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[BlackTron]

I thought the sword that becomes the master sword in botw can be broken before it is fully restored, but it is a long time since I've played the game so might be remembering that wrong.

All I know from years of playing Nintendo games with Miyamoto and Iwata at the helm of gaming decisions, is that they would never send a Zelda game out the door that would leave the gamer feeling cheated and irritated after over 100hrs of playtime because the story was so weak and so incoherent with expectation of Zelda lore to accommodate a game mechanic around a major Zelda lore trope.

By the end of BotW the Master Sword doesn't even feel like the best weapon in the game(IMHO) and completely pointless when it can't be used to handle generic hordes without a 10min cool down.

I'm hoping TotK does fix that major issue, because if things are greatly improved and they've fixed that, I might be persuaded to buy a copy after my nephew showcases in a few weeks time, although after passing on the DLC for BotW, I'm pretty sure I'm done with this style of Zelda game, just like I am with MK, because it has been poor IMHO after the excellent Double Dash and the DS versions.

In BOTW I just remember picking the Master Sword up out of the pedestal and then having it. You just had to have enough hearts not to run out when you attempted to do so, so even if you found it quickly, you would need to clear a lot of shrines before "qualifying". You might be thinking of Skyward Sword which is the story of how the Master Sword was actually made, though I have to admit that's all fuzzy. I haven't played it since it came out on Wii.

I didn't think of it until sleeping on my/your comments after my post last night, but by pointing out the sword/Link/Zelda are all connected, you could say that both Link and the sword being greatly damaged at the same time is in some way symbolic.

TBH, my expectations from playing Nintendo games has always been that story means nothing, gameplay means everything, though this is more evident with Miyamoto in charge, less so as Aonuma gained traction. Majora's Mask is the most story-heavy Zelda I can think of, and it doesn't even have the Master Sword, doesn't happen in Hyrule and is somehow a fan favorite having been totally unshackled by conventions with Aonuma in the driver's seat. Link's Awakening was my first and still competes with OOT for favorite entry, same deal. Master Sword does not even exist in the game. So much for story conventions defining what makes a great Zelda. Gameplay always came first, and they just didn't have a gameplay-mandated reason to even consider nerfing it till now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not rooting for a Master Sword that wears out and breaks and shit. But frankly I don't even give a crap whether its in the game at all, I care about the moment-to-moment gameplay. Put it this way, if the only thing they changed in BOTW was the Master Sword situation, it would still be a crappy unfinished Zelda. It's hardly the biggest problem in that game. If TOTK tightened up many of BOTW's flaws to produce a fantastic Zelda game, I don't think you should decide whether to skip it or not based on how the Master Sword works. Some of the most beloved Zelda's don't even have it, the series is defined by sinking hours in puzzles and exploring shit.

By the way, tossing that in that you don't like MK8 either just made you sound grumpy against new Nintendo games. I mean everyone has an opinion and they put out a lot of meh stuff with many nuances to discuss vs. earlier entries. But to say Mario Kart has been "poor" since GC and DS.....WHAT

 

[Marvel14]

but what there is a lot more of is botw lol

not sure if this is sarcasm. If it isnt and you really have played loads of TOTK then Im not sure what to tell you.

The numbers of systems, activities, ways of playing, story beats, locations, enemies, personalities etc leaves BOTW in the dust. Just because it too has shrines, towers and memories does not make the rest of it "more BOTW ".

 

[Marvel14]

But to say Mario Kart has been "poor" since GC and DS.....WHAT

It's a testament to how great TOTK is that the trolls are out in full force.

 

[PaintTinJr]

In BOTW I just remember picking the Master Sword up out of the pedestal and then having it. You just had to have enough hearts not to run out when you attempted to do so, so even if you found it quickly, you would need to clear a lot of shrines before "qualifying". You might be thinking of Skyward Sword which is the story of how the Master Sword was actually made, though I have to admit that's all fuzzy. I haven't played it since it came out on Wii.

