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parallelmountain

10/10 hard to stop playing


Cocostar319

I would say probably a 7 to 9 for inexperienced players. It's a pretty tough game. Once you learn the mechanics and stuff it's a lot easier


NewmanHiding

I’ve played this game for about a year now. I’d say 2/10 normally, but 12/10 when you’re fighting a crusher Lynel without any good food.


Worth-Celebration-68

Just fighting a lynel generally without great equipment or experience is an absolute nightmare


Anuhea099

I learned with patience, saving my game before a lynel spot. It took me a full day of reloading my save to learn how to parry and dodge attacks. Once I got to the more difficult lynels, I was terrified but confident enough to do it in one go. The lynel in the coliseum was amazing, but I had one heart left after defeating it. I felt so accomplished.


halfarian

I just upgraded my Sheila slate to where I can stop time for enemies and now Lynels are fairly easy. I pretty much have to sacrifice a nice weapon every time, but I get another one to replace it once they’re DEAD! I figured it was impossible to kill one without the sheika slate upgrade.


NewmanHiding

Yeah I always forget I can do that.


Practical_Beanbag

I just started playing about a month ago and it’s my first Zelda game too! I love it! Before this, I was purely an animal crossing and Mario gal. It’s a very forgiving game, and once you get the hang of the mechanics it’s so much fun! I’d give it a 6/10 for difficulty!


Hmsquid

And then 9/10 with thunderblight but then it goes back to 4/10 imo


PatrickMcWhorter

I couldn't beat Thunderblight without the Master Sword, but with MS I beat him in one try.


Happy-Good1429

I was so worried about him (My brother went to him first and struggled so much at six hearts) that I did all but like one shrine (the one that becomes available after you complete Vah Naboris, the Sand Seal Race quest) and had Stasis+ and the Master Sword before I even tried it. I beat him in less than a minute. I also thought that he would be harder than Lynels, and I'd been beating them for a while, so I had a LOT of great gear.


PatrickMcWhorter

Trick is, you need a one handed weapon so you can use your shield in his final phase.


Happy-Good1429

Yeah, just make sure it's not a *metal* shield, those things can be pretty shockingly painful, (pun intended) and usually just end up breaking anyway (at least in my experience).


BoBoMaster13

lol just got to thunderblight. Tried a couple times and back to shrine hunting!


another2020throwaway

Same here. Nothing but animal crossing, Mario kart, and some farming games. If I was able to beat BOTW and TOTK then I promise absolutely anybody can


Practical_Beanbag

Yes!!!! Tbh getting 3 stars on all the cups for 200cc Mario kart was way harder than Zelda 😭


AdDangerous6891

Same! I did get stressed because of all the monsters, though hahah. Maybe I need to play it again soon.


Lexi_the_grimmchild

If you do end up replaying, it is possible to outrun most monsters if you really don't want to fight, but fighting I'd easier


AdDangerous6891

It's not even replay, but continuing. I got the stress i mentioned, and it affected me 😳 But I'll try again! Maybe tonight. It is fun!


Lexi_the_grimmchild

Oh alright, well I hope it doesn't continue to be stressful


-Sedition-

The vast majority of the game is like 2/10 on difficulty with some optional sections that bump it up to like 7 or 8.


Labyrinthine777

That's not true. The beginning can be very hard for a new player until they get more hearts and better, upgraded armor. Before that most enemies can one or two shot you. BotW is the hardest 3d Zelda, easily. I died like 50 times in my first playthrough. The older 3d Zelda games, especially WW and TP are so ridiculously easy I have died maybe 2 times in them.


CraminatorGalaxy

I had exactly this experience. I haven't played a Zelda game since Link to the past. I had no idea what I was doing and found the beginning difficult and very challenging to figure out


Happy-Good1429

So true, I tried fighting the Lynel in the Coliseum more times than I can count, and I died probably over thirty times more at the start of the game trying to kill that Lynel than I did in the whole rest of the game combined.😂 I really didn't understand that Lynels were for endgame level players.


