Very Close. Very Different (Sakurai Column 527)

Source Gaming: A week before writing this column, two wonderfully outstanding works were released and I was torn between how to spend my time. Horizon Zero Dawn (from here on out “Horizon”) and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (further referred to as “Zelda”). By all means, play them both because they really are masterpieces.

With that being said, I am surprised by the fact that although there are aspects that are very close, there are other aspects that are very different.

[-Foxtrot]

Masahiro Sakurai...guy who made Smash Bros and Kirby. Wow I'm surprised he's so honest about something Nintendo related and didn't just say it was "perfect" or "flawless". Takes balls in this industry.

[deafdani]

Masahiro Sakurai is a huge Playstation fan and have been for years. He's always been open about that, I think.

Also, Shu Yoshida is a Nintendo fan. He got two Wii U's, I believe. He once added me as a friend on Miiverse, lol. Sadly that Wii U I had with my account was stolen. :(

[-Foxtrot]

Well lets be honest Shu Yoshida praises any game regardless of platform he thinks is good

Microsoft and Sony are quite open to praise one another and even Nintendo but Nintendo has a hard time praising Sony or Microsoft when it comes to games or even their consoles.

Hearing Sakurai, a high up respected Nintendo developer say something about a Sony game is quite rare.

[Kaneki-Ken]

Just imagine if Masahiro Sakurai ever did PlayStation All Star, it would be awesome but too bad that it will never happen.

[mikeslemonade]

Still haven't really played Horizon, but Zelda is tiresome. Most of the game you're running to the next area of the map and climbing things.

[ABizzel1]

He summed it up perfectly.

"Sakurai then gave some more thoughts about comparing the two open-world titles. “Overall, Horizon is more stress free and Zelda is becoming a tiresome routine. However, if you’ve played Zelda, you probably understand this well: the chores of Zelda are the most fun part!” Sakurai wrote."

Both are great and amazing games. Horizon is for gamers who enjoy action-based games set in an amazing post-post-apocalypse world filled with Mechanical dinosaurs. It's just so original in it's world setting, and stays true throughout the game to that world.

Whereas Zelda is got gamers who enjoy adventure-based games. The world of Zelda is vast and meant to be explored with the amazingly diverse gameplay mechanics available to you.

I throughly enjoyed both, but I will say playing Zelda on the Switch made me enjoy and appreciate the game much more than I would have being stationary on a Wii U would have, and the same cannot be said for Horizon, the sheer beauty of the game was all thanks to having a platform with the power to handle it. Two great, but different RPG's one taking the Action path, the other taking the Adventure path.

[bmf7364]

He had a launch-model PS3 that had all of his save data from PS1 and PS2. Kotaku did an article when it was announced that the PS3 YLOD'd and he lost 20 years of save-data. I felt so bad for Sakurai

[freshslicepizza]

Did you read it all?

"However, if you’ve played Zelda, you probably understand this well: the chores of Zelda are the most fun part!"
"By all means, play them both because they really are masterpieces"

It was meant to be a compliment, something that seems very alien to you.

[-Foxtrot]

*sigh*

Always finding a way to take something so personally which gets your panties in a twist so you can throw some shade

The last part of his comment is nice and all but he's just trying to sugarcoat it a little because he knows Nintendo will be watching what he says. Fact is he said it was tiresome, especially for being a long term franchise and we actually saw a Nintendo developer throw some praise at the competition which doesn't happen often.

Chill your bean

[Chevalier]

@Moldy

Complains about not giving compliments

Then proceeds by giving no compliments himself, then throwing shade.

Thanks for proving your supposed point. Compliments seem pretty alien to you too.

[UGXwolf]

-Foxtrot, I see your point, but I think you underestimate the freedom Nintendo grants their top developers. Also, I'd like to point out that while Sakurai does work almost exclusively with Nintendo, he is technically a separate entity. His group, Sora LTD., is a private company and could likely work with anyone they choose, but he chooses to work with Nintendo.

Now, you're right that Sakurai would be expected to biased in favor of Nintendo, if for no other reason than it's the company he's personally familiar with. However, Sakurai has also gone on record as disagreeing with many of Nintendo's decisions. He has no problems criticizing them.

