Tears of the Kingdom is a Frustrating 10/10

[@yakkocmn]

so... zelda, am i right?

[@yis8fire]

I guess

[@manko6209]

I think...?

[@xProErax]

For real, Nerrel made a video about the game and even though I had my thoughts on the game, he really brought the mail in his video and made me think even lower of the game. Not to mention that it relies on the dungeons that were designed the same way as before, which you would think they would improve but now they're technically worse especially with the story repeating beat for beat after completing each of them. The building mechanic is truly awesome, but there's so much more fat in this game compared to breath of the wild, and I rather have more meat in my games.

[@arkz4746]

Nuh uh

[@doomk714]

Missed u buddy 🥺

[@TuShan18]

I really love the discussion surrounding how much freedom is given. On one hand, it's awesome that the game lets you get away with this stuff, but on the other it can mess with the experience because potentially clever puzzles, dungeons, and fights can be skipped with a well built helicopter or rocket. Still, totk is one of the best games ever because it unlocked the war criminal inside all of us. That has to be worth something.

[@yakkocmn]

i have done unspeakable things to bokoblins

[@TuShan18]

@@yakkocmn no mercy. no respite.

[@logans.6498]

yeah it was seriously like my biggest complaint about the game. I felt like every time I was presented a puzzle it was a chore to find out how "the game wanted me to do it" when instead I could just spam rockets attached to my shield or flurry rush every down (can't believe that's still in the game)

[@sunnyta1990]

I felt more fulfillment ignoring my tools and completing the game as designed. I also avoided the hover bike until the endgame. Had an absolute blast. The game lends itself well to a more gameplay-focused cycle of actions than BotW did, but people looking to recreate their experience with BotW might be disappointed that so many things are reused. I think it's my favorite Zelda game personally since the experience is so customizable.

[@balakay4730]

I found myself having to limit my abilities during the game to make it seem worthwhile. It’s a little ridiculous that some basic enemies like silver bokos and moblins feel like they take more hits than Ganon. If you fuse the lynel horn at the start of the cave to the master sword, Ganons boss battle becomes a joke.

[@rawtoast3614]

I played this game for well over 300 hours. I finished every side quest, conquered every shrine, did about everything I could in the game (besides the god forsaken koroks) Towards the end, I started almost resenting what I was doing, but I couldn't bring myself to confront Ganondorf. I kept searching for other things to do because I knew that if I fought him, it would all be over. I didn't want this beautiful masterpiece of a game to end for me, but I almost ruined it for myself in the process. This video helped remind me why I love this series so much in the first place. Thank you.

[@HeavyPhoton]

Yeah, I am on the second run, the completionist run. The thing is, you set an objective like, solving the northeastern labyrinth when in akkala, only to take like 2 hours to get there because of all the errands you find along the way... Well worth the 65 euros for sure.

[@netweed09]

I just wanted more & more Dungeons (Temples) it was _so_ great to have them back. Would have wanted them to have been 1:1 as the complexity of the older games but for an Open world they still had a lot to them, just needed a few more unique enemies. But yea,, by my 2nd Temple, I racked up 600 hours and counting. Don't ask ,, lol.

[@tolkienblack]

I did the same thing. Eventually I was just running in circles before I convinced myself it was finally time to accept that it was over. So I finally beat the best Zelda boss fight ever and what do I do? I start a new playthrough immediately

[@netweed09]

@@tolkienblack I'm _so_ salty over the DLC debunk. This was the _one_ game besides the obvious Smash and Mario Kart that I wanted it for. Tears had me so hooked and intrigued on the Story, especially after the nothing job that was Breath (literally,, invisible story lol.) But nooope, of course they'd not give Us an extra helping of Zonai lore pie. 😠😫😒😪🙄

[@coopstain1728]

I played it for 265 hours and when I finished, I STILL had 43 side missions left. I couldnt believe it. I searched 80% or so of the map. How do I find the rest of the side missions? Is there a website to check out?

[@GammaRayven]

I love the name of part 2 "The weight of infinite freedom" sounds like the title to some psychology book diving into what it means to be human, but no its about a zelda game. Amazing

[@michaellane5381]

I thought it was the name of a weapon to smash Bokoblins...

[@elcalabozodelandroide2]

I was thinking of the tittle of a sonic game main theme. But yeah ,psychology book works too

[@ildathet]

"Once you reach the conclusion that you can do anything, as long as you don't fear the consequences, you begin to regret the thought,as the endless posibilities become overwhelming"

[@LuddyFish_]

I really resonate with that statement towards the end of "ripping myself away because I didn't want things to end" massively. I was procrastinating on going to fight Ganondorf for so long because I was having way too much fun and I didn't want to leave this world. I eventually accepted fate and went to face Ganondorf and was blown away again by Nintendo's ingenuity in the fight. And after it was all over, I felt a mix of both joy and sadness. Joy filled from being able to play this amazing game from start to finish but also sad that it had come to an end. But no matter what, I'll always look upon this game nostalgically.

[@netweed09]

💫💯

[@branastasia8013]

Lmao sameee, I ran away from ganon for a year cuz I didn’t want to finish it and for all of it to be over. That final boss was actually nuts tho😊

[@brandenlinze3322]

No one can capture the spirit of presentation and writing quite like Yakko. Love your vids man, you are a personal inspiration to me.

[@BigBoy257]

He is my favorite of the Warner siblings

[@yetet]

You're right, i imagine being able to eat mid battle WOULD remove all steaks from battle

[@Words-.]

😂

[@mbii7667]

Underrated

[@nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh777]

😂😂

[@Mohamed58290]

Good point 😂 but we all know nintendo games are the easiest in the market so we can’t do nothing about it

[@yetet]

@@Mohamed58290 debatable

[@UnusualSandvichTF2]

As someone who beat tears of the kingdom, and has never played breath of the wild. This game blew my mind 💀

[@EMLtheViewer]

Were there any parts of the game that confused you due to what seemed to be a lack of context from the previous game?

[@UnusualSandvichTF2]

@@EMLtheViewer surprisingly no, you don’t need to play the last game to understand what’s going on.

[@amadeux5471]

I could only imagine how that must have felt like. But you have to try botw! It’s puzzles are more complex and none of that dogshit heed my instruction bullshit

[@R3TR0J4N]

actually sums it up

[@tangerineturtles9551]

Having played breath of the wild, Totk was so frustrating to me bc of the lack of new (interesting) areas

[@BraveMoji]

I had the EXACT same experience with 5th hidden temple. found it by just being desperate to get there and when It was revealed in the story 100 HOURS LATER I was had already completed it.

[@princesspiranha]

Yes me too! Through the thunder flashes I saw the shapes of sky islands. So I just wanted to check it out haha. I even went too high, so when I jumped down, I accidentally landed in the eye with the shrine :) It also unlocks unique dialogue at Lookout Landing. When all the sages are gathered with Purah and the quest actually starts, Link explains that he already knows and one of them go: "Couldn't you have mentioned that sooner?!"

[@DaleWillFail]

One hundred hours? jeez open world games am i right...

