MaxDeslongchamps
2 reviews liked by MaxDeslongchamps
One of my favorite games in a long time. Although I heard raving reviews, I did not expected to enjoy it as much as I did.
I have to say I played it with my husband, so we had two brains to solve the mystery of the Obra Dinn. On my own, I probably would have abandonned about halfway through the game, as some bodies and stories are VERY hard to identify.
That being said, it's such a satisfying, well-written game. Visually speaking, the use of an original non-photorealistic aesthetic really appealed to me. I'm really sad this is not a game you can replay, or else I would!
I have to say I played it with my husband, so we had two brains to solve the mystery of the Obra Dinn. On my own, I probably would have abandonned about halfway through the game, as some bodies and stories are VERY hard to identify.
That being said, it's such a satisfying, well-written game. Visually speaking, the use of an original non-photorealistic aesthetic really appealed to me. I'm really sad this is not a game you can replay, or else I would!
This review contains spoilers
My feelings about this game are rather mixed, hence my middle of the road rating. This feels like the Breath of the Wild Nintendo wanted to make originally, but didn't have the time to make (or the resources, or wanted to test the market before going all in). They improved on some of the mechanics, especially the abilities. The possibility to combine arrows with objects, or to fuse weapons/shields, is very fun and increases the possible interactions with the world.
That being said, I think the game has a few big flaws: whereas I revelled in exploring Hyrule in the BOTW, I did not have as much fun doing so in this one. Nintendo's choice of making this "sequel" happen only a few years after the end of BOTW is, in my opinion, problematic: sure, they tried to make the mainland slightly different in order to make the exploration a bit more fun, but it's just a bit boring: everything looks the same and it doesn't feel as rewarding to explore for the sake of it like it did in BOTW. As for the Sky Island, the main Central Island is fun, but most of the other smaller islands feel like they're copy/pasted with a few different resources scattered around, and it doesn't really feel like they tell the story of the Zonai - and environmental storytelling is something that BOTW did masterfully, so it's even more disappointing. The Depths would be a wonderful addition... if they weren't so boring to explore after the first few minutes. They're empty! Sure, there are bosses and a few Yiga hideouts, but... what else? What do they tell us about the world, their construction? Exploration, in BOTW, was rewarded, not necessarily with gear or with achievements, but with aesthetic moments, with beautiful environmental storytelling... and Nintendo did not manage to achieve that again with the Depths OR with the Sky Islands, in my opinion.
Narratively, its establishment as a "sequel" to BOTW is dodgy at best : why do some characters not recognize Link? Where are all the Shrines from BOTW? Where are the Divine Beasts? Why does Zelda not recognize the "gloom" as a very similar material to Malice from BOTW? Where were the Sky Islands before they appeared in the Sky? Why did all of the wells and caves SUDDENLY open? Where were they before? I had so many questions during gameplay and kept hoping for some kind of an explanation, but it never came. Now, don't get me wrong: I absolutely do not mind that Zelda games seem to exist in a timeline of their own, that each Link seems to be its own facet of a parallel dimension. The fact that the Zelda in Wind Waker and the Zelda in Twilight Princess are so dramatically different doesn't bother me at all, I quite enjoy it, in fact. My issue is the fact that they purposefully presented this as a sequel, changed barely nothing in the world (including the NPCs!), but still didn't bother making it make sense in the continuity. If they had made this further in the future, or even in the past, or if they made it clear that it was a parallel dimension, I would be okay with it. But they're really blurring the lines in such a way that just feels like very lazy storytelling. And if you're going to do a "direct" sequel, that seems to happen maybe.... 2-3 years at max after the first installment... Then make it make sense. Give us clues. Reward the exploration of the new areas with little fragments of explanation. Just... Don't ignore the problem just to do some cheap fan service at the detriment of the global storytelling.
