The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild

[Jay 37,370]

I dunno, but if you find a decayed guardian in shallow water, you can put a cryonis block under one side of it to flip it over and get more ancient parts

 

You know what's funny?  I'm 160 hours in now, and I've never shield surfed.  I don't even know how!

 

I did find some lady in a cabin who said she'd give me lessons, but I didn't feel like it at the time.  That reminds me, I never checked out the mountain above that cabin....

[Bellosh 3,419]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

You know what's funny?  I'm 160 hours in now, and I've never shield surfed.  I don't even know how!

 

I put off shield surfing for a while as well, but definitely learn it, it's a really fun way to travel quickly.  Also if you do it on smooth sand or deep snow it won't damage the shield at all.  I'm not sure if it damages it on lush grass though.

[Jay 37,370]

Yea I'll wander back and go through the training with Selmie at some point I guess

 

Had fun last night returning to Hebra mountain and opening the mysterious door.  Took me a while to figure out how to get the snowball to roll into it, and that I had to make cryonis blocks on the water to get it across the gap.  Inside the cave was AWESOME, I loved how the walls were all luminous rock so the whole place is well lit.  it was fun climbing the leviathan bones and getting the korok seed, and the shrine underneath it!

 

I also killed another Lynel which gave me enough parts to finally upgrade Barbarian armor to 2 stars; Then I wandered the desert for a while killing tons of red and yellow lizafos for their tales, and a Molduga too, which allowed me to get some more armor upgrades; I now finally have everything at 2 stars or higher and am working on a ton of 3 stars and some 4stars.

 

The bummer about Lynels now is that it seems they've all upgraded to the 4000 HP versions I think, I never come across the easier 3000 HP versions any more.  I used up a ton of food and bomb arrows killing that last one!

 

I also did one of the coolest side quests yet.  It involves the ancient ball near Impa and the hole in the ground you have to put it in.  It was all in all pretty easy, but actually had decent character development for the guard guy (Dorian) which was really awesome; I imagine a ton of people never seen this story and it's one of the actual interesting ones the game has!

[Faleel 5,358]

I did it.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I've been wondering for years about that ball, I've never looked it up. I just thought it's weird that they don't let the Chosen One touch it.

Continuing with Link's jackassery, I simped a dude out of his samd and snow boots last night.

[Jay 37,370]

14 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

I've been wondering for years about that ball, I've never looked it up. I just thought it's weird that they don't let the Chosen One touch it.

 

Yea I have vague memories of wondering about it 3 years ago too.  When I started back up this year and saw it again, I honestly couldn't remember if I had done anything with it, or what it was all about, or anything

 

I won't spoil how to kick off the quest where you finally use it, other than to say you can't kick it off until you finish a bunch of other quests that begin in Kakariko first, and remember to talk to everyone, inside and outside buildings, during the night and during the day!

 

Quote

Continuing with Link's jackassery, I simped a dude out of his samd and snow boots last night.

 

That was fun; I used the snow boots he gave me when I went up into the Gerudo Highlands and snapped the picture of the statue for him.  When he gave me the sand boots after but took the snow boots back, I was bummed! 

 

It was not until hours and hours and hours of gameplay later that I bumped into him again in a different spot, and kicked off the quest where you can get the snow boots permanently.  Boy I wish I knew that existed earlier!  I make use of both boots frequently now; It's SO SLOW trudging through the snow without the snow boots!

[Jay 37,370]

So last night I learned this game has a freaking COLISEUM in it.

 

170 hours and I just found it.  It's so close to the Great Plateau you start the whole game at, too!

 

I found a bunch of bokoblins and moblins inside branding Great Fire/Ice/Thunder swords, and some elemental spears too.  Sadly, my damn weapon inventory is so full these days, I had to leave basically all of them on the ground

 

In the center was a Lynel who was a real bitch.  I think all the Lynels in my game now are the toughest ones.  Luckily he had a flame sword which is probably better than him having one of their Savage weapons.  Also without a lot of room to maneuver some of his attacks didn't happen it seemed.

 

Up to 108 shrines now.  I can't believe there are still 12 entire shrines I haven't found!  I finally figured out what the Rito Pillar song one was all about, but still have no clue about the one where you see a picture of it in a stable and that's your only clue.  To me, the painting in the stable isn't detailed enough for me to learn anything about its location

[Faleel 5,358]

7 hours ago, Jay said:

So last night I learned this game has a freaking COLISEUM in it.

 

170 hours and I just found it.  It's so close to the Great Plateau you start the whole game at, too!

 

I found a bunch of bokoblins and moblins inside branding Great Fire/Ice/Thunder swords, and some elemental spears too.  Sadly, my damn weapon inventory is so full these days, I had to leave basically all of them on the ground

 

In the center was a Lynel who was a real bitch.  I think all the Lynels in my game now are the toughest ones.  Luckily he had a flame sword which is probably better than him having one of their Savage weapons.  Also without a lot of room to maneuver some of his attacks didn't happen it seemed.

 

Up to 108 shrines now.  I can't believe there are still 12 entire shrines I haven't found!  I finally figured out what the Rito Pillar song one was all about, but still have no clue about the one where you see a picture of it in a stable and that's your only clue.  To me, the painting in the stable isn't detailed enough for me to learn anything about its location

Is that the one where you have to line up the rocks?

[Nick Parker 3,040]

14 hours ago, Jay said:

I won't spoil how to kick off the quest where you finally use it, other than to say you can't kick it off until you finish a bunch of other quests that begin in Kakariko first, and remember to talk to everyone, inside and outside buildings, during the night and during the day!

 

 

 

14 hours ago, Jay said:

That was fun; I used the snow boots he gave me when I went up into the Gerudo Highlands and snapped the picture of the statue for him.  When he gave me the sand boots after but took the snow boots back, I was bummed! 

 

 

Fortunately on my initial quest to find the Eighth Heroine statue I stumbled upon her sword way up the summit, remembered it was important somehow, and snapped a pic of it alongside the statue itself. So when I returned to Bozai, all I had to do was to talk to him immediately after he gave me the sand boots, and then I got the snow boots too!

