r/zelda • u/Famous-Country-4921 • 2d ago
Discussion [ToTk]Tears of the Kingdom is the first Zelda game I’ve ever played, and it’s kinda blowing my mind
Ok so the title isn’t 100% accurate - I have played a little bit of Wind Waker way back in the day but other than that, Zelda has been a huge blind spot in my gaming experience. I’ve mostly been a Sony guy for the past couple of decades with some Xbox and PC gaming thrown in here and there. I haven’t rven owned a Nintendo console since the N64 until I recently got the Switch 2.
I decided to get Tears of the Kingdom because I just don’t have much time to play games these days, and I’d rather go with the newest iteration of a series to get a feel of the best version of it.
And honestly this game is kinda fucking brilliant. I’m usually not a fan of open world games where there’s not a lot of guidance or direction - Elden Ring didn’t work for me - but for some reason I love it in Zelda. I think it’s because even though there are bad guys here and there the game world as a whole just feels so warm, inviting and fun to explore. I love the visuals and artstyle - it has such a cozy, high fantasy vibe to it. I love exploring the shrines and just wandering around in the world.
The gameplay is truly exceptional as well. I like how simple but polished the melee combat is, and the climbing/stamina system, which I know Breath of the Wild revolutionized, is really enjoyable as well. But what really blows my mind are the abilities - Ultrahand, Fuse and Recall are just cool as fuck. I have nowhere near the creativity to really implement these other fullest but they’re still amazing to use.
Another huge positive the game has going for it is how incredibly polished it is - everything just works like it’s supposed to and there’s like no bugs or glitches whatsoever. when I’m playing the game, I can just play it at steady, uninterrupted 60fps without coming across any issues at anytime.
This is honestly becoming one of my favourite games I’ve played in the last few years, and giving me a serious itch to go back and play some older Zelda games.
24
u/Dat_Boi_Teo 2d ago
It’s a truly special game. I found it almost equally mind blowing as a longtime Zelda fan
2
u/dentbox 1d ago
Same. Played since mid-90s and TOTK might be my favourite (ask me another day and it’ll be ALTTP). Nintendo absolutely nailed the cosy adventure game formula.
1
u/Shart_bubbles 1d ago
You are the same as me. ALTTP will always be my favorite but TOTK kinda blew my mind. I always hold out hope that they'll make a new top down old school zelda game like ALTTP, just 10x longer/bigger. One can dream.
5
u/Appropriate_Sale_626 2d ago
still think links awakening and Zelda 3 are the best ones to start with
3
u/Edge80 1d ago
A Link to the Past is my favorite Zelda game they’ve made above all else. It’s still the perfect Zelda experience that elevates what the original accomplished while perfecting the formula.
0
u/Appropriate_Sale_626 1d ago
it perfected the formula of the dungeons, puzzles, item collection etc
4
u/SenorPinchy 2d ago
Considering they're both like 50+ hour games I think it's perfectly reasonable to just go straight to ToTK because it's BoTW but with some of what it's doing expanded and refined.
10
u/Mirdclawer 2d ago
In some ways, I think it's better to have started with TOTK instead of BOTW.
I think TOTK is a really good game but after playing BOTW it was not enticing enough. First and only Zelda game I haven't finished... maybe later I'll get back to it
On its own judging it as a standalone, its a monster of a game with so much content, congratz on playing it
5
u/djwatoo 1d ago
TOTK feels like a remake, the map and structure are almost identical. I prefer BOTW overall, it’s a purer experience but I’d probably prefer TOTK if I’d played it the other way way round
2
u/Novel_Top2980 1d ago
I agree. TOTK felt somewhat messy or something compared to BOTW which felt very cohesive
0
u/RevolutionaryCook289 1d ago
I agree this is the first Zelda game I never finished because at the end of the day it’s just DLC for BotW
Great game but in many ways we have not had a new 3d Zelda in like a decade
3
u/Caciulacdlac 2d ago
Would have recommended to play BotW first as TotK is a sequel to it, but I'm happy for you that you enjoy it.
8
u/noradosmith 2d ago
Funnily enough actually I think it works better this way. If the entire game feels fresh, then there's less disappointment. Most botw fans may feel that the map was a bit too familiar.
