Will Breath of the Wild's polish embarrass Bethesda's glitch?

One of the main arguments I hear defending Bethesda’s buggy open worlds is “it’s impossible to create humongous RPG sandboxes without bugs”. But what happens if Breath of the Wild delivers an equally dense and large experience with the usual Nintendo polish?

[2pacalypsenow]

If you can do everything you can in a Fallout/Elder Scrolls game then yes, if not shut up.

[SoulMikeY]

Such as...?

Dungeons
Cooking
character customization
Horses
Super powers
Mining

Both do all these.... so what are you referring to?

[sullynathan]

He's referring to stupid shit like being able to pick up a cup which adds nothing to gameplay

[UnHoly_One]

Yeah it adds nothing.

Who wants a world that is interactive when you can have one that is completely static and unchanging?

I mean, that's just stupid. /s

[sullynathan]

@unholy right, so now explain to me what that interaction adds to the gameplay. I'll be waiting

[andrewsquall]

Being able to murder a town dweller with an actual name and they stay dead forever. Will that be in Zelda lol?

@sullynathan "He's referring to stupid shit like being able to pick up a cup which adds nothing to gameplay " If that's the case, why make the game open world at all and just keep it as a 2d game or a 15 year old looking game like Nintendo do with their main Pokemon series?

[sullynathan]

@andrew shitty example. Greater open world rpgs allowed you to murder any town dweller and they stayed dead, not just ones with names.

this is stupid again. What does picking up a cup add to the gameplay of Skyrim? It doesn't actually have any gameplay mechanics for it in game, its no bioshock where you can actually use telekinesis and hurl bolders and kill enemies at best its an inconvenience. That's stupid again, Zelda was 3D before TES was 3D and it didn't need useless interaction that adds nothing to the gameplay. At least in BOTW where you actually have physics and telekinesis, it will actually be useful gameplay wise.

[UnHoly_One]

It's about more than "picking up a cup".

When you throw a fireball or use a shout and it actually throws stuff around and affects your surroundings, that adds something to gameplay, at least for me.

One of the many things I hated about Witcher 3 was that the world was completely static and unchanging.

It's the difference between a world feeling "real" vs feeling like a painting or some kind of model that you can walk around in.

Maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but it's huge to me.

I'm not knocking Zelda, I'm sure it will be great.

[game4funz]

@sully

Well that's just silly. Interaction with the environment adds physics for example.

Also those items are used as ammo for a weapon so it adds to the mechanics of that weapon. Also adds to the customization of your settlement if youre into that.

Wow you really didn't think about this one.

[sullynathan]

That doesn't Make a game world real, it is useless interaction. would prefer it if Bethesda actually used all that shit for something, seems like they did with fallout 4 but again, it took them a decade to figure that out.

Since you've played the Witcher 3 more than me then I'd ask you a question. Is the world really static and unchanging? Do people not migrate between locations and things change depending on your choices? That seems more drastic to be than picking a cup.
Also, how does all that mean the world changes?

@game breath of the wild has interaction within the world that also had physics and does it better than Bethesda's games.

[-Foxtrot]

True in some small capacity

I mean everything we've in in BoTW looks really nice and pretty but looking beyond the character into the world I've never seen an improvement where the world looks full of more life. It always looks dead and nothing seems to be going on. When Link finds a camp full of enemies you see about 5-7 of the same ones, that's it.

You could walk in a straight line for 10 minutes in either Fallout, Skyrim or even another game like Witcher 3 or something smaller like Dark Souls and you'd end up finding the world would somehow have something in store for you whether it was a large ambush of enemies, dragons, little secrets, traps, small side quests, treasures etc.

The thing BotW looks like it's doing better is the polish but that's mostly because it has less to focus on...I mean they've even focused more on the smaller things most open world games don't, the little details like how Link can use his shield as a sledge, how you can glide, use magic to turn water into ice so you walk across it or make platforms out of it. etc. It's a given though because if your world hasn't got a shit load of active stuff going on then you are obviously going to focus on the polish and as many little details as you can.

[franwex]

Yeah, looks empty to me too. Like wind waker except with grass.

[AuraAbjure]

@Sully Nathan I had a ton of fun grabbing things in elder scrolls games! Especially combined with the telekinesis ability :) the physics were sweet

[sullynathan]

Your fun means nothing, even the telekinesis isn't well thought out. Would have been better if used in the way that Bioshock did

[MRMagoo123]

exactly , there is so much stuff to keep track of in fallout and games like them like cabbages and cheese and cups and cutlery , it would be impossible to not find bugs in a game with so much physics involved and things to keep track of. Zelda on the other hand will have static environments that do nothing so it's far easier to Polish a game like that.

[TheSaint]

"if Breath of the Wild delivers an equally dense and large experience"

Sure, IF and IF it's bug free I'l be impressed.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Bethesda doesn't need someone to embarrass them, they do it to themselves all the time.
However about it " it being impossible to create large RPG sanboxes without bugs" Has already been by many games recently. Witcher and MGSV to name a few that have almost no bugs, and XCX that actually is Bug free while being the largest of them all as well as most populated with unique enemies and quests.

[sullynathan]

Witcher 3 is not without bugs, it was a very buggy game that's why it needed 13 patches.

Typical n4g users, hitting disagree for no reason

[Big_Game_Hunters]

A few here and there. Not Bethesda tier though. I only played the game the first week though and experienced little bugs So maybe the patches after had some major bugs i didn't know about.

[Segata]

Xenoblade on Wii the engine of that game is practically unbreakable. If you use a cheat to moon jump you just go forever never really leaving the game. When you let go you just fall back down and continue as normal.

