The Legend of Zelda Lost Its Spark
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- The Legend of Zelda is one of the greatest franchises of all time but as a gamer i can't help that with the newer instalments of "Breath of the Wild" and "Tears of the Kingdom" on the Nintendo Switch that Zelda has lost some of its spark.
#nintendo #tearsofthekingdom #botw #zelda #nintendoswitch
Time Stamps:
0:00 - Intro
3:10 - General Thoughts
4:53 - Dungeons
9:57 - Story
12:49 - Final thoughts
Music used:
• Main Theme - The Legen...
• 01 - Intro Screen - Th...
Gameplay Used:
Nintendo
• Zelda: Tears of the Ki...
• Majora's Mask - Happy ...
• Evolution of Link Gett...
• Epona & Link Travellin...
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Mr aonuma, wanna know why I want to go back to a more limiting game? Tears of the kingdom took 6 years to make, and it was the most expensive Zelda development ever. I forgot most of the story less than a year later.
Majora’s Mask was made in 18 months on a shoestring budget ran on 8mb of RAM and told and unforgettable story I’ll never forget.
tbf the development of mm was an absolute nightmare, with devs sleeping under their desks to make the deadlines and shit. they should take their time, the thing with totk is that everything is so similar to botw that the 6 year gap seems kind of insane. that's how long it took between ss and botw, and they built that one from essentially the ground up. wtf were they doing in totk lmao
@@highdefinition450 i think they said the fuse ability took over a year to develop plus if you think about it the depths is literally another hyrule but underground , and maybe ultrahand took a long time to develop too, yeah i love this game so much but i do wonder why have a 6 year development if there was barley anything new .
The developers behind botw said they wanted to have space between locations and have less load times. With a couple tweaks I think we could have the truly perfect version of botw and totk, like if they improve on the dungeons and fill in the world a little more
scale back the world a bit so that it feels more dense and it would be way better imo lol. there's too much nothing between the actual interesting things in the game i think lmao
the algorithm has chosen you
@@KingTwili I alone am the chosen small content creator
Well you're all hedging your bets on being negative since TotK dropped sooo way to surf on discoverability I guess lol
Yeah its popular now to hate on some of the best games of all time
@@kayden2119 No hate just voicing my gripes with design flaws and overall execution of ideas. Still great games in their own right
@@CookieCovers03 yeah sure
Playing through the story is a very important storytelling device. People are more likely to forgive story issues and plotholes if they feel emotionally and connected as they insert themselves into the playable character, in this case Link. That's why, for example, I can overlook some story issues in Twilight Princess because the game gets you so emotionally invested in the story as your actions directly progress what's happening.
You're the first person to echo my sentiment of not wanting to play Minecraft in Zelda. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I'm not a fan of games that rely too much on crafting mechanics. I just want to solve puzzles with set constraints instead of having an open sand box.
I've been a Zelda fan for about 20 years, beginning with Wind Waker in my childhood. My love for the series will never totally go away, but I'll be sad if we don't get some structure and story driven gameplay back in future games.
Nailed it, perfectly. I want to adventure with my sword, bow and arrow and horse.
I don't want to glue things together. If I did, I'd play with my Legos.
Been playing Zelda since 91 so yeah, I'm just an old guy.
All of those things are in totk and botw, ahahaha
Idiot
i feel like most major zelda youtubers feel the same lol, they loved botw but have stopped talking about totk almost immediately after it came out lmao. no staying power, nothing really new or interesting to offer.
it's so crazy that the story sucks so bad because just a few tweaks would have made it feel way more involved from the start.. :/
Exactly! I'm glad there are other fans like me out there who liked the classic Zelda layout and really hope they go back to the way it was.
7:02 yes!!! I really effing liked the fire temple. I turned off the terminal locations and got lost in the dungeon and it really felt like a blast from older dungeons. These BOTW era dungeons really struggle with the “unlock these four terminals and you’re off to the boss” cycle. They really have to do away with it. Great video !
Love the fact that you understand my exact experience, it was a solid breath of fresh air. Thanks for the support 🥂
i had to actively try not to use the clip ability and zonai machines to actually have fun lol, i hate that i have to voluntarily keep myself from using the game's mechanics to have a fun and challenging experience lmao
It's similar to how I preferred having less freedom in Dark Souls 1 as opposed to Elden Ring, navigating that world was SO fun for me, sorta reminded me of Super Metroid.
The original LoZ also had an interesting take on how to balance freedom and limitations...My big dream is they learn from all the ways they've structured worlds before and get the best out of all of them. I'm thinking the world should be quite a bit smaller than the last 2 games. I get that the size is part of the appeal for those who like it, but it does come with some massive compromises that I hope they won't go with for every entry from here. I like seeing them switch up the formula, but that quote that disregards the advantages of the older entries is a bit scary.
i'd be curious about an entire game set within the limits of a city, like castle town. underground areas like cellars and sewers, stuff like that. i miss the more medieval aspect of zelda tbh lol
@@highdefinition450 It's funny you mention that cause I was sorta expecting that 1st playing through Dark Souls 1, my personal concept for a Dark Souls world is a very dense and non-linear castle city that weaves all over the place through intersections like the burg/lower burg/parish one, with tons of accessible interiors.
I'd make it so there's less vertical progression but more emphasis on tools. The strength build finds a mace and now has a more reasonable path over at the skeletons etc.
That kinda world design is so cool to me and would fit both these franchises super well. Would also be very cool in a futuristic setting, climbing skyscrapers and hopping between them, subways/sewers etc.
You should play Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity!! It’s very very very different gameplay-wise. But I still found it fun. It’s a big love letter to BotW and it puts you right in the middle of the plot. It feels very powerful storywise, imo, and I found it so FUN
I was interested in checking out the age of calamity, I'll come back and let you know my thoughts :p
The legend of zelda lost it is spark
Grammar police got my back 🗿
Bro i am (relatively) new to the franchise and that intro still gave me chills
you are a FABULOUS editor and writer, thank you for sharing all of this with us!
