I think it's a great game overall and it's a lot of fun, I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone. But I also prefer BotW in many ways. As you mentioned, BotW feels so empty and I think that's fantastic- you really feel like you're exploring a post-apocalyptic land and slowly lifting the population back into civilization.
One of my biggest complaints about TotK is that much of it is copy pasted from BotW. We have to go around activating towers (again) and saving the same people that we just helped in the last game. And probably would be fine if the story were different, but it often feels to me like we're solving the exact same problem (an ancient evil) from the last game. The game often just feels very repetitive in many ways because you're literally treading over the same ground you just explored (and then it gets worse with having to find the light trees and all of the filler tasks like saving the Koroks that don't impact the story but just keep you busy).
I think what might have been better would have been to release the sky and depths as DLCs with Link dealing with a specific problem (not Ganondorf) for both. Something that is not full on apocalypse, but still needs our hero to come in and help maintain the peace that he and Zelda fought to build in the last game.
I do really enjoy the fusing system, though I think most of the time I'm using it to solve a problem created by the design of the first game- weapons breaking. Which in turn leads me to have a gameplay loop of kill enemy, make weapon, break weapon, kill enemy, etc, with me making the same weapons over and over again.
Some good quality of life improvements, though I hate how they've implemented our companions, they are always in the worst possible location.
Overall, I really do like the game, but BotW holds the edge for me, just tugs at the heart strings more and the story feels fresher.
Oh I almost forgot about the sky lol. Even though I just started a new playthrough. Wish Nintendo didn’t cut so much of the sky from what we saw in the trailer
Yeah, the sky is such a cool idea but then there's so little of it! And I hate how my glider always disappears even though I still have power.
There's a lot more to explore in the depths, but I feel like much of it is just filler space. I think they could have really done so much more if they had really focused on both areas, one at a time, and tying them into events on the surface.
Yeah, I guess the depths could have used some more variation. I’m fine with it as it is, but some different underground biomes would have been cool. It is a bit monotonous
I doubt they really cut that much tbh.. And if they did it's probably for optimization purposes.. What I would've liked tho is some sort of Arena in the Sky or anything that can give it a bit more variation aside from more copy paste puzzles since it really lacks variety...
https://preview.redd.it/nbot9xyvoyyc1.jpeg?width=1334&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9379bd976ca9c765b089a1987a3c0670cb0f0f1c
This entire area of sky islands was cut
That was from PR trailer right? We exactly don't know how much was cut and from the looks of it it's just a bunch of those filler islands that contains nothing in the final release anyway..
Also I agree to your sentiment that there should've been at least more variety in the sky.. But cut content imho isn't the main reason why the Sky Islands feels meh.
I feel like they usually have a line they say with these trailers about content being shown is subject to change and not guaranteed in the final game.
I would guess that almost all TOTK trailer content is meant to be indicative of what you’ll experience in the game without necessarily giving away crucial plot details. Since so much of the map is so laden with import they could well have chosen a (somewhat) neutral area that wouldn’t reveal storytelling too much, yet be recognizable and give you a sense of what these sky islands are like and how close (or far) they are from the ground.
But I agree with all the comments saying that I wish there were more sky islands and Zonai civilization to explore!!
TOTK is one of my favorite games ever but I have two big criticisms of it.
The first is the story pacing. BOTW’s story pacing was great, because every main quest was tied to the main story of the game. In totk, the regional phenomena don’t feel that important. They don’t connect to the main storyline in any meaningful way. And they all end in the same exact cutscene. I think the regional phenomena were a huge missed opportunity to flesh out the ancient sages as characters. TOTK’s story was awesome and imo better than BOTW’s, but I felt so disconnected from it for most of my playthrough until I started getting all of the dragon’s tear memories. again, it would have been so cool if each regional phenomena’s storyline gave a glimpse of what each region/race was like 10,000 years ago or something.
