When I give a quick little opinion on something, I kind of expect other people to give their quick little opinions on the same thing regardless of what they are
#Zelda Legend of Link The Legend of
sharp violet
upper flax
unique dagger
i dont know why you mean by "schtick" but im sorry i made you feel this way ever im not trolling and im sad you think i am
unique dagger
remembering the Twilight Princess reveal today idk why
https://youtu.be/-BP1I9yz1bU?feature=shared
Miyamoto coming out on stage with the Master Sword and Hylian Shield is so awesome
Zelda reveals always go hard tbh
visual folio
too bad they wouldn't let him paraglide onto the stage /s
civic hawk
hell yeah get his ass
that'll teach him to steal a powerful mask and create an alternate reality where he wants to kill you in the future
unique dagger
get that fucker
glad isle
hmmm cant decide where to go in totk
visual folio
looking for advice or just musing
civic hawk
I would recommend some spots to go to but I've come to realize the way I do things is fucking weird and nobody really plays the way I do (i.e doing all shrines/lightroots in a row all at once in a single 6-7 hour session)
I guess the one thing I can recommend is looking for the flight challenge islands for the awesome flight set (they're vertical long sky islands with a lot of rings and a platform at the end there should be three in each extreme of the map, ish)
visual folio
and you know the silly things I did out of order despite attempting to choose to go the intended route
civic hawk
To be fair I don't know if you necessarily did anything ''out of order'' I think we just happened to somehow do everything we did in the complete opposite order
visual folio
the big ones for me were 1) ||missing the depths tutorial, then randomly stumbling into them halfway to Rito Village|| and 2) ||getting the mask from the lightning islands without clearing the storm first||
torpid flower
lean pike
what does that even mean
visual folio
all I hear is "blast processing"
wet forge
Ray reconstruction is ray tracing but even fancier. Cyberpunk 2077 gained it in its 2.0 update… I’m highly skeptical a Nintendo Switch 2 would be capable of it.
torpid flower
Ray reconstruction is ray tracing but even fancier. Cyberpunk 2077 gained it in ...
What kind of ray tracing would it have then?
torpid flower
And would the max it would do be 30FPS?
sharp violet
1 frame per 30 seconds
torpid flower
grim condor
Word is Switch 2 is going to have DLSS which is how it gets "similar" graphics to PS5/Series X. How similar is up to debate. We'll have to see.
lean pike
according to my uncle, who works at a tim hortons right next to the nintendo headquarters in Canada, the switch 2 will be a 5 foot tall robot lady in a french maid uniform who calls you user-san and totally doesn't like you or anything. (Also only outputs 1080p)
grim condor
I think I seen this in Spaceballs
dusky berry
I finally got around to checking if they patched the glitch with builds in totk that caused lynels to bug out and be stuck in a roar loop, they did patched it.
wet forge
Well deserved.
bright girder
my king
bright girder
visual folio
I look forward to all the arguments about Epona casting choices
grim condor
Oddly enough Zelda now has a big enough secondary cast to be live action.
unique dagger
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2023/231108.html zelda movie <:b...
ope you got it before me
im really excited
im gussing it's gonna be mostly based on Ocarina
or it'll be like the Mario movie where it's not based on one particular game
i wonder who will be cast as Link
unique dagger
oh no
wet compass
tom's a good actor, whats the problem? i could see it
unique dagger
tom's a good actor, whats the problem? i could see it
i suppose, i guess i cant think of anyone better lol
bright girder
everyone knows Miyamato will want to play Link himself
wet forge
It's actually happening
unique dagger
everyone knows Miyamato will want to play Link himself
this is true
his audition tape
https://youtu.be/-BP1I9yz1bU?feature=shared
lean pike
I'm shocked it's live action
lean pike
Nintendo: "we need to make morbillions"
civic hawk
''I am Ganondorf, the King of Thieves''
''W...wait, pfff, is that really your name? 
'' cartoon whistling noises bwoom bwoomp laugh track
wet forge
Link walks into frame
audience clap and cheer track, everyone stands around awkwardly while that plays
tepid depot
lean pike
I know they'll try to do the movie straight but it would be funny to play it for laughs
Link, standing in front of Lord Jabu: "this is the second time in three weeks I've had climb into a mouth"
civic hawk
I would legitimately unironically want a borderline parody comical movie Faces of Evil style
Just because a serious live action Zelda movie can go wrong in so many ways, I'm still not suddenly sold on the idea that videogame movie adaptations are gonna be all great or not terrible, or adaptations of anything else for that matter especially live action
and also because Faces of Evil is amazing and hilarious
supple quarry
But will he say "excuse me, princess"?
lean pike
the biggest concern I have is, in all honesty, Zelda games don't exactly have a lot to draw on
Like, there's stuff to draw on, but there's not a lot to build on. Link is 'mute' (he's clearly not), because in many ways the character of Link doesn't really matter. He's a sort of empty nothing. No family, no real dreams of his own. Like, who is Link before Navi shows up to take him on an adventure? Sure, he wants a fairy, and it's a fairly straight forward 'hero does heroic thing for hero reason's as per video game logic but that's about it.
This is all the same sort of concern with Mario, but Mario leans into the humor so it's a comedy
civic hawk
Link has plenty of personality if you include the other Links other than OOT
tepid depot
maybe they turn link into the guy from Drive (2011)
lean pike
anyway I hope they break the lore to make all the zelda lore nerds mad
Zelda and Link... are siblings! shocking! and she's going to train to use her magic powers and he's sworn from birth to wear green! and also protect his sister.
civic hawk
I haven't seen the Mario movie yet but the most consistent thing I heard about is it that as a movie it's fine but it's more a movie made specifically for Mario fans, which is alright but that's kinda not what I go to a movie for
lean pike
The mario film was honestly great
unique dagger
Mario movie good
civic hawk
Zelda has the advantage that every game is set in its own completely different world so they can just do that for the movie, but there still has to be a story there, I feel like if they were to adapt a game's story the best one to do would be TP because Midna's story is just amazing and it's probably the best narrative I can think of in Zelda
unique dagger
Lord of the Rings is like a fine steak and Mario movie is like a cheeseburger
civic hawk
I've seen people say they could do BOTW but I think that's awful because the entire point of BOTW is to be as open and free as possible and you can't just replicate that on a movie, and the story of BOTW is fine so it wouldn't make for a compelling narrative on a movie
unique dagger
im thinking they're going to either do OoT or just do what the Mario movie did and make it not based on one specific game
lean pike
my uncle works at nintendo and he told me it's actually going to be set between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom
the premise is that there's something wrong with the divine beasts
lean pike
yes
unique dagger
jealous
lean pike
joking aside, I could see it
people wondered what happened to that plot point and it would let them cast Zelda as Zelda
unique dagger
what do you mean cast Zelda as Zelda
lean pike
(in the post credit scenes it turns out that Mario got stuck in the divine beast's pipes and he's putting together a team)
from Legend_of_Zelda import Zelda as Zelda
I mean they could cast Patricia Summersett as the actress playing zelda
unique dagger
ooooh
visual folio
impossible timeline: the movie is based on the TP manga, in which Link has an actual character arc beyond hero doing hero things 
civic hawk
I still haven't read that 
I should get on that
TP both the manga and the game probably have the best narratives in zelda I can think of
visual folio
probably, yeah
though mostly because a lot of Zeldas aren't trying to have much of a narrative (and of course the manga had to replace "gameplay" with something)
TotK and LBW for example, I like what is there, it's just not very much, presumably because much more of it would interfere with the game parts of the game
visual peak
It has been an age.
wet forge
dusky berry
This totk video has some good info.||https://youtu.be/bYajeQLQ7sM?si=AarPfjzYJbLC8c_-||
unique dagger
https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendos-shigeru-miyamoto-has-been-discussing-the-...
oh yeah i heard about this
supple quarry
ocean solar
https://www.awkwardzombie.com/awkward-zombie/witness-tampering
this whole web comic is amazing. thanks for sharing!
wet forge
Oh no, he’s hot 
unique dagger
correct !
visual folio
I'm mixed on that one
I do think "make the next game TotK but EVEN BIGGER" would be a very bad move
but I also think there are more interesting things they can do with the format than just MOAR STUFF
bright girder
what the cat said
wet compass
Small map with lots of stuff beats big empty map
civic hawk
I think that's sorta the point though, the next logical step for me would be to take all the best elements of the BOTW formula and put them back into the traditional 3D formula
Condense the content without sacrificing the openness and freedom and player expression, rather than just making BOTW again but what if even bigger and more-er
civic hawk
Small map with lots of stuff beats big empty map
That's why I loved ALBW so much
Much to do and see on a relatively small map
visual folio
I don't think it has to go "back into the traditional 3D formula", though that is one of the options I'd welcome
the other options I could see working are some variation of "BotW-style world but with less 'filler'/shallow content, greater emphasis on the more complex kinds of content"
tepid depot
When’s Four Swords Adventures 2?
visual folio
something like more dungeons, more missions with real sideplots to them (like the Hateno election), an actual main story with choices that meaningfully impact the world, etc
instead of korok seeds and forerunner gachas and shrines that last 20 seconds
civic hawk
Well yeah that's kinda what I mean by retaining what worked on BOTW and what really innovated and then putting it back into the traditional formula
unique dagger
i'd really rather it didn't go back to the traditional Zelda formula. those games have never appealed to me as much
civic hawk
So mixing and matching these modern elements with the traditional ''closed-open world'' and the dungeons
plain pelican
We need skyrim but zelda
visual folio
we might be saying the same thing in different words
plain pelican
But also make it Peggle
civic hawk
Yeah that's what I'm saying 
we're saying the same thing I just phrased it as going back to the traditional formula rather than doing BOTW again
visual folio
to me "take BotW elements into the traditional formula" makes me imagine, say, Twilight Princess except after the fishing minigame there's also a cooking minigame 
civic hawk
The entire appeal of BOTW was precisely that it was a completely different thing so that format kind of runs dry if you keep making it again because then it loses that appeal of being the different new thing
unique dagger
i think we should have a game in the style of Zelda II /hj
civic hawk
also the narratives and stories of BOTW and TOTK are overall much weaker than previous games due to this format too so there's also that
unique dagger
no one would see that coming
plain pelican
I'd love something more akin to majora's mask again
visual folio
the narrative is another thing I think could be solved either way
civic hawk
Majora's is a pretty good example, actually
visual folio
the "traditional 3D Zelda" approach, sure, obviously we know how good stories work in a more linear game structure
civic hawk
That game is similarly very open and even extremely vague at times about what to do both in the main quest and sidequests, regardless of what people say about ''durhh but I beat it when I was a fetus!!''
