The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

[Ike]

2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Majora's Mask was made basically from scratch

“From scratch” meaning reusing OoT’s engine and assets? MM is also way smaller scope than TotK.

[MindFreak]

1 hour ago, killthenet said:

but the presentation didn't really appeal to me - the physics stuff wasn't what I loved most about BOTW, it was the exploration and the atmosphere

Yeah, this is true for me as well... 

[Dcubed]

51 minutes ago, Ike said:

“From scratch” meaning reusing OoT’s engine and assets? MM is also way smaller scope than TotK.

TOTK does exactly the same thing as what MM did; and OoT/MM were the biggest scoped games that Nintendo had ever made up until that point.  It's the perfect point of comparison.

When I say "from scratch", I mean that the entire game was made from start to finish inside the span of a single 12 month period.

[Ike]

33 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

TOTK does exactly the same thing as what MM did; and OoT/MM were the biggest scoped games that Nintendo had ever made up until that point.  It's the perfect point of comparison.

When I say "from scratch", I mean that the entire game was made from start to finish inside the span of a single 12 month period.

OoT, sure. MM I don't agree. But I mean the scope is now much bigger since MM. OoT and MM weren't open world games, and there's probably been tweaks to the engine/physics since BoTW.

I'm nitpicking your choice of phrase really, they didn't start from scratch, they already had a base.

[BowserBasher]

I've not watched it and honestly I don't feel I want to. I was going to get the game anyway, and the fact that Nintendo have decided to show so little of the game till now has just made me want to wait till I play it to find out what's in there. So few times now you get to experience a game going in blind, but I feel this is the best we have had for a long time. 

[Sheikah]

Majora's Mask was made basically from scratch within a single year.

Isn't this the same Majora's Mask that was made under such intense crunch that the developers inserted messages saying as much?

[Julius]

4 hours ago, killthenet said:

but the presentation didn't really appeal to me - the physics stuff wasn't what I loved most about BOTW, it was the exploration and the atmosphere. 

Yeah, totally get that, because the exploration and atmosphere in BotW were the highest points of the game for me too. 

It's such a difficult line to draw on what should and shouldn't be shown in marketing a game like this - a sequel to a game reusing it's open world to some degree - but personally I'd rather they show too little when it comes to exploration rather than too much. 

For me, this showing has started to put to rest two of my greatest fears coming into TotK from BotW, and that's whether or not Nintendo would actually do something about weapon durability (they have, in a wacky and wonderful way that only they could) and just how well this game would run assuming seamless transition from the sky islands to the ground and vice versa (which I think is a test it passes with flying colours). 

4 hours ago, killthenet said:

Still lots of questions, no definitive answer either way on proper dungeons or how active a role Zelda has in the narrative (fingers crossed she's playable in some respect), among other mysteries so I don't think I'll be going completely media blackout just yet, but I'll be very cautious when it comes to reading previews. 

I'll honestly be shocked if we don't have another video similar to this by the start of the last week of April, and I'll similarly be shocked if dungeons are in the game and aren't at the very least verbally confirmed by the time the game releases. I mean, the inclusion of dungeons and puzzles is pretty much exactly the sort of thing that you talk about on the back of the box! 

The fact that they didn't focus on the spiral-emitting rock things when we saw one on our way up to the falling debris that Aonuma used Recall on, and which many assume are going to be this game's alternative to the Shrines in BotW, I think is a good sign that dungeons are in; those feel like things you talk about bundled together. And surely we'll see or hear about them before reviews are up, which would absolutely talk about them whether included or not, right? I guess we'll just need to wait and see! 

I do think this (showing off the new mechanics) was the logical place to start with ramping up the marketing campaign, because they're probably going to be present in everything else shown from this point on, and so won't need to be explained in detail every time now that they've been shown off. And I'd much rather have 10 minutes focusing on this, then another 10 minutes focusing on shrines/dungeons, etc., and a further 10 minutes on generally exploring the world rather than them dumping one 30 minute long video, especially seeing as the reason they seem to be doing this is to hold things back. 

Think I'm otherwise at the same point at you - don't feel a need necessarily to watch everything shown, but I do want to see more to have other questions answered. As for Zelda, if she's playable, I do hope that's something they keep on the down low and don't really market the game with. Think it'll be a much more popular example of getting to play as another character that wasn't revealed before the fact, that's for sure...

Lastly: anyone else getting the feeling we're going to get our Great Plateau equivalent on one of these sky islands to start out? The way the ones demo'd today were crafted definitely gave me tutorial level vibes. 

Oh, and a second lastly, actually: can we just acknowledge the genius of the game's originality in its mechanics and how that is going to spread like wildfire and make it such an obvious viral hit online? Nintendo have done such a great job this generation of making shareable moments that are built into their game's mechanics and experiences, which is an incredibly potent marketing tool that we don't get to see many others put to good use (because, well, no-one seems to put out as consistently deep games mechanically as Nintendo). 

Yeah I'm a little hyped  just six and a half weeks to go! 

