Not sure what I am even talking about, just felt like dropping some thoughts about Zelda:
I saw that the file size of Zelda is 18gb... Apparently BoTW is 14gb, which is still larger than any of the Xenoblade games (the Switch ones, XCX is 20gb with all the DLC). Not sure if I will even bother pirating Zelda to play on my actual Switch at this rate, I might just end up emulating it. Definitely not going to actually buy it, unless its miraculously incredible and actually the greatest game ever made (like how people act like BoTW was). Nothing I've seen from the trailers is actually convincing me its going to be that great. It will probably be much better than BoTW, but $70? (90 Canadian cuckoonies) no way.
There are most assuredly going to be major performance issues, BoTW had major performance issues on the Switch version only for quite a while until they patched it up with the DLC releases. Sure it's 900p instead of the Wii U's 720p, but the Wii U version (at launch) ran at a more consistent framerate. I played the Wii U version originally, only got a Switch for Xenoblade 2 (which was a disappointment).
I used to really like Zelda, but I don't know if its BoTW that ruined it, or if I'm just getting older. But all that I've seen has just made me less interested. I still think that Metroid Prime 2 handles 'open world' Zelda dungeons better than any Zelda game.
Honestly the strongest part of BoTW for me was right at the start, before you get any equipment or upgrades, the game plays a lot more like a survival game, you have to plan out your moves and when to engage in combat. But the second you leave the plateau the game loses that feeling, since you can just para-glide and climb anything, and it only gets easier as you progress. The temperature system could have been an interesting thing where you need to plan for trips, but it just becomes "equip this one armour piece, or drink this potion thats easy to make and lasts 20 minutes".
I don't even like survival games very much, but what I got from the plateau experience (the first time, later playthroughs ruined it because at that point I knew you can just ignore everything) was the most fun I've had with a 'survival' game outside of maybe some old versions of Minecraft. Although I still found it lacking, I wanted night to be an actual threat, and I wish you could actually set up camp instead of just light a campfire.
I think that the design they decided for BoTW, where you can do anything whenever you want, is only a detriment to the actual game. I remember in my first playthrough that I was scared of the castle, I geared myself up and explored the basement only, but I found out that it's just more of the same easy enemies and there is no actual threat, because the game is designed to not lock you out of anything. Even playing on the hard mode that was added with DLC later (lol) its still super easy after the plateau, it's just like Oblivion's difficulty scale, you take more damage, enemies take less.
I don't know if its just because its a baby kids game or what, but I saw all these people praising the game online and I just got confused. The best parts of the game are when you do the linear sections that lead into the divine beasts. But people have gotten thousands of hours out of it and are still playing it today?
www.tweaktown.com
