Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Part II - Oops, I Got Sidetracked Again.

No Fun Shogun

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May 1, 2011
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I honestly think the dislike of the weapon breaking is mostly from an admittedly understandable gamer attachment to the idea of acquiring and upgrading gear in games. We're mostly used to finding and savoring quality weapons in games, so the sight of high level weapons breaking after only a handful of enemies seems counter to what we're used to. So it creates a built in impression to treat great weapons as special items that you horde but never use. With that mindset, I think many just artificially limit themselves to a smaller set of weapons, thereby ruining the core gameplay loop.

Here's the thing, though..... weapons in BotW are not special. They're just ammo. Use your weapons, you will always find more weapons. If you play it with that mindset, the game is far more liberating and open than you think it is.
 

x Tame Impala

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Aug 24, 2011
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I honestly think the dislike of the weapon breaking is mostly from an admittedly understandable gamer attachment to the idea of acquiring and upgrading gear in games. We're mostly used to finding and savoring quality weapons in games, so the sight of high level weapons breaking after only a handful of enemies seems counter to what we're used to. So it creates a built in impression to treat great weapons as special items that you horde but never use. With that mindset, I think many just artificially limit themselves to a smaller set of weapons, thereby ruining the core gameplay loop.

Here's the thing, though..... weapons in BotW are not special. They're just ammo. Use your weapons, you will always find more weapons. If you play it with that mindset, the game is far more liberating and open than you think it is.

This 1000%. On my first play-through I basically boarded all these 50+ swords for the end of the game, thinking I’d really need them. There’s almost a mentality of anxiety and panic about losing them so because you think they’re more rare and essential than they actually are. Well when you get to Hyrule Castle all of those weapons become completely unnecessary anyway. I found myself with the game finished and with a ton of weapons I was too afraid to lose.

I’m casually doing my second play through now on Pro Mode without the HUD (which is totally the way to play this game) and I’ve been viewing weapons like you said, they’re just ammunition. It gets rid of all that worry of weapon management and lets you just enjoy the game. I’ll keep some of the elemental weapons in rotation because they can be specifically useful sometimes but other than that I never think about it.
 

x Tame Impala

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Been playing the game for a few weeks now, unlocked the 4 beasts, maxed out my stamina, and I have most of the hearts, yet still feel this way when I see the guardian's laser pointed at me.

Carry a guardian shield around with you at all times. You can time a parry against their lasers and it works every time. Or pop em with an ancient arrow in the eye and that’ll do it. Plus since on average you get 2 ancient shafts per guardian, you end up increasing your Amcient Arrow stocks over time.
 

SuperScript29

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Nov 17, 2017
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Carry a guardian shield around with you at all times. You can time a parry against their lasers and it works every time. Or pop em with an ancient arrow in the eye and that’ll do it. Plus since on average you get 2 ancient shafts per guardian, you end up increasing your Amcient Arrow stocks over time.

I was actually annoyed with them and searched how to beat them yesterday, can't believe how easy it was to time that laser and deflect it. Once I figured it out I went guardian hunting lol.
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
30,725
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Carry a guardian shield around with you at all times. You can time a parry against their lasers and it works every time. Or pop em with an ancient arrow in the eye and that’ll do it. Plus since on average you get 2 ancient shafts per guardian, you end up increasing your Amcient Arrow stocks over time.
I am doing my second run in a very long time (without a strategy guide again) and forgot a lot about the map, are there regions of the map which are easier than others and progressively get tougher? I beat the first beast in Zora's Domain and decided to unlock Hyrule Field with the castle and it's just insane with the amount of Guardians walking around. Do you recommend I explore other parts of the map before I come back to Hyrule?
 

x Tame Impala

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I am doing my second run in a very long time (without a strategy guide again) and forgot a lot about the map, are there regions of the map which are easier than others and progressively get tougher? I beat the first beast in Zora's Domain and decided to unlock Hyrule Field with the castle and it's just insane with the amount of Guardians walking around. Do you recommend I explore other parts of the map before I come back to Hyrule?

The only time i notice an area too difficult to get to is early on in the game when you have to climb the towers. Central Tower (?) in particular with all of the guardians on it. Other than that you can go pretty much anywhere, just need to be able to handle the weather conditions of the other three areas. Personally i'm doing Gerudo as the very last thing before i go to the castle. The Yiga Clan sucks and is super annoying, you see WAY more of them if you do that quest to help the Gerudo Queen and make your way to the Divine Beast.