visual folio
but you can also make a "literally go anywhere" game world deliver a rich and detailed story, even if it's entirely through flashbacks and amateur archaeology; Outer Wilds might be the best example of how to make that extreme work
civic hawk
That's what I've been screaming at the sky like an old man about
unique dagger
2 Link 2 Past
plain pelican
I liked the one where he wakes up
civic hawk
Link Between Past Worlds: The Four Swords of the Triforce of the Goddess's Minish Cap
unique dagger
make a Zelda game in the style of Mario and then make a Mario in the style of Zelda
civic hawk
The thing about making a new 2D Zelda which I hope if that is ever going to happen the devs would know is that I don't just want a new 2D Zelda for the sake of it I want to see how they can modernize it and completely revamp the way you play 2D Zelda with new mechanics
Hell, I actually ended up buying Tunic which I'm gonna play at some point and I just saw the trailers and in the trailers there's actually a perfect example which is lock-on combat with dodging
unique dagger
i want Oracle game remakes like how Link's Awakening (the best Zelda) was remade
visual folio
I am so hyped to finally play the new Tunic randomizer with both entrance randomization and enemy randomization
I am going to suffer and I will like it
civic hawk
but you can also make a "literally go anywhere" game world deliver a rich and de...
I've never played that game so I have no idea of what it's like but I'm just basing my opinions off of pretty much what they've already done and with TOTK they showed me that this open world way of storytelling is something they don't have quite figured out, we already meme'd the ''So that was the imprisoning war...'' thing to hell because the game doesn't know if you saw this already or not so every single sage has the exact same dialogue and cutscene
visual folio
well, considering your response to AHiT I honestly have no idea if you'd like Tunic
unique dagger
man i should replay Zelda 1
visual folio
can't hurt to try of course
unique dagger
i havent played it in a while
listen i only don't like Hat in Time because the Switch port is hot garbage
visual folio
I've never played that game so I have no idea of what it's like but I'm just bas...
yep, the way BotW/TotK do it is obviously not the greatest
unique dagger
i havent played it in a while
i think the last time i played it was 2016
oh lord that was 7 years ago
visual folio
to be fair this can only go in one of two extremes
either you get distracted and forget to ever play more of it after the first few hours
or you marathon the whole thing in a week and solve all the secret puzzles I had to look up the answers to
unique dagger
you know me so well
visual folio
and there are so many secret puzzles
including one I somehow only learned about a few months ago
unique dagger
have you played the first Zelda ixrec
dont answrr
hold on
ok no
let me rephrase
when will you play Zelda 1
visual folio
nah
unique dagger
visual folio
I've watched a few speedruns and video essays about it, I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it
civic hawk
I'd say there's a pretty good reason most people recommend ALTTP or hell even Four Swords or Minish Cap over Zelda 1
Not that it's bad but it's probably only fun if you already know what you're getting into
sharp violet
what about Zelda 2- (i am shot by an unknown assailant)
It's not me this time; I like Zelda 2
unique dagger
It's not me this time; I like Zelda 2
THERE ARE DOZENS OF US
grim condor
I played a lot of Zelda 2 back in the day.
lean pike
https://vxtwitter.com/PlagueOfGripes/status/1717845080130654683
this feels like a classic 'unpopular opinion' post on reddit where the opinion is actually pretty mainstream
I guess we should be grateful that nintendo isn't responding to the criticism by telling us the real world is actually pretty empty and repetitive
supple quarry
crystal mortar
I love totk, I make car to destroy bokos
wet compass
King roam makes the best santa
But the other guy I somehow forgot the name of would be an awesome Xmas (or haloween) spirit
tepid depot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxw_sJURhjw wake up babe, new detail diatribe
civic hawk
I can with no doubt in my mind predict what the video is about based on the title
And it makes me wonder if the honey moon period for TOTK is already over
lean pike
unfortunately it seemed to die pretty fast
it'll be interesting to see if this results in Tears becoming something like SS, which results in a correction from nintendo
civic hawk
I wouldn't hate that...
But I definitely don't think they're going to overcorrect anything really since TOTK still is being praised all the way it's just now people are starting to see the shortcomings and faults (that I had been rambling about as I was playing the game 
)
so I don't think they're gonna be afraid and then overcorrect all the way but I am excited to see what they're going to do next since I think they weren't really planning to do another BOTW not even another Zelda game in this same timeline/world, so I just hope that they'll take all the good elements from TOTK and put it in a more traditional Zelda format which is kind of what I was expecting from this game and there's short little bits of that potential that show here and there
Maybe we'll get a new 2D Zelda who knows 
lean pike
I feel like the biggest problem that Zelda has had is over correction
they ALWAYS seem to overcorrect in the post- OoT era
people didn't like the look of windwaker, so they over correct into TP-- which doesn't age as well. SS gets revialed because of being too tutorially and being too on rails, so they overcorrect to Breath of the wild
I liked tears, but I genuinely don't know if I'd buy a third version of the game
BotW is a very innovative title but I worry that it's the sort of innocation that never goes anywhere. Great for what it is, but hard to build on
civic hawk
Mmmmmm I don't know if that's an effect of over correcting though... and when it comes to WW and TP it was mostly an artstyle change, though it's true that structurally TP is a very ''''''basic'''''' Zelda experience (doesn't mean bad or anything, also I think TP looks pretty good still but that's me )
But what I absolutely agree with, although maybe I don't have much of a valid opinion on this because despite my hundreds of hours in both BOTW and TOTK I didn't buy them, is that making BOTW again for a third time but bigger-er this time would definitely be the bad route to go for sure
I've said it before but BOTW's entire success was precisely because it was a departure from the Zelda's post LTTP and that type of formula really only works the one time as a sort of refreshing new experience, you can't really just keep making it again going forward because it loses what made it stand out and also it starts showing its shortcomings like how it happened so many times to me playing TOTK
When I was playing the last few sections of TOTK where there's a lot more focus on the story and a bit more linearity involved I genuinely wished that was just how the entire game was like, and I kinda hate how ''linear'' has become a sort of negative attribute for games nowadays, as if linearity is not only bad but also means you can't have player freedom or a variety of ways for the player to express themselves through gameplay
It's actually pretty insane how ALBW did the entire thing so well and to this day there's probably so many people that don't even know ALBW exists
(man this makes me wanna replay ALBW now)
visual folio
I also like TP's visuals as much as any other Zelda (I agree the bloom was overdone but apparently the HD version helped with that?)
I think we're already all on the same page about Tears being great (and for me in particular, surprisingly engaging; usually I don't like Zeldas nearly as much as others do) but nothing that complex can ever be flawless and they certainly have to do something more interesting than just "moar stuff" for the next one
visual folio
When I was playing the last few sections of TOTK where there's a lot more focus ...
I feel like we've already long passed the point where that was an inherently negative term, as open worlds are no longer this new innovative thing which just became technologically feasible; everyone has experienced at least one "too open" world or aimless survival crafter thingy at this point, and now seemingly everyone plays a range of linear and freeform games
wet forge
Being the hero of Hyrule is a tough job
crystal mortar
That's why I avoid that bed.
"Hurry the hylia up and find me Link"
Shut-up, I'm trying to ||Yoink my sword out of the head of a dragon that just so happens to be Zelda||
civic hawk
Oh wow not only is the honeymoon period done people are actively saying negative stuff about the game now huh
civic hawk
I am prepared to look at these videos and hear all about the exact same things I was criticizing when I was playing it 
wet forge
Oh good, am I allowed to openly criticize TotK now?
Because I was disappointed
I eventually got a hang of the creative aspect of it, but I think it’s biggest weakness is the entire story
civic hawk
of course, hell I was criticizing TOTK since prior to day one considering I played it early
wet forge
Yeah, same 
I wasn’t a fan of the fact that it relied so heavily on orthogonal crafting
Also the combat balance is terrible
But the worst thing is the narrative. That was the bit that bored me enough to make me stop playing
civic hawk
For me most of my main big complaints were the fact that the game is simply too big without anything of substance to really warrant being so big and the fact that the story and lore is boring and derivative especially going into it after BOTW
It's just the same exact story format with nothing really new it doesn't do anything interesting with its characters other than them existing and it completely ignores the previous game and what it set up for the future almost acting as if it didn't exist or isn't really that important
I could go the rest of my life without looking at that dumb ''so that was the imprisoning war...'' cutscene again, they couldn't even do unique cutscenes for each sage they had the exact same retelling of the exact same events and the only difference is the characters that speak but even then they say the same thing
The Zonai also aren't really all that interesting and are just a recycled version of the Sheikah
grim condor
I'm the opposite, really enjoyed ToTK, easily in the top 5 Zelda games for me.
civic hawk
It's not like I didn't enjoy TOTK or BOTW either, it's probably up there with my favourite Zeldas I've played, but it doesn't mean there's not loads to criticize about it and I unfortunately had a lot of times where the negative parts of the game greatly bothered me
visual folio
isn't that ratatoskr video pretty old? I feel like I saw it floating around back when I was playing TotK
I never watched it myself since I was already playing the game and watching negativity about a game I'm already enjoying doesn't benefit anyone
but you all already know why I played this game to death and loved most of it, and also why I would definitely not play "BotW 3: It's even bigger than TotK somehow!" if they chose to go that route
sharp violet
I never watched it myself since I was already playing the game and watching nega...
