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

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

I think I’m at roughly the same stage as Balladeer, I’ve beaten the Goron and Rito temples in between completing shrines and getting extra hearts and more stamina. I only recently found out about the control sticks for your crafts, and they’re a proper game-changer right enough. The part of Tears of the Kingdom I disliked the most was having to slowly walk those tired Koroks over to their friends while hovering them overhead with the Ultrahand. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t think of attaching them to the back of a wooden Bentley Continental.

Join the hover bike club & just fly them over, also this beats the horse for general travel. (once you have enough zonai battery, natch)

Look: I've got two special horses, I'm not hoverbiking anywhere. Also I have nowhere near enough battery.

Actually, thinking back to Cappa's earlier point about item duplication, there's one item the game definitely feels too stingy with early days: Zonaite. Or rather, those things you make from Zonaite that go into battery power. I can't do much of use for any period of time with the battery I have, including the late-game thing I stumbled across. Maybe they didn't want you just gliding through the whole map from the off, but it feels like I can't use the fun things I want to use for long enough, which makes the crafting system feel a bit more perfunctory than I'd like even at this stage.

The_Jaster wrote:

Also speaking of fun we haven't spoken about that approach to Rito temple have we? Then that moment when the temple reveals itself is easily one of the most spectacular/memorable moments in gaming ever! Had a big smile on my face the entire time.

Controversial take: I prefer the Goron temple approach. The Rito approach is fun but I don't love it as much as most seem to.

Buskalilly wrote:

aaaaand Mas is muted for a little while

What, you didn't think he was going to go full contrarian after a bit? After his measured* quantity of considered* comments about BotW?

I knew he would but he seemed to be doing it in the didn't finish thread.

The approach for Gorons is certainly a bit more traditional dungeon like, so I can see why you might prefer the approach, but at the same time I think it's a pretty good example of why these dungeons are never going to stack up anywhere near the series best, it just doesn't work well with the mechanics.

I've been absent from the thread and the forum since the game came out because, uh, I was pretty much just playing TOTK.

What a bloody game, lads. Even a week or so removed from having finished it, I still keep thinking about some of the moments I experienced during my journey. The fact I was still being surprised by the game over a hundred hours into the adventure is an unreal accomplishment. Comparing it to other gargantuan games I've played, I'd often find myself fatigued as I got towards the end of the game - that's probably due to the fact I always try to do bloody everything - but even after getting all of the shrines, I still wanted more TOTK. An absolute 10/10 masterpiece in every sense of the word.

Regarding some more specific chat that's come up:

Rito quest - blew me away. The ascent, the dungeon itself, the boss, the MUSIC... I think it might just be my favourite part of the game from the main quest.

Goron quest - did not blow me away. I didn't really like the dungeon all that much, to be honest. I kinda agree with Andy in a way in that the freeform mechanics of the game didn't mesh with the dungeon itself and I found myself breaking puzzles and brute forcing my way into rooms. I think that works in the shrines and I revelled in finding unique ways to clear shrine puzzles, but it felt especially unsatisfying in the Goron temple. Also, Yunobo's voice acting got on my nerves.

The traditional dungeons in Wind Waker were my least favourite part of that game, and the traditional dungeons are also the main reason I stopped with Link’s Awakening remake about halfway in. They’re probably the main thing that’s stopped me from getting more into the Zelda series to be honest.

I really enjoyed all of Breath of the Wild’s temples though, and while I got a bit scunnered with the Goron City one in Tears of the Kingdom I’d say that’s more because it gave me horrific flashbacks of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest rather than because of any Zelda traditional-ness that I didn’t enjoy so much before.

Judging the general performance of dungeons in the series by Link's Awakening is deeply unfair on the dungeons.

Crumpy Andy wrote:

The approach for Gorons is certainly a bit more traditional dungeon like, so I can see why you might prefer the approach, but at the same time I think it's a pretty good example of why these dungeons are never going to stack up anywhere near the series best, it just doesn't work well with the mechanics.

I mean the bit before you go into the mountain crater. Genuinely one of the best set-pieces in the series.

I'm busy mucking around again. Mostly chasing after Misko's clues. Whoops.

I'm about to enter the Gerudo dungeon, and the quest in that region so far has been absolutely ace.

I'm playing with as little direction I possibly can, done the Rito dungeon over a week ago and haven't gone near any of the others since, done a few quests around the various stables, been underground and overground (wombling free), just enjoying every single aspect of it. It took me 3 months to beat the final boss of Breath of the Wild, I can see this taking even longer.

Meanwhile I'm methodically going through and clearing out every region as much as I can... or that's the plan at least. Never quite goes that way, does it?

By the way the rebuilding Lurelin Village sidequest is rubbish and I never want to see another palm tree log ever again.

Buskalilly wrote:

I'm about to enter the Gerudo dungeon, and the quest in that region so far has been absolutely ace.

Whilst I think the Rito dungeon is still my favourite of the four, the Gerudo quest was my favourite of the pre-dungeon bits.

I've done the Goron one and I liked it just fine? I guess it was probably the least enjoyable of the three but it worked out just fine for me, I don't see why people are ragging on it so hard.
After that, I've been hitting up a lot of stuff I'd kind of annoyed, upgrading myself, you know.

