Breath of the Wild - A Hearty Retrospective 

Thanks for watching everyone! This video was originally meant to release in February; its behind the scenes ended up being much more of an ordeal than expected and the release date, while unplanned, feels very appropriate. I'll be using this comment to address any needed corrections, etc. that I see pop up, so by all means let me know if you notice something. Your thoughts in general are appreciated on this one, long form game videos are some of my favourite content on RU-vid and I've been wanting to give the format a try for awhile now, but it's still ultimately an area I have little experience in. The channel isn't becoming a channel of 4+ hour videos (there will be another shorter one this month), but I will likely be making more Hearty Retrospectives, so feel free to let me know what worked and didn't work about this one for you, as well as any games you think would make good candidates. __________________________________ *Corrections and Observations from Comments:* *-I referred to Zelda's voice actress as American, but she's actually Canadian-American according to IMDB.* *-There's an NPC who sells fireproof elixirs without requiring you to collect lizards. This one slipped through the cracks, it doesn't fundamentally change my commentary on that section but should have been mentioned.* *-"I wasn't sure if this was an April Fool's joke."* Nope! *-"You beat Arlo!"* I definitely saw this one coming haha, but just for the record, my goal was never to beat anyone else, and I didn't have a set target for this video's length. I'm a fan of a lot of long form video game content, and while I tried to make sure this video maintained a distinct voice, it was obviously inspired by those channels (although I avoided them while writing the script). I wanted to make a long video about a game, chose Breath of the Wild because it's my favourite, and was never good at sticking to word counts. *-"This video is too long/should have been split into parts."* Gonna have to disagree on this one, I made a video that I myself would have been thrilled to discover. I like long form content. *-"This video is overly critical/negative."* Again, gonna have to disagree. My approach for these talking points was entirely neutral, I didn't slant the video to be more positive/negative than I actually felt, and what I felt was what I wrote. You may find it too critical for your enjoyment, which is reasonable, but I wouldn't change it. *-"So this is why you haven't uploaded in so long!"* Yes, and believe me, that wasn't the intention. If I were to remake this video knowing what I've learned since starting, I could, no exaggeration, reduce its production time by at least a month. I did a lot wrong, largely with the audio, and hopefully can carry those lessons forward into future series entries. -Twitter: twitter.com/MrMockRock -Twitch: www.twitch.tv/mockrocktwitch -Patreon: www.patreon.com/mockrock -Teespring: teespring.com/stores/mockrock

You really had to hit that 10 minute mark didn't you?

"It's MY sleepover and I get to choose the movie!"

I remember when I first played, I tried to go straight from Hateno Village to the Akkala region because of Purah's quest to find Robbie, and obviously, Zora's Domain is in the way, but I didn't know that. I made it to an outside mountain of Zora's Domain, and waited for so long for the rain to end so I could climb... and the rain in the Domain doesn't end because of Vah Ruta. Eventually, after waiting for so long, I experienced my first blood moon! I genuinely thought I failed the game and Ganon was destroying the world because I was wasting my time.

It is a shame that the bed in Link's house didn't provide the same boosts as premium beds as a reward for completion.

Revali’s Gale is the fancy word for “climb while raining”

"I have no amiibos and will not cover them. Sorry for lack of content." This mad lad be spitting fire 4 hours into the video. Made me laugh.

I feel like my lack of skill in video games really improved my overall gameplay experience for once. I honestly didn’t know many of the exploits you talked about in game existed except for the molduga one with the bombs and I felt like billy badass when I figured out that it worked that way

If this is his review of his favourite game ever then I can’t imagine what his review would be like for a game he doesn’t like

Can’t believe MockRock spent 4 and a half hours just on how you couldn’t pet dogs

I love these "this is one of my favorite video games, here's a million things wrong with it" types of videos.

I was surprised people were so upset about the horses. Even in the base game, I used them all the time. I loved acting like one of the travelling NPCs, travelling along roads from stable to stable looking for shelter, then straying when I saw something interesting.

