I *very* strongly recommend The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Spoiler-free review)
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2024
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Tears of the Kingdom will overawe you with its scale and its imagination. It will demand your creativity and ingenuity in a way that few games would dare demand. It pays tribute to the things that have made this series so timeless, while also innovating so relentlessly that it will be the better part of a decade before any game is able to follow in its wake. Nearly four decades after The Legend of Zelda series made its debut, its latest instalment is a breathtaking high-point for the Zelda franchise, for Nintendo and for videogames.
For those that prefer write-ups, I've published a written version of this review over at Wellplayed.com.au. Here it is: www.well-played.com.au/the-le...
00:00 Spoiler free
26:46 SPOILERS
32:53 Spoiler free conclusion
#TOTK #Zelda #Review
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Hey can you confirm if there is a save transfer.
People on the emulator said horses and a few other things transfer over
this video will mark gaming history!
BLOATED OPEN WORLD
Fabulous review, buddy! If Tears of the Kingdom is as good as the production values and critiques in this review, it will indeed be a game for the ages. 10/10.
WAS it six years?!?!
In regards to the cooking, there is actually a sort of "cookbook".
When you select an item you want to cook, there is an option called "Select for Recipe" that opens different recipes you've made already, and you can quickly choose one and it will pick the ingredients for you.
The game never mentions it so it is easy to miss.
I never even knew this wow
I don’t see this in my BOTW game now? Can you explain? I assumed you meant when Link has ingredients in his hands? Or is there another way to select items for cooking I’m missing? Also tried googling “select for recipe BOTW” and nothing comes up. Can anyone help? I don’t think this is a thing? Unless I’m dumb and you mean tears of the kingdom?
@@neville2308
Yes you're being dumb, OP is talking about ToTK
@@neville2308 its in the new tear of the kingdom game. Several reviews mentioned this
@@neville2308 They mean this is a new feature in TOTK.
This man is the only one who can get me to sit through a 30+ min video of a game I don’t even have the proper console to play it on.
download an emulator
Mood
@@iliilliliiliilliliiliillil9137 that's the plan!
@@iliilliliiliilliliiliillil9137 I was going to ask about a Switch Emulator. Are they decent? I want to play Breath of the Wild but don't own a Switch.
@@cmdr.jabozerstorer3968 Ryujinx and Yuzu work great for TOTK and BOTW.
I just want to say, I've seen a bunch of the reviews on this game and you approached it the most like a gamer. I constantly say "Can I cheese this?" and the way you handled the 2 types of audiences was 👨🏻🍳👌🏼
Bruh the Japanese just built different! Sony n Nintendo fookin killing it yo!!
I’ve recently started BOTW for the first time and every time I come across something that looks even the slightest bit difficult, I am asking myself, “can I cheese this?”
this game is shit tbh, story suck, gameplay is uhhh just barely decent enough, combat is boring, this is the definition of overrated.
It' looks exactly the same... Lol bar the time of day. There's only so much power you can squeeze out of a turd... They also copied the vehicle mechanics shamelessly from banjo and kazoo ie nuts and bolts. Anyone who has played that game knows the vehicle mechanics are exactly the same down to how you build the vehicles
@@hasan1980hbwell people love game so what can you do? It's a great game!
The 8 hour detour thing has been my entire experience with the game so far. I was trying to gather ingredients for porridge to give to someone in Kakariko and I ended up doing half the Zora’s domain quest line instead. I was trying to catch a horse and I went cave diving for 3 hours instead. I was trying to reach a tower but I did two shrines, four korok puzzles, and helped two npcs instead. I loved BotW’s exploration, and I still revisit the game when I just want a relaxed exploration, but the sheer density and variety of TotK makes it look like it might be my favorite Zelda game.
Very easy to get lost In this game , however it’s still fun.. similar experience for me I was trying to get to karakiko village and stumbled on several different side quest, caves , shrines, and depths to explore 😊
Banjo and kazoowie nuts and bolts comes to mind 😂
Legends in your saved file says the dying woman waiting for your porridge is still waiting...
Short attention span simulator?
It' looks exactly the same... Lol bar the time of day. There's only so much power you can squeeze out of a turd... They also copied the vehicle mechanics shamelessly from banjo and kazoo ie nuts and bolts. Anyone who has played that game knows the vehicle mechanics are exactly the same down to how you build the vehicles
you can actually un-fuse weapons from the Inventory, and there is a cookbook in the meal tab of the inventory as well. both easy to miss but useful
Thank you! I was wondering about being able to unfuse materials or other weapons from a weapon, not once thinking to check the inventory menu lol.
@@pedrochevez2090 you can unfuse, but the secondary part is destroyed, you only keep the base weapon
@@pedrochevez2090 since writing this comment i have found that in Tarrey town you can pay to un-fuse weapons and get the items back rather than destroying them, good for using high damage monster parts until they almost break, getting them back and fusing them to another weapon.
also getting gems off of magic rods from wizzrobes
Yea idk he just says they aren't in there not that he hasn't found or doesn't know if they exist now he sounds weird
Well there is a cookbook, but you still have to manually grab each item right? You can’t just select a recipe and have it be cooked?
FYI: fusing a weapon grants a strict one-time +25 durability. You can’t reset it and there’s some edge case behavior when fusing weapon on top of another weapon, but +25 durability is the general rule
I did not know it was a one time thing that sucks, I found it out earlier when I fused to a breaking sword and it changed from red to normal I was hoping that was repeatable.
So the durability mechanic is still shit... Noted
Seriously? 😂😂😂
Think I can refuse over and over but guess not. This shit is probably meant for kids, seeing how you can build and shit. 😂
@@kg888 Its most likely a Glitch that ended up being in the game as "feature" and never fixed it
So basically if I unfuse and refuse inwont get that plus again?
