Is Tears of the Kingdom Better if You Play 'Offline'? | Show of the Weekend

[@mattsmith3022]

My philosophy is that if you aren’t having fun trying to figure out or find something, look it up. It’s a massive game and there are lots of things to explore. Figure things out at the pace you want!

[@davidburnett5049]

Agreed. If you are having a bad time, look it up. Dont break a controller. As an example i had a misconception about what things could be Ascended through and it prevented me from seeing the otherwise obvious solution in a dungeon

[@mischarowe]

@@davidburnett5049 Same. Except I was thinking I was stuck in a well and reloaded a save file only to remember I had Ascend, a minute later lol.

[@kurokubushi]

​@David Burnett Had the same issue with a Shrine...Ascend completely slipped my mind and I was completely stumped on how to solve it so I looked up a guide. Soon as I saw them activate it I smacked my head for forgetting qnd was able to stop the video and do it myself.

[@davidburnett5049]

@@kurokubushi been there

[@soulreapermagnum]

i've been having the same situation with AC valhalla, there's been multiple gear pieces that i've not been able to figure out how to get to so i've had to look up youtube videos about it.

[@moriaty123]

In the words of Uncle Iroh, "While it always best to believe in one's self, a little help from others can be a great blessing"

[@marhawkman303]

getting ideas on what to do is fine... it still falls to you to make the ideas work.

[@fgsz291]

Always upvote Uncle Iroh

[@xelectrix]

Yeah, I managed to rescue Hetsu without realizing it and had to go online to figure out where he was.

[@SecondSince]

Luke's combined sword really slaps! ... I'll see myself out now...

[@CrimBlack]

Minor spoilers I guess: one useful realisation I had was that the depths maps mirrored the map above, and you can switch the map view from the depths to the surface. So it's useful to do that when you're in an unlit part of the depths. The rivers on the surface act as impassable walls in the depths, and if there's a mountain you can see on the surface map, that means you'll actually be heading downwards in the depths.

[@mdgeisto8953]

Didn't know about the rivers part - that makes a lot of sense!

[@montywh]

the part i didn't know of until it was pointed out in another video, the Lightroots and Shrines are also parallel with each other. so you can watch the overworld map for any shrines and head to the same location in Depths to help map it out

[@Justic_]

Yeah, the map of the depths seems to at least mostly be an inverse of the BotW overworld, which is pretty neat but also a smart way I think how they made developing the depths easier, that way they had a layout for the terrain very easily and could start with adding stuff. I assume that also meant they didn't need (that much?) help from the Monolith Soft Team, which was in large parts responsible for the terrain-layout in BotW iirc, which gave them the time they needed for Xenoblade 3s DLC.

[@fredbyoutubing]

In the first quest in the depths when finding the small old scientist, you can come across his notebooks and he does mention it. I think the game reward you a lot for taking your time and reading / listening to everyone.

[@whoknows4780]

Wow the rivers!!!

[@travisspaulding5835]

As soon as Luke reached for his “fused weapon” behind the couch, I already knew that weird damn floppy hand was going to make a return appearance 😂

[@synecdoched]

You know what. I was one of the few that didn't anticipate that, saw Luke reach behind the couch, went 'Oh, no what have did you do, Luke?', saw that abomination, and immediately cried out loud (mind you) 'OH Gawd NO, Whathaveyoudone... WHYYY.' Viseral. This will haunt my nightmares.

[@gamepassghost]

The SECOND he said fused weapon, scrolled down to check for this comment. 😂 Amazing.

[@bobpcaramel]

A weapon to surpass metal gear…

[@bustinarant]

I sure enjoyed that bit of lighthearted fun with the hand that made Andy surrender

[@crunchybanana6489]

I thought about the hand just before he brought it out

[@CaitlinRC]

I've spent the majority of my TOTK experience finding wells and helping the president stand. I've heard there's a main story somewhere...

[@Ozzie2191]

HOW IS HE STANDING??!?

[@Redkitt3n14]

[@whoknows4780]

The main story IS president Hudson. He’s the final boss.

[@askthepizzaguy]

I haven't done a single main story thing yet. Just exploring on my own, getting materials, doing shrines, opening towers, raiding enemy camps, mining. Life is good. Don't even know what most of that stuff will end up being or exactly where, just that it has to do with the 4 main places and races and whatnot.

[@blueguard61]

You know what sets you apart from all the other discussions or essays on games from most other channels? The interaction between Luke and Ellen (or any other member of the OxCrew for that matter) always feels genuine. It's like a talk you have with friends that goes like: "Yeah and this reminds me of when I did that" or "That was SO funny, the moment this thing happened" I feel like a lot is unscripted about it but that is the magic for me here (including the more personal list videos!) - and probably the reason a lot of the community (including me) returns to you every Saturday.

[@synecdoched]

100%. Additionally, I am guessing that the rest of the oxboxtra crew share these conversation everyday and there's this sense that what Show of the Weekend is is Luke and Ellen letting us in on these magical conversations of 'Andy did this...' / 'Jane said this..' / 'Mike explained to me...' / 'Jon told me to...' . It's all very wholesome and it's nice that the community largely handles this para-sociality with the fondness it deserves. idk, just me, maybe.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Essays? You're on KZbin, not in Literature 102.