Now that means so much to me I'm glad you liked the video, hope to keep making decent content :D
I like the restricted games more because they're simply more fun, and they have better stories, I couldn't really care less for a more open world in a zelda game, I just want to have fun and get invested
Top tier response 🗿
I miss old zelda.
Here are my thoughts on the matter (spectacular video by the way!):
-A lot of what I missed was a true sense of progression. I am actually playing through Minish Cap myself at the moment, and I feel such a high when I get a new item like the Flippers and I think, "There was a heart piece that was past some water that I couldn't get before, and now I can go get it, because I put in the work and got this new item." The Wild engine games don't have that. The closest I got was getting a new weapon or piece of armor that had a bigger number next to it. Items in particular were such a force for Zelda because they kept opening up new things every time you got a new item. In BotW, all of the "items" (runes) are given right to you, and the rest of the game is just spent grinding for better gear and the Champions' abilities, which don't open up the world at all, they just make it easier to traverse or survive in. In Tears, it follows the exact same formula, but the Champions' abilities are borderline useless.
-Speaking of formulas, the Wild engine games feel copy pasted. You wake up naked and weakened in some closed off area, you get a power conduit, you meet a ghost who tells you to go drip mystical liquids in your power conduit, you visit four shrines, get an essence, and leave the area. That's just the opening hour of both games - they are almost identical, save for the change in scenery. You then charge off, you face four dungeons in the four established regions, each of which have five points of control which lead to one central doohickey which summons a boss. Once you complete those dungeons, you get a new mystical power with which to pummel Ganon(dorf) into submission. After all of them are done, you do just that, and after the actual boss fight, you are led to a cutscene boss battle where you attack weak points on the body of some form of Ganon before hitting him one last time in the forehead. There are a whole lot more parallels, but this comment is already long enough. What made Zelda Zelda was that the only formula was, there is a problem, but you can't solve it, so go gear up and solve other problems before you solve the main one. No two dungeons were the same, every dungeon had a new item that changed the way you played the game, and every dungeon had a new boss tailored both aesthetically and functionally to fit the dungeon before it.
-The fact that the story is largely optional in the Wild engine games due to the memory format only hurts. Don't get me wrong, finding a memory that lore drops something monumental and game-changing is really cool, but it would have been cooler if there was any semblance of story beyond "the races have been troubled by monsters, go be pest control or something". We need an actual ongoing story - maybe with the bare minimum of Ganon(dorf) doesn't like the fact that you're killing his pets, so he does something in retaliation. Instead, it's just crickets and time-biding.
Sorry for the long comment! TL;DR:
-We want item progression
-Wild engine games are too formulaic
-The story is too barebones and optional
Honestly, I think progression happens a little too fast in TOTK. Without taking into account stats from armor and/or cooking specific recipes and combining them with certain fuses, the Silver Lynel Horns are the most powerful item in the game in terms of raw attack power (not counting Ancient Blades), and you can get them pretty early on if you have enough skill to take on a Lynel. Once you have enough silver horns, you can't get much stronger. Other fuse materials become obsolete as well unless you just like the look of them on weapons. This unfortunately leaves you with no other option but to continue the story, leading to most people seeing how rushed or basic it is. I personally find myself always enjoying a playthrough right up until my weapons are all Gerudo weapons with Silver Lynel Horns. Then I begin to feel bored because I kill even Silver enemies without much issue.
@@mikethehunter5212 Exactly! And the fact that you not only reach that power level way before the end of the game, but that power level isn’t that high, mostly because the damage output and durability of most things are severely nerfed from BotW, so the endgame doesn’t feel as satisfying as, say, Twilight Princess, where you have all of the hidden skills and heart containers and one weapon that deals good damage permanently, you can shift forms whenever you want, and you just have so much freedom and access. You feel so powerful, and that’s why I genuinely enjoyed 100%ing Zelda games (even BotW, to some extent) up until TotK.
Couldn't have explained the failure of feeling like your progressing through the game better than this. The lack of attaining the key items to attack puzzles you couldn't formerly solve is such a shame
Spot on comparison to highlight the copy pasting from botw to totk. Not to mention, you go to the exact same 4 regions and talk to the exact same characters as BOTW.
if you haven't played them, the new god of war games feel very similar to the older 3d zelda games in a lot of ways. it's more focused on combat and less on puzzles, but the progression of abilities and upgrades, the environmental puzzles, they're very good. not really the same vibe as zelda which is the sad part, it's irreplaceable, but at least it kinda scratched that itch for me lol
I loved this series so much that i named my daughter after it. I enjoyed botw and totk but they weren't zelda games. They felt more like a well made ubisoft game than a zelda game
Dude, I 100% agree with the story part. ocarina of time was my first zelda game. My parents weren't even together when it came out, but looking back There's no denying the impact it had on video games forever. what really stood out to my stupid 5 year-old girl self at the time was how so damn good the story was. The idea of a hero who lost literally everything and having to live with it because no matter how much he tries to run away, time won't stop flowing is Beautiful.
tears of the kingdom's story was soo disappointing. The game is beautiful and I LOVE how fleshed out zelda is but at the same time it was weirdly paced insanely predictable.
every Zelda game is different though, I'm excited to see what the next Zelda game will be.
every zelda game is different.. except totk lol
I couldn't have agreed more with you if I wanted. Zelda has lost its spark for me as well for all the reasons you've said. I like to just add that its soundtrack has fallen as well compared to older Zelda games.
You've got a great way of expressing yourself. I enjoyed listening to your thoughts about current Zelda. Unfortunately Tears made me drop all hope of the series shaping more like what I would prefer it to be. Great video !
