The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom [Nintendo Switch]

[FlareKnight]

YouTube

https://youtu.be/uHGShqcAHlQ

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Seemed like a good time to dive into talking about this. A month away from release (May 12, 2023) and the latest trailer looked good! The game seems utterly stuffed with both story and a lot of crazy flexibility for creating things. The crafting system alone could have people playing this game for a very long time.

Honestly, I'm pretty excited. It feels as if they took a lot of time to create as good a game as they possibly could. One where there is the flexibility found in Breath of the Wild, but also a much stronger story.

I don't think this had a topic going already (did take a look around).

[cyberdemon]

Finished a fresh playthrough of botw just in time for totk. Can’t wait for tomorrow

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

Finished a fresh playthrough of botw just in time for totk. Can’t wait for tomorrow

Same. Well I didn't finish a full fresh playthrough, but I'm ready to play it tomorrow . Will have a couple days off after tomorrow so should be able to dive in and enjoy the journey.

[belatkuro]

Never did finish my Master Mode playthrough before new game arrived. I still played BotW for the last time last night and just beat Rudania there. Was only missing Naboris. Beat Ganon again in Normal mode just to get ready for the sequel.
My copy of the game just arrived right now. Will play it after work.

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Same. Well I didn't finish a full fresh playthrough, but I'm ready to play it tomorrow . Will have a couple days off after tomorrow so should be able to dive in and enjoy the journey.

I intended to 100% it but korok seeds are a pain. Lol

[FlareKnight]

First impressions really are sky high for this one. Took what worked with Botw and went up another level. Plus so far it feels like they took into consideration things that people didn't care for or simply wanted that was missing. Hasn't lost that open world spectacle, but the story is nicely integrated here.

Spoiler for First Dozen Hours in:

I love the starting segment. That's how you make a strong first impression! Just walking into the underground, getting part (but of course missing a key element) of the history before stumbling onto utter evil sealed away in the depths of the Kingdom . Again, not a bad way to make an impression though. The Master Sword getting thrashed (though getting one nice little hit in there).

Not going to go into that much detail yet. But this has been a good start. Not sure how others will feel. But I'm enjoying the dungeons and storytelling at play here. Plus getting to fight alongside the next generation of champions has been fun. Riju is looking fantastic and Yunobo seems to be finding his confidence.

The map is huge with the sky and underground to explore. Feels like I could spend a long time on this map. Even though technically I could try to hurry along even faster to the main story. But honestly clearing 2 dungeons took a lot of resources out of me so I might slow down and explore the map for a while before pushing the story ahead some more.

Also appreciate what you get for clearing the dungeons. As much if not more fun than just the abilities we got from the divine beasts in Botw.

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

I intended to 100% it but korok seeds are a pain. Lol

Yeah, I draw the line at that. Honestly didn't really get close to 100% Botw either. But honestly just enjoy playing as long as it's good fun and whatever totals I reach are what they are.

[cyberdemon]

The cruelty potential towards Koroks is amazing lmao

[The Green One]

It's almost like they realized the players wanted revenge for last time.....

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by The Green One

It's almost like they realized the players wanted revenge for last time.....

They probably wanted revenge too lol

“If you could just make up 900 korok seed locations and a varied way to do them but no tracking them, that’d be greeat”

[belatkuro]

It was tradition back in BotW that when you found a Korok under a rock, you smack it with said rock. Being able to ragdoll lift these backpacking Koroks feels good now. They're the ones I've found so far.

Super enjoying the game. So much to do that I don't know where to start. Haven't started the phenomenon in the regions yet as I just want to look around and see what changed from BotW. Also been going Leeroy Jenkins at enemies and dying several times. They hit harder than what I expect in early game. Plus combat can really change with arrow fusions to consider which is probably why they are beefed up a bit like that. I expended like 3 or 4 bows fighting a construct boss underground. Arrow fusions help increase damage a lot which I realized at the end of that fight.
Not sure how important investigating underground is but I feel like I want to collect more shrines and health before doing so with the new gloom mechanic there. I'm bad evading attacks after all. Need to stockpile more food that can clear the gloom as well as a lot of bright seeds to illuminate the way.

[FlareKnight]

I love how much there is to do. I can just dedicate to one thing or another. Whether it's exploring the underground, the main map, hunting for map towers, etc. It's such a packed map where I don't even have to continue what I was doing last time and can just find something fun to do pretty soon after.

Story seems more balanced.

Just going to spend weeks it seems having pure fun with this. And prepping myself for some of the crazy map enemies that are out there.

[cyberdemon]

Or you can wait for cows to poop lol. Then shield surf to rupees lmao

[FlareKnight]

So I made it to the end!
[Spoilers=Overall Story and Ending]This was good! Honestly, I had a great time with this game. Not that I'm 100% done. This feels like the rare time that I won't just put the game away since I beat the main story. Regardless though, it was a good main story.