Other than not being ready for Lynels, there's really nowhere you can't go. Some things are way harder to get to without the Rito Divine Beast ability though. Definitely recommend getting that one next.
 
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Randy Butternubs

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Mar 15, 2008
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Apparently the last time I played was mid February. Today I finally tamed Ganon's horse. I've completed all the Divine Beasts and just need to re-familiarize myself with combat. And I need to gather up some durians and bananas.
 

Andrei79

Registered User
Jan 25, 2013
14,851
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Been playing the game for a few weeks now, unlocked the 4 beasts, maxed out my stamina, and I have most of the hearts, yet still feel this way when I see the guardian's laser pointed at me.

I've just started a few weeks ago.

I honestly feel like a kid again. Haven't had this much fun (DOS2 aside) since A Link To the Last, which I played over and over when I was young.

I haven't done anything story wise. I've just been wondering around. Still at 4 hearts lol and almost have my second stamina wheel. Just beat my first Lynel and completely decimated every guardian around Hyrule Castle, aside from the flying ones. I spent a lot of time mastering the combat, but once you do you become completely OP even with mid level gear.

I just can't get over how well made this game is.
 

kingsboy11

Maestro
Dec 14, 2011
11,516
8,028
USA
Any chance we get a new Zelda game in 2021?

I think that's unlikely. We've only had the one trailer a couple years ago, but I suspect next year its a possibility which would be around 5 years after Botw. Its going to be in the same engine so I doubt it will take as long to be released
 

No Fun Shogun

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May 1, 2011
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I'm still holding out hope for it this year, but it really seems like Nintendo's having a lot of issues adjusting to work at home. At this point, I'm half expecting it'll be a bridge title between the Switch and the eventual Switch 2 just as BotW was a bridge between the Wii U and the Switch.

Hope I'm wrong.
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
30,725
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Toruń, PL
Unlocked all the divine beasts, unlocked all the captured memories, and just pulled out The Master Sword. I still have three regions of the map left unexplored, but this game might a tad too big like AC: Origins was. The regions seem kind of pointless considering I am not sure what other main quests there are out there except defeating Ganon now.

The main question I have now is do enemies respond? I thought they respond only during the Red Moon? I ask because I swear I went to the most northeastern region - where they have like the 500 broken guardians laying in the swamp - and I defeated the three active Guardians....yet I went back there again and they're alive for some reason.

Also what is one way to make easy money in this game? Those Fairy Fountains absolutely killed my budget big time. I have like 200 Ambers, should I sell some of those or are they too valuable like the precious gems are in this game (like sapphire, ruby, etc.)?
 

Randy Butternubs

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Mar 15, 2008
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Zelda's 35th anniversary is this year. Hopefully they do something for it. My brother has yet to play Wind Waker, so I'm hoping for a re-release of that at least.
 

No Fun Shogun

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May 1, 2011
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For Zelda's 35th, I'm expecting the following....

A second BotW2 trailer (with a conspicuously absent release date), probably with a title drop. My shot in the dark guess is Depth of the Void, but watch it be something Malice-related.

Announcement of a remake of the Oracle games akin to Link's Awakening. Likewise without a release date.

A Zelda 35 multiplayer game akin to Mario 35, either the original's entire map or just a dungeon rush of the original. Watch it be a limited time availability thing for dumb reasons.

A 3D Zelda collection of Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess, which will incense Majora's Mask fans. Also idiotically limited release.

Some other Zelda indie release.
 
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sabresfan129103

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Apr 10, 2006
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Just finished BOTW. Got a switch about a month or so back. Put 70 hours into the game. I know I could find more shrines and Korok seeds, but I think I'm good. 70 hours is a perfect amount of time for me. I was starting to get a little tired of the game, so I'm at a good place. Overall it was a great experience.

As for the Zelda 35th anniversary. I want Skyward sword on the Switch. That game always looked a ton of fun but I never had a wii.
 

explore

I was wrong about Don Granato and TNT
Jun 28, 2011
3,752
3,434
Just started playing a few days ago and I already managed to put in 9 hours into the game and it doesn't feel like I played that long.

