TLOZ Tears of the Kingdom should have been a Switch 2 launch exclusive

Certinty

Certinty

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Before anyone says it, I know the game has already sold ridiculous amounts which is why it no doubt launched on the Switch given the userbase.

But holy shit, this has to be the biggest generational difference i've ever come across on a game. I started it at launch on the Switch but gave up after 5 or so hours, the performance was awful, the game looked ugly and the loading times weren't great.

Now playing it on the Switch 2 it's literally an entirely new game. No, it doesn't look amazing visually but it looks far better and cleaner. Performance bar the odd occasion is a great, at 60fps it feels so much better to play it's not even comparable to the Switch 1 version. Then the loading times are now almost instant which is a game changer, no matter if you fast travel, enter a shrine, or die, getting back into the game doesn't bore you.

Honestly the most impressive Switch 2 game i've played so far. Mario Kart World is good but this is a game changer.
 
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hah, I just made a similar thread. had I seen this I probably would have posted here instead. I think it was fine on the Switch 1, but the improvement on Switch 2 is massive
Stefan.North said:
No, it was such a downgrade for a Zelda title.

It is maybe good for Minecraft players, but I really didn't enjot TotK as a Zelda game. BotW was much more enjoyable.
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TOTK is 10x better than BOTW
 
Eh. I don't think it's that big of a difference. Perhaps if they had held back, developed further during that time or something of that nature. But as it is? Nah.
 
That would have been like launching Gamecube with Majora's Mask. TOTK is the extra "freebie" sequel that reused art and assets on the same system.

No thanks. Put it out so you can move on to the next game instead of launching with asset rehash
 
The game is a evergreen title… It's going to continue selling on the Switch 2 + 22 Million on Switch 1… An possibly on Switch 3.
 
I'm glad I only put about two hours into TotK before I got a Switch 2. But I bought it on the Switch, and my upgrade was free since I've got NSO.
 
generational leap? It got a rez/fps bump, thats about it.

Fortnite had a bigger leap (fps/rez boost AND going from less than the lowest settings to a mix of medium to high)
 
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I collect VHS tapes said:
TOTK is 10x better than BOTW
Click to expand...

it's not.
the powers in BotW were way more fun to use,
the shieka shrines were had better puzzles,
the exploration was way better,
and it had a brand new world at the time.

TotK's building mechanics are fun for a while... but after like 10 hours, it gets old.
even after getting the auto build ability it's still kinda annoying to do at times.


BotW just felt fresh and new... TotK felt like retreading the same path but with more boring abilities and with less of a feel of adventure.
 
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What a stupid assumption. If the game can run on the OG Switch, why not?

For real, people really care more about the status of the game than the game itself.
 
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I played TOTK all the way from start to finish on the Switch and played a hefty amount on PC in 4K with all the bells and whistles you expected. That game was made with black magic on the sheer physics and layers in its vertical environments and so forth on such hardware while still being fine to play without many issues after the initial adjusting back. The PC side is very nice, but that game was perfect for the Switch.

Nintendo invested amazingly well with Monolith Soft and all related programmers on what this engine can do and continues to evolve for the future (Mario, Xenoblade, Donkey Kong, etc.).

I genuinely give that game a 10/10 because of the sheer amount of stuff packed and how it worked on that console. Genuinely earned.
 
A lot of us with patience waited for the Switch 2 to play it. I expect another 5 - 10 million in sales fast next financial report.
 
TotK is both way better than and not as good as BotW. My mind tells me TotK is vastly superior but my heart will always belong to BotW.

I'm excited to have them bring the open-air format to a completely new era or location.

Just please, give Hyrule and Ganon/Ganondorf a break.
 
Robb said:
Confused Joe Biden GIF by CBS News


Square bomb, round bomb and cryonis were more fun?

The powers in TotK are so much better and have so much more gameplay utility it's not even funny.
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the issue in TotK is that everything is cumbersome to use.

pulling out a bomb, freezing water, stopping time on objects, magnetically slinging around metal objects...
it all felt snappy and fun to use.

in TotK, even moving objects feels cumbersome and slow. and you can't even sling them at enemies either because you can't get any momentum going, because the object moving ability is only really meant to be used to glue stuff together or move something out of the way a bit.

BotW focused way more on the interplay between different materials and elements. which imo is just way more appealing than focusing 90% of the challenges on building contraptions.
especially when the game basically always gives you more or less a blueprint of what to build anyway. so creativity isn't as crucial as you'd expect in a game where you can build things.

it takes more creativity to get to all shrines on the tutorial island in BotW than it takes to solve any puzzle in TotK 🤷
probably because they knew it's cumbersome to build stuff... so often you find already half-built things that you have to add 1 object to or something in order to overcome the challenge at hand.
 