I think the purpose of the various earrings is just so you can get the benefits of various headgear without actually visually having to wear a hat. It’s just for cosmetic preferences I think.

"It's a long video." IT'S 26 MINUTES LONGER THAN THE RETURN OF THE KING EXTENDED!

The 30 minute long scene of you drinking tomato soup was kind of odd, but over all, good video.

At 1:59:17 I thought for sure the Lord of the Mountain was going to solve the "your horse can't hear you" thing. As in - if you befriend it it would be like "You can't keep me... but I will help your horses find you no matter where you are." and then disappear. The fact that it did LITERALLY NOTHING was so heartbreaking.

22:00 We've known for ages that Link activating the Great Plateau Tower also activates a central control unit under Hyrule Castle, which Ganon has control over. This is when he turns his attention toward preparing to battle Link, triggering the Divine Beast behavior and constructing a new body inside the giant cocoon within the Sanctum.

The framing stuff on the Great Plateau is something I’d never have noticed and have never heard mentioned. If nothing else that was worth the half hour I’ve watched so far.

MockRock’s April Fools’ Day video is… four and a half hours of content. Ooookay!

one of the things that changed my outlook the most on botw's story and really made me think about it again was this one comic by queenoftheantz where instead of going right to hyrule castle to defeat ganon after freeing all the divine beasts he kinda just screws around for a while, collecting his memories and getting the master sword and finishing tarrytown, and he gets to the memory where zelda is asking link what he would do if he realized he wasn't meant to be a fighter and didn't want to be a knight and it's this moment of like. wow. like if you as the player put 60 hours into botw goofing off like, that's link! that's you as link derelict in his duties, because he's also not that person anymore and maybe never was. and i really wish more of that had been built into the game itself, i think it would have made it so tragically compelling and made perfect use of the open world format, but it's still my favorite reading of the game even if it's not quite intended

Clearing monster infested areas in order to expand settlements is a fantastic idea. It adds so much to the story in a post apocalyptic way that gives one hope for the return of the kingdom's glory.

I don't know what's crazier about this video, the fact that it's over 4 and a half hours long, or that I actually watched it all without getting bored

Arlo: Makes a 3 hour video about Breath of the Wild. MockRock: *Watch this*

Part of why the kakariko stolen heirloom shrine didn't work is because you are required to finish 3 of the villages missions. First the fairy fountain and missing cucco's quests and then the fireflies mission. Only after finishing those 3, the game activates the trigger that starts the shrine quest. The problem here is that, apart from the fairy fountain quest which is a main story quest, mini missions in Breath of the Wild are such a common occurance that it doesn't feel important enough to immidiatly look into. This is an even bigger problem because Kakario has more mini missions then just those 2 and its nowhere implied that the 2 mentioned were more important.

about 3:45:17 :: this cutscene where mipha was sad about never being able to reassure her father of her (spirit's) wellbeing was ruined for me when daruk openly WAVED to yunobo, who could see and recognize him perfectly. so obviously link isnt the only one who can see them (like he's the only one who can see koroks and fairies) and king dorephan can just GO to the divine beast whenever and have a chat with his daughter???

Welp, I just listened to another 3+ hours critique on BoTW. Great job! In regards to the Rito quest. I am convinced there's cut content there. It has the least going on and given what you can learn about Teba from talking to him both after the main quest and during the Champion's Ballad DLC, there's a lot of emphases placed on his relationship with his son, a character who you never have to encounter during the main quest. Teba often talks about training with him so I wouldn't be surprised if there were at least plans for a lead-up quest involving his son, maybe having to find and rescue him in the Hebra Mountains kinda like finding Yunobo in Death Mountain or getting shock arrows on Ploymus mountain? The Hebra mountains are entirely skippable as is so it would've given the player a better introduction to the region. I can't imagine why something like that would get cut if all they really had to do was place that NPC somewhere in the mountains, write a few lines of dialogue, and make that a prerequisite for starting the Divine Beast boarding sequence instead of just the basic shooting gallery. As is, the Rito questline feels straight-up unfinished. Every other region has some lead-up where you have to trek through part of the region so why did the Rito quest get shafted?

