Warning: This Post will contain some
Gameplay Spoilers for Breath of the Wild and its upcoming DLC.
Breath of the Wild does a lot to break
the conventions of the Zelda series. It is a complete new approach to
the storied franchise and a sharp contrast to previous entries. Most
of this convention breaks appear in the Gameplay department, but some
are more outside of the game. Shortly before the game finally
launched Eiji Aonuma announced the Breath of the Wild expansion pass.
This DLC will include two packs, which would launch during Summer
2017 and during Winter 2017 respectively. It also included an
expansion pass Bonus, which included three Treasure Chests found on
the Great Plateau, where one of them included a Nintend Switch Shirt
for Link to wear.
And while most of the convention breaks
in Breath of the Wild were applauded by the fans this one was taken
with mixed feelings. Maybe it was because it cam out of the blue and
was announced only vaguely.
Nintendo is always pretty secretive
with information to their upcoming games. Well at least until the go
into overdrive shortly before release and spoil pretty much
everything. Here it was similar. We only got these vague
announcements about the DLC, but were expected to pay 20€ upfront
for something we can't fully enjoy till nearly one year later. It
left a pretty sour taste in the mouths of many people. Generally it's
always bad form when a expansion is announced before the game even
launched. Even if it is not true it gives of the picture of Content
being cut out to be sold to us separately. And now that we have the
full overview about what the first DLC will offer, I have to say that
this seems to hold true with Breath of the Wild. Everything announced
for the first pack is something that could and should've been in the
actual game from the beginning. So how about we first dissect the DLC
and then talk about its problems afterwards.
A Trial for your Wallet:
The first DLC for Breath of the Wild
offers exactly what was announced earlier. A Cave of Trials, a new
Map feature and a Hard Mode. As well as some ingame Items. For one
half of a 20€ DLC Pack this isn't much.
Trial of the Sword:
The biggest and most important part of
this content pack is surely the Trial of the Sword Challenge
''Dungeon.'' It can be entered by putting your Master Sword back in
it's socket. You'll then be stripped of all your equipment, similar
to the Eventide Island Shrine Quest. You then have to battle through
45 Rooms full of enemies, adapting and gathering equipment as you
progress. The reward is the Awakened Master Sword, which now will
deal 60 Damage all of the Time.
It's a nice idea and the mixed visual
of the Shiekah Shrine with outdoor content looks cool, but in essence
it is just another Challenge Cave, which many Zeldas offered before
as a part of the base game.
Hard Mode:
The new Hard Mode is simply that. A
Hard Mode. Enemies will now regenerate their Health, so you have to
finish them off quickly. Also all monsters will move up on tier. This
means the red variants will be replaced by blue ones from the get got
and a new tier of enemy will be included. So if silver Lynels give
you a a hard time, you can look forward to fighting gold ones. And
lastly all monsters will be much more observant of their
surroundings, so sneaking up on them should become more challenging
as well. But the mode won't change any Shrine Locations or Puzzles.
So if you hoped for anything like the original Zeldas 2nd
Quest or Master Quest then you'll be disappointed. So basically this
is this games Hero Mode, which in older titles was also part of the
game from the get go.
Oh yeah also some platforms will float
in the air carrying enemies and treasure to the skies above Hyurle.
Hero's Path:
And now for the last big feature of the
DLC. The Hero's Path.
It will record all your movements
across Hyrule for up to 200 hours. This makes it easier to spot areas
of the world which you haven't visited so far and maybe allow you to
hunt down those last remaining Korok Seeds or Shrines. Overall it's a
great feature, but for the love of Miyamoto why is it paid DLC? Why
do I have to pay for a feature that, by all means, should have been
part of the game from the get go. A full priced game should never
offer any paid extra content which makes it easier. Even if it's just
single player. Which brings me to the next point.
Travel Medallion:
The Travel Rune is a new key item,
which allows Link to mark any place in the World for Quick Travel.
Firstly this isn't really needed. There are Shrines and Shiekah
Towers all across Hyrule.
Still it is a helpful feature for some
hidden Shrine Quests, where you have to perform an action at a
specific time of the day. With the Travel Rune you can mark the
place, adventure somewhere else and quickly return when needed. But
why again is this paid DLC?
