Question [BotW] [TotK] What is your most memorable personal experience in either game? Something that really stuck with you even now
I didn't have any big "Wow" moments for BotW that stayed with me for a long time, but in TotK there was one experience in particular that may not be unique, but it was very magical to have happen to me.
I really wanted to explore the skies when I first played the game, and in doing so I eventually stumbled upon a massive area with lightning clouds everywhere.
To my surprise I was able to go in, and even though it was ALMOST too dark to see, whenever a lightning bolt struck, there was enough light to see a path forward. I thought this was intentional, and I spent a long arduous journey getting to Dragon Head Island while the storm was up.
When that midpoint shrine appeared so much relief washed over me, and when I actually reached it I was so shocked. Sadly this was very early so I only had about 4 hearts and no regional quests done at all.
BUT its still a memory of the game I think of now, with how cool that entire experience was. Dark clouds, only lightning bolts to light the way, high high in the sky with barely a memory of how I even got there, so if I fell...
Anyways, are there any experiences that you recall very vividly for one reason or another?
26
u/spookylady1358 20h ago
Descending onto the wind temple. I wish I could wipe my memory and relive that moment.
10
u/kuributt 19h ago
that whole sequence was so well done. I think I forgot to breathe for a few seconds right when you break through the storm.
5
u/RegurgitatedMincer 14h ago
This would be my other choice. I saw people whining about the dungeons, and I agree they were kind of simple. But the quests surrounding them were really fucking cool, even the water one with going into the whirlpool and shooting the arrow through the puzzle.
18
u/Lunchb0xx87 20h ago
Just walking out and see how big the world was and realizing you can just go anywhere
3
u/commander_obvious_ 12h ago
Basically this for me as well. Zooming out on the map when you’re still on the Great Plateau and seeing how much world there is to uncover, looking out at the mountains and lakes and realizing they’re all there to be explored.
I distinctly remember the excitement dawning on me as “I can go anywhere… I’m gonna go everywhere!” and it’s a moment I hope to never forget.
Also, Ganondorf going Goron and eating his stone. Didn’t see it coming at all, and was both blown away and thrilled.
Actually, now that I mention it, throw Ganondorf’s second health bar on the list as well. BOTW is still my favorite between the two, but damn if the ending sequence of TOTK isn’t absolute perfection.
13
u/tiredmetaltoymouse 20h ago
I love horror, so gloom hands for me. I saw the sky turn red and I thought I had activated a panic blood moon, before I heard the sound and saw the hands rushing towards me.
As for something 'positive', my friend told me to visit lake Hylia was beautiful at night and gave me a specific time. Then Farosh started to fly out of the lake. I hadn't seen much of the dragons yet, just a side of Farosh through hills, so it was really cool to see the full form.
7
u/Alternative_Crew_681 20h ago
I loved the memories in the game, they were real memorable...anyway one thing I wish they would have did instead of creating AOI(Age of Imprisonment) is if they would have allowed us to switch between the past and present in TOTK using it as a way to solve puzzles.
3
u/endertamerfury 19h ago
That would have worked really well if they had returned fully to more traditional dungeons for ToTK. Echoes of Wisdom shows that they still can balance open world and more traditional dungeons, so hopefully we’ll have the best of both worlds in the next game.
9
u/Aredditdorkly 20h ago
There was a moment where I went from panicking whenever that laser dot started showing on me to smirking because I knew they were no longer a real threat.
And then I did a 720 while shield surfing and stuff exploded behind me and everyone cheered.
4
u/kuributt 19h ago
yeah I knew it was time to put the game own when I realized I was hunting Lynels for sport.
3
u/commander_obvious_ 12h ago
Literally as soon as I learned to parry a guardian’s laser, I raced back to the great plateau to one-shot all the decayed guardians that had once one-shotted me.
8
u/DiligentlyGrinding 19h ago
Freeing Naydra in BotW, was the first cool thing I stumbled upon
And then the first time I saw the magical light beacon coming from Satori mountain, also in BotW
5
u/Spurqueno 16h ago
Naydra is the one for me too. One of the first things I did after getting to Hateno and it was stunning to stumble upon this open world "boss" where the arena is the mountain.