Thanks for listening, who knows maybe we'll get some different direction for main zelda titles but it does seem unlikely. Just gotta wait and see
i am giving them one more chance for 3d games lol cause totk barely counts as an entire new game lmao
I totally agree. I was very disappointed on the story of these games... we are passive in front it instead of living through it... and I feel like it's not even related to the game play in any way. Creating Zonai constructs is not what TotK's story is about most of the times... I feel like they are two different concepts put together and mix badly. Everytime there is a shrine, I feel like I am stopping an adventure and I'm wasting my time on a random puzzle completely unrelated to the story or whatever I was doing before finding the shrine, too, as it's something distracting and disturbing me.
I won't replay these games as I am not engaged with their stories... but in the end they're good games, I like them, they just don't feel like Zelda games. It's not a nostalgia thing as many people would point out, as I played some of the older games later than BotW or TotK and I loved them more. Minish Cap for example.
dude... like 5 minutes in, I checked to see your subscriber count, and IT'S 35? Bro, for this level of presentation, you need way more subscribers. Keep up the good work!
Thank you that means alot, best believe I plan on doing so :D
Unfortunately LoZ isn’t really popular enough for people to get many subs these days. Even some of the largest creators only have like 5 mil subs, and that is over the course of almost a decade+
Im gonna love to see what people are saying about botw/totk 10-15 years from now. Seems like people always complain about new zelda styles & game play at first
I fell in love with aLttP as a child. I really just want refinements on that concept.
I accept that this does not have the mass market apeal of the latest entries. I enjoy cheap wine more than I do expensive because I do not have the refined palate of a sommelier and I do not care about tannin balance.
I am frustrated that Nintendo is going in the opposite direction as studios like FromSoftware. Nintendo seems to seek a wider audience by making their games more accessible, FromSoftware seems to be building a niche audience by making their games less accessible.
Top tier company comparison 🗿
fromsoft is making their games less accessible? elden ring and AC6 are easily their most accessible games, and before that, DS3 and Bloodborne were huge steps up in accessibility from previous titles.
@@harrylane4 Perhaps we are using the word accessible differently?
I will admit it was a lazy word choice on my part.
Ironically I feel like Fromsoft have only followed Zelda in this regard, Elden Ring is great in a lot of ways, but it still had to shed some of what made Souls games incredible already to reach the audience it did. I really enjoyed both Tears and Elden Ring, but both are lacking the things I loved the most about Dark Souls and Ocarina of Time. It is a strange feeling honestly, especially since BotW is one of my favorite Zelda games.
Great video! This is something I've definitely thought about, especially when they announced echoes of wisdom, which seems to be taking parts of the "formula" of botw and totk and putting them into a 2D game, I'm still excited for it but there really wasn't anything that compared to that classic Zelda puzzle world experience
Thank you so much, Echoes of wisdom feels like an interesting change, the gameplay mechanics look like they could be pretty fun but completely agree that having something similar to the classic zelda world experience again would be amazing
"there really wasn't anything that compared to that classic Zelda puzzle world experience"
Can you elaborate on what you mean by that? What exactly do you think is missing?
For me it boils down to character, specifically how puzzles were tackled in both the overworld (where puzzles at times would need to be completed to progress to the next major plot point and dungeons puzzle design and aesthetic. I think we got a great dungeon in the wind temple but we don't see characterised dungeons like jabu jabus belly, shadow temple etc in recent or they just aren't executed as effectively as they could be which is a shame.
@@CookieCovers03 this just sounds like nostalgia talking tbh
I could definitely agree on some of these points. What I wanted in a sequel of Breath of the Wild was a game that took the scope of its predecessor, and improved where the previous one failed. Have engaging, unique dungeons that make you think a little, have a compelling story that I can get invested in and care about. And while Tears of the Kingdom did make distinct looking dungeons, expanded the overall scope of the game, and added tons to do in the world. It absolutely fell short in the story, dungeon pacing and challenge, and overall didn't over achieve where it could have. I would have taken better dungeons, a more expanded sky, and a way more compelling story over the Zonai devices. Because while I do love building things, it really can ruin the pacing and stunt some of the discovery and problem solving The Legend of Zelda is known for.
same experience on my DSI with R4 cards!! But I played phantom hourglass instead, I never really played it for the story(I was a kid) but the multiplayer aspect with friends was extremely FUN!
I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who had them cards, truly peak value for money and maximum fun 😂
The crazy thing is, those are still the exact same producers and developers as from the old classics. It's not like these dudes suddenly just LOST their spark and passion!
No, this is a deliberate decision to distance themselves from the old games, which can, in my view, only be explained by a huge level of insecurity concerning their older achievements.
Deep inside, these guys are feeling as though their old games weren't really fully respectable video games, given they had to work with limitations and "tricks" (like strong linearity to ensure immersion).
As time and technology went on, they were so consumed by this shame of not being "state of the art", that they started to look at what other studios like Ubisoft, Bethesda etc. were doing, thinking that "nowadays, games have to be open world!", which is a huge oversimplification and motivated by all these unproductive and negative emotions, that they took a wrong turn somewhere and can not see it.
I always say, "stuff can be two things."
These games are technological marvels, and incredibly designed. Character design, world design, the cultures, the style. All of that is 10/10
But they're simply NOT Zelda games. That's where rhey fail.
I always use the analogy that, "you go to order lasagna, and instead you get served worlds greatest spaghetti. Its the worlds greatest spaghetti but i asked for lasagna."
These are phenomenal games. They're juust not zelda games.
Disagree. Respectfully,. but completely.
@darklordyianni4463 I acknowledge our difference in opinions, respectfully
Minish cap will be forever engraved into my childhood memories as a kid playing it on my gameboy was the best
Only the realest of gamers played minish cap
Commenting for algorithm boost. Thank you for speaking out on what too many people are afraid to say or blind to see.
@lalter_ My honorary algorithm booster, it was truly my pleasure to do so 🤞🏾
Says the person blinded with nostalgia.
