Jakered3

Some of you may have noticed that I recently deleted a number of deviations from my gallery, primary pictures I created using Kphoria's () builder kits.

Currently I'm scouting for each pic and archiving them in my sta.sh, I'm also archiving some builder pics I had never published before, if there's anyone who happened to have downloaded a pic of mine prior to me deleting them, please let me know, it would really help.

Gonna have my "Ode to" Section above my Artists and Other Sub Categories.

Just in case anyone is wondering why I'm re-faving your pictures.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was released back on March 3rd, 2017 as the 19th entry in Nintendo's critically acclaimed series, not even a day after it's release and it already became known as one of the greatest Zelda games of all time, even becoming the second highest rated game in the series behind Ocarina of Time with an online average of 97% the game was met with well reception from both Fans and Critics alike, it was praised for it's wide open world that was larger than any Zelda game before it, and it's unique feature of abandoning a story orientated style for environmental story-building that allowed more freedom to the player so they could what they wanted when they wanted, one of the most hyped Zelda games of all time seemed to have lived up to what many fans were anticipating, and not only has it become one of the most beloved Zelda games of all time, but it's also grown to become one of the most beloved video games of all time as well, and it's hard to not like the game for what it offers, however when all said and done, is this game really as amazing as people claim it to be?

With out a doubt, this game's biggest feature has to be the nearly 100% Open World style gameplay, no Zelda game in the past had ever allowed so much exploration to the environment you were in, with the closest being The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which is hardly even a quarter of how massive the map of Breath of the Wild is, likewise this is usually the element most people praise the game for, in addition to the free exploration that doesn't hold the player back, but when you really stop and think about it are these two traits enough to make the game stand out as one of the greatest entries in the series? let alone one of the best games of all time? the whole gimmick of Open World is actually pretty minor compared to other more important elements in a video game, things like the Storyline, the Levels, the ensemble cast of Characters, the Content, and how variety there is are all very important to a game as well, so why is it that Breath of the Wild hasn't been praised for these elements as well? well these aren't really elements that people pick up a game for, no one really buys a game for it's story or characters, they just want to have a blast playing it, and with how immersive the game is and with all the things you can do, it's likely you'll find many ways to entertain yourself, this gimmick creates the illusion that the game is of high quality because of how much you're enjoying one small thing that's been marked as the game's best feature, the Developers didn't have to focus on making the story engaging or the levels unique and complex as long as the player can become emerged in other less important ways, it's sort of like how The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's reputation is, the game is so massive and filled with content that you aren't thinking about how lackluster the story is and how uninteresting the characters are, to put it short, when you look past the open world and free exploration, what really is there about Breath of the Wild that makes it so amazing?

Of course, the game's producer, Eiji Aonuma had commented on the game's lack of a storyline, claiming the following "When you're too focused on doing a game's story in a certain way, that ruins the gameplay." In Aonuma's defense it can be hard to write a story for a video game and have the gameplay work along side it, but simply put putting more effort into the gameplay and not putting enough focus on your story is not a good direction to take, the thing is with The Legend of Zelda games and most Adventure Games in general is that gameplay and story work hand-in-hand together, they both balance each other out to create a fun and intriguing experience, it's hard to imagine one without the other, usually this only works with games of different genres, the Mario series for example is the type of series that doesn't focus heavily on the story, the games are more about having fun and thus their top priority is making sure the gameplay is fun and easy to get used to, one the opposite end the Ace Attorney series is the type of video game that doesn't focus heavily on the gameplay and are more about making the games intriguing, so making a good story is their top priority, both of these qualities are used to make the games engaging towards the player, players can either be dragged in by a gripping and suspenseful story in games like Ace Attorney, or get engaged by the enjoyable and fun gameplay of games like Mario, now there are some rare exceptions with Adventure games but because the genre usually focuses heavily on gameplay with things like a combat system playing apart the storyline should also be intriguing so the player can become invested in the background of the game, this is an Adventure game after all, that's why games like Zelda are so amazing, the gameplay and storyline are usually balanced out so we're given a game with a fun gameplay but also a deep story, the extra drag is why the series is so amazing, so when a game like Breath of the Wild only focuses on one and not the other then the game becomes a hollow, what good is this wide open world and solid gameplay without content to put it to use, and it's not that the game doesn't have a story, but because of how weak it is a lot of the gameplay's potential isn't fully exploited as much as it could've been.