With that said, I also think it's very likely that the translation loses some context, as it so often does. I don't think he means to sugar coat his opinion. I think he feels that Zelda being exhausting is important to the tone set by the game (which I would actually kind of agree with.)

[ion666]

You said chores are fun ? Lol They're side quest my boy side quest. Jk

[Inzo]

Seriously dude you need a life or a girlfriend, which ever comes first. No one should see the world so negatively.

[EddieNX]

To me it sounds like he could be refering to the difficulty because he goes on to say that its tthe chores in Zelda that are fun, anyway, we all already know theyre both top games. He needs to make Kid Icarus uprising HD!!!!

[ShadowWolf712]

Weren't you the one who said you knew without ever playing that Horizon could never be even close to BotW's level?

[EddieNX]

lol I dont think so? Even if I did my opinion would be irrelivent anyway having only played one, was probanly just responding to Sony fanboys doing the same thing.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I think it's a breath of fresh air as I don't really honest the God believe every single last developer loves the direction that breath of the wild took the series.

The lack of structure in regards to the Dungeons and even the quality of the dungeons themselves might be some of the worst in the series.

By no means are the dungeons in breath of the wild the best that is Zelda game has ever received.

The removal of several weapons and moves is also even more questionable as a lot of that was the identity of the series.

[DarXyde]

So which exec has EVER said the company they work with is perfect? Just curious. It sounded like you had examples...

Moreover, you assume Sakurai is being honest or genuine because it's contrary to someone of his position. And he may well be sincere... but how cynical must you be to believe that, had he said Horizon was tiresome and Breath of the Wild was stress free, he's being dishonest? Both are phenomenal games, and if Sakurai spoken more highly of Zelda, he'd be full of it, I guess. Pretty difficult to prove since Zelda released to greater critics reception. It really doesn't matter. I just find the way you framed this to be shortsighted.

[-Foxtrot]

"but how cynical must you be to believe that"

Hi I'm Foxtrot pleased to meet you...

[joab777]

Did you read it?

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Found the guy who only read the headline.

[xtheblackparade]

Yeah, I think the genius minds of the gaming industry shouldn't be restricted to develop for one platform only. Imagine the sheer force when they would work together.

[InTheZoneAC]

Nintendon'ts trying to figure out how to down vote Sakurai's opinion ... Using the word tiresome alone brings 'em out

[Quetzll]

Not sure which side you're on. Sak's opinion was pretty even-split.

[Gemmol]

did you real his whole comment or you just focus on tiresome part

[InTheZoneAC]

I'm completely aware he thinks highly of both games. Did you just assume something on your part?

[Gemmol]

no i just ask a question

[Jaqen_Hghar]

NINTendrones trying to make everything he does into this great big deal. Any talking about their precious ceos brings em out. A man can say things too

[Gemmol]

i have ps4 and switch so who was you speaking about specific

[Razzer]

I like Zelda but I definitely had more fun playing Horizon. Both are great games though.

[AspiringProGenji]

I agree with him and I have played and love both as well

Horizon gets to the point more and keeps you engaded with the mystery and story, and also the gameplay. The tasks and the side stuff aren't numerous, which makes it less stressful and less repetitive.

All the idiots who say this is an Ubisoft game have not played the game to realize that Horizon doesn't overuse the ideas that has taken from other games. There are only 6 tallnecks and like 8 outposts to take. This is way low than the docens of towers and outpost that are in Far Cry. Horizon sticks to its concept 90% of the time; **you are always hunting machines!***

As for Zelda, I got tired of it and haven't finished it. The side content became a chore, and the story does very little to keep me going. The weapon durability keeps pissing me off and that also contributes to the tireness of this game. Still love it and will be back to finish it when I'm done with some other games

[Razzer]

Yep. And Zelda borrows from Ubisoft as well. All those towers you climb? Camps of enemies? Hunting? Yep. Both have original stuff, but they both do their fair share of copying.

[DanteVFenris666]

Honesty if the weapon durability bothers you I'd say you haven't played it or haven't played it enough. It becomes a very minour problem later on, I for one see it as a positive mechanic.

