You know, I miss being a kid, sometimes you're just amazed by all the cool stuff that distracts you from the mundane world. I could deal with terrible school life, problems with family, but long as I get to play something cool, and the experience becomes an indelible part of my life, happy as a clam.
Who would have thought a grown man could experience the same thing. Nintendo might be a torn on consumer's side, but when they make a tremendous game, then make a sequel that does it better, they've reached godhood. No one can top that. How is it that Nintendo can get away with making such amazing games, I wish I knew.
Legend of Zelda: BOTK was a benchmark for sandbox open-world games, Tears of the Kingdom is a sandbox builder game. It's RUST and Garry's mod with single-player. I found wonderment in discovery, I laughed my head off from even simple puzzles, and many different experiences I've felt carried by a game that goes bigger and better. Albeit inside a dated system that really needs to retire.
Something about the iconography here, where two opposing forces holding each other back, with time being still for them. Until of course it isn't, because somebody got too close and decided to awaken the beast within. Zelda gets pushed off, Link's sword breaks and his right arm becomes infected by the blight, and both fall down, but Link gets almost saved.
Instead, his hand for the time being is replaced by someone else's, someone powerful from the past, his ghost and the hand that once sealed the beast is now guiding Link to save his princess and the land of Hyrule from another great catastrophy. That beast of course is Ganondorf.
You want to know what else the hand can do? No, am not talking about winding down. The hand introduces various new mechanics, special powers that go further in the verticality of level puzzle solving. Which was what Breath of the Wild was kind of about, it's much different here.
Now, I can take objects and stick them to one another like Lego pieces and subject them through various courses of brain exercise. Where frustrations and complete sense of idiocy takes place, where I went "if only I looked closer". As well as travel through ceilings, reverse time, and fuse weapons.
Me being an idiot when it comes to puzzle solving in a Zelda game is pretty much proven time and time again, but I think it is fair to say that they can pretty be difficult sometimes too. At one point I came to a Sky Tower, it was closed off, and couldn't be opened. But the guy waiting hinted a cave being underneath, so I explored that.
The game gives a lot of rock and debris as obstruction blocking paths, so I would fuse a rock with my sword and just break them through. I went back and forth, since the guy Griffith guy mentioned something about mushrooms. I tried giving him that, that was a mistake, then tried exploring the cave, and since breaking these rocks also damaged my weapons, I was very tentative.
What I learned is that you can't find anything unless you keep pushing forward. I had little resource like bomb plants to break the rocks and weapons that were deteriorating, but I pushed through. And found this exact spot, where I used Ascend to climb upwards to the tower. And turns out the door was being blocked by two long stick weapons.
Or this other puzzle involving moving the ball through the water, I was given log boards, wheels, and some wooden boards. I was dumbfounded by this, and so stuck in my mind, before the idea just came all because I got bored. End result was me trying to attach the wooden ones to the wheels, then the ball to the center of a log, and cast it to the water, which turned out to be the funniest thing I've seen from over 20hrs of my playthrough. It looked straight out of something from Fantasia.
I got frustrated with a number of things, like saving the game after solving the puzzle, only to come back and do it over again, because checkpoint works only from start of the shrine. There were moments I was scratching my head, because I thought I did everything right, yet nothing worked. I probably missed something, maybe didn't have necessary means, so I skipped those shrines.
I played BOTK, and I realized why I forgot these experiences, because they were taxing. But was it worth going through it? I think the game knows that answer better than me. And I had to keep playing to find the answer out myself.
Yes, word of mouth encourages anybody to play a game like this, but while I was playing, I did ask if this is the exact same game? The Answer came to be both yes and no. Because the U.I. is the same, the visuals well, 80% of it look exactly similar, kind of like reusing assets. The fundamental mechanics as well, and Hyrule pretty much as well.
A lot has changed in 6 years, and new standards set by other open world games including Elden Ring, where does Tears of the Kingdom come to? Man, I can put two fans on a falcon wing contraption, and soar through the sky. Long as I have enough battery to keep going.
I put this giant hook on logs sticking together, while riding a rail from one floating island to another. I even helped a Korok by getting to his buddy on the other side with 2x Korok Seeds for rewards. Heck, I even attached a flaming device on my shield and enemies easily loss their composure, and thus exerted chaos on the battlefield. Or shoot an arrow with a bomb plant on top.
Last game was big, this is muuuch bigger. With the sky and land map now to explore, there are plenty of shrines filled with puzzles for me to find. If I can get the max health Link had from prologue, then of course I am going to grind super hard.
There are encounters with enemies like cave trolls or goblins, that were easily dispatched with my arrow or any gizmos I attach to my weapons with limited durability. Hard to defeat bosses like giant fortress trolls or hostile Zonai machinations having their stuff thrown back with Reverse power.
So much added stuff, expanding the main gameplay with loads of ways to find engagement in either solving the puzzles, going toe to toe with the inhabitants, or finding even more amazing ways to make food. And the best part of it, they added a recipe menu. Finally!
Now I've seen the online videos, two things I want to find out, and that is if I can legit build a Gundam that can take out whole legion of enemies (or a Metal Gear REX). That are being fought even by friendly Hyrulians on a near daily basis. Or that bird companion that helps me fight while also flying with me above ground.
I did crazy things like taking down a flying monster carrying a chest, only to have it drop at the lake below the bridge. I went swimming, I took down the ones shooting rocks at me. That's 6 arrows gone, and the treasure was 10 arrows. Not what I was expecting, but hey, surplus arrows.
Another tower puzzle where I can't get the door to open, but have floating stone lands summoning rocks. I climbed on top, using Reverse then to make the rock go back there. Once I've reached on top, I jumped and glided my way into a hole then into the tower.
I know I said Garry's mod, but breaking stuff and then building them just felt like that and Red Faction Guerrila in some way. This game oozes with majestic sense of discovery, it's larger than life sometimes. Despite the fact that the visuals are dated and that no thanks to Nintendo's dated hardware, Hyrule has more than the content twice to show for. For the first time in a while, I feel entirely rejuvenated. Every location provides a variety of different experiences.
Doing the puzzles carry this sense of whimsy, wonderment, I mean it's boldly creative stuff that goes in here. But I chuckled at doing them as well, they can be silly sometimes. Exploring the world with so many discoveries to make is really captivating. I died a lot, yet I kept coming back for more. So many food to cook, so many weapons to fuse and break, new Zonai gadgets to find and use on field.
I've only discoved over 10% of the game, despite knowing this can be finished in 50hrs and I played through almost half of that. I want to try exploring Hyrule. Not sure if I can touch every corner of it. But I want to try.
It takes persistence, some kind of sheer will, drive, and creative exercise to make a game like this. It just stands as a testament to what video games can actually be. This is now the new quality of AAA release should strive for. This and Elden Ring.
I just wish I could do all that in a faster hardware, would it be fair to try emulation even if I bought the game? I mean, that 60FPS experience is looking rather very enticing to try out. This isn't much of a looker when looking at the distance, but at times it really shines in specific areas.
Nintendo doesn't deserve my money, but they got it anyway. And now am going to spend whatever time I have washing away my 2023 sorrows being addictive to this. I won't be able to play anything else the same later on. They have won yet again, and nobody is going to stop talking about it for a long, long time. For now, Zelda has my sword, it needs fixing, so I am going to really take my time.
🎮🎊🎊🎮