I didn't think of it until sleeping on my/your comments after my post last night, but by pointing out the sword/Link/Zelda are all connected, you could say that both Link and the sword being greatly damaged at the same time is in some way symbolic.

TBH, my expectations from playing Nintendo games has always been that story means nothing, gameplay means everything, though this is more evident with Miyamoto in charge, less so as Aonuma gained traction. Majora's Mask is the most story-heavy Zelda I can think of, and it doesn't even have the Master Sword, doesn't happen in Hyrule and is somehow a fan favorite having been totally unshackled by conventions with Aonuma in the driver's seat. Link's Awakening was my first and still competes with OOT for favorite entry, same deal. Master Sword does not even exist in the game. So much for story conventions defining what makes a great Zelda. Gameplay always came first, and they just didn't have a gameplay-mandated reason to even consider nerfing it till now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not rooting for a Master Sword that wears out and breaks and shit. But frankly I don't even give a crap whether its in the game at all, I care about the moment-to-moment gameplay. Put it this way, if the only thing they changed in BOTW was the Master Sword situation, it would still be a crappy unfinished Zelda. It's hardly the biggest problem in that game. If TOTK tightened up many of BOTW's flaws to produce a fantastic Zelda game, I don't think you should decide whether to skip it or not based on how the Master Sword works. Some of the most beloved Zelda's don't even have it, the series is defined by sinking hours in puzzles and exploring shit.

By the way, tossing that in that you don't like MK8 either just made you sound grumpy against new Nintendo games. I mean everyone has an opinion and they put out a lot of meh stuff with many nuances to discuss vs. earlier entries. But to say Mario Kart has been "poor" since GC and DS.....WHAT

Given that OoT ran at 17fps in some parts of the game on N64, so was massively away from being fluid enough for high action gameplay, I would disagree about the gameplay trumping story/adventure in a Zelda game by design, say compared to action platformer Mario 64 that is based on the same engine technology and is fast paced gameplay focused with a high bar for certain skill sections and coin collections - one in the moat requires perfectly measured triple jump to wall jump to get enough height for a coin IIRC.

Instead, I would say that the mainline series Zelda games that all include the Master Sword build gameplay around the story, with the story being of equal importance, or slightly greater importance by the slower paced game design with focus on spectacular visuals - for the hardware.

I am still going to hold fire for the time being with TotK to see which way it goes with the sword, as I'm not the type to start a Zelda and shelve it, no matter what I find on route, so it is easier not to start it.

As for MK grumpy, I've still owned and ploughed hundreds of hours into Wii/8/8 Deluxe and bought them all, unlocked everything and way beyond average at 200cc, but bikes, fero gx flying, ribbon tracks like f-zero/SegaAllStars Racing and coin collection, along with no skilled means to dodge a red or spinney shell on demand is dumbed down IMHO, and the music is hit or miss too, and needs tightened up.

 

[BlackTron]

It's a testament of how great TOTK is that the trolls are out in full force.

Seriously it's hard to imagine someone grabbing MK8 for a troll comment if they actually played it before, you would pick a different game with flaws in it, or at least give a reason because you know anyone else who played the game would think just tossing out "in my opinion its poor" just looks silly/trollish

 

[ssringo]

The problems I had with BotW aren't really a problem in TotK.

I don't feel constantly hamstrung by the stamina wheel due to the easy and readily available ways to get to high ground. Weapon degradation doesn't feel as prominent thanks to fusing and the liberal placement of materials. Exploration is still a big aspect but people/items put markers on the map for places to explore to get gear so there's something to focus on other than blind exploration. There's an actual story to follow and plenty of interesting characters. On top of all that the performance is actually solid.

I think the praise TotK is getting is more than it deserves but I at least understand it and I might even change my mind as I play more. My middling opinion of BotW never changed at any point.

