I love TotK! It's my favorite Zelda game and had such an incredible story with Zelda's sacrifice and the grand finale, on top of how fun the gameplay is. Subscribed!
I've been playing video games since I was a child and have played all the big titles (Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption, God of War...) and to this day I can say without a doubt that TotK is the best game of all time
I really have such a soft spot for Tears of the Kingdom, as it was the first Zelda game I was introduced to. I played it with my boyfriend, and I loved that it was shared, and I truly enjoyed it. The scenery is breathtaking, and this game really means a lot to me ❤️
Just forgot to mention; but I played TotK before BotW, and I think that helped me appreciate it more because I didn’t experience that same Hyrule in the previous game so it all felt new and fresh. Just thought I’d mention that :)
I played BotW first, but by the time TotK came out, I haven't played BotW for 4 years... So it also felt "new and fresh" for me... But at the same time also familiar... Like coming home after a long, long journey 💙
Having played BotW multiple times and in fact done a playthrough right before starting TotK, I think there are areas where it hurts the game such as a lot of the side content, and other areas where it heavily benefits it such as Hyrule Castle and the 4 Regional quest towns.
Tears of the Kingdom has my favorite version of the Temple of Time theme. The way the Saxophone and the Trumpet play a call and response piece really gives vibes of “The Final Trial” from BotW (with the Bagpipes soloing the whole time), and “Final Hours” from MM (The way the Sax and Trumpet feel as it they’re reaching out to each other). The game’s soundtrack overall has some of the most peak in the entire series. While yes, I’ll never forget Mr. Kondo-San’s compositions, I must say that a lot of the music in this game has reached his level of work. (No, I’m not here to suck off Colgera, and the 3rd Trailer BGM. But “Zelda’s Wish”, “Critical Decisions”, “Hyrule Castle (Surface)”, and “Construct Factory (Stage 3)” are all some of the most beautiful themes ever crafted for a video game. I applaud the Zelda Team.
Any time I see someone address "the discourse around the game", it's only focused on one side as if that was everything. "Haters" call out "shills" and vice versa, both call the other a vocal minority. From where I stand people have been criticizing the game since release, since then more have played the game and it's the same opinions showing up again and again. The majority is able to see flaws and still enjoy the game's strengths. I don't think a review can be fair if it doesn't account for pros and cons at the same time. BOTW was amazing and had flaws, or at least was focused on certain things more than others. TOTK is great too, more ambitious, but the way it doubles down on BOTW sometimes underlines limitations. And all of that, as usual, will affect each player differently based on their experience. If we don't acknowledge both sides at once, it's just a game of ping pong to "correct" the others as if there was a single True Experience.
I love both BotW and TotK despite their individual flaws. I love BotW's story and lore-especially the Champions. While TotK's story isn't delivered as well at it could have been, I still loved it-especially Zelda's characterization. I will say that TotK 's finale blows BotW's finale out of the water. I was disappointed with Dark Beast Ganon and thought I should have got to climb him Shadow of Colossus style, so the Dragon ending of TotK was absolutely incredible.
1:14 - What we need to consider is that people who say TotK is bad are a part of what is called "vocal majority". But their opinion isn't really the universal one. There are very few games which achived such a huge succes, especially after enormous expectations. And 96/100 review average, 21 milion copies sold in a year and countless awards say that it really resonated with most people, so it is still objectively a masterpiece
No one has measured what the minority/majority of an opinion is, if the only stat we can pull is an aggregated score. It's definitely well rated, but that doesn't mean that the recurring criticism isn't valid, liking a game isn't binary. Now if you're only talking about people who say it's trash, I get you. Beyond that, people (like me) probably had a great time but many things they wish were done differently.
