Breath of the Wild was my 6th favourite game of all time and my favourite Switch game by a longshot.
Tears of the Kingdom makes it look like a demo in comparison. Here's my full thoughts, copied straight from my Twitter thread:
BOTW's first 10-50 hours has a magic that I thought was impossible to capture. TOTK not only recaptured said magic as best as it could, but throughout still wow'd me even near the end of the game. there were many points where the magic was lost ofc but it oft returned. and that alone is incredible.
while I miss the melancholy of BOTW's world, the fact that TOTK's is more lived in shows a world in recovery and that people try and bounce back and heal, and I think that's beautiful
I loved the story. theres not loads of depth to it but I think they found an amazing way to tell a more traditional Zelda story while still keeping to the format of BOTW's structure. it does lead to some weird moments if you don't do things in a set order (I knew where Zelda was while the story had Link say he didn't lol) but it kept me engaged and got me emotional at many points. sometimes I wanted to actually continue w the story and not just explore! and that's huge!
between the story and the fact that the world is more lived in, it meant there was more to do in this than BOTW, and while I'm not the type of player to complain about BOTW being "empty" or whatever, I think having so much in the world in comparison is why I have a higher play time and also why having it be the same Hyrule never gets stale. it never feels exactly the same
new mechanics rock!
i love all the new abilities a lot, and exploring the depths and sky islands are fun; though i admit both are a little more barren than id like and i wish there was a little more to do in both, especially after the first 10-20 hours
i love recall to undo my mistakes
one thing that definitely lost its magic for me was ultrahand. it's still an awesome mechanic but i stopped using it for creative solutions like halfway/three quarters through and really only used it as intended near the end or in shrines
but i think im just not creative enough
while i don't think this is a perfect game, i do think it's a masterpiece and easily my game of the year, and the best game ive played on switch.
to recapture even some of the magic of BOTW is a miracle. to make BOTW look small and like a demo in comparison? genuinely incredible
tl;dr: I cried a few times and the final boss was cool, as was the rest of the game. 10/10 what else can you ask for in a game Huh Bud
Tears of the Kingdom makes it look like a demo in comparison. Here's my full thoughts, copied straight from my Twitter thread:
BOTW's first 10-50 hours has a magic that I thought was impossible to capture. TOTK not only recaptured said magic as best as it could, but throughout still wow'd me even near the end of the game. there were many points where the magic was lost ofc but it oft returned. and that alone is incredible.
while I miss the melancholy of BOTW's world, the fact that TOTK's is more lived in shows a world in recovery and that people try and bounce back and heal, and I think that's beautiful
I loved the story. theres not loads of depth to it but I think they found an amazing way to tell a more traditional Zelda story while still keeping to the format of BOTW's structure. it does lead to some weird moments if you don't do things in a set order (I knew where Zelda was while the story had Link say he didn't lol) but it kept me engaged and got me emotional at many points. sometimes I wanted to actually continue w the story and not just explore! and that's huge!
between the story and the fact that the world is more lived in, it meant there was more to do in this than BOTW, and while I'm not the type of player to complain about BOTW being "empty" or whatever, I think having so much in the world in comparison is why I have a higher play time and also why having it be the same Hyrule never gets stale. it never feels exactly the same
new mechanics rock!
i love all the new abilities a lot, and exploring the depths and sky islands are fun; though i admit both are a little more barren than id like and i wish there was a little more to do in both, especially after the first 10-20 hours
i love recall to undo my mistakes
one thing that definitely lost its magic for me was ultrahand. it's still an awesome mechanic but i stopped using it for creative solutions like halfway/three quarters through and really only used it as intended near the end or in shrines
but i think im just not creative enough
while i don't think this is a perfect game, i do think it's a masterpiece and easily my game of the year, and the best game ive played on switch.
to recapture even some of the magic of BOTW is a miracle. to make BOTW look small and like a demo in comparison? genuinely incredible
tl;dr: I cried a few times and the final boss was cool, as was the rest of the game. 10/10 what else can you ask for in a game Huh Bud