Anyone else think Zelda Totk was all over the place and too much busywork?

Dream-Knife said:
Even with mods to get rid of durability the game got boring quickly.
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The whole combat needs to be thrown in the trash it feels like something that belongs on n64. Before defenders come in I'm mainly talking about the melee combat system. I don't consider building shit a part of combat.
 
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The game looks awful, visually. Not just technically but aesthetically as well. Everything looks completely washed out, devoid of contrast and i don't think i ever seen any color darker than light gray. The whole trial and error crafting system looks like annoying busywork that i know i will have to use all the time to be able to see all the content. The korok seeds and durability system are also back, the worst aspects of BOTW that i hoped to not have to deal again.

I also can't believe they still didn't manage to find a way to quickly equip armor sets for specific situations. It's like OOT water temple all over again x 100. Which is another thing that adds to the busywork.

So yeah, i don't think i will be playing this one any time soon.
 
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Got bored of it faster than BotW. I eventually went back and beat BotW, but I don't know when I'll go back to finish TotK.

Had mostly the same problems as the previous game.
 
Love the shrines and completed the storm region main q. Explored the underground until I found out its all the same. Build a rocket on wheels, and rocket + glider were my fav contraptions.
Went back to other games after 50 hours. Will not finish.
 
Didn't have an issue with it, but then again, I've never been a huge fan of classic Zelda.

if you want, you can just go through the story and finish the game in probably less than 30 hours. The busywork is only when you wanna complete everything. 99% of it is completely optional.
 
It's a very good game, but as Forbidden West or Ragnarok or other recent AAA sequels somehow just more of the same with some tweaks. That doesn't have to be something bad, but the jaw-dropping magic is gone.

Media tend to overrate most games of certain companies and devs. It's absolutely ridiculous that some games have like 50 x 100/100.
 
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Not really, although I also barely used the building stuff outside of shrines.

I really enjoyed the sky area personally, it's probably my favorite new map section. Loads of great 'overworld puzzles' (or what you'd call them) up there.

The depths was probably my least favorite. Although I still enjoyed it a lot.

nkarafo said:
I also can't believe they still didn't manage to find a way to quickly equip armor sets for specific situations. It's like OOT water temple all over again x 100. Which is another thing that adds to the busywork.
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Yes! How is this not a thing? I've been complaining about that since BotW.
 
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I put 200 hours in to TotK I personally never felt like busywork, it was joy to explore, I also feel the same way about Elden Ring which I put 300 hours in to it.

With these two games I can spend all day exploring I never get bored…..but that's just me.
 
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TotK has you explore Hyrule again and discover new mysteries above and below Hyrule. It's a big adventure. Sounds like these open sandbox games that encourages exploration aren't for some people here that just want a linear story driven cinematic experience.
 
MagiusNecros said:
TotK has you explore Hyrule again and discover new mysteries above and below Hyrule. It's a big adventure. Sounds like these open sandbox games that encourages exploration aren't for some people here that just want a linear story driven cinematic experience.
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I love exploration in games. The problem with BotW and TotK was that the exploration was repetitive and unrewarding.
 
R6Rider said:
I love exploration in games. The problem with BotW and TotK was that the exploration was repetitive and unrewarding.
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Different strokes for different folks.

My caveats with BotW/TotK is the obsession with farming every shrine for upgrading your HP/Stamina. Should be something you find out in the world and not in a instanced room. That is repetitive.
 
Robb said:
Yes! How is this not a thing? I've been complaining about that since BotW.
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People have been complaining about the Water Temple boots juggling since 1998. It's the most famous OOT issue. It's the main reason why the Water Temple is hated, to the point where it has become a meme. Many new players abandon the game right there.

The 3DS remaster fixed this. Homebrew mods and the homebrew PC port also fixed this by turning the d-pad into 4 extra quick slots for the boots and the ocarina. It's now a breeze and playing the original version after that feels like a relic of bad gaming design.

