6.5/10
The first was emptier, with less and less things to do, only a map to explore and a few ways to approach exploration - it approached its sandbox/open-world hybrid through subtraction, resulting in a brilliantly subversive game flow. This is denser, full of things to do, with three overlapped maps to explore, a lot of skills to use - it approaches exploration through puzzle mechanics, and it mixes sandbox and open world in a powerful, creative, and very playful way.
The first was sadder and almost hopeless, with the ghosts of your friends surrounding you from beginning to end, a world full of ruins and evidences of your failures, and a ghostly princess to save from the past - it was powerfully grim and surprisingly tragic. This one instead is much more hopeful, much more traditional in its approach to power fantasy and epic.
In the first one, the world was deserted, defeated, and you poetically traversed it alone with your memories. Here the world is full of things to do, the past is lively, there are characters everywhere, the future is yet to conquer and evil can be defeated once more.
Of course it is masterfully designed and it has some great puzzles and dungeon. But its approach to storytelling is a step back compared to the previous one - too traditional and imbued with fantasy tropes. Its approach to gameplay follows a similar lead: too many mechanics, too many things to do, too many ways to approach the world that surrounds you. The best thing of Breath of the Wild was its minimalism. Here you have rather the opposite.
And in fact I spent 200+ hours with the first one and less than 20 with this.
The first was emptier, with less and less things to do, only a map to explore and a few ways to approach exploration - it approached its sandbox/open-world hybrid through subtraction, resulting in a brilliantly subversive game flow. This is denser, full of things to do, with three overlapped maps to explore, a lot of skills to use - it approaches exploration through puzzle mechanics, and it mixes sandbox and open world in a powerful, creative, and very playful way.
The first was sadder and almost hopeless, with the ghosts of your friends surrounding you from beginning to end, a world full of ruins and evidences of your failures, and a ghostly princess to save from the past - it was powerfully grim and surprisingly tragic. This one instead is much more hopeful, much more traditional in its approach to power fantasy and epic.
In the first one, the world was deserted, defeated, and you poetically traversed it alone with your memories. Here the world is full of things to do, the past is lively, there are characters everywhere, the future is yet to conquer and evil can be defeated once more.
Of course it is masterfully designed and it has some great puzzles and dungeon. But its approach to storytelling is a step back compared to the previous one - too traditional and imbued with fantasy tropes. Its approach to gameplay follows a similar lead: too many mechanics, too many things to do, too many ways to approach the world that surrounds you. The best thing of Breath of the Wild was its minimalism. Here you have rather the opposite.
And in fact I spent 200+ hours with the first one and less than 20 with this.
2 Comments
Thanks for this comment I surely will!
jowhu
19 days ago
That aside, do you even enjoy games? Like 90% of the shit you score is just 5 or 6 with "eh, it was fine, I guess." sentiment. Just find a new hobby lol.