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raycatz · 1 year

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I wish so much that I could fully enjoy totk but I am struggling so much. Idk why some of the decisions for the game are the way they are. I can't help but be critical given how important the series and botw are to me.

I feel like the game is struggling to have its own identity. I feel like some creature has wormed its way into botw's skin and is wearing it poorly.

(So far I've played through the Gerudo and Rito story quests. What I've written here though is mostly about the world and direction. I just need to get some of these thoughts out. There are spoilers.)

The three main criticisms people had with botw were the story, weapon durability, and dungeons- and man so far in totk these things have only been worse. (The boss fights are incredible though)

The framerate drops whenever I use ultrahand, and combined with my left joycon drifting it makes trying to use the new mechanic difficult to the point that I will avoid it to do something else.

Some of the game does feel like mashed up dlc ideas. I would have preferred them to be dlc even. If the Zelda devs wanted to tell this story or make a game with these mechanics I wish they would have made an entirely new game instead of using botw.

So far totk has no through-lines between itself and botw. No one has mentioned the Champions, only a single npc has talked about the Calamity, no one has mentioned Calamity Ganon or the divine beasts Link calmed, and only a few people recognize Link himself. The champion successors I've met haven't spoken of the Champions or their divine beasts which is strange given how they spoke of them in botw, and at most have only referred to Link having been there in the past as, "when you helped us" without any specifics as to what. I've done all the side quests in botw and to have the people I helped call Link a stranger is saddening. It's even more pronounced in Hateno. I bought a house there. I helped its people. And the house no longer has Link's name by the door and Hateno's people remark at how Link is a new face in town. Didn't I live there? Given how some of the kids have grown it's probably been around 4 years since botw. Where has Link been in that time for the people to forget him? In Kakariko Cottla says she can't talk to me because she isn't supposed to talk with strangers. We've played tag together. I cooked meals with her sister. It's sad. In botw we spent the whole time collecting Link's memories and growing attached to the land only to have the land forget us. I feel like it's a disgrace to all of the time and joy players put in and found in botw, and to botw's story- to have none of that matter.

What happened to the Divine Beasts and the Sheikah shrines and the slate? Further, some important npcs from botw are just gone without explanation.

If the events of botw are so irrelevant then why use the same world and characters? I understand it's a way to save time and resources but this game took 6 years to make past botw. I would have preferred a new world and princess/hero entirely so I could go into it as a fresh experience. Instead, it feels like what made botw important was swept away, and the map and characters are only being used as an empty husk, like setpieces. Majora's Mask being a sequel with reused assets worked because in Termina there was no reason for anyone to know Link, and him traveling to find Navi made sense, and the look-alike characters are different people. In botw, there is no reason for no one to recognize Link or his achievements. He is the Hero of Hyrule for that world and it's people. He freed the divine beasts and put an end to the multiple local disasters they were causing, yet none of that is acknowledged and it sticks out like a sore. (I'm really really hoping that Sidon talks about Mipha and the constant rain caused by Vah Ruta because how could he not? That's his sister! Yunobo saw Daruk's spirit in botw so I'm hoping he says something of the Champions. I'm really hoping.)

I enjoyed exploring botw's world because there were always koroks and shrines to collect. I could wander knowing there was something in store to find. The world never felt too big or empty for this reason, and the solitude made sense because of the Calamity. In totk the number of shrines and koroks has been greatly reduced (edit: there are more shrines and just as many koroks as in botw. It just seems I'm having difficulty finding them ashfsjdf.) I know the overworld already so there not being a reward for exploring gives me no incentive to. The lack of shrines and the cutscenes required to go through to use the towers is another hindrance on exploration and quests. I can't get spontaneously sidetracked because there's no nearby place to warp back to, and I know how far I'll have to walk to get there. Traveling can feel like a chore instead of something enjoyable. It feels like the overworld has been stripped.

The world wasn't made for the new mechanics either, and so the areas to use them in are all tacked on as monster camps or fallen ruins, instead of a natural part of the landscape.