One thing I really love about Ascend is that Nintendo knows that a vast majority of the playerbase have already done the climbing all over Hyrule in BotW. Ascend just lets you skip one of the big time-sinks to let you do the newer fun stuff
For getting to higher ground around Hyrule, Ascend (and Rewind on falling rubble) have saved me *so much* climbing time. It’s nice not having to change into the Climbing Gear all the time
I’m on the final stretch. I haven’t beaten the game yet but I’m maxing everything out before I go in. This is the greatest game I have ever played. Ever. It is astonishing. The story, which I’m sure you weren’t allowed to talk about, is excellent. The combat is excellent. The physics are excellent. The graphics are beautiful (artistically). The game holds up a respectable framerate for how impossible it is. The sense of adventure is real, it’s there. I have forgotten my life completely in this game. I have never ever felt this before. I am a go-getter. I love working and going out and being social. And Nintendo is keeping me glued to my seat for just another fight, just another seed, just another shrine, just another lightroot, just another day of this incredible world. This meticulously crafted love-letter to gaming. The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is the greatest game I have ever played. Ever. I don’t know if I will ever feel this again. Ever single gamer MUST play this game. They just must.
Exactly how I felt with Elden ring
personally, Fuse solves my problems with weapon durability. Seeing a camp full of high level mobs will make me want to find a way to kill them, because even if all my weapons slots are full, I can store all their horns and parts and bits in my inventory and just fuse them with random sticks at any time. It's like a huge backpack full of weapon parts that I can reach into after big encounters that eat all my current weapons. Like I'll come across a big boss fight, go through all my powerful weapons, but it's no big deal cause I can just go chop some trees and use black bokoblin horns to get em all back. And this makes me want to engage with all the enemy encounters to further deepen by backpack of enemy loot. This is helped a lot by botw's enemy scaling, I can come back to old areas and get higher level parts to bring into new areas I haven't explored yet.
Yep. BOTW's biggest problem with durability was that it always felt like unless you were fighting the strongest foes, that you would just be wasting resources fighting weaker enemies so most instinctively begin to avoid monster camps. Whereas in TOTK, even if you use up some or all of a weapon's durability, you get far more out of the encounters than in BOTW. Fighting a bunch of enemies and using your weapons might get you one or two good weapons in BOTW if they had good gear, or you might get worse gear than you had, but in TOTK, their horns and other materials can be used to turn even poor weapons into great ones. And these can be fused onto weapons at any time.
I disagree about weapon durability. It seems weapons are fragile in order to force the player to repeatedly experiment with the Fuse mechanic.
The game is like Silly Putty: its systems are squishy - not constant - to support constant creativity and experimentation.
I'm probably in the minority here but I really like fuse and weapon durability. Without them I'd just go through the game with one weapon consistently, but these mechanics force me to approach things differently. Like, there's a high level enemy ahead but I just broke my last bow so I need to go in and melee, or I only have low level melee weapons so I need to try throwing bombs, etc. I particularly disagree with saying fuse is a pain in the arse and makes weapon creation worse - I really think it makes weapons breaking less annoying as it's so easy to make new / better weapons. I do see your point that, like your cooking example, a cookbook or smithing guide or something would be useful to automate some of this stuff once you'd done it a few times! Or even a menu where you can select two items to fuse without the dropping stuff on floor part. Great review as always!
I think the weapons could stand to have a little more durability, but I’ve also very much adapted to the playstyle of weapons as consumables and I think it does work in it’s own way. Good weapons feel just a bit more valuable when you have to think of them more as a finite resource and pick and choose when to ”spend” them.
That was one of my favorite parts of Dying Light.
Fuse gives me so many options for powerful weapons that I feel happy to jump into combat instead of shying away and saying "I don't want to break these swords..."
I won't spoil where but there's a whole gauntlet of enemies, getting stronger and stronger, and even though I was a low-power Link I was able to succeed thanks to being able to fuse my enemy's weapons and the parts they dropped into powerhouses. It isn't about whether or not the weapons break, its about whether or not you're willing to break them, and Fuse makes me more than happy to break my weapons and craft new ones for my exact needs at any given moment.
the panicked fusing between lynels using their remains on four hearts in that one coliseum is a new highlight for me
@@CEDEREL That was the moment I truly fell in love with the Fuse system. I was underpowered for that but survived because of being able to use the Lynel's own parts against them. Blew my mind, having come from a 100% shrines run of BoTW just a few days before. Its so much better.
The depths reminded me a lot of finding the underground sections in Elden Ring, opening the map, and freaking out at how large it really was. Thought the overworld was already insane, so to have another layer just kinda broke me HAHAHA
@@walkingthroughworlds Sadly, I think it is just a coincidence. BotW and Age of Calamity talk about how Ganon came from under the castle, so the idea that the evil is underground was there from the start.
As for Elden Ring, I haven't played that (not personally my type of game), so I can't speak for that. But I'm still willing to bet it was a coincidence.
Or I'm a dumb dumb and Nintendo / FromSoft talked about each other's games since they don't compete lol
@@walkingthroughworlds probably Skyrim's Blackreach inspired both. Huge underground maps aren't unique to Elden Ring or Tears, although these two examples are certainly the most ambitious and well done in recent memory.
the most impressive thing is that the depths are actually darker than anything in elden ring. I did the lost woods quest line early in the game and let me tell you, jumping from tree to tree in total darkness with gloom hands stalking my every step just bellow was NOT my idea of a Zelda game
Also a tip for people low on food supplies, there's a small forest on satori mountain with a lot of apples and golden apples, like 200 if you get all of them. Close by there's also a pond with a lot of birds so a bomb arrow can get you about 10-15 meat.
Apples are not the best food but its a good base if you just want to make power up foods without using better ingredients
I still can't deal with this crafting stuff. Feels like chores.