Hypocrite
Great games, they missing dungeons and a little linear purpose
Great intro brother. Making me feel some stuff
Had to pull on the heart strings, glad you liked the video :D
TMU the Zelda formula was perceived to have been stale by Skyward Sword (and the game's sales reflected that - compare OoT vs MM, TP, SS). The fact that BOTW had (outside of some portion of the fanbase) outstanding critical response, and is like the #4 selling game on - and a cornerstone for - the Switch certainly is what Nintendo was looking for; as well as that if you count (undisclosed) online sales TOTK could be the #1 selling game of 2024. Exclusive games and console sales are a virtuous or vicious cycle, and making that virtuous is the core of Nintendo's strategy.
That said, I think old-style Zelda fans should remember the business saying: a rising tide (in this case a massive one from BOTW and TOTK) raises all boats: TMU the sales of LA and SS HD equaled or surpassed the originals, which I highly doubt would have happened if BOTW was a flop. (no doubt many buyers were not just long time Zelda fans but new Zelda fans who wanted to try out the older games) So strong performance of the new game leads to strong performance for the ports. I think the evidence is very strong that WW and TP HD are done, and just waiting for Nintendo's marketing timing for release (presumably either with the Switch 2 or the Zelda movie next year). We'll also see how much the old-style fans like EoW............. now if they would just make OOT HD. (or OOT 4K for the Switch 2!!! And again, strong sales of all the new and ported games makes OOT/MM 4K much more likely)
Your so underatted, and damn you looking mighty fine 🤨🗿
I thing that porting the Wind Waker and Twilight princess to switch will be a good idea and I don't understand why Nintendo hasn't ported those classics yet probably PTSD from the wii u don't you agree? By the way im subbed on 3 different accounts. Keep up the grind and remember me when you get famous.
Also give the turtle a raise he did his job perfectly🗿🐢WHY DID YOU THROW HIM
Why thank you kindly on both those statements 🌚, I'd love a windwaker port since it's one of my favourite in the franchise but who knows maybe because we're in a new era of zelda they're less likely to bring in older games for the newer consoles. You keep up the grind too I've just seen your video. (PS: He's been appropriately compensated but no turtles were harmed in the making of this video)
@@CookieCovers03 Yeah, like you said in the video they are kind of leaving the old Zelda formula behind which was The Zelda series charm so they probably won't port the games even thought it would be easier than creating a new game altogether.
And thank you so much for watching my video, now I feel special because my favourite creator has watched my video.
And Im glad to know the turtle wasn't harmed.
Keep up that grind and you'll get to 1k really soon
really glad people are seeing through the only gimmick tears had, because that games was a major letdown. oh boy, ten rupees or a single gem for… everything.
and then it ends with a final boss that sits still and lets you win. lovely.
lttp forever.
@@slipperynickels What game were you playing? Ganondorf was not sitting still lol
@@Forteoverloadi think they mean the dragon, it's pretty easy to land on it and then it does pretty much nothing to stop you
@@LilacMonarch That's rich coming from the same group that complained about the aerial combat in skyward sword. But to each thier own I guess
@@Forteoverload the same group? what makes you so sure?
@@LilacMonarch Experience. 'Nuff said.
I like your look of this! I personally like how free and open Breath of the Wild is. But instead with tears of the kingdom, I think that it is too open. Just with Breath of the Wild it was a lot, but with three worlds to explore it becomes a little too big for me to really enjoy the game. 😅
Trying the hype-measuring approach that the switch entries was why I was underwhelmed with it. The royale style picking up weapons and shield was something I hate. I don't want to take time fighting enemoes to get weapons only to break them in the next fight. The grinds to expand health inventories was frustrating. Then when I saw those block-building they put into TotK, I just gave up all together. I was hoping the next entry would've gone back to our roots of a more grounded LoZ adventure. No new twist or anything... you play as Zelda. I'm just tired of getting gut-punched. Nintendo is really becoming the Disney of the AAA industry and it killed LoZ for me.
@jtf-peacekeepers Okay you know there's more than one way to defeat enemies right? You don't have to break all your weapons in every fight. I'm convinced people that say that just went head long into every fight. No stealth, no tactics, just brute force. On top of that the game literally THROWS weapons at you if you stopped for more than 5 seconds to look at your surroundings.
@@Forteoverload
Maybe thats fun for you. But I'm too familiar with many of the previous LoZ that I'm old fashion with their gameplay. I don't want to waste time to stock up on weapons or other equipment. It kills the fun for me.
@jtf-peacekeepers Awwww poor guy has to work a little harder to get equipped. Boo hoo man. Also if your so familiar with the past zelda games, why are you complaining about grinding? There's some form of grinding in nearly every zelda game
@@Forteoverload
Not as much as BotW.
@jtf-peacekeepers Fuck outta here with that, man. ALTTP forced you to grind 600 rupees for the ability to swim. OoT started with you grinding to buy a wooden shield and that's not even the most egregious example. You had to find 50 gold skulltulas just to have the ability to carry more rupees. Skyward sword you had to find/grind materials just to upgrade some of your items. When you go hunting for heart pieces, THAT'S GRINDING. Stop the fucking cap. All BOTW did was add an extra step for the health and stamina upgrades. Both being 100% optional.
this entire intro had me feeling chills from my ears to toes. (I also beat and loved the minish cap)
Each game before Botw and Totk felt like true zelda games, these 2 games stray too far from what made the series so special ,therefore they are in need of more zelda 'sauce' ✨
Breath of the Wild, imo, was building something fantastic on its own. The mystery and ambiance was great , the relationship between link and Zelda was great, the tech and especially the exploration was perfect for me. The over reliance on flashbacks weren't so great but thats all the complaints i have for botw. Totk however, took what made botw so great away. Maybe its not such a big deal but replacing the temple of time, and even taking away the broken recognizable piano tune feels like a representation of how totk is a bad sequel. Important things have lost their meaning in favor of giving the whole spotlight entirely to Rauru, Sonia, and their magic/mechanics. And it just wasnt good. Nintendo, more than before, are giving less of a shit about storytelling and care more about gameplay only. Totk is also too much and too little at the same time. Too much area to cover, while not developing what they already had enough. Iirc 1-2 years had already passed and what did Hyrule do with that time? One new settlement outside the castle, and a construction zone? Thats it? The depths is just ruins with breakables, enemies and some chests. Same with the islands which are just puzzles. Not much is even being Said about the Zonai, yet all the spotlight is on them while everything Shieka is just gone. Speaking of Shieka, it always annoyed me that all Sheika tech came from a time even far back which was never explained. The zonai also speak of ancient times from thousands of years ago while they themselves are supposed to be from 10,000 years back. How far back are they gonna keep going to avoid answering origin questions? Why is Hyrule still old as shit after over 10,000 years? Its just silly.