Being able to quickly equip something without shuffling through menus and icons, especially when you have to do so often, has become one the most basic game design rules ever since. But here we are. Nintendo themselves, the mighty first party developer, known for their developing skills and genius, still can't make this work.
 
Me chasing my sages to activate their powers in combat:
ConsciousFluffyBangeltiger-max-1mb.gif
 
nkarafo said:
People have been complaining about the Water Temple boots juggling since 1998.
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I guess, but it's soooo much more prevalent in these new games imo when you have temperature effects etc. outside of the main dungeons. And the sheer quantity of armor sets must be about 20x higher than past games as well. Not to mention they have quick menus for pretty much everything in TotK yet you can't quickly equip a full armor-set.. Very strange omission imo.
 
I think it's fun - doesn't feel as shallow and empty as BOTW. A lot of fun actually, but it's not really a deep or meaningful experience to play or anything. I'd say it's a solid 8/10 game, better than most games that are released today.

Still no Zelda game (or practically any game) has even come close to the greatness of A Link to the Past for me.
 
No. Let's not act like the sense of a big open world isn't to constantly find new points of interest and stuff to do. Let's not act like subquests are poorly designed and poorly rewarded in all of these games. And while we're at it, let's also drop the revisionism with the suspicious nostalgia for the golden days of the classic Zelda formula, that had grown stale and this was reflected in both user comments throughout the internet and in plummeting sales.

TOTK had me completely hooked. What feels like busywork requires the player to overcome a surprisingly steep learning curve, then it becomes second nature and you'll miss it in every other third-person adventure. And the world is so bustling with stuff to do because, I mean, just following the beaten paths and going from one main quest marker to the next would kinda make the whole open world thingie kinda meaningless, wouldn't it?
 
Enjoyed a lot BOTW (did everything except the korok crap) but I am struggling with TOTK and have no intention to get back to it sadly but I can also see why some love it so much

I hope they will shake up the formula once again for the next one
 
Thaedolus said:
Nah, it's fucking awesome. I don't want old "do X so you can do Y then do Z" Zelda any more. I want "here are your tools, figure shit out" Zelda. TotK nailed it
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I want both. It's good, but it's not a replacement for the other style. If it is, that's a huge loss. TotK did nail it, which means they can give it a rest for a minute.
 
I'm not finding it like busywork at all. All the meaningful progression paths are tied to open world activities that have a great deal of craft to them. Shrines are almost all unique twists on different kinds of physics, traversal, building, combat puzzles etc. Treasure maps to find armor pieces are generally related to traversing the sky or just plain exploring the world. Even the caves have a decent amount of variety in where you actually find the chest. And some towers also have unique puzzles/interactions to solve however you like, using the games systems. Be it just getting to the damn thing, or making it functional.

While there are other smaller diversions that are much more copy-paste, they also have lesser rewards. So you're only incentivised to do them if you feel like it. And all the main quest stuff I've done so far has been really enjoyable. Feels crafted and thought out, with well directed and acted cutscenes.

I can see how the massive scale of the world makes it all daunting, but I also feel like they treat the player with enough respect to let them figure out how they want to play the game and have fun.
 
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Gandih42 said:
I also feel like they treat the player with enough respect to let them figure out how they want to play the game and have fun.
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Definitely. That's one of the best things about these new games imo. If something feels like busywork you don't have to do it and can do a million other things you enjoy instead. You don't even have to do the main quest if you don't enjoy it, just run to Ganondorf and beat him whenever you feel like. Crazy stuff.
 
Depends on what you mean with busywork. Sounds like you just don't dig non-linear gameplay, but instead prefer one single solution for one specific problem. TOTK doesn't do that. It shows you a problem and then goes: "whoops, now what?" and lets you figure out one of hundred solutions from an impressive amount of tools.

Not sure I want to go back to "here's a massive single eye in the middle of a room, and the doors are closed... I wonder how you can get the locked door open?" kinds of puzzles.
 
