Finally a positive video about this game! Not that i'd let other peoples opinions on something sway my own, but all the negative videos i've seen about TOTK have been making me question whether or not I had a shitty taste in games. I totally understand that it has its flaws and shortcomings, but sometimes I think in the pursuit of enjoying something to its fullest its ok to look past those things, especially when, bottom line, I came out satisfied. Also extra thanks for the lengthy video, great for drawing to!
People becoming more comfortable with expressing their opinions after a never ending barrage of postive totk videos and being told "they're wrong" is not a bad thing tho. It's such a good thing now that people are now comfortable being able to say "hey I dislike this game and what it did", but acting like there weren't so many positive videos and people weren't hostile to those who disliked it is a bit disingenuous. As for why you're seeing em more often now, it's because of the youtube algo. You watch one video, and more will start popping up. Skitty's video was a really a breakthrough for people being able to express their opinions, but it also leads to more people making videos with their problems with the game and then the youtube algo will spiral. Remember, these are THEIR opinions, not your opinions. If you like a game, you like. Don't question if you "have shitty taste in games", but don't dismiss them as just "negative totk" vids too. If anything it's good we can have a balance of positive and negative opinions on a piece of media like TOTK. Enjoy the game to the fullest, but reconize their opinions are also their own too and what may not break the game for you does break it for them.
@@ConductorElcrest oh yeah dont get me wrong I agree! My comment wasnt meant to be taken too seriously to be completely honest. I actually appreciate and watch those critique videos (which is exactly why I keep getting shown them haha) and no I don't think I have a shitty taste in games, lol that was more of a sarcastic comment than anything. I get how tone can get misconstrued over text. But regardless, I personally wasn't seeing positive videos, obviously doesn't mean there weren't any. It seems I'm not the only one either. I was just expressing that I was happy to finally see some positivity myself is all! I suppose its more of a reflection on myself that I have to understand everyones opinions on a game before I can enjoy it fully. At the end of the day, people can like what they like and not like what they don't. I think its great that theres a variety of opinions on something I like. And I think critique is necessary to get better games which ultimately benefits all of us!
@@lolablue8668 I think the biggest thing is it's normally a cycle where positive videos overwhelm the feed at first, making people who dislike certain aspects of a game/dislike a game very uncomfortable as they're not properly allowed to share their opinions. Then once hype dies down we get into the cycle of "now I can finally speak my mind" and then people start being able to speak their mind as well, and then it rolls around to more positive videos starting to come back again to defend a game. I wish there was a middle ground where even at a games launch we could have a healthy enviorment where people are allowed to express their opinions without fear of backlash, and then a year later express opinions without getting backlash. Er... Hope I worded that right lol I do agree with you! Critique is very necessary to get better games! I may have my fair share of complaints with TOTK (just using it an example cause well... It is the game the video talks about lol), but I have a lot of things I love about it too! As long as nintendo is able to hear both sides I can't wait to see what they fix and what they improve in the next big 3d Zelda! ... Bring back remote bombs please nintendo LOL
@@ConductorElcrest yess agree. Tbh I feel like alot of the people i see critiquing it are as passionate as the games diehard supporters, because its often coming from a place of loving this franchise and wanting to see it reach its full potential. And yeah the honeymoon phase is very real ESPECIALLY with zelda games. It really is like the same cycle every time a new one comes out which is funny lol. I just feel lucky to be here at a time theres such a cool game franchise and a huge thriving community around it as well.
There's no such thing as having shitty taste. You like what you like. I may not be a fan of this game but I can respect the fact that people do like this game a lot. Whether something is good or bad is up to each individual.
Personally it's more that Ascend is the least interesting ability of the bunch. Ultrahand, Fuse, Recall and even Auto-Build is more interesting to me than being able to go directly up short distances
I like TOTK and BOTW a lot, but when I was just starting out with TOTK and seeing all the new things or how the story has progressed in aspects big and small I kept getting the feeling like "ooooh they made this game for me". I love TOTK because I fell in love with the world and characters and Zelda as a franchise in BOTW. They are to me parts of a whole and I can't pit them against one another. People being so publically negative about the game I personally found so compelling has been greatly demoralizing and so seeing you talk about why you love this game (and yet voicing criticism that many players share, me included) makes me happy. TOTK is not flawless but it is still an absolute gem of a game. And even though for some people the game was "over" after they beat it on release, it still lives in my head rent free and I'm glad I'm not alone in this. Great video :)
Exactly my experience. It's tailored for a very specific audience. I'm not delusional and say the game does objectively fail in a lot of important ways, but damn did I personally have a great time with it. It's like Skyward Sword, has a lot of flaws but also has its audience it appeals to.
Why is it that every time someone makes a positive totk video, nearly all the comments just crap on the game despise the video. I've seen so much hate for this game that I've actually seen people get angry at the color of the grass. THE LITERAL GRASS!
What? People are seriously getting mad over the color of grass please tell me you’re joking especially when it’s because totk is better than botw even when that’s true cause let’s be honest totk makes botw look like a demo when compared to totk so it’s stupid to even try to compare the two when it’s obvious witch one is the better game between botw vs totk the sequel is the better one obviously botw is by no means a bad game far from it but compared to totk it feels empty and this is coming from someone who put stupid amount of hours into both games and fun with both games
@@mattsultimategamingandrevi8249 I agree, but a lot of people personally like botw more bc it was there first zelda game and they feel like they need to defend it against much better games, bc they don't want another game to be "better" than the game they're attached to.
@@elizabethweaver5478 Not being better than BotW is far from a failure for the game. It's pretty rare for sequels to surpass their predecessor, much more when that predecessor is one of the best and most highly acclaimed games of all time. I personally prefer TotK, but BotW has a novelty and appeal that never could've been replicated so I can totally see people prefering it.
The lightning ability does make sense when you consider how lighting functions during storms. Lightning is attracted to metal objects, so Riju can use the metal arrowhead as a focal point to aim the strike. I still agree that the ability could have been implemented better though
@GohTheGreat seems pretty safe to assume they are likely made from the same type of metal as other weapons in the game. The only other options would be stone, which would be silly if the Hylians have knowledge of metal working, or some unknown material that no other Hylian weapon uses
They have so many options to better implement the sage abilities: - Get rid of 'map' on the radial wheel, and put the abilities there, so it's 12 options instead of 8. - Have Riju as a 'fuse item' for arrows. - Have Yunobo select-able when quick-swapping weapons - Have Sidon select-able when quick-swapping shields Then have Mineru be the only one to behave like a horse when whistling, Yet through their 1 year of polishing the game (and now however long after release), they went with having to run up to followers and pressing the button you use to interact with basically everything in the game.
Thank you for making this video, I love seeing people talk about their thoughts of ToTK in depth. It truly does mean a lot more than you would think, at least for me. I can't believe it's already been more than a year since this game came out. I still can't find how to put into words what it makes me feel.
I've been playing the legend of zelda games since the first ever release. People complaining about the game being too open or people saying they miss the traditional formula makes no sense to me. Considering the original games were never intended to even be linear in the first place. The zelda games were always intended to be driven by player choice and freedom. The "Traditional" formula people are talking about didnt begin until ocarina of time. Which while yes it had a sort of hub world, it was mostly linear. Dungeons just had secrets and some extra paths but thats it. As the series continued, the games scope just got bigger and bigger which was the obvious evolution of the series. To me tears of the kingdom is the game ive always wanted. A grandiose adventure in a huge open world where i choose where i wanna go and what i wanna do. With a world that feels alive and lived in. With immersive intricate details. I feel like this game was made for people like me. Where i can spend 100s of hours maybe even thousands because its a game thats design to be played whatever way i desire. I spent 100s of hours in these games just having fun and immersing myself in these worlds. Especially tears of the Kingdom. Idk maybe im alone in this but ive never found a single thing i disliked about this game.
I played this game over 150+ hours, thoroughly enjoyed it. No reason to feel anything but gratitude and awe for the Nintendo team who made this amazing game. I can not wait to see what they cook up next.
honestly this game is probably my favorite ever, everything you said, but honestly to me? the world feels less empty, and as such, worthy of exploring every inch. also i love the depths i just fly around in there for hours lol. what a video, wow
I understand the common complaint of the Depths feeling too samey, but I don't know if it's just the amazing atmosphere or the alien look of the place, I occasionally head down there on my 100% file to fly around and just get blown away by the view. There's something so appealing about exploring and slowly conquering this pitch black monster hub spanning across the whole map.
In botw they say that 10000 years ago 4 champions used the divine beasts and that those beasts were named after warriors from the past. Those warriors are assumed to be the sages from Raurus time. They don't name them so you can make that distinction. That's why they wear masks that look like the beasts. They aren't modeled after the divine beasts but instead the divine beasts are modeled after the sages. The sages names ARE Rudania, Medoh, Ruta and Naboris.
@Raykushi another kinda cool theory. You know how you said link's sage ability was the yiga technique? So there's a bunch of random diary entries that say that links flurry rush and bullet time are actually canonical. It's not just a game mechanic, it's his actual champion or sage ability. Some of those logs say they witness link in combat and in the blink of an eye an enemy goes down almost as if time slows down. Thought that was kinda cool.
I don't think one could conclude that the ancient sages were those warriors. Yes, in BotW it was written that way with the beasts and the names. Then they could have used the names in the same way - which they didn't. The masks wouldn't be a clear indication for me. For me this has more of a chicken/egg paradox, as I don't think we know exactly when the Shika built the ancient technology in relation to TotK.
Not sure about them being named after the ancient Sages because I'm sure devine beast Vah Naboris, Vah Rudania and Vah Ruta ate explicitly named after Nabooru, Darunia and princess Ruto from OOT. However I'm sure that it's true that the devine beasts were modeled after the ancient Sages masks.
Im sure both breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom will stay with us fans for a long time, they both have their own amazing charm and theme. I remember being so happy that I was able to experience playing botw when it first got out thinking “I wish I could play this game for the first time forever”. TotK made me feel so excited and curious the entire time. Breath of the wild is so nostalgic and even cozy in my opinion, while tears of the kingdom is more complex and emotional with even more exploration. Thank you for your amazing review, I wholeheartedly agree with the topics and opinions you shared. I hope this video will get the views and appreciation you deserve!
People really need to stop with BOTW vs. TOTK debates. Even tho TOTK is the better game IMO you can't deny that Zelda team set out on a mission to explore AS much as they could within open-world Hyrule. These games are ONE story in the chapter of Open-World Hyrule and I wish people can appreciate that perspective more. The amount of creative freedom via Ultrahand and all the Zonai builds was not something I thought I'd fall in love with but it turned out to be a game changer!
And since totk barely connects to botw and ignores most of that game's story, I do not think that they are one continuous story. That's what I hoped for and not what we got
@@prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506also nigga why do i find u under EVERY vid regarding tears of the kingdom, positive or bad. like i get u dont like the game but damn bro u dont have to argue with EVERYBODY who actually likes tears of the kingdom. expression of opinion is fine, but when it gets to the point where you are actively seeking out/looking for these vids to bash on ppl who actually likes the game, i feel like thats past tge "expression of opinion" point. but oh well🤷🏽♂️ u do u man
@@prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506they are connected stories. In the TOTK concept book, a festival took place after the events of BOTW with link in his original outfit. The calamity is mentioned so many times.
This is a super fair review of the game and might be the one that aligns with my view of it the most that I've seen. It has some healthy criticisms sprinkled in while also not letting them take away from the monumental feats this game accomplished, and watching it really brought me back to my time experiencing the game and reminded me of the exact feelings it gave me and the reasons I hold it in such high regard. I especially appreciate you pointing out how much more goes on in the present than in BotW cause that's something I don't see talked about nearly enough. I love the theme of community that persists throughout the game and how fitting it is for a kingdom healing from an event as devastating as the Calamity. The NPCs take a much more active role in helping your quest and the rest of the kingdom, and engaging with them always lets you enjoy some of the fruits of your labor. Your assistance in Hateno Village's political debate leads to the creation of Cheese and Sun Pumpkins to use in meals, and your assistance with the school earns you a free garden to grow crops of your choice; your assistance in rebuilding Lurelin Village leads to its people offering you their hospitality in exchange with free meals, free stays at the inn and input on a new tourist attraction; most obvious of all, your assistance with the 4 regions against their phenomena earns you their Sage as an ally for the upcoming final battle. It excels at the type of storytelling only possible in a video game by making you experience first hand the kingdom's newfound growth. I do have some extra points I'd like to touch upon below: A neat observation I made regarding the new mechanics is that they can essentially be seen as a watered down power of the developers themselves. Ultrahand and Fuse allow you to create objects such as bridges, vehicles and weapons yourself and Ascend literally started out as a dev tool. Where most games have a path layed out for you to solve, this game allows you to build that path yourself. It's such a brilliant way to depict this game's design philosophy, and it makes sense within the lore on a meta-level since the Zonai are descendants of gods. The Water Temple does kinda have a lore reason for its existence, as it's stated by the Ancient Zora Sage that it's the source of the pure waters of the Lanayru region. This is further exemplified by the fact that the sludgefalls all land in one of the area's natural water sources. I can see how having the Waterworks as the Temple would've made for a cooler Water Temple aesthetic, but I think it was mostly done this way as sludge falling from the Sky feels much more apocalyptic than the alternative of a glorified pipe leak. As is, the area can be seen as a sort of fountain from heaven, and it's easy to see how the waters of such a place being polluted would have such devastating effects on the land below. It's a bit of a strange piece of lore for the region's waters to come from a floating structure, but I do quite enjoy what they do with it. I'm actually pretty disappointed that the sludge flowing through Wellspring Island doesn't transform into water upon defeating Mucktorok as I remember gushing during the climb about how gorgeous the place would look with water flowing through. It seems you didn't notice the weakness of the Gibdo nests. Their purple core lights up while they're in the process of spawning Gibdos, and this is the only time they're able to be destroyed. This is why the nests in the Queen Gibdo arena couldn't be destroyed until the fight; they hadn't been spawning Gibdos yet. It is also possible to use Bombs to blow them up. Mineru's spirit never actually resides in the owl mask. I can see why you would come to this conclusion since that's the moment she starts talking to you, but after the Seized Construct fight, we see her spirit exit the Purah Pad and fly into the secret stone as it fuses with her construct, meaning she's been there with Link the entire time. This raises the obvious question of why she didn't just emerge sooner and guide Link to her construct when he got the Purah Pad like she planned, and I do wish this was better explained, but I have a decent theory. Essentially, although Mineru can seperate her spirit from her body, she can't communicate in spirit form directly without the power of a secret stone (how else would it even be able to amplify her power lol). This didn't pose an issue as she had built herself a new body to house her secret stone, but Ganondorf's corruption of that construct body cut her off from the stone and prevented her from being able to communicate until a new body began to be constructed for her and she could tap into a small amount of the stone's power (this would make sense as she communicates much more clearly during the boss while they're right next to the stone). As for how previous spirits could communicate with Link, I'd simply chalk it up to them having a connection with him such as the Champions having known him in the past and Rauru's body essentially being fused with his. I think this is also a good time to point out how genius the details surrounding Mineru's quest are outside of that one hiccup. Of the 5 Phenomena Purah calls attention to, the only one not caused by Ganondorf is the Kakariko Ring Ruins, and thus were it not for him, that would've been the first place Link explored and it would've started him on the quest to access Mineru's stone and construct just like she initially planned. With that in mind, it's easy to see how much the Demon King's influence really did screw up her plan. Sorry, I really didn't intend for my comment to be this long, and I guess I now have a slight understanding of what you went through with this video. 🤣I do hope I was able to add some solid value to this conversation.