Take for example another great entry in The Legend of Zelda series, Honestly I could use any entry, but I'll go with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, because it had an impact on the gaming community as a whole, two things Ocarina of Time was praised for was it's story and gameplay, the gameplay wasn't good because it was the first of it's kind, it was good because it was just good, the Z-locking feature worked, the controls worked, everything about the gameplay was just solid, but the story was also a very notable feature about the game, the game did a good job of pacing itself to each new event, it never rushed the player into anything and because of long it you'll notice more of your environment and be given more opportunities to think and look for stuff, it also did a great job on giving you a reason to care about many of the elements, it set you up right away with a group of people you've known your whole life, raised you, and cares about you, the entire first section of the game was about getting to know a lot of the characters and places because the game new it would all matter in the future, and if there wasn't enough focus on then you wouldn't really have a reason to care for it, in Breath of the Wild the game is more straight forward and doesn't put much focus on things like the characters and the places, which is a problem because without enough knowledge on your environment the game feels more demanding, in Ocarina of Time you wanted to save the World because there were people and places you cared about, you spent your whole childhood getting to know these people and understanding them and their lives, in Breath of the Wild you wanted to save the World because the game demanded that you did, why should we care about this place? why should we care about that guy, or that girl's family, or this village or that town? why should these places matter to us? we have almost nothing to do with them, oh yeah because we'll look like an Asshole if we don't do what the game says.

Even large Open World games that wanted to make sure they were as immersive as possible didn't go out of their way to create an amazing storyline, just take a look at games like Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Assassin's Creed II, Grand Theft Auto IV, or any one of The Witcher games, all these games are known for being huge and immersive, but they also did a good job on adding in a deep storyline and gave a lot of depth to many of their characters and locations, you could point out just about anything in these games and they'd all be very intriguing, from the Characters, the Setting, there's so much to drag the player in, they give us a reason to care because they made sure their story was present and it reminded us of what we're fighting for and presents us with things we should and shouldn't care for, that's why lack of a story in any Adventure game can be a pretty crucial element to miss.

Perhaps the most overlooked element about the game is that it doesn't exactly know what it wants to be, let's not forget that in this game the Zelda series was changing genres, it was leaving behind the dungeon solving experience for something "new", I say that word very loosely because it's hard to say if it's really anything new at all, you seen when I say the game "Doesn't know what it wants to be" the gameplay shifts a lot, one minute it's open world with environmental-storytelling that comes and goes, and then out of nowhere that's all abandoned in favor of turning back to the dungeon style levels that the game was originally known for, it's sort of an Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, and Dark Souls hybrid, this type of gameplay can only work when the people who make it know what they're doing, but because of how much it shifts this kind of gameplay isn't complex, it's just inconsistent, when a game changes genres it's not suppose to go back to the old style, that's only if they know how the apply it, but in this case it doesn't work because Open World and Dungeon Solving don't exactly blend well together, after all why do you think the only part of the game that isn't open world is the Divine Beast areas? the gameplay has completely shifted and gone back to the series' original format, so much for trying something new, it's not that hard to stick to one style of gameplay, combining various isn't always gonna work, so just make up your mind and pick one.

