{
"post": {
"title": "How many people use walkthrough guides?",
"selftext": "I am late to the game, and ended up buying a switch a month ago. I picked up two games with one being BotW. I am completely blown away how addicted I have become. I also don't usually fall into a game this hard either.\n\nI am trying to play this game as much as I can without using a guide or help. But the sheer scale and amount of things to do make it overwhelming in a good way. I have been peaking at guides online/videos every now and then. Am I the only one or do others rely on them as well? I want to do as much as I can on my own, but there is no way I would have found more than 50% of the items/accomplishments without help.",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/botw/comments/143fe79/how_many_people_use_walkthrough_guides/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": "Welcome to **r/botw**!\n\n\n\n\n\nBe sure to [join our discord](https://discord.gg/ygxPwzDPtJ) if you like joining discords for subreddits about the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (i sure do).\n\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/botw) if you have any questions or concerns.*"
},
{
"body": "I'll try it myself several times, but once it starts to get frustrating, I google it. I'm here to relax and enjoy my gaming experience, not get frustrated and pissed off.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Pretty much me too. If I can feel something *should* be obvious or easier than it feels (usually after 30-60mins of swearing at the TV) it’s off to YouTube!"
},
{
"body": "Exactly , plus I’m over 30 with a young kid and don’t have all the time in the world to spend 4 hours scanning every square inch of the screen trying to solve a puzzle",
"replies": [
{
"body": "This exactly. I’m in my thirties, I have a toddler and an otherwise full-blown busy as crap adult life. I want to enjoy my limited gaming time. Do I want to solve puzzles? Of course, that’s Zelda. But I’m not about to sit here yelling at my switch for an hour because I can’t figure something out and move on. Absolutely going to google a guide."
}
]
},
{
"body": "My kind of ppl. Definitely shouldn’t be stress inducing. Which is why I laid off the cod. 🤣",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Second on quitting cod. Too bad they ruined Warzone which was really fun during covid."
}
]
},
{
"body": "This is how I play too."
},
{
"body": "This is how I play too.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Can we all be friends? I basically play this as well."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Same"
},
{
"body": "Yup that’s like me to"
}
]
},
{
"body": "I use the Zelda dungeon guide. Would have gotten stuck in the plateau without it. I’m old and dumb.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I relate, man. BOTW is the first video game I ever played. I ran out of the Shrine of Resurrection straight off the cliff and died, accidentally removing my quest marker. Since I didn't want to Google anything yet I ran around the Great Plateau for 2 weeks. I thought wow, this game is so open ended! Guess I'll figure it out! After 2 full weeks I googled how to progress and finally unlocked the first tower. Oops 😂\n\nEdit: There's no shame in looking things up! Especially when you get stuck or frustrated",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Hell of a first game. I’ve really been battling spoilers for TotK and have refused to look up stuff for much longer than I usually would. I was 20 hours of play into the game when I gave up trying to figure out the where, who and how and looked up how I was supposed to resolve the issue preventing my progress in the main story. I had been from Tabantha Bridge to Laralin Village following clues and was finally too stumped. I had been to the right place. I just didn’t talk to the right person. Talked to the person beside them.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Oh man! I'm trying really hard to stick it out and finish BotW before I buy TotK but the spoilers are so tempting! That's frustrating you were so close on your own but honestly I love that you can play the game like that, it really is so open ended. Plus I feel like there's no time wasted, there's so much to explore even if you hit all the main quests in the game",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I’ve got 3k hrs in BotW and I’m definitely not done with it. I’m not sure I’m gonna need another game before the next Zelda comes out."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I have so many questions. And it’s from a place of curiosity. Not judgement. \n\nDo you mean this literally? Is this literally the first video game you’ve ever played?\n\nHow old are you? We’re you a small child when you started playing it? \n\nDid you discover video games later in life? \n\nSeriously? This game of all games was literally your first game? I find the series in general very unique.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Hi! Haha so many questions!\n\n1. Loosely literal? My family didn't have a TV / electronics growing up, just a family desktop computer. I LOVED Runescape when I was little but never went beyond PC games. I view this as my first \"real\" video game experience \n\n\n2. I actually bought the Switch and BOTW in April! I'm a 26f and I used a good chunk of my tax return buying it lol\n\n3/4. Yes! Now that I'm older and able to buy something not just for practicality I chose video games (maybe not so responsible bc I'm afraid I'm addicted) and a new friend of mine suggested BOTW so I took their word for it. I'm honestly a little scared I won't find anything as amazing as BOTW since I've gotten so immersed now, plus I see so many people praising it as one of the best games they've ever played. I was just like holy crap is this what playing all video games is like my productivity in life is going to plummet lol",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Thanks for sharing! I’m not a hard core gamer at all. I’ve played a handful of Zelda games over the decades but they don’t all catch me so I haven’t played them all. \n\nBut goddamn. BOTW is the best game I’ve ever played ever. It’s consuming all my downtime. No reading. No tv. If I’ve got downtime. It’s BOTW since this april. \n\nI don’t know if I’ll 100% it. But I know I’ll get hundreds of hours of entertainment out of it. Then when I’m finally ready to move on there is always tears of the kingdom which sounds like it’s equally as amazing. \n\nHave fun and enjoy your new hobby!"