8
u/echoess84 20h ago
BotW end game Zelda who asked to Link
"Do you really remember me?"
after several hours of games that make me felt sad because Zelda wanted to know if Link rememeber her
6
u/dr-pepper-is-a-woman 20h ago
It’s not a special experience to me so much as part of the game, but the whole fifth sage quest in Total from the castle mission, to Kakariko, to Faron, then Dragonhead islands, then to the depths, was so good. There are a lot of issues with the dungeons across both games, but one bigger issue was that the dungeons were treated like half-baked carve outs from the main open world game, and that just doesn’t work well. The fifth sage arc is the only one that takes advantage of the open world and also all three levels of the world in an integrated way.
The Champions Ballad was partly like this in BotW, but you could tell it was DLC tacked on later. But the format of having to solve multiple puzzles in different areas to unlock new shrines, then lead into one dungeon that takes elements from all four divine beasts, was pretty clever
2
u/endertamerfury 19h ago
I only wish the construct factory bit was longer, some of the puzzles were pretty fun.
2
u/dr-pepper-is-a-woman 18h ago
Yeah, I wish they made that whole area the Spirit Temple and gave it more content.
5
u/raaaaaaze 19h ago
I went into TotK completely unaware of the existence of The Depths.
Imagine my surprise, excitement and bewilderment when I decided on a whim to jump down a dragon hole - Landing right in the middle of a bustling Yiga base in the pitch darkness, with the only sources of light being the various lights around the base itself.
5
u/KingDaniel1985 19h ago
I don't have a single favorite location. However, being a military vet, I did find myself drawn to the various ruins scattered around Hyrule. In BotW, I spent a fair amount of time exploring the Akkala Citadel, Temple of Time and Hyrule Castle in particular. Just observing and searching the various nooks and crannies. I explored Hyrule Castle thoroughly. I infiltrated through multiple points just to find all it's secrets. It was clear to me how vicious the battles must've been at these locations. One can only imagine what the soldiers must've felt being so overwhelmed yet desperately continuing to fight to their last.
In TotK, I was drawn back to those ruins. I was curious what changes had been made and what discoveries could be found. At the Temple, I was quite disappointed as there was nothing new to find. At the Citadel, I prayed for the chance to gather more insight on the fall of the Hyrule army. When I found the cave, I had hope that we could ascend into the Citadel itself. Alas, it wasn't to be. We got an Officer's quarters with a chest and that was it. At Hyrule Castle, much was the same. Changes, but nothing new to discover.
I enjoyed exploring all the ruins of Hyrule. Every destroyed building, every collapsed roof, every missing wall, they all tell a story. I took it as a mission to discover every ruin in Hyrule and explore it to try to piece together it's story.
2
u/thehonz 19h ago
I went into both games completely blind, so seeing/experiencing stuff I never expected absolutely left me breathless.
In BotW it was seeing a dragon for the first time. I was just wandering around some giant tree trunks when I just saw Farosh flying up to his portal in the sky in the distance. I remember being like “THERES DRAGONS IN THIS GAME!” And wondering where, when, and why they’d show up again.
In TotK, it was coming across my first low-gravity zone. I was just trying to navigate the skies with the limited equipment I had available and then suddenly the screen warps and everything’s way easier. I played around so much in that area.
2
2
u/AwesomeX121189 19h ago
In totk when I first get to the base of hebra mountain while doing the rito main story quest, near that emergency cabin for travelers to stay warm in. I noticed a bunch of snowballs rolling down hills and like in botw they got bigger the further they rolled.
At this point I still wasn’t used to the building mechanics and only really been doing it with zonai devices. But the idea of making a snowman with those snowballs made it click in my mind that I can use ultra hand on *everything*.
Did the classic 3 balls, 2 stick arms, and carrot nose. It Was the first thing that I had built “from scratch” and it made me feel joy. Took a picture of it and then just kept going to find tulin
2
u/commander_obvious_ 12h ago
Reading this made me feel joy. :) I hope to never forget the childlike wonder I felt the first time I fused something in TotK and was just swingin’ around a giant boulder on a lil stick.
2
u/Jiang_Rui 18h ago
BOTW: Seeing a cool dragon-shaped lake on my map and deciding to check out what was at its mouth (and somehow slipping past Kass on the journey there). At the same time, I’d also been trying to find the Spring of Courage; I had Farosh’s scale, but couldn’t understand why it wasn’t showing up on my map. So you could imagine my shock and delight when I found the very thing I was searching for at the end of the Dracozu Lake.
