the Razor Sword is that it can be REPAIRED or UPGRADED. Standard game design that is somehow not present in BotW.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

@@drummasteraj You're trolling. "Hack and slash" with a breakable weapon is no different than "hack and slash" with a breakable weapon. Skill is entirely irrelevant to the conversation in the comment thread and saying "get good" doesn't fix the flaws with durability.

[@drummasteraj]

@@jonathanwilliams1271 bro skill is entirely an issue that is relative, saying it takes “so much effort” to get a lynel weapon implies you didn’t spend the time to learn their moves and learn how to counter them or learn the game mechanics. All you have to do is shoot them in the head with an arrow and jump on their back cause while you’re on their back your weapons don’t lose durability. If you can’t handle a white lynel then you’ve never beaten the trial of the sword or beaten the game on master mode.

[@tymtrppr3]

honestly i think map progression is a huge part of zelda formula. Also every zelda game has parts of the maps locked by items that can only be obtained by the dungeons. BOTW just starts the game off with literally all of the items up front so you can just run straight to the end of the game. You cant do that in any other Zelda game.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

I mentioned this in a different comment but imagine a Metroid game that gives you all the abilities, suits, and weapons before you leave her ship. It would be a fundamental betrayal and you would feel empty. That's my attitude toward BotW and TotK.

[@Ianmar1]

I missed the delayed gratification of struggling with a puzzle and wondering what kind of tool I might need to solve it. "Go anywhere, do anything" seems to work best for people with ADHD in need of constant distraction.

[@Praying_Mantis3]

Found out why I love BoTW and haven’t played a 3D Zelda game since Majorca’s mask. I really don’t like what typical Zelda fans like.

[@ChampionRevilo]

I used to say that Breath of the Wild is a bad Zelda but a good game but I'm replaying it now to get ready for Tears of the Kingdom and I realise that no, it's not even a good game at all. Too boring, too repeatitive, barely any music, story or interesting characters, no real dungeon, no enemy variety, the constant rain and did I already mention: BORING? It's the most sleep inducing video game I have played in ages, including grinding in turn-based RPGs. In the last 12 months, I have replayed half of the series, 2D AND 3D and even if I have beaten all of those games 3 to at least 10 times each in the past, I have had a blast with ALL of them again, not even feeling series fatigue after playing so many with very little breaks in between them. Then comes BotW. I'm having a hard time playing for more than 20 minutes daily before wanting to shut it down and call it quits. I am now really worried for Tears of the Kingdom and the future of the series as a whole.

[@VGA322]

I'm definitely in the camp of saying BotW isn't a proper Zelda game. I didn't mind breakable weapons, but I do have the mindset that Dungeons (If you can even call them that) are often baren and rather boring. The other issue is that because you get all of your puzzle solving abilities at the very start of the game the rest of the game has to be relatively on par difficulty wise and that leads to feeling like you really aren't making any progress in difficulty at all. However, I hands down believe that BotW has one of the best overworlds as far as exploration goes. Every time I play the game I love exploring the overworld. It's just when you get into what is supposed to be the Zelda content it starts to not feel great for me. Was nice to hear someone actually break all this down instead of just blast people who didn't enjoy the game the same way they did. Thanks for the content!

[@Corndog52]

my problem with the title is that everything feels far away from eachother just for the sake of a world that feels 'open', i get the idea but i don't feel like it adds any true depth to the title.. not that i'd want all of the dungeons to be stacked in a row, but it was definitely a world i wasn't as excited to explore as some other more compact worlds

[@KolkYT]

I'm one of the folks that just didn't like the new direction of the series that BotW brought to the table, and there are a few things I'd personally want to bring up. First and foremost, the plot, lore, story, and so on. Without some small degree of linearity, any attempt to execute those things as well as they were in prior Zelda games will simply fall apart. You just can't tell a story with a beginning, rising action, climax, and ending without a chosen order of events. Also, in terms of gameplay, there was a fundamental change here that isn't brought up very often. In prior Zelda games, you progress with various unique and fun items. The tools you need to solve the puzzles you immediately work with will change as the game progresses. This helps keep the gameplay novel and exciting. In BotW, you're basically given all the systems from the start, and they don't change or evolve really. I personally felt that once you understood the combat system and all of your abilities in the first 20-30 shrines, the rest of the game just felt repetitive. Almost like a chore. Finally, I just feel that a somewhat linear game has potential for more love and polish than a giant open world. The devs know where you'll mostly be and what you'll be doing, so they can focus their attention there. I just don't feel the open world style game is a good fit for this series, or at least, putting it as positively as humanly possible, BotW has shown the *immense* "potential for growth" in that respect lol.