 

[BlackTron]

Given that OoT ran at 17fps in some parts of the game on N64, so was massively away from being fluid enough for high action gameplay, I would disagree about the gameplay trumping story/adventure in a Zelda game by design, say compared to action platformer Mario 64 that is based on the same engine technology and is fast paced gameplay focused with a high bar for certain skill sections and coin collections - one in the moat requires perfectly measured triple jump to wall jump to get enough height for a coin IIRC.

Instead, I would say that the mainline series Zelda games that all include the Master Sword build gameplay around the story, with the story being of equal importance, or slightly greater importance by the slower paced game design with focus on spectacular visuals - for the hardware.

I am still going to hold fire for the time being with TotK to see which way it goes with the sword, as I'm not the type to start a Zelda and shelve it, no matter what I find on route, so it is easier not to start it.

As for MK grumpy, I've still owned and ploughed hundreds of hours into Wii/8/8 Deluxe and bought them all, unlocked everything and way beyond average at 200cc, but bikes, fero gx flying, ribbon tracks like f-zero/SegaAllStars Racing and coin collection, along with no skilled means to dodge a red or spinney shell on demand is dumbed down IMHO, and the music is hit or miss too, and needs tightened up.

Well obviously OOT was not a precision platform game like Mario. The game had serious FPS issues of course, like almost the entire N64 library. It only impacted Zelda in a visual enjoyment way, not much of a gameplay way. For example I found aiming very snappy and precise (using real hardware). Zelda gameplay came mostly from puzzle solving, the controls/technical system in OOT gave you sufficient tools to do so without getting in the way.

I guess my opinion is the opposite, Nintendo likes to come up with a gameplay design first, and the story follows it. For example, in Skyward Sword, guess why the story was about a sword? Because of the Wii Remote controller. Guess why the game had lots of smaller connected dense environments? Because of the Wii hardware. Once they decided the best gameplay design they could, the story filled in around it. Story is massively impacted by hardware design team lol.

Anyway fair enough, I guess you did set me straight on MK8, if you played it, you played it. I can consider those criticisms, but it's not nearly enough for me to call it "poor". If anything, I wasn't that excited about a new MK because I felt 8 already had my needs met and wasn't sure how they could buff it out even better. But because you pointed out all that stuff, now I am actually more interested in what they do with new MK lol

 

[twinspectre]

Maybe because it is better?

 

[tmlDan]

"so many people" I haven't, they're all the same people who liked BOTW.

I have actually seen more people be critical of this one in comparison to BOTW

 

[GymWolf]

In my case i can describe what is different:

Better presented and more interesting story (not by much but enough to make a difference)

More rewarding exploration, if not in term of pure loot that stay with you forever, at least in term of finding new wacky shit to use with fuse and ultrahand, also having to upgrade the battery capacity to use all the wacky gadget is better than just having hearts and stamina, i still prefer classic loot but in tokt it doesn't feel as bad as botw. (Still kinda bad tho)
Also i heard you get ghost companion for completing the dungeons, that's way more of a reward than anything inside botw.

Puzzles are way better, open ended and generally harder than botw.

I hate building stuff but ultrahand just work somehow (except rotating stuff sometimes), i still don't see myself building overly complicated stuff tho, i just don't have that lego mentality.

Fuse is fun to experiment with.

The world seems a bit more alive, it is still a bit barren for my taste but better than botw.

The game seems to be harder in general but also easier to break, so i don't have a final judgement.

Reverse and ultrahand make the open world puzzles more fun to solve because with enough fantasy you can cheat almost all of them.

The game seems way more massive than botw between sky island and underworld.

I probably didn't played enough to judge enemy variety but it feels a bit better for now.

Just the way you get in the sky dungeon with the little bird is already better that all the 4 divine beast combined and i still have to play the actual dungeon.

The game still has some problems like core combat being kinda meh and simple, shitty lock on, no roll outside of lock on, mediocre enemy ia most of the times, lack of meaningful loot, weapons still break too fast (it feels even faster than botw) cumbersome ui and control scheme and non-optimal performance no matter how much df can say otherwise after playing 15 hours of a 200 hours game.

