I played BotW a lot, and really loved it. I feel like the beginning of the game was relatively easy compared to TotK, I died a few times trying out things, discovering the game and possibilities ; in TotK I died a lot and still do even with good gear and armour (1*-2* armors, 30-40+ damage weapons). You could say it’s skill issues and I would agree with you as I am not a pro player and play games once a week maybe, however I feel like the difficulty curve is far greater in TotK. That has affected how I view the game to the point that sometimes I think I dislike it (even though the new powers are the best thing they could have added, with the verticality of the world) ; that might also have to do with the much darker ambiance of the game, which can feel frightening (to me) to the point going underground is hard.
Is it just me? Should I just “git gud”?
The world of toothpick durability weapons killed it for me. Again.
It seems like the weapons are less durable in TotK, I didn’t mind durability in BotW but I go though weapons way too fast now.
It’s probably to force you into being creative with the games mechanics. Which is not a good reason.
What? That’s an excellent reason to restrict a weapon.
I’m reminded of the RE4 remake. They added a cool parry system, but with practice it becomes too reliable, turning enemies into a non-threat. By adding limited durability to the knife, they get players to prioritize offense, only use parries as a last resort, and use all their resources proactively.
The initial sky island is as easy as the beginning of BotW. The initial constructs are easy to defeat (a few hits with a branch, and they’re gone).
I think by the time you jump to the surface, you’re expected to know how to fuse weapons. This will give you an advantage, and makes enemies easier to defeat. But if you don’t fuse weapons and play the game like in BotW, it becomes really hard, since enemies are designed to be attacked with stronger, fused weapons.
The depths adds another layer, as there you find resources that will make defeating enemies extremely easy: bomb flowers, muddle buds and puffshrooms are extremely useful when used strategically. As long as you avoid large enemies and bosses, the depths difficulty level is not hard. But again, you need to use fused weapons.
The main point, in my opinion, is understanding the new mechanics you can use, and play the game using them, and not like you played in BotW. It’s really a different game in a lot of aspects, specially combat.
Edit: Oh, I almost forgot: in TotK, you have the help of the sages avatars. Contrary to BotW, this game is designed to play with them, and not completely alone. A lot of people just dismiss the avatars and go alone against enemies, but this game is designed to have them around you almost always. If you’re not using them, try summoning them and having them by your side always. They help a lot.
I think the sages are the biggest thing here. The bad guys don’t typically do the thing that games like Assassin’s Creed bad guys do where your may have a gang of events but they’re roughly taking turns coming at you. In TotK, they’re just all over you constantly and the most effective way to keep that heat off of yourself is via the sages.
This is why the pros are paid the big money.
While I think the overall game is harder than BOTW (especially some enemies), I found some boss fights to be less challenging while others were more difficult for me. When I started out with BOTW I was rather disappointed with the game as I had struggled with the mechanics but eventually got better and ended up loving it so much it became my favorite game. TOTK might feel easier for me as I already was familiar with the core mechanics from the start. Either way I ended up enjoying it like no other game.