I agree with a lot of the points you brought up, disregarding the sheikah tech and never bringing it up felt so strange to me and I understand that totk/botw was placed at the end of the timeliness but still small things like gutting the temple of time and explaining away important plot origins by saying "longer than 10,000 years ago" felt cheap. I'll never entitled to how Nintendo should design their games but it feels almost as thought its a complete rebranding of zelda. Potentially Nintendo needs a new IP for open world games or just execute the next mainline zelda game a bit more effectively
They just became lazy because they knew it would sell. Too much content means lower quality across the board, they went for content and gave up everywhere else. They lost the spark because they forgot why these games were good and they just became lazy and greedy. And as a game designer myself I see laziness everywhere. The past was good for a reason, it was full of passion and hardship and you can feel it. These games are like eh... What can we do? I clocked in today and made a useless shrine here, etc etc. You tell they really did not care about game balance or quality at all. Couldn't even be bothered to figure out even the story.
Don't get me wrong I like aspects but I can never love these.
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom took longer to make than most Zelda games. How is that lazy
@@Dora-xi5ob Tears of the Kingdom took so long because they were too busy bumbling around with a physics system so they could shove the Zonai devices in. But in doing so, they neglected everything else that needed just as much attention.
@@zippywoop9865 but there was still lots of care and effort put into totw, even if it missed for some people
@@Dora-xi5obabsolutely, but I feel there was a lot that needed care and effort (like the story) that just didn’t get it. And that’s where the problem stands for me and many others. I love the game and play it a ton, but I know where it absolutely falls flat
You know.. stories don't make fun video games.. gameplay does and totk has amazing gameplay.
You sound like a modern Sony fanboy with all their movie games
Kinda newish Zelda player here! Went on a bit of a tear of some Zelda games during lockdown with
A Link To The Past
Ocarina Of Time
Majora's Mask
Twilight Princess
Minish Cap
A Link Between Worlds
And I had a good time with all them! Got to Breath of The Wild and... eh. I wasn't a fan of the fact it felt like a chore to get anywhere, due to not being able to call Epona to your location, or transform into a wolf. Fighting was also bit of a pain, with your weapons and equipment breaking every two minutes, and it was getting so annoying it got to the point where I was actively avoid fighting. Because enemies were just getting overly spongy and I'd be going through several weapons at a time on one, which was quite frustrating. And all the dungeons and shrines looked the goddamn same! What happened to the creativity man? When you could see a screenshot of a dungeon and you'd be, "thats the Water Palace from such and such game." Meanwhile with Wild, you'd be struggling to know what stage you were looking at. But, despite these complaints, I finished Wild and opted to give Tears a try.
After playing it for a few hours and seeing very little had changed with the world was big purely for the sake of being big. And weapons were still breaking in two minutes or less and the shrines still all look the same. Needless to say I was left wondering, why did I even buy this game?
Also, just as a side note, isn't it not about time Link actually starts talking? Surely I couldn't have been the only one to find it jarring to have the other characters with full voice acting and Zelda would ask Link if he was alright, only to get crickets. Or Urbosa saying to Link to tell Zelda not to be so hard on herself, which made me wonder, "the hell is his mute ass going to do that?!" Perhaps he might use the medium of expressive dance! If it works, Link talking, in the Akira Himekawa mangas, it can work in the games!
I miss old Zelda, and let Link talk!
Seeing how you're new I'm not gonna grill you, but there's a reason why link doesn't talk. Go look it up
@@Forteoverload if you mean he's supposed to be the link with the player, I have heard before. But again, the Akira Himekawa mangas are so good! Read them, if you haven't done so already. Just because there was a bit of misstep with the CD-i games is no reason not to try again, with letting Link talk.
@DemonDethchase Nah, Nintendo said "never again" after that and the US series.
@@Forteoverload still seems dumb not to have Link talk in the games, when he talks in other media. It seems a lot like Sega saying about Classic Sonic can't talk, despite the fact that he totally did in CD, and the OVA, and then of course there's the fact that you see Classic Tails and Eggman speaking making it more baffling!
Hell hath no fury than a gamer scorned..
And we will scorch the earth with our fury 🤓
I came from the very begining i played zelda on nes on its release date its not the same. There is way to much filler junk in the games now
Na it’s just the Zelda cycle wait a few years and everyone will be saying that botw and totk are actually masterpieces lol
just look at all the recent past games like skyward sword etc; they all go through the same thing
The copy & paste formula and directionlessness/inconsistencies is what really messed up Totk. It had the potential to be a great game. Freakin' Tragic.
I actually loved Botw and how it reimagined what a new Zelda world could be like, but I agree that it being the first concept of it's kind, didn't have alot of the delicious things from previous zelda games such as enemy variety, classic dungeons, weapon variety, and more padded stories and unique quests. Really believed that they were going to bring at least some of these gameplay staples back for totk but that's not really what ended up happening.
As a kid my first zelda was ALTTP alongside OOT, later MM, WW, TP, Minish Cap - u name it.
Back then, I felt just like you did.
