I support Kris here in that the Ocean of Wind Waker was full of discovery. The grid only served as a way to ensure you hit it all but it was still damn exciting to move from island to island trying to figure out what's next. Nobody is arguing that Wind Waker did discovery BETTER than Breath of the Wild but damn if I didn't personally love that ocean. I had high hopes for the sky in Skyward Sword but it fell short to the Ocean of Hyrule's flood.

I never felt like I was discovering new things in Wind Waker. Everything was laid out in a very logical and inorganic manner, nothing about it felt like a natural place that was lived in, waiting for me to unravel it's mysteries. Not to mention so many of the islands were the same exact thing, just looked a little different. The overworld in Ocarina of Time may have been empty (not as much as people seem to think it was) but at least it felt like an actual place that people lived in.
Ok sure there were things to discover in Wind Waker, random fights that would pop up and such. But I had oodles more fun exploring in Ocarina because it did feel like a real place. Wind Waker reminds me a bit of Binding of Isaac in the way that it has a set grid you explore around. Sure you can have fun in each of those 'rooms' but they rarely give you a unique experience when compared to each other.

@kriswright
Most of those things you mentioned though are just placed into the map and rarely offer meaningful rewards. And typically the ones that do are tied to the story, like the Ghost Ship. Taking down a watchtower to get a Joy Pendant to go with my other 30 Joy Pendants isn't fun, and it just teaches me that they don't hold anything of value.
Storms would have been more interesting if they actually made me change how I sailed around the ocean. Instead they just change how the ocean looks while I continue to sail at my breakneck pace.

@Pokefreak911

I think the 'BIG EMPTY FIELD' criticism that Zero likes to trot out with respect to OoT is a little unfair too. I mean if you want to be really uncharitable, there's not much to be gained from looking for secret holes in Hyrule Field (although two do contain Heart pieces). But there's more than a few Skulltulas scattered about too.
The main counterargument though is that OoT's overworld isn't just Hyrule Field. I know Zero likes to think that but it simply isn't true. Kokiri Forest, the Lost Woods, Hyrule Castle, Lon Lon Ranch, Kakariko Village, Death Mountain, Goron City, Zora's Domain, Gerudo Valley, Lake Hylia...

If you leave all of that out when discussing exploration in Ocarina of Time, you're being manifestly unfair IMO.

Maybe this kind of thing should be a new topic or something? I wanna talk about the game in here!

Is there an easy way to get star fragments? I could use some and I've only ever gotten 2 this whole time...

Speaking of dungeons, or this game's mini-equivalent, I've had a sort of so so experience with the shrines so far. I almost feel like the first few "teaching" ones, but everything I've run into since has either been very simple puzzles, some ok fights, or the kind that have nothing inside ("you have already proven yourself by getting here" yada yada.)

With that said some of the stuff leading up to the "you have already proven yourself" ones was pretty awesome, so maybe it's fine that they have nothing inside.

But the puzzle ones... I guess I want more out of? I'm sure there will be some smarter ones down the line (I've STILL barely gotten out of the first area after the plateau) but so far it's like... walk in, solve within a few minutes, walk out.

@Shadowlink I don't ignore those, I just think they're mostly all linear spokes coming out from a boring hub that don't really offer much exploration either. And they barely connect to each other, the few ways they do are ultimately meaningless.

@Zero

Eh the spoke/hub arrangement doesn't bother me. They're only really 'spokes' in flowchart form anyway. Really there was plenty of stuff to find and they were pretty damn big areas.

...but back to BotW. Regarding the shrines I think they get tougher. Probably as you range further from the plateau. There's a couple of sneaky puzzle ones that I really liked. The twin shrines were pretty neat (although I figured out the solution to those rather quickly), and there's was a star one that really had me scratching my head for a few minutes.

I think the 'You have already proven yourself' ones are actually the best though, purely because of the leadup as you say. Those usually involve a tough challenge or puzzle to get to in and of themselves, and they've been the most enjoyable parts of the game for me.

I've done just under half, and the handful I've left for the moment are the combat tests.

@Mop it up

I've only ever seen the one. I had to chase it all the way to Hyrule Castle too. Kinda nerve racking.

Well, the one I just did had a pretty tough treasure chest to get... in fact I gave up on the treasure after awhile (would have stuck at it but I have to get to bed, work tomorrow) and just finished it. So I guess that was something.