The game feels what botw should have been tbh, i'm enjoying it way more than botw for now, time will tell if this is just an honey-moon effect.

 

[Codiox]

Finished BOTW on Switch back in 2017 and I still don't really like it. I played it to know what's going on in the game. It was fun, but nothing great like wind waker or twilight princess for me.


TOTK for me is only enjoyable with cheats:
- unlimited weapon durability
- unlimited battery
- unlimited stamina

Im now 13 hours into it and really like it this way. It still is no masterpiece for me (the building stuff is just not for me, I don't like Minecraft in Zelda, maybe a age problem, don't know)

Without cheats I would not bother to play it.

 

[Amory]

I haven't played TOTK but I get how people could like it even without enjoying BOTW.

BOTW felt more like a prototype for the game Nintendo actually wanted to make. TOTK is, presumably, the fully realized experience.

 

[GymWolf]

Banjo Kazooie Nuts and bolts was hated on for that.

Nintendo do it and now it's amazing?

Same with just cause 4 that does a lot of what tokt does but nobody gave a fuck about that game.

Sometimes you have good ideas inside unfortunate games.

 

[MirageMew2]

Frankly the complaints of an empty Hyrule in BotW feels even more justified with TotK, and I’m not even someone that felt that way, so I can absolutely see TotK having immediate appeal. From the infinite creation possibilities to the actual improvements in world design, enemy encampments, actual caves and dungeons to discover, the differences alone between things to do in BotW and TotK is absurd.

 

[JRW]

You should play the game. Its constructing mechanism is a massive change. Being able to construct a boat or a cart your own way is like a lego-mini-game itself.

The construction aspect reminds me of the overhated Banjo Nuts & Bolts which I enjoyed, spent so many hours coming up with wacky contraptions although it was taken a step further in Banjo being you could also compete in online leaderboards with your creations.

 

[Black_Stride]

Imma have to get this game arent I.

 

[Hugare]

The problems I had with BotW aren't really a problem in TotK.

I don't feel constantly hamstrung by the stamina wheel due to the easy and readily available ways to get to high ground. Weapon degradation doesn't feel as prominent thanks to fusing and the liberal placement of materials. Exploration is still a big aspect but people/items put markers on the map for places to explore to get gear so there's something to focus on other than blind exploration. There's an actual story to follow and plenty of interesting characters. On top of all that the performance is actually solid.

I think the praise TotK is getting is more than it deserves but I at least understand it and I might even change my mind as I play more. My middling opinion of BotW never changed at any point.

Why even have a stamina system if you are making it useless with Acension most of the time? Just so the player cant run 2m without getting tired?

Why even have a weapon degradation system if you are going to "fix" it with Fuse? Just let people use Fuse because they want to make a new weapon, without the need to make one

I'm enjoy the game, just finished the Wind Temple (was awesome), but for every 2 steps forward, Nintendo takes 1 step back, it seems.

They cant help themselves: "oh, we are making legacy dungeons with unique bosses now. But you still have to unlock 5 locks before fighting the boss" and other shit like that.

 

[LakeOf9]

Why even have a stamina system if you are making it useless with Acension most of the time? Just so the player cant run 2m without getting tired?

Why even have a weapon degradation system if you are going to "fix" it with Fuse? Just let people use Fuse because they want to make a new weapon, without the need to make one

I'm enjoy the game, just finished the Wind Temple (was awesome), but for every 2 steps forward, Nintendo takes 1 step back, it seems.

They cant help themselves: "oh, we are making legacy dungeons with unique bosses now. But you still have to unlock 5 locks before fighting the boss" and other shit like that.

Fuse doesnt fix weapon durability, it allows you one reset and thats it

 

[kunonabi]

Fuse doesnt fix weapon durability, it allows you one reset and thats it

Which is better than nothing and it least the game provides a story reason for things breaking this time. The real appeal of fuse is that combat isn't just a handful weapons that mostly work roughly the same so there's some strategy and creativity at hand now. Or at least there would be if flurry rush wasn't so powerful and the system wasn't so clunky.