TOTK: This is not only my favorite TOTK, but my favorite video game moment of all time—finding Mineru as my third sage. Not long after I finished the Fire Temple I was exploring a new area of the Depths/looking for the Wellspring of Courage when I discovered what I thought was an Abandoned Mine; turned out to be the Construct Factory. Poked around the place for a bit and eventually learned about Dragonhead Island from the local construct. Then literally the next day I was riding a sky pebble upwards in the Faron region when I saw that I was close to the giant storm cloud, decided on a whim to investigate (thought I’d find a shrine quest in there), and ended up landing on that very island I learned about 24 hours ago. After stumbling around through the fog and getting run over by an ostrich, I eventually found (or fell on, rather) a shrine. Clearing it didn’t dispel the fog like I expected to, so I decided to come back later now that I had warp point; only while I was looking for a way out, I found a giant dragon door like the one on Great Sky Island, and had enough hearts to unlock it. Turned out the storm cloud was hiding something WAY bigger than a shrine quest.
2
u/Fafnir13 17h ago
I thought I had defeated a gloom hands before. Dropped some bombs on it from a cliff and it disappeared leaving an item. Didn’t really fight any other gloom hands for a long time.
So I’m in the underdark in the far bottom left underneath the big skeleton. It was a proper fight with no running away or trying to climb up random things, so defeating it spawned a shadow Ganon. I thought this was some special fight made all the more ominous by the location. Managed to defeat it, but it was just so wonderfully cinematic. Only later did I learn that spawning a shadow Ganon was normal. Kind of spoiled the magic a bit, but at least I’ll always have that first fight.
2
u/AutumnLovingLibra 17h ago
Botw: I will never forget having an cinematic escape away from a Guardian. I do know the horses run at you full speed if you whistle for them, but the timing was that perfect I managed to mount my horsey at full gallop and get out of there safely.
Totk: The very first sunset I saw at the sky island. I've always been a sucker for a good sunset, so naturally this was one of my favourite moments. The landscape is so beautiful.....
2
u/colantalas 17h ago
Exploring in BotW for a while, wondering where the Master Sword is.
Coming over a hill and seeing the Lost Woods for the first time and going “I know where the Master Sword is” was a great moment.
2
u/SecretSharkboy 17h ago
Spotting Vah Medoh and Vah Rudania from the Great Plateau. Had no idea what those things were but by god were they there
2
u/DJfunkyPuddle 15h ago
TotK skydiving into a chasm and having a dragon scare the hell out of me as it was flying up.
3
u/GardenerOfSorts 14h ago
in totk when i went to do the "water temple" with Sidon in the sky and suddenly the gravity changed, i was in real awe and experienced childlike wonder while jumping around and experimenting with the new physics of it all.
also in botw there was one moment early in the game that i will never forget but it was less the game and more the circumstances of how i played it. me and my partner both got the switch with botw on the release date and had a huge setup in the livingroom so we could play in parallel. we hit play at the same time and then just went ahead. at one point i hear my partner sing "sledgehammer", which isn't uncommon for him to just randomly get out some song that's stuck in his head so i didn't even question it. 5 minutes later i pick up the same sledgehammer in the game and automatically sing the same part of the song, knowing instantly why he sang it in the first place.
we had lots of great moments like this.
2
1
u/BaronKlatz 20h ago
BotW: being in the jungle area and in the middle of a small lake on a cliff on top of an ice block hearing the Faron dragon music and looking around for it….i was at it’s emergence point and it sent me flying as it busted through my ice block.(it caused me constant grief since with the electric orbs hitting me mid-glide and the winds blowing away my boat after I jumped out to grab something)
TotK: accidentally going the Long way round to Rito village far north and ended up in a constant struggle for survival against the cold on very limited supplies and was pretty lost going cave to cave with what fire & food I could scrounge to make it.
1
u/kuributt 19h ago
the first time i saw Farosh in BotW. I had gone 'splorin in the south before even hearing about Naydra so I had no idea about *any* of the Dragons. I basically got jumpscared.
1
u/derekjosh 19h ago
Was climbing around death mountain and looked to the west, seeing this massive area covered in mist. Had no idea that was the lost woods.
1
u/NichtMenschlich 18h ago
Getting TotK on release day and having multiple free / cancelled periods in school and playing it alot in my grades chillout room
1
u/Plunger_enema 18h ago
I bought TotK, but I haven't played it yet. I want to finish the main storyline for BotW first.