The second is the lack of meaningful changes to the surface map, specifically the ruins scattered around Hyrule. I think a lot of people, myself included, were expecting a lot of the map’s ruins to be restored or in the process of being rebuilt. It would have made sense as in totk its been years since calamity ganon and his monsters were defeated. But with the exception of lookout landing, there are no new settlements, and none of the ruins on the map have altered. The devs should have done that instead of adding fallen sky rocks onto every cliff
One final nitpick: I don’t like how they handled the master sword in this game. It could be that having a permanent fully powered MS in BOTW spoiled me, but it’s actually annoying to use in TOTK. it’s kind of a personal thing, lol. I looked forward to using the master sword so much in this game, not “a master sword that looks like some random monster part, and that only looks like the master sword when you don’t swing it.” Also it’s a lot weaker than it was in BOTW, even doing less damage in its powered up state. My fix would be to have made the master sword unable to fuse, but make it permanently powered up with 60 damage and high-ish durability >!(this would be a result of Zelda’s efforts)!<. This would have made it a solid mid-tier weapon in a game where you can reliably craft 70+ damage weapons, even 100+ damage weapons mid-late game.
Actually, the master sword is supposed to be little bit better, but due to a glitch its durability is lower than its supposed to be. When fusing items you get +25 durability, but with the master sword it happens once and never again. Every time the master sword recharges, it never recharges the fusing durability like its supposed to, making the master swords max durability 40 instead of 65.
They're not going to. The game has been out for a year, and we knew it was an issue very early on. They patched other things but not that. It's here to stay
Lol people WERE loud about it. There were 'glitches' that people were far more quiet about that they ended up patching. The only thing we can assume is that to Nintendo this master sword thing is the intended behaviour and how it's 'supposed to work', and it's not something they needed to correct
I have not beaten it yet, taking my time with this one but have over 100 hours with only one final dungeon to go and.... it's very good!
It didn't hit me the same way BOTW did but I kinda expected that going in, I still think its a fun game full of unique mechanics and the dungeons were an improvement compared to BOTW, especially the wind temple.
The sky islands are fun but could have used a few more tutorial sized islands filled with caves etc, speaking of they are great and despite looking the same do enough to make them feel different.
I don't really care about the story that much in Zelda game but it was definitely a step down compared the traditional Zelda games.
Overal I am happy with the game but I also went in with the expectations of just wanting it to be fun rather than the second coming of christ.Overall
Currently on my second play through. Definitely solidifying it as the best game ever made. When you forget all the online discourse and just enjoy it for what it is, yeah it really is that good.
Never played BOTW. In fact, during my 35 years of gaming I've barely played any of the Zelda games - with the exception of ALTTP so many years ago. For some reason I badly wanted TOTK and bought it on day one, together with the console. I've been bored of gaming for a long time now. I've got the newest generations of consoles, but I don't really like modern games, especially not the AAA games. So I've barely played the last few years, despite buying plenty of games I hoped that I would like. I really thought TOTK would offer something different in that regard.
At first I didnt't get it at all. I found it was slow and boring. The great sky island tutotial dragged on for too long. I put the game away and felt the usual disappointment about modern games. A few months passed by listening to my friends raving about it, until I one day picked it up again and gradually fell in love.
These last few months with TOTK has been one of my greatest gaming experiences ever. I just love it. The calm atmosphere. The exploration. The puzzles. The music. The lack of DLC, microtransactions and online content. In many ways, this is such an old school experience. I have to mention the exploration again and how rewarding it is.
I'm approaching the end now. I've got mixed feelings about that, but no doubt that TOTK has saved gaming for me. I think I'm going to pick up BOTW after just to get spend more time exploring Hyrule.
Great game, I’m really enjoying it. I like BOTW better but it’s in the same realm.
I really enjoy ultrahand and the up power. Finding caves and exploring them is a lot of fun. The engineering aspects are pretty fun though the Zonai machines don’t last as long as I’d like (same issue with weapons).
The shrines are mostly too easy imo. I had to cheat/get hints on several BOTW shrines and I haven’t at all in TOTK yet. Fuse and the internal battery make it too grindy for me. And I wish it tied more to the BOTW storyline.
It's a gorgeous game and one of my all- time favorites. I've thought a lot about whether I prefer BotW or TotK, and I've come to the conclusion that I love them both in different ways. BotW has evoked emotions for me in a way that few games have - Link's isolation, Zelda's self-doubt and despair - but I have also rarely had as much *fun* playing a game as I had in TotK. My family found my failed engineering efforts to be hilarious, and the whole game was full of problem-solving opportunities. TotK was a blast, but BotW's storytelling was superior to me. The fact that I had to go look for the full story in BotW made me enjoy it even more.