[Zeldafan64]

To be fair XCX does have some bugs but I believe you pretty much have to go out of your way to find them.

[game4funz]

Isn't that the game where you can walk through cars?

[JacketsNest101]

Walking through cars is not a bug, it's a design choice that allows them to put resources to better use in other parts of the game.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I had very few bugs in Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 and I got them both at launch for PS3 / PS4.

Also, my first playthrough of Fallout 3 was before it even got its first patch!

[franwex]

Fallout 3 for the ps3 is a glitch fest. It didn't even have a stable frame rate.

[MRMagoo123]

I have found more bugs in the witcher 3 than I have on fallout 4 so far and I have been playing them recently on pc. I even found an area in witcher 3 with floating trees out in the water that I could sail through, still haven't had a bug in fallout 4 tho. I am enjoying both thoroughly.

[Averyashimself]

Just for the simple fact that it's a brand new open world game, I'll expect some bugs at launch.

[Zeldafan64]

Typically with Nintendo games you have to go out of your way to run into a glitch. If you're not trying to intentionally glitch the game out you're probably not going to run into many if any at all.

[Segata]

Xenoblade games open world and pretty bug free.

[EddieNX]

Skyrim is amazing, but I prefer almost every Zelda game to it. Zelda is art, Bethesda's games aren't, they're just really good.

[sullynathan]

Game will be better than anything Bethesda has made in the past decade, not that its hard to do

[mezati99]

Breath of the Wild will be just another open world rpg with a decade old graphics.

[SublimeStylee2]

And fallout 4 isn't decade old graphics? Bahaha sad when you think fallout 4 has good graphics...at least you made me laugh..

[WeAreLegion]

It does have good graphics. Old engine, but looks pretty good. What are you playing it on?

[SublimeStylee2]

I'm playing on ps pro 4k hdr it looks ok but these are not amazing graphics common....and I love how people forget that 80% of Bethesda games are fetch quest a-b over and over again and over and over....Zelda might not look like witcher 3 but it will have more depths and substance then every single Bethesda game combined. I guarantee it!!!

[EddieNX]

No it will not, youve obviously never played a Zelda game. Theyre always perfect and in a league of their own. The story, lore, charm, puzzles, combat etc etc all in a league of their own. So no, this isn't just another open world RPG, this is the latest instalment in e greatest video game series ever.

[sullynathan]

Breath of the wild is not an rpg, no Zelda game is

[ItMatters]

Fallout and elder scrolls games are up at the top with the likes of GTA, Call of duty, and Fifa in sales. Skyrim has a higher metacritic and sold much better than The last of us, twilight princess, and the witcher 3. It matches uncharted 2 metacritic at 96 but outsold
it by 3-1.
By all the metrics used by people on this site that means Skyrim is better than every game on current platforms and one of the best games ever made. I truly believe it is and no game has bested it in my mind.
Breath of the wild looks amazing but let's stop comparing it to fallout or Skyrim.

[EddieNX]

Zelda >>> Bethesda

[ItMatters]

Not based on copies sold or metacritic,so how do you come to that conclusion ?

[TheOptimist]

COD sells the most in a year, doesn't mean it's not shit.

[MRMagoo123]

yes it does or it wouldn't sell , how does that make sense 🤔 I may not like COD (cod now anyway cos i love cod 4) you may not like COD but obviously it's a very popular and very fun game for a lot of people or it just wouldn't sell.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Wii sports>>>>>> >>Mario kart>>>>>>&g t;>>>>Skyrim

[ItMatters]

So are you guys saying the sales of ps4 means nothing compared to Xbox then ?

[ItMatters]

total sales only wii sports on your list beats it in sales numbers, but it was boxed in with every console sold.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Damage control, no exceptions.

[sullynathan]

Stupidest reasoning

[PurpHerbison]

At this current point in time the colors of the new Zelda game are bugging me. I fee like the colors should be very rich but they appear to be washed out. I wonder what it is that gives games that washed out look cause I am starting to notice it more and more. This is especially disappointing cause Nintendo is usually good at making games with colors that pop.

[quent]

Nintendo still has this thing called QA so its expected to be less buggy then a bethesda game, but then again which AAA games isn't less buggy then a bethesda game at launch..

maybe Ubi-games

[DaFeelz]

The plain and simple: Nintendo will not release their premier franchise as a buggy mess. Bugthesda would. A five minute search into both companies histories will make that assertion wildly apparent.

[Mrveryodd]

If

[RevXM]

They aren't called bugthesda for no reason.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Maybe Horizon will?

[Einhander1971]

That's what make Nintendo games special always feel polished and complete:)

[VersusDMC]

Witcher 3, final fantasy xv, Arkham knight and many more games do open world polished. Let's not make a big deal about the polish in a game that's on the wiiU.

Bethesda(and telltale!!!) get away with buggy games because they've always been buggy so people think that's how their games are. And people keep buying them like crazy so why fix it...

[andrewsquall]

It won't embarrass Bethesda if it is RIDDLED with glitches and bugs like the last main Zelda game, the perfect, 10/10 Skyward Sword lol.

[Hotabang]

optimization is one thing that nintendo are really good at, i remember being surprised at how mario sunshine looked, at how bayonetta2 looked when you always hear about how underpowered the wii u is. I'm hoping that with zelda more devs will look into quality rather than rushing into a game

also, why are reviews no longer taking into account how buggy a game is?

(im a big dark souls fan and even i hate how theres still fps issues with the series)

[FPS_D3TH]

Lol only a Zelda fan would believe this static open world game can hold a candle to bethesdas dynamic open world.

[JacketsNest101]

Caveat: This only really applies to Bethesda. Nintendo already proved they can provide an engaging open world without glitches with Xenoblade Chronicles X.