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Breath of the Wild (2017) Review
323 Plays1 year ago
With Tears of the Kingdom coming out soon, join Satsunami and Andrew as they review the 2017 game that defined a generation of gaming. With so many games being compared to Breath of the Wild, does it truly deserve this accolade? Let's find out!
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Banter
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chatsunami. My name's Chatsunami and joining me is none other than the breath of the wild host himself, Andrew. Andrew, welcome. I thought you were going to say something like breath of fresh air or something like that.
00:00:33
Speaker
That would have been better. I'm not paid the big Nintendo bucks to come up with puns like that, OK? No, that's why you brought me in.
Exploring The Legend of Zelda Series
00:00:41
Speaker
Thank you for having me hop on for another episode where we get to talk about The Legend of Zelda. Yeah, I can't remember the last time we spoke about a Zelda episode. Oh, wait, it was last week. No, I was going to say, I don't know if you were sitting something up there. I was.
00:00:54
Speaker
Yeah, if you haven't checked out our previous episode last week where we discussed what it's like to be a Zelda fan, then please feel free to pause the episode and go give that a listen.
Breath of the Wild's Impact and Comparisons
00:01:05
Speaker
But yeah, today we are indeed going to be talking about something that I would say needs no introduction, but you know, we're paid by the introduction, so we're going to do it anyway. Well, I say we're paid, but you know. I'm still winning on that check. Podcast terminology, you know.
00:01:21
Speaker
It's lost in the mail. Your cheque's lost in the mail. Yeah, today we are indeed going to be talking about a particularly famous game, one which even you said, Andrew, that it was... am I right in saying the 20th most sold game of all time? Yeah, the 20th best-selling game of all time.
00:01:38
Speaker
I remember you and I were of course talking about this last week where we're seeing how Zelda's had such a significant impact in the gaming community, but it seems as if Breath of the Wild is that lightning in a bottle, isn't it? Yeah, it certainly took its inspiration from other
00:01:55
Speaker
other games itself, but it does seem to have kind of started an entire, almost a genre of video games, which has kind of allowed it to be what games are now compared to, that people will say, oh, this is a Sonic game like Breath of the Wild, or this is a Pokemon game that's like Breath of the Wild, that they kind of anything that's now kind of open world, more so sandboxy is now compared to Breath of the Wild, whereas it was previously maybe a Skyrim or a similar game like that.
00:02:21
Speaker
I was going to say to all the crusty millennials that are listening right now, raise your hand with me and try not to break a hip. As you remember, that every game was once compared to Skyrim as it's Skyrim, but with guns, it's Skyrim, but with this, but you are 100% right. Nowadays, it's games that have a heavy focus on exploration and adventure are now wanting to be the breath of the wild, but with
00:02:48
Speaker
or Y or whatever. In particular, as you said, Sonic Frontiers did this. Genshin Impact as well did this, especially Genshin Impact. I remember playing that when it first came out, and yeah, there's a couple of things. We will probably get into that, but there are a couple of things that were, I want to say, pay homage to.
00:03:07
Speaker
for legal reasons, but there was a lot of inspiration for these wide sprawling games where you could run through the fields and have this merry adventure. I say merry adventure, but the story of Breath of the Wild is indeed kind of dark, but as I said we will get on to that.
Pre-release Hype and Marketing
00:03:24
Speaker
But before we go on, you being of course the resident Zelda expert in the room. That's quite the claim.
00:03:29
Speaker
Well, there's only two of us, Andrew, please. What was your experience in the build-up to this game? Because as I said before, I actually can't remember. Maybe it's because I was maybe too young at the time, or I just didn't pay enough attention to Zelda games, but I don't remember any Zelda game getting as much hype.
00:03:50
Speaker
as Breath of the Wild. Certainly not in my experience as a Zelda fan. I don't think there has been a game before or since in the Zelda franchise that's had as much kind of hype surrounding it as Breath of the Wild did, partly down to this huge kind of marketing campaign that it did, the fact that they had the initial release date of 2015 and they released I think back in 20th
00:04:10
Speaker
13 content to like promote that but then that got delayed and so you kind of had this such a long kind of buildup of people kind of excited for this and seeing a game that looked nice after a very kind of weird looking game we'd more recently had with Skyward Sword. Skyward Sword had a very unique art style which is attractive in its own way but is not really my favorite art style from the Zelda game series. So what you're saying is I had a face only a developer could look
00:04:38
Speaker
Yeah, IG Anonuma was very proud of his brainchild there, but it was not received as well. So following that kind of disappointing game, you could only really go up. And so there was kind of excitement, like finally we'll get another good game. Insert Gordon Ramsay, finding some good fucking food. I was gonna say, slap that in the books. Finally a good fucking game.
00:05:00
Speaker
And for only, oh god, I don't even know what the price of the game is now, it's probably going up to like ยฃ80 or something. You know, the remake of Skyward Sword, for only ยฃ80, you too can experience the sheer disappointment of this game. I have the remake actually, I got given it as a gift, which I was very grateful to have gotten that, and I did request it in fact.
00:05:20
Speaker
I wanted to see if the changes made to it had improved it at all, which it had a little bit, but I've not gone far enough through it to fully see
Personal Experiences and Nostalgia
00:05:27
Speaker
if it's that different. Cause I mean, one of the fundamental issues is pacing and the kind of repetition and the level design. But anyway, going back to Breath of the Wild, there was such a big buildup. They did put so much behind the marketing of it. I remember was it like E3 that they had an entire day, Nintendo day, and they had like the Nintendo tree house at E3 and they kept showing more footage of Breath of the Wild in the buildup. I think this was maybe nine months prior to the game coming out.
