VideoGame_Discussion

Groo wrote:

Yeah, pretty sure you need to do the Fire Temple to get this guy to stop doing drugs and sell you Diamonds.

Ugh, looks like I'm missing some obscure light root(s). The map looks complete, at 119. Going to have to call it for a night.

Will need to start attacking some new beasts... some armor upgrades require it.

I can't tell you how much I have fallen in love with this game. As much as I enjoyed BotW, I acutally never finished it, only getting thrrough two temples before moving on to other games. This game, however, has totally engrossed me. It's all I think about. I can't wait for my next day off from work to explore the vast realm of Hyrule. I've completed the Wind Temple and have started on the Gerudo Temple, but have spent most of my time just exploring Hyrule. While I've never been a fan of sandbox games, this one has me deep in it's clutches. It's like I've cut off a lot of my contact with the outside world to focus on this game. It has some sort of hypnotic trance upon me. I've never been so invested in a game.

There's a shrine called Murasaka Shrine. I completed it, but there's no way the developers' main way they intended for it to be solved was the way I did it. I doubt it.

There are these devices that stand upright when you strike them. You're supposed to attach things to them, and then when you strike it, the entire contraption stands upright. In the beginning of the shrine, there's an L shaped metal piece that you stand upright, and then glide off of, over a small chasm.

The Murasaka Shrine has these things that make you think of a catapult, a bowl at the end of a board, so it's intuitive that the way you're supposed to go about the shrine is by catapulting the things you need, such as one of those orbs/spheres that you need for a certain slot in the floor. The orb is behind a gate. You get over the gate by using

But I didn't realize that you have to strike the upright devices to activate them, so I went about it by building a contraption with the catapult bowl at the end, I placed the sphere inside the bowl, and propped the contraption against the wall. I then went on top of the wall and used the hand power to pick up the sphere and get it over the gate to the slot in the floor.

This opened up a closed gate which led to another catapult looking device. Now there was a huge chasm separating me from the goal. What you're supposed to do, is

But what I did, was build the longest contraption I could, made it stand upright, ascended to the top, and then attempted to glide across the chasm. Couldn't make it. So I took the tall contraption, and brought it as close to the beginning of the shrine as I could. I placed the "bridge" and walked towards the beginning of the shrine, where the first contraption was. The upright device kept the bridge suspended horizontally over the first small chasm. I walked as far to the end as I could, just within range of the very first L shaped metal thing that I had used to cross that first chasm. I picked it up with the hand ability and retraced my steps. I then connected it to the long bridge I had made and then carried it all the way back to the giant chasm. I then struck the upright device, making an extremely tall climbable thing that had bowls on it (the catapults). I then ascended once, then climbed up to one of the bowls and stood on it. I then ascended again and was now standing on top of a huge upright contraption. It was tall enough to then glide over the chasm. I was greeted with that "you solved it" sound.

Totally not how you're "supposed" to solve it. But at least I solved it.

I found a YouTube video of the shrine. So much simpler to do it the way the devs intended. But I appreciated that there was a workaround.

I preface this post by saying, again, that I absolutely love this game and there is no shortage of extremely fun things to do. It's gorgeous to look at, and the story is great this time around. I'm really enjoying my time playing it, so what I'm about to bring up isn't a criticism of the game itself, just something I was thinking about recently.

Does anyone else feel like we were duped a bit with the promise of "real" dungeons? During the month or so leading to the game's release, it was confirmed that there would be a return of true-to-form dungeons but after 120+ hours of the game there... just isn't. Yeah, the temples work as dungeons to an extent... but really only the same way that the Divine Beasts did in BOTW. "Enter the location, complete 4-5 mini objectives, beat the boss." There are no "small keys" or "big keys" that need to be collected during these portions of the game, which were the primary staple of traditional dungeons in the Zelda franchise.

