The Legend of Zelda Breath of The Wild: 10 Unpopular Opinions About the Game, According to Reddit

The first The Legend of Zelda game was released in 1986, and since then fans have been in love. Over the years, the Zelda titles have come a long way, with a variety of independent and complex storylines, beautiful soundtracks, and interesting dungeons and items. Every release has had something new to introduce to its fans while maintaining the fantastical quality that the games have become known for.

When the Nintendo Switch was released, it came with a brand new Zelda title and a whole new concept. It was The Breath of the Wild (BotW), and it was the first Zelda game to give a fully open-world format. Fan’s were over the moon with excitement, ready to explore every inch of the beloved kingdom of Hyrule. The game was extremely successful, but not every fan was won over by the new game. Some of these fans took to Reddit to discuss exactly where the game had gone wrong.

Lack Of Enemy Variety

Zelda games are known for their monsters, and BoTW brought back a number of the classics. However, with such a huge world, some players like Kumailio felt like the game could have added a few more original enemies to fill the space.

Not only was there a lack of unique monsters out on the field, but the bosses of the divine beasts were slightly different versions of the same enemy, making the game feel slightly monotonous to some. A greater enemy variety is one of the biggest changes fans want to see in Breath of the Wild 2.

A Missed Opportunity For Exploring

BotW is a massive game with almost endless acres of beautiful land for players to explore, however, not everyone wanted to. Redditors like Madquills felt that exploring got old quickly, as, at a certain point, there just wasn’t much more to find.

While the landscapes may be there, some found that they weren’t motivated to actually explore. Often, behind a cliff or lake, there will be another cliff or lake. This creates a pretty game, but a missed opportunity when it comes down to actual adventuring.

Not Enough Interesting Lore

A major difference with BotW and other Zelda titles is that it doesn’t follow a linear storyline. Creators will be forced to abandon the traditional game format and adapt it to fit the open-world style they were going for.

Some gamers really missed the type of story that Zelda games used to offer, however, feeling that BotW felt empty in comparison. This was the sentiment of Redditor Stileshasbadjuju, who shared that the game was painfully lacking in interesting lore.

The Weapons Break Way Too Fast

In past Zelda titles, Link will typically acquire two or three swords throughout the game, if not just one. BotW changed this, allowing players to find a huge variety of different blades, spears, and other weapons of various abilities. However, this is balanced by the fact that the weapons will eventually become worn down and broken.

This isn’t uncommon in video games, however, Stilesshasbadjuju feels that the weapons break way too easily. It becomes very frustrating to find a new cool weapon, only to know that it will likely be gone after just a couple of enemies.

A Good Game, But Bad Zelda Game

Under a different title, players like Lumothesinner may have been happy with BotW. However, for a Zelda game, it just didn’t do its job. With so many games released under this franchise, fans have developed a certain expectation for anything that falls under the Zelda style.

Many people agree that BotW is a beautiful and fun game, but it can be assumed by many that it was not created by developers that loved the Zelda games since it was missing so many features that diehard fans just can’t seem to live without.

No Useful Reward Structure

Between the monotony of the enemies and the disappointing weapons, it is no surprise that some users felt that they didn’t feel properly motivated by the game’s reward system. Redditor CtotheW thought that there wasn’t much fun in quests and tasks when the reward was going to be something less than exciting.

This issue could be so easily fixed in future games, with CtotheW hoping that “the sequel harmonizes the older formulas with the new style more,” combining exciting weapons and prizes with open-world tasks that are equal to their value.

Overrated Graphics

One of BotW‘s greatest praises is its phenomenal graphics and gorgeous scenery. The game has a peaceful quality that allows players to simply relax and enjoy, which still facing exciting adventures. This makes one Redditors opinion truly unpopular.

Evials believes that the game is “not nearly as ‘breathtaking’ as people make it out to be.” It can be argued that when a player has seen a certain portion of the game, they have seen everything. Therefore, it could be easy for some to quickly get bored with the scenery. Once they have spent hours making Link cook tasty-looking recipes and seen a decent amount of the environment, some gamers might quit.

Annoying Stamina Mechanics

As players complete the tasks and puzzles within shrines, they gain spirit orbs that can help them gain more heart containers or add to their stamina wheel. This gives players a difficult choice between the two, only being able to choose one for every four orbs collected.

Redditor SquidFOx felt that this was damaging to the games’ success. Traditionally, players have gained a higher capacity for hearts as they go, but making players choose between how high they can climb to find hidden messages and secrets in Breath of the Wild and how long they can live made players feel trapped when it came to possibilities.

Copy And Paste Features

Similar to the lack of variety amongst enemies, Redditors like Deathblade200 felt that there were too many features in the game that felt copied and pasted from one section to another. This hurt the variety of what players could find and complete as they went.

With such a large world, these players felt that it was pure laziness that caused most of the game to be a repeat of another area. Some have attributed this to the fact the game was first designed for Wii U and then adapted as the launch game for the Switch, but it is hard to be sure. However, a fan prediction for Breath of the Wild 2 that might just be true is that the creators will introduce more unique features to keep players entertained.

No Item Progression

In the traditional Zelda format, players will receive a new useful item in every dungeon that they enter. They will usually receive a number of new abilities with that item that ensures that they can only defeat that temple with the item, and the boss will likely conveniently be defeated with the help of that item only.

BotW has its own version of this, but the abilities are given to the player very quickly in the game, eliminating the slow progression that players normally expect. Redditor Under_a_brontosaurus felt that this greatly diminished the fun of the game, going as far as to say that the franchise will never recover from the changes.

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Angel Shaw
(88 Articles Published)

Angel is a Senior List Writer at Screen Rant. She is deeply in love with any form of storytelling, whether it be books, movies, TV Shows, or video games. In her free time, Angel can typically be found binge-watching comfort shows, playing any Zelda game, or goofing around with her family.

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