00:05:50
Speaker
We need something like Nintendo Day, but not so separate. Yeah, I don't think it was actually called Nintendo Day, but it was something like the E3 had like a dedicated day, I think, for each console. There was an Xbox A, I think there was a PlayStation Day, I think there was like a Nintendo Day. And of course, initially, when it was announced, it was going to be a Wii U game when it was initially coming out in 2015. I remember thinking at the time, actually, that I'm not buying a Wii U, but I will have to when Zelda comes out. Like, I'm going to commit and have to buy that when Zelda comes out. That's okay.
00:06:18
Speaker
That is like your own prospecto in gaming terms. Yeah, I've played the Wii U at a few people's homes. My brother, in fact, has a Wii U and his version of the Breath of the Wild is the Wii U version. So we each got each console's version of the game, which is interesting
00:06:33
Speaker
Because I think that's only the second time this has happened because Twilight Princess released as a GameCube Wii hybrid. So there was GameCube versions of the game and Wii versions of the game. And then I think this is the only other example of that with the console hybrid Zelda game. And the GameCube version of Twilight Princess is now really valuable because it's much more rarer version of the game.
00:06:51
Speaker
And for a true Nintendo or the true Zelda fans, it's like the proper version of the game because Link is canonically left-handed. And so the GameCube version, he is left-handed. But the Wii version, because the majority of people are right-handed and you're swinging a sword with the Wii controller, they switched it to his right hand and they inverted the map. So the GameCube version, everything is mirrored from the Wii version.
00:07:14
Speaker
Yeah, again, I keep tangenting to like talking about other Zelda games. But yeah, just that's all just talking about this build up of this game that was so excited about that then you kind of had a double level of excitement because you're excited about this game coming out. And then you also had this kind of new excitement over a new console that you were getting
00:07:31
Speaker
And so I had committed to getting the Switch and getting the Zelda game. And in fact, I pre-ordered the game. So I had Breath of the Wild before I even got the Switch, because I just wanted to make sure I had it. And then I was told that I would be given as a gift from my parents following the completion of my degree, that like a graduation present would be Nintendo Switch.
00:07:49
Speaker
And so I purchased Zelda and just kind of had this game for a console that I didn't own, just sat in my bedroom for two or three weeks until I eventually got my Switch. So there was a huge anticipation build up surrounding that. I felt very much like a child again, like I have to get through my exams and then I can play my game. And then I would just spend the following months diving into that game.
00:08:09
Speaker
Funny enough, I was trying to think before I came on tonight, I was trying to think when I actually got it, and I wanna say probably a year after it released, because as I said before, I like Zelda, but I wouldn't say I'm like a die-hard fan of it, and I got my Nintendo Switch, I wanna say around Christmas 2017.
00:08:32
Speaker
I remember actually asking for Breath of the Wild for my birthday, not because I was thinking, oh I have to play this game, oh it's amazing, and this is going to piss off a lot of Zelda fans' apologies, but I just wanted a game so I could hide out the Switch library. The fact it was a platform exclusive and everything, and I thought,
00:08:51
Speaker
Okay, I'll ask for it and I'll go to my birthday and everything then. Before I spell the beans though and I tell you my opinions on the game, will we just dive in and glide into this wonderful game? Oh, do my best old man impression. Oh. Yeah, sounds good. Maybe the lovely listeners can hear our thoughts after the outbreak. And we'll be right back after those ads.
Sponsorship and Previous Content
00:09:22
Speaker
Previously on Chatsunami, we've analysed what makes a good horror game, conducted a retrospective on Pierce Brosnan's runs James Bond, and listened to us take deep dives into both the Sonic and Halo franchises.
00:09:34
Speaker
Also, if you're an anime fan, then don't forget to check us out on our sub-series, Chatsunani, where we dive into the world of anime. So far, we've reviewed things like Death Note, Princess Mononoke, and the hit Beyblade series. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out on Spotify, iTunes, and all big podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.
00:09:57
Speaker
Join me, Slade, and my two co-hosts, Joey and Tim, over at the Video Game Club, where once every two weeks we review a video game, not too dissimilar to a book club. Podcast. You can find us at the Video Game Club on all good podcast providers, and some sketchy ones as well.
00:10:21
Speaker
This episode is sponsored by Zencaster. If you're a podcaster that records remotely like me, then you'll know how challenging it can be to create the podcast you've always wanted. That's where Zencaster comes in. Before I met Zencaster, I was put a naive podcaster, recording on low-quality, one-track audio waves.
00:10:56
Speaker
I want you to have the same easy experience I do for all my podcasting and content needs. It's time to share
Game Mechanics and Exploration
00:11:07
Speaker
your story.
00:11:07
Speaker
So, Andrew, this game is absolutely massive, as we've established. It is probably one of the Tronkers Elder Games out there, but before we go on to talk about what makes this game so good, which I know, a novel idea. People praising this game, what a novel concept, but what is this particular iteration of Link?
00:11:30
Speaker
So they've taken the angle in this game of a hero who has failed in his mission to protect Hyrule, has been kind of put into a coma for 100 years, and then awakes into a Hyrule that has been, they say devastated, like it's in ruins, but life's kind of gone on. But our main character Link has lost his memory, and so it's trying to recover who he is, what has happened, and try and do what he could not do before.