It incentives weapons with lower stats rather than just using op weapon 100% of the time and never switching.

Horizon was much more boring, a long tutorial, no physics or interactions with the environment, no clever puzzles, automated platforming.

I can stand the automated climbing in uncharted because it's epic scenes and also a bit more skill based than horizons.

All tall necks might as well be the same because of how automated climbing is.

Now horizon has no rewards, everything good in the game can be bought in Mira. Nothing substantial besides one suit can be found in the open world. This makes it so their is no incentive to explore let alone how even the one interesting to find the cauldrons are labeled on your map. So it feels like a busy checklist like Ubisoft games.

However the story was fantastic, the combat was great. Enemies were unique and satisfying to take down

[Razzer]

How is the climbing in Zelda not automated again? Push your thumbstick up and watch that stamina wheel. What am I missing?

In Horizon, hunting and scavenging produce items for crafting and upgrading. There are treasure boxes just like in Zelda. Don't Tell there are no rewards. Cuz that isn't true.

[AspiringProGenji]

I have played it enough to lose interest actually. Saying the weapon durability becomes a minor problem later on, well it has actually gotten worse for me. When I can finally craft acient weapons that require lots of resources, only to realize they break as easy. What was the point of it when I can also get more in the shrines. Too fkin bad they break as fast as the shitty clubs

Does it get better over a hundreds hrs then? Well then that is a replay killer to me. It should be better at least half the story.

"It incentives weapons with lower stats rather than just using op weapon 100% of the time and never switching."

That sounds like BS to me! That is not a problem in any other Zelda, and certainly not in RPG games to my knowledge. They should have divided the weapons into tiers, so at leats they feel like they have some value over the other.

"Now horizon has no rewards, everything good in the game can be bought in Mira."

Just like the outpost in Zelda are barely rewarding. You waste more resources than you get. I didn't bother with them anymore. At least you get EXP and resources from taking enemy outpost in Horizon. That is a REWARD!

To tell the truth, None are perfect games. I'm sure their sequels may be. Zelda is awesome, but I have enjoyed Horizon more because imo it has a better flow with its story and gameplay

[light69]

Lol why do you get all triggered from the guys opinion? What you're stating get is also an opinion let alone one based of the idea that you haven't finished the game. Sorry but don't think people should state things from an incomplete run through the game

[Gemmol]

did you read his whole comment or you just focus on tiresome word,,,,he said thats what make zelda so fun

[Razzer]

Could ask the same question of you. Seems you get just as "triggered" over other opinions.

[Gaming4Life1981]

Well i beat zelda and still havent beat horizon zero dawn only because zelda captured me more . Weapon durability is not a problem but at the very beginning i also hated it because i failed to realize that good weapons are so easy to come by if you explore. I made the mistake of trying to play zelda botw like a traditional zelda game and its clearly not.

Im like you i like both games and i will beat horizon zero dawn soon but imo zelda is the better game. Horizon is great but plays it safe with bringing nothing new to this type of genre which is not a bad thing cause the game is still great and fun. Horizon is clearly like far cry and thats not a bad thing so i dont why you tried to down far cry and boost horizon when they are so similar. Zelda has so many wild moments that are just not in horizon and yea they maybe small but it makes me question why these things are not in every game.

Like i said i like both but zelda took things to the next level imo.

[InTheLab]

I feel the same way with Zelda although if I had a Switch and played it on the go, I might feel differently. In Horizon, each area is unique and offers a new challenge be it the enemies or the layout of the land. In Breath, endless amounts of tedium be it shrines, seed mini games, boring combat outside of mini bosses an Lynals, broken weapons making me even less interested in combat, etc. Nearly everything in Zelda seems to be intentionally tedious. Cooking, travel, stamina....weapons break but gear doesn't. Even the lack of voice overs.

I have no desire to finish Zelda and that's a shame. I tried.

[AspiringProGenji]

"Sorry but don't think people should state things from an incomplete run through the game"

Except the game barely changes after a while. I only have like 2 areas to reveal in the map. I've done a shit ton of sidequests, and I have beaten two dungeons already. I also got the Master Sword!

