When we got the first trailer for this title I already had mixed feelings about it. On one hand : I was very excited to see what could basically be BotW's Majora's Mask, a new adventure in a new world made by reusing assets but with a darker tone and unique mechanics. On the other hand : I was very afraid of the game just straight up reusing the same map, as it would have no interest to me in a game based on exploration; and well you all know what the game ended up being.
The first 5~ hours of the game was when I had the most fun, roaming through the Great Sky Island, discovering Link's new abilities, admiring the beautiful visuals ... It truly felt like Breath of the Wild 2. But that sensation quickly goes away as I reach Hyrule : nothing really changed apart from a few rocks that fell here and there ; new ennemies are cool but once again there are just a few and you'll see the same in different colors wherever you go, same goes for the caves ; Bosses are actually different from one another this time but the dungeons are very very basic ; Sky islands are very disappointing as they all look extremely similar and none of the archipelago can equal the Great Sky Island in term of level design ; the depths look scary and mysterious when you first go in but you quickly realise that they're quite empty ; 60% of the shrines are fucking Rauru's Blessing please let me have puzzles, let me use the abilities aaaaaaaa
So yeah I have a lot of problem with this game but out of all that what annoys me the most is the exploration and level-design.
Exploration, because it's the same world as in botw really, and I'm pretty sure I've already explored it quite well 5 years ago and I have a pretty good memory. And as I consider the exploration to be kinda the whole point of the game, it obviously becomes way less interesting as I'm not discovering anything.
Level-design, because BotW's world was not specifically designed for Link's new abilities in TotK, as opposed to the Great Sky Island where you actually HAVE to make constructions and vehicules to overcome the map, and it really feels like an environmental puzzle. When I reached Hyrule, I never once felt that I needed to make construction to move around, especially at the beginning of the game when you don't have much devices. (This is partly my fault as I'm not a very creative individual, but still I didn't felt that "call to creativity" reviews were talking about.)
The story is pretty cool, the new mechanics are cool, and BotW's qualities are still here. It's not a bad game, because BotW is not a bad game. But to me it kinda just is BotW ... I would have love to explore a world truly and fully designed with this game's mechanics in mind.
The first 5~ hours of the game was when I had the most fun, roaming through the Great Sky Island, discovering Link's new abilities, admiring the beautiful visuals ... It truly felt like Breath of the Wild 2. But that sensation quickly goes away as I reach Hyrule : nothing really changed apart from a few rocks that fell here and there ; new ennemies are cool but once again there are just a few and you'll see the same in different colors wherever you go, same goes for the caves ; Bosses are actually different from one another this time but the dungeons are very very basic ; Sky islands are very disappointing as they all look extremely similar and none of the archipelago can equal the Great Sky Island in term of level design ; the depths look scary and mysterious when you first go in but you quickly realise that they're quite empty ; 60% of the shrines are fucking Rauru's Blessing please let me have puzzles, let me use the abilities aaaaaaaa
So yeah I have a lot of problem with this game but out of all that what annoys me the most is the exploration and level-design.
Exploration, because it's the same world as in botw really, and I'm pretty sure I've already explored it quite well 5 years ago and I have a pretty good memory. And as I consider the exploration to be kinda the whole point of the game, it obviously becomes way less interesting as I'm not discovering anything.
Level-design, because BotW's world was not specifically designed for Link's new abilities in TotK, as opposed to the Great Sky Island where you actually HAVE to make constructions and vehicules to overcome the map, and it really feels like an environmental puzzle. When I reached Hyrule, I never once felt that I needed to make construction to move around, especially at the beginning of the game when you don't have much devices. (This is partly my fault as I'm not a very creative individual, but still I didn't felt that "call to creativity" reviews were talking about.)
The story is pretty cool, the new mechanics are cool, and BotW's qualities are still here. It's not a bad game, because BotW is not a bad game. But to me it kinda just is BotW ... I would have love to explore a world truly and fully designed with this game's mechanics in mind.