Sad thing is I mustly just stick rocks on everything since hammers and bombs are so rare now.

 

[BlackTron]

I hate building stuff but ultrahand just work somehow (except rotating stuff sometimes), i still don't see myself building overly complicated stuff tho, i just don't have that lego mentality.

Funny thing, I am a hardcore Lego fan, I have built almost nothing so far outside of a shrine.

I think my brain is still coming to terms with the knowledge that I can technically do all that stuff in this game, even though I have seen the gifs. The number of options is overwhelming.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

BOTW was way too empty. I quit after 8-10 hrs. I tried replaying multiple times too.

TOTK is already one of my favorite games in years. Elden Ring and TOTK stand alone when it comes to player freedom and exploration. And unlike Elden Ring, I doubt I'll get tired of it after 100 hrs because of the weapon durability in TOTK. Exploring is so awarding

The combat is still lackluster. If TOTK had the depth of Elden Ring combat alongside its weapon durability it would be awesome

 

[Marvel14]

Which is better than nothing and it least the game provides a story reason for things breaking this time. The real appeal of fuse is that combat isn't just a handful weapons that mostly work roughly the same so there's some strategy and creativity at hand now. Or at least there would be if flurry rush wasn't so powerful and the system wasn't so clunky.

Sad thing is I mustly just stick rocks on everything since hammers and bombs are so rare now.

How ballsy were Nintendo though with this design choice? Instead of " let's make some weapons durable to appease the critics or add crafting to repair them " its "let's double down and make all weapons brittle- and encourage everyone to fuse, but theyll still break"

 

[mxbison]

I liked BotW but so far (only 5-6 hours in) it feels like TotK does a better job at combining all the game mechanics.

 

[JCK75]

Because you could not make fire breathing cocks in BOTW.

 

[BlackTron]

Because you could not make fire breathing cocks in BOTW.

Now find Zelda

 

[Marvel14]

It's more true to Zelda than BOTW...Dungeons are Dungeons again with proper bosses. And there is a lot more story...

Anyone who thought BOTW'S freedom, cookiecutter dungeons, non- linearity and sparse story went too far will be significantly appeased.

Suspect some of those design choices were due to Wii U's hardware limitations...

 

[kunonabi]

It's more true to Zelda than BOTW...Dungeons are Dungeons again with proper bosses. And there is a lot more story...

Anyone who thought BOTW'S freedom, cookiecutter dungeons, non- linearity and sparse story went too far will be significantly appeased.

Suspect some of those design choices were due to Wii U's hardware limitations...

Probably more so that they gutted the game at the last minute to make it playable on on the Switch. They said as much in an interview and the story in particular had to be reworked heavily.

 

[sigmaZ]

Because you could not make fire breathing cocks in BOTW.

Clearly they got the wrong man for the job lol

 

[BlackTron]

Probably more so that they gutted the game at the last minute to make it playable on on the Switch. They said as much in an interview and the story in particular had to be reworked heavily.

Seriously, and it was so painfully obvious that the U gamepad was supposed to be your Sheikah Slate and they had to remove it completely so the same game would be on Switch. Poor Aonuma already had to do this with Twilight Princess, like hamsters spinning a wheel.

 

[Needlecrash]

I didn't like BOTW. It felt like a SLOG to play it. The shrines were too long, I wasn't a fan of Stasis and the Weapon durability was so annoying. Yet, I really enjoy TOTK. I am LOVING the Fuse ability, which counters the weapon durability issue. I love that you can use Ultrahand to move shit and and attach it other things too. I feel there is a LOT more creativity this time around. There are more ways to get around, different areas to explore on the ground and in the air, different ways to solve puzzles and it just feels refreshing and no stress to play; especially after playing a LOT of Elden Ring.

