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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Review Thread

What score do you think The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will get?

  • 0 -10%

    Votes: 7 2.7%
  • 10 -20%

    Votes: 2 0.8%
  • 20-30%

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • 30-40%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 40-50%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 50-60%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 60-70%

    Votes: 2 0.8%
  • 70-80%

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • 80-85%

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • 85-90%

    Votes: 24 9.1%
  • 90-95%

    Votes: 101 38.3%
  • 95-100%

    Votes: 125 47.3%

  • Total voters
    264
  • Poll closed .
When I see BOTW or a this game that reviews so well. Im honestly looking for something to get me excited, but Im just not seeing anything...spectacular

Can someone please sell me on this? What is the experience?

I would normally get excited if I saw:

1. Badass combat

2. Great storytelling and quests

3. Great and ambitious presentation

Im not really seeing any of that with these recent open world zelda titles.

To me, it seems like its about just findibg items, wondering about. And ultimately most "adventures" conclude in combat. But the combat is okay looking.

Am I wrong? Sell me please I wanna play a good game but i dunno, reviewers and gaming trends these days seem to he more about "hey look no quest markers im choosing my own focus!" Than it is actual focus, pacing, storytelling, creative and varied quests etc.

Like im more of a witcher 3 guy for reference sake.
 

feynoob

Banned
When I see BOTW or a this game that reviews so well. Im honestly looking for something to get me excited, but Im just not seeing anything...spectacular

Can someone please sell me on this? What is the experience?

I would normally get excited if I saw:

1. Badass combat

2. Great storytelling and quests

3. Great and ambitious presentation

Im not really seeing any of that with these recent open world zelda titles.

To me, it seems like its about just findibg items, wondering about. And ultimately most "adventures" conclude in combat. But the combat is okay looking.

Am I wrong? Sell me please I wanna play a good game but i dunno, reviewers and gaming trends these days seem to he more about "hey look no quest markers im choosing my own focus!" Than it is actual focus, pacing, storytelling, creative and varied quests etc.

Like im more of a witcher 3 guy for reference sake.
Update your preference.
I didnt like certain games until I tried them and enjoyed the way they were designed for.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
I've never been victim of hype train but this time I just pulled the trigger even though I didn't want to play the game and Saturday I'm traveling so can't play where I'll stay for a week or so... I'm weak :(
 

MagnesD3

Member
It’s so bizarre how some people here seem disappointed that this game is great.
It’s an incredibly open sandbox of creative potential. If that’s not your thing, ok, but why would you hate that? Why would you want a game with that ambition and focus to fail? It’s wild.
They probably just want old 3d Zelda quality game design.
 
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Marvel14

Banned
I will use that voucher deal for 2 Zelda games but I'm expecting an experience between 80-85 points. Media bias towards Nintendo is pathetic.
So is pointing to a superbly crafted game's minor flaws just to score points/ get noticed or getting worked up about the praise it gets which might be 5% due to hype but 95% clearly due to substance.

Skyward Sword was the last Zelda game with a truly inflated score. BoTW not so much.
 
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Sakura

Member
When I see BOTW or a this game that reviews so well. Im honestly looking for something to get me excited, but Im just not seeing anything...spectacular

Can someone please sell me on this? What is the experience?

I would normally get excited if I saw:

1. Badass combat

2. Great storytelling and quests

3. Great and ambitious presentation

Im not really seeing any of that with these recent open world zelda titles.

To me, it seems like its about just findibg items, wondering about. And ultimately most "adventures" conclude in combat. But the combat is okay looking.

Am I wrong? Sell me please I wanna play a good game but i dunno, reviewers and gaming trends these days seem to he more about "hey look no quest markers im choosing my own focus!" Than it is actual focus, pacing, storytelling, creative and varied quests etc.

Like im more of a witcher 3 guy for reference sake.
In regards to the badass combat, it is true that the base combat itself isn't great. Or maybe I should say, not that deep.
However you have a lot of flexibility in how you approach combat. For example you could glue a flamethrower to your shield, or grab objects thrown by enemies and chuck them back (basic examples). Some people might consider this badass, others might feel it is pretty janky and doesn't feel as good as a game focused on combat would. I would say that the combat in most Zelda games (if not all) is actually pretty simplistic.

For story telling and quests, I haven't played through the game, so I can't say whether the story telling is good or not, but I imagine it is like BoTW. It is more about the world and the people that inhabit it than a linear story driven game. That's not to say there isn't a story and there isn't quests though. I did like the story that was present in BoTW, I just wished there was more of it. Some of the quests in the game were pretty fun too. Lots of great characters.
I should say though, there is quest markers and stuff. The pacing is really just determined by the player. Do you choose to follow the main quest, or go off and do other things?

The game most certainly has a great and ambitious presentation. I don't think there are any AAA games these days that give you the kind of freedom that ToTK gives you. When I say freedom, I don't mean it's just a big open world and you can go where you want. I more mean the tools the game gives you in this open world. For example, imagine there is a tower you are trying to get to on the other side of a chasm, with a bridge guarded by enemies. The tower is high up on a hill with a path leading up with more obstacles and enemies. In a traditional open world, you would have the "freedom" to go there, but it is typically involving you taking the determined route to get there. At most they will give you a few other paths to choose from to reach that. In ToTK though, you could take that more traditional approach, or you could cobble together a number of different contraptions to try to completely circumvent all that, as a basic example, throwing some rockets on a plank of wood and shooting yourself up there. I think this sort of thing is very ambitious.