[@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868]

During the first bit of my playthrough, I was worried I was progressing too fast, so after completing a fair bit of the story of the game, I just decided to wander the depths and explore as much as I could down there. About 20 minutes of wandering later, I stumbled across the spirit temple. I have never been more mad. I just stood there as the spirit temple text appeared on screen and just stared for a second in rage. Luckily, you can't actually do anything on your first visit, even trigger the fast travel location, but I was still upset. But what made me even more upset actually didn't come for another like 20 hours. While I had initially been exploring the depths during the session I found the spirit temple, I'd also found the construct factory, and upon determining that all I could do there was explore and find poes, I applauded the game for its rich worldbuilding, having a location that was so insignificant from a gameplay perspective but added so much from environmental storytelling. So imagine my shock when I realized that basically the only two interesting locations I'd come across in that initial depths exploration both were story relevant, and not just story relevant, but relevant to the SAME EXACT QUEST THAT WAS LIKE HALF AN HOUR LONG AND KINDA SUCKED

[@tthatgguy1]

I also stumbled upon the Spirit Temple on accident. I was not happy with this experience at all but i guess it didnt really effect thoughts on the game play of it.

[@codecubepi]

Same here!!! Accidentally stumbling onto a main quest by just braving the storm was hands-down one of the most exciting moments in the whole game.

[@bluebrickmax]

One thing you didn't mention that I think is super important: the game launched fully functional. There were minor hiccups, but it's a breath of fresh air to see a game even more ambitious than the first and with systems this complex launch in a better state than 80% of modern releases

[@jennakins98]

Sad to see how low the bar has gotten but you right. 😢 I appreciated this too

[@d3va383]

Bro it’s the bare minimum. The only games that don’t do this are some AAA companies that are ran by guys in suits who only care about money

[@RealCtc]

Tbf, it did contain a bunch of item dupes and for some reason the ability to transfer the pre break mastersword into the maingame

[@blackmanwithcomputer]

I hate when people say this shit, like most games aren't functional on release.

[@dino846]

​@@blackmanwithcomputerbecause they aren't lmao. Its sad that launching a working product is a praise these days.

[@Demontrigger14K]

I finally, after two failed attempts due to getting distracted, finished BotW and went right into this game. As soon as the game made it extremely clear that you could staple ANYTHING to your weapons, I was just laughing so hard at the silly combinations you could make, even if they are something as dangerous as the Boomerang Bomb. Most of my vehicles end up failing like that boat, but that's part of the fun sometimes.

[@lametrain9667]

I feel like I would have enjoyed both BoTW and ToTK more if only one of them existed. Tears improve so much on what BoTW did that the latter does feel invalidated aside from very minor details. On the other hand, sharing so much with BoTW meant that ToTK lacked a unique identity. I was definitely burnt out from exploring the same world across 2 games.

[@roxlife8173]

but it isnt the same world im getting tired of saying this.

[@Kitsunary]

At the very least, similar enough that everyone feels it's the same.

[@ChrisTian-ei9xo]

@@Kitsunarymake people feel like they are the same ≠ they are the same

[@lawrence9713]

And people srsly want it a third time 🤦‍♂️

[@timmodrow437]

I have seen a lot of comments saying that Totk improved so many things that botw did, but honestly I cannot understand where this comes from. What exactly does Totk much better? The Story actual story (that you are playing not the one you see in the memory’s which you cannot „influence“) isn‘t that much better. It is still fairly short, not very complex and intriguing or exciting and it lacks character (development). It is still better than botws but it isn‘t great either, especially because it gets constantly retold in the 4 main areas (basically a very similar progression). The Memory story is decent but unfortunately the fact that you can watch them out of order makes it easy to accidentally spoil yourself (on top of that memory’s can also spoil parts of the actual story which couldn‘t really happen in botw). I also feel like the botw actually created far more understandable fleshed out characters while answering more questions. Totk memories feel like they are leaving out a bit to much. When it comes to dungeons they improved on the visual design, the dungeon theme and introduction, however the actual gameplay design didn‘t really improve. The dungeons are really short (maybe even shorter than botws), easy to cheese and have a lot of pretty easy and sometimes uncreative puzzles (compared to old 3D Zeldas the dungeons are really weak. Furthermore the Bosse (aside from the final boss) just got visually and atmospherically better aswell. They do not look all the same, but now half of them do not even attack. While botw bosses could be a slight challenge this isn‘t the case for most of the Totk bosses. The big problem of the shrines involving to many combat trials and gift shrines wasn‘t fixed aswell (although the combat shrines are a bit more enjoyable). When it comes to combat the big problems of botw weren‘t really improved aswell. The enemy variety while slightly bigger is still far to low for such a big game. The combat is also still far to easy, maybe even easier than in botw as you can now fuse materials to arrows allowing you to kill the strongest enemies injustice seconds. The only thing that they truly improved on is the motivation to fight enemy’s as fusing and therefore the enemy’s fuse materials are very valuable. The menuing isn‘t better (when it comes to the special abilities from the sages it got even worse) aswell. They made the map bigger which you can count as an improvement and there are some more collectibles. Have I forgotten something that Totk does actually much better than botw? This is a real question because there obviously needs to be a reason for all of the people who are saying something like that.

[@MARIOFANMAN]

I'm just starting the video, but, I have to say, you're quickly becoming my favorite game reviewer with the sheer depth of your videos.

[@evotheevolutions]

for me i liked both games, but my biggest disapointment is that they didnt fix any of the problems i had with the menu system in totk, in fact they made it worse with the ability to fuse arrows

[@highdefinition450]

yea one of the biggest complaints in ocarina of time was that the boots were such a hassle to equip in the water temple. 25 years later and they somehow still haven't learned a thing. the arrow thing is insane, it's such bad game design idk how it even made it past testing

[@TrovaoSmasher]

​@@highdefinition450 you mean the menu when you press the up on the dpad? Interesting To me, since time pauses and you can sort the menu, it works really really well, especially compared to older menus (I'm playing minish cap right now and switching items isn't bad but it's less than ideal). I'd be interested to hear why it didn't work for you

[@someangel-shape6797]

Wait really? I find it much easier to use than BotW.

[@evotheevolutions]

@@someangel-shape6797 it is, until you try to menu your way through the fuse menu from a monster part to a fire arrow.

[@someangel-shape6797]

Just use the most used section that should have all the stuff you’ll actually need after a few hours of gameplay.@@evotheevolutions

[@CasualEnjoyerofMostManyThings]

I was someone who didn't like BotW but playing TotK felt like playing the BotW that got the critcal and commercial acclaim. I'm personally so happy with the direction it took and that I could finally understand that same joy.

[@lace.maiden]

I didn't like botw that much either. So far totk has been giving me *somewhat* what i think was missing from botw.

[@ilbroducciore]

Funny how experiences can be so antithetical. I loved BotW so much, played it until I couldn’t anymore, and then realized that I could get away with playing TotK by doing most of the same things I did in BotW, which made it feel stale and repetitive. Also, the feeling of desolation in the wild I loved is mostly gone.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Can't imagine needing my hand held so much that I ended up not liking BotW.

[@lace.maiden]

@jarlwhiterun7478 what does needing your hand held have to do with not liking botw? Some of my favorite games are the dark souls games, but im still not a huge fan of botw.

[@voltron77]

@@lace.maidenit didn’t give good dungeons though.

[@stinkyshaan1648]

Dude the funniest part was where you talked about thunderhead isles and exploring it without clearing the storm. I actually did the same thing as you, except I LUCKED myself into the door instantly. within 30 seconds of landing I was just at the shrine on the dragons head, and just found Mineru lol.

[@faith.W]

wait...I didnt know you could clear the storm, lol

[@tamix9]

Great video. I would add, regarding the weight of infinite freedom, that it's also a huge issue on the narration level. Like, how many people have found out what happened to zelda before finishing all dungeons, and then watch link going around still asking the leaders if they know what happened to her? Or how "you can do any of the regions first! But we REALLY REALLY would like you to go see the birds first! We've locked half the important mechanics like inventory expansion and armor upgrades on the way there!". I feel like the devs were forced to follow the botw formula even when it didn't fit. Blood moon is another example of that. It really didn't need to be there again, and it really ruins the feel of the new side quests with npcs clearing out monster camps, like "wow nice job we cleared the camp until they spawn again tonight." And don't get me started on armor upgrades. But as you said, frustration comes most of all from flaws in greatness.