Obviously the Temples are still super fun and get the job done for what they are, but they just don't feel like traditional dungeons. It really does just feel like BOTW's "4 primary locations + shrines" system, which again, I'm totally here for and are really enjoying. It's just strange that there was a promise of the return of traditional dungeons when that really isn't the case. The closest thing to a traditional dungeon I've come across so far is Hyrule Castle, with the "B1, B2, B3, 1F, 2F, etc" set up (which to be fair, the temples incorporate as well), but even then it was really more about just finding practical ways to navigate through as opposed to collecting keys, fighting mini bosses or solving puzzles that went as in-depth as previous games.

theJaw wrote:

Having just finished my 2nd temple last night, I was planning on making a post about this today. They're definitely not dungeons, not even close. They're very similar to the divine beasts, but somehow a little better. I don't think we were promised real dungeons though. To the best of my knowledge, Nintendo never said anything about dungeons. I think that's why they even called them "Temples". It was a lot of the people who got to play the game early who were throwing around "yes, dungeons are back!" type claims. Surely they were just doing this for clicks, right? They can't really think these are the same as classic dungeons? In addition to keys like you mentioned, there also needs to be enemies, classic dungeons were filled with them. Not to mention a mini-boss. Some kind of special item or upgrade, that the dungeon was based around, was the key aspect IMO, but I've talked before about how they really can't do that in a BotW/TotK style Zelda.

citizen_zane wrote:

I feel you. This has pretty much been me for the last month. Just always looking forward to the next time I get to play.

@Scott yah it may be a little difficult to do the "revolve around a new item's gimmick" shtick in BOTW/TOTK style Zelda, but they totally could do everything else you mentioned and then just make the final prize some cool new gimmick item (on top of the classic heart container).

But Nintendo did confirm it in an "Ask the Developer" post on the Nintendo website. Apparently when he was asked about the return of traditional dungeons, Hidemaro Fujibayash (copy and pasted that bad boy) confirmed they would be in the game, noting that they "hadn't talked about them yet". Considering how the Temples are far more similar to Divine Beasts than traditional dungeons, I feel like he could have worded his response a bit better to not raise expectations.

Here's the quote from the site https://www.shacknews.com/article/135431/zelda-tot...:

"Yes, we haven't talked about the dungeons yet,” he admitted. To take things further, Fujibayashi also teased a specific dungeon that he believes will wow players. “There is a dungeon that connects directly from Hyrule's surface. If you dive from the sky straight into the dungeon, you'll trigger an event."

I think that diving bit he's talking about is referring to the labyrinths in the game - which are also far from a traditional dungeon. So maybe he just didn't understand the core of the question he was asked, but he did confirm dungeons to some extent.

I've done 3 of the dungeons (haven't done Hyrule Castle at all yet). I have definitely enjoyed them WAY more than the Divine Beasts. The Divine Beast were all about manipulating the beast so you could get to new areas. They all looked the same, with the same music, and very similar bosses. These temples all have a unique atmosphere with unique music and a unique boss. I agree that they are not true Zelda dungeons. I do miss the difficult enemy encounters (rooms where the door locked until you beat every enemy were some of my favorites). I miss the mini-bosses, and I miss the search for keys/boss keys. I still feel like they could have incorporated those elements without changing the core gameplay mechanics of TotK. I get that they don't want to add items that are required for further exploration, but the abilities you gain from the sages act just like those items. They could have still had more traditional dungeons even without limiting our gamplay. What they have though is actually pretty good. Like Scott said though, Nintendo never promised anything related to dungeons.

I'm in the same boat @Scott @citizen_zane. I was starting to lose a tiny bit of steam last week, but then had an absolutely amazing 10 or so hours over the weekend that culminated in me getting the master sword, so now I am back to thinking about nothing else.

The only open world game to get dungeons right is Elden Ring. There are mini ones, and about 5 or so decent sized, actual dungeons. Can't remember call how many but real dungeons.

The temples are probably the best they can do with the abilities they gave Link. Rather than keys, there are switches or puzzles to get gates to open. Instead of finding an object that adds a new mechanic midway through the dungeon, you're given a helper with special abilities before you get to the temple.

