The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (not the United one a different one)

Don't blame you as I was in two minds about watching it also but I did in the end, thankfully it wasn't as spoiler-y as I was expecting as it just showed off a handful of neat new gameplay mechanics.

Watched the gameplay showcase and of course been comparison videos between BotW.

What we see and don't see, looks good.

Er.  Ah.  Hm.

I... don't care about this?  Any of it?  Apart from attaching a pitchfork to another pitchfork and making a super-long pitchfork.  It seemed to be a trailer squarely aimed at the lads who spent ages building impossible vehicles in BotW, but as somebody who thinks game should provide me with entertainment rather than tell me to make my own, this was all a bit Art Sqool.  

I know that "I don't care" is a shoddy point of view for being negative about basically anything, but I'm far from alone in this, I know that much.  But of course, it's just one trailer.  We still don't know anything about what's actually gong to make up the structure of the game, and maybe that should be exciting me!  Maybe games have lulled me into an expectation that they'll reveal everything!  Maybe it's great that TotK isn't doing that!  Or maybe Nintendo doesn't think it's important, compared to sticking three logs and two fans together with magic glue!  I wouldn't put it past them.

It's just... it is awfully close to launch now, and we still haven't seen anything even resembling a shrine or dungeon. And the exact same dragon doesn't impress so much the second time.

Balla wrote:

......it is awfully close to launch now, and we still haven't seen anything even resembling a shrine or dungeon.

This is a good thing as you'll be able to discover that on your own, though knowing Nintendo and how PR for games works these days they'll have a blow out direct that spoils 95% of the game the week before.

Maybe I don't remember the build up to BotW all that well but wasn't that a similar time? Ultimately the important part of The Best Game Ever was all the little moments you discover along the way, the kind of moments that if you saw it beforehand you wouldn't experience the same way, the kind of moments that Nintendo deliver time and time again without giving them away before release.

There's loads to this we've not seen and I'm sure that's very much the intention, I have every faith in them to do all the right things to make this as enjoyable if not more enjoyable than BotW.

You two are probably right.  I will say that I think BotW didn't have to prove itself as much as TotK does: its big thing, and we knew this from quite early on in its lifecycle, was the absolutely massive new world it was introducing.  TotK doesn't have that.  Even if it remixes aspects of that world as they've said they will, how much will be familiar or identical?  A lot for me is riding on those 'sky islands' being almost an entirely different world, as well as the ascension to them not requiring to track down a meteor every sodding time...  But you two are probably right.  I have no doubt the game will be grand, although I find it hard to imagine it'll be a BotW-beater.

The_Jaster wrote:

Balla wrote:

......it is awfully close to launch now, and we still haven't seen anything even resembling a shrine or dungeon.

This is a good thing as you'll be able to discover that on your own, though knowing Nintendo and how PR for games works these days they'll have a blow out direct that spoils 95% of the game the week before.  

As I said about don't see, in the gameplay at the ranch the shrine is gone now and people tried to look at the map etc which they can't see them.

That I could see before launch of here's another gameplay video of a dungeon instead.

Anyone who's speculating about what's in / not in the game: with BoTW there was so much that hadn't be revealed before launch day; don't worry about analysing frames of demo videos to start working out your review scores early. You're allowed to be disappointed once you've played it, but calm the fuck down before-hand*.

Now I say this as I was worried about "falling off" Zelda - when I played it again on Master Mode, the more attritional combat took a lot of fun out of the game - it clearly wasn't designed around that difficulty level. I wasn't sure whether to watch that ToTK video due to spoilers etc., but I'm back to being proper hyped again now - there's clearly loads of other shit going on.




*EDIT: No Jimbob YOU calm the fuck down - people are allowed to be concerned if there was something they thought was missing from the first game, or that might be missing from the second game. But I would also say don't worry too much in either case, assume they want to make a good thing. And admittedly I feel neither extreme highs or lows about anything any more.

<--- Unless my boys Spinch aren't in it

I think I've worked out why that trailer has me concerned.  It isn't the focus on sandbox stuff or anything we haven't seen.  It's the music.  They use the exact same music.  And this is almost certainly too much of a stretch, but that reuse of music takes my mind straight from 'all-new game' to 'expansion pack'.  Majora's Mask is the big comparison point I've seen used, but the only example I can think of of a lifted melody from Ocarina (outside tunes you play on the ocarina itself) is the Song of Storms in Windmill Guy's house.  That's a world away from a main overworld theme, where Majora got a complete remix - to say nothing of the Clock Town music.  

