I Was COMPLETELY WRONG About TotK's Reused Map

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I spent years worrying about the fact that Tears of the Kingdom was going to reuse the same map from Breath of the Wild. It just seemed like a bad idea to me. Turns out I was wrong!
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TWOOTER: @ArloStuff
This video was edited by the lovely Kane!
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"Reloaded Installer #11" by LHS.
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PINNED COMMENT O'CLOCK

[@warriorseamonkey1693]

TOTK is like walking into your house, and every room is in the same location but you have all new furnature and things, and a whole brand new basement

[@ashleykettle343]

Most developers would be too nervous not to show everything about their game. So the fact that Nintendo just flat out didn’t mention The Depths is crazy. They have such confidence in their product and faith in their community. It’s awesome, truly.

[@PiercingSight]

My favorite change is that they moved the arc of the sun across the sky. In BotW, the sun was in the north at noon. In TotK, it's in the south. So even if you're in the same exact place, the different lighting will make the environment feel subtly different, even if it's exactly the same.

[@geebu26]

I think one thing you missed about the reuse of old map is how you explore it. Now that you have ultrahand and ascend you can do things you previously can't do to the old map

[@tex9419]

the fact that nintendo was somehow able to keep the entirety of the depths a complete secret leading up to the games launch is a small miracle in and of itself, and just made that first dive down a chasm that much more incredible

[@roryreviewer6598]

What’s really strange to me is that I found that the simple act of starting the game from lookout landing/central Hyrule instead of the Great Plateau, plus the additional/altered landmarks, gave me a completely different perspective on the layout of the land, to such a degree that I found myself lost many times despite being so familiar with the world in BOTW. I found myself constantly checking my location on the map and thinking “OOOHH this is around the Zora area” or whatever it was cause I couldn’t tell just from walking around.

[@dored85]

The depths are not only the same map, but an inverted version of it. Like, the big mountains on the surface are big holes on the depths. It's pretty cool.

[@sorio99]

It was so cool, seeing even super minor characters, like Calip and Magda, getting actual character development. Like, seriously, I’m so happy they didn’t skimp on the NPC’s.

[@FutaYuuta]

I just wish there were more sky islands. It's the coolest part of the game and it's so tiny.

[@nathantaylor4942]

Came for the cute blue monster commentary, left with an existential dread lingering from the "how many more Zeldas will we play before we die?" question.

[@Lobotobro]

I personally hadn’t touched BotW since I originally played it on release, and I think the long span of time since then managed to make going through Hyrule in TotK still feel fresh in it’s own way. It felt like walking into a town you hadn’t been to for years, and get a warm feeling when you see a cafe you used to visit a lot back in the day (if that makes sense)

[@Izuku_]

One of the most fun things about TotK is going to a place where there used to be a certain secret or Shrine in BotW and finding out what they ended up putting there instead

[@dingledorf887]

I thought the chasms were just a new bottomless pit to avoid so imagine my shock when I Jump down a chasm for shits and giggles expecting the classic bottomless pit death only to end up in the Depths

[@Salty_Bass]

Totk's map is like the town you grew up in but moved away and returned years later. Some things are the same but a lot has changed.

[@MegajsX]

Realizing the way the light roots in the depths connected to the shrines was pretty crazy. It fixed one of the biggest issues in hunting down shrines especially when you only had a few left to find and at the same time it gave you points to find more light roots in the depths to help you explore

[@HogSlopp]

i love that the 5 or so year time skip rlly does feel like it happened with all the developments in the world

[@jherboss2516]

Honestly I like the sense of familiarity with the world in totk. It changes the vibes from "exploring a post-apocalyptic hyrule" to "Running around int a world that is being reconstructed." I think it's especially true since movement is easier so it's actually quite easy to visit all the populated areas. It changes the vibe of the game to match the setting, while still having the depths as this mysterious unknown.

[@hannahappa]

When I saw the depths for the first time and realised how big it was - I was immediately overwhelmed and got too scared to touch it again for quite a bit

[@darthmarth87]

I think with Totk taking so long its important to remember that whole covid thing really set game development back, for example the producer of FF16 said it set them back at minimum 6 months, honestly I wouldn't be surprised if zelda lost a year of productivity