@@JonathanTash It makes you curious. It shows that they put some love into the production (not just printing a bunch of pages with letters). And while reading the book, you can always go back to the map and check 'Hey, here I am right now in the story".
@@JonathanTash Maps give me the need to explore further. To think about the future possible advantages of a city on a flat plane with fertile ground or a fortress surrounded by a busy riverbend. Or the political division about coastal society vs the agricultural midlands. And that’s just the demographic side of the worldbuilding. Not even talked about secrets and lore
I love the anecdote about getting given the windwaker guide despite not owning windwaker but loving it anyway. thats such an adorable encapsulation of both adult bumbling when it comes to children's interests, and how kids will find the fun in anything I got given a couple of playstation magazines as a child despite owning an n64 and not a playstation and I obsessively read and re-read them imagining how amazing the games being reviewed were. and lamenting that alas, the games on the n64 were merely good, whereas the playstation games that existed in my imagination were perfect.
Hahaha oh my gosh, yes, pretending to play games that I only saw in magazines/commercials was a staple of my childhood. My parents have even watched this video; I wonder what they think about that section. xD
I use to hide from enemies and scale cliffs for hours... just to get into the shrines by taking no damage. However, this reaffirms that I was playing the CORRECT way. Hell yeah.
@@clampfan101 I'd smack six shrines with pins from the sheikah slate's scope, then turn the pins into another marker before repeating, until I'd marked EVERY shrine I could see from that tower. I also marked distant towers this same way, and stables.
Boy the assessment at 7:58 about the potential for missing things, and how that should be OK, is such a refreshing and in my opinion great take. In my heart I like to think I'm a completionist but I also am intimidated by the 900 korok seeds (not cheating, just want to find them myself). More to the point I finished the game in 2020 despite owning it since 2017, and its because my current situation (father, physician) doesn't lend to deep, long hours of playing very often. I just now bought the DLC and decided I need to find all 120 shrines before I embark on the Champion's Ballad and I have once again rekindled my love for the game because its about the exploration. I found the remaining shrines because I was more deliberate about exploring portions of the map that looked suspiciously less blue (lack of shrines) and was rewarded in time. So my point here is that I am coming back to this game 5 years later with things still left to do and in this time frame I have continuously loved the game and the journey it keeps taking me on. I also get to see it now through the eyes of my 8 year old which is also really fun. I'm sure I'll enjoy Tears of the Kingdom but Breath of the Wild will forever hold a deeply important place in my gaming life.
Loved this analysis! It hadn't occurred to me why BotW's map felt so much better than so many other AAA games, but I think the player-driven UI control is really crucial. That was one thing that I also generally liked about Hollow Knight's approach, and the approach of many other Metroidvanias, in that the really interesting things (including secret rooms, upgrades, or other points of interest) have to be player-discovered instead of just automatically having a big X-marks-the-spot on the map.
I really love how you don't call out problems in games as "ugh, this is bad" and always put it as "here's an example of an answer that didn't solve this hard problem"
How they were able to make "up" such a reward is also amazing, they incentivized it so much that it was its own prize, and they did the same but better in totk
The way you break down the knowns and unknowns of maps is super interesting and I like thinking about how other game maps do this. In Civ, the minimap is scaled to show the whole "known" world, which means that individual features are huge at the start and gradually shrink to show more breadth as you explore more. For me, one of the fun things of exploring in Civ is getting to the point where the minimap no longer zooms out because it means you finally have an idea of how big the world is, and if it's going to be "five cities and fight" game or a "thirty-six cities and slog for-goddamn-ever" kind of game. lol also I lost it at "turn up into far" xD
The map in TotK is gonna be insane! The skies, the ground, and some theories of underground too! This makes me think of the classic Zelda dungeon maps where it displays the floor number on the side of the screen.
Your videos are always lovely. Might just be me, but I’ve really loved when you get really granular about UX and interface design. It kind of seemed like you wanted to make more of a connection there on this topic, so just go for it and get nerdy with us, girl!
Ha! Thanks for watching :) :) A request to get MORE nerdy!? With pleasure! Just wait until I get to talk about the UX of the Breath of the Wild stamina wheel >:) >:)
8:10 - that little leap is so satisfying to watch because of how unnecessary it was. Damn, for some reason I love the basic movement in Breath of the Wild even.
Maps that fill in as you explore are the best maps. But then there's drawing your own map. I think it was zelda: spirit tracks were you had to draw an island for a puzzle. My favourite RPG series, Etrian Odyssey, has the player draw the map on a grid as they explore. You can use icons to mark locations or color the tiles as water or thorny ground.