If you are looking for a story driven RPG like the Witcher 3 which is more focused on giving you quests and allowing you to determine outcomes, then that isn't really what this game is. This is a gameplay driven game. Not to say it doesn't have a story or characters, but yeah.
 

kunonabi

Member
So whats the deal with weapon durability in this?
Still there but fusing weapons helps make them last longer. Supposedly anyway. At the very least the fuse mechanic actually adds more some variety and strategy to your weapon choices like BotW's defense force claimed existed in the previous game.
 

Wunray

Member
Eric Andre GIF
 

Neff

Member
After about 6 hours or so I'll admit I'm not enjoying it as much as BotW, it feels too similar so far. Admittedly I've only done the first area and gotten a dozen shrines or so, but the new abilities just feel like new flavours rather than legit gamechangers. I still maintain that a new setting and new cast would have really helped, because the novelty of BotW is long gone. I mean it's still good, it's BotW mk II after all, but I haven't been blown away yet.

Sometimes it's great to be wrong.
 
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Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It's downloaded, when does it unlock?
Should unlock at midnight in NYC. Advance Wars worked like that. It has to be midnight somewhere in your country and then calculate the time difference. I played AW at 11 PM, but I’m an hour behind NYC time.

  • East Coast US: Friday 12th May 2023, 0:00am EDT.
  • West Coast US: Thursday 11th May 2023, 9:00pm PDT.
 
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Well looks like I had 300 points from a previous purchase, so ended up being 66.99 digitally. Not bad. Would have payed the 69.99 +10% sales tax a retail store for the physical.
Does the standard edition physical come with anything though? Just the cart and case? No manual or poster or something?
 
Update your preference.
I didnt like certain games until I tried them and enjoyed the way they were designed for.

Well I mean, there used to be a time in gaming where I could tell from looking at it, its a 9 or a 10. Like "damn that looks good" next level shit. But im not getting those vibes.

Like I know what I'm looking at for the mist part, the game henre and design isnt THAT foreign to me ha

But even Elden Ring, I could fuck with to a degree and see where it would grab me, even though its a combat/exploration focused type of deal. With its cool enemy designs, and horrific moments and animations. Its tough with zelda because man....its giving me none of that on sight alone haha
 

-Zelda-

Banned
Do we have to hunt down memories like in BoTW? Whenever I find the memories, I get happy because now I have some story content which the meat of the fun for me, even though it's a videoGAME. I get easily stressed when having to search for a needle in a haystack. Same goes for Korok Seeds being tied to inventory expansion.
 

Majukun

Member
When I see BOTW or a this game that reviews so well. Im honestly looking for something to get me excited, but Im just not seeing anything...spectacular

Can someone please sell me on this? What is the experience?

I would normally get excited if I saw:

1. Badass combat

2. Great storytelling and quests

3. Great and ambitious presentation

Im not really seeing any of that with these recent open world zelda titles.

To me, it seems like its about just findibg items, wondering about. And ultimately most "adventures" conclude in combat. But the combat is okay looking.

Am I wrong? Sell me please I wanna play a good game but i dunno, reviewers and gaming trends these days seem to he more about "hey look no quest markers im choosing my own focus!" Than it is actual focus, pacing, storytelling, creative and varied quests etc.

Like im more of a witcher 3 guy for reference sake.
if those three points are all that matters, the game is not for you.
 

Flutta

Banned
Just played for about 30-40 min and yup can tell that this one will be special. That intro hits the feels, almost like taking you back in time on how playing games used to feel like. Props to Nintendo!
 

feynoob

Banned
Well I mean, there used to be a time in gaming where I could tell from looking at it, its a 9 or a 10. Like "damn that looks good" next level shit. But im not getting those vibes.

Like I know what I'm looking at for the mist part, the game henre and design isnt THAT foreign to me ha

But even Elden Ring, I could fuck with to a degree and see where it would grab me, even though its a combat/exploration focused type of deal. With its cool enemy designs, and horrific moments and animations. Its tough with zelda because man....its giving me none of that on sight alone haha
Because your interest is somewhere else.
I dont watch movies, because I cant stand the acting. But I watch documentaries and short videos too much, even though its still acting.

Your way of digesting medium is different than before. Maybe you got tired of these type of games, and they dont interest you that much anymore like it used to.
 

Majukun

Member
After about 6 hours or so I'll admit I'm not enjoying it as much as BotW, it feels too similar so far. Admittedly I've only done the first area and gotten a dozen shrines or so, but the new abilities just feel like new flavours rather than legit gamechangers. I still maintain that a new setting and new cast would have really helped, because the novelty of BotW is long gone. I mean it's still good, it's BotW mk II after all, but I haven't been blown away yet.
from what i saw you are not gonna be blown away, as in a complete different experience, it's a more guided but also more content dense botw, that goes for the same hyrule but a different approach to the main mechanics and gameplay loops of the first game
 

R6Rider

Gold Member
That’s not what he’s saying.

Rather, that a critic should be able to apply objective criteria that override personal taste. I don’t like Elden Ring but I know it’s an absolutely incredible game.
The review explains why it got a 6. It's actually a thought out review with explanations of things.

Reviews are wholly subjective pieces. That's the entire point.

If the review was the worst written thing in the world, yet still gave the game a perfect score do you think people would be whining about having it removed form Metacritic?

This also shows how fucked up the review scale is for games.

-
In other news: Amazon has shipped my copy.
 
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feynoob

Banned
Making myself ready for the big journey.
vtRioyF.jpg


Edit: I have cover for it, but it doesnt fit on the projector.
 
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Majukun

Member
So whats the deal with weapon durability in this?
basically a non-issue.
you get a constant stream of fusion materials (but not enough that you can just use them without thinking), so after the first part, you will always have some weapons of good level just by mixing rusty weapons and monster parts.

takes a bit away from the resource management of botw, but I guess they went for a different feel
 
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