Masks and other Stuff:
Lastly the DLC will feature some new
outfits for Link. This is expected and nice and actually the only
part of the DLC, which I have not problem with. Well not entirely.
While most of the Outfits look cool and are great Fanservice, but the
Korok Mask is once again something that should have been implemented
in the game from the get go.
The Mask will simply shake when a
hidden Korok is nearby. This is great and all, but once again
Nintendo allows you to pay to make the game easier. 900 Koroks is a
huge number and I have essentially given up on finding all of them
(especially because the Reward is not worth it). But by making this
Mask a DLC item Nintendo tells its customers. Do you have Trouble
finding all hidden Koroks in our full price game? Well if you give us
some more money we may be able to help you. It just leaves a bitter
aftertaste in my mouth.
Hit or Miss:
So apart from the Trial of the Sword
and the fanservice costumes this DLC includes only additions, which
should have been part of the game from the get go. Gameplay wise it
offers next to nothing. I don't think the Trial of the Sword will
take more than one afternoon to complete and the new Hard Mode is
hardly any incentive to start the game anew. And honestly selling the
Map feature, the Travel Rune and the Korok Mask to us for real money
is a pretty bad move by Nintendo. A someone, who hates scummy DLC
practices I can't give Nintendo a pass, just because they are my
favorite gaming company.
Nintendos DLC has always been kinda hit
and miss and so far it seems like Breath of the Wild will fall into
the miss category. Of course we don't know anything about the second
DLC, which will launch later this year and include a new Dungeon and
Story chapter, but honestly I don't think it will reach the magnitude
of, for example, The Witcher 3 DLC.
So far the 20€ they want for this
season pass haven't been worth it at all. In fact I would go as far
as calling the current offering of DLC for Breath of the Wild lazy
and uninspired. It's definitely not worthy of such a great game. But
what could Nintendo have done better?
Well that always depends of what you
expect from a DLC. Should it build on the core strengths of a title
and merely expand on them, or should it try something new and work on
the problems of the main game?
I would argue that Breath of the Wild
is a strong game on it's own and there isn't a glraring flaw that
could be fixed by a DLC. So Nintendo should instead focus on building
on the titles core strengths. Here is an example:
Kiltons Monster Madness:
Kilton is a strange merchant fascinated
by monsters. After you found him for the first time in Akkala, he'll
appear next to villages during the night. He sells you unique items
in exchange for monster parts. He also offers kind of a side quest.
For slaying all Molduga, Hinox and Talux Minibosses on the Overworld
respectively you'll earn a medal. But what if he would ask more of
you? Kiltons Monster Madness could be him asking you to delve into
specific monster infested areas to help with his research. These
could be new (Caves, Underground Ruins, etc.) or preexisting
locations, which have been overrun by Monsters. Small side missions
where you have to fight hordes of a specific enemy. As reward you
could get special weapons or items, which help you in fights against
those monsters and of course tons of materials.
Another Monster Madness idea would be
Link having to find and hunt a specific strong monster. Kilton tells
you about a powerful Moblin/Bokoblin/etc. Boss, but he can only tell
you the general area, where you'll find the guy. There you'd have to
clear out enemy camps to find clues until you gathered enough to make
the Boss appear. Of course he would be a very though version of his
Monster Type and should pose a serious challenge.
Another Idea for rewards would be that
those Bosses drop special materials, which you then can use to
upgrade the Monster Masks and Dark Link Set making them even more
effective.
And lastly what if Kliton asks you to
observe Monsters and their daily routines. Link would have to follow
a group of wandering monsters without getting spotted for a specific
amount of time. The reward would be a better understanding of this
enemy type, which also makes him more effective while fighting them.
This would be an idea for the more of
the same kind of DLC. It expands on an already established character
and offers a new incentive to fight monsters and head out into the
world. Of course a real second Quest kind of Hardmode would be also
welcome. Or anything that is more than some very basic features,
which should have been part of the basic game from the get go.
But what is your take on this whole
Breath of the DLC Story? Are you happy with the first expansion pack?
Are you mad? Or do you withhold your judgement until the Story DLC is
unveiled? Let me know in the comments and if you have ideas about
Breath of the Wild DLC I would love to read them.
And as always
thanks for reading
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