The new map content, the Sky and Depths, would have been better being condensed. They don't fit within the scope of botw's map. The Sky Islands so far don't take up much space and are significantly less important than I hoped they would be. The Depths is a fun concept and I enjoy the restrictions it puts on players, with the soft cap and kinda rougelite aspect while you're in the early game, but it's way too big, very repetitive, and there's not much point to exploring once you know what it's about. Both the Sky and the Depths would have benefitted by being more carefully thought out, concise, areas and suffer from having to fit the scope of botw's map. The Depths has poes and zonite to collect, but these things come in such huge quantities and require even huger quantities of to be useful that it feels grindy. I need 3 zonite ore for one crystalized ore, 100 crystalized ore for one fuel charge. There are three charges in one canister, of 8. That's 7,200 zonite ore like wtf. How is this supposed to be achievable? So far I haven't needed to use the vehicles all that often so it's not particularly useful atm either. The amount of cross-trading currency collectibles is overbearing. For some time I had no idea what any of them were used for so I didn't know what the point was in collecting them. Bubulgems, zonite ore, large zonite ore, poes, crystalized charges, large crystalized charges- too many. Please condense some of them.

Gone are all the very cool weapon designs, replaced in favor of the new fuse mechanic and endlessly scrolling through materials to find the right thing to attach.

The memories and the story in that aspect are still passive. Even more so.

We're all familiar with the Zelda formula- totk now follows the botw formula. Plateau area, back and forth fetch quests to upgrade your abilities, four main story beat locations, memories, and then the open world for players to tackle freely. I'm really hoping there is more. There has to be because the Sky and Depths haven't been used in the main story beats so far. In botw you could go anywhere and have everything to do in a given location immediately assessable to play through, but in totk there are things locked by progression. However, it's awkward because you aren't told precisely what's locked or why. I'm like- I went through the effort to get here but there isn't anything for me to do. I know there's something here! But I can't do anything yet and idk why or what I'm missing! and instead of building anticipation it just makes me frustrated. I'm not sure if what I'm missing is locked to progression or if there is something I've truly just missed.

So I have a feeling of having missed something important story/mechanic-wise when exploring, and then on the other hand I have the feeling of being very clearly shoehorned towards certain goals. Nearly all of the npcs have dialogue that leads you towards something. I don't feel like botw was ever this in-your-face about goals. The Calamity happened 100 years ago so the people have had time to adjust, while the Upheaval is happening now. It makes sense that the Upheaval would be much more pressing, I just wish the npcs would chat about something other than "go here, do this" once in a while. Like, I found Bolson, and instead of being greeted as a familiar face or getting to see Bolson in character, he just told me to go somewhere for a quest related thing. So many of the familiar characters are missing the quirky characterizations they had in botw that made them them.

With being shoehorned towards certain locations: many, many of the npcs want me to clear out monsters at Lurelin. So I went to Lurelin. At that point I'd only completed the quest in Gerudo and five shrines, yet the monsters I faced in Lurelin (and widely across the overworld) were black level monsters, which I was and still am nowhere near prepared for. Totk is either meant to be more difficult than botw or there is an issue with balancing. I've touched maybe 25 shrines and have lit a good number of lightroots, but haven't completed many, so maybe that's a factor into the enemy leveling? I also think there's a way for me to get help that I haven't found yet. Regardless, the enemy scaling across the world feels like it happened too quickly and I don't enjoy the npcs pushing me towards things my character isn't ready for. I feel like there should be more checks in place for this that determine the npc dialogue to the player's progress.

I haven't even talked about the story.

I know I'm being very critical with the game, and I wish I could just enjoy it. I need to stop trying to find botw in this game. And I should take a step back for a while too. I'm just disappointed.

The music and boss battles have been incredible! I hope there's more structured boss battles outside of the main four + ganon. Heck I even hope there's a boss gauntlet with a cool reward.

Just- yeah. So far I am not enjoying the new Zelda formula when it comes to totk. Botw worked for botw. totk looks and is structured too much like botw to feel like its own thing, and yet trying to play it like botw is just upsetting because it isn't.

Totk is a good game, but it's a bad sequel.

I hope the Zelda team returns to the old format sometime, or at least pulls forward some of the ideas. I miss the concise dungeons that take multiple play sessions to get through. I miss the tricky puzzles that make me feel smart for solving. I miss combat being a puzzle requiring certain items or learning boss phases and patterns (rather than sticking materials to your bow and taking a "just deal damage" based approach. I want to be closer to it.) I miss the worlds that were puzzles in and of themselves like Minish Cap or the Oracle games. I miss seeing a clearly marked spot on the wall or a tree in the way and knowing that I'll pick up an item that will help me here later. I like that there were clear solutions. The clues in botw and totk for progression are not as clear. And the botw open-world format is too large for concise puzzles like this. I enjoyed the open-ended way to combat and puzzles in botw, but I feel there should be space for both. No more ways to fenagle the physics or smack your way through obstacles. I want to see linear progression and long-form puzzles return to Zelda games, at least for the next one.