[@ghostderazgriz]

​@@jarlwhiterun7478 KZbin has educational content turns out. Who'd a thought.

[@wedgeserif556]

Blizzard was just busted faking a Q&A. Turns out, none of the questions they claimed came from Twitter actually came from Twitter; they were made up by Blizzard. In the face of that kind of corporate chicanery, OXBox's authenticity shines even brighter.

[@margymckenzie7417]

genuine where the guy talks non stop and barely lets the woman get a word in and when she finally does, talks over her? yeah. i noticed that too,

[@Retw86]

I adored Luke talking about the bubbel gem description until I got flashbacks to every souls game ive ever played where I'm like "what the hell is this for or who is going to reward me for giving it to them"

[@maxvel0city906]

"Do watch out, cause I'm not in control!!!!" Luke Westaway's motto.😂

[@lkdenve]

Point to be made on playing games “offline,” but the only reason I picked BOTW back up and finished it was watching Luke’s play through.

[@coaxtl1413]

Two things: 1) Thank God….Luke, I thought I was the only one who was just not super creative making things 2) Your video on things to do early was incredibly helpful. I am generally also only looking things up when I’m stuck…but that list was definitely a solid help.

[@lordgenerias]

That's an engineer mindset. First, make it work. Then, once the proof of concept is done, you can make it look nice. Me, I'm a simple builder. I create a very basic template I can build onto as necessary to handle whatever comes up. I may not build the Hylian Getter, but I'll build an amphibious assault truck with an automated triple beam turret that won't hit me (again) if something gets behind me.

[@coaxtl1413]

@@lordgenerias thanks for that! What you couldn’t know is that my father was an engineer and my brother is one too!

[@travisspaulding5835]

I agree with what Luke said towards the end. I play as offline as possible, until I get stuck long enough to be frustrated and not having fun anymore…then I’ll begrudgingly look something up. Mostly just locations though, and I have pretty much done 99% of all of the shrine puzzles without help.

[@studentjohn]

Technical note (which may already be known): I used to do fencing lessons in historical styles: An actual longsword or broadsword seldom weighed more that 3.5 - 4kg. So Ellen would have been entirely strong enough to swing one.

[@azureskyblade1106]

It's either just a gag or that sword is made of iron instead of steel.

[@TheYorkRose]

​@Azure Skyblade iron and steel are basically identical densities..?

[@azureskyblade1106]

@@TheYorkRose Yes, but Iron is less durable so it would need to be thicker in order to compensate. (Edit) Looking into it, from what I've found Frostmourne replicas are made of stainless steel and zinc-aluminum or zinc-copper alloys, weigh 16 pounds and have a length of 3 ft. and 11 in. In comparison, zweihanders were typically around 4.5-5 feet in length and only weighed aboutd 4.5 pounds. More ceremonial zweihanders were much bigger and ornamental but only came in around 10 pounds. So yeah, no idea where Frostmourne's weight is coming from. Maybe a much thicker blade than normal or to much material in the hilt.

[@studentjohn]

@@azureskyblade1106 On the screen the blade does look thicker than the real zweihanders I've seen, and a helluva lot thicker than the practice swords we used. Though I suspect the Outside Extra crew are hamming it up, just a bit :D

[@Icam_here]

nice discussion about playing offline as you described it here. i think it's fun to discover and find things for yourself and it can be annoying when there is something you're missing that you know you are missing and struggling to find and it's more rewarding when you find it yourself but at the same time if you look it up you can get it quicker to go explore other places. for games like this though there is that aspect of sharing all those cool things you have found and what others found because in a game like this there are some many ways to play and so many different ways to build things.

[@TROBassGuitar]

I had to look up wtf I was supposed to do for the geoglyphs, not much else, I will say I've been a bit annoyed by having certain armors spoiled because people just post spoiler stuff in the picture, and aside from 99.999% of people not posting spoilers, I finally saw someone post a story spoiler, unannounced and completely unprompted, fortunately it was like 5 minutes after I had just experienced it in game. But there are little things that would have made me a lot happier if I hadn't seen certain armors spoiled in thumbnails

[@paigegguy]

Yes there was some cool fights I would've liked seeing on my own, also got spoiled on a memories thing but that doesn't feel as bad since I'd just have to run around finding cutscenes to get that. I have mostly been trying to not look things up unless they're a big hassle.

[@KratonWolf]

Yeh, the memories I kinda hated. The game makes no effort to give you an order in which to collect them, and I randomly found the LAST findable (excluding the final one that only spawns after getting all the others) memory tear drop BEFORE even starting the quest for it. From that one memory, I knew exactly what ended up happening in the other memories. From then on in I skipped watching all memories until I found all of them and then watched them in order. The game should not care where you find them and should give them to you in order regardless of where you found them.

[@theSirhc]

I watched the 7 essential side quests video and then I stumbled on the cave full of chests last night and it ruined that little fun quest. I didn't need the dog because I saw which one was the right chest. I've definitely seen some useful tips on videos like wing shields and the the fan bike that have made the game more fun and interesting, but I'm so glad I've mostly discovered things through exploration and solved puzzles on my own. It's an open world where things can be easily missed but the game does guide you and gives you multiple ways to stumble on important things. SPOILERS: The last power that Luke was missing can be found by going back to Lookout Landing after doing story stuff to check for new quests, or exploring a key place from BOTW, or just stumbled upon by exploring the depths.

