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Third comment on this video. Trying not to clog up the comments but I just wanted to say; every time someone asks me what I don't like about Totk I point them to this video. Every single time. I tell them if they really want to know what I despise about this game that they really need to watch this. Very few do because let's be honest, why would they take the time and effort to investigate the question they just asked? There are more than enough reasons to dislike this game but there are a set few people that just don't care. They either loved the game (inexplicably) or they love Zelda as a franchise and will defend anything. Thing is, I love Zelda as a franchise and refuse to sit by while it's reduced to this. Botw was really cool to me but I kind of always saw it as a prototype of sorts. TOTK should have been the game to come along and realize the barebones concepts of botw but it wasn't. Side note: So happy for you gaining so many subscribers, its so well earned after such an incredibly poignant video. Not only that but it represents how many people feel the same way. I'm with you forever after this, thick or thin and I deeply look forward to any future videos from you. Thank you for putting my dumbass's thoughts into words.

1:48:19 Glad I'm not the only one. This was a very thorough critique of a game that swings wildly between absolutely amazing and woefully subpar. Also, I found myself laughing at your commentary repeatedly. Good job on both counts.

I'm not really online that much anymore, and even then, I have always been averse to engaging/putting my thoughts out there. However, I am really glad to have watched this, as it put to words a lot of the feelings I had, but hadn't digested enough to articulate. One of the things that really bothered me, and that I don't think you touched on, was the return of monsters in Hyrule. In BOTW, it is explained that Ganon had times where his power grew and he was able to refonstitute the aimless spirits of slain Monsters, and the blood moon is the manifestation of that. With Ganon defeated and the calamity ended, that means 6(?) years of peace in Hyrule. Surely, one of the most pressing concerns for the rebuilding kingdom then is to address that NEXT biggest lingering threat? And surely, 6 years time was enough to have addressed that, right? Like...dead monsters stayed dead. So why does the game start with an already established monster control crew? The game heavily implies, and given that many Gleeoks appear on their own dedicated sky island I am inclined to agree, that Ganandorf being unsealed released monsters back onto the world. If that suddenly happened, how is it that the only area of Hyrule that IS in some sort of disarray is the Gerudo and Lurelin Village, and not like...everybody else? Why is nobody panicking that like...the biggest indicator of the calamity has seemed to return? And how does that one lady with the sick husband side quest know that Gleeok guts can be used to make a tonic that will heal her husband? Like...either the emding of BOTW didn't actually mean shit, and the calamity didn't end, or the game is just made up of a bunch of "ooooh, this would be good!" ideas, without an ounce of consideration towards what it actually means. Lastly, one of my biggest gripes with the game, which again I don't really engage in discourse so I have no idea if this is a widely held belief or not, is that Mipha's statue being moved to some out of the way hilltop just to make room for a new one of Sidon and Link has got to be one of the most disrespectful things a Zelda game has done to one of its characters, and I cannot abide this, or Sidon allowing it to happen. I loved the Zora in BOTW, fuck the Zora in TOTK.

I hate admitting that this game isn't actually as good as BOTW. The biggest issues I have with it are the lack of continuity between it and it's prequel, iirc the devs mentioned somewhere that they designed TOTK in a way that you don't need to play BOTW to understand what was going on which is probably why it feels so disconnected.

