The Watching Artist wrote:Jamo3103 wrote:I've made pretty signifcant progress on this today, got through a few more shrines (up to 42 now I believe) and done two of the dungeons, van medoh and vah ruta
I did Vah Ruta first and was pretty disappointed with it, found the whole thing easy but had a few frustrating moments where the game didn't really behave (in terms of control and responsiveness) the way I've become used to. Didn't really enjoy it at all to be honest.
Van Medoh was a lot better but again far too easy and short.
It's the first real disappointment of the game for me so far but they pale in comparison to the dungeons in the other 3D Zelda games, the bosses were equally disappointing too. It annoyed me how they had no specific weakness, or several attack routines, just a health bar. I just spammed them with arrows and the fights were over quickly and easily, such uninspired designs too.
I absolutely love the open world game design but I hope for the next Zelda game they return to a more traditional dungeon structure.
Agree with most of this (specific "dungeons" aside). I don't mind the Divine Beasts. They are not terrible. Its an interesting idea but just to me seems so weak next to proper dungeons. I'd be fine with seeing this idea come back but alongside proper dungeoning. It could replace the tear gathering in SS for example. If you showed me a picture of the bosses I don't think I could tell you which one was which.
I'm so cold on the story to. I know some will say you don't play Zelda for the story and thats fair enough but its usually strong enough to frame everything and make it interesting along the way. They have put a ton of work into the backstory and world building but from the moment you leave the GP it all seems so static. Its in dire need of a proper antagonist. Calamity Ganon is just window dressing, like a weaker version of the moon in MM. I don't really care for any of the characters either tbh. Felt more for the
dead people in MM then in this. And in this I'm meant to have known them.
Yeah I think I'd be fine with that too, the Divine Beasts are a bit like extended shrines and they work nicely as a plot point but they definitely seem weak in all areas compared to a traditional Zelda dungeon.
I also agree on the story, it feels very static and can be easily ignored for the most part. There's no sense of urgency to get to Ganon and fight him and I've not really grown any attachment to the characters either, for all the criticism Skyward Sword got I think it actually did a fantastic job with the story. Girahim felt like a constant threat and I felt like I was always moving on to the next part of my quest and that I was on a really important journey, this on the other hand I've had a wonderful time exploring and playing around in the world but I actually feel quite detached from the story itself.
I don't think it's just a Zelda issue, it's a problem with open world games in general but whereas Skyward Sword really progressed the series from a story telling perspective this almost feels like a few steps back.
I still think it's an absolutely excellent game but I do feel like in responding to the criticism of Skyward Sword they've tried to take the game a little too far away from the core Zelda template.