[@TheCosmicCloud]

I’ve personally been super conflicted about my feelings on this game. I 100%’d botw, so I went into totk with massive expectations. And somehow, even after putting in 200 hours, I can’t help but feel like it didn’t live up to what I wanted it to be. I really enjoyed my time with the game, but it didn’t improve any of the major flaws of botw, and in many cases, it created its own issues. It’s scope is massive, and yet somehow the meaningful content feels so sparse. A part of me really wants to love the game because of those few incredible moments, but the experience feels bogged down by repetitive tasks with disappointing rewards. But it’s possible I didn’t really grasp the full potential of the game’s unlimited freedom. Now that I know what parts of the game I do and don’t enjoy, I know what parts to skip on repeat playthroughs. I’m hoping it’s a game that will age better over time (for me), but at the moment it genuinely just confuses me

[@hordern_6607]

honestly i'm feeling exactly the same, I adored the game throughout, but now three months later, I look back on it, whereas with botw, I was still playing it and having an incredible time, I can't bring myself to 100% it or play through it again, and it makes me feel as though it's not the improvement i hoped it was.

[@hylianro]

I enjoyed both games throughout but totk's biggest struggle was being too similar to botw. And yet regardless of that I think it's better than botw

[@davidwhidden9337]

I had a similar reaction. Once I went Depth splunking for the roots, I just kinda wanted to game to end. While Ultrahand is great fun, I only used it for puzzles and not combat. Fuse is just too good. The game has so much potential. Why couldn't we have more elemental enemies like Age of Calamity. Ah well.

[@ArmoredSushi]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is just confused about TOTK. It's a fantastic game and definitely enjoy my time with it,yet I feel disappointed.

[@buttbobaggins]

when i started to realize all the armor i was finding underground were referential sets and i had THREE different classic green Link tunics before I'd found the box armor, i was so over exploration. there was so much room for fun new content and it just isn't there- why 100% a game that i feel like i've already completed? all of the fluff is the same fluff as before, and the payoff is even less... the fact that only ONE major side adventure rewards you with a unique set of armor is so frustrating to me, things that feel like tiny achievements yield far greater rewards than those that feel like they should be greater achievements (finding all wells or bubbulfrogs for example) idk man i'm just so sad about this game

[@eclecticspaghetti]

Being able to beat this game without the *Paraglider,* with absolutely no hard gating preventing me from accessing the final area without it, and instead allowing me to use my patience, luck, and a little bit of cleverness to come up with my own ways to make it all the way down to the final sequence, was what cemented TOTK as game of the year for me, it was honestly one of the most fulfilling gaming experiences I’ve had in a very long time, especially since I had no Sages or Master Sword and had to one-man army the entire boss rush. So yes, I am praising the game for the fact that it allowed me spend ~30 minutes climbing into a hole without the very easily obtainable key item that would let me jump down and reach the bottom in a matter of seconds.

[@vincentbatten4686]

I do think it would be interesting to explore the concept of speed runs versus intended experience playthroughs and the differences they make in how you perceive a game because it requires an entirely different way of thinking about a game. From a speed run mindset, the game gives you so many tools that if you view the game itself as a puzzle to break and take everything to it's logical extreme, I feel like it would be a better way to play the game than the intended way and the full experience because you can cut through the chaff which this game is bursting with.

[@mbii7667]

I don't see that as a good thing

[@rareosts5752]

@@mbii7667 Freedom like that is pretty much universally seen as a good thing. This game had interesting handicaps to each of us, there're easy things we knew and didnt, the paraglider was a rare one to miss though, and you wont miss it for long unless you're just a dullard.

[@maynardburger]

@@vincentbatten4686 TOTK excels with SOME sort of self-imposed limits. The game is otherwise too easy to exploit and beat.

[@Croton]

WOW you hit the nail on the head with this video. It's so easy to break the game (with rocket shields, airbikes and recall elevators) that I found myself self limiting a ton. Personally I loved seeing how the puzzles evolved throughout the regional shrines to their respective dungeons; and even the sky islands had a lot of cool puzzles I didn't wanna miss out on With that being said, I also did love the BotW divine beasts a ton and still do!! Being able to control the dungeon on a macro level for puzzle solving and traversal was awesome, and very few Zelda dungeons hold this design style (Majora's mask and skyward sword do it a bit too, but other than that it's like one dungeon per game)

[@ilbroducciore]

It’s a bit sad to me how people bash the divine beasts and blights just because of thematic uniformity. For some reason I actually liked this design choice a lot, as well as playing through them. I also love how the blights are faceless monstrosities. Felt very fresh and unlike typical Zelda at the time.

[@MythicMachina]

For you segment at the end, I wanna say that's why I like your content so much. Everyone forgets that art is a very emotional and bias thing, and there is no such thing as "Objectively perfect." Some of the best games that people say are "Objectively" the best are games that I can't stand (like Hollow Knight). But you, you aren't afraid to dive into that. You give good objective and technical points, but you aren't afraid to talk about how a game makes you feel and your personal experience with it, which is just as or possibly even more important. Love is to enjoy something despite it's flaws. My favorite game of all time is Persona 5 (either version). Is it a perfect game? No. But the experience as a whole let me feeling something that I never felt before from another game. Every journey has some ugly bumps, but the journey as a whole was an incredible one. You always make it a point to talk about your personal journey with a game, and It's a great reminder about what's important most.

[@Floofy_fluff]

Completely agree. Especially about Persona 5. No other game has made me feel as much as that one, which is why I’ll always love it despite its flaws. I feel like a lot of people often focus too much on which games are objectively good and perfect and forget that at the end of the day video games are meant to be enjoyable and the “quality” of the content isn’t as important as they think it is

[@ctrl_x1770]

That is definitely true, but we often forget that there is at least a basic level of objectivity to all things, due to a fundamental factor we all share with each other: being human. To give an example with music, I'm sure we can all agree that no subjective opinion would find grinding a fork against a plate is the zenith of humankind's artistic expression. Being human makes us share feelings, thoughts, emotions. Just as individuality and diversity is celebrated in the modern day, I think it's just as important to celebrate the foundational similarities we have with one another - including opinions.

[@Lifesizemortal]

Not to harp but I thought Persona 5 was so mediocre. The ceaseless reiteration of story points by characters was ultimately what drew me away from it. But I also realized over time that I just don't care for the repetitiveness of JRPGs in general. Dragon quest XI is where I drew the line and stopped playing them altogether. On one side of the coin they're finely crafted pieces of art (the graphical assets, music, UI design, etc) and on the other side of the coin they tend to fall back on the same list of tropes (unoriginal overly long stories, repetitive battles, underwhelming interaction with the game environments).

[@mishmosh_ml]

i agree! also that’s really interesting that you don’t like hollow knight-can i ask why? i personally loved it but didn’t 100% it

[@MythicMachina]

@@Lifesizemortal JRPGS might just not be your thing and that's fine.