But you could be persuaded to enjoy it less. Did you ever think of that??
civic hawk
I don't think the point of the video is to be negative for the purpose of persuading people to enjoy the game less
visual folio
we know lol
unique dagger
thinkin about replaying TotK
or maybe even BotW
just in a Zelda-y mood rn
or maybe Zelda 1 or 2
havent played those in a bit
Legend of Zelda
wet forge
Hamtaro fans: 
unique dagger
sorry to all 3 Hamtaro fans in the server 🙏
i'll play Hamtaro when it gets put on NSO
unless it already is
nope ☹️
tepid depot
it's so joever
wet compass
I'm shocked how long the hamataro name stayed up, it was meant to be a quick joke lol
plain pelican
i was met with resistance last time i suggested removing it
sharp violet
for good reason
visual folio
I like how it's still being misspelled as "Hamataro"
sharp violet
bro no one knows how it's supposed to be spelled
you just start doing ham-something and end it with -taro
supple quarry
unique dagger
Hamtaro mentioned
unique dagger
that TotK opening is still so good
unique dagger
wet compass
Lol
supple quarry
unique dagger
i love this
supple quarry
crystal mortar
https://vxtwitter.com/PichichuStudio/status/1741126364001116330?t=6Q1E5WUZKAOU6c...
Nintendo made the mistake of making Koroks fuseable.
Fucking yeet that bean to the sun.
unique dagger
unique dagger
unique dagger
omg pretty
unique dagger
an excellent video
https://youtu.be/gtDPr2hcyZY?feature=shared
supple quarry
supple quarry
I just adore that he holds them like baby 
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
Twitter
sharp violet
zeldadungeon was one of the first websites I ever visited
Shit, it's 23 years old
or maybe almost 23
unique dagger
that's aweomse
lean pike
It’s like serebii
bright girder
i watched the concert very nice very musicly
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
man i forgot how hard the Proving Grounds: Ascension shrine was
unique dagger
Twitter
wet compass
torb
unique dagger
lol
visual folio
whenever I'm actually thinking about it I assume aura, considering what the "great fairies" look like
unique dagger
true true
bright girder
iit makes sense but ive always just seen them as light orbs
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
lean pike
do you think we'll get a game for the 40th?
I have a theory that they're pushing to get the next zelda out for the switch sequel
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
do you think we'll get a game for the 40th?
hmm maybe
sharp violet
https://x.com/tsunamio7/status/1761036896774586396?s=46
This is pretty cool art I like seeing children willing to kill for their country
unique dagger
next year is Mario's 40th i wonder what they will do
sharp violet
Twitter post
unique dagger
30th and 35th anniversary had lots of great stuff
30th had Super Mario Maker and 35th had Super Mario 3D All Stars
sharp violet
Mario Maker was sweet
unique dagger
hel yeah
sharp violet
Hell yeah
visual peak
https://x.com/tsunamio7/status/1761036896774586396?s=46
Suavemente intensifies
civic hawk
Been getting this channel's videos recommended lately, a lot of fun interesting stuff about oot
I'd like to say that some of the tech shown off could be used in speedrunning but OOT just so happens to be one of those games that has the ''glitch in this spot and reach the area that plays the credits'' type of glitches so unfortunately unless you were actively avoiding using that one there's not a whole lot of use there for speedrunning
Unless it's just for PBs
I also tried looking for the Twilight Princess manga the other day when I went out and browsed for stuff to read, unfortunately couldn't find it, I did find Four Swords, Majora's Mask and Minish Cap, but as cool as they'd be to have it's not what I was there for
I guess they just haven't translated it or hasn't arrived here yet
unique dagger
my TotK guidebook came today
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
Twitter
tepid depot
https://vxtwitter.com/chris_slavik/status/1768412444978708865
@supple quarry
supple quarry
P good
bright girder
I finished my 2nd Totk playthrough
my goal was to play the main quests in the "intended" order, so no master sword before the spirit temple etc, to see how the dialogue would change
Not that much!
though I thought Mineru would send me to collect the memories, not go to the Deku tree
wet compass
civic hawk
it's time, Nintendo
Over time I've come to appreciate this design a lot more to the point that it's now just what Link looks like by default in my mind
bright girder
got a hot tip for you guys next time you play wind waker
The boomerang has much longer range when you are in the boat than when you are standing on land
really changed my game up when I learned this
bright girder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KTvjRe5vyA Still cant believe it took them 24 years to finish this masterpiece of a game
unique dagger
civic hawk
unique dagger
aww
civic hawk
Concept art Zeldas dropped the other day
unique dagger
yeah they're all very cute
bright girder
what a good week that was
bright girder
they picked the right one on god
lean pike
I find it very strange that this is all in japanese
but then there's a random english header
why?
civic hawk
It's not uncommon for japanese text to have straight up english words or phrases in it sometimes
visual folio
loanwords are just weird that way
they probably feel similarly weird when one of us randomly talks about ninjas
unique dagger
from a year ago https://x.com/zeldaofficialjp/status/1656796324975742976?s=46
Twitter
Twitter
bright girder
good game good year
visual peak
Both images are good.
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
lmao
tepid depot
https://fxtwitter.com/KornArt3/status/1793312935785181489
@supple quarry
supple quarry
Good stuff. I really dig the alt hairstyle meme. God bless whoever shared that concept art.
round locust
Zelda's hairstyle is beautiful
unique dagger
lean pike
is this real?
wet compass
Yes
lean pike
huh
visual peak
unique dagger
Good
tepid depot
tepid depot
https://fxtwitter.com/oshirimarsh/status/1803609803085979924?t=bwLgr9tfghqCUS53L...
@supple quarry
supple quarry
So cute 🥰
wet compass
Excuuuuuuuuuuse me oaf loaf
civic hawk
I gotta say I'm really happy with how well this game has been received almost immediately
I would've thought most people wouldn't think of this game as the 'real' next Zelda because of the cartoonier style and the more '2d' gameplay but people are loving it and I couldn't be happier 
I'm really interested in seeing what direction they're gonna take for this game
visual folio
I suspect the people who would react like that are simply not paying attention to the "smaller"/2D Zeldas
civic hawk
Maybe, although this game blew up pretty quickly so I don't see it going under the radar like the Link's Awakening remake, that one did go by a bit unnoticed
I am glad I was correct in my assumption that Nintendo is very likely doing 2D Zelda-3D Zelda-2D Zelda and so on and so forth, considering the pattern so far, I was definitely not expecting to actually play Zelda but we'll see how that turns out when it comes out, it looks pretty interesting and definitely seems like they're still going with the sandbox-y ideas from BOTW/TOTK but now in a 2D formula
visual folio
yeah, I mean there's a difference between blowing up with the target audience and getting the attention of the wider clueless knee-jerking audience
remember most of the people we talk to and follow are in the top <1% as far as Zelda awareness goes
hell I've played a Zelda randomizer mod before
civic hawk
There tends to be more of an overlap between those two audiences than one would think 
I still remember the controversy over Wind Waker after OOT/MM, I for sure thought I'd see a bunch of twitter threads about how ''this isn't really the next zelda game/it's a downgrade'' or stuff like that but luckily I came across just pure excitement (and fanart of Zelda dropping tables on people )
visual folio
another factor might be that after BotW and TotK, we're all primed for something "different"
civic hawk
At least for those of us who wouldn't react the other way yeah, I think so, I was definitely afraid of another BOTW because after 200 hours in both games I just wouldn't be able to do another one, I don't think I have it in me and I don't think the devs want another 5 years of development or however long it would take, so doing this (and even reusing assets from Link's Awakening) was a good choice in my eyes
I expect the game will probably be a slightly bigger ALBW if I had to guess
The one thing that's not really 'different' for us as an audience but it absolutely is in-world is just how many races exist together at the same time in what I assume is the fallen hero timeline/''the 2D timeline''
even both of the Zora races, that's gonna be interesting
(It would be really funny if I end up finding that this game has a more compelling story than TOTK )
visual folio
of course, the fact that we even mentioned timelines is another <1% thing
oh that would be funny
civic hawk
Right, though Nintendo does talk about it in their Zelda book but yes that's more an observation for zelda lore nerds
visual folio
Timeline of Zelda Timelines remains peak comedy
civic hawk
Now that you mention it I did come across a lot of tweets where they quote someone asking how this will mess up the timeline by replying "WHO CARES" 
I still don't know where botw/totk fits if at all
visual folio
and neither do they
as long as they eventually put in an easter egg where some historian or archaeologist complains about all the contradictory accounts I'll be happy
civic hawk
That would actually be really funny lol
something about partially found records of Hyrule being flooded or enveloped in twilight but we don't know which one's true!
lean pike
I feel kind of bad for people who are lore nerds for Zelda games, tbh
because I genuinely think they think more about it than anyone working on the games ever have
civic hawk
It's a bit of a 50/50, the devs definitely think about it, sometimes they play into it and try to form connections, but they never really let it get in the way of doing fun stuff or exploring different settings or trying different combinations of previous elements, so it's not like they're totally ignoring it or don't care, but they also have this ''just don't worry about it'' attitude towards it
visual folio
it's definitely not a priority for any of the Zelda games, they always put game design first and let lore be mostly an afterthought, which ofc is completely fine
getting gameplay and story to perfectly mesh is a big enough challenge that properly investing in it would be... well, something other than what most players expect a Zelda game to be
lean pike
I mean, I think the Devs think about it to be sure, but I also think the developers don't really think about it in the same way that certain flavors of fans do. At it's heart, the story is pretty basic; there's a princess, she gets kidnapped by the big bad, Link rescues her. And there's a thousand variations on this. The issue is, each story, I feel, is meant to be understood as a separate story, not one that's connected to other stories. This is a big reason the timeline not only forks, it straight up doesn't make much sense.