Overall, I don't know if the series was really ready to take on an Open World style, the Dungeons have always been a beloved feature in the Zelda series, and they clearly don't want to give that up even if it doesn't blend well with the Open World genre, this is why the gameplay is really inconsistent, but it can be done well if the series was ready to take on a new genre, take for example the critically acclaimed masterpiece on the GameCube that is Metroid Prime, this game is what shifted the gameplay of Metroid series from Metroidvania to First-Person-Shooter, but unlike Breath of the Wild, Metroid new what it wanted to be, they didn't have to give up the Metroidvania style because it blended it's way naturally into the gameplay of an FPS, it's like they turned Super Metroid into an FPS, and it just worked, the reason why was because FPS was a more specific style of gameplay that almost anything can apply to, even puzzle solving games can do this, as we see in games like Portal, Open World is a lot harder to comprehend and while I don't think puzzle solving CAN'T work it's way into Open World, I do think doing so could present a challenge, it's kind of like how Star Fox Adventures failed, Star Fox was a series that was known for just taking on a rail-shooter type gameplay, there wasn't much that suggested the series could be adapted into a Puzzle Solving experience, however this is what they did in Star Fox Adventures and the game wasn't really the best because the series wasn't exactly, because the game also tried to sneak in it's old style of gameplay with the Arwing Sections, and you can see how much different the game would've been if it had kept this style.

On the topic of Dungeons, the Dungeons in Breath of the Wild are very poorly made, in fact they may just be the worst ones in the series, this is something a lot of people overlook about the game, and I feel like it's time someone comes out and says that the Dungeons are just terrible, before I compare them to past ones I feel like it's fair to point out how these Dungeons fail by their own merit as oppose to another game's standards, in Breath of the Wild the dungeons all have the same premise of finding 5 terminals before facing the final boss at the end, this is the goal of every dungeon, so there isn't any variety as to what you're working towards, not only is the goal really repetitive, but the designs are as well, they all have the exact same ancient sci-fi type design, the look itself is very dull and bland and doesn't have much that pops out, one thing a lot people loved about previous Dungeons wasn't just how challenging they were, but their overall design and how interesting and even artistic they looked, they well so easy to distinguish from one another in large part thanks to their element that inspired both the layout, the puzzles, and the visual designs, Fire Dungeons had Fire Themed puzzles, Water Dungeons had Water Themed puzzles, Air Dungeons had Wind Themed puzzles, you get the idea, but Breath of the Wild ignores this and makes everything the exact same, even the puzzles are very similar as they all utilize the same technique of using your new slate powers like Magnesis and Stasis, and remember how brief the story is? welp there are 4 dungeons to complete in one part of the main mission, and there are only 4 parts of the entire main mission, how'd you like a majority of your quest to just be venturing through the same looking environment doing the same puzzles over and over again? you can probably see how repetitive it gets.

I guess haven't really explained why these are problems, this is mainly because when all the dungeons have the same premise all suspense is taken away, you already know what you have to do, you already know who you're gonna face at the end, the only difference is HOW you do it, which isn't a bad thing but the tension is still lost and that's a problem, in previous games when you went into dungeons it was always for a different reason, and because of this you were always wondering how things were gonna go, but in Breath of the Wild the only build-up happens when the final boss comes out before you get to the final terminal and this happens every, single, time, it's honestly not that surprising anymore, when the goal in previous Dungeons were different you never knew what to expect, maybe there would be a new mini boss to face, or perhaps there's an item I have to get, and plus you never knew what the Dungeon's final boss was gonna be, it was all very endearing which made you want to solve the dungeon even more, the puzzles all being really similar is also a problem because it gets very predictable on what you got to do, you see another reason why the Dungeons are really bad has to be because of your inventory, I won't lie the inventory in Breath of the Wild is just plain awful, in past games the items were all unique and could be used in multiple areas, in Breath of the Wild they're all pretty much the same generic copy of each other, the weapons aren't unique in the slightest they all hit and eventually break, the only difference is that some break faster than others, in past games the items had a lot more variety items like the hookshot, bow & arrow, and bombs had multiple uses which made getting them all the more exciting, however in this game the only unique items you get are the slate powers, this wouldn't be so bad except you get them all at the very beginning of the game, in Zelda games not only do you grow stronger over time, but your inventory does as well, in Ocarina of Time you started out with just deku nuts, deku sticks, and a slingshot, but overtime as you overcome more and accomplish more you deserve more, and you eventually end up finding items like the Bombchus, the Lens of Truth, and the Megaton Hammer, you clearly put a lot of effort into your quest once you had these, but in Breath of the Wild it demands no such care and patience because you just get everything you'll need at the very start, this is also a problem that A Link Between Worlds had, it just gives you away everything you'll need, you need to prove that you're worthy of possessing these items, you need to earn them, also the whole focus of the puzzles and items in Breath of the Wild is awful as well, in Breath of the Wild finding the puzzle is really easy, but the challenge is finding out what you got to do in order to solve, except everything you'll ever need was already given to you from the very start, the challenge of the dungeons should never be finding out what you need to do to solve a puzzle once you find it, or at the very leas that shouldn't be the whole challenge, that's only the start of it, the actual challenge should actually be doing the puzzle, for example in Twilight Princess, the Temple of Time had you working your way to find a statue, finding that part out was just the first half, but there was more, then there was the actual challenge of getting him to the where he was meant to be using your new Dominion Rod, that's the joy of finding new items, you use them and get used to them in one dungeon so you'll be ready for when you need it again, but in Breath of the Wild the challenge is finding out HOW you're gonna solve the puzzle, not actually solving it, and because of how little the game cares about what items you use they serve no purpose in the dungeons whatsoever, just as long as you have something that can light things on fire you can pretty much solve every single dungeon.