I never played spirit tracks!! I also don't think I've ever played a game where the player had to construct their own map. :O that's so cool! I suppose the closest I've come is drawing my own map on graph paper while playing the original Legend of Zelda. :)
Usually big open maps are daunting. But in playing Botw, I've newer felt that map size is a problem. EVERYTHING important is somewhat close to a tower or a shrine
Map Map mapmapmapmapmap. Now I want to go play breath of the wild! What an inspiring way to think about maps and the beauty and intentionality they bring to this... WORLD. There I said it too.
Nice video on the importance of maps and how they connect to player experience Afterthoughts! Straightforward and meaningful points throughout, as always
Towers are tall. Damn, knew i was missing something, thanks for clarifying that! I will definitely be checking out the rest of your videos when i got some time to spare. Love your style, have a subscribe!
Wow, after I saw your comment on my BOTW video, I just had to check out yours, and this is an incredible video! I think your video is wayyy better than mine, and I'm not just saying that. You're very articulate and the editing is absolutely top notch! And it goes without saying, but I agree with everything you said in this video haha. Great work, and I'm excited to see more!
Oh gosh! :O thank you!! I loved how you went further into detail on the other open world games; as you can probably tell, I have only a passing familiarity. :) Nice to meet ya!
I was just browsing through people in the upcoming OMR collab thingy and came across your channel, just wanna say your content is really great. Keep it up!
If you ever wonder "have I really made a difference in the world," you need to know that "you have achieved Up. Now you can see Far, which is a property of Up" will live rent-free in my head for the rest of my days. You have made a wonderful difference in the world
0:29 That's funny because I love exploration but never got excited about the map. It always felt like a spoiler more than an excitement. 4:16 Lol. I paused without even thinking about it. 4:57 Okay. I definitely felt the same way about the blank map. 5:52 That makes a lot more sense. Seeing the real places first made the map feel way less spoilery. 10:31 I'm avoiding fast travel on my new playthrough. It feels wrong. 11:32 I love the analogy of a scrap book! I didn't quite see the botw map that way because I imagined the code and how easily it could be overwritten. I didn't see it as real and physical. Maybe I need to do some scrapbooking.
this video is just stellar!! you can really feel the enthusiasm and passion that you have for the subject, and the anecdote at the beginning is super effective. definitely gained a new subscriber today 👍
Great video !! The one thing I always loved about how this game was the lack of info on the map. Open world games have gotten way too carried away loading it up with info and waypoints. Even even though I missed out on a lot of stuff the first time playing, and in the grand scheme of things zelda BotW didn't really have all too much besides exploring that's the whole draw of the game to me!! The "getting lost" and then finding my way to the objective like 10 hours or 100 hours later felt way more impactful then just look at the map and do all the way points on the screen till I do them all.
A problem I have with a lot of open world games, is that they can have an expansive map, but with seemingly very little occupying it. I did not have this problem with BOTW. Around every metaphorical corner, I was finding interesting landmarks, visual storytelling, or various activities to get lost in. I can't even count how many times I'd look out at the world, spot some obscure spot and think "If I were a developer, I'd definitely put a secret there." And more often than not, I'd be right! It made exploring every nook and cranny feel gratifying and well worth taking the road less traveled. Thank you for coming to my TED talk
Great video and hope you make more game design centered content in the future! What makes BOTW so cool is that even if I miss out on cool stuff that the map hides there's a good chance a friend of mine found it. This is why I find talking about BOTW to be so much more exciting than talking about RD2
Yes!! I agree! My roommate just told me about finding a giant sword somewhere in the landscape… I totally didn’t see it during my playthrough! Makes it feel like talking on the playground back in the day :)
As per request leaving a comment! : It is just so wonderful to listen to someone (thats you!) talk about something they truly appreciate whilst them simultaneously having the required vocabulary to elegantly and passionately bring the viewer (thats me) to a higher plane of appreciation :) Thank you!
Found this video while wrapping up a no towers run of BoTW, and OH MAN are you right. Would not recommend unless you're up for a challenge. It does make horses more useful, though, since they autopilot to the paths.
Maaan. Your videos KILL. So much work you put in and the way you make connections about a single concept to different games. Stamina wheel pulled me in Map made me sub. Thank you for the content
One of the first things I did in my playthrough was visit each of the towers once I was prepared. I realized I skipped over large areas of the map, but shrine, korok seed, and marker locations helped me see where I had yet to explore.
Many people have compared BOTW to Skyrim, but if the Bethesda RPGs had anything to do with it, I actually think it's design philosophy when it comes to building the map and guiding players through it was more likely to have been inspired by Fallout New Vegas. Partly a hunch, but Obsidian may actually have beaten Bethesda at their own game.
