Playing Breath Of The Wild... again

[lazyhour]

It's been over a year since I last played BOTW on my Switch. I was on the last guardian when I last played it, had found pretty much all the shrines, got tons of Korok seeds, etc.

I really fancied going back to it now, having recently completed Mario Odyssey and Link's Awakening. However, rather than trying to remember what I had and hadn't already done, and finishing off the end of the game, I decided to create a new Switch user profile (so I wouldn't lose my save file) and start again.

I've just got off the Plateau and it's exhilarating and feels breathtakingly huge all over again.

Anyway, here's my question: has anyone played through BOTW twice or more, especially with a long gap in between? Did you consciously play it differently the second time? Any thoughts or advice for me as I start from scratch?

One thing I am definitely going to do differently this time is to spend more time exploring and exhausting each newly-unlocked map/region. I remember on my first playthrough I tried to unlock all the maps as quickly as possible. I'll do the opposite this time.

[Kelvin]

Never played it, but I've heard it's good.

[lazyhour]

'preciate it, mate. ❤️

[Dog Botherer]

i beat it and restarted it a few months later when the DLC with Master Mode came out. definitely changed how i played the game, i'm fucking shit at combat so i had to avoid fights or be a lot cleverer. putting that lynel in there early is fucking psychotic levels of difficulty.

i don't think i got particularly far, first guardian maybe. don't think i'd given it enough of a gap since i basically 100%ed the game first time round.

one thing i recommend is maxing out your stamina bar completely before getting any hearts. really makes you take advantage of the landscape, and was something i didn't do enough first time around.

[Johnny Textface]

I am currently in exactly the same boat as you Lazyhour. Played it, loved it, almost finished it and now, a couple of years later, I'm starting again with a new profile. I'm playing on the Wii-U and just got a Switch t-shirt to wear which is nice.

[lazyhour]

one thing i recommend is maxing out your stamina bar completely before getting any hearts. really makes you take advantage of the landscape, and was something i didn't do enough first time around.

Interesting advice! I was going to the opposite - get 12 hearts as quickly as possible so I can get the Master Sword. You're making be reconsider, though. I don't like combat either and instead take a slightly disturbing pleasure in sneaking up on groups of enemies and either dropping bombs on them or blowing up a barrel of dynamite that they have idiotically left lying around.

[lazyhour]

I am currently in exactly the same boat as you Lazyhour. Played it, loved it, almost finished it and now, a couple of years later, I'm starting again with a new profile. I'm playing on the Wii-U and just got a Switch t-shirt to wear which is nice.

Ha, really? The things we'll do to keep ourselves amused in lockdown, eh?

[Kelvin]

I WAZ LYING!

Played it through either three of four times. Once on master mode, and at least twice in normal. Also watched my niece play through the whole thing, and soon after my friend, while he was staying with me.

I know one of my runs I completed the game without finishing the Divine Beasts and earning their power ups. Also meant I couldn't do all the shrines on that run.   

Master mode is a lot harder earlier on. Enemies regenerate health, so you have to be far more aggressive, or else avoid fights altogether. Makes for a much more tense opening few hours, as you have to sneak past everything you can't kill.

[tony peanuts]

I've played it through three times now, most recently while locked down last Summer. I love it and still frequently find myself missing wandering about in that world.
The second time I played I also consciously spent more time exploring off the beaten track, doing less fast travelling and investigating each part of the map more before moving on. I went looking for the Korok mask in the Lost Woods early on so I could wear it while pottering about  and found a lot more seeds. Still nowhere near all of them though. Paced myself doing shrines to make them last and put more effort into upgrading the armours too. Like DogBotherer I prioritized stamina more too, to help with the exploring.

The last time I played I bought myself some amiibo cards off eBay and played with Wolf Link following me quite a bit, which was quite fun watching the psychopathic pooch murdering every animal that crossed our path.

[lazyhour]

Korok Mask?!

Edit; just checked and it's a DLC item. Hmmm. Is it worth getting the DLC packs then? And can you apply them to an in-progress game? Is expected bloody love to get an alert if I'm near a Korok seed...

[thelittlemango]

Korok Mask?!

Edit; just checked and it's a DLC item. Hmmm. Is it worth getting the DLC packs then? And can you apply them to an in-progress game? Is expected bloody love to get an alert if I'm near a Korok seed...

I asked about the DLC in the other thread and it seems it's applied to your existing game. If you're replaying it you might like the Hero's Path feature that comes with it, it shows you every step you've taken on your map in the last 200 hours of gameplay so you can make sure you've explore everywhere on your second playthrough.

[tony peanuts]

Yes, it's just added to your current game; you wouldn't have to start again.
That Hero's Path thing is a lovely little feature. I loved the Champions Ballad DLC - some fun new shrines and story stuff. So I'd recommend the DLC for that.
I never managed to complete the Trial of the Sword challenges though. Managed the beginning trials but got no further. Too many levels that didn't work with my preferred play style of hiding and sneaking! 

[Dog Botherer]

Trial Of The Sword is hard as fuck unless you've mastered the combat system. i remember i got merked by a guardian at one point because i just couldn't do the shield parry and i just never tried it again.

the DLC as a whole gives you a bunch of good new stuff to do though, i enjoyed it a lot. if you really enjoyed the base game i'd say it's worth the investment.

