The Legend of Zelda: The Tears of the Kingdom

[PokeDocMatt 57]

50 minutes ago, Jay said:

Another two hours or so in, 

 

The game definitely throws a lot at you in the starting area; not just the three abities but all the Zonai device building, Zonai charges, Zonaite (looks like there's gonna be more currencies to worry about than in BOTW), etc. I feel like I got the hang of some things and others I'm kinda winging it for now

 

I made my way up to the Ascend shrine and got that to end the night. Along the way it was interesting to see how caves work. And a had a aha moment where I realized why there's so many rocks lying around everywhere; I kept picking them up looking for koroks or gems underneath, but now I realize it's to fisetonto weapons! It seems like they changed the weapon durability by making it easier to make any weak weapon stronger. I'm already a bit overwhelmed with all the combo possibilities but I'm sure it won't be long until I find some go-tos.

 

Im glad the koroks are back, I've found one hiding, and two others I had to reunite with their friends. It'll be interesting to see how early you find a way to trade them in, and if what you get is the same as BOTW. 

 

I have to say my biggest issue now is the lack of a glider. I had another moment when I fell to my death; I was up high and wanted to get to the ground below. I though the height wasn't enough to kill me; I was wrong. I can't wait to be able to fall to safety again - and glide across gaps. 

 

Looking forward to leaving the starting area when I resume. I used up all my cold resistant food getting to the shrine, so hopefully I can get down to warm weather without freezing to death... (I did find a one-use cooking pot, so I'll use that if I have to) 

Jay how’d you make it to the ascend shrine? My 4 year old wanted to make a really long single file log bridge so that’s what we did. It’s fun to have him come up with solutions or ideas. I’m at the same spot you are, but I have a lot more hot pepper meals to get me through some more exploration of the cold area. Speaking of… my least favorite thing about the start of BotW was the time pressure in a cold environment early on. I’m a little bummed about this again, I know it will be fine. I vastly prefer exploration and curiosity satisfying without any kind of pressure. Im a slow player. Don’t want to face that baddie right now? No worries! Want to see how high I can climb with some stamina boosts? Sure! Anyways cheers and happy exploring!

[JohnnyD 1,223]

Link does get the paraglider eventually.

[TolkienSS 405]

14 hours ago, A Farewell to Kings said:

So its Zelda game then.

 

Straight up copying the gameplay and step by step progression of its predecessor is entirely different from using lore and characters and story tropes of a set universe.

[Jay 37,336]

2 hours ago, PokeDocMatt said:

Jay how’d you make it to the ascend shrine? 

 

Do you mean the part with the rail tracks that have a missing section? I glued four rail cars together and put two fans on the back, and that got me up. The first time I didn't notice there was a gap in the rails, and I fell to my death! 

 

Or if you mean the final ascent, I exited some cave and there was a vine I could climb up, the only surface that wasn't slippery

[PokeDocMatt 57]

41 minutes ago, Jay said:

Or if you mean the final ascent, I exited some cave and there was a vine I could climb up, the only surface that wasn't slippery

Ah yes. I think my kid and I were too eager to build something! Going to be a mixed bag with the many solution options. We’ll probably brute force a slow painful solution too often!!

[Jay 37,336]

21 hours ago, PokeDocMatt said:

Ah yes. I think my kid and I were too eager to build something! Going to be a mixed bag with the many solution options. We’ll probably brute force a slow painful solution too often!!

 

Interesting, I didn't even see anything around I could have built! I just tried climbing a few surfaces and they were all slippery, then I saw the vine things and hoped they weren't ; I climbed up and made it in just as I was running out of cold resistance time! I hope armor that makes you invulnerable to cold is easy to find. 

[Jay 37,336]

I played for another 90 minutes last night.  Got off the starting island and explored the main land a bit!

 

I had to start by figuring out how to get down from the high point that the Ascend shrine is at, without any cold food.  I probably died 5-10 times trying to see what lengths I could fall, or dying of cold running down.  Finally I realized there was a freaking shelter with a cooking pot in it and a bunch of spicy peppers right next to the shrine.  D'OH!

 

The Wings are pretty cool!  I love how you can put them on those rails to have them go forward and gain speed and then they soar through the sky really well.  It just the right mix of easy to steer and hard to steer.  It was so amusing taking one to get back to the Temple of Time, but then since you have no glider, having to dive down into the water near it.  Somehow, the fact that you can survive a fall from any height in this game if you just land in any amount of water really amuses me.

 

I wasn't expecting there to be a fourth shrine on the starting island so that was cool - and Recall is a cool ability!  I was amused when they have you warp back to the starting area, because when I saw that spinning gear wheel in there the first time around I wasted time trying to use it to get somewhere; Of course it was just a setup to come back to later with more abilities!

 

I was really glad to get a fourth heart and open the doors, and am really curious what these other versions of Zelda are all about.  More than anything, I'm anxious to get a glider so I can finally jump off tall things so I'm definitely doing any main story quests I get until at least I have that.

 

Not sure if I'll get to play tonight, but hopefully I can finally get some decent hours in later this week

[Jay 37,336]

On the ground I fought my first enemy encampment, that was basically where I ended for the night.  I must have died 5-10 times trying to clear it out!  It's so hard when you only have 4 hearts and crap armor!

