It really is. I had the chance to watch my friend play it a while back and while there's no arguing that it's a good game, it's definitely not as good as people are saying. Also weapon degradation is a terrible mechanic in any game.
The weapon breaking isn't really that big of a deal to me. It was annoying at first, but isn't that bad, though it does feed into one of the issues with the game: lack of reward.
The only rewards that matter are spirit orbs, korok seeds, and armor. Compare that too earlier games where you had a WIDE variety of stuff to be rewarded for, and each of them can be rewards for any variety of minigames.
Add in that the obligatory open world "climb these towers to unlock maps" are possibly the worst implementation ever done, with just mostly being boring to climb.
That the monster variety is incredibly low.
There are very very few bosses, and almost all of them are repeated throughout the game.
Most of the "side quests" are the most boring of boring I've ever seen in an open world game, with the most useless rewards.
This was a game that is being lauded as one of the BEST GAMES OF ALL TIME, perfect 10s all over the place, and I don't even think it is the best game in its own genre in the year it came out (open world action adventure, Horizon: Zero Dawn was a better game).
Its fun. I enjoy it. I still think it is the most fun I've had with a Zelda since the original (honestly, I considered Ocarina of Time the most overrated before this...), but it has really really glaring flaws.
(Also you can tell how limited they were by the Switch itself. The draw distance is garbage and the fact that they basically implemented low level fog ALL THE TIME so you can't see anything 20 feet from you makes it obvious).
Its not just physical reward either, its also lacking story reward. You get NOTHING SUBSTANTIAL for completing the dlc, getting the mastersword, completing all shrines, or stopping the divine beasts. Its just grinding in disguise. Makes the game easier. Oh and maybe a 12 second long add on to the end cutscene that is not satisfying nor does it change the ending at all.
@Benny Jackdaw In what way? I can continue to list giant flaws in Breath of the Wild. I'm curious what you think is the issue with Horizon? Cause it has much more innovative and interesting combat, more interesting story, more interesting characters, more interesting enemy design, etc. etc. etc.
For the genre it is, Horizon stands out a lot to me.
If the 100+ shrines were stitched together into like 8-10 dungeons, with items to complete them hidden within, and puzzles on the overworld you could mark and backtrack to after getting those items, and npc sidequests gave you heart pieces again, and the korok forest burned down in a holy fire because screw them and their gold nuggets, itd have been more enjoyable imo.
Also any time a section requires stealth, I want to gauge my eyes out in BotW. The Yiga Clan infiltration and the Korok Trial where you have to follow the dude. ITS JUST SUPER TIME CONSUMING, NOT CHALLENGING because dude managed to turn around and go "OH THERE YOU ARE".
Horizon's stealth is WAY, WAY better done, and also I don't think there is a single point in the game where if you fail stealth it is pretty much time to redo the whole thing, outside of maybe the first intro stealth tutorial, but that isn't even long or difficult.
Pretty much every game that gets treated as the greatest thing ever has massive, glaring flaws that most people are completely incapable of acknowledging -- if they don't attack anyone who does.
The games I've had the most fun with over the years? The games that the same people obsessed with BotW, Witcher 3, Persona 5, etc. are obsessed with bashing.
Breath of the Wild just FEELS like a padded out game. It has like 4 things to do that feel marginally rewarding (Hunt for Korok seeds, do a shrine, do a divine beast, or beat Ganon.)
You just have to do the first two a million times.
Honestly, I think Horizon should have gotten GotY from most publications last year. My favorite game from last year was NieR: Automata, but I also understand why it WOULDN'T get it, because it is a weird game for weird people, and not a game that has the same wide appeal. I'd put BotW as the 5-6th best game of 2017.
Also for being a huge entry into one of the biggest video game franchises of all time, by one of the most well off game developer studios in the world, why do so many things feel cheaped out on? WHY DO ALL THE STABLES USE THE EXACT SAME MODEL?
Also rain. YOU KNOW THAT MECHANIC THAT IS PROBABLY THE MOST COOL PART OF THE GAME? THE ABILITY TO CLIMB ANYTHING. LET'S JUST TURN THAT OFF AT RANDOM. THAT'S FUN.
