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The Verge: Five years on, Breath of the Wild’s open world is still unmatched

Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
No, it's laughable. It's an opinion that differs from yours. You bring up good points, but I'll still have to disagree with you.

Maybe I just don't get it. But for me its like being in a submarine, yea sure you cover more ground... but I feel like the real fun and exploration is had by that deep sea diver there. He may not cover as much ocean as the guy in the submarine, but he gets to see it up close and touch it.

What a comparison. You literally can't see a thing in a submarine. Aircraft have windows. Incidentally, you're not "touching" a single thing in a video game, and Zelda's far from "tactile" in any shape or form. The cognitive inputs you receive are the same.

There are large aircraft and small aircraft that can land literally anywhere. That's not very different from exploring on foot.

maps.google.com

And here I thought we were talking about video games... the things you learn. 😂
 
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I wrote this in another thread, but this game made me feel like im wasting my life away. Its truly a running simulator. Especially in the beginning of the game for the first 20 hours or so. you run/climb your way to an area only to hit a road block... Either because its too hot, two cold or your weapons just break for no reason practically. Weapons break so easily and its straight frustration. Frustration because you waste so much time to do one simple task

A perfect example is in this time stamped video. I'm already 4+ hours into this sessions, tired, upset at how much time this game takes. I made it to Waterblight Ganon and constantly losing. So I made my way back to down, cooked a bunch of food to for health restoration and what not. I'm fighting him, all tensed up and my weapon breaks as he goes into his second form. The problem was that i didnt know my weapon broke because the notification poped up for a split second and I'm just focused on the boss himself. As I go to attack again him, thats when I realized I had no weapon equpied and i raged on the camera. I didnt have my mic on, but you can see how upset I was.



After 60+ hours of just running around, doing stupid shrines and expanding my heart, stamina, and inventory slots, I finally beat the last guardian. Now its time for Ganon.

To me, the game is such a drag. I rarely talk to NPC's unless they are selling something. The game lacks mystery as the previous games... And that may because I don't talk to any NPC because I've already wasted so much time getting to a certain area .

I'll leave this post on a positive note though. Playing this game makes me think of the original Zelda, how they imagined it with this art and how much they nailed it.:

The-Legend-of-Zelda-1024x576.png

were u trying to speed-run the game??? What are u doing at water blight ganon already lol.
4 hours in i was still just having fun dicking around on the Great Plateau trying to figure the game out.

and theres a TON of mystery in the game. Thats one of its charms. Every NPC has something to tell u. Every area has some visual history to it
 

brian0057

Banned
Watching people trying to convince themselves that Elden Ring couldn't possibly be inspired by Breath of the Wild is my new favorite sport.
Even after their lord and saviour, Miyazaki, confirmed as such.

As much as I hate Metal Gear in general, its influence on Splinter Cell, my favorite series of all time, is undeniable and doesn't change my love for it.
Apparently, this is really hard for most people to accept.
 
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Boss Mog

Member
Theverge LMAO :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Those guys still talk about games and tech after that embarrassing "build a PC" video?

 
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O-N-E

Member
I've been playing Elden Ring, and I agree.

Elden Ring excels in the same way all From games do, in the challenge of the combat. When it comes to exploration and traversal, Breath of the Wild was more immersive and felt more satisfying on that front. There's no disconnect with the overworld becasuse you simply climb up high and look out in the distance for any oddities, place a marker directly there and keep going. You don't have to go to the map and guestimate where that thing on the horizon is located. There's also the factor of the weather and climate making an actual difference on your gameplay experience. It was all interconnected in a very special way.
 

lingpanda

Member
RDR2 > BOTW > ER. All 3 have been fantastic regardless of order. I will say ER would really benefit from a glider. So many times I feel like it's BOTW and I want to jump from high above down to a lower spot. Nope gotta traverse the terrain.
 

Marvel14

Banned
Can we not agree that both Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild are stunning games and not shit on either? Outrageous concept I know but both innovate and have pushed forward the medium in exciting and hugely rewarding ways regardless of your personal feelings or own enjoyment..and that's OK.
 