[@SwirlystarsJP]

Thank you so much for making this video, it makes me feel a lot less alone in my reasons on why I didn't enjoy botw as I hoped

[@curtisdupree4430]

Great video! I finally grew to love this game, but it took a while. I now consider it a flawed masterpiece, but it’s not the direction I hope for future Zelda games, unless they bring in more classic dungeons.

[@bobfaget100]

How im genuinely curious its one of the most boring games

[@curtisdupree4430]

@@bobfaget100 the only thing I can offer is that you have to get on the game’s wavelength, and get over the expectation for it to feel like a Zelda game.

[@grimes2156]

So to like this game you have to admit it’s not a Zelda game. Heard.

[@curtisdupree4430]

@@grimes2156 I wouldn’t go that far, but there’s some validity to that idea.

[@delahaye_artworks4377]

I don't hate the game, but yeah, it's the one I like the least. Open world as a genre is something that's flooding the maket these days, so it's sad to see it take over franchises that were good withount it. You can argue that zelda was aways pretty open even since it's first NES release. But it wasn't the focus and the areas weren't so prepostuosly big that made them boring to traverse. And yes, the themed dungeons did help making the atmosphere feel unique from one another, so looking at the same assets most of the time in breath of the wild was a moodkiller for me.

[@thefrubblewarrior4678]

2:14 this is also a tricky one as some of the later dungeons in a link to the past don’t have such a rule to follow.

[@men_in_i3lack284]

i didnt play previous zelda games but the full open open map system is nothing i like in the game. i would like to at least have „?“ on the map or at least get then once i spot something in the distance. i dont dislike open world to a fair point. most of the games do a pretty good job at keeping the player interested in exploring while still giving you a direction. i tried like 2 times play for like 2-3 hours and everytime this random waste of time with running around accomplishing nothing and losing my weapons against a random big boss is just frustrating. ive looked for some guides but noone tells how you actually get into the to where its playable for me. my biggest problems so far 1. lack of introduction 2. weapon break system 3. map approach maybe these are just problems for me but they made me quit the game 2 times now and its far what understandable why.

[@joshuayammer1994]

Sometimes the game feels a little barren and empty. Weapons do break too easy but it does add a strategic sense to the game.

[@lordlopikong6940]

That's my biggest complaint honestly, it's just the vast open field and they really screwed us up by not allowing us to summon a horse. Hell even Witcher a game bigger than Zelda had roach come from anywhere

[@agenerichuman]

Your frame of reference for breakable weapons should be other games with a durability system, most of which BotW pales in comparison to. As a rule of thumb, a good durability system means your weapons don't break often (usually lasting hours). Usually weapons last a long time and you can either repair your weapon or replace it with another, which should be a tough choice. Your weapons shouldn't break so often you have to carry a whole arsenal of similar weapons with you to cycle through.

[@agenerichuman]

Otherwise good video. You really listened and decided to put things to the test, rather than just dismissing those of us who didn't like it.

[@yussnan843]

Why is no one talking about the empty world, the repetitive and boring side quests, the awful seed hunting and the worst and most anti climatic ending in the series? Those are the real issues with the game, not the weapons breaking after 4 hits.

[@TophDaGreat]

I didn't realize how much a compelling story invests me to see an adventure to the end was until I played BOTW. All the things you discussed are valid complaints but what took me out of this game was lack of compelling plot because there isn't one. The amnesia trope is hella overused in games, anime and media in general. I had a far better time playing Horizon Zero Dawn than BOTW. Other than that, yea you hit the nail on the head on everything else. I cannot play BOTW for an hour without getting bored. Very dull uninspiring game and if the sequel is more of the same its a pass from me.

[@nickhippen2850]

You can hold whatever opinion about the game, but to say it's uninspiring is downright wrong. There's a reason basically every open world game after BOTW has taken elements from it. Either that or they've straight up copied it.