 

7 hours ago, Jay said:

So last night I learned this game has a freaking COLISEUM in it.

 

170 hours and I just found it.  It's so close to the Great Plateau you start the whole game at, too!

 

It was literally the first thing I found on my first playthrough when the game came out! That's when I realized the game had a beautifully natural and custom difficulty curve...after a bunch of attempts, I basically Splinter Cell'd my way through with the weakest weapons possible until I was able to grab one of those powerful swords and wreck up the place.

[Wojo 2,453]

The coliseum gets effing hard at high difficulty. The lynel sees to that. 

[Jay 37,370]

10 hours ago, Spider-Fal said:

Is that the one where you have to line up the rocks?

 

Not sure which one you're asking about.  The Rito Pillar one, there was just one of those pedestal things south of Rito Village I had never found before.  The quest log (the lyrics of the song) tell you what to do once you're there and the time is right.

 

The stable painting one, I figured out last night.  Turns out I misinterpreted what the person looking at the painting said wrong.  He tells you its a viewpoint from the south, and for some reason in my head I thought that meant the location was north of the stable, viewing the stable while looking stealth.  But I re-read what he says and realized he meant the painter was south of the stable, looking north.  So you just head south from the stable and look backwards towards the stable until you kind of realize you are where the painter would have stood.  The shrine is visible in the painting but covered by rocks in modern day, so you just have to wander towards where it is in the paining until you find it.

 

 

10 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

Fortunately on my initial quest to find the Eighth Heroine statue I stumbled upon her sword way up the summit, remembered it was important somehow, and snapped a pic of it alongside the statue itself. So when I returned to Bozai, all I had to do was to talk to him immediately after he gave me the sand boots, and then I got the snow boots too!

 

Wow, that's sweet!

 

Quote

It was literally the first thing I found on my first playthrough when the game came out! That's when I realized the game had a beautifully natural and custom difficulty curve...after a bunch of attempts, I basically Splinter Cell'd my way through with the weakest weapons possible until I was able to grab one of those powerful swords and wreck up the place.

 

Ha that's awesome, it must have been nice to have powerful weapons that early.

 

I looked it up, and the enemies inside the coliseum have the difficulty increased with every divine beast you've finished off, so the earlier you go there the easier it is.  Since I just found it now in the endgame it was a bitch

 

8 hours ago, who cares said:

The coliseum gets effing hard at high difficulty. The lynel sees to that. 

 

Yea he was no fun for me, since he was a silver by the time I got there.  Though honestly, I think I only come across silver ones in the wild now too.  Which is a bummer because I missed out on getting some Mighty and base Lynel weapons for my photo compendium I think

[Jay 37,370]

OMG last night I found two more new wonderful characters I had never seen or ever heard about before.

 

North of Death Mountain I found a place called Gut Check Rock, and a Goron dude on top who was all into fitness and talked like Mr T, it was hilarious.  Had to play a minigame to gain access to a shrine there, which was redonkulously easy with climbing gear and 3 stamina bars.  I imagine it is quite difficult in the early game, though!

 

Then in Gerudo City I finally decided to see what the sand-seal racing was all about, and found a Gerudo lady with a huge pink afro, it was awesome.  Had to do another minigame to unlock another shrine there.

 

I love these quirky character designs, this game is full of so many awesome surprises

[Wojo 2,453]

21 minutes ago, Jay said:

North of Death Mountain I found a place called Gut Check Rock, and a Goron dude on top who was all into fitness and talked like Mr T, it was hilarious.  Had to play a minigame to gain access to a shrine there, which was redonkulously easy with climbing gear and 3 stamina bars.  I imagine it is quite difficult in the early game, though!

 

This is the tower climb that I was talking about a few days ago. 

 

Without climbing gear = don't even bother. 

[Jay 37,370]

I also forgot to mention that I recently-ish, sometime last week I guess, did Eventide Island.  What a cool quest that is.

 

I remember attempting it 3 years ago and failing a bunch of times, just dying really easily.

Well this time, even though they strip all your equipment away, when you have all 4 champion abilities, 3 stamina wheels, and like 20 hearts... it wasn't that bad.  I did still die once, since with no armor I forgot how much damage weapon stabs from even base bad guys cause.  But the second time it was pretty straightforward, but still brought the tension as I got the first then the second ball into the hole, knowing that if I screwed up I'd have to do the entire thing all over again.

 

What makes the challenge A LOT easier is that they put a bunch of mighty bananas and cooking pots on the island.  Right before I went to face the hinox I ate my normal 5 banana meal for triple attack power and equipped my best weapon and just hacked away at him until he was dead.  I know you can steal the orb without waking him up but meh, I like fighting these guys (great music too).

[Faleel 5,358]

Anybody else just book to Goron city eating a bunch of stuff and using the lizard tails to get the goron helmet (?) Instead of using a elixr?

[Jay 37,370]

I don't remember what I did 3 years ago, but I'd guess that I used the fireproof elixirs the lady at the stable nearby gives you

[mstrox 6,651]

I used the elixirs both times I went to Goron City.  The first time I played, I followed what I assume was the planned path by the developers (since I came across signs, various Gorons along the way).  The second time earlier this year, I never managed to find that path this time around - just scaled a bunch of mountains until I found the town.

 

I beat Eventide in my first playthrough - I was only maybe halfway through the beasts, so it was tough going - took a lot of replays to get there.  That's probably item #1 once I find myself back in the game - probably will be a lot easier with all the hearts I have, the enhanced Divine Beast abilities from the DLC, etc, but I recall it being a lot of fun.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

5 hours ago, mstrox said:

but I recall it being a lot of fun.

 

Eventide is one of my favorite moments in the game! It's so cool how the game's base mechanics are so strong that they can literally strip away everything but the basics and it still be very fulfilling and work so well. I initially wished the game had more like this, so I was pumped that the Master Sword DLC featured a similar setup.