@speedude0164 I do actually know about the Gibdo nest weakness. I still had weird issues with hitboxes tho :p Your comment was a great read though. Thanks so much!
@@Raykushi Interesting, I've rarely had such issues with them. Maybe the hitboxes just end a bit sooner than the visual indicator would have you think. I'm glad to hear that! It's surprisingly hard to find civil discussions about this game's merits on TH-cam so I try explaining my views in the clearest way possible in hopes it can catch on with others that feel a similar type of way. Funny enough, your explanations about the theme of addiction in the Goron City quest actually made me appreciate it much more than just "haha Gorons on drugs". It does a good job showing how much a society can be negatively impacted by addiction.
@@speedude0164 Thanks! like I said, I don't even know if it was intentional, but the fact the region's themes can be interpreted that way is interesting.
People focus too much on what this game could've been instead of what it was while praising the first game for everything it did while ignoring its faults. It's a double standard that has come about from nostalgia and recency bias, clouding people's ability to compare the games fairly
There's a channel called Good Blood that just released a video discussing the game design philosophy of Zelda and how BOTW and TOTK are the greatest example of what the first game was meant to be. I always felt that way even before someone posted about it. This is their masterpiece according to the way they create game worlds.
This reminds me of why this is my favorite game, though that slot didn't have much competition for me. The story, the music, the new exploration of a world I've been in, so much was so awesome, and I played for a month straight without ever touching the internet to experience it all blind. Yes that meant I never really touched the zonai devices cause I'm much more a "strong weapon smackdown!" kinda person, but it was awesome regardless. Especially the sidequests. It made me go back to BotW with a glitch to get the master cycle early and have fun playing through the game with that (made my second playthrough a ton of fun). I felt TotK was perfect my first playthrough. Upon a second one with a sort of challenge ruleset, the flaws did become more apparent, but overall they're not that bad. Nothing is a gamebreaker. Everything is really good. And now this video is making me wanna replay it again, but I'm caught up in the midst of another project XD There's been so much hate for the game recently, and I can kinda understand some of it, but it doesn't change the fact that the game is really hecking good. Its really nice to see a positive video on it, especially one that four hours long (dang I really just watched all that.) Also, Ganondorf terrified the heck out of me from the beginning of the game, so the gauntlet of enemies and the moment where the "sages power couldn't reach you anymore" made it so much more terrifying. I was so sweaty in that final boss. Awesome game, awesome video, people need to calm the heck down with the hate train.
If Gloom Hands had the Guardian theme, they’d be TERRIFYING….could you imagine hearing those piano notes, panicking and looking around, and all of a sudden a group of demon hands is zooming towards you? Bruh…
Great video! One thing, those Gibdo spawning towers can only be destroyed at their weak spot during the specific animation when they are about to spawn more gibdos. Black cracks form around the purple spot and that’s when you shoot an arrow with riju’s lightning. You can’t just shoot whenever.
I actually do know about that. I meant to put that on screen as a disclaimer because I forgot to mention it when I was recording, but forgot to do that too. Go me. But yeah, I still had problems with the Gibdo towers weak point hitbox on the initial playthrough. Not so much on the second though, but I didn't want to remove the complaints from the notes I took when doing the first playthrough, so I mentioned it anyway :P
While still linear you can actually complete the GSI shrines in reverse order without any cheats or glitches which is a fun attention to design on part of the devs!
3:13:07 Thing is, because a lot of players want the Master Sword, and because it's between the first and second intended regions and on the road to Goron City, I think a lot of players will stumble upon the Deku Tree early on. Personally, this Phantom Ganon was the first one I ever defeated. You're right that it's underwhelming following the 1v5 at Hyrule Castle with these guys, which is why I really don't think the intended order is to come here after that quest. Them directing you here is more of a failsafe just in case you hadn't done it yet.
I love tears of the kingdom, but they could’ve done so much more in certain areas, like the depths/sky and elaborate on some things. I don’t like how all the sheikah tech (and my cool divide beast bike I rightfully earned) just “disappeared” with no explanation. And I know this is probably a nitpick but I hate how most of the dlc armor from BOTW still isn’t upgradable. It kinda made sense from the first game since it was just DLC but since you can get them here like any other armor sets why can’t I upgrade them like any other armor sets?
This is the first POSITIVE review of TOTK that ive seen. And its so refreashing because when i played it i knew it was my new favorite game in the series. As a person who wasnt as much of a fan of botw as others were, it was so refreashing to see nintendo do something different with their open world concept, and i feel thats something a lot of people miss.
I didn't even make this video to "defend totk" or anything. I had begun writing the script 2 months after it's release, when reception of the game was still overwhelmingly positive, but ended up putting it off for a few months. After I'd come back, it was after many videos and think-pieces came out about how bad the game was. In that way, I'm glad this video got delayed like it was, because many people like yourself have commented that they really appreciate the more positive perspective after all the pessimism about the game.
@Raykushi i do feel it's a good perspective to have on the game. Because it is such a GOOD game. The reviews it's received are really unfair because what totk added compared to what botw is so massive it's hard to under look. I know for me I love this game, and I'm so excited to go back and play it again (I think this video sparked my hyper fixation). LOL, thank you for such a good review where I don't feel upset watching!
I find it interesting how there are people who look for positive reviews only find negative ones and there are those who want to find some negative reviews can only find positive ones. For example on Skittybitty's video I found a lot of commenters thanking them since they only saw praise with no critiques. Just something I noticed. (Personally I've seen a lot of positive and negative reviews since the game first released).
@@Nova-gh5yrshe is so extremely annoying that whole time felt like she was finding reasons to dislike it and she makes it seem like absolutely NOTHING was added which if you actually compare the two that is fundamentally just not true. I don’t see how $70 is any problem when breath of the wild(for the whole package) is $80 and that’s not even accounting for gear that is just not available unless you have an amiibo.
I'm glad you enjoy the game so much. It was interesting hearing someone talk about it positively even if i don't necessarily agree with it. I Even decided to pick the game back up and give it a second shot after dropping it after about 20ish hours when it first released. I still have too many problems with the game to say i enjoyed my time with it, even this second time around, but im glad you and others think positively about it. This was a nice watch
I didn't engage with the depths until I had explored the sky and most of the overworld and I had never seen a Lynel even after completing the four main areas. At first I was disappointed they hadn't returned, but I remembered I had seem in cutscenes and held out hope. Discovering tons of them in the depths and immediately remembering how to perfectly dispatch them from BOTW was one of my favorite moments
When it came to finding caves, I set my camera sensor to blupees and had a much easier time finding them. Thank you for singing the games praises. I've seen so many videos popping up trying to get hate clicks by claiming the game is "actually awful".
They’re not trying to get «hate clicks.» It is what they mean, people can have different opinions. I LOVE totk but I still agree with most of the points made in those videos. Totk isn’t near perfect but it doesn’t have to be perfect to be an awesome game.
Just found this video, and in a current climate (at least in the form of youtube videos) that seems pretty negative on the game, this is such a refresher and something I needed. TotK is my favorite game currently. Like, BotW is already one of the greatest games ever and Tears just clears it on nearly every level outside of the fact that it's not the first one. And while that first time experience is a strength of BotW absolutely worth cherishing, I equally value Totk in how it was able to innovate. With the inclusion of the new abilities, Zonai Devices, the Sky Islands & the Depths, it somehow recaptured and even surpassed the magic of the first game, which I would have thought impossible. I can't really even call myself a Zelda fan, at least in the traditional sense; BotW was the only other Zelda game I had played, and yet the whole ending with the dragon fight, diving down to catch Zelda, & the music, it was all so emotional. I was tearing up just from you recounting it lol. I guess I'm a fan now 🤣 I gotta give props to your script and editing because somehow a 4 hour video was really easy to watch, it flowed really well. Thanks for making this! P.S I am so with you about how much better the combat and item usage is in this game. Really glad you brought up the cross pollination of items as well in how collecting stuff on the Islands aids you in exploring the Depths and vise versa. Everything is so interconnected, its a design marvel. Also, the Sky Islands are my happy place, I don't mind at all that they are kind of bare, they evoke that quite, lonely but calming tranquility and meditative mood that the first game had, and in this game with a more bustling Hyrule, I really value a space for that. And that skybox & music UGH let me live on the Great Sky Island please 😂
hey at 45:00 you mention that the frog set cant jump in the rain but if you upgrade each piece at a great fairy twice the set bonus is unslippable and even allows climbing on icy surfaces.
Yeah! Someone actually mentioned that and it blew my mind. I'm kicking myself for not knowing, actually. I'm gonna have to make a pinned comment with some of the addendums lol
@@Raykushi Also thank you so much for this video! The TOTK hate that started popping up was really bumming me out. I kept seeing video after video about it and from some of my favorite creators. I get some of the criticism but it seamed over blown for a game thats as wonderful as TOTK. I have put in 300 hours and have 100% it and I think like you said its now my favorite game.
So happy to see some positivity about this game going around, it is definitely currently a victim of the Zelda love/hate dynamic that seems to happen to most games. Many of the people asserting that BOTW is the better game were hating on it a year after its release as well. Same thing will happen with EOW in a few days. In five years these will all be considered the best of the series if past trends are to play out again
I remember ToTK being praised to high heaven on Twitter during it's first month and then we started to see this contrarian influx of "it's good but...is it??" and I was losing my mind lmao
The "Zelda cycle" seems like an intuitive concept and there is some truth to it, but I also think it's a very convenient excuse brought up to discredit more easily parts of the fandom people don't relate to. I'm curious what makes you think that many of the people preferring BOTW were hating it before. There are all sorts of profiles who played Zelda before BOTW or not, liked BOTW or not, liked TOTK or not, and many different tier lists anyone could make for any number of preferences... Personally, playing them back-to-back as well as other Zelda games in the past year, I know that we've had enough time for some people to form clear, fleshed out opinions that have no particular reason to change in years to come. Old Zelda is amazing, archaic in some areas but has things that could still be used in the open world. BOTW has become a classic that was never going to please everyone, but incredibly important for the series and successful thanks to its bold and clear focus. TOTK will always be impressive mechanically for what they achieved, full of exciting concepts, but their focus took away from the execution for most of its world building and story telling.
Using the Zelda cycle to discredit negative opinions is very reductive. Sure, there are some opinions that are like that, but there are also valid opinions about the flaws of the game. Just because the game is popular doesn't mean the people who didn't like it have bad reasons for not enjoying it.
@@Raykushi Well yeah. because back when it first launched any person who even disagreed with it being better than BOTW was told they were wrong... It makes sense now, that with skitty's video, people are a lot more comfortable sharing their thoughts on TOTK if they're negative. It's not contrarian, it's legit people finally being able to share their opinions without being hushed instantly. Of course some do go too far, but like... Come on, we went through this with BOTW too where any negative opinions of it were hushed at launch. People are just more comfortable sharing their opinions on the game now.
@@ConductorElcrestno one did this though, no one was "silenced" for thinking BotW was better than TotK at launch... What? BotW fans just got salty most people didn't agree that BotW was flawless and lost their minds when people pointed out, "yeah TotK was what I wanted out of BotW" 🤷♀️
Rarely do I ever watch a video of this stature to the end but this time it was different. This review was so engaging, understandable, hilarious at times and heartfelt that I had no problem sitting through this behemoth of a video. It was a great watch! Thank you for the countless hours spent crafting this insightful review🙏🏼
I thoroughly enjoyed this review. Many reviews I've seen tend to not go into any depths as to why they like or dislike, totk especially when the review is negative and when it is hour long reviews. Some critiques I saw were disingenuous. For example one hour long review I saw was someone saying botw's runes, movement, and combat was better...because of unintentional glitches and exploits...and literally had a whole section dedicated to "Jank" between the two games. It felt it was doing both games an injustice because it gave the impression if botw didn't have the jank it does, that person wouldn't have enjoyed botw as intended and also take for granted the improvements totk had to the things mentioned above. Suffice to say, this review was refreshing and the critics felt rather valid. It's honestly amazing that you pushed through such a long video mostly alone. Legitimately takes dedication, but considering totk is such a great yet complex game with both perfections and flaws, it definitely warrants time for detail. Great video!