[@TophDaGreat]

@@nickhippen2850 You speak as if there weren't open world games prior. Assassin's Creed has been a thing for years. Of course something popular is being copied. That's how it always goes. Remember when everything was copying Pokemon after it blew up in the 90s? I find BOTW innovative in the sense the game is basically like have at it and throws you in with no right or wrong path. And I appreciate the fact the game has several ways to solve a puzzle. However the lack of enemy diversity, lack of classic dungeons, and non existent story among other things makes the game rather dull and quite frankly a tad overrated. More power to you if you enjoy it though.

[@nickhippen2850]

@@TophDaGreat I never said that, and Assassin's creed is vastly different than BOTW. Yes, there is climbing and exploration, but the similarities pretty much end there. I never said the game wasn't dull or overrated. The simple fact that many games after BOTW's release copied it is enough to prove the game was inspiring and innovative. The quality of the game is a different matter.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

Well the sequel is out and... yeah it's more of the same. Even literally reused the BotW map.

[@scaryhours2220]

Its strange how people hate BOTW but love TOTK.....its the same game.

[@kyordannydelvalle523]

Nah, i found both game overrated. I think baldur gate 3 derservedit way more

[@mxcksrealm]

yep, with all the same problems too.

[@scaryhours2220]

@@mxcksrealm 👍

[@whatdafu...boooooom1864]

They're both good games that I have a love-hate relationship with. Just not absolute masterpieces. They're not even in my top 3 Zelda games. RDR2 is better than both of them combined

[@jamesloehr641]

Ocarina of time and link to the past are my favorite two Zelda games. Never played all the way through twilight princess. Wind waker was actually fun once you got used to the shell shaded graphics. But I wish Zelda would go back to a more textured realistic look like ocarina of time and twilight princess. Ocarina of time is one of my favorite games period of all time.

[@d0Bored0b]

You have good tastes

[@nillynush4899]

When I started up BOTW and saw Link with a man ponytail carrying Snake's idroid from MGSV and a Ubisoft Tower to climb in the distance.... I was already growing tired of the open-world gimmick, and it IS a gimmick. The lack of various memorable themes, atmospheric dungeons, and unique collections of bosses sealed the deal. Not a fan of BOTW, because it removed (or toned down) everything I once loved about playing Zelda games.

[@erwinekkel9676]

Zelda botw is basically a zelda light. It removed everything zelda to make it a more generic game to appease the non zelda players.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

@@erwinekkel9676 Yeah, I've felt that way about most of the new Switch games. Removed the classic elements to appease people who are not even fans.

[@rjrhodes4549]

Yeah it's about preference. As a Zelda fan I prefer playing Zelda games and people that don't can play Minecraft and Skyrim instead of turning the IP I like into clones of them.

[@nourata.5893]

For me I was so excited when I got it but to be honest I didn’t like the linearity of the game. I prefer the old Zelda style with the classic dungeons and beating ganon in the end. That’s just me tho 🤷‍♀️ I grew up playing windwaker and twilight princess and it just doesn’t hit the same 😢

[@minion017]

Thanks for Making this. I would add the principle of metroidvania elements. normaly zelda games has a progress systems, which based on the items you have and aswell open-world puzzles, which using the items. so it is rewarding to remember the world around you, as you need to come back later.. to for example get heart-Parts. I espacily liked that fakt. Aswell there weren't like grinding elements, you can't avoid. You normaly just needed to grind a bit (for example get rubys) and like farming collectables were rewarded, but mostly not neccecery to progress. It is debatleble if you need to grind in botw and totk. The amount of grind to level the clothes, get progress with the shrines, get inventory places and in totk batterys is big. But do you need to do it? i guess technikly you can avoid most of it.. but most people will need to grind cause the damage of high enemys mostly kill you one- or two-hit, if you don't grind for better armor. even if you do.. it will be neccecary to grind for food. many fight feel more like a material-mash-battle then a skill based game. i'm so sad about this. i don't thibk, those games are bad. But there are no classic Zeldas. and the developers at nintendo say, this will be the new zelda like gameplay... they will forget about the old concepts... i miss them. Thanks for the video.. it added a bit of fundamentum to my feeling. thanks for the work.