 

What I thought was super fun though, was that it was a combination of Zonai constructs hanging out near this big pillar, and bokoblins hanging out at their camp, but they were near each other, so when me being near activated both, they ended up fighting each other, which was pretty cool!  I still had to take out a bunch myself, including a walking tree, which was weird (I burned it to death lol).  A Zonai with a flamethrowing weapon kicked my ass a lot, but one the run where I didn't die I was able to get it from him and use that to torch things, it was super cool.

 

So far I'm having a lot of fun with everything in the game.  There's been a lot of frustrating moments of being so fragile I die a lot, but eventually that will go away when I get more powered up.  I'm looking forward to doing all of that first and saving really random exploration till later than I did in BOTW I think

[Jay 37,336]

Holy shit this guy made a multi-stage rocket 

 

 

 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

 

On 13/05/2023 at 7:35 PM, TolkienSS said:

  Hide contents

I've played the first hour or so, and so far, it's a great story, but an almost exact replica (one might say ripoff) of Breath Of The Wild. Link is mortally wounded, is brought to a place for sleep and reconvalescence, wakes up, finds a pair of simple trousers, meets an elderly tutor figure, gets introduced to his slate, needs to get to three shrines to collect his abilities, the third of which is in a snow area where he needs cold protection. Then he gets the mission to go down to the Field of Hyrule to start his mission. Even the tutorial how to roast apples on an open fire is there.

I hope the rest is more original.

 

 

On 15/05/2023 at 1:51 AM, TolkienSS said:

 

Straight up copying the gameplay and step by step progression of its predecessor is entirely different from using lore and characters and story tropes of a set universe.

 

The things you listed have been well-established tropes of the series since A Link to the Past. The reason they exist is to gently introduce the player to the game mechanics one by one. Even the inclusion of the "cold area" is so new players are made aware of the environmental factors of the gameplay early on. Sure they could've used a different environment to do this, like the hot desert, but then again using cold makes the most sense in the context of the game (high altitude = cold).

As for copying the gameplay.... It's an expansion of the physics and gameplay engine used for BOTW. The whole reason they made this game was because they didn't have enough room the first time round for all the ideas they had and wanted players to experience the full potential of those mechanics. It seems to me like you went in determined not to like this game for whatever reason, even though it's never marketed itself as anything other than what it is: a direct sequel to the first game.

 

I'm about 10 hours in and I'm having a great time. Nothing will ever recapture the feeling I had playing BOTW for the first time, and the fact I've already spent so much time in this Hyrule initially gave me a bit of a sense of "been here done that". But the new areas and the even more exaggerated emphasis on vertical gameplay has basically nullified a lot of that. The climbing - while a great mechanic in the first game - would've been torturous to have to endure again with a de-powered Link, but the new abilities (especially Ascend) have made exploration fresh and interesting... The fact that I'd rather spend more time experimenting with a kooky vehicle to reach an area than limbing and smashing stamina meals is a testament to that.

 

I just finished the first tempo (in the Hebra region), and it was a lot of fun! The music in the boss battle was especially good;

Spoiler

I got chills hearing the desperate, massive statement of the Rito Village/Dragon Roost Island theme with full choir

 

I don't know where to go next... I think I just want to go visit all the old settlements and see how they've changed since the last one.

 

56 minutes ago, Jay said:

Holy shit this guy made a multi-stage rocket 

 

 

 

 

This is incredible! Evidence alone of why the dev team knew they needed to make this game. I can't wait to see what other ridiculous contraptions people make.

[Jay 37,336]

How about this one

 

[Jay 37,336]

I finally feel like I'm back in a familiar-ish populated world; I meet some travelers on the street (one of which gave me my first side quest... well, actually, it was under the main quest tab), I found a horse, I did a random shrine (it turns out you can now throw any item in your inventory instead of just weapons... pretty cool!), and eventually made my way to my first "village", the Lookout Landing.  Was able to buy some armor there (not all 3 pieces though) by selling some amber and opal, so hopefully I won't die so quickly in combat situations.... and met Purah, who is hot now (!).

 

Gotta decide now if I want to go right into the main quest she gave me, or poke around a bit to maybe get enough money to buy the third armor piece...

 

BTW, one new thing I LOVE is that when Link is cooking, he hums random music from prior Zelda games.  It was SO cool when I first realized what he was doing

[Faleel 5,345]

21 minutes ago, Jay said:

Gotta decide now if I want to go right into the main quest she gave me, or poke around a bit to maybe get enough money to buy the third armor piece...

 

 

If you do her quest you will get your first map fill in.

[mstrox 6,649]

My friends who started playing on day one juuuuuust realized 

Spoiler

that apparently there’s an entire new, full-sized map deep UNDERGROUND, in addition to all the new sky islands

Wild!

[Jay 37,336]

10 million copies!

 

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1658819667492851713

 

 

[Goldfinger 59]

On 16/05/2023 at 2:00 PM, mstrox said:

My friends who started playing on day one juuuuuust realized 

  Reveal hidden contents

that apparently there’s an entire new, full-sized map deep UNDERGROUND, in addition to all the new sky islands

Wild!

 

The amount of effort and detail that went into the game is impressive. I doubt it took the full 6 years to complete, but I'm just so glad to be playing this game again. BOTW fully engulfed my life for a couple of months, and once I'm done teaching in a couple weeks, I suspect that Tears of the Kingdom will do the same.