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Marvel14

Banned
RDR2 > BOTW > ER. All 3 have been fantastic regardless of order. I will say ER would really benefit from a glider. So many times I feel like it's BOTW and I want to jump from high above down to a lower spot. Nope gotta traverse the terrain.
As a massive fan of RDR1 I dropped RDR2 after about 5-7 hours. Boring and full of busy work and overstuffed systems.
 
What a comparison. You literally can't see a thing in a submarine. Aircraft have windows. Incidentally, you're not "touching" a single thing in a video game, and Zelda's far from "tactile" in any shape or form. The cognitive inputs you receive are the same.

There are large aircraft and small aircraft that can land literally anywhere. That's not very different from exploring on foot.



And here I thought we were talking about video games... the things you learn. 😂
Incidentally... you're not "seeing" anything in a video game, so there's that. You're not "exploring" anything in a video game that lets you "explore" the world. So please, lets not make one more "experiential" over the other. You like pretending like you're flying over the world and pretending like you're a pilot... others like pretending you're a dude name Link and going around burning grass and climbing EVERYTHING...

For real, "large aircarf and small aircraft" hahaha... dudes in BOTW be setting small fires and large fires LOL
 
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SeraphJan

Member
BotW -> If you want a mechanically addictive game that you could express your own creativity with interactive physics, good programming and light hearted theme.
RDR2 -> If you want a life simulator with culture depth, great writing, great acting, filled with emotional moments, great graphic fidelity, great visual details and a more matured theme.
ER -> If you want a atmospheric dark fantasy world filled with challenges, sense of progression, well-crafted level design, great boss battles, and cryptic narrative.

There is a game for everyone
 
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IDappa

Member
I rather RDR 2's open world. You'd go out and not know what was going to happen. The random events and world in general was more interesting and actually had things to do.

One of my most memorable moments from that game was going out hunting for a few ingame days, watching Arthur get bloody and dirty from just being out in the wild I finally thought I needed to get back to town. Once I got back I checked into the the hotel had a bath paid the extra for the extra help. Put on new clothes as the sun was setting I went out to the saloon and sat down for a feed and a few brews. Once I hut the whiskey Arthur was getting a bit wobbly so I decided to play some poker. After winning what a thought was a few hand the sun was rising. I decided he needed some sleep as we have a big few days ahead. As I exited the saloon a drunk fellow bumped into me. He was furious and challenged me to a duel. So here we are standing there both men locked eyes with a piercing gaze ready to gun each other down. The bell in the clock tower rings then the guys slowly falls over face first into the mud like a tree that has been cut. With a smart arse remark from Arthur I was on my way with no blood shed.

Still one of my favourite moments in gaming.
 
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nkarafo

Member
The issue with BOTW's open world were the obvious korok seed areas. There were just too many of them and they also repeat too often. If you have OCD it's impossible to not get distracted by them. Only after having collected about 500+ of them i decided that's enough and forced myself to ignore them. It's not like getting all 900 or something of them is worth it at all.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
BotW -> If you want a mechanically addictive game that you could express your own creativity with interactive physics, good programming and light hearted theme.
RDR2 -> If you want a life simulator with culture depth, great writing, great acting, filled with emotional moments, great graphic fidelity, great visual details and a more matured theme.
ER -> If you want a atmospheric dark fantasy world filled with challenges, sense of progression, well-crafted level design, great boss battles, and cryptic narrative.

Well put, and I think it goes to my point about Ueda being Miyazaki's primary inspiration.

Which one of those 3 games sounds most like Shadow Of The Colossus or the other entries in the ICO trilogy? Its not hard to identify!
 

Zannegan

Member
Well put, and I think it goes to my point about Ueda being Miyazaki's primary inspiration.

Which one of those 3 games sounds most like Shadow Of The Colossus or the other entries in the ICO trilogy? Its not hard to identify!
Sure, you just have to ignore what Miyazaki said on the subject to come to that conclusion.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Sure, you just have to ignore what Miyazaki said on the subject to come to that conclusion.