This is the best totk long review I have ever seen, well listened too while at work, but still it was incredible. I feel like it matches my feelings on this game better than any other review I have seen. Just for the improved combat and boss battles alone I like totk better than BOTW, and I loved how you actually get to do cool stuff with the sages. I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment that the memories in BOTW made me wish I was playing through what happened in the past instead of just seeing the memories of it.
Returning to Lookout Landing after receiving Tulin's Vow actually seems to point you in three directions. When you arrive, there is a Goron who appears to be asking Scorpis for directions to Death Mountain -- it's a single dialogue cutscene (where they are literally giving directions) and then they're gone. This is also when returning to Josha introduces you to Tauro, who immediately returns to Kakariko Village, then she points you toward the quest where you will encounter Master Kohga for the first time.
@RP-mp4ow Criticism that comes from a place of hate. Usually picking out things that aren't really problems and making a bigger deal of them than they are. They aren't trying to be honest or impartial
I am so glad people are finally coming out and saying “actually, totk is an amazing game in its own right, even if it has its problems” because of the amount of hate it’s been getting over the last year. I’m a totk lover, and it frustrated me so much when people were only releasing videos of how much they hated totk or “why totk is not a good game”. Like yeah, as a sequel it fails in a lot of aspects. But what if, for a moment, you remove it from the context of being a sequel… it’s an amazing game, albeit with flaws.
I think it's an interesting sequel in the context of zelda games because I don't think we've seen a game in zelda that is direct sequel that takes place in the same world. We have sequels like Majora's Mask and Spirit Tracks which clearly take place around the same time but none of the previous game's elements are present. I think it was cool seeing how things have changed from the previous game. We don't usually get that in zelda titles.
People have been releasing both extremes and everything in-between since release. For those with pros and cons to express, saying how good something is can be pretty succinct, while explaining a flaw or "what could have been" takes a bit more effort. I think that being a sequel really amplifies that because sure we could just forget context and hype and just enjoy the moment, but many of these reviews are naturally looking at the bigger picture. Many of them do remind that there are high highs, but again, nothing exists in a vacuum. I can understand that it is frustrating to see views drastically opposed from ours trend and find some success, but that has been true on both sides. The latest being that skittybitty diatribe, and now it seems we got the opposite to restore balance if it trends a bit ^^ (I haven't watched this one yet).
tell ya what , then you can remove the context of me having needed to pay 100$ for this re-releas of the same game misleadingly being called a sequel , and i'll agree with you that tokt is an amazing game....
It still works great as a sequel imo. We all know they made it so it could he played before BotW and still understood, but what are we really losing from this? A few moments of Zelda going "this man birthed the monster that ravaged my era", Tulin going "I hope I can make the Champion Revali proud"? We can pick up on these sorts of things alone without the need to mention them, so it's a more than worthy trade off. As such, when you spot the moments yourself, this game's story is amplified by BotW in many ways. Extra weight is added to the villain by having him be the cause of mass destruction across multiple eras and getting to destroy him for good. Tulin, whom I mentioned earlier, gets to overcome what was essentially Revali's only weakness. Sidon begins to get over a fear instilled in him by the loss of his sister. Riju and Yunobo show a noticeable increase in confidence since their last appearance. The world as a whole is so much more organized and the NPCs take a much more active role in the conflict, indicating how much the kingdom has healed and evolved following the end of the Calamity. These are small ways in which the game uses its sequel status to create a stronger over-arching narrative than it otherwise could've.
3:22:53 its the secret stone of light and its dusk or dawn so its not that bright outside so its logical to assume that ganondorf was able to se bright light emitting from Rauru and up close later he deduces that it was his glowing secret stone that did this. Also it seems possible that ganondorf has some knowledge of the existence of secret stones because the sage of fire knows what they are when Rauru show them.
@@Raykushi theyve done this with like EVERY zelda game too thats what i love 🐈 phase 1 (when it comes out): "this is revolutionary. best game ever." phase 2 (after at least 2 months): "this is the worst piece of garbage ive ever played. [insert previous game in the franchise] was better." phase 3 (when the next game comes out): "this was revolutionary. best game oat. ive always loved this masterpiece."
What a nice change, i've watched quite a few negative TOTK's Videos and although they're good they like only the negatives are being looked it. It's nice to find another positive Video about TOTK that isn't nit-picking at every turn, about Mineru and Secret Stone. Given how she and Rauru are the last of their kind, I like to think she didn't have the full information about dragonification.
I don't have time to write a 4 hour long comment, so I'm just gonna go with: you nailed it. Excellent analysis. I hope you keep making long form content like this, cuz you rock at it.
This game would’ve been waaaay better if you played as Zelda in the past, worked at being a powerful sage and afterwards (when she failed) play as link to finish the job! It could be enough to be a separate game tbh
Regarding the targeting of Riju's lightning, I assume the reason they have you shoot an arrow is to take advantage of the attraction lightning has to metal. Riju can aim in the general direction of her target, and the arrow head attracts the lightning to fine-tune her aim. Of course the real reason is to give you a way to control her attack, but I think using arrows makes sense based on the real-world behavior of lightning and metal (despite it being loosely applied). And I assume the devs intended players to think this because they implemented this behavior with the lightning that occurs in the world and with electric elemental attacks. To be fair, its a bit of a stretch since I don't think arrows attract lightning from storms, but the principle is the same.
It would make sense that the castle is desserted if the population has declined enough. Maintenance on a something so big would take up a lot of time and resources that would be better spent elsewhere.
It's interesting how some of the issues pointed out by other critiques are less impactful on your enjoyment or downright viewed as positive aspects by you. For example, you mentioned how the connection between lightroots and shrines make shrine hunting much easier and how that is something amazing, while I've seen another person mentioning it as a negative because it trivializes the careful exploration that would be required for it, and THAT is what they thought would be amazing if the lightroots didn't "ruin" it. I, myself, would side with you on this particular example. Not that I think it's a huge deal, but I prefer the convenience of having that option over some annoying careful combing I had to do to find some of the final shrines in BOTW.
Hey, thanks for the comment ^^ You can find most shrines on the surface with enough gumption so I don't think the lightroots trivialize anything. People often complain that there is nothing to do in the sky/depths and then in the next breath complain about a function they DO perform. I like that the Depth's can be used as a tool in that way - interplay between the 3 world layers is already pretty rare, so this was a clever way to add more and the game would have been worse off without it.
Never have I seen a video where litteraly everything said perfectly matched my thoughts. this was was a phenomenal video. its so nice to see a video which praised all the elements of this game that no one seems to talk about. i loved how you always gave proof to support your arguments too. Im so glad I finaly found someone who felt the same way about this games story, I agree it is MUCH better than BOTW (I wonder why no one else seems to agree?). Anyway great video
Thank you!! I don't think I see people say that the story in BoTW specifically is better. Usually they talk about how BoTW is a better game overall. My guess as to why people feel that way is because BoTW and it's world were extremely new at the time, everyone was discovering this kind of game design for the Zelda series for the first time. It's really THAT feeling people are attached to, not necessarily the game itself.
@@Raykushi That a great point and makes a lot of sense. I think for most people there is just no reliving that experience of playing the first game for the first time. I’m just really lucky that I had that same feeling for ToTK too.
There is one idea that I had that I really wish they would've added into this game. That being... Dark Link. But not like a typical Dark Link kind of boss... no, no, there would only be ONE of this guy on the map at any given time. And he would be following your Hero's Path data from Breath of the Wild. If you happen to run into him, it's a fight to the death (where he has anything you would've had at that point). If you don't, then you don't.
@@Raykushi Well worth the effort dude, I'm only just now finishing it and it's been a joy to listen to your takes on one of my favorite games. Great to have in my ear while I'm at work.
If BotW is the modern day OoT, then TotK is the modern day Twilight Princess. Much like TP back in the day, the community is extremely divided over TotK. The fans LOVE it and say its better than its predecessor, while the haters write it off as an edgy reskin of (OoT/BotW) that took WAY too long to make.
I would agree with the whole “Zelda turning back to a human” point IF, and I could be wrong, I didn’t see what Nintendo was doing. One of the first things I noticed when talking about totk and botw was each games theme in color. Breath of the wild is mostly associated with the color blue and tears of the kingdom is mostly associated with the color green. Now what else are those two colors mostly associated with in the Zelda games? If you guessed right then it’s the triforce(blue=triforce of wisdom, green=triforce of courage)If Nintendo is planning on using the same engine then most likely the next big Zelda game would take place in the same hyrule except most of the art represents red(triforce of power) and maybe have the triforce be officially introduced in the wild era. That could be a great excuse to have ganondorf back even after dying since it’s not the first time a version of ganondorf was killed just to be resurrected by someone. I don’t think Nintendos done with this Zelda yet
1. They said officially they were done with games in this world. 2. I don't remember a lot of emphasis on the color blue in BotW 3. Even if that was the case, Red would be Ganon- so you couldn't make a game with a perspective focusing on the villain. (Well YOU could, but not Nintendo. Well NINTENDO could, but not for Zelda)
So, a couple of note I had while watching. The frog armor does make you slip proof if you get the set bonus. Also, you could get the fangs, scales, claws, and horns from the dragons in botw. The only new one is the spike. Other than that, I’ve absolutely loved this video.
Yeah, I've been corrected about the frog thing alot lol. You sure about the dragon parts though? I know about scales and horns, but claws and fangs I don't remember. Thanks though! Really appreciate it!
@@Raykushi Yep. You just have to be precise about shooting the dragon on the claw and mouth for those parts. I think they were used for some upgrades to the “of the wild” set of armor.
Wow, this was monumental...This was truly the most in-depth and comprehensive look at Tears of the Kingdom I've seen. You were careful not to compare it to Breath of the Wild too often like most reviewers have done, except of course where it was necessary, as Totk is very derivative, you gave credit where credit was due, even as someone who admitted that you enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom, you didn't shy away from mentioning it's shortcomings or missed potential, you even did a great job near the end giving a synopsis of the story, characters and themes. I can't believe I watched the whole thing, I mean, I watched it over a three day period, but still... I agreed with you on just about every point with this game, even though I acknowledge and understand people's grievances about the game, I don't share them. It took me eight months to complete Tears of the Kingdom, and I have to say, I enjoyed every moment. I agree that there was a lot of missed potential with the sky, we could have had whole ancient Zonai civilizations up there, if more of the islands could have been as grand as the great sky island and had different motifs for each reason, we could have truly gotten something special. In terms of gameplay, Tears of the Kingdom expanded on and perfected the mechanics of Breath of the Wild, one of the forst things that stuck out to me in Botw, besides of course, the huge, beautiful open world, was how much more of an emphasis there was on combat. Fighting was never really something I thought much about in most other 3d Zelda games, it was there, and I enjoyed the fights, but there were never really moments where I felt like I had to be careful about how I approached each enemy encounter or thought "shoot, I might die here if I'm not careful", they were kind of an afterthought and usually pretty easy, but in botw, you always have to be careful about how you're going to handle a group of enemies, especially when it's early in the game and everyghing can kill you in about two hits once you leave the plateau. There's no experience points system, instead, your growth as a player feels natural, you'll get stronger weapons and find materials for Link as you fight and explore, you'll learn enemies' attack patterns and be able to telegraph for a perfect dodge to flurry rush or shield bash them, where before, you were getting killed by guardiand every few minutes, after a while, you'll be parrying their lasers like it's nothing. I loved Botw's combat, and Totk perfected it with the fuse mechanic. Tears of the Kingdom is as great of a game as Breath of the Wild, and I think for a lot of people, that's the problem; it's only as good as Breath of the Wild, even though it adds to and perfects mechanics established in Botw, it's reuse of the same Hyrule feels too much like retreading old ground and forces one to draw constant comparisons to the original game, so much that they don't feel like they can call it a sequel. To me, I didn't mind revisiting this Hyrule, I was actually excited to, yeah, we spent seven years exploring this Hyrule, we know it front to back, but returning to it in Totk felt like returning to your old stomping grounds from when you were a kid. How are your old friends you used to hang out with? What's new with the old neighborhood? I wanted to see how the old world I spent so much precious time and connected with had changed, and to some extent, we did. We get to see this world that was so ravaged by the Calamity begin to heal, Hyrule starts to come together. I heard that Eiji Aonuma said he wanted hands to be the theme for this game, specifically hands clasping together, and from Hyrule's citizend piecing a broken, delapitdated kingdom together, to Link grabbing Zelda's hand at the end, succeeding at the finale where he failed in the start, you really get what he was going for. Totk's story really feels like it both mirrors and expands on Botw's in many ways. Link doesn't feel forlorn in Hyrule anymorre, he's regained his memories and fulfilled his purpose as a hero, he can call this place home now, but now a new threat emerges that requires his courage to save this kingdom once again, Zelda isn't tied to the immense responsibility of awakening her sealing power anymore, but the sacrifice she makes by undergoing draconification to restore the Master Sword so that Link can defeat Ganondorf is no less serious. Gone is the mindless Calamity that brought Hyrule to ruin a century ago, we find that this monstrosity was merely an apparition, an amalgamation of the power, malice and hatred of Ganondorf, this is not an unconscious monster, this is a man with dark ambitions, he is a fearful king who weilds great power, and is frankly, a much more interesting antagonist than Calamity Ganon, and this game gave us the best fight with him yet, even better than Twilight Princess, in my opinion anyway. For all it's shortcomings, Tears of the Kingdom is still a legendary game, it might not have the benefit of being the first like it's predescesor, but I still loved it nonetheless, and your review certainly did it justice, thanks so much for making this.