 

[Jay 37,336]

Hehe, it turns out that the first mainland main quest was not what I expected

 

Spoiler

As in, you go to the castle, find "Zelda", who disappears, so you just go back to where you started, lol.  I was expecting some kind of boss encounter, or combat of some kind, but nope, just walk there, and walk back, lol

 

But still, I really enjoyed going into Hyrule castle!  In general, it's kind of nifty that in BOTW, the whole center of hte map, the whole greater castle area, was this threatening area full of guardians and stuff; it was late game content.  It's neat that now it's kind of the "hub", at least it seems that way to me so far only having been to Lookout Landing and no other villages yet.

 

Getting the paraglider finally and unlocking the first Skyview Tower after that quest was pretty nifty!  I had no idea what to expect;

 

Spoiler

I found it so funny when you go in there, and you just get LAUNCHED up into the sky, lolol.  Link having that glowing rope on a spindle attached to him as a way to explain how the Purah Pad collects all the data, etc, was all just goofy stuff I really enjoy in these games

 

Once all that was done I had to decide between going out for find the stuff in those 5 regions, or do the camera quest.... I chose the camera quest without hesitation - I want all my abilities and I liked using the camera in the first game!

 

I enjoyed leaving Lookout Landing and heading south for that quest, finding the Chasm but also finding a shrine nearby so doing that first (one more and I can finally get some more stamina, damn!).  Heading into the chasm was really nifty

 

Spoiler

I thought there was going to be some cutscene, or special method of going in but nope, you just jump in and know your paraglider will save you, lol.  I was surprised how DEEP you go before you land, that was neat too!  And then once I got down there and realized it was a third tier of the worldmap and nos just independent shrine-esque sections - woah, super cool.  It was nifty that it was all dark, but unlocking the Lightroot brings some light, and you generate the rest yourself by throwing brightbloom seeds around.  Thankfully I did that shrine that taught me I could toss items so I didn't waste arrows spreading them around!  It was pretty difficult down here, I died a lot.  I thought it was an interesting mechanic that touching gloom permanently removes health until you go back up, and that there were so many enemies.  I died probably 10 times trying to take down a Talus with enemies on it until eventually I just avoided it to continue on.  I think I took out either 2 or 3 enemy camps before I finally found Robbie.  Once I got hte camera activated, I snapped pics of everything I could for the compendium, then quickly warped back up top before I risked death lol.

 

Up top I just completed the quest by showing Robbie the picture, and now I'm off on my own again.  I think I'm gonna do some quest I got about finding glyphs next, which apparently has some armor I can find along the way thanks to some other quest some guy gave me.

 

I'm really enjoying this game a lot! 

Oh, and I'm really enjoying the Switch OLED too; The larger screen is MASSIVE upgrade, and the OLED tech is definitely better than the original screen's - everything looks nice.

 

I do find that the game kind chugs though; I haven't had too many framerate drops, but the load times are longer than any new 2023 game's should be, I'd say.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo's next console launches with an edition of TOTK that runs better on it.

[Jay 37,336]

I like the headline of this Forbes article

 

No One Understands How Nintendo Made ‘The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom’

[Jay 37,336]

I assume people here have had blood moons already?

The first time it happened to me I was triple-surprised; First because I had no idea if this game still had them or not, second because it happened like almost as soon as I got to the mainland (so what was there to reset?) and thirdly because the animation and music was so different than BOTW's!  I was actually kind of bummed the cutscene showed me tons of enemies I hadn't encountered yet (and still haven't).  Oh well.

 

Anyways, just saw this meme today and it made me think of it

 

[whitenoise23 22]

Not sure how many hours in I am but I have been playing as often as possible (and might have taken off work Friday/Monday) and absolutely love the game. After leaving the Great Sky Island, I went to Kakariko Village and got slightly sidetracked before eventually making it to Lookout Landing and then heading toward Rito Village and the "disturbance" there...but I again got sidetracked and ended up on a mission to unlock all of the Skyview Towers and then overcome my fear of the Depths before returning to the Rito area.

 

Sort-of spoiler--prefer to be cautious for those enjoying the game.

Spoiler

I found the Master Sword but was underpowered when I tried to get it (similar to BOTW) but later when I was prepared to get it, it took a while for me to find it again.

 

And for those exploring the Depths, my roommate noticed something when playing that was an awesome tip.

Spoiler

Lightroots are under Shrines!

 

There is still so much to do!

 

I'm extremely curious if we will get a DLC like with BOTW--I feel like with the map alone there is just so much potential.

 

Oh and I almost forgot:

Spoiler

Dragons enter/exit from Chasms...and you can ride them into the Depths!

 

[Jay 37,336]

Not reading your spoiler-blocks until I'm deeper into the game, but I am positive they will do DLC!  I can't speculate on what it would entail until I've played more, but I wonder if that's how they'll bring Kass in (I noticed there was no accordion music in the music gamerip)

[Jay 37,336]

Man it's easy to lose track of time playing this game!  I started last night around 1030 and next thing I knew it was 1am!!

