Gaming BOTW withdrawal symptoms

[aofelix]

So i completed BOTW a couple of months ago but I have the longing for a game which has the tranquility yet excitement of exploration like BOTW.

Its the first game where i remember in the first few hours even just learning i can cut down a freaking tree, and pick up the apples, cook them etc. was.... well enjoyable? whilst riding my horse aimlessly trying to explore, finding caves, throwing bombs in places to uncover secrets etc.

Do any other games match up to this?

I've played games from bethesda like fall out 3 and they COMPLETELY lack any charm unlike BOTW. BOTW's world felt... right. It felt beautiful. the OST was amazing, the sound effects convincing... im struggling to find games which match it ?

 

[owek1]

since release, I've finished the game more than 3 times. I absolutely love it and like you, I also want a game that would be almost the same level as BOTW. I struggle to finish any other game but I was inlove with BOTW.

 

[blackwhitexy]

Yeah, it's hard to go back to other games after BOTW. I can only imagine where they can take it from here.

I hope they release BOTW 2 on the Switch with the same engine, but with more enemies and even more things to do in a brand new world and story.

 

[FAST6191]

I found it hard to care about BOTW having played many a game like it from the original xbox through the 360 era and PC from similar timeframe. BOTW did nothing special compared to most of those, and would have been a decent effort from a mid tier dev (which is more than I expected from the earlier footage of the game) from those machines mentioned (give or take the original xbox, PC games of the time already had worlds of similar scope).

I can agree most Bethesda open world games suffered a bit from the grim und gritty virus and if you don't care for that then you won't get far, a pity as many of the not so open world games from Bethesda the publisher do OK here.

Poke around some of the European developers (typically the German ones that put out things like Venetica and Risen and but there are others -- as well as grim and und gritty it seems many a US/Canada based dev wants to make dungeons and dragons into a computer game, such a thing is less a thing in Europe), or Japanese ones aping European devs (Dragon's Dogma being a start but not the only one).
I would also suggest some of the more free form dungeon crawlers, something like the earlier dungeon siege games, earlier Sacred games and maybe things like Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (as opposed to the more conversation focused Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and such games, though they also might appeal for slightly different reasons).
I am not a fan myself but the Fable series might do well for you.

You could also come the other way and do space sims. They are all about exploration, and allow you to mix quests, trading, mining/exploration, combat and messing with physics.

Possible option 2. "Life sims". http://www.academagia.com/ being a personal favourite. There is no open world to explore but you can do what you like (some of the "missions" then having more structure outside of something like King's Quest and similar episodic games) and learn lots about the world it is set in, when playing it I get something of the same mindset as an open world game that focuses on exploration and its universe while also being free to do nothing much.

 

[Elrinth]

Go play the new God of War for PS4. It's great! There's also Witcher 3.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

I felt the same--I devoted over 200 hours to BotW and it was like my video game life changed. I felt like, "Why was this not a thing sooner! Ninty, you bastards, you could have saved Wii U, had more time to develop Switch, make BotW Deluxe, etc." Everything happens for a reason...I guess this led to the "horrible oversight" to hacking Switch; the Goddess, she takes and she gives.

Aaaaanyway, try BotW de-make, older games you've never (?) played (Tengai Makyou (GBA-Oriental Blue) (SNES T.M. Zero/Cipher) Breath of Fire III, Shin Megami titles (the play style varies, so delve with your own sense of exploration)); at the very end, if you find nothing, go outside and have your own adventure. I've been taking night walks with a big stick to see if I get the chance to Flurry Attack something.

-----

Spoiler: Optional comedy

R.I.P. H1B1Esquire--he got a Game Over in real life fighting a bear and didn't have any food or potions.

 

[owek1]

Go play the new God of War for PS4. It's great! There's also Witcher 3.

BOI.. will try it, BOI..

 

[softwareengineer]

Please don't hate me for this OP... I've been saving BOTW and not played it out yet, because I've been saving it for a rainy day and not wanting to go through the withdrawl you have experienced just yet lol. And actually I think I'll mod in the master cycle and have it at the start, because once I complete it, it'll be useless as I wont want to play it anymore so I won't even get to use it. So by having it from the start I actually will be able to

 

[gameboy]

Please don't hate me for this OP... I've been saving BOTW and not played it out yet, because I've been saving it for a rainy day and not wanting to go through the withdrawl you have experienced just yet lol. And actually I think I'll mod in the master cycle and have it at the start, because once I complete it, it'll be useless as I wont want to play it anymore so I won't even get to use it. So by having it from the start I actually will be able to

once you play it its hard to put down

 

[kumikochan]

So i completed BOTW a couple of months ago but I have the longing for a game which has the tranquility yet excitement of exploration like BOTW.