[@waker_link]

Honestly, you bring up a good point about expectations. As someone who played the majority of Zelda games, I've gotten used to a relatively similar formula, however despite it the series has had a fair share of experiments that changed up gameplay in a significant manner (cycles in Majora's Mask, two different time periods in OoT, weird-ass Wolf transformation in Twilight Princess etc), most of which I enjoyed. And then, BOTW dropped. It was so strikingly different that it barely had anything "Zelda-like" about it gameplay-wise except a small handful of things, which made it feel like someone put the series name label on a completely unrelated game, at least to me personally. I actually found that non-linear approach that BOTW went for a complete defiance of its roots in a bad way, considering how the series is popular for great curated linear experiences, even when the worlds are somewhat open (Wind Waker is a good example of this). Needless to say, I got bored with it quite quickly, and never bothered to finish it, because the gameplay barely introduced new interesting mechanics, which items in other games usually fulfilled. Hell, the Master Sword, one of the literal anchors of the plot of any Zelda game (except a select few), was also left out out of the story progression! They also desecrated the most important aspect of the series - the dungeons, all for the sake of making things approachable with just the starting tools that you get. As you can guess, I wasn't very happy when they announced a sequel to BOTW, which meant that this format was here to stay, so my expectations were lowered. However, when I did actually play TOTK, it did feel infinitely more fun than it's predecessor, because they "fixed" a lot of the things that BOTW destroyed, like more interesting dungeons with unique gimmicks, or allowing Link to use more unique tools, that one could use to beat said dungeons too. However, despite me enjoying TOTK and actually beating it, I still can't consider it a Zelda title for a myriad of reasons, all of which tie back into non-linearity. It's simply not possible to create an actually interesting dungeon without gradually giving the player more tools, because the Sages are just aren't enough to diversify the gameplay imo. Even despite TOTK having actually decent dungeons, they fall short in comparison to other games because they are simply hard-limited by the fact that they are designed with just the Sage and starting tools in mind, leading to far more simplistic and boring designs. As long as Nintendo sticks to non-linearity, old fans will complain, because such a drastic shift is simply too much to still be classified as Zelda games. I should mention that I don't think that BOTW/TOTK are bad games, far from it actually, I just find them alienating in comparison to the everything else in the franchise, which in turn muddies up the experience. Anyway, great video as always yakko

[@speedude0164]

I support Nintendo taking the series in a new directon, but it does really suck for fans that loved something about the classic games that the devs are no longer focusing on. I do think the next game could experiment with having you discover more key abilities throughout the game. I can't imagine every single game from now on giving you every ability from the start, as there's only so much they can do with that. I think they're gonna try a whole lot of different things now that we're finally moving on to the second era of open world Zelda, and some of it could be to try recapturing some of the classic games' lost appeal wherever possible.

[@darcidious99]

Honestly my one big problem that stayed true from BOTW into TOTK is the story. Its much better in totk since it more actively involves link and other characters in the fights and I appreciate that, but the memory system still has too much of the important story beats that are told to you rather than experienced. Not only that, but the memories are often so seperate from one another that its hard to see what the "right" order to go for them is, and it leaves some massive gaps. Like one thing I genuinely dont know if its explained is why the gerudo ended up betraying ganondorf. In 2 of the memories we see them serving him, and then all of a sudden we have a gerudo champion trying to destroy him with others. Was it the queen sonia incident? I have 0 clue. Gameplay totk is nothing but an improvement adding a metric fuck ton of new mechanics and embracing some of the older zelda staples like dungeons and unique bosses. But the story is still just... Meh? I liked the characters but little feels fleshed out. Like truthfully i have no clue why this ganon wants to destroy hyrule anyways, other than I assume just the demise curse giving him a one track mind. Though for all we know, this story could just be a total reboot too since the story also just feels like a retelling of all past zeldas with sky islands (SS), and ganon swearing loyalty to rauru only to betray them (OOT). There's some great ideas, but they just don't feel fleshed out and properly interlinked enough to tell a truly amazing story like MM or TP. I obviously would like gameplay changes in the next zelda which we already know will stick with the BOTW formula, namely improvements to more varied weapon types that rid the durability system (i like the system, but it also feels a little bit unnecessary and as a way to encourage "varied weapons", but theres only 4 types including the bows"), but above all else I want the memory system to be ditched because it feels like its actively harming my enjoyment with the story.

[@Pownchao]

I was also hoping for more weapon variety. Weapon fusion seemed promising at first, and it definitely fixed some issues with the first game's weapon system, but the fact is we're still stuck with the same base weapons that all still feel the same, even with fusion. Would've appreciated things like a proper whip that you could fuse things to. The ball and chain from Twilight Princess could've been cool as well. A proper dual wielding system with the shield and combining elements that way. Idk, it just feels a little too repetitive the way we just mash the Y button. Would like weapons that handle way differently.

[@aegisxor]

My take on it is that the Gerudo served him up 'til the moment he got the Stone and then *he* turned on *them* (read: started killing indiscriminately)

[@Isuream6331]

Pretty sure the motivation for the Gerudo turning was the whole “I’m going to force the world into eternal darkness and become it’s new god” thing Also because who trusts a guy who calls himself the Demon King?

[@giphit]

@@Pownchao if you fuse a lizalfos tail to a weapon it becomes a whip

[@Pownchao]

@@giphit I know. That's why I said "proper whip". A whip as the base weapon, which you can fuse things onto and handles differently to other weapons with its own unique properties. Perhaps something like a grappling effect would've been nice for it.

[@R.A.M_Games]

One note about difficulty, Zelda difficulty spike curves later in the game because exploring the world rewards you so much that the level progression feels seemless.

[@kintamas4425]

I see Totk as a more beautiful minecraft. Almost anything is possible.

[@nrran6835]

I know people that grew up with games wish it were harder, but my gf, who hasn’t played a non sims/stardew game in 15 years just finished BotW and is going to start Tears. I hope Zelda games stay accessible and finishable by new players. Zelda as a series is one of gamings biggest ways to pull people in, and everyone should be able to have the same type of experience I had with Zelda 1 when I was 9, and my brother had at 9 with Ocarina, and my gf had at 35 with breath. It needs to still be a good intro point for people, even if that means it isn’t as challenging for me as I’d like. It’s an easy price for me to pay to see people love it the same way I did and still do. There are other YOU HAVE DIED games for when I need to feel challenged

[@danieldouglas9224]

I truly never thought I would find someone who shares my exact set of thoughts about totk. For my full 100 hour play time, i was deeply torn between the game's inability to live up to my impossible expectstions and it's breathtakingly engaging gameplay. This video has helped me to come to terms with totk as it is, and has encouraged me to enjoy it all over again

[@JamesCook76131]

If it had real dungeons, it would be a better game.

[@user-zx1ur]

​@@JamesCook76131 Other way around

[@Kiiraku]

To me, Tears of the kingdom has truly become an experience. When you talked about how you discovered the last dungeon, it made me think of how I got the Master Sword without knowing any of the story. When I was on one of my Zonai construction sprees, I discovered the Light Dragon and when I got to it's head, there was the Master Sword. I had played around a lot, so when I got to it I gave it a try and pulled it out. Then when I experienced the story, that moment for me got enhanced so much more. It was truly an unforgettable experience for me

[@mageyplss]

I played this game without playing breath of the wild, and absolutely loved it, I'm super excited to pick up botw

[@minecrafter3448]

Warning, tears of the kingdom is just the better game. Breath of the wild is a masterpiece, but it’s very clear where it did things worse than tears of the kingdom, and it has almost nothing that it does better than tears of the kingdom

[@litapd311]

botw is a great game, but i firmly believe this is one of the situations where playing the original after the sequel would be a purely worse experience. i hope you enjoy botw regardless if you play it, but imo the only real benefits to playing botw are the shrines (most of which will be unique from shrines in totk) and rushing the divine beasts to see the different puzzles/bosses. botw is an amazing game, one of my favorites, but imo there's not huge benefit playing a lot of it after totk

[@yakkocmn]

I do think there are some QoL upgrades you'll be missing (and playing the first one first makes a bit more sense obviously), but I hope you enjoy BotW! I love TotK's gameplay loop, but I also think the sparse, quiet exploration of BotW lends itself to a certain sense of beauty and silence that gets overwritten by the Zonai device explosiveness of the sequel. You'll get to hear the horseback music a lot more! (also, try out Pro Mode if you didn't already do so for TotK, and thank me later)

[@iceclkeyheart3060]

excited to explore thr exact same map but with far less?