I'm hoping there's some plot twist or turn in gameplay that I haven't reached in totk yet. We'll seeeeee

#rays random ramblings #totk spoilers #totk #long post #sorry- I know the game just came out #I need to slow down with playing it #I hate being so critical with it #I just want to play and have fun but I can't stop thinking about what parts have let me down #given that it's supposed to be a sequel to botw #totk criticism

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ezlo-x · 1 year

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hi...cmere if you want to hear my current thoughts of totk... (spoilers ahead ofc)

Hi :] so since everyone is taking a different path on playing this game this is what I have so far

Currently I have completed the tutorial section, have only Dragon Tears #1 and #2, and completed the Wind Temple

I wanted to write down my thoughts after I finished w the tutorial section but I was just so excited to play I just kept going until I finally decided to take a small break from playing the game for almost the entire day lol. ALSO I will include pics...in some parts

ANYWAYZ THE BEGINNING SECTION I NEED TO GET THIS OFF MY CHEST CAUSE I WAS LOSING MY MIND ABT IT. So when Zelda explains how the "gloom" works I WAS JSUT "...that sounds like the Malice im my au HMMM NO WAY I PREDICTED THIS MY BRAIN HUGE" JNSDKJFNSD I liked that we get to see a little bit more of Zelda before she disappears but also! I liked how she is still prevalent in the story and aids Link at some point in the tutorial section. Also I just find it funny how she appears to people like ghosts knfgskng I know for sure that would be explained why later on.

Now to the tutorial, I had a lot of fun with the shrines better yet all the shrines in general have been super fun. None of them have been a drag to me I have a lot of fun especially that you have to use your arm abilities and that stuff never gets old to me. TBH THO there were a few moments when traveling around the island where my muscle memory is to press "x" to paraglide when I suddenly remembered I don't have the paraglider JFNGKDNF I was yearning for that paraglider.

Sorta of a side note I am really loving how npcs have more personality, like Purah and Robbie just radiate so much more as characters than in BotW. I am loving so far the new npcs it makes the world feel less empty.

Now...to the moment i've been waiting to talk abt. The Dragon tear memories

I love them. I love them SO SO MUCH ESPECIALLY SONIA BUT I FEEL LIKE I LOVE RAURU JUST AS MUCH IDK THEY ARE VERY FUCKING CUTE I CANTTTTT I WANT TO CHANGE MY BANNER TO THEM BUT I KNOW ITS LIKE SUPER SPOILERY OUGHHHHHH

My friends insisted to get the memories in order cause that would make me into an emotional wreck so I can't wait! <3

Now to Rito Village/Wind Temple. First of all, the Rito Theme when its in the blizzard got me a little emotional ngl. It might be cause Wind Waker was one for the first tloz games that i introduced myself to back when I was 14 and hearing it so desolate it almost got me. AND THEN SEEING THE KIDS ALL ON THEIR OWN OUGH (I want to know where's Kass tho...).

TULIN!!! Tulin is adorable idk I enjoyed his character how his stubbornness on doing things on his own was changed to teamwork makes the dream work arc idk it was cute. Teba not being present makes sense to me as he's the new Rito Elder and all. Glad the dude is not dead KJFNGKDJNF

Now the journey to the Wind Temple was so fun it was so fun like idk how to describe it. The ost was amazing especially when finally reaching the temple when you ascend high above the blizzard storm and then you glide down and UGH it was so amazing. The Wind Temple was just as fun it felt like your good old Zelda temple and I love that so much. THE BOSS AS WELL YOUR TYPICAL EVIL CRUSTACEAN WITH WINGS AND UGH!! I Love it I love it sm

NOW AT THE BEGINNING ENTERING THE WIND TEMPLE when the voice appeared, at first I thought it was Rauru. But then I took a second take and he sounded differently than Rauru and I said "oh is this the ancient champion?" AND I WAS RIGHT ITS THE WIND SAGE AND OH OH OH OK