Zelda was lit. It was excitement, it was that type of feeling where you for some reason felt really fulfilled when you've randomly encountered a cave or a secret side spot in the game that you never knew existed although you already played through the game a dozen times over the years passing by - even if the reward was just a red rupee - it didn't really matter because you wanted to be the wiz of that sandbox; the more you knew the sandbox you were in, the more you wished it was just a tad bigger to explore.
In contrast, botw initially stopped giving me that desire of exploring any more of its "open" world already after the first 2 weeks of playing, while I consider myself a snail-like sluggish player treating each area of a game like its own little sandbox while spending massive amounts of time before moving on to the next area.
But in botw, I already knew that these new unknown areas wouldn't give me the same sensation as they did in many previous entries.
The reason for that is, that botw starts feeling artificially inflated rather sooner than later because of the recycling formula they gave a big priority on and which follows through the game like a red thread.
In botw, the Great Plateau felt like the most rewarding experience ever - you were overflowed by the new mechanics, granted with new base items (runes) faster than you could believe already having found the next "main Temple item". Jeez, you fell from that height and were actually getting *serious* damage and the damn cold was not enterable unless you get creative at cooking or get that warm doublets from the old man.
Everything in the very beginning of this game felt like fresh air on steroids and consider *this* was JUST the beginning!
..
..and that's what it actually was.
As not far after it, the game lost its magic like a party ballon being pumped too much until it popped.
The entire time I was playing botw after the Tutorial it never even came close to its beginning nor towards the mentioned desire to "really wanna know every last corner of this, well ..'open, unlinear sandbox' "; at least until..
I eventually started modifying the game on pc, not just with fan mods, but also with a completely new made up Souls-like challenge rule set, where I have to restrict myself from elsewise free available stuff like gathering overpowered weapons until certain game progress, a gradually increasing penalty system for too much dying, a paraglider-less enforcement over the whole game right from the start (yes some dungeons require glitches like Wind Bombs to clear them) alongside a modded combat system that QoL-enhanced Link's (or Linkle's in my case :) combat and moving physics as a compensation for the missing glider.
I added self restricting rules relating to each of the games "areas" (defined by the empty map's borders) and treated them as single sandboxes each in their own, semi-non-transistable right, where for example, you weren't really allowed to carry weapons being found in one area to take them into another (with the exception of "boss weapons" or non-respawnable "chest weapons").
Picking up weapons at all is not blindly related to the spot where rarer ones would spawn after each blood moon but by links current "Level" and "Strength" being able to "carry" them, depending on their "weight" - so yea, my system had a real leveling integration that's progress was uniquely and one-time'ish scored by "defeating camps" within a certain amount of "tries".
You weren't allowed to sell stuff blindly, but mostly only gems, which you weren't even allowed to mine unless you've gathered enough "boss tokens" before.
So yea, the fiat system aka "real" rupees of this "DS meets Zelda" mishmash were actually a scarcity and a necessary evil in order to upkeep your sheer own existence - and you were still always glad if you had the chance going for luxury spendings for stuff like strong weapons like bomb arrows (not really allowed to collect on the go) or for 'unlocking' the next 'layer' of your "skill tree"-like invisible board (well, semi visible as I used the map markers as a counter-system for game-sytax related stuffs that worked similar to an octet-like numerative system).
I know all that sounds like wild incoherent stuff but it wasn't anything like it, as it had a really refreshing and difficult type of loot-loop that prioritized and benefitted skill and creativity over a dull farming mindset and inconsequential thinking.
For example, there was a "debt system" if you weren't able to pay for your deaths to "The Devil", then it's not just something like "Game Over" and "just try again til u GidGud" no - at least not as one might think, since once you aren't able to pay for your fault then you're not allowed to save progress anymore until you can "buy your soul back" - and the higher your debts were the longer it will need you to stay in "Hollow mode" where each death resets you back to your fix save (this can be so nasty at times that you may consider starting over the entire game) so if it's actually a real "Game Over" depends on your own decision, skill and consistency rather than the game telling you that it is one.
Everything, what I've made out of this game over many months even years had a survival-based feature adding towards the core concept - and this was the first time when I actually started enjoying a new Zelda game - not as something that old ones had been either - but certainly as a project I've put many coherent thoughts and math into that I wished would be possible to syntaxally create into a mod where the player doesn't need to do the constant thinking for engine-related stuffs and by self-limiting with sheer discipline only - as in fact this was that one major drawback that ultimately stopped me from playing and enjoying my own "modification", as it turned at some point more into a digital board game where every marker had to be set by hand and where you ended up more calculating than really playing the darn game; but still I can assure anyone reading until here it was an experience I believe not many players have had with a Zelda- or even video game in general.
ngl didn't read this whole comment, but I find the first part interesting. as someone who's never played a zelda game before botw, and as someone who absolutely loves open world games, I couldn't disagree more with not feeling fulfilled or excited about exploring the botw world. it would be my perfect game except I think the story is severely lacking for botw and totk which I find sad because it has so much potential (interesting that this video asserts story is always important for zelda games, when the general consensus I've seen online is that story has never been the focus of zelda games, but again I wouldn't know). I have almost 400 hours each in botw and totk, currently on my second playthrough of botw now in master mode, and my main focus is still always just getting lost exploring the world. I never get tired of it. I understand that some people just don't care for open world games, for me it's paradise, the world is gigantic and beautiful, and yes it's a bit barren in botw but it fits the apocalyptic setting and honestly I find it very calming. totk's world is too busy for me, I appreciate a lot of what they added for totk in terms of physics, but I think it's a 7/10 overall.