I think the beauty of the game is that there isn't this linear path to tackling a temple or a boss. There's certainly the scripted routes to point people in the right direction, but when you can scale walls, glide around, craft objects and Ascend through floors, it would feel weird if you got hamstrung into some forced way of tackling a dungeon.

Don't get me wrong, I hope that they continue to make some classic dungeon style LoZ games in the future, especially in the style of A Link to the Past and the other greats we got on GBA and DS.

I've also found areas outside of the 4 main temples that feel more like traditional zelda dungeons, albeit without bosses and keys. There was a floating island in the sky that had a number of mirror puzzles that very much felt like old zelda, and I thought the construct factory in the depths was kinda dungeon-y as well. Some other areas also have a similar feel.

Got auto-build. That's gonna make life a lot easier. That also allowed Robbie to leave Lookout Landing and to the Hateno Lab. Already had everything in my possession to fully upgrade the Purah Pad. Now I really feel like the game is beginning. Still only 1 temple completed. ~60 shrines done.

Yeah, the build up to the temples is much better this time than they were in BotW. I agree with SwiftJAB in that I hope they don't completely ignore the traditional Zelda games. In the same sense as Metroid vs Metroid Prime or the 3D Marios vs. the 2D Marios. They are different enough where they should not ignore what came before. I want another game similar to A Link Between Worlds. I love Metroid Dread, but I'm still very excited for Metroid Prime 4, etc.

Question for you guys, is there anyway to see how many shrines you have completed (outside of looking at the map and counting)? I want to know how close I am to 152. My guess is I'm probably around halfway there, which makes me worry about how I'm going to find the rest. I feel like I've hit nearly every one that is out in the open.

bonham2 wrote:


Load screen gives you stats. Just fast travel somewhere. Lightroots max out at 120 so the other is shrines.

Speaking of lightroots, found the last one this morning. It was a tiny circle hidden by the dark blue (deeper) area of the map. The reward might as well have been the same as the reward in BotW for getting all the Korok seeds. Underwhelming...

Does that mean there are 32 shrines in the sky?

bonham2 wrote:


I assume the delta would be in the sky, but I don't know how many shrines there are. I thought I read somewhere there were 156, unless that counted some of the temples.

Found the fire temple while exploring for light roots. Kind of annoyed they locked the fast travel back to it (presumably) by story. Oh well, next stop Goron city to hopefully activate that.

theJaw wrote:



That 100% seems to be a miscommunication, likely due to the language barrier. I remember a ton of folks running with the traditional dungeon story, but I didn't really see it happening.

I've only done the wind temple, and honestly didn't find it to be any better than the divine beasts sans the boss fight (which I much prefered over fighting black clouds). The climb to get to it was cool though.

I just beat the game with all shrines completed and all costumes... took around 140 hours. I used no guide for any shrines, but used a guide for some of the costumes. AMAZING game - love the story. No duping here! But I did use all of the amiibos for additional items and costumes.

SMY36738 wrote:

I put 170 hours in BotW. Only up to 35 hours on TotK...but I had no kids back then with BotW .

The only thing I did not do in BotW was get all the Korok seeds beyond what was needed to max out weapon/shield/bow slots and upgrade the amiibo-exclusive armor since harvesting star fragments and other dragon parts was a pain. I think I got like 450 seeds which was like half?

I can't imagine coming anywhere close to putting in an equivalent amount of time in TotK given the kids (I can play a few hours every weekday night and maybe a bit more than that on weekend nights).

SMY36738 wrote:


That's darn near a full time job! Nice job man.

I did not upgrade all armors... just the 2 main ones, plus Hylian Hood and Hylian Trousers. I also only found less than 200 Korok seeds, so I did not max out my weapon/bow/sheild inventory... but yeah, it took a lot of hours and dedication!

My spouse has been waiting patiently to play, so I had to give it up or I'd be hunting for more seeds! I've done every single side quest that I came across, except to find all wells. Still missing 20 of those.

I bought a copy for my kids... I don't get enough opportunities to share. lol

Digital for me, physical for them.

