Octopus Overlords

She is struggling a bit with the combat, which surprised me.

It does look challenging and unforgiving. She's being 1 shot or 2 shot by things. Of course maybe she's picking fights too early, I have no idea, but that is one of the dangers of an open world. Knowing what battles to pick.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 1:49 am Another midnight session for me. I completed

Spoiler:

the Wind Temple

...which I loved. Contrary to some of the dungeons in BotW, I found this one to be decipherable, in that if I stopped, took stock of the map and my surroundings, everything made sense and my goals were clear. Quite enjoyed the boss, as well. The reward is exceedingly useful, too.

I'm up to seven hearts and one extra stamina block. Still need to find some pants...

That's the one I have beaten so far. The boss was super easy, but shrug.

I just learned that some coworkers took out the Wind Temple boss with arrows (!).

? What did you use? Your teeth? It was super easy with arrows as you go into slow motion. Like I never even got hit.

Octavious wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 9:39 am ? What did you use? Your teeth? It was super easy with arrows as you go into slow motion. Like I never even got hit.

I took a hint from the icy circular areas on the ground, and dove my ass right through the boss's body whenever it tossed rocks at me. I thought that was so obvious that this was a 6-hit boss. Love how this shows that like the 'regular' puzzles, there's no one right way in this game.

I would have never of thought of that. That's what I love about this game. They give you a billion ways to solve things they way you want.

Got a chance to play for about an hour or so. Daughter loves watching me play games she is also playing or has played. So she sat beside me laughing and helping as necessary.

I told her I was in no rush, would take my time, explore, read all help, description and flavour texts and generally move along slowly and relaxed.

It was fun. Not news to any of you, but I thought I'd mention that I've started it finally.

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 2:26 pmIt was fun. Not news to any of you, but I thought I'd mention that I've started it finally.

Welcome. Cookies to your left, drinks to your right.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 1:49 am I'm up to seven hearts and one extra stamina block. Still need to find some pants...

I'm curious, you're well past the tutorial/opening part and you don't have any pants, or are looking for a particular pair of pants? Only asking because there's pants in the opening...

Nice. I must have missed that. I didn't have any when I made that post because I was saving for the Rito set which was something like $2k altogether. I'm happy to report that I now have pants. And a sweet-looking glowshirt for the underdark depths.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 9:41 am

Octavious wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 9:39 am ? What did you use? Your teeth? It was super easy with arrows as you go into slow motion. Like I never even got hit.

I took a hint from the icy circular areas on the ground, and dove my ass right through the boss's body whenever it tossed rocks at me. I thought that was so obvious that this was a 6-hit boss. Love how this shows that like the 'regular' puzzles, there's no one right way in this game.

I would never even have guessed at that. I used arrows as well. That's crazy.

I was about to start Jedi Survivor after replaying Fallen Order, but now I’m wavering, thinking I may have to go back and play BotW and then TotK.

I tried BotW and enjoyed it but also suffered from some of the issues Skinnypuppy has been talking about upthread. But I’ve always felt I should give it another go to see if I can just set aside my straight-line, task-oriented nature and dive into exploration.

We’re getting a new puppy on 6/5, part of that deal is that I am 100% in charge of the puppy for its first month. That pup is not going to be allowed upstairs in the loft where I have my media room, so it means I either move all my stuff downstairs (not happening), or I commit to working through my backlog of books I want to read. But . . . Another option would be to bust out BotW and the Switch . . . And while I’m at it, maybe I need to update that old Switch (release edition) to to the newest OLED model. For the puppy.

Sounds to me like some gaming time is coming.

One thing I'd say is that if BotW didn't quite click, especially if it's due to lack of some of the quality-of-life or sparsity stuff that's improved in TotK, it's not a requirement to play it first.

TotK is a direct follow-up, but the stories are different and it's not really a close continuation of the first. If the first may be a slog for you, you can safely skip it

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 7:56 pm One thing I'd say is that if BotW didn't quite click, especially if it's due to lack of some of the quality-of-life or sparsity stuff that's improved in TotK, it's not a requirement to play it first.

TotK is a direct follow-up, but the stories are different and it's not really a close continuation of the first. If the first may be a slog for you, you can safely skip it

For a little more on this, here's a solid non-spoilery video detailing all the little quality-of-life improvements in TotK, all in one place.