Another way of interpreting the Yiga flashback scene is less 'Zelda is shocked and amazed Link saved her life' and more that Zelda, who had been ditching and snapping at Link up to this point, suddenly faced the consequences of her actions. It's very easy to image her sneaking off just prior to that scene, doing all the Yiga's hard work of separating her from her own bodyguard, and nearly dying had Link not saved her in time. After that, she stuck near Link more often, which gave her the chance to really get to *know* him rather then projecting onto what was virtually a stranger till that point. Also, it would have been cooler had the DLC added a tailor to the dye shop, and after finding patterns/sketches of old armor out in the wild, you could have your existing armor changed to match. (For instance, the Barbarian Set turns *into* the Phantom Set)

The line "sorry if this video seems light on content" killed me. Great job with the retrospective, keep up the great work.

32:32 actually those types of trees actually exist in the world. they’re called dragonblood trees and they’re prominent on the island of socotra where up to 1/3 of the flora is endemic, thus making them look alien or fantastical

congratulations you beat Arlo for longest BotW reviewnalysis by a full hour

The virgin RU-vid community: teehee April fools day 30 second clip of me "leaving youtube" teeheehee. The Gigachad MockRock:

The first ~20 hours of this game are some of the strongest in any game, ever. Every system shines here - you're constantly struggling, improvising, tinkering, and discovering, making decisions about traversal and materials management. Absolutely inspired. But there are some serious weaknesses, particularly in the dungeon/boss design and especially in the endgame. You start to realize that all challenge and engagement has dissolved away. The game just does so much better when you're underpowered and need to rely on the systems. On my second playthrough, I completely ignored the story content, kept my hearts at 3, and mastered bomb launches, while just going around finding Koroks, fighting Lynels, and sorting out big groups of mobs. This kept the challenge alive and added some spice to the experience. Also it avoids having those atrociously ugly, poorly considered lasers completely mar the beautiful vistas that were so carefully crafted. Anyway, now it's a fantastic game to just pick up and play for a bit.

3:04:30 "Unless you want to burn through a massive stockpile of food" fun fact that's what I did on my first playthrough. I stockpiled a fuckton of healing, found the closest peak to Goron City where I didn't burn to death, and glided in.

So this is the Snyder cut everyone's been talking about

“Sorry if this video feels light on content.” *He says, shattering the four-hour mark.*

My biggest takeaway is that BoTW has a hard line for who will and won't enjoy it - intrinsic motivation or extrinsic. From personal experience I was in it for the beautiful sights and sounds of the game, as well as stumbling on the odd ruins with implied lore that I could glean from the subtext. My favorite are ruined villages with Fire Wizzrobes creepily dancing above them. Some people see it as a free fire rod, others see it as a graveyard. Or both!

3:56:35 Zelda had sneaked away from link's protection by that time, and urbosa was the one to tell him where she was. She was annoyed by his presence, and didn't realize the risk of doing so, but thankfully he arrived just in time. That's what makes it great.

Just what needed to listen to while I work the night shift It's 11:17pm in the UK Have a good day/night if youre reading this bud

I've never had to deal with a harder April Fools mixup than this video

i remember being genuinely scarred when the bokoblins shot my horse with fire arrows and i had to watch him burn to death 😭😭

I kinda wish the blood moon was fleshed out a little better. Not just respawning previously killed camps and mini bosses. It would have been cool if the entire night had the blood moon out and it made all the enemies more aggressive and/or act differently in combat because of Ganon's power being at its peak during blood moons. Maybe the enemy's would have glowing red eyes and be surging with power that they wouldn't sleep at night, and be more aware of their surroundings, making stealth a little more difficult. Or maybe it would be a little too much if combined with the health regen of master mode, even though blood moons take a while to appear again. Just something I thought about.

