@vinniebrock

Didn't highlight your post, but I'm around the same part and I think I might be doing that sequence tonight. Excited!

@TriforceBun

Yep, I found one of those randomly a few days ago and I'm like "This must be important". I assumed it must have been something story-related that I just didn't notice until it was dark out, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was something different. And then, last night, I found some lore out in the world related to that "thing". It's cool that sometimes you find some information and then find the thing/place it's describing, and other times you find something really neat and then get the backstory from an NPC or something like that.

@TheBigG753 i wasn't ready for any of that lol. But it was SO worth it.

@TriforceBun
Yeah. Kinda got caught off guard with how uhh... personal / emotional the story got there. Granted, i'd kinda been avoiding it 'cus i was just having too much fun exploring the world & fighting things i shouldn't be (etc.). That was the first Lost Memory I've come across, too. Guess i should do more Main Story quests, eh

So, umm... I just beat one dungeon thingy, and I am by no means close to finishing the game but I'm going to go ahead and rate this game already. I can't imagine my rating changing.

That said, people should beat the dungeon thingies. You get helpful stuff that makes exploration even more fun.

@ploot
I better see another 10!

It seems there are stronger versions of a lot of weapons, but I have yet to see a stronger mop.

0/10

@Mop it up

We need a Mop It Up Amiibo to unlock it. Golden Mop!


There was a football game on TV last night. Little Zelda was played. I am sad.

@ploot

I beat the first one last night too, or at least one of them. Not sure if there really is an order. I plan to move forward wth the story now to do all of those, then I'll go back to random exploring.

The reward for besting that first one was worth it and I think, as you said, it'll improve my quality of just roaming around.

@Shadowlink

Handheld mode man!

@DrFinkelstein

It's weird, I *really* don't want to play Zelda in handheld mode. Big HD screen or bust.

Nothing against handhelds, I'm not turning into Carlostache. But Zelda deserves the best.

@Shadowlink

I *might* undock it and take it with me to work once I actually finish the main story, but until then, it's TV or bust!

Videogamedunkey posted this pretty funny video (I don't think there are any significant spoilers):

I spent the better part of the last three nights exploring one region that I'd skipped over (Akkala) Time well-spent, I'd say. A lot of really neat stuff to find, and I got a few significant upgrades that should make me a lot more capable vs. the game's stronger enemies. (Don't highlight this next part if you don't want to be spoiled about a few abilities/weapons upgrades). So, I got to Robbie's Tech Lab and unlocked some of the ancient weapons -- holy crap, those ancient arrows are a revelation! I went and did the maze area nearby, and those arrows were taking Guardians down in ONE HIT. Looks like I know where I'll be putting most of my rupees going forward. Doing the maze area also got me enough ancient cores to upgrade my Stasis to be usable in combat. Not long after, I got to put it to the test against a Blue-maned Lynel. The test passed, as Stasis was the only reason I didn't get totally obliterated.

The time feels about right to get back on the road and head towards the next main objective. The next area on the way that I'm about to start has me very excited. It's something I feel hasn't really been done justice yet in a 3D Zelda game, but we'll see if BotW is up to the challenge. I'm also fairly certain about what I'm going to find there, if rumors among NPCs are to be believed...

@vinniebrock

Haha, your previous comments threw me off-guard a little bit, I had already done that part already but it sounds like you got started on some side quests that I just got to recently. Anyways, that entire part was amazing and has been the strongest area of the game thus far (which isn't too surprising as variations on that section -- getting to Zora's Domain -- have been among my favorite moments from previous Zelda games as well.

So tonight's Zelda plan:

Poke around Zora's Domain. Get the stuff needed for the dungeon. Do some hunting to get the full set of Zora Armour.

"Ok it's finally time. Let's do a dungeon!....Just one quick trip back to Kakariko to get a new heart container...."

*Spends the next three hours running around Lanaryu Heights.*

EDIT: OK it's 1AM and I've been raiding secret shrines everywhere for awesome weapons. Dungeon tomorrow. Surely.

Hmm, saw the 7.5 for Breath of the Wild and was like WHAT?

GREAT JOB MIU.