[@jmacosta]

Happy to say that I've been offline for two weeks already and it actually feels like I've cheated just by knowing Hyrule's surface map by memory. The Skyview towers make everywhere incredible accesible. It's so incredible that you can get stuff just by wondering what's over that old random place that seemed to be interesting and mysterious in BotW.

[@frodobaggins7710]

I initially wanted to go into TOTK with as little knowledge as possible, but I ended up forsaking that line of thought once I watched Ellen's video about the quests that are essential to do early on, and I'm so glad I did because who knows how long it might have taken me to discover some of the stuff in that video by myself. Also, it's been fun to talk to people online about all the weird shenanigans they've been getting up to in the game

[@garethmitchell9140]

I similarly didn’t have the missing power for a long time and realised it would not be from one of the 4 regions. Although unlike Luke I did not threat about it and just focussed on doing lots of quests and adventures. One of those adventures ended up leading me to where the power was by accident.

[@ashleylangdale9254]

I also missed it for a while, the only reason I went hunting for it is because I found out the connection between the power and the lab in Hatena. I climbed all that way up there twice trying to open a locked up lab.

[@patrickj]

Similar story for me. I wasn't actively chasing the power, rather it was different Zonai telling me "I got something for you, but I can't give it to you yet, go visit PLACE", without telling me where PLACE is, which annoyed me so much, that I went out to find PLACE with no clue but its name. And either my map reading is top notch, or I got quite lucky to discover it in like half an hour. Some hours later I then also stumbled upon the quest that was supposed to take me there.

[@Icam_here]

Frostmore with that hand attached, truly the ultimate weapon

[@mdgeisto8953]

Double-cursed^^

[@BogeyTheBear]

24:18 To be fair, a real sword of that size is rather light, about 1.5 kilos or 3 pounds. The reason that one is so heavy is from all the souls Jane has trapped inside.

[@MrMBinder]

The only thing I've looked up so far is some of the meal recipes, I think. Discovering everything is such a joy in this game, I haven't felt this since BoTW and I love everything about it. I also really enjoy these non-spoilery chats because I recognize bits while some other clips are completely new. Spending an entire afternoon getting absolutely nowhere is EXACTLY my jam when I can just as well uncover another memory or go do some regional phenomenon quest the next day. I love the traversal, the sky islands, the depths, the familiar places from BoTW that have been changed just enough to make it all "click". Finding random chests with old maps, marking pieces of armor and whatnot is also a really nice way to get around the depths - just set a direction and send it.

[@FlyingElbowKick]

Miyamoto actually stated, if I remember correctly, that the original Legend of Zelda was designed for people to have to talk about it and help each other figure out their way through. That communal aspect was baked into the game.

[@gwts1171]

The most powerful weapon was created when Ellen fused the concept of The Egg Room to Luke's mind. Just knowing what she's capable of... *shiver*

[@XenHat]

I've been having the same frustration with the same points you mentioned! Glad I'm not alone. It took me a good 30h of playtime before I even got my ability wheel fully unlocked and while it's not essential, not having the last ability really makes the game a lot more difficult

[@askthepizzaguy]

14:00 yes, if you go the exact intended direction, you will run into Hestu and then X and then that unlocks this and then there's a major sidequest and then there's the first intended main questline.... but if you veer off course or take a different route in any of the other 360 degrees you could run in, you will miss a couple key abilities (if you consider the camera to be a key ability), there's a chance you could skip the paraglider of all things, you will never find Hestu to upgrade your stuff, and other key ability is super useful when you have a lot of zonai devices, or even if you don't. So one person can struggle hard with this game and another person can line up all the early game stuff easily, just depends which direction you go, which path you take, which quests you follow. Anything they don't force you to take, you can play without, arguably except for the paraglider but that is something that is easy to find when you first land, assuming you actually explore the area where you first appear at ground level instead of choose a direction and bolt.

[@PhobosDynami]

That's been my problem with Breath of the Wild and now Tears of the Kingdom. I feel like I have to go online to see things. Because there is just so much to do. But Quality over Quantity and that's why these new games will never dethrone OOT, MM, or WW as the best LoZ games. So much of BotW and TotK seem like a checklist of things to do so I can do something fun. And no more than half of the content or NPCs do I find worthwhile. I'm not as invested in the story of someone who needs me to bring them mushrooms or rocks because of reasons as I am about some lost boy sitting on a mushroom in the lost woods. They need to get back to focusing on the characters more. I don't want Skyrim, Minecraft, or anything else with a Zelda skin and flair. I want a Zelda game.

[@KirbyCom]

It's really interesting how different people's experiences playing the games were, Luke talking about the Bubbul gems surprised me because I felt like I couldn't throw a stone without someone telling me that there was some weird guy collecting Bubbul gems

[@Shayd102]

Biggest difference for me of TotK vs BotW is the lack of freedom at the early game. Super glad you made the other video because multiple times I tried to wander off right after finishing the tutorial island and found out that nope, paraglider is essential and it's part of the main quest. Which is a huge shift from my first playthrough of BotW where I wandered off an had basically no stops. I think Hestu is the only key thing you miss if you don't do the Kakiriko village bit in BotW right away.