I poured another three hours into this game tonight and it's becoming real clear that I'll never beat this game, haha. Man, it's huge!

It also seems like I've hit a bit of a wall. I've followed the main story as much as I can. I've hit up Kakariko and Hateno Village as well as the stables. I've got the 'champions' shirt and five heart containers. It seems like I'm not powerful enough to succeed in any of the shrines near Hateno and I'm not doing well in the level two cold either. I'm really struggling in the 'test of strength' shrines but I might just be getting ahead of myself by attempting those. It was the first time that I didn't accomplish anything while playing for a few hours. I did head back to the plateau to take down the big stone guy so hopefully that counts for something.

I hope I can get back on the right track next time I play!

@MasterSandman II

If you start towards a Divine Beast of some kind (any of them should do) I think you'll find yourself continually finding new shrines and enemies that will hone your skills and help you overcome your struggles. You may not have any guidance on that from local people but based on where you're at, I would think that Impa would have marked the spots on your map by now.

@Zero

That's the entire purpose of those ones with no puzzles inside. The outside is a puzzle and I think it's pretty cool they designed some like that.

Well, for the no puzzle ones usually so far the outside has been more fighting than puzzling, but sometimes it is a mix.

Man, I played a few hours last night, it was a pretty good session, first some off the way exploring and finding a few shrines, and then I finally ("accidentally", though I think Nintendo is good about funneling you certain ways without you being totally conscious of it) went in the direction that would, if I kept going in that direction, inevitably lead me to one of the main dungeons. Just getting to the first tower there was pretty interesting, a huge climb with enemies everywhere. And I think I ran into my first Wizzrobe? But I wasn't quite ready to continue down the main quest path, so after I got to the top of the tower, I backtracked.

But it sucks that the only time I can find to play is late at night, and then I stay up too late when I have to get up at 6:30 for work the next morning, and then I'm wired and sleep deprived and stressed all the time. Ug. I can't wait until Spring break when I will finally be able to sit down with this sucker without having to kill my own health to do it.

Maybe.

BTW are there less "kill a bunch of enemies to get a treasure chest" things as the game progresses? I feel like early on they were everywhere, but now I'll run into groups of enemies where I think there would be a treasure chest... yet no treasure chest. It's actually been awhile since a group had a treasure chest with them. On occasion they might have a regular chest laying around but I haven't found many of those "locked until you kill everyone" face chests lately.

@MasterSandman II

If you have the money, return to the stables that you passed on the way to Kakariko, and pay the guys inside to learn the riddle that will take you to Misko's Treasure. If you complete that sidequest, you'll find something that will help you out with one of your problems. (You can ask me for specifics once you find the treasure, but I don't want to give you any more info than that for spoiler's sake just yet.)

@Zero

I was gonna stop you but now I think you may be on to something. You may be right. But I've still seen some, but maybe not as many as around close to Plateau.

@DrFinkelstein

I think that's what I'll do. I decided to stop following the main story and ended up in an area with shrines and enemies that were way too powerful, haha.

@V_s

I did find the treasure with all the sapphire. Sell all of it?

@MasterSandman II

If you and I are talking about the same treasure, there was a bombable wall in the hideout that revealed a chest with a particular weapon inside it that would help you out in certain environments.

I'm covering my eyes and ears and not looking at any other posts but wanted to share my illustration I did for a new avatar because of how much I'm enjoying Breath of the Wild and now I'm going to run away so as to avoid all the spoilers no doubt surrounding this post.



EDIT: Phew! First on a new page. I can relax until someone else posts. :P

Ganon Did It.

@V_s

Ahh...was that the flameblade? That thing was awesome. Unfortunately I busted it. Honestly still getting used to these weapons getting broken, lol.

I need to pop my head in here and say that after playing 80 hours of it (and still going strong), this game is definitely the best game ever made. Simply fantastic.

@V_s

What stinks is that the reverse doesn't seem to be working for my trip to Death Mountain.

I was hoping my Frostblade would counter the heat there. Nope. The second I cross that invisible barrier around the volcano...

EVERYTHINGISONFIREOHGODITBURNSTHEICEDOESNOTHING.

There's an elixir that solves my problem (I think) but I don't want to be chugging bottles my entire time. Clearly I need something a bit more efficient. I'll go explore the rest of the map first before trying again.