Its the first game where i remember in the first few hours even just learning i can cut down a freaking tree, and pick up the apples, cook them etc. was.... well enjoyable? whilst riding my horse aimlessly trying to explore, finding caves, throwing bombs in places to uncover secrets etc.

Do any other games match up to this?

I've played games from bethesda like fall out 3 and they COMPLETELY lack any charm unlike BOTW. BOTW's world felt... right. It felt beautiful. the OST was amazing, the sound effects convincing... im struggling to find games which match it ?

You find that fallout lacks any charm but prefer an empty world above a crowded world. Weird taste if you tell me. There are plenty open world games that have the same charm while being more crowded. Kingdom come and deliverance, fallout, horizon zero dawn, the witcher 3, westerado, mount and blade, monster hunter, xenoblade, dragon age, Shenmue 1,2, Yakuza etc …...

 

[bjaxx87]

Well, I liked Fallout 3 but the only other open world game series that ever captivated me as much as BOTW was Gothic. It's the series that inspired the team behind Witcher (here's an interesting read about that) and I rarely experienced other games letting me forget what time it is and being surprised by the sun rising. Even today the modding community is still very active and keeps shoving out huge mods with full voice acting and great stories and quests.

Just make sure to use the latest community patches... Especially Gothic 3 was really buggy when it was released due to the publisher pushing for an early release.

Oh..., and don't play Arcania Gothic IV. It's from different developers and completely lacks what made the original trilogy great. There's a nice collection on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/sub/6375

 

[Anthony D'Amico]

I had the same problem when i finished BOTW, but then i discovered witcher 3 and dropped 70hrs of my life into it.
I suggest you start there

 

[gameboy]

I had the same problem when i finished BOTW, but then i discovered witcher 3 and dropped 70hrs of my life into it.
I suggest you start there

after botw i went into final fantasy 15 and dropped 120+hrs and it was a complete waste. i 100% the main game as a fan service because i been waiting for versus13 since they first showed it, and now i dont trust anything Final Fantasy anymore, even though i didnt enjoy ff10-2, ff13+sequels, ff agito, world of ff, i waited for ff15 actually thinking it was gonna be good LOL. Now i been thirsting to revisit ff8+9, games i know i love. but i bought ff8 for steam and its garbage without mods, its literally worse than the ps1 version without mods

 

[Wuigi]

I currently play Horizon Zero Dawn and even though the mechanics, especially the climbing, are sometimes pretty clunky like in Uncharted games, it has a very interesting story.
While BOTW has a set of very well fleshed out mechanics, it lacks a lot in its story and Horizon Zero Dawn does that a lot better imo.
You can also explore a huge map and collect different materials, extend your skillset and do a lot of sidequests.

 

[gameboy]

I'm currently play Horizon Zero Dawn and even though the mechanics, especially the climbing, are sometimes pretty clunky like in Uncharted games, it has a very interesting story.
While BOTW has a set of very well fleshed out mechanics, it lacks a lot in its story and Horizon Zero Dawn does that a lot better imo.
You can also explore a huge map and collect different materials, extend your skillset and do a lot of sidequests.

i watched the teaser preview for it before the released and i knew the ending before it was revealed. iit was a dead giveaway for me with the main characters name... i ve seen too many movies

 

[kumikochan]

i watched the teaser preview for it before the released and i knew the ending before it was revealed. iit was a dead giveaway for me with the main characters name... i ve seen too many movies

But you also knew the ending of BOTW by just knowing it is a Zelda game or did you not ?

 

[Wuigi]

@gameboy Good thing I didn't see that trailer, I bought it on a whim when it was on sale.

 

[PolloDiablo]

The game I played after BotW was....

Spoiler

Tetris

Spoiler

The gameboy version

 

[gameboy]

But you also knew the ending of BOTW by just knowing it is a Zelda game or did you not ?

lol, nintendo kept zelda a complete mystery, and they did a helluva job, and the community was great too, didnt reveal many spoilers or anything for the first months. the botw community was incredible, literally everything said was kept vague until people played it.

but everyone kows lik saves zelda at end

 

[kumikochan]

lol, nintendo kept zelda a complete mystery, and they did a helluva job, and the community was great too, didnt reveal many spoilers or anything for the first months. the botw community was incredible, literally everything said was kept vague until people played it.

ut everyone kows lik saves zelda at the end, but with hzd its obvious shes an android immediate because her name is ALLOY

Zelda has literally the same ending over and over. So i don't get why you're complaining about hzd. Not that i am bitching about botw but i just don't get the point ur making about an ending while every new zelda game you get is you progress towards ganon, defeat him and save Zelda and Hyrule. You know who the characters are and what is gonna happen so it is entirely the same