Ok… Zelda so far is totally awesome.

It’s just so… different.  Not different in that it’s different from any game I’ve played before, but different in that it’s different for the Zelda franchise.

It feels like ever since Ocarina of Time, subsequent Zelda entries were more or less trying to emulate the same formula.  Start game, get item that helps you clear first dungeon.  Get to second dungeon, get item that helps you clear second dungeon…

…and so on and so forth until the credits roll.

This time around?  Here’s a bunch of weapons, here’s a bunch of bows, and bombs, and crazy abilities basically right off the bat.

Also, open world… this style of gameplay is absolutely perfect for a Zelda game.  I genuinely feel like I’m discovering my own adventure rather than having it spelled out for me.  While there is a main quest, there are side missions to be had and you can explore the world at your own pace.

While ultimately every player will reach the finale, they will have done so as if they were reading a choose your own adventure book rather than a novel.

This is good stuff, these are positive changes for the Zelda franchise.

On the negative side, the dips down to 20fps are maddening, and to be totally frank sooner or later Nintendo needs to recognize that hardware specs do matter.  I don’t mean it in a “DUDE THIS GAME CAN LOOK BETTER MY PC CAN DO 144HZ THIS IS LAME” kind of way, but in a “a dip down to 20fps is jarring and pulls the player out of the experience” kind of way.

Also, and I don’t think this is even nitpicky, but the game really needs to recognize what kind of controller you’re using.  I’m playing with the Wii U Pro Controller but every time there’s a new ability, the game shows me what button it’s tied to on the standard gamepad…

…what kind of amateur hour nonsense is that?  Like, the start and select buttons are nowhere near where they are on the gamepad.  Now, it didn’t keep me from being able to play or anything, but I can definitely understand if that confused some players.

How hard can it be for the “here’s what buttons to use” screens were controller context sensitive?

Am I taking crazy pills?

Whatever, so far it’s great!