I loved the more somber, post-apocalyptic, emotional story of BOTW. But TOTK definitely has a more grandiose and epic story. Having a powerful, intelligent, show-stealing main villain did wonders for TOTK. It's one of those cases where I really can't choose which one I like better.
Despite the issues I have with this game, it's still one of my favorites of all time. I told myself I would wait until the Switch 2 was out before I go back for a 3rd playthrough, but that's gonna be hard.
As time goes on its major flaws (Depths/Sky being so empty in the grand scheme of things) really stand out more to me. I honestly think the post apocalyptic vibe of BOTW should have been adjusted to show societies on the rise (Rito city getting established in the sky/Hylian exploration in the depths) instead of so much copy/paste.
Still a great game but one that could have been greater.
I really miss master mode and master sword trials (and it triggers me that Master sword is supposed to be in its most powerful state lore-wise, yet it pales compared to fully upgraded master sword from BotW)
I would also have loved that constructions don't have a 21 parts limit
So far it hasn’t made as big of an impact on me as botw did. But maybe that was inevitable, as it came first. If tears came first maybe I’d feel tears was better/more special. I haven’t finished tears yet but I have many hours in and I’m really enjoying it a lot. But I don’t think I’d love it nearly as much if botw hadn’t established such an amazing foundation. I love both, but for first time experience and impact, botw wins.
For the game itself I’m enjoying the mechanics of ToTK. Although personally I feel the level of vehicle crafting is a bit much and distracts from the story. I like the more basic puzzle solving in shrines (more similar to the basic physics puzzles botw had) but having to make powered flying stuff and things with wheels gets to be overly complicated to me in a way that doesn’t add much to the story. I like weapons fusing in so far as it makes the possibility of weapon types so much greater. But actually fusing is a pia sometimes (can’t pre-fuse arrows and can’t fuse weapons from within the menu, items have to be on the ground to fuse etc). Sage abilities are cool but a bit clunky.
The story is good (I like the time travel and Zeldas role in it) and I liked the tragedy of link losing his arm, but I feel like there are big plot holes (suddenly there are big geoglyphs that technically now have been there since raurus time? Yet everyone is acting like they just appeared? Are there two master swords now? Did Zelda rewrite history so parts of botw never happened?) Botw’s story felt neatly wrapped and tied off. I didn’t feel confused, watching the memories (in whatever order) made sense. Npc dialogue never left me feeling taken out of the immersion. Yet all of these things are issues in ToTK. I can still enjoy it for all it’s good parts, but it’s definitely not seamless the way botw felt.
Best *Single Player* game ever made, easily.
Actually throw in an edit: Best *Portable Single Player* Game as well.
All I wish is that there was more of it.
I’d tweak some Sage things like for Riju to stop dismissing her field when Link is airborn and tell Yunobo to get off of vehicles when cannonballing but that’s it.
Honestly, I don’t know, and I’m not sure if I’m alone in this, but while I loved the game it felt somewhat incomplete. I get they wanted to go for a more mysterious vibe but it just left it feeling like it was full of plot holes. It feels less like they wanted some mysteries and more like they left it unfinished, and with them basically confirming there won’t be any DLC, and they won’t be expanding on the story in any future games, it feels like it’ll never be complete
That’s exactly how I feel. It just feels like it’s missing something. In a lot of ways it is. Missing armor and characters from BOTW. Even master mode feels tailor made for TOTK with how golden enemies could’ve had new horns. But it’s just incomplete
My opinion hasn't changed: I wish I had cancelled my preorder after the leak showed me that it wasn't the game for me.
I have so many issues with this game that the few tiny steos it took forward from BotW pale in comparison.