Oh man, I think you finally encapsulated why I love to look at maps so much! Especially stylized maps made by people who care about them. I of course mean all of the fanmade maps of breath of the wild, with notable landmarks marked, but also maps like that for real life! Even in things like google maps ive always marked tons of my favorite places, even though I already know where they are and visit them often, and this video helped me figure out why! The appeal of drawing my own map of my neighborhood, town, or wider area around it all comes down to keeping track of areas close to your heart that you always want to return to! And breath of the wild implements that feeling beautifully. I can't believe I haven't discovered your channel before, it's so amazing! I love your game analysis from the perspective of UI game design, because it's so interesting! I never thought about game design from that perspective before, but you've made me realize how important it is; especially for someone who wants to make games someday!
Oh my god I can’t wait until you release your assessment of totk!! I cannot tell you how magical it was to discover the depths for the first time-I somehow missed all mentions of what was *in* the chasms both in and out of the game, and I’ve never had a more insane, bone-chilling experience in a game than plummeting into a chasm for the first time
Something I noticed myself was that korok seed locations you have found aren’t actually displayed on the map unless you zoom in. I found this incredibly useful at one point, because I had found a korok early in my travels, and remembered that one was in a place near a memory location, but didn’t fully recall the exact location. Then, because I knew around where the korok was, I marked that on the map, and went there. Bam, I didn’t need the korok location displayed until I did. Something small, but really cool once I had that interaction.
Exploration is my favorite thing about BoTW, and I had never consciously thought about how the map might've affected that feeling. Thanks for the food for thought. I just stumbled across your channel tonight and am really enjoying your content. Nice work!
I remember on my first playthrough how exciting (and sometimes stressful but in a fun way) it was to discover what would be waiting for me at each tower. Wizzrobes? Thorns? A bottomless pit? And then the joy of getting to paraglide off wherever you want from the top.. ahhhh so good
I was so deeply aware of the cycle of "See tall thing, try to go to tall thing, find other things instead" that the towers sat as permanent icons on my map loooong before I actually made my way there. I knew that there's be so many interesting diversions and moments between there and here that I had to make sure to make them permanent, to swap from the 4 colored waypoints into a solid, everlasting.. uhh.. crystal.. icon. A couple of those towers sat categorized for a couple dozen hours before they got climbed Wonderful video.
Maps that get filled with markers immediately feel like a checklist you have to work through. As someone who has a completionist streak but often burns out before finishing games that is a main reason for that. I'll spend a lot of time doing boring/tedious tasks that might not even be worth it instead of having fun. But in botw and similar games it felt like I genuinely discovered something instead of following markers and never genuinely searching for things.
Yeup, still in love with the presentation, gonna need to binge more. Sorry I don't have much to say on the actual subject, but I'm not sure I could add anything not already covered in the video, but you absolutely deserve a comment to drive up the engagement algorithm. More people need to see this.
So I’ve been noticing that TOTK feels wayyyy more expansive than BOTW (which was already expansive) and I love the way you summed it up in BOTW. In BOTW, they made towers TALL to produce UP. so that we could produce FAR. In TOTK, they made towers produce a LOT OF UP and we can produce a LOT OF FAR. They even wanted to make so much UP they needed to make DOWN lmao
The more I listen to you talking about the way you play breath of the wild abd what caught your attention in the game the more I see myself playing hahahaha it's Incredible, that's why I like your videos so much!
This was such a well-made video! The editing was phenomenal (especially with the opening) and I loved the use of BOTW's horse-riding music (that's my favorite video game track and the entire reason why I ride horses much more than I should)
You played this game THE RIGHT WAY! Your experience is very close to mine. I think a lot of those that did not like the game tried to play it like a Ubisoft open world game rather than letting the world and its vistas take them on their own adventure.
I want to leave a comment but I don't know what to say that hasn't been said other than that I found this fun to watch in that I could feel how invested and earnestly excited you are about this. It's a really nice change of pace, to unironically like something. Thank you for making this, you made my day better.
Tunic did a really clever twist on the "Player doesn't know, map shows" quadrant where it showed little secrets on the map -- secret doors, hints to puzzles, etc!
When I first got the BOTW map I thought what was shown was all there was and the rest was ocean lol. Realizing how big it was was a mindblowing experiance.
I'm very late to the party and this video by a year but im glad I found this channel because I'm really enjoying the different topics so far. For me the most recent game that gave me that feeling of "I have to go there now" was Elden Ring, light spoiler btw: Everytime I beat one of the shard bearers the map just kept on expanding and I just kept going "Wait there's more!?" And it was a really neat feeling that I hadn't gotten since BoTW, aside from my issues with how certain bosses work, I thought the map and exploration was an extremely well done aspect of the game.
