To be critical: BOTW and TOTK lack the incentive + reward + progress = purpose balance that other titles have. As an example, a lot of the time the game directs you to a location for "treasure". There is no incentive here (i.e. What is the treasure? Is the reward beneficial? How does the reward add progress to the main quest (other than the reward looking fancy). This creates a lack of purpose. What's the point in going after these objects? Previous titles intentionally steer the game more linearly and balance incentive + reward + progress very well. TOTK and BOTW still don't hit these marks that make other titles quite special. I'd argue their high ratings are achieved through aesthetic being valued more than quality content. The Master Kogha side quest is a prime example (one of many) that are a waste of time. There was no initial incentive, it takes ages to complete, and it adds nothing to the progression of the game; the rewards suck.
In general, it is a good game, but still heavily flawed in areas and far from a masterpiece. I found the storyline, like BOTW, incredibly weak (although it has improved since BOTW). I appreciated the reintroduction of dungeons, but they are still nothing in comparison to previous games (think OOC forest temple/shadow/hyrule castle, Arbitors grounds etc). The TOTK dungeons were way too simple and can be completed often in under 20 minutes. The bosses were pretty solid, I just wish there were more (i.e. Unique mid-way dungeon bosses that provide something to help progress). The rewards for completing side quests are often very underwhelming, which detracts from the game when the main quest still lacks substance. I spent 2 hours gathering 4 eyes for the giant statue in the chasm expecting something epic, and felt ripped off when receiving a heart container.
I liked the new abilities, but found the crafting very repetitious and tedious. It was starting to feel like minecraft. Trying to run to a sage to gather an ability during combat is also tedious as half the time they are running away from you. Not to mention the very frustrating spawning of them.
I think part of the problem overall is you don't know if the rewards you get will help with main quest progression and there is a lack of threat/urgency/presence from the antagonists. Having Ganondorf just appear at the end really sucks, there is no build up. And Zelda is mostly non-existent again. There is a general lack of incentive, and you don't really need to visit much of the repetitious sky islands or chasms (they chasms looked visually nice, a whole lot of empty space there though.
Overall, an improvement from BOTW, but I think still nothing in comparison to the likes of OOT/Majoras Mask/Twilight princess. Those games oozed with substance and uniqueness, without being open world. For such a long development time I'm slightly disappointed. 3/5 stars. Not sure if I'd run through it again any time soon. "Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle" still applies to TOTK, but it has notably improved since BOTW.
In general, it is a good game, but still heavily flawed in areas and far from a masterpiece. I found the storyline, like BOTW, incredibly weak (although it has improved since BOTW). I appreciated the reintroduction of dungeons, but they are still nothing in comparison to previous games (think OOC forest temple/shadow/hyrule castle, Arbitors grounds etc). The TOTK dungeons were way too simple and can be completed often in under 20 minutes. The bosses were pretty solid, I just wish there were more (i.e. Unique mid-way dungeon bosses that provide something to help progress). The rewards for completing side quests are often very underwhelming, which detracts from the game when the main quest still lacks substance. I spent 2 hours gathering 4 eyes for the giant statue in the chasm expecting something epic, and felt ripped off when receiving a heart container.
I liked the new abilities, but found the crafting very repetitious and tedious. It was starting to feel like minecraft. Trying to run to a sage to gather an ability during combat is also tedious as half the time they are running away from you. Not to mention the very frustrating spawning of them.
I think part of the problem overall is you don't know if the rewards you get will help with main quest progression and there is a lack of threat/urgency/presence from the antagonists. Having Ganondorf just appear at the end really sucks, there is no build up. And Zelda is mostly non-existent again. There is a general lack of incentive, and you don't really need to visit much of the repetitious sky islands or chasms (they chasms looked visually nice, a whole lot of empty space there though.
Overall, an improvement from BOTW, but I think still nothing in comparison to the likes of OOT/Majoras Mask/Twilight princess. Those games oozed with substance and uniqueness, without being open world. For such a long development time I'm slightly disappointed. 3/5 stars. Not sure if I'd run through it again any time soon. "Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle" still applies to TOTK, but it has notably improved since BOTW.