I've only talked about the Divine Beasts though, but honestly the Shrines aren't that much better, I at least give them credit for actually having different puzzles where the challenge was actually doing the puzzle and not finding it, but it also follows similar problems of having the same goal, which is finding a spirit orb so you can enhance your health and stamina, also a lot of the puzzles were very different from each other so solving them was often very challenging, but it doesn't always work, I don't even think I have to comment about how broken the Motion Controls are.

Another thing Breath of the Wild has gotten a lot of praise for is it's wide cast of characters, the lack of a story already harms their overall role in some way, but regardless people seem to love these characters, and I'll admit I myself find it hard to not like a lot of them, most of them are very lovable and despite the lack of focus the story gives them, there are one or two characters that have traits that are worth caring about, however at the same time these characters are all very shallow and not the best written, which is unfortunate because The Legend of Zelda games usually always have amazing characters, and because of how beloved these characters are they seem to be getting more attention than usual and for all the wrong reasons, this is best exemplified with the character Prince Sidon, as well as the Zora Champion Mipha, both of these characters are arguably the most beloved ones in the games, by both In-Game characters and fans alike, and they've received more attention than any other character, but no one seems to be wondering why they like these characters so much, Prince Sidon in particular seems to be beloved because he's "Royalty", and "Handsome", and "Brave", which are all fine traits to have, but this seems to literally be all he has, it's not that he doesn't have other traits but the game doesn't do a very good job of adding a level of faults to his character as well, no one likes a perfect character, in fact they're genuinely some of the most despised characters because of how little relatable qualities they have and how it belittles those around them, without any flaws present in Prince Sidon he doesn't feel very relatable which makes him harder to identify with, there isn't much about him to like, sure he helps you deal with the Divine Beast Vah Ruta, but that's more connected to his role in the story than his actual character, we need a reason to respect him, and just because everyone else likes him that doesn't mean we should, the character Mipha suffers from the same problems, she's beloved because of her charming appearance and ability to heal seems to be the main reasons why every adored her, but like Sidon she also lacks flaws and identification, thankfully she is somewhat redeemed due to her relationship with Link, we see how much she cares and that gives us a reason to like her, but that's not enough to substitute her lack of flaws, every character needs flaws, if they don't then it sucks out their humanity, and there are many other characters who suffer from things like not enough focus, not enough development, and lack of flaws, namely the character Revali is snarky without many redeeming qualities, Urbosa had a lot of potential that gets shunned aside due to her lack of focus, Riju was downplayed and didn't do much to advance the plot, and even Zelda despite being very relatable as a character still doesn't make up for her weaknesses in the future, at least not very realistically or in a very well thought out type of way, and keep in mind that these are some of the main characters, I.E. the ones we're meant to care about more than any other.