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kevboard said:
the issue in TotK is that everything is cumbersome to use.

pulling out a bomb, freezing water, stopping time on objects, magnetically slinging around metal objects...
it all felt snappy and fun to use.

in TotK, even moving objects feels cumbersome and slow. and you can't even sling them at enemies either because you can't get any momentum going, because the object moving ability is only really meant to be used to glue stuff together or move something out of the way a bit.

BotW focused way more on the interplay between different materials and elements. which imo is just way more appealing than focusing 90% of the challenges on building contraptions.
especially when the game basically always gives you more or less a blueprint of what to build anyway. so creativity isn't as crucial as you'd expect in a game where you can build things.

it takes more creativity to get to all shrines on the tutorial island in BotW than it takes to solve any puzzle in TotK 🤷
probably because they knew it's cumbersome to build stuff... so often you find already half-built things that you have to add 1 object to or something in order to overcome the challenge at hand.
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But Ultrahand is just one ability.

You'd pick square bomb, round bomb, and cryonis over fuse, ascend, or recall?

I played through BotW twice and I feel like I can count on one hand the amount of times I've used cryonis. And bombs were perfectly replaceable by being an item.

I'd happily replace all three of those BotW abilities for just one of TotK's.
 
Robb said:
But Ultrahand is just one ability.

You'd pick square bomb, round bomb, and cryonis over fuse, ascend, or recall?

I played through BotW twice and I feel like I can count on one hand the amount of times I've used cryonis. And bombs were perfectly replaceable by being an item.

I'd happily replace all three of those BotW abilities for just one of TotK's.
Click to expand...

none of the abilities in TotK are useful in combat and are mostly useless for anything else. they are only used in puzzles.
ascend is also a movement ability I guess, and it is helpful... but it's not something I'd miss.

the main issue is the cumbersomeness. everything is slow and is only useful in very specific situations.
BotW's abilities on the other hand are things that you can just in the moment use to your advantage, and they feel fun to use.

in BotW you can go into a bokoblin camp, throw a bomb, swap to the magnet and throw a metal chest at a guy, then use stasis on a rock, smack it, release and see it fly through the oncoming enemies.
(source: I've done that basically verbatim once)

now use TotK's abilities in a way that's this dynamic. you can't. you aren't running into a camp and then ascend up to a roof... and if you do...why?
neither do you go in there and, like... revert time on something. because again, why woild you do that?

innTotK, the building is the only way to do similarly fun stuff to what's possible in BotW.
but how many times are you motivated to build something in preparation of a fight against a handful of bokoblins?
you might do it once or twice, but then you'll just say fuck it and just use your normal weapons.


which beings me to another annoying thing about the game. the weapons.

I am a staunch defender of the breaking weapons in BotW. because in BotW the weapon durability is essentially like an ammo gauge. you constantly get new ammo, and due to the tiny amount of added scarcity you're motivated to use a variety of weapons.

in TotK however, breaking weapons is annoying. because in TotK, in order to have actually effective weapons that do proper damage and are proper useful, you need to combine them with something.

while in BotW you just swapped weapons on the fly, pick up new ones on the fly, and didn't really have to think about it much more than that.
in TotK you basically always have to first pick up a weapon, go into a menu, look for something to add to the weapon, pull it out, and combine it.
nearly each and every time you find a weapon.
again, cumbersome.

that's the recurring issue I have. everything in TotK felt cumbersome. everything takes too many steps and everything just gets old really fast.

TotK shouldn't have had weapon durability. it should only have had weapon combinations and simply motivate you to build new ones and experiment with that. the fact that it essentially forces you to always go through a menu to make your weapon useful, meant the quick and on the fly weapon swap from BotW was replaced with a system that now not only breaks your weapons, but then also makes it annoying to replace them.
 
kevboard said:
none of the abilities in TotK are useful in combat and are mostly useless for anything else. they are only used in puzzles.
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I won't go into all of your points, but reading through it I feel like we've played entirely different games. Which I guess is a testament to Nintendo's developers.

I can't fathom how you go through TotK without ascending through enemies themselves or enemy camps that are positioned in trees etc. etc. Or reversing enemy projectiles with recall, or summing small Zonai robots as diversions with ultrahand, or using fuse for pretty much every encounter in the entire game.
 
kevboard said:
it's not.
the powers in BotW were way more fun to use,
the shieka shrines were had better puzzles,
the exploration was way better,
and it had a brand new world at the time.