Zoras domain was first for me due to that perfectly placed shrine in the swamp north of Kakariko. Then, in the distance, another shrine further north, with a zora calling me to come to zoras domain.

I legitimately thought I was the only person who remembered that Kirby Squeak Squad exists and I am very happy now

I find it interesting that you wanted more overtly extrinsic rewards from the side quests, as I found myself wanting the exact opposite. Getting 100 rupees at the end of a side quest is not only a weak extrinsic incentive-it also actively undermines the point of completing that quest, making Link feel more like a mercenary for hire than a hero. There's psychological backing to this-it is well established that extrinsic incentives often undermine more powerful intrinsic incentives, and where an intrinsic motivation is already present, even a mix of the two weakens overall motivation. Removing the rewards from side-quests or better yet hiding the end reward within the quest itself (in chests, enemy drops, etc) would not only remove this underwhelming sensation, but would also add to Link's more heroic side. Some thematic or more important rewards could be kept, but removing the expectation for reward removes the need for a more or less potent reward in the first place.

God, I really need a memory wipe type of thing so I can replay this again for the first time.

1:49:52 okay you got me there with the double jump ability joke I legitimately went "Wait really?!?" and then narrowed my eyes at the rupies on the screen haha

"Everyday I wake up and someone else has made a several-hour-long BotW analysis video!" *slams wall* *crying*

For me a GREAT thing about the Ruta fight is that it introduced me to bullet time, which, if you haven't found out about it before, creates an amazing atmosphere where after ascending through the waterfall you get that beautiful visual effect of time slowing down while shooting

I always get around the 'carry a melting ice block through the desert ruins' puzzle by equipping an ice sword. Don't have to worry about the dessert shade or fighting enemies then.

Played through this game together with my partner at the time while she suffered through an intense episode of extreme depression and disassociation. She said she felt like Link, trying to put her memories back together. It was the last time we were really happy before it ended and I'll always love the game for that. Thanks for reading.

I strongly believe that if the sequel implements dungeons and temples with the same level of magnificence as in previous zelda games, has new enemies, ups the story a little and maybe adds some new epic tunes during more crucial sequences and boss fights - it's going to be basically the perfect game.

1:17:28 "did you say "best Noble Pursuit ever"? pfft, I am GONE!" I love this so much. this whole dramatic "uuuuugh. I'm dyinggggg." thing goes right out the window and she shrugs it off like it was just an act. The contrast makes it one of the funniest moments in the whole game.

Tackling this monster as I play through the game. I must say, as a first time Zelda player, this game is simply amazing.

I have to say, the lord of the mountain on satori mountain is meant as a remembrance to Satoru Iwata, who died during development of this game. so not being able to tame the spirit of the mountain, is sort of probably a respect thing, and I don't think I'd say its a downside.

The Blight Ganons being reused in Champion’s Ballad definitely supports your idea that those boss fights were originally supposed to be against corrupted versions of the champions.

This is probably one of the better retrospectives I've seen for a game in a while. I really appreciate that you discuss both the good and the bad of the game without going too far in either direction.

59:44 I swear to god half of the suggestions you gave wound up in tears of the kingdom! Did someone at nintendo watch this video or are you a wizard? 3:29:50 Someone at nintendo definitely watched this video

1:48:00 Just to nitpick the nitpick a little bit, I believe Hestu's Gift is something lost in translation rather than an intentional slap in the face. In Japan where Zelda is developed, they have the Kin no unko or golden poo as a symbol of good luck. Essentially, the Japanese words for good luck and golden poo are very very similar, and the pun became a cultural thing. So Japanese players would recognize this intent behind the emblem and likely just think it was a funny reward. Obviously doesn't have any impact on the quality of this great video or BotW, but I wanted to put that out there.

I personally love how the terrain forces you off your horse, especially on the first play through. It makes you explore and appreciate the world in so much more detail.

