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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Wii U / Switch

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Just finished it now; I don't feel lied to but much like my only gripe with the original story, I feel like the ending isn't justified by the means of getting there, once again you're supposed to care about a significant moment without the build up to it setting the scene properly.

It's formulaic and underwhelming compared to the game as a whole, but then it is more to do in, in my opinion, one of the best games ever made, so there is that!

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I enjoyed it for the most part, there were definitely some frustrating moments but I really enjoyed most of the new Shrines and the final trial was pretty cool too, especially that boss battle. I think it's worth playing through if you enjoyed the main game but it's definitely worth lowering expectations.

I think I'll probably get all of the Divine Beast armour and then take on Ganon one more time to give the game a fitting send off. My play time clocks in at 210 hours now and it's fair to say I've enjoyed most of that time immensely and I'm sure i'll revisit the game again in future.

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@dwarf I've been listening to this on my walk to work this morning, found it gets really interesting later on when he plays previous music underneath the BOTW tracks, worth a watch/listen for a fellow cultured fan: 

 

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My Hero’s Path only shows about half of what I’ve actually done. It started recording when I got to the first Divine Beast. 

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@Kaepora_Gaebora Nice. Although it was a bit twee I agree with almost everything he said. I still would've welcomed a few more 'earworms' as he calls them.

Thing is, BotW's length makes this kind of subdued soundtrack necessary. You can't expect them to compose triple the amount of theme music. Plus, open worlds are full of liminal spaces where obvious transitions between themes would be inappropriate. OoT is split into smaller, discrete areas, so it can get away with bigger jumps in the tone and style of its music. And while the themes in OoT are iconic, they also grow hellishly repetitive and irritating after a while. BotW did well to modernise the series with ambient sounds and context-specific music, it just could've done with an extra moment of triumph here or there.

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The only issue I have with the music is the utterly dreadful horse riding music. 

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I thought the music was one of the best aspects of the game. I felt it gelled really well with the rest of the soundtrack, playing Skyrim at the moment and it's quite jarring having this rousing score always on while just walking through empty fields. Both Zelda and Mario seem to have been criticised for their soundtracks by some outlets but to me they have offered some of the best aural experiences of the year, the sound design and music in both games was frequently impressive. 

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I'm a big fan of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, but one thing I'm not a fan of in them, certainly the final one, is Hans Zimmer attempting to sabotage dialogue and steal the show with his sound track. I love some of the songs in isolation (when running, for example) but during the film's I can find it a bit much, and even in Batman Vs Superman too.

So I admire the composing in BOTW for the restraint shown and how, well, delicate it is. The little piano tinkle kicking in is beautiful, and considering how important music has been in the Zelda series for so long, it adds to the whole ripping up the rule book with BOTW in that it does take a back seat and encourages you to enjoy the "sounds of the wild" more.

For this game, it's perfectly judged and actually enhances the experience.

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I get that the music is designed to be minimalist, but for me, the soundtrack plays a big part of my enjoyment when I play games. It sits above visuals for me. A good song can really make a moment for me (Jump Up, Super Star for one) while a bad song can totally take me out of a moment (Whatever the hell that awful song in the last section of Odyssey was).

BOTW's soundtrack for the most part exentuates how bored I was. I only remember two songs, and only vaguely.

I'd take a bad soundtrack over a minimalist one any day. Hell, at least I remember Xenoblade Chronicles X's (c)rappy soundtrack.

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7 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

I get that the music is designed to be minimalist, but for me, the soundtrack plays a big part of my enjoyment when I play games. It sits above visuals for me. A good song can really make a moment for me (Jump Up, Super Star for one) while a bad song can totally take me out of a moment (Whatever the hell that awful song in the last section of Odyssey was).

You mean this one?

You're kidding right? It's fucking awesome and a perfect way to end the story.

But I love minimalist soundtracks / scores as well. I actually love the ambient sounds in Zelda. Just relaxing bird noises, unless there's something happening or you arrive at a town or special location.

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Oh god, get that rug burn away from me.

I wasn't speeding through that section out of any danger of dying, I was running away from that incredibly cheesy out-of-place song. How you go from any of the 3D Mario's finale music to that is beyond me. Retroactively ruined a lot of the entire final boss sequence.

Pokemon Sun/Moon also has an awful grand finale track.

Edited by Glen-i

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So I've finally booted the game up again. It took me ages to figure out the controls again.

I've not even touched on the DLC stuff. I spent some time exploring Hyrule Castle. I didn't really do this before as last time I found the quickest way to Ganon. I did this as I was feeling burnt out by that point.