00:11:56
Speaker
Meanwhile, the world is infested with the creatures that Ganon or the Calamity has released upon the world. And Zelda herself is trying to hold back the full extent of Calamity Ganon from fully taking over the world. And so you kind of always have that, oh, Link, quickly, I can't hold him for much longer. But like, you can just do that indefinitely. Kind of things like, I'm just going to cut some grass. I'm going to collect grasshoppers. And there ain't nothing you can do about it.
00:12:24
Speaker
pretty much. Yeah, so essentially you as Link are going through this kingdom of Hyrule 100 years after the Great Calamity, and you are trying to get strong enough to take on Ganon. That's essentially the plot of the game. But the unique thing they've kind of introduced this is just how much of an open world game it is and how you aren't railroaded in the same way that you would be with
00:12:46
Speaker
other Zelda games, like it's not as linear. You can take on challenges in any order you wish, which is not entirely unique. I think there has been lots of Zelda games, I think even the original Zelda you could in some capacity do in various orders, but it is certainly unique in the case of a lot of modern Zelda games, a lot of the recent 3D console games.
00:13:04
Speaker
Yeah it's quite surprising how versatile this game is which I know that's rich coming from me not having as much experience with these Zelda games but the fact that as you said you can take on these different challenges whenever you want. For anyone who keeps up with gaming news you're probably seeing all the challenge runs like
00:13:26
Speaker
beating Ganon in like five minutes with zero gear or beating him with a stick and things like that. There's just so many ways to approach this game and I have to admit I was quite surprised at that initially and then I realised it was a speedrunning community and then I thought oh well that makes sense.
00:13:43
Speaker
Because you can technically, from the outset, go straight to the main boss and fight him. I say straight from the outset. Once you've done the initial tutorial that gets you off of the plateau, you can then go straight to the main boss and try and beat the game. I have gone to do that, but one of the elements of the game is the breakable weapons, and so any weapon you have has a durability factor to it. I took on Ganon with all the best weapons I could find before facing him, and then found that they all just broke, and so I then didn't have any weapons, so I was screwed.
00:14:13
Speaker
And so there's certainly a limiting factor there. I've not watched a speedrunner do it to see how they accomplished it because I just ran out of arrows, ran out of bows, ran out of swords, all that kind of stuff. I don't know what they could have done that could have beaten him that I didn't know how to do. So what you're saying is you didn't fistic off? No, that's one thing it's missing, actually. You can't just punch something.
00:14:31
Speaker
Which I know that's probably like a Nintendo thing maybe. Yeah we don't want kids punching people. swords yes fists no. I mean as we established last week it's like they didn't want kids yet went into the console but they gave them a gun for Duck Hunt. Yeah the aims of Nintendo are a bit ski wiff after a bit. Duck Hunt is one of like the highest selling games of all time you know. How best selling are we talking here? 27.
00:14:57
Speaker
Ah, it's actually pretty fair. OK, I'll give it that. It's only just behind Pokรฉmon Gold and Silver. Wow, really? Put down. Ahead of GTA San Andreas. That white gun really did wonders, didn't it? Apparently. That really surprised me considering some of the things it's ahead of. But speaking of weapons, it'll break over time.
00:15:15
Speaker
I'm going to go to a quick negative here because let's face it, overall, objectively, the game is great. Gameplay-wise and everything, the game is great. But if I'm honest, I really didn't like the durability factor. Did you think it was a good idea coming from the old games where there wasn't really durability?
00:15:34
Speaker
I go back and forward on the durability. I quite like it, to be honest, because it then encourages you to use weapons that you otherwise wouldn't use. If you've just found a weapon you really, really liked and has always used that, then you don't really get the opportunity to be like, Oh, I should grab this claymore just now so I can accomplish this because my weapon just broke.
00:15:54
Speaker
I think it adds an interesting dynamic. It's always one of those things where like, I'm so particular with my inventory that I will often just use crap weapons because I'm like, Oh, I don't want to waste the good weapons. And it's like, what am I wasting them on? They're doing the exact same thing. So I'm very much a hoarder when it comes to stuff like video games with inventory.
00:16:11
Speaker
I think it does allow me to accumulate a bunch of inventory and then actually use it. Because if you just had the Master Sword and just always use the Master Sword, that's kind of boring. Whereas what they've done, which is quite clever, is that they introduced the Master Sword later in the game and then had the Master Sword also have a durability factor, but like it's linked to kind of almost like a magic ability. And so it will recharge later and then you can use the Master Sword again later. But in that interim period, you then have to go back to your other set of weapons.
00:16:36
Speaker
I see what you mean. It definitely shakes up the gameplay, something awful. And the best ways and the maybe, I wouldn't say the worst ways because I wouldn't be as harsh as to say that but I feel as if it's one that you have to adapt to and get used to which obviously that's the point. It kind of adds to that adventure sense doesn't it?
00:16:56
Speaker
Yeah, it certainly does the scavenging kind of aspect of the feel of the game, the tone, having this durable weapons element makes it that extra bit more challenging, which I think is sometimes an issue with Zelda games that sometimes you don't always have the extra element of challenge that it does become a little bit too easy.