That's me though.

 

[Mossybrew]

I think it's been pretty well covered how TOTK is definitely better, I was not a huge fan of BOTW and I appreciate all the ways they have improved the game,.

Still looks like ass though. Oh well nothing in life is perfect.

 

[Dr_Ifto]

I liked/disliked BOTW, but I am just meh on TOTK. I really wanted to like it, but its just more the same. New mechanics in the same world.

 

[German Hops]

Monolith stepped their game up, that's why.

 

[GymWolf]

I just found a

Spoiler

secret headpiece with horns that turns red when you are in a hot zone and make your melee attacks fire-y

, this alone is already more cool than most armour pieces in zelda (if not all)

And the ghost companions are super useful both as squad members and for their abilities, and while i was in a sky island i found that you can upgrade the companions with some blue globes that are probably super rare.

It makes a world of difference knowing that you can actually unlock cool, useful stuff with super short recharge time that stays with you and pieces of armours with more cool effects than what you get from food.

Now i have a reason to be excited when i do the dungeons and when i explore, this was completely absent in botw, loot was boring and the skills from the dungeons were a joke compared to what you get in tokt.

We are still far from being as rewarding as something like elden ring, but this is already much better than botw.

 

[DarkTom]

I didn't like BOTW. Weapon durability killed it for me. I seen you can fuse and unfuse or w/e the call it to make weapons last longer. Still no interest in this game. I can already feel the weak console and low fps without playing the game.

Low fps criticism is funny from a Perfect Dark fan.

I say that as a Perfect Dark fan.

 

[gamer82]

I think it might be because TotK addresses some of the weaknesses of BotW. It sounds like TotK addresses some of my issues with BotW. I won’t know til I play TotK later this year. It’s got big shoes to fill since Elden Ring gave me the kind of open world I didn’t get from BotW.

i only started playing it 2 days ago and loving it i never finshed botw so i may go back when i finish this one. but i thought if you fused an item and unfused it the game stated it breaks the weapons ?

 

[Robb]

but i thought if you fused an item and unfused it the game stated it breaks the weapons ?

Unfusing will not destroy the entire weapon but will destroy the fused part. So if you’ve fused an apple to a sword, the apple will get destroyed when you unfuse, but you’ll keep the sword.

 

[DeviousAngel]

I understand the question. I certainly was one of those that did not appreciate BotW as much as I think I should've for its amazing innovations. I suspect people on my boat got into Zelda pretty much at the same time I did, back with LttP and OoT. At that point the series had cemented the formula which would prevail for many years to come up to BotW, based on linear progression and item-oriented dungeon traversal, with heavy emphasis on story. Then BotW came and flipped it all upside down, and I think what caught me off-guard the most was ironically the fact that I had no real goal save for the one exception, make it to the castle, and not even that was urgent. I was just there... playing in an empty, quiet sandbox of a world, with no real threat to worry about.

And now I do like TotK better than BotW. I am appreciating TotK more than BotW I think for multiple reasons: for one, the new formula established by BotW is now... well not new anymore. I've gotten used to it and that makes TotK easier to swallow. However they did change some things to make it more palatable for me. I had issues with the emptiness of hyrule and thats much better now. There are more people and the characters are all more interesting and fleshed out. The main quest is far more tangible because you're involved from the very beginning and because it impacts the world presently; there is most definitely a threat in this world. The shrines are there but they do feel a bit more involved and the dungeons... well they can still be improved a lot but at least the bosses are amazing. Then there's the fact that this game tries to connect the very distantly removed world of BotW with the era of legend, so that makes interesting to me from a lore perspective.

And last, well the game is far more fun than BotW. It has all the stuff that made BotW special but brings so much more to the table. Regardless of your opinion on the new formula you're bound to find something you like.

 

[daveonezero]

I loved everything about BOTW


I hate TOTK, like i really really hate it

Why? You could play it just like BoTW and still have a good time.

