200 hrs bay BEH!!

@carlosrox

Just hit that marker myself.

BTW something I've been wondering, there are certain parts of the game where the gameplay is a bit more linear / defined, but like... does anything stop you from completely sidestepping them?

Specifically I'm thinking about the quest in the desert to retrieve the thunder helm thingy. You go through this very specific, defined stealth section and get to a boss fight, but the boss fight is outside where it appears you could have just came down to it from the surrounding mountains. Would it have been possible to just skip the section leading up to it? Or would the boss not be there if you came that way or something?

@Zero

I found that area before the boss fight while looking for how to get in to the hideout and was confused as to what it was and why I couldn't go down that huge hole. I'm pretty sure just nothing happens.

But... you'd have to go out of your way to not find the normal way into the hideout. It's a huge valley leading straight to it!

@Zero

IIRC once I got into the Gerudo village I tripped some sidequest I wanted to go see through so when I finally decided to go to the hideout my starting point wasn't the village so I didn't go through the valley.

Hmm, did you have the map above unlocked at that point? Because I didn't so the valley was like SUPER OBVIOUS since it juts out of the top of your current area's map.

I actually kind of wish that once you unlocked new areas of the map the old borders were still visible, because I tend to explore right to the edges of an area and sometimes I will do the tower of a new area before finishing exploring the old one and then I get confused about what I have and haven't done yet since there is no clear border anymore. Some areas have more natural borders than others.

With that said, there kind of IS a pretty clear border down there since the whole top of the area basically runs along the mountainside... except for that valley which cuts deep into it.

@Zero
Funny you mention that part when in the spoiler thread I mentioned I was really disappointed by the direction they took it.

So the sidequest in the Gerudo area where you are supposed to like... solve everyone in the town's problems or whatever... does that just mean go around finding OTHER sidequests to do and do all of the sidequests for people in the town? Because it doesn't really give much direction about what it means.

@Zero

Yes, that's it. You need to do all side quests which originate in Gerudo Town. The prize is nice so it's worth it. Go talk to everyone you can find.

@DrFinkelstein

If you have all the Rubber armor though, isn't it kind of redundant?

@Shadowlink

Sort of. But that's a big if, and it requires you to wear all of it for a similar effect instead of just the head. And even then, I don't think you're fully immune to lightning like the Thunder Helm is.

@TriforceBun

I tested it yesterday. Same effect. But pairing the one thing with some other, better armor is a nice way to go.

I can't say the Gerudo Highlands was my favorite area. In fact, I can say that it was my least favorite area. Needing to keep using potions to stay warm, lots of climbing, low visibility, only found a handful of shrines / interesting things.

Ah well, I'm getting there. Only have the top-left 3 areas left on the map to explore. 3 beasts and around 85 shrines down, and even managed to clean up a lot of my open sidequests recently.

It's an amazing game but I definitely feel like, for my tastes, it's a bit bigger than it needs to be. For instance I don't feel like the Gerudo Highlands really added anything to the game, was just tedious. I feel like some people will flip out if the map in the next Zelda is even a fraction smaller than the current one, but I really feel like just a tad smaller and tighter would make for a better experience.

Have you been to the city of this region yet? The area surrounding it is more interesting than the cliffs near the tower.

You may have spoken too soon.

Seen the shrine quest near the tower too? Seems kinda hard, but I think I get it.

Random question? Will shrine quest shrines set off the shrine sensor? There are two in the Hebra area I'm having a miserable time getting to, but maybe I can't get to them yet?

@Zero
You had to use potions to keep warm? There are lots of armour choices for that.
I guess your Halloween costume is really important to you.

@Koovaps
Buried shrines don't set off the sensor.

@Koovaps

If the shrine is visible, yes. If you need to do something to make the shrine appear, no. I don't think the actual Shrine Quests in the journal (or whatever it's called) are consistent... I think some lead you to accessible shrines and some lead you to puzzles you need to solve before the shrine shows up.

@ploot
@Kal-El814

Thanks guys. That's kinda what I thought. I'm wasting a bit too much time where I'm currently at, and I think I may just come back later.