[@alexandersmit4256]

I think Ocarina of time was the first game I got info online for. In a way I had the ideal setup, because I still sort of thought of looking up stuff online was "cheating", so I didn't, but I had a friend who did, and would tell me the fun stuff. He also found the Zelda cartoon on some pre-youtube video site.

[@mdgeisto8953]

Tipp for exploring the depths I haven't seen mentioned anywhere yet: (Left some space to not spoiler anyone who doesn't want to know.) ------------------------------------------------------- 1. Construct a vehicle. 2. Shoot or throw a Giant Brightbloom Seed at it. 3. The seed will take root in your vehicle and you'll have light wherever you go!

[@TransmitHim]

I felt I found The Thing Luke is talking about later than the game intended, but partially because I've been intentionally wandering away from the main quest. It's certainly made me appreciate parts of the game more than I had been and I wish I'd found it sooner, yet I'd say the quest stuff you do to get it feels relatively late game compared to the usefulness of the Thing. I almost missed the paraglider too. I went off to do a shrine and it turned out you need the paraglider to do it and that was my only clue that there was one to get somewhere. I figured cos it wasn't on the starter islands, it wasn't included this time.

[@Chaos0f7ife]

Just through sheer exploration I found the Depths thing before I was told to go there, and I also found the Thunder Thing (Those who know, know) before I even finished two Regional Phenomena. This game truly lets you do anything, and I love it.

[@patrickj]

I can't tell if it's better, since it's the only way I played, but it's been an amazing, magical journey so far with a surprise at every other corner. I don't regret going in basically blind and wandering off the main story path at nearly every occasion. Got that last missing power about 50 hours in, about 100 hours in I finally learned about the eponymous tears, and now with over 140 hours I still have a quarter of Hyrule and half the depths, that I've never set foot in. I also refrain from overusing the teleportation points, so the world still feels absolutely massive. To me, it's nearly impossible to actually get stuck, since there's so many paths to follow, different solutions for problems, and a lot of variety in possible activities. Also ingame help for various collectibles. Sure, it takes longer than looking at a map with coordinates, but the feeling of discovery is amazing when you finally get it, or stumble upon other things on your way there. Somehow TotK clicked with me in a way that BotW never did, I put that one down after 50ish hours and never went back... All that said, I'm still looking forward to watching and reading about the insane things others have done and experienced, once I feel like there's nothing major that could get spoiled for me.

[@sapphiria39]

My starting experience was very similar. I wandered off and unintentionally managed to find my way to one of the main regional phenomena - and not the one the game guides you towards. I was part way through before it started to click that this area was probably related to the main questline. I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say the character reveal at the end was 1000x more epic when that wasn't even my goal. I had another organic discovery of a much later plot point too, but I don't think I can get into that without spoilers. It was definitely the highlight of my game though. (For those who've beaten the game and are wondering, I'll just say it was one of the later memories that I stumbled into.) I wouldn't really call my playthrough offline though, but it's been as close as I can get to it while still allowing myself to look up things that I feel I'm missing out on - such as the ability you mention and the camera from BotW. My goal now is to try to get through the major plot points in the game myself as quickly as I can, as spoilers will probably be less and less moderated in the coming weeks. I'm pretty close, since I've also accidentally stumbled upon the end of the game too, while out exploring.

[@iz5859]

I’ve been trying to play mostly offline, or at the very least avoiding direct instructions on things, but I was lucky enough to have a sibling who plays differently from me and doesn’t hesitate to look things up and play coy with the direct ways about things to help me. I would have never found those last radial menu bits and paraglider otherwise.

[@zupasha]

tears of the kingdom is my first zelda game I played with no online guides or wikis or anything. While, sure, I do try not to do so with previous games, but it does get to that point, especially in older games, where I'm just like "what the heck should I do here?" and when I look it up, I'm convinced I wouldn't have figured it out myself. ToTK feels modern enough that that doesn't happen, and I enjoy figuring out 'hidden' mechanics or missable stuff.

[@lacytaylor1501]

Just got the game for Christmas, was up playing it for hours and wanted to finish the Rito main quest first cause I'd seen Tulin in your videos and thought he was so precious. Well I get to the very last section before the boss and can't figure out how to progress. It took going to a video online and looking through its comments to realize I'd been flying the wrong way the entire like hour I'd spent stuck there and never consider just going the other way. I managed to get to the boss area immediately after. Sometimes ' playing online ' really helps save your butt when you're silly enough to try solving puzzle heavy games without sleep and can't figure out it's easier to land on something when it's coming towards you instead of going away from you.

[@_inSight__]

I LOVE the intention behind this video. And ya, dressing up Link in as many different outfits and colors as I can is a huge appeal for me, but it's hard to give in and look them up, seeing a cool set of armor on a KZbin video instead of from opening a chest. I don't want to be spoiled on the story, music, or designs of things, but I do want to know how the game works. It can be frustrating.