This gives me a lot of hope for Tears of the Kingdom. The dev team won't have to worry about making the huge world from the ground up or the complex chemistry system from the beginning. Possibly even introduce more linearity as to add more story

I have always loved when a side quest reqarded me with a Piece of Heart, I genuinely believe a piece of heart is something beautiful to look at as a reward aside from expanding the life gauge.

This is exactly reviewing games, or music, or really just reviewing in general should be like. I loved how you presented evidence and didn’t put yourself up on a pedestal and I am so so so excited to see more of this type of content from you!!! You completely blew me away and totally earned that sub!!

Even though I quickly picked up on the fact that the Silent Princess was intended to be a metaphor in for Princess Zelda and I am usually pretty good about noticing overarching themes, I am surprised I never noticed the parallel between the flower only being able to bloom in the wild and Zelda's overall character arc and struggle. That in and of itself made the whole video worth it.

During my first play through of the game, after the king's spirit told me to reach for Kakariko village, I got lost, and ended up arriving to Hateno, I loved the village but experienced my first blood moon just some minutes after my arrival, I was horrified, I thought that the village was an illusion created by Ganon or something 😂 I panicked so bad thinking that the cozyness of the place was a trap

My biggest problem with BotW is that, although a fun experience overall, it can often make you feel like you're playing the game "wrong." Whether that's by accidentally discovering overly-optimized strategies to challenges as you highlight in the video, or by outright missing important content, you can over- or under-perform at almost any time. You can "intend" for players to see and do things, but when the exploration is so free-form, they will find any way possible to ruin it, both intentionally and by mistake. My playthrough had me accidentally miss a lot of important features, such as inventory expansions, parrying, shield-surfing, and more until extremely late into my first playthrough. Hell, I was specifically looking for the Master Sword from the get-go, and when I did finally find it, I had prioritized and maxed out Stamina, so I couldn't even draw it until an unknown amount of time later (the game doesn't explicitly tell you that you're lacking hearts, so it could just as easily be assumed as story-related). This really hampered my enjoyment of the game outside of the raw exploration, and it's why I don't really feel the same way about BotW as most others. I think a lot of these issues would have been toned down by a smaller and more condensed map, though I definitely would miss the sheer scale and majesty of the one exemplary feature the game did offer.