I'm barely using the vehicles. I'm sitting here still using a horse, trying to get max stamina.

I did see a dragon far off in the distance though and tried to chase it down. After a long run across death mountain I Used a rocket to launch myself up to a high point. Hastily tried to get a wing off the ground unsuccessfully. After all that I quick traveled to a tower and glided to the dragon and harvested the horn. It was still a fun chase sequence.

Those are the moments I loved in BoTW and this is just more of the same but varied to exponential levels.

 

[gamer82]

Unfusing will not destroy the entire weapon but will destroy the fused part. So if you’ve fused an apple to a sword, the apple will get destroyed when you unfuse, but you’ll keep the sword.

thats good to know, a question with cooking stuff is it just pot luck what you get. also what do you do with the animal parts and ember and the opals and stuff you collect ?

 

[rubenburgt]

At first did I thought it was a copy of Botw, but i truly isn't it.

The ability to craft and having basically 3 levels of maps are pretty big changes.

Sure, a lot of assets are being reused, but the same thing happened with Majora's mask, and i consider this the Majora's mask of Botw.

 

[K2D]

I can only speak for myself.. I like the added verticality and getting to experiencing everything again for the first time.

The combat difficulty is more like Master Mode in BotW, which I appreciate.

I really like that I find ways to side stepping puzzles and traversal that I don't like.

Example: The fire temple is filled with railways and I dispice using them so I love that I can glide and climb my way around the place instead.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

not sure if this is sarcasm. If it isnt and you really have played loads of TOTK then Im not sure what to tell you.

The numbers of systems, activities, ways of playing, story beats, locations, enemies, personalities etc leaves BOTW in the dust. Just because it too has shrines, towers and memories does not make the rest of it "more BOTW ".

Weird statement... it obviously is an amplified BOTW.

Or to put it differently, it's the game you make in a world where BOTW already completely redefined all the rules for open world. And yes, it did--easily the most significant game of the past decade or more. The weird thing is that there are still people who try to deny this.

Without BOTW, it's hard to imagine TOTK. It's the next step in that evolution.

 

[KuraiShidosha]

I can't even bring myself to continue playing Tears when I at least soft 100% Breath. I find the change to these stupid Garry's mod mechanics to be a major downgrade in the refined gameplay mechanics I expect from a Zelda game, far worse than they ever were in Breath. It just feels so generic and boring that I can't be bothered to even load it up anymore. This is not Zelda.

 

[daveonezero]

I can't even bring myself to continue playing Tears when I at least soft 100% Breath. I find the change to these stupid Garry's mod mechanics to be a major downgrade in the refined gameplay mechanics I expect from a Zelda game, far worse than they ever were in Breath. It just feels so generic and boring that I can't be bothered to even load it up anymore. This is not Zelda.

All that stuff is completely optional and just fusing to shields and weapons changes the gameplay a lot.

And on top of that it is more things to do in BoTW. Sky and Depths add so many things to do.

 

[ungalo]

Why? You could play it just like BoTW and still have a good time.

I'm barely using the vehicles. I'm sitting here still using a horse, trying to get max stamina.

I did see a dragon far off in the distance though and tried to chase it down. After a long run across death mountain I Used a rocket to launch myself up to a high point. Hastily tried to get a wing off the ground unsuccessfully. After all that I quick traveled to a tower and glided to the dragon and harvested the horn. It was still a fun chase sequence.

Those are the moments I loved in BoTW and this is just more of the same but varied to exponential levels.

Once you understand you just have to attach one steering stick and two fans it's not really varied.

The game is never exploiting the new mechanics in an interesting way. So as you said it's more of BoTW with more useless options. Especially the original map, obviously it's BoTW map, it's not really adapted to vehicles.

Even if i wanted to build something sophisticated, even with a lot of battery it's going to break at one point. Except if you want to build just for the fun of it, why bother ?

