totk
the new abilities are fantastic but i remain skeptical that they'll keep me fully engaged if this game expects me to do the complete botw grind *again*
totk
oh my god they really are expecting me to do the complete botw grind AGAIN. i was really hoping if nothing else they'd integrate shrines with the main quests (which do appear to be much more prominent and dungeony than in botw!), but right now it looks like it's all back unaltered. korok seeds, shrines, great fairies, plus one or two new collectible macguffins to add to the pile
there's a ton of great quality of life improvements though & a lot of the rest of the stuff is very compelling
totk
it's so wild how, on the one hand, every addition & alteration has me PUMPED. the world map's been altered by time in a lot of really cool ways, they've added sooooo much more variety to crafting/fusing/etc, areas so far feel much more deliberately *designed* in a way i missed in botw
but on the other hand, oh god, please, couldn't you have *at least* decreased the quantity of all the shit from the last game's grind. like why's it gotta be EXACTLY the same???
totk
it's like there's this awesome new zelda game that i really want to play but in order to not eat shit constantly i've got to replay all the worst parts of an older zelda game i already had mixed feelings on
i'm still holding out hope that the grind IS truncated & i just haven't seen how yet. there's already korok puzzles that give 2+ seeds, maybe there'll be some of that for not-spirit-orbs, like how they had triple-moons in mario odyssey. god i fucking hope so
totk
of all the things i expected to feel about my first few hours with this game, "it addresses most of my problems with botw without addressing most of my problems with botw" was definitely not on the list
totk
don't get me wrong, i AM enjoying it! the zelda fiend in me is eating this slop up. i have to hand it to fujibayashi, where botw was the redemption of skyward sword's mechanics, then totk is the redemption of its narrative and worldbuilding. there's still plenty of time for them to fumble the bag, but so far i'm intrigued
totk
in the water temple where sidon follows you around. first of all: my favorite dungeons in wind waker were the companion ones, so i'm pumped as hell that we're seemingly gonna do that for all the main dungeons this game; secondly though, they got around the issue of messy companion animations when clambering over terrain by not having him ascend/jump until he's out of the view of the player, then playing the various barks & foley to make it *sound* like he did all the jumps after he teleports
totk
really impressed by the dungeon so far. there's so *much* to explore in this game, it's fascinating-- instead of building a completely new world or expanding it out at the margins, they build complementary maps above and below the original, which gives them a million justifications to minutely tweak the layout of the original map in all sorts of ways. i am even enjoying the shrines, god help me. i don't know how to feel about this, still. botw started strong but flattened over time
totk
really do not like that the floating platforms rely on your battery pack for energy :/
totk
but then again, would it really be a true water temple if it didn't have at least one infuriatingly obtuse puzzle?
totk
STARFOX ASS BOSS DEATH EXPLOSION
totk
SUMMONS???????? jesus christ this really IS elden ring
totk
the mad bastards did it. they made a breath of the wild that *feels* like a zelda game
totk
one of my biggest gripes with botw was the limited item/armor buffs, especially once you started filling out your wardrobe and realized how few cool things like the climber's outfit there were. there's SO MANY now!! gamers i kind of feel my desire to do the grind a bit rejuvenated, because it's so damn satisfying this time around. still think it's mean of them to expect that from me, but credit where credit is due: they made a good video game
well i WAS going to be responsible and try to get some work done on godfeels, but then my best friend from middle school wanted to geek out about totk for an hour (we've done this for every zelda since wind waker) **AND THEN** my gf convinced me that my nascent botw/totk video essay idea is worth holding onto, so now i guess i'm hooking up my elgato capture card to capture some Choice Zelda Gameplay because now all i want to do is play more zelda
it's funny that "writing godfeels" is my definition of responsible when technically speaking "working on a video essay about tears of the kingdom" is the kind of thing i actually get paid to do
it's a funny ol life innit
totk
oh yeah dude, totally, adventuring in your underpants was so inspirational
totk
so pissed off that the returning botw grind functionally exists to dissuade you from doing it and instead utilize all the cool new systems they've got going on. it shouldn't work but it does. i am really mad at how good this video game is tbh
totk
i haven't encountered any boring superfluous sidequests, they all feel relatively substantial and worth doing in a quintessentially zelda way. this really shows what's possible when you don't throw your entire last game in the trash (although paradoxically, for all that totk couldn't exist without botw, it's now retroactively made that gave SO much harder to recommend)
totk
FARMING???
totk
okay the farming thing looks to be about as robust as building your own house, which is to say: not very
totk
not that this game needs More Stuff To Do but i was a little disappointed that you can't really customize the interiors of your home. similarly with the farming it's weird to hand some plants over to an old lady to do it for you
totk
i cannot believe how much of this game i genuinely want to play
totk
QUEEN GIBDO
LIGHTNING TEMPLE
yeah this is pretty cool
though if i can grouse a little... the threat of the gibdos is kinda tough to buy when they just totally crumble when you hit em with fire. i killed the first three i encountered before entering gerudo town without even thinking about it. their bones are INSANELY powerful for how easy they are to kill, idk i feel like i'm missing something
and this is clearly meant to be a later-game dungeon area too, shouldn't it be harder than this?
totk
@sarahzedig I have a rant in me about the world building and how this is one of my favorite games ever, period for it
Would love to talk about it
Riley!
totk
@sarahzedig i think it really is telling that despite all of my issues with botw seemingly not being addressed and even worse in some cases, I'm still probably going to get and play totk. my main feelings on botw are that there's a lot to adore about it in spite of the downsides of the open world format and i expect tears of the kingdom to be much the same.
totk
@sarahzedig at that point just use ultra hand and a pillar
totk
@sarahzedig that puzzle made me so mad until i remmebered a central botw mechanic i forgot about
totk
@sarahzedig when you bow and arrow in the air you get slowmow
totk
@sarahzedig BOYFRIEND STAND
totk
@sarahzedig VRISKA: W8, where's the f8rming?
totk
@pleonasticTautology hateno village. become a teacher
totk
@sarahzedig JUNE: oh!!!!!!!! gog. we have so many sidequests to do.
totk
@pleonasticTautology there are a lot of sidequests
totk
@sarahzedig it really does feel like they learned a lot between botw and now. I was so ready to hate this game and I just can't, I'm having fun
totk
the depths are INSANELY cool