TotK's building mechanics are fun for a while... but after like 10 hours, it gets old.
even after getting the auto build ability it's still kinda annoying to do at times.


BotW just felt fresh and new... TotK felt like retreading the same path but with more boring abilities and with less of a feel of adventure.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, the same world and a lot more of the same kinda killed totk for me over botw. Botw was more interesting in exploration to me.
 
They needed to keep the Switch 1 going..

I want a new Zelda that is made from the ground up specifically for S2.
 
Robb said:
I won't go into all of your points, but reading through it I feel like we've played entirely different games. Which I guess is a testament to Nintendo's developers.

I can't fathom how you go through TotK without ascending through enemies themselves or enemy camps that are positioned in trees etc. etc. Or reversing enemy projectiles with recall, or summing small Zonai robots as diversions with ultrahand, or using fuse for pretty much every encounter in the entire game.
Click to expand...

I did that too... for a while... but then it just eventually became clear to me that it's usually just not worth bothering.

I didn't want to refill my zonai parts just to use them in a fight that will last 30sec.
only to then miss a part I want to use to get somewhere.

it's just too much item management.
again, many people already didn't like the item management in BotW... TotK triples the time spent for item management.
BotW felt just right to me, TotK went a few steps too far
 
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kevboard said:
I am a staunch defender of the breaking weapons in BotW. because in BotW the weapon durability is essentially like an ammo gauge. you constantly get new ammo, and due to the tiny amount of added scarcity you're motivated to use a variety of weapons.

in TotK however, breaking weapons is annoying. because in TotK, in order to have actually effective weapons that do proper damage and are proper useful, you need to combine them with something.

while in BotW you just swapped weapons on the fly, pick up new ones on the fly, and didn't really have to think about it much more than that.
in TotK you basically always have to first pick up a weapon, go into a menu, look for something to add to the weapon, pull it out, and combine it.
nearly each and every time you find a weapon.
again, cumbersome.

that's the recurring issue I have. everything in TotK felt cumbersome. everything takes too many steps and everything just gets old really fast.

TotK shouldn't have had weapon durability. it should only have had weapon combinations and simply motivate you to build new ones and experiment with that. the fact that it essentially forces you to always go through a menu to make your weapon useful, meant the quick and on the fly weapon swap from BotW was replaced with a system that now not only breaks your weapons, but then also makes it annoying to replace them.
Click to expand...
You had the shortcut menu for attachments. It remembered where you left off and you could quick sort it 3 ways including most used iirc. That made a lot of attachments quick to use.

And a broken weapon was just another welcome opportunity to try some new/different weapon/attachment combo.
 
kevboard said:
it's not.
the powers in BotW were way more fun to use,
the shieka shrines were had better puzzles,
the exploration was way better,
and it had a brand new world at the time.

TotK's building mechanics are fun for a while... but after like 10 hours, it gets old.
even after getting the auto build ability it's still kinda annoying to do at times.


BotW just felt fresh and new... TotK felt like retreading the same path but with more boring abilities and with less of a feel of adventure.
Click to expand...
Yeah I don't agree with this at all.

TotK did the impossible in making BotW look "quaint" in retrospective, both in scope and gameplay. The building system is amazing, and you're only limited by your imagination. I remember thinking at the end of TotK, that I had no idea where the Zelda team takes the series next. Where else is there to go?

The biggest problem with TotK (and it a lesser degree BotW) is that you can only get out of it what you're willing to put in. And as the saying goes "boring people are bored." If you have no creative spark, of course TotK won't feel like much. But if you do ...
 
Stefan.North said:
No, it was such a downgrade for a Zelda title.

It is maybe good for Minecraft players, but I really didn't enjot TotK as a Zelda game. BotW was much more enjoyable.
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Okay but your statement has nothing to do with what OP is suggesting, you might hate Tears but you would have still bought it.
 
I love how TotK plays on Switch 2 compared to Switch 1, but that's not a good reason to deprive Switch 1 owners of the chance to play the game (or Nintendo of all those sales).

If you think about it, having to get the game running on Switch 1 is what gave them all that overhead room to have it run so smoothly and well on Switch 2 in the first place. Expect the Switch 2's Zelda, whatever it is, to be more techically impressive but run at a lower resolution and (probably) framerate. It'll sing on Switch 3 though.

As a side note, I hope the third in the BotW "open air" series revisits the oceanbound concept fom WW but with crazy wind and wave physics. I would also hope that it takes the TotK building mechanic to the next level, centered around building more permanent upgradeable ships in a shipyard. Add to that more disposable deployable submarines, landing craft, aicraft, etc. Reuse the same map one last time, only this time bury everything but the mountaintops in water.
 