Find me the quote. Because I just googled a bunch of things and I see journo's bringing up BotW a lot, but not Miyazaki.
The only direct reference I found was him saying the ORIGINAL Legend Of Zelda set a template as it was such a huge deal when he was a student.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Ah yes, an opinion.

An option I don't agree with. Great Zelda game, really cool for the IP. In terms of an open world game, I thought the details and interactibles we're really cool. Neat stuff. But that was really is for me.
 
The Verge must have some low standards for open world, BotW was good in terms of open world and that’s it. RDR2 and many other games put it to shame. These Nintendo fanboys are something else.
 

WildBoy

Member
I'll die before understanding why people consider BOTW a good game

I bought a Switch, played it for more than 10h, finished 2 Beasts ... And I think its one of the worst open world games that I've ever played.

Some of the gameplay systems/physics are great. Absolutely hate breakable weapons, but the hot/cold stuff, wind, fire, ice is awesome.

The story sucks ass, but what amazes me is that people say that exploration is rewarding / "sense of adventure"

I mean, look, look at this shit



All these blue points are shrines. Samey looking, 10 minutes puzzle rooms that reward you with a ball that you can use to upgrade stats.

You know what you gonna get exploring this map: shrines. Or some useless Korok Seeds.

To me its so obvious that Nintendo struggled to make an open world game of that size, and after designing the map, instead of filling it with interesting stuff, they just went "fuck it, shrines". And people ate it all up as "woah, so genius"

Seriously? This is the benchmark? Not The Witcher 3 with amazingly written sidequests? Or Elden Ring with some huge dungeon that you stumbled upon? Or RDR 2 filled with random encounters everywhere?

To me its the most overrated game of all time, no question
With botw people felt rewarded just playing the game. The shrines in Botw were my favourite part of the game. Zeldas bread and butter is puzzles. It rarely has been about combat though botw provided a lot of ways to approach combat in a freeing, no level upping and no XP needed fashion. Its very inviting. I found all 900 koroks and I did every mission. The journey was the reward.

Also I think you discredit the incredible experimentation found it's in chemistry system. For example when you drop an item it has physical properties still and uses beyond being in your inventory - that was revolutionary in itself! I am enjoying Elden Rin a ton but it does not give me the seretonin, serenity or satisfaction that I felt playing botw. And well written stories in the Witcher 3 put me to sleep. Gameplay is most paramount and the more resources we give to story and cutscenes I think the more games suffer and lose their identity.
 

Batiman

Banned
Nah Elden ring and RDR2 easily top it. Elden ring especially. Love BOTW though.
It just gets to a point when you realize your just gonna run into an enemy you’ve seen 100 times or useless treasure that never feels rewarding. I guess RD fits with these complaints but the world is just beautiful.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
He literally said he studied it to make Elden Ring.

Why are you guys holding on so tight to this? Literally the only commonality is "open-ness" and a horse. In look, tone, and spirit the world of ER is entirely dissimilar.

The same quote says he also studied GTA! Of course he looked at all the biggest name titles that employ an open-world format, but its also stated that none of them were a direct inspiration.

As I mentioned, if you actually look at the interviews he expresses respect for the Zelda franchise, which is entirely reasonable considering how influential the series has been over the years - especially relevant being Ocarina Of Time as that was the first game of its type to be depicted in polygonal 3D.

Ironically I think you guys are selling short both ER and BotW by clinging onto this non-existent connection; BotW's design innovations are not present in ER, its intentions are not the same, and its flow and structure are very different.
 

brian0057

Banned
Miyazaki: "We studied a lot of open world titles, including GTA and Elder Scrolls. But I really liked Breath of the Wild."
Totally sane people: "See? Breath of the Wild had absolutely nothing to do with Elden Ring since he literally didn't say it."

I guess the meme of people being unable to extrapolate from incomplete data is not longer a meme.
 
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Scotty W

Member
People who don’t like BotW are unable to feel any happiness from a game. They have no purpose in life except to do difficult stuff with their thumbs and talk about squares triangles and how fast the lights move around on their picture box. Whatever does not pander to the concupiscence of their thumbs reminds them how empty they really are.

