Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Spoiler free discussion)

[Azzarole]

Soo, I guess a lot of us will be really excited and the game seems ideal for sharing our adventures and impressions. All my gamer friends are not Nintendo fans, so I would love to share it with you. We might also want to see how much playing it will take away from our music making time .

I thought it might be helpful to open a spoiler free thread first. If someone wants to share spoilers, please open a new thread.

People have different feelings what is and isn’t a spoiler. Rather than defining this, I trust in the community to handle the topic appropriately. My suggestion is to share general thoughts and experiences here, that can hint at things and make us curious, without taking away the revelations and surprises.

E.g. (Breath of the Wild spoiler ahead)

Summary

“I went to the north eastern end of the map first and let me tell you there is something that might make fans of Link’s Awakening pretty happy” instead of “there’s an Island Called Eventide Island off the coast that straps you of all your items and forces you to survive without them”

Like in this example, we can mark spoilers and hide them if we want to go into detail. You might want to open a spoiler thread if you want to have a space where you can spoil the hell out of everything without being afraid.

Does this sound alright to you or are there any things you would like to do differently? Really excited to share this experience with you. I won’t have too much time for a few months to play it unfortunately. Curious to see how that changes the experience to BOTW, where I had a time frame of about two weeks where I could sink several hours a day into it to the point where it was basically all I was thinking about when I wasn’t playing it. It was the best and most time I’ve ever spent with a game. The wonders awaiting you where a bit overhyped by the press tbh, as they didn’t have the time to flesh out something like a complex dungeon you could stumble upon. I really hope that TOTK has these things combined with the ingenious free exploration of BOTW.

[Matoshi]

One of very few games that I’ve had no issue preordering. …It better arrive on Friday!

Have stayed far away from any spoilers, with the exception of the official trailers.

[Alume]

I havent even checken the trailers, just the one a few months/weeks back

[Monobear]

I‘ll go eShop first. And then physical when it‘s on Sale sometime. This game will never be rare

[xidnpnlss]

I’ve tried to convince my store to open at midnight but won’t do If they want to compete with digital they need to up their game!

First time I’ve not taken off school/work for it. I guess that makes me an adult? But it’s Zelda week from 12.5 - 21.5.

I’ve only seen official trailers and Zeltik analysis (Zeltiks most recent video should have been the summary Nintendo did). I’m as confused as ever as to what’s going on and that adds to the anticipation.

I’ll check Metacritic scores but no more.

I’m beyond hyped. Could be looking at the GOAT here.

I’ll just be stopping be here quickly to share my general impressions; definitely no spoilers from me.

[Lauli]

I was very excited to do the replay for BotW, started about a month ago. At the time where I played it for the first there were a lot of personal family issues going on, the game was a real good escapism. Weird experience to see how certain memories are tied to locations of the game.

Hopefully TotK will be a little easier to digest.

[blasterjake]

Im incredibly stoked, been avoiding all the preview gameplay everywhere… the best part of playing breath of the wild fresh was discovering all the mechanics and secrets for yourself. If theres any game that deserves to be bought at full price at launch this decade, its this one!

[mattleaf]

I like the approach to this thread, sounds good.

Surprisingly, I’ve still remained rather active on Youtube and Reddit, and I’ve rarely copped anything more than a slight glimpse or frame that didn’t reveal much. I’m pretty quick to blur my vision or hit mute if something gets too out of hand though haha.

But that could all change dramatically once the game releases or is out in the wild in what could literally be a matter of hours.

I’m pretty much going to be speed scrolling to the bottom of IGN’s review just to see what score they give it, otherwise I’ll be keeping clear of reviews for the first week or so.

Be stoked to have a convo here with electron homies though. It is a weird thing being into Zelda as a grown adult, and I hear you on the Nintendo kiddie factor. I basically don’t play many other Nintendo games at this age. But that is actually the point I think.

I heard Reggie Fils-Aime talking about what Nintendo stood for - delight, putting a smile on peoples dial, but ultimately giving everyone the chance to feel younger. I really like that - so much of that is often centred around cosmetics, clothing, weightless or fitness, but I like the idea that just having a bit of child-like fun can keep you young.

But Zelda is definitely a nostalgic affair, and I think - actually - often people point at Nintendo’s characters as sort of what drives everything, as their greatest IP. But I think everyone would agree Nintendo music is something special. Playing a Nintendo game is not only a visual and play-based aesthetic, but something you do alongside the great music they create.