This is an amazing video! Can’t believe TH-cam only recommended your stuff to me now as I’ve just been on a massive binge of all your content! I particularly love the stamina wheel video 💕
This is thoughtful and excellent analysis. I would watch another video (or series) where you described the merits and failings of UI (navigational or otherwise) in other games.
Love the thing about missing parts of a game. I feel it actually adds. There is so much more fun in having a fun facts video or gameplay, or even better, a friend, tell me about a place, it feels so much more personal than seeing a map pin. Like this place is not " pin n°462882'', but rather "that place my friend showed me ho to get to because there was some good loot and we had so much fun playing together"
I really loved the video (and your video on the stamina wheel) but I think for me you left the coolest part of the map off... if the map is about our contribution or chronicling our journey, we should have been treated to some of your amazing commentary about the *furiously googles* hero's path option. I swear that was the best dlc I ever got because it meant I could see where I'd been, and more importantly where I'd not been. Such a cool mechanic.
really great topic and analysis!! the world map in botw has been one of my favorite aspects and like you said is what kept pushing me to explore and do more, great to see someone take the time to appreciate it ❤️
wow i guess nowhere is safe from couch’s dad jokes
Literally nowhere
her name is couch?
@@dissonanceparadiddle 5:11, a joke made by user "Internet couch"
I like maps in books too. Nothing better then opening to the first page and finding a big ol' map.
MMM YES, agree
That just stresses me out. I don't even know if the book is worth my time yet and they're giving me a huge map? Why?
@@JonathanTash It makes you curious. It shows that they put some love into the production (not just printing a bunch of pages with letters). And while reading the book, you can always go back to the map and check 'Hey, here I am right now in the story".
@@JonathanTash Maps give me the need to explore further. To think about the future possible advantages of a city on a flat plane with fertile ground or a fortress surrounded by a busy riverbend. Or the political division about coastal society vs the agricultural midlands.
And that’s just the demographic side of the worldbuilding. Not even talked about secrets and lore
i would turn back to the map every time a place was mentionned when reading tolkien, it's so engaging
‘You have achieved up. Now you can see far. That is a natural property of up’
Only the best analysis from Afterthoughts 🥰
:D
a natural property of being high.
up.
high up.
@@petrikhorr I mean you see more either way if you look at it right
"Maps are good."
"The towers are tall."
Lookit Sam with all the risky takes.
Yo I wasn't sure I'd get away with it
Up is good
"you have achieved UP and once you are UP you can SEE FAR" perfectly summed up my feelings whenever a game lets me climb
I love the anecdote about getting given the windwaker guide despite not owning windwaker but loving it anyway. thats such an adorable encapsulation of both adult bumbling when it comes to children's interests, and how kids will find the fun in anything
I got given a couple of playstation magazines as a child despite owning an n64 and not a playstation and I obsessively read and re-read them imagining how amazing the games being reviewed were. and lamenting that alas, the games on the n64 were merely good, whereas the playstation games that existed in my imagination were perfect.
Hahaha oh my gosh, yes, pretending to play games that I only saw in magazines/commercials was a staple of my childhood. My parents have even watched this video; I wonder what they think about that section. xD
@@Afterthoughts Why don't you just ask them?
I often enjoy more, the memories of reading a PS2 game instruction manual/book, than the memories of the game itself 😂
That part about World → Player → UI was just _chef's kiss_
I use to hide from enemies and scale cliffs for hours... just to get into the shrines by taking no damage.
However, this reaffirms that I was playing the CORRECT way. Hell yeah.
This is exactly how I played, haha. 9 times out of 10 I'm a combat wuss.
The towers being tall facilitates exploration 🤯. It's so seamless you don't even notice.
Awesome video Sam!
Haha, thanks Andy! :D
It’s true. I remember trying to spot as many shrines as I could from the top of each tower before moving on to the next.
@@clampfan101 I'd smack six shrines with pins from the sheikah slate's scope, then turn the pins into another marker before repeating, until I'd marked EVERY shrine I could see from that tower. I also marked distant towers this same way, and stables.
"You have achieved 'Up'"
you have achieved "subscribe"
Woo!!
