Switch Best way to play Zelda: Breath of the Wild

crunchyg

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Some people are starting to report that he best way to play Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is with the Switch Pro Controller. The Joy-Con grip is reportedly crammed, uncomfortable for long periods of time, and just has so many compromises, according to Andrew Webster from the Verge. The control scheme in Breath of the Wild is fairly complex, and the Pro controller just seems to be a better match for this game. The Pro controller also helps you prevent hitting the wrong button, which has to be very annoying when playing Zelda. I imagine this is going to be the case with most other traditional games.

The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is the best way to play Zelda: Breath of the Wild
 
The Switch pro controller has all the same buttons as the Joycon-grip, So I don't see it being too much of a difference. I think 99% of all my single and multiplayer gaming needs can be solved by simply buying a second set of joycons and the charge grip, so I have no intention of even buying the Pro controller. Plus I think it migt be delayed, so I'd either have to wait to play Zelda or I'll be finishing the game before I can buy the Pro Controller.
 
good to know. Have you heard anything about the wii u version? I will be getting it because I'm just not ready to Switch. I hope it wont be too hard to find.
 
I've been playing with the pro-controller, but did switch (!) for a few minutes to the joy-con and it didn't really feel that much different. Also the on screen prompts are for the joy-con. If anyone's interested in seeing the first 45 minutes or so of Zelda, crunched down into a fun-sized five-minute mouthful, here's my video. I've tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible:)


 
good to know. Have you heard anything about the wii u version? I will be getting it because I'm just not ready to Switch. I hope it wont be too hard to find.
Don't worry, the WiiU version's just as good! (I actually ordered both, but got impatient waiting for the physical copies plus my switch console to arrive, so ordered the digital download version for WiiU so that I could play it while I was waiting!) Was glad I did it then, but in some ways wish I hadn't now! (not because of the game, but because my Switch with BoTW is finally here now, and I'm dying to play it, but I've now gotten so far through the WiiU version, that I don't want to have to start all over again from scratch!)

But yeah, even the WiiU version is awesome though! (all the discussions about differences in framerate I genuinely didn't find to be what I experienced in any noticeable way whatsoever. -You'd have to be analyzing it pretty hard to find anything worth worrying about, so don't let that put you off!) Basically, if you've been used to playing WiiU games, it's just as good as anything else I've ever played on there. I'm totally dying to play it on my Switch still (just because it's my new baby and it's finally here!). I did fire up BoTW on my Switch briefly when it came though, just because I was dying to! But to tell you the truth, I'm actually enjoying playing on the WiiU version so much that I'm nowhere near as anxious as I was before any of them arrived (...except for the fact of knowing that my switch is sat there staring at me, begging to finally get its turn! So admittedly, that part's still kinda frustrating, in a weird sort of way!).

One thing I will say though, I do find the shoulder buttons on the WiiU being bigger than they are on the switch alot more nicer to play though. (I;m not sure whether that will bother me, or whether I'll just get used to it over time) But in any case, even if I do though, I can always just get the Pro Controller later, which will solve the problem of the shoulder buttons on the switch being so close together.

One other little quirk that I did notice though, is that although everywhere I read, the DLC expansion pass was supposed to be the same on both the WiiU and the Switch version, I thought it meant that if you buy it on one of them and have both copies that the DLC that the same DLC you bought would automatically be consider purchased for both consoles and work on either machine (like Hyruile Warriors DLC did for the 3DS and WiiU). However, unless I'm doing it wrong, this didn't turn out to be the case for BoTW between Siwtch and WiiU. -When I registered my Switch, even though I signed in using the exact same NintendoNetworkID (which is also linked to the exact same MyNintendo account), not only do the DLC not transfer over, but the Switch didn't even recognize the funds that are still on my WiiU account when I log into the WiiU, So it seems to be linking the accounts still, but treating the Switch account and the WiiU account as completely separate entities.

Has anyone else tried this that can confirm whether they got their WiiU and Switch accounts to be treated as the same account? (or do you reckon that it's deliberately set up in a way that you can't?).

I'd completely understand it if it didn't let me log onto my switch under my WiiU account, but being as it did, the behavior just seems a bit odd to me. (Which is making me question if I'm doing anything wrong). Any help would indeed be greatly appreciated!
 