You miss out on easter eggs, but otherwise I'd agree that you could jump into the second and be fine. I'm super glad I went through the entire first game, but doing both would be a big ask. I'm probably like 20-25 hours into Tears and I only did 2 of the 4 major initial quests. There is an insane amount of stuff to do in the 2nd game. The nice thing is that you can totally ignore most of it if it isn't your cup of tea.

I was playing on the monitor yesterday and it made it stand out how good the oled Switch is. The colors look so much better handheld vs my monitor. I'm really thinking about swapping the dual monitors out for a 42 inch OLED. Only reason I'm holding out is that my wife works totally remote and needs two screens. I'm not sure how much she would love the one screen.

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 2:26 pm Got a chance to play for about an hour or so. Daughter loves watching me play games she is also playing or has played. So she sat beside me laughing and helping as necessary.

I told her I was in no rush, would take my time, explore, read all help, description and flavour texts and generally move along slowly and relaxed.

It was fun. Not news to any of you, but I thought I'd mention that I've started it finally.

Moving forward, slowly but surely. Not even to the 3rd shrine yet.

Spoilered, I guess. Just to be safe. I don't want to mess with anyone's enjoyment, even if it's not a huge deal imo.

Ya that's the biggest takeaway from the 2nd game that I have. They do a lot of things that are complicated JUST enough to make you think without making you want to bash your head in. I've have yet to find a shrine I couldn't beat once I thought a little bit about it. There were more than a few in the 1st game that made me want to toss my controller into the screen.

I'm sure I'll run into something at some point, but so far the balance between hand holding and freedom is done so well. I wish more open world games would do this. Too many will plop down everything you need to know on the map or have a freaking line that you follow. Barf

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 11:46 amI was playing on the monitor yesterday and it made it stand out how good the oled Switch is. The colors look so much better handheld vs my monitor. I'm really thinking about swapping the dual monitors out for a 42 inch OLED. Only reason I'm holding out is that my wife works totally remote and needs two screens. I'm not sure how much she would love the one screen.

Most bigger monitors have some mechanism to treat it as two medium-sized monitors side by side, so hopefully it wouldn't impact her all that much.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 12:19 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 11:46 amI was playing on the monitor yesterday and it made it stand out how good the oled Switch is. The colors look so much better handheld vs my monitor. I'm really thinking about swapping the dual monitors out for a 42 inch OLED. Only reason I'm holding out is that my wife works totally remote and needs two screens. I'm not sure how much she would love the one screen.

Most bigger monitors have some mechanism to treat it as two medium-sized monitors side by side, so hopefully it wouldn't impact her all that much.

Ya honestly I think it would be better than what we currently have. I guess "worst case" I could move it to the bedroom as we were going to replace that tv at some point anyways.

Started ToTK on Friday and it seems like I could make a push for the end at any time, but there is just so damn much to do that I find interesting that I don't feel like rushing to the end.

Sold the old Switch on eBay and got $200 and change for it since it was a an early model that was unpatched.

Got my new OLED Switch yesterday and will be firing up Zelda shortly. Looking forward to it!

Baller move.

Kurth wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 2:28 pm Sold the old Switch on eBay and got $200 and change for it since it was a an early model that was unpatched.

Got my new OLED Switch yesterday and will be firing up Zelda shortly. Looking forward to it!

Hmm it didn't occur to me that my old one would be more valuable as it's not patched either. I think my daughter might want to keep it, but 200 bucks would be pretty sweet if she doesn't.

I saw my son zipping around on something close to this and went looking for a video. I'll spoiler it but if you want an incredibly cheap, energy efficient flying machine, this is awesome:

Finished it this afternoon. Solid improvement over BotW and a bit more challenging in some parts. Final boss wasn't a total cakewalk anyway.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 9:39 pm Finished it this afternoon. Solid improvement over BotW and a bit more challenging in some parts. Final boss wasn't a total cakewalk anyway.

Holy shit, dude. I'm 30 hours in and nowhere close.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 10:43 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 9:39 pm Finished it this afternoon. Solid improvement over BotW and a bit more challenging in some parts. Final boss wasn't a total cakewalk anyway.

Holy shit, dude. I'm 30 hours in and nowhere close.

I can't see my play time (apparently because my nintendo account is linked to my son's profile) but I can guarantee it is WAY more than 30 hours. Completion percentage was only like 36%.

I skipped a lot of optional content largely because the quests and side content is so very non-specific and, frankly, annoying. It's a good thing the core gameplay is so good. In that way it is very similar to Elden Ring. Playing it blind without a guide is cool but you are going to miss a ton of stuff.