Hey, I think this is the first long video essay (longer than 30 mins) that I've watched in full without skipping, first in my entire life. It's your intro that really sold me, I was like "damn, you apparently put so much work into this it would be a crime not to listen to the whole thing" so I made this my first one. I wasn't going to comment but I just decided you deserve at least that much from me. I'm not gonna lie, I played both and honestly I didn't hate it as much as you do; at best the thing that annoyed me most was the depths and the lack of continuity and the more linear narrative that got in the way of immersion (I finished the tears first before any of the main quests as well as the newspaper quests so... you can imagine how I felt about imposter Zelda). However it was really interesting seeing this game from a different vantage and I'm pleasantly surprised to say you conviced me of nearly all points (except maybe npcs being boring but maybe that's just personal preference). Believe me when I say that really doesn't happen often. It was like replaying the game again through someone else's eyes and I must say it broadened my perspective on game design and things I tend to personally miss or overlook when playing games. I'm also glad we agree upon the game's strengths, mainly the beautiful skies (I'm just a sucker for flying in games) and the sound design. And thank goodness I didn't know about the hover bike, that would've positively ruined the game, but it also made me question wtf is wrong with me for not coming up with that myself. The thing I overlooked most was the story, and I have to say, I have no idea why I didn't see the complete narrative flaws sooner. I did notice the glaring discontinuity from the past game and the repetitive crap of course, but I suppose I just rationalized that they are for ppl who played only the sequel (yes I did notice your points but there actually are ppl like my nephews who bought and played only the sequel). In the end, I think I just accepted the ludonarrative dissonance and focused on the game as well as the dramatic spectacle of some scenes instead of the actual meat of the narrative. One thing I kind of disagree on is about Zelda's arc. I think it's a good thing Zelda didn't suffer, I don't think she deserves to suffer 10 thousand years for a sacrifice to save her world, and it was less about suffering and ceasing to be herself anyway. It's the thought that counts you know, the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of her world that was actually put into action. But I didn't know it was even possible to beat the game without getting the master sword, so I'll give you that it was a copout to just give u the sword instead of making a bad ending. I did think weird that Sonja and Rauru didn't change her back sooner but maybe it was for the master sword? Idk. And there's a side quest uncovering plaques concerning what Zelda did and her demeaner during her time being sent to the past (you know, the one with the 5 star sky islands), which indicates she was more actively involved in daring adventures, technological savvy, and intellectual curiosity. At least... I think. I know it's a very very bad case of "show not tell" and cladestinely hidden behind a side quest, but I do think they didn't mean to like erase those best parts of her character, at least not deliberately. Overall that's how I felt. I know it's a long comment, but again, this is the first video game essay longer than 30 mins that I actually managed to watch in full (and I mean like, sit down and watch not just listen) so I believe this comment merits your video and the effort to write it would not come nearly as close to the effort you put into making this video anyway. I really loved that this was my first one, and you really have to proud yourself in hooking viewers in, even those who're not normally into video essay stuff. Makes me want to watch more of your stuff as well as some other video essays that may challenge and expand my perspectives. Not to mention I learned to empathize with your passion for Zelda BoTW so much that I could just taste the disappointment from ToTK. That's honestly the hardest sell, really difficult to ignore the opinion and insight of someone with this much immersion and investment.

1:30:26 reminds me of the Metal Gear Solid video where its just snake asking 1-2 word questions "Hrng, Metal Gear?"

This started trending hard enough that this got reccomended to me a second time despite being a two month old video (and I already watched it though once) Either that or RUclips is drunk. Again.

This is probably the longest RUclips video I’ve ever gone through! Completely agree with everything you said. I feel the developers just amplified the faults of BotW with TotK. They just made the game too big and bloated for the sake of it. The ending was such a cop out with Zelda becoming human again and Link regaining his arm. I think the developers missed an opportunity with the end fight. Could you just imagine Naydra, Farosh and Dinraal all joining the end fight with Link and the Light Dragon. That would have been an absolute spectacle.

That's cool if I get to see another video from you and that's great if you decide to make it short. Anything is great even just saying you are good, you won't do anymore videos. Have fun as much as you can :)

2:28:11 honestly them removing the duplication glitches was the worst decision they could have possibly made. It made the ungodly amount of time this game demands to find even the most basic of materials way more tolerable. Losing anything in this game feels like an absolute disaster because you suddenly realize how much time you need to sink into getting what you had again. As someone who doesn't have the time to literally dedicate my life to this game, it was a god send to be able to do the duplication glitches.

Take your time. Life your live. And when you want to create funny RUclips video, do it. We'll be waiting as long as it takes, and we'll enjoy it.

1. It is not a DLC. 2. It is one of the best and most creative video games I have ever experienced 3. It is an underrated masterpiece.

I enjoyed it but the story is very mwah

1:30 What lack of continuity? The fact that the sheikah towers and shrines vanished after they served their purpose? Age of Calamity isn't canon but the fact that they can just pop in and out of the ground apparently _is_ canon. Or is it the fact that everyone seems to fail to realize the Kingdom of Hyrule isn't even the first Kingdom of Hyrule first established in Skyward Sword (or second in the adult timeline as Spirit Tracks has the second Kingdom of Hyrule, setting a precedent for Hyrule being re-founded). Or is it how "no one remembers Link?" CaptBurgerson has a good video about that.

wow i never realized the depth and berth of the chasm between the level of storytelling in botw and totk

Man, i thank you. You have no idea how good it feels to have someone voice these things, i watched your 3h vid 2 times now 1time in background and will again, totk is such a disappointment its crazy. Bought the L collector of this game too, a shame lol The laziness of this game is unreal, the labyrinth, small things like circlets and earings dont even let links long hair out but defaults to their botw look, and thats a low ask. What about the same ugly goron armor, the same rito and zora gear, like its crazy man. I used to be so excited at the possibilities for totk, story full trottle this time since theyll listen to feedback, pet dogs, actual good housing system and different options in various towns like skyrim, change to weapon durability system change. Nah, nope. And then you got shit like Link not giving a flying thunder fuck about zeldas transformation, and not being able to tell anyone anyway, the 4dogshit sage copy pasted trash, mastersword bathes in more than 10k years but still *breaks* and need time to recharge. Its fucking laughable how lazy they were with this, it truly was dlc for botw and i wouldve much better took totk as a big dlc

I gave ToTK alot of credit. For one reason, I barely played BoTW. Im an old school Zelda fan. I want my unique treasures and temples!

