You know, lately it seems like I’ve been having a
hard time coming up with titles for blog posts.
Not because I’m drawing the proverbial blank; no, it’s more because I’ve
got so many ideas for titles that I end up getting paralyzed in my seat. I feel like I’m getting close to the end of Tales of Berseria, but even if I’m not,
I’ve still put in enough hours to say something substantial about it -- but the
problem is that I’ve gone through about six separate titles without typing out
a single word.
That’s one example, yet it’s not the only
one. Here we are, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild firmly
in the midst of gamers -- in its final, retail form, armed and ready for mass
consumption. Where do you even begin
with the Wii U’s final game (worthy of major headlines, at least) and the
Switch’s first game (of the same quality)?
There are plenty of options -- like a blanket statement of whether it’s
good or not -- but I think I’ve come up with one possible answer.
That answer is a question: as of right now, if I
had to sum up Breath of the Wild in
one word, what would it be?
And the answer to that question (which in itself
is an answer) is this: The Legend of
Zelda: Breath of the Wild is raw.
I’m not even going to pretend like Breath of the Wild is worthy of asking
the question of “is it good or not”. Of course it’s good. It’s a Zelda
game, and -- as long as Nintendo’s holding the reins -- you already know
that it’ll be worthy of the 9s and 10s it’s earned across the board. And we’re not just talking the usual 9s and
10s a huge swath of AAA games are bound to see as if it’s their birthright
(*stares daggers at Final Fantasy 15*). No, the way people have talked about this
game implies that this
is basically the second coming.
I’m…not sure I’d go that far with BotW.
But transcendental or not, I absolutely agree that it’s a great game,
and I hope its early 2017 release doesn’t keep it from being forgotten once
it’s time to start putting together Game of the Year lists.
Obviously, I’m still in an extremely early part of the game -- and judging by the game’s
supposed size, I suspect that I haven’t even hit a fraction of what’s there on
display. (I’ve heard that you could play
for nearly 5 hours and still have your progress listed as zero percent.) There’s still
a VERY good chance that the novelty will wear thin, and/or the faults will
become more apparent over time. I
acknowledge that. A dark part of me
expects that to happen before long. But
for now? I’m enjoying the shit out of this game. I’ve still got to finish Berseria, but I don’t want to play anything else. I feel like I should get around to comparing Horizon: Zero Dawn to this new Zelda, but I don’t want to play anything
else. I have a copy of Nier: Automata locked and loaded, but I
don’t want to play anything else -- not even a Platinum game.
Here’s the thing, though. As much as I’m enjoying BotW, it’s inspiring strange feelings inside me. I’m not getting blown away by the thrills, or
the hype, or the sights, or the sounds, or anything you’d usually expect from a
top-scoring game. No, I think that (for
now) the game’s greatest strength is its ability to suck you in. It’s that immersion that games and their PR
departments have tried to push for the better part of a decade -- the promise
of games becoming “experiences”, even though that buzzword has slowly become an
anathema. Even when I’ve got that
GamePad in my hands, I don’t feel it a bit once I start playing for a few
minutes. There’s essentially no filter
between me and the game -- between the real world and the fantasy world shown
off on my screen. No lies, no tricks, no
gimmicks. It’s not just Link going on an
adventure; it’s me.
That’s kind of what I mean when I say that it’s
raw. For the most part -- probably a
good 90% of my time spent with the game so far -- you’re in the wilderness
trying to survive and complete your missions, myriad as they may be. More specifically, the first major,
quest-progressing task you’re charged with is to go explore a set of shrines
throughout the Great Plateau so you can convince a “perfectly normal” and
“totally not suspicious” old man to give you his Paraglider. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, here’s the problem: those shrines are a
HUGE distance away from one another, necessitating a journey through forests,
plains, ruins, and mountains. Notably,
said mountains are cold and snowy enough to present an actual threat to Link’s
life if you’re not properly protected…which is kind of hard when all you’ve got
on are too-small pants and a shirt.
The danger level in BotW is exponentially greater than anything presented in earlier Zelda games. Even if you sailed across the Great Sea in The Wind Waker and flew through the sky
in Skyward Sword -- both of which
presented threats to your life, including but not limited to giant squid
attacks -- you could still reasonably and reliably make it to your destination
without much of a struggle. Meanwhile, BotW has you contend with
*deep breath*
squads of demons on sentry duty, swarms of bats,
skeleton warriors (no
relation), frigid temperatures, rain-slick cliff faces, easily-burnt dry
grass, lightning storms that WILL strike you down if you’ve got a metal weapon
equipped, murky swamp water, the oozing and corruptive malice left by Calamity
Ganon, rock monsters that shrug off wood-based attacks, ancient robots that can
one-shot you with their laser eyes, ancient robots that can one-shot you with
their laser eyes that can run across the
landscape, freefalls from a dozen stories up, and much, much more.