The last Zelda game I played was Ocarina of Time and this game has a lot of the same feel with solving puzzles in the shrines, and the obvious nostalgia things like being able to visit the ruins of the Temple of Time

Looking forward to playing this game more
 

The Crypto Guy

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Jun 26, 2017
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Man I must just suck at this game. I'm horrible and it's getting a little frustrating. The tests of strengths are brutal for me, i'm about 4-5 hours in around the Zora area and the stupid thing kills me in a few shots. I'm terrible with the bow, i'm pressing all the wrong buttons when I try to throw bombs in the middle of combats, all my weapons are breaking, and I don't even think I faced a real boss yet so I have no idea how I'm going to manage that. Locking onto enimies and trying to use the shield feels like it barely works and don't even get me started with the stupid thing that come out of the water and continuously hits me with coconuts or whatever they are...
 

bambamcam4ever

107 and counting
Feb 16, 2012
14,303
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Man I must just suck at this game. I'm horrible and it's getting a little frustrating. The tests of strengths are brutal for me, i'm about 4-5 hours in around the Zora area and the stupid thing kills me in a few shots. I'm terrible with the bow, i'm pressing all the wrong buttons when I try to throw bombs in the middle of combats, all my weapons are breaking, and I don't even think I faced a real boss yet so I have no idea how I'm going to manage that. Locking onto enimies and trying to use the shield feels like it barely works and don't even get me started with the stupid thing that come out of the water and continuously hits me with coconuts or whatever they are...
I skipped most of the moderate and major tests of strength until I had almost beat the game.

And the enemies generally get harder as you move out from the plateau, so harder enemies is the game hinting you might not be ready for an area yet. Upgrading your armor and finding stronger weapons, which are usually more durable as well, definitely will help give you breathing room in combat.
 

No Fun Shogun

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May 1, 2011
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If an area feels like it's too hard, there's nothing bad at all about just pulling back from there and adventuring elsewhere and returning later.

Have you been to Kakariko yet? If not, I would suggest heading over there as that's basically a second tutorial path and helps make things a bit easier. You'll get the hang of things, BotW's difficulty lessens considerably as you progress along.
 
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ArGarBarGar

What do we want!? Unfair!
Sep 8, 2008
44,017
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Man I must just suck at this game. I'm horrible and it's getting a little frustrating. The tests of strengths are brutal for me, i'm about 4-5 hours in around the Zora area and the stupid thing kills me in a few shots. I'm terrible with the bow, i'm pressing all the wrong buttons when I try to throw bombs in the middle of combats, all my weapons are breaking, and I don't even think I faced a real boss yet so I have no idea how I'm going to manage that. Locking onto enimies and trying to use the shield feels like it barely works and don't even get me started with the stupid thing that come out of the water and continuously hits me with coconuts or whatever they are...
Couple things:

1. Practice dodging left/right or back whenever the enemy is about to perform an attack. If you time it right, you get a "flurry rush" which gives you a ton of free hits on the opponent. It is incredibly intuitive, so once you start getting the hang of it the action should come naturally. This is incredibly important for tests of strength (and is actually a good tutorial for that because the guardian scouts telegraph the time and direction of their attacks)

2. When you encounter the octoroks (the enemy that shoots coconuts at you), if you shoot/hit the plant on their head, they will pop out and you can easily kill them. But yes, very annoying to deal with.

3. At some point you are going to encounter actual guardians (the big machines that are littered across the map, whether living or dead). They will lock on to your player and at a certain point will fire a very devastating beam at you. If you are able to parry (press A) at the right time you will be able to reflect it back on the guardian and either severely damage it or destroy it outright (and these drop very valuable loot).

4. One of the first places you should try to get to is Faron Tower (southeast area of the map):

YK254GXAQuB4ubxiZAR9i9.jpg

Just north of the tower is a small forest where the trees drop "hearty durians". If you cook a single hearty durian with any one food (an apple for example) it will completely restore your health and add four extra hearts. Every hearty durian you add to a meal adds an additional four hearts. A great resource in the early game when you don't have a lot of hearts, yet.

5. At the end of the day, keep practicing and be patient. Once you get the hang of the timing of dodging/attacking then a lot of the fights will be much easier. Same thing with the bow and abilities.
 

Jovavic

Gaslight Object Project
Oct 13, 2002
15,102
2,770
New Born Citizen Erased
Some of the better beginning weapons are in shrines so search those out. Be sure to look for the towers and sync with them after climbing, also look for shrines while you're up there and pin them.
 

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