Sorry for more negativity folks, I'm just relieved(?) that I pinpointed my major issue with the trailer.  I'm sure other aspects will be great, but that's what set my mind straight to 'oh this is going to reuse a bit too much stuff' without me even realising it!

To be fair I picked up on that when I first watched it and was a little disappointed, was just the horse riding and Stables music I believe but they are really good pieces at least.

You simply have to say ‘fair play’ to Eiji Aonuma and Nintendo here, for not being afraid to borrow so liberally from the unmatched open-world gameplay of the industry’s standard bearer: Immortals Fenyx Rising.

Balladeer wrote:

I think I've worked out why that trailer has me concerned.  It isn't the focus on sandbox stuff or anything we haven't seen.  It's the music.  They use the exact same music.  And this is almost certainly too much of a stretch, but that reuse of music takes my mind straight from 'all-new game' to 'expansion pack'.  Majora's Mask is the big comparison point I've seen used, but the only example I can think of of a lifted melody from Ocarina (outside tunes you play on the ocarina itself) is the Song of Storms in Windmill Guy's house.  That's a world away from a main overworld theme, where Majora got a complete remix - to say nothing of the Clock Town music.

In a sequel in the same engine / world. I'd expect the music to be the same for the stables. That ain't a criticism either way, I think I'd find it odd if it was different.
(that's not to say we're not in odd territory a Zelda game having a sequel that's like part 2 of something, especially years later, but that was always the plan)

Was it always the plan? Or its happening because BotW was such a critical and commercial hit?

I'm less bothered about the stable music and more about the overworld tune. There's something more off about the overworld music being the same than there is domestic settings, somehow. Maybe it's just me, I dunno.

Pretty excited, as even though you know my thoughts on BotW, still a new Zelda as in new & not a universe game isn't something we often get that it's an exciting thing. Only thing that comes close to FFXVI as it's been seven years since XV, even though been FF games in-between, much like by Hyrule Warriors etc for Zelda.

Managed to get my CE and amiibo pre-ordered as well, did cancel my OLED as not sure the cost difference of mine to the Zelda worth it, especially if a Switch 2 happens within the next 12 months or so. Do still need to find that Pro Controller.

Edit


Hype

Balladeer wrote:

Er.  Ah.  Hm.

I... don't care about this?  Any of it?  Apart from attaching a pitchfork to another pitchfork and making a super-long pitchfork.  It seemed to be a trailer squarely aimed at the lads who spent ages building impossible vehicles in BotW, but as somebody who thinks game should provide me with entertainment rather than tell me to make my own, this was all a bit Art Sqool.  

I know that "I don't care" is a shoddy point of view for being negative about basically anything, but I'm far from alone in this, I know that much.  But of course, it's just one trailer.  We still don't know anything about what's actually gong to make up the structure of the game, and maybe that should be exciting me!  Maybe games have lulled me into an expectation that they'll reveal everything!  Maybe it's great that TotK isn't doing that!  Or maybe Nintendo doesn't think it's important, compared to sticking three logs and two fans together with magic glue!  I wouldn't put it past them.

It's just... it is awfully close to launch now, and we still haven't seen anything even resembling a shrine or dungeon.  And the exact same dragon doesn't impress so much the second time.

GET IN THE BIN

What a trailer. Loved it. All of the things we were craving, that we weren't shown in the previous ones while they waffled on about things that will appeal to a minority but that don't make a great Zelda game (or great open-world adventure, or anything really), blasted into our eyeballs at a rate of knots. That fight with the dragon! The laser gliding sequence! Fighting alongside Urbosa! What looks a lot like an actual dungeon!

There's a large large chunk of me that knows I should've expected this already. I don't think I'm a complete imbecile: you expected Nintendo to lead with the big things for the new game in their trailers, and they led with reusing the same overworld map and music followed by a ten-minute manifesto on how they're turning Zelda into Minecraft. That suggests not a lot going on elsewhere, doesn't it? It's not just me? Turns out, there's a lot going on elsewhere.