 

I am very glad that the game subtlety hints for you to explore the Rito disturbance first out of the 4 options;  On my way there I found SO MANY interesting things:

 

1. I tamed a wild horse and started riding on the road towards the marker on the map.  Along the way I found another shrine, and also my first well.  I had no idea what to expect, but it's kind of neat that they are apparently just little rooms with some loot inside and then you just ascend back out.  The planning that must have been involved so you can ascend out anywhere but still have the above ground area make sense...
2. My first Hinox, on a bridge.  Man, I've been destroying these guys with absolute ease for the past like 200 hours of BOTW I played, so it was nice to be reminded of when they were a real challenge!   Like here, where I only have 4 hearts, crap armor, and crap weapons.  He almost killed me like 3 times and I had to keep eating food to stay alive!
3. A cave near the marker on my map for an armor quest thingy I had unlocked - inside was a shirt that improves your climbing speed!  Awesome!
4. I found Impa!  I was so glad I had this geoglyphs quest unlocked first cause I assume she isn't here if you don't.  It was so cool going up in the hot air balloon and diving down to find the tear, and that those unlock this game's version of the memories from BOTW.  So Zelda did indeed get sent back in time, interesting!  Also, I realized after I did the next shrine after this, that the two people who give you the orb when you beat one are King Raura and Queen Sonia! I can't wait to find more geplyphs now!
5. I found my first horse stable!  So now you can get pony points for using them, and get rewards - neat!  And the game imported all the horses I had stabled in BOTW! Wow!  Hearing the familiar music again was honestly so nice
6. Unlocked another Skyview tower!  For some reason I was expecting them all to be attached to some kind of civilization like the first one was, but I guess that's not the case.  I enjoyed having to make a giant raft/ramp to get under a ledge to Ascend up, and man, that cutscene you get when you unlock a new tower is going to be damn satisfying every time, isn't it?  I love it!
7. An NPC at he stable told me about a newspaper setup in the Rito area, I definitely want to see what that's all about.  I've actually liked the newspaper stuff they've done so far, with various NPCs reading them and hinting at stuff going on in different areas

All that fun and I didn't even get that close to the RItos yet.  This game is jam packed with stuff!

[PokeDocMatt 57]

59 minutes ago, Jay said:

Along the way I found another shrine, and also my first well.  I had no idea what to expect, but it's kind of neat that they are apparently just little rooms with some loot inside and then you just ascend back out.  The planning that must have been involved so you can ascend out anywhere but still have the above ground area make sense...

I always spend the first few seconds in a well looking around trying to figure out how I’m going to get out. Then I remember… 
 

I found Hoz leading a merry little militia on their way to attack a fort and joined in the assault. That was fun! I think he said they were planning another raid, but I’ll just wait to come across them in my slow explorations again. 

[Jay 37,336]

I completely forgot I also ran into Hestu on my way to that tower! I was so happy to turn on korok seeds to get more weapon slots, and his new upgraded dance animation is just 

 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I sank another bunch of hours on the game over the weekend, and completed a second temple. Every time that I worry that I've passed the point of discovery and newness is almost immediately alleviated with something breathtaking (or ridiculous, or both). 

 

Major spoiler:

Spoiler

I just got the Master Sword, after figuring out how to enter the Lost Woods, purging the Deku Tree and defeating Phantom Ganon. That was a hard fight - I'd used up most of my food on the phantom dead hands (which absolutely terrify me, with their own music and everything) and barely survived! I was blown away when I encountered the Light Dragon and had to pull the sword out of its head. Thankfully my stamina was pretty full so I got it on my first go. I don't know what the sword's durability is like, or its strength - unlike BotW it doesn't tell you what the base attack power is. I wonder if there's going to be an option to power it up like in the DLC? Surely it should be more powerful than the fully upgraded one from the last game - its power is "limitless" after all, according to the lore of the game. It also isn't glowing while Link has full hearts, even though it did the prologue. Curious.... I suppose I might find out with more playing!

 

In keeping with the "ridiculous" (barely a spoiler, but just in case you want to discover this very specific mechanic for yourself):

Spoiler

You can shield surf on mine cart rails which is fun - I don't know if that was possible in BotW. But what's really ridiculous is that you can fuse a mine-cart to your shield, and then surf on a mini-mine-cart over the tracks. It's stupid, and amazing.

 

[Laserschwert 475]

I started the game Saturday night at around 11, and was just totally captivated by it. I was determined to finish the tutorial in one go, and suddenly it was 3 in the morning when I touched ground on the mainland. Went for another hour before I went to bed, but man, this game is so much fun already!

[SilverTrumpet 638]

I have such a love/meh relationship with this game so far. I don't remember if I actually did post here that I was expecting as much from it, but that I'd still play the ever loving crap out of it...and I have.

 

The game is a $70 expansion, there's no doubt about that.

 

With that said, just about everything is objectively better than BOTW from graphics, gameplay, music, etc. but you just can't replicate that first experience of exploring a world like BOTW, especially when the map is the same here. I know too much already, there's no mystery left. It's hard not to compare the two too, especially being a direct sequel in the same map. 

 

...but again, it's all I've done in my downtime for the last two weeks. 

[Jay 37,336]

7 hours ago, Laserschwert said:

I started the game Saturday night at around 11, and was just totally captivated by it. I was determined to finish the tutorial in one go, and suddenly it was 3 in the morning when I touched ground on the mainland. Went for another hour before I went to bed, but man, this game is so much fun already!

 

It really is!  I played for another.... 2? 3? hours yesterday and still didn't reach the Rito village/disturbance -- I keep finding amazingly fun distractions on the way!

 

I found another chasm; I really like these!  You fall down for SOOO long, it really makes you feel like you're going to a very scary place.  And in fact down there I ran into my first Yiga, which I'm glad are still a part of the world.  I rummaged around a bit after activating the nearby Lightroot but then things got too hard too fast and I warped out of there.  I want to spend more time exploring underground once I've gotten more hearts and better armor I think.

 

Along those lines, I found a couple more shrines which were great; I've honestly enjoyed every shrine I've done so far in the game; I think they are all excellent teaching tools so far!  I feel like in every one I learn something cool and new that I didn't before.  I encountered my first rocket in one of them which was cool.  I always make sure to get every treasure chest in every shrine, which are often where the real challenge is.