I WAS SO....💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥 YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN//? HE LOOKS RAD THE OTHER SAGES LOOK JIST AS AMAZING. AND THEN-

THIS BITCH GOT HORNS!!!! WHAT 💥💥💥💥

HONESTLY ok time to put my critical hat here. Im honestly not expecting anything crazy with Ganondorf like idk I am excited but at the same time I do have that worry in the back of my mind that he would be your typical evil villain. ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY HAVE SUCH A SOLID STORY WITH GOOD WORLD BUILD like I hope they don't blow it up. and ngl I kinda forgot abt Ganondor for a moment cause I've been so fixated over Sonia and Rauru KJNGDJKFNGKDFJ I CANT WAIT TO MEET THE FIRE SAGE THOUGH RAAHGHHGGHH AND THE ZONAI NEXT TO RAURU OUGH I FORGOT HER NAME BUT RAURU MENTIONS HER IN THE SECOND DRAGON TEAR MEMORY THATS HIS BIG SIS!!!!

One more thing I forgot to mention (theres so much stuff don't get me started to how much I love the depth) the soundtrack is phenomenal. When diving down from either the sky or to the depth it so pretty. And like I said the ost where thats building up when reaching the Wind Temple *chef's kiss* AND how the Wind Temple's theme mixes both Vah Medoh's theme (attacking and inside) and Rito Village. Reminding you what you're fighting for especially in Tulin's case

I am having a lot of fun with this game I am currently just wandering around in the Hebra region. ALSO NOW THAT I REMEMBER I WAS REALLY THROWN OFF BY THE SUBTLE CHANGES THE MAP HAS I STILL AM AND I GET IT for like ppl who played BotW make it feel completely different/new. Honestly its fun it feels like im exploring Hyrule for the first time again its nice <3

and that is all I have tbh I might disappear and come back w more ramblings. I want to say more but I don't want this post to be super long. The fact that I only got one Temple complete and two memories and I still have a lot more to do is so crazy to me

anywayz have some pitcures of Sonia and Rauru cause I love em very mucho <3

#totk spoilers #txt

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tiredesperdad · 8 months

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I've been thinking about their dynamic way too much since I've started playing age of calamity + replaying breath of the wild so here are some of my thoughts about Teba and Revali under the cut.

Like sadly age of calamity barely scratches the surfaces but man their relationship could be so interesting and if you ask me there isn't nearly enough Revali&Teba fanfic out there. I need them to bond in those "the champions live" AUs, I need it!

Anyway....

So we have Revali. Champion of the Rito. Master of the sky and greatest archer they have ever seen. He worked his ass off to create his gale and he's regarded highly among the Rito even a hundred years after his death. But also he was most likely still very young. There are different headcanons but I'd like to think that he was of similar age as Zelda and Link. We don't know anything about his family but either he wasn't really close with anyone while he was still alive or he lost everything in those 100 years he was gone (most likely a bit of both). He's a bit of a drama queen. He acts arrogant but we know from the champion's ballad dlc that he was rather insecure and putting up a front. He's the kinda guy you sometimes just wanna tell to shut up.

Then you have the Rito who look up to him. Nobody had a blood connection to him or really remembers him as an individual, not like the other champions. He's kind of a legend among the Rito.

And that brings us to Teba.

Teba, like the rest of the Rito, always looked up to their champion and the stories they were told about him. He's the best warrior the Rito have at the time of breath of the wild. He has a son and wife but still acts pretty reckless. Saki and Harth describe him as impulsive and Teba describes himself as rather blunt and direct. He seems like a bit of a grump but also is caring.

And now put those two together.

Like I just love this dynamic of Teba meeting /the/ Rito champion, the guy he spent his whole life looking up to and he's barely older than a fledgling. He's a kid whose kind of a dickhead but also absolutely has all of the skills that are remembered about him. But also like holy shit he's so young. And alone. There are no blood relatives left, everyone he knew is dead. He probably didn't even have many connections while he was still alive. Revali went through a lot of shit, too. Like depending on the AU he not only woke up 100 years later but he probably remembers the fight against windblight ganon, he remembers the fear, he remembers dying maybe. But also he's too proud to admit it and he doesn't open up to anyone.