civic hawk
That's why I say it's a 50/50, they don't care enough that they force themselves to make every game make sense or be connected, but a lot of the times they do play around with that, Windwaker and Twilight Princess are unmistakenly OOT sequels
Both can't exist at the same time though, but that didn't stop them at all, they still did it because who cares at the end of the day 
visual folio
and it's very easy to play WW or TP with zero awareness of the OoT connection (like I did) and lose nothing in the process
civic hawk
To be fair though, if you are aware of the connections then the experience is better for it, but at no point do any of the sequels in Zelda ever expect you to have played the previous game and even when they're directly connected they're still their own thing completely
The only one I can think of right now that might work like that is Majora's Mask since it takes place directly after OOT
lean pike
tbh, I'm not sure if I'd know TP was a sequel to OoT if it weren't for like, people saying so
civic hawk
But even then it's its own thing completely and it only expects you to know that it's the same Link after OOT is finished
visual folio
the TP manga does make it a lot harder to miss the OoT connection
but game alone, yeah I think I would've missed it even if I played OoT and TP back to back before being told there's a connection
lean pike
It's worth pointing out that, as a sequel, it doesn't really make sense
The problem with the timeline split is that it's kind of funky. While the exact timeline of OoT isn't clear, it appears to go something like this: Link finds the three keys, and unlocks the door of time/door to the sacred realm. Ganondorf follows him, and tries to grab the triforce, which splits and goes to live in Link, Zelda and Ganondorf.
But, at the end of the game, Link is sent back in time to when he was a kid. It's not clear when, exactly, but it's either before or just after he grabs the master sword (I kind of read the scene as him being sent back to just before he pulled it out). So he doesn't, and he exposes Ganondorf, etc. Which is what we kind of see going on in TP
But, Ganondorf survives execution because he has the triforce of power-- but in this timeline, the triforce was never split.
visual folio
yeah, TP explicitly doesn't answer the question of how Ganondorf got the Power triforce
it's not even clear if he had it before the TP execution attempt took place, the way it's described makes it sound almost like divine intervention saved him for some incomprehensible reason
...I actually don't remember how the manga resolves this
lean pike
Hylia be like: guys welcome to my jackass audition video, I think you're going to like this prank...
but this is what I mean about the devs 'caring' about the lore, but not in a way that you can really make a coherent story out of it over multiple games
civic hawk
With Twilight Princess, I think, unless I'm remembering incorrectly, it's kind of implied or 'retconned' in a way that Link, Zelda and Ganondorf will always have those pieces of the triforce in them since Link always had it in his hand even before the game, and Ganondorf just happened to awaken its power when he was about to die, even the game itself seems to acknowledge that it just kind of happened
It could also be that once the Triforce split, even if Link went back in time, he'd still have it anyways, maybe even Zelda and Ganondorf had them but they weren't aware of it
Regardless though, this specific detail never really caught my attention that much at least to me
visual folio
true, without replaying OoT I don't know if they said enough about the time travel rules that we could even articulate a contradiction rather than just an annoying absence of clear rules
I forget, does TP (the game) ever refer to the armored skeleton guy as specifically the "hero of time", or just that he's some past hero doing spectral mentoring?
lean pike
The game actually just refers to him as the Hero's spirit
visual folio
ah
civic hawk
Hero's Spirit or Hero's Shade, I don't remember if they ever actually refer to him as the hero of time, but the game makes it clear that it's him
visual folio
the manga was much more explicit about that, somewhere later in the plot he says this out loud and even does a whole "I should've finished him off when I had the chance, but now I have to ask you to do my job for me" guilt speech
civic hawk
I still need to read the manga, I was hoping to find it translated in physical here but it seems like it's gonna be a while before that
visual folio
that... does seem unlikely lol
civic hawk
I only managed to find the Majora's Mask and Four Swords manga here
lean pike
The opening cutscene of The Wind Waker shows the Hero of Time defeating Ganon as a child, when he was in fact an adult in Ocarina of Time during the final battle. In the same scene, Link also fought him without a shield while Ganondorf battled only in his beast form, unarmed.
you see?
civic hawk
Yeah but again these are minor details that don't really matter, you can explain it by saying this is an old record or folk tale that might be innacurate because it's been so long and nobody was really there to see it
The intro of Windwaker is even in the format of a book rather than actually showing you (and it's also heavily stylized so maybe Link doesn't actually look like a child, he's just very cartoony)
lean pike
puberty is the irl version of RTX on in the LoZ universe
civic hawk
The funniest part to me is that, the messiest timeline by far is the fallen hero timeline, because every other timeline does have some semblance of a connection, with both TP and WW being directly tied to and connected to OOT so they have that context to work with, but the fallen hero timeline has changed its order so many times it feels completely arbitrary and feels like the timeline where games are thrown into without much thought
Though I do think Zelda 1 and 2 are actually connected, if I'm not mistaken
But other than that, the rest are just kind of whatever, you could do any order and it would not matter that much
I also still need to play Minish Cap... I think it's the only other Zelda I haven't played yet
I do hope that the new game will say 'fuck it' with the whole timeline thing and just do whatever it wants, just for fun
bright girder
minish cap mentioned masterpiece greatest game of all time all timer of all time game of the year every year
lean pike
I do agree that these are relatively minor details, I'm just saying
civic hawk
I do ultimately agree with what you're saying though, I just don't agree that those particular details are what matters just because they feel like minor details you could explain away to me at least
visual folio
The funniest part to me is that, the messiest timeline by far is the fallen hero...
the truly funniest part is how many contradictory accounts the creators have given us about where Link's Awakening goes in the timeline
at one point, it was in the middle of another game
lean pike
Link's awakening exists in all timelines, everyime Link sleeps
bright girder
dont really think you can put this game in a timeline since its a version of link to the past where link gets owned and we already have real link to the past in the timeline
lean pike
I don't think any of these specific details are fatal or whatever, just that it feels like they made a bunch of games (prior to Skywards Sword), found people in the 2000s were really into speculating about the timeline, made this timeline (with, importantly, Skyward as it's root) but the timeline doesn't really make a whole lot of sense because the games were only ever referencing the other games in a haphazard fashion
visual folio
mm-hmm, the connections are so loose (when they exist at all) that they only really make for amusing trivia, the experience of playing any individual game is barely affected by any of this
lean pike
(I genuinely don't know where the identity of the Hero's spirit as the hero of time comes from, ether. It was never obvious to me.)
civic hawk
I would say prior to OOT, because after OOT is when they started playing around with the idea of a more structured timeline, supposedly they were already working on a timeline around 2003 internally at Nintendo but it was never published officially until 2011 after Skyward Sword, but again even then they never really let that limit themselves, I mean Oracle of Seasons and Ages came out at the same time Majora's Mask and Windwaker did so clearly they weren't too concerned about it, and again it shows a lot more with the 2D games where the timeline truly just doesn't make sense and they really didn't care how those games connected
civic hawk
(I genuinely don't know where the identity of the Hero's spirit as the hero of t...
I wouldn't know how to explain because I have the opposite issue 
lean pike
maybe this is the plot of echos of wisdom; the timeline is broke so she's fixing it
the end involves her copy and pasting echos of the timeline on top of one another to fix things, and then crawllng back into her crystal (but this time with a thermos full of tea so she has something to drink)
civic hawk
I mean I would definitely love it if Echoes did something funky with the timeline, I already mentioned how it's the first 2D game where almost every single race is present, including the first 2D Gerudos and both Zora races
I would love it if this took place at the 'end' of all timelines or something
lean pike
Princess Zelda, Timelord
civic hawk
Ever since Skyward Sword it's been part of the story that Link, Zelda and Ganon are all kind of cursed forever to repeat this thing endlessly, so it'd be interesting if a game broke that curse, but I do recognize that without the curse there is no Zelda anymore
visual folio
the map being covered in spooky purple rifts is as good an excuse as it gets to smash timelines together without worrying about silly things like continuity
yeah, with how loose the timeline actually is, that aspect of Skyward Sword feels a bit more like meta commentary than a true prequel/origin story?
I mean I'd be totally on board with them "breaking the curse" if they were going to shake up the formula next game
lean pike
I feel like Skyward Sword was them trying to give the series a definitive timeline but it wasn't received well and then we get BotW (all the timelines smashed together) and Tears (Zelda's grandfather is a furry and also somehow it's the OoT timeline?)
visual folio
not that it seems likely for them to do that, this has never been a story-focused franchise so keeping the iconic protagonist makes more sense
civic hawk
I feel like Skyward Sword was them trying to give the series a definitive timeli...
once again ALBW ignored as the inbetween title between skyward sword and botw
lean pike
you could say it's a game between worlds
civic hawk
I feel so conflicted about botw because I like that it doesn't particularly concern itself with any timeline but I think both those games have the weakest lore/story in any Zelda
A lot of times I found myself simply not caring about the lore in those games at all, it just never hooked me
visual folio
even by Zelda standards BotW/TotK are particularly unconcerned with telling an actual story
which didn't bother me since I wasn't expecting one
lean pike
I actually find it kind of odd that BotW is probably the first time hyrule had deep history
civic hawk
I remember mentioning it, but the finale of TOTK is what I wished all of TOTK was like, it took me 100 hours but during that entire final sequence I was incredibly hyped the entire time
visual folio
and BotW in particular doesn't set you up to expect one, it just throws you into the big open world and says go do stuff
lean pike
like, things had happened in the past and they were aware of them and prepared themselves for things to come
Ghost King: go do stuff, Link, whatever you want!
Link: you mean like reading a history book or enjoying a story with my adventure?