in regards to the video itself, I think this video is right in that the developers lost some of the passion for the heart of the games. they are graphically beautiful, and gameplay-wise pretty amazing with some significant flaws, but the story lacks passion and creativity, almost like they forgot they could spend more time in the writer's room while game designers figured out the physics. I picked up age of calamity for more story, which has been nice, but I haven't made it very far because I keep missing the open world and end up playing botw/totk instead. the more I play the more disappointed I am in the missed potential for this story, because the bones are there but the care is not. totk is riddled with plot holes and logical/lore inconsistencies, and feels like a cheap copy of what made botw work (imo I think an amnesiac finding memories of failing to save the world is interesting and works to introduce the gameplay to the player pretty expertly, but it makes no sense to use memories again in totk). even in botw, as a new zelda player, I knew there was consistent lore but it made absolutely no sense to me going in, I do love the game but honestly some of the plot is very vaguely explained and it made no sense to me how it was supposed to be related to the zelda franchise as ganon was some sort of ghost "calamity" thing and there was no triforce ever mentioned. I'm looking forward to playing some of the older games to see what everyone means when they say it's not like classic zelda games, but unfortunately the ones that appeal to me the most haven't been ported to the switch yet (TP and WW). totk in particular feels like they spent 6 years designing ultrahand and the physics engine and maybe 2 weeks writing the plot and designing the dungeons. they just managed to cram so much other content into the game that most people didn't care. the fact that the dungeons are so painfully simple and it still took me almost 400 hours to do all the shrines and quests is very impressive, but it also makes the sky islands and the depths feel even emptier in comparison to itself. it's its own worst enemy. like how do you make 152 shrines, 3 maps, 1000 koroks, spend 6 years and charge $70 and all the sage cutscenes still have the same dialogue? how the hell did they greenlight that? the hard truth is that they just didn't care.
Two Zeldas in a row of near infinite possibilities for discovery, potentially endless ways to approach any given problem, and yet there's a never ending tirade of people bitching about what isn't there and hoping for a return to one solution for every problem. Yall are boring lmao
@jackwitty9776 whatever your opinion is of current zelda is fine, I never explicitly said that totk or wild were bad games. Short answer is too much bloat, dungeons fell short and the story was uninvolved. The mechanics themselves are great.
@@CookieCovers03 How is the story uninvolved? Just because there are memories that detail Link and Zelda's relationship, doesn't mean that these games don't feature exactly the same type of stories as older games did.
How is entering Gerudo Village, seeing the destruction caused by the Gibdo and then reuniting with Riju to defend the town less involved than when you're told in WW that Jabun fled to Outset Island and you need to get bombs to meet him?
I'm playing Spirit Tracks as I'm watching this. Back in 2020 I was playing an online game (TF2) and my username is Basically Link, so somebody in chat said: "Oh look it's a botw fan" and I was in shock. I had a grudge against botw for a solid 2 years because of what happened that day. I already had somewhat of a grudge because of the attention Zelda was getting for a game in it's series that was nothing like a normal Zelda game, so this really was like the last straw for me. Just to be clear, I always saw botw as an incredible game, I just had a silly grudge against it for that.
Really good video, I'm really happy it got recommended to me! I agree completely. BotW and TotK just felt lacking and empty to me, it missed a lot of the charm and excitement of being in de middle of it all..
Just gotta wait and see what Nintendo does moving forward. But we can hope for good things
Botw and totk are two sides of the same coin. They are both the fundamental issue with zelda right now. Big empty world with fragmented storys. Nothing gluing it together.
Good critique
Thank you kindly 🧐
this was great man
Glad you liked what you saw 🥂
*its
The sales numbers for the games disagrees with you
Sales do not equal quality
@@LilacMonarch finally someone gets it. Just because a game sold well, doesn't mean it's better than ones that sold less.
I can assure you that this is mostly nostalgia speaking in your case. The dungeons are not nearly as good as one would think and do not fit with the new zelda mechanics. Basically this is the same situation as with people complaining about modern minecraft. The old games really aren't that good when you have the modern standards of gameplay quality. So there is no point arguing, you are probably just to old.
Honestly no matter how I say it it will sound offensive but it kind of just is like that
@ktostam5520 Or I just played the older games, liked how the others were set up and felt a disconnect with the newer entries. I'm far from that old that you prolly think I played most of older zelda on release 😂
@@CookieCovers03 fair, let’s agree to disagree
Botw and totk are made to be more welcoming to newer players than the older games. When it comes to the story telling they can afford to use flashbacks because otherwise the games would have to limit the complexity of the plot to tell it more actively. I probably wouldn’t like the Zelda franchise if not for the freedom of both of the newer installments.
Still not sure what I was on when I was writing the original comment, if what you overall prefer is the experience that the older games offered that’s cool too, I honestly understand how the new games might seem disappointing to someone who was expecting more of what the older ones offered
Zelda hasn't lost its spark, it's as bright as ever.
1000% disagree
@ash8244 Valid opinion I just personally have grievances with the empty world (Tears fixed this relatively well but wouldve liked to keep the sheikah elements), disconnected story and some dungeon elements
Totk fixed the issues I had with botws story. I actually thought it was very good this time. Hated botws story.
Not too mention zelda turning into a dragon is one of the best scenes in the series. But anyone expecting her to stay a dragon, I don't know what they were smoking because nintendo would never do that.
The dungeons were a huge step forward from the divine beasts, except water temple, that one sucked. Awesome area tho
@ash8244 The cutscene when she turned was top tier, despite kinda knowing what she'd done before you saw it, still gave genuine chills. I just hope the flashback stuff isn't the same kinda "go to this specific point for lore" for the next game that uses the wild engine
@@ash8244 "Totk fixed the issues I had with botws story."
That's just factually wrong
Lol just another typical boomer video talking about nonsense of how botw and totk aren't real zelda games because of some dumb reasons and just because it's different from the older games, whether it's the damn dungeons or the story
You don't get to decide what a zelda game is or what people want, nintendo and the zelda team does and so do the a ton of the other fans. They know zelda better than you or any other so called zelda youtuber could ever hope too
@sebastianguerrero6617 Firstly, heres the Definition of "Opinion": a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
"that, in my opinion, is right"
Secondly use the term "boomer" correctly, ages 60 - 78 would be a boomer opinion
In short argue with a brick wall. My opinion is my own, I don't intend to change anyone else's with my video. Just expressing what I'd like to see change in an upcoming zelda game and totk and botw are great games I their own right 🗿
@sebastianguerrero Nah bro, you don't speak for any Zelda fan when you're obviously a ToTK/BoTW nut hugger and not a real Zelda fan. You obviously have no idea what the games are about and what makes them so loved. OP makes valid points and Nintendo should listen to their fans if they don't want to fall into the trap of making games that lack substance.