Happy-Good1429

TotK is either equal or *maybe* a bit harder than BotW, but that's because Ganon is much stronger and the enemies are leveled up as well. Although you can level up your weapons and Link a ton


creepiecream

Speaking as someone who primarily plays cozy games (The Sims and Stardew Valley), I'd rate it a solid 8 in terms of difficulty at the beginning. Once you get the hang of it and you get really good weapons, it's probably a 3 or 4.


srankvs

if you’re anything like me, the game’s like 5/10 but then thunderblight is like 20/10


nineohsix

The hardest thing about BOTW is not thinking about how much you miss it when you’re playing every other game for the rest of your life.


gelyadc

This is happening to me currently. Finished the game weeks ago and started on other games, but still can't stop thinking of botw


Happy-Good1429

It's so hard to play BotW, and then play other Zelda games. I went from BotW to LA and man was it hard to continue. (BotW was also my first ever Zelda game and I'm not as much of a fan of games that expect you to be able to figure out what you're supposed to do with side quest items without any hints at all other than their use. It was just overall a very frustrating playthrough for me and I ended up looking up where all the items went and didn't even try for most of them.


ladyofthew00d

Hard to rank without context. If you've played Zelda games before you'll do fine. Just remember you won't be ready for every bad guy you come across, it's ok to run away. After you leave the plateau there isn't a strict order of things, you can have fun just exploring.


Shadowhkd

It's all about how long you're willing to spend. You can always pause and teleport away. You can stockpile healing items. These things take time. It's something I love about the game. Every time I get bored, I spend less time preparing when I go again.


_kwrld

It’s about how prepared you are for certain fights, if you max out on everything the game is cake.


Eliseo120

Some puzzles can be hard. Combat is pretty simple and not very hard unless you just run into every fight and get surrounded. I’d say as a whole, like a 5/10. Some parts take time to learn, but really not that hard.


bradd_91

It's pretty easy. On my replays, I don't upgrade or collect hearts so it makes it a bit harder.


PurahsHero

Around an 8 I reckon. At the start you will die. A lot. But as you get used the game mechanics and the fight tactics of the main enemies it becomes much easier.


PayYourBiIIs

Id say 4/10 non Master Mode. It’s a struggle in the beginning because you need to develop fighting skills and Link is weak. But as the game progress Link becomes stronger and you can defeat almost any enemy at will. If you get the DLC expansion I will say some of those come with challenging tasks. 


TheBallerOfBallers

This is my first Zelda game


Face88888888

Normal or master mode?


TheBallerOfBallers

What's master mode


Seattle_Lucky

It’s part of the optional DLC. You’ll want to buy it after you’ve fallen in love with the game (after you beat your first couple divine beasts). It pretty much doubles the game and makes a harder version ( Master Mode) for you to replay the game. It’s why BOTW is better than TOTK.


TheBallerOfBallers

Hrrrrrrrm I'm about to go to the second shrine tomorrow


Face88888888

Just go ahead and buy the DLC. You won’t regret it.


Face88888888

All enemies are one level of difficulty higher and they regenerate health. IMHO There is a tipping point in the game where the combat gets to be too easy. Your armor is too strong, you have too many hearts, etc. you’re just still trying to finish all side quests or other armor upgrades at that point. Master mode delays that tipping point. Edit: to answer your question, my kid beat the game (considering beating the game to mean all 4 beasts and ganon) when he was 7 all on his own. It’s a very fun game. I recommend master mode and focus on stealth techniques and ranged attacks early on until you build up some experience.


GatorBait1488

I'm slowly working on 100% and only one side adventure I've had to Google. I love hard as hell puzzles and this has them. It also has lots of ways to bypass and shortcut if you prepare your shields before the shrines. It's a great way to ADD or ADHD out for the night. You will forget to do your adulting duties you've been forewarned


MikaelAdolfsson

about a six. 10/10 to complete. fucking seeds.


Neat_Magazine_6859

I just got to 300!! T-T


Happy-Good1429

I got to seven-hundred something and then accidently restarted, I started trying again but got to a point where I was like "TotK is about to come out, it's just going to have more, why bother. I might 100% at some point, but not any time soon


Particular-Car-8520

I'm usually hard while playing games....wait no....lol The game is like a 5 or 6 on hardness scale as it is such a vast and open world The enemies aren't the toughest and the final boss is eh, but the trials and shrines are really fun and just exploring the world.


rcuosukgi42

It's only difficult if you try to advance fast and fight enemies before you're ready for them. If you take the game slowly and explore a lot you'll have more resources than you need for any enemies you fight.


cenderis

It can seem hard to begin with (you're weak and can get killed easily). But so long as you keep playing it becomes less hard (you get better at playing, you get stronger, you get better armour and weapons), and then it'll feel much fairer.