The problem with Tears of the Kingdom story is that it has the same memory formula as Breath of the Wild. It’s a linear story that’s told in a non linear fashion and the vast majority of players will go through the game collecting the tears out of order. This worked better for Breath of the Wild because Link just woke up after 100 years and lost all his memories and you basically go around the post apocalyptic land trying to rediscover yourself and what happened to the champions. I witnessed Sonia die in one cutscene and then she was back alive in another because the memories were out of order. The sages aren’t really all that fleshed out because every cutscene after each dungeon has the sages say the same exact thing line for line word for word as all the other cutscenes in the game. It’s tedious and annoying from a story perspective. They also made it completely obvious from the start that Zelda was a puppet. Lastly, you can pull the master sword and discover that Zelda is the light dragon before doing any of the dungeons which means you will have to sit there and watch the sages see puppet zelda and you’ll know it’s an imposter but can’t do anything about it. The ancestors of the sages also witness zelda turning into a dragon and yet none of them inform Link about it at all. I just think the story is all over the place and doesn’t make that much sense. Breath of the Wild had a simple story but at least it made sense and had interesting characters. I didn’t really care about the new characters like Sonia and Mineru. I also think the Sheikah Tech from Breath of the Wild is more interesting especially from a lore perspective than the Zonai are in Tears of the Kingdom. I will admit that Zelda turning herself into a dragon was the ultimate sacrifice in the series besides maybe The King flooding himself and Hyrule in Wind Waker in hopes for a better future. It would have been better and more impactful if Zelda stayed a dragon but instead she wakes up and doesn’t remember anything. Almost like taking a nap for thousands of years and never had to suffer because of it. The cutscene where Rauru tells Ganondorf about the hero with the sword that seals the darkness was one of the greatest cutscenes ever. And the final fight in the sky with the two dragons has some of the most beautiful music in the entire series. I can hate on the game but also recognize when it does get it right. Overall, I thought the story could have been told so much better and at the end of the day it leads us with more questions than actual answers.
When looking at a game I love like this one, or one that I really don’t like (recent AC games), I try to consider the opposite side’s viewpoint so that I’m not completely biased one way or the other, recognizing that there are good and bad things done in every game. And while Totk made some missteps here and there, it is overall an extremely well made game and when it’s high points hit, they hit hard. Some Zelda fans even now are willing to accept some of the few things Skyward Sword did well, even though its problems are still very apparent even a decade later. I think the recent Totk hate is due to how when it first came out any who voiced criticisms were shouted down by those who loved it, and now the pendulum is swinging the other way. I hope eventually everything balances out and we can eventually have a balanced, nuanced discussion about this game and what it does well and what it doesn’t. So thanks for giving your opinion and trying to help stabilize the Zelda fans
Totk is a really good game, I enjoy it better than botw, because in totk is basically better in every single way to botw, and vastness of things you can do, the only lacking thing is the difficulty, botw has master mode, but tbh totk is so easy and even demon king ganondorf is just a pussy, I barely have any problem with him even when I first encounter him, just so easy, so I wish it will have master mode too
True! Just imagine Ganondorf's Army and all enemies are silver or golden... Here the strongest ones were black, we didn't even have silver ones - and so it was way too easy (especially because by the point I went there, I was way too overpowered with my 30+ hearts, maxed out armor & silver Lynel saber horns 👀)
I think that TOTK is 100% worth playing and at the end of the day expecting a game to be perfect, or that it could match exactly our wishes, is unrealistic. That said as much as TOTK adds and changes from BOTW, I think a bit too often it illustrates that "more isn't always better". While BOTW was a simple first step, this one is surprisingly shallow in story delivery and world building. The scope feels bloated for the sake of doubling down on the previous game, while a more focused approach may have been beneficial.
Tears of the kingdom excels in just about every aspect a game should. Its world is immersive, its mechanics are unique, varied, polished, and useful. The combat and bosses are the best in the series. And this is without considering how it fixes every. Single. Problem. With breath of the wild.
I appreciate that some players preferred it, but to claim it solved literally every single problem is pushing it IMO... that is, it depends on what problems you identified
@ That’s a lot less subjective than you might think. A lot of the “problems” that it didn’t fix were just players playing the game in the way they found least fun… intentionally. So they could complain about how it isn’t ocarina of time.
@@minecrafter3448 I don't bring up objectivity in this community because people keep talking past each other. Sure some fans only go off of nostalgia or what they think they were owed, but there's room for much more reasonable feedback. From similar threads we've been in before, I'm aware you're generally on the side who would brush off my experience, which is sometimes a shame because on my end I certainly never questioned that other players might have the gaming experience of their life. Not to single you out, but this is another instance where someone claims "it fixed everything" and if I challenge that idea, it quickly becomes "anything bad is because you played it wrong". Which I strongly disagree with.
@ Okay, list some of the problems it still has. There are but 3. One of them doesn’t matter, and another can be very easily avoided while getting the full experience of the game.
I really can't bear those who hate totk, especially when they argue that botw is much better. Sure you might like glitches of nostalgia, but that isn't something which can be created by the developers.. Totk is brilliant and its the loud few who unfortunately represent the quiet many who like totk.
I'm one of those totk haters. I mean, I admire the game in many ways. Yet, I feel that its innovation wasn't fully realized. Most of the new content is great but once you experience something, like going in a cave or going to the depths, the same experience gets repeted without significant variation. This makes exploration dull and unexciting. I truly believe that botw has a world built with more care and intention than totk. Again, this doesn't make it a bad game, but a missed opportunity.