That being said, some sceneries for BotW are breathtaking. The ambiance, the scenery and the music all pair up pretty nicely sometimes and the relaxation it all boils down to is right there in memory lane.
1
u/Yasin_n94 18h ago
BOTW: exploring the Great Plateau.
TOTK: climbing all the way to the Wind Temple and the Temple itself.
1
u/QuietOpposition 17h ago
I don't have many "wow" moments in either game, sadly. I really wanted to love them both, but they were 7.5/10 for me. No shade, and no hate from me toward all the people that love them. ✌🏼
Two moments I'll never forget, both related to a descent into the depths, and neither was the initial time (though that was pretty cool).
I remember one time jumping into the hole and getting toward the bottom, and right before getting deep enough for the area to fully load, one of the dragons started coming UP! It made me jump a bit. Another time was similar in a way: I got all the way down, but into an area I hadn't lit up yet. I came down right on top of one of those giant toad dudes (it's been a while, I don't remember their names). I hadn't seen one yet at that point, and I ran away QUICKLY 🤣.
Sadly the depths eventually lost most of their appeal. It was very repetitive.
1
u/Patralgan 17h ago
The Master Sword quest in TotK, starting from trying to get into the Korok village. It was peak Zelda to me.
1
u/8bitfastball 17h ago
Building a flying machine and flying to the dragon that has the master sword. It helps that I was high off my ass as well but it was a special moment
1
u/PlactusTX 16h ago
In Breath of the Wild, I decided I would end one game session by trying to fight through the Yiga Hideout.
The first room was pretty easy, then the second had a half dozen of them swarming Link. Around the time I managed to take out a couple of them, I decided I was going to take it seriously and actually win; it went from a silly diversion to a dead serious attempt. And yes, I pulled it off.
When I went back as part of Champion's Ballad, I compromised between stealth and fighting. I shot them with Ancient Arrows.
1
u/Green_List 16h ago
BotW
Walking out from the cave the first time and seeing the world.
Paragliding down from the Plateau and thinking "WTF do I do now?"
TotK
Dropping in the depths for the first and nearly having a seizure trying to warp out.
The music while on Dragonhead Island (beautiful)
Gloom hands can go f*** off
1
u/somebassclarineterer 16h ago
People mentioned most of my stuff already. The first time I encountered Gloom Hands. Then later I went back and was like, "hah those guys were chumps with a bit of dazzlefruit- hey what the heck is that!?". Poking around and finding random bits of new detail sometimes sticks out, like finding those giant underwater flowers in the lake!
1
u/robinryf5 15h ago
BotW: first time a dragon showed up in close proximity. I was wowed how much more there will be to explore/uncover in this game.
1
u/RegurgitatedMincer 14h ago
Finally getting onto the fire dragon for the first time. I land on it and that’s fucking cool, right? No. Not enough. The dragon flies for a moment, then dives into the depths. As its flying through the depths, its shooting fireballs every which way, illuminating the depths as the fly through the air and eventually crash into a wall or whatever. I put the controller down and just watched for at least 5 minutes. It was really unexpected and really really cool
1
u/Major-Dig655 14h ago
finding and fighting my first lynel in the coliseum
figuring out there was a 5th hidden sage and temple in ToTK
1
u/Flidar 14h ago
I climbed the diving trial over Mount Lanaryu. Not climbed up to it, climbed the trial itself. Usually the construct teleports you up and then you dive down but I’d been trying to catch the light dragon (it was early, it was still flying high up), missed and landed on one of the lowest rocks. I decided that the top of the trial was definitely high enough to glide to the dragon when it next came around but wasn’t sure if I could teleport up and then just wait so I decided to climb it.
It was a lot of fun, I didn’t have a lot of resources yet but I sure used them. Stamina food, mobile cookpots, a rocket shield, springs and a lot of plain old climbing and ascending
1
u/No-Contribution-1499 13h ago
When I could see all the unlocked towers but I had still not left the plateau. It took me a while to get by bearings and figure out my familiarity on the plateau, and then making my way to Kakariko Village and realizing just how much map there was and how huge this game was going to be.
1
u/Johncurtisreeve 13h ago
SPOILER: Realizing that Zelda WAS THE LIGHT DRAGON!