TOTK may be the epitome of the "lazy dev" rhetoric.

They reused the same armor in the four regions.

They reused like 90% of BOTWs music even the cold theme you've heard for 500 hours in BOTW.

The UI is largely the same.

In the depths you get BOTW DLC armor as major reward.

The story is still told through BOTW's copy pasted memory system despite the story begging for linear story telling (you were even able to spoil yourself). The story structure is very similar, even down to going to the same 4 regions again.

There's just one new "town" in the game.

90% of assets were carried over.

Depths and sky islands had copy pasted content over and over and over.

I have no clue how they got away with this but one thing is for certain, 15 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps, 120 fps, it doesn't matter, this is the Zelda that completely damaged my trust in the team.
 
Zannegan said:
with crazy wind and wave physics
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Yeah, I've been pondering what they could do with water/fluid manipulation etc. myself.

The Switch 2 hardware should be able to open the door to so much cool/more advanced physics stuff to play around with.

I can't wait to see what they've come up with!
 
Robb said:
Yeah, I've been pondering what they could do with water/fluid manipulation etc. myself.

The Switch 2 hardware should be able to open the door to so much cool/more advanced physics stuff to play around with.

I can't wait to see what they've come up with!
Click to expand...
We kinda seeing that with Donkey Kong Bananza.......I'm so hyped for this game.
 
Danjin44 said:
We kinda seeing that with Donkey Kong Bananza.......I'm so hyped for this game.
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Yeah, I love that Nintendo is going all in on the physics stuff.

I bet the Zelda team have lots of ideas for powers etc. that they couldn't make work properly due to the Switch (1) hardware.
 
Would have maybe stopped the pirate losers bragging about playing it early causing Nintendo go after the Switch emulators.
 
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I collect VHS tapes said:
hah, I just made a similar thread. had I seen this I probably would have posted here instead. I think it was fine on the Switch 1, but the improvement on Switch 2 is massive

TOTK is 10x better than BOTW
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Agreed 💯. I've been playing it a lot on Switch 2 focusing on batteries. Has great physics, the depths, and the sky islands. Item fusions, better traversal, etc. It has a real Ganondorf fight too instead of an IT Chapter 2 spider. It's the best looking version of Ganondorf imo.

On Switch 1 I stopped after 20 or so hours because it ran so poorly. Looks buttery smooth & way better on Switch 2.
 
L*][*N*K said:
Okay but your statement has nothing to do with what OP is suggesting, you might hate Tears but you would have still bought it.
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What I was replying was the notion that TotK would've been good as a launch title.

IMO, it wouldn't, but I could be wrong. I just don't think it has as much of appeal as BotW.
 
I collect VHS tapes said:
TOTK is 10x better than BOTW
Click to expand...
I really disliked game making me do bunch of sidequests just to wake up a fairy from a fountain and upgrade my gear. Of course, finding a musician was one thing, but then you have to do his sidequest, then you have to build a wagon, then you have to transport a crew, and then you have to find and farm certain materials, and some were a real chore getting a material from sky dragons once a day...

I mean, I can go in depth and on a long tantrum, but that's not the point.

I just felt like I was playing Minecraft, and not Zelda. Same kind of slow conditioned progress requiring you gathering and farming materials. I like Zelda game in a Zelda game, not sandboxes with "to do" lists.
 
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Nintendo fans buy a Switch 1 to play Zelda for hundreds of £ with performance and graphic fidelity being substandard. They then pay another £450-500 to then play the same game at what they deem to be acceptable levels with a paid upgrade if you don't pay for their "online service" and think they got a good deal and act like it's a fantastic achievement.

In terms of releasing it exclusively on Switch 2, Nintendo has been loving the double dip customers since the end of the Wii when Twilight Princess (think it was that 1) was released on both the Wii and the WiiU. Then the next Zelda on Wii U and Switch, and now both those Zeldas from Switch to Switch 2 with the difference being you can pay for the "enhanced" versions instead of the full game again.
 
BlackTron said:
That would have been like launching Gamecube with Majora's Mask. TOTK is the extra "freebie" sequel that reused art and assets on the same system.

No thanks. Put it out so you can move on to the next game instead of launching with asset rehash
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Why the fuck do you care if they reuse assets? Seriously why do you think that a game that reuses artwork is somehow bad? It still took them 6 years to release it. All the shrines were new. New caves, remixed world that felt like time had passed, new overworld, new underworld. There was so much more to it than the fact that it reused the map and assets.
 
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