After 150+ hours, it'd be silly of me to say I hated the game. But I think Nintendo really needs to spend some serious time on QoL improvements for the next game... because given the new mechanics, the issues with BotW's really showed their head here. Everything else? Distinctly an improvement in my opinion. Glad to see actual bosses this time too.

I appreciate the more linear structure to story telling here as it gave something more to chew on without sacrificing the actual freedom of the previous game. A lot of the core mechanics of the game take the base from BotW and then looked at all the various ways people broke BotW to make a game where breaking it feels like entirely the point. Shrines felt like they were more light hearted fun and temples felt like they embraced an open feeling while still retaining a pretty decent pacing. Some parts are better than others for sure, but I like what they're doing.

Also, anything that lets me build shitty Gmod cars is an instant win in my book. The hours and hours of childhood summer vacation I spent cobbling together some barely functional vehicle were replicated in almost the same child like glee and curiosity here. Let me build some houses for these burnt down villages next!!!

However, if you did not like the formula change of the previous game, I don't think TotK is going to win you over. Make no mistake, all the worst parts of BotW are still here, they didn't go anywhere (I actually always really liked the weapon durability mechanic though). While I think there's enough brand new stuff and improvements here to consider this a sequel, it's not really trying to find that much of a balance between that and older 3D Zelda. Like the leap from 2D to 3D, the series is transforming once again and like every major transformation, some just aren't going to like it.

And that's fine! But I'm still loving all of it.

When I was a small kid I was a big blizzard head. Playing on my brother's copy of Starcraft 1 and Warcraft 3 (I'm begging for a new warcraft game that isn't a shitty remake). When I was a kid when I would see that intro of a Blizzard game I knew I was getting a top tier video game. With the streak continuing with later releases like Starcraft 2 and Diablo 2 and 3. But here we are 10 years after the release of Diablo 3. Despite my gripes with that game i'd say overall reaper of souls fixed a lot of issues and by the end I'd say it's a very good game. In the year 2023 what has blizzard released since diablo 3, Hearthstone, Heroes of the storm (lol), Overwatch, Diablo Immortal, and Overwatch "2". All multiplayer live service games. And not to make this a whole "man modern blizzard sucks" because as you can see by the score im impressed but just to give general background. I was skeptical to say the least about Diablo 4. Diablo 3 was effectively a live service game but the term didn't exist back then. Then all the reviews came out glowing about the game, talking about how content rich the game is. That's when I cemented my purchase for it. And I am fucking glad I did. This is the type of shit I grewup with where I say that when I saw a blizzard game I knew it was a quality fucking videogame. With some of the most beautiful world design in any game of the past years, with the gorgeous story telling through intricate cutscenes both in pre rendered CGI and In Engine, this game is straight eye candy. The music is so great in this game too with the small tunes that play around citys or in important story spaces and oppressive dungeons. The absolute depressing and murky Sanctuary you're dropped into. With the classic diablo gameplay loop to boot. I have truly gotten the diablo brain worm back of going "man can't wait to fall asleep so I can play some more diablo tomorrow". For context I am currently at level 60 on sorcerer and have no plans to finish playing this game soon. The dates logged are merely just for how long it took to beat the campaign. With all the content in the near future and excited for the return of Seasonal Characters. There is just so much in this game NOW and for the near future. Truly a live service game that is complete at launch, with just more content waiting for the years to come. Definitely worth the 70$