'Seeking the Pirate Hideout' was super-fun. Eventide!

Still a big hit with my daughter. She's exploring and discovering places and things. Having a great time. I set her up in the bed room so she doesn't have to share the living room TV. A bit smaller but more comfortable (bed!) and less interruptions.

She showed me a hat and pair of pants she was especially proud of.

She's 16. Almost.

Awesome, GG. That's what it's all about.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2023 1:20 pm 'Seeking the Pirate Hideout' was super-fun. Eventide!

Breaking news: this game is freaking amazing. First one in awhile (maybe Hades?) where I find hours just disappear repeatedly.

Ya I had taken a break and dove back in for a.bit today. It's digital crack as there is just so much to do. I do get killed way more than I want to admit, but eh. Even with like 10 hearts I get one shot like all the time.

I just got my first great fairy meeting last night, which should help with that.

Ya I haven't upgraded any equipment. I really should do that. I usually can only survive 2-3 hits. A lot of times it's 1 hit. Which is a bit frustrating. I'm done with 4 temples. Not sure what's next, but I'm going to take my sweet time progressing the story. I have a gigantic underground to waste time in.

I've completed two temples and am not exactly rushing to get to the third. I've just been roaming between main questline stuff, side quest stuff, and exploring towers/shrines/the overland/the sky/the other thing however it feels most fun at the moment.

Water Temple stuff:

Lightning Temple boss gave me fits yesterday. All the other ones I beat on the 1st try. Not sure if I was having a bad day or it was the hardest.

Octavious wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 3:50 pm

Kurth wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 2:28 pm Sold the old Switch on eBay and got $200 and change for it since it was a an early model that was unpatched.

Got my new OLED Switch yesterday and will be firing up Zelda shortly. Looking forward to it!

Hmm it didn't occur to me that my old one would be more valuable as it's not patched either. I think my daughter might want to keep it, but 200 bucks would be pretty sweet if she doesn't.

The new OLED Switch is really a nice improvement over the other one. No improvement at all if it's in the dock, but if you're playing handheld (like I am while I spend hours watching our new puppy), it's significantly better.

I'm making my way through BotW now. I was a little more than half way through before, but I decided to wipe my save data and start from scratch. I'm enjoying the game, but I am remembering some of the things that frustrated me the first time through. One of the biggest is navigation. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a really difficult time using the map and the mini-map together to get from one place to the next. I'll drop a stamp on the map and try to find my way to it, and often, the mini-map is so small that the stamp doesn't appear on it until I'm almost on top of it. Until then, I'm constantly opening the main map, checking where I am, closing the main map, moving on a bit, then doing it all over again.

I haven't watched the video above about quality of life improvements in TotK yet, but I'm hoping this is something they've addressed.

Kurth wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 3:49 pm [One of the biggest is navigation. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a really difficult time using the map and the mini-map together to get from one place to the next. I'll drop a stamp on the map and try to find my way to it, and often, the mini-map is so small that the stamp doesn't appear on it until I'm almost on top of it. Until then, I'm constantly opening the main map, checking where I am, closing the main map, moving on a bit, then doing it all over again.

I haven't watched the video above about quality of life improvements in TotK yet, but I'm hoping this is something they've addressed.

The bottom row of colored icons is more than a stamp, it gives you a beacon that shows the direction on the mini-map even when it is far, far away. That's what you want to be using. Pick a color and make that your next waypoint color. They are the same ones used when you hit A while in the binocular view. This is the way. TotK uses the exact same convention. You just need a kid to point you to the right tools!

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 3:52 pm

Kurth wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 3:49 pm [One of the biggest is navigation. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a really difficult time using the map and the mini-map together to get from one place to the next. I'll drop a stamp on the map and try to find my way to it, and often, the mini-map is so small that the stamp doesn't appear on it until I'm almost on top of it. Until then, I'm constantly opening the main map, checking where I am, closing the main map, moving on a bit, then doing it all over again.

I haven't watched the video above about quality of life improvements in TotK yet, but I'm hoping this is something they've addressed.

The bottom row of colored icons is more than a stamp, it gives you a beacon that shows the direction on the mini-map even when it is far, far away. That's what you want to be using. Pick a color and make that your next waypoint color. They are the same ones used when you hit A while in the binocular view. This is the way. TotK uses the exact same convention. You just need a kid to point you to the right tools!

Also, the first thing I did in both games is change the setting so the minimap is locked to North facing up. Without that setting I'm lost.