[@TheFinalSmash]

For me, it comes down to the fun and enjoyment. Experiencing a new game fresh and blind is exciting, never knowing exactly what you'll be faced with at any given point. But if I find myself struggling with something, I have no qualms about looking up information to help me if I'm finding it tedious or dull to keep trying to work it out myself. Case in point, I played Skyward Sword almost completely blind when it first came out - I'd only seen a single trailer and that was it - and even now over twelve years later I still have a very clear memory of experiencing the Ancient Cistern dungeon for the first time. But at the same time, I got stuck on a later boss (Tentalus), and after exhausting what options I seemed to have in the game, I looked up the boss fight online to find out what I was supposed to do (which in this case was to reset the game, because I'd accidently glitched it).

[@PLAYER_42069]

Great discussion that applies to all video games, but open world games in particular. As an older gamer with limited time to game, I find guides/walkthrus essential. I'll try and play through as much of the game as I can, but if I * know * I'm missing something essential, or beating my head against a wall trying to figure something out, I'll look it up. The downside to playing games in an always online world (vs. when I grew up and social media didn't exist) is trying to avoid FOMO when you start seeing clips of things you want to be able to do, but just haven't gotten to that point, yet, and/or things that also happen to be mini-spoilers.

[@agwasp]

I remember the first time I played Mass Effect 2, I played totally offline. I had bought it second hand and had no concept that it might be a big deal as a series. Honestly, it was nice. I didn’t get everything perfect - lost people on the suicide mission, missed a few side quests etc. but it was fun to actually make the decisions I thought were right (and then regret them!) Whereas now I can’t really resist looking it up becuase u know I will only ever have time for one play through so I want it to be ‘best’ it can be

[@danishlightning3232]

It was similar for me with the paraglider. I stubbornly insisted on exploring as much of the map as possible, no aerial capabilities whatsoever, until I encountered enough shrines requiring it (and found myself missing slow-mo mid-air bow shots) that I reluctantly agreed to go to Lookout Landing-as the game had been suggesting all along.

[@billthebodyguy]

I'm very happy the weird floppy hand has become Oxboxtra canon

[@zacharysmith4856]

I remember playing Prince of Persia when I was younger and being proud of myself for figuring out the puzzles in a world before online chats, but I think that the vast, open worlds of a lot of modern games have created a wonderful means of interaction among gamers that, as Ellen points out, allows for conversation through gaming. We learn and grow together, and I love it.

[@gruggerduggerhoose]

OH GOD NO THE HAND IS BACK RUN AWAY EVERYONE

[@notsure1666]

I hope Luke unlocked the auto build in time to save the Hand Mourn

[@markclifford5712]

I think he just used tape but thats another kind of creativity right?

[@shweetgamrgirl]

You are not alone, Luke! My partner was playing a similar way, just went off and started exploring before even getting to the main quest hub. Took her forever to find the last power, but she asked me not to spoil it for her. She was so excited when she found it, too!😊

[@zombieham904]

My partner and I have been playing separate copies at the same time (though she's much further than me), and we both play games very different ways. It took me HOURS before she showed me pity and nudged me in the direction of the quest that would give me the paraglider, because I kept dying to shrine quests not realising I needed it. I've been enjoying playing without looking stuff up though. When I finish I'll have a LOT of videos to catch up on though, since I'm avoiding them just in case.

[@nightcatarts]

There's only one thing I've been unable to figure out so far & that is where Hestu went after the first visit. They're gone, I accidentaly'd out of their dialogue so I don't know what they said, & I had to ask for help. Other than that, the game does seem very well designed in the sense that it gives you enough options on how to deal with problems that you can bodge a solution somehow even if you don't have all the right stuff. The exception is that glider, because I knew there would be one but I didn't know where I'd get it, & many shrines can't be completed without it (let alone other stuff) even though I'd already done half a dozen that didn't require it by the time I hit one that did. Overall, I think playing it almost entirely alone is the best thing, but artificially limiting yourself to that is even more of a pain than encountering a puzzle you don't know how to solve. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mark 2 lawnmower to build.

[@rndmnwierd]

I'm having a great time with this game so far, but the way I'm playing it is totally different from BOTW. In BOTW, my goal was to hit as many shrines as I could and explore the other locations along the way. In TOTK, I've been avoiding looking up a lot of stuff, but have been unable to avoid certain spoilers, which ended up being helpful as there were tips and tricks to both building and the world that I just never would have figured out on my own. I think the way I'm playing TOTK, by setting goals within the world without outside help (for the most part), has been a vastly more enjoyable experience. That being said, I did end up looking up a hint for a shrine I was at because I was genuinely frustrated at what I was missing. So, yeah, I guess if it enhances the way you play, look stuff up, but there's just something so nice with just finding stuff on your own.

[@catsnorkel]

I've been playing without any guides, but instead I have been keeping a notebook that contains any rumours I hear, names that NPCs mention, drawings of things I encounter, and my plans for where I want to go next, as well as keeping almost a light journal of the path I take and the things I encounter along the way/spot and make note of to go back to. My brother is doing the same and our replacement for using guides is to show each other pages from our books when we see each other like "hey, here's a cool thing, have you done this yet?" So far I am loving the process and have filled several pages with drawings of items and monsters and situations I run into, and inventions I have built/tricks I learn, as well as my attempts to decode the various written languages in the game

[@Averagejon95]

So the only thing I’ve used online is to find Korok seeds to increase my inventory since I’m tired of running out of room. But I found the last slot in the wheel Luke mentions because I did a quest in the depths with Robbie and once we were done, I decided to stay and explore and found it. So when I went back to Josha, it was revealed that it was actually tied to a quest and didn’t even realize it

[@SuperiorPosterior]

That particular power that you tracked down a little late, is something I found early and easily, all because I decided to check the overworld area that just happened to be directly above where you get the ability

[@DoraKage]

Ive had the game for 2 plus weeks now. (I had to stop today, a sunday because I was just burning thru my weekends... and I need to... eat. and sleep) In that time, Ive not done any main story other than the one that gets you the master sword. BUT - I have gotten the costume set i was after, the master sword, and the Hylian shield and Ive perfected my killer robot that can... kind of survive boss fights. I also have my own mob murder ATV. I'm planning to have a working airship and water battle ship done before I START the main story.