I forgot how much I enjoy this game. I literally spent about two hours just killing enemies, reading lore, exploring, korok seeds and completing shrines. The time passed so quickly!

Now that I have defeated Ganon i'm less bothered about my best weapons breaking. I'm going to be spending more time tackling enemies and coming up with different strategies rather than avoiding them altogether.

Such a fantastic game!

 

The rain still pissed me off though :heh:

 

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Hmmm... Can't say I have, we should start a conversation about it.

I get that the music is designed to be minimalist, but for me, the soundtrack plays a big part of my enjoyment when I play games. It sits above visuals for me. A good song can really make a moment for me (Jump Up, Super Star for one) while a bad song can totally take me out of a moment (Whatever the hell that awful song in the last section of Odyssey was).

BOTW's soundtrack for the most part exentuates how bored I was. I only remember two songs, and only vaguely.

I'd take a bad soundtrack over a minimalist one any day. Hell, at least I remember Xenoblade Chronicles X's (c)rappy soundtrack.

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I think I'd have gotten sick of an overworld song around about hour 30, let alone hour 120.

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54 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I think I'd have gotten sick of an overworld song around about hour 30, let alone hour 120.

Different strokes for different folks, but I could listen to good Zelda music for days. A Link Between World's Lorule version of Death Mountain is something I never get sick of.

You're also assuming there'd be only one track. Why couldn't we have had a decent track for each region? Maybe some interactive music. Nintendo have some amazing composers and it feels like a massive waste for a game of this scale.

It's not just the overworld. Villages, Divine Beasts, it's all so forgettable. Hyrule Castle is the only track I actually liked, and I would never dream of putting it even close to the same tier as Lorule Castle.

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I can see where Glen-i is coming from though. I also usually have an orchestra following me when I'm taking a walk in the park.

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I thought the soundtrack was amazing. Perfectly suited the tone of the game. I loved how dynamic it was, like how it would transition in when you're climbing a tower or entering a new area. And I agree with the video, it was a great decision to use the music sparingly to accentuate either silence of the sounds of environment. Less is more.

I hope Nintendo go with this approach for Metroid Prime 4.

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26 minutes ago, Zell said:

I hope Nintendo go with this approach for Metroid Prime 4.

Doesn't that series kinda do that already? The three Prime games have much more subdued soundtracks in general than other Metroid games.

EDIT: BTW, I've been meaning to ask, has anyone tried using the Master Cycle Zero to fight Ganon? I hope it works because it'd be hilarious! I'd do it, but that would mean I'd have to play more BOTW and I can't think of a more unfun way to spend my time.

Edited by Glen-i

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45 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

I can't think of a more unfun way to spend my time.

Reading your comments?

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1 hour ago, dwarf said:

Reading your comments?

How about you put me on your ignore list then?

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Bought the game again after losing my other game card, but I'm having a real blast by just exploring Hyrule once more. Glad that I have the game in my collection again.

Got all the new costumes and stuff from the DLC's, but have yet to start on the actual story. Finishing some of the older missions first before I dive into the new ones.

I've heard mixed reviews about the new DLC, but to be honest, paying for the game twice and also for the DLC... The game has given me over 250 hours SO FAR, so it's well worth the money in my opinion. I'll keep coming back to this game in years time.

PS: Switch game cards are easy to lose on the bus. Respect your game cards!

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10 hours ago, Glen-i said:

I hope it works because it'd be hilarious! I'd do it, but that would mean I'd have to play more BOTW and I can't think of a more unfun way to spend my time.

Yes, Glen, we all know. We've had this conversation before. At least seven times. We get it.

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So what? I'm not entitled an opinion because you've heard it before? With all due respect, who made you Magistrate of Opinion? By that same logic, I can apply the same "Heard it already, therefore, shut up" approach to half of the posters here.

But seeing as you want something fresh and exciting, how about this?

I think the latest DLC retreads the same boring old process this game runs under. A whole bunch of busywork that amounts to very little and absolutely fails to address any of the numerous flaws I perceived from my well over 50 hours of playtime. (Before you even try that "You didn't play it enough" twoddle) The "Story" content is down right laughable. A few cutscenes that don't really add much to a bunch of characters I really don't care about. One of the cutscenes even glitched out and had no voice acting playing. Which was probably the most I actually smiled at the game for quite a while. I'd be OK with that, but it was advertised as "Story DLC"

This is the first Nintendo console DLC I've regretted buying. And I bought PMD: Gates to Infinity content, but at least with that I knew what I was getting.

Going from the likes of MK8 and Hyrule Warriors to this is a massive downgrade to say the least.

Edited by Glen-i
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