KCPenguins wrote:

Thanks for this. I have completed 97 shrines, so I've actually done more than I thought.

theJaw wrote:

For sure! I definitely think there's more they could have done to make them feel like traditional dungeons, while not giving up the style of BotW/TotK.


It definitely sounds like he didn't realize they were asking about "traditional" dungeons. He just thought they were asking if the game has dungeons, and yes, it does.

I stumbled upon King Gleeok yesterday. Took a few tries but was able to defeat him. Mostly took a few tries because I would run out of stamina and hit the ground while high up in the air and forgetting to each a recipe to replenish stamina so I can land safely during the last phase of him.

I'm really digging that fact that many of the shrines have multiple solutions in terms of how you can solve them.

There's just so much to do in the game and while it seems repetitive, it's still fun IMO. I may take a break once FFXVI comes out though.

Failed to defeat a Lynel multiple times. 4 hearts and an old shield wasn't enough. I've been relying on evasion/counterattacking, but my weapons aren't very strong.

Maybe I'll try again. I can take two hits from the Lynel, but can't take any of its rush attacks. Those take Link out with my current equipment.

A good challenge, but I suspect that I'd break all of Link's weapons before I take out this Lynel.

I couldn’t imagine trying a Lynel with 4 hearts. I have 20 hearts right now and still don’t wanna try haha

theJaw wrote:
:) Yeah, those Lynels are powerful.

I tried again. The Lynel broke all 4 of my shields, and then tackled Link. I left the area. Maybe I'll return when I have better weapons and more hearts.

Stronger gear is probably more important than extra hearts (although both are great, of course). Have you unlocked any fairy fountains and upgraded your gear yet @nonamesleft? Also, learn how to cook powerful dishes. A +3 attack power dish goes a long way in a lynel fight.

Scott wrote:
No fairies yet and haven't upgraded my gear yet either. The dishes I can cook though. I have the ingredients.

Yeah I don't think I'd be fighting lynels with 4 hearts and just the base gear lol Even with great dishes, you're going to burn through a lot of them, and probably a crap load of weapons too.

I think if you get good a parrying, head shots with arrows, and mounting you can probably do fine with 4 hearts. You'd want a decently strong melee weapon to attack with while mounted so the fight doesn't go on forever, but you could do it with just one weapon since durability isn't effected when hitting a lynel while mounted.

Beat the fire temple. Again enjoyed the boss fight, and again the "dungeon" was equivalent to a weaker divine beast. It was nice to be able to circumvent the 'way N intended' the dungeon be solved though. Nuts to the maze of rails.

Upgrading some armor, not sure if I want to hunt for more armor, upgrade batteries, explore the sky more, attack shrines, side quests or the next dungeon... so many options.

SwiftJAB wrote:

Yeah, but it takes practice at fighting lynels to get good at those things. By the time you've fought plenty of lynels and gotten good at those things, then yeah, you could beat one with 4 hearts. But not just starting out.


He's unlikely to have a strong weapon yet since he's so early in the game, is the other thing. I love that trick though, I'm so glad they kept it in this game and didn't remove it after BotW.

Lynels pretty sure I saw something they hate tech, drop some and they freak and attack it, not you.

Octorocks, I remember them sucking up stuff in BOTW but I dont remember what happened to it but the Rock Octorock suck your weapon up and spit it out stronger, then go to another and its a multiplier. Goron has a few near one another.

See Octorock and then smack a Lynel!

Scott wrote:

Good thing the game let's you save and load. No need to beat a bunch if you just practice on one over and over.



Plenty of weapons out there, just need to travel a bit to get to them. And if he could find a diamond, that would be a +25 buff. Shoot, if he has amiibos, he could possible get some good stuff from just scanning them.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's possible early game depending upon how much effort you want to put into it.

SwiftJAB wrote:

True!


Yeah, definitely possible, just not very realistic. It didn't sound to me like he was wanting to Google where he could go raid some high-powered weapons, he was just trying to fight them with what he has currently.

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