@HyruleWarrior awesome! I'm so glad to hear from someone who has it. Sounds like you are having a blast, and yes, i too get excited for new Zelda games. As for the dlc, hang in there, they may figure something out soon. Im waiting to get BOTW wii u after i finish Color Splash and Metroid Prime. Im waiting for Mario to come out to get the Switch. I still love my wii u. Thanks for the write-up!
 
@dustinb12 No worries! To be honest, I'm glad its not just me who still enjoys playing the WiiU! While I love my Switch, I'm nowhere near ready to give up either my WiiU or my 3DS just yet. So knowing that everyone didn't just jump ship and abandon the old ones gives me hope that Nintendo seeing that the last two of my favorite Nintendo consoles are still popular may mean that hopefully they won't kill off the support for those two for a bit longer. (I know they've already officially discontinued manufacturing the WiiU, but there are still many games I still enjoy playing on it, and it totally sucks when some of the built-in online features of some games stops being supported. (am not so bothered about the online multiplayer aspect, but I mean actual important game features that can no longer be used). For example, Phantom Hourglass for the DS has a whole bunch of online features where you could leave other players hard to find items in baskets to exchange with other players who had too many of one item and not enough of another. (which you can now no longer do since the online DS support got dropped). WindWaker HD for the WiiU has the messages in bottles and the pictographs which can earn you hard to find figurines, which while supported now, will be a really missed part of the game when the online support for the WiiU one day stops existing. Hyrule Warriors I still play often to this day, and there are lots of really useful item upgrades that will be hard to get without the online feature that helps you get some of them, and I'm dying to 100% that game some day! (it's such a big game that it will take me a while, but if they cut that feature before I ever get chance I will definitely feel the loss!) On the bright side, I know that a few large 3rd party game manufacturers will still be making games for the WiiU though. (Darksiders is coming out December 2018,so knowing that is reassuring).

Fortunately we know 3DS support will last alot longer yet, so will still exist long after the WiiU support gets axed. But when the 3DS support does finally go, even Triforce heroes will have a huge element of the game missing. You never know what they will do when the online subscription service comes out though, so there is potential to solve that problem by supporting such features continuously for paid subscribers if that's a route they choose to go. I won't hold my breath that they'd carry on supporting such games in that way, but it's one of the things that I really feel they should (especially when it's no longer free!)

But at least with Nintendo being able to see that many of us are still actively playing these consoles, they might let us have it for a bit longer yet, rather than just abruptly cutting it all now that the Switch is here. (Even the many of us who buy the new consoles still enjoy playing the older ones too, and often do, and it never stops us buying the new consoles just because we still play alot of the older ones, so they don't have anything to be scared about in that sense!). This was never an issue in the past back when online elements of the games didn't exist, but now they are a major feature of alot of games, it kills those games dead completely when huge parts of it no longer works, which is a real shame in my opinion.

Anyways, even though I already have my Switch and will be buying new games for it whenever i see ones I want, I'm definitely going to be enjoying my WiiU while I still can. I still love it as a console, and I thoroughly enjoy every minute of it! ;)
 
The Switch pro controller has all the same buttons as the Joycon-grip, So I don't see it being too much of a difference. I think 99% of all my single and multiplayer gaming needs can be solved by simply buying a second set of joycons and the charge grip, so I have no intention of even buying the Pro controller. Plus I think it migt be delayed, so I'd either have to wait to play Zelda or I'll be finishing the game before I can buy the Pro Controller.

i have the pro controller and theres a comfort difference, ive had to switch to the pro controller for some of the more intense moments like when i was fighting water ganon or whatever his name was for the first beast, its about button layout where on the joycons the analog sticks are right under/over the face buttons where on the pro controller they are in the more traditional diagonal layout. the buttons are all bigger not a little bigger but significantly bigger and way way more comfortable...i have found at times accidentally pulling out the sheikah camera for that damn tablet while fighting on the joycons never on the pro controller. i do understand getting two more joycons will allow you to play 4 players where with the pro and the two joycons that came with the system leaves you at 3 players, but for games like zelda that are more mainstream and not multiplayer the pro controller to me at least is a must have.
 
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Yeah, you really have to get used to the rapid button changes for switching up arrows quickly for that particular boss fight. (I got to that bit this weekend, and it was already fiddly enough to switch from Shock Arrows to Regular Arrows as quickly as you need to for that one. I actually don't mind the joycons, but I can totally see what you mean about how the shoulder buttons of the joycons being alot closer together would have made that boss-fight even fiddlier to do). The Pro-Controller for the Switch is layed out much more similarly to the way it is on the WiiU GamePad (which is alot easier to do stuff like that on).