 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Miyazaki: "We studied a lot of open world titles, including GTA and Elder Scrolls. But I really liked Breath of the Wild."
Totally sane people: "See? Breath of the Wild had absolutely nothing to do with Elden Ring since he literally didn't say it."

I guess the meme of people being unable to extrapolate from incomplete data is not longer a meme.

Good job at missing out on the crucial "no title served as specific inspiration for Elden Ring" bit.

No extrapolation required.
 

brian0057

Banned
Good job at missing out on the crucial "no title served as specific inspiration for Elden Ring" bit.

No extrapolation required.
"No title served as specific inspiration for Elden Ring" doesn't mean "Breath of the Wild wasn't used at all."
It means "no single title was the sole inspiration as they took from many examples."

Is it really that painfull to you that Breath of the Wild might have had even a little bit of an impact on Elden Ring?
 

A.Romero

Member
Many games can be great but saying one is unmatched means that it's greater than the rest.

The truth is that most of the games mentioned here are great and they excel in different things. To me comparing Nintendo to the rest is like comparing Smash Bros to standard traditional fighting games: It can't be done because they serve different purposes and reach different markets. A person might like one over the other but that doesn't mean it automatically makes the game great. They are different categories.
 

RafterXL

Member
Damage control the article. This is literally just trying to keep BotW on peoples minds because a game came out that finally surpassed it.

Breath of the World did a lot of things right, but it did many wrong as well. The biggest was having this amazing open world with basically no reason to explore most of it. Elden Ring finished what BotW started. It combined an amazing open world with a reason to explore, tons of secrets, discoveries, and actually engaging combat. Elden Ring is basically the Souls games combined into one covered in the open world of BotW.
 
> Miyazaki using BOTW as inspiration for Elden Ring as its fans call the former title shit.

iu
I mean, the best part of elden ring, combat, is Zelda worse and i mean by far worst part...so if combat is a primary reason you love elden ring, you may find botw under whelming.

from someone who thinks elden ring is the goat and BOTW is a good but underwhelming game.
 

20cent

Banned
Fun game to play? sure.

I'll take Witcher 3 or RDR2 over it though, the world actually feels alive there, not like a giant Mario 64 level with enemies waiting for you.

That's my problem with Elden Ring too. I love the atmosphere, the art, the gameplay, but it is not an "open world", just a seamless continuity of levels where the map itself is the hub, a Castlevania in 3D
 
Fun game to play? sure.

I'll take Witcher 3 or RDR2 over it though, the world actually feels alive there, not like a giant Mario 64 level with enemies waiting for you.

That's my problem with Elden Ring too. I love the atmosphere, the art, the gameplay, but it is not an "open world", just a seamless continuity of levels where the map itself is the hub, a Castlevania in 3D
You just described an ope...you know what...nvm.
 

brian0057

Banned
I mean, the best part of elden ring, combat, is Zelda worse and i mean by far worst part...so if combat is a primary reason you love elden ring, you may find botw under whelming.

from someone who thinks elden ring is the goat and BOTW is a good but underwhelming game.
And that's cool.
You'd expect games releasing later would be better than older ones. And I don't think BOTW is the be-all, end-all. It certainly has flaws.

It's just that I find it amusing that some people are on suicide watch at the mere idea that Breath of the Wild might have had something to do with the creation of Elden Ring, even if just a little bit.
It's like, they feel physical pain at the slightest mention of the Zelda title when talking about From's opus.
 
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Synless

Member
On my end, if im judging just the world alone, not gameplay it goes (in no order) RDR2, Skyrim, GTAV, Witcher 3.

all of them have better designed worlds imo…
 

20cent

Banned
You just described an ope...you know what...nvm.
I'm probably wrong about what makes a videogame, but if the world you're exploring doesn't make sense without the player, it is not a "world", just a giant level. Witcher 3 / RDR 2 and others feel like they exist on their own as....open worlds.
 
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