Ghost King: "I'm fading Link, you've killed me"
civic hawk
''Kcccht, you're breaking up, kcccht, I can't hear you Link kcccht click ''
visual folio
but yes the finale sequence of TotK was way better than I expected
I think I actually cared more about story in TotK than BotW, admittedly still not that much, but it was cool that doing the optional tears sidequest allowed me to learn what happened to Zelda long before the game would've revealed that "normally" in the finale
civic hawk
I said it at the time, and I still fully believe it, but TOTK is just the better BOTW and feels more like a re-do than a sequel
visual folio
it is funny how many parts of BotW were just reused and rebranded in TotK with their BotW counterparts totally forgotten
it's like they were going out of their way to make reading it as a direct sequel not work at all
civic hawk
The ancient sheikah tech is just kind of repurposed but it's never really explained thoroughly and people just kind of go ''oh yeah they're towers now I guess'', Malice and Gloom are literally the same thing, the entire setup of the story/game is the same (go defeat Ganon, who took over the castle area and was reborn again, and gather all 4 sages of the exact same regions)
All the while adding another 'ancient civilization' story with the Zonai
It's functionally the exact same game
visual folio
but this time, there's an underworld, and a sky world, and the ancients are furries
civic hawk
By far the funniest part to me was that many characters also don't seem to recognize you at all, despite the fact that they're characters you would've met beforehand in BOTW or would otherwise know you basically saved the world
now that's convoluted
civic hawk
I can't wait to see what the new Zelda's personality will be like
It would be interesting if they played around a bit with the idea of ''wait, I can't save the world, I'm not the hero'' even if just as a joke
tepid depot
https://fxtwitter.com/sho_n_d/status/1807479379217489994
@supple quarry
wet compass
https://youtu.be/axcnrVFwEHw an utterly useless, but still interesting vid, on the max amount of damage you can do in ocarina of time
bright girder
Rename the thread please I couldn't find it searching for "the legend of" or "zelda"
Anyway the Totk soundtrack dropped 🔥 🔥 🔥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJOmg5ghJ5s
🎷🎷🎷🎷
civic hawk
Legend of Sheik would be cool...
lean pike
are the original zeldas any good?
civic hawk
If you have the patience for 80s NES game design (generally obtuse, secrets are REALLY secret, a bit hard by today standards), I don't think Zelda 2 is that good and then Link To The Past is.... well, it's LTTP
At least those are the ones I think are ''the originals''
Generally any of the Zelda games from that era and even after with Link's Awakening and the Oracle games and Minish Cap are all either pretty good or really good so the answer is they're all good just find the one that calls out to you the most, I feel like with Zelda it's perfectly fine to just pick a game because you liked the aesthetic and designs and just jump into it
There's a fanmade texture pack that '''remasters''' Zelda 1 that may make the experience more enjoyable, at least I think it looks pretty cute 
visual folio
if I hadn't played LttP myself "Link To The Past is.... well, it's LTTP" would sound like a bad thing
grim condor
Zelda 1 came with a physical map to guide you, but for the most part you were expected to roam around to find things.
Zelda 2 is the strange side scrolling one, probably aged the worst of all the Zelda games.
LLTP and beyond have aged well and still fun to play, Links Awakening had the remake on the Switch as well.
visual folio
my impression is the current status of Z2 is basically "Castlevania did it better anyway"?
grim condor
Zelda 1 is also short, you can 100% it in under a hour.
visual folio
well, after you know where the stuff is
(also obligatory "Tunic does secret-heavy design better than Z1")
bright girder
Zelda 1 and 2 have been given new life thanks to GOTY 2024 Nintendo World Championships NES edition
Zelda 2? Ass game
Gaining an S rank in all the Zelda 2 levels in Nintendo World Championships NES edition? Peak game
lean pike
yeah I was wondering if it would be worth getting the online game pass thing and playing the "originals" (the pre OoT games)
I'd like to play the Oracles ones too, if they ever come back
bright girder
arent they on the gameboy app?
lean pike
uhhh maybe
bright girder
i played them there but you made it sound like they had been taken off
lean pike
I had no idea they were there at all
I mean 'come back' as in 'get rereleased on a modern system'
grim condor
Oracles and Minish Cap are on the Switch online thing.
lean pike
legend of zelda 1 is truly bizarre
civic hawk
might be worth it, then
Def worth it, those are good ones, I still have Minish Cap on my to-do list, played it as a kid and never finished it
I'm also gonna recommend A Link Between Worlds even if it's not one of the "originals" , just because it's the best 2d zelda imo
I don't actually know how the WW-adjacent 2d Zeldas are like, those were weird I remember, you'd move and interact fully utilizing the stylus all the time
lean pike
they don't have anything post N64/gameboy advanced
lean pike
a link between worlds is like... pretty much cotemporary with the switch
bright girder
Minish Cap? Oh you mean Minish Peak
lean pike
2013 vs 2017
civic hawk
Yeah Link Between Worlds came out after Skyward Sword, it was the last Zelda before BOTW
I'd even go so far as to say it's where BOTW got some ideas from for the overall game design
lean pike
someone did a translation of the japanese website https://docs.google.com/document/d/14G9-hssANK8HoFipidHeptrpgo17H1moJLAmbqExGT8/edit
...for echos of wisdom
unique dagger
Twitter
unique dagger
are the original zeldas any good?
i stand by the opinion that Zelda 1 and 2 are excellent
lean pike
how?
I'm playing Zelda 1 and it's like
there's no story, there's no real explaination of what you're doing, some of the dungeons are bizarrely designed... certain bosses require certain items, but they're not always located in the same dungeon.
lean pike
I'm using a map I found on reddit
grim condor
I think the story shows if you wait on the title screen.
unique dagger
how?
nostalgia probably i played them for the first time when i was in middle school and something about them really captured my imagination back then. it felt like i was genuinely going on a grand adventure through untamed lands. sort of the same feeling Skyrim gives me today
grim condor
But I think it is the basic Zelda story, Ganon has a triforce. Zelda split a triforce into 8 to stop Ganon from getting it.
lean pike
I also have the impression that it might be buggy tbh
I seem to only rarely get hearts when I'm at not full health, but mobs seem to drop them constaintly when I'm at full health
unique dagger
<:luxPeek:727618519260332072> But I think it is the basic Zelda story, Ganon has...
yeah it's different though because in Zelda 1 there's only the Triforce of Wisdom and Triforce of Power
lean pike
I get the impression that a link to the past is the first truly zelda game
unique dagger
I also have the impression that it might be buggy tbh
ive never encountered any bugs in Zelda 1
civic hawk
I get the impression that a link to the past is the first truly zelda game
Well you wouldn't necessarily be wrong
But also it's impressive just how much of every single essential part of a Zelda game is already present in the first
Even locations that would be recurring through the entire franchise like Death Mountain and all the creatures you find
For Zelda 1 I guess you'd have to put yourself in the shoes of a gamer in the 80s and think of it through the lens of nothing quite like it having been done til that point, and I guess that sense of wonder and adventure is still present except it's kind of blended with the frustration that comes with an obtuse game from the 80s
I guess you could say Zelda 1 is... The Dark Souls of Zelda games 
visual folio
tbf I do think Z1 itself is only of historical interest these days
a lot of historical interest, but everything it does has been done better in other games, especially other Zeldas
LttP is where it really starts peaking in the timeless sense
sharp violet
I guess you could say Zelda 1 is... The Dark Souls of Zelda games <:twilight:399...
That would make Zelda 2 the Dark Souls 2 of Zelda games, which makes sense because they are both so epic
civic hawk
LTTP and Link's Awakening are probably the better entry points for a modern classic Zelda experience, at least I'd still count those as some of the ''original'' 2d Zelda games
Then I'd say the Oracle games, Minish Cap and ALBTW for that modern modern classic Zelda experience
Although the Oracle games are a bit in between
Really most of the ''value'' out of playing Zelda 1 is just the bragging rights of being able to say ''yeah I played Zelda 1'' and just getting to see where it all started, any of those other games I think are good entry points for 2D Zelda otherwise
unique dagger
LTTP and Link's Awakening are probably the better entry points for a modern clas...
Link's Awakening is sooooo good. the best way to play it is the Switch remake though
civic hawk
The one thing I don't like about it fully is the artstyle, I'm not fully convinced with the whole plastic-y toy like aesthetic and I'm pretty bummed that they decided to recycle it for Zelda's new game, I really would've preferred if they just went with a brand new aesthetic considering it's going to be Zelda's first game as a protagonist, ALBW looked way prettier and that's much older hardware
But other than that I heard nothing but good things about it on switch and it even adds some more new content like a dungeon creator thing so probably the best way to play that game now, I don't even know if original LA is available on Switch anyways
I do like the new animated cutscenes for the remake
unique dagger
But other than that I heard nothing but good things about it on switch and it ev...
dungeon creator is kind of lame but having the extra buttons is a must to me. having to play the original with just the 2 gameboy buttons is maddening haha
tepid depot
The one thing I don't like about it fully is the artstyle, I'm not fully convinc...
