I gave this game a second chance and played it with a different mindset. I just explored and did shyt and I realize why people like this game so much. It is a 100% fukkery game. If you want to go somewhere there is a way to get there, if you want to kill something there is a way to do it(still haven't figured out how or if I can kill dragons though). The game is all about just playing the game. Literally that is all you have tk do is do whatever you want and you will always make some sort of progress. While my complaints still stand, those complaints come from the mindset of a Zelda fan.
This game is not anything like any other Zelda game. I actually went and fought Ganon as soon as I left the great plateau. He whooped my ass but it was brilliant that I could literally go beat the game as soon as I beat the tutorial phase of the game. That level of freedom has never been in the franchise. The different ways you can use your Sheikah slate to interact with the world is incredible. Hitting stasis on a bomb barrel and sending it flying into a group is always satisfying. Dropping bombs from my paraglider is something I don't even know if I could live without in a Zelda game anymore. I love bombing the shyt out of camps. The art style is gorgeous and is more important than raw graphical power. From a technical standpoint this is easily one of the finest games I have ever played, especially with how fair and balanced the gameplay is given the variety of different ways you can approach just about any given situation.
I do feel like the divine beasts are underwhelming. All four of them should have been like Hyrule castle. Multi tiered areas with numerous things to do. The divine beasts in their current state is basically just an extended shrine. Hyrule castle is brilliant in it's design and execution.
Also the weapon degredation system, while I have learned how to work around it, I still feel like it could be implemented better. Maybe like Dying Light style where you can use raw materials you find(since they are everywhere) to repair them a certain amount of times(Dying Light is another incredible game you should try if you haven't, it's like 7 years old and still has like 250k+ online players everyday. shyt is a somewhat slept on gem.). There is no logical reason why they have an excellent cooking system and no crafting system. From a logic standpoint to me it just doesn't make sense.
As far as this being a game, I give it a 9 out of 10. Excellent and well technically crafted game that is immersive and once you figure it out somewhat addicting. I hope Nintendo adds co-op to part 2. The fukkery you could get with two Links would be legendary.
As far as being a STRICTLY A ZELDA game, it is a 6/10. Not the worst, but definitely not the best game that has that CLASSIC ZELDA FEEL to it(that goes to IMO aLTTP, OoT, and WW in no particular order). Hyrule Castle was the only place I felt like I was in a DUNGEON. The thing is Hyrule Castle is fukking great. I crave for more of it. The depth of it reminds me of a FromSoft level in a Souls game. The story is also presented in a very poor way. I'm sorry, but Nintendo will need to be a lot less lazy about the side quests. This is the perfect game to tell the entire lore and history of the world through side quests. Every side quests should have true meaning, even if it isn't related to the main story. Some of this is just lazy on their parts IMO. I don't care about the story of this game, but I actually want to. I think through BoTW I'm realizing why FFXII is so polarizing. FFXII tried a lot of the things with a pure JRPG that BoTW is trying to do with an action platformer with adventure and puzzle elements mixed into it. FFXII gave you more freedom than you ever had in a FF game. There was so many sidequests, equipment/items to get fetch, and creatures to fight, and they would give you access to a large amount of it at a time and the story which is actually one of the better FF stories, that shyt was GoT before it got big. Me and
@Gizmo_Duck both have it top 3 FF's and we aren't the only ones. This game does the exact same thing except FFXII still was wide linear eventually you would run out of shyt to do unless you beat the game. This game is completely open fron the beginning and no other Zelda game has done that before. You literally can make beating the final boss the very last thing to do with no barriers to it, or it can be the very first thing you do. The freedom this game gives me is refreshing, to do whatever I want whenever I want is something that is missing in video games now a days where they try to tell movies through games or restrict your progress behind paywalls and MTX bullshyt, or like Destiny where they cap how much you fan farm per week to artificially lengthen the game. I love this game, it's went from being boring of the wild to BRUUUUUHHHHH of the wild to me.