Instead of bomb arrows, take a board or something else that floats put a fan on the back and a shock emitter on the front
@@nogoodhandlesavailable that just means the game is not for you, simple as that.
@@sept09 it's a legitimate complaint and they're free to express it, simple as that
@@lycanthrogenic979 No, it's not a legitimate complaint because it gets you nowhere. Nobody is changing the crafting because it's a core mechanic of the game and the game is all done and finished. So that means instead of uselessly complaining, go ahead and admit the game is not for you and move on to the next thing, let other people enjoy what they like. Idiot.
23:58 - Actually you can reverse it, you just have to go into your inventory and hover the weapon you want to unfuse, and pick the option to do so
Technically no, the option is 'destroy fused material'
honestly kind of funny he got through an entire playthrough without realizing that haha
There is also an NPC that will unfuse a weapon or shield for a fee without destroying.
Nope you lose stuff doing it
@@beeektur how do you in know
Congratulations on having a top 20 trending review! I've always thought all your reviews deserved to be trending.
Every frame of this game looks like an impressionist painting, it’s truly stunning and just how BoTW was, one of the best looking games ever made. It shows how clever art design triumphs over graphical horsepower. The switch is not much more than a calculator at this point but has some incredible looking games which is entirely down to the skill of the developers.
Yeah that tutorial where the tree shadows bug out is so beautiful. Go play Elden Ring where you get visual clarity and smooth frame rate. Not 20fps
@@bevanmcnicholl2525 Elden Ring has problems with both visuals and performance though lol, you could've given a better example
No one should even be remotely surprised as to why this game needed 6 years in the oven
Not to diminish how good it is... But this should absolutely not have taken 6 years. Same map, engine, graphics, animations, game design, gameplay loop etc. That's what takes up the bulk of development time, which is why BotW took 6 years. TotK is great, but 6 years is far longer than it should have needed to simply add on top of the formula.
@@obrgrs2547 honestly
@@obrgrs2547 not at all considering Covid which led to big delays. Also some of the things they did with this seamless world and physics based gameplay take a huge amount of development time. People just take it for granted. Much more complex world and physics based gameplay than something like the Horizon games.
And will run like dog shit.
@obrgrs and you know this exactly how?
I love when game developers can be influenced by others' work and it's a win for all parties.
Blood moon. Shooting stars are from terraria. And i love it
There is no enoigh of terraria in people s live
Not really. All we get is a sea of samey type games that have nothing unique or interesting to offer.
@@unlimited971 terraria hardly invented those simple concepts…
🔥💩🔥💩🔥💩🔥💩🔥💩🔥💩
@@unlimited971 terraria didn't create those things dude
I love how skillup can hardly contain the glee in his voice when talking about this game. sounds like it made him feel like a kid again, can't wait to play it.
Sounds like he got paid hard
@@user-hn5xc7wi5x Salty much?
@@user-hn5xc7wi5x the game is good, if you don't like that crying in the corner is always an option
@@user-hn5xc7wi5x Sounds like you are not the brightest candle on the chandelier.
@@Cye_Pie bloaty much?
Never even thought of using ascend on the boss constructs, the way I've been doing it is wait for the attack where he throws 4 blocks at you then hop on the block and hit recall.
When it comes to this series I’m just impressed. It’s held to a standard where people expect a metacritic score of at least 95 - which is rediculous - and yet they manage to pull it off every time. Here they once again exceeded expectations, and I can’t wait to put 150+ hours into this
*15000 hours you mean.
These games are so outdated it’s wild they get praise
@@Brainrot_HQ whats dated? mobile games lol?
It’s insane. They’ve been setting the standard since 1986, just imagine the level of responsibility that means making these games.
@@BenjoCovers Zelda runs at 30 fps, has terrible graphics, gameplay is outdated with no story and very cookie cutter combat. I understand a 80 maybe but I have zero clue how these games get the same amount of praise as games like rdr2 or GoW
Interesting, I loved the cooking system and really enjoy just. Taking time to cook links little meals and watching him hum and get so happy is really rewarding to me.
Sorry but that's pretty sad
@@10pmmemes88 Why is it sad? I take joy in the feeling of caring for someone. Plus link is so cute with his little humming.
You are a sad strange little man
@@10pmmemes88 you're being weird dude.
@@asf8648
My girlfriend felt exactly the same. Women gonna wom. In a good way.
Before I played this game, I thought 6 years was long for a sequel, but now I'm so surprised how this game only took 6 years to make
You can separate fused weapons by either doing it in your inventory (which deletes the material), or you can pay 20 rupees in tarry town and get both items back. You can also repair any weapon by feeding it to a rock octorok.
If you upgrade armour more than once and take advantage of set bonuses you can become almost unkillable. Not to mention all of the combat zonite devices you can make and then auto-build into existence.
Also, there is a recipe list, you select it after choosing any ingredient you have cooked before.
Now the only issue is the framerate, but it's literally a world more than double the size of elden ring running on a smart phone...
Nothing is more of a relief than skill up making a positive review
Shill up*
@@drumnbassdan Are You upset that we actually got a good game for once?
Actually, this is a huge problem. It means you can't trust these people, they'll bend over for large corporate who infamously "give free stuff to whomever bends over regardless of the truth". and to see him destroy JS "for PC" while extending a substantial level of tolerance to this one is sus to say the least.
Especially when the company is literally one going AFTER PC GAMERS ESPECIALLY for emulating their games.
@@samf.s.7731 or maybe..just maybe…he actually just liked the game😱
@@samf.s.7731 You're mad that criminals are being caught. Think on that.