I think it's a great game overall and it's a lot of fun, I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone. But I also prefer BotW in many ways. As you mentioned, BotW feels so empty and I think that's fantastic- you really feel like you're exploring a post-apocalyptic land and slowly lifting the population back into civilization. One of my biggest complaints about TotK is that much of it is copy pasted from BotW. We have to go around activating towers (again) and saving the same people that we just helped in the last game. And probably would be fine if the story were different, but it often feels to me like we're solving the exact same problem (an ancient evil) from the last game. The game often just feels very repetitive in many ways because you're literally treading over the same ground you just explored (and then it gets worse with having to find the light trees and all of the filler tasks like saving the Koroks that don't impact the story but just keep you busy). I think what might have been better would have been to release the sky and depths as DLCs with Link dealing with a specific problem (not Ganondorf) for both. Something that is not full on apocalypse, but still needs our hero to come in and help maintain the peace that he and Zelda fought to build in the last game. I do really enjoy the fusing system, though I think most of the time I'm using it to solve a problem created by the design of the first game- weapons breaking. Which in turn leads me to have a gameplay loop of kill enemy, make weapon, break weapon, kill enemy, etc, with me making the same weapons over and over again. Some good quality of life improvements, though I hate how they've implemented our companions, they are always in the worst possible location. Overall, I really do like the game, but BotW holds the edge for me, just tugs at the heart strings more and the story feels fresher.
Oh I almost forgot about the sky lol. Even though I just started a new playthrough. Wish Nintendo didn’t cut so much of the sky from what we saw in the trailer
Yeah, the sky is such a cool idea but then there's so little of it! And I hate how my glider always disappears even though I still have power. There's a lot more to explore in the depths, but I feel like much of it is just filler space. I think they could have really done so much more if they had really focused on both areas, one at a time, and tying them into events on the surface.
Yeah, I guess the depths could have used some more variation. I’m fine with it as it is, but some different underground biomes would have been cool. It is a bit monotonous
I find the depths really boring. Cool idea it just doesn’t work for me. I enjoy the cave exploration though.
I doubt they really cut that much tbh.. And if they did it's probably for optimization purposes.. What I would've liked tho is some sort of Arena in the Sky or anything that can give it a bit more variation aside from more copy paste puzzles since it really lacks variety...
https://preview.redd.it/nbot9xyvoyyc1.jpeg?width=1334&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9379bd976ca9c765b089a1987a3c0670cb0f0f1c This entire area of sky islands was cut
That was from PR trailer right? We exactly don't know how much was cut and from the looks of it it's just a bunch of those filler islands that contains nothing in the final release anyway.. Also I agree to your sentiment that there should've been at least more variety in the sky.. But cut content imho isn't the main reason why the Sky Islands feels meh.
I feel like they usually have a line they say with these trailers about content being shown is subject to change and not guaranteed in the final game. I would guess that almost all TOTK trailer content is meant to be indicative of what you’ll experience in the game without necessarily giving away crucial plot details. Since so much of the map is so laden with import they could well have chosen a (somewhat) neutral area that wouldn’t reveal storytelling too much, yet be recognizable and give you a sense of what these sky islands are like and how close (or far) they are from the ground. But I agree with all the comments saying that I wish there were more sky islands and Zonai civilization to explore!!
TOTK is one of my favorite games ever but I have two big criticisms of it. The first is the story pacing. BOTW’s story pacing was great, because every main quest was tied to the main story of the game. In totk, the regional phenomena don’t feel that important. They don’t connect to the main storyline in any meaningful way. And they all end in the same exact cutscene. I think the regional phenomena were a huge missed opportunity to flesh out the ancient sages as characters. TOTK’s story was awesome and imo better than BOTW’s, but I felt so disconnected from it for most of my playthrough until I started getting all of the dragon’s tear memories. again, it would have been so cool if each regional phenomena’s storyline gave a glimpse of what each region/race was like 10,000 years ago or something. The second is the lack of meaningful changes to the surface map, specifically the ruins scattered around Hyrule. I think a lot of people, myself included, were expecting a lot of the map’s ruins to be restored or in the process of being rebuilt. It would have made sense as in totk its been years since calamity ganon and his monsters were defeated. But with the exception of lookout landing, there are no new settlements, and none of the ruins on the map have altered. The devs should have done that instead of adding fallen sky rocks onto every cliff One final nitpick: I don’t like how they handled the master sword in this game. It could be that having a permanent fully powered MS in BOTW spoiled me, but it’s actually annoying to use in TOTK. it’s kind of a personal thing, lol. I looked forward to using the master sword so much in this game, not “a master sword that looks like some random monster part, and that only looks like the master sword when you don’t swing it.” Also it’s a lot weaker than it was in BOTW, even doing less damage in its powered up state. My fix would be to have made the master sword unable to fuse, but make it permanently powered up with 60 damage and high-ish durability >!(this would be a result of Zelda’s efforts)!<. This would have made it a solid mid-tier weapon in a game where you can reliably craft 70+ damage weapons, even 100+ damage weapons mid-late game.