I wasn't able to play through tears of the kingdom due to a traumatic breakup. I just haven't felt like myself lately. 😭

I actually bought Tears without having touched Breath, on account of how the internet honestly made me feel like I had already seen all the really cool stuff in the game, like Eventide stealing your equipment and all manner of creative uses for your Slate abilities, which kinda takes a lot of air out of a game so heavily based around discovering all the various ways you can go about puzzles and generally getting around. So in my honest, unbiased opinion... the game itself is fun on a surface level, but after a good couple hours, it starts to feel really... lacking. Maybe it's because there are so few settlements with such vast amount of forest and plains between them so when you do get any they come in massive lumps, but the sidequests kinda suck. Like, they were cute in the moment to moment gameplay, but I ran out of them and I just thought to myself 'That's it?' Like, there are so few people just kinda out in the wild or interesting quest prompts. And no, I'm not counting random wandering NPCs that I constantly ran into getting assaulted by mobs, I'm not counting Addison, and I'm not counting the shrine stone transport. Honestly what made me want to walk around the overworld at all after getting a bunch of waypoints was the chance to happen upon the mushroom fashion people out in the open because they would provide cool little hints about where to find armor you've yet to obtain. Outside of that, while I acknowledge that what had previously been exclusively Amiibo content being made as base content in this game is a good thing, the majority of it is completely redundant and just straight up clutters the menu because they either can't be upgraded or they simply aren't worth upgrading outside of just one set of your choosing because so many of them only give an attack up set bonus, and at that point it's probably better to just use a piece or two of the Phantom set instead since you can't even play dress up with them given the attack bonus only comes from using the full set. I'd kill for a full armor set quick equip option, but I would also love (and probably even prefer) to have a mix and match favorites tab, because sometimes I like having the effects of a couple different pieces but need to, say, put on the Zora set for a swim and reverse waterfall dive and then I have to hunt down the pieces I had been wearing before. With a favorite option, you could not only fix that, but also let players quickly and easily put on commonly used sets, like the Glide set, which negates fall damage when all together so I'm wearing it all the time but have to swap out in specific situations. Being able to easily switch between that, a general combat getup with whatever different pieces you like and whatever else you often have to hunt down would be so very nice. This video honestly makes me consider buying Breath, if only so I can understand what this Hyrule looked like originally (the Guardians all over the place DO seem to make for a more interesting landscape...) and what everyone else is on about when they compare the two games and struggle to discuss Tears without bringing up how it was done in Breath.

3:11:44 Dont really understand you saying the master sword shouldn't be given to the player. Isnt it the sword that seals the darkness? The only weapon that can defeat ganondorf? I get nit having it required for BOTW cos calamity ganon is not the true evil. To fit it into what you said, i would have the player get the master sword vyt nit see the zelda cutscene, so you dont see how or why the sword is there Other then that, great video!

These games weren’t meant to have a explanation. Like that’s the point of these new games is free exploration. You wouldn’t like the explaination if they gave it to you, the mystery and theory crafting is what you like

No hate to that creator, he’s probably a nice person irl for all I know. But heaven forbid you disagree with a man who got his latest new toy or he’ll make an internet about it. Reminds me of when Jenny Nicholson made a video about how she didn’t like the joker and then that guy made a video against hers. Heaven protect us all against men and their biases.

I needed something to listen to on my half day of work today. Sitting alone in an empty office, wanting something to keep me occupied while i do a mountain of paperwork. THREE AND A HALF HOURS OF SOMEONE SHITTING ON TOTK? Shiiiit, you can come to my next party even if you are a Zelink shipper.

The game was amazing. Its sad how many little Nintendo fan boy kids whine and complain about everything.

Totk didn't feel different enough. It feels like DLC I didn't ask for. The game just left me too burnt out and paralyzed by how many options there are. I was really thrilled to 100% Botw and I did 100% it. Meanwhile, I quit Totk after beating Colgera. The depths felt too boring and the sky feels too nonexistent. The new mechanics felt pointless. Fuse is a hassle because all the good weapons are decayed. Ultrahand is meh since I have to grind Zonite mining to make full use of it. Totk also feels insulting to my 100% save file of Botw. There's no in-game explanation for why I had to lose all my armor and Korok upgrades. Totk really burnt me out of playing the other Zelda games in my backlog (Oracle Games, PH and ST). I really hope TP HD & WW HD will release within the next 5 years. I need more linearity in my 3D Zelda.

