Hydra Wolf

I have been a LoZ fan since I was a child, ocarina of time was actually my first game I have ever played in my life and ever since then I have been a MASSIVE fan. When I first saw BOTW on the shelf I was so exited to buy it and play it. But as soon as I got off the plateau, I instantly lost all interest and didn’t open the game again until 3 YEARS LATER in 2020. At the time playing it then, I hadn’t played any Zelda games for a while because i played them all so many times and started to get a little bored, meaning I didn’t have recent LoZ exposure. This caused me to enjoy the game a little and actually play it consistently until very recently. This is because skyward sword (one of my FAVORITE) games just came out on the switch and I had only played it once. I instantly fell back in love with the older Zelda games and made me think about how much BOTW wasn’t like them: 1.) Plot - BOTW had almost no plot, being only accessible through little memories. almost every other LoZ game has had a full and fleshed out plot that was interesting and I wanted to follow, but BOTW just doesn’t have that 2.) open world - don’t get me wrong, the open world idea was awesome, but i just don’t think it worked out. because of the open world, the game focused more on player exploration instead of progression 3.) dungeons/items - In the earlier LoZ games, link would obtain new items which would be used in that specific dungeon which would make every one unique and interesting in its own way. In BOTW link got all his power ups at the beginning (making it more boring in the long run) so the aspect that changed in each Devine beast was what part you were able to control (boring) 4.) Master sword - in every LoZ game, the master sword played a big part in the game, whether that be unlocking new abilities, areas, or beating new monsters. And it also was the blade that sealed darkness, and dealt the final blow to gannondorf (or demise), being a CRUTAL part of the game. But in BOTW the master sword could literally go UNNOTICED AND UNDISCOVERED the whole game even though it looked important in one of the memories. You don’t even need it to kill Gannon 5.) music - this isn’t as big, I just thought it was another small letdown. The music was very boring, most just being a couple of notes every minute or being in complete silence. Other LoZ games had its own specific music that fit the vibe for each part: hyrule field, night time, water temple, etc. BOTW just didn’t have that There are more things that just didn’t fit in but they were small and this is already pretty long. My point isn’t that this is a bad game, it is in fact a super fun and enjoyable game so I don’t not recommend it, it just isn’t a Zelda game. Don’t go into it with the expectations of a true LoZ game. In fact, i try to pretend that it’s not even called Zelda, that’s how far off I feel like it is. If you are looking for another zelda game to enjoy we are going to have to wait because we aren’t getting it any time soon. With TOTK out and all the support, we are probably looking at more games like that for a while. Overall, I do in fact recommend this game, it was genuinely fun to play, I just warn that it does not resemble zelda at all. With that, I hope you have a fun gameplay experience ❤️

Although the motion controls can be annoying at times, i believe that the actual story of the game is worth it. Skyward sword has amazing plot and puzzles, the dungeons are all different and interesting and do a good job at tying in the weapon obtained into the dungeon itself. Overall, it was an amazing experience even when played through multiple times. I will say that if you are looking for a challenge, this game is probably not the best for you. The bosses are fairly easy to beat and the direction you have to go is pretty spelt out for you. People often say that this is a horrible Zelda game, but it’s honestly one of my favorites. This complaint also mainly came from the motion controls but now that it’s on the switch you can use buttons instead. I highly recommend this game and please don’t let the negative reviews stop you from at least trying it.