Boy the assessment at 7:58 about the potential for missing things, and how that should be OK, is such a refreshing and in my opinion great take. In my heart I like to think I'm a completionist but I also am intimidated by the 900 korok seeds (not cheating, just want to find them myself). More to the point I finished the game in 2020 despite owning it since 2017, and its because my current situation (father, physician) doesn't lend to deep, long hours of playing very often. I just now bought the DLC and decided I need to find all 120 shrines before I embark on the Champion's Ballad and I have once again rekindled my love for the game because its about the exploration. I found the remaining shrines because I was more deliberate about exploring portions of the map that looked suspiciously less blue (lack of shrines) and was rewarded in time. So my point here is that I am coming back to this game 5 years later with things still left to do and in this time frame I have continuously loved the game and the journey it keeps taking me on. I also get to see it now through the eyes of my 8 year old which is also really fun. I'm sure I'll enjoy Tears of the Kingdom but Breath of the Wild will forever hold a deeply important place in my gaming life.
Chill cartography to study/relax to
My aspirational vibe :O
Loved this analysis! It hadn't occurred to me why BotW's map felt so much better than so many other AAA games, but I think the player-driven UI control is really crucial. That was one thing that I also generally liked about Hollow Knight's approach, and the approach of many other Metroidvanias, in that the really interesting things (including secret rooms, upgrades, or other points of interest) have to be player-discovered instead of just automatically having a big X-marks-the-spot on the map.
Finally someone who can express how fucking amazing maps are. I could stare at a map of the world for literally hours and I have absolutely done so
I am here to give maps the love they deserve!!
Until you reach TOTK and you can’t find THAT ONE LAST FREAKING SHRINE.
I really love how you don't call out problems in games as "ugh, this is bad" and always put it as "here's an example of an answer that didn't solve this hard problem"
the difference between my intrest in real life maps and video game maps is amazing, this video makes me realise that more than ever
I wonder if you just need to meet the real-life map of your dreams
How they were able to make "up" such a reward is also amazing, they incentivized it so much that it was its own prize, and they did the same but better in totk
The way you break down the knowns and unknowns of maps is super interesting and I like thinking about how other game maps do this. In Civ, the minimap is scaled to show the whole "known" world, which means that individual features are huge at the start and gradually shrink to show more breadth as you explore more. For me, one of the fun things of exploring in Civ is getting to the point where the minimap no longer zooms out because it means you finally have an idea of how big the world is, and if it's going to be "five cities and fight" game or a "thirty-six cities and slog for-goddamn-ever" kind of game. lol
also I lost it at "turn up into far" xD
Mmmm that's such a fun phase of Civ! I will need to pay more attention to how the minimap works in that game. :) Thanks for pointing that out!
i just fell deeep back into my zelda phase and you upload this :]
Sometimes the timing's just right! :D
The map in TotK is gonna be insane! The skies, the ground, and some theories of underground too! This makes me think of the classic Zelda dungeon maps where it displays the floor number on the side of the screen.
That’s one of the big reasons I love botw and TotK’s map! You nailed it, it’s a scrapbook of our progress and I LOVE it!
Your videos are always lovely. Might just be me, but I’ve really loved when you get really granular about UX and interface design. It kind of seemed like you wanted to make more of a connection there on this topic, so just go for it and get nerdy with us, girl!
Ha! Thanks for watching :) :)
A request to get MORE nerdy!? With pleasure! Just wait until I get to talk about the UX of the Breath of the Wild stamina wheel >:) >:)
Oracle of Seasons!!!
8:10 - that little leap is so satisfying to watch because of how unnecessary it was. Damn, for some reason I love the basic movement in Breath of the Wild even.
Maps can be such an INCREDIBLE tool and this was a brilliant look into the player experience through Breath of the Wild
Agreeeee!!! Thanks for watching! :D
Maps that fill in as you explore are the best maps. But then there's drawing your own map. I think it was zelda: spirit tracks were you had to draw an island for a puzzle.
My favourite RPG series, Etrian Odyssey, has the player draw the map on a grid as they explore. You can use icons to mark locations or color the tiles as water or thorny ground.
I never played spirit tracks!! I also don't think I've ever played a game where the player had to construct their own map. :O that's so cool! I suppose the closest I've come is drawing my own map on graph paper while playing the original Legend of Zelda. :)
@@Afterthoughts it was zelda: phantom hourglass. they were both DS games.
these comments were ages ago but hollow knight does this really well, making it part of the economic system
Wow this is so elegant and simple (towers are tall), this is such a well constructed essay and entirely with your voice!
Thanks Chay! :)
"The Towers drill Verticality into the Player's heart"
Rain: am I joke to you?
Usually big open maps are daunting. But in playing Botw, I've newer felt that map size is a problem. EVERYTHING important is somewhat close to a tower or a shrine
Map Map mapmapmapmapmap. Now I want to go play breath of the wild! What an inspiring way to think about maps and the beauty and intentionality they bring to this... WORLD. There I said it too.
MAP WORLD!
suger cool!.