I'm not gonna lie though, that boss is pretty fiddly anyway because of all the quick weapon changes. But one tip I do have though is to instead of doing it the fiddly way (where you hold down ZR to bring out your bow, while pressing left one the D-Pad to bring up the arrow selection, and then the use the R-stick to select which arrow you want to use, which is a nightmare to do during an intense fight), it is better to actually change your arrows by simply pressing the pause button on the game, and selecting your arrows via the menu screen. As that way, you haven't got all the mayhem going on whilst you're frantically trying to hit all the right button combinations to change arrows (as the game is paused, rather than all happening at you whilst you're trying to do all that). I also find that last method more reliable for making sure you don't accidentally select the wrong arrow in the haste of it, plus you're also less likely to accidentally fire one of the arrows and waste them by mistake during the change. Trust me on this, even though it's technically more steps, you'll find the second way I mentioned far more accurate, and you'll thank me for it when you don't have many arrows left and every single one counts! ;)
 
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"STOP CROUCHING, OMFG, GET UP, RUN!! RUN!!" - My LoZ experience, pretty much. I use the Joy-Con controller that came in the box, and I've been playing Breath of the Wild pretty much non-stop since release night. I might just change the crouch button in the setup.. I keep forgetting, though. I like the controller just fine, but I'm old and I have a hard time with so many buttons. I'd rather be able to focus on the game than what my bumbly fingers are doing (wrong) all the time.
 
"STOP CROUCHING, OMFG, GET UP, RUN!! RUN!!" - My LoZ experience, pretty much. I use the Joy-Con controller that came in the box, and I've been playing Breath of the Wild pretty much non-stop since release night. I might just change the crouch button in the setup.. I keep forgetting, though. I like the controller just fine, but I'm old and I have a hard time with so many buttons. I'd rather be able to focus on the game than what my bumbly fingers are doing (wrong) all the time.
Don't worry, it's not just you this happens to! (and it's not your fingers that are to blame!) The crouch on that game is a little trigger-happy in general (happens to me all the time where I'm crouching all of a sudden without meaning to!) -Obviously I mean link, not me! lol, Great to know you can actually change the button setup for that though, I hadn't thought to check! But will have to have a look tonight to see if it's possible, as that could come in real useful! Thanks man!!
 
i find the joycons thumbsticks push in a little to easy. especially compared to the ones on the pro controller
 
Agreed. (Happens to me on the WiiU GamePad aswell though when playing breath of the wild, in ways that it doesn't on other games, so it's definitive a quirk of the game generally rather than just being one type of controller)., But yes, I do agree that the thumbstick push is more sensitive on the JoyCons than it is on the other two methods (in the sense that it feels lighter and easier to press) so that, plus the fact that the game controls of breath of the wild has has an overly trigerabble crouch feature anyway, does mean that you can find yourself actually crouching without meaning to at the worst possible times! It definitely can get annoying (especially during a boss fight!)
 
the issue im having isnt just with zelda those shitty joycons thumbsticks push in way to easy during intense scenes in any game ive done it on metal slug 3 a bunch of times my wife has the issue as well to the point she refuses to use the joycons for zelda all together. me i use them if i have to but prefer the pro controller so much, its actually my favorite controller out of the 3 current gen systems battery life god i wish there was a way to tell if it was fully charged thats my main complaint about the controllers(all of them)
 
Yep. I agree that this does get very annoying. Even the pro controller thumbsticks push down though (alot of games require that functionality, so they have to, or you wouldn't be able to play them). But I agree with you totally, the way they implement it on a pro-controller is not as weak, so being more rigid like that makes it alot less triggerhappy. (So they don't get triggered by accident anywhere near as much). So I do like that about them, and i know exactly what you mean.

I also agree with much of what you're saying about the battery charge indicator too. Fortunately pressing the home button you can see the charge indicator on screen for any connected controller at any time, but yes, it would be far far easier to just have a proper LED on the controller itself.
 
I haven't bought the pro controller yet, although I really want one. But I think the best way to play BOTW is on top of a mountain. :D

Haven't got to do that yet though, since there aren't mountains here, but I did play it on a roof which was pretty fun. I prefer playing it in portable though, but when I have played it on the TV with the grip I didn't have any problems.
 
The Pro Controller works pretty well with Zelda, but I dont like the + and - buttons on it.
Here is a nice fight against two Lynels in a row, check it out :)
 

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