Phenomenal review! Honestly agree with a majority of what you said. TOTK is my fav game of all time and while I understand it’s flaws, I can’t by any means call it bad and it’s sad there are a lot of people who think it is. I just can’t not enjoy the game while I play it, and sunk 300 hours in to my first 100% play through
Excellent analysis (maybe because I agree across the board)! You’ve got a new sub friend, and hoping for more in-depth analysis of other properties in the future!
Thank you so much for your analysis of this amazing game. So many videos analyzing Totk are usually spent talking about Totk doesn’t do anything new or different from botw, or how they seemingly just reused the same world with very little changes. And while everyone has the right to their own opinions, I think they miss what this game is trying to do, to expand on what botw did and do something that, while similar to what came before, makes the creativity players displayed in botw dial it up to an 11. I have seen a video where someone legitimately creates with zonai devices what I liken to a power rangers megazord or a Gundam mobile suit solely meant for destroying your enemies. While not everything will necessarily be a hit, I think what limits a lot of people’s opinions is that each every Zelda game has to match what is considered the gold standard of the series, Ocarina of Time. Now don’t misunderstand me, I love Ocarina of Time and consider it to be one of the greatest games ever made, both from what it objectively did for the video game industry and my love for its gameplay, themes and characters. But I think what a lot of fans miss is that the Zelda team loves to innovate and try something new that they haven’t done before, even in a sequel like Majoras Mask. The Zelda formula as it’s often called was there for a reason, but over time the team and the community realized that the formula was limiting what Zelda could be, as anyone who is familiar with Skyward Sword knows what I’m talking about. (Note: I love Skyward Sword in what it does well so any fans don’t come after me plz!) That’s why Botw exists, so the team could redefine what Zelda itself means, and try something vastly different from what people were accustomed to. And while there were issues in Botw that were due to the games open ended gameplay philosophy, that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, as Totk did improve most of them, though granted not all of them. That’s why I’m okay that Aonuma said that they weren’t returning to the old formula, because I want to see what the team can come up with next. So thank you for giving this game a fair chance and listing its successes and stumbles, because I think that’s how games can be improved, by acknowledging what works and what doesn’t.
@SiriusGalilei I think the best way to springboard off some of the stuff you said is to share my distaste when people say "totk is a good game but it's not a good zelda game". That implies a certain restriction in gameplay based on previous games. People thought Mario 64 wasn't a real mario game because it wasn't a 2D platformer. Now, no one would dream of saying such a thing. I think people will think the same of open world zelda in the future.
@@Raykushi i remember when Twilight Princess came out people didn’t like it because of the overly long introduction before the first dungeon and the apparent linearity of the game. But now I see a lot more people praising it in what it does well, especially with how it crafted one of the best character stories in Midna or the increased focus on swordplay with the sword skills. I’ve even seen some praise for Skyward Sword for how it handled the character of Groose or the memorization of areas for use in the sacred realm challenges. I think what many negative initial reactions to certain games in the Zelda series have in common is often to two particular parts, the differences in gameplay from previous titles or the similar storyline in many of the games, usually being saving Zelda, stopping the villain or getting to the triforce or whatever macguffin the game has. I think what many initial reactions miss is the environmental or character storytelling the games do, or how the main story influences gameplay. In Twilight Princess Link is initially attempting to save the children from Ordon village who were kidnapped being the start of his adventure rather than being called by the Great Deku tree like in Ocarina, or how Skyward Sword Link is on his journey to save Zelda, but often being too late to reach her before she leaves for the next location, or Wind Waker link attempts to save his sister but realizing that jumping in without being fully prepared is foolhardy. I love the character stories from Totk, from the two characters in Hateno village trying to stand for what they believe is the right path for the village to go but both secretly agreeing with the others ideas, or how there is one Zora female who seems to have a crush for Sidon apart from Yona and yearns for him from afar, or how the one guy in Kakariko is keeping you from the the one ruins because he secretly hopes to become a famous researcher himself, thus happily following the fake Zelda’s orders to keep others from the ruins, hoping to make the discovery himself and get all the credit. I think that is where Zelda storytelling excels, from the environmental storytelling and the small character moments, because you feel like you get to view intimate moments of these characters lives as they are just trying to live their lives like we do, beyond the fantastical adventures. And often the gameplay is itself reflecting the games themes and philosophy, which while it might not shine the best at times, there are times where it is beautiful. I think while I wouldn’t disregard many of their complaints, hindsight is 20/20 and time I think will make many appreciate this game for what it does well.
“totk is a good game but it’s not a good zelda game” is such an annoying and obviously untrue gotcha and i am speaking as the foremost authority on totk hating
@@skittybitty shut up and go somewhere else. Just because you’re not clever enough to appreciate what was actually added doesn’t mean other people cant
Yes i like totk alot more than botw people complain about the freaking menu ui i mean the menu ui really its not that big of a deal i think peoples amazing experience with botw was a let down on totk but exploration isn't what kept us coming back too botw totk is the reason why people go back too botw and there's more entertaining stuff in Totk so Totk for alot of people was a let down they got a recipe for disappoinment no matter how the game turned out i love this game i will defend it with my life
I love different opinions I myself am mixed on totk I don’t like exploring the same map and the depths or sky didn’t add anything substantial other than repetitive fluff. Funny enough I don’t think its flaws are the lack of Zelda traditions. Totk flaw is the absence of what made botw famous, exploration of a big new world. Having different biomes in the depths with towns of undiscovered civilizations would have been a massive reward for exploring. I still like Totk a lot for its gameplay but I am still disappointed we gotta wait another decade before we get a true new map to explore in a new Zelda game But the capabilities of switch 2 will probably make the next Zelda game glorious lol
Botw and Totk are my very first Zelda games, and honestly I think I enjoyed Totk way more than botw. I played it a lot more, it had a lot more for me to do in side content that I still enjoyed, and the characters were incredible. I have my own complaints with it, but it is undoubtedly one of my favorite games now
Was TOTK disappointing for me? Yes. Do I still think BOTW is better? Yes. Did I still put over 200 hours on my play-through of TOTK? Yes That’s just how high the Nintendo bar is.
I disagree on quite a few points, and was overall disappointed by totk (despite loving certain things), but this is an incredible video!! You were very fair and in-depth, and I enjoyed watching the whole thing!
I disagree ascend is replaceable. Do you know how many hard to reach places I was able to get to with ascend? I literally wasted trampolines trying to get to a surface in the sky islands just to realize I had ascend this whole time
It's not totally replaceable - I said it was most replaceable out of the 4 powers in a comparative sense, which it certainly is. Thank you for watching though
If they just made it to where you held a shoulder button to reassign the face buttons to your companions moves and it would’ve been smoother 🙃😞 sorta like in Kakarot how they let you use support characters
The last Zelda game I played before botw was oot. A guy at work brought in his switch and showed me botw and as you can imagine I was amazed. Went home and later that night bought a switch. I had no idea about the game play and it took me a long while to beat guardians 😅
In depth on the Depths and surface level on the Sky Islands was when I knew I was here for the long haul. Don't you ever apologize for such play on words
I'm glad you were able to get this done and out there bud. I've watched a much as I can before I got spoiled lol. Now time to actually finish the game...
Finally finished the video, that was a long one lol. My only gripe, your ALttP pun... Technically, Zelda would be the "Link to the Past" not Link himself since hes in the present time lol. Gotta say, this was a great watch (had to watch it in bursts because i have ADHD and it gets hard to focus lol) but this video and what you said perfectly encapsulates how i feel about Tears of the Kingdom...The game isnt perfect (nothing is) but that game was a masterpiece and became my favorite game as well. Ive been playing Zelda for a long time, OoT was my first...No game has captured the sense of wonder (not even Breath of the Wild) that Tears of the Kingdom has for me. I think this game having BotW come before it was a benefit... BotW's Hyrule was great but left a lot to be desired. It felt empty, devoid of content and the sense of exploration was lost on me the second I realized i was only going to be met with Korok poo or empty grassy plains. TotK's additions were kind of what i wanted when BotW was first being announced...Caves, sky islands, a dark world type place that mirrors Hyrule, etc. Again, good video. You earned yourself a sub
@@Raykushi thank you for the video, and thank you for putting into words what I cannot lol. Tears of the Kingdom is a wonderful game and I hope more people see this video
Totk is a great game. But personally I am still very disappointed in many aspects of it. I'm glad it seems like many people enjoyed it much more than I did. There is a lot to like. But for me it just didn't hit the points I wanted it to. I won't list all my gripes, but the sheer sudden disappointment I felt when I realized that every single cutscene after the dungeons are all the same, was kinda the beginning of the end for me. Not a deal breaker or anything, nothing in this game really is bad enough to make me not have at least enjoyed my playthrough. It's not one thing, but a combination of different gripes that add up to me just being disappointed in the final product. Overall it's a great game, but personally I prefer many of the older games, and yes that includes Botw.
I respect this so much! I personally loved the game but I really appreciate seeing someone admit they didn’t really love it, while also admitting they know it’s objectively a good game.
One little thing I liked and idk if it was totally on purpose or not but the Parallel between TOTK and OoT of Ganadorf proclaiming his loyalty to the King- Rauru/ King of Hyrule in OoT but of course it turning out to be a blatant lie just to get close to the royal family. Idk just the scene of him in the palace bowing before Rauru reminded me of the similar scene in OoT History really do be repeating itself
I love how that moment is lowkey a confrontation between Ganondorf and Rauru, as both are well aware of the other's true intent yet are playing along until their opportunity to strike presents itself. Ganondorf subtly challenges Rauru to a battle of wits and warns him of the devastation to come if he loses, and Rauru confidantly affirms that regardless of his own fate, Hyrule has his back.
This video was insane, holy shit 4 hours of a high quality review is just unbelievable. It was so enjoyable to watch, so thank you so much
And thank YOU for saying so!
Seems like a great video to listen to while I finish up my 100% save of the game
Finally a positive video about this game! Not that i'd let other peoples opinions on something sway my own, but all the negative videos i've seen about TOTK have been making me question whether or not I had a shitty taste in games. I totally understand that it has its flaws and shortcomings, but sometimes I think in the pursuit of enjoying something to its fullest its ok to look past those things, especially when, bottom line, I came out satisfied.
Also extra thanks for the lengthy video, great for drawing to!
People becoming more comfortable with expressing their opinions after a never ending barrage of postive totk videos and being told "they're wrong" is not a bad thing tho. It's such a good thing now that people are now comfortable being able to say "hey I dislike this game and what it did", but acting like there weren't so many positive videos and people weren't hostile to those who disliked it is a bit disingenuous. As for why you're seeing em more often now, it's because of the youtube algo. You watch one video, and more will start popping up. Skitty's video was a really a breakthrough for people being able to express their opinions, but it also leads to more people making videos with their problems with the game and then the youtube algo will spiral.
Remember, these are THEIR opinions, not your opinions. If you like a game, you like. Don't question if you "have shitty taste in games", but don't dismiss them as just "negative totk" vids too. If anything it's good we can have a balance of positive and negative opinions on a piece of media like TOTK. Enjoy the game to the fullest, but reconize their opinions are also their own too and what may not break the game for you does break it for them.
@@ConductorElcrest oh yeah dont get me wrong I agree! My comment wasnt meant to be taken too seriously to be completely honest. I actually appreciate and watch those critique videos (which is exactly why I keep getting shown them haha) and no I don't think I have a shitty taste in games, lol that was more of a sarcastic comment than anything. I get how tone can get misconstrued over text.
But regardless, I personally wasn't seeing positive videos, obviously doesn't mean there weren't any. It seems I'm not the only one either. I was just expressing that I was happy to finally see some positivity myself is all! I suppose its more of a reflection on myself that I have to understand everyones opinions on a game before I can enjoy it fully.
At the end of the day, people can like what they like and not like what they don't. I think its great that theres a variety of opinions on something I like. And I think critique is necessary to get better games which ultimately benefits all of us!
@@lolablue8668 I think the biggest thing is it's normally a cycle where positive videos overwhelm the feed at first, making people who dislike certain aspects of a game/dislike a game very uncomfortable as they're not properly allowed to share their opinions. Then once hype dies down we get into the cycle of "now I can finally speak my mind" and then people start being able to speak their mind as well, and then it rolls around to more positive videos starting to come back again to defend a game.
I wish there was a middle ground where even at a games launch we could have a healthy enviorment where people are allowed to express their opinions without fear of backlash, and then a year later express opinions without getting backlash. Er... Hope I worded that right lol
I do agree with you! Critique is very necessary to get better games! I may have my fair share of complaints with TOTK (just using it an example cause well... It is the game the video talks about lol), but I have a lot of things I love about it too! As long as nintendo is able to hear both sides I can't wait to see what they fix and what they improve in the next big 3d Zelda!
...
Bring back remote bombs please nintendo LOL
@@ConductorElcrest yess agree. Tbh I feel like alot of the people i see critiquing it are as passionate as the games diehard supporters, because its often coming from a place of loving this franchise and wanting to see it reach its full potential.
And yeah the honeymoon phase is very real ESPECIALLY with zelda games. It really is like the same cycle every time a new one comes out which is funny lol. I just feel lucky to be here at a time theres such a cool game franchise and a huge thriving community around it as well.