I stopped at Rito village because I lost interest with the game. That should be well over 50 hrs already. And fun fact, this is my second playtrought because the first one I kinda eas rushing the game and wasn't having much fun. I've put a lot of hrs to make have an opinion about this game

[ShinRon]

after reading the article im guessing theres a communication misunderstanding...

horizon has a smoother climbing system? how can that be accurate, it doesnt even have a climbing system.

[Razzer]

Sure it does. Why do you say it doesn't?

[PlebeGamer]

It has a very rigid, clumsy climbing system. Find the yellow tape and push in the proper direction AAA type climbing.

[bluefox755]

@plebegamer Rigid? Sure. Clusmy? How so? It was very smooth and precise.
@Erik I thought it was fun, and a refreshing way to break up the gameplay, wish there was more of it. But hey, don't let opposing opinions make you insecure. We all know how much you love Nintendo, you don't gotta sell anyone on that.

[Erik7357]

Oh the generic outlined ledges and in controlled areas climbing? I guess thats a system but its a dumb and boring one.

[Razzer]

At least in Horizon they don't pretend you are Spider-Man

[bluefox755]

Yes...it does. There are places you climb, not a lot, but they exist, and it is smooth.

[DanteVFenris666]

But it's automated, that's not fun. Cool to look at but not fun.

[Razzer]

So Zelda is just as automated and not as cool to look at. Agreed.

[-Foxtrot]

It's more realistic as nobody can climb anything. Aloy has to find special points which she can latch onto, these points would be stable enough to grab onto and hold her weight, something most climbers would do.

However do I think it was annoying as there wasn't enough of these points in the game? Yes

Do I think they need to not be as obvious and stick out like a sore thumb so it would make you think more? Please

Should Aloy be allowed to climb more smaller things like ledges and small rocks which any person could pull themselves up if you really needed to? Of course

It's not perfect and is something which obviously needs improving but it's better then just being allowed to climb anything and have an annoying green circle pop up.

[rainslacker]

Wasn't as bad as say MGSV, where snake could scale up 10 foot walls, yet couldn't seem to jump up over a knee high rise in the landscape.

Climbing in Horizon was pretty basic. Kind of a dumbed down version of what we see in UC. It was serviceable I guess, but so rarely used in the game, I never really considered it good or bad...just mostly nonexistent.

[lellkay]

absolutely this

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Sorry, but no.
I don't care how much you hate Nintendo, or love Sony or realism, Horizon's climbing is in no way better than BotW.

It isn't horrible, mind, but compared to BotW, it's limited and restrained as all heck.

There's much more exploratory freedom the way BotW does it; realism and its fanboys can take a figurative hike for this particular instance, because it would just hold the sense of freedom back.
Slap on some grade 2 climbing gear, eat some Speedy and Enduring food for extra movement and stamina, and you're suddenly climbing at any angle aside from entirely upside-down, to get to new areas as well as to get the drop on enemies.
The stamina circle isn't even a limitation, either; cook food or elixers beforehand and you can recover to max in an instant, and that's before you even have 3 full wheels.

The stealth is better, too; no special grass needed. Just crouch and keep movement slow, or eat the right meal, wear the stealth suit, and if possible approach when its raining. You're as invisible as you wanna be, unless you're just dumb enough to walk right under their noses.XD

[-Foxtrot]

Monkeyman...forever getting onto his high horse and making this into a Nintendo v Sony war

I don't hate Nintendo it's just tough love. The problem is you love them far too much where anything even the smallest criticism is long olds upon as a "hater"

[admiralvic]

"horizon has a smoother climbing system? how can that be accurate, it doesnt even have a climbing system."

Horizon totally has a climbing system, which works like Uncharted and similar games. There are set places to jump and you follow a pre-determined patch up the side of a mountain, cliff and what have you. Some are straight up, where as others have you zip around and so forth. It isn't as sophisticated as Zelda's, but I could see it being smoother since it's fairly scripted (you have to go out this way, so it has all these elements designed to make the ascent interesting/flow), where as Zelda you can pretty much do whatever and as long as you have the stamina and or life, you'll hit the top.

