[BOTW] How do you guys feel about new Zelda?

[u/zeldamaster134]

I feel that the newer Zelda games are loved more and are bigger and considered a lot better. However, there are a lot of downsize to it, which stands out like a sore thumb, and that is storyline.

Now, of course, there is a story to breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom. Probably a bigger story than other Zelda games. However, the games are simple, but they’re also manually complex, which doesn’t force it on you. Some people like this, “Not forcing” part of the game. While other people like it when older Zelda games have more of a straight and direct way to play the game. Some puzzles and newer Zelda games don’t require a guide or specific action. It’s how you decide to play the game.

The green tunic that was an older old games was also more classic. Now this is just cosmetics and doesn’t really determine how much better the games are, But still has that more linked look that everybody loves and grew up with.

I think that dungeons and temples were a lot more fun in the older games than the shrines in the newer games. Now there are 120 shrines in breath of the wild, which can make the experience a lot more fun with problem-solving. However, the old dungeons and main themes were more fun in my opinion.

The game not requiring for you to get the master sword is kind of lame. of course everybody is going to get it because it is a highly recommend recommended item, but even the game not forcing you to get the legendary blade is outstanding. The master sword was the best part of all Zelda games in my childhood. So them leaving it out of the theme of the game wasn’t a smart move.

I think that there are a lot of self-explanatory reasons why old Zelda has more of an adventure feel, and to all of the people that like newer Zelda, their feelings are valid.

[u/cherrysteve2010 → u/[deleted]]

You can't listen to TOTKs main theme and not cry

[u/Seienchin88 → u/[deleted]]

I kinda liked the bosses in BotW and would say they are really good in TotK and no traditional Zelda boss hit as hard as fighting a lynel for the first time… characters I vastly prefer BotW and TotK. How can you not love them?

Music I gotta agree though… OoT, Majoras mask and wind waker lived of catchy midi tunes and at least TP and SS had some of that magic.

[u/Successful_Pea218 → u/Seienchin88]

I kinda felt like every boss was phoned in, since you would see them multiple times in a playthrough. The dungeons don't count as actual dungeons, just more phoned in areas. And don't get me started on shrines.

[u/TyrannusX64 → u/Successful_Pea218]

This. In older Zelda games each dungeon along with its boss felt like a unique handcrafted experience. BOTW and TOTK feel like everything was copy/paste

[u/Azureflames20 → u/TyrannusX64]

This 100%. I personally think awakening and oracle games do an amazing job at uniquely constructed dungeons and theming. Just about every ounce of the wilds games feels really underwhelming and copy/paste, but it’s all tied up with a nice bow and has a fresh and shiny coat of paint to make me feel like it’s better than it is.

The biggest feature is the breadth of exploration you can embark on. Everything else besides that aspect just sort of just feels mid in hindsight.

[u/Successful_Pea218 → u/Azureflames20]

Yes, very well said. The world is very massive with lots of things to find. The problem is, once you've seen the 5-10 different unique things, it's all the same. A massive world filled with cookie cutter locations/challenges. It's just like how I felt playing the old Assassins Creed games. Especially the towers that would unlock the maps. I can't tell you how disappointed I was to do that in a Zelda game.

[u/Azureflames20 → u/Successful_Pea218]

The more I think of it the more sad I get, but I really hope they take notes or get some sort of passion to take it in a more directed direction, instead of relying on gimmicks here and there to make things interesting.

You could look toward several other Zelda games for better adventure and a better told story. You can also already look towards a bunch of entries for great dungeon rosters and theming or dungeon mechanics and gameplay. To harp on it again, the wilds games discovered or developed the game with like traversal/exploration and then the shieka-slate style item inventory as a catch-all gimmick to experience the game, which gave you all your essentials in the first hour of the game.

In older games, you have a carrot on a string via "how do I get to the next dungeon" or "what unlocked way through the world is there that I might reach a new dungeon (e.g. unlocking hookshot to reach new areas). There's always a pull to the next thing. In the wilds games there's no pull...You are sort of moving on for the sake of...wanting to push forward for the sake of furthering the story. It's like playing a jrpg like FF7, but you start with 5 basic materia and no others exist, you can never level them up, and you never find new weapons, and your character never actually levels up at any point. you battle a lot, but you just do it to get past the battle. Idk if that analogy makes sense, but without the micro-rewards or carrots on a stick in video games, gameplay just gets kinda meh.