There's no such thing as having shitty taste. You like what you like. I may not be a fan of this game but I can respect the fact that people do like this game a lot. Whether something is good or bad is up to each individual.
i’m so offended by people finding ascend useless and their least favourite when it’s my favourite and the one i found the most helpful like tf
Literally exactly why the devs added it. It was a dev tool and then they realized the game was much worse without it
Ascend is way more useful than cryogensis ever was
I literally have a hard time adjusting to other open worlds because of the Ascend ability
bro ive been spamming ascend so much, i dont see how ppl find it not useful
Personally it's more that Ascend is the least interesting ability of the bunch. Ultrahand, Fuse, Recall and even Auto-Build is more interesting to me than being able to go directly up short distances
I like TOTK and BOTW a lot, but when I was just starting out with TOTK and seeing all the new things or how the story has progressed in aspects big and small I kept getting the feeling like "ooooh they made this game for me". I love TOTK because I fell in love with the world and characters and Zelda as a franchise in BOTW. They are to me parts of a whole and I can't pit them against one another. People being so publically negative about the game I personally found so compelling has been greatly demoralizing and so seeing you talk about why you love this game (and yet voicing criticism that many players share, me included) makes me happy. TOTK is not flawless but it is still an absolute gem of a game. And even though for some people the game was "over" after they beat it on release, it still lives in my head rent free and I'm glad I'm not alone in this. Great video :)
Ur not alone 😢😂
Exactly my experience. It's tailored for a very specific audience. I'm not delusional and say the game does objectively fail in a lot of important ways, but damn did I personally have a great time with it. It's like Skyward Sword, has a lot of flaws but also has its audience it appeals to.
Why is it that every time someone makes a positive totk video, nearly all the comments just crap on the game despise the video. I've seen so much hate for this game that I've actually seen people get angry at the color of the grass. THE LITERAL GRASS!
Yellow grass like dude these guys are absolute trolls
What? People are seriously getting mad over the color of grass please tell me you’re joking especially when it’s because totk is better than botw even when that’s true cause let’s be honest totk makes botw look like a demo when compared to totk so it’s stupid to even try to compare the two when it’s obvious witch one is the better game between botw vs totk the sequel is the better one obviously botw is by no means a bad game far from it but compared to totk it feels empty and this is coming from someone who put stupid amount of hours into both games and fun with both games
@@mattsultimategamingandrevi8249 I agree, but a lot of people personally like botw more bc it was there first zelda game and they feel like they need to defend it against much better games, bc they don't want another game to be "better" than the game they're attached to.
@@elizabethweaver5478 that makes sense everybody has games they like dislike and that’s perfectly fine
@@elizabethweaver5478 Not being better than BotW is far from a failure for the game. It's pretty rare for sequels to surpass their predecessor, much more when that predecessor is one of the best and most highly acclaimed games of all time. I personally prefer TotK, but BotW has a novelty and appeal that never could've been replicated so I can totally see people prefering it.
The lightning ability does make sense when you consider how lighting functions during storms. Lightning is attracted to metal objects, so Riju can use the metal arrowhead as a focal point to aim the strike. I still agree that the ability could have been implemented better though
The arrows in BOTW have (to our knowledge) no conductive materials on them
@GohTheGreat seems pretty safe to assume they are likely made from the same type of metal as other weapons in the game. The only other options would be stone, which would be silly if the Hylians have knowledge of metal working, or some unknown material that no other Hylian weapon uses
They have so many options to better implement the sage abilities:
- Get rid of 'map' on the radial wheel, and put the abilities there, so it's 12 options instead of 8.
- Have Riju as a 'fuse item' for arrows.
- Have Yunobo select-able when quick-swapping weapons
- Have Sidon select-able when quick-swapping shields
Then have Mineru be the only one to behave like a horse when whistling,
Yet through their 1 year of polishing the game (and now however long after release), they went with having to run up to followers and pressing the button you use to interact with basically everything in the game.
I knew going to down a Zelda rabbit hole at 3am would get me a good video.
:D Thank you LOL
It's that kind of video that keeps you awake until 7am (if you get it) :p
Thank you for making this video, I love seeing people talk about their thoughts of ToTK in depth. It truly does mean a lot more than you would think, at least for me.
I can't believe it's already been more than a year since this game came out. I still can't find how to put into words what it makes me feel.
Same
So you can actually upgrade the Froggy Armor to the 2nd level and you can jump up the walls even when it's raining 45:09
@@mirandanorman7079 OOOOOH WHAT
been seeing a lot of TotK sucks stuff as of late, nice to see something different.
I've been playing the legend of zelda games since the first ever release. People complaining about the game being too open or people saying they miss the traditional formula makes no sense to me. Considering the original games were never intended to even be linear in the first place. The zelda games were always intended to be driven by player choice and freedom. The "Traditional" formula people are talking about didnt begin until ocarina of time. Which while yes it had a sort of hub world, it was mostly linear. Dungeons just had secrets and some extra paths but thats it. As the series continued, the games scope just got bigger and bigger which was the obvious evolution of the series. To me tears of the kingdom is the game ive always wanted. A grandiose adventure in a huge open world where i choose where i wanna go and what i wanna do. With a world that feels alive and lived in. With immersive intricate details. I feel like this game was made for people like me. Where i can spend 100s of hours maybe even thousands because its a game thats design to be played whatever way i desire. I spent 100s of hours in these games just having fun and immersing myself in these worlds. Especially tears of the Kingdom. Idk maybe im alone in this but ive never found a single thing i disliked about this game.
I played this game over 150+ hours, thoroughly enjoyed it. No reason to feel anything but gratitude and awe for the Nintendo team who made this amazing game. I can not wait to see what they cook up next.
honestly this game is probably my favorite ever, everything you said, but honestly to me? the world feels less empty, and as such, worthy of exploring every inch. also i love the depths i just fly around in there for hours lol. what a video, wow
Thank you so much!
I understand the common complaint of the Depths feeling too samey, but I don't know if it's just the amazing atmosphere or the alien look of the place, I occasionally head down there on my 100% file to fly around and just get blown away by the view. There's something so appealing about exploring and slowly conquering this pitch black monster hub spanning across the whole map.
So true 😢
In botw they say that 10000 years ago 4 champions used the divine beasts and that those beasts were named after warriors from the past. Those warriors are assumed to be the sages from Raurus time. They don't name them so you can make that distinction. That's why they wear masks that look like the beasts. They aren't modeled after the divine beasts but instead the divine beasts are modeled after the sages. The sages names ARE Rudania, Medoh, Ruta and Naboris.
OOOOO
kinda wish they said that though that woulda been sick
@Raykushi another kinda cool theory. You know how you said link's sage ability was the yiga technique? So there's a bunch of random diary entries that say that links flurry rush and bullet time are actually canonical. It's not just a game mechanic, it's his actual champion or sage ability. Some of those logs say they witness link in combat and in the blink of an eye an enemy goes down almost as if time slows down. Thought that was kinda cool.
I don't think one could conclude that the ancient sages were those warriors.
Yes, in BotW it was written that way with the beasts and the names.
Then they could have used the names in the same way - which they didn't. The masks wouldn't be a clear indication for me. For me this has more of a chicken/egg paradox, as I don't think we know exactly when the Shika built the ancient technology in relation to TotK.
Not sure about them being named after the ancient Sages because I'm sure devine beast Vah Naboris, Vah Rudania and Vah Ruta ate explicitly named after Nabooru, Darunia and princess Ruto from OOT.
However I'm sure that it's true that the devine beasts were modeled after the ancient Sages masks.
Im sure both breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom will stay with us fans for a long time, they both have their own amazing charm and theme. I remember being so happy that I was able to experience playing botw when it first got out thinking “I wish I could play this game for the first time forever”. TotK made me feel so excited and curious the entire time. Breath of the wild is so nostalgic and even cozy in my opinion, while tears of the kingdom is more complex and emotional with even more exploration. Thank you for your amazing review, I wholeheartedly agree with the topics and opinions you shared. I hope this video will get the views and appreciation you deserve!
Thanks so much! It's hit 10K, which I'm already happy with, and it's been less than a week. Needless to say that's already got me in a good mood
The sages know the lines they're supposed to say because link watched it 5 times and had it memorized.
@@Jahusaphet but the current sages weren't there to watch the memories of the previous sages vows to rauru, so it's kinda weird lol
I don’t really care that this game is BotW+. It’s still really damn fun, and this was a great video covering why that is.
People really need to stop with BOTW vs. TOTK debates. Even tho TOTK is the better game IMO you can't deny that Zelda team set out on a mission to explore AS much as they could within open-world Hyrule. These games are ONE story in the chapter of Open-World Hyrule and I wish people can appreciate that perspective more. The amount of creative freedom via Ultrahand and all the Zonai builds was not something I thought I'd fall in love with but it turned out to be a game changer!
No, people can debate and express their opinions whenever they want. They do not really need to stop
And since totk barely connects to botw and ignores most of that game's story, I do not think that they are one continuous story. That's what I hoped for and not what we got
i look at them as more of a duology personally@@prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506
@@prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506also nigga why do i find u under EVERY vid regarding tears of the kingdom, positive or bad. like i get u dont like the game but damn bro u dont have to argue with EVERYBODY who actually likes tears of the kingdom. expression of opinion is fine, but when it gets to the point where you are actively seeking out/looking for these vids to bash on ppl who actually likes the game, i feel like thats past tge "expression of opinion" point. but oh well🤷🏽♂️ u do u man
@@prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506they are connected stories. In the TOTK concept book, a festival took place after the events of BOTW with link in his original outfit. The calamity is mentioned so many times.
Commenting to boost! You put a lot of work into this and are clearly passionate.
Thank you so much! I appreciate that
This is a super fair review of the game and might be the one that aligns with my view of it the most that I've seen. It has some healthy criticisms sprinkled in while also not letting them take away from the monumental feats this game accomplished, and watching it really brought me back to my time experiencing the game and reminded me of the exact feelings it gave me and the reasons I hold it in such high regard. I especially appreciate you pointing out how much more goes on in the present than in BotW cause that's something I don't see talked about nearly enough. I love the theme of community that persists throughout the game and how fitting it is for a kingdom healing from an event as devastating as the Calamity. The NPCs take a much more active role in helping your quest and the rest of the kingdom, and engaging with them always lets you enjoy some of the fruits of your labor. Your assistance in Hateno Village's political debate leads to the creation of Cheese and Sun Pumpkins to use in meals, and your assistance with the school earns you a free garden to grow crops of your choice; your assistance in rebuilding Lurelin Village leads to its people offering you their hospitality in exchange with free meals, free stays at the inn and input on a new tourist attraction; most obvious of all, your assistance with the 4 regions against their phenomena earns you their Sage as an ally for the upcoming final battle. It excels at the type of storytelling only possible in a video game by making you experience first hand the kingdom's newfound growth.
I do have some extra points I'd like to touch upon below:
A neat observation I made regarding the new mechanics is that they can essentially be seen as a watered down power of the developers themselves. Ultrahand and Fuse allow you to create objects such as bridges, vehicles and weapons yourself and Ascend literally started out as a dev tool. Where most games have a path layed out for you to solve, this game allows you to build that path yourself. It's such a brilliant way to depict this game's design philosophy, and it makes sense within the lore on a meta-level since the Zonai are descendants of gods.
The Water Temple does kinda have a lore reason for its existence, as it's stated by the Ancient Zora Sage that it's the source of the pure waters of the Lanayru region. This is further exemplified by the fact that the sludgefalls all land in one of the area's natural water sources. I can see how having the Waterworks as the Temple would've made for a cooler Water Temple aesthetic, but I think it was mostly done this way as sludge falling from the Sky feels much more apocalyptic than the alternative of a glorified pipe leak. As is, the area can be seen as a sort of fountain from heaven, and it's easy to see how the waters of such a place being polluted would have such devastating effects on the land below. It's a bit of a strange piece of lore for the region's waters to come from a floating structure, but I do quite enjoy what they do with it. I'm actually pretty disappointed that the sludge flowing through Wellspring Island doesn't transform into water upon defeating Mucktorok as I remember gushing during the climb about how gorgeous the place would look with water flowing through.
It seems you didn't notice the weakness of the Gibdo nests. Their purple core lights up while they're in the process of spawning Gibdos, and this is the only time they're able to be destroyed. This is why the nests in the Queen Gibdo arena couldn't be destroyed until the fight; they hadn't been spawning Gibdos yet. It is also possible to use Bombs to blow them up.
Mineru's spirit never actually resides in the owl mask. I can see why you would come to this conclusion since that's the moment she starts talking to you, but after the Seized Construct fight, we see her spirit exit the Purah Pad and fly into the secret stone as it fuses with her construct, meaning she's been there with Link the entire time. This raises the obvious question of why she didn't just emerge sooner and guide Link to her construct when he got the Purah Pad like she planned, and I do wish this was better explained, but I have a decent theory. Essentially, although Mineru can seperate her spirit from her body, she can't communicate in spirit form directly without the power of a secret stone (how else would it even be able to amplify her power lol). This didn't pose an issue as she had built herself a new body to house her secret stone, but Ganondorf's corruption of that construct body cut her off from the stone and prevented her from being able to communicate until a new body began to be constructed for her and she could tap into a small amount of the stone's power (this would make sense as she communicates much more clearly during the boss while they're right next to the stone). As for how previous spirits could communicate with Link, I'd simply chalk it up to them having a connection with him such as the Champions having known him in the past and Rauru's body essentially being fused with his. I think this is also a good time to point out how genius the details surrounding Mineru's quest are outside of that one hiccup. Of the 5 Phenomena Purah calls attention to, the only one not caused by Ganondorf is the Kakariko Ring Ruins, and thus were it not for him, that would've been the first place Link explored and it would've started him on the quest to access Mineru's stone and construct just like she initially planned. With that in mind, it's easy to see how much the Demon King's influence really did screw up her plan.