[@mageyplss]

@@yakkocmn Yeah, I only got a switch right before totk was about to come out and I got a bit of FOMO, I would've rather played the original first but seeing *new shiny consumable product* everywhere on youtube got me to get it first.

[@eryft8764]

Really loved the last section of the video. No amount of friction or missed opportunities are going to undo how I felt blasting through the colgera at mach 10 while the sickest song in the entire game played.

[@masondotdotcom8064]

So, someone else took a picture of the yiga frog in the chair on the roof

[@yakkocmn]

he's chillin

[@jennakins98]

The "scrappiness" of the early gameplay is a perfect way to describe it. The whole game(s) is good, but I can now identify why the first hours feel AMAZING to me and then it starts feeling more generic as time goes on. I love the feeling of not only having to get creative, but being able to with infinite solutions. This must also be why eventide island feels so awesome in botw. You most likely dont get there until you've played the game much longer since you need hefty stamina to reach it, and then when you do, it's a refreshing return to the scrappiness from the beginning. This is nitpicking, but I will say I think I liked this feeling better in botw than in totk because a lot of the "solutions" in totk end up being ultrahand. Which for me personally, the most creative solutions always felt like they interrupted gameplay with how long they take to make perfectly. And once I got autobuild, I found that the slots for custom builds ran out quickly!

[@jakenoble3346]

Hey! I’ve been watching and really enjoying your videos for a while now, but this one in particular felt really special. I think you captured something really special in the final chapter of this video which is really difficult to put into words, and that’s something I honestly appreciate 🙂

[@bradencosier80]

The mid combat healing is very OP. I actually started a second play through where I didn’t allow healing through meals. My only way to heal mid combat was to use light dragon fusions. Honestly made combat much more interesting

[@mookiestewart3776]

This must have been tough before you upgraded your armor lol

[@frewtlewps1152]

Going into the final fight without gloom healing items was one of the best mistakes I made playing ToTK. It made beating Ganondorf so much more thrilling.

[@Orangecatenergy]

@@frewtlewps1152yeessss I remember I Upgrades way too much for calamity Ganon in botw so I just went in for ganondorf knowing I was underprepared. I lost but it was so much fun! Then I prepared a little bit better and the win after that actually felt earned

[@videocrowsnest5251]

I think my favorite thing about Tears of the Kingdom is that feeling of "Wait? That actually worked?" when you do something completely nonsensical like slapping a few devices together, and it gets the job done. On the other hand, I think my most hilarious moments were when something in the plan I had in my head went wrong. The sheer exquisite levels of shenanigans and chaos that such could unleash never fails to make me laugh. As such, I tend to avoid Buzz Lightyearing myself around too much with rockets and just try to come up with the most contrived and ridiculous manners of accomplishing things.

[@m.i.a.826]

"But when I'm on my deathbed, I don't think I'll be regretting the time I spent on this [game]. And in the end, that means the game's pretty good!" That really resonated me. Glad you had fun!! 🎉

[@TheAqua-Ninja]

Please don’t suggest making Zelda (or anything else for that matter) more like the Souls games. Please just don’t. Not everyone wants every game that involves combat to be the most frustrating, “get good” experience in the world. 32:05 Outside of that comment… great video!

[@vasilijemx]

man you are so amazing at writing. you can keep me enthralled for a full 40 minutes without adding family guy and subway surfer clips with constant vine thud sounds. keep up the amazing work yakko!

[@bounkle2404]

Terrific review, captured my thoughts exactly, so much they could have done and expanded upon, while at the same time being such a rich and fulfilling experience. Also love how you comment on how people are saying there is no need to play the first game, totk may have more in it, but the tools each game provide create such different scenerios that in order to fully appreciate this game youd have to go back and play botw first. Great stuff all around.

[@nouche]

I feel like they developed Breath of the Wild, wanting to make a game with a lot of freedom, but had the constraint of needing to release a Zelda game. And for Tears of the Kingdom, they wanted to make more of a Zelda game, but found themselves having the constraint of being required to release a game with a lot of freedom. Ironic.

[@nontondo2134]

THANK YOU FOR THE SHOUTOUT TO NUTS & BOLTS‼️ As a weird freak who ended up playing it before the original B&K games, I have so many fond memories of getting lost in its accessible yet deep construction system for hours. Genuinely one of the most fun sandbox games I’ve ever played, and it blew seeing everyone say it was just the shitty Banjo Lego Car game.

[@conkerlive101]

Nuts and bolts levels looked great but they were just empty shells when you got down to it.

[@qsmith2514]

I was waiting to see your thoughts on this and it didn’t disappoint. I also went to thunderhead isle and sequence broke by doing the spirit temple as my second dungeon. Man, those four hours were the highest high. Going from a mysterious clouded island to building your own party member in the depths was the best thing I’ve ever done in a video game. Im sure you also got the true ending but it really is such a special game and even though I had to force myself to beat it I will never forget my time on this.

[@deathbitegledhill9735]

One thing i did to deal with the big numbers on weapons issue is I dropped every weapon and material with an attack higher than 5 when I was 100 hours in. This put me right back at the bottom even though all the enemies were extremely tough which made me have to think before going into combat

[@faith.W]

Did u fight 10 hours against a silver bokblin? I couldnt imagine doing that, sounds boring to me.

[@thatboiijohnny7133]

The zelda community has to be one of the worst fan bases ever, they complain about not being linear, then complain about it being too linear, they complain they want an open world then complain when it’s open world, complaining about shading in Wind Waker and then complaining about the gloom of twilight princess, as for me? I’ve never played a bad zelda game, except for triforce hero’s.

[@withoutthejuice7193]

I couldn’t tell you why, but Breath never clicked with me. I played it for about 30 hours, did most of the towers and a lot of shrines but I just never really got into. But Tears for some reason got it’s hooks in me real bad. I think it’s because of the amount of traversal options. In BotW movement felt too slow, I know it was supposed to be chill like you said but I just got really bored of walking/climbing everywhere. But in Tears there are literally so many different ways to gain height, it’s mind boggling. Just a great game, more options, double the size, fusing is goated, I could go on.

[@geschnitztekiste4111]

True

[@CaesarP]

Im the opposite, i love BoTW and i barely use construction to build vehicles, i just walk everywhere, dont like the horse in game too clumsy it is, thats how I enjoy Zelda

[@withoutthejuice7193]

@@CaesarP I enjoy doing that sometimes, but I don’t think I could play the entire game like that. At some point don’t you want to go back and scoop up collectibles? It’s much easier to backtrack with a flying device.

[@CaesarP]

@@withoutthejuice7193 im good with the towers 👌🏻

[@Festus84]

You get it, with the reconnection with an "old friend" part! thanks for pointing that out, this couldn't be done with an "DLC"

[@ryan_raus]

Regarding infinite freedom: I appreciated that I could get from point A to B in any fashion I wanted. However, I usually ended up doing things the “intended way” anyway due to it being laid out for me. I always would look back in retrospect and say “you know, I could’ve skipped all that if I had just done THIS” but I never usually think to do those things in the moment due to me being (for example) excited to ride the rails of the fire temple or the bubbles of the air/sky/water temple. Only when I’m having too much trouble do I ever realize I can resort to much simpler crafty methods for a solution. And I personally think that’s brilliant!