I've just done the Zora one. So far the Rito remains my favourite dungeon and the Goron remains my favourite pre-dungeon trek... but I actually think all three treks have been better than all three dungeons. While the Divine Beasts suffered from their similar aesthetics they did at least have their overall gimmicks. Meanwhile I think I'm coming around to the view that the TotK dungeons are just... not... good.

Still though, I liked the Zora area in general.

Zora temple boss spoilers:

I've taken a break from the main exploring to deal with the Yiga quest in the depths. I found the arena for the final battle much earlier than I should have done, but I had to look at a walkthrough to find how to get there. Could've been much more obvious.

In general I think this game is wearing me down a bit more than BotW did. I got all the shrines in BotW (needed a walkthrough to find the last 4): I can't see myself doing the equivalent in TotK. I'm still up for completing the labyrinths though, they sound fun.

Balla wrote:

I've just done the Zora one. So far the Rito remains my favourite dungeon and the Goron remains my favourite pre-dungeon trek... but I actually think all three treks have been better than all three dungeons. While the Divine Beasts suffered from their similar aesthetics they did at least have their overall gimmicks. Meanwhile I think I'm coming around to the view that the TotK dungeons are just... not... good.  

That's because the meat of BotW & TotK aren't about the dungeons/temples/divine beasts (IMO I find comparing the three a bit pointless) they are all about the little self made adventures you create for yourself. Though I am with you on the objectives of each temple maybe should've been a bit more unique from each other but despite that it hasn't stopped me from still enjoying them.

The_Jaster wrote:

That's because the meat of BotW & TotK aren't about the dungeons/temples/divine beasts (IMO I find comparing the three a bit pointless)...

I strongly disagree with this take.  They're all adventures in enclosed spaces that end the story quest in that area and are ended themselves with a boss.  It makes perfect sense to compare them.  Divine Beasts and temples are even more comparable due to the 'hit five switches' formula.  

Of the three temples so far I'd say I only really enjoyed the Rito one: perhaps because it was my first and I wasn't yet bored of the formula, perhaps because it had the most interesting aesthetic, perhaps because it wasn't as focussed on a movement gimmick that annoyed me more than it was fun.  Best boss at the end too (although they've all been good and much better than the 'blight Ganons).

Post-four temples spoilers:

The temples are probably the worst bit of what is still a great game for me, though, so I don't want to dwell on them too much.  I've just taken my first steps into the desert and I love the new enemy you find there!

Come to the darkside

The only 'dark side' I'm anywhere close to is thinking this might be a 9.5/10 rather than a 10.

Right so major part of the game sounds like you dislike but only going to knock off 0.5 the score.

""""Major part"""""

Mas, there are four dungeons and I spent an hour on each one. I've played for 75 hours already . . .

Anyway, I like them fine. I've always found dungeons to be the least interesting part of Zelda.

To me they are a major of Zelda and what makes Zelda, Zelda in my opinion.

And I get it's about the journey to them in TotK (even though the one you all seem to like sucked), it be nice what was at the end of journey was good and keeping with what's meant to be a 10/10 game.

Mas pretending he liked TOTK and then baiting everyone into admitting it's shit and doesn't deserve its flowers... a proper gamer

I have played about 50 hours of this, having beaten the Rito, Gerudo and Zora temples and done a fair bit of dicking around. I haven't read all of this thread, but what's the consensus on the depths? I think they are novel at the beginning, and they feel scary and dangerous... but then they just become a little tedious. I liked finding all the Skyview Towers on the main map, but trekking to all the Lightroots is less fun because it doesn't let you do the process of "see the thing and work out a way to get to it" as everything's shrouded in darkness. That said, when you do manage to stumble across a cool thing, like an old ruin with things in it, it's quite exciting.

I guess I more or less agree with you on the depths. They haven't become boring for me yet, but the fear factor is gone and the idea of fully mapping them out sounds like a chore.

I really never got that sense of wow there's a cool thing in the depths and I don't know if that's that I just never saw anything cool or was just uninterested in whatever it was I did find. I reckon if you cut the entire area out of the game you'd lose nothing. Even the most story focused parts of it felt a bit cumbersome. I'd love to see some examples of what folks liked about them, but even when I saw stuff on twitter that wasn't an area I saw highlighted.

masofdas wrote:

1. Breath of the Wild with a 97.  I'll keep quiet on this one

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

Bloody hell.  With context this is even more cursed than the take it's here for.  

Buskalilly wrote:

I think it's appropriate, Mas has passed through the mental cage he was putting himself in.

Hey Buska, remember this exchange?  What happens to Mas now that he's regressed?  Does he become human instrumentality goo?


I think how you feel about the Depths probably comes down to how you play them.  I appreciate that the samey aesthetic is probably going to kill the mood for some people, but I've been dipping in and out, never spending long enough for them to outstay their welcome.  And I've still run into some horrible moments even in the later game.

Dungeons are important but not really the focus of this game, and I think the shrines have improved over BotW.  Part of that's the aesthetic: even though it's still the same for all of them, the 'bathroom' colour scheme is less oppressive than BotW's blues and blacks, so it feels less like a bit too much.  Part of that's having the Ultrahand really come into its own in the dungeons, and not having a power as rubbish as Stasis.  In general I think the powers are better for contained puzzles in TotK.  And part of that's getting rid of all of the tests of strength, so I don't need to fight a million mini-Guardians.

I'm painfully aware that every comment I make here means one more thing I'm repeating myself about when I eventually do a Gintendo piece on this. Ho hum.

Different games BotW and TotK