[colormonkey]

So, what kind of scores from the critics are you hoping for? None of the major Zelda games get less than 90/100. Can you see that happening for this one? Most buyers probably expect more of the same as BOTW and will be happy to get that, and I am sure I will enjoy it anyway.

[killthenet]

22 minutes ago, colormonkey said:

So, what kind of scores from the critics are you hoping for? None of the major Zelda games get less than 90/100. Can you see that happening for this one? Most buyers probably expect more of the same as BOTW and will be happy to get that, and I am sure I will enjoy it anyway.

I don't think it'll match BOTW's average of 97 but it'll surely get close, would be shocked if it isn't in the mid 90's - even if there'll inevitably some reactionary 'low' scores

[Ronnie]

3 hours ago, Julius said:

and that's whether or not Nintendo would actually do something about weapon durability (they have, in a wacky and wonderful way that only they could)

I was going to say something similar. I love their clever/crazy way they handled the weapon durability thing. For me, it's a system that's central to the game design, so I'm relieved it's still in, but the way they've expanded on it is genius.

3 hours ago, Julius said:

The fact that they didn't focus on the spiral-emitting rock things when we saw one on our way up to the falling debris that Aonuma used Recall on, and which many assume are going to be this game's alternative to the Shrines in BotW, I think is a good sign that dungeons are in

I always felt like the 80 or so puzzle shrines from BOTW were the equivalent of four or so traditional dungeons, just broken up into pieces to fill the openworld with, so be interesting if they can have traditional dungeons AND a similar number of shrine type things as BOTW.

3 hours ago, Julius said:

Oh, and a second lastly, actually: can we just acknowledge the genius of the game's originality in its mechanics and how that is going to spread like wildfire and make it such an obvious viral hit online? Nintendo have done such a great job this generation of making shareable moments that are built into their game's mechanics and experiences, which is an incredibly potent marketing tool that we don't get to see many others put to good use (because, well, no-one seems to put out as consistently deep games mechanically as Nintendo). 

Absolutely. The new mechanics shown off are ideal for years of social media posts of people discovering things or sharing funny moments.

3 hours ago, colormonkey said:

So, what kind of scores from the critics are you hoping for?

No way it beats BOTW, I'll say about 94 on MC. But like @killthenet says, there'll be a few outlier clickbaity scores "glorified DLC" etc that'll drag the average down.

[Ashley]

6 hours ago, Sheikah said:

Isn't this the same Majora's Mask that was made under such intense crunch that the developers inserted messages saying as much?

Yeah MM was made under an intense - and bad - schedule. They achieved it, but hopefully they learnt something. And hopefully Tears taking longer than some might expect is a sign they've learnt something. 

[S.C.G]

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom new gameplay trailer

Now up on the main page.

[Sheikah]

Yeah MM was made under an intense - and bad - schedule. They achieved it, but hopefully they learnt something. And hopefully Tears taking longer than some might expect is a sign they've learnt something. 

Exactly - it seemed strange to me that people were using MM as an example as to why the sequel should be developed much quicker. MM was developed on a horrible crunch timeline.

I think we're also missing the obvious here as to why there is so long between titles now. Because they don't need to rush games out any sooner.

Back in the 90s it was more the done thing to rush sequels out. Not just MM after OOT, but look at RPGs like Final Fantasy too. Between 1997 and 2001 they released Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX. Which is kind of mad - nowadays they would probably release just one main Final Fantasy title in that period of time. I've no idea why they did this back then, but they did.

Now though? I reckon BOTW continued to sell very well over the last 6 years, so why rush another one out? Add on top of that COVID and 6 years doesn't seem so crazy.

[Ronnie]

The last BOTW DLC released in Dec 2017 too, so take another 6 months off the development time, as well as Covid.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Ronnie

[bob]

It's such a strange complaint anyway. So what if they took the whole 6 years making this game? What are you accusing the developers of? Do you think they secretly made another game in that time but just aren't going to release it? Maybe they all sat around drinking tea for 5 years, then cranked out some BOTW DLC for the last year and then charged £70 for it. 

[darksnowman]

Gave it a watch. Yep, that looks like the sequel to BotW. 

Hopefully, the ascend ability has ALOT of use cases to cut down on time spent climbing. Potentially quicker to do that, then slide down hillsides to points of interest. Fingers crossed.

Trying to keep an open mind on the fusing (and game in general) but I fear it'll just add busy work.  At least it's quicker than collecting things and going off to craft them.

Best thing I can think of is perhaps the sky islands can be approached as their own self-contained things.

Not feeling any anticipation for this at all.  

13 hours ago, Julius said:

13 hours ago, Julius said:

I mean, the inclusion of dungeons and puzzles is pretty much exactly the sort of thing that you talk about on the back of the box! 

Oh they're in all right. You just have to gum them together yourself. Use the rewind ability to undo.

13 hours ago, colormonkey said:

So, what kind of scores from the critics are you hoping for? None of the major Zelda games get less than 90/100. Can you see that happening for this one? Most buyers probably expect more of the same as BOTW and will be happy to get that, and I am sure I will enjoy it anyway.