I wish people didn't try to divide so superficially. Sure you'll have trolls and pure haters. But if someone brings up criticism, I don't think it's fair to dismiss it as hate. And if enough people repeat the same criticism, I don't think it's fair to bundle everything and insist it only comes from a "vocal minority". I've enjoyed TOTK a lot and yet have a lot more criticism than I had with BOTW, because it doesn't exist in a vacuum.
@ I mean neither game is perfect but I think it’s kinda illogical to see something that has been wildly improved on, even though it was great and is still cool. Kinda like comparing a Spitfire to an F-35
The gameplay is very detached from that mystery and we can skip most of it. I think they went too far with non-linearity (which didn't fit this story) and with the omission of details for players to figure out (when we need Master Works to have basic information it's a sign).
I think this review focuses too much on story. Tears of the kingdom is an incredible game because it diverts all focus to being a fun game, story is an afterthought. If you’ve watched the gdc presentation, you’ll know that the game was incepted by fujibiyashi playing around with modified breath of the wild mechanics and parts. This focus on fun over cheap entertainment a story provides makes a much better game that is rare in the game industry today.
![BotW Any% 23:09 [WR]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dI_6eCK3Gto/mqdefault.jpg)
Bro just casually killed that gleeok without taking any damage and thought we wouldn’t notice!
Seriously that was impressive!
I love TotK! It's my favorite Zelda game and had such an incredible story with Zelda's sacrifice and the grand finale, on top of how fun the gameplay is. Subscribed!
I've been playing video games since I was a child and have played all the big titles (Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption, God of War...) and to this day I can say without a doubt that TotK is the best game of all time
How dare you say TotK is better than ~just Dark Souls, but open word~?
We love TotK!!
I really have such a soft spot for Tears of the Kingdom, as it was the first Zelda game I was introduced to. I played it with my boyfriend, and I loved that it was shared, and I truly enjoyed it. The scenery is breathtaking, and this game really means a lot to me ❤️
I think one of the best ways to experience games is with your favourite them with your favourite people. It creates fond memories to look back on 😁
Just forgot to mention; but I played TotK before BotW, and I think that helped me appreciate it more because I didn’t experience that same Hyrule in the previous game so it all felt new and fresh. Just thought I’d mention that :)
I played BotW first, but by the time TotK came out, I haven't played BotW for 4 years... So it also felt "new and fresh" for me... But at the same time also familiar... Like coming home after a long, long journey 💙
Me too bro
The reason why people hated totk so much is bc it didn't have the same magic as botw, playing totk first truly let you realize how good it was
Having played BotW multiple times and in fact done a playthrough right before starting TotK, I think there are areas where it hurts the game such as a lot of the side content, and other areas where it heavily benefits it such as Hyrule Castle and the 4 Regional quest towns.
Tears of the Kingdom has my favorite version of the Temple of Time theme. The way the Saxophone and the Trumpet play a call and response piece really gives vibes of “The Final Trial” from BotW (with the Bagpipes soloing the whole time), and “Final Hours” from MM (The way the Sax and Trumpet feel as it they’re reaching out to each other). The game’s soundtrack overall has some of the most peak in the entire series. While yes, I’ll never forget Mr. Kondo-San’s compositions, I must say that a lot of the music in this game has reached his level of work. (No, I’m not here to suck off Colgera, and the 3rd Trailer BGM. But “Zelda’s Wish”, “Critical Decisions”, “Hyrule Castle (Surface)”, and “Construct Factory (Stage 3)” are all some of the most beautiful themes ever crafted for a video game. I applaud the Zelda Team.
Any time I see someone address "the discourse around the game", it's only focused on one side as if that was everything. "Haters" call out "shills" and vice versa, both call the other a vocal minority. From where I stand people have been criticizing the game since release, since then more have played the game and it's the same opinions showing up again and again. The majority is able to see flaws and still enjoy the game's strengths.
I don't think a review can be fair if it doesn't account for pros and cons at the same time. BOTW was amazing and had flaws, or at least was focused on certain things more than others. TOTK is great too, more ambitious, but the way it doubles down on BOTW sometimes underlines limitations. And all of that, as usual, will affect each player differently based on their experience.
If we don't acknowledge both sides at once, it's just a game of ping pong to "correct" the others as if there was a single True Experience.
Your content is amazing!!!!!
