Skinkybob

I admire Abby's ability to just... steamroll through these things. I just can't play games that way. I'm super slow and careful and methodical. I pick up absolutely everything, never use anything, explore every corner, and stress myself out.

She had to be doing something wrong during the train part, right? Like, there's no way it was designed to be played that way?

I don't know why, but I winced when Abby suggested intentionally skipping post-credit scenes.

I'm dying at Vinny's "Don't give him the flesh whip!"

For those who don't get the reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXFdPTaCtkc

Somewhere on my phone there's a video of two of our cockatiel's getting down. It's an incredibly weird feeling to be playing PS4, hear a weird noise, and turn around to see two birds going at it.

@smorlock: I'd say the vast majority of the comments here are in support of the game. There's just a few of us dissenters. And I don't hate the game. I just... don't think I can play it. And that's heartbreaking to me, because I consider Zelda my favorite franchise and Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker are 3 of my favorite games of all time. Breath of the Wild was my most anticipated game, and I just... bounced off of it in a matter of hours. And I STILL feel guilty about not playing it (I own the Wii U version AND the Switch version! I have the collector's edition guide! I have amiibo!).

@mightyduck: Yeah, on top of just being overwhelmed by literally every aspect of it, I found a lot of the mechanics to just be... unfriendly? It probably didn't help that I was playing Horizon: Zero Dawn at the same time (which is a similar game with a completely different control scheme), but I never got the hang of the controls (I was also playing on Wii U). I would throw my weapons when I didn't intend to and jump off of towers when that wasn't what I wanted. The amount of times I died for completely silly, unavoidable reasons was infuriating. Additionally, I'm the type of person who is terrified to use limited items in games, so I'd hoard any and all decent weapons and armor while continuing to use the worst the game had to offer because I'm stressed that I'll somehow "waste" something or won't be able to attain it again. I totally get why people love it, but nearly *every* single aspect seemed specifically designed to drive me away.

@juanarturo: I have to imagine that there's some sort of middle ground between "Link's Awakening" and "Breath of the Wild". "Twilight Princess" and "Skyward Sword" are flawed because Nintendo seemed reluctant to update the formula for modern audiences. With "Breath of the Wild", rather than updating the formula, they threw it out entirely. "Breath of the Wild" has more in common with "Red Dead Redemption II" than it does with "Ocarina of Time". You can make a more linear, contained experience that is more palatable to modern audiences. Your options aren't limited to "rigid and outdated" and "absolutely no structure or direction". For instance, take the world of "Breath of the Wild", fill it with fully-fledged dungeons (doesn't necessarily have to be 8) and a more fleshed-out story, and remove the more annoying/frustrating survival elements (or maybe include a separate difficulty that has that stuff). That alone would go a long way towards helping me to enjoy it.

I know that I'm like, in the 1% here, but in response to @brad's question of "How can people not like this game?", let me attempt to explain:

I've got ADHD and suffer from OCD/perfectionist tendencies in games (ie, I feel the need to do absolutely everything/hunt trophies to the detriment of the game and my enjoyment). I've always struggled with large, sprawling, open-world games, although the issue has become exacerbated as I've grown older and found myself with less and less time. The Legend of Zelda is my favorite game series and I like the idea of Breath of the Wild *in theory*, but I just... can't play it. I've tried. It's so overwhelming to me. I look at the map and I just get stressed out. I want to experience what the game has to offer, but there's like... a mental block in place that prevents me from doing so. It sucks, but I guess I just need more structure to my gaming experiences. I miss the structure of old Zelda games and I'm worried that I'll never get one again.

@basanakin: Where did Vinny mention walking out of it?

I was not expecting to come to Giant Bomb and hear about Disney's The Descendants. I was a background actor in The Descendants 2. It was great. Kenny Ortega's a good dude.