I am surprised in the best way every time you recommit to being spoiler free. That first play through is the closest thing to real magic, and I’m glad to see how much that’s cherished and respected❤
idk man, im like half way thru the game but this video is still having a lot of spoilers, had to stop watching after 4 min
@@BenjoCovers Same here, immediately into stuff I haven't seen.
This shit is not spoiler free in the slightest
@@ajbickford312 WELL SHIT. I got the game in mail yestrday and was waiting on my last amibo before starting. skipped his spoiler section. But yeah i new runes were a bit spoilish.
Thanks! I’ve been with you since the beginning, and I must say that the way you edit and articulate your videos is a masterclass! Here’s to the years to come👏👏👏
I finally got to watching this after going in completely blind to Tears of the Kingdom and hitting credits north of 130 hours. Gotta say this is an outstanding review of the game as a whole and I agree with everything you said. What a legendary game.
You know someone's a good reviewer when they can review a game they love, with extreme positivity, and still help you understand the game's probably not for you.
One of those games where I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy the Skillup review more than I’d enjoy actually playing the game 😂
Couldn’t have said it better myself!!!
Agreed. I like a more guided experience. I love everything about Elden Ring, and just can't bring myself to pick it up now that I've been away "from what I was doing" for more than a month. I don't remember what I was doing, where I was going, what my goals were, what my built was supposed to be, etc. I haven't touched BOTW in a solid year and a half for the same reason. The more dense world sounds great, but without a little more guidance I just don't see myself loving TOTK the way I do…idk. More mainstream open worlds.
21:22
@@coleG112 That’s because mainstream open worlds are meant to hold your hand like a baby and point you in the direction you’re meant to go since you lack any desire to actually explore.
Okay the strength of the creativity and "immersive sim" aspect is exactly what i want from more video games, and i don't think there is enough AAA games that lean on that, so i'm very glad it's such a strong aspect of a new release of one of the most iconic video game franchise.
First, you can undo the fusion with a material, although it will destroy it. Second, with the food, there is an option, if you press x at the materials menu you can select a recipe to automatically grab all the ingridients. Also it tells you what you lack to make it.
I didn't find Elden Ring dense at all. Quite the opposite. It was: Roam around wide open Dark Souls map, kill stuff, find dungeon, kill stuff, go to legacy dungeon, kill stuff, explore next section, kill stuff, find dungeon, kill stuff ... It was a monotonous slog with two exceptional looking areas: The Capital and Limgrave. Tears benefits from all of its variation and charming characters, story, and locales.
Skillup I love you! Ty for not just throwing stuff we hadn’t seen. I’ve really become a serious fan. Ty for the review.
25:00 you can cook meals when you select an item and the recipe from the menu. It automatically picks the items and you just have to put it in the pot so you don’t have to keep selecting the individual food and parts
Maybe they added this in a later update?
@@DF-ep3kk nope lol, he just didn’t use it.
That is true, but if you want to make MANY meals all at once, that's still not an option (like... What do you do when you have 40+ apples that you want to turn into meals?). That, and honestly, having a variety of meals is helpful (since buffs override each other), so... Manually making each meal still is often the best option.
When you select an item you want to cook, there is an option called "Select for Recipe" that opens different recipes you've made already, and you can quickly choose one and it will pick the ingredients for you.
i hope the lego vehicle thing is just an option and not mandatory for certain places
i dont want to spend time making stuff, i just want to hit things
They're mandatory for many quests and shrines unfortunately. Some take a lot of time and it can really disrupt the gameplay if you're not a huge puzzle fan. I'm a huge puzzle fan and even some of them are a bit too much trial and error, it's like the shrines in BotW but now takes 5x longer to solve, and an annoying thing with TotK machine building puzzles is that when you build something wrong, the machine parts can be gone/destroyed and you need to collect them again or restart the shrine from the beginning.
Doesn't look like it's an option. He mentions an island in the middle of a big lake with a bunch of "conveniently placed" items to build a raft. I can't see any other way you'd get to that island other than building the raft. Very much feels like an illusion of choice.
I was honestly on the fence about this whole Zelda thing, and then you said, “flamethrower shield.” 😳 Fuck it, I’m in! 😂
Haha right? I wanna know if it lowers the shields durability while in use. I mean, if it does I'm still all for it lol
Ralph, I want to say you're honestly making some really great content. Keep it up dude. I look forward to every video you put out.
right. its not filler. doesnt drag out the point. very informative and thought out reviews/reactions to the games in a mostly objective manner. i particularly like the formatting he does for the videos. you can tell there’s actual structure to the talking point and theres a bit of depth to teach bullet point
Still can't wrap my head around why he was banned from a certain popular forum (ResetEra), it's kind of doing a disservice to his near perfect reviews...
My goodness. You are the best at what you and Austin do. Please don’t ever stop.
I was always going to get TOtK, but this review is the first I’ve seen that makes me wish I could stay out of work today just to begin playing it. Phenomenal job on getting your points across. I didn’t even have to watch the spoiler section to get crazy excited to play this. Perfect review
I still hate weapon Durability.. it just discourages me from ever using my weapons.. they sit around in inventory. Any game that discourages using items is a bad design.
my favourite review channel on youtube, just found you, thanks for all the insight and good game recommendations like totk and remnant!
Man what a glorious effort from Nintendo. I’m just finishing the tutorials and headed back to the Temple of Time, but I’ve already had several really rewarding moments while exploring Great Sky Island. So pumped to get down to Hyrule and start my journey!