[@JayKlz]

I went blind through the storm too! I was mad at first when I was sidequest cleaning and found it went away 😂😂 However the whole finding a random mask to getting a underground mech was an unexpected and memorable experience for sure

[@bluebrickmax]

Same thing happened to me. In fact, I was stuck for a while because I wanted to do everything before I went to the castle, but it turned out you had to go there to progress that quest.

[@davidwhidden9337]

The most frustrating part for me about this game is that it's a Sequel-Lite. Some areas have major upgrades, while other areas are just sorta updated. Hateno village just kinda does not know you lived there or bought a house there? But Tarrey Town does. It's just too inconsistent. The Guardians are all gone. The Divine Beasts are all gone. The game never tells you what happened. They even left one of the destroyed Guardians at Robbie's old Lab. The second frustrating part, is that the story is overall bland? Time Travel is not my favourite trope and this game just has time travel as a plot convenience instead of it being a major thing. Like, for instance. There's a Light Dragon that's been around for years, but no one seems to know? It's not even named unlike the others. Where did the other 3 come from, since we now have an idea how they came to be. The intro to the game is so boring. Zelda as a character is much more expressive in the intro than she is at the end. She's more concerned about Link fighting 3 bats than him being there at the end. Also, her sacrifice is undone so quickly, and she wakes up immediately. I was thrilled to see the Princess Carry, but nothing came of it. Zelda just speaks. What I'm saying is, no hug, 0/10. Smaller ramblings. The sages are pure jank. The enemies are better designed, but it's still not enough (Age of Calamity has elemental enemies, there's only rock armor). The final boss has no scaling (as you show in your video he can do 1 heart. ONE.) The Master Sword never regains it's Shine in your inventory. Damage numbers lie. The fuse menu could have had more options to sort. The overworld music is again, just there. I had a lot of fun with this game. It's potential is just squandered.

[@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868]

I actually think that the time travel worked really well in one specific moment that makes it all worth it, which is memory 14, The Imprisoning War. It's the memory that directly precedes the intro to the game, and it just makes the whole thing come full circle, and recontextualizes so much of what you've assumed throughout the game. You really don't learn much new, but it just frames Rauru's sacrifice so brilliantly, and shows you everything in a new light. You realize that when Ganondorf asks at the beginning "Was that the Sword that Seals the Darkness?" he wasn't saying "Oh, I remember a sword like that, it's been a long time since I've seen it," he was saying "That must be the sword Rauru told me about. What a fool he was for thinking it would stop me." You realize that he never met link, but he heard your name from rauru, and that he remembers Zelda directly. And you also realize that he was right. That he won. "Thousands of years will pass in the blink of an eye. You only delay the inevitable." For him, even though his body has shriveled, it's been mere moments since he was sealed away, on the brink of ultimate victory. That right there was the moment that I truly realized that this wasn't the same Ganondorf that I'd known from games past. This wasn't the ganondorf that conquered hyrule. That was cast to the twilight realm. That lived to be unimaginably old and would reflect on his crimes against humanity, and begin to regret them. That killed the Hero of Time. This was someone new, and that moment where we truly got to know who he was and what he was willing to do, is a moment that made the whole story work exquisitely

[@Nyahahameha]

"And three: where the f did she Sheikah go?" I KNOW, RIGHT?! Like, for real, I spent probably the first 20 hours wondering when some NPC was going to address what happened to the old shrines, or the Sheikah Slate, or the _Divine Beasts!_ Seriously, what _happened_ to those things?! Did these nitwits bury them again? "Well, we defeated the Calamity, won't be needing these anymore." How do you make four goddamn mechs just disappear?! And _NOBODY_ talks about them! Arg!

[@noah_body_cares]

BotW and TotK can be boiled down to "simplicity vs complexity." If you want a quiet, more laid-back experience, play BotW. If you are a more experienced player and want more challenge and interesting systems, play TotK.

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

13:34 “It does all become a bit predictable” Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty, said William Archer, and I wonder if this is a key problem with Totk

[@chriswhite4408]

This video is gonna be a frustrating 10/10

[@jaredtherock5692]

The discussion was amazing, but I have to emphasize your choice of music in an essay. I was in a trance focused on your essay on the weapons when you put Red Moon on. It was mesmerizing

[@parabolablack]

I say this as really big fan of totk: I think equating it to other franchises and branding it as the argument of “Franchises have to change to stay fresh” as an answer to the “it doesnt feel like a Zelda game” criticism is a bit short sighted and lacks an understanding of what the fanbase loved about the 10+ games before it. Zelda has a built in audience. Their audience wanted a specific kind of game. It’s not like, say, Mario- a franchise that’s tried a variety of different kind of game styles (some liked by the mainline fans and some not). When it doesnt work for Mario, they look at it and say ‘that was just playing with it! Here’s your next standard Mario game!” Whereas with Zelda- theyve toyed with other ideas but the fact that they look at BotW as ‘The basic formula that we should use from hereon out’ is inherently worthy of critic of the modern franchise. This shouldnt be something equivocated to other properties from other franchises- these things are not the same. This isn’t an experiment from the Zelda franchise more than it is the modern take on what should be from now on- and that requires legit criticism on what should be from here on. Tldr; do not oversimplify the criticism to equate it with other franchise changes; the fanbase is more a Grateful Dead fanbase than it is anything else.

[@shaqtaku]

What I felt the most about this game was that they made Zonai devices and builds totally optional. For the most part I did not use any Zonai stuff except for the occasional rocket shield

[@HorneedleTheFreeloader]

Totk is a banger game with so much soul put into every detail

[@conkerlive101]

Except pretty much every reward especially with the amour is EXACTLY the same as breath of the wild.

[@aid7073]

3:05 to 3:35 is like your reading my mind, there so many different path this game could have taken, yet it feels like it only took a few and threw the rest of what we wanted out of the window never to return again.

[@TheOdMan]

Been playing Zelda games since 1987 and Breath of the Wild somehow turned out to be my favourite of them all, long after I had come to terms with that the best days of Zelda was behind me. So I had really high hopes for TotK and while it's a great game in it's own right, it did not instill the same sense of wonder and awe that botw did. But I still spent 260 hours on my first playthrough before beating Ganon, so I by no means think it's a bad game, it's great, but it did fall short of my own very personal hopes for the game. Crossing my fingers for a breath of the wild like game set in Termina next :D

[@quarter-lifeburnouts]

I can't describe how well you've put my current feelings to words about this game. I felt a certain guilt that I've been playing almost daily and know I still have more to do in this game than I have completed. I work full-time and have a wife and kid to support so time is limited with games, and for three months the only game I can think of playing is TotK. Yet, there's also a thought in the back of my mind that nags at me telling me at some point I'll have to finish this game. I don't think I'm actually ready for it, because I know it will be a long time before I find another game that ticks all my gamer-brain boxes like this one does. Great video, I hope when I eventually make my TotK video I can express my thoughts as well as you have.

[@reallegendgamer379]

Listen to me totk can be a true work of art like one time i was in a cave and i found the exit and it was the cave coming from como shorline cave to highland stable and i came out to a beautiful sunset on the beach and i swear no amount of ray tracing can beat the look and feel of seeing something that is such a work of art in my favourite game in my favourite series i swear go there at sunset and go from highland stable well to the cave (which is technically the entrance) and just look at it at sunset. You may not have the same reaction as i had but its a work of art

[@Oniguma]

Hello, fellow storm braver My most mind blowing moment in TotK was not a big one: I was walking across the desert and the sun started to rise,and so did the temperature. I was walking across the ruins and was like: shit, it's getting hot, I should travel by the shades And IT WORKED.