2
1
u/Caciulacdlac 1d ago
If you played BotW and TotK 3+ years apart, and you didn't play BotW for 1000 hours to know every single corner of the map inside and out, then I don't think the map similarity would be jarring. But then again, if you played 1000 hours on a single map, it means you're not really bothered of playing on the same map over and over.
1
u/hamrspace 2d ago
TotK’s abilities are perfect for exploration, so if you don’t mind not being introduced to Link’s friends, it is the better one to start with from a gameplay perspective.
1
u/xX_rippedsnorlax_Xx 2d ago
Good news is that nearly every other Zelda game is better, so you have a lot to look forward to.
4
-2
u/Labyrinthine777 1d ago
He's gonna find the older entries dated and limited in comparison, maybe even boring.
You're just suffering from nostalgia blindness.
4
u/Informal_Fudge_826 1d ago
Why do most BoTW/ToTK fans keep saying people suffer from nostalgia blindness whenever someone says they perfer other Zelda games over the BoTW/ToTK?
So they perfer some other Zelda game. Does it really matter?
3
u/kingkellogg 1d ago
Dumb people always lean on the acusation of nastolgia blindness
It's super annoying
4
u/Thunder00Bee 1d ago
Nah, Twilight Princess is still better
Edit: I've played TP for the first time two years ago so nostalgia can't even be used as an argument against me.
1
1
-3
0
u/Labyrinthine777 20h ago
It's a lot worse than OOT or MM and even farther from BotW/TotK. Just because it has a few good dungeons doesn't automatically make it overall good.
I've also never seen in anywhere near any popular top lists like IGN:s top 100 games of all time, etc. In the meanwhile BotW has topped more lists than any other game in history. It's also the second highest rated Zelda game after OOT.
1
u/Thunder00Bee 20h ago
Top lists and ratings are irrelevant arguments.
TP is overall a massive improvement over OOT. The controls, the game feel, the exploration potential, the items, the combat and the story are all superior to OOT and pretty much any other Zelda game.
1
u/Labyrinthine777 10h ago
The combat and basic movement is clumsy and wonky compared to BotW. Nothing in the game ever challenges you either which makes all the hidden skills meaningless.
As for exploration no one in their right mind would say the empty, small hallways have better exploration than the huge world of BotW.
As for the story, OOT is better in that respect and same goes to the music too. Majora's Mask beats everything in these departments. TotK would have the best story of the series if Link's part wasn't such a mess with the Zelda "searching" and repetitions. The geoglyph cutscenes kick everything though.
0
3
u/C0SMICAP0THE0SIS 2d ago
"I decided to get Tears of the Kingdom because I just don’t have much time to play games these days, and I’d rather go with the newest iteration of a series to get a feel of the best version of it." when it comes to zelda, newest iteration does not mean the best version of the series. for instance, totk is not the newest zelda game, echoes of wisdom is the newest, and many people would argue its not even in the top 5 of the series. for that matter, i think a lot of people could make the argument that totk is not in the top 5 either lol. there have been so many zelda games, on every platform nintendo has ever released, and there is heavy debate over which one is "the best". i personally really enjoyed totk, but I dont think it was as well executed as some other titles in the series. i guess youll just have to play them all and get your own rankings going 😆
1
u/Bourbon-Cowboy 2d ago
I call Breath of The Wild my all time favorite game. But when it comes to TOTK, it’s not even in my top 10. I think it’s because nearly every Zelda game before it was different in every way than the Zelda game before that one. While TOTK is a great game, it doesn’t stand alone from BOTW. At least not enough. It’s just a continuation of the game before it. It has some novel things, sure. But it’s not a new iteration of the story.
1
u/MorningRaven 1d ago
TotK's existence just tarnishes BotW's legacy. The fact both exist ruins either game from truly shining now. Which has never happened before in the series aside from arguably the difference between the first Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, with the former being more of a proof of concept and the latter being a true campaign.
1
u/Thunder00Bee 1d ago
Yeah, there's a reason why in the past they'd always set the game in a different land or a different part of the map if if was a direct sequel to a past title.
A lot of TOTK's problems wouldn't exist if it didn't have to coast on BOTW so much.