 

I ended up doing the Kakariko shrine last night; you're right, Jay, that was a nice character moment 

 

Last night I took on a Lynel first time this playthrough...last time I played the game two years ago, I was able to take them out without losing a heart, flurry rushing, headshotting, mounting them, etc...yeah I don't know what kind of juju I was on then 'cause the Lynel kicked my ass hard, like ten times before I said screw it and snuck past him.

 

Have any of y'all done the giant horse quest? One of the funniest in the game.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

So what’s everyone hoping for in BOTW2? 
 

I played 200+ hours of the original and can’t wait to return to the world with fresh eyes.

 

I’d love to see playable Zelda (maybe as optional multiplayer, though I prefer single-player gameplay).

 

I’m torn between wanting the same overworld or something completely new (like an expansive underworld which has been rumoured) It’d be great to see more towns, villages and cities in a post-Calamity world. I can imagine the ranches increasing in size and sprawling out a bit, and a huge castle town in the centre of Hyrule.

 

They should definitely put the hookshot(s) in that were taken out during development of the original. I totally get why they were removed - the climbing mechanic is fantastic and every climb feels like an achievement for the first half of the game, but for the sequel it’d be a great upgrade.

 

gah it’s been too long since we heard anything about this game!

 

edit: expansive overworld, not expensive lol 

[Nick Parker 3,040]

1 hour ago, Docteur Qui said:

’m torn between wanting the same overworld or something completely new (like an expensive underworld which has been rumoured) It’d be great to see more towns, villages and cities in a post-Calamity world. I can imagine the ranches increasing in size and sprawling out a bit, and a huge castle town in the centre of Hyrule.

 

That's something I've been thinking about these past couple days. I haven't watched the trailer since it debuted, but I remember it being about some evil being unleashed from underground. Knowing Nintendo, they usually don't like to rest on their laurels, so I wonder if this evil is going to transform the landscape in some way. I normally don't like open world games, because even though the world is "open", their designs and interactivity tend to be boring and/or shallow, driven purely by machination of "quests". With Breath of the Wild, though, I went everywhere I did because I genuinely wanted to see what was out there. I remember exploring some grassy land the first time around, and then out of the corner of my eye--holy crap, what is that!? Some kind of dragon!? I immediately dropped everything I was doing to go the mountain where I saw this creature, which had disappeared, and suddenly I found myself in a totally different biome, a humid, tropical area with constant thunderstorms. Absolutely magical.

 

In short, if they did Hyrule as is for the sequel, I'd be disappointed, because I really want to experience that sensation of exploration again.

 

 I really hope there's more depth to certain locales and characters...I don't need Dostoevsky, but something akin to say Twilight Princess would be really cool. With the first one, they did such an amazing job creating this new vision of Hyrule that's so eminently explorable, I feel like it was their "trial run"...lots of great little moments and characterizations, but little of actual substance. What they did with Zelda was great: through the memories, you see how plagued she was by self-doubt, and how it colored her journey and interactions with Link, which were initially hostile. More of that, please!

 

 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Yes giving Zelda an actual personality in BOTW was a very very good move. She had agency, an arc, quirks and charisma. That’s why I’d love to see more of her.

 

Can’t say I care much for how serious she is in games like Twilight Princess. Tetra was excellent in WW... until she turned into the princess and became boring!

 

I’ve also been thinking about the next original Zelda game and what that could be like. I’d personally love to see a futuristic version of Hyrule, building on the cool Sheikah technology that has been used more and more as the series progresses. I remember hearing that was a concept they’d explored years ago but abandoned (though elements of it survived, including the motorbike). If anyone could pull it off it’s Nintendo

[Bellosh 3,419]

I hope BotW 2 has that sense of discovery that the first one did so well. 

 

Now can that be done in a world we already know so well?  I'm sure Nintendo and the Zelda team can pull that off.

 

I'll be more excited for it when it comes closer to releasing.  But for now, I think BotW is the high watermark in the franchise, and I've never found a game world I like to revisit so much as I do with that one.

 

 

[Jay 37,370]

 

16 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

Eventide is one of my favorite moments in the game! It's so cool how the game's base mechanics are so strong that they can literally strip away everything but the basics and it still be very fulfilling and work so well. I initially wished the game had more like this, so I was pumped that the Master Sword DLC featured a similar setup.

 

Yea the game definitely could have used more stuff like that.  That's nice to hear the DLC has something similar, that is leaning me towards buying it soon...

 

16 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

I ended up doing the Kakariko shrine last night; you're right, Jay, that was a nice character moment 

 

 

 

16 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

Last night I took on a Lynel first time this playthrough...last time I played the game two years ago, I was able to take them out without losing a heart, flurry rushing, headshotting, mounting them, etc...yeah I don't know what kind of juju I was on then 'cause the Lynel kicked my ass hard, like ten times before I said screw it and snuck past him.

 

That's my strat: stasis+ them, line up an arrow shot to the face, hit em in the face to make him woozy, mount him, hit him 5 times with teh sword until he bucks you off, rinse repeat

 

Flurry Rushing I am not a fan of in this game, because it wears down the durability of your weapon super fast.  For whatever reason, the attacks you do while mounted on their backs don't wear it down at all.

 

16 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

Have any of y'all done the giant horse quest? One of the funniest in the game.

 

I don't even have an entry for that in my quest log!  Where do I go to kick it off?

 

12 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

So what’s everyone hoping for in BOTW2? 

 

Honestly, something completely different that BOTW 1.  I don't want another completely open world game with tons of quests you can do in any order; Save that for the first new Zelda for the Switch 2.  For BOTW 2, I want the same engine and basic assets, but completely different gameplay; Maybe tons of dungeons, or defending a big city, or something I can't even think of but the geniuses at Nintendo can.  

 

12 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I played 200+ hours of the original and can’t wait to return to the world with fresh eyes.

 

I’d love to see playable Zelda (maybe as optional multiplayer, though I prefer single-player gameplay).

 

I honestly think you will get to control Zelda in the sequel, either for the majority of it, or as an option for the whole game, IE you can swap between Link and Zelda

 

12 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I’m torn between wanting the same overworld or something completely new (like an expansive underworld which has been rumoured) It’d be great to see more towns, villages and cities in a post-Calamity world. I can imagine the ranches increasing in size and sprawling out a bit, and a huge castle town in the centre of Hyrule.

