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Tears of the Kingdom is a boring game

6 years for a glorified BOTW DLC with tacked on building mechanics nobody asked for and the exact same combat system. This game feels like a gigantic chore. You just get tired of doing shrines over and over again…finding korok seeds….rinse and repeat… The map is huge with the multiple depths, but it’s also empty and dead. I was really excited with the sky island, but when I dropped back down to Hyrule, I suddenly felt like I was just playing BoTW all over again. All of the BoTW burnout came rushing back. I have tried very hard to like this game but it's not for me.
 

Miyazaki’s Slave

Gold Member
transformers cartoon GIF



This thread is bad and the OP should feel bad.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
People will shit on OP because Zelda is one of those franchises you aren't allowed to criticize on Gaf, especially not BOTW and TOTK, but I don't completely disagree with him. My main problem with TOTK is that they addressed none of the shortcomings of BOTW. The Ultra Hand and other new mechanics are fun to play around with but it definitely feels like an extension of BOTW rather than a strict evolution. If you had problems with BOTW such as the lack of well-defined and themed dungeons with proper navigation, you'll have the same problem with this one. My main gripe has always been how much stoppage there is in the gameplay to swap between shields, weapons, and powers. Nintendo did nothing to address this.

I wouldn't go as far as to call it boring. I've had some fun with it but got tired rather quickly. I didn't put 200+ hours into this one like I did with BOTW. I certainly don't think it was as groundbreaking as its predecessor but, if someone wants to jump into the series, they should start with TOTK as it does everything BOTW does well better or as good. The problem is, it doesn't do anything that BOTW does badly better.
 
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I have zero tolerance for open world garbage but loved both TotK and BotW when I played them and I'm not an avid Zelda shill. But you do you I guess.
 

bender

What time is it?
No I did love BOTW a lot so I was extremely hyped for this and just expected more after this long dev time.

That doesn't negate my point. There are plenty of sequels I disliked when I loved the originals. I'm not going to bang my head against the proverbial wall trying to change my feelings on those sequels. Playing more is just going to strengthen the disdain.
 
That doesn't negate my point. There are plenty of sequels I disliked when I loved the originals. I'm not going to bang my head against the proverbial wall trying to change my feelings on those sequels. Playing more is just going to strengthen the disdain.
Rest assured, this thread is my farewell to the game.
 

Kurotri

Member
Took me a few tries for BotW to click with me but when it did it was fucking awesome. Genuinely one of the best games I played in recent memory. I was overly excited to the point where I almost immedtialy got Tears of the Kingdom after beating it. The first few hours were super fun, like BotW but better. But I don't know if it was because I didn't let too much time pass between the games and burned out because of that, or if it was the addition of building things (which I absolutely hate in games) or, atleast in my experience, forcing me to use the new mechanics and farming those stupid batteries to make use of said mechanics that ultimately made me drop the game. It felt like it punished me for trying to play it like BotW. Like there was less freedom, more grinding for materials and building things. Maybe I played it wrong and need another go. I plan to try again some time, but I totally get where you are coming from.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
BOTW to TOTK reminds me of HZD to FW. FW did almost nothing to address the flaws of its predecessor either, and unlike BOTW, its foundations are weak which is why I dropped the game after like 10 hours despite loving the original one.

Once again though, if you don't care too much about the story, you should play FW first as it effectively makes the gameplay of HZD obsolete. However, the story is a huge part of these games and the first game is far better in that respect so unlike TOTK, FW doesn't almost completely negate the existence of the first game.
 
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Luipadre

Member
I loved botw, but ditched totk after like 10 hours. More of the same, but worse this time, because its not new. Might give it another chance on the new switch if i can play my current copy
 
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calistan

Member
It's definitely not boring. There are plenty of things I could criticise, like the building stuff wasn't really for me, and I hate the breakable weapons, but boring? Not at all.
 
I was going to be snarky but for the love of God, stop doing this to yourself. Hundreds of games are released every day, just find something that better suits you.
Right, I’ll never understand why people try to like a game when they don’t. Chances are your opinions are not going to change regardless of how long or how many times you try to play a game you don’t like.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I was going to be snarky but for the love of God, stop doing this to yourself. Hundreds of games are released every day, just find something that better suits you.
This what happens when people buy games based other people hyping instead their own taste.

People can hype the crap out of games like Helldivers 2 but I know I don’t enjoy those type game no matter how many people hype the game…….You have your own mind and free will, don’t let other people decide for you.
 
