Breath of the Wild was a new start for
the series in many ways. It was a return to the roots of the Zelda
series, but at the same time the next step in its evolution. After
years of repeating the Ocarina of Time Formula of a semi-Open World
Breath of the Wild, for the fist time since the first game, offer a
truly open Hyrule. From the get go you could go anywhere you wanted.
The only restricting factor was you.
But this open approach to the game
design wasn't the only way in which Breath of the Wild broke with
Zelda tradition. Earlier this year Eji Aonuma announced that this
would be the first Zelda title to receive paid DLC. And the reception
to this was... mixed.
And understandably so. The initial
announcement was kept very vague. We only knew that the first part of
the DLC would arrive in Summer and the second one, containing a new
Storyline and Dungeon, would come around the end of this year. And
then we were told that you only can purchase both DLCs together as a
season pass for 20$.
This is quite the heavy investment for
something we know so little about. Luckily over time Nintendo
unveiled more and after e3 we had a pretty good idea of what to
expect. And while I'm really looking forward to the second DLC The
Champion's Ballad, which will serve as an epilogue to the main game,
the first offering The Master Trials still looked somewhat sketchy.
It released on June 30th and after checking it out thoroughly let's find out if it is enough incentive to return to Hyrule once more or if you'd better wait until you spent your hard earned money on it.
The Master Trials:
We'll start with the cold hard facts.
The Master Trials consists of two big pieces of content surrounded by
several smaller additions and quality of life improvements.
Master Mode serves as this games Hero
Mode, but instead of simply upping the Damage Monsters deal and maybe
mirroring the game world, like in older games, it does a lot more. Of
course the higher damage is still a core part, but in addition the
game also shuffles monsters around. For example you'll now encounter
a Lynel right there on the Great Plateau. Also nearly all monsters in
the game have been upgraded. This means instead of red Bokoblins
you'll encounter the Blue Version from the get go. Also all Monsters
now have regenerating health. So no hit and run tactics. And lastly
the Mode introduces a new type of foe. Golden Enemies are even
stronger than the silver variant. Fighting a Golden Lynel is an
incredible feeling and the surest way to breaking all of your weapons
trying to empty it's massive health bar.
All in all Master Mode makes an already
challenging game even more challenging, but for me it's not really an
incentive to start a new playthrough immediately. It doesn't add
anything truly new to the game, which alters the experience. Since
its launch I have spend over 300 hours in Breath of the Wild and just
adding a higher difficulty isn't enough to spend another 300. At
least for me.
Also it sill leaves a bad aftertaste
that a feature that was included in older titles from the start is
now sold as DLC, even if Master Mode is better than the older Hero
Mode.
The other huge new addition to the game
is the Trial of Sword. After installing the DLC and starting the game
a voice informs you that Link is now ready to finally unlock the true
power of the Master Sword. Of course you have to acquire the Master
Sword first. When returning to the Deku Tree after receiving the
message, he'll tell you about the Trial of the Sword. To enter this
challenge you'll simply have to return the Sword to it's pedestal.
The Trial itself takes place in an
interesting environment. It's clearly inside a Shiekah Shrine, but
there are also pieces of the Overworld inside. This creates a really
cool artificial looking place. Having the futuristic looking walls
coupled with trees and Bokoblin Camps is a cool visual.
But I have completed Breath of the
Wild, found all 120 Shrines and have all Armor upgraded to the
maximum, is this Trial even challenging for me? Well if you ask
yourself this then I have good news. Yes it absolutely is. Because it
uses a simple, yet effective little twist, that already created on of
the best Hidden Shrine Quests in the Game.
You see once you enter the Trial of the
Sword you'll be stripped of all your equipment and inventory. Link
starts this challenge completely naked. You have to complete the
challenges ahead with only the items you find on your way. And the
challenge ramps up pretty quickly. Soon you'll face black Lizalfos,
Hinox and so forth. And with no armor these enemies will hurt you a
lot.
The Trial of the Sword is great content
and a lot of fun, simply because it's the quintessence of what makes
Breath of the Wild so great. You continuously need to adapt to your
surroundings using only your wits and the items you find along the
way.