 

I have a feeling it will technically be the same overworld, but you can't roam free on it all, it's more specific sections, I dunno

 

12 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

They should definitely put the hookshot(s) in that were taken out during development of the original. I totally get why they were removed - the climbing mechanic is fantastic and every climb feels like an achievement for the first half of the game, but for the sequel it’d be a great upgrade.

 

Ooh good call!  I don't miss the hookshot at all in BOTW, but it would be nice to have in BOTW 2

 

 

10 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

That's something I've been thinking about these past couple days. I haven't watched the trailer since it debuted, but I remember it being about some evil being unleashed from underground. Knowing Nintendo, they usually don't like to rest on their laurels, so I wonder if this evil is going to transform the landscape in some way. I normally don't like open world games, because even though the world is "open", their designs and interactivity tend to be boring and/or shallow, driven purely by machination of "quests". With Breath of the Wild, though, I went everywhere I did because I genuinely wanted to see what was out there. I remember exploring some grassy land the first time around, and then out of the corner of my eye--holy crap, what is that!? Some kind of dragon!? I immediately dropped everything I was doing to go the mountain where I saw this creature, which had disappeared, and suddenly I found myself in a totally different biome, a humid, tropical area with constant thunderstorms. Absolutely magical.

 

 

10 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

 I really hope there's more depth to certain locales and characters...I don't need Dostoevsky, but something akin to say Twilight Princess would be really cool. With the first one, they did such an amazing job creating this new vision of Hyrule that's so eminently explorable, I feel like it was their "trial run"...lots of great little moments and characterizations, but little of actual substance. What they did with Zelda was great: through the memories, you see how plagued she was by self-doubt, and how it colored her journey and interactions with Link, which were initially hostile. More of that, please!

 

Yea actually, I'd like more story in BOTW 2.  Even though I don't miss it at all in BOTW 1 and think they made all the right calls, it'd be nice for BOTW to be different in that regard.

 

10 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

Yes giving Zelda an actual personality in BOTW was a very very good move. She had agency, an arc, quirks and charisma. That’s why I’d love to see more of her.

 

Can’t say I care much for how serious she is in games like Twilight Princess. Tetra was excellent in WW... until she turned into the princess and became boring!

 

I’ve also been thinking about the next original Zelda game and what that could be like. I’d personally love to see a futuristic version of Hyrule, building on the cool Sheikah technology that has been used more and more as the series progresses. I remember hearing that was a concept they’d explored years ago but abandoned (though elements of it survived, including the motorbike). If anyone could pull it off it’s Nintendo

 

I was thinking the same thing recently, that the new 3D Zelda after Nintendo would have to go way deeper into sci-fi to make it interesting.  BOTW1 did a great job of doing realistic scenery with cartoon inhabitants and some magic tech, so to make their next giant open world game different instead of doing a realistic landscape again they should go nutso

 

7 hours ago, Bellosh said:

But for now, I think BotW is the high watermark in the franchise, and I've never found a game world I like to revisit so much as I do with that one.

 

I've never come close to wanting to put 200 hours into a single game in my life.  I'm almost there now and feel like I still have so much left to do!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

I don't even have an entry for that in my quest log!  Where do I go to kick it off?

 

 

I don't remember the name of the stable (Foothill?), but it's south of the Lake Hylia bridge, near the Horse God shrine. Keep going west and you'll find a tiny campsite with two dudes, one of whom asks you to look for this giant horse. I won't say anymore except that the comedic setup is genius.

[Jay 37,370]

Thanks, I'll check it out!

 

I recently did another horse based quest; a dude at a stable asked me to hunt down an all white horse at a nearby hill. I found it, and it was really cool looking, for sure. It took a bunch of stamina to calm it, then I rode it back to the stable, though it took every opportunity to try to veer off path and was generally just a big pain.  By the time I registered it we were only at 60% bond even though I fed it some apples and carrots.  Finicky horse! The dude said it was a descendant of Zelda's old horse I guess.

 

Oh! And I just remembered something else I did a while back right after @mstrox mentioned it; I can across a deer idly grazing so I snuck up on it and rode it like a horse! The nearest stable wouldn't let me register it and it rode off as soon as I dismounted, but it was actually super fun to ride; the whole feel of it was completely different from horses and I think much much better.

 

Oh! And I recently came across my first bear too, it felt like I was fighting a miniboss, took tons of hits to kill and did a ton of damage to me. Looked cool though

 

[gkgyver 1,645]

I'll never understand people who say they should scrap the voice acting in the next Zelda games because it's horrible. If anything there was too little of it in BotW. 

There are just certain things that you need to adapt with the times, and if you want to turn Zelda games into more epic and elaborate adventures (not that they weren't before, but technology allows to expand them so much), you can't have cut scenes with text boxes. That doesn't make Nintendo look old, that makes them look ancient. 

The voice acting is only considered an odd addition by some because there is so little of it. 

Like the Zora king when you first encounter him, says just a few words, then it's aaaaaall text. 

I find it annoying that I'm playing a huge game in the year 2020 (2017), with lots of story, so you have LOTS of exposition, and I have to manually navigate through two dozens text boxes at a time with often crucial information. 

It's so easy to get annoyed and skip something important, then you need to start over. 

I'm not saying all NPCs should have voice acting, there is charm in text boxes, but I just want to feel more relaxed, and less annoyed. 

There isn't even a possibility to skip conversations once you start them.

[Jay 37,370]

I'm approaching endgame in BOTW and don't know whether to go thwomp Ganon soon, or buy the DLC first.

 

I have 112 shrines and no idea where the last 8 are; I have no shrine quests left in my log, and no spots left marked on my map where I had the sensor go off in the past but hadn't found the shrine yet.  I can't believe there's that many shrines left; I guess I haven't explored the overworld as much as I thought I had!