You get incredible powers but the game is missing. Shrines are pathetic, short and stupidly easy for the most part. Same for dungeons. Underworld, copy pasted sky islands, caves with loot, quests, everything has the same problem, powers are under-exploited, it never goes further than what you do in the tutorial islands in the first hours, which is crazy when you think about it, except for a few exceptions when you really have to carry an object on a long distance.

I wouldn't mind if the content was really interesting in itself, but on that front it's really not great, a lot of recycling and boring stuff (the game would be called bloated if it wasn't Zelda).

It still retains what made BoTW exceptional but i can't say it does a lot better.

 

[Fake]

Thats a quite simple math.

Look at the state Tears of the Kingdom release plus the plataform in comparison with games that getting release aroung TOTK launch into abysmal state, full of bugs and perfomance problems taking into consideration that are PS5/Series X and even PC with better configuration.


I hate BOTW because I don't like the route Zelda got into open world, but has nothing to do with the game being bad or not, just a matter of taste, but what I do appreciate about TOTK is the level of quality and polish the game release even using a old hardware specification, the amount of dedication Nintendo did around the game and if you saw Digital Foundry video, they played a PREVIEW version with run poorly in comparison with a better version on the release date.

I mean, Digital Foundry almost lost faith into 'DAY ONE PATCHES' because most of them don't solve shit, devs are very greedy and transform the game into a GAAS for patches and patches without or with minor fixes.

Short story, seeing how bad shape games are getting release on PS5/Series X make you appreciate even more the state of TOTK got, both in perfomance, bug free and content in comparison with others trash games that got loads of issues and still ask later for more content money even asking gamers $70.

It's a compassion that no other company has shown or at least explain 'why' broken games are getting out with a damn $70 tag.

 

[Marvel14]

Weird statement... it obviously is an amplified BOTW.

Or to put it differently, it's the game you make in a world where BOTW already completely redefined all the rules for open world. And yes, it did--easily the most significant game of the past decade or more. The weird thing is that there are still people who try to deny this.

Without BOTW, it's hard to imagine TOTK. It's the next step in that evolution.

"It's all more BOTW" is a weird statement I agree.

The building mechanics are completely absent from BOTW, as are the Temples (and the challenge of getting to them), as is the new approach to managing weapons and using resources with fuse as are the caves and the new enemy types and the three different areas...and I'm not going to mention all of the changes.

No one is denying that TOTK builds on BOTW as its core foundation. But to say its just "more of it" is pretty bizarre. There are many things that make it different. Yes it is an evolution...but that is precisely why its not just "more BOTW" .

That would be more Divine Beasts, new map areas where you do the same things, the same style shrines using the same mechanics but with updated puzzles etc..

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

"It's all more BOTW" is a weird statement I agree.

The building mechanics are completely absent from BOTW, as are the Temples (and the challenge of getting to them), as is the new approach to managing weapons and using resources with fuse as are the caves and the new enemy types and the three different areas...and I'm not going to mention all of the changes.

No one is denying that TOTK builds on BOTW as its core foundation. But to say its just "more of it" is pretty bizarre. There are many things that make it different. Yes it is an evolution...but that is precisely why its not just "more BOTW" .

That would be more Divine Beasts, new map areas where you do the same things, the same style shrines using the same mechanics but with updated puzzles etc..

"More" as in a direct evolution that is distinctly like BOTW, yes.

When you say things like "The building mechanics are completely absent from BOTW"... okay, but you use that power to solve physics puzzles in a way directly evolved from the setup with your special powers in BOTW. Using fuse + rewind time on some puzzle is directly in line with the previous game's shrines where you use stasis + magnet, or some other combination.

It's clearly an amplified sequel that doubles down on every innovation of BOTW and goes forward in that same direction. So it's very reasonable to raise an eyebrow when detractors of the previous game act if is this one is a new category rather than a brilliant continuation of the last game's strategic bets.

 

[Pharaoh 117]

TotK has more interesting abilities and story and overal more varied content. It still some of the same flaws of BotW, specially the combat that still sucks ass.