I guess maybe I'm still trying to apply industry behaviour, or even the rules of reason, to Nintendo. I should probably know that doesn't work. Roll on May 12th, I'm massively hyped for this now.

Its crazy how they could make the best game ever and seemingly follow it up with the best game ever.

Less than a week to go lads!

I had to rewatch that trailer popping back into this thread. I thought the original BotW trailer was the greatest of all time when it came to videogame trailers - it might have been trumped. I was somewhat in the same frame of mind as Balla prior to that trailer, although perhaps not as negative on the game. Seeing how the new powers were going to work was interesting, but certainly didn't have me feeling hyped about jumping in to TotK. But yeah, that trailer just ramped me up to very very fucking excited. Roll on the 12th!

It's an absolute belter of a trailer sure enough, and I'm glad I wasn't alone in my scepticism before it!

I've been done with two games over the last week. Normally I'd be picking a couple more off my wishlist to play, but I really don't want to start anything before I start this (not to mention the two-three-punch follow-up of the XC3 DLC and Casettebeasts). That means it's going to be a week of not playing very much and the hype building... building... BUILDING...

The reviews dropping today actually surprised me a wee bit - I expected a small drop off from BotW but to see TotK scoring as highly as its predecessor... Tomorrow cannot come soon enough!

Same or thinking it be well it's just the same but then I should looked at how God of War and Ragnarök reviewed.

I was also surprised at those scores.  And, after playing through the first section of the game, I was even more surprised to be honest.  I have today and next week off to play this game, as mentioned above, and spent almost all of today playing it.  I now feel restless and headachy.  I don't know how the rest of you do your marathon gaming sessions, I really don't!

The big spicy take here is that at least to start with, I didn't like the Ultrahand ability much.  I think it has some fun uses, and you see those later on - but it's finicky and slow to begin with, and only a bit less finicky and slow going forward.  I would spend around three minutes making one of those gondola things, and then another two minutes trying to make it actually go forwards.  Combined with how the opening area, magnificent descents aside, is a lot more linear than the Great Plateau, and honestly it wasn't the best start.

Things have started to improve now I'm on the surface (so general structural spoilers here I guess).  I'm back to exploring a world that, despite its re-use, I don't actually remember much of.  You're starting from a different place on the map too, and they've made some pretty key changes to some parts at least, so the feeling of re-use of the world isn't there happily.  Slightly more worrying is the feeling of re-use of the structure: go to the four corners of the earth in any order to do four things, find the watchtowers to open up the map, another load of aesthetically identical (so far) shrines.  They could've shaken up some of this.

The best bit so far is, er, the big dark bit.  It's great.  I love the big dark bit.

I think maybe the game is actually going to reflect its trailers.  It starts off with some similar beats and throwing some mechanics at you that aren't actually all that, or don't initially seem all that; and only later will evolve into something truly amazing and distinct from its predecessor.  That's the hope.

(p.s. For all my moaning it's still 3D Zelda, it's still better than 95% minimum of other games.)

Hmmm interesting as I felt I had a good sense of freedom at the start with a little bit of exploring & tinkering with making some crazy contraptions, then when I hit the surface it was a bit more linear than I was expecting.

I'm really enjoying it so far though.

My experience so far feels a lot like The Minish Cap.

@Treesmurf a man of taste

I've also found the Ultrahand finicky and that it is slow to use.

Liked the opening area being linear and learning the mechanics, as it felt more Zelda to me.  I don't like that I can press up on the d-pad to see my items like an apple, but I can't just use the apple, I died super early on as I was trying to heal to find out that I need to go in the + menu to do use the item, it doesn't tell you nay of this. This seems daft, I can't imagine playing a Souls game and having to pause a fight to heal, I just press down on the d-pad.

VO for Zelda is still awful, but that's the actress they've gone with. The shrines so far have been all aesthetically the same, though I like the clean look of them, maybe I'll get bored with it by the 10th one.

Weapons breaking have been less annoying I seem to be finding more of them and I can attach a rock to stick to wack enemies with which is always fun. Still like the art-style, not really taken much notice of the music as yet to see how that goes.

Overall, I'm enjoying at the moment.