[@sudopod]

I recently restarted BOTW doing a no-fast-travel run. They worked hard to make travel fun and interesting in the game and not using any fast travel really makes you appreciate the scale of hyrule. I think I'm going to have my first run of TOTK no-fast-travel too

[@whoknows4780]

Interested in how you’ll be able to get out of the depths lol. Good luck!

[@FuncleChuck]

This doesn’t seem even possible, honestly. The game mechanics for many locations would just require cheesing the game in other ways. Fast travel is an intentional part of the game.

[@silenceoflink5880]

The funny thing about the empty radial slot, is I stumbled across it when I was exploring, I didn't even realize you had to talk to an NPC to lead you towards it. If I hadn't stumbled across it, I would be in the same position as Luke, but I would look it up instead of questing to find it on my own. He also made a good point about the shrines. I've refrained from looking up how to do them, but If I can't figure them out, I leave them alone until I figure it out, or I get all the shrines activated, then look up the ones I have issues with. Some of these shrines are really difficult, and some are really easy, and it's a strange balance. Ellen made a good point with the armor, I found a set after I did everything in that area, and I got so annoyed because it would have been so useful.

[@MsKornkitty]

For most games I'll try to sleep on a puzzle or boss and only look things up if I have to, but this game has so much it doesn't explain to you, or that it tutorialises at a random shrine you might miss. It's always good to wait and think things over, but there is definitely no shame looking things up. Time is a precious resource.

[@MsKornkitty]

And imagine Elden Ring with no advice at all. I'd still be playing.

[@miss.chievious471]

I can be very stubborn, so my general rule for when to look something up is whether or not I’m still having fun. I was trying to complete the quest for a piece of the Zora armor and I had figured out the solution, but I COULD NOT find the actual entrance to where it was hidden. I did everything I could think of… and then looked up the exact location online, because getting frustrated was keeping me from enjoying the game. On the other hand, like Luke I missed getting that last chunk of the item wheel. But having it be missing didn’t really bother me, so I just kept along and eventually I stumbled onto the right quest. So I guess my take is, do whatever will let you have the most fun. Edit: fixed a typo

[@Zelda-Fangirl-180]

Same here If it’s the piece I’m thinking of. I felt the clue to its location so vague and misleading that after 30 minutes of trying to find it. I just looked it up and was actually glad I did because I would have never found it otherwise 😂

[@bloodywolf9317]

This is the first youtube video ive watched since starting and its been SO good having everything being a surprise! theres no right way to play a game - play how you want but im really glad ive played it this way (ive mostly been exploring, 60hrs in and ive done 1 temple hehe) 15:50 yeah that wasnt me but it took me 20hrs to get the paraglider cause i got SO distracted by how pretty the world was

[@kayschut9327]

The fun part about the last ability, I stumbled upon it because of a tip on the loading menu. Tje one stating significant locations in the overworld often have significance in the Depths. Coming from BotW there was a certain location that I was obviously going to return to.

[@lavenderpants8695]

BOTW and TOTK harkens back to the days of the original game where it was all about discovery. But part of that adventure and discovery included "schoolyard talk" where we all talked about these early games and shared ideas and secrets. I mean there are parts of the original Zelda most people would have never discovered on their own without people sharing what they learned. There were no online guides then, it was all about community. I feel like the sharing of knowledge has always been part of the Zelda experience from the very beginning. And it always felt like it was intentionally designed to encourage the sharing of ideas.

[@alrightalright4585]

The Kamikaze attack at 16:00 really cracked me up 😂😂😂😂 good stuff lmao

[@joshr.6785]

I played TOTK on my own, without any previews, hype, youtube, ETC until June 25th when I beat the game. I beat every shrine and found a lot of armor. There were a few side quests I did not find and some armor sets because of that but I felt successful.

[@queenoffabulous2156]

I only got the final ability working on a different quest and found it and thought that was the reward then realised they were not connected at all and id actually gone the wrong way

[@christmasrivers6541]

This my or may not make you feel better, Luke, but, just so you know, I played almost 80h of TotK without the last ability on the wheel, I'd charted a quarter of the depths by the time I finally found it, and when I did, it was totally accidental, happened while I was working on another quest that took me to the same location 😅 So, imo, easy to miss. (But, tbf, I also had an inkling of what it was but wasn't upset that I didn't have it, so I didn't go out of my way to do main quests or build up expectations to find it playing the ones I did. I played the game my way and don't regret it at all, even if it was harder on me in retrospect.) I also play by the philosophy of play it offline as much as possible, but when you get stuck, take satisfaction from knowing you gave it your best try first and take a different kind of enjoyment out of crowd sourcing a solution that will save us all much time and frustration 😊