 

I found another stable, and had them get one of my BOTW horses which I rode all the way to the newspaper (the Lucky Clover) avoiding many enemies on the way lol.  I also rescued a french horn player who was trapped in a hole on the way which was cool.  I like the new bird guy that becomes your newspaper partner; I went back to the two stables I've already found and kicked off those side-quests but couldn't figure them out.  The one about Zelda's beast sounds like its in an area I haven't been to yet, and then the missing goats I followed the pine cones for awhile until all of a sudden I couldn't find any any more.  Hopefully the trail resets at some point...

 

I also randomly found another geoglyph, which was unexpected, and also reminded me of one of BOTW's major inconveniences - RAIN!  I got there and it was sunny, talked to impa and Cado and realized there wasn't gonna be a cutscene this time, so I went to go light a fire under the baloon when the fire immediately went out, wasting my wood and flint - because it started pouring rain!  No matter what I did, I couldn't get the balloon lit in the downpour, so I eventually just wanted through the glyph until I found the tear on my own.  The cutscene involved Zelda talking to Sonia and Rauru about the Recall ability and how she's lost in time, it was pretty neat.  So far I kinda like the story in TOTK more than BOTW?

 

I saw a cool new villain - Boss Bokoblin!  The first one I saw I took down easily with an arrow bomb to the face so didn't really learn much about what they're about; The second one was when I was looking for the goats.  I saw movement in the distance and used my scope, and saw a boss leading a pack of probably 10 regular bokoblins on a hunting journey or something.  I didn't feel like fighting so ran away in another direction.  But it's cool that the enemies don't just linger at one spot in this game!

 

Once I unlocked a shrine near the newspaper, which seems like the final stop before the disturbance, I warped back to Lookout Landing so I could turn in 8 orbs for hearts and stamina.  It seems like it's SUPER useful in early game to do as many shrines as possible to get more hearts and stamina because you start with soooo little!  I also bought the last piece of the armor there; Now I want to start finding fairies to upgrade my sets!

[Jay 37,336]

I was so happy to find Hestu again after the initial encounter.  I bought as many weapon slot upgrades as I could.  I dunno if I'll ever bother with shield or bow slot upgrades until weapons is maxed out; My BOTW experience was that I didn't need either really (then again, the initial upgrades for each type are so inexpensive, maybe they are worth it).

 

So far I think I've been finding koroks at roughly the same clip as I did in BOTW.  I really enjoy the ones where you help reunite one with their friend by a campfire!

[TolkienSS 405]

On 22/05/2023 at 4:45 PM, SilverTrumpet said:

I have such a love/meh relationship with this game so far. I don't remember if I actually did post here that I was expecting as much from it, but that I'd still play the ever loving crap out of it...and I have.

 

The game is a $70 expansion, there's no doubt about that.

 

With that said, just about everything is objectively better than BOTW from graphics, gameplay, music, etc. but you just can't replicate that first experience of exploring a world like BOTW, especially when the map is the same here. I know too much already, there's no mystery left. It's hard not to compare the two too, especially being a direct sequel in the same map. 

 

...but again, it's all I've done in my downtime for the last two weeks. 

 

I don't think the music is better. It's an extension of the same music. Having new music for things like horse riding, stables etc would have gone a long way making a difference. That's one of the most dissapointing things.

 

Where this sequel fails compared to BotW is predictability. Every time I think "well, if this was BotW, this would end up THAT way", and instead of doing something else, it ends up exactly like I thought.

 

I haven't played long enough to say for sure, but up until now, there is no real explanation for why there are sky islands, or why new shrines just popped up, or where the other ones went.

 

So far I find it unsatisfying storytelling.

 

Compared to what the rumors were, that there would be time travel, that there might be playable Zelda etc, it's very formulaic and straightforward.

 

And I find it annoying that the sages are literally following you around as ghosts. It kills alot of the atmosphere for me.

 

[JohnnyD 1,223]

Negativity for negativity’s sake 

[SilverTrumpet 638]

I think it's fair to be a little picky about the follow up to one of the best games ever. Expectations were high, and for good reason.

[Jay 37,336]

I'm looking forward to playing tonight after not getting to play yesterday.  Instead of going right to Rito, I was thinking about exploring the big Hyrule Field area and doing at least 4 more shrines to get another heart container before moving on to that

 

It's the funny thing about these 2 games; Completing shrines makes it easier to do the main quest stuff, because doing the shrines get you more health and stamina.  But, doing the main quest makes it easier to find and get to all the shrines, because you have more abilities.  Catch 22 I guess!

[Jay 37,336]

I stuck to my plan and headed south from Lookout Landing last night and had a great time!

I found 3 shrines, another stable, and my first Great Fairy Fountain!  Sadly she wants a flute player to open up, and I've only found a horn player... but I got a clue from someone about a troupe of musicians handing out in Eldin so I guess I'll head there eventually.

I also found something cool that I didn't know what it was as I was approaching, it was like a big encampment, I thought it might be like an army or something, but it turned out to be full of enemies! They had a huge spikey ball they sent out; I wanted to use Recall to fling it back up at them but sadly none of them remained in its path.  Once I cleared it out there was a korok on top and a guy I freed from a cage who gave me a bunch of rewards for freeing him.  Kinda cool.