Finally finished this video, and I gotta say, I agree with like 95% of what you said, which is... really impressive considering how much was said lmfao My favorite thing you brought up was "maybe the world shouldn't have been so big." It's the type of conclusion that I've thought this entire time, but was never really able to put into words. The amount of world they made paired with the amount of content they made for it feels like they made an entire cake base, but only had a spoonful of icing for it. It's so weird. It's like, when I played through the game, I loved it, I had such a good, cathartic time exploring the world. And yet, even then, when I first played it, and especially now, I always said, "BotW is a GREAT game... but it's not a good Zelda game." And I think this idea of the world being so "empty" is what causes this. The Great Plateau, and then Eventide, are really the only parts of the game that felt like "survivalist adventure," where everything was new, mechanics were new, things were difficult, and everything was STILL really big. After this though, especially after the first Divine Beast or two, the game, to me, felt less like a "survival adventure" game, and more like... a hike. In watching your video, that's what I felt like was the best word for it, for me. A hike. The vast majority of positives I felt regarding the game were the types of things I could equate to going for a walk through the forest, or jogging along the beach. Certainly excellent and fun things, which is why I still enjoyed the game. But... not really an "adventure." For me personally, at least, I wouldn't call a "hike" an adventure. Because a hike is primarily you just doing things you already do frequently (walking...), but just in new scenery. And that's what BotW was, after its beginning section. Everything was already introduced, and this paired with how open-ended everything had to be, I felt like I'd already experienced everything, and everything else was just there for the spectacle of it. Sight seeing. VERY little challenge, basically no new enemy types, no real new mechanics or dungeons. And, as someone who is a HUGE sucker for aesthetics, the dungeons being identical was also a MAJOR blow even in the sight-seeing aspect, so those were just a pretty low point in the game for me. Ultimately, it's like... I think what BotW did was pretty good. Plenty of room for improvement, but it also served REALLY well for just an open-world playground of nature and physics. It's just that... this isn't why I'm playing a Zelda game. I want cool new items, fun side quests that feel rewarding to accomplish, insanely cool dungeons that look and play awesome with sick enemies and bosses. The items are especially important, even the FIRST Zelda game gave you a unique new tool in each dungeon that either allowed you to complete later dungeons, or access goodies in the overworld you couldn't before. Metroid and Castlevania are always the games considered first for the... well, "Metroidvania" category, but I can't help but feel like Zelda ties into that too. Some games more than others, sure, but there's this idea of backwards progression quite a bit once you finally get a certain item that allows you to finally tackle a certain side quest or whatever. It makes doing the thing to get the item feel good, makes the item itself cool, and makes you feel good for using it. I think this is why the Great Plateau is the only section of BotW that really felt "Zelda"-y to me, despite its lack of real dungeons/bosses. It's because, after each "dungeon," I got a cool new tool that I could then use in the overworld. It made me feel like I was actually having an adventure, discovering new things, growing stronger, getting new toys to play with. So, in general, it's like, I really enjoyed BotW, but as a Zelda game, it strays SO far that I can't help but resent it. It's good on its own, but if this is the direction they just take the series in now? What's gonna happen to all of the aspects that made people love the other Zelda games, myself included? The other Zelda games akin to BotW will still be enjoyable in the same way, I imagine, but, if it "replaces" the series, it'll be leaving an itch forever unable to be scratched again. The worry may be unwarranted, though, considering how much Nintendo shakes things up with each new Zelda title, but considering our next big Zelda game is going to be a direct sequel to BotW, I am a little worried. We'll just have to see, though! Like you said, most of the development time for BotW was spent getting things, like, set up. Now, they have all the development to just focus on fine-tuning what's already here, and expanding on what's already been built. Great retrospective, there's really a lot to talk about this game lol, I eat it up. I'd love to see more content like this, too! Your script was extremely eloquent and you edited the whole thing INSANELY well (I know how tedious it is to organize clips, especially with how many different clips/topics you go over lol). Keep it up my man

Hearty Retrospective is an understatement. This is a huge project and a masterpiece that works even if today wasn't April the 1st.

For the rain part, in my opinion I think there should have been some later game upgrade, like when you level up the climbing gear twice, where you would be able to climb when it’s raining. This would give the climbing gear more use and reward late game players with making the game less annoying because of rain

Thanks! I watched this a while ago and then went back and watched a couple sections. Very thorough and well done. All the best.

me watching the new justice league: this is too long i can’t watch this me watching this video: wow the video is over already

You are one of the most talented RU-vidrs I've ever seen. This video is proof of that. You put some of the most effort into editing, writing and polish I've seen into this project and I have nothing but praise for you. Thank you MockRock.

When I first clicked on this video, I thought it was thirty minutes. Then, two minutes in, I looked at the runtime and my brain did a backflip.

It’s really crazy watching this after totk came out and seeing how some of your criticisms were implemented in to the new game! Devs really listen to some things

Can't avoid thinking about the effort you needed to create this video, much respect.

Mockrock uploading a 4 and a half hour BOTW review on April Fool's day is more than my brain can deal with

Somehow watching you point out the flaws in this game and agreeing with most of them, I actually feel like picking it up again after not playing for over a year

This was your first retrospective video? Amazing. Well done. It was so well put together. Watched it in stages (obviously?), but it never felt redundant. It never felt like you were complaining, either. Some of these types of videos can go that way. I look forward to seeing more from you.

