Just wanna get both journals out of the way at once. I know reviews for botw are pointless at this stage, I just wanna get my thoughts out. First, though, I'll talk about what I'll be up to on the posting front this month (and this journal can serve as a reminder to me so I don't forget anything)
I've got 3, count 'em, 3 Halloween specials to put out this month! (one's not so much a special as a creepy-themed smut one-off, but I'll count it) Among these is my tenth Nightmare Zone special (can you believe I've been at this so long?) And also, a Halloween episode of BIT Squad.
But that's not all! We also have our first yaoi episode of BIT Squad's adult series coming up! (I need to make a differentiating title for those adult chapters) And... the third episode of Deathbytes. If no apparent interest is shown in Deathbytes by the time I post those first five chapters, I'll likely discontinue the series. Then I'll fill the void by ranting occasionally about why Deathbattle and similar shows are wrong about everything :/
I'm posting everything I have left this month, short of those last two Deathbytes, so expect a couple of art-splosions as I try to finally reach the end of the pics I have to post. I'm... not sure how many are still left, though. I can think of a few... Damn, how obsessed with drawing did I get early this year??
Okay, now real quick, a few thoughts on botw now that I've had a chance to play through it.
I was worried initially about how much of a pain gathering food and other junk would be, and I also was concerned about a lack of story or how Hyrule looks so generally empty.
I can admit when I'm wrong. I had next to no trouble amassing a stockpile of supplies, and while it isn't a masterwork of story like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask or Twilight Princess...there's still a story to be uncovered. Though, the game doesn't give you the story naturally for progressing through the game... You have to earn it here.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with the game, even more than I thought I might. So much so that I bothered to clear all 120 shrines in the game...and I found 100 Koroks. I'm not great at finding something where there's little to no evidence of anything.
I essentially did most of what you can do in the game, taking just a bit over a month to finish. I can gush over what's good here for a while, but I want it known that there's still some elements I don't like.
First off, the lack of actual dungeons. This is like, the ONLY Zelda game to be lacking real dungeons. Even Hyrule castle, the one place that sorta seems like a dungeon, can be largely skipped with little difficulty. You get basically all the elements of Zelda dungeons through the game, don't get me wrong...but it's all within the confines of the boring-looking shrines. It's such a sterile experience in that regard...so manufactured compared to the rest of the game.
There's also a nasty difficulty curve here that I especially notice when I watch my brother play. For most people...or just many, idk, the opening will be the hardest part of the game, where you have nothing and know nothing. For some players, though, that difficulty will never let up, as they waste resources faster than they can gather them and find themselves in a constant struggle for survival.
This sort of challenge can also cause the game to be incredibly slow-paced. Trying to find all the secrets can literally take forever...and I admit to occasionally referring to online guides just to cut some time spent banging my head against the wall out.
Ultimately, I don't mind most of what was done in the game, but there's one point I really dislike. With the survival element thrust onto the game, Link is forced to become an animal killer. I really take no pleasure in slaughtering even the wolves that threaten to attack me...and I outright refused to ever harm a fox. Fuck you, Nintendo. I didn't care if there might be a fox-hunting mission within the game's side quests, I would still refuse to do it. I prefer riding various animals, and did so with most possible mounts in the game at least briefly. Sucks that you can only keep horses, though. Can't even keep the Stalhorse, I'll wager...
I also don't like that Link's green tunic isn't part of the story. It's around, but you're not guaranteed to ever get one. That sucks ass. And I feel overall that the main story of the game could be better... They kinda went the Majora's Mask route in terms of expecting you to get to know the NPCs and gain plot-type enjoyment out of that...but most of the NPCs are BORING... I'd trade 'em all for a couple real dungeons.
I'm sure there's more I can think of on both the pro and con side, but I've taken longer than I wanted already. At any rate, I still hope the next Zelda game is more traditional overall... They can keep the idea of naked Link, though :3 I played most of the game keeping him shirtless, I'll admit >_>