00:17:13
Speaker
So I think it adds a more interesting element that we didn't really experience previously. And one of the things that when I played Legend of Zelda Wind Waker and you fought certain enemies, you could actually pick up their weapons and use their weapons against the other monsters around you. I always thought that was
00:17:28
Speaker
so much fun. I always wanted to do that. Every time I had the opportunity to, I would. And so now you have a game where not only can you take the weapons of your enemies, but you can then hold on to them, keep them and use them later on. Because in Wind Waker, you take it and you go through a door and you drop that weapon and you be through the next door into the next area. Whereas in this, that doesn't exist. You have the weapon until you either destroy it or throw it away. Speaking of the weapons, one of the things that really struck me, no pun intended, but one of the things that really struck me was
00:17:57
Speaker
how much they are influenced by the environment as well, which I thought was quite interesting. Like, for example, if you have a wooden stick and you hold it near a fire, you know, these are the kind of things that when we were growing up with like the GameCube era, the PlayStation 2 and all that, when you stood by fires and everything that you're like, oh man, I wish there was more environmental gameplay. That's definitely what like 10 year old me is saying. I wish environmental gameplay was considered in the development of this game.
00:18:27
Speaker
Me too. I had a deep voice when I was young. Nah, I'm gonna look in for legal reasons, that's a joke. Who's gonna sue you? I don't know. I'll probably sue myself in the future. For some reason the podcast didn't take off, so I took to time machine.
00:18:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's a cutthroat business in the future, deal with it. Yeah, it's the kind of thing, though, that you think, obviously not in those words, but you do think that, oh, I wish this kind of thing maybe was in games back then, and then now that you've got it, they implement it in such a clever way. Because I didn't realize there was other things like if you're walking in a thunderstorm and you've got like a metal weapon out that you essentially act as a lightning rod. Yeah, you're a conduit to the lightning.
00:19:12
Speaker
and then as we said we've got the weapons that if you hold them too close to the fire then obviously they're gonna burst into flames.
Interactivity and World Design
00:19:20
Speaker
Something as well kind of linked on to that haha again no pun intended that's the phrase of this episode no pun intended but one of the links to that is the AI of the enemies that you fight in this game. In particular if they drop a weapon or if you drop a weapon they're not afraid to like especially the Bokob ones they'll run away and then they'll grab
00:19:42
Speaker
a weapon on the ground to defend themselves. It's horrible as it sounds because it's like I'm getting flashbacks of like order 66 here, but I mean it is quite intuitive, isn't it? Yeah, it's one of those things which Nintendo's really good at, of rewarding your curiosity by if you think, hmm, I wonder if I do this thing.
00:20:00
Speaker
And then you do it and you find out that, oh, it's exactly what I thought. By putting this rock in this location to complete a circle that's just kind of randomly around in the world, you then have a little Korok friend pop up and be like, aha, you found me. Here's a little turd. And then you get the little turd and then you hand the little turd to the tree man and he expands your inventory.
00:20:16
Speaker
There's lots of little things like that, like throwing bombs into the water, or firing an electric arrow into the water will kill the fish around there, and then you can collect those fish. If you fire an electric arrow into the water where an enemy, Lazalfo, is nearby, it'll electrocute that Lazalfo. If you electrocute an enemy holding a weapon, they get stunned and will drop that weapon. There's loads of fun little things like that where if you think about doing something in the game, there's often a reward for doing that. The game developers have planned for your creativity and have rewarded you for it.
00:20:46
Speaker
Because that's something that you don't, and again I'm going to say this and someone will call me out with a list of examples to this, but it's not something that's as prevalent I would say in a lot of AAA games these days. Obviously Nintendo's a fine exception that usually they try to encourage
00:21:05
Speaker
creativity, like for example with Super Mario Odyssey is another one that I can think of, but with Breath of the Wild as you said, it is amazing that they give you that freedom to be able to explore the way you want to, because I mean, Zelda games, they haven't always been linear, am I right in saying? I mean there's been one or two, but the majority of them are usually open world
00:21:28
Speaker
I guess it depends what you're kind of defining as open world. As I was saying earlier, things like the original Zelda to an extent, things like A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds, these are games where you do have some control over how you play the game, how you kind of navigate the game.
00:21:43
Speaker
Whereas something like Ocarina of Time, let's say, you kind of have to do it in a certain way. Like you have to do this temple, then this temple, and like you're going down this single path. Like you see there are cliffs and mountains around you, but like you can't climb that certain thing. You can't climb that certain thing. You can't go over there. Whereas Breath of the Wild, for the most part, you can just traverse the entire landscape.
00:22:04
Speaker
And the landscape will shift and change around you. Like you'll be going to snowy sections, you'll be going to deserts and like the temperature will fluctuate. If you go very high up a mountain, even if you were in like a warm area, then all of a sudden the temperature will plummet and you have to adapt and either wear clothes depending on your surroundings or drink up certain potion that you've created or bought.
00:22:24
Speaker
There's so much to the game of, as you were talking earlier about your environment, about how you as a player have to adapt to the environment through different methods. And it's not one method. As I said, like you don't have to change. You're like, Oh, I really like wearing this armor. I don't want to change into this warm weather outfit or this Gerudo outfit to deal with the weather. I can just eat this food I created or drink this potion I created that gives me a buff against hot weather or cold weather or electricity or something like that. So there's so many ways of playing this game and dealing with situations.
00:22:54
Speaker
within the game. I mean, I would 100% agree with that. The fact that a lot of the environments aren't just for show. For example, the one I can think of off the top of my head is, see when you go to the, I think, is it the volcano island in Wind Waker? Right, yeah. So in Wind Waker, when you get to Dragonroost Island and you've got like the big volcano and everything, obviously it was a different generation. We didn't know any better.