I really could ramble long-time about it, and BOTW to me embodies some of this, digital swimming through lovely visual and sonic playscapes.

TOTK is literally all I’m about right now haha

[blasterjake]

I agree, the first zelda i played was link to the past on snes when I was just a yungin’, and I still get nostalgic emotional memories when I hear that old startup tune. The same goes for botw, and I look forward to creating new lifelong memories for myself and my kid to remember our time together when we both explored totk for the first time. life moves too fast

[dzyndzel]

Looking forward to Friday! Kind of skeptical of things I’ve seen in the trailers, but I’m quite positive the game will grow on me, and I prefer to go in without hype to be pleasantly surprised later. I’m not the biggest fan of flying islands and the like (because it reminds me of Skyward Sword which is my least favorite Zelda). I am really hoping more for underground areas and dungeons proper, but hard to say they will be present with what has been shown. I feel like they would have said so if it were the case like they did for the sky sections. The latest trailer had something that looked like an underground but it could also just be part of the Death Mountain caldera. We’ll see!

Lore-wise, it seems like they took an effort in BotW to tie things together between titles, and I expect that consistency will stay here (but maybe it won’t )

I am all for the building aspects. The weapon fusing seems a bit out of place for me though and I feel like it takes away from some of the realistic attempts at physics in BotW. Case in point, attaching a giant boulder to a twig, having said boulder magically shrink, and being able to swing it like a feather. A bit of an “ech” for me.

[Matoshi]

Would have done the same but physical is £52 vs £60 on eshop… all good (providing the post isn’t on strike)!

[Azzarole]

It’s the opposite with me: I find 99 percent of big budget games bland and boring these days as they have to cater to a huge audience because they’re so expensive. That mean there are often great worlds and ideas, but the gameplay ultimately always comes down to pretty basic and boring tasks focused on combat, action and maybe some boiler plate puzzle or set piece. Nintendo titles are pretty much the only ones that have a huge budget to spend and focus on mechanically interesting gameplay that is also appealing if you’re not into violence and action. TOTK seems to be the new poster child for that, as they seem to really go wild with the physics. Luckily, there’s a great indie scene out there that’s doing great things with mechanics, styles and stories. I just wish that there was a place for these in huge 3D games as well. Even with BOTW, I felt like this is only a glimpse into the games we could play today, if developers weren’t so risk averse.

How about sharing our favorite Zeldas and dungeons until we get TOTK? I would say BOTW is my favorite. Of the classics, I would go with Wind Waker. It has the best aesthetics and presentation and the classic 3D Zelda formula feels pretty much perfect at this point. My favorite dungeons off the top of my head are OoT forest temple and the tree dungeon in Wind Waker. The former just oozes mood with its soundtrack loop, the twisted corridors and the shooting into the painting moment. The latter just looks so gorgeous and makes its natural elements come to live, especially with all of the particle effects.

[Mistercharlie]

I still haven’t finished BotW! I got it soon after the pandemic kicked off, and spent a lot of time just wandering through the hills and fields.

Maybe I can finish it by friday…

[Ryan]

I watched a video where a guy was saying that them using the same world makes it more exciting- not less.

He referenced OoT and how wildly Hyrule became after Link became an adult.

I was stunned by his perspective, because that’s a valid perspective that hadn’t crossed my mind.

Looking forward to the game all the more

[mattleaf]

@Azzarole

It’s the opposite with me: I find 99 percent of big budget games bland and boring these days as they have to cater to a huge audience because they’re so expensive. That mean there are often great worlds and ideas, but the gameplay ultimately always comes down to pretty basic and boring tasks focused on combat, action and maybe some boiler plate puzzle or set piece. Nintendo titles are pretty much the only ones that have a huge budget to spend and focus on mechanically interesting gameplay that is also appealing if you’re not into violence and action. TOTK seems to be the new poster child for that, as they seem to really go wild with the physics. Luckily, there’s a great indie scene out there that’s doing great things with mechanics, styles and stories. I just wish that there was a place for these in huge 3D games as well. Even with BOTW, I felt like this is only a glimpse into the games we could play today, if developers weren’t so risk averse.

No I hear you. I agree, too. But, I think it’s like a band you like more than others, they have a special spark, some ‘magic’ that the others don’t. Nintendo has the magic. It might not be in graphics, but yes, in gameplay mechanic they know how to push ahead.

