How Playing Breath Of The Wild For 600+ Hours Changed My Life

Lizzie Fourman writes: "I have a confession to make: I have logged over 600 hours on Breath of the Wild.

I got the game last year (September 2017) as one of two games that I got with the Nintendo Switch.

I wasn’t expecting to play the game as much as I have up to this point as I hadn’t played a Legend of Zelda game for several years."

[NecrumOddBoy]

That's a lot of time doing much if nothing in a barren empty overhyped excuse for a Zelda title, but i'm glad you had fun.

[porkChop]

Barren? Empty?

Look, I can understand not liking the game. I can understand not liking the combat, or the weapons breaking, the disappointing fight with Ganon, etc. There are many valid complaints that one could make about Breath. But the world being empty is not one of them, because that simply isn't true.

Practically behind every hill, every turn, there's something to do. Be it a shrine, a quest, a Korok seed puzzle, enemy camp, secrets, etc. There are tons of things to do and find in the game.

On top of that, the game excels at making the simple act of exploring the world a legitimately fun and exciting thing to do. And the games many secrets reward you for doing so.

[kevnb]

He needs more non interactive cut scenes.

[G3ng4r]

600+ seems a little crazy to me but NecrumOddBoy does have a garbage minority opinion.

[Zeldafan64]

I have played Breath of the Wild for over 800 hours and everything you said is the reason why I have logged so many hours into the game. I haven't even found half of the Korok seeds yet.

[SirBradders]

To be fair the game is pretty empty compared to most open world games. Not really much diversity, other than collecting seeds and finding towers. The puzzles are great but there is a huge lack of actual side questing and story telling.

[Neonridr]

ever wonder why it's ok to do this in a Nintendo article and get a free pass?

Just stop, if you had a Switch and actually played through this game you wouldn't be saying that. I put in over 100+ hours and I still haven't beaten Ganon yet.

[gangsta_red]

1000%

Lots of acceptable tropes for certain brands on this site.

[Kribwalker]

100% agree with everything you’ve said. I couldn’t put that game down. Haven’t put that much time into a single player game since Skyrim, and i didn’t come close to finishing it all.

My current game of the generation

[CarlDechance]

I see comments like these on articles for other games on other consoles all the time.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

@gangsta_red dude you were in a Spiderman thread a couple week's claiming how easy it is to make an open world spiderman game. Cool it with your victimhood
@Kribwalker I have also seen you in articles with your passive-aggressive trolling so remember you're victimhood in this article the next time you choose a troll of Sony article.

[EddieNX]

Kribwalker getting downvotea for expressing an opinion. It's a seriously amazing game, anyone who disagrees I don't envy their taste. They probably sleep with their socks on and have their steaks well done. What do they know?

[AspiringProGenji]

It is a 95+ meta rated game. It will get some people upset over its score and hype. Tjis happens with GoW and TLoU and some people in your thread are guilty of the same thing as well

By 300hrs I was done with BoTW so I don’t know what was that guy doing to get that much playtime

[Sono421]

WHAT?! I'm honestly genuinely dumbfounded. How could you not beat him after 100+ hours?! Have you not even tried to fight him? He is honestly the easiest Zelda final boss in the series. I left a whole comment above yours describing a lot wrong with the game already but didn't even touch on the fact that the final boss could be beaten while you're half asleep and drunk. I went there LOADED with recovery + food, as well as attack and defense elixirs expecting a serious fight, but nope, didn't use a single bit of the recovery + food. Probably would fall into my top 10 easiest boss fights of all time, but I should have known better based on the fact the rest of the game was very easy as well.

[Neonridr]

@Sono421 - there is a difference between actually trying to kill Ganon or just explore the overworld. I was working my way through finding each and every shine, exploring all the secrets and just generally in awe of the landscape. Plus I put several hours in the Master Quest DLC to upgrade my Master Sword.

so no, I haven't beaten him because I haven't tried yet :P

I have no doubt he will be easy.