00:23:23
Speaker
yeah, you don't really change. Not that obviously you would want the focus of, oh, you have to change your clothes every time you go to a different island and everything, but the fact that the environment is very interactive, like it's not just a set piece, it's not just a background pixel that you think, oh right, that looks cool, but I can't interact with
00:23:43
Speaker
What I will say is that going back to Ocarina of Time, say, if you went to the volcano area, you had to have the red tunic to deal with the heat. So you had to change depending on your environment for that. I think Skyward Sword also had something similar, like you had to have a specific earring or something to deal with the heat or a specific tunic or something along those lines. There have been other Zelda games where you've had to deal with your environment in that way, but it's not quite to the same extent as Breath of the Wild.
00:24:08
Speaker
Is Ocarina of Time the same one that you have to wear a blue tunic for water? Yeah, it allows you to swim better or hold your breath or something. Struggling to remember what exactly the blue tunic did from Ocarina of Time. I'm a terrible Zelda expert. I was going to say, had you called yourself a fan? A fan!
00:24:26
Speaker
No jokes aside, that's fair enough. Even back in the 90s Zelda was pulling this. Such an innovative series. I swear to goodness. Jumping off at that point though, because we've established the gameplay is fantastic. The environment is absolutely spectacular. It's beautiful. There are
00:24:46
Speaker
probably a thousand compilation videos where it's just pretty much everybody's first reaction to coming out of that cave and then seeing the sprawl in Vista. Were you taken aback by that when you first got out of the cave at the very beginning of the game
00:25:02
Speaker
Yeah, it was I had it somewhat spoiled by seeing the promo for it But if your heart kind of goes you get the goosebumps all those kind of cliche kind of experiences but it's true like I was absolutely amazed when I first started playing the game and I came out and you just saw that landscape in front of you and just Not fully understanding like how much of it is interactive because there's been other Zelda games where you've seen out into the horizon It looks really pretty literally cool. You can't really go and experience it
00:25:28
Speaker
Whereas Breath of the Wild, as we were saying earlier, you've got the entire world to explore and it's so beautiful. Like the topography of Breath of the Wild is so interesting. It's so unique, the nature element of it, that you've got all these animals around you that you can interact with, that you can hunt or ride or fight. There's so much there that is so interesting.
00:25:49
Speaker
Because I have to say, what surprised me a lot about this game was the fact that the world felt very much lived in. For such a vast world, it is very hard for developers to make it feel as if this world is populated, if that makes sense. For example, when you and I played this game for our old Let's Play series T-posing, I remember there was one moment
00:26:14
Speaker
where you and I went into a dungeon and when we came out, we had that dealing with the, was it the flower lady? I can't remember what her name is, if she has any, but yeah, and you were like, go on, go touch a flower, see what happens. And I got absolutely bodied, rightfully so, I must say. But there was other moments where it was like I got again bodied by her. I tried getting by the, oh, I can't remember what you called them.
00:26:41
Speaker
guardians yeah where I tried sneaking by the guardians and they kept getting destroyed by the laser and everything. It's like every week you turn you don't feel as if for the most part there's just like wasted space. You know it feels as if there's something in every kind of part of the map
00:26:57
Speaker
which is absolutely fantastic for the game this size. There are areas where, and this has been a criticism of the game, where there is kind of expenses that don't really have much going on in them that could be better utilized. But I think, as you say, for a game of its size, you can't necessarily fill every space, it might feel a bit too crowded if you do. So it's a very difficult line to tread. And there's an element of you that thinks, well, sometimes you just like to go up a hill or a mountain and not have to interact with
00:27:25
Speaker
either a NPC or monster or anything like that, that you just get a chance to just climb up, look around and experience what is around you that you don't necessarily need to have a shrine temple town in every kind of area. That actually reminds me of, I don't know if you've played, you know the Dead Redemption, the original. I know of it, yeah.
00:27:44
Speaker
There's a scene in that, and I can't believe I'm making this reference, but there's a scene in that where essentially you cross the border at one point in the game and then you cross back. As you cross back, there is this song that plays in the background and
00:28:00
Speaker
it just essentially allows you to ride back on your horse across the border back from Mexico to the United States and you're just riding through this very scenic countryside as this country western song starts playing much like Breath of the Wild. It is just so scenic, it gives you time to breathe in the rest of the scenery. You know it's not saying, oh you're running and then all of a sudden the bobcat's gonna mug you for your money or anything.
00:28:28
Speaker
but it's the same here, it's like how much would the game be more enjoyable if you did? Like I can understand the criticism, oh that's absolutely valid that there could probably be better utilisations for these areas. At the same time it is nice to have those downtime quiet moments to appreciate the work
00:28:48
Speaker
that has gone into this game, but on that note, because we've talked a wee bit about the gameplay, the environment, everything 10 out of 10 so far. I've got a particular question for you being the Resident Zelda expert
00:29:04
Speaker
What is your opinion of the tone of this game? That's quite tricky because I think it balances it quite well, to be honest, because there's an element of this kind of looming threat, this looming danger that you have this world in ruins, you have these monsters around you, these guardians crawling around, you have the blood moon, which is a very interesting mechanic that we maybe speak a bit more on later.
00:29:25
Speaker
You have these kind of very dark kind of moments in the game, but not necessarily distracting from how beautiful, how whimsical at times other elements of the games are. Like I mentioned the Koroks earlier, they're little tree fairy friends that caused mischief. They're very cute. You have some comedic elements from various NPCs, and then you have these beautiful areas of the game.