[Sunny_D]

This is the correct answer. Zelda is akin to Shadow of the Colosus climbing system. However, SOTC had you finding actual specific textures/material for you to climb on. Not just anything like Zelda.

[UCForce]

It has climbing system without stamina like BOTW.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

It absolutely as a climbing system what the hell are you talking about

[_-EDMIX-_]

So you never played the game?

[InTheLab]

Horizon's climbing at least makes some sense. Link can scale anything except shrine walls for no logical reason aside from lazy developing. Think about that.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

"No logical reason"
You're playing in a world where magic is a thing. Check your realism at the door.
Screw "sense"; BotW's climbing is much more free. Calling that lazy dev work is just hater drivel.

[TheOttomatic91]

That quote is taken out of context Sakurai unanimously praised both games.

[RuleNumber5]

As is stated in the article. Tiresome is actually a fitting description for Zelda, but that doesn't mean the game isn't great because it is. Same goes for Horizon, though I'm not sure I'd call it stress free. Fighting a thunderjaw sure was stressful to me lol.

[AspiringProGenji]

No. That is exactly what Sakurai said. The title just has that quote

[Imalwaysright]

That's not what he said. This title is misleading and made for clickbait.

[DafunkyRebel]

Stress free my ass, try fighting two Thunderjaws and have three sawtooths join the mix then say that again I dare you

[Razzer]

Or when a stalker flare goes off. And the stormbirds.....my God....the stormbirds!

[Darkfist_Flames]

try those two corrupted rock breaker, i guess he just played it on easy.

[generic-user-name]

Man, they took me a while.

The fear riding past them to get to my destination was real, rocks spewing everywhere.

[rainslacker]

I still haven't gotten that one down yet. I even tried just sniping them from across the river with some success to get them down to about 50%, then some other things come along and make me have to stop fighting them. Really hard to lay traps where they actually are though without having to engage them in the process.

[AspiringProGenji]

Or when another Rockbreaker joins the fray...

Damn those are really tough

[Gemmol]

people said it before from reviews horizon more a simple game......zelda require more work and this why people love zelda

[Blu3_Berry]

It's a nice change to hear a main developer from Nintendo to praise a game exclusively to another platform. How often do we hear someone at Nintendo praising a game that isn't on their systems? Very rarely. I wish that when it comes to Nintendo, they could acknowledge other games from Sony and Microsoft, but it rarely seems they do and I do not understand why. Microsoft and Sony praise eachother all the time, even towards Nintendo. Why can't Nintendo do the same?

I don't wanna come off as ignorant, but alot of times I wonder if Nintendo developers even try any games outside of Nintendo or games that isn't on their platform. That's why I'm saying, it is very nice and refreshing to hear someone from Nintendo to praise a game that is only on another platform.

[Nu]

Sir please step down from that stool
*helps step off stool*

[truechainz]

Might be a generational thing. Splatoon was made by a younger group of devs at Nintendo and they didn't have any problem talking about inspirations from other shooters while you don't hear that much from the public execs.

[BlaqMagiq1]

I do recall reading somewhere that Super Mario Maker was inspired by LittleBigPlanet so maybe some of them do.

[The 10th Rider]

I this article was posted under the original headline from Source Gaming, the website the actually translated it and reported the story in the first place, it wouldn't have nearly the same attention. Why are we approving news from a secondhand source with a clickbait headline when the primary source is readily available and should be shared instead?

[Gemmol]

sony fans approve this.......

[The 10th Rider]

It's amazing what will get pushed through just because is clickbait. We really should have a system that punishes people for approving articles that later get failed. Like the 480p Phantom Dust story that had basically no basis to it, but let to all sorts of fits in the comment section. People that approve sensationalist stories that later get failed should eventually lose approval privileges or something.

It's not an issue that's exclusive to gaming, of course. In pretty much all news nowadays people will take stuff from the primary source and then repost it in the most click-bait way possible.

[rainslacker]

Was the original source ever posted to be approved? If not, then what are you on about? I'm sure the original would have been approved also, but can concede that it may not have the same attention.