},
{
"body": "It's repeatedly voted the best video game ever, so you're not alone!"
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I'll have to check that out. I ask my grown up kids (I'm 57) when I get stuck or look up the shrine on YouTube."
}
]
},
{
"body": "I had no regrets in using guides when I needed them on my first playthrough. Mostly the more complicated shrines. I mean there's no point in playing if all you're getting from it is frustration so that was my attitude. \n\nOften I found picking a destination and just going there to find out what was there turned out to be a pretty successful way for me not to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the environment. So that might help you. Mostly this game can be played in any order so exploring aimlessly is a real objective that's easy to do"
},
{
"body": "For me, the best part of the game was the joy of discovery. I loved the exploration and hidden details. Finding shrines on my own was super rewarding. In general, I tried not to use a guide. I did use guides eventually for a few things where I was truly stumped (1 shrine puzzle completely stumped me but apparently ice doesn’t melt instantly in fire). I found over 100 shrines without help and solved all but 1, 300ish koroks revealed, completed all the Divine Beasts, all the memories, all the DLC content… used a guide to find the last 15-20 shrines before facing Gannon. On my master mode playthrough, no guides. Just exploration and memory.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Haha I know exactly which shrine you're talking about!! I needed help with that one too",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I figured the ice would melt instantly and never even considered tossing it through."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Having never played a video game like this I’m using alllll the play through guides, needing them less now I’m getting the hang of them but especially at the beginning I’d have been so lost"
},
{
"body": "My very first play through I used it a lot. There's a youtuber called zackscottgames that I followed. Now I'm on my bazilliont play through and I only use an interactive map for the last koroks I'm never able to find."
},
{
"body": "I played the game for the first time in March and looked up a bunch. I kept playing even after beating some of the main missions. During that time, I started watching a blind play through video series on YouTube. I've started playing tears of the kingdom, and this time, I'm doing it mostly blind. \n\nA few things to remember are that the game will almost always give you what you need to accomplish a task. Like when you are on the great plateau, there are spicy peppers and a pot to encourage you to cook warm food before you enter. \n\nPlaying the game blind you will miss things... but not the big things. Those you will have plenty of NPCs giving you hints on where to go. The things you may miss will be like specific gear or places to loot. Those might be helpful but won't keep you from completing the game. \n\nPlay how you want and have fun."
},
{
"body": "I played until I ran out of things to do then looked up the rest. I never was going to 100% though. I just don’t want to farm that much stuff to upgrade armor but it was sorta like 2 games in one for me. I did everything I could find and figure out, then I looked up the rest."