[Shikoku]

Agreed not to mention continually fins new weapons because of the craptastic weapons system.

[Neonridr]

hopefully we will have the ability to repair weapons in the next game. I agree that these weapons breaking meant half the time I was too afraid to use the nicer weapons / bows for fear of losing them.

[Zeldafan64]

You're just salty because this game is going to sell over 15 million units.

[Gaming4Life1981]

I find your lack of faith disturbing lol. The only bad thing I'll say about the new zelda if dungeons(real dungeons where you need the specific item to beat it and its boss)I miss that. Other than that I have no complaints and is one of the best zelda's and games to come out this gen.

[RedDevils]

Don't know why idiot like NecrumOddBoy always manage to hate on this game. I played and love it. Someone f kn need to appreciate good game regardless the platform, stop worshiping 1 console when you happen to not able to afford the other and then hating on it. So my advice to those who haven't play the game yet, you should stop acting like you play the game and jumping on the hate train rather should just try out the game first with your own experiences.

[Soc5]

So why did you put so much time in it playing til completion if you didn't like it and it was “barren empty overhyped” are you a masochist?

[NecrumOddBoy]

Awesome game play that entices you to keep exploring. But sadly, the carrot on the end of the stick never leads to a worthwhile reward. I feel duped because this specific Zelda title is designed like a phone game. Small chunks of content repeated over and over to keep you hooked. The exploration and combat aren't the problem. It's everything else.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

If it were that barren and empty and bad, you wouldn't have played it to completion.
We can smell that bs from here.

[LordoftheCritics]

If you think Zelda is overhyped, then every other game is horseshite.

Anyways, replying to the author. Hoepfully you can read it under this pile of flamebait.

My gf has 300+ hrs in, i have 250+

Its nothing short of legendary.

[Benjaminkno]

Somebody lose a troll?

[PhoenixUp]

Just wish there were more effective methods to preserve all these saves

[porkChop]

For me personally, that's the biggest problem with the Switch. SD card backups should have been there on day 1.

[Neonridr]

did Nintendo say that Zelda wouldn't support Cloud Saving?

[Cobra951]

Re: save backups thru firmware, I don't think it's going to happen. The reason they're denying us that basic need is to prevent hacking and cheating. They're not going to back down, even though it's clearly a self-serving anticonsumer move. Neither am I. The funny thing is that an ironclad hack or mod that would allow me to back up my saves regardless of firmware updates would probably lead me to buy a Switch, because otherwise I want one.

[Neonridr]

@Cobra951 - it's one thing for Splatoon, which relies on some online rank vs say BOTW which is tracking your progress in the main game.

[zombiewombie]

Even if they allowed cloud saves, yoi have to maintain a sub so your save doesnt get erased from the cloud. Complete bs!

[Cobra951]

Ironically, the best version of the game for preservation purposes is on the WiiU. It allows full backups. The inability to back up saves in any way is what finally spoiled my plans to buy a Switch. I can't live with that deficiency.

[Neonridr]

maybe it will be added in a firmware update down the road. I mean how long did it take Sony to finally support external hard drives on the PS4?

[King_Noctis]

I cant believe I had played this game for more than 100 hours. Not alot of games can keep my attention as long as that.

[DrStronk]

Played the game for 200 hours and never once did I feel bored. The game is just genuinely fun.

[leahcim]

I am playing it on my wii U...
How the hell can I see the time counting that I am playing until now ?, I suppose it is explicit on the switch version though...

[Cobra951]

https://www.reddit.com/r/wi...

[leahcim]

thank you!!!!!

[CarlDechance]

I played for 80 before I gave up. Really wanted to love that game, but sadly it just isn't for everyone. To each their own.

[Neonridr]

80 hours is still more time than you would put into most games.

[CarlDechance]

Yeah, I gave it a lot longer than I normally would have. I mean, the reviews and the reputation were over the top. I kept thinking "why am I not enjoying this as much as everyone else". I hoped it would just click at some point, but just didn't happen. I'm in the minority and that's fine.