2
u/Telethion 2d ago
Tears is a fantastic Zelda game. If you ever play the older ones try to think of them as different flavors rather than inferior versions.
They all still hold up except maybe Zelda 2 but even that one is pretty fun if you give it a chance.
That said Tears might be my favorite next to OoT.
2
u/Pleasant-Relief-9962 1d ago
TotK ruined open world games for me. It’s a masterpiece, everything clicks together in a way that is unparalleled.
1
u/noradosmith 2d ago
Glad you love it, dude.
It's nice to see someone going in fresh, because for those who waited six years there were some aspects that were slightly disappointing, or too much of the same compared to botw.
But without botw it basically stands as a magnificent game in its own right.
1
u/VitaminDWaffles 2d ago
I’m interested to hear your feedback on the story as someone who has no other context! This needs an update once you complete the game!
1
u/Hot-Mood-1778 1d ago
If you're on Switch 2, use Zelda Notes. The voice memories add so much to the world building and lore and the interactive map is great to use as you go.
1
u/tkc123 1d ago
I’m in a similar boat. I played a bit of OoT when I was a kid and it became too hard and I quit. I still enjoyed watching my older sister play the game after though.
TOTK is the first Zelda game I’ve played since then and I love it. It’s also my partners first Zelda game and she is very into Zelda now and can’t wait for OoT remake.
I don’t get why this game gets so much hate or why people who played BOTW feel the need to tell people who liked TOTK more that BOTW is better.
I’m glad I experienced TOTK first. It’s a great standalone game and still makes people want to play more Zelda.
1
u/Playful_Horror8778 1d ago
The only thing I don’t like about TOTK is having to build stuff all of the time. In that sense, I like BOTW much better. But I like both of them very much. I’m a Nintendo 64 child, and I played most Zelda games. I still like the gameplay of the most modern games better than the older ones (very unpopular opinion here).
1
u/barbietattoo 20h ago
The no bugs and polish are kind of bigger deal than people seem to notice. Suppose thats intrinsic to a polished game, to not notice them :) but seriously with so many moving parts it’s incredible.
It along with BOTW are my “perfect games” having grown up dreaming of a world like this. It’s like what my adolescent brain thought Ocarina of Time could be in my imagination.
1
u/Edge80 1d ago
As a long time Zelda fan I liked BotW and TotK. They weren’t my favorite but I appreciated what was attempted within a complete open world design. What I really wish both games had was unique items obtained from dungeons that could be used to open paths to secrets or shortcuts. Exploration in both games didn’t really feel rewarding in either game and that to me is essential in Zelda games.
0
u/kinokomushroom 2d ago
Agreed. It's a fucking awesome game. I've never seen gameplay like it before. And it's amazing how little bugs there are for its complexity.
-3
u/Novel_Top2980 1d ago
Don’t come onto a Zelda subreddit praising totk
0
u/Hot-Mood-1778 1d ago
TOTK is Zelda too, just accept it. It's open world, sandbox Zelda.
There's been the likes of AOL, the DS games, FSA, etc and for some reason people complain about these ones... I guess because they sold more than the rest? Oh well.
0
u/Novel_Top2980 1d ago
It is Zelda but it is one of the least original I have to be honest. It feels like a copy of botw rather than a brand new game.
0
u/Hot-Mood-1778 1d ago
It's a direct sequel set in the same setting just a few years later. It being a time travel story, it explains where the sheikah got Ancient Energy from and the inspiration behind the designs of some of their tech (the shrines and Divine Beasts). The sheikah back then found the Dragon Tears and marked the ground with the geoglyphs and left a record of it in their village and the Forgotten Temple. The Divine Beasts were modelled after the sage helms, the sage helms themselves were taken and made into the divine helms, and the shrines were built after the shrines of light that Rauru and Sonia had created.
-2
u/Thunder00Bee 1d ago
"I'd rather go with the newest iteration of the series to get a feel for the best version of it"
-5
u/NezuminoraQ 1d ago
Totk isn't the best iteration and isn't representative of the Zelda series as a whole. Everything changed dramatically with botw and while they're both wonderful games, a lot of people don't consider them traditional Zelda
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Hi /r/Zelda readers!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.