},
{
"body": "I'm on my first play through and I use guides occasionally, I do try to do as much as I can on my own or certain shrines I'll leave and try again later when I'm \"fresh\" instead of looking up a walk through. \n\nThat being said, while I don't use walkthroughs all the time, I am constantly google searching random questions like where are the cooking pots in Gerudo, can I swim up all waterfalls, why is there an invisible barrier at the entrance to the desert (horse wouldn't go there lol), etc lol",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I tried so damn hard to get my horse to the desert. I tried going on the edge where it was less steep thinking the horse would go down that way. I tried forcing it using ZL like the stable dude tells you. Once I actually got out there I realized it wasn’t just to annoy me but bc it’s too hot for the damn horse. Lol.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "SAME! Lol I was thinking damn dude, the stairs are RIGHT there! Just go down fuck! Honestly thought my game was glitching for a bit haha"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I used none. I only got 101 shrines, but I didn’t explore every spot on the map either. I liked finding stuff out on my own like it was in the original Zelda."
},
{
"body": "Especially in TOTK! The shrines are difficult at times"
},
{
"body": "I'm here to have fun. As soon as a puzzle or item or quest or whatever becomes a lot of work, I look that shit up. Why not? I feel like I have a right to do so, being a dumbass."
},
{
"body": "I do most things by myself. However if it’s a hard shrine or a shrine quest I will look for some help online. If I’m really invested I try to figure it out myself."
},
{
"body": "I remember using a guide for vah ruta & vah rudania as those were my first 2 divine beasts... After i developed some skill later on, it felt easier to tackle the other two without guides. There were a handful of shrines i needed a guide for too... SPECIFICALLY THAT ONE SHRINE WITH THE WIND MACHINES man that was litterly impossible to know the combination without looking it up. I try not to use guides tho, only when im SUPER stumped."
},
{
"body": "I used a guide on my first play through. Eventually you figure out the close and most of the people and objects are always close by."
},
{
"body": "I use them too, especially for the bosses. I get really nervous if I go to fight one without knowing what to expect."
},
{
"body": "when i was just playing through the game, I didn’t use any guide outside of a few specific instances (Getting into Gerudo town, finding the last memory, and one or two more) and even then, I tried to just use hints when possible instead of just being told where something was. \n\nOnce I beat the main game, I used hints/guides to find the last ~5 shrines and side quests that I happened to miss. Going to fully upgrade my Hero of the Wild set and beat Ganon one last time as canon Link before moving onto TOTK lol."
},
{
"body": "I definitely use help with shrines to avoid anger and frustration"
},
{
"body": "I used them as needed. Shrines or quests I couldn’t figure out how to solve, and for finding more shrines once I had about 80 on the map. My general thought is that once I’ve tried something for long enough that I’m not having fun anymore, I look it up."
},
{
"body": "I used a guide. I played for a while without, and didnt use it all the time, but some things required it for me. I dont have the time to invest to find or figure everything out on my own."
},
{
"body": "I used a guide for Koroks (the times I was specifically looking for them), the general walkthrough, and shrines. I’ve got a family and don’t have the sheer number of hours it would take to find things on my own. I also started playing BOTW in August and finished it before TOTK. \n\nFor TOTK, I’m not using a guide unless I get stumped and/or pissed off. Sometimes if I only have 30 mins to play…I farm or look something up that’s been bugging me and then wrap it up."
},
{
"body": "I use them with the Papa Roach approach: as a last resort."
},
{
"body": "I use them if I get really stuck, but I try to figure things out for as long as I can before looking them up"
},
{
"body": "I try to avoid guides unless I stop having fun and it becomes frustrating to for example complete a shrine or find something from a vague description. There's no shame in that, play your own way!"
},
{
"body": "Sometimes I'll look something up, like how to find or complete a particular shrine, or where to find a particular critter. But other than that, I've just been running it at my own pace without any real guide."
},
{
"body": "I'd definitely recommend playing blindly the first playthrough - there's nothing like exploring and discovering things the first time. Look up guides only if you're stuck on something, like a shrine or a Korok puzzle. After Ganon I used guides to do my 100%. I also used guides fully during my second playthrough as I wanted to do everything quickly.\n\nBut of course play however you feel is comfortable for you. :)\n\nEdit: Don't worry about the scale! No quest is missable, the entire map is open for discovery without a timeline or sequence. That's the best part imo :)"
},
{
"body": "I shameless use them when I get really stuck in a shrine. Used them on all four of the giant machine thing boss fights. Pretty much anytime the game stops being fun and I’m just lost or dying over and over again I go lookup what I’m doing wrong. After over a hundred hours in and completing the base game I started checking to see if I missed any shrines and kk and behold yep I missed several shrines so went back to pick those up."