[Neonridr]

@Carl - fair enough, there are people who didn't enjoy The Last of Us as well. I can't say they are wrong. It's their enjoyment.

[rainslacker]

I played 40-50 at first. I go back to it here and there to do some of the side stuff, and maybe spend a lunch hour on it a few times a week when the mood strikes me. It's not a bad game, but after a while, all that side stuff does get rather redundant and I would grow bored with it if I tried to do it all within a relatively short period of time.

[HeisenbergX]

Lol 600 hours really .. i played it for 105 hours and i have done almost everything 😂😂

[Cobra951]

Yeah, but then it's time for a replay. I love this game. Played through 3 times, and then once more partially.

[HeisenbergX]

Yeah i do want to play it again i really loved the game because of the exploration and the world design that’s the main star of the game.. i don’t think the game is perfect or anything but really really good

[Zeldafan64]

If you do play it again you should play it on Master Mode. You'll have to constantly run from enemies for the first 10 hours or so until you get good enough gear.

[jaycptza]

changed their life because every other relationship would have been neglected

[TheEnigma313]

I like it; it was a solid game. What held it back for me was the thin story. I expected more.

[kevnb]

The thin story allowed the game to be much better. How much story do you really need? Make your own, its in the gameplay.

[TheEnigma313]

Nah that's not it chief. It needed more story and that's my opinion. I don't want to "make my own story"; that's a lazy excuse.

[kevnb]

Honestly a bunch more cut scenes and dialogue would have ruined the game, it had just the right amount for what they were trying to do. Its not lazy either, showing the player cool things instead of letting them play though them is lazy.

[rainslacker]

How much story do you need in an RPG game?

Seriously?

Not all story is just cut scenes and filler.

[kevnb]

Zelda isn’t an rpg... it’s an open world adventure game. It works best with thin story.

[CyberRekkr]

Well you definitely got your money's worth out of it. I have logged in well over a 100 hours & it was fun, But I wish it had some dungeons or caves to explore. Good game though.

[Skankinruby]

Hopefully you judged yourself for wasting that much time on a horrendously overrated game and have decided to make some changes in your life

[SierraGuy]

Videogames anonymous.

[2pacalypsenow]

What life?

[Realms]

BoTW get's such a pass the Witcher 3 even with all it's flaws was a better game because it shot for the fences where as BoTW falls short, no voice acting, no substantial story, I won't say repetitive because every game is repetitive but the hyperbole surrounding BoTW is too much it's a good game but it doesn't push the boundaries in any meaningful way and don't come at me with sense of exploration or wonder crap because you can clime everything at the end of the day many many people love the game but it is not perfect and you can't deny it's flaws like so many choose to ignore.

[DrStronk]

The Witcher 3's gameplay and combat was way too clunky and unsatisfying for my taste. Troughout my run, the game had way too many bugs. I encountered over 100 glitches, many of them forcing me to restart the game. The Story and Characters are miles above Breath of the Wild but gameplay-wise The Witcher 3 falls flat, unfortunately. What you consider to be flaws is your personal opinion, it is not objective. Therefore, anyone can deny and disagree with you. I hope you understand that. :)

[Realms]

That is not my argument what I'm saying is that as good as BoTW is it really isn't as revolutionary as people claim it to be. It's a fun and good game but it didn't define a genre like let's say the first Metal Gear that revolutionized and practically invented the stealth genre or how about GTA 3 and it's impact on open world games. Those games had huge impact on how we view games BoTW for all the acolates it get's you would imagine that that's the kind of impact it has had and it simply isn't true. It's a fun good game end of story but it's not what many people claim it is either.