Zelda from a link between worlds is cutest zelda
civic hawk
That's just true
lean pike
I gave up on trying to complete Zelda 1. I kind of fucked myself and the game is more hard than it needs to be
it's kind of shocking how quickly a Link to the Past establishes so much of the zelda formula. Like even the text and sound ques are basically the same as what we get in OoT
civic hawk
Yep
A Link to the Past is the MG2 of the Zelda franchise
A bunch of things introduced in that game are basically the foundation of every other game afterwards and some elements even directly appear again constantly
It's praised as the definitive Zelda experience all the time for a reason
It's crazier even that they did that after Zelda 2, which was super weird lol
grim condor
Zelda 1 does have that NES difficulty.
lean pike
yeah I just kind of... soft locked myself. I need bombs to blow up walls in the final dungeon, but I I couldn't buy the two bomb upgrades because I ran out of money. grinding for money is such ass.
lean pike
it sounds like botw and totk are probably their own separate timeline
if the translation from the 'masterworks' book is correct
visual folio
like, fully separate, not some timey-wimey mishmash?
lean pike
yeah
There might be a case for the timeline splittling with Skyward Sword, with the timelines branching depending on which era Demise got killed in, but other than that, it appears completely separate
(machine translated via google translate)
civic hawk
it sounds like botw and totk are probably their own separate timeline
Oh wow
They actually did do that then huh
lean pike
apparently
visual peak
It's okay. Temple of Time still did more damage than this in that regard. /s
grim condor
I'm really looking forward to this new 2d Zelda.
wet compass
https://bsky.app/profile/arvalis.bsky.social/post/3kucfrsc7us25 i've posted this one here before but i think it needs to be reposted because its incredibly good
balmy wagon
Am i the only one that just got tired of TotK and BotW? It just felt like it was too much content and after a while got boring and repetitive.
Tbh i prefer the top down Zelda games, along with the old 3d ones
visual folio
I played only the content that interested me and for me it felt like ended at a good point
trying to do absolutely everything probably would suck but I don't think those games want anyone to do that
balmy wagon
Yeah fair
I didn't finish either of them, and don't really have any motivation to continue
visual folio
I "finished" both in that I did all the main story stuff, all the sidequests that interested me, and all the puzzle shrine things
I never considered going for anything suicidal like 100% korok seeds
e.g. I think in TotK I killed one king gleeok and went "yeah, that's enough"
civic hawk
The BOTW games follow this design philosophy of ''just complete whatever content you wanna complete at whatever pace'' extremely hard, that's why there's so many things like shrines and koroks because they don't really mean for you to dedicate an entire session to getting all of them and its meant for you to just get some on your way to another thing (they follow this so hard that any optional stuff that isn't directly main story in BOTW is directly ignored entirely in TOTK, side characters don't even know you in that one)
But if you are that type of player, like me, who spent 8 hours straight doing all shrines and underworld shrines on TOTK, then yes it's very draining and repetitive, and even with that in mind I would definitely say that these games go for a mentality of having a bunch of content to do all over the map even if it's kind of repetitive, I definitely don't think I would want another BOTW anytime soon, it's just too much content even if you complete it at your leisure it's an easy 25 or 30 hour ish endeavor if you throw in some farming and side quests in there
This is all probably why I enjoyed ALBW so much after, I played it right after BOTW and TOTK and having a more condensed map with fewer activities to do was a lot more engaging to me, it's why I'm pretty excited for the new one :sunsetbounce:
balmy wagon
Also i despise the weapon durability system
visual folio
oh yeah that was such a pain in BotW
civic hawk
Yeah that's a whole thing too
visual folio
but the way it works in TotK with synthesizing weapons I'm cool with
civic hawk
The new system in Echoes seems to be expanding on a similar idea to synthesizing
I'm still not fully sold on Zelda's gameplay I was kind of wishing for a new standard 2D experience but maybe it'll end up being really fun
wet compass
The weapon system in both and totk have problems in different ways
The durability just kinda sucks in both
But the obvious lack of weapon variety in totk sucks more
Yes I know I can craft weapons now, but it sucks to kill a camp of tough bokoblins only to find... wooden sticks
That hurts
civic hawk
I still feel like the weapon system is flawed even if the idea in BOTW is that it's a survival game with improvised weapons and in TOTK it's about fusing them
In both games I got to the point where I got really neat weapons, mostly special weapons like the sage weapons and what not, and I just... didn't wanna use them
I know that the game wants you to use them, and it gives you the option of ''repairing'' them, which is just crafting them again, but I still didn't want to
visual folio
at least in TotK I was making some interesting decisions about how to spend my fusion resources; in BotW it was pure busywork
lean pike
we're about a week from echoes of wisdom
grim condor
I am here for day one.
lean pike
I can't decide if I should buy it now, or wait and ask for it for christmas
grim condor
There is likely some unannounced games for the holidays.
civic hawk
tonight :ppinkieuncontained: only 7 more hours until my life becomes this for the foreseeable future
grim condor
6 more hours.
civic hawk
So just to get ahead of things is this gonna be a free for all channel or do we still spoiler all talk about this until however long enough time goes by?
Just so I know exactly how many images and reactions I wanna throw in here
lean pike
hide spoilers
civic hawk
Alright gang
I'm gonna spoiler everything just in case
|| just to start with, OH MY GOD WE CAN JUMP AND LOCK ON IT'S AWESOME ||
|| YEAH YEAH YEAH PING PONG||
|| welp, here we go. ||
|| oh my god it's princess gear solid ||
|| Pfff oh my god, she just yeets rocks at enemies to kill them ||
|| HELL YEAH BEDS ARE OP! ||
|| found his room! hehe 
||
|| Pfff they're so dumb they stop fighting to eat so I had to switch out to a different summon because mine kept going for the piece of meat too ||
|| also hey look at the size of this map! this is probably the biggest 2D zelda and look at that they even let you know where you found different heart pieces and such, that's pretty useful ||
|| aaahhhhh damnn it this is so fun and this place is so COOL ||
|| oh my GOD? Zelda can do it all in this game this is so op for the FIRST dungeon ||
|| really re-using all these concepts that BOTW and TOTK implemented into a 2D formula... this is too genius ||
|| of course ||
|| gaahhh these unique abilities are so cool, so much utility and different uses, these little 2d sections ala Zelda 2 in between dungeon rooms are so charming too, I love that you can still technically move forward and back in them you just hit the wall ||
civic hawk
|| ALREADY? oh my god, and of course he's got all his moves and cool shit ||
|| OH MY GOD ZELINK HOLY HELL ||
|| Look at her go!! She can do it all oh my god ||
|| this game is incredible. ||
civic hawk
|| Golly, this map... seems small but it's like at least three or four times the size of ALBW's ||
|| egg ||
|| oh... my fucking god... do you guys have ANY idea what this means??????? TREES ARE NO LONGER A BARRIER, YOU CAN WALK THROUGH THE BARRIER, or well, on top! oh my god!!! ||
|| pfft, okay, discount Tingle over here interrupting my moment of revelation ||
|| oh my god I think I just accidentally accessed this area that's not meant to be accessed just yet.... oh my god this is a 2D zelda with BOTW levels of non linear exploration, oh my god!!!! i'm freaking out !!! ||
|| I was thinking go meet the Gerudos early but... this area looks like the Deku zone.... I gotta meet these lads and see what they're up to it's been so long!!! ||
tepid depot
I'm guessing Nire likes new zelder
civic hawk
civic hawk
|| aw hell yeah, deku bois, and also drinks!!! 
🍹 basically this game's equivalent of potion making from ALBW, neat ||
|| god this game is so cool and genius, I can't believe treeline barriers just don't mean anything anymore ||
|| I love how you can just hear the cogs in my head turning for this little overworld puzzle ||
|| damn I got my ass beat, I'm not going back there that wasn't even a boss or anything it was just some guy ||
|| I got some cool mons from that area and I can't even use them because they require too much mana to summon dang it ||
|| alright, well, I'll visit the Dekus at full later, right now I'm too excited and I just wanna look around!! I'm gonna check out what's here in this temple before going anywhere, I got the Zoras right next door but I might wanna go to the Gerudos first ||
|| okay.... wow, that was confusing as all hell at first but that was possibly the coolest non conventional boss fight I've seen in a zelda game and it was completely and entirely optional oh my god this game is gonna be incredible ||
|| aaahhh... so you can choose to upgrade the magic bar or the magic power, damn that's gonna be a tough one because I do kinda want the whole Link mode to last a lot longer but more power....||
Okay! I gotta stop now because I do have other stuff to do and it's getting late but man I'm excited to see what else is going on here, I'll just leave this little thing showing my progress so far and where I've been and what I've gotten and call it a night, for now
upper flax
Wow did I finally find the secret CIA document leak
civic hawk
I actually thought by now more people would be here discussing this
civic hawk
Yes?
sharp violet
What's it called?
civic hawk
So far it's excellent
civic hawk
For physical I read some articles saying it's gonna take maybe a couple days to get to the stores, but for digital it should already be up
upper flax
This will definitely not be memed...
lean pike
amazon has a version
if I buy it now, it'll be here by tomorrow.
But it's noted as being the Canadian version. What does that mean?
woeful vale
Echoes of Wisdom so far.
Good.
unique dagger
this artstyle is very cute
||haha if you hold down the bomb button it turns into a Bombchu||
||i love Ganon's design in this, LttP W||
||ooh same with Zelda||
woeful vale
(EoW) ||Burning down half of Faron Wetlands for 5 apples.
Absolutely worth.||
also pro tip: (EoW again)
||Fuck Potions, they're a scam, invest in Smoothies, they're cheaper and heal more. Think a simplified BoTW cooking system. For context, Red Potions are like, 30 Rupees for 5 hearts, but a Smoothie can heal more than that for just 10 if you have the right combos.||
civic hawk
||i love Ganon's design in this, LttP W||
|| It's not LTTP's design, it's weirdly more reminiscent of Oracle and Cadence of Hyrule's Ganon design ||
civic hawk
also pro tip: (EoW again)
||Fuck Potions, they're a scam, invest in Smoothies, t...
|| you saying this hurt there was already a 'cooking'/mixing system in ALBW before BOTW to make potions but I understand why you'd use BOTW as a comparison point ||
civic hawk
(EoW) ||Burning down half of Faron Wetlands for 5 apples.
