So I've recently started a new play through of BOTW after having only finished it once before back at launch, and as is my way with restarting games I decided to try and follow the dev's vision for how to play the game (patiently and slow playing, sticking to the route laid before me with context clues etc.) In doing so I've discovered an amazing route through the start of the game that has blown my mind. Obviously this is a sandbox game and designed to be explored which is what I did first time, wandering aimlessly and discovering so many amazing things. But having now found this route I am almost disappointed this wasn't how I experienced the game the first time. Anyway, to the meat of the post, I am going to try keep things brief and moving.
Starting this route from just after getting the paraglider as the plateau is intentionally non-linear for sure.
Now at this point, Old Man Rhoam points you in the right direction to Kakariko town and that will be the first destination with a stop at the tower and stable on the way. (there is a clear road running from the plateau defended by a moblin that seems like the indicator of the right way to go, through a small outpost.) On this path you find a number of shrines (duelling peaks etc.) and plenty of goodies to start stocking up the inventory, are introduced to horses, beedle and side quests (the bandit quest at the stable for example).
On arriving at Kakariko the path continues to be clear, speak to Impa and accept your quest, before heading back the way you came, seeing the guardian filled battlegrounds where Link and the champions fell, and forking towards Hateno (I'm sure most people did this) to meet up with Purah and collect some more shrines and side quests in town, introducing hunting, and giving a few quests to sit on for a bit (Spring of Wisdom + Cedars) before heading back to Impa and beginning the journey proper.
Now it is at this point that it feels the game opens up, but as I've just experienced. The path actually continues from here. Once you have returned to Impa, a number of side quests appear in Kakariko that you can easily miss if you don't re-explore the town. First up is the fairy fountain and Pikango who points you in the next direction on completion to the first memory, lying just up the road to the west. Picking this up first is huge, it introduces Zelda and the champions straight away and hints at the Spring of Wisdom (a second time if you got the side quest earlier enroute). Beyond the memory is a scary Lynel that pushes you back to Kakariko, where-in you collect your tunic from Impa and can find the other side quests in Kakariko that introduces you to the Yiga clan and earns you some powerful weapons.
With these weapons, fairies from the fountain and some fortified pumpkin meals you can now return to the Lynel for a epic showdown, and open up the path to Lanyru mountain using the tricks you learnt on the plateau to deal with the cold. The climb is filled with some new monsters (ice versions) and some epic music as you approach the summit, which upon arrival you are greeted by the spirit that guards the spring, this introducing the dragons of the world in a clear way (rather than as I did just stumbling on the later ones).
This is as far as I've gotten at this point, but to me it's amazing how well the world is set-up in this way, taking you through the backstory in context and introducing plot points organically rather than piecing it together over random roaming. The clear next step would be to return to Kakariko and this time, set off for the Zora. From here I suspect it will be a anti-clockwise spiral around the world, but I am beginning to belive there will be a path that goes from each town to the next and includes collecting memories on the way in a logical order.
Has anyone else stumbled down this "best" way to follow the story? Or better yet, any tips for clear "connectors" between the next steps of the main quests and memories? It's amazing to me how well the world is set-up in this way, taking you through the backstory in context and introducing plot points organically rather than piecing it together over random roaming.