[lazyhour]

Downloading it now for £17.99. Thanks all!

[Kelvin]

DLC is good so long as you set your expectations and understand it's not a big new story, but just a bunch of (mostly) decent shrines and shrine quests, a really great dungeon, and of course the thing you get for completing it all. Don't buy it for a story, as it's basically just a bunch of loosely connected cutscenes about the champions.

I'd also warn you not to be put off by the atrocious thing they make you do on the Great Plateau, as it is singularly the crappest section of the whole game. Once you've done it, though, the rest of the DLC is good fun.   

[Kelvin]

Trial Of The Sword is hard as fuck unless you've mastered the combat system. i remember i got merked by a guardian at one point because i just couldn't do the shield parry and i just never tried it again.

If you use magnesis in each room, there's a bunch of hidden chests with ancient arrows in them, which greatly helps.

TBH, the DLC is worth if for the end prize, imo. And I'd do it before you finish getting all the shrines, etc, so you have an extra incentive to spend time with it.

[lazyhour]

I'd also warn you not to be put off by the atrocious thing they make you do on the Great Plateau, as it is singularly the crappest section of the whole game. Once you've done it, though, the rest of the DLC is good fun.

I have to go back up onto the plateau? Interesting. Gonna start playing with DLC enabled tonight. Excited to get me that Korok mask!

[lazyhour]

TBH, the DLC is worth if for the end prize, imo. And I'd do it before you finish getting all the shrines, etc, so you have an extra incentive to spend time with it.

When you say "it", what do you mean? A specific element of the DLC? Will it be obvious when I start the game up what I'm supposed to do?

[Kelvin]

When you say "it", what do you mean? A specific element of the DLC? Will it be obvious when I start the game up what I'm supposed to do?

Do you not know anything about the DLC other than what we've mentioned in this thread? Because if not, there's a reward for completing the DLC quest/dungeon that was the big talking point when it came out. You only get it after completing that main quest, though.

[lazyhour]

Ah, okay, so until I've beaten the game I won't worry too much about it. I'll just get the Korok Mask and other useful bits.

[Kelvin]

Also, I mentioned it in one of the other Switch/BotW threads, but if you really like the world and characters of BotW, and want any and all additional content, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is good, dumb fun, as a much more story-focussed spin-off from BotW, set just before Ganon first turned up and started killing fools. Gameplay wise, it's not something that will appeal to everyone, but if you love the world of Zelda - and BotW in particular - then it's worth considering. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDMWRRAEogs

Ah, okay, so until I've beaten the game I won't worry too much about it. I'll just get the Korok Mask and other useful bits.

You get it for completing the DLC main quest, not the main game. And it's better than a korok mask.

[Dog Botherer]

i've forgotten completely what the DLC makes you do on the plateau so it can't be that bad.

[lazyhour]

You get it for completing the DLC main quest, not the main game. And it's better than a korok mask.

Weird, I've started with DLC in place and it doesn't make it remotely clear how you start the 'DLC main quest'... I don't want to Google it in case of spoilers. Any thoughts?

[Kelvin]

Weird, I've started with DLC in place and it doesn't make it remotely clear how you start the 'DLC main quest'... I don't want to Google it in case of spoilers. Any thoughts?

You need to have done the four Divine Beasts, then Zelda chips in about going to the Shine of Resurrection, which is where the main DLC content starts.

i've forgotten completely what the DLC makes you do on the plateau so it can't be that bad.

You

Spoiler alert

and enemies die with one hit. The game's not designed around that kind of gameplay at all, though, so it's just really frustrating and trial and error, with Lizalfos darting over and killing you with one tail swipe, and a shine that's full of spikes - also all instakill. It's an awful way to start the DLC, but it does pick up after that initial section.

[close]

[Dog Botherer]

ah i remember now. i don't think i struggled that much, i must have gotten lucky.

[jobotic]

Sorry for being stupid here. I'm at the point where I have done all the Divine Beasts, my son has defeated the final Boss Ganon (on my game) but I returned to a an earlier save as I still have shrines and memories to do (and I've been enjoying wondering around a lot more).

So if it I get the DLC will it just start working straight away and I'll be able to go to the Main Quest? Or does it start again from the Great Plateau?

[Kelvin]

Sorry for being stupid here. I'm at the point where I have done all the Divine Beasts, my son has defeated the final Boss Ganon (on my game) but I returned to a an earlier save as I still have shrines and memories to do (and I've been enjoying wondering around a lot more).

So if it I get the DLC will it just start working straight away and I'll be able to go to the Main Quest? Or does it start again from the Great Plateau?

You'll be able to go straight to the main DLC quest if you've done the divine beasts. Zelda will just contact you as soon as you turn it on.

[Kelvin]

Not related to BotW, but I've just watched this analysis of Ocarina of Time's subtext, and it's probably the best Zelda-related video I've ever sat through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyUcwsjyd8Q

A little heavy handed with it's music at times, but it's very well produced overall. The last section is particularly good, and really highlights how brilliant that game is, thematically, compared to most other Zelda games. 

Spoiler alert

I actually teared up a bit at the end.

[close]

[Chedney Honks]

Nice one, Kelv. I'll give that a spin later. Sounds great.

[lazyhour]

Thanks for the link. Watched it last night and enjoyed it.