[@Exshem]

That's quite a false statement you got there, 7/10 at best and 4/10 at worst.

[@user-zx1ur]

*11/10 at worst

[@Cheese18372]

21:03 this is why I love totk The clip here shows that you can use tulins gust but I spun the thing around with ultra hand and used recall There’s so many different ways to do things each player has a different experience

[@samf.s.7731]

I love that people are willing to call it out for what it is, they are just not doing enough IMHO. This game's components, both artistic and technical, are rather ... Bland. With the exception of it being a "mechanics marvel", eveey other aspect is rather terrible. I don't think I am being harsh since I very much gave the developers a pass for a lot of shortcomings in BoTW becasue it succeeded on multiple other fronts: Soundtrack, atmosphere, exploration and the open world, the shrines were a brand new concept (So I was dather fine with the level design, even tHough yes I would have liked proper dungeons), and the story which, while rather simple, was still effective with likeable characters and an interesting take on the Zelda formula. The freedom thing was rather new, and wasn't tried out as many times as it has been since then. ToTK has none of that, the only thing it does "exceptionally well" is the physics engine. Again, I look at the whole package when judging something, and I examine each component individually. This is a bad game y'all, one that came off the heels of a GOATED one, and took even more time in development than that first one. 😅 Sorry... 😑 no, genuinely am sorry that I have to say that. Not saying this to insult anyone or deride their experience... I think you guys may have underestimated the "candy crush" effect. It's a game that does one thing. It does it very well, but it's own aspect of what should be a AAA title. And since the shrines and temples are designed around those mechanics, look bland AF, and are just a rehash of something they did before I can't give them a pass on the level design. 😑

[@user-zx1ur]

This is waaay better than Ocarina and tp, tbh

[@Zuzek12]

I fully agree with the Part 4 - The Usual Artsy Emotional Thing. I also wanted to write a video about Totk but it I wasn't able to share the full emotion, feel and personal impact of what I was presenting. Great videos man, keep it up!

[@facepwnagewtf]

IMHO TOTK is an amazing sandbox game, but a lack lustre RPG. After the credits rolled and i had time to ponder my overall experience i couldn't help but feel underwhelmed. I think the main issue is that similar to BOTW TOTK somewhat crumbles under the weight of it's open ended nature. The amount of crazy things you can do and build is truly incredible and the devs definitely deserve credit for what they were able to accomplish. But by the 25 hour mark TOTK felt like it had lost all challenge, and anything done from that point onward was just checking boxes where the only moments the story has any impact are at the beginning and end of the game. It's a game that's great at building and exploring, but it's a somewhat disappointing role playing experience. The lack of meaningful progression, ability to cheese nearly every challenge, disjointed story, and easy street pacing that makes me implement artificial limiters on my abilities just to give some semblance of challenge leaves a feeling of wanting more out of the experience. What i think would work best is to implement some linear roadblocks in the overall exploration like Elden Ring or Ghosts of Tsushima. Still give the player an immense amount of things to explore in the overworld and experiment almost as much as they want to. But when side quests and especially the main story are involved take a hard stance in saying "alright you've had your fun, but now it's time for a challenge." I would gladly sacrifice the ability to rush straight to the end boss, or explore everything immediately if it meant we could have better paced dungeons, items, enemies and story progression.

[@Words-.]

Well said

[@Scarletcroft]

I agree with you. And as someone who found the building mechanics fun in the first 10 hours, but after that only grew irritated with every thing I had to build, because it was so clunky and slow. So I resorted to Recall cheese 90% of the time. Which made me feel guilty for doing it everytime. And that kind of ruined a big part of what I love about Zelda games.......the puzzles and temples. And finding all the armors again after having played BOTW.........Yeah no Hard pass. TotK is the first Zelda game where I just don't want do stuff and actually go out of my way to Ignore things.

[@pantheonmaker9437]

Watching þis reminded me of a “wouldn’t it be cool” idea I had which could be applicable to Totk to… it went “wouldn’t it be cool if when you beat one of þe [main challenges] a new set of enemies would be added to þe world? Þe gerudo already have þe Yiga Clan, þe Zora could have River Zora so all 3 descendants of þe Parella could be in one game, þe Gorons would have Dodongos & I have no clue what þe Rito could have”

[@howlingarmadillo]

Tears of the kingdom is a great game and I had a ton of fun playing it, but I honestly think I've had my fill of open-world Zelda now. Mostly because the story really does suffer a lot from the open world formula as they've been doing it. Instead of a rich narrative we get a bunch of cool moments that don't really fit together in a satisfying way. Does this mean my nostalgia for Twilight Princess is overshadowing what the new games have to offer? Maybe a little, but I don't think it's pure nostalgia talking when I say that Tears of the Kingdom's attempt to have the best of both worlds just didn't work. The sages are the best example, a bunch of really great characters that spend 90% of the game as really awkwardly implemented game mechanics, and replace themselves with mindless ghosts in-story because the open world designs make it all but impossible to actually have them stick around as actual characters. And let's also not forget that Ganondorf is so woefully underutilized that you can hear basically half of his lines just by watching the trailers. I just don't see how anyone who values the story aspect of Zelda wouldn't feel disappointed by what Tears of the Kingdom provides, even if they are clearly trying to do more than Breath of the Wild did. Side note, glad to hear I'm not the only one who just wandered blindly into the thunder isles and found the fifth sage by accident. It really is cool if you just stumble into it by mistake.

[@StenExStended]

I still remember when i had first dropped into Hyrule all that was going through my head was "I wonder whats new here?" And "I wonder how this place is different" It made the game feel familiar but fresh which isnt something i can say about a lot of games.

[@trombonemain]

I literally only finished ToTK a few days back, perfectly timed review for me!

[@Alzeal07]

All your issues about lack of limitations are fixed with a simple thing, put your own limits. The game allows you to do anything, you're not fighting enemies to kill them, but because it's fun, and finding new ways to beat them feels amazing. A huge dragon beat my ass so I tried using machines and it was fun, but then I found another one and built an even bigger machine, but then I found an other one and just decided to fight it with only weapons. YOUR choices make the fun of the game, and you can experiment differently on the same situations over and over, it's the greatest feeling and it's all due to freedom and fun.

[@bennycaustic5102]

I just don't understand why they didn't just make a new map. According to the devs of BOTW, making the map was the easiest part of that game's development. They could've made a whole new overworld in under a year. Of course some people wont care about a remixed map, but some people will, but no one would mine a new map.

[@mpmpmp2727]

Fan of your channel for a year. This is your best video IMO, and I'm only 10 minutes in. Definitely your best script. Great job!

[@noahhager1187]

I felt like the first game was so much more full than totk, it made me want to explore and run around. It's like how majora's is deeper than oot. The characters in breath of the wild felt less like npcs with petty squabbles than in totk. Like for example the cece vs reed quest felt like an npc quest rather than a quest for real people, like the frogs quest, or the tarrey town quests from Breath of the wild. TLDR, I thought totk was more empty than breath of the wild

[@jackmenifee87]

Something you state at the beginning of the video really resonates with me, that Tears of the Kingdom can be such an incredible experience and there's still room for it to be so much more. I think that while it appears like a conflicting statement at first, it's a testament to just how much is possible with the open world formula nintendo has crafted with BOTW and TOTK. With each and every innovation there's still gonna be room to do something new and fresh, and I think that's incredible. As someone who adored both BOTW and TOTK despite their faults, im excited to see what comes next for the series.

[@CJBooks4]

"Put all these together, and it makes sense why Zelda discourse can feel like watching strict parents get upset that their kid would rather build Bionicles than pass the SAT at age 7."😨😱 *OUCH!* I felt that!😰💔😭

[@GrimmTheEngineer]

"How tf did the Zonai lose to fricking Ganon" uhhh, lynels can destroy devices with just their roar idk if you know that

[@badatmathhh]

38:55 this has already become one of my favorite endings to a video essay out there on the internet. such a wonderfully apt thought to end on

[@NintendoCapriSun]

"Well... shit." Oh, this is gonna be good!

[@NintendoCapriSun]

Following up. It was good!

[@Alzeal07]

the feeling is not of a new game in the franchise, but of a continuation of a game. it's not going from Ocarina of time to Majora's mask, it's going from kid Link in Ocarina to adult Link after the 7 years time skip, and it's wonderfully executed

[@ash_tray]

I enjoyed your comments on eldin ring as someone who has played BOTW and TOTK several times but is on hour 10 in my first ER gameplay. It’s interesting how similar but how drastically different they are. I find myself saying, “hey that mechanic is in Zelda too!” To my husband who asked me to start playing for him to watch. We are having the best time and it is a great game to play after beating Totk.

[@mishisoo]

Yako at it again with his reviews about video games

[@kizhaz5092]

Thank you! 20:30 This is the 3rd video essay I'm watching about totk today, and you are the first to mention that the player is choosing to use rockets/contraptions to skip the dungeons or make them easier. It baffles me that people are using this same point against the game to say it's too easy when the game is only as easy as the player makes it with this level of freedom. Never really thought about the Yiga fights in the depths often just using the bullet time arrow, but what you said actually sounds really interesting and from a game development perspective would have made so much sense to force Link to use contraptions to defeat them and be rewarded with schematics for more contraptions.

[@adamtideman4953]

There is no such thing as a "frustrating 10/10". You want to rate it lower but you're afraid to do so for fear of backlash.

[@CollinWallin]

On my first playthrough, I used every duplication glitch and skip I could possibly do. I regret it so much. I wish I could have experienced it on its own without any shortcuts. This video made me realize how much I missed out on.

[@averysketchygamer3241]

As a hardcore traditional 3D Zelda fan, who loves all 3D Zelda Games (yes, including Skyward Sword), I find the enjoyment from dungeons comes from how they utilize a "playground" mentality. It's less of them being structured and linear, and moreso how they blend linear ideas into an open space. It's the "illusion" of freedom, so to speak. No other Zelda game captures these feelings other than Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess, which have the best traditional 3D Zelda dungeons in my opinion. Majora's Mask has 3 central transformation masks that each area of the game takes careful effort to teach you the ins and outs of, and then the puzzles within the dungeons test your experimental knowledge within them. Your ability to manage "where am I" along with playing with your new toys in fun and creative ways is what creates the immersive experience that not only lets you experience the gameplay, but also the setting itself. Stone Tower Temple is an incredible example, as it tests your knowledge on all 3 masks while also presenting some of the toughest challenges in the game, which requires knowledge of every mask, as well as a more nonlinear approach to every puzzle. Twilight Princess designs its dungeons more linearly, but it also designs its dungeons around very *very* fun gimmicks. Like the Snowpeak Temple, it's just a big abandoned mansion that is now inhabited by Yetis. The fun of the dungeon comes from the fact that you have to navigate what feels like a blend of a house and a dungeon, with the navigation of the Yetis who apparently can't keep their belongings straight. It makes a substantial and memorable experience, not because it's streamlined, but because it's a product of a linear game doing its best to bypass those conventions, and immerse you in their creeping halls and expansive architecture. I think TotK took a much better direction, but the Fire and Water Temples were substantial low points. I stand by my hate for the Divine Beasts. Cool in concept but I am not a fan of their execution

[@chainclaw07]

34:45 ... thats the point though right? For the story bosses to be memorable setpieces with clever mechanics. The other bosses are respawning overworld entities... by nature of their existence they're not that.

[@user-zx1ur]

10/10 sequel to 10/10 masterpiece

[@ChaosStar27]

4:08 "He's... like me!" "HE"S JUST LIKE ME FOR REAL!!!!!" But all memes asisde, bro, you and I both somehow have the same history with Zelda.

[@Vogelchen]

I am so glad I dodged every spoiler for this game. This created some unforgetable moments. The whole Rito Village quest is probably my favorite part of any game I ever played.

[@yourregionalprotogen]

While listening to this video I have made a rule set for my second play through of ToTK: 1. No hover bike 2. When in the depths only use equipment you have gathered there 3. Try to do everything 4. Beat all the rematches in de depths That’s it

[@realkingofantarctica]

The fact that you can shield surf on minecart tracks like they're grind rails is proof that Tears of the Kingdom is the best 3D Sonic game.

[@spencerj]

Love the explicit nod to Joseph Anderson with saying “not enough Zelda” over and over. This is an AWESOME video. Thank you for making it

[@oddlang687]

"Even at its worst, Elden Ring only makes you fight the same boss three or four times" Ulcerated Tree Spirit would like to have a word.

[@jelyse14]

31:42 Did you ever play the Master Sword Trials on Master Mode in BotW? Now that was a welcome challenge. How many Lynels and packs of horseback bokoblins and guardians did they stuff into those big rooms again? I cant remember, but I do remember the challenge and the desperate on the fly thinking that was needed to keep yourself alive. That was a welcome change for a Zelda fan who'd been wishing for any kind of significant challenge for decades. You know what wasn't welcome though? That one early water room with the lizalfos where they'd just sit in the water pot shotting you and you couldnt get much headway on their health bar because they always regen in Master Mode out in the water where you can hardly reach them. That was cheap.

[@raulrojas9253]

10 out 10??? You crazy. Is a 7 at best.

[@АндрейБражников-т6г]

nah man you the crazy one. its a 3 MAX

[@MinnowTF]

You guys insane. It’s so clearly a -82/9

[@alvinanis3006]

I wholeheartedly agree with the sages abilities point. None of them thought that you can just map them into the ability ring that you use for your other abilities? Nah, we'll just use one of the slots for the MAP BUTTON!

[@SeasoningTheObese]

TOTK was the most 7.3 to BOTWs 7 I've ever experienced. The absolute bare minimum improvements, complete with 90% of everything that absolutely sucked.

[@greenberrygk]

4:48 this is EXACTLY how I feel like people treat botw/totk as well as Animal Crossing New Horizons

[@4lUltr0rd]

Loved the vid! Personally didn't manage to finish totk. Unquestionably it is very different from botw but for me just still felt too samey. The core combat is what really killed it for me. Link has access to by far the biggest arsenal he has ever had but the movesets are so limited it feels wasted. Also, I hated fusing weapons lmao. Why did they think that having to open a menu and push a few buttons in order to make a weapon worth using was a good idea. Especially when I am constantly having to grab new ones. Truly baffling. I might go back someday but it was just kind of a hassle to play. All that said I don't think its a bad game, just not my jam sadly. Anyways, any plans on playing or covering baldur's gate 3? Would love to hear your take on it if theres room in the schedule for it.

[@AngelTorres-yi8td]

This game will always hold a special place in my heart. I played this game when I first lived alone by myself in a different city. No friends no family no partner. It was always just me and I would get home from work to an empty apartment. But playing tears of the kingdom a game where the main premise is exploring the unknown all alone really helped me get through that part of my life.