|
dkirschner's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (WiiU)
|
| [December 7, 2022 03:10:53 PM]
|
Holy moly, this epic game is finished. I decided to knock it out over the next week, but it wound up just taking one evening. I had no idea I was so close. All I had to do was pull a sword from a rock, clear Hyrule castle, and kill Ganon. Surprisingly, Ganon didn't kill me once! The lion dude, however, at the gatehouses in Hyrule Castle, did a number on me. But I finally killed him (before realizing he was optional).
I could have spent another hundred hours in Hyrule exploring its secrets, but I’ve been playing this game off and on for over two years and just wanted to end it. Plus there’s a sequel coming (on a platform I don’t own). Since it’s been so long, it’s hard for me to summarize my thoughts on the game. My play happened in spurts over the past two years. When I was able to devote sustained attention to it, I got sucked in and loved every minute. When I only had a little time to dabble, and had to relearn controls, remember what I was doing (like last night), it could get frustrating, feeling like I was opening this wonderful toybox but could only take out one toy. I don’t want to play with one toy; it’s better if I can have the whole box.
This is monumental because it’s the last game I have on the Wii U, which will now be cleaned, packaged, and sold on eBay. Then it’s on to PS4 games, of which I have accumulated roughly 10 unplayed. Some of them are also really long (an Assassin’s Creed game, the first Horizon game, a Yakuza game). I’m going to try and tackle one over winter break (or two…how much gaming can I squeeze in?).
add a comment 
|
| [March 29, 2022 07:03:43 PM]
|
According to GameLog, I started this in November 2020. That puts me just a little past time to make an entry...I haven't been playing that whole time, but I am in the middle of a burst of Zelda energy now. I have no idea how long I've been playing, but I have cleansed three of the Divine Beasts and am approaching the fourth one. After that, I don't know what happens. Can I go to Hyrule Castle, defeat Ganon, and end the game?
Why have I been playing this so long, anyway? Well, I've gone through hot and cold periods with it. It is a game that requires patience, and I'm not always a patient player, given that I often have no or little time to play and given that I always have so many games backlogged. When I'm not feeling patient, the game can frustrate me. But when I'm in a good frame of mine for it, playing BoTW is extremely relaxing, and I'll get lost in it. This tension itself between wanting to blow through a game and wanting to be patient and explore all it has to offer can be frustrating, too. The reason I'm feeling the tension so strongly with BoTW is because it is a phenomenal game, but also a phenomenally long, detailed game! I want to see everything but I also just want to get it done and move on!
BoTW has a huge map. Hyrule is teeming with secrets, characters, dungeons, monsters, items, and activities. You can spend time searching for and clearing the shrines, which are thoughtful puzzles or combat challenges. I've recently been hunting these down, especially the secret ones, which you find by solving riddles and following clues. Some puzzle shrines are head-scratchers, while others are elementary. This morning, I found a puzzle shrine that took me about 30 seconds to complete. I've never been in and out of one so quickly. Alternatively, the other day I found a combat shrine that took me at least half an hour to finally kill the tough Guardian inside. Your reward for completing shrines is an orb. Collect enough and you can make an offering of them to get extra health and stamina.
You could also spend time seeking Koroks, cute leafy creatures hiding around the world. If you notice something amiss--a stone circle with one stone out of place; an odd assortment of flowers in the wild; a pattern with one part slightly off--then figure out a way to "solve" whatever it is. I have found maybe 12 Koroks, but recently read that there are NINE HUNDRED of them. Finding them allows you to unlock inventory slots, which is useful because since your weapons, bows, and shields break with use, you always want a lot of backups, and different types of weapons are handy to have in stock for different situations.
You could spend your time learning cooking recipes, training your horse, completing side quests from NPCs, exploring nooks and crannies of the map, following up on rumors, finding and killing unique monsters, searching for the settings of Link's photo album, trying to glide as far as you can, buy a house, etc., etc., etc. My next step is to cleanse the final Divine Beast. Then, I would like to take my time and explore more of Hyrule (two entire regions are still undiscovered), try to solve some of the hidden shrines, complete some challenging side quests, and really enjoy more of this open world. I'll come back later and write about cooking and climbing (you can climb literally anywhere and it is awesome) and combat and whatever else is on my mind then!
add a comment
|
|
|
 |
dkirschner's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (WiiU)
|
|
Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Tuesday 10 November, 2020
GameLog closed on: Wednesday 7 December, 2022 |
 |
| other GameLogs for this Game |
|
This is the only GameLog for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. |
|
