MadFanboy Forum

THIS GAME IS NOT PERFECT

It is insanity to me that people can play this game and give it a perfect 10/10 score when the most important element a video game should have is missing: FUN
Simply put, this game is not fun. It is beautiful, it is breathtaking, it is large. Beyond large. So large it is breathtaking. But it is not fun.
As a die hard Zelda fan since birth it baffles me that people are too blindsided by the massiveness of the world in this game to see how bland and obnoxiously tedious every second of the game is. Let me explain why this game broke my heart into a million different pieces which I won't be able to pick up off the floor because this game no longer features heart pieces.

- Initial reaction:
Breath of the Wild was made for the Wii U. The concept of having the wii motion plus as a swinging sword in Skyward Sword was swapped for the concept of having a gamepad in front of you to act as your menu, your map, and to feature inventive ways of using items throughout the game. All of this was utilized when Nintendo designed Wind Waker HD for the Wii U. And all of this was scrapped for Breath of the Wild when Nintendo decided to have it released alongside the Nintendo Switch which doesn't offer a touch screen gamepad. So we were forced to wait an extra year and a half for a game to be dumbed down from it's original design. Within the first 5 minutes of playing this struck me as a huge let down but I knew the game would be so epic this major set back wouldn't matter. I was wrong.

- Gameplay:
Nearly every tried and true mechanic from the Zelda genre has been swapped out to fit what Nintendo clearly thinks of as "Mature" gaming mechanics. Instead of having a sword and shield you can upgrade you now have a plethora of weapons to loot off enemies which break after a very short usage... It's like being punished for playing the game. Even the Master Sword breaks.
Link runs along with a stamina bar like he did in Skyward Sword. In fact he plays much like the Link in Skyward Sword except he's now in a world 800x the size meaning he is unbearably slow. Like snail dragging in quick sand kind of slow. The world is massive and you want to be able to scale every mountain, which you are forced to do at an unbelievably slow pace. The world also is not fun to explore. It's pretty to explore, but there is nothing to do that is actually fun because fighting, traveling, and item usage are all boring.

+ Graphics:
Amazing. It's beautiful and there are no load times for anything. However there is a constant stutter and frame rate whenever you're around moving objects... Like grass. Grass is everywhere, by the way. So the game almost feels like a Sega Saturn game and the disc is skipping. Again, HOW can you give a game a perfect score when it just IS NOT PERFECT!?

- Sound:
The absolute worst feature of the game. Did they even make a score to this game? There seems to be a slight patter of piano in the distance behind you which plays softly among the never ending clatter of your weapon hitting your shield. The painful sound of Link walking is only comparable to water boarding. They added voice actors which is cool except the American actors sound extremely cheesy and amateur and there is no switching to Japanese voice acting, which if you've seen the Japanese trailer you know is amazing. And if you thought the sound effect of having one heart remaining in previous Zeldas was bad it's nothing compared to the sound effect of when you're near a shrine. Which is all the time.

- Overall
Speaking of shrines, there are no longer dungeons. There are shrines. 100's of them and they all have the same skin and are kind of like one puzzle you would find in a typical Zelda dungeon. You have to solve 4 of them, and then go to a goddess statue to have her give you more stamina or a heart container. YEP, there are NO heart pieces in this game! However there is an endless supply of food, materials, bugs, animals to kill, and a bunch of other things that the Zelda world did not need. There are 4 bigger shrines which are all very similar and probably the best part of the game.
In general this game is just a giant middle finger to anyone who loves Nintendo and specifically the Zelda franchise. I'm convinced these perfect score reviews are all hired interns with Nintendo to ensure their stock doesn't plummet farther than it already has. And I hate saying this about Nintendo, I honestly LOVE NINTENDO. Sadly, these reviews mean the Zelda franchise will keep these horrendous changes, so thanks to all of you who made it impossible for us to ever have another Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker!!