BotW didn't feel like a Zelda game because everything else that I mentioned.
> lack of hand-holding
The game puts a bright glowing dot on your map pointing to where you need to go.
> They did this to discourage player min-maxing and to force some variety.
Funny how Elden Ring didn't need to do that to offer 100x more variety. Seems more like they were too lazy to just come up with a better way of balancing things.
> I didn't like it either but appreciate the additional layer of dynamism it added to the game.
Stockholm syndrome.
> Hardly a good comparison, for one there are several years between the two releases and for two
As though anything Elden Ring did wasn't possible in 2017? What happened in the several years between that suddenly allowed for developers to put more effort into crafting their open-world map?
> 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.
Just sounds like a skill issue. You're having a hard time because either A) you expect everything to be easy, and/or B) you don't want to put the effort into learning how each new enemy/boss fights.
If you just want to mash the attack button to win, BotW is definitely made for you.
I'd like to see somebody beat Thunderblight Ganon by mashing the attack button.
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.
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.