},
{
"body": "I want to play the game completely on my own but I’m too dumb. And even with wikis there’s been a few shrines that I had to get my husband to solve for me. 😭"
},
{
"body": "The only thing i needed to get a guide for is thunderblight ganon"
},
{
"body": "Not all the time. Mostly for Korok Seeds and Shrines I get stuck on."
},
{
"body": "Me. I have only a limited time to play the game. I'm only here for my own enjoyment.."
},
{
"body": "I just ask my GF whenever I'm totally stuck, then she will usually feed me a somewhat cryptic explanation that I eventually figure out. (She's finished the game at least twice)"
},
{
"body": "I try to use guides as little as possible, but even still I had to bust out a whole video walkthrough for Master Mode trial of the sword. I see no shame in using guides especially if you’re just tryna chill"
},
{
"body": "I will google something if I’m stuck or can’t figure it out"
},
{
"body": "I do. I’m too lazy to go scout locations and chase clues to the best gear. I’m not ashamed and yes I know for some that is the adventure. Not me tho. Plus I’m rushing to finish so I can start totk which I bought because I read on here some ppl couldn’t. I was poor and still am in many ways but I could afford that and a cool case something I just recently became able to do.\nOn a side note yes I enjoy the challenges but being denied access to a location due to not having enough food to survive harsh conditions is a bitch. Fuck that I’ll come back with the required gear and then some. 😈"
},
{
"body": "There are multiple shrines and side quests and other stuff in the game that feel impossible to do without a guide. Either you feel like an idiot after using one or you’re wondering how were you possibly supposed to figure that out on your own"
},
{
"body": "Depends on my mood if I’m good I’ll take hours if I’m mad I’m just googling the solution"
},
{
"body": "Strategy guides are fine so long as you make attempts before jumping to them. I used one for a puzzle where I was stuck in ToTK and it turns out that I had been on the right path at one point but discarded the idea because I'd screwed it up."
},
{
"body": "As someone just barely getting into video games, I was getting extremely overwhelmed, as I've never played a game like this EVER! Overwhelmed to the point where this felt hopeless for me and was not wanting to play.\n\nThe husband got me one and Ive used it for done shrines and where things are. It's just very nice to have it. Plus it has some beautiful concept art! Very happy to have it, cause it's made me a bit more confident in playing."
},
{
"body": "I use them all the time. My brother was my first walk through guide but he's not as available these days."
},
{
"body": "With my first play through I used the guides a lottttt but I also felt like I was rushing the experience so I decided to start over and just took it slow and explored and really tried to figure out the puzzles myself. I feel even more accomplished when I can actually figure it out myself! That being said, I love the guides for when I’m completely stumped and can’t figure it out lol 😂"
},
{
"body": "Like most other responses, I try to figure stuff out, but if it becomes too repetitive or frustrating, I look it up. I have found that “polygon.com” is my source of choice, their walkthroughs are text based with links to video, but the info is on point, you don’t have to watch someone trying to figure stuff out or trying to impress you with so much speed that you can’t see what is happening."
},
{
"body": "I am using this botw guide: https://amzn.eu/d/81mFpOE\n\nUsually I only use the guide part when I cannot figure something out in a shrine or where to find specific weapons for the kid in Hateno :D\nOtherwise I use it mainly to have an overview of all recipes in the game if I do a cooking session or for the Master Trials....\nand I used it for 100% completion on korok seeds and quests."
},
{
"body": "I Google guides when I'm trying to figure out a quest and such."
},
{
"body": "I went blind into the game, I only played BOTW by the end of 2020, so it was 3 years avoiding any sort of spoiler. I had a really good time, I also decided to figure out things on my own, like the paths I did where not the \"best\", but I had fun. \nNow, at some point after many hours I started to read some stuff, because indeed it was too much and I think I would never have figured , there are still things I haven't done. \nDon't blame yourself for doing it, but try to have some fun on your own, BOTW is the most open world game, choose your path."