[@mountainmgtow5421]

Breakable weapons is NEVER fun! What the hell was Nintendo thinking?!

[@siksdenine2669]

If your gonna do a durability system, one of my favorites was dark cloud. If BoTW had implemented a repair system I doubt I would have been as big of an issue

[@ghoulbby]

Great video and you hit on most the issues I had with the game. Anecdotally, I have noticed my friends who haven't played other Zelda games enjoyed it a lot more. The couple friends I have, like me, who grew up playing every Zelda game found it pretty disappointing. It didn't take long before I was just like ok, let's just finish the game so I can stop playing this. It blows me away that people were saying it's the best game of all time -- it's not even the best Zelda game!

[@FerinaAryele]

Just started BOTW and the 3 things I hate about it the most are running out of Stamina every 2 seconds, weapons breaking, and getting literally 1 shot by everything I have 5 hearts now and everything still hits like a truck I can't do anything in this game if it's combat based like I did the whole Ruta elephant puzzle but can't do anything against Ganon so I started farming ruins and its alright if it's puzzles but any with combat just 1 shot me no matter what I do maybe its not as bad later on when you have more hearts but early game it's brutal Aside from that it just doesn't feel like a Zelda game to me, the story does but the actual gameplay just feels like a worse version of Genshin Impact. I prefer the old Zelda where I can actually run around and explore and kill things and solve puzzles and BOTW just isn't it. I've played all the past Zeldas for Wii, NDS, Gamecube, N64, GBA, GBC, GB, NES,SNES, etc and loved all of them and BOTW I'm trying to like it but idk it feels more like a running simulator without a horse maybe these are just early day problems. I Know a lot of people hated the Nintendo DS versions and Skyward Sword but I loved those versions and have went back to them again and again

[@romano-britishmedli7407]

Great video, with applying concrete definitions to Zelda-games. I really like such logical and analytical stuff, to come up with answers through empirical data. Small nitpicks about some definitions in the Dungeon-section, though: - the keys-definition: You defined it as "A locked door, and a key to open it." If we abstract this definition a liiittle bit and assume the core of this definition is "A locked location, and a way to progress through it", then BotW actually *has* keys - the five terminals. You need to activate those before you can fight the final boss and complete the dungeon. So those terminals act as the Big Key/Boss Key from previous games. Therefore, BotW's dungeons have keys - just not literal ones. - the item-definition ("The dungeon must contain an item as a reward."): I have a problem with this definition. My gripe is that a dungeon which fullfills all of the other criteria you mentioned (Unique Theme - Keys - Bosses - Reward) wouldn't qualify as a dungeon, which just feels wrong to me. A Zelda-dungeon for me is about solving riddles and overcoming obstacles which prevent player-progression, using various items (Swords, Bows, Bombs) to progress and fight a boss at the end. Restricting dungeons with such a strict definition would exclude some dungeons. You know which game contains dungeons to be excluded by your definition? Tears of the Kingdom! BotW and TotK *have* dungeons which can only be beaten by using items - it's just that these items were obtained (waaayyy) earlier in the game, namely the Paraglider and the Sheikah-Runes/Zonai-Abilities (and the various weapons I mentioned above). To me, this still qualifies as a proper Zelda-dungeon. I mean, I share the critique that BotW's dungeons were to similar and lacked some elements from previous Zelda-games. However, TotK definitively improved those issues and gave us proper dungeons again - in my opinion, at least.

[@danandtab7463]

I'm definitely on board in the weapons thing. Even as much as I love the game, I am still continously annoyed by getting down to my last Boko spear and having to go travel around looking for respawned camps to harass. Enemy variety? I honestly never noticed, it just seemed like there's never a shortage of things that want to fight you, even if the dynamic is like real life, where they're spaced out quite a bit. The dungeon thing, now I've heard that many times, and the nature of this game to me just comes across as more organic. The shrines and towers are part of bringing the main civilization back online, so they're a little weird and strange. Dungeons are like "business as usual" in Hyrule, it seems. So bottom line is I personally didn't miss them.