But then there's Teba who is blunt, he's direct. So I'd like to think he'd be the perfect person for Revali in such a scenario because let's be real, Revali needs someone who will call out the bullshit once in a while and just flat out tells him what he doesn't want to hear but needs to hear. Maybe someone who sees him for the person that he is and not just the champion Revali.

Also I feel like at some point the Rito (in Revali's time) were looking up to Revali so much he really just lived that front of the Rito champion. He couldn't show weakness, he always had to be strong and perfect and couldn't make any mistakes. But that shit can't keep going and Teba probably would just.... kick his ass about it once in a while.

Plus I'm 100% accepting from age of calamity that Revali is good with kids and takes on Tulin/trains him (maybe even the other kids).

Anyway.... Just.... Revali's and Teba's dynamic man. I just love the thought of Teba being that adult that Revali so desperately needs but I also like the thought of these two shitheads impulsively going off all the time and driving Saki and Harth crazy. You have Revali who is about to do something stupid and everyone is like "ah thank god Teba went to stop him" but Teba 100% would go along with it almost every time.

Also sidenote: Give me those Kass and Revali bonding moments. There are exactly zero Kass&Revali fanfics on AO3 and it's killing me, I love Kass so much, please give Revali a calm adult who will play songs for him, thanks.

Also another sidenote: I know mute Link is a big headcanon in the fandom but I've always imagined that he's much more talkative after losing his memories and that would be the reason why he and Revali would get along a lot better if the champions ended up being alive after the 100 years of Link sleeping. A big reason why Revali dislikes Link so much is because he doesn't speak his mind and shows no emotions so I think they absolutely could get over this with Link just being more open (and Revali swallowing his pride for once) because he doesn't have to put up a front anymore.

#revali #teba #breath of the wild #I need someone to talk to me about these idiots #or just revali #actually please talk to me about all the rito #I adore every single one of them #sadly none of my friends are into botw like I am aaaah #maybe one day I'm gonna write a oneshot for them #anyway teba would be so good at cutting the bullshit #but he'd also be a terrible enabler #also I've been replaying botw and the way the other rito describe teba is so delightful #they are all like damn sir you have a kid please stop getting yourself killed #and meanwhile he's so damn stubborn #like how could he and revali not get into all kinds of shenanigans?

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marcilled · 1 year

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on TOTK and what it's flaws and strengths are to you!

I had a whole response typed for this, ready to post, and my power shut off... well! I'm back now so I'll try to type my thoughts on this again.

big disclaimer here that tears of the kingdom is a HUGE game... I'm still working my way through it. I've done the equivalent of one of the divine beasts in botw for a bit of reference (they have a very direct equivalent in totk it seems).

that being said some of its strengths were the strengths botw had... truly expansive open world, that does an amazing job at rewarding you for exploring it. It never feels "empty", there's always some little surprise to find in every tiny nook and cranny you can explore- usually a korok. There's so many koroks. None of them are where they were in botw, despite using the same map (with some modifications).

this got really long, so I'm going to put a readmore (might contain some vague spoilers)

What I find especially apparent with totk, that sets it apart from the previous game, is that it does a really great job of guiding the player from point to point. It's still very much an open world game, but instead of leaving you directionless and hoping you find what you're looking for, there's always some npc mentioning that some weird ruins from the ancient zumblefuck civilization suddenly appeared in chungustown, across the suckdick river in east falumpa or whatever.

Even when you're just, you know, getting your horse out of the stable, the npcs will constantly be giving you directions to some major landmark, where you'll find a bunch of other npcs giving important quests or furthering the plot! In that way, you're never left wondering "well, this is great and all, but what is there to do in this game besides exploring", they just straight up tell you. botw ... sort of did that, but not enough.

I think that this sort of design philosophy is especially apparent in the tutorial island you begin the game at, where they very expertly crafted this island that is definitely "open world", but at the same time, directs you from point to point almost invisibly. Sure, you could visit any of the three shrines in any order you like- but there's one shrine super close to you, and it's the most visible from where you start the quest. So, may as well go there! Oh, turns out that the next shrine is way easier to get to after you have the ability from that closest shrine... Not to mention, the little robots give lots of tips for everything you're about to run into along the path you conveniently ended up taking that definitely isn't exactly where the game wants you to go! Plus, you keep running into this handsome goat man along the way who's always saying some contemplative stuff that makes you fall in love with him. Wait was that just me? Anyways, it's incredibly clever at guiding the player where they need to go without seeming like it's holding your hand either. botw wasn't really designed that way, and I appreciate that totk takes this approach.