},
{
"body": "I’m trying not to use the guides as much as possible. I feel like part of the fun is discovering things yourself and coming up with ways to solve shrines in unconventional ways. \n\nI really suck at combat though so maybe that’s where I would need to look up a tutorial"
},
{
"body": " Play however you want as long as you enjoy it.\nI also read alot of tips and tricks and guides"
},
{
"body": "I try to explore myself and then when I feel like o really want to make some progress I’ll look up some of the map for general shrine locations and glide around to find them. There’s mini bosses and stuff around to help with training your combat skills so it helps a lot too. Nothing wrong with that :)"
},
{
"body": "Google is my best friend. See something suspiciously korok-like? Google. Can't figure out a shrine? Google. Can't defeat a monster/boss? Google. The last terminal of a divine beast is frustrating to get to? Google. \n\nI know some people love playing a game without any help at all, but I tend to get frustrated easily, and if I can't figure out a puzzle or a quest, I'll put the game down for months. For me, walkthrough guides are an integral part of helping enjoy the game."
},
{
"body": "I completed everything in the game without using guides (fuck koroks tho, im not crazy going for 900 koroks without guides) and it was an awesome journey, but it sure took me alot of time."
},
{
"body": "Absolutely. Zero shame. Did it for BOTW and still do it for TOTK. \n\nI don’t need them for everything, but the way I see it is that I’m playing this game for enjoyment, not work. If a walkthrough of a shrine helps me enjoy the game, all the better."
},
{
"body": "I do, all the time. I'm not here for the grind. When I game, it's to relax- Not to get frustrated."
},
{
"body": "So I play the core game and main story with no support unless I get stuck on something with no movement for more than a day.\n\nWith BoTW and ToTK that never happened. For side content and such, I do look up if I don't care about it and the content is just a step towards what I actually want to do. The only exception being puzzles which I always try to solve on my own."
},
{
"body": "I only use an interactive map to check off all the \"activities\". I only consult a guide if I'm stuck."
},
{
"body": "I bought a hard-bound book for BOTW, based-on my experience buying similar books for Skyrim and Fallout 4. I'm not a serious gamer, so, when I get stuck, I prefer to get bailed-out and move the story along."
},
{
"body": "Only time I did look up the game guide Breath of the Wild was when I was trying to locate the last 200 or so Korok seeds (needless to say, I’ll eventually be doing the same for Tears of the Kingdom). Finding all 120 Sheikah shrines on my own is one thing, but finding all 900 Korok seeds on my own? Heck no. Although even then, I only used the guide (more specifically the interactive map) to learn where the seeds were; solving the actual puzzle was all me."
},
{
"body": "Idk if anyone *doesnt* use a guide at some point throughout BOTW. Don’t feel bad for using it; it’s a good way to get full enjoyment out of the game."
},
{
"body": "I’m with the try it several times group. If not, Google is my friend. Although, playing TOTK I find myself trying more often by myself than I did with BOTW."
},
{
"body": "Anytime a shrine takes longer than 2 hours. A sidequest that requires you to go to all corners of the map. Those specific weapon quests or other photo related quests that seem like they will take 300 days to complete. The hidden quests that i know i am missing that i would never run into from my lack of horse riding or traversong since i mostly commute by air gliding"
},
{
"body": "i tend to play through the main story first and foremost to avoid spoilers and then will start searching for content related to what i find, IF i feel like i get stuck somewhere. \n\n​\n\nThankfully youtube has a bunch of small videos to find specific spots and not spoil major things you wanna keep hidden, but as rule of thumb for me, i try to be as specific as the name of the specific area i'm in, as that tends to isolate what you're looking for. \n\n​\n\nThere is also a wiki too."
},
{
"body": "I only use Breath Companion and Tears Companion on my phone. They are apps that have a checklist, name, and location of where everything is (including Chests that fell under the map), and you can hide or unhide collectibles you've gathered. For free. It outdoes every other interactive map and checklist, because it does everything all in one."
}
]
}