Absolutely worth.||
|| You went to the Deku's first? ||
woeful vale
|| you saying this hurt <:opaLOLine:1116739543811510365> there was already a 'co...
||I did play ALBW but it's been a WHILE so I don't remember the cooking system.||
woeful vale
|| You went to the Deku's first? ||
||Technically I'm till on the Zora/Gerudo arc, I just went there for curiosity's sake since I Could™️||
civic hawk
|| Literally the same thing I did how did you get there? I jumped on top of the trees and just skeddadled over ||
|| I'm planning on going to the Gerudos next since there's no other way to go without triggering main progress, I did go to this temple in between the castle and the zoras on the way there which is a pretty cool dungeon if you wanna go there ||
woeful vale
||Pretty much that, lmao.
needless to say I overestimated how far south i needed to go for the Sea Zoras||
woeful vale
|| I'm planning on going to the Gerudos next since there's no other way to go wi...
||ooh, good plan, i haven't really explored anywhere but the south part of the map yet||
||i ship the zora chief leaders||
civic hawk
|| Pretty much same here, I didn't go in just yet but there's also this village/town at the west side of the Castle just north of the gerudo mark on the map if you also wanna check that out before progressing, I didn't go inside of it yet so I don't know the name but I'm gonna be checking that next time and then go for the gerudos ||
woeful vale
||breaks into Hyrule Castlle Town via trampolines
the front entrance is open anyway||
civic hawk
|| Guard 1: ''Should we tell her?'' Guard 2: ''No, she's having too much fun jumping around'' [distant boing boings] ||
civic hawk
ahem, I think you mean, Zelda opening a chest
lean pike
spoilers.
civic hawk
|| horsie! 
||
|| wheeeeeeee 
||
|| I'm honestly pretty amazed at the variety of different drinks you can make, they could've easily just made each a generic 'fruit drink' or something but no, they're all clearly distinct, that's awesome ||
civic hawk
|| that was super clutch wow I thought this would be a cakewalk since the first phase was so easy but that was super intense! especially since you don't have any conventional weapons at the ready ||
|| so that was the gerudo area! took me about 3 hours to complete, way more time than I thought, this game really hits the perfect perfect spot between compact classic zelda action and just long enough that you don't feel like it was a super short experience, I took the liberty to complete the entire gerudo desert area as much as possible even going into all the little caves and completing all the fights around, that was SUPER fun ||
|| So, just to recap briefly today's session, we met the Gerudos! And they're all just so adorable and gorgeous ||
|| I did some side questing before main quest stuff, completing the map and all, there's this one gerudo lady that challenges you to a game of catch, she's so adorable, she forces you to cut through the buildings like an assassin's creed game until you get her ||
|| There was this one Gerudo who wanted one of these floating ball desert thingies, but they're so frail you gotta kinda frankenstein some path to get it to her safely which was super fun to figure out ||
|| I got viciously ATTACKED by some floating tiles 
||
|| before the main dungeon there's this other corrupted crack you gotta clear, I thought this area wouldn't have a dungeon until I remembered there's two cracks in the map, the other one is the dungeon, and this first one is a little mini dungeon where you gotta catch all these little light creatures, after it ends it reveals the advisor for the matriarch was a dark world impostor and she just WHACKS her in the back like a badass||
|| once inside, after finishing most of the dungeon (which was AMAZING), I fought Link again! Twice! And both times ended pretty quickly... I guess my sword was too overpowered I upgraded its power and duration, I was so happy to see that bow drop though ||
|| and after that, it was the boss, and the area was clear! I loved every single second of it and I can't wait for the Zoras next ||
|| I also really loved these little wind puzzles all throughout pretty much every room of every dungeon in this area and the little fan echo you get, it's super simple stuff, but so effective ||
I wanna be as vague as possible since I do wanna just say out of spoiler talk for anyone who might be on the fence about it or something, this has been nothing but amazing so far, literally everything I wanted out of a new zelda game and even more, so many amazing new ideas implemented into the more compact classic 2D Zelda style, it's just so incredible I'm having an absolute blast and I could not be happier
I don't know if I wanna say this might be my new favourite 2D Zelda, but so far, it's really really getting there, this is incredible
civic hawk
I was super on the fence about the artstyle because I didn't like the plastic toy look and the reuse of the Link's Awakening artstyle but yes, this game is extremely cute
lean pike
I've only played for, idk maybe 2 hours so far but it's certainly interesting
I'm not really sure how I feel about the combat though
civic hawk
It's definitely unconventional, that's for sure, but I feel like once you play for long enough you'll really start seeing all the new possibilities that it allows
The one thing that is kind of ''bothering'' me so far is || there's WAY too many teleport stones for this kind of game. I feel like BOTW/TOTK was so expansive it made sense, but here things are so compressed that having all these different teleportation spots makes some of them kind of useless and also takes away from the exploration and again, using a horse to transport around ||
But this is super minor
|| it seems like there's not a lot, but a lot of these are literally 4-5 seconds away from each other ||
civic hawk
|| ahhhhh man.... this felt so so nice to watch 
it made me so happy ||
|| what a beautiful area, the entire Zora area is extremely relaxing and beautiful to just run around and do stuff in, completing that area was a blast ||
|| I love love love these little mini puzzles that emerge whenever I want to cross a path and I have to think of all my tools to see how I can get to this part of the map, the TOTK DNA is super strong here ||
|| this little mechanic you get during the Zora portion in particular is super good and satisfying to use, the fact that you can stack them on top of each other and to the sides, it opens up so many opportunities ||
|| this little section in particular made me feel so smart lol this is on the way into Mt Hebra, which isn't a part of the main progression yet, or I guess at all? I wonder if Mt Hebra and Death Mountain are optional! So far they have had no cracks or anything so they may entirely be optional! But anyways, I got here as I was exploring around randomly avoiding the main quest, I couldn't get through the bridge so I tried stacking beds, nothing, when I was about to give up I remembered you can mimic enemy movement so I did that with the bat until I could get up to climb the rocks and get through the other side ||
|| I was able to get through there after making some heat potions to resist the cold, again super cool to see BOTW style mechanics in here again, I completed a cave with a treasure and explored until I couldn't advance any more, this was on the limit of where I could go, I wonder if the yetis from Twilight Princess live in here 
||
|| but anywho, this is how the map currently looks like, I pretty much only have a bit of this part to explore plus Death Mountain I got a bunch of new items this session and a lot of upgrades including hearts. I wonder how much left of the game I have, I can't imagine I'm already halfway through or something.... right? ||
woeful vale
https://fxtwitter.com/togenasi_furiko/status/1839981446309564735
make them stack vertically and that's my experience
i have 0 shame
woeful vale
|| ahhhhh man.... this felt so so nice to watch <:raritydarling:5862972220318679...
||I DON'T CARE
I SHIP IT!||
on my end ||i managed to finish Hyrule Castle and acquired the blonde honse
i did suspect it was Zelda's horse all along, only confirmed that once i saw her bedroom(?) during Still Hyrule Castle
ALSO GOD I LOVE THE FACT YOU LOSE THE HOOD AND GET THE TRADITIONAL ZELDA OUTFIT AFTERWARD GOD IT'S SO CUTE||
||after having spent the entire game on the run, this is so goddamn satisfying||
woeful vale
||i got the Heirloom Katana. It can cut through pretty much anything. 
||
civic hawk
on my end ||i managed to finish Hyrule Castle and acquired the blonde honse
i di...
Oh no that's spoilers for me! I didn't think anyone here would be that far ahead of me
But that's good to know anyway, I'm not far from that part and || her princess design this game was just too good to not use it for more than the beginning ||
civic hawk
||i got the Heirloom Katana. It can cut through pretty much anything. <:youmuSip...
|| I figured that could be obtained at some point, I only finished two of those classes so far||
woeful vale
||water blocks are so OP, lmao||
also i'm pretty sure this is the best smoothie
at least, outside of using ||Golden Eggs||
civic hawk
|| Yes to both of those ||
|| it's a surprisingly good smoothie, I don't know why potions are even a thing ||
|| I haven't really used a golden egg on a drink just yet, what does it do? ||
woeful vale
||Depends on the ingrediant you pair it with
For the element based plants, you get 5 minutes of protection
for healing, it straight up just gives 20 hearts||
||wait, no, any of the buffs get 5 minute and you get 20 hearts||
i was getting mixed up with a different recipe
civic hawk
|| I might save the eggs for selling maybe, since it does say you can sell them I think, just because I have so much of all the other resources already. Might come in handy for Mt Hebra though, one minute isn't enough for the cold resistance ||
woeful vale
||okay defninetely invest in Dampe, holy shit the last robot is insane||
||once you get to Prime Energy, beeline for Eldin, it blocks off the rest of Dampe's requests and you want that last botto first||
civic hawk
|| Okay I feel extremely stupid right now but I'm stuck at the beginning ish of the castle dark world thing where you have to light the torches, I have no idea how to light the one on the other side of the wall ||
|| I can't believe I'm actually stuck holy shit ||
nevermind....