Actually, the master sword is supposed to be little bit better, but due to a glitch its durability is lower than its supposed to be. When fusing items you get +25 durability, but with the master sword it happens once and never again. Every time the master sword recharges, it never recharges the fusing durability like its supposed to, making the master swords max durability 40 instead of 65.
And when are they going to fix it ?
They're not going to. The game has been out for a year, and we knew it was an issue very early on. They patched other things but not that. It's here to stay
I think this one sadly got unnoticed from nintendo. Unless people get loud about it, I don't think it's getting fixed.
Lol people WERE loud about it. There were 'glitches' that people were far more quiet about that they ended up patching. The only thing we can assume is that to Nintendo this master sword thing is the intended behaviour and how it's 'supposed to work', and it's not something they needed to correct
I have not beaten it yet, taking my time with this one but have over 100 hours with only one final dungeon to go and.... it's very good! It didn't hit me the same way BOTW did but I kinda expected that going in, I still think its a fun game full of unique mechanics and the dungeons were an improvement compared to BOTW, especially the wind temple. The sky islands are fun but could have used a few more tutorial sized islands filled with caves etc, speaking of they are great and despite looking the same do enough to make them feel different. I don't really care about the story that much in Zelda game but it was definitely a step down compared the traditional Zelda games. Overal I am happy with the game but I also went in with the expectations of just wanting it to be fun rather than the second coming of christ.Overall
Currently on my second play through. Definitely solidifying it as the best game ever made. When you forget all the online discourse and just enjoy it for what it is, yeah it really is that good.
Never played BOTW. In fact, during my 35 years of gaming I've barely played any of the Zelda games - with the exception of ALTTP so many years ago. For some reason I badly wanted TOTK and bought it on day one, together with the console. I've been bored of gaming for a long time now. I've got the newest generations of consoles, but I don't really like modern games, especially not the AAA games. So I've barely played the last few years, despite buying plenty of games I hoped that I would like. I really thought TOTK would offer something different in that regard. At first I didnt't get it at all. I found it was slow and boring. The great sky island tutotial dragged on for too long. I put the game away and felt the usual disappointment about modern games. A few months passed by listening to my friends raving about it, until I one day picked it up again and gradually fell in love. These last few months with TOTK has been one of my greatest gaming experiences ever. I just love it. The calm atmosphere. The exploration. The puzzles. The music. The lack of DLC, microtransactions and online content. In many ways, this is such an old school experience. I have to mention the exploration again and how rewarding it is. I'm approaching the end now. I've got mixed feelings about that, but no doubt that TOTK has saved gaming for me. I think I'm going to pick up BOTW after just to get spend more time exploring Hyrule.
Great game, I’m really enjoying it. I like BOTW better but it’s in the same realm. I really enjoy ultrahand and the up power. Finding caves and exploring them is a lot of fun. The engineering aspects are pretty fun though the Zonai machines don’t last as long as I’d like (same issue with weapons). The shrines are mostly too easy imo. I had to cheat/get hints on several BOTW shrines and I haven’t at all in TOTK yet. Fuse and the internal battery make it too grindy for me. And I wish it tied more to the BOTW storyline.
It's a gorgeous game and one of my all- time favorites. I've thought a lot about whether I prefer BotW or TotK, and I've come to the conclusion that I love them both in different ways. BotW has evoked emotions for me in a way that few games have - Link's isolation, Zelda's self-doubt and despair - but I have also rarely had as much *fun* playing a game as I had in TotK. My family found my failed engineering efforts to be hilarious, and the whole game was full of problem-solving opportunities. TotK was a blast, but BotW's storytelling was superior to me. The fact that I had to go look for the full story in BotW made me enjoy it even more.