[@quelanathecrow]

This is such an important and interesting design question!!! I played Elden Ring this way, which was weird cuz those games kinda pioneered the design of needing the online community, and I obviously missed some huge plot points. I like games designed that way, but it is definitely a trend and it has its downsides when games assume that you will be using forums and wikis-for one, it makes games more inaccessible for newcomers who don't know to do that!! A deeper problem too is that I think guiding and teaching the player effectively is a key part of the craft of games, and if they all rely on the online ecosystem, does that hurt the quality of games in the long run? I think this is such an interesting topic, thanks for another awesome episode ^.^

[@tarekmoneimsaid]

To me, personally, I don't care about being spoiled, it doesn't take away my enjoyment of a game, movie or book. I've watched some really long gameplays (like 7h ~ 8h long ones, over the period of a week) on KZbin and then played the game. I didn't watch the end (although I can imagine what it is, it rhymes with "you defeat cannon dwarf"), but my playthrough has been different enough that the videos are entertaining while still enjoying the game. It's especially interesting to see the different solutions people come up with. It's also interesting to see how people perceive and tackle challenges. I've found some bosses to be really trivial, while others struggled with them, and vice versa...

[@kacheek9101]

Yes Luke, I have a One Thing too and it's just a different thing. Got that fifth ability quite quickly in the game just through my exploration, but I still have not found Hetsu Zelda was always designed to be played as something people individually play, but discuss with their friends

[@hailthequeenFM]

I must tell my friends/every stranger how much I love Ganondorf and the newly introduce big Bokoblins.

[@roun4878]

I found myself doing the camera quest, ending up in the depths, took the statue picture, noticed the statue pointed towards another statue, ended up following them all, and fight the boss to get Autobuild, barely beat the boss because I hadn't upgraded anything because basically had just left the starting area.

[@eemulleye]

I ended up finding the last ability pretty quickly, not through the quest line, but just because I thought the depths were super cool and jumped down every chasm I came across. By the time I went back to the character that points you there I started and completed 2 quests in the same conversation lol

[@AzureRook]

Stumbling across the Autobuild location was the best feeling, and I was avoiding the Depths till after revealing the world map

[@robertmatthias]

the only thing I looked up is where to get certain outfits. I just couldn't bring myself to try to scour every cave and crevasse to try and find all of the outfit pieces. I was only ever spoiled on one thing but I had already stumble across a big set piece before hand so I wasn't too disappointed.

[@Blade-hf9po]

I haven't bought totk precisely because its too new. I've been able to enjoy botw so much because i can look up where the koroks are, or how do i unearth this shrine. Im not getting lost. I'll put it off maybe 5 months or so before buying it. Just to give people enough time to get all that stuff sorted, i do not want to get lost and spend 5 hours looking for something in the completely wrong place.

[@Moe-Scola]

My Switch tells me I've played this game for 110 hours and I still haven't bothered to try to get the final ability. Lol Generally, I like going it alone to figure things out, but I have enjoyed texting back and forth with a friend to share experiences. There is so much ground to cover that there will still be plenty of new or surprising things to discover. Plus, it was nice to have someone tell me where to go for the paraglider, because early on I was annoyed that I hadn't gotten it on the main questline I was doing.

[@thatjeff7550]

Long, long ago, I was playing a RPG game (one of the Ultimas) and I got stuck in one section of a labyrinth because I needed to jump up onto a ledge but for some reason my character could not make the jump. He just....wouldn't. After about an hour of trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, I finally broke down and tried checking the newly created internet to see if someone had an answer--someone did! The ledge had a lip that I was bumping into but I couldn't see it because of the way the map was laid out. It was a pointless 'hiccup' in the game that could only be solved through trial and error OR asking someone who got passed it. So what I'm saying is, never be so stubborn in playing a game that you refuse to check something online.

[@GodsReaperMan]

So truly and incredibly wholesome these two here. Absolutely love watching these videos and especially the Show Of The Weekend here!!! Very good and wise advice here as well too guys!!

[@madisonmcclure8243]

I accidentally stumbled into Mineru’s quest line. That was very satisfying. I too took forever to find and eventually lookup the purple power. But then I also completely missed both the GLIDER (early game) and Hestu. I had to stop and use guides.

[@davidgooding3143]

I was right there with you Luke! I didn't find that "last" power until right before I defeated Gannon...

[@MrTim2031]

Zelda has always been a community game. Back in the day with Zelda 1, we would always talk about secrets and tips in school. The big thing I learned was that you could get the white sword before the first dungeon.

[@jayonnaise6105]

I had no idea what to do with schematics or crystalized charges until today and I'm like 75 hours in to the game hehe I'm really glad I've played most of this without interacting with the online community. I would be rather annoyed in hindsight if I'd had say the geoglyph questline spoiled for me. I'm not as bothered by seeing other people's creations though. I was never going to build a lot of the more complex stuff anyway.

[@compboy07]

I enjoy the idea of Luke making beelines for the B-Roll footage 😂

[@HemlockSky1991]

I tend to be someone who does a lot of online looking at things before and during playing games. It keeps me excited when the game gets a bit grindy.