I love both BotW and TotK despite their individual flaws. I love BotW's story and lore-especially the Champions. While TotK's story isn't delivered as well at it could have been, I still loved it-especially Zelda's characterization. I will say that TotK 's finale blows BotW's finale out of the water. I was disappointed with Dark Beast Ganon and thought I should have got to climb him Shadow of Colossus style, so the Dragon ending of TotK was absolutely incredible.
You are so underrated! This video was so well made and I can a lot of effort was put into it! :)
1:14 - What we need to consider is that people who say TotK is bad are a part of what is called "vocal majority". But their opinion isn't really the universal one. There are very few games which achived such a huge succes, especially after enormous expectations. And 96/100 review average, 21 milion copies sold in a year and countless awards say that it really resonated with most people, so it is still objectively a masterpiece
100%
@@thatguyinthevoid 💯🔥
You mean vocal minority.
No one has measured what the minority/majority of an opinion is, if the only stat we can pull is an aggregated score. It's definitely well rated, but that doesn't mean that the recurring criticism isn't valid, liking a game isn't binary. Now if you're only talking about people who say it's trash, I get you. Beyond that, people (like me) probably had a great time but many things they wish were done differently.
Has anyone realised that TOTK had a TIME PARADOX?!
Yes that’s why the logo for the game is an ouroboros
exactly
So did Ocarina of Time with learning the Song of Storms
The problem with Tears of the Kingdom story is that it has the same memory formula as Breath of the Wild. It’s a linear story that’s told in a non linear fashion and the vast majority of players will go through the game collecting the tears out of order. This worked better for Breath of the Wild because Link just woke up after 100 years and lost all his memories and you basically go around the post apocalyptic land trying to rediscover yourself and what happened to the champions. I witnessed Sonia die in one cutscene and then she was back alive in another because the memories were out of order. The sages aren’t really all that fleshed out because every cutscene after each dungeon has the sages say the same exact thing line for line word for word as all the other cutscenes in the game. It’s tedious and annoying from a story perspective. They also made it completely obvious from the start that Zelda was a puppet. Lastly, you can pull the master sword and discover that Zelda is the light dragon before doing any of the dungeons which means you will have to sit there and watch the sages see puppet zelda and you’ll know it’s an imposter but can’t do anything about it. The ancestors of the sages also witness zelda turning into a dragon and yet none of them inform Link about it at all. I just think the story is all over the place and doesn’t make that much sense. Breath of the Wild had a simple story but at least it made sense and had interesting characters. I didn’t really care about the new characters like Sonia and Mineru. I also think the Sheikah Tech from Breath of the Wild is more interesting especially from a lore perspective than the Zonai are in Tears of the Kingdom.
I will admit that Zelda turning herself into a dragon was the ultimate sacrifice in the series besides maybe The King flooding himself and Hyrule in Wind Waker in hopes for a better future. It would have been better and more impactful if Zelda stayed a dragon but instead she wakes up and doesn’t remember anything. Almost like taking a nap for thousands of years and never had to suffer because of it. The cutscene where Rauru tells Ganondorf about the hero with the sword that seals the darkness was one of the greatest cutscenes ever. And the final fight in the sky with the two dragons has some of the most beautiful music in the entire series. I can hate on the game but also recognize when it does get it right. Overall, I thought the story could have been told so much better and at the end of the day it leads us with more questions than actual answers.
TotK is peak, no doubt!
When looking at a game I love like this one, or one that I really don’t like (recent AC games), I try to consider the opposite side’s viewpoint so that I’m not completely biased one way or the other, recognizing that there are good and bad things done in every game. And while Totk made some missteps here and there, it is overall an extremely well made game and when it’s high points hit, they hit hard. Some Zelda fans even now are willing to accept some of the few things Skyward Sword did well, even though its problems are still very apparent even a decade later. I think the recent Totk hate is due to how when it first came out any who voiced criticisms were shouted down by those who loved it, and now the pendulum is swinging the other way. I hope eventually everything balances out and we can eventually have a balanced, nuanced discussion about this game and what it does well and what it doesn’t. So thanks for giving your opinion and trying to help stabilize the Zelda fans
It feels so good that this Zelda cycle seems like it will only last 2 years. I was ready for 10 years, but MAN it feels good.
I think there are better games in the series but this video changed my mind.
That last scene with Zelda and Link, that hits me right in my feelings 😅🥰❤️
The end lol
one of the best games ever, i thought it wouldnt live up to the hype since botw set the bar high.
What makes Totk feel worse is the fact that botw exists. Despite that, I love both games.