[CarlDechance]

Witcher 3 was one the most glitch-free open world games around. So no idea what was going on with your version. Very strange. The gameplay requires some understanding of the systems and the weakness of the enemies. I thought was fantastic personally. Superior to BoTW in every way I can think of, frankly. But as you say....opinions

[Mylove1516]

Ill probably get downvoted for this but oh well.
BOTW is one of the weakest zelda games in the franchise IMO.
Most of the puzzles in the game were way to easy.
The weapon breaking system was annoying.
The story was a bit on the weak side.
The world should have been a bit smaller with more thought gone into the puzzles. The puzzles in past zelda games are one of its strong points.
The fight with ganon was meh.
Ive went back and played past zelda games numerous times but I couldn't go back to BOTW after beating it. It just didnt have that charm that older zelda games has IMO.
This is all my opinion, if you had fun with it then I'm happy for you.
I hope the next zelda has that old charm that other iterations of the franchise had before BOTW.

[sampsonon]

600 hrs? sad

[Kosic]

Played it for around 21 hours. It didn't change anything for me.

[Geobros]

Me i have 500 hours at the moment. That game was amazing

[InTheZoneAC]

Does the combat change at all over the first few hours? 600 hours is a lot for what seems like it would get old after 40.

[quenomamen]

Maybe you step back from the controller for a bit, go outside hear the Real birds singing.

[cooperdnizzle]

It changed his life... He now has no life

[FallenAngel1984]

That’s a great amount of hours you put into this game.

It would be a shame if you lost it.

[AK91]

My respect goes to you sir, I could barely stomach 5 hours.

[Asuka]

i have about 500hrs in Xenoblade 2... and with Torna DLC out now i do not see myself putting the game down for quite sometime... still haven't done everything yet xD

[BadElf]

Loved the open world aspect. Next one needs that.
But with more music. Actual Temples to find.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Wow the anti-Switch disagrees are in full force here. Disagreeing with people saying they enjoyed the game and played many, many hours is just silly, that's not a disagreeable statement.

Anyway there are valid criticisms to be made but trying to discredit this game won't work. It's a fantastic game, the sales and reviews prove that. If it was a bad game, you'd hear about it, the name alone doesn't instantly mean 10's.

[jorellpogi]

The game could’ve been better if it has better graphics. Even when it’s docked, the graphics are washed out. If only Nintendo can make a hardware with the same power as PS4/XBOX.

[DrumBeat]

Gave you blood clots?

[Donnie81]

I can relate I played over 1500 hours of bf4 . breath of the wild is a special game and I can see many people playing it 100s of hours

[chris235]

this mindset explains a lot why nintendo still is able to succeed with their sublar mentality. interesting.

[Kos-Mos]

What mentality do you have?

[Kos-Mos]

We are still talking about the game...praising and judging, and we will do years and years from now on every level. Is that not a big impact enough on the gaming industry? How many game developers will actually take ideas from BoTW compared to other "aaa" games released recently?
Will games like i.e. gow be talked of in the same fashion next year? It won't becuase it will be forgotten by most.
BoTW is not a huge revolution, but it has made a massive massive impact either people like it or not.

And in my personal opinion it is one of the greatest games made because it made me travel my journey the way I wanted. And it delivers on what it sets out to do. You seek your own guidance and you become more part of the game than most other games are not able to. If you don't like it, then simply don't play it.

A delicate journey that is soothing.

[BioDead]

You got lack of vitamin D since you spent so much time inside? You lost your wife and children since you literally forgot them? Your Switch/WiiU catch a fire and you died in a house fire? You forgot to eat and drink and got a heart attack and survived and realized how your life is worthless and shit and you changed your course and now you won a Oscar, Pulitzer and Noble Prize?... (I dont usually read these kind of "articles" I just answer to the question the headline contains :) )

[Perjoss]

Downvotes are out of control. PlayStation fans never really got over how Breath of the Wild kinda tore Horizon a new one when it came to goty awards.

[Sm3000]

You are now morbidly obese?

[Adnanilyas21]

WOW i only clocked in 200 hours and i think it was brilliant, had some flaws but what a game