Now, let me be clear: I had fun playing! I think the dungeons, although a bit repetitive, are more interesting than the Divine Beasts in BOTW. The different approach sequences and the way you need to use your abilities to solve unique environmental problems are really honed. I would have enjoyed more diversity in the dungeons themselves, because the "go active 5 things, then come activate the main thing, then fight the boss" became boring very quickly... But I still had fun doing it. I also enjoyed that the game was slightly more narratively-driven, even if I disliked the global narrative approach.
Ultimately, I feel like it's a fun game without a doubt, but it's not as good as Breath of the Wild was. I don't feel like they were able to make me feel what I felt playing the first game: wonder, awe, and the sheer joy of exploring for the sake of discovering the world itself, without waiting for a reward.
That being said, I think the game has a few big flaws: whereas I revelled in exploring Hyrule in the BOTW, I did not have as much fun doing so in this one. Nintendo's choice of making this "sequel" happen only a few years after the end of BOTW is, in my opinion, problematic: sure, they tried to make the mainland slightly different in order to make the exploration a bit more fun, but it's just a bit boring: everything looks the same and it doesn't feel as rewarding to explore for the sake of it like it did in BOTW. As for the Sky Island, the main Central Island is fun, but most of the other smaller islands feel like they're copy/pasted with a few different resources scattered around, and it doesn't really feel like they tell the story of the Zonai - and environmental storytelling is something that BOTW did masterfully, so it's even more disappointing. The Depths would be a wonderful addition... if they weren't so boring to explore after the first few minutes. They're empty! Sure, there are bosses and a few Yiga hideouts, but... what else? What do they tell us about the world, their construction? Exploration, in BOTW, was rewarded, not necessarily with gear or with achievements, but with aesthetic moments, with beautiful environmental storytelling... and Nintendo did not manage to achieve that again with the Depths OR with the Sky Islands, in my opinion.
Narratively, its establishment as a "sequel" to BOTW is dodgy at best : why do some characters not recognize Link? Where are all the Shrines from BOTW? Where are the Divine Beasts? Why does Zelda not recognize the "gloom" as a very similar material to Malice from BOTW? Where were the Sky Islands before they appeared in the Sky? Why did all of the wells and caves SUDDENLY open? Where were they before? I had so many questions during gameplay and kept hoping for some kind of an explanation, but it never came. Now, don't get me wrong: I absolutely do not mind that Zelda games seem to exist in a timeline of their own, that each Link seems to be its own facet of a parallel dimension. The fact that the Zelda in Wind Waker and the Zelda in Twilight Princess are so dramatically different doesn't bother me at all, I quite enjoy it, in fact. My issue is the fact that they purposefully presented this as a sequel, changed barely nothing in the world (including the NPCs!), but still didn't bother making it make sense in the continuity. If they had made this further in the future, or even in the past, or if they made it clear that it was a parallel dimension, I would be okay with it. But they're really blurring the lines in such a way that just feels like very lazy storytelling. And if you're going to do a "direct" sequel, that seems to happen maybe.... 2-3 years at max after the first installment... Then make it make sense. Give us clues. Reward the exploration of the new areas with little fragments of explanation. Just... Don't ignore the problem just to do some cheap fan service at the detriment of the global storytelling.
Now, let me be clear: I had fun playing! I think the dungeons, although a bit repetitive, are more interesting than the Divine Beasts in BOTW. The different approach sequences and the way you need to use your abilities to solve unique environmental problems are really honed. I would have enjoyed more diversity in the dungeons themselves, because the "go active 5 things, then come activate the main thing, then fight the boss" became boring very quickly... But I still had fun doing it. I also enjoyed that the game was slightly more narratively-driven, even if I disliked the global narrative approach.
Ultimately, I feel like it's a fun game without a doubt, but it's not as good as Breath of the Wild was. I don't feel like they were able to make me feel what I felt playing the first game: wonder, awe, and the sheer joy of exploring for the sake of discovering the world itself, without waiting for a reward.