The legend of Zelda hasn’t lost it spark it’s trying to due new things
Have you ever thought about Zelda might be having a new spark?
Not EVERYTHING has to be open world.
Plus, Tears failed.
They [for no reason] avoid talking AT ALL about the sheikah tech. They avoid talking about link saving the world. The dungeons are extremely lacking.
IT IS NOT WRONG to say tears of the kingdom is bad, ESPECIALLY for THE AMOUNT OF TIME we've waited.
Yes, the mechanics are cool, but they avoided all story other than the COPY AND PASTE "zonai-overwriting-sheikah-ohnogannonshere"
story completely ignoring all story from the previous game.
Not only are the dungeons the lifeblood, but also the Story as you said.
And tears FAILED, and i stand by it.
We've lost the link and Zelda connection, too.
Totk’s most failures were as a sequel not as a game but I can agree the story and dungeons were lacking. Unpopular opinion but I preferred the divine beasts
TOTK is fucking phenomenal, relax
Can't please everyone.
the second highest selling game in the franchise failed? okay. you people are genuinely braindead.
"We've lost the link and Zelda connection" In what way? The main plot through line is "Find Princess Zelda" from start to finish, the most important plot beats and side quests revolve around her, and the subtext given to their relationship is heavy enough it creates controversy. Totk did the exact opposite of "lose" their connection. The game practically revolves around it at times
My man knows! We all know deep down modern Zelda isn't Zelda.
@@TylersGamingHub What is it then?
@@Forteoverload uh, everything that came before breath of the wild. Like there was a clear structure in Zelda that made it magical. This new style isn't magical.
@@TylersGamingHub But it's still Zelda. Like it or not.
@@TylersGamingHubgames have to evolve to progress. Breath of the wild is one of the best games of all time don’t even trip
@@Forteoverload not Zelda. Doesn't feel like Zelda so therefore it cannot be Zelda.
Why would i want to play a game where i limit myself? I dunno i feel breath of the wild punishes the player for trying to explore. Maybe im dumb but goodness climbing is a chore and combat is just so unappealing to me in this game. World design and characters are fine but get rid of the stamina wheel and breakable weapons and at least you get anime skyrim
i disagree but good video
@MrKohulann30 100% valid rebuttal glad you liked the vid 🗿
Note: this got way too long because along the way I got really interested in thinking about the role of assumptions and subjectivity in dialogue. Not trying to be a dick, just wanted to share my thoughts about what my disagreeing with you in this video brought up for me.
Upfront, I’m not a fan of 3D Zelda and a general appreciator of franchise experimentation. And while I have no love for TotK, BotW, like, defines what it means to feel the spark of wonder in a game for me. This may be our point of contention, but in general I just have problems with the rhetoric here. I think it’s valid to not like a game, but to characterize it as “losing its spark” for breaking the mold and trying new things is really strange to me. I think a good comparison is Metroid Fusion. You can say that you didn’t like its linearity, but to say that 2D Metroid had “lost its spark” because of it is wild. What Fusion did was take something Metroid usually takes for granted, nonlinearity, and reevaluted its relationship to it, making linearity part of the narrative so that it could break into nonlinearity as Samus gains power. That is a brilliant, inspired decision, so why would you write it off as “bad because it’s not what I want in a Metroid game?” And same for BotW, which reevaluated Zelda games’ fundamental relationships to certain tropes and made interesting choices as a result. It may not be the 3D Zelda game you want, but it’s so weird to me to call it a diminished piece of art because of it. And I did watch the whole video, so I know you said you acknowledge these games as brilliant in their own right, but you see how that’s incompatible with your thesis, right? They can’t be brilliant and devoid of spark at the same time. Most of your criticisms are “it’s not what I wanted” anyway, which is so real, but there’s a big difference between wrong for the artwork vs wrong for satisfying your tastes. I guess in future videos, you might feel a bit of freedom in placing your feelings in the context of your own subjectivity: you can still express yourself without arguing for something. Here’s mine: I didn’t like the Pikmin 2-style removal of time constraints in Pikmin 4. I understand why it exists: the game is so much bigger and more beautiful than the others that they probably want you to take your time, but part of what I love so much about Pikmin is the relentless pressure to optimize your play, which is most absent in Pikmin 4. Would I have liked a juice system or something a hell of a lot? Yes. Do I think the game is flawed for not having that? No. I mean I can criticize other things about it but not this specifically. I love media criticism, I think it’s the shit. So I guess I would just advise you to think about what your relationship is to the work you’re critiquing, what you’re trying to convey, and how best to frame that conveyance. Because “it’s not as good because it’s not what I wanted” makes a lot of assumptions about your priorities when critiquing media where unless you establish and justify why those are the way they are, you’re just not going to be able to have satisfying dialogues with people who don’t already agree with you before you start that those priorities are good ones. Are you trying to argue that adherence to formula is important? Okay, why? What motivates your feelings about that? Genuinely, I would be very interested in your thoughts on how source media ought to influence new works. But you lose people like me who don’t instantly empathize with where you’re coming from without that.
Very true
You know what, this may just be the best constructive criticism I've ever received. Thank you for this
Bro why… 🤣
Because Zelda 🗿
Damn and here I thought MCU fans were dramatic.
We scrapping for first place rn
Dude chill.
@@darius3696 Never
Well I’m glad it did cause all the previous games prior to botw suck
Braindead take
@@orangemonks894 A wild take if this isn't satire.
To each their own lol, I admit the older games got a bit too linear tho. The stories and dungeons were leagues better in the older games tbh.