I don't understand the "cinematic linear gameplay" rhetoric. It wasn't the case for the first one yet I much prefer it. Things are not black or white.
 
This is why despite commercial success, I'm not sure it deserves to win GOTY. A lot of flaws, like most games. I do think BOTW was just a cleaner experience.
 
Feels too derivative of BotW. I got it because I saw so many people say it improved on the flaws of BotW. Well the only thing I found it improved on was the Dungeon Bosses, since they're not just one mini boss copy pasted 4 times anymore. Every thing else is more of the same and it's the first Zelda game that feels like a "safe" sequel, where very little changes.

I could go on but I don't feel like repeating myself from a previous thread.
 
DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy said:
Well the only thing I found it improved on was the Dungeon Bosses, since they're not just one mini boss copy pasted 4 times anymore
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You don't think the uniquely themed temples are an improvement over the copy/paste divine beast? Or the new powers (did anyone even use that ice rune in BotW outside of specific puzzles?)? Or the traversal? Or the verticality of the world/map? Or the shrine puzzles? etc. etc.

Imo it's more difficult to think of something that's not better in TotK.
 
Robb said:
You don't think the uniquely themed temples are an improvement over the copy/paste divine beast? Or the new powers (did anyone even use that ice rune in BotW outside of specific puzzles?)? Or the traversal? Or the verticality of the world/map? Or the shrine puzzles? etc. etc.

Imo it's more difficult to think of something that's not better in TotK.
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How can you compare it to BOTW, you guys must have amazing memory. I played in late 2018 and i can't remember enough to compare it TOTK, I can't even remember the final boss lol. For it's time and how different and fresh the experience was at the time, it differently just leaves a much better impression. I differently prefer BOTW because of the simpler design sometimes less is more, while in zelda it's just way more busy work like fusing, and building stuff with clunk controls which i just don't enjoy., i even avoid shrines cause of it.
 
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Nah. It was great. It did suck the life out of me in the sense that I was putting in hours every day, but I wanted too. I wish I could have said the same about FFXVI. I can't get around to finish that and I need to before starting BG3 or Starfield.
 
I have to agree with you on this one,TOTK was way too much bloat for too little reward.i played up to the first Ganon fight in the castle (multiple ganons) after about 30-40 hours and just dropped it.
The depths didn't grab me at all and they all looked very samey. The sky islands were pretty kool though.
BOTW was just an amazing experience,I played that for a good 120 hours and TOTK just didn't have the same magic.
 
MagiusNecros said:
Sounds like these open sandbox games that encourages exploration aren't for some people here that just want a linear story driven cinematic experience.
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I'm not normally a fan of open world anything, but I think TOTK does things better than other games. I also think that vs Ubisoft's games, TOTK at least puts some variety into what you are doing by giving you little tasks that are driven by a character interaction. Yesterday, I was collecting toys that had been scattered by a startled horse, it's of course "pick these things up and put them over there" but it manages to have a bit of charm and or character about it.

I got a bit distracted/tired in BOTW and just stopped and that might happen here too, but at the moment, I play TOTK most days.
 
It a relaxing busywork game for sure. But after playing Baldur's Gate 3, I realized how meaningless TOTK/BOTW's structure feels. Apart from cleaning up the map, It's just grinding to finish the boss.

No real meaningful player-driven stakes or consequences when doing other quests or activities. I'm aware this is the case with most open-world mission design, and 'lawnmower/checklist' world design can be satisfying, but it feels meaningless busywork and not really respecting the players involvement.

Would love it if games could be more engaging with it's 'approach and consequence' design. Be aware of what you're actually doing and what impact you're actions can have on the world and it's people. (I'm aware that this is way more development intensive that XP 'Skinner box' design, like most games with loot and stats are.)
 