I reckon reviewers will love it. Can see it equalling or surpassing BotWs scores. Chances of it scoring significantly lower are extremely slim, imo.

35 minutes ago, bob said:

Maybe they all sat around drinking tea for 5 years, then cranked out some BOTW DLC for the last year and then charged £70 for it. 

@Ronnie pre-emptively rubbished that in the post directly above yours.  

[EEVILMURRAY]

I always thought Banjo Kazooie Nuts n Bolts didn't get the love it deserved. Now it will get so much appreciation because Nintendo did it. Can I get an amen?

 

20 hours ago, Julius said:

• Ascend looks awesome too, being able to freely phase through mountain ceilings is going to be great for when it's raining and climbing isn't as manageable! 
• wow, getting knocked off the sky islands is really harsh if you just fall back down to the ground level! I wonder if there'll be an item or outfit that might help you get back up? 

They best start having a fuckton more caves that you can warp through the roof of. I'd rather they didn't have this and just toned down the rain. The climbing was part of the adventure. Removing an entire aspect seems unusual, I'd rather they made you be able to run like The Flash over the boring fields so we can skip the boring horse gathering/stable mechanics, I know they did that recallable anywhere horse in a DLC, but I wasn't paying it just for that.

Maybe they'll give you an upgrade which you can rewind on yourself, removing all aspect of conequence? Or maybe the piece that he flew up on can be rewound again to go back to the same place, even if enough time has passed from the "rewind meter" that may have been there in that video.

14 hours ago, Julius said:

Lastly: anyone else getting the feeling we're going to get our Great Plateau equivalent on one of these sky islands to start out? The way the ones demo'd today were crafted definitely gave me tutorial level vibes. 

I'd want to see the Metroid-esque ability suck that has you full powered and then you lose everything first, to explain where my damn paraglider went, and all my hearts, oh no, the Master Sword is sleepy again, best pop it back in its pedestal for a nap whilst I fap about with branches. 

I am happy about the merge mechanic, because bollocks to the previous weapon setup.

3 hours ago, Sheikah said:

Exactly - it seemed strange to me that people were using MM as an example as to why the sequel should be developed much quicker. MM was developed on a horrible crunch timeline.

But it was done. I think that's the main point people are making.

 

Graphically I'm not surprised there appears to be little advancement. I didn't expect it at all. What I want to hear about are dungeons, because fuck shrines again. In the last Calamity thingy before the previous one instead of rotating animals they made 8 nice themed dungeons, but they flew into the sky for some reason. I'll take that.

And what are the major changes in the landscape, because I'm not travelling across the same Hyrule for a third time (I put extra effort into the second playthrough and all it did waste my time for little payoff). It looks like exploration will be easier now, as instead of the traditional climb to high point and glide, you can either warp through the roof of a cave, or jump from a platform in the sky and just glide to whatever the equivalent of Sheikah towers are for that sweet quick warp action.

If Link is going to have this shaggy hair a lá Ganondorf from Hyrule Warriors, I wanna see some beard action too.

Edited March 29, 2023 by EEVILMURRAY

[darksnowman]

1 hour ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

I'd rather they made you be able to run like The Flash over the boring fields

That'll be provided through bunny hood amiibo.

[Ronnie]

Saw this on ResetEra, looks like you can use the Ultrahand ability on sky island pieces too, they're highlighted in the background

Also from Japanese Nintendo Twitter

Edited March 29, 2023 by Ronnie

[EEVILMURRAY]

"Magnesis was good, let's do it on everything"

 

Bet you can't do it on enemies and just raise them into the air before dropping them to their deaths. 6 years wasted.

[Julius]

The themed Tears of the Kingdom Switch OLED is now available to register interest for:

For anyone interested  think the dock is probably my favourite part of the whole look! 

[EEVILMURRAY]

That is one tasty looking dock. But mine faces sideways, so no one would be able to see it.

[Ike]

Shopto already have the console up for preorder

https://www.shopto.net/en/swhw87-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-oled-console-p1178200

[Kav]

 

[Julius]

I have a question to put out there: do we think the XYZ coordinates on the mini-map seen in the demo are here to stay? 

I ask because a lot of the breakdown videos I've seen are treating it as fact that it'll make it into the game, and while it would be nice and make things like guides and walkthroughs easier when seeking certain items/locations, I honestly thought watching the demo that it was just something they'd left in from the test build. 

On the one hand, Aonuma did say that development of the game is now complete...but on the other, he didn't actually say we were seeing the completed product (even if it did feel implied).

The other thing that has me on the fence about it being included is the fact that, well, it looks terrible and tacked on (kind of like a dev option), as it can't be read clearly at all at certain points of the demo (light text on the light background representing the sky islands in particular). If it were to be included in the full release, I'd have to imagine there'd be a dark ring around the mini-map (or something along those lines) to house those coordinates instead? 

So yeah, curious to know what others think 

28 minutes ago, Kav said:

 

Hey @drahkon I'm sure you'll appreciate this