Sadly, probably the best character out of all of them was the Rito Champion Teba, he seems to be getting the LEAST amount of attention out of all the characters, which is unfortunate because unlike some of the other characters Teba wasn't portrayed as being "Perfect" he felt very genuine and about his role as the Protector of the Rito, and he even had arguably the best relationship with Link, unlike the other characters as there was a whole segment where he trained Link to use Bomb Arrows, this kind of thought and effort isn't played out the best, but at least it was something of substance, the character Yunobo was also pretty genuine, he wasn't just the big guy with a timid attitude stereotype, because his fears were justified, no matter how strong you are or how tough you look you aren't gonna be able to face everything, I'm sure anyone could find themselves in Yunobo's position, it is a bit of an unoriginal concept, but it was played out fairly well and was actually relatable, Yunobo was a lot more human than many of the other protagonists.

Compared to other main characters we've seen in previous games, these characters are very flat and shallow, take Midna from Twilight Princess for example, she had some of the best character development compared to any character from any other Zelda game before, she was also given a lot of depth and even flaws to her character, the game never portrayed Midna like she was perfect and it didn't demand that you had to like her or agree with her, it was just something you did naturally because the game new how to develop her and flesh her out, she even has her own backstory and unique design that was easy to distinguish same goes for other characters like Ezlo from The Minish Cap, Groose from Skyward Sword, Tetra from The Wind Waker, and Linebeck from Phantom Hourglass who are all very well written characters who were focused on more for who they were and what their role was, the game never wanted you to feel like these characters HAD to leave an impression on you where as in Breath of the Wild sets up it's characters like they're the most important people and then give you little to like about them.

I've now gone on to explain how this game fails in terms of Story, Levels, Characters, and many other elements as well, so with that why is this game still getting as much attention as it is? what is it about this game makes it so amazing that no other game in the Zelda series can compare to it? I may not know, but whatever it is it must be pretty damn amazing for things like a brief storyline, repetitive dungeons, and shallow characters to be overlooked to such an extent to the point where they are even praised for a minimal amount of people.

Sources
1) ruclip.com/video/T3CsGbtifZI/t…
2) kotaku.com/breath-of-the-wilds…
3) zelda.gamepedia.com/Teba
4) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_…
5) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox…
6) www.gamefaqs.com/boards/189707…

Well, looks like it's that time of month again, my Birthday! Today marks the yearly anniversary of when I was born, this year I'm 16! Which honestly isn't that old, but still it definitely is one of the more memorable points in your life!

thanks to anyone who's already wished me a happy birthday!

Well, I was recently tagged by , so I suppose I'll do this neat little trivia thing, it'll be my first time doing so.

Rules: Tag 8 other people.

Name: Jake M. Johnson (What does "M" stand for? Use your imagination.)

Star sign: N/A

Average hours of sleep: Between 4-5 Hours mostly.

Lucky number: 64

Last thing I googled: Midna

Favourite fictional character(s):
-Midna (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
-GLaDOS (Portal)
-L Lawliet (Death Note)
-Judy Hopps (Zootopia)
-Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)
-Harley Quinn (DC Comics)
-The Doctor (Doctor Who)
-Hatsune Miku
-Peridot (Steven Universe)
-The Joker (DC Comics)
-Raven (Teen Titans)
-Darth Vader (Star Wars)
-Undyne (Undertale)

What are you wearing right now?: An Black NES T-Shirt, Vlad Black Pants

When did you start this account?: July 4th, 2014

Amount of watchers: 57 (56 Active)

Do you run any more blogs?: N/A

What do you post?: Hand-Drawn Art, Digital Art, Fanfiction, & Top 10s.

Why did you choose this username?: My previous account (), used a "2" so I figured, what's more than 2? 3 seemed nice, as for the "Jakered" part, my name was Jake, and red was my favourite colour at the time, although it's currently midnight blue.

So, I guess I should tag 8 other people Huh? Guess I'll do these fine people

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