Breath of the Wild Is The Champions’ Ballad Worth My Time?

[Mamono101]

So, as some of you may know, BotW is not really my favourite game. I recently loaded it up for the first time since early 2018 and finished the remaining base game shrines and am about to complete the last divine beast (which I know will trigger the flag to start the DLC).

With that preamble out of the way, do you think The Champions’ Ballad is worth completing for someone who hasn’t really enjoyed most of what BotW had to offer? And, more importantly, why do you think that?

(Note: I already own it, if that makes a difference. This isn’t a question about whether or not I should buy it.)

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

fellow botw hater here
the champions' ballad was generally of a higher quality than the base game
that being said I was so burned out of vanilla botw that I never actually finished the dlc either
I can't promise that you'll like it, but it is better, specifically wrt the characters and making them not feel like caricatures

 

[Azure Sage]

Speaking as someone who loves BotW to death, the Champion's Ballad was one of my favorite parts of the game. I already loved the Champions, and the CB was able to flesh them out even more and tell very personal tales about their lives through memories, diaries, and anecdotes from other characters. The shrines were also better than most of the ones in base game, and the final dungeon is probably one of my favorites in the series. Same goes for the consecutive boss fight. The final cutscene of the Ballad has me in tears every time.

I don't really know what you didn't like out of BotW's base game, but I do think that the challenges and story the Champion's Ballad offers are top tier in the Zelda series as a whole, so there's that. I hope you find something to enjoy from it.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I'd say yes, after completing it myself earlier this year, hands down The Champions Ballad is the definitive BotW DLC. There are some pretty cool new challenges that it offers, it ever so slightly improves upon the story for the Champions, offering some pretty interesting subtext on par with Majora's Mask honestly, and the final boss is one of the best in Zelda.

 

[Spirit]

So, as some of you may know, BotW is not really my favourite game. I recently loaded it up for the first time since early 2018 and finished the remaining base game shrines and am about to complete the last divine beast (which I know will trigger the flag to start the DLC).

With that preamble out of the way, do you think The Champions’ Ballad is worth completing for someone who hasn’t really enjoyed most of what BotW had to offer? And, more importantly, why do you think that?

(Note: I already own it, if that makes a difference. This isn’t a question about whether or not I should buy it.)

Mmmmmmmmnnnnnnnno?

As you'll know, BotW didn't have much going on in terms of story and CB doesn't add much more, it doesn't give a you a deeper understanding of anything or make anything else more interesting or intriguing.

The gameplay mostly was all busy work and if you didn't enjoy BotW much, the DLC feels even more basic. You have to do the same small handful of things a few times before triggering the final dungeon. The reward at the end is nice but once you get it there's nothing to really do with it.

If you didn't enjoy BotW I don't think CB will change your mind on it, offer you anything substantial or really be worth your time with what it asks you to do for the pointless reward you get.

(and I say this as someone who liked BotW)

 

[Jirohnagi]

Speaking as someone who is still on the fence about BOTW and completed it 100% twice (once in normal and once in Master Mode) i'd say hell no, it didn't add anything you couldn't make a very good guess at, the challenges and additions were ass and the rewards were completely useless as by the time you've finished it chances are good you've already finished the entire game and can brutally slaughter lynels in under a minute anyway, oh and you have a horse that doesn't require constant food.

 

[Greenie]

The Champion's Ballad is kind of worse off the later you do it in the game. Especially in your case since you finished up the shrines. It's basically more shrines and one more divine beast esque challenge. When you are at the end of the game you aren't really able to enjoy any of the rewards it gives you. Some of the missions you have to do can be fun though. There is some good challenge on a few too. Story-wise, the additional cutscenes you get as well as the diary entries of the champions are pretty nice. Overall, I would say that if you don't mind not getting much use out of the rewards and aren't sick of shrines, go for it.

 

[Azure Sage]

I completely disagree about not being able to enjoy the rewards late in the game. The Master Cycle is easily one of the coolest things the Zelda series has ever done, and it's far preferable to horses for me. It's badass, it's fun to use, it's really well-designed, and getting it was extremely cool. The only thing that's not so good about it is that you can't use it on the volcano or in the desert. It needing materials is hardly an issue at all, the world is full of them.

It might be because I spend hundreds of hours running around BotW's world making my own little adventures, but I have enjoyed the Master Cycle immensely and it's easily one of my favorite things in BotW. I get a ton of use out of it.

 

[twilitfalchion]

I'd say maybe, although you really shouldn't have to pay for story content that should've been in the base game to begin with. I’d also say that, if you weren’t crazy about BotW before the DLC, it’s not likely to change your opinion much. It’s more of the same, apart from the sword trials and a neat boss battle. I liked it well enough, but I already enjoyed BotW before I played the DLC.

Thing about the Master Cycle though is that, by the time you unlock it, you’ll likely have completed most of the game’s objectives, leaving it pretty much useless at that point. Even in the early-to-midgame, it’s not very useful anyway since you can get warp points for most of the locations you need to get to fast. Horses have the same issue because of that.

 

[Greenie]

I completely disagree about not being able to enjoy the rewards late in the game. The Master Cycle is easily one of the coolest things the Zelda series has ever done, and it's far preferable to horses for me. It's badass, it's fun to use, it's really well-designed, and getting it was extremely cool. The only thing that's not so good about it is that you can't use it on the volcano or in the desert. It needing materials is hardly an issue at all, the world is full of them.

It might be because I spend hundreds of hours running around BotW's world making my own little adventures, but I have enjoyed the Master Cycle immensely and it's easily one of my favorite things in BotW. I get a ton of use out of it.

I actually agree with you on the utility of the Master Cycle. If I were to start a new game on BOTW, I would honestly bee line it through the divine beasts and the DLC. I think getting Link fully decked out with all his abilities and the MC would make exploration a lot more exciting for the rest of the game. In OP's case though it seems they are more interested in being done with the game so it's hard to judge how much they will get out of the rewards.

I share the disappointment of not being able to use the Master Cycle in the desert too. It would make up for not being able to use a horse and to avoid having to wear the sand boots. Since I don't like the Ancient Saddle and you aren't always near a stable, being able to call the MC almost anywhere makes movement very fast and convenient. Everybody should already have nigh infinite apples as fuel for it as well.

 

[Ronin]

If you just want more of the same, then that's all that Champion's Ballad has to offer after a very long grind to the final dungeon. You just get more Shrines and repeated boss fights before the grand finale. Don't expect any additional story content, because it doesn't exist despite what the trailer set it up to be.

The Master Cycle is worth going through all the effort, though. It's one of the coolest ways to get around an openworld setting, but it requires resources and can't fly unlike Skells.

 

[MapelSerup]

I loved it because I loved BOTW and it was more of that. If you hated BOTW, don't go for it. You can probably watch a YouTube video or something for the story content.

 

[Princess Niki]

I think the Master Cycle and extra story makes it worth it cuz I found it fun to see more about the champions.

 

[Mamono101]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I ended up doing it to get my upgraded powers which as you all said was definitely too late in the game to really use properly. The boss at the end of the final divine beast was probably my favourite thing in this game. Was probably the most difficult boss battle for me.

 

[Shrimpdragon]

I think the DLC is worth it.