@TheBigG753

Actually, last night I went to the area you're about to go! And incidentally, I'm about to do the Akkala region next, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I find. I did meet Robbie a little earlier when I made a beeline for that area, but now I'm going to really dig my claws in the region, starting with the Tower (which is hard to climb right now due to an unfortunate thunderstorm).

I love how there are so many regions in the game, and how several of them are entirely optional. Feels like a really content-packed Zelda.

@Zero

BotW's rating has reached critical condition! We need 50ccs of 10/10s on this game, stat!

Last night I did the castle run Tbun suggested. I got farther than I expected but I stopped after a bit because I don't want to expose too much of that experience now. Having beaten the first 'divine beast' the other night, I want to continue that path for now.

I spent a lot of time covering the north woods and man... that is truly what I have been hoping for all these years. Finally a true forest. No stupid forest-painted walls and just.. ugh... jaw-dropping. I can't focus at work right now.

Aw I'm worrying the game may feel a little too easy for me at this point, and I haven't even done the first Divine Beast yet!

I'm surprised that the big slow enemies end up being so easy. I beat the ever living fuck out of one of the mini bosses earlier. So badly that he barely got to move and the battle music didn't even begin!! Am I just that good? No, it's the children who are wrong. Nah I think the Hinox is surprisingly easy.

I did a Shrine Quest but have no idea how to conclude it. Looks like I need s rare item? I wonder what the payoff is!

I like that sense of wonder and hearing about places and things you won't see for hours and hours. It's a really cool feeling.

Has anyone found any real good use for Stasis yet? At least where I've been so far many Runes seem waaaaay underused. Stasis is entirely too much work (though I'll say it's incredibly powerful and ate up a good chunk of a miniboss' health this one time) and seems very hard to control in the first place.

@carlosrox

I was in a shrine yesterday that required Stasis in a very cool way. And it's used often on moving gian't rock slabs.

@Shadowlink
That no longer even applies anymore because while I prefer playing on TV (Especially my bro's 4k. Fuck I'm jealous how unbelievable BOTW looks on it.) I get a good amount of handheld time.

It doesn't have the same presence or precises controls to be sure, but it is impressive in its own right for being playable on the go, and being that it looks so amazing and is so huge it's its own feat!!

Edit: Just saw that thing again. I think I'll be figuring out its purpose pretty soon here. It's probably related to that Shrine Quest too!

@DrFinkelstein
Yeah but that's in a Shrine where it's specifically laid out like that. I'm not seeing much use in the overworld yet.

Magnesis too since it basically only effects a few objects and they're kinda rare.

Cryonis as well lol.

They all feel kinda underused at least at this point.

Aiming Stasis seems too hard for too little payoff. There was a puzzle where I obviously needed to get a boulder in a hole and it seemed the game wanted me to try my hand and stasis shooting 3 boulders that were set up by a hill into that hole. Well, needless to say all 3 attempts failed. How am I supposed to know how far or what angle something's gonna fly? I wish they did that better.

The only really useful Runes seem to be the bombs. Useful in the sense that you couldn't do something else more effective in its place. I do use Cryonsis for cover, blocking objects in water, raising objects, so it's probably a little more useful than what I've seen from Magnesis and Stasis.The objects you interact with these two seem few and far between. I'm really surprised they aren't strewn about the world more casually. Even explosive barrels seem to be somewhat of a rarity.

Having said all that, obviously this is a gigantic game and I've still barely made a dent in it but these are just my observations so far.

I want to play with the Runes but the game won't really let me!!!

@carlosrox

Runes are life!!

Stasis: use on an enemy winding up for a big attack then run around them and start hacking away or get a few extra seconds to aim for a weakness. Another great use of Stasis is on an enemy you already attack-stunned to get over twice as many hits in. Using Stasis on a Guardian is awesome too. If you're afraid of parrying blasts, let them lock on you, run in closer, use Stasis before they shoot, run around back and hack away. If they resume before you even attack them, they'll still have lost their lock on you.

Magnesis: is great for smashing enemies with metal boxes and boulders, AND... favorite combat use: yanking away enemies' weapons then hitting them with it.

Cryonis: is certainly more limited than the others I think, but it's great for cover if there's water around, using it to aid in the ascent of very tall sheer cliffs is cool, especially if there's rain, and if you get the angle and timing right, you can create-run-jump-glide-land from block to block across water very swiftly.