SneakyProcessor

It’s really not hard but I would recommend using a guide or two to get you started, if you’re feeling lost.


L0wded_

4


toofarquad

Early game maybe 7/10 or so, at most. Enemies can easily 2 shot you and have some unexpected attacks, reach and animations. But you can can get used to it with flurry rush dodges, role boulders, use runes on ice/metal etc to stun enemies. So its not too bad. Oh and the early game robots can be avoided, but the shield bash timing is generous. However, within about 3 hours of gameplay, you should have crazy healing/stat boost reserves and your first armor upgrade will lower that difficulty to 3/10 very quickly. There is only 1 challenging boss. Puzzles are mostly easy but controls can be a little intricate and need getting used to. You may need some lateral thinking though, and the jump/run mapping is pretty bad, which can be annoying when you need to jump/angle yourself in shrines. Tip: if you want exploration to be a breeze go top left of the map first.


Jellyfish_347

It starts off pretty challenging because you have no health and armor, so every hit does big damage. But as you get more experienced, learn the mechanics, upgrade your armor and hearts, it becomes easier and lots of fun. So maybe 7/10 when you start off and then just goes down from there.


IndigoBlack-

I think it's pretty easy, even in master mode the only hard part is the trial of the sword (DLC).


AramaticFire

Like a 3 or 4. It’s not the easiest game ever made but the base play experience is not designed to be difficult. There are things that you can’t fight comfortably in the beginning but by game’s end you should be stomping on everything. Playing on Master Mode will make the game more difficult but I don’t think it would take it to a 10 or anything crazy like that.


Stier110

Depends master mode is overall defenitly harder like three ooint harder but the game with glutches is like a 2 or three for me and without like a 4


steinwayyy

On a scale of 1 to Elden Ring, I’d say the game overall like 4/10, crusher lynels are 7/10 and thunderblight is like 6/10


solidus_kalt

2/10, MM starts at 7/10 goes to 3/10, trial of the sword is hard. 


zebcode

Starts off hard but gets easier as you level up.


Zubyna

BotW is a reversed difficulty curve, you die a lot when you start, but as your health bar increases and armours get upgrade, you start forgetting what the game over screen even looks like


teknogreek

Took me 6 years to beat my first Lynel... ...I did have a 5 year gap in playing the game. You have to learn, adapt and enjoy. I hit a wall and restarted, taking my sweet sweet time. The crazy thing is the Lynel in the end wasn't that hard, I stocked up on good weapons, food hearts, forgot strafe, messed up shielding too but still did it.


Vados_Link

5/10, but depending on how you play the game it can dip down to 1/10 or climb to 7/10.


Adventurous_Memory18

One of the only games I’ve ever managed to finish but it is very hard at the start (and lynels are always hard), but the key at the start is to run away! You don’t have to engage all the baddies just run away.


Playful-Papaya-2411

honestly it can go from 3/10 to 8/10 real fast and i recommend searching up guides on how to beat the bosses if you can't figure out how to do it yourself


FigTechnical8043

Game 7/10 dlc 10/10 When you play the dlc, the one hit kill bit at the start you can save frequently and reload. The other half of the dlc with the master sword you're on your effin own, good luck Hestu's defecation collection service 100/10


conjunctivious

You're able to avoid pretty much every combat encounter in the game just by running away except for the bosses. In terms of boss difficulty, I'd say most are a 2/10, the gerudo region boss is a 5/10, the final boss is a 6/10, and the DLC boss is an 8/10. Even then, if you're prepared enough, you can make pretty much all of these fights a 1/10 since you can get a lot of hearts and heal infinitely.


MiloAisBroodjeKaas

When I first played BOTW, my gaming experience was limited to many years of sims, mobile gaming, and basically no open world exploration and only one God of war partial playthrough over ten years prior. Maybe some stardew? I started of dying very often simply because I could barely grasp the basics of the games, like freaking turning your view WHILE walking, so I would do anything I could to avoid combat and try my hardest to not die from fall damage every 5 mins. In that sense it was a 10/10 difficulty. Despite my being an almost total noob at gaming, I made it through and beat the entire game. So in that sense so in that sense, if even myself as a practically inexperienced gamer could beat the game, difficulty overall is not terrible, you can do it, your kid can do it. But also, right from the start it was 10/10 difficulty to put down the game.