[ginganinja]

But it wouldn't have received the same attention purely for the fact it didn't try to misrepresent what he said and acknowledged at the start that this is a fan translation (i.e. while they may have done as well as they can, some of it is going to be based on conjecture and making a 'best fit' as a literal translation isn't possible going from Japanese to English.)
Therefore taking out individual words and using them as quotes is disenguous at best.

[The 10th Rider]

The original wouldn't have been approved nearly so fast. It probably also would have been failed as a duplicate story, which I have seen happen here before (an original source getting failed as a duplicate over an article that merely links and restates the same original source).

Also, the original poster should have read the article and in the article they should have seen the link to the original source and posted tat instead. The people that approved it should have read the article, they should have seen the link to the original source and reported the article for wrong source. You ALWAYS go back to the original source, if possible. Unfortunately the system here actually rewards approving clickbait and sensationalist articles.

[rainslacker]

@ginga

Yeah I condeded that was likely the case.

@The10th

That's pure speculation. Plenty of articles that get approved that have positive things to say, or are completely neutral. Sometimes articles like these get approved before the source article is posted, and that article comes a bit later, and the mods update which one is approved if someone reports it. It happens frequently.

You just want to see what you want to see though. Maybe instead of complaining, report this article, and post the source article and contribute to the site. Whatever attention it gets is what it gets.

What the original poster should have done is rather moot. A person isn't required to post the original source. Original title of the posted article and the article meeting N4G guidelines are all that's required.

If you feel that the policy needs to chance, and original sources need to be posted, take it up with the mods, so they can decide if that should be the case.

I do agree that the original source is ideal, but sometimes we just don't get that.

[The 10th Rider]

@rainslacker,

I did report the article for the headline and the source, which were both changed.

It's also literally in the first paragraph of the news posting guidelines: "Whenever possible always link to the original news source." So there you go.

Considering the article links to the original source, the original poster should have gone to the original source and those that supposedly read and approved it should have reported it for the wrong source.

[rainslacker]

Then you'd have to ask the original poster why he didn't. Maybe he didn't see the original source, or felt that a google translated article wasn't as good a thing to post.

Maybe it's what you say, but nothing preventing you from posting the original source yourself. Without the original source actually posted though, why complain that it wasn't approved while this clickbait version which was posted was approved. Your complaint is moot if the original source wasn't posted to be approved in the first place, and you have the power to actually change how things are done by simply posting the original source, reporting this article, and stop trying to play the victim with a fan boy rant.

[The 10th Rider]

The original as in the fan translation. Not the actual Sakurai column via google translate. The original is in Famitsu magazine anyways, not online, so it really can't be posted here.

Also, after the article is approved there is no need to submit the original article. Instead the correct action would be to report the article for wrong source, link to the correct source and let the mods amend it, which I did. I posted the original source myself when I reported the article.

Also, how am I 'playing the victim' or going on a 'fanboy rant'? I don't care about the article's content so much as I care that we keep the site clean. We have the approval method to weed out articles that should not be approved, or to amend them if there's issues, and it's sad when veteran users such as Foxtrot approve articles like this seemingly without reading them and correcting the submission. It has nothing to do with fanboyism and I'm not a victim of anything. I'm just tired that people don't seem to have any standards when it comes to submissions.

[ShadowKnight]

Enjoyed them Both. I put more hours in Zelda though because it's a longer game

[Legatus]

Both are masterpieces.
The end.

[UCForce]

Both are amazing game, but different games in the end.

[Legatus]

Yep, both are amazing in different ways and that is truly beautiful.

[ShadowWolf712]

I disagree.

[Legatus]

I disagree.

[rainslacker]

I've enjoyed both, although I haven't gotten that far in BOTW though. Plan on getting to it after Horizon and maybe a couple shorter games before picking up a longer one again.

Nowadays though, seems like you can't have two great games at the same time without people trying to say one sucks in comparison to the other....which is sad.

[Gwiz]

Both games are good,and I like each of them on their own merits.It's not a very common thing these days to get two of these high caliber games releasing so close to each other.