And I know for a fact that there’s much, much
more. Yes, I’ve only put in a little bit
of time with the game, but (setting aside the fact that the temperature gauge
swings to extreme cold and heat) my
brother’s put in even more time. I’ve
gotten to watch him play through some slightly-later sections of the game, and
it’s been both shocking and hilarious to see how much trouble Link has to go
through just to get inside a dungeon -- or even complete a piddling little
side-mission. To wit: the first thing I
saw from BotW in the flesh was my
brother fighting against a centaur that utterly demolished him and served up
nearly a dozen Game Overs. That’s kind
of to be expected when you’re up against a foe whose lightning arrows can strike
you from nearly anywhere with the wrath of Zeus.
So on one hand, BotW feels like one of the absolute best games you could ever watch
an LP or stream of. The sheer amount of
absurdity and mishaps are staggering, thanks to the insane number of variables
that factor into any given trip from A to B.
Granted it’s not quite as funny when you’re the one playing and on the
receiving end of disaster (imagine my surprise when I dealt with three Guardian
robots itching to vaporize me simultaneously -- one of which just happened to
scurry into my path because I was paragliding off a tower). Still, in terms of memorable moments, it’s
hard to deny that this game can and likely will be chock full of them, whether
you’re the active player or a passive onlooker.
On the other hand? This is
absolutely a must-play game, because of the raw feelings it’ll likely inspire
in you.
It was basically
a given when the trailers started
making the rounds, but damn does it feel good to have it confirmed in the
flesh: BotW’s tone was utterly nailed.
Even if the world is expansive and empty, it still inspires no shortage
of feelings. Yes, the silence and
solitude makes for a world that, for the most part, is utterly crushing in
terms of its status. Those who’ve been
following the franchise for 10, 20, or even 30 years have ideas of what to
expect, and opinions on what they love.
To see a ruined world where iconic elements are missing or just plain gone is harrowing.
To wit: early on you get to visit the Temple of
Time, or a version of it. Circle around
it, and you’ll find a small lake with a short plateau sticking out of it -- one
with a sword embedded in stone. “Oh, is
that the Master Sword?!” you might exclaim, and swim over to check it out. “I bet that’s a part of the plot!” But once you get there, you find out that
Nintendo trolled you in the most gut-wrenching way possible. It’s not the Master Sword, or even a good
sword. It’s just a Rusty Broadsword. Nothing more.
On the other hand?
The feelings of joy commonly outweigh the feelings of sorrow and dread. And fear, while we’re at it; Bokoblins that
would’ve been mowed down without a thought in earlier games are now in their
own right (for now, at least) a legitimate threat that have to be approached
wisely. While the punishment for a Game
Over is far from strict thanks to generous auto-saving and merciful respawns,
resource management is extremely crucial.
Mess around while you’re on your mission, and you’ll burn through your
food, your materials, and your equipment (the latter of which, clothing aside,
has a durability level). The sheer
number of risks means that you’re always on the edge -- because even if death
is a slap on the wrist, you can be put in an unwinnable situation later on.
The tradeoff is that the risks are worth the
reward. Overcoming the myriad challenges
of the game creates a sense of relief -- of catharsis -- that’s hard to
top. Even if there are likely a million,
billion, trillion steps on the road of BotW,
being able to take even one successful step is its own reward. You’re the one that gets to climb that
mountain. You’re the one that gets to
land that Flurry Strike after a successful dodge. You’re the one that gets to walk into a
shrine with every last piece of equipment you could ever need. You’re the one that gets to find a wild horse
and ride it across the sprawling fields.
You’re the one that gets to sail through the air. You’re the one that gets to do this, and
that, and that thing over there, and this thing right here, despite every challenge ready to shackle
you to the ground. A raw sense of danger
leads to a raw sense of satisfaction.
And it feels.
So.
GOOD.
It goes without saying, but I’m going to keep
playing BotW. That’s to my detriment, because I still have
other games I want/need to play/finish.
But I haven’t made it to a single dungeon yet, and I need to remedy that
at the very least. I’d imagine that,
inevitably, that means I’ll write something about it in the future -- even if
that doesn’t happen until a year from now, when I finally finish it -- but for
now? There’s not much else I feel like
saying besides “If you have the means, then do yourself a favor and give it a
go.”
And that’ll do it for now. See you next time. Try not to get sniped by Guardians before
then.
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