00:29:46
Speaker
It's not going for that kind of dark Bloodborne, Elden Ring kind of world where everything's so gothic. It is a world that you can see was even more gorgeous prior to this calamity that has been hit by it. And Zelda games in general, I don't think always have the best...
00:30:02
Speaker
Dory, I think that's often one of its weaker components that it's held up by its gameplay and its style, the mechanics, essentially. I've kind of said the same thing three times, but the games itself are able to hold their own over kind of a pretty weak story. That's not to say I don't enjoy the story. I'm a sucker for Legend of Zelda story, but I do think that it is its weakest component.
00:30:24
Speaker
It is very much, and again, this isn't to disparage any enjoyers of the story, but it again feels like the very much Nintendo pained by the numbers. Oh, there's a no pun intended because there literally is a great calamity in these names, Ganon. But yeah, there's this huge threat, you have to deal with said threat, you have to draw the Master Sword, you have to do X-Vines A to defeat him and everything.
00:30:51
Speaker
you have to fight all the nasty gribblies along the way. It's all the same basic building blocks that we've seen before in other Zelda games, and don't get me wrong, obviously it's Zelda with a different coat of paint. I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad thing that they followed the same formula.
00:31:09
Speaker
but I see what you mean. It does seem though that because the story is so, and I don't want to say basic because obviously there's all the lore and everything, but the fact it's a relatively easy story to follow, it's something that I've noticed as well that that might be one of the reasons that new players to Zelda have been endeared
00:31:30
Speaker
spine.
00:31:49
Speaker
good game for those who have not played a Zelda game, who don't necessarily want to play other previous Zelda games but would just like to play a fantasy game, it's very good for that. And the story doesn't require you to really know anything prior about the Zelda franchise. That is one of the strengths straight enough about Zelda, is the fact that a lot of the games themselves stand alone.
00:32:09
Speaker
really well so like if you're a Windbreaker fan but you're not an Ocarina of Time fan or you know vice versa then there's kind of a game to cater for everyone's interest but it is quite interesting to see the Breath of the Wild seems to be the baseline of people getting into both Zelda and as you said just getting that fantasy game fix
00:32:32
Speaker
It's really fascinating to see because, as I've said before, I really struggle to get into some of the Zelda games either because they've just aged, not poorly, but you know, they've aged. All games are going to get affected by that. You're going to get mechanics that don't hold up the same or are no longer used and everything, but with Breath of the Wild,
00:32:56
Speaker
They've definitely got the basics down to a key, and I think that is probably one of their strengths. But it is quite interesting to hear what you had to say there, just about the tone and the story as a whole.
Suggestions and Sequel Anticipation
00:33:09
Speaker
But before we go off in a high note to see how wonderful this game is, are there any things, maybe not negatives, but anything you think the game could have improved on?
00:33:18
Speaker
There are certainly some things. I don't think this game is particularly strong with its music. I think one of the great things about so many Zelda games are its musical scores. There were a few that were good in this and they did something very clever with telling the story at times through folk ballads that you would kind of go across the land and kind of encounter this one character who plays an accordion, plays an accordion and is kind of researching like songs of the land and he teaches you about the history of each kind of area through these ballads.
00:33:47
Speaker
That's really interesting, but it doesn't really hold up against some of the other songs that I've heard in other Zelda games. So much more of a musical element to the other games, which wasn't really present in this. Like Wind Waker, you were conducting the winds. You'd then be accompanied on your quest by other people who were playing instruments. And there'd be some beautiful musics that they all came together at the end to play. Ocarina of Time, you had the Ocarina that you were playing. Majora's Mask, you had various other instruments. Scourd Sword, you were strumming your harp thing. There was lots of musical elements to the other games that just wasn't present in this one that I kind of
00:34:17
Speaker
And then the theme of that things that just weren't really present that were in other Zelda games that I missed was I do miss the dungeon temple mechanic. I felt like I would want more of that in Breath of the Wild that you only really had the four divine beasts as the quote unquote temples. Plus you had these shrines where you would do like a puzzle and then earn a spirit orb that you could redeem for either stamina or parts.
00:34:42
Speaker
So they kind of got around the lack of temples and puzzles by having the shrines, but that really didn't interest me as much. I kind of missed the temple aspect, the problem solving to get through each section of the temple and having like a significant number of them rather than just the four divine beasts plus the Hyrule Castle at the end.
00:34:59
Speaker
So I do miss that and I do hope that there's a little bit more of that maybe in Tears of the Fallen Kingdom or what the next game's called. I do miss that somewhat. I can understand like the work around they've done and they want to freshen up the format a little bit because it is a little bit samey. I'm very much a creature of habit of kind of consistency and I do like that within my Zelda games. But I did appreciate the change up a little bit in this game, but I would like to see more of that in the future. And as is the case with
00:35:22
Speaker
any game, and it's really a testament to how good Breath of the Wild was, was I wanted more when it was done. I was like, well, I need more. And they thankfully brought out some DLC, which I did then purchase and play, which didn't add a whole lot, but did some interesting, interesting stuff. But yeah, I was so hungry for more of it that I had to wait another six years to get. So I'm very excited for the game coming out. When this recording comes out, we'll probably be either just out or about to come out.
00:35:46
Speaker
Yeah, because this week, indeed, Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel to Breath of the Wild, will be coming out. And I'm going to be honest, moving off of Breath of the Wild for a second, something that really shocked me about that was just the sheer eagerness to make a full mainline game as a sequel to the previous game. Because Zelda is kind of loosey goosey when it comes to the timelines and the lore and everything like that.