[Deathdeliverer]

I'm glad I read the article because the initial thought was that they must have taken something out of context. After reading it, and having both games since launch, I understand exactly where he is coming from.
Both games are fantastic. That's first. The approach is totally different and that's where his "stress free" and "tiresome" applies.
In Horizon, the world is huge and there's plenty of side quest and things to keep you busy. Story elements are everywhere and outside of the very beginning of the game, you have a abundance of materials to craft ammo and such with. Your character levels at a great pace as well so you can spend your skill points and stay right where you need to be ability wise. It's pretty easy to stay on track, just playing the game straight and avoiding side quest if you want. You still progress fine or "Stress free".
On Zelda, you have a lot of the same elements but, like he said, story is light and gameplay is mostly all you have. Now this is fine for the game as Zelda has never been a epic story. However, your progression is halted by finding the Shrines, solving the shrines, and ultimately exploring enough of them to feel confident enough to fight Gannon. At bare minimum you gotta do that while replacing items constantly and, in some cases, do some trial and error stuff. Thought you had enough stamina to climb up to that shrine? Nope. Make a certain combination of foods to boost that stamina, which might only grow in certain areas, and come back. Still not enough? Get that base stamina wheel updated. This can feel like more of a chore or "tiresome". I did find myself feeling like damn I don't feel like doing A because it can feel like work. Any mmo players can probably understand or playing RPGs with a heavy grind. Zelda can feel like that at times.

[MilkMan]

Pains me to say it but Zelda has no sense of progression and it's pretty soulless. You can paint that anyway you want. It won't change that fact. Horizon is fun, epic and has fantastic controls. I wouldn't compare the two simply because in my mind Nintendo exists in this bubble. Whether it's good or bad it's up to each individual fan.

[Gemmol]

linear games have progression and this is most likely why you like uncharted and horizon, meaning you have to do this or that part to get to another part.......Zelda is true open world you do not have to do anything in order.....I like to be free.....its why I gave up on god of war another linear game

[Razzer]

What? Horizon is open world. Hardly linear. You obviously have not played the game at all.

[Last_Boss]

For all the linearity in Uncharted & God of War, there's way more density of detail, scope, narrative and atmosphere than any Zelda game has ever offered. BotW is an open Action Adventure game, which has wide locales like say Skyrim. But does not contain not even 25 % of the density of that game, except find the shrine so I can teleport excuse.

[DanteVFenris666]

@Razzer you must not have played the game. Horizon is extremely linear. It has an open world but it takes you along a path. Heck most of
The map is slowly opened up to you. It takes many hours just to be able to explore everywhere.

The focus is on the story, straying from the paths offers no reward besides the cauldrons which their is 4 of. Unless you can name me more reasons

[Miacosa]

Kinda, true if you take a step back and look at it with an open non biased mind.

[Gemmol]

im guessing you did not read his whole comment cause he said it was a fun game

[Cartman55125]

The weapon durability system really ruined Breath of the Wild for me

[Felsager]

This is a well written article that worth a good read.

"Sakurai then gave some more thoughts about comparing the two open-world titles. “Overall, Horizon is more stress free and Zelda is becoming a tiresome routine. However, if you’ve played Zelda, you probably understand this well: the chores of Zelda are the most fun part!” Sakurai wrote."

This is an incredibly well written article. It goes straight to the point explaining the differences between Zelda and Horizion. In short paragraphs he manage to explain the essence of both games. I don't see any negativity being thrown at any game in particular.

Sakurai properly respects and recognize both games for their respective attributes. I hope that journalism takes this type of atmosphere where games are discussed objectively on their own right.

[DrumBeat]

Breath of The Wild was a massive disappointment for me. Not what I expected from Zelda. I really enjoyed Horizon. The gameplay was phenomenal.

[kaiserxblue]

this is a perfect example of a click-bait and how the media can twist things in order for you pieces of shit to come to this shitty website to rant and make a circus controversy over nothing

He considered both masterpieces so he's not exactly shitting on BOTW, the only thing you are showing its the comparison he's doing about questing which according to sakurai HZD it's stress-free in comparison to BOTW and he also stated that if you alreadty a Zelda player questing should be no problem to you.

So I shouldn't take any of this article serious since they misinform instead of inform on facts.

[Tetsujin]

Clickbait article. What was said is taken out of context for the title.