"a map in the real world should tell you how to get somewhere, a map in a game should make you want to go" such a good line
Nice video on the importance of maps and how they connect to player experience Afterthoughts! Straightforward and meaningful points throughout, as always
Thanks so much for watching! :) I'm so happy to hear you liked it!
ayy love your videos
Towers are tall. Damn, knew i was missing something, thanks for clarifying that!
I will definitely be checking out the rest of your videos when i got some time to spare. Love your style, have a subscribe!
Eyy thanks! :) that means a lot!
I also love maps drawing them for the dnd campaigns I run is one of my favorite parts of the process.
Yes! Chances are, if I wasn't paying attention in class as a kid, I was drawing some kinda map :^)
Wow, after I saw your comment on my BOTW video, I just had to check out yours, and this is an incredible video! I think your video is wayyy better than mine, and I'm not just saying that. You're very articulate and the editing is absolutely top notch! And it goes without saying, but I agree with everything you said in this video haha. Great work, and I'm excited to see more!
Oh gosh! :O thank you!! I loved how you went further into detail on the other open world games; as you can probably tell, I have only a passing familiarity. :) Nice to meet ya!
First off i love your breakdown videos you speak so eloquently, and secondly 11:52 HOW DID I NOT KNOW THERE COULD BE RAINBOWS WHAT
It *does* feel good to achieve UP🙌
Your vids are so charming Im glad Im finally getting to them :)
Aw, thank you!! ☺️❤️
I was just browsing through people in the upcoming OMR collab thingy and came across your channel, just wanna say your content is really great. Keep it up!
Hey, thank you! :) That means a lot!
If you ever wonder "have I really made a difference in the world," you need to know that "you have achieved Up. Now you can see Far, which is a property of Up" will live rent-free in my head for the rest of my days. You have made a wonderful difference in the world
lmaooo, hooray! :D
0:29 That's funny because I love exploration but never got excited about the map. It always felt like a spoiler more than an excitement.
4:16 Lol. I paused without even thinking about it.
4:57 Okay. I definitely felt the same way about the blank map.
5:52 That makes a lot more sense. Seeing the real places first made the map feel way less spoilery.
10:31 I'm avoiding fast travel on my new playthrough. It feels wrong.
11:32 I love the analogy of a scrap book! I didn't quite see the botw map that way because I imagined the code and how easily it could be overwritten. I didn't see it as real and physical. Maybe I need to do some scrapbooking.
this video is just stellar!! you can really feel the enthusiasm and passion that you have for the subject, and the anecdote at the beginning is super effective. definitely gained a new subscriber today 👍
Aww, thank you! :)
Great video !! The one thing I always loved about how this game was the lack of info on the map. Open world games have gotten way too carried away loading it up with info and waypoints. Even even though I missed out on a lot of stuff the first time playing, and in the grand scheme of things zelda BotW didn't really have all too much besides exploring that's the whole draw of the game to me!! The "getting lost" and then finding my way to the objective like 10 hours or 100 hours later felt way more impactful then just look at the map and do all the way points on the screen till I do them all.
This is awesome. I can't believe it doesn't have more views.
You have the power! ;D
Haha thanks, I'm glad you liked it! :)
Such a thorough look at how important maps are to how you experience a game.
A problem I have with a lot of open world games, is that they can have an expansive map, but with seemingly very little occupying it. I did not have this problem with BOTW. Around every metaphorical corner, I was finding interesting landmarks, visual storytelling, or various activities to get lost in. I can't even count how many times I'd look out at the world, spot some obscure spot and think "If I were a developer, I'd definitely put a secret there." And more often than not, I'd be right! It made exploring every nook and cranny feel gratifying and well worth taking the road less traveled. Thank you for coming to my TED talk
I was straight up giggling at the "up" section. 10/10 great comedic timing and delivery!
Absolutely excellent video! So awesome to see more UI examples in games
Thank you for watching! :) Been meaning to check out your stuff! Love getting more opportunities to nerd out about design.
Great video and hope you make more game design centered content in the future! What makes BOTW so cool is that even if I miss out on cool stuff that the map hides there's a good chance a friend of mine found it. This is why I find talking about BOTW to be so much more exciting than talking about RD2
Yes!! I agree! My roommate just told me about finding a giant sword somewhere in the landscape… I totally didn’t see it during my playthrough! Makes it feel like talking on the playground back in the day :)
9:49 i appreciate the music syncing with the word up in this section
Beautifully written and edited! Cannot wait for the next one! ☺️
Thank you!! :D :D
During the "up" tangent, specifically about jumping off, I thought "ah, they bettered that feel of Assassins Creed"
:') :')
Gosh darn Afterthoughts you are good at your job.
