This is simultaneously one of the most magical gaming experiences I've ever had and one of the most frustrating. The game has multiple fantastic moments especially towards the end, and the bosses especially are much better than BotW. Unfortunately tho that's my only problem with that game that I feel was completely fixed. I really liked half of the dungeons here, the other half were mediocre. The story is better but they went out of their way to reuse the memory shit which is just about the worst way to tell a story imo, I checked out fast. I know some people love the ability to do things in whatever order you want, but it made certain parts of the game so much less impactful than they could've been for me personally. Every single issue I have with this game is a carry-over from BotW which is disappointing to me as I really hoped this game would fix my issues with it.
But god they really took this opportunity to take BotW's strengths and further improve on them. The open world is immaculate and even denser than before, I was shocked how much the sky and depths added to this world. The scope is larger than ever physically, and even that expansion is miniscule compared to the mechanical scope of TotK the new abilities take an already wide open game and make it significantly more freeform in every way possible, I'm convinced you could find multiple solutions for every single puzzle in this game which is really cool. I've heard this described as the closest thing you can get to a sandbox game with an actual structure, and I think that's accurate. It's not the kind of game design that blows me away personally but I have to respect how ambitious it is, and how remarkably solid the final build of the game is despite the incredibly complex systems at work here. This is what will make the game for most people.
What I wanted out of this game was an experience that built off of BotW's mechanics while telling a more engaging story with unique and satisfying dungeons. I got about halfway there on each. The story is better for sure and the ending is truly incredible, but the majority of it still feels under-developed and it being told through memories took me out of it almost immediately. I was convinced I was getting what I had hoped for during the first five hours or so, but the moment I saw that first dragon tear the disappointment came crashing down hard. The dungeons were hit or miss, and there was only one I felt could stand up to the average Zelda dungeon.
It's not the sequel I wanted but this is still a really great game in its own right, even tho I was let down in multiple areas I can't bring myself to say the whole package was a dissapointment. I'd be lying if I said I didn't absolutely love playing this game, because I really did. I do think the praise for this game is a bit blown out of proportion, at least for now people are extremely quick to dismiss the flaws on this one which isn't really fair. But I'd rather not focus on all that. It wasn't what I wanted but it surprised me in totally different ways.
But god they really took this opportunity to take BotW's strengths and further improve on them. The open world is immaculate and even denser than before, I was shocked how much the sky and depths added to this world. The scope is larger than ever physically, and even that expansion is miniscule compared to the mechanical scope of TotK the new abilities take an already wide open game and make it significantly more freeform in every way possible, I'm convinced you could find multiple solutions for every single puzzle in this game which is really cool. I've heard this described as the closest thing you can get to a sandbox game with an actual structure, and I think that's accurate. It's not the kind of game design that blows me away personally but I have to respect how ambitious it is, and how remarkably solid the final build of the game is despite the incredibly complex systems at work here. This is what will make the game for most people.
What I wanted out of this game was an experience that built off of BotW's mechanics while telling a more engaging story with unique and satisfying dungeons. I got about halfway there on each. The story is better for sure and the ending is truly incredible, but the majority of it still feels under-developed and it being told through memories took me out of it almost immediately. I was convinced I was getting what I had hoped for during the first five hours or so, but the moment I saw that first dragon tear the disappointment came crashing down hard. The dungeons were hit or miss, and there was only one I felt could stand up to the average Zelda dungeon.
It's not the sequel I wanted but this is still a really great game in its own right, even tho I was let down in multiple areas I can't bring myself to say the whole package was a dissapointment. I'd be lying if I said I didn't absolutely love playing this game, because I really did. I do think the praise for this game is a bit blown out of proportion, at least for now people are extremely quick to dismiss the flaws on this one which isn't really fair. But I'd rather not focus on all that. It wasn't what I wanted but it surprised me in totally different ways.