In line with the direction that the npcs give you, I also really love to see how the world of totk feels so much more alive than in botw. In botw, humanity had nearly been wiped out by the calamity. For 100 years they toiled just to survive, and the remaining settlements felt very disconnected from one another, with how dangerous travel was. It gave this very melancholic feeling to every place you visited. However, in totk, it's clear that some time has passed since link defeated calamity ganon, and the people of hyrule have really begun to heal. There's people everywhere, and they're visiting each other more often. There's cooperation from every part of the kingdom, with everyone working together to try to find Zelda, and figure out what caused the upheaval, and what it means for the future. One particular interaction I really loved, was talking to a rito and a hylian woman at a stable near rito village, where the rito woman had come to pick up supplies for the village to deal with the intense blizzard there. The hylian woman said something like, "we're glad to help you, you've been wonderful neighbors to us!", and the rito woman was so thankful. that sort of camaraderie really sets the tone for totk, and it warmed my heart to see. There's this real sense of the world healing and supporting one another that I really enjoy.

Another thing that sets it apart, for better and worse, is the all-new abilities you get. No more magnesis or stasis or bombs, they're replaced with ultrahand, reversal, and... being able to attach bombs to literally any object you desire, as well as throw them directly, or even stick them onto contraptions you build?! Not to mention the ability that lets you travel up through ceilings. The abilities are quite different and do make a serious impact in how you play! The bizarre fucking contraptions you're able to build using ultrahand, combined with the various pieces of zonai tech, makes for some really compelling emergent gameplay! And lots of funny clips you can post online which I'm sure you've probably seen by now. It's a lot of fun.

That being said, I feel there's something lost by getting rid of the old abilities- for example, I almost never find myself using any of those abilities during combat. The most I'll do is attach items to my weapons (which is very fun!), but it's nothing compared to being able to bonk enemies with huge rocks using magnesis, or using stasis to pile on the damage onto a single enemy, or even just launch them off of cliffs. Although, the rest of the fun physics from botw is still there, like freezing enemies and making them slide around or what have you. I guess my primary complaint here is that the new abilities feel a bit underutilized, for example I pretty much never use the ability to reverse time, unless I'm doing a shrine where it's obviously required for a puzzle or something. Ah well.

I think my main complaint with totk really just boils down to the story just kind of refusing to admit that it's a sequel? even though... it is a sequel?? it's kind of weird, and just makes me sort of sad. Ancient Sheikah technology was crucial to the entire worldbuilding and story of botw, and somehow it's nowhere to be found in totk. They've just replaced all the ancient sheikah stuff with different ancient tech, which, while it's really cool in its own right, makes it feel very disconnected from the game that came before it. I get that they're trying to make the game feel welcoming to people who never played the first one, but you don't have to literally get rid of all traces of the previous game to accomplish that?!? I haven't found a SINGLE broken-down guardian anywhere in the whole game so far, much less one that's still living. There's been basically NO MENTION of the divine beasts either! The most I've seen is purah and impa having some ancient sheikah stuff/pictures relating to the calamity, but that's about it. It doesn't go beyond mentioning that the calamity happened, really. It's bizarre. They don't even talk about calamity ganon. What the hell!!! it just makes me kind of upset.

Actually, it goes deeper than this. the threat of calamity ganon was omnipresent in botw. You could always see it floating around the castle from almost anywhere on the map, at the very center. More than that, though, the remnants of an ancient war were everywhere- Guardians existed everywhere, always threatening you with that utterly terrifying music. There's not really an equivalent to that in totk. Sure, there's the zonai constructs, but... None of them are nearly as threatening as guardians were, other than the ones that are obviously boss fights. It just feels a bit sad, there's not as much "urgency" to your actions.

Then again, totk seems a bit more linear in its progression than botw- it could be possible that I'm still too early on to see the difficulty ramp up further, and introduce new threats? that'd actually be really cool if that were the case, but I have no idea. I just have to keep playing, I suppose. But as of rn, the "demon king" is just a big question mark, and his influence on the story is a bit unclear right now. it's not even immediately obvious what the endgame is, which is a lot different from botw. So perhaps I'll hold my judgement on this front until later. I just miss how the guardians were a constant threat, always reminding you of what your goal is.

