[btschaegg]

Funny, I had the reverse effect. As the author, I got started with Link's Awakening, though I got stuck looking for one of the later dungeons and completed it much later than I picked it up.

I skipped the one on the SNES, absolutely adored OOT, was pretty mystified by Majora's Mask, and when I could finally borrow Twilight Princess and the Wind Waker from a friend (again pretty late after their release), I finished both of them in one or two weeks.

(edit: "mystified" might be the wrong word. I really like it. And finished it. It's just... strange :) )

From that perspective, BotW is a really beautiful game, the size of the world is astonishing, and the chemistry systems and their interactions are great.

But the whole feel of the world feels... meh at times. The foundations are there, but the story and world design on top of it feels shallow.

To start with, all the interesting characters are dead (the four guys who died in their "beasts"); except for Zelda, who you don't get to interact with during the whole game, too. The only character left with some wonder in him is Kass; I was always pleasantly surprised whenever I heard his tune.

The intricate little stories you find throughout the older games have usually been replaced by some "fenced-off" substitutes (because you are supposed to find all of them with your own timing). Example: You wonder what that heart-shaped pond on a mountain looks like (from the map), go there, and then get a quest that only applies to that place. Bigger, more interconnected stories are few and far between.

And the "core gameplay" has suffered, too: The dungeons are an outright joke if you are accustomed to earlier Zeldas. The shrines often hinge on a clever idea, but are usually over just when things get interesting. One exception is maybe that island (trying to avoid spoilers here). That was great.

TL;DR: I still enjoyed BotW for its exploration aspects (which reminded me very strongly of Gothic), but it doesn't fill that "Zelda" niche for me. It's the first Zelda game that had me stuck before the final boss with no technical obstacle, just a lack of motivation to beat him, because the castle design turned me off that much (remember the dungeon design? Yeah).

Perhaps I should have another go at it.

[Agentlien]

I've played a number of Zelda games (LA, OoS & OoA, OoT, MM, WW, TP, SW, BotW) and I've loved them all, though sometimes in very different ways. I think Majora's Mask was very interesting, but I think I appreciate its design and intricacies more now, looking back at it, than I did as a kid.

BotW is my favourite and to me it feels very Zelda. That said, I definitely see what you mean about the dungeons. The different dungeons all have exactly the same visual style and theme. They all feel very much the same, which is so strange in a game which is all about variety and dynamics. Even the boss fights, which Zelda games excel at, all feel quite similar. I feel like I understand the idea behind those decisions, but the end result still suffers from it.

On the story, though, I have to disagree. It's true you don't really live the tale as much as find out about it (unlocking memories), but I absolutely loved the story (especially Zelda's character arc) and the juxtaposing of the struggle to prepare for Ganon's return with your attempt to build up the strength to face him after he's already brought ruin to the kingdom.

The fact that your adventure takes place a hundred years after Ganon's victory removes the kind of fake urgency you often have in video games where you need to hurry! but are also invites to partake in countless small quests. To me, the way you're learning about what happened adds a nice bittersweet tone to the hopeful preparations of the champions who you already know failed their mission.

[btschaegg]

Thanks for the comment :)

Since it seems I left you with the impression that I don't like the story per se: That's not at all my problem with the game. Zelda's main story has been rather simplistic in every iteration anyway, and I don't see much worse in BotW. And, as you say, Zelda is actually not that much of a cardboard character this time (OOT only had her for the "damsel in distress part", it seems), which is great.

But that I don't get to experience it and just get to collect a montage of snapshots instead is exactly my point. That's just bad storytelling to me (basically a "reverse Half-Life": the videogame equivalent of show, don't tell).

But, as I said, the main story line is one thing. What bothers me more is that all the little stories you would find throughout the world in earlier versions are somehow... lost because of the "open world at all costs" approach the game takes. An earlier post in the thread mentioned The Witcher 3, which I think has tackled this problem much better. Its world is open, but you still get to discover interesting stories in a halfway guided way all over the place.

Another thing, since you point it out:

> The fact that your adventure takes place a hundred years after Ganon's victory removes the kind of fake urgency you often have in video games where you need to hurry!

Interestingly, for me, the effect here was a different one, too: I continuously kept wondering how this world could have kept working for so long. I mean, basically: The apocalypse happened (more or less), there's evil guardians and monsters everywhere, all went to ruin -- and yet, some little mountain village got over all that, no problem. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Kakariko seems really resilient in this regard, I had the same issue with OOT, too (but it's easier to believe it if we're only talking about 10 years).

Edit: Oh, and since you mention it:

> Even the boss fights, which Zelda games excel at, all feel quite similar.

Yes, that bugged me a lot, too. Basically, the intro-fight for each beast was way more interesting (or Molduga, for that matter). And I don't think they had to be this bland, even with the "orthogonal" dungeon design. That you're not supposed to have seen it all in sequence doesn't mean they can't have a "gimmick" like in the earlier games.

And, speaking of Molduga: This is one prime example of the storytelling I keep trying to articulate. That could have been an absolutely epic little storyline. But instead, all we get is someone in the Gerudo city telling you "get me its guts!".