Weapon durability never massively bothered me. However, the shield breaking when you surf on it did. Like, c’mon man, just let me have that
16:53 is the feeling a Dungeon Master has when they planned this whole cool dungeon/story arc for their campaign and the players find a way to circumvent it all
Lmfao
There is two doors 🚪 left or right? The party chooses left. I don’t like that 🧐 so I move the stuff behind the right door to the left. 🤣🙌🏻
I’m only halfway through the review, but I’m reminded again why you’re the absolute GOAT reviewer. Your writing is impeccable, your vocabulary is perfect, your speech is eloquent yet concise, and you know exactly what is important to focus on. I’ve not found a single reviewer whose opinion seems to match mine so often, nor have I found who’s always objective and honest, even when it might be controversial. You’re a cut above the rest Ralph. Aussies often punch above their weight on the world stage, and you’re no exception. Thanks for all your hard work mate. Cheers
Idk I can trust his combat expertise after that horrid, factually wrong take he had on MHR wirebugs.
@@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034 I get you bro. However, you’ll never agree with anyone 100%, and everyone makes mistakes, but Ralph continuously puts out enough great content that his small missteps are easily overlooked IMO. If you give him the chance he’ll win you back. Plus I love to support smaller channels like this. I’ve given up on the big gaming media channels.
Now that I've finished up my own video (going up in a few hours), I'm going through and looking up the reviews I skipped pre-release-this one in particular is really fantastic, one of your best. Hell, there are a few points in here where I'm thinking "damn, Ralph got there before me!" So this is part congratulations on an excellent video, and part apologising for any unintended similarities between mine and your vids, haha. Keep up the great work!
Do we get music? Or do we get long periods of ambiance between several intermediate, single piano key notes?
Literally played CHUNKS of BoTW with random LoZ OST's randoming in the background on my PC.
I watched a bunch of reviews already, yours easily stands out as the best, well done!
These are the kind of games that made me dream back in the day.
It’s refreshing to see such a game appear again, in this dark age.
True. This year has had tons of bangers & coupled with last year I think great games are finally making a comeback.
dark age for the gaming industry indeed
@bingly bingler im not speaking for 100% of the industry of course. but oh boy where do i begin... 1)gameplay wise. nowadays they prioritise graphics rather than gameplay. 2)scummy/greedy practise(lootboxes, locked content behind paywall that is clearly shouldve been included in the full price original game(im not talking about proper dlc but clearly cut content published as dlc)) 3) sky high price but not money worth value(heck i dont mind paying 500 if its worth it. but sadly i very rarely able to agree with nowadays pricepoint with the quality we're getting. 4)to prolong game time, they added tedious grind etc to give the illusion that their game is "long". im not talking about games where you do have to grind as its premise such as mmo etc. basically now whenever i play games, most of the time it feels like i need to "work" if you get i mean instead of having fun(might as well go to work for real and earn some money extra hahaha). 5)broken games at launch. where is quality control like old times? we pay that much out of our hard earned money and we get that kind of broken unfinished games just because they have a deadline to meet? using school as an anology, if we rush to finish an assignment and submit it(naturally the quality is bad), we will get an "F". but the gaming industry seemingly has no repurcussions giving those kind of "quality" product to consumers. they used to have QA tester, bug testers for games. nowadays "WE" the consumers who pays full price are the beta testers. (maybe they do but with whats happening nowadays they might as well dont. seems like it). the list goes on.. of course this is 100% my own opinion and i do not stand for everyone. to each their own. but personally i'm really on the verge of quitting gaming as a hobby entirely and thinking of looking for other hobby which makes me really sad because i love gaming. but for now im still barely hangging on due to some good games although rarely. in a way im really glad you asked my opinion on this. never got to share my take on this to someone else. glad to be able to "vent" a little bit i guess. its like, to me, its a growing tumor(getting worse and worse) but i cant seem to leave it alone, like how you never leave sick family members. because i grew up with gaming. its helped me through dark times. some people might disagree on some of my points though and thats okay. this is just what i felt. I appreciate you my guy for asking me the question hahaha feels better. have a good one 💪🏻
@bingly bingler likewise. thanks for sharing.
@binglybingler2598 I see it as a dark age because the best game of the generation came in late 90s and 00s. PS1, N64, PC. etc. Today...You rarely get a masterpiece of a game. Rarely. It's like innovation and creativity is just not the same as it used to be in the golden age of gaming. You often have nice graphics but kind of shallow games where you feel robbed after paying 60 dollars for them. I'm not saying good games won't come out anymore...But its rarer. I feel that gaming is really about what might make the most money these days, and studios are less interested in creating a innovative gaming experience like they did back in the day. Games of my childhood were things like Resident Evil 1 & 2, Silent Hill, Zelda Ocarina of Time & Majora Mask, Smash bros, Turok, Duke Nukem 3D, Half Life 1, etc. Even to this day I don't feel any modern game comes close to the innovation those games created back then. I mean the games I'm most waiting for are FF16 and Diablo 4, and both look somewhat basic and lackluster compared to FF7/FF10 or Diablo 2 back in the day. They're just not able to reproduce the same masterpieces.
I think it’s safe to say Skill up is probably the #1 game reviewer now, he’s reviews just keep getting better and better after every game
never forget he shilled cyberpunk to the next millennium and said it “delivered” in most ways lmao
I used to love Zelda games on Gameboy color as a kid but now this is exhausting! Its a great game but I don't think I will ever played because of the massive world and time investment. To make it worse, 2023 had so many freaking games come out and I don't know when to find the time to play them all. Its crazy what the pandemic had created and led to 2023. I have a headache thinking about it. I have not even played Breath of the Wild either.
That would be ACG or Mortismal.
his review on doom eternal was shit
minus cyberpunk and overly hating TLOU2 in spite of great gameplay sure.
I was one of those that didn't finish the other game. I probably got 2% in. The weapon durability was a big factor for me, but also the open nature of the game left me stumbling into places that were way above my equipment level. I think the game could have had a little bit more structure while preserving the creativity.
I always wait for the skillup review now and appreciate the detail here. I think I'll pass on this one. Link to the past and ocarina of time will still be my jam
Same. The item durability was so annoying I rage quit and sold my switch because of it.