And as one last quickfire of several little complaints:

The (english) voice acting in the game is very underwhelming. It's just not very good. I play ffxiv so I'm used to middling voice performances tho LOL. this was a problem in botw as well tho.

the boss fight i did (that i compared to one of the divine beasts) was too easy. i expected it to feel at least a little challenging, but i didn't feel threatened even once. the enemies i encounter in the overworld are tougher, it felt kinda underwhelming in spite of the (extremely good) boss music

the depths feels a bit samey after a while. my first impression was utter awe, i was like, "i'm completely in love with this game", but i soon realized that they used some sort of algorithm to translate the topography of the overworld onto the depths and suddenly the magic disappeared a bit. it's still really cool, and the mechanic of permanently losing hearts while you're down there makes it feel incredibly threatening, but there's simply not enough variety to feel like it's justified to take up that much space. unlike the overworld, the depths /do/ end up feeling empty after a while of exploring.

... I suppose as a bit of a TL;DR, my main complaints boil down to, "this is great, but it could be even better", or, "I miss some of the stuff that was in botw".

There's more thoughts I could probably share, like how I love all of the very blatant ghibli inspiration in this game (even moreso than in botw!), but I've already rambled quite a lot. thank you for the ask anon!! <3

#asks #Anonymous #long post

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flockrest · 7 months

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this one's to the lovely who dropped an entire essay back @ me in the inbox! i've decided to format the post such that i can answer some portions directly so none of us get confused, hope you don't mind! anything indented is what you sent in, the rest is part of my response :) it's another doozy but we love those, don't we? asflkdj here we go!

Hi, hope you're doing well! I'd been the anon giving you asks more on Revali's personality and his behavior around the Flock and the Flock's reaction (mostly Tulin's) towards him. Also, the 1.6k did not overwhelm me- if anything made me very happy and overall more curious ahahaha. If anything- thank you so much for accepting and taking the time to answer these asks. Can relate to the unhinged feelings over the lonely rito- I could be hours and hours thinking. That gif of the guy with a board behind full of clues and trying to connect the dots- that's currently me.

hello, welcome back! thank you, hope you're having a wonderful time too!! ♡ also gotta thank you again for sending these in, i genuinely get so excited to see things like this in my inbox!! your passion is so great to see! i'm glad you enjoy my answers, and that they make you all the more curious and open to sharing with me ♡ what a huge mood though afklsjdg this stupid bird just has So Much to him

I've re-read your post various times and even tried organizing my thoughts in paper. And there is so much I want to ask... What caught a lot my attention- was how you spoke a bit of Rito village during & after the Calamity; ofc we don't really get a clear picture of the before even with AoC's light but we do get the clearest view of the aftermath of it (ofc 100 years skipped). I do feel (Pre-Calamity) Rito Village had a larger flock(?) compared to the village we get exposed during BoTW/ToTK events. In a way feels the loss of their Champion & Calamity's wrath- made them all realize the importance of that sense of unity.

yes, exactly! you get it! it's a natural outcome from suffering any huge loss...and while it comes from a place of tragedy, i just. really appreciate how homely and cosy rito village feels in both botw and totk because of it — you get that sense of nobody is genuinely uncared for, even link! and this isn't to say that the other peoples of hyrule don't care for their own, it just! hits different with the rito. like you get the impression that everybody interacts with each other everyday! you literally can't go from the top of the village to the bottom without seeing almost every single resident; they're all practically neighbours! they're all, on some level, friends!

this significance on sticking together as a community is especially evident in totk. seriously, it makes me so emo seeing the kids step up to fill in spaces the adults did not mean to leave behind nor expect them to fill :') and their efforts don't go unrecognised, as they shouldn't be, but oh my god. on my hands and knees over how cherished the kids are in this damn flock!! nekk ( MY BELOVED ) puts it best: "they're the saviours of this village."

and like! they're going through extremely hard times with supply scarcities but still find the capacity to be so generous?? there are more things than i expected lying about that you can just grab — that they'll consciously let you grab! i'm going to need these folks to stop having such a huge collective heart fr it's making me feel A Lot 😭

( and in reviewing cutscenes from both botw and aoc in this context, i think we can safely say that their residential population was indeed bigger pre-calamity. there's more background npcs just chilling about in the memory "revali's flap" compared to most post-calamity cutscenes, and aoc literally shows that there are enough rito present for brigades! the reduced numbers we see post-calamity could simply be attributed to more rito travelling beyond their home and even hyrule, but then the calamity would probably be a big reason for that too )