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I played close to a hundred hours - it did feel like a chore by the end tho. I also felt BOTW was better, feel like they lost the magic of the exploration in a lot of ways… the depths were too samey and the sky islands as well - dungeons are better tho
 
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El Muerto

Member
I stand with OP in solidarity. I bought a Switch for BOTW and was completely bored with the gameplay. Helped my wife with TOTK and i just didnt have the patience to play more than 5 minutes of it.
 

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
I think the main issue with it and BotW is that the world lacks the feeling of having its own history and culture (Something games like Skyrim and Witcher 3 do very well for example). Sure, they exists, but its overly simplistic and most of the stuff you find will always feel game-y (why is there a shrine hidden behind this rock? Who built these puzzles? Why is there kokoro seeds everywhere? Etc, etc.)
 
A game that pushes discovery, so you'll go into a secret cave and waste 4-5 weapons defeating enemies just to get a single Rock Salt. A game that pushes it's building mechanic but it takes too long to get what you want, and putting 10 minutes into something results in a vehicle that's fun for 10 seconds then it flips over or falls off a cliff.

The depths are just copy/pasted nonsense. If it were like, 1/3 the size, i think it'd be much better. To be honest, if all three elevations were about 1/3 their size, the game would be better.

The battle system I've never found impressive whatsoever. All the crazy shit you see people do on YouTube is always this jarring thing of using slowdown and menuing and stopping the sequence constantly because none of the aspects flow together well.

I always have the fantasy of the sky areas yielding pieces of unbreakable weapons you can unlock. The main map is where you find your outfits in caves and camps you find along the way. The depths are where you find your blueprints and building materials, but instead it's just a mishmash of stuff that i never know whether it's worth doing or not.

I'd still call the game a 7/10, or 8/10, but i understand what it's doing, but it's no 10/10.

Edit: I'm also salty about shitty Nintendo fucking everyone out of an extra $10 on release. To pretend like a game that doesn't run well, barely has a story or voice acting, and doesn't really push the industry forward much, I can't believe they treated their customers like that. You wait THAT long for a game that reuses SO MUCH.
 
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Dr. Claus

Banned
A game that pushes discovery, so you'll go into a secret cave and waste 4-5 weapons defeating enemies just to get a single Rock Salt. A game that pushes it's building mechanic but it takes too long to get what you want, and putting 10 minutes into something results in a vehicle that's fun for 10 seconds then it flips over or falls off a cliff.

The depths are just copy/pasted nonsense. If it were like, 1/3 the size, i think it'd be much better. To be honest, if all three elevations were about 1/3 their size, the game would be better.

The battle system I've never found impressive whatsoever. All the crazy shit you see people do on YouTube is always this jarring thing of using slowdown and menuing and stopping the sequence constantly because none of the aspects flow together well.

I always have the fantasy of the sky areas yielding pieces of unbreakable weapons you can unlock. The main map is where you find your outfits in caves and camps you find along the way. The depths are where you find your blueprints and building materials, but instead it's just a mishmash of stuff that i never know whether it's worth doing or not.

I'd still call the game a 7/10, or 8/10, but i understand what it's doing, but it's no 10/10.

The depths are super quick to explore. You are supposed to be using machines to move through it, which basically turns it into 1/3'd the size of the main world. Everywhere you look in the Depths are items for building. It is designed specifically for that purpose.

As for secret caves, a new player will never know what is in what cave. Some caves offered super rare items and armor that was insanely fun to find. Others offered a collectible, others more offered really nothing of value. You only learn when you explore them.
 
The depths are super quick to explore. You are supposed to be using machines to move through it, which basically turns it into 1/3'd the size of the main world. Everywhere you look in the Depths are items for building. It is designed specifically for that purpose.

As for secret caves, a new player will never know what is in what cave. Some caves offered super rare items and armor that was insanely fun to find. Others offered a collectible, others more offered really nothing of value. You only learn when you explore them.
I suppose my point would be don't have caves and camps and random things around the map have the potential to yield shit for the effort you put in. Instead of having a bunch of caves, have fewer that yield dopeass things inside.

Edit: Sorry, didn't respond to the depths thing. I got maybe 10 hours into the depths and looked and saw i was like, 20% done (this is with the two fans + handle bar floating scooter looking thing). I NOPE'D hardcore. I can't judge super hard because if you love it, you love it, but some of y'all have way more patience for that repetition than i do.
 
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