WELL SHUCKS! 😊
"a map in a game world should make you want to go"
can I interest you in a travel map of the scenic vistas of Mount Doom?
Oooh interesting, tell me more
One does not simply dive into the fires of mount doom without swimming goggles
This was wonderful! I never actually finished BoTW, but this makes me want to go back to it
It's my go-to relaxation game! :)
As per request leaving a comment! : It is just so wonderful to listen to someone (thats you!) talk about something they truly appreciate whilst them simultaneously having the required vocabulary to elegantly and passionately bring the viewer (thats me) to a higher plane of appreciation :) Thank you!
Found this video while wrapping up a no towers run of BoTW, and OH MAN are you right. Would not recommend unless you're up for a challenge. It does make horses more useful, though, since they autopilot to the paths.
Maaan. Your videos KILL. So much work you put in and the way you make connections about a single concept to different games.
Stamina wheel pulled me in
Map made me sub. Thank you for the content
One of the first things I did in my playthrough was visit each of the towers once I was prepared. I realized I skipped over large areas of the map, but shrine, korok seed, and marker locations helped me see where I had yet to explore.
Many people have compared BOTW to Skyrim, but if the Bethesda RPGs had anything to do with it, I actually think it's design philosophy when it comes to building the map and guiding players through it was more likely to have been inspired by Fallout New Vegas.
Partly a hunch, but Obsidian may actually have beaten Bethesda at their own game.
I haven't played Fallout New Vegas, but I've heard great things. I'll have to see how the map design compares!
Oh man, I think you finally encapsulated why I love to look at maps so much! Especially stylized maps made by people who care about them. I of course mean all of the fanmade maps of breath of the wild, with notable landmarks marked, but also maps like that for real life! Even in things like google maps ive always marked tons of my favorite places, even though I already know where they are and visit them often, and this video helped me figure out why! The appeal of drawing my own map of my neighborhood, town, or wider area around it all comes down to keeping track of areas close to your heart that you always want to return to! And breath of the wild implements that feeling beautifully.
I can't believe I haven't discovered your channel before, it's so amazing! I love your game analysis from the perspective of UI game design, because it's so interesting! I never thought about game design from that perspective before, but you've made me realize how important it is;
especially for someone who wants to make games someday!
I loved the botw maps!
This was a really fun video. Absolutely agree - I think also the good thing about circles is it's a clock face - it's so much quicker to read
Great video!
Thank you! :) :)
I did not know I needed breakdowns of the UI/UX I had been living with all my life. Thank you for existing!
Oh my god I can’t wait until you release your assessment of totk!! I cannot tell you how magical it was to discover the depths for the first time-I somehow missed all mentions of what was *in* the chasms both in and out of the game, and I’ve never had a more insane, bone-chilling experience in a game than plummeting into a chasm for the first time
I LOVE MAPS! this was written SO well, I love your videos and your analysis
Thank you, fellow map enthusiast!! :D
Something I noticed myself was that korok seed locations you have found aren’t actually displayed on the map unless you zoom in. I found this incredibly useful at one point, because I had found a korok early in my travels, and remembered that one was in a place near a memory location, but didn’t fully recall the exact location. Then, because I knew around where the korok was, I marked that on the map, and went there. Bam, I didn’t need the korok location displayed until I did. Something small, but really cool once I had that interaction.
I'm glad to see that someone else appreciates the design choices in Zelda games as much as I do.
Absolutely brilliant video. "Challenge accepted" followed by a million distractions certainly lines up with my experience too. What a game
Exploration is my favorite thing about BoTW, and I had never consciously thought about how the map might've affected that feeling. Thanks for the food for thought.
I just stumbled across your channel tonight and am really enjoying your content. Nice work!
I remember on my first playthrough how exciting (and sometimes stressful but in a fun way) it was to discover what would be waiting for me at each tower. Wizzrobes? Thorns? A bottomless pit? And then the joy of getting to paraglide off wherever you want from the top.. ahhhh so good
Your video style is sooo nice. It's refreshing, fun without going overboard. A calm but happy voice keeping the interest, it's all great!
I was so deeply aware of the cycle of "See tall thing, try to go to tall thing, find other things instead" that the towers sat as permanent icons on my map loooong before I actually made my way there. I knew that there's be so many interesting diversions and moments between there and here that I had to make sure to make them permanent, to swap from the 4 colored waypoints into a solid, everlasting.. uhh.. crystal.. icon. A couple of those towers sat categorized for a couple dozen hours before they got climbed
Wonderful video.