Because of that I don't think it's fair
to compare the Trial to the simple gauntlet style challenge caves of
older games. These could be ''outleveled'' to some extent. Here
you'll have to truly master the game in order to complete the Trial.
And even the reward is not too shabby. After beating the Trial of the
Sword the Master Sword will unlock it's true power. From that Moment
on forth it will always deal it's full 60 damage even when you're not
fighting Guardians. It still has to recharge after some time, but now
it's actually a very powerful weapon all over the World.
Apart from this two bigger features the
DLC also includes the new Heros Path feature, a teleportation rune
and new outfits for Link to wear.
The Heros Path is a cool feature that
maps the path you have taken while traversing the vast world of
Hyrule. It's especially helpful in narrowing down places you haven't
visited and should be a great help in finding the last couple of
missing Shrines. But this feature shouldn't be sold as a DLD, period.
The Traveler Medallion is in the same
vein. It allows you to place down a rune anywhere in the World to
which you then can teleport. With 120 Shrines and 15 Shiekah Towers
there are enough places to teleport too already, but nonetheless this
rune is a welcome improvement. It can help in a lot of cases,
especially with those hidden shrine quests which can only be solved
at specific times.
But both these features have the
problem that they should have been included in the base game or at
least be patched in for free. Quality of Life improvements should
never be sold separately. This is maybe acceptable in Free to Play
games, but not in a title which is sold at full price already.
The last part of the Master Trials are
several new outfits for Link. These include Tingles Outfit.
Majoras Mask.
Midnas Helmet.
Korok Mask.
And the Phantom Armor.
What I really liked about the new
outfits was how they got included. You don't simply get them handed
over to you, but you have to find them first. This suits the kind of
game Breath of the Wild is extremely well. It starts with side quests
appearing in your logs. These then lead you to a journal in which you
find hints on where to find the armor pieces.
Including DLC Armor this way is
perfect, because it creates a new incentive to venture out in the
world and explore it again. It was a lot of fun tracking down the
Treasure Chests and figuring out the hints. My only gripe is that the
Treasure Chests containing the Armor pieces could have been spread
better across the whole map. They are pretty concentrated in one
area.
Conclusion:
Since starting the practice Nintendo
has been pretty hit and miss with their DLC. For every Mario Kart 8
or Hyrule Warriors we get a New Super Mario Bros. 2 or Fire Emblem:
Shadows of Valentia. And sadly I have to say that the Master Trials
falls into the latter category. Both big features of the DLC have
been part of the base titles in the past. And even though the Trial
of the Sword and Master Mode are superior to their counterparts, the
Cave of Ordeals and the Hero Mode, in older titles the Upgrade
doesn't justify the price. The same goes for the Heros Path and the
Travelers Medallion which both are Quality of Life improvements,
which shouldn't be sold to you after already paying full price for
the game. So the only part of the DLC that I fully can get behind are
the new costumes, which were perfectly included. A new incentive to
once again venture into Hyrule and explore the beautiful landscape is
always welcome. Sadly the other parts of the first DLC Breath of the
Wild offers to us don't do that for me.
Now before you misunderstand me. I'm
not saying that the DLC is completely bad. Master Mode is brutal and
the Trial of the Sword dungeon is a great expansion of one of the
most entertaining Hidden Shrine Quests in the regular game. But still
the Master Trials offers mostly features that have been part of the
base game in the past. And because Nintendo decided that you can't
buy DLC for this game separately, I'll have to treat as if it cost's
10$. And when I look what Mario Kart 8 offered for 12$ I have to say
that Zelda falls short... by a lot.
With this the second DLC launching
later this years has to really outperform my expectations and maybe
I'll change my opinion. Maybe with the full package the DLC will be
worth the 20$ you pay for it. But for now I only can recommend it to
Hardcore Zelda fans, who don't have enough of the game and are
looking for even more challenges.
Conclusion (One Sentence):
The Master
Trials mostly offers features which have been part of the base game
in older titles and doesn't feel like it's truly worth half of the
20$ you pay for the DLC, but it offers a new challenge for Fans which
still want more out of the world of Hyrule.
And as always
thanks for reading
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