Zelda Breath of the Wild - Wii U vs. Switch

[isiolia]

To me, it's more the short term. Remember, for instance, the relative scarcity of Fire Emblem Awakening at launch. I think I had to hit up a few stores to find a copy of Hyrule Warriors locally when that came out too. Not to play into the "if you wanted it launch day you should have preordered" retailer scheme, but Nintendo might have limited allocations, or retailers might guess demand wrong (like they seem to have for Nioh, which currently has a "ships in 1-2 months" on Amazon).

The Switch version seems to be a given to have in supply, since it'll probably sell at or close to 1:1 with the console at launch. The Wii U market has fizzled, and retailers are probably looking to order minimal copies.

Preordering just seems like a reasonable way to just get the game with no fuss. /shrug

[BogusMeatFactory]

cue the weird japanese meme music.

I have a Wii U. I have a Switch.. UGH!!!! BUYING SWITCH!

[samsonlonghair]

I'm buying the game because I have a Wii U, I want to play it, and I don't want to buy a Switch...

If it's later a collector's item, then great. If not, no big deal.

Fair enough. Can't argue with that logic.

[SpaceBooger]

I'm buying the game because I have a Wii U, I want to play it, and I don't want to buy a Switch...

If it's later a collector's item, then great. If not, no big deal.

Also my reason for buying the Wii U version.

[Xeogred]

Man, guys I'm so worried about this game. I'm that guy that didn't mind formulaic Zelda, but things I'm hearing... Game Informer has a lot of impressions on their latest podcast, good stuff but also things that worry me.

- Weapons break constantly to the point that it sounds more insane than any other game I've played with such a system and I've never been a fan of this stuff.
- The dungeons are apparently pretty small and not like dungeons of the past. I'm not talking about the shorter Shrines either, they've reported that actual real dungeons aren't huge in scale.
- The story seems like it has some potential, but it sounds iffy on how it translates through the open world design. Apparently people can completely miss over some events and whatnot, but Aonuma claims it will "work out for everyone" in the end.
- I'm ultra burned out on open world games.
- They noted that the music didn't stand out much at all, other than the main theme which sounds like Joe Hisaishi material. But other than that... the game is very quiet, even in the dungeons. I prefer BGM 99% of the time, but I guess Souls handled it well... but that's not Zelda. Skyward Sword's bombastic orchestrated score was utterly breathtaking and took the entire game to another level for me. I don't even know if Koji Kondo is composing here... apparently not.

I'm scared.

One thing they did say is that it's quite hard and they died a lot. So it sounds more hardcore like the NES games, which is cool with me since Zelda is generally super easy.

I love Zelda 1 and can welcome them going back to that design... but some rumors are the map is bigger than Skyrim. WTF? That's stupidly way too much.

The interesting bit is that it sounds like Miyamoto is finally giving up most of the reigns to Eiji Aonuma. I've often heard that these two clash. Granted, I think Eiji Aonuma has been the main head behind Zelda for years and years now, but I'm sure Miyamoto probably had the final say at times. But this sounds like it will be almost purely Eiji Aonuma, with a rather dark story and such. Apparently "an idea he's had in mind for Zelda since the beginning". So I'm all for the potential change in direction, but mechanically and gameplay wise... those are the bits that worry me.

Guesses are it either takes place after Ocarina or Wind Waker. No idea though, I never take the timeline too seriously.

I remember when I was ultra skeptical about Metroid Prime and it blew my face off. Crossing my fingers that will be the case here.

[ElkinFencer10]

I love Zelda 1 and can welcome them going back to that design... but some rumors are the map is bigger than Skyrim. WTF? That's stupidly way too much.

I disagree. Xenoblade Chronicles X had a map significantly larger than Skyrim - more than 10x as big from some articles I've seen.

[casterofdreams]

For me it doesn't matter how big the map is, as long as it's not big for the sake of a back-of-the-box bullet, and it has stuff in it.

In Skyrim, there was something going on in many areas whether it be a random event or just deer and other wildlife roaming around. Towns and cities were spaced out nicely and the landmarks like caves and old crypts were littered everywhere. The open world concept, in my opinion, was improved in Fallout 4 with the inclusion of random gun fights going around independent of what you are doing and where you're going.

Based on what Xeogred said, it does indeed sound like they took some inspiration from games like Skyrim and The Witcher 3, more latter than former as it has an open world design, weapon breakage, and more "open air" approach, less emphasis on enclosed environments, rather than the world serving the purpose of a hub world. That's the feeling I got when I saw that video linked above.

Overall, I am okay with the perceived changes thus far.

Side note: Do you all see Wind Waker as open world?

Edit: For spelling

[Sarge]

I'm honestly not sure what "open-world" means anymore. I suppose Wind Waker could count. I don't even really think that the original Zelda quite counts, because you still have some gated progression that keeps you from several of the dungeons right off the bat.

The world size doesn't bother me as long as there are good fast travel methods. With the shrines serving as travel points, I don't think the size is going to be a big deal. There are over 100, from my understanding.

I sure hope the dungeons haven't been scaled down significantly. That will be disappointing for me. This may be the anti-Skyward Sword when all is said and done.

[Xeogred]

Yes, I would call Wind Waker open world. In a very boring sense though, with small boulder sized islands and not much else to do... but the ocean is there and you're generally free to go wherever. All reasons why it's one of my least favorites.

I think Twilight Princess had the perfect balance and I prefer Metroidvania/Souls designs with these kinds of games. Witcher 3 is looking like an obviously huge influence on Breath of the Wild, and that doesn't help my excitement much. I got bored of the Witcher 3 after 30 hours, and didn't even finish chapter 1 of 4 or something.

Less is more, quality of quantity please.

I love Zelda 1 and can welcome them going back to that design... but some rumors are the map is bigger than Skyrim. WTF? That's stupidly way too much.

I disagree. Xenoblade Chronicles X had a map significantly larger than Skyrim - more than 10x as big from some articles I've seen.

More reasons for me to lose interest in this one... I hope Xenoblade 2 carries on 1's more linear approach compared to X, and has a good story. But I'm going to accept the days of Gears and Saga are far over and we'll never get anything that epic again from Xeno.

[ElkinFencer10]

I suppose Wind Waker would count, but even with the little islands here and there, it was a largely empty world, and I know that's partly by design to accentuate the vastness of the Great Sea, but I don't really think of it when I think of open world games.

There was a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles X that was inconsequential for the story, but there were enough Titan enemies and side things that I never found myself getting bored.