 

I have 2 memories left to get.  I found the one in the old ceremony square that Pikango gave me a clue for, and then I realized I could just look at the others and see if I recognized the scenery.  Doing that I found out with Duelling Peaks in the background, in a grove of birch trees.  Not sure why I never came across a Pikango clue for that one, but it wasn't hard to find once I determined if it was east or west of Duelling Peaks.  The only 2 I have left are one inside the Castle that Pikango clued me into, and one that I can tell from looking at it in in the Death Mountain area.  I'm going to visit Goron City again and see if I can find Pikango there.

 

I have most armor fully upgraded.  Just need more lynel parts, ancient cores, star fragments and dragon parts for the rest.  But honestly with 4* Amber Earring, 4* Champion Tunic, and 4* Barbarian boots I'm pretty much all set for most situations.

 

I do wish the game had an armor that increased running speed (I know there are 2 that increase running speed at night only).  That's the only status effect you can create from cooking that isn't replicated on an armor!

 

I got closer to Hyrule Castle than ever before recently (when going for that ceremony memory); Damn, there's a ton of Guardians nearby!  I kept having to run away from laser blasts to get to better locations to get close and thwomp them with my master sword (or shield parry their beams).  I have no idea what to do about the helicopter ones though.  Am I supposed to just shoot them with ancient arrows?

 

 

[gkgyver 1,645]

Beating Ganon isn't hard. I beat him without any armor update and half the hearts. 

I didn't even beat a Lynel before I beat Ganon.

[Bellosh 3,419]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

I do wish the game had an armor that increased running speed (I know there are 2 that increase running speed at night only).  That's the only status effect you can create from cooking that isn't replicated on an armor!

 

I have no idea what to do about the helicopter ones though.  Am I supposed to just shoot them with ancient arrows?

 

Yeah the running speed at night always makes me put on the stealth armor.

 

I always ignore the helicopter ones if I have to.  Not worth an ancient arrow, unless you have a shitload of them.  I do believe there are a couple of those helicopter guards in and around the castle that almost certainly are a must to kill because they are so annoying.

 

My favorite way to kill the guardians w/legs is simple:  Stasis + arrow to eye, then go leg by leg cutting them down.  No need to use an ancient arrow.

 

It's funny, I can parry pretty much any Lynel attack with ease, but I still stumble with the timing on parrying Guardian lasers.

 

 

2 hours ago, gkgyver said:

Beating Ganon isn't hard. I beat him without any armor update and half the hearts. 

I didn't even beat a Lynel before I beat Ganon.

 

Agreed. Thunderblight Ganon was the hardest.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

6 hours ago, Jay said:

I'm approaching endgame in BOTW and don't know whether to go thwomp Ganon soon, or buy the DLC first.

 

DLC! 

 

6 hours ago, Jay said:

have 112 shrines and no idea where the last 8 are; I have no shrine quests left in my log, and no spots left marked on my map where I had the sensor go off in the past but hadn't found the shrine yet.  I can't believe there's that many shrines left; I guess I haven't explored the overworld as much as I thought I had!

 

There's one in the lower levels of Hyrule Castle, for one thing. Did you do the Korok trials yet? Did you complete all of Kass' quests? On the west side of the map is his home, located in Washa's Bluff (near Satori Mt.). You can find a diary that details each mystery.

 

I've also been fortunate in some of the extremities of the map, such as the way tippy top left corner of Hebra. 

 

It can also be crucial talking with NPCs in every stable and town, such as the little bird girl who talks about her grandfather and the cedar tree (that one was so cool to solve), or the dude in Tabantha who points out the man made cliff in the distance.

 

6 hours ago, Jay said:

have 2 memories left to get.  I found the one in the old ceremony square that Pikango gave me a clue for, and then I realized I could just look at the others and see if I recognized the scenery.  Doing that I found out with Duelling Peaks in the background, in a grove of birch trees.  Not sure why I never came across a Pikango clue for that one, but it wasn't hard to find once I determined if it was east or west of Duelling Peaks.  The only 2 I have left are one inside the Castle that Pikango clued me into, and one that I can tell from looking at it in in the Death Mountain area.  I'm going to visit Goron City again and see if I can find Pikango there.

 

I actually just finished that last night! The reward for doing so was cooler than I remembered.

 

Did you get the Master Shield? I'm assuming not.

[Jay 37,370]

11 hours ago, Bellosh said:

Yeah the running speed at night always makes me put on the stealth armor.

 

It's just annoying late game to have to spend the time running to some place you need to be just to get there, when you've already thoroughly explored the way there before.  It's not hard to cook up a bunch of hasty food but an armor would've been better

 

Quote

I always ignore the helicopter ones if I have to.  Not worth an ancient arrow, unless you have a shitload of them.  I do believe there are a couple of those helicopter guards in and around the castle that almost certainly are a must to kill because they are so annoying.

 

I've been desperately trying to get Ancient Cores to fully upgrade my Ancient Armor and Guardians NEVER EVER drop any for me, but as a result I have hundreds of screws/gears/shafts/etc.  I'll probably be able to get a shit ton of ancient arrows next time I head to that tech lab I suppose.

 

Quote

My favorite way to kill the guardians w/legs is simple:  Stasis + arrow to eye, then go leg by leg cutting them down.  No need to use an ancient arrow.

 

I've never killed a guardian with an ancient arrow, I just walk up and thwack away with charged Master Sword, or Guardian weapons w/ Ancient Armor on.  WIth arrows to the eye to stop the laserbeam blast as I approach.  Or, I do the shield parry, but only if I am carrying some cheap shield I don't care about because if you screw up the timing you can lose a good shield

 

Quote

It's funny, I can parry pretty much any Lynel attack with ease, but I still stumble with the timing on parrying Guardian lasers.

 

I took me a while to get it down.  Basically, just stand still, and watch the beam.  It changes color to blue AND makes a different noise at some point, and that's when you hit the button.  It seems to have a pretty graceful window where it works.  In late game, your armor will prevent a direct blast to the face from taking off more than 2-3 hearts anyway.

 

Quote

Agreed. Thunderblight Ganon was the hardest.

 

By far the hardest of anything I've done in this game by leagues

 

9 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

DLC! 