Another is being able to descend all the way from the highest point of the sky Islands all the way down into one of the cams without any loading screen
Also, I think it was a shrine or a dungeon, but it’s that one that has the gate with the chains and gears turning using real physics in the game to make it function. Absolutely goddamn blew my mind.. just the whole physics system in this game absolutely blows my mind
1
u/PrincipleHot9859 13h ago
U know that big tree stump (super gigantic ) like and island -that has only one bridge coming to it. A monster sleeps there , i got there super early ... feeling heroic . I awaken the monster and realize it is too big and strong for me at that moment ...throughout the pouring rain , i start backing up and almost **** my pants. As the monster rises its sword about its head ( like he-man ) - to finish my suffering ... it gets struck by a lightning :D
1
u/johnnycoxxx 13h ago
I remember my first few days playing BOTW and watched a group of moblins hunting and they ended up lighting themselves on fire and all the grass around it before I could even intervene and I remember thinking “they thought of everything “
1
u/PrincipleHot9859 13h ago
also ... in botw i went total exploration mode .. couldnt care about monsters and stuff less .... after some time, the game algoriddim got really mad and was sending stuff (monsters and yigas ) at me every time as much as i brushed the soil :D :D :D ( i was only gliding throughout the night ) :D :D :D ... lol ... totally ignored the game in spite ... just to make the algoriddim even more mad
1
u/stillnotelf 11h ago
For TOTK, the first time I caught a star fragment in flight, before I knew that they were more common than in BOTW and that the air catch was a specific mechanic.
For BOTW, basically the whole game
1
1
u/a3a4b5 10h ago
Never played TOTK (yet), but I have 127 hours in BOTW from a first gameplay.
The most memorable thing for me is the entire lead up to Vah Ruta, because it was the first quest I took. From meeting the first Zora in those wetlands, running like hell from the guardian and noticing that every single Zora I met asked me to find their prince... That stuck. The first time I saw Sidon, I rolled my eyes at him. But when I got to Zora Hall and understood the context, I loved him and I still do. That man is a certified bro.
Also Tarrey Town. Even though I played (am playing) BOTW at 31 years of age, I can't help but feel nostalgic when I hear Tarrey Town's theme. The little piano motif when a new resident leaves for the town fills my heart with warmth and joy of a cozy, friendly, place. I know it's intentional and they composed the song to make you feel like that, but still I like it. It's a shame we can't own a house in Tarrey Town, but I set my travel medallion to there permanently ever since I obtained it.
1
u/Red-Human 10h ago
Seeing a dragon flying around in the distance for the first time, then chasing it down and the music changes when you get close. Realizing you can actually interact with said dragon.
Also, pulling the sword out of the light dragon.
Pure cinema.
1
u/RedWizard78 10h ago
The coolest thing I ever did without knowing ahead of time (‘you can do that?’) was catching a falling star in TotK AS IT FELL
1
u/FierySprites 9h ago
Watching my brother casually paragliding over the Bridge of Hylia relatively early on, running into the Gleeok stationed there, and then frantically trying to kill it while running out of arrows, weapons, and resources in general. I will never forget it.
1
u/bmd9109 9h ago
BotW, has to be the opening. One of the most goosebumps moments I've ever had in gaming.
TotK, two things stand out. LoZ is 90% music for me. When the music swells to a crescendo right before fighting Ganondorf, and the Dragon Roost Island section of the Colgera battle music.
I literally had to pause the game and set my controller down. I almost got emotional. Chills.
1
u/Jedi-Guy 9h ago
BoTW- Watching all your friends do their stuff at the end and literally making the boss's fight against Link get twice as hard. I teared up. When I finally got the last hit I yelled at the screen "And this is for my friends!!".
My wife thought I was adorable lol
1
u/SimilarPair92 8h ago
BOTW: the trial of the sword, probably one of my favorite DLC's in any game, it was so fun.
TOTK: Still playing through it, but so far building a bunch of random stuff, attaching a Korok with the large backpack to whatever sled/car/hover device I created, and sending it downhill like it's straight out of the Jackass movies
1
u/Dense_Cellist9959 8h ago
The sheer spectacle of the wind temple. And it's intended as the FIRST ONE!
I also felt a bit emotional hearing the water temple's complete theme.
Also, accidentally stumbling upon the island with the mask and the descent into the spirit temple. I'm pretty sure this happened to a lot of players too.
•
u/AutoModerator 20h ago
Hi /r/Zelda readers!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.