Very much enjoying Tears of the Kingdom, probably something like 12ish hours in so far and mostly just going wherever catches my interest first and foremost.
Crazy how time changes. Sure I’ve said it before but back when Breath of the Wild first released, I was much more hyped for Nier Automata, kind of unusual for me since it’s been my favorite series for so long til then and was one who loved Skyward Sword. Even so, I did get into it more eventually and did enjoy it a bit despite some major issues.
Since replaying it the other month, I’ve got a bit of a new appreciation for BotW, what with my new outlook on gaming or enjoying media as a whole being about the experience itself rather than comparing technicalities and other junk.
So I’ve not been so worried about whether the game would run well or what assets are being reused or that it was “DLC” (all things I disagree on anyway) that I’ve seen on other sites, but rather that this experience would not have those same quiet moments where it just lets you take it all in.
Thankfully it does have those, but ultimately I do think it very much has its own identity and intentionality in what it’s setting out to do, and that’s a good thing. I don’t want to spoil anything specific, but the entire experience hinges on being familiar with the old and finding new things within it, a level of exploration that feels even deeper to me, and one that asks you to be more engaged with it and to really stretch your creative muscles. It’s a type of design that I feel is fundamentally different from anything else I can think of - one I feel others do not understand when they complain BotW was a typical open world game and that others like Elden Ring are obviously better. Really very different in what they set out to do, even putting aside the fact I feel that title is actually very boring after the first dozen hours.
I will say, the tutorial area didn’t really hit me as strong, but perhaps if I took more time with it I might have enjoyed it more. It’s just hard not to compare to the Great Plateau, which I felt was one of the best introductions in a Zelda game. But that just shows how much of a different approach they had to curating this experience, especially with the different tools we have this time around. I want to say even less about the story but so far I get the sense it’s definitely a bit more adult, and I already felt BotW had something to mull over beyond some of the cheesier champion cutscenes.
Hoping to take my time with the rest of it but it’s going to be hard to restrain myself having only so much time on the weekends.
. i've already walked around a whole mountain trying to find a way up to one, which was a total waste of time. lol