Totk is a really good game, I enjoy it better than botw, because in totk is basically better in every single way to botw, and vastness of things you can do, the only lacking thing is the difficulty, botw has master mode, but tbh totk is so easy and even demon king ganondorf is just a pussy, I barely have any problem with him even when I first encounter him, just so easy, so I wish it will have master mode too
I agree, the fight could've been a lot harder
True! Just imagine Ganondorf's Army and all enemies are silver or golden... Here the strongest ones were black, we didn't even have silver ones - and so it was way too easy (especially because by the point I went there, I was way too overpowered with my 30+ hearts, maxed out armor & silver Lynel saber horns 👀)
I think that TOTK is 100% worth playing and at the end of the day expecting a game to be perfect, or that it could match exactly our wishes, is unrealistic. That said as much as TOTK adds and changes from BOTW, I think a bit too often it illustrates that "more isn't always better". While BOTW was a simple first step, this one is surprisingly shallow in story delivery and world building. The scope feels bloated for the sake of doubling down on the previous game, while a more focused approach may have been beneficial.
Tears of the kingdom excels in just about every aspect a game should. Its world is immersive, its mechanics are unique, varied, polished, and useful. The combat and bosses are the best in the series. And this is without considering how it fixes every. Single. Problem. With breath of the wild.
I appreciate that some players preferred it, but to claim it solved literally every single problem is pushing it IMO... that is, it depends on what problems you identified
@ That’s a lot less subjective than you might think. A lot of the “problems” that it didn’t fix were just players playing the game in the way they found least fun… intentionally. So they could complain about how it isn’t ocarina of time.
@@minecrafter3448 I don't bring up objectivity in this community because people keep talking past each other. Sure some fans only go off of nostalgia or what they think they were owed, but there's room for much more reasonable feedback. From similar threads we've been in before, I'm aware you're generally on the side who would brush off my experience, which is sometimes a shame because on my end I certainly never questioned that other players might have the gaming experience of their life. Not to single you out, but this is another instance where someone claims "it fixed everything" and if I challenge that idea, it quickly becomes "anything bad is because you played it wrong". Which I strongly disagree with.
@ Okay, list some of the problems it still has. There are but 3. One of them doesn’t matter, and another can be very easily avoided while getting the full experience of the game.
W VIDEO
I really can't bear those who hate totk, especially when they argue that botw is much better. Sure you might like glitches of nostalgia, but that isn't something which can be created by the developers.. Totk is brilliant and its the loud few who unfortunately represent the quiet many who like totk.
I'm one of those totk haters. I mean, I admire the game in many ways. Yet, I feel that its innovation wasn't fully realized. Most of the new content is great but once you experience something, like going in a cave or going to the depths, the same experience gets repeted without significant variation. This makes exploration dull and unexciting.
I truly believe that botw has a world built with more care and intention than totk. Again, this doesn't make it a bad game, but a missed opportunity.
I wish people didn't try to divide so superficially. Sure you'll have trolls and pure haters. But if someone brings up criticism, I don't think it's fair to dismiss it as hate. And if enough people repeat the same criticism, I don't think it's fair to bundle everything and insist it only comes from a "vocal minority".
I've enjoyed TOTK a lot and yet have a lot more criticism than I had with BOTW, because it doesn't exist in a vacuum.
@ I mean neither game is perfect but I think it’s kinda illogical to see something that has been wildly improved on, even though it was great and is still cool. Kinda like comparing a Spitfire to an F-35
RUclipsrs trying not to hate on totk for 0.0001 seconds: 😡😡😡
Skip in a minute if you don't wanna see a cutscene for the 400th time/review
🥰🧇
the fact that it is a mystery is why its bad bc when you finish it there is no point of playing bc the game revolves most about the mystery
I disagree. Just seeing how a mystery unfolds can be satisfying, even if you know it. It's no different from a regular story in that sense
The gameplay is very detached from that mystery and we can skip most of it.
I think they went too far with non-linearity (which didn't fit this story) and with the omission of details for players to figure out (when we need Master Works to have basic information it's a sign).
I think this review focuses too much on story. Tears of the kingdom is an incredible game because it diverts all focus to being a fun game, story is an afterthought. If you’ve watched the gdc presentation, you’ll know that the game was incepted by fujibiyashi playing around with modified breath of the wild mechanics and parts. This focus on fun over cheap entertainment a story provides makes a much better game that is rare in the game industry today.
I wanted to focus more on story for this one, because I'm saving its gameplay for a future video I had in mind, where I go into more depth
@@thatguyinthevoid That is exactly what I wanted to hear. I’ll subscribe to watch that some time soon