There was a book that came out called Game Feel. It’s all about that elasticity and rubberiness of feeling playing a certain character. Nintendo has it down. The feel of their games is amazing. I can remember back in the day Sega always felt second fiddle.

Talking about new abilities shown in gameplay reveal

Funny though, Ascend in TOTK, when I saw it in the gameplay reveal - I was reminded of Jon Blow’s Braid, which rewinded time, but in 2D. I can’t recall having ever seen that done in 3D before. Haven’t seen many talk about this connection either, but I expect the implications in TOTK to be impressive in puzzle design.

[Azzarole]

I think you’ve nailed it! Controlling Link or Mario is always fun in itself. Most other games feel like some kind of awkward simulation compared to that. The only thing that felt comparably good to me over the last years was combat and platforming in Guacamelee and combat in Horizon.

For some reason, I’m unable to win even the early fights in most modern AAA games. That may be because I took a pause from gaming between 2009 and 2015. It feels a bit like people who never grew up with games that struggle with the most basic design language and controls of 3D games. That keeps me from enjoying most modern games. For some reason, Horizon was an exception. But maybe I just pushed harder with it since it was really imaginative and not too bloody.

I just wish there was money in the business for producing something like What Remains of Edith Finch on a large scale. Some (or maybe just one) imaginative place that sets the mood, tells an interesting story with good writing and uses different kinds of gameplay mechanics or even graphical styles to support those.

[dzyndzel]

@Azzarole

How about sharing our favorite Zeldas and dungeons until we get TOTK? I would say BOTW is my favorite. Of the classics, I would go with Wind Waker. It has the best aesthetics and presentation and the classic 3D Zelda formula feels pretty much perfect at this point. My favorite dungeons off the top of my head are OoT forest temple and the tree dungeon in Wind Waker. The former just oozes mood with its soundtrack loop, the twisted corridors and the shooting into the painting moment. The latter just looks so gorgeous and makes its natural elements come to live, especially with all of the particle effects.

Ocarina of Time will always be my favorite in terms of nostalgia, but BotW is also my favorite overall. They are all great in different ways though. So hard to pick favorites. For 3D Zelda, I think the dungeons in Wind Waker had great layouts, OoT had the best atmosphere, and Twilight Princess had the most memorable. If I had to pick one from each game, it would be:

Ocarina of Time: Spirit Temple
Majora’s Mask: Great Bay Temple
Wind Waker: Wind Temple
Twilight Princess: Arbiter’s Grounds

Some favorite tracks:

A Link To The Past: Lost Woods Theme & Dark World
Ocarina of Time: Forest Temple & Fire Temple (Original/removed version with Islamic prayers)
Majora’s Mask: Song of Healing
Wind Waker: Forsaken Fortress & Molgera
Twilight Princess: Midna’s Lament & Temple of Time
Skyward Sword: Bamboo Island & Follow Fi

[mattleaf]

I still put it down to something Japanese. It’s the Zen garden. Attention to detail, bonsai, so many Japanese tendencies are just baked into what Nintendo is. And it’s amazing they formed this global alliance and proliferation across NoA and Nintendo of Europe. A global phenomenon translated, but nevertheless truly Japanese. And I somehow feel that, even though they are ginormous as a company, boiled down somehow their Zelda team makes things feel like it’s almost an Indie game - still brimming with ingenuity, creative vision - as if it were the work of a single artist or something.

BOTW already won so many awards, but this is a great moment for Aonuma, Fujibayashi and the rest of the team. Aonuma looks like an old wise man now haha, he’s aged a bit since the last game. Before he was quite jokey, t-shirts in sports jackets, jumping around. He’s looked more handsome, stern, and wise this time around. He’s like the Hayao Miyazaki of games haha. Wonder if this is his swan song…

[Monobear]

Think I will buy two coupons so it‘s 50€ eshop, thats ok

Until Tears is out. -> still routing for a Wind Waker Remaster

[Azzarole]

I love your takes and agree with everything. I’m so happy Aonuma had the guts to realize that there might be something to learn from Western developers after Skyward Sword. To then apply all of the Japanese quirkiness and Nintendo magic to the Skyrim formula and finally fulfil what open world games had promised us ever since. My big hope is that BOTW was just the proof of concept and TOTK will go crazy with creativity and content.