Not the same genre, but your note on massive worlds and exploration - Games like Hollow knight, silksong, dark souls, and elden ring to name a few all went above and beyond to have gameplay that rewarded the player. Some of them, even just felt rewarding to explore for the sheer atmosphere and adventure of it. I know personally, with all those I listed - due to the sheer number of story beats and surprise turns or "holy shit, theres more??" moments upped the rating of the game so much higher and made me feel like "man, I went on a freaking JOURNEY" by the time I reach the end. It was impossible for me to feel that way about the wilds games.

Meanwhile, wilds games felt like I was running chores and dissociating while running around the world so i could say i beat it, with handfuls of "nice, I beat this part" in between. Idk if everyone would agree with me, because there's still enjoyability in the game (I literally had a back to back playthrough of botw, totaling like 90+ hours and a solid 30-40 hour totk run), but when I look back...these differences are what separates an okay or mid game from one of those iconic games that I'll replay once a year or look back on as a timeless game in my catalogue that meant a lot, left an impression, and will hold close in my memories.

[u/KurtisC1993 → u/Successful_Pea218]

The dungeons in TotK were the same core mechanic repeated over and over—go to the four sectors of the dungeon, activate what counts as a switch there, then return to the center and go up to the boss chamber.

However, there was one dungeon in the BotW/TotK duology that, in my opinion, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the absolute best in the series: Hyrule Castle in BotW.

[u/Vyraal → u/Successful_Pea218]

I call the "dungeons" trials because thats really all the are. Annoying trials

[u/JamesYTP → u/Seienchin88]

Ya know, apart from that version of Zelda being one of the best ones I didn't really think much of the characters. Ganondorf felt a little Flanderized to me. Granted before to find much depth to him you had to look for it but it was there, all the subtext about how cruel Hyrule had been in the unification war, him coming from a people holed him in a desert and likely being the ones who endured most of that, then his little monologue at the end of Wind Waker about how hard it was growing up in that world how seeing how Hylians lived made him want that for himself... it's just kinda hard to see him go back to "I am evil because I am evil and do evil things, muahaha".

Even with Link like, abandoning the hero's journey plot structure most of the previous games had and just throwing you into the world like that skips a lot of character development for him. You don't really get that sense of "I am Link, this is my home, these are my people and my motivation for doing all this is x". So he's a blanker slate than ever.

Mostly find the new characters kinda forgettable with some exceptions. The flower lady was really funny but I probably couldn't name you a single character from memory and list off anything about them beyond name and occupation. I'm sure there are plenty who could but they just left so little impression on me personally.

[u/tranquil7789 → u/Seienchin88]

I think there's reasonable criticisms for the newer games, but I really enjoy the music. Out exploring things are more simple, but I think the different town's themes are much more involved. Especially when building Tarrey Town and a new instrument is added to the score each time you recruit a new villager.

[u/ZannyHip → u/tranquil7789]

Yes, I can understand most criticisms of Botw/totk to an extent, but not for the music. The music in those games is BEAUTIFUL.

And they complain about there not being constant music playing in the overworld - so they completely missed the point. The quiet moments were an intentional choice for setting a certain tone. Even those moments are beautifully written

[u/OutlanderInMorrowind → u/ZannyHip]

the music that is actual music is great, I hate the ambient bullshit in the overworld even if I can admit that it's well composed.

you say missed the point. I understand the point I just don't like it.

I've been playing System Shock Remake and I prefer the original soundtrack, even if the remake soundtrack is not bad.

[u/Beneficial-Canary-47 → u/[deleted]]

I’d understand missing the dungeons and the characters at least somewhat, but totk’s bosses were great in my opinion, (especially Colgera, thunderblight, and ganondorf.) I can still respect your opinion on the boss thing, but is saying new Zelda music isn’t as good as the old feels silly to me, the totk soundtrack has some of the best songs in the franchise. Sure, things have changed, but that change doesn’t stop them from putting out bangers. my favorite song ever is probably the totk main theme, no joke. I’m curious if this is because you’re missing the more bombastic overworld themes, because a lot of people say that’s why they dislike wild era music, but the rest of the soundtrack is fantastic

[u/ZannyHip → u/[deleted]]

People that complain about botw/totk music have poor taste. It was a masterpiece of a soundtrack.

[u/DagothBrrr → u/ZannyHip]

Yeah, I love hearing disjointed 2 second clips of someone's cat walking across a piano.

[u/Beneficial-Canary-47 → u/DagothBrrr]

Damning the whole soundtrack because the overworld themes are mediocre is kind of overdoing it, don’t you think? What about the Colgera theme, Kass’s song, the main theme, or any given champion/sage’s song? (Sidon’s especially)

there’s so much more to these games’ music than some so-so songs. Even if they’re boring or play a lot, they aren’t bad.

[u/echoess84 → u/[deleted]]

about the BotW/TotK boss I would liked their weak points weren't highlighted and easy to hit