[KryptonKronos]

Wow, probably the first 3rd party website that N4G has posted which i am drawn to. Very well laid out and written information. Definitely going to stick around to view more from these people.

[StormLegend]

Horizon is one of the greatest games ever made! the beautiful world is dynamic and the music is amazing! Aloy voice is just awesome and I love seing her hair blow through the wind..

[DanteVFenris666]

Yea the world is really dynamic https://youtu.be/aVPXKdSEGN... .

Aloys voice is great actually
All voice actors I enjoyed. I think it's exaggerating to say it's the best game. Not even the best Sony exclusive this year.

[StormLegend]

Are you really bringing in a stupid comparison like that? It's not a "Do anything you want game* or built with tons of physics. It's lifelike when traveling or exploring things, I hate that youtuber because he's comparing things that make no sense. Horizon world isn't built with that idea in mind.

[PorkMuffin]

having played both games, I would say BOTW is the "stress free" game and Horizon is the "tiresome" one, cause you're free to do whatever and there are no rules or quest you are obligated to complete in BOTW which makes it "stress free" and Horizon constantly tells you what to do next which is pretty "tiresome" for me lol

[just-joe]

Just waiting for someone to spin this.

[joab777]

Could the title of this article have been more misleading?

[brewin]

After playing Zelda for a good month straight, it really did start to feel tiresome. I just stopped having the urge to play because it felt like a chore. Horizon is more joyful in the moment to moment gameplay. Not having so much menu time really helps. I love Zelda and am a huge Ninty fan, always have been. But the weapon swapping and constant food prep in Zelda really does wear out it's welcome. I feel like I can just play with HZD, whereas Zelda tends to feel like a chore the more I play. I still jump between those 2 games a lot. I feel Horizon doesn't get as much love as it should. Really such an incredible game all around.

[CrimsonPheonix]

THe gameplay is better suited for the switch's pick up and play when you feel like style not the wii U's binge on it while only sitting in front of the TV style.

[Bjorn-c-blocker]

This is just bad translation. He said that Horizon is a light game and easy and that Zelda is deeper and more difficult.

He didn't say one was bad and one was good he said they were both good but one is easier.

Horizon is a casual game that you can play easily. LOL He also said Horizon is basic.
I could make a really negative clickbait article about how he thinks Horizon is a casual game and Zelda is a game for hardcore gamers.

[rainslacker]

If that's what he said, then he's full of it. Zelda is about as casual as Horizon is, which is to say they're both accessible, but their difficulty depends on how one approaches the stuff in the game, since both you can skip more difficult parts.

Why do you think that Zelda is somehow more a hardcore game? It's mechanics aren't overly complex, and the game is easy enough to just pick up and play.

I think either game can be considered hardcore, but accessible to the casuals. If they weren't, they wouldn't have sold as well as they did, nor would they have gotten the praise they have from both critics and players alike.

[BadElf]

They're both tiresome. BOTW more so because I put in atleast 90 hours into it....I put maybe 8-10 Hours into Horizon and it was tiresome and didn't grab me.

Ohhh the horror!!!!

[3-4-5]

He likes both games..How stupid are some of you people ?

[Liqu1d]

Very.

[StormSailor]

Horizon Zero Dawn is a magnetic, charming and impressive experience every minute. Best game of the year so far

About Zelda I don't know because I didn't play

[DaleCooper]

Both great games. For me, I give the slight edge to Zelda in terms of which game I like more.

[Gemmol]

now he fix the title after making it seem like he was trying to talk bad about zelda by not putting the full quote

[ginganinja]

A mod has swapped out the clickbait article to one from the original source. Probably could have done with adding an update as some of the comments don't make sense anymore.

[jakenoob]

Like Masahiro Sakurai ! He is the best for me !

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Changed how click-baity the title was, eh? Good on ya, though looking at the comments section, I'd say it's a bit late.XD

[thisismyaccount]

Why the title change?

[Gemmol]

person wanted people to go crazy over zelda and horizon, and by doing that they only put piece of what he said to make zelda look bad, so sony fans who were lazy to read the article finally felt happy after all the good press Zelda had over horizon for the past 2 months

[novacav]

Sakurai is a freelancer, that's why he can say stuff like this.