There are just a few layers to it that really worked for me. I loved the new sages. It was really fun having these guys show up at key moments. World can give Link some support here! The group of four are pretty awesome. They can proudly stand and not feel lesser than those that came before them. Because these four really faced some beasts. They actually toppled the 5 main temple bosses on their own! Maybe they weren't on the same power level (who knows) but they stepped up!

Especially loved the moments for Riju and Sidon. Sidon got to carry on and take up the role of King. The loss of his sister will never be forgotten. But he's done her proud. And Riju really has stepped up as the leader of the Gerudo. Very cute and her section was fun. She'll get a handle on that power as time goes on too.

The story really worked. I didn't mind the BOTW story, but I do think this one balances things out better. There are memories, but they aren't the whole story. Admittedly it took me a long time to even realize there were memories! I came across that quest, but didn't think much about it and just moved on to other things without even seeing the first memory! Probably for the best though since by the time I did realize memories would be in the game I had explored a lot of the map. Once I start on the memory train...there's no stopping. I have to see them all before doing anything else!

Can I just give MVP of all Zeldas to ever exist to this one? I mean wow. This girl first struggled solo to face Calamity Ganon for a century. Then she goes back in time and turns into a freaking dragon for thousands of years! This girl has gone places! I'd say the next closest to have such a journey would be Skyward Sword Zelda. But this one really stepped up. And her memories were great. The bonds she forged in the past were cute and cool to see her stand with the other sages in that battle against Ganondorf in the past. Making good use of rewind!

Not sure how the final battle will be judged. But I think this was cooler than the giant pig battle. The first stages again made me think of Skyward Sword. But it was fun with all the counters and the real struggles. And I'm not sure if they just refused to let the Master Sword break or if I was just lucky. But it was fun to fuse the best attachment I had at the time on it and just whale on this guy! The dragon vs dragon thing was pretty cool. Admittedly it took me a while to figure out what to do! I sat on his face trying to cut his eyes out for a minute before realizing where the weak points were . And I like how you get gloomed while on the dragon but get refreshed when you fall (and presumably have Zelda heal you).

I'll take the miracle that saved Zelda at the end. Mostly since...it would have been a bit bleak to have her flying around Hyrule as a dragon forever. Best thing was the whole diving rescue bit. The skies weren't the biggest part of things in this game. But it was fun to really save the falling Princess.

Epilogue was good and set things up nicely The future of that world is bright. One thing that shocks me though...is that the Trifoce again wasn't part of this! I guess with the sacred stones that would have been overkill. But I'm still surprised that in two games the most we saw was Zelda's sealing power when it showed up in botw. And I really don't know how to place this in the overall Zelda timeline honestly. But it was good .[/Spoiler]

Whew. This was fun. Really glad I kept my head low and just let myself explore the game in whatever way I wanted. And really the fusion/building abilities were a total blast. Those alone made it a lot more fun for me to explore this world than even the previous game. Can't wait to see where the franchise goes from here.

[cyberdemon]

Link and Zelda totally hooked up between botw and totk. Zelda’s now living in his house in Hateno village. 2 plates set up but still only 1 bed lol

Spoiler for Master sword:

makes me wonder if it wasn’t pain but pleasure the light dragon felt as link pulled his sword out of her lmao

[belatkuro]

Some people say Zelda kicked out Link from his house and he doesn't live there. That's why the kids in Hateno say it's Zelda's house and no one recognizes Link nor calls it his house too. Maybe that's why Link built a dream house in Tarrey Town. Then again, Zelda has a secret well where she hid Link's hair tie and details for the Champion Leather's hiding place. Hiding it from her roommate Link.
It's made hard to tell so Nintendo washes their hands off it and leave it to the fandom.

Spoiler for Champion's Leather:

Finishing Dragon Tears main story makes having the Light Dragon parts as the armor's upgrade materials makes so much sense.

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by belatkuro

Some people say Zelda kicked out Link from his house and he doesn't live there. That's why the kids in Hateno say it's Zelda's house and no one recognizes Link nor calls it his house too. Maybe that's why Link built a dream house in Tarrey Town. Then again, Zelda has a secret well where she hid Link's hair tie and details for the Champion Leather's hiding place. Hiding it from her roommate Link.
It's made hard to tell so Nintendo washes their hands off it and leave it to the fandom.

Spoiler for Champion's Leather:

Finishing Dragon Tears main story makes having the Light Dragon parts as the armor's upgrade materials makes so much sense.

Apparently in the Japanese version it is described as “our house”. Building in Terrytown could just be Link planning for the future when he gets her back lol. Gonna need a bigger house ��

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by cyberdemon

Apparently in the Japanese version it is described as “our house”. Building in Terrytown could just be Link planning for the future when he gets her back lol. Gonna need a bigger house ��

That or maybe Link gets a thrill from putting things together after building so many death machines . A possible vacation house that he can re-organize on a whim might have an appeal.

[Shadow5YA]

Zelda was gone for 100 years, and the castle is in ruins. Where else was she going to stay?