@@sellcryptonow6806 wow you seem like a grown up, congrats lol
I understand not playing a game you don’t vibe with, that’s fine, but you sold your switch in anger over not liking ONE game? Good lord are you 12?
@@Stephaniepasqualino-de6qy that was the reason I bought it
@@ericyabadabadoo I don't enjoy micromanaging an inventory in a game. It felt like work to me
I wish they made weapon durability a toggle, where players can play the traditional way of; use weapon till it breaks kind of thing and others just wail against enemies with their fave weapon. I would have loved to combine two long spears and just poke at enemies because i love that weapon type. Im the type of person who if they found a weapon they really loved id stick to it for the rest of the playthrough like in MH, where I only used bow and mastered it, in DMC 5 sticking only to Yamato, or in Elden Ring sticking with Mohgwynn's Sacred spear. Weapon durability kinda makes me anxious. Thats just me, kinda sad weapon durability is still a thing here but still, this game should be celebrated for its genius structure and tons of hours to sink into. Have fun everyone!
Yeah, I hate the weapon durability thing. Bummed it returned.
One thing about weapon churn, you actually can unfuse items, and, while I still have more testing to do, every time you fuse you get more durability back.
Ie, you can use a weapon to the brink, unfuse it, then fuse soemthing else onto it to get more life out of it. I dont know yet the full extent of how far this can be pushed, but this should be able to keep weapon churn down.
Feels good to hear a cheerful and happy Skill Up talking about videogames again, after the disaster that was Redfall for reviewers and the like !
Oh damn when the music hits at 5.45. That was so well cut into it. Thank you so much for the reviews! It’s always hit the mark and honestly one of the most accurate and honest reviewers out there. Followed you since laymen and will continue supporting your every single video!
I've noticed that so many of skillups videos have a moment where the music kicks in and your just like WOW. The final fantasy 15 is the most memorable next to this for me.
@@LavaLamp_ yea these reviews are done so well. No matter how long they are I always watch it till the end and enjoy every minute of it.
Austin is a genius for sure
It's encouraging to know that there are still some first-party developers that can reliably deliver quality every time.
Not every time but Nintendo rarely misses.
Bruh 99% of the map is recycled from botw lmao. Even an extension like blood and wine sold $15 gives you a new world to explore but apparently it's too hard for a $80 AAA. Yeah amazing first party devs for creating a dlc then selling it at full price
@@mordor1779 Not 99%, as there are the sky islands and the entire underground. Also not $80. Also not a DLC. Damn, every part of your comment was objectively wrong. You should try liking things (or at least being honest with them), it would make you a happier person.
BotW was trash and so is this.
@@mordor1779 easy! They're gonna kill you...
I find recall to be pretty underated, as it can break plenty of the puzzles in half.
In momentum based Puzzles, you can completely stop an objects momentum by using recall on it and cancelling it immediately. If you need to build a ramp to get up to a higher place, you can just lift up an object with the Ultrahand, put it back down, get on it and then use recall to use it as a makeshift elevator.
Gotta love it when this man drops a positive review on a game you’re looking forward to. Now the only thing I have to worry about is if I wasn’t a digital or physical copy😅
both sold out
Fantastic review man. Your my go to at this point. Not afraid to be blunt about critiques which I respect and feel is important. Great job.
The line when link said
"I'm gonna bring tears to your kingdom" was so strong, i was at the edge of my seat throughout tne entire thing.
Yeah no kidding, when he ended it with _"It's Linkin' time!"_ I started bawling uncontrollably. Powerful stuff.
And then he Linked into Ganondorf
I liked the part where zelda said "Link you must find me" and link replied
"Well excuse me princess".
Brings tears to my kingdom come.
@@unioneye1087 I think you meant he fusioned with him
@@SkullGod69 I also rate the part where link says to Zelda, look at those balistics.
I made a big deal about other consoles first party games not having 60 fps, but since it's Nintendo, the game being 30 fps and dipping in the low 20s is fine to me.
At least the graphics are next gen /s
@@benjithecat1294 This game makes me feel nostalgic. The 720p really takes me back to a simpler time.
I would say that a minor criticism that wasn’t mentioned here would be the lack of increased enemy variety compared to the first game. If you subtract all the enemy types from Breath of the Wild and look at the ones that are actually new here, that are not derivative of the enemies from the first game it’s not a super notable increase. A minor criticism for some but it definitely bother me a bit after I explored more and wasn't getting the diverse enemy variety I was hoping for.
Wrong
So instead of 4 enemies we have 6 ?
Huh, IGN praised it for the exact opposite. But also, lol IGN so who knows
Umm I haven't played it yet, but I've counted 7 new ones already.
The amount of asset flipping in this game is really disappointing
So it wasn't totk being a dlc
The problem was botw being a demo all along
Great wat to look at it 😂
I am so excited. Will be finding time in between moving house to play this all week. I took the week off work since I'm moving but honestly I picked the move date just so I'd be off for this.
I don’t get it when people say this game is ‘reused content’ and didn’t need 6 years.
this is a game about using abilities to interact with the world. link doesn’t have his old abilities so the entire world needed to be redesigned to consider link’s new hand powers.
Not only that but above and below have been added , the world of hyrule has developed beyond what we saw in BOTW, and there is a swathe of new content for players to enjoy. It couldn’t be dlc because it is literally a sequel
Really great review, i fast forward the spoiler section but this looks incredible, the combat is not my favorite part but besides that I can't wait for tomorrow!
Awesome review without lots of spoilers in the beginning 👏👏
Unlike my dad Skillup never disappoints
my step mom never disappoints
Don't you mean "Unlike me to my dad, Skillup never disappoints"?