Sorry, I really didn't intend for my comment to be this long, and I guess I now have a slight understanding of what you went through with this video. 🤣I do hope I was able to add some solid value to this conversation.
@speedude0164 I do actually know about the Gibdo nest weakness. I still had weird issues with hitboxes tho :p
Your comment was a great read though. Thanks so much!
@@Raykushi Interesting, I've rarely had such issues with them. Maybe the hitboxes just end a bit sooner than the visual indicator would have you think.
I'm glad to hear that! It's surprisingly hard to find civil discussions about this game's merits on TH-cam so I try explaining my views in the clearest way possible in hopes it can catch on with others that feel a similar type of way. Funny enough, your explanations about the theme of addiction in the Goron City quest actually made me appreciate it much more than just "haha Gorons on drugs". It does a good job showing how much a society can be negatively impacted by addiction.
@@speedude0164 Thanks! like I said, I don't even know if it was intentional, but the fact the region's themes can be interpreted that way is interesting.
This game is nearly perfection! They finally achieved their garden box goal and its a world I always want to revisit ❤
I just know how much effort you put into your videos, the script is great and the clips of gameplay you put in too. Thank you for making these videos
@ceresattheirbest1182 this took a LONG time. It was defo a labour's of love. Thank you for recognizing that!
People focus too much on what this game could've been instead of what it was while praising the first game for everything it did while ignoring its faults. It's a double standard that has come about from nostalgia and recency bias, clouding people's ability to compare the games fairly
There's a channel called Good Blood that just released a video discussing the game design philosophy of Zelda and how BOTW and TOTK are the greatest example of what the first game was meant to be. I always felt that way even before someone posted about it. This is their masterpiece according to the way they create game worlds.
This reminds me of why this is my favorite game, though that slot didn't have much competition for me. The story, the music, the new exploration of a world I've been in, so much was so awesome, and I played for a month straight without ever touching the internet to experience it all blind. Yes that meant I never really touched the zonai devices cause I'm much more a "strong weapon smackdown!" kinda person, but it was awesome regardless. Especially the sidequests. It made me go back to BotW with a glitch to get the master cycle early and have fun playing through the game with that (made my second playthrough a ton of fun).
I felt TotK was perfect my first playthrough. Upon a second one with a sort of challenge ruleset, the flaws did become more apparent, but overall they're not that bad. Nothing is a gamebreaker. Everything is really good. And now this video is making me wanna replay it again, but I'm caught up in the midst of another project XD
There's been so much hate for the game recently, and I can kinda understand some of it, but it doesn't change the fact that the game is really hecking good. Its really nice to see a positive video on it, especially one that four hours long (dang I really just watched all that.)
Also, Ganondorf terrified the heck out of me from the beginning of the game, so the gauntlet of enemies and the moment where the "sages power couldn't reach you anymore" made it so much more terrifying. I was so sweaty in that final boss. Awesome game, awesome video, people need to calm the heck down with the hate train.
Literally me 😂
If Gloom Hands had the Guardian theme, they’d be TERRIFYING….could you imagine hearing those piano notes, panicking and looking around, and all of a sudden a group of demon hands is zooming towards you? Bruh…
A lengthy positive criticism of TotK in 2024 ???? There's no fucking way
Theres a WAY
Great video! One thing, those Gibdo spawning towers can only be destroyed at their weak spot during the specific animation when they are about to spawn more gibdos.
Black cracks form around the purple spot and that’s when you shoot an arrow with riju’s lightning. You can’t just shoot whenever.
I actually do know about that. I meant to put that on screen as a disclaimer because I forgot to mention it when I was recording, but forgot to do that too. Go me.
But yeah, I still had problems with the Gibdo towers weak point hitbox on the initial playthrough. Not so much on the second though, but I didn't want to remove the complaints from the notes I took when doing the first playthrough, so I mentioned it anyway :P
While still linear you can actually complete the GSI shrines in reverse order without any cheats or glitches which is a fun attention to design on part of the devs!
3:13:07 Thing is, because a lot of players want the Master Sword, and because it's between the first and second intended regions and on the road to Goron City, I think a lot of players will stumble upon the Deku Tree early on. Personally, this Phantom Ganon was the first one I ever defeated.
You're right that it's underwhelming following the 1v5 at Hyrule Castle with these guys, which is why I really don't think the intended order is to come here after that quest. Them directing you here is more of a failsafe just in case you hadn't done it yet.
I love tears of the kingdom, but they could’ve done so much more in certain areas, like the depths/sky and elaborate on some things. I don’t like how all the sheikah tech (and my cool divide beast bike I rightfully earned) just “disappeared” with no explanation.
And I know this is probably a nitpick but I hate how most of the dlc armor from BOTW still isn’t upgradable. It kinda made sense from the first game since it was just DLC but since you can get them here like any other armor sets why can’t I upgrade them like any other armor sets?
I agree Totk could’ve been more but I can’t say I’m not happy with what we did get. I definitely think it delivered
This is the first POSITIVE review of TOTK that ive seen. And its so refreashing because when i played it i knew it was my new favorite game in the series.
As a person who wasnt as much of a fan of botw as others were, it was so refreashing to see nintendo do something different with their open world concept, and i feel thats something a lot of people miss.
I didn't even make this video to "defend totk" or anything. I had begun writing the script 2 months after it's release, when reception of the game was still overwhelmingly positive, but ended up putting it off for a few months. After I'd come back, it was after many videos and think-pieces came out about how bad the game was. In that way, I'm glad this video got delayed like it was, because many people like yourself have commented that they really appreciate the more positive perspective after all the pessimism about the game.
@Raykushi i do feel it's a good perspective to have on the game. Because it is such a GOOD game. The reviews it's received are really unfair because what totk added compared to what botw is so massive it's hard to under look.
I know for me I love this game, and I'm so excited to go back and play it again (I think this video sparked my hyper fixation). LOL, thank you for such a good review where I don't feel upset watching!
I find it interesting how there are people who look for positive reviews only find negative ones and there are those who want to find some negative reviews can only find positive ones. For example on Skittybitty's video I found a lot of commenters thanking them since they only saw praise with no critiques.
Just something I noticed. (Personally I've seen a lot of positive and negative reviews since the game first released).
@@Nova-gh5yrshe is so extremely annoying that whole time felt like she was finding reasons to dislike it and she makes it seem like absolutely NOTHING was added which if you actually compare the two that is fundamentally just not true. I don’t see how $70 is any problem when breath of the wild(for the whole package) is $80 and that’s not even accounting for gear that is just not available unless you have an amiibo.
I loved this game and was SO excited to see a video that wasn't TOTK hate!!!!
frfr
Seriously
It’s technically the darkest Zelda game why else would you need bright bloom seeds 😎
Thank you for giving me something to listen to at work! I also really enjoyed your review.
Hell yeah! Any time!
I'm glad you enjoy the game so much. It was interesting hearing someone talk about it positively even if i don't necessarily agree with it. I Even decided to pick the game back up and give it a second shot after dropping it after about 20ish hours when it first released. I still have too many problems with the game to say i enjoyed my time with it, even this second time around, but im glad you and others think positively about it. This was a nice watch
Thank you so much
It’s just that we didn’t need good. We needed great and we should’ve gotten great.
I’m starting my 3rd playthrough of this game and yeah, it’s still amazing.
I didn't engage with the depths until I had explored the sky and most of the overworld and I had never seen a Lynel even after completing the four main areas. At first I was disappointed they hadn't returned, but I remembered I had seem in cutscenes and held out hope. Discovering tons of them in the depths and immediately remembering how to perfectly dispatch them from BOTW was one of my favorite moments
When it came to finding caves, I set my camera sensor to blupees and had a much easier time finding them.
Thank you for singing the games praises. I've seen so many videos popping up trying to get hate clicks by claiming the game is "actually awful".
That blupee thing is based. I'm doing that on my next playthrough lol
Whoaaaa I need to try that
While Blupees make it easier to find entrances, you can also use Bubbulfrogs later on to help find the caves you're missing since they never respawn.
They’re not trying to get «hate clicks.» It is what they mean, people can have different opinions. I LOVE totk but I still agree with most of the points made in those videos. Totk isn’t near perfect but it doesn’t have to be perfect to be an awesome game.
Just found this video, and in a current climate (at least in the form of youtube videos) that seems pretty negative on the game, this is such a refresher and something I needed. TotK is my favorite game currently. Like, BotW is already one of the greatest games ever and Tears just clears it on nearly every level outside of the fact that it's not the first one. And while that first time experience is a strength of BotW absolutely worth cherishing, I equally value Totk in how it was able to innovate. With the inclusion of the new abilities, Zonai Devices, the Sky Islands & the Depths, it somehow recaptured and even surpassed the magic of the first game, which I would have thought impossible.
I can't really even call myself a Zelda fan, at least in the traditional sense; BotW was the only other Zelda game I had played, and yet the whole ending with the dragon fight, diving down to catch Zelda, & the music, it was all so emotional. I was tearing up just from you recounting it lol. I guess I'm a fan now 🤣
I gotta give props to your script and editing because somehow a 4 hour video was really easy to watch, it flowed really well. Thanks for making this!
P.S
I am so with you about how much better the combat and item usage is in this game. Really glad you brought up the cross pollination of items as well in how collecting stuff on the Islands aids you in exploring the Depths and vise versa. Everything is so interconnected, its a design marvel. Also, the Sky Islands are my happy place, I don't mind at all that they are kind of bare, they evoke that quite, lonely but calming tranquility and meditative mood that the first game had, and in this game with a more bustling Hyrule, I really value a space for that. And that skybox & music UGH let me live on the Great Sky Island please 😂
I watched the whole fucking video i am a fucking mad lad now
hey at 45:00 you mention that the frog set cant jump in the rain but if you upgrade each piece at a great fairy twice the set bonus is unslippable and even allows climbing on icy surfaces.
Yeah! Someone actually mentioned that and it blew my mind. I'm kicking myself for not knowing, actually. I'm gonna have to make a pinned comment with some of the addendums lol
@@Raykushi Also thank you so much for this video! The TOTK hate that started popping up was really bumming me out. I kept seeing video after video about it and from some of my favorite creators. I get some of the criticism but it seamed over blown for a game thats as wonderful as TOTK. I have put in 300 hours and have 100% it and I think like you said its now my favorite game.
So happy to see some positivity about this game going around, it is definitely currently a victim of the Zelda love/hate dynamic that seems to happen to most games. Many of the people asserting that BOTW is the better game were hating on it a year after its release as well. Same thing will happen with EOW in a few days.
In five years these will all be considered the best of the series if past trends are to play out again
I remember ToTK being praised to high heaven on Twitter during it's first month and then we started to see this contrarian influx of "it's good but...is it??" and I was losing my mind lmao
The "Zelda cycle" seems like an intuitive concept and there is some truth to it, but I also think it's a very convenient excuse brought up to discredit more easily parts of the fandom people don't relate to. I'm curious what makes you think that many of the people preferring BOTW were hating it before. There are all sorts of profiles who played Zelda before BOTW or not, liked BOTW or not, liked TOTK or not, and many different tier lists anyone could make for any number of preferences...
Personally, playing them back-to-back as well as other Zelda games in the past year, I know that we've had enough time for some people to form clear, fleshed out opinions that have no particular reason to change in years to come. Old Zelda is amazing, archaic in some areas but has things that could still be used in the open world. BOTW has become a classic that was never going to please everyone, but incredibly important for the series and successful thanks to its bold and clear focus. TOTK will always be impressive mechanically for what they achieved, full of exciting concepts, but their focus took away from the execution for most of its world building and story telling.
Using the Zelda cycle to discredit negative opinions is very reductive. Sure, there are some opinions that are like that, but there are also valid opinions about the flaws of the game. Just because the game is popular doesn't mean the people who didn't like it have bad reasons for not enjoying it.
@@Raykushi Well yeah. because back when it first launched any person who even disagreed with it being better than BOTW was told they were wrong... It makes sense now, that with skitty's video, people are a lot more comfortable sharing their thoughts on TOTK if they're negative. It's not contrarian, it's legit people finally being able to share their opinions without being hushed instantly. Of course some do go too far, but like... Come on, we went through this with BOTW too where any negative opinions of it were hushed at launch. People are just more comfortable sharing their opinions on the game now.
@@ConductorElcrestno one did this though, no one was "silenced" for thinking BotW was better than TotK at launch... What? BotW fans just got salty most people didn't agree that BotW was flawless and lost their minds when people pointed out, "yeah TotK was what I wanted out of BotW" 🤷♀️
Rarely do I ever watch a video of this stature to the end but this time it was different. This review was so engaging, understandable, hilarious at times and heartfelt that I had no problem sitting through this behemoth of a video. It was a great watch! Thank you for the countless hours spent crafting this insightful review🙏🏼
Thank you!!!!
And yes, it was COUNTLESS hours, this really took me a long time so I appreciate it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this review.
Many reviews I've seen tend to not go into any depths as to why they like or dislike, totk especially when the review is negative and when it is hour long reviews. Some critiques I saw were disingenuous.
For example one hour long review I saw was someone saying botw's runes, movement, and combat was better...because of unintentional glitches and exploits...and literally had a whole section dedicated to "Jank" between the two games. It felt it was doing both games an injustice because it gave the impression if botw didn't have the jank it does, that person wouldn't have enjoyed botw as intended and also take for granted the improvements totk had to the things mentioned above.
