Chapter 422: Buy a game, get a game console for free! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

'We fully understand the players' eagerness to venture to Hyrule and rescue Princess Zelda from the Demon King.'

'However, this is not the so-called scarcity marketing everyone talks about; rather, the 3 million Switch consoles previously stocked have indeed sold out.'

'But there's no need to worry too much, and we hope everyone refrains from so-called inflated-price purchases. Currently, major production lines both domestically and internationally have been fully activated, and a new large batch of stock will be released next week.'

As Chen Xu's official Weibo account posted this, countless comments immediately flooded in below.

"Holy cow! All 3 million units sold out?"

"Bro upstairs, those were units for the global market, 3 million isn't actually that many!"

"So, how 'big' is this new large batch of stock going to be?"

"Hurry up and produce more! Also, we honestly don't care at all about saving the princess; we just purely want to go to Hyrule and steal bird eggs!"

Many players were leaving all sorts of playful comments on Chen Xu's official Weibo account and other official communities.

What else could they do? With stock shortages, all they could do was make playful remarks.

However, with major contract manufacturing lines operating at full capacity, supply quickly eased.

The major forums were filled with messages from players who got into Switch because of Breath of the Wild.

"Finally got a Switch at original price! I'm going to save the princess!"

"Don't bother saving her. As a launch player, I can tell you the princess already stinks!"

'I'm stunned! Nebula Games is truly conscientious! I bought The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and they even gave me a game console for free!'

'+1, I bought The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for 1299, but with an extra three hundred, I got a Switch handheld for free, which I totally didn't expect!'

Countless players who got their hands on the game posted jokingly, besides being shocked.

They expressed that it was completely like buying a game and getting a game console for free!

Although it was a joke, many people genuinely chose to buy a Switch because of this game.

Buying a Switch for just one game might sound a bit incredible, but for players who have experienced it, they can completely understand why.

Because this game possesses such charm.

The main reason for this situation is also a core characteristic of Breath of the Wild.

Unlike open worlds represented by Red Dead Redemption, the open-world elements of Red Dead Redemption are actually more centered around the world itself.

Abundant details, pedestrian NPCs, and various mini-games.

The main story, however, still revolves around the plot, narrating events that unfold in this world.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, on the other hand, focuses all its content on gameplay.

From the very beginning of the game, after completing the new player tutorial on the Great Plateau, Breath of the Wild directly hands all abilities and main objectives to the player.

Because the story isn't the core of this game, you can ignore everything else and directly challenge Ganon.

As long as you're strong enough, freshly awakened, you can absolutely beat Ganon up and rescue the princess.

Similarly, if you never save the princess your whole life and just pretend Zelda doesn't exist, that's perfectly fine too.

This is the reason for the different core directions.

The story and plot of Red Dead Redemption are the main body, while the rest of the content is more like a bonus.

You can play those bonus elements while enjoying the main story, but ultimately, you must return to the main plot.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is different; frolicking everywhere in Hyrule is the main point, while saving Princess Zelda is just a bonus. After saving her, you'll still continue to frolic across the land of Hyrule.

Moreover, compared to ordinary games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild doesn't restrict players at all.

All players need to do is explore this unknown world.

Solving puzzles in shrines is for obtaining Trial Certificates, increasing health and stamina caps.

Searching for Koroks is to expand the item inventory.

Fishing, stealing bird eggs, catching grasshoppers, and hunting are all for making various stat-boosting foods and elixirs.

It can be said that exploration is the core of Breath of the Wild.

If there's any open-world game that has pushed level design to its peak,

then The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can definitely be ranked among the best.

Because the entire game of Breath of the Wild is filled with puzzles, big and small.

From small tasks like finding ways to environmental kill, searching for Koroks, and hidden treasure chests.

To large-scale puzzles within shrines and Divine Beasts.

After players advance the story, they will receive a guide.

Four different directions correspond to four Divine Beasts with different attributes.

And these Divine Beasts are gigantic mechanical beasts.

Players need to control Link to enter their bodies. Inside the Divine Beasts are three-dimensional levels, where different parts cause chain reactions.

This requires players to possess excellent spatial reasoning to solve the puzzles.

The difficulty of these Divine Beast levels is significantly higher than puzzles like finding Koroks or treasure maps.

Puzzle-solving can be said to be one of the core elements of the game.

But this doesn't mean Breath of the Wild is solely a puzzle game.

Because the combat system in the game is equally excellent.

Shield parries, dodges, using bombs for double dodges, entering Link time for an attack.

And the action of switching weapons to cancel attack stun lock.

For true masters, the combat system of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is incredibly rich and varied.

Combined with bows, melee, special abilities, perfect dodges, and various methods to trigger Link time, the entire combat can become incredibly flashy.

At the same time, the game also features stealth assassinations and various "cheese" tactics like using elemental weapons with Chuchu Jelly to set traps.

It's fair to say that without looking at strategy guides, almost everyone will have a completely different experience playing this game.

Of course, there's also one point that countless players have a love-hate relationship with: weapon durability in the game.

Compared to other games where weapons break and then get repaired,

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild adopted a bold design.

That is, all weapons, except for specific ones, have durability settings.

In other words, they are all consumables and will break after a certain amount of use.

This plunges players into a hoarding disorder.

Any RPG player shares a common trait: they hoard good items.

The reason, of course, is that they are precious.

Good weapons? Save them, use them when fighting stronger BOSSes later.

Good potions? Save them, use them when fighting the final BOSS.

And then they save them, and save them.

Only to find out in the end that the final BOSS has already been defeated.

Various rare items are still unused in their inventory.

Well, if they're unused, they're unused. At least they're still in the inventory, good to look at.

But it's different in Breath of the Wild. Ingredients are fine; at most, you're reluctant to eat them because their effects are too good.

When fighting monsters, just eat some roasted apples and grilled meat to fill your stomach.

We'll save those good dishes that grant lots of health and strong buffs whenever possible.

But weapons, shields, and bows are different.

If a weapon is too good, a shield is too good, or a bow is too good, you simply can't bear to use it. How heartbreaking would it be if it broke?

Then most players would find themselves, as they played, realizing:

The weapons they were reluctant to use in the early game weren't even used until their durability ran out and they broke.

Instead, they were forced to drop them directly onto the ground because they acquired stronger weapons.

This was practically the death of them.

Every time they threw away a weapon in their hands, their hearts trembled and bled.

Yet, despite this, every time they obtained a better weapon, they were still reluctant to use it.

In the early game, they'd roam the world with a big chicken leg stick, always using the lowest-attack weapon to fight monsters and absolutely never the highest.

Later, when undertaking Divine Beast quests, players heard news of the Master Sword, and after great effort, raised their actual health to 13 hearts.

Finally, they could pull the legendary Master Sword from the Lost Woods.

And this is the only sword in the game that cannot be destroyed.

As long as its durability runs out, a refill of the essence of the sun and moon makes it a brand new weapon again.

With such a weapon, countless players were overjoyed.

Because now, chopping trees, mining, and breaking rocks could finally be done at will!

(End of Chapter) <>