Maps that get filled with markers immediately feel like a checklist you have to work through. As someone who has a completionist streak but often burns out before finishing games that is a main reason for that. I'll spend a lot of time doing boring/tedious tasks that might not even be worth it instead of having fun. But in botw and similar games it felt like I genuinely discovered something instead of following markers and never genuinely searching for things.
7:57 - This is why, almost 6 years later, I had no idea there was a golf minigame hidden somewhere on the map. Literally blew my mind.
Words cannot express my love for the "up" section of this video
Yeup, still in love with the presentation, gonna need to binge more. Sorry I don't have much to say on the actual subject, but I'm not sure I could add anything not already covered in the video, but you absolutely deserve a comment to drive up the engagement algorithm. More people need to see this.
Really great video!
Thanks for watching! :) Happy you liked it!
So I’ve been noticing that TOTK feels wayyyy more expansive than BOTW (which was already expansive) and I love the way you summed it up in BOTW.
In BOTW, they made towers TALL to produce UP. so that we could produce FAR.
In TOTK, they made towers produce a LOT OF UP and we can produce a LOT OF FAR. They even wanted to make so much UP they needed to make DOWN lmao
The more I listen to you talking about the way you play breath of the wild abd what caught your attention in the game the more I see myself playing hahahaha it's Incredible, that's why I like your videos so much!
This was such a well-made video! The editing was phenomenal (especially with the opening) and I loved the use of BOTW's horse-riding music (that's my favorite video game track and the entire reason why I ride horses much more than I should)
You played this game THE RIGHT WAY! Your experience is very close to mine.
I think a lot of those that did not like the game tried to play it like a Ubisoft open world game rather than letting the world and its vistas take them on their own adventure.
I want to leave a comment but I don't know what to say that hasn't been said other than that I found this fun to watch in that I could feel how invested and earnestly excited you are about this.
It's a really nice change of pace, to unironically like something. Thank you for making this, you made my day better.
Tunic did a really clever twist on the "Player doesn't know, map shows" quadrant where it showed little secrets on the map -- secret doors, hints to puzzles, etc!
Slowly falling in love with this channel after binging like 4 videos, having such a good time
I love your videos so much! Always so in depth and beautiful! :D
Aww, thank you!! :')
When I first got the BOTW map I thought what was shown was all there was and the rest was ocean lol. Realizing how big it was was a mindblowing experiance.
I’m now nerding out over topographical maps and how BOTW gives you a 3D map without giving you a 3D map. This makes my day.
I'm very late to the party and this video by a year but im glad I found this channel because I'm really enjoying the different topics so far. For me the most recent game that gave me that feeling of "I have to go there now" was Elden Ring, light spoiler btw:
Everytime I beat one of the shard bearers the map just kept on expanding and I just kept going "Wait there's more!?" And it was a really neat feeling that I hadn't gotten since BoTW, aside from my issues with how certain bosses work, I thought the map and exploration was an extremely well done aspect of the game.
I once lived down the road from the Skytower in Auckland City, and I could walk home from literally anywhere in the city just by aiming for the tower
The Elden Ring map though 🤤 encourages exploration simply by its visual design and hides its bredth rather than revealing it. Truly special.
You have quickly become one of my favorite channels here. Love your video essays my guy
This is an amazing video! Can’t believe TH-cam only recommended your stuff to me now as I’ve just been on a massive binge of all your content! I particularly love the stamina wheel video 💕
This is thoughtful and excellent analysis. I would watch another video (or series) where you described the merits and failings of UI (navigational or otherwise) in other games.
I pretty much make videos about whatever brainworm I'm currently needing to exorcise xD hopefully more of those brainworms will be UI-related!
I've always wanted to take a cartography class just so I can make my own (yes, probably on genuine parchment) game maps.
I love how your videos have helped amplify my love and appreciation for these games!
Love the thing about missing parts of a game. I feel it actually adds. There is so much more fun in having a fun facts video or gameplay, or even better, a friend, tell me about a place, it feels so much more personal than seeing a map pin. Like this place is not " pin n°462882'', but rather "that place my friend showed me ho to get to because there was some good loot and we had so much fun playing together"
I really loved the video (and your video on the stamina wheel) but I think for me you left the coolest part of the map off... if the map is about our contribution or chronicling our journey, we should have been treated to some of your amazing commentary about the *furiously googles* hero's path option. I swear that was the best dlc I ever got because it meant I could see where I'd been, and more importantly where I'd not been. Such a cool mechanic.
i love your videos! the map ui across games have always been such a wonder to dabble with
Agreed! :) So happy you liked the video! Thank you for watching!!
really great topic and analysis!! the world map in botw has been one of my favorite aspects and like you said is what kept pushing me to explore and do more, great to see someone take the time to appreciate it ❤️