Suffice to say, this review was refreshing and the critics felt rather valid. It's honestly amazing that you pushed through such a long video mostly alone. Legitimately takes dedication, but considering totk is such a great yet complex game with both perfections and flaws, it definitely warrants time for detail. Great video!
Thank you for the kind words! This video indeed was a pain to make lol
I can;t decide if Windwaker or Totk are my favorite Zelda games. Totk is goated though, I do not understand the hate for it by some.
The zelda cycle. I love and hate totk at the same time however. I love the gameplay but hate how it’s a sequel and the story doesn’t show it enough
Incredible video, I absolutely love botw and totk but I'm not a huge Zelda fan in general and I think you captured exactly why I love these games
@@helenelareine :D thanks!
This is the best totk long review I have ever seen, well listened too while at work, but still it was incredible. I feel like it matches my feelings on this game better than any other review I have seen. Just for the improved combat and boss battles alone I like totk better than BOTW, and I loved how you actually get to do cool stuff with the sages. I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment that the memories in BOTW made me wish I was playing through what happened in the past instead of just seeing the memories of it.
Gaaawdayum that was a good intro trailer/animatic. Honestly got me contemplating to get back into the game
Thank you! I was really proud of it too.
do it!!!
Returning to Lookout Landing after receiving Tulin's Vow actually seems to point you in three directions. When you arrive, there is a Goron who appears to be asking Scorpis for directions to Death Mountain -- it's a single dialogue cutscene (where they are literally giving directions) and then they're gone. This is also when returning to Josha introduces you to Tauro, who immediately returns to Kakariko Village, then she points you toward the quest where you will encounter Master Kohga for the first time.
I've seen so much genuinely bad faith criticism of this game so it's nice to see someone diving deep into why they like it for a damn change
What does "bad faith" mean?
@RP-mp4ow Criticism that comes from a place of hate. Usually picking out things that aren't really problems and making a bigger deal of them than they are. They aren't trying to be honest or impartial
I am so glad people are finally coming out and saying “actually, totk is an amazing game in its own right, even if it has its problems” because of the amount of hate it’s been getting over the last year. I’m a totk lover, and it frustrated me so much when people were only releasing videos of how much they hated totk or “why totk is not a good game”. Like yeah, as a sequel it fails in a lot of aspects. But what if, for a moment, you remove it from the context of being a sequel… it’s an amazing game, albeit with flaws.
I think it's an interesting sequel in the context of zelda games because I don't think we've seen a game in zelda that is direct sequel that takes place in the same world. We have sequels like Majora's Mask and Spirit Tracks which clearly take place around the same time but none of the previous game's elements are present. I think it was cool seeing how things have changed from the previous game. We don't usually get that in zelda titles.
People have been releasing both extremes and everything in-between since release. For those with pros and cons to express, saying how good something is can be pretty succinct, while explaining a flaw or "what could have been" takes a bit more effort. I think that being a sequel really amplifies that because sure we could just forget context and hype and just enjoy the moment, but many of these reviews are naturally looking at the bigger picture. Many of them do remind that there are high highs, but again, nothing exists in a vacuum.
I can understand that it is frustrating to see views drastically opposed from ours trend and find some success, but that has been true on both sides. The latest being that skittybitty diatribe, and now it seems we got the opposite to restore balance if it trends a bit ^^ (I haven't watched this one yet).
tell ya what , then you can remove the context of me having needed to pay 100$ for this re-releas of the same game misleadingly being called a sequel , and i'll agree with you that tokt is an amazing game....
But the purpose of totk is to be a sequel? You cannot remove that context. It's a good game but could've been so much more
It still works great as a sequel imo. We all know they made it so it could he played before BotW and still understood, but what are we really losing from this? A few moments of Zelda going "this man birthed the monster that ravaged my era", Tulin going "I hope I can make the Champion Revali proud"? We can pick up on these sorts of things alone without the need to mention them, so it's a more than worthy trade off. As such, when you spot the moments yourself, this game's story is amplified by BotW in many ways. Extra weight is added to the villain by having him be the cause of mass destruction across multiple eras and getting to destroy him for good. Tulin, whom I mentioned earlier, gets to overcome what was essentially Revali's only weakness. Sidon begins to get over a fear instilled in him by the loss of his sister. Riju and Yunobo show a noticeable increase in confidence since their last appearance. The world as a whole is so much more organized and the NPCs take a much more active role in the conflict, indicating how much the kingdom has healed and evolved following the end of the Calamity. These are small ways in which the game uses its sequel status to create a stronger over-arching narrative than it otherwise could've.
3:22:53 its the secret stone of light and its dusk or dawn so its not that bright outside so its logical to assume that ganondorf was able to se bright light emitting from Rauru and up close later he deduces that it was his glowing secret stone that did this.
Also it seems possible that ganondorf has some knowledge of the existence of secret stones because the sage of fire knows what they are when Rauru show them.
god finally a positive video, everyones just gonna switchup on this game in 5-10 years and say "i always loved this masterpiece!!!@!!@!"
That's honestly so true people will do that over the WORST games too lmao it's not just a zelda phenomena
@@Raykushi theyve done this with like EVERY zelda game too thats what i love 🐈
phase 1 (when it comes out): "this is revolutionary. best game ever."
phase 2 (after at least 2 months): "this is the worst piece of garbage ive ever played. [insert previous game in the franchise] was better."
phase 3 (when the next game comes out): "this was revolutionary. best game oat. ive always loved this masterpiece."
What a nice change, i've watched quite a few negative TOTK's Videos and although they're good they like only the negatives are being looked it. It's nice to find another positive Video about TOTK that isn't nit-picking at every turn, about Mineru and Secret Stone. Given how she and Rauru are the last of their kind, I like to think she didn't have the full information about dragonification.
I don't have time to write a 4 hour long comment, so I'm just gonna go with: you nailed it.
Excellent analysis. I hope you keep making long form content like this, cuz you rock at it.
Thanks for a positive review! I needed to see one pop up after a while!
This game would’ve been waaaay better if you played as Zelda in the past, worked at being a powerful sage and afterwards (when she failed) play as link to finish the job! It could be enough to be a separate game tbh
Finally, a video for my confirmation bias
Regarding the targeting of Riju's lightning, I assume the reason they have you shoot an arrow is to take advantage of the attraction lightning has to metal. Riju can aim in the general direction of her target, and the arrow head attracts the lightning to fine-tune her aim. Of course the real reason is to give you a way to control her attack, but I think using arrows makes sense based on the real-world behavior of lightning and metal (despite it being loosely applied). And I assume the devs intended players to think this because they implemented this behavior with the lightning that occurs in the world and with electric elemental attacks. To be fair, its a bit of a stretch since I don't think arrows attract lightning from storms, but the principle is the same.
i definitely disagree with your take, but this video is super well made and a clear labor of love! well done!
@@skittybitty thanks so much! Really appreciate that
It’s skitty!!
Still no shrine on shrine island. What a waste
Finally a new "Totk is a Masterpiece" video. These seem scarce
just finished the video and am sad it's over, fantastic review and great video. The edit you did in the Sonia part killed me, great job with that 🤣🤣
@@ItsRainingBloodIsHeCrying thank you lol it was kinda foul but I had to :3
It would make sense that the castle is desserted if the population has declined enough. Maintenance on a something so big would take up a lot of time and resources that would be better spent elsewhere.
Also, Zelda just doesn't seem that interested in being a traditional ruler
It's interesting how some of the issues pointed out by other critiques are less impactful on your enjoyment or downright viewed as positive aspects by you. For example, you mentioned how the connection between lightroots and shrines make shrine hunting much easier and how that is something amazing, while I've seen another person mentioning it as a negative because it trivializes the careful exploration that would be required for it, and THAT is what they thought would be amazing if the lightroots didn't "ruin" it. I, myself, would side with you on this particular example. Not that I think it's a huge deal, but I prefer the convenience of having that option over some annoying careful combing I had to do to find some of the final shrines in BOTW.
Hey, thanks for the comment ^^
You can find most shrines on the surface with enough gumption so I don't think the lightroots trivialize anything. People often complain that there is nothing to do in the sky/depths and then in the next breath complain about a function they DO perform. I like that the Depth's can be used as a tool in that way - interplay between the 3 world layers is already pretty rare, so this was a clever way to add more and the game would have been worse off without it.
Never have I seen a video where litteraly everything said perfectly matched my thoughts. this was was a phenomenal video. its so nice to see a video which praised all the elements of this game that no one seems to talk about. i loved how you always gave proof to support your arguments too. Im so glad I finaly found someone who felt the same way about this games story, I agree it is MUCH better than BOTW (I wonder why no one else seems to agree?). Anyway great video
Thank you!!
I don't think I see people say that the story in BoTW specifically is better. Usually they talk about how BoTW is a better game overall. My guess as to why people feel that way is because BoTW and it's world were extremely new at the time, everyone was discovering this kind of game design for the Zelda series for the first time. It's really THAT feeling people are attached to, not necessarily the game itself.
@@Raykushi That a great point and makes a lot of sense. I think for most people there is just no reliving that experience of playing the first game for the first time. I’m just really lucky that I had that same feeling for ToTK too.
There is one idea that I had that I really wish they would've added into this game. That being... Dark Link. But not like a typical Dark Link kind of boss... no, no, there would only be ONE of this guy on the map at any given time. And he would be following your Hero's Path data from Breath of the Wild. If you happen to run into him, it's a fight to the death (where he has anything you would've had at that point). If you don't, then you don't.
5:48 "After only 2 months on the market at the time of writing this script"
Me, eyeing the video release date: 👁️👄👁️
Yeah this took me like 8 months LMAO
@@Raykushi Well worth the effort dude, I'm only just now finishing it and it's been a joy to listen to your takes on one of my favorite games. Great to have in my ear while I'm at work.
If BotW is the modern day OoT, then TotK is the modern day Twilight Princess. Much like TP back in the day, the community is extremely divided over TotK. The fans LOVE it and say its better than its predecessor, while the haters write it off as an edgy reskin of (OoT/BotW) that took WAY too long to make.
I would agree with the whole “Zelda turning back to a human” point IF, and I could be wrong, I didn’t see what Nintendo was doing. One of the first things I noticed when talking about totk and botw was each games theme in color. Breath of the wild is mostly associated with the color blue and tears of the kingdom is mostly associated with the color green. Now what else are those two colors mostly associated with in the Zelda games? If you guessed right then it’s the triforce(blue=triforce of wisdom, green=triforce of courage)If Nintendo is planning on using the same engine then most likely the next big Zelda game would take place in the same hyrule except most of the art represents red(triforce of power) and maybe have the triforce be officially introduced in the wild era. That could be a great excuse to have ganondorf back even after dying since it’s not the first time a version of ganondorf was killed just to be resurrected by someone. I don’t think Nintendos done with this Zelda yet
1. They said officially they were done with games in this world.
2. I don't remember a lot of emphasis on the color blue in BotW
3. Even if that was the case, Red would be Ganon- so you couldn't make a game with a perspective focusing on the villain. (Well YOU could, but not Nintendo. Well NINTENDO could, but not for Zelda)
So, a couple of note I had while watching. The frog armor does make you slip proof if you get the set bonus. Also, you could get the fangs, scales, claws, and horns from the dragons in botw. The only new one is the spike. Other than that, I’ve absolutely loved this video.
Yeah, I've been corrected about the frog thing alot lol.
You sure about the dragon parts though? I know about scales and horns, but claws and fangs I don't remember.
Thanks though! Really appreciate it!
@@Raykushi Yep. You just have to be precise about shooting the dragon on the claw and mouth for those parts. I think they were used for some upgrades to the “of the wild” set of armor.
Wow, this was monumental...This was truly the most in-depth and comprehensive look at Tears of the Kingdom I've seen. You were careful not to compare it to Breath of the Wild too often like most reviewers have done, except of course where it was necessary, as Totk is very derivative, you gave credit where credit was due, even as someone who admitted that you enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom, you didn't shy away from mentioning it's shortcomings or missed potential, you even did a great job near the end giving a synopsis of the story, characters and themes. I can't believe I watched the whole thing, I mean, I watched it over a three day period, but still...