 

 

So what do you guys think of those blocks that fall from the sky randomly?  I feel like I've come across maybe 10 of them so far, but only twice have I then found where they landed and hopped on one and used Recall.  Both times, the Recall timer wore out before the block got high enough for me to hop to an island or anything.  So all I could do was jump off and glide around hoping to find something cool to glide to.  Am I missing something, or doing something wrong? Or do not all fallen blocks let you access an island?

 

I frankly haven't been that compelled to go back up to the sky islands since leaving the starting area, honestly; I'm having more fun exploring the main land and the underground

[Goldfinger 59]

I've found that the falling pieces are mainly just to give you height if you want to survey the land and glide somewhere. I've used Recall on at least a dozen of them and only once was able to use it to get to a sky island, and that was just barely able to make it.

 

[Jay 37,336]

OK phew, glad I'm not doing something wrong, then!

 

Maybe later in the game you can upgrade Recall to have it last longer, and then you can more easily get to islands? Or maybe there's other ways you're supposed to reach islands, I have no idea yet.

[Jay 37,336]

I got my ass kicked repeatedly last night; I found the Skytower to the south of Lookout Landing and uh, enemies had completely built up a huge camp around it. I had to fight blue-level moblins, bokoblins, and the Boss Bokoblin and died many, many, many times before I finally pulled it off.  I think I learned about combat as a result, specifically how to sneak around and be able to take out groups of bad guys one or two at a time.  It's different when you don't have unlimited bombs any more!  Trying to get better with using Ultrahand to pick stuff up and drop it on them (especially explosive barrels).  Boss bokoblins have a TON of hit points, and I'm so weak still they can kill me in one hit (same with the armored bokoblins).  Definitely compels me to complete more shrines!

 

Along those lines, has anybody here got stuck on any shrines yet?  I breezed through the first many I found, but the last 2 I got stuck on.  One of them involved putting spikes into a wall to drive a ball to a target and I really just couldn't figure out even specifically what it wanted me to do, really.  The second one I was in last night it seemed like I was supposed to swing stuff like a bat to hit a ball at a target but I couldn't figure out how to activate it.  Weird.

[Goldfinger 59]

Did both of those early on.

Spoiler

The first one is a lot like the shrine in BOTW where you have to use Crynosis to move the ball. Once that unlocked a combination of Ultrahand and Recall did the job. The second one there is a pedestal you need to hit to activate the "bat". 

 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

On 25/05/2023 at 11:16 PM, Goldfinger said:

I've found that the falling pieces are mainly just to give you height if you want to survey the land and glide somewhere. I've used Recall on at least a dozen of them and only once was able to use it to get to a sky island, and that was just barely able to make it.

 

 

Yeah this is my take as well - most of the time they're not connected to a sky island and tend to just be a way to get some height in an area. There's at least one puzzle that requires you to use recall and get up high to solve it, so keep an eye out for anything else to do in the area.

 

On 26/05/2023 at 6:33 AM, Jay said:

Along those lines, has anybody here got stuck on any shrines yet?

 

Yes, an extremely frustrating one called "Courage to Fall". I won't spoil it but it has probably one of the most obscure solutions to a puzzle in any Zelda game, I had to look the solution up. I may have gotten it eventually completely by accident but I don't think I'd have ever actually figured it out logically. It was maddening in a way that only 90's adventure game puzzles have gotten to me before.

 

So on my last count I've put in around 75 hours of the game already, which I can't quite believe. I've completed three of the regional phenomena/temples, with only the Death Mountain one remaining, and I'm putting it off as long as I possibly can because I'm a little upset at how much I've already done haha. That said, I've uncovered less than a quarter of the Depths map, so I'm sure there's still a lot left to discover.

 

Ooh, I also defeated my first Gleeok;

Spoiler

the three-headed elemental dragons that you see around in some spots, like the bridge over Lake Hylia. I fought an Ice one in the Tabantha snowfields area - there's a lot of cover in the area which was extremely necessary. I also relied heavily on the use of the Sage ghosts that served as helpful distractions and extra ranged attackers. It was extremely satisfying to kill, much like the first time I did in a Lynel in BotW. Looking forward to smashing through a few more now!

 

[Jay 37,336]

Boy, I don't even know how many hours I'm into the game now (feels like somewhere between 20 and 30?), but I've loved every minute of it.

 

I still haven't bothered investigating the regional phenomena, or even gotten any closer to Rito Village than the Lucky Clover building.  I've really enjoyed my decision to instead just explore Hyrule field and find shrines and towers and stuff, as that's really all I've done, well doing that has taken me beyond Hyrule Field as well.

 

I've unlocked 5 towers, done 24 shrines, found 6 horse stables, and unlocked 2 fairy fountains.  That means I've been able to upgrade my Hyrule set to 2 stars which is a huge upgrade in defense, though sadly it didn't have a set bonus.  I don't have any other clothes sets, or even know where to get any;  I have yet to step foot in a single village in this game! (Other than Lookout Landing).  I found all 3 of the Misko pieces you get an early quest for already and kind of feel like I'll find more if I explore more caves.

 

I've also found 3 Dragon Tears / Memory cutscene thingies, all before I bothered to go to the Forgotten Temple (which was the last thing I did last night) which shows  you where they are.  I find you don't need any help finding them; They are so incredibly massive, you can always see them from a distance.  Anyways, I've loved all the cutscenes so far!