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Thaedolus said:
Nah, it's fucking awesome. I don't want old "do X so you can do Y then do Z" Zelda any more. I want "here are your tools, figure shit out" Zelda. TotK nailed it
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I completely agree, and by I completely agree I mean I feel the exact opposite.
 
Robb said:
You don't think the uniquely themed temples are an improvement over the copy/paste divine beast? Or the new powers (did anyone even use that ice rune in BotW outside of specific puzzles?)? Or the traversal? Or the verticality of the world/map? Or the shrine puzzles? etc. etc.

Imo it's more difficult to think of something that's not better in TotK.
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-The temples are really short and not very challenging, just like the divine beasts. They suck compared to real Zelda Dungeons

-The new powers are just super powered versions of previous powers (Reverse time instead of stop it; Move anything and stick it to stuff instead of only moving metal objects) that make puzzle solving way too easy. Most shrines just amount to build something and/or use Reverse time to cheese stuff. It gets old.

-Limited traversal in BotW encouraged exploration more. Being able to just make a hover bike and fly wherever is neat for a bit, but devolves into just B-lining to destinations and encourages a checklist mentality playstyle that makes the game feel more monotonous faster.

-The sky islands are the best new addition but there aren't enough of them and the Depths are either a boring slog or another rote checklist quest mitigated easily by the hover bike. They should've made the depths way smaller and focused on the Sky islands, especially considering they advertised the game heavily with said islands. It feels like a bait and switch where the surprise content is worse and more plentiful than what they sold the game on.

- The overworld map is still copy pasted from BotW, and there's no sense of discovery because I've already discovered all these places. There's new caves to find that have Brightblooms and another monotonous side quest item (the Frogs).

TotK just adds "more" and spreads the quality content thin like any other open world game. If the game focused more on the Sky Islands, and added substantial dungeons to the game, it would be better. I wouldn't even care if they cut the caves completely, and made the depths like 1/3 the size. Resources went into quantity over quality.
 
DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy said:
TotK just adds "more"
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I don't think so.

The only similarity between the BotW beasts and TotK temples is the 'find 5 activators'. Are you saying you'd prefer all temples in TotK looked identical and all used an identical puzzle gimmick? If not, it's a clear improvement.

While I disagree regarding the powers. The fact that you call the powers "super powered versions" of the last games also imply they're clearly improved and have more utility.

I'd view having more, as well as more varied, traversal options as a clear improvement. Especially with the added verticality. Ascend alone is amazing.

I'll leave it at that since I think it's pretty obvious a lot more than adding bosses were improved.
 
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I got burned out after my third temple.

That said, the journey to completing my first two dungeons were special, and many hours of gameplay, but after that I could feel the monotonous nature of the game and I forced myself to the third temple.

I feel like reviewers really latched onto the new building mechanic and how great it was and the options it gave, but I don't play games to show people what amazing thing I can build. It was mainly used to build hot air balloons and a bad glider every now and then.
 
HazukiSensei said:
I think as long as FROM software is considered the top dev....you're going to see more games with this type of philosophy that I think leaves alot to be desired in the focus or story department.

part of me wants to blame gaming going more mainstream, and more ADHD frat boys who would otherwise skip cutscenes are considering themselves "gamers" now. when in reality I think a game like baldurs gate, or the Witcher 3 is more difficult for a frat boy to get through (from a patience standpoint) than say...elden ring or Totk. (dialogue)

yet those same frat boys will call elden ring and totk ""gameplay first""" while lacking the love for games to even sit through a cutscene for too long. i.e. NakeyJakey or Videogame Dunkey or Ian (Isla) Hincke types.

so here we are. our Zelda games now kinda have a souls philosophy and that's """gameplay first" because you know...there just was no gameplay in ocarina of time, or Wildwater, majoras, or twilight princess lol
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I don't know man. Zelda was never known for it's gripping, thought provoking story and deep characters.
 
What I think is people are trying to hate on GOTY for no reason, the game is a masterpiece and gives you every option available to finish it in 25 hours or to play it forever.
 
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