You can't count shrines as things to find. They're the inferior substitute for dungeons, not in the same category as the rest of that. My bias against crafting and cooking probably factors in here admittedly, I immediately dismissed all that shit.
Well again, we all have our likes and dislikes. At least for me, I felt that the shrines were much more open in terms of how you could approach them compared to the dungeons of old. I won't lie and say that I don't want dungeons to return mind you, but I'd rather they be more like how the shrines were. Not in terms of samey aesthetics, but rather in what they allow you to do to complete them.
In fact, I almost quit right at the start when I thought I had to cook to survive the cold, but figured I'd Google if there's another way, and luckily there was obtainable cold resistant equipment. What a sour way to start a fucking Zelda game. People think that's fun?!
Yes. Because you can find multiple ways to survive the cold. You can cook the cold-resistant food, wear the cold-resistant equipment, carry a torch or fire weapon with you, create campfires every so often, or even just power on through. All up to the player to figure out, much like the rest of the game.
Everywhere I looked were seeds, swords, I think arrows and bombs, just such irrelevant, boring shit that would be fine in a regular Zelda game, but this one pulls out its big exploration dick and says suck but nothing comes out. Why explore this vast wasteland? It's dotted with the same few enemies, cool ruins at first glance containing nothing upon inspection, and more climbing to find a seed perched at the top. The best you can find is a shrine.
Mind you I played all night, like 6-8 hours, a real good session. It admittedly was fun at first but I quickly realized I found nothing important. Skyrim brings you to a village right off the bat, then a big city, and that's if you don't go fuck off on your own. There's more points of interest and life in Skyrim immediately than I ever found in BotW.
It really feels like Skyrim but with more interesting physics but cities and caves and NPCs stripped out, all life is gone. It feels like a beta.
Being someone who has played Skyrim, I still found BOTW to be more interesting to explore, if only due to it being less buggy and not requiring mods to fix it. XD.
On a more serious note, a lot of those ruins and landmarks in BOTW are in fact the puzzles and challenges in and of themselves, with the shrines simply being the reward. Given how the shrines are also where you'll find the best equipment, along with what you need to upgrade your health and stamina, I found it to be plenty rewarding. The Korok seeds are just an extra incentive to encourage you to go looking for all the cool stuff, as you'll at least be able to find something that will aid you in your quest. And the game does have cities and caves, albeit not as densely packed like in Skyrim. But I still found them worth discovering, thanks to how the different climates affect their presentation and inhabitants.
This has to be hyperbole. The moment that sticks out most to me, I guess sort of a turning point in the game was climbing up high and finding a seed encased in ice that I couldn't get to. That's why I climbed up? A seed again? And I can't get it yet? They want me to come BACK here for a seed later? I didn't even want it the first time, and they want me to RETURN FOR IT LATER?
I'm not trying to shit on your experiences but how would your thought process go instead? Yay, a frozen seed I can't obtain? I cannot fathom another reaction to it, I just can't.
My reaction would be "Okay, it's encased in ice. Now how shall I go about melting the ice? Do I have any fire arrows? If not, maybe I can make a camp-fire and see if that'll melt it." Rather than immediately abandon it and come back later, I instead go about figuring out a solution.
Durability doesn't fix this problem. As I said earlier, after the early game, it ceases to actually be that much of an issue from a tactical standpoint. It also doesn't fix the fundamental issues with the combat system. The game just isn't that hard, and any combat situation you can't handle you can just run away from.
True, but you would be missing a lot of the best weapons and important crafting materials if you just run away from the harder encounters. Heck, some of the more powerful items are also more prone to breaking, and many work for better or worse in certain situations. Not to mention that the durability no longer being an issue I thought would make some people less harsh on that mechanic, along with it also reflecting the player growing in power as they become more experienced at the game.
There's no enemy in the game that can't be beaten with the good old fashioned sword shield and arrow. Since those are the only weapons in the game you are given (and every other weapon is just a slight variation on them), the game has to be built around being able to use some combination of those weapons in every situation. If they aren't working, its because you haven't figured out weakness of the enemy (like for the Stone Taluses).
Again, the many variants of the weapons, at least for me, made up for all that. Some are better suited towards certain enemies, others allow for experimentation, and the harder enemies still require some out-of-the-box thinking if you don't want to waste all your best gear.
Once more, we'll have to agree to disagree. That said, I do nod my head at the notion of the next game having a few new weapon types and a bit more combat techniques.
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R: Good but not that great in retrospect. Watching the sequel's trailer a few weeks ago was a bit of a disappointment given that we had to wait, what, another year for this shit to come out and all we got was Link driving a car. Man, they missed me with that shit lol. Still have some cautious optimism, 'cause it's Zelda and I glimpsed through the game's artbook and thought some of the designs looked cool.