00:36:14
Speaker
But I've never really, other than with Wind Waker and Banter Muggle Glass and Spirit Tracks, those are the only two I can think of off the top of my head, other than obviously Majora's Mask. But I feel as if the only reason Majora's Mask was a quote unquote sequel to Ocarina was because they were working in a very limited timeframe.
00:36:37
Speaker
you know, it was like they used the assets from Ocarina of Time into Majora's Mask. It wasn't like they purposely planned out to make such a cursed game, which is another episode for another time. But the fact is that although you had the spin-offs for Wind Waker with, as I say, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, you don't really have any. And correct me if I'm wrong, but is there any direct sequels to any of these games?
00:37:06
Speaker
Majora's Mask was a direct sequel. My understanding of the original games is a bit fuzzy with regards to the timeline. I have Hyrule Historia, which does actually show the timeline. I should have had it out in front of me. I don't even know if I brought it to Canada, to be honest. Yeah, I don't really know much whether or not any others are sequels to each other. I understand the timeline in basic sense, but Breath of the Wild does not fit into the timeline.
00:37:29
Speaker
So that's an element that throws in a spanner in the works. So having Tears of the Kingdom come out as a direct sequel is very interesting. Could have had it like come out a couple of years later with just kind of the same assets used and not much changed. Some people would still be happy, but they've spent six years, which is the normal game cycle for a Legends other game and to release a full brand new game with a lot of new mechanics, which is going to be very interesting to get our heads around. It's going to throw some new challenges and it's going to be interesting to see what they've done and accomplished.
00:37:59
Speaker
over those six years.
00:38:18
Speaker
similar assets I want to say but it's not so much like for example the most infamous one would probably be Pokemon where they said oh we've been working on this for ages and then when they actually looked at the models and the code and everything they were like well
00:38:34
Speaker
Not really, you're just exported from the old 3DS games onto the Switch and expecting no one to notice and all of that. So it's not as if it's like a lazy port, it's nothing like that, but I was quite surprised that they still maintain that same look and it looks
00:38:54
Speaker
relatively similar but at the same time there is a lot they can do with it and obviously you've got the building mechanics and everything that's coming into it which i have to say it did remind me of banjo kazooie nuts and bolts did you see that in the trailer
00:39:10
Speaker
I don't remember Banjo-Kazooie well enough to have made that comparison, to be honest, because last time I played a Banjo-Kazooie game was about 20 plus years ago, so it's been a long time. At the time, it was the only one that came out for the Xbox where you could build up your own vehicles. It was infamous for the time, but no, it's still infamous. I was going to throw up on there, but like, no, no, it's still infamous. But yeah, that'll be interesting to see, though. But before we conclude, is there anything in particular you hope for in Tears of the Kingdom?
00:39:40
Speaker
I think it's kind of going off of what I was saying before, I would like to see more involvement with music, like we've seen in some of the other games. And I'd like to see more temples or just larger elements to do because the world of Breath of the Wild is so, was so grand, so interesting. And there were lots of like little things you could do. I want to know these advertisers. I want something big to get my teeth into. And I think that I'm really hoping that Cheers to the Kingdom will kind of offer
Challenges and Game Mechanics
00:40:05
Speaker
that.
00:40:05
Speaker
And yeah, then just from a more kind of general perspective, I'm hoping for a good story, because as we were talking about earlier, stories are often kind of the weaker side of the Zelda franchise, but if they can accomplish a fun story, then I'm all for it. It definitely seems as if it's continuing that semi-serious tone. Obviously Zelda's like a game full of wages, so they're not gonna make it. Well, if they do make it uber dark, or they make it overly dark, then they're gonna kind of hide it behind some
00:40:34
Speaker
artistic-ness. For example, when the Guardians overrun, I can't remember what the town's called, but when the Guardians overrun, one of the towns early on in the flashback when the King, spoilers, is talking to you. Is it just Hyrule? Is it just Hyrule? So just thinking, Hyrule City and Hyrule. Well, the land is Hyrule, I guess. So it's Hyrule Castle, I guess you can just say.
00:40:55
Speaker
It's like you don't obviously see that people get disintegrated like Skynet, you know, at the beginning of Terminator or anything like that. It's not as brutal, but you still get that implication that everything's being completely destroyed by these creatures, which I have to say during that game, they did terrify me because every time I walked round a corner, all you heard was a doo doo doo, and I was like, oh no, I'm going to die.
00:41:18
Speaker
I'm going to die. I'm going to go back the way I came. Sorry, Mr. Guardian. I loved the challenge of the Guardians. I thought the Guardians were so interesting and the whole thing where you could bounce their lasers back at them with your shield if you time it right. It was so satisfying to do that right. And when you got a rhythm of being able to do it right consistently, I hadn't played for a while and I decided before coming back to talk about it today that last night I should play the game. And so I went into the game, played a little bit and then I was like, Oh, my weapons are kind of low. I've destroyed a bunch of my weapons. I want to try and get some good weapons.
00:41:45
Speaker
So I went to Hyrule Castle, which is like the final area of the game, to where there's loads of really strong weapons are there. So I went to go collect those. And all around Hyrule Castle are Guardians, because it's like the end of the game, it's supposed to be very tricky to get through, you're always under attack. And I went around the perimeter just destroying each of the Guardians with a deflection shield or just by whacking them with other weapons. And it was really fun. It's still so satisfying, five or six years later, just going around and beating the Guardians.
