


Random, unremarkable, unmarked NPCs have dialogue trees that when explored fully enough can yield rewards of items, vendor shops, and even quest lines. There’s a story behind every placed object, and many of these stories are connected. One optional quest from a knight even quizzes you on the details contained in one of those books! Anything from fairytales to a knightly order’s behaviour-and-speech handbook. This on top of the endless books you’re rewarded, which are filled with in-game lore. One quest sees a retired adventurer asking your assistance in retrieving monsters’ target dummies for his adventurer-in-training, a few days later, the daughter is asking for your assistance in techniques fighting those dummies. Even the mobile-style daily quests build upon each other. It’s story-telling heavy, with loads of characters and some absurd attention to detail in NPC’s individual stories. ‘Breath of the wild clone’ is definitely inaccurate. It makes BotW (which I’ve been playing again just the last month or two) feel empty and lifeless. There is so much to do that isn’t checklisted or signposted that it really rewards you for thoroughly exploring every nook and cranny of every area. See a bunch of vegetables growing in a pattern in the ground? Pluck them all for some monsters, and a chest. Something shiny on the ground? It spawns a series of rings to run through, chest at the end. See something looks out of place? Fix it, reveal/unlock a chest. The BotW korok seed puzzles are everywhere. It’s not so much that you’ll see something in the distance and go take a look… it’s that you’ll see one thing, and on your way, you’ll trip over three or four other things, so you’re running around like a dog who’s been showered in tennis balls. It rewards explorers and lore-seekers in a way that very few games ever do.Įvery single inch of the game-world is densely-packed as hell. I am impressed as hell with this game so far.