[@robertthehumble]

You forgot to mention no real items either. I mean like you talked about it in the dungeon section, but that was one of my problems with botw. I miss the hook shot

[@trunks2585]

There actually have been breakable weapons before with deku sticks in OoT and I think the enemy weapons you could use in WW also broke after a while, but it's been a while since I played that so my memory is rusty. the important part is something weak like a stick would break, while something strong like a sword, didn't. The durability system also slows down the flow of combat when you have to swap weapons mid fight, or when you hoard the 'good' weapons for end game, like we do with elixers in RPGs (And then forget we even have the damn things.)

[@pitshoster401]

The pick up weapons in Wind Waker didn't actually break but you still couldn't take them out of the areas you got them. Also the N64 Zeldas both had an alternate sword that broke but could be improved to be unbreakable. Isn't it funny how Nintendo knew back then that a sword that breaks in a few hits is so lame that removing that penalty is considered a reward??

[@trunks2585]

@@pitshoster401 I forgot about the sword quests, thanks for reminding me.

[@coppermopper]

It's the magic of hype. I think for many people the joy comes from being a part of an event that takes place on social media and not the game itself. And as soon as the hype goes away, reality gets more clear.

[@lilnemi]

Just subbed , you've made a video on probably 3 of my favorite games of all time being Mario Sunshine,Banjo Tooie , BOTW all you need to do is make a video on donkey kong country and smash ultimate and you would complete my top 5 favorite games of all time

[@pressaTD]

You have a great taste in games, and thanks for subbing you fucking legend

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

I certainly hope that one of the key reasons Nintendo has been quite quiet about BOTW 2 is that they're trying to address many of the complaints, like adding proper major dungeons (likely buried and revealed dungeons when the land levitates parts of itself), and some means of repairing at least a limited number of player-chosen weapons with valuable resources. The enemies thing is going to require a lot of work, though with the initial supply of 22 unique enemies, 20 additional new unique types shouldn't be that hard.

[@lpfan4491]

Honestly, I just hope they don't overcorrect things.

[@costelinha1867]

I'd love to see more proper dungeons, but I hope they don't overcorrect and stilll retain some of the changes made in BOTW, mainly getting rid of the whole "Dungeon revolving around an item" thing. (Also I hope they get more creative with dungeon themes, I would really love to see something that isn't the typical forest dungeon, fire dungeon or water dungeon, even in the first dungeons. I want them to get really creative.

[@isodoubIet]

@@lpfan4491 "Overcorrecting" would entail eliminating everything new idea idea that botw brought to the table, almost all of which were bad ones, and then some. Not at all likely. Even a "correction" seems unlikely. It'll be exactly the same as botw, just wearing a new skin.

[@lpfan4491]

@@isodoubIet Bah.

[@isodoubIet]

@@lpfan4491 I can understand that reaction to my statement that almost all new ideas in BotW were bad ones but I think you'd be hard pressed to deny they won't change a strategy that sold so many games.

[@Dave-rd6sp]

You missed the #1 complaint I see about Breath of the Wild: it's missing item-based progression, which was the CORE mechanic of Zelda.

[@ImPersonNation]

Weapon durability was always stupid. Yes weak weapons break annoyingly fast, but hey, there's usually another weapon like ten feet away from you, or the 7 enemies you killed earlier dropped at least some kind of weapon.

[@jonathanwilliams1271]

But why would I care about said weapon if it's going to break? Almost every Zelda game has had weapon upgrades and they were always a SUBSTANTIAL change to the way you interact with the world. In BotW it's just a texture and a number.

[@fenixchief7]

Never even played BotW. Newer Zelda games have lost something for me. Last one I played was Skyward Sword and I didn't like it. Nothing in BotW that I've seen has compelled me to return and I think you're pretty spot on in this video. By the way, wouldn't Ocarina only have 5 proper dungeons considering the child dungeons lack keys? I would have personally counted them too but just a clarification for your criteria.

[@pressaTD]

You’re 100% correct about the keys in the child dungeons, I completely spaced on that… it’s been a while since I’ve played Ocarina lol I think the point of BotW’s lack of proper dungeons still stands but that definitely changes the number, thanks for the insightful comment!

[@fenixchief7]

@@pressaTD not a problem. We all make mistakes and you're still absolutely right about the lack of proper dungeons in BotW. Great video and I'm looking forward to more.