 

Maybe tonight

 

Quote

There's one in the lower levels of Hyrule Castle, for one thing.

 

I explored the castle for a few hours last night and didn't find one!  I found it to be incredible easy to get turned around and lost in that place however...

 

Quote

Did you do the Korok trials yet? 

 

What does that mean, exactly?

 

Quote

Did you complete all of Kass' quests?

 

>shrug< How would I know?

 

Quote

On the west side of the map is his home, located in Washa's Bluff (near Satori Mt.). You can find a diary that details each mystery.

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhh!  I did find that Kass; That was the one where you have to stand on the pedestal during a blood moon, right?  I remember there was a diary there, but I thought when I read it it only detailed one location!  Shit, maybe that was one location I haven't found him in yet?  I'll go there next!

 

Quote

I've also been fortunate in some of the extremities of the map, such as the way tippy top left corner of Hebra. 

 

Yea i found all those I believe

 

Quote

It can also be crucial talking with NPCs in every stable and town, such as the little bird girl who talks about her grandfather and the cedar tree (that one was so cool to solve),

 

I remember that one, the one where he was on a tall tree and saw a "big bird" with something in its belly, and it ends up being a snowshelf that looks like a bird?  It took me forever to find that cave opening

 

Quote

or the dude in Tabantha who points out the man made cliff in the distance.

 

Yup got that one

 

Quote

I actually just finished that last night! The reward for doing so was cooler than I remembered.

 

I found Pikango in Goron City last night, then it took me way way way way way way way too long to finally find the memory location in the Eldin Canyon.  I must have pulled up the picture on the slate three dozen times to compare rocks and shit, seemed like I kept getting closer and closer to the right spot but was never there.  I even found that circle of rocks with the Korok seed and missed the damn location, wandered around a bunch more comparing the picture over and over again, finally returned to the same spot with the circle and there the little memory effect was.  Damn!

 

From there I flew towards Hyrule Castle, just kind of expecting to explore around the outskirts, maybe kill some guardians and get some cores... instead, I accidentally got so close it triggered a cutscene of the Calamity flying around over the castle, and the freaking music changed and it was AWESOME.  I loved how they saved the classic overworld main theme from game 1 for the ending location of this game, it worked great.  Super fun arrangement too.  I ended up exploring all around the castle and went inside in like 3 different spot (a jail, an "east gate", and I guess the main path, through two gatehouses).I love how the arrangement of the music changes the instrumentation based on if you are inside or outside the castle walls, that was really cool (and reminded me of the iMuse days with old LucasArts adventure games)

 

I had to kill 2 Lynels, one in each gatehouse, and they didn't even drop their weapons.  WTF?  They were pretty easy too (I guess because of the limited space they couldn't do all the attacks they would do on an open field).  The jail area was great, pretty fun.  Found a stalnox I had to kill to get the Hylian Shield.  Found a stone talus that for some reason was harder to beat than any talus I'd found in the overworld.  Found a bunch of strong weapons.  Even found treasure chests with dragon scales in them which I wasn't expecting.  I found a recipe I needed for some quest I unlocked in the early hours of the game.

 

Sadly, didn't find the location of the last Memory I need.  Didn't find a shrine.  I did find the "Sanctum", which I assume is where I fight Ganon, but I backed away for now

 

Quote

Did you get the Master Shield? I'm assuming not.

 

Not sure what you mean.  If you mean Master Sword, I got that around 90 hours in.  If you  mean the Hylian Shield, I found that last night.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

explored the castle for a few hours last night and didn't find one!  I found it to be incredible easy to get turned around and lost in that place however...

 

Hehe, yeah. Do you want me to tell you the general area? It's not "exposed", so it won't show up on your sensor.

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

What does that mean, exactly?

 

In the Hyrule Forest, there are a couple Koroks that have trials of different kinds--I remember one where you have stalk one without getting caught--that lead to shrines. 

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

That was the one where you have to stand on the pedestal during a blood moon, right? 

 

Yeah.

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

found Pikango in Goron City last night, then it took me way way way way way way way too long to finally find the memory location in the Eldin Canyon.  I must have pulled up the picture on the slate three dozen times to compare rocks and shit, seemed like I kept getting closer and closer to the right spot but was never there.  I even found that circle of rocks with the Korok seed and missed the damn location, wandered around a bunch more comparing the picture over and over again, finally returned to the same spot with the circle and there the little memory effect was.  Damn!

 

Hahaha! I had a similar experience my first two playthroughs...I think the general memory of its location has been burnt into my memory as a result, so this time was very easy for me.

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

loved how they saved the classic overworld main theme from game 1 for the ending location of this game, it worked great.  Super fun arrangement too.  I ended up exploring all around the castle and went inside in like 3 different spot (a jail, an "east gate", and I guess the main path, through two gatehouses).I love how the arrangement of the music changes the instrumentation based on if you are inside or outside the castle walls, that was really cool (and reminded me of the iMuse days with old LucasArts adventure games)

 

Yes!!! Isn't it amazing how seamless they were able to do it with live instruments? If I remember, it has several different variations depending on what part of the interior you're in, too. It's such a badass concoction with the overworld theme (which also appears when riding a horse), Zelda's Theme, the Castle theme from Link to the Past in its texture and flourishes, and Ganon's Theme. 

 

This version of Hyrule Castle is easily my favorite, ever. It feels like a genuine place, not just a video game final level, and it's so much fun to explore and try to navigate. I am a little disappointed how easy it can be to get to the top, but I guess that's a necessary concession to allow for the freedom the game offers. Without trying to spoil things too much, you can also find a couple things related to the royal family that provide more depth and nuance to some of the characters (one of which is related to a nearby memory location).

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

did find the "Sanctum", which I assume is where I fight Ganon, but I backed away for now

 

Yeah they make it pretty obvious where there's a point of no return. Back the hell away!

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Not sure what you mean.  If you mean Master Sword, I got that around 90 hours in.  If you  mean the Hylian Shield, I found that last night.