21:50 OMG I've never seen the game actually get you all the way through an object in that cool smooth way it does sometimes only to then transition into the weird magic space it usually uses during ascend. That's honestly really funny

I liked tears of the kingdom. Watched your essay agreed with a lot of it's points and moved on. Simple as

I never understood the hype behind colgera outside of the music, something I didn’t notice because I beat it in like 30 seconds. I didn’t realize you could smash through the ice by diving, so I just shot at it, so for me, it was an incredibly underwhelming boss

I think it's completely understated just how important the guardians were for exploration in BOTW. They artificially pushed newer, weaker players away from certain areas because of how strong they were. You could beat them early on, but at the cost of most of your resources. It made you think twice before exploring a certain area because they would absolutely molly whop you. Want to glide over someplace? A guardian could snipe you in the sky. Big field? Easy target for the guardians. But as the game progresses, you get more health, upgrade your armor, and find better weapons you can easily mow them down and allow yourself access to those areas. In TOTK however if you want to go somewhere you can just glide to it (or hoverbike.) No real reason to explore or anything. Especially as the game goes on you learn that whatever reward you're going to get is lame so why bother? I think something that would help a lot too is to have some sort of skillpoint/exp system. RPG-ifying the game would help a lot. Instead of the 4 spirit orbs = 1 heart container/stamina vessel you would get some experience to unlock skills, boost attack, defense, health, stamina ect. I just feel like consolidating spirit orbs, korok seeds, and the 5000 materials for upgrading armor into one form of exp system would work a lot better. It would be the simplest solution to making 90% of things feel worth it and would translate the usual Zelda feel of getting a heart piece for doing a side quest. TOTK especially has an endless grind feel of "beat tough enemy to get fuse item since you just broke 4 weapons beating it" as opposed to just running away from it. It just felt like TOTK enemies were massive damage sponges. If the puzzles are too easy, story is bad, combat isn't super fun, exploration isn't worth it then why bother?

It's a sequel of a game thatjust borrowerd ubisoft elements a decade too late and abandoned evrything that made zelda great. The people who say botw or totk are 10/10 or innovative games have never played an open world game before, probably never even played a non nintendo game before.

Thebswitch ganes and ss really dissapointbme when it comes to ganon. Ocarina of time spins an inferred story of ganon bring the kingdoms own doing thanks to the civil ware and the hubris of the king. Wind waker rounds him out some more with the root of his anger and the failure of his quest But then skyward sword makes ganons role pire destiny and removed from future games. Botw plays with some interest with the terror of the reincarnatioj cycle, yet gets problematic in framing the gerudo as needing to compensate for his existance. But totk flattens him into a puddle while also defying lore in how he got there. I miss the days when rehydrated ganon was the speculation

2:37:25 STOP.

52:16 YESSSS best video honestly i would like it a million times if i could

First time watching your videos but I never thought watching a Skitty plush critique a video game was something I’d ever enjoy 😂

35:09 also i wish there was more story with the sheika slate like why is the purah pad almost the exact same as the sheika,

33:36 I HATED THAT TULINS AIR ONLY BOOSTS U FORWARD ITS SO STUPID AND I WISH IT WAS THE SAME AS RIVALIS GALE

30:08 YESSS TY

i miss stasis honestly 22:40

deadass i agree 21:03 i was annoyed with the abilities and i was expecting like zelda being next to me fighting something else and not ganon, it just rehashes botw with some new features

that hard drive prob is crying over this video in ur folder

2:36:45 I teach Piano and Violin, whenever I randomly hear the first note of the guardian theme on the Piano during lessons or when I’m just playing the Piano myself, I have the same reaction every time. I get scared.

zonai slop everywhere is also especially sad when u realize zelda didn’t used to suck so much at environmental storytelling. it feels SO SO artificial in a way botw almost did at times but mostly avoided

Im a big sucker for long-form critiques of games that people praise to no end. Love it when they contain logic, details, and a healthy dose of snark. And THIS .... this is certainly THAT! Much love I loved people take BOTW apart, and I love you reaping TOTK

Thank you! I agree the game felt empty to me and the writing was lacking. Zelda is supposed to represent the triforce of wisdom yet she's so dumb! I was so mad she turned herself into a dragon with it seemed like no other efforts to try and figure out how to use her time power. It would be more understanding and rewarding if they showed that this was a last resort.

21:52 I don't think it's just rendering, I think it's because of camera too. When the camera follows Link and it hits a ceiling object too, it's going to have to take care of that somehow.

god this essay fucks so hard and is inspiring me to keep working on my own. skittybitty if u see this i fw ur vibe heavy 🙏🙏