I agreed with you on just about every point with this game, even though I acknowledge and understand people's grievances about the game, I don't share them. It took me eight months to complete Tears of the Kingdom, and I have to say, I enjoyed every moment. I agree that there was a lot of missed potential with the sky, we could have had whole ancient Zonai civilizations up there, if more of the islands could have been as grand as the great sky island and had different motifs for each reason, we could have truly gotten something special. In terms of gameplay, Tears of the Kingdom expanded on and perfected the mechanics of Breath of the Wild, one of the forst things that stuck out to me in Botw, besides of course, the huge, beautiful open world, was how much more of an emphasis there was on combat. Fighting was never really something I thought much about in most other 3d Zelda games, it was there, and I enjoyed the fights, but there were never really moments where I felt like I had to be careful about how I approached each enemy encounter or thought "shoot, I might die here if I'm not careful", they were kind of an afterthought and usually pretty easy, but in botw, you always have to be careful about how you're going to handle a group of enemies, especially when it's early in the game and everyghing can kill you in about two hits once you leave the plateau. There's no experience points system, instead, your growth as a player feels natural, you'll get stronger weapons and find materials for Link as you fight and explore, you'll learn enemies' attack patterns and be able to telegraph for a perfect dodge to flurry rush or shield bash them, where before, you were getting killed by guardiand every few minutes, after a while, you'll be parrying their lasers like it's nothing. I loved Botw's combat, and Totk perfected it with the fuse mechanic. Tears of the Kingdom is as great of a game as Breath of the Wild, and I think for a lot of people, that's the problem; it's only as good as Breath of the Wild, even though it adds to and perfects mechanics established in Botw, it's reuse of the same Hyrule feels too much like retreading old ground and forces one to draw constant comparisons to the original game, so much that they don't feel like they can call it a sequel. To me, I didn't mind revisiting this Hyrule, I was actually excited to, yeah, we spent seven years exploring this Hyrule, we know it front to back, but returning to it in Totk felt like returning to your old stomping grounds from when you were a kid. How are your old friends you used to hang out with? What's new with the old neighborhood? I wanted to see how the old world I spent so much precious time and connected with had changed, and to some extent, we did. We get to see this world that was so ravaged by the Calamity begin to heal, Hyrule starts to come together. I heard that Eiji Aonuma said he wanted hands to be the theme for this game, specifically hands clasping together, and from Hyrule's citizend piecing a broken, delapitdated kingdom together, to Link grabbing Zelda's hand at the end, succeeding at the finale where he failed in the start, you really get what he was going for. Totk's story really feels like it both mirrors and expands on Botw's in many ways. Link doesn't feel forlorn in Hyrule anymorre, he's regained his memories and fulfilled his purpose as a hero, he can call this place home now, but now a new threat emerges that requires his courage to save this kingdom once again, Zelda isn't tied to the immense responsibility of awakening her sealing power anymore, but the sacrifice she makes by undergoing draconification to restore the Master Sword so that Link can defeat Ganondorf is no less serious. Gone is the mindless Calamity that brought Hyrule to ruin a century ago, we find that this monstrosity was merely an apparition, an amalgamation of the power, malice and hatred of Ganondorf, this is not an unconscious monster, this is a man with dark ambitions, he is a fearful king who weilds great power, and is frankly, a much more interesting antagonist than Calamity Ganon, and this game gave us the best fight with him yet, even better than Twilight Princess, in my opinion anyway. For all it's shortcomings, Tears of the Kingdom is still a legendary game, it might not have the benefit of being the first like it's predescesor, but I still loved it nonetheless, and your review certainly did it justice, thanks so much for making this.
I read the whole comment and I appreciate every word! I put a lot into this project and I'm glad you appreciate that.
@@Raykushi Thanks! I can definitely tell you outdid yourself for this, I really do appreciate it!
Phenomenal review! Honestly agree with a majority of what you said. TOTK is my fav game of all time and while I understand it’s flaws, I can’t by any means call it bad and it’s sad there are a lot of people who think it is. I just can’t not enjoy the game while I play it, and sunk 300 hours in to my first 100% play through
The editing of this video is so greatly done! What editting app do you use?
.....Pinnacle Studios.
I do NOT recommend it I'm actually in the process of learning DaVinci Resolve LMAO
I died so many times fighting the seized construct. It was so hard.
Glad to see someone else agree that nice as it is botw can look a bit samey with the colours/look
Excellent analysis (maybe because I agree across the board)! You’ve got a new sub friend, and hoping for more in-depth analysis of other properties in the future!
*sweats profusely* I'll try to deliver lol
Thank you so much for your analysis of this amazing game. So many videos analyzing Totk are usually spent talking about Totk doesn’t do anything new or different from botw, or how they seemingly just reused the same world with very little changes. And while everyone has the right to their own opinions, I think they miss what this game is trying to do, to expand on what botw did and do something that, while similar to what came before, makes the creativity players displayed in botw dial it up to an 11. I have seen a video where someone legitimately creates with zonai devices what I liken to a power rangers megazord or a Gundam mobile suit solely meant for destroying your enemies.
While not everything will necessarily be a hit, I think what limits a lot of people’s opinions is that each every Zelda game has to match what is considered the gold standard of the series, Ocarina of Time. Now don’t misunderstand me, I love Ocarina of Time and consider it to be one of the greatest games ever made, both from what it objectively did for the video game industry and my love for its gameplay, themes and characters. But I think what a lot of fans miss is that the Zelda team loves to innovate and try something new that they haven’t done before, even in a sequel like Majoras Mask.
The Zelda formula as it’s often called was there for a reason, but over time the team and the community realized that the formula was limiting what Zelda could be, as anyone who is familiar with Skyward Sword knows what I’m talking about. (Note: I love Skyward Sword in what it does well so any fans don’t come after me plz!)
That’s why Botw exists, so the team could redefine what Zelda itself means, and try something vastly different from what people were accustomed to. And while there were issues in Botw that were due to the games open ended gameplay philosophy, that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, as Totk did improve most of them, though granted not all of them.
That’s why I’m okay that Aonuma said that they weren’t returning to the old formula, because I want to see what the team can come up with next. So thank you for giving this game a fair chance and listing its successes and stumbles, because I think that’s how games can be improved, by acknowledging what works and what doesn’t.
@SiriusGalilei I think the best way to springboard off some of the stuff you said is to share my distaste when people say "totk is a good game but it's not a good zelda game". That implies a certain restriction in gameplay based on previous games. People thought Mario 64 wasn't a real mario game because it wasn't a 2D platformer. Now, no one would dream of saying such a thing. I think people will think the same of open world zelda in the future.
@@Raykushi i remember when Twilight Princess came out people didn’t like it because of the overly long introduction before the first dungeon and the apparent linearity of the game. But now I see a lot more people praising it in what it does well, especially with how it crafted one of the best character stories in Midna or the increased focus on swordplay with the sword skills. I’ve even seen some praise for Skyward Sword for how it handled the character of Groose or the memorization of areas for use in the sacred realm challenges.
I think what many negative initial reactions to certain games in the Zelda series have in common is often to two particular parts, the differences in gameplay from previous titles or the similar storyline in many of the games, usually being saving Zelda, stopping the villain or getting to the triforce or whatever macguffin the game has. I think what many initial reactions miss is the environmental or character storytelling the games do, or how the main story influences gameplay. In Twilight Princess Link is initially attempting to save the children from Ordon village who were kidnapped being the start of his adventure rather than being called by the Great Deku tree like in Ocarina, or how Skyward Sword Link is on his journey to save Zelda, but often being too late to reach her before she leaves for the next location, or Wind Waker link attempts to save his sister but realizing that jumping in without being fully prepared is foolhardy.
I love the character stories from Totk, from the two characters in Hateno village trying to stand for what they believe is the right path for the village to go but both secretly agreeing with the others ideas, or how there is one Zora female who seems to have a crush for Sidon apart from Yona and yearns for him from afar, or how the one guy in Kakariko is keeping you from the the one ruins because he secretly hopes to become a famous researcher himself, thus happily following the fake Zelda’s orders to keep others from the ruins, hoping to make the discovery himself and get all the credit.
I think that is where Zelda storytelling excels, from the environmental storytelling and the small character moments, because you feel like you get to view intimate moments of these characters lives as they are just trying to live their lives like we do, beyond the fantastical adventures. And often the gameplay is itself reflecting the games themes and philosophy, which while it might not shine the best at times, there are times where it is beautiful. I think while I wouldn’t disregard many of their complaints, hindsight is 20/20 and time I think will make many appreciate this game for what it does well.
“totk is a good game but it’s not a good zelda game” is such an annoying and obviously untrue gotcha and i am speaking as the foremost authority on totk hating
@@skittybittyshut the hell up. Stop shitting on everyone with a different opinion than you
@@skittybitty shut up and go somewhere else. Just because you’re not clever enough to appreciate what was actually added doesn’t mean other people cant
Four hour video as to why Tears of the kingdom is amazing?
Ehh I’ve got time
I like that triangle strategy intro music, you’re a man of increasingly great taste
I was waiting for someone to finally recognize the triangle strategy song :P
That game is excellent, holy cow.
Yes i like totk alot more than botw people complain about the freaking menu ui i mean the menu ui really its not that big of a deal i think peoples amazing experience with botw was a let down on totk but exploration isn't what kept us coming back too botw totk is the reason why people go back too botw and there's more entertaining stuff in Totk so Totk for alot of people was a let down they got a recipe for disappoinment no matter how the game turned out i love this game i will defend it with my life
I love different opinions
I myself am mixed on totk
I don’t like exploring the same map and the depths or sky didn’t add anything substantial other than repetitive fluff.
Funny enough I don’t think its flaws are the lack of Zelda traditions.
Totk flaw is the absence of what made botw famous, exploration of a big new world.
Having different biomes in the depths with towns of undiscovered civilizations would have been a massive reward for exploring.
I still like Totk a lot for its gameplay but I am still disappointed we gotta wait another decade before we get a true new map to explore in a new Zelda game
But the capabilities of switch 2 will probably make the next Zelda game glorious lol
Botw and Totk are my very first Zelda games, and honestly I think I enjoyed Totk way more than botw. I played it a lot more, it had a lot more for me to do in side content that I still enjoyed, and the characters were incredible. I have my own complaints with it, but it is undoubtedly one of my favorite games now
Was TOTK disappointing for me? Yes.
Do I still think BOTW is better? Yes.
Did I still put over 200 hours on my play-through of TOTK? Yes
That’s just how high the Nintendo bar is.
I disagree on quite a few points, and was overall disappointed by totk (despite loving certain things), but this is an incredible video!! You were very fair and in-depth, and I enjoyed watching the whole thing!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate that! I put a lot of work into it lol
@@Raykushi I can tell! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I disagree ascend is replaceable. Do you know how many hard to reach places I was able to get to with ascend? I literally wasted trampolines trying to get to a surface in the sky islands just to realize I had ascend this whole time
It's not totally replaceable - I said it was most replaceable out of the 4 powers in a comparative sense, which it certainly is. Thank you for watching though
@@Raykushi no for sure. I can’t say I miss revalis gale when ascend is just that on crack
If they just made it to where you held a shoulder button to reassign the face buttons to your companions moves and it would’ve been smoother 🙃😞 sorta like in Kakarot how they let you use support characters
The last Zelda game I played before botw was oot. A guy at work brought in his switch and showed me botw and as you can imagine I was amazed. Went home and later that night bought a switch. I had no idea about the game play and it took me a long while to beat guardians 😅
Anyway I played botw over and over and when I bought totk I thought I would go back but I haven’t yet.
Wait, what WAS your favourite song from the game?????
The final boss theme. My dumbass didn't overtly state it lol
I would say I do want a harder mode for TOTK
3:07:45 The latin american dub is amazing. I recommend people check it out, especially if you understand Spanish.
In depth on the Depths and surface level on the Sky Islands was when I knew I was here for the long haul. Don't you ever apologize for such play on words
@@TreborKoor haha, thank you!
I'm glad you were able to get this done and out there bud. I've watched a much as I can before I got spoiled lol. Now time to actually finish the game...
Finally finished the video, that was a long one lol. My only gripe, your ALttP pun... Technically, Zelda would be the "Link to the Past" not Link himself since hes in the present time lol.
Gotta say, this was a great watch (had to watch it in bursts because i have ADHD and it gets hard to focus lol) but this video and what you said perfectly encapsulates how i feel about Tears of the Kingdom...The game isnt perfect (nothing is) but that game was a masterpiece and became my favorite game as well. Ive been playing Zelda for a long time, OoT was my first...No game has captured the sense of wonder (not even Breath of the Wild) that Tears of the Kingdom has for me. I think this game having BotW come before it was a benefit... BotW's Hyrule was great but left a lot to be desired. It felt empty, devoid of content and the sense of exploration was lost on me the second I realized i was only going to be met with Korok poo or empty grassy plains. TotK's additions were kind of what i wanted when BotW was first being announced...Caves, sky islands, a dark world type place that mirrors Hyrule, etc.
Again, good video. You earned yourself a sub
Thank you so much! I really appreciated this comment
@@Raykushi thank you for the video, and thank you for putting into words what I cannot lol. Tears of the Kingdom is a wonderful game and I hope more people see this video
Thank you for making this video. Nice to see other people also enjoy this amazing game
Totk is a great game. But personally I am still very disappointed in many aspects of it. I'm glad it seems like many people enjoyed it much more than I did. There is a lot to like. But for me it just didn't hit the points I wanted it to. I won't list all my gripes, but the sheer sudden disappointment I felt when I realized that every single cutscene after the dungeons are all the same, was kinda the beginning of the end for me. Not a deal breaker or anything, nothing in this game really is bad enough to make me not have at least enjoyed my playthrough. It's not one thing, but a combination of different gripes that add up to me just being disappointed in the final product. Overall it's a great game, but personally I prefer many of the older games, and yes that includes Botw.
I respect this so much! I personally loved the game but I really appreciate seeing someone admit they didn’t really love it, while also admitting they know it’s objectively a good game.
One little thing I liked and idk if it was totally on purpose or not but the Parallel between TOTK and OoT of Ganadorf proclaiming his loyalty to the King- Rauru/ King of Hyrule in OoT but of course it turning out to be a blatant lie just to get close to the royal family. Idk just the scene of him in the palace bowing before Rauru reminded me of the similar scene in OoT
History really do be repeating itself
Considering Ocarina of Time is about time, it's fun to poetically think of child Link and Zelda peering into the future from that window.
I love how that moment is lowkey a confrontation between Ganondorf and Rauru, as both are well aware of the other's true intent yet are playing along until their opportunity to strike presents itself. Ganondorf subtly challenges Rauru to a battle of wits and warns him of the devastation to come if he loses, and Rauru confidantly affirms that regardless of his own fate, Hyrule has his back.
a 4 hour video? is it christmas already? Great video btw!! 😍
@@caneshuga thanks so much!
I loved evry hour of this amazing reveiw. 4 hours is crazy and im not complaining