Been wanting to write here for a bit, as I have been replaying BOTW to try and 100% before the sequel. The idea is to get a good feel of the original, as I will admit, I probably missed a bit of it with my random play sessions and constant restarts over the years. Basically, a replay to properly review the damn game.
For the start, I am mostly going through the worst regions, which I believe are the ones that make up the left/top of the map. This image kinda shows what I mean:
No hate to Tabantha, it is just stuck on an unfavorable side.
In saying this, most of my run so far has been spent in the Wasteland, the Highlands, and Hebra. These are three locations I don’t necessarily like all that much, and my next destination is Eldin as it is also annoying, followed by more wandering in the Woodland area. I currently do not have any of the towers opened as Korok hunting per region is a bitch without the lines.
Things to note for general improvements sequel can make:
- Keep borders on the map. I hate that they take them away as it makes keeping track of things difficult along with knowing what region you are in.
- Have a way to keep track of Koroks & Shrines. The loading screen depict the counts for each, but there really needs to be an easy to find location for this that isn’t a resource you use like the seeds and spirit orbs are. Not asking for a per region, but just a general total, though having it per region would also go a long way.
- Better costumes. Just add better outfits, the ones currently in game look trashy and I hate most outside of the Hylian gear and the Snowquill, I have not liked most of the clothing sets so far. You would think the Gerudo secret club would have cool outfits, but no.
Individual Lands:
- Hebra - This land feels like missed potential. There is some really cool stuff here like shield surfing and bowling. The main issue with the land is how little personality it has. A few cool ice cave and the previously mentioned gimmicks can only take it so far. I feel this land really needed a town. It has cute little log cabins in two places, but seriously, it needs like a little Christmas town to liven up the Everest death climb. It should also have the snowstorm rate lessened, really makes it hard to see the region’s beauty. I get what they were going for with it being the challenge area, but the decisions leave the region feeling miserable. You can have a pretty area and a challenging one.
- Highlands - Feels like an afterthought. I have no real suggestions for this one as it feels like it shouldn’t have even been included. It is flat-top Hebra. I think they should just leave it as it creates nice space, but it all around is a forgettable land. At best add another npc, as I believe it only has Kass and the Goron brothers with their heat challenge. Also, fuck the rock in a hole Korok seed by that one cliff near the back left
- Wasteland - I don’t like this area, but I know people do. The changing weather gets annoying, and it is really stupid you are not let into Gerudo Town without the femboy outfit after killing the Divine Beast. The worst aspect of the region is probably just the dessert and how everything cool in the region is located north of it. I need to do more dessert exploring, but it isn’t really fun to do.
I will probably post up more as I go. Overall, I still really enjoy exploring in this game, so I hope that after finishing up Eldin and Wasteland I have very little issues.