@Touchfuzzy Oh, right, typical human Sue protagonist is so likeable. Typical anti-environment propaganda with machines hiding the fact gives it such an amazing, in-depth story. even if you're going to talk about gameplay, don't talk about characters and stories as if they're fact, cuz I hated the story and characters in Horizon. I found breath of the wild to have a less of black and white world to it.
and to be honest, I didn't even find it's gameplay to be all that great, and found pretty much the exact same grinding problems that I do in other games, including breath of the Wild. it feels like modern games love to abused grinding.
@Benny Jackdaw Modern games abuse grinding because it "increases player engagement" since apparently fun isn't an important factor for some of these companies.
... Eh, Aloy is good at a lot of things, but so are most action game protagonists (hell, Link is basically good at everything). Also I'm getting suspicious that what you don't like about Horizon has more to do with your politics than anything about Horizon itself.
Just Sylens alone is a more interesting and grey character than anything in BotW.
And Horizon's mechanics actually force you to think through and use the tools at your disposal. Thinking your way through an encounter beats just spamming arrows is incredibly rewarding and uses much much less resources.
Comparatively, BotW tries to force you to use different tactics by having your weapons break constantly so you don't want to use them.
Eh, grinding in and of itself isn't bad as long as the grinding is kept fun. Combat in Horizon is so good that the grindiness of hunting certain components isn't even boring.
In Zelda I fought like I was grinding before I finished 1/6th of the Shrines, because there is so little to do you can't break up the monotony.
In Horizon, if I got tired of hunting specific components (I rarely did cause fighting in that game is so good) I could go do Bandit encampment quests with Nils, or do some hunter lodge challenges, or do a Cauldron, or hunt down a new longneck...
There was just so much more different types of things to do in HZD.
maybe, but I just didn't find anyone in Horizon to be even remotely likable, and the story itself just felt like the usual stuff I play games to get away from, with the usual human toy box feel that I absolutely despise in Media. Breath of the wild at least had different races living among each other, but Horizon just felt shallow and its portrayal of other life.
I'm going to town on it because it was lauded as one of the greatest games of all time and given 10/10 by pretty much every review outlet ever when its a 8/10 game at best.
It can be fun. But it is lacking. Also why does every single apple tree have the EXACT SAME configuration of tree branches. Also why do durian trees and apple trees look exactly the same...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we broke the status feed.
@ Touchfuzzy Y'know what you say may be true, but guess what? I found Horizon to be kinda boring. Hunting machines? Uhm...ok. The story didn't really gel for me. But you know, It's whatever's. I'm not really comparing it to Breath of the Wild and really, you shouldn't either.
BotW had some really great storylines in different places of the game. Finding the Shrines was just about as important as defeating them. Finding the Fairies, building up the town, beating the Divine Beasts. Finding the Zelda memories (dat azz). There is so much to do.
I'm really curious what you consider to be "great storylines". I think the only character I can remember from Breath of the Wild right now by name is Sidon and that is only cause they gave him the ridiculous smile/thumbs up.
And I'm currently in the middle of playing it.
I haven't played HZD in about 6 months or so and can still remember a lot of the characters.
I didnt really like the premise for hzd but your status rant has kinda sold me on trying it out sometime.
Never really got the botw hype either, granted Zelda games aren't exactly known for having great stories but even then there are past Zelda games with better narratives and gameplay, while fun, lost its allure pretty swiftly. Of course in all fairness I've only played it a few hours at my brother's.
Honestly all games I consider better than BotW from 2017: NieR: Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Shadow of War, Persona 5, XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (Yes, an expansion but wow did it make that game a whole new experience), and possibly RE7.
The thing is, I wouldn't be so harsh on the game if it wasn't for the reception it got. It is so far from a perfect game and I can't understand how anyone thinks it is. (Hell none of those games are perfect, I can tell you flaws for every single one, but overall 2017 was a ridiculously outstanding year for video games).
Yeah, you see, That's the attitude people start taking towards games once the freshness wears off. It doesn't deserve it though, as It's still fun to play.
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