 

Whoops, yeah, haha. For some reason I just assumed it was "Master ___" for the classic gear. Doesn't it feel surreal, after experiencing such a different take on Zelda for so many hours, to see such an iconic item in your possession? It looks great here. I've dissed it for years, but imagine how cool it'll look with the classic clothes after you get those last shrines! 

 

On the subject of classic music...I was thinking last night: both Zora's Domain and Rito Village feature explicit references to past Zelda music. Goron City uses a similar bass line, scale, and instrumentation as Ocarina of Time without any explicit references, though the encompassing Death Mountain references the original Zelda...so unless I'm forgetting something, Gerudo land is the odd one out that doesn't reference any past Zelda music, am I right? Why is that the odd one out?

 

 

[Jay 37,370]

2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

Hehe, yeah. Do you want me to tell you the general area? It's not "exposed", so it won't show up on your sensor.

 

Nah I'll just head back in and wander around again, and try to be more methodical about it.

 

2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

In the Hyrule Forest, there are a couple Koroks that have trials of different kinds--I remember one where you have stalk one without getting caught--that lead to shrines. 

 

Oh yea, I found all the Lost Woods shrines 3 years ago.  The one by the lake I warped back to a bunch to get stealfin trout to upgrade the stealth armor

 

2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

Yes!!! Isn't it amazing how seamless they were able to do it with live instruments? If I remember, it has several different variations depending on what part of the interior you're in, too.

 

Yea it was very seamless, it was SO well done!

 

2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

It's such a badass concoction with the overworld theme (which also appears when riding a horse), Zelda's Theme, the Castle theme from Link to the Past in its texture and flourishes, and Ganon's Theme. 

 

I noticed the LTTP-esque parts to, and I freaking loved it

 

2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

This version of Hyrule Castle is easily my favorite, ever. It feels like a genuine place, not just a video game final level, and it's so much fun to explore and try to navigate. I am a little disappointed how easy it can be to get to the top, but I guess that's a necessary concession to allow for the freedom the game offers. Without trying to spoil things too much, you can also find a couple things related to the royal family that provide more depth and nuance to some of the characters (one of which is related to a nearby memory location).

 

Yea it was really cool how big it was, I wasn't necessarily really that prepared based on how it looked in the map.  I don't really get why they give you the 3D map of the area once you're in there though, I think I would have had an easier time navigating myself with the normal map!  It's also kind of weird how that map just kinda shows up randomly; In the divine beasts, at least there's an in-world explanation where you have to put the slate in a terminal before you get the map

 

2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

Whoops, yeah, haha. For some reason I just assumed it was "Master ___" for the classic gear. Doesn't it feel surreal, after experiencing such a different take on Zelda for so many hours, to see such an iconic item in your possession? It looks great here. I've dissed it for years, but imagine how cool it'll look with the classic clothes after you get those last shrines! 

 

To be honest, I haven't even equipped it yet.  With so many Guardians around, I didn't want to risk blowing it up.  I'll use it out and about doing other things I guess

 

2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

On the subject of classic music...I was thinking last night: both Zora's Domain and Rito Village feature explicit references to past Zelda music. Goron City uses a similar bass line, scale, and instrumentation as Ocarina of Time without any explicit references, though the encompassing Death Mountain references the original Zelda...so unless I'm forgetting something, Gerudo land is the odd one out that doesn't reference any past Zelda music, am I right? Why is that the odd one out?

 

The game also reuses the Zelda Lullaby music from Ocarina of Time too IIRC

[mstrox 6,651]

Thunderblight Ganon was probably the second hardest for me (in my most recent play-through, I actually beat him in one go - both him and the DLC version of him).  The only Ganon I really had a problem with was Waterblight Ganon - throwing in swimming between locations or falling into the water is a good way to get hit by a blast.  I spent a whole night trying to defeat the DLC Waterblight Ganon with the limited resources it gives you.

 

Gerudo Land should have reused the Gerudo Town music from OoT- that was a banger!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

To be honest, I haven't even equipped it yet.  With so many Guardians around, I didn't want to risk blowing it up.  I'll use it out and about doing other things I guess

 

If it gets wiped out, you can get it repaired in Tarrey Town, I think.

 

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

The game also reuses the Zelda Lullaby music from Ocarina of Time too IIRC

 

Yes, but again, I'm talking about the four major areas of the game. Every tribe gets old school musical representation except the Gerudo! Sexist Nintendo! 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm surprised to hear how difficult Thunderblight Ganon is for people, I knocked his ass out real quick when I played last night. I definitely remember the DLC fight being more challenging. I do remember Waterblight getting a little frustrating with what you described, Mike, so I think I agree with you there. 

[Jay 37,370]

In my case with Thunderblight I was probably just poorly equipped and too stubborn to go out and get different weapons/gear and come back.  

 

Plus, the order you tackle the divine beasts affects things.  They will have 800, 1200, 1600, or 2000 HP based on the order you face them, so IE if you do Thunderblight first he'll have 800 HP, but if you do him last he'll have 2,000 HP

[mstrox 6,651]

Waterblight was always my first and I always sucked at him!  The second half of that battle when you can't move freely is a killer for me.  I bet now that I have a lot of experience and beat his + version in the DLC, I could restart and take Waterblight Ganon in one swing though.

[Jay 37,370]

I can't even remember that one since it was the first one I did three years ago.  I don't really remember the Goron one (Fireblight) either.  I remember the Gerudo one (Thunderblight) cause he was a bitch and the Rito one (Windblight) because he was the easiest by a mile

[Jay 37,370]

Went back to Hyrule Castle last night, and had a much easier time navigating around, never got lost at all.  It helped too that all the guardian turrets I killed didn't respawn

 

I found a new entrance to go inside by some waterfalls, found the docks, found 2 hidden doors in the library I had missed, found the shrine, found zelda's study and read her notes, found zelda's bedroom and read her diary, found the memory location between them.

Went back to Impa who gave me the location of the final memory.  I recognized it immediately (it's the huge field with all the decaying guardians), went there and wandered around a bit without being able to find the exact right spot until i got tired and went to bed.  So I'll snag that tonight then I guess beat Ganon?  Dunno what else to do.