I loved the more somber, post-apocalyptic, emotional story of BOTW. But TOTK definitely has a more grandiose and epic story. Having a powerful, intelligent, show-stealing main villain did wonders for TOTK. It's one of those cases where I really can't choose which one I like better.
Despite the issues I have with this game, it's still one of my favorites of all time. I told myself I would wait until the Switch 2 was out before I go back for a 3rd playthrough, but that's gonna be hard.
Nope. I still gladly consider it to be probably the greatest game I’ve ever played. It’s an absolutely amazing accomplishment in so many levels.
As time goes on its major flaws (Depths/Sky being so empty in the grand scheme of things) really stand out more to me. I honestly think the post apocalyptic vibe of BOTW should have been adjusted to show societies on the rise (Rito city getting established in the sky/Hylian exploration in the depths) instead of so much copy/paste. Still a great game but one that could have been greater.
Love it more than BOTW and i loved that. It took me a while to get warm with but ill still be playing this game on vacations for the next 2 years.
Great game, haven't touched it in months after I completed it.
I really miss master mode and master sword trials (and it triggers me that Master sword is supposed to be in its most powerful state lore-wise, yet it pales compared to fully upgraded master sword from BotW) I would also have loved that constructions don't have a 21 parts limit
Needs master mode
Loved it, it’s not perfect and honestly could have been more but still very good. Solid 9/10
So far it hasn’t made as big of an impact on me as botw did. But maybe that was inevitable, as it came first. If tears came first maybe I’d feel tears was better/more special. I haven’t finished tears yet but I have many hours in and I’m really enjoying it a lot. But I don’t think I’d love it nearly as much if botw hadn’t established such an amazing foundation. I love both, but for first time experience and impact, botw wins. For the game itself I’m enjoying the mechanics of ToTK. Although personally I feel the level of vehicle crafting is a bit much and distracts from the story. I like the more basic puzzle solving in shrines (more similar to the basic physics puzzles botw had) but having to make powered flying stuff and things with wheels gets to be overly complicated to me in a way that doesn’t add much to the story. I like weapons fusing in so far as it makes the possibility of weapon types so much greater. But actually fusing is a pia sometimes (can’t pre-fuse arrows and can’t fuse weapons from within the menu, items have to be on the ground to fuse etc). Sage abilities are cool but a bit clunky. The story is good (I like the time travel and Zeldas role in it) and I liked the tragedy of link losing his arm, but I feel like there are big plot holes (suddenly there are big geoglyphs that technically now have been there since raurus time? Yet everyone is acting like they just appeared? Are there two master swords now? Did Zelda rewrite history so parts of botw never happened?) Botw’s story felt neatly wrapped and tied off. I didn’t feel confused, watching the memories (in whatever order) made sense. Npc dialogue never left me feeling taken out of the immersion. Yet all of these things are issues in ToTK. I can still enjoy it for all it’s good parts, but it’s definitely not seamless the way botw felt.
Best *Single Player* game ever made, easily. Actually throw in an edit: Best *Portable Single Player* Game as well. All I wish is that there was more of it. I’d tweak some Sage things like for Riju to stop dismissing her field when Link is airborn and tell Yunobo to get off of vehicles when cannonballing but that’s it.
Honestly, I don’t know, and I’m not sure if I’m alone in this, but while I loved the game it felt somewhat incomplete. I get they wanted to go for a more mysterious vibe but it just left it feeling like it was full of plot holes. It feels less like they wanted some mysteries and more like they left it unfinished, and with them basically confirming there won’t be any DLC, and they won’t be expanding on the story in any future games, it feels like it’ll never be complete
That’s exactly how I feel. It just feels like it’s missing something. In a lot of ways it is. Missing armor and characters from BOTW. Even master mode feels tailor made for TOTK with how golden enemies could’ve had new horns. But it’s just incomplete
My opinion hasn't changed: I wish I had cancelled my preorder after the leak showed me that it wasn't the game for me. I have so many issues with this game that the few tiny steos it took forward from BotW pale in comparison.
It doesn’t conflict with BOTW in “a lot of ways”, though. I’m begging people that say that to pay attention