 

Spoiler

One of them introduced Gannondorf, as he caused a huge herd of Mulduga to attack the good guys, but Raura used a crazy laserbeam power to destroy them all.  It was all really cool.  Another one had Rauru's sister examining Zelda's Purah Pad and then explaining Tears and how Zelda has time powers?  I'll probably end up rewatching all these once I've collected them all to get a better sense of the story.

 

I've loved how many shrines there are; I love turning a corner, or getting up high, and just seeing one in the distance.  But then I also found one in a cave, and one in a well!  Speaking of caves, they are really cool, I've quite enjoyed every one so far.  I am finding so far that that this game has more variety that BOTW - especially in enemy types!  Boy am I happy there are a much, much huger array of baddies to contend with.  In fact I'm almost surprised they even left moblins and bokoblins in instead of completely replacing them with some new low-level guys.

 

And overall I like the shrines in this game more than BOTW's.  I find they genuinely teach something interesting.  In one of them I learned the game has fire hydrants, and that you can use them to turn any lava flow into infinite slabs.  Another taught me how to use those spikes, another really opened my eyes up to the powers of using Recall.  I honestly I'm gonna be more interested in just exploring the world and finding shrines for a while before I start doing the temples!

 

Another nifty thing I found is that killing Talus and Hinox cause them to drop this big chunky thing that you can't collect into your inventory, but can attach to a weapon and make it much stronger.  That's pretty neat.  I'm finally finding stronger weapons anyway; at one stable there was a Penn quest involving a voice heard at night, and the reward is a ton of new weapons I hadn't' seen at all.  I imagine they replenish every blood moon so that'll be a spot I return to probably.

 

I don't find myself fusing anything to weapons beyond rocks lying on the ground, or boulders, or lava slabs.  I know I could use horns and stuff from enemies I've killed, but I don't know yet what I'll need to upgrade clothing sets so I keep hoarding lol.

 

Part of me wants to not play too much because I have a ton of travel coming up where I'll be sitting on a plane and can play a lot then, but also I am realizing that this game is so incredibly massive, I can play a ton now, AND then, and still probably no be anywhere near done for quite some time!

[TolkienSS 405]

On 23/05/2023 at 6:43 PM, JohnnyD said:

Negativity for negativity’s sake 

 

That's the answer from just about anyone who isn't able to process detailed criticism.

[Jay 37,336]

On 26/05/2023 at 11:38 AM, Goldfinger said:

Did both of those early on.

  Reveal hidden contents

The first one is a lot like the shrine in BOTW where you have to use Crynosis to move the ball. Once that unlocked a combination of Ultrahand and Recall did the job. The second one there is a pedestal you need to hit to activate the "bat". 

 

 

For the bat one yea, I went back in and realized there was a switch that that causes a swing.  D'oh!

 

For the other one, not sure what you're referring to.  Maybe we're talking about different shrines.  The one I had gotten stuck on, I also went back and finished; I got the ball stuck on a ramp that I held with ultrahand then fused to spikes in the wall that were already there, then put a spike in the giant spinning wheel so when I let the ball drop to the bottom rail, the spike eventually circled around and pushed it along the rail into the recepticle

 

On 28/05/2023 at 7:18 PM, Docteur Qui said:

Yeah this is my take as well - most of the time they're not connected to a sky island and tend to just be a way to get some height in an area. There's at least one puzzle that requires you to use recall and get up high to solve it, so keep an eye out for anything else to do in the area.

 

Yea I mostly just end up getting height and being cool with it, but I did hop on one the other day and it brought me right up to a sky island!  That one had rail tracks leading to another island, and then to another one that had a shrine on it, so it was a grand adventure.  It was kinda nifty being up there again after the beginning area; Was nice to collect some Zoanite weapons and charges

 

On 28/05/2023 at 7:18 PM, Docteur Qui said:

Yes, an extremely frustrating one called "Courage to Fall". I won't spoil it but it has probably one of the most obscure solutions to a puzzle in any Zelda game, I had to look the solution up. I may have gotten it eventually completely by accident but I don't think I'd have ever actually figured it out logically. It was maddening in a way that only 90's adventure game puzzles have gotten to me before.

 

Cool, can't wait to find that one and see if I can figure it out

 

On 28/05/2023 at 7:18 PM, Docteur Qui said:

So on my last count I've put in around 75 hours of the game already, which I can't quite believe. I've completed three of the regional phenomena/temples, with only the Death Mountain one remaining, and I'm putting it off as long as I possibly can because I'm a little upset at how much I've already done haha.

 

With BOTW I found it more fun to randomly explore around and do things having all the champion powers.  So I didn't really feel like doing them early was rushing through the game, just making other parts of the game more fun (and easy but not in a bad way).  I have no idea what rewards you get for doing the temples here but I think I'll start doing them before too long.  I just wanted to build up some hearts and defense first I guess.

 

On 28/05/2023 at 7:18 PM, Docteur Qui said:

 

That said, I've uncovered less than a quarter of the Depths map, so I'm sure there's still a lot left to discover.

 

Oh man, I haven't been back down there in FOREVER.  I've only been down for the early camera quest, then one chasm I found.   Other than that, I keep finding chasms, but ignoring them.  Eventually I'll get back down there!

 

On 28/05/2023 at 7:18 PM, Docteur Qui said:

Ooh, I also defeated my first Gleeok;

 

Oh man, the story of my first encounter with one is amusing, but I'll have to type it out later

[JohnnyD 1,223]

1 hour ago, TolkienSS said:

 

That's the answer from just about anyone who isn't able to process detailed criticism.