Brings me back to ToTK, where I noticed most adults in a way spoke highly & relied (at least to me) a bit on Tulin's ability to use wind magic- after all it's been a long time since they ever witness it. But also appreciated how Harth's dialogues which he praises the boy's ability but is concerned of how Tulin is taking certain approach (how at first he goes alone) and his overworking state. Even Teba & Saki recognize their son's abilities but as parents are concerned- I am pretty sure while they acknowledge him as a rito warrior, they also want him to continue living his childhood. (Link does too btw- sorry I don't mention them often)

OH, FOR SURE. you are right on many points here; for sure, the adults have come to see tulin as a young rito warrior in his own right and do trust him to contribute in a way they wouldn't ask of the other fledglings; harth makes it clear that even before link had come, sending tulin to investigate the cloud surrounding the stormwind ark was an option they weren't as opposed to as our introduction to the kid made it seem ( and it's not just his wind-gust technique they're so in awe of either! god. he really has worked so hard!! and everybody can see it! 😭😭 ).

with the worry, i believe the nature of it really depends! it's all completely warranted given how tulin's initial views on how "he doesn't need anyone else backing him up" has apparently "gotten him into trouble more times than [harth] can count" ( which is definitely concerning but also. it can't be anything worse than getting his bow stolen and being left with just his talons for defence in the face of a monster, right? because tulin. tulin. that could not have been your turnaround if you've been doing shit like flying straight into frost taluses solo or something sflkjd ) anyway, but it seems for teba and harth, it's more in a we're worried you're actively sabotaging yourself with your recklessness way.

saki had hang-ups about tulin losing his innocence too early in botw ( "he is such a sweet boy," she says, and it never fails to make me collapse on my knees because he so is and the best thing is he never loses that aspect of himself!! ), but does appear to have come to accept that her son's growing up in totk? i unfortunately don't have a screenshot of the line that indicates this, nor do i remember it verbatim, but the vibes i'm getting from her are i'm worried because you have not learnt enough to be as grown up as you insist you are ( which leaves you ill-prepared for the situations you're trying to fly into ).

ofc it all connects to a primary worry for his safety and his tendency to do way more than anyone would ask of him, but i do think they understand, on some level, that trying to completely stop him is ultimately futile and will only make things worse — in that he'll start deliberately pushing them away when he's only leaving them behind for now.

he's a tween! still a child but only ever getting older, and with how important it is to their culture, i imagine being a warrior isn't as mutually exclusive from childhood as it'd be for us. like tulin's an outlier because he's a prodigy who excessively worked himself to that title, but i don't doubt that compulsory education for growing fledglings would involve, among other things, learning how to at least hunt and defend yourself in the wild! so i don't think it's that they're scared of him growing up too fast at that point in totk — because while he's definitely matured more than his peers in some parts, he is very much still experiencing being a child no matter what he argues in many others aflskdj — just more like...they want him to grow up well. properly, for a lack of better words. WHICH INCLUDES NOT OVERWORKING. oh my god with the overworking

( also oh boy. very glad you brought up link! no need to be sorry! i can't say much on him because i'm not a link writer, though i do ramble about his dynamic with tulin, including how he potentially sees himself reflected in him, over here if you're interested! )

But this also sends me off to another "path" makes me think- What if Revali didn't have this type of support? And it made me think how similar were Revali's and Tulin's in some aspects but how different the outcome were for both- it's a bit tragic at least for me.

YES. YES!! THIS IS IT, YOU HIT IT ON THE HEAD!! i've said it before and i'll say it again: tulin and revali are essentially one support system removed from being each other! they share notable parallels!

just. the fact that harth notices the injuries on tulin's wings from pushing himself to the limits. we don't get follow-up dialogue on that, but there's such a high chance that Words are exchanged between them when link leaves them be because we've seen their relationship. we know how harth cares for tulin, we know tulin is loved for more than what he can do and looked out for. now juxtapose that with revali, thrown out of his own tornado, alone in that moment where he picks himself up as well — but way less likely to have anyone say anything about his wing injuries or to even let someone think he has them. [spontaneously combusts]

i would say more on this and why the sages of