"in the same way that it's unfair to criticise the game for failing to give link a shotgun" lmao

theres actually lore that says the towers connect at Hyrule castle so link activating one tower would activate them all and also alert Ganon although a causal player would likely never come across it.

One small note: You can buy 3 fireproof elixirs from an NPC at the stable that's near Death Mountain. (I think it's called Foothill Stable)

I have to say, even though this video was 4 hours, it was so well paced I didn't even realise how long I've actually watched after 2 hours

this is truly the pinnacle of the "video essay" format, you have perfected it to a point where you have me engaged with your pointed for well over 4 hours, that is absolutely insane and you deserve SO much more praise than you get. if you enjoyed making this I strongly encourage you to make more of these, you've earned every bit of respect I can offer. you are a light on this dark platform

thankfully, even though i still cook hearty meals, i still have fun throwing together ingredients for interesting recipes like cakes, crepes, pies, curries, etc simply because i find enjoyment in it. but goddamn do i wish those were more useful 💀

It’s incredible that pretty much every problem you bring up in this video is solved In Tears of the Kingdom. Especially the new traversal options and heroes being able to help in combat.

I have well over 300 hours in this game... And you still taught me stuff about it. Like the crumbling structures framing landmarks. I had no idea about it and now playing it's the first thing I see. Amazing video.

"It's the kind of game that leaves so much room for improvement that it could be rendered obsolete by a good sequel."- Nerrel

Would Eventide and the Great Plateau really be so memorable and fun every time if the whole game was like that? I love both segments too but I recognize that much of their appeal comes from them being different from most of the game.

I finished the game twice, once in normal and once in the new master mode - and just now I learned about the shield trick! This game is so deep and amazing

You described the world perfectly. The world is somehow grounded and whimsical at the same time

It’s been three months, man! Where have you b- I see. Jokes aside, this video is fantastic. I love longform content and I love your voice and style. Pair them together and you have a video that makes an entire day amazing.

"I apologize if this video seems sparse in content" I'll let it slide just this once because I like you

It is worth noting that the quest with the little zora girl and hylian man, the original japanese dialogue between these two characters did not feature any sort of romantic tone whatsoever, the whole romance thing was something that whoever translated or localized the game to english, they pulled the thing out of their ass and decided to put that into the game. Can't say for sure whether by mistake or purpose, but some of the dialogue has been so heavily altered or outright changed that it's hard to believe it was just a genuine localization mishap.

you know the retrospective is full of heart if it is 4 and a half hours long

Actually, we know other people can see the ghosts because Yunobo, the worst successor, gets to wave hello to daruk! Which takes ALL the bite out of Mipha's regrets when you know her family could pull out a telescope, aim it at vah ruta's trunk, and start beatboxing in Morse Code or something.

This is such a nuanced and fair review. I expected your stated "subjectivity" from the beginning to be a justification for giving unfair criticisms, but all of your criticisms hit the mark SO well and were extremely valuable. I found myself agreeing with pretty much all of them, despite the fact most of them were things I didn't initially pay any mind to.

Something I wished the game had is after beating Ganon, Hyrule castle is freed of all monsters and Guardians. Zelda could maybe be found as an NPC somewhere. And also at any point you can bring Ganon back

ill probably comment this on every botw video for years to come but finding the master sword after going through the lost woods without being spoiled about any of it was one of the best moments ive ever had in gaming

May I just note that your points regarding the voice acting are fully validated by Age of Calamity. Same voice actors, *far* better execution. (Also, Urbosa's voice actress also does Ymir in Attack on Titan, and does so perfectly.)

Gonna be honest, I was expecting 4 1/2 hours of a black screen

I think some of the horse problems actually stem from your attachment to Your Horse--because while stables are few and far between, _horse packs_ aren't. I've gotten some very silly very entertaining game play out of horse thieving my way through the game and never really registering any of them. As long as the bond is good an unsaddled horse will still behave and wait near where you leave it, and it leaves you more opportunities to try different methods of catching them because you're going to be catching dozens and dozens of horses during the game