00:42:11
Speaker
something we actually didn't touch on and then I'll touch on it very briefly but the fact that you get I suppose it's an alternative for the equipment that you don't really get in this game like the bombs and the momentum like stopping a particular object in stasis am I right and then you have to hit it
00:42:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's like cryostasis. And when you hit it, you get a lot of momentum and everything that you can cling on to objects that send you flying and everything. I mean, that is absolutely fantastic as well. That kind of goes into the umbrella of gameplay. And as well, of course, you've got your, is it the Sheikah slate? Yes, you have your Sheikah slate, which kind of controls these kind of power-ups that you have. Your fantasy iPhone, essentially.
00:42:55
Speaker
yeah it's like an little iPad that you've got. Which is hilarious to think that when you get to Zelda and she's like why the hell have you got an iPad and you've got a Starbucks on the other hand and you're like what I was asleep for 100 years, don't judge me Zelda. Honestly, see if I had to sum up my thoughts. I would honestly say the design is fantastic in this game, it's very iconic.
00:43:15
Speaker
I feel as if that's gonna get carried on to the sequel and yeah the gameplay as well just absolutely fantastic. I feel as if I'm redundant in saying oh this is a fantastic game you should go check it out because at this point you've probably played Breath of the Wild, you've probably seen somebody else play it and everything, you probably watched our Let's Play channel play it but before we wrap up what are your final thoughts Andrew on this iconic game?
00:43:41
Speaker
Just kind of concluding, Breath of the Wild was a very unique gaming experience for me at a time where I wasn't really playing video games at all. Like I'd fallen out with video games. Like I didn't own my own console for years at that point. The previous console I had before the Switch was an Xbox 360, so it had been quite a while. So it kind of reintroduced me into playing video games again and what a game to kind of get back into that I experienced
00:44:06
Speaker
such a wonderful fantasy game that has such unique mechanics to it. I mentioned earlier that when you've defeated all the enemies in an area, after a certain number of days on the day and night cycle, there'll be a blood moon where all the enemies that you previously defeated then come back alive. And so it prevents the issue of you've killed every bad thing in the game,
00:44:25
Speaker
Now what? That that will never happen, that you'll always regenerate, so you'll always have something to do in that regard. That's so interesting that we thought of a solution for that. It was such a fun game, it was such a fun experience back in 2017, playing through it for the very first time and then just in subsequent years, kind of going back to it every so often to play a little bit more and kind of give yourself more challenges. Yeah, that's my final input into the game. I recommend that anyone who has not played it does check it out, especially with the new game coming up very soon. It's worth checking out. Those who've already played it, give it another shot, play again. It's fun.
00:44:54
Speaker
And yeah, you can experience an hour and a half, two hours worth of Chasnami and I playing the game on an old YouTube channel.
Community Engagement and Support
00:45:01
Speaker
If you look up T-posing, T-E-A-P-O-S-I-N-G on YouTube, you should be able to find our content where we played Breath of the Wild. Just look for the old wee trooper model and yeah, the chippy. You haven't changed a day.
00:45:13
Speaker
I turned into a red panda. I made the real sacrifice. No jokes aside, yeah, definitely go check it out where, yeah, we tried. We actually got through a fear trunk at the beginning, I want to say. I mean, I'm saying that and you're like, no, no.
00:45:29
Speaker
We did Scratch's Surface. We did a little bit of the game. I mean, we got through the dungeon. We got our first horse. I'd call that a win. Not a dungeon, you went to a shrine. Okay, a dungeon, a shrine. Potato, tomato, save. Well, a dungeon would perhaps be one of the divine beasts. We wouldn't get that far. We got to Kakariko Village. For me in my head, I'm like, oh yeah, we got really far. And for all the Zelda fans, it's like, you know that scene from Naked Gun with the old face palm in unison.
00:45:55
Speaker
it's more like throwing in our typical Simpson reference where Homer's climbing the murder horn and he's like used up so much oxygen he's like tired and he looks down and he's only gone up five feet yeah that sounds about right I was still getting bullied by goats well goats and guardians yeah honestly I can't praise this game enough
00:46:12
Speaker
because I feel as if, as I said at this stage, my praise for this game is a bit redundant. Go check it out. And for anybody who's either pre-ordered or playing Tears of the Kingdom, feel free to get in touch with us and let us know how you're enjoying it. Does it live up to the hype? Is it as good as the sequel? Was it not as good? I know Andrew, you'll be getting in contact with me saying, oh, it's the best thing ever or it's not the best thing ever. So, yeah.
00:46:39
Speaker
please let us know. But until then, thank you Andrew once again for going down memory lane and yeah, checking out this wonderful game. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It was really fun to dive back into this game that I didn't know if it was going to be my last time playing it with moving on to the new game very soon or what were going to happen. So it was nice to kind of take a trip down memory lane of a few years ago. Oh, you'll be back. You'll be back. They'll always come back.
00:47:00
Speaker
If you would like to listen to more of our Zelda themed episodes, or really just any of our other episodes, you can catch us on all good podcast apps, as well as our website podpage.com forward slash chat tsunami. If you want to reach out to us on social media, then
00:47:17
Speaker
please either check us out on Instagram under the handle Chatsunami or on Twitter via the handle at ChatsunamiPod. Also finally I want to give a huge shout out to our Panda Wolverine patrons Robotic Battle Toaster and Sonya, thank you so so much for supporting the channel and if you would like to catch more exclusive content from ourselves and early access episodes you can indeed catch us on patreon.com forward slash Chatsunami.
00:47:46
Speaker
Until then, thank you all so so much for listening, stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, stay hydrated.