I will agree that the game world felt sparse and underpopulated, but given the minimalist tone (as evidenced by so many other game elements, like the music or lack of hand-holding) it felt on-brand.
> Weapon durability is literal cancer.
They did this to discourage player min-maxing and to force some variety. I didn't like it either but appreciate the additional layer of dynamism it added to the game.
> Contrast that with Elden Ring
Hardly a good comparison, for one there are several years between the two releases and for two, you are comparing a soulslike with a more 'traditional' open-world game. I for one am sick of roguelike/soulslike mechanics infiltrating everything, this idea that you have to zerg everything over and over again to progress is cancer. And slow ass movement. And bosses that are massive difficulty ramps up from the rest of the level. Ninja Gaiden does 'hardcore' or whatever much better.
So what if it is? Some people want to play games that allow them to progress a certain amount without establishing skill mastery and there’s nothing objectively wrong with that.
Certainly, but Elden Ring and other FromSoft games are not made for the casual crowd. They have a set difficulty level intentionally so that everyone can share the same feeling of accomplishment.
My main gripe was not that BotW isn't Elden Ring, its that with as much money and resources as Nintendo has, they released a mediocore game. And then they did it again with TotK.
The original Zelda was open-world.
I will agree that the game world felt sparse and underpopulated, but given the minimalist tone (as evidenced by so many other game elements, like the music or lack of hand-holding) it felt on-brand.
> Weapon durability is literal cancer.
They did this to discourage player min-maxing and to force some variety. I didn't like it either but appreciate the additional layer of dynamism it added to the game.
> Contrast that with Elden Ring
Hardly a good comparison, for one there are several years between the two releases and for two, you are comparing a soulslike with a more 'traditional' open-world game. I for one am sick of roguelike/soulslike mechanics infiltrating everything, this idea that you have to zerg everything over and over again to progress is cancer. And slow ass movement. And bosses that are massive difficulty ramps up from the rest of the level. Ninja Gaiden does 'hardcore' or whatever much better.