ISN'T IT IRONIC that botw was such a success because it turned the zelda formula of "remake oot for the 14th time" on its head, and now there's a very real possibility that the next 14 entries in the series are going to follow the formula of "remake botw"? but it's not like they weren't going to make another one in this style. it's still a very good game.

idle thoughts:

there are some easy to draw parallels to majora's mask here in smartly reusing assets from a previous beloved entry in the series to both cut down on dev time and create a sense of unease by warping things just enough to make the familiar unfamiliar. majora's mask does this far better though :)

the obvious standout is the ultrahand which almost immediately cements itself as a modern classic mechanic. it's shocking how intuitive it is and how everything just works. i've seen videos of people using the mechanic to build things i could never dream of, but i haven't heard as much talk about the fun or sense of accomplishment you get even doing something like gluing two fucked up pieces of wood together to stop some idiot's sign from falling over.

i for sure thought there was going to be a mechanic to swap out your active follower so color me surprised when you squad up with a full 5 motherfuckers by the end of the game. on the negative side, even though they do a great job giving the 5 actual characters distinct personalities, it's kind of disappointing when they just follow you around as lifeless husks. some unique voice lines in combat or something might have been nice?

in a series where more than a little gets squeezed out of "here's a song you remember played on a different instrument" there were a couple musical choices that definitely got me: realizing that the faint notes in the background of the rito village theme during the blizzard were dragon roost isle, a taste of lttp in the castle, they do a very good job of taking these old mainstays and interweaving them into the more ambient soundscape of the switch games.

i realize that the quest boils down to walking to different waypoints, watching some cutscenes, and then holding a button, but finding the memories, figuring out what happened to the master sword, and seeing what zelda did to protect her kingdom after witnessing rauru make a similar sacrifice felt like some of the best story telling we're ever going to get from this series. standing on top of the zelda dragon holding the healed master sword was one of the most non-bacon style epic moments i've experienced in a game in a long time.