@@jesustyronechrist2330 yeah🥲
@@jesustyronechrist2330 Nah I wish my dad was better.
@@jesustyronechrist2330 sounds like he saw his mom with the mailman, UPS man, UberEats driver, contractor, etc and put 2 and 2 together
The criticisms of the combat system are interesting, because it seems to me that the fuse and ultra hand mechanics (and the way these greatly expand the player's toolkit) seem to be the answer to this criticism. I'm curious to know what you think about this. For example, the enemies that nearly one-shot you - it seems like the answer here isn't about increasing your defence through clothing or increasing your attack power through regular weapons, but rather, it seems to me about leveraging the puzzle-solving tools to aid in combat. I've noticed other reviewers speak in these terms, so I'm just interested to know what you think.
@@PaytonMollo I think he referenced it, I can't remember. But after playing the game for some hours, I think it's easy to underrate the role that the physics and buildings systems have as part of combat. In fact, one of the big things the game explicitly encourages in some cases is to actually use the tools to build mechanical traps. This, combined with Fuse, dramatically expands the combat sandbox.
I say this because I think if we talk about combat as being exclusively about swordplay or bow and arrow, then we're only really talking about the small 'core' of combat and not the bigger picture.
@@PaytonMollo Yeah, if you do a search on RUclips you'll find examples. You can use the Zonai parts to create not just vehicles, but also mechanical traps.
Super excited to start playing! I was just waiting for Skill Up to put out a review 🤘
Easily one of the best reviewers / journalists on the platform. Thank you for the continual high quality content you push out! Appreciate the crap out of you man!
No. He quit a real job to play video games all day. Do not support him
@@traviswilson36Did he kidnap your family too ?
@@dominicharris5851 SIMP
@@itstyler6567 It’s shameful. People out there actually work. This man probably hasn’t seen the sun in months because he’s glued to his screen playing games.
The ball gargling is wild. Apply to Krispy Kreme so you can put those glazing skills to good use-you’re so talented!
I'll watch in a week or so, but will run the whole vid now for the watch time and retention. Keep smashing it Ralph.
Yo what up Jon!! Been watching your channel for years its so cool seeing you here!
Speaking about what he might also missed (aside cooking). There's also a weapon blueprint, it could be another way to avoid the fuse annoyance (he didn't really mentioned it). But I do agree with the combat, it ranged on okay to fun depending on how you abuse your abilities. You will pause a lot in combat. Kind of ruining the pace of combat. (So far...)
It can't be helped since no reviewers have the exact same experiences anyways.
Im prob in the minority that didnt completely love breath of the wild. hated the inventory system and constantly breaking weapons. i also never played on my TV which prob didnt help. and i did feel that world emptiness.
This is the first game that has me very excited and I'm happy to see it will deliver. Can't wait for tomorrow to play it.
When skillup says in the title “ very strongly” you know its a masterpiece
Elden Ring, Resident Evil. Yep.
well yea that’s why it’s very strongly recommended lol
but it has minor performance issues, which means in my opinion, it should not be a 'very strongly' recommended game. I would still recommend it, but I definitely wouldn't rate it as a must buy since I feel for that category, it must be stellar in every category, including performance.
@@urazz7739 considering the switch is so underpowered the performance is still impressive
@@urazz7739 minor performance issue can be outweighed by just how damn good the entirety of the game is though. Strongly recommend doesn’t mean perfect so your standard is unreasonable
amazing review... The compilations, the soundtrack you chose the way you explain how masterful it is.. Thank you
my biggest issues is the controls. i used to use a ps5 controllerr, where the buttons are working as i would expect each button to be signed, in zelda the same button i use triangle for is jump, and the circle button is enter a menu or conversation or pickup while X is back out of menus, trying to change these controls results in something being broken, if i want to jump on X i now cant sprint on the same button on a horse, because i also want X to be my accept button when menu managing, i simply cannot get used to these controls when im a ps5 player at all, :/
I’m really happy that the BotW fans have got this. I’m enjoying the hype. But I really hope they make just one streamlined Zelda game. Even if it’s just for me 😂😩 i miss them so much. These games just feel like Ubisoft games to me. I’m just a bit fatigued on ‘sandboxes’
Could be SkillUp's third 1 mil views review in the last couple months? Let's go!
Sucks that the combat hasn't improved, but i'm still looking forward to playing this game
I actually really enjoyed the combat in botw but im not a like dark souls fan either. Maybe I could be though if I got really into it. I enjoy the easy uncomplicated responsive combat anyway, but its not very deep.
Not once in the video does he parry with the shield, flurry rush, battle with a vehicle or use the more useful arrowheads to handle groups of enemies. It's still not brilliant but nowhere near as basic as he makes it look.
Are the amibos from botw still applicable in totk? I saw at 29 minutes in you were wearing the fierce dirty mask. Or at least you had white hair and a grey cap
I love watching Ralph review games even if I have absolutely zero interest in ever playing them. I didn’t like BOTW, and TOTK looks like just more of that, but I’m happy that fans got a win here. His reviews are just so damn informative and entertaining that I can’t help but watch them.
Wait…you didn’t like BOTW but instead of trashing is and the sequel, you are wishing the fans of the game well? I don’t think you understand how internet negativity is supposed to work! 😮
Seriously, though, respect. 👍🏻
I feel the same way. Games like Elden Ring are not my thing, but I can totally understand why people would love them, and I’m glad it works for them. Why do we have to hate on things that aren’t out taste? 🤷🏻♂️
Same lol
@@scubasteve2189 Because this and BOTW are bastardizations of The Legend of Zelda franchise that so many know and love and have for many years. This isn’t a “win” for fans. It’s ANOTHER gigantic L for actual, TRUE fans.