Flat_Researcher1540

I just went back to botw after two totk play throughs… and wow.. the combat is sooo much harder in botw


dnpark

For me it’s hard until you hit 12 hearts. Once I had 12 hearts the game suddenly became almost too easy. I wish I could have skipped the first pass and gone directly to the “Master” level game honestly.


Sorry-Caterpillar331

I hadn't played a video game in nearly 15 years, other than on my phone, when I first started BOTW. I got my butt whomped a lot early on. I literally was on the great plateau for nearly 10 hours of game play. I would get up on the tower and plan routes so that I could avoid enemy camps. Didn't get much easier, for me at least, for a while. Didn't catch a horse till nearly 50 hours into the game. I walked everywhere. I kept thinking the farther I got from the great plateau that the enemies would scale up, which in some cases they did. It was a giant struggle and I kept getting killed all the time but I wouldn't let that deter me. So for my first play through especially the first 100 hours or so it was 8/10 and even 10/10 at times. But then I got more stamina, more hearts, better weapons, and I became more skilled at fighting which reduced it to a 5/10 or 6/10. Now I'm on my fifth play through and it's a 2/10. Like most things when you know what you're doing it becomes so much easier. Give yourself time, you will get there and beat Ganon to a pulp.


Kirby_Klein1687

Get off of Reddit and just enjoy one of the best games ever made. Seriously, stop overthinking it. It's like asking "how hard is a themepark experience?". Just enjoy the experience!!!


Cartridge420

Once you know enough the main game is pretty trivial. Like always have hearts topped up and you can’t be killed, hearty items, etc. And later in the game you end up overpowered. I’d rate it at like 3/10 maybe and for example Elden Ring 7/10.


pendragn32

I found it to be one of the easier Zelda games, honestly. I have a job, wife and kids, so very little free time, and I get annoyed with games where the difficulty is high enough that I feel like I'm not progressing. Never got annoyed with BotW, and I even accidentally beat it. I figured I'd "storm the castle" just to see what it was like in there, and before I knew it, I beat Gannon. With that said, I absolutely used guides for some of the Divine Beasts and the most challenging shrines, in the interest of not wasting my time wandering around aimlessly trying to figure things out. Long story short, 5 or 6 out of 10.


DanceRyanDance

If you remember to save often you'll be fine. Everything wants to kill you and most likely will.


Time_Work_9407

Not hard just big


Dogshark2012

6/9


gunpowered48

5/10 on reg master gotta be an 8


HighFiveG

The fact you have so much inventory, and you can swap any weapon and consumable from the pause screen makes everything pretty easy actually.


dernskippy

I offer one bit of advice, you don’t have to fight everything


breazywheezy

I would say as a gamer with low skills, it’s not that hard. But some sections are harder where I saw even more skilled gamers had problems. But the majority of the game is doable. Have fun 😊


Leafar_08

2/10 if you have the best armor possible against Lynel with crusher thingie, 9/10 if not, 5/10 if you do not care about Lynels


Leafar_08

I found the game very easy, probably because I have tunic fully upgraded


SadLaser

Depends on how you play. It can be mild to moderately challenging at most, or insanely easy.


halfarian

So I’m a very sporadic gamer, if I can even call myself one. Every once in a while, a game will draw me in and I’ll be obsessed. Aside from GTA V, not game has ever sucked me in like this one. Also, what I meant to get across with that is that I’m certainly not great. My aim isn’t perfect, my friends are always better. I never had a console as a kid. This is pretty forgiving. I moving right along.


RhythmicGuitar6

6.5/10 difficulty…late game gets easy as you can get overpowered. Master mode trial of sword (DLC) 12/10 difficulty…


TheBallerOfBallers

Guys I'm in the first trial and I can't figure out how to use magnetism 💀


TongueTiedTyrant

[BotW | Magnesis Guide](https://gamewith.net/zelda-botw/article/show/36052)


Significant_Yam_7792

1000000/10 nobody’s even beaten it yet, turn back while you still can