[@whoknows4780]

I got addicted to using hero’s path in botw. I NEED to know where I’ve been and not been. I want to be sure I’ve experienced what every square foot has to offer. As soon as I was off the great sky island, I needed it. So I googled that thing immediately. Did everything necessary to get that (with a couple side adventures). And now I’m happily scribbling in my Hyrule map coloring book (:

[@kurokubushi]

Made the paragluder mistake myself...When I first landed in Hyrule I ran off exploring. Saw a peice of island decending from the sky...used rewind in it to ascend and get a chest....but then was like "Now how do I get down?" 😅

[@WolchBot]

I'm very conflicted with my views on TotK, it is beautiful, it has excellent tools and an amazing world. But I feel like it is a chore, maybe I am just trying to do too many things at once, but it has seemed a lot so I haven't played it all that much.

[@EdwardSnortin]

It's a little overwhelming for sure

[@ZackeryGee]

Show of the Weekend is always a good time! Im in the same boat Luke... trying to figure things out on my own. It feela good once youve got it... but sometimes is it like "daaaaaamn.... that took forever!" Especially when youtube is at your fingertips.

[@Beedge420]

My "missing gap in the wheel".. for me it's the soldier armor. I love that armor and it bothers me that I only have the helm, but I refuse to look up where the rest of it is. I will stumble across it eventually, but I'm already late in the game. The only vids I have been watching are the crazy creations. What imagination on the community.

[@whoknows4780]

This is a spoiler HINT. If you don’t want it, look away! . . . . . . . . . . . All of the soldier set is near each other. I found all of them within 4 hours of adventuring the same general area. But that area is a bit labyrinthine, so it’s easy to walk away thinking you already checked every corner

[@Beedge420]

@@whoknows4780 Thanks, I ended up taking Luke's advice and allowed myself to look it up. I'm glad I did as I had been right by the other two pieces, just made wrong turns

[@kcollier2192]

I tend to use a guide for a game or series that I might never have played before, especially since i do like to go for 100% If it's a new game in a series I've played before I'll use a guide after the first time I've played to see if I've missed any secrets or Easter eggs.

[@Howitchewstofeel5gum]

I played it "offline" until I was like 130 hours in and finished the main story, and I'm very glad I did this way. However, it is now also a lot of fun to try out some of the stuff I'm seeing online while I'm finishing up shrines, side quests etc.

[@weirdbutokay4750]

There's a website that may not exist anymore called "Just a Hint" where you could look up a game and they a set of 4 hints, the first clue kind of vague, and then if you wanted you could open the second, which was the slightly more specific, then more specific ECT untill it warned you about spoilers & just spelled it out I miss that. Cause I do want to figure it out on myself but I get stuck sometimes. The amibo bonuses are a bit less egregious this time around, but having epona locked behind an amibo is BULLSHIT. I do use the amibos I have just to save time foraging

[@AidanRatnage]

If I played TotK "offline" I still wouldn't have the paraglider or camera app 100+ hours in.

[@BogeyTheBear]

The very first time I played Oblivion, I spent so much time in the prison that by the time I finally got out into the open world it was well into the night. I slunk around in the darkness, sneaking and hiding as much as I could, fully expecting to be ambushed by more of those Mythic Dawn assassins at any moment. I thought I saw some of their number standing guard over the roads on horseback: Their armor was sharp, angular, and looked much in the line of what the assassins had worn. I took a wide berth around these figures and slowly made my way towards Chorrol when I came across a roadside inn and decided to approach... ...he was sitting in shadow on a bench in front of the inn, which is why I failed to see him until it was too late. It was one of those dark, sinister-looking figures from earlier. I froze. He said "Greetings, citizen." I got close enough to get the cursor over him. An Imperial Legion soldier. _That's_ what they made the Imperial guards in this version of the game look like? I thought they were supposed to be Romans! I would not have gotten this experience had I had any online context. I got spooked by the _guards_ in the game.

[@jessmaywin987]

I have to say that as the only one in any of my friendship group who loves gaming every game for me is “offline” - I would LOVE to be able to text my mates about TOTK!

[@jaysonmendes3072]

i've only looked up about Threeway thing during my playthrough (main story). The main thing was where the "poo collector" is hanging around! (I don't know his english name) Playing it (mostly) offline was very cool. The final bossfight was once again a bot disappointing. Have fun everyone

[@JoeBuk724]

Thats already how I play, give things a good try but look them up if I get stuck. Early on there was a puzzle or two that the solution was so out there it would have never occurred to me that it could be done in the game. There is absolutely an argument to be made about doing it all yourself but for me, the world we live in is too stretched for time already to be stuck on something all day. Loving the game btw!

[@TheSimon642]

I missed the paraglider for a while and completely wracked my brain trying to solve that shrine with the springs cos it launces you across the room and I kept just splatting, desperately trying to work out how to glide different to slow myself

[@Tink00]

Before I started playing, I was so overwhelmed by the builds people were making, and was worried I wouldn't "make the most" of the building mechanics... Within 20 minutes (in the very first shrine I went into), I found myself compelled to spend a solid 15 minutes building a bizarre emalgemation of objects into a "ramp" to go to a place with absolutely nothing in it. Just to see if I could. It doesn’t matter if you're making something impressive or something completely deranged, as long as you're having fun with it.