(The discourse on this game is fascinating, but exhausted. I'll start this review with my worthless two cents, then end it by attempting to contribute something new to the conversation)
I loved Breath of the Wild. I started playing it somewhere around January of 2019. I played it many times, I ran through the great plateau countlessly, I played on Master Mode, I attempted to hunt down all the koroks, I attempted to learn speedrun tricks and did challenge bingo runs with my friends, I watched hours upon hours of content from the likes of SmallAnt and PointCrow, among others.
By mid 2022, the only thing I felt towards Breath of the Wild was burnout.
Above all the hype and expectations, the only thing I could truly hope for was for "the sequel to Breath of the Wild," whatever it ended up being, to respark the wonder I felt with its predecessor.
So, by all accounts, Tears of the Kingdom is a massive success.
Like many people, I was worried about how a re-used map could fill the shoes that Breath of the Wild left. In retrospect, such a concern feels silly, it's for precisely that reason that being back feels wonderful. For as dynamic as Hyrule felt with its physics and chemistry systems, the one thing it lacked was a changing sense of time. How fulfilling it is then to see not only the grandeur of the sky and the mysteriousness of the depths, but also to learn how the people and places you once knew are not the same.
After 4 months, 220 or so hours, and a whopping 81.34% completion, I've finally hit the credits. I took my sweet time, and explored everything thoroughly. This game accomplished many things that I hoped it would, like bringing back wells and caves, creating objectively better runes, and not relying on building/crafting zonai devices as a crutch for fun. It surprised me in ways I couldn't have imagined, like streamlining exploration and the limitless chaotic creativity possible with ultrahand. It makes a lot of embarrassing mistakes, like an arguably worse plot, an abundance of menu management, and champion abilities that are mapped to NPCs. And after all of it, I once again feel burnt out.
I'm very happy with what I played and very glad to be done with it. All joy from it feels lost, yet I can't deny how many weekends I lost spending hours with it and how much peace it brought me.
This is by a Hyrulian mile the biggest game Nintendo has ever made, and what I hope for the future is that it stays that way for a long time. There's no reason for them to immediately try and outdo themselves in scope. What I would love is a change in direction. From arguably as far back as Super Mario World, Nintendo's big first party titles, mainly Marios, have abided by the same philosophy: it's fun because you don't have to do all of it. You don't have to beat every level in Super Mario World, nor get every star in Super Mario 64. Pass on those blue coins, Super Luigi Galaxy can take a hike. Green Stars? Who cares? The Odyssey will do just fine with 124 moons. And now, every shrine and korok is at your leisure to collect. This approach works well for many things, but maybe we've seen the extent of what they can do with it for now. I'm not saying I want them to abandon secrets and player autonomy. But imagine what a team this talented could do with a bit more structure.
Whatever they cook up next, it can wait awhile. This meal was delicious, but very filling, and I don't want to eat again for a long time.
I loved Breath of the Wild. I started playing it somewhere around January of 2019. I played it many times, I ran through the great plateau countlessly, I played on Master Mode, I attempted to hunt down all the koroks, I attempted to learn speedrun tricks and did challenge bingo runs with my friends, I watched hours upon hours of content from the likes of SmallAnt and PointCrow, among others.
By mid 2022, the only thing I felt towards Breath of the Wild was burnout.
Above all the hype and expectations, the only thing I could truly hope for was for "the sequel to Breath of the Wild," whatever it ended up being, to respark the wonder I felt with its predecessor.
So, by all accounts, Tears of the Kingdom is a massive success.
Like many people, I was worried about how a re-used map could fill the shoes that Breath of the Wild left. In retrospect, such a concern feels silly, it's for precisely that reason that being back feels wonderful. For as dynamic as Hyrule felt with its physics and chemistry systems, the one thing it lacked was a changing sense of time. How fulfilling it is then to see not only the grandeur of the sky and the mysteriousness of the depths, but also to learn how the people and places you once knew are not the same.
After 4 months, 220 or so hours, and a whopping 81.34% completion, I've finally hit the credits. I took my sweet time, and explored everything thoroughly. This game accomplished many things that I hoped it would, like bringing back wells and caves, creating objectively better runes, and not relying on building/crafting zonai devices as a crutch for fun. It surprised me in ways I couldn't have imagined, like streamlining exploration and the limitless chaotic creativity possible with ultrahand. It makes a lot of embarrassing mistakes, like an arguably worse plot, an abundance of menu management, and champion abilities that are mapped to NPCs. And after all of it, I once again feel burnt out.
I'm very happy with what I played and very glad to be done with it. All joy from it feels lost, yet I can't deny how many weekends I lost spending hours with it and how much peace it brought me.
This is by a Hyrulian mile the biggest game Nintendo has ever made, and what I hope for the future is that it stays that way for a long time. There's no reason for them to immediately try and outdo themselves in scope. What I would love is a change in direction. From arguably as far back as Super Mario World, Nintendo's big first party titles, mainly Marios, have abided by the same philosophy: it's fun because you don't have to do all of it. You don't have to beat every level in Super Mario World, nor get every star in Super Mario 64. Pass on those blue coins, Super Luigi Galaxy can take a hike. Green Stars? Who cares? The Odyssey will do just fine with 124 moons. And now, every shrine and korok is at your leisure to collect. This approach works well for many things, but maybe we've seen the extent of what they can do with it for now. I'm not saying I want them to abandon secrets and player autonomy. But imagine what a team this talented could do with a bit more structure.
Whatever they cook up next, it can wait awhile. This meal was delicious, but very filling, and I don't want to eat again for a long time.