lean pike
The puzzles are fun, but man the combat isn't very good at all. It's exhausting to have your echo just stand there because it's using mob AI that usually delays action in order to give the player time to react
civic hawk
I would agree, but it's mitigated a lot by the fact that || you can turn into Link using the sword and you can make it stronger and last longer as you get upgrades plus the fact that there's a lot of other damage options that aren't simply using an enemy mob, there's a lot of different enemies that are a lot more aggressive or are physically harmful to other enemies so you can use them as a weapon ||
|| oh my god Link! you're a princess now! /s ||
|| I love that he's using a random club as a weapon too lol ||
|| also wheeeeee no longer incognito! full princess mode now!!! ||
civic hawk
|| oooooooo great fairy!!! ||
|| glad I saved up my rupees for this, super worth it ||
|| also yipeee horsie 
||
|| let me tell you this horse is not super easy to control lol at least not when sprinting, it's a full straight line ||
|| oh my god ||
|| wooooo second heart row!! ||
|| hah, okay game, well played ||
civic hawk
|| pause. lock in. zoom. enhance ||
|| STAMP LOCATED ||
|| haha aww she actually closes her eyes and enjoys the water and it heals you ||
|| Darston: You see this Zelda? This is a portrait of my father, it's the only thing I have left to remember him by... ||
|| Zelda: DESTROY ||
civic hawk
|| This Goron dungeon is taking years off my lifespan ||
|| this is the first time i actually have to admit defeat and go back and make a fuck ton of drinks before I finish the dungeon, the entire dungeon is just actively trying to kill me at every possible turn more than any other one ||
civic hawk
|| volvagia! ||
|| 
??? ooooohhh ||
|| alrighty, that's the Goron's done, I wanna say I'm maybe 60-70% through with the game? Just gonna clean up this area of any remaining secrets and quests and then it's off to the Dekus ||
lean pike
so... ||if link is a 'big eater', does this mean zelda is a big sleeper?||
woeful vale
uuuugh... ||i really don't wanna grind out rupeees for the final accessory upgrade, even if i know it will be worth it to have that fourth slot for something like damage reduction, even with the goldfinch just vomiting rupees out of mobs||
civic hawk
|| The Great Fairy upgrades? How much is it? Last one I did was like 500 I think and I haven't gone back to see what the next was, this is why you keep those golden eggs! ||
lean pike
I wish ||the horse was an echo so I could summon it||
civic hawk
|| Either make the horse an echo/summonable like the special saddle in BOTW, or give me way way WAY less teleportation spots so that I actually have a reason to use the horse ||
civic hawk
Non Echoes of Wisdom related but I ended up giving in and bought the entire complete box set for the Twilight Princess manga, I really wish I could've found it in spanish but it seems like it's gonna be a little bit until it's all fully officially translated
So I guess I'm gonna be reading that whenever it arrives
lean pike
I wasn't expecting ||deku scrubs with a crippling web addiction||
lean pike
this game has absolutely batshit lore and I'm here for it
civic hawk
I think it's funny that that panel became a whole meme about midna liking link when there's panels like these
visual peak
https://vxtwitter.com/nearlycherry/status/1837289846500643030
I need to finish reading that one day.
civic hawk
I think it's the first time I've seen a piece of Zelda media be so clearly into a specific pairing
civic hawk
|| startin' to look a lot like the master sword....||
|| i actually wonder if that's ever gonna come up,it wouldn't be the first game to not have the master sword in it at all but I just wonder if it's gonna even be here this time ||
|| right-o! cleaned up all the side quests on the goron area and all the remaining cracks on the goron, zora and gerudo area, now it's time to progress! ||
civic hawk
|| Oh wow I hope all these guys die ||
|| Don't even gotta wait for Ganon let ME burn this whole place down ||
lean pike
one frustrating thing is that I never find ||monster guts||
lean pike
you make potions with them, which basically gives you five minutes of their effect without any health or energy restoration
civic hawk
aaaaahhh
well to be fair I haven't found much uses for any of those long effect drinks yet
but it might be useful for || Mt Hebra with the cold ||
civic hawk
Okay it might be because I'm dumb but || I really really really hate these stupid water puzzles ||
sharp violet
I'm happy for you nonetheless
civic hawk
|| pffff, what a bummer, they made the Dekus absolutely unbearable I was so excited to see what a deku tribe would be but they're all just so annoying ||
civic hawk
|| yeaaaaahhhhh!!! I knew it!! yetis!!! 
||
|| little Zelda climbing onto a yeti's back is adorable ||
|| almost a full map!||
civic hawk
|| pretty dress! ||
|| wooooo ||
|| alrighty, got some side quests left to do still, probably gonna check for any walkthroughs to see if I missed anything just before I go to the forest because I get the sneaky feeling I migh be right at the end of this ||
civic hawk
|| oh no! a crack swallowed his stamp thing ||
Oooooh I think that || got Tri up to the max level it seems! ||
|| weird that the max is level 11 and not something like 12 or even just 10 ||
civic hawk
Interesting...
Oh wow these side quests are SERIOUS
damn
I guess I got work to do...
civic hawk
|| THIS FUCKING HORSE RACE ||
|| I DON'T WANT ALL THIS BUTTER I WANT TO WIN ARGGHGHH||
|| AAAHHH FINALLY ||
|| On the one hand, I love that there's no specific easy trick to this race and it's just about getting good, on the other hand, MAN these times are just so evil ||
|| YEAAAHH ||
|| aahhhh ffffuck this is a lot ||
|| man this game is PACKED full of content I gotta say ||
civic hawk
|| really?! I thought I'd have to do like every single one of these for the sabre! ||
civic hawk
|| wooooo all sessions finished!!! ||
civic hawk
the || automatons? || cause if so yeah that feels like a little too gimmick-y since this game already has the whole echoes gimmick going on
I haven't even used one yet
OKAY THIS ONE'S COOL THOUGH
|| well there's all of em ||
Oh god each region has more side quests now
haha yess I managed to barely get it
sooooooo cute
civic hawk
aaaaaand that's all side quests!!
all || 44 of them, I checked!! ||
gaaaaah nevermind there was ONE more
civic hawk
Okay there was one more side quest that I forgot in Gerudo town that just kinda appeared out of nowhere, but now I think I got all of them
I only have some other stuff left to get and then it's on to the end
lean pike
the || automatons? || cause if so yeah that feels like a little *too* gimmick-y ...
it's mostly like, your whole thing is echoes, here's some other sort of echo system, except it's a sidequest you might miss and it's much more complicated to get the echoes for
civic hawk
Yeah I agree, I also feel like || having to manually wind them || hurts more than it helps, I don't know if these things are crazy OP or something since I haven't tried them yet, but it just feels like an unnecessary extra mechanic
lean pike
I sort of wonder if this was an older iteration of the idea
civic hawk
I sort of wonder if this was an older iteration of the idea
It at least feels like an alternate version of the idea they had that they probably thought of so much they went ''well we already put the work in so we might as well just throw it in there''
Although it's weird because || the quest to get it is so out of the way, but the quest itself requires all these very important items that all have their unique slots in the menu plus those fruits that specifically let you wind the thing faster || so who knows
all I know is I don't have much interest in it
lean pike
oh thats how you get it
civic hawk
I appreciate little clues like || the patches of land that are grass-less and directly on top of the cave ||
it's a little hard to tell but it makes for a great ''aha'' moment
my favourite is just doing stuff like this, just because at this point of the game I just can
ayyyyyy
aaaaand that's that! that's all that was left to do
all possible upgrades thus far, all possible side quests, items, accessories, hearts, etc, now it's just a matter of progressing until the end
well except for those || energium fragments || scattered around... I may be missing a couple, but that's honestly fine with me, since I already have || lvl 3 meter and the full scrolls that increase the time for it ||
Oh, wait, I do have the final challenge on that Kakariko guy, I might do that next to get that final reward
I don't wanna get too far ahead of myself and I wanna save my thoughts for when I fully end it but man, so far, what an incredible experience
I feel like maybe there could've been a bit more expansion done to the 2D formula to make it seem closer to how things are presented in the 3D games in terms of scope if that makes any sense, but honestly? Compared to all the previous 2D Zelda games, this one is really really up there, I would put it in the top best 3 or top best 5 2D Zelda games for sure
Really fun, really charming, really creative and unique, super cool implementation of all the little things they've learned from the latest 3D games into a 2D formula, overall just a super super solid game
Might wait until I complete it to really close my thoughts on it just in case there's some crazy stuff right at the end which I'm sure there's gonna be but so far, it's excellent
lean pike
yeah, it's one of my favorite zelda games atm
it's not flawless, mind you, but it's certainly a treat to play
civic hawk
Honestly my only complaints that I can think of right now is that I just wish it had more going on story wise, in that regard it very much feels the same way BOTW felt like a return to the original game design philosophy of: ''here's a vague ish idea of who you are, the context of the world and what you're doing, now go wild''
Although, again, I still haven't finished it completely, and that's not to say there's nothing at all going on, it just feels like there could've definitely been a bit more
That being said it feels like the perfect length, TOTK and BOTW were literal 100+ hour endeavours each for me, a player who always loves to complete as much as I possibly can of a game whenever I enjoy it that much, but with this I've had... 24 ish hours so far, and I've completed I want to say pretty much everything, and it feels like there's a really good amount of content compressed into the map with extremely minimal meandering and wandering around this expansive huge but mostly empty and unengaging map
lean pike
tbh I've always had the impression that the 2d games (except, perhaps, the ones growing out of WW) tend towards vagueness in story telling
civic hawk
Not really? They tend to because a lot of the 2D games are just old, and that's just the nature of older games, really didn't start getting story intensive until the 2000s after the PS1 era entering into the GC era, the latest 2D Zelda at the time which was Minish Cap was pretty story heavy for 2D Zelda standards, and then ALBW was also pretty heavy on the story although of course never to the point of something like Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess
They do tend towards that, but just because a vast majority of the 2D Zeldas are just from a time where it wasn't really done and by the time where they could have done it they didn't make 2D Zeldas anymore because they already started with all the new 3D Zeldas, which is why I feel like they could've done more with it now, but like I said that would be more of a nitpick on my part rather than pointing out any ''flaws'' or anything with this game
lean pike
sure
civic hawk
So basically yes, you're right but I just mean it's not an inherent design choice that they go for with 2D Zeldas, or at least it doesn't appear that way to me, and also there's some odd cases where even at the time it wasn't the case like with Minish Cap and I guess Link to the Past was also weirdly story heavy for the time?
ish, sort of
which is why I say that this feels like how BOTW intentionally went back to how the earlier games were like, at least that's how it feels like to me anyways
civic hawk
heheh I love this little detail where || if you wear the night gown plus sleep in ZELDA's bed specifically || you recover hearts faster + more hearts in total
also man this is a BOTW ass puzzle right here
Alright then, here I go....
just like that?!
lean pike
good luck