I remember hearing somewhere that BotW was the type of game that could be rendered redundant by a good sequel. Having finished TotK, two things came to mind:
1. TotK is only debatably that better sequel, and;
2. TotK is also a game that could be rendered redundant by a good sequel.
Rather than replacing BotW as some fans feared (or perhaps hoped), TotK feels more like one step forward, one step back: the new abilities are improvements on the runes from BotW, but Ultrahand is a non-starter, almost divorced from the rest of the game (I was seeing nine-tenths completed vehicles even twenty, thirty hours into the game); the sky islands and the caves flesh out Hyrule mechanically and narratively, but the Depths is easily the weakest take on LttP’s Dark World in any Zelda yet; Princess Zelda has a better place within the story, but it’s borrowing of beats from OoT is executed worse than BotW, despite borrowing even more overtly from it. The biggest disappointment however, and why I think TotK could also be made redundant, is that even though the moment-to-moment gameplay is as sublime as last time, that comes at the expense of worldbuilding rather than being to its credit, putting it behind its contemporaries and even some of the older 3D Zeldas in this hugely important aspect. Even connecting BotW to TotK is difficult; the most obvious example for me was when, wondering if my BotW save file would carry over my boarded horses from that game, I went to a stable early in the game. I was then instructed to register to become a member, not already being one, and instructed on how to catch a horse. After doing so, I discovered that, actually, my save file had carried over and I had all my old horses. This isn’t inexplicable in-universe of course, but just a slight change would greatly satisfy even a passing interest in worldbuilding from the game (or, at least, from its English localization), hence its omission, in favour of reshuffled Koroks and shrines, robs Hyrule of some needed verisimilitude.
Six years later, and the franchise feels like it’s treading water after the leap from Skyward Sword to BotW. I’m still interested in the next game and the probable DLC, but I do wonder if the games are relearning some bad habits.
1. TotK is only debatably that better sequel, and;
2. TotK is also a game that could be rendered redundant by a good sequel.
Rather than replacing BotW as some fans feared (or perhaps hoped), TotK feels more like one step forward, one step back: the new abilities are improvements on the runes from BotW, but Ultrahand is a non-starter, almost divorced from the rest of the game (I was seeing nine-tenths completed vehicles even twenty, thirty hours into the game); the sky islands and the caves flesh out Hyrule mechanically and narratively, but the Depths is easily the weakest take on LttP’s Dark World in any Zelda yet; Princess Zelda has a better place within the story, but it’s borrowing of beats from OoT is executed worse than BotW, despite borrowing even more overtly from it. The biggest disappointment however, and why I think TotK could also be made redundant, is that even though the moment-to-moment gameplay is as sublime as last time, that comes at the expense of worldbuilding rather than being to its credit, putting it behind its contemporaries and even some of the older 3D Zeldas in this hugely important aspect. Even connecting BotW to TotK is difficult; the most obvious example for me was when, wondering if my BotW save file would carry over my boarded horses from that game, I went to a stable early in the game. I was then instructed to register to become a member, not already being one, and instructed on how to catch a horse. After doing so, I discovered that, actually, my save file had carried over and I had all my old horses. This isn’t inexplicable in-universe of course, but just a slight change would greatly satisfy even a passing interest in worldbuilding from the game (or, at least, from its English localization), hence its omission, in favour of reshuffled Koroks and shrines, robs Hyrule of some needed verisimilitude.
Six years later, and the franchise feels like it’s treading water after the leap from Skyward Sword to BotW. I’m still interested in the next game and the probable DLC, but I do wonder if the games are relearning some bad habits.