 

Oh and Nick, I equipped the Hylian Shield and yea, it looks great and filled me with nostalgia

[Nick Parker 3,040]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

found a new entrance to go inside by some waterfalls, found the docks, found 2 hidden doors in the library I had missed, found the shrine, found zelda's study and read her notes, found zelda's bedroom and read her diary, found the memory location between them.

 

Did you find the King's diary, too?

 

3 hours ago, Jay said:

So I'll snag that tonight then I guess beat Ganon?  Dunno what else to do.

 

D. L. C! If you're gonna get it, then do it before you take his anticlimactic ass out.

 

I'm at 117 shrines now...forgive me...I've used a guide for the last ten or so! I'm embarrassed, but especially withoit buying the DLC and getting the tracker pathfinder thing, I would have to spend weeks trying to track all of this crap down. 

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Oh and Nick, I equipped the Hylian Shield and yea, it looks great and filled me with nostalgia

 

Crap why can't I find the smiley face with the shades?

 

[Bellosh 3,419]

The Hylian Shield has 800 durability, so it takes a loooong time before it breaks.

 

Have you started/built Tarrey Town yet @Jay

[mstrox 6,651]

U gonna get all the Koroks jason?

[Jay 37,370]

I think building Tarrey Town is my favorite side quest... in any video game, ever

 

Everything about it tickled my pleasure centers.  I love how it stems off another great sidequest (building your house), with the one guy wanting to leave the company and set out on his own.  How you find the location as this amazing circular peninsula with great scenery all around.  How every time you bring him more wood and more people to help, the village grows and grows and gets filled with more and more NPCs, some of whom can eventually give you their own sidequests.  How it was relatively easy, but still had some challenge to it; Like because of this quest I realized I could farm wood for free by using bombs.  And when you have to seek out people with names ending in "son" (I wonder how this goes in the Japanese version BTW), some are obvious (like, I remembered a bird in Rito who talked about wanting to open his own shop), and some you have no idea who it could be and have to go figure it out (for the Gerudo one I must have gone to the city 6 times looking for a -son and never seeing one, before randomly ending up back in the oasis place and finally finding the right one).

 

And really, how you're just helping out making something great happen.  When most quests are of the "go kill this thing and come back" or "go fetch this thing and come back", this was a great change.  And finally how it all tops off with a wedding, was just a great ending.  The whole quest was great!

 

But what really kicks it up a notch, an elevates it from just great to an all time great, is THE MUSIC.

In general, I like the minimalist and non-thematic idea they went with for the music in the game, I think it was the right choice.  It ties in nicely with the general "you can do anything you want in any order, we don't tell you what do do" nature of the game, and was a nice change of pace from the history of the series.  And the nice thing about a general lack of music, or minimalist music when there is some, is when more traditional music is used, it REALLY stands out more.  Like the Hyrule Castle music we were discussing the other day... and like this quest!

 

I love how they came up with this great, long-lined, emotional theme for this town, it's brilliant.  And even better, I love how it starts with the base level of somewhat minimal instrumentation, but then as each new member joins the town, the instrumentation gets richer and richer (bringing in elements from their region).  But even better is when you find the right person in the world and send them on their way, the cutscene when they head out for their new destiny is scored with the theme too... and then the final wedding is yet another new variant of theme with completely different instrumentation.

 

A++++!

[mstrox 6,651]

Oh man, I'm gonna need to go back in and do this quest, aren't I?

[Jay 37,370]

15 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

Did you find the King's diary, too?

 

No!  I'll have to go explore again!

 

Quote

D. L. C! If you're gonna get it, then do it before you take his anticlimactic ass out.

 

Yea, thinking about ordering it right now.  My brother in law got me an eshop gift card for my birthday

 

Quote

I'm at 117 shrines now...forgive me...I've used a guide for the last ten or so! I'm embarrassed, but especially withoit buying the DLC and getting the tracker pathfinder thing, I would have to spend weeks trying to track all of this crap down. 

 

I think I'm going to buy the DLC to use that pathfinder to finally figure out what places I've never been to before.. and hopefully I find shrines there!

 

Quote

Crap why can't I find the smiley face with the shades?

 

This one? 

 

15 hours ago, Bellosh said:

The Hylian Shield has 800 durability, so it takes a loooong time before it breaks.

 

Yea I guess I'll use it for everything now.  Ive been carrying around three savage lynel shields I guess I'll never use!

 

12 hours ago, mstrox said:

U gonna get all the Koroks jason?

 

Ha!  No way.  I think 'm up to 150ish right now, it's shocking to me to think there are 750 more in this game.  If its going to take me 200 hours just to beat the normal game, it would probably take another 100 to find all the koroks!

 

Just now, mstrox said:

Oh man, I'm gonna need to go back in and do this quest, aren't I?

 

What else are pandemics for?

[mstrox 6,651]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think I'm going to buy the DLC to use that pathfinder to finally figure out what places I've never been to before.. and hopefully I find shrines there!

 

 

If you're like me, you'll be astounded by just how many places you HAVEN'T been!

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

What else are pandemics for?

 

Apparently running a Pre-K classroom while also working a full-time job, but thankfully my late-nite off-hours remain unfettered!

[Jay 37,370]

3 minutes ago, mstrox said:

If you're like me, you'll be astounded by just how many places you HAVEN'T been!

 

Oh I'm sure.  You can already kind of tell without the DLC feature by just looking at the map fully zoomed in, since they put a korok icon on everyone you collected.  I already have pretty big areas with no markers of any kind

 

3 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Apparently running a Pre-K classroom while also working a full-time job, but thankfully my late-nite off-hours remain unfettered!

 

I do all my video gaming late at night

[Jay 37,370]

Just bought the DLC.  Why is there a Lynel in the image?  Isn't there some new bad guy in the DLC they could have put on instead?

 

[Bellosh 3,419]

They are Gold Lynels. With regenerating HP.

[mstrox 6,651]

I don't believe there are "new" enemies, as much as "upgraded" versions of existing enemies.  I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.