@@holleringsmith3837 agree but times have moved on. Time to replay ALTTP
@@holleringsmith3837 There we go, THAT’S the seething, ridiculous negativity we all needed. 😉
I hate to tell you this, but BOTW and TOTK are going to be the most successful Zelda games of all time, and two of the most successful GAMES of all time. I appreciate your gate-keeping attempts, but the fans and the non-fans have spoken. They are great games. 👍🏻
Thank you sir!!!!!! Finally someone mentions that Elden Ring and TotK are very similar in ways in their perspective world. Great Review!
Can you remap the buttons in game without going to switch fundamental controller setting ?
Luv you skillup, my drive to work Friday is made all more by listening to your reviews ❤
Well, weapon durability was the deal breaker for me. It's not the weapon breaking itself that is the issue, my issue is needing to open a menu to swap weapons MID COMBAT. If I need to open a menu to SEARCH for something on the middle of combat, I'm out.
I'm glad this is a good game, but it's definitely not for me.
You can literally just hit the direction button to swap weapons. What kind of dealbreaker is that for playing a game?
@@btd0ja finding a weapon I'm comfortable with the moveset, with appropriate power level because weapons in this game are a resource and resource management is important, it's not just go through the d-pad. If durability was at least large enough or with a clause that it can't break mid combat, so you have to swap in between combat encounters, I'd be completely on board.
The way it is, it's just not for me, and that's okay, not every game needs to appeal to me.
Weapon durability is back? I don't mind early game weapon durability... But I hope there's a master smith that can permanently fix your fave weapons or at least once I get the master sword make it not break. Probably a hard pass for me. Its just needlessly annoying.
So for the former, the game heavily wants you to fuse weapons or materials onto your weapons. Fusing other weapons onto a weapon provides that weapon's attack stat onto the first weapon's attack stat and provides more reach, while fusing materials fuses the fuse attack stat but doesn't affect it's reach. But to balance it out, weapons fused onto other weapons can break before the main weapon, while materials will not break before the main weapon does. Both add a one time flat 25 extra hits that drains before the main weapon's durability does as long as there is something on it. Meaning if you fused a weapon onto another weapon and the secondary weapon broke, then it would start draining from the main weapon's durability until you fused something else to it, after which it would go back to draining from what was remaining of the 25 hit pool. Because of this and because weapon attack values can get stupid powerful, weapons in TOTK tend to last a lot longer.
Furthermore, there are a lot more weapons with bonuses like extra durability, having their attack power doubled when wet, or doing more damage from sneak attacks (I think it doubles what you normally would do for a sneak attack). There aren't weaponsmiths. In-game almost all of the weapons are noted to be decayed and that repairing them is basically impossible. However, there is a statue that you can buy "unique" weapons from. These unique weapons would be ones like the Biggorron sword that was originally an Amiibo weapon. In TOTK, pretty much all of the amiibo gear is found in the game itself now and when you find it for the first time, even the tunics and such, you can rebuy them from the statue for a secondary very common "currency". As for the Master Sword, it's basically back to being like it's base BOTW form. However, you can also fuse things to it to get the attack, durability and/or range boost. And it has a 10 minute cooldown when it "breaks".
Did you play this post patch? Digital Foundry spoke relatively glowingly about the performance after the day one patch.
Great review! What's the camera in the spinning wheel? Is that a photo mode?
Traditional dungeons being present in the game is what i missed so much in Breath of the wild and kind of left me indifferent towards it , to hear Tears is both a return to form and takes the best what Breath had to offer got me INCREDIBLY EXCITED - Good Review Ralph :)
Manage your expectations, they are not traditional dungeons they are themed yes but not room to room dungeons with items
@Angry Sushi Yes, as someone who has been playing the game seeing everyone on social media take what Nintendo said in the interview out of context and run with it has been frustrating. They were just talking about visual design.
They're not present in the game. Nothing like a traditional Zelda dungeon is at all back.
That transition at 5:45 gave me goosebumps! Such a nice review as always!
Man, it's so good. The one in his Elden Ring review gave me the same goosebumps.
@@goldewayne5320 yep, same!
Amazing review, totally nails the strengths of this game with a balanced appreciation of certain weaknesses. I’m loving the game, so many mechanics it’s easy to forget or miss some, I still need to remind myself to use ascend- if I’m stuck the answer is usually ascend. This showed me I’d missed some interactions and options I’d never even considered.
There is a recipe book though but it’s hidden in the menu - select the ingredient, if you’ve used it before a select recipe option will be beneath the hold option. Select the recipe card and it auto holds all the ingredients- really easy to overlook, if an npc gives you a meal it’s added to the cards which helps as well. In case that’s helpful to anyone.
Really enjoy your reviews, will be waiting for your FF16 video, on the fence with that one, fingers crossed it’s as good as it looks.
i have a new zealand switch account and i want to play the game early, but the currency on the eshop is NZD and my card is USD. do i just enter my card and it automatically translates the money or what? i dont want to spend 100$ if thats what its gonna cost.
I am ridiculously excited!!! Thankyou for an awesome review that was conscious of spoiler concern!!! Cant wait to buy
@asparagus126no
Great...weapon fragility is back...Not a deal breaker but it does kill my enjoyment greatly.
Thanks so much for your commitment to the spoiler warning. I watched this when it dropped, stopped at the spoiler warning, played 30 hours of TOKT, discovered for myself all the incredible things you mentioned, and the unbridled joy and excitement I experienced at each discovery is a feeling you enabled.
Yours are the first (and sometimes only) reviews I watch and you did a killer job. Cheers mate
Awesome review as always. Super psyched to get into this one today! Only thing I disagree with is the cooking. For me this is essentially a minigame similar to Monster Hunter, but a bit more fun and cutsie. From memory there are a few ways to speed the process up, but to be honest I just like chilling out and cooking stuff every now and then.