Yeah, YOUR criticism. @Jay’s analysis and feedback is way more accurate and very welcome. Just pure joy.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

On 24/05/2023 at 2:22 AM, TolkienSS said:

Compared to what the rumors were, that there would be time travel, that there might be playable Zelda etc, it's very formulaic and straightforward.

 

There's your problem. You're comparing the game to something that never existed; a speculative version of a game with a virtually limitless set of parameters. Those rumours were invented by people wanting clicks on websites. This is why I don't read speculation or rumours about things before they come out, because nothing can compare to the imagination.

 

The game, for what it is - and what it builds upon from BOTW is - IMO, nothing short of staggering. It makes BOTW look like a prototype. The sheer scale of it, while being neither overwhelming or tedious, is a feat in and of itself.

[Jay 37,336]

Dumb question: Can you fuse your weapon to something in your inventory directly?

Or do you have to pull up your inventory, find the item you want to put on a weapon, Hold it, Drop it, then Fuse it?

 

 

Also does anyone have any fun fusions to recommend?  I found that hitting enemies with a puffershroom attached to an arrow causes a smoke cloud to form, and then you can walk right up behind them and SneakStrike them 100% of the time, even if you're not stealthy at all (and they don't attack you on the way).  You gotta be a little quick, though.

 

I also picked up a weapon an enemy that had a Hearty Truffle (I think it was) attached to the end, and when you hit enemies with it they go bouncing far away on the third strike, it's pretty funny.

 

Mostly I like attaching bombs to arrows, they are so much more powerful than BOTW bombs, I love it!  And you can always find lots of bomb arrows in caves (and I am CONSTANTLY stumbling on new caves!)

[Jay 37,336]

I had lofty goals last night to find the Lakeside stable, then warp back to the shrine a little to the east of Hyrule Castle and start walking from there towards Kakariko hopefully finding shrines and that regions tower along the way.

 

Well I found the Lakeside stable just fine, though ended up distracted by some ruins and caves along the way. Once I was there I enjoyed finding the "strange beasts" across the canyon, and climbing up to the nearby shrine.  But then instead of following my plan of moving on, I got distracted by the beach I could see form up there, glided down and started poking around, found another cave that connected back to the well alllllllllll the way back at Highland stable can caves be a quicker way to get places than the surface at at times!?), then go really distracted with some enemy camps, NPCs (one of who gave me a quest about a big horse), etc etc etc.  And I loved every minute of it.  I kept thinking I'd find another shrine to be able to warp back to this huge area I was exploring, but I never did.  I did find another geoglyph though, which was a cutscene with Zelda and Raura talking about time travel.  Really just good stuff all around.  I dunno when I'll ever get to those regional phenomena...

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Dumb question: Can you fuse your weapon to something in your inventory directly?

 

I'm pretty sure you have to drop it and fuse it. Probably one of the more annoying gripes I have about the system - it's not exactly useful when you're in the middle of an intense battle to have to drop something and fumble around with fuse.

 

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Also does anyone have any fun fusions to recommend?  

 

Muddle buds! Put one on an arrow and shoot into a crowd of monsters and watch them fight each other. I especially like doing it to the Boss Bokoblins that wander around with their entourage. It's very satisfying seeing the big guy take out all the little ones and then swoop in to finish the job.

 

I also like to attach a dazzlefruit to my shield when out of battle, so when I'm accosted by an enemy they get blinded by my first block. 

[Jay 37,336]

14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I'm pretty sure you have to drop it and fuse it. Probably one of the more annoying gripes I have about the system - it's not exactly useful when you're in the middle of an intense battle to have to drop something and fumble around with fuse.

 

 

Well I guess you shouldn't be getting I to battles where you don't already have a few good weapons to use....

 

14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

Muddle buds! Put one on an arrow and shoot into a crowd of monsters and watch them fight each other. I especially like doing it to the Boss Bokoblins that wander around with their entourage. It's very satisfying seeing the big guy take out all the little ones and then swoop in to finish the job.

 

Ah, that's what those do! I've picked some up but hadn't experimented yet. That sounds fun! 

 

 

14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I also like to attach a dazzlefruit to my shield when out of battle, so when I'm accosted by an enemy they get blinded by my first block. 

 

Aw man, another thing I've picked up a bunch but haven't used yet. I know what I'm doing tonight! 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

 

Well I guess you shouldn't be getting I to battles where you don't already have a few good weapons to use. 

 

 

I always do, but in the tougher battles I can go through a fair few weapons through breakage. Some are more effective than others on certain enemies, it's hard to be fully prepared all the time. On top of that, sometimes you end up in a battle without expecting to, such is the exploratory nature of the game. I know I could always run away but sometimes I just need to punish that Talus for interrupting my play, lol.

[Jay 37,336]

Found another stable (Wetlands) and Shrine.  Also fought another Battle Talus; It was just roaming a road, hadn't seen that before.  Usually Talus are buried until you approach.  I kind of feel like taking down a Battle Talus is easier than a normal one, because there's wood platform to stand on and whack his sweet spot.

 

Rode a rock up to another one of those archipelago things, though ti only had a treasure chest on it.  Located the nearby tower though, so i'll do that next.

 

Found a cave with a bunch of horiblins in it, and one of them had a fish fused to the end of a spear it was attacking me with lol.

 

Oh yea, I forgot to mention a good trick i found, fusing stalkoblin arms to your weapons makes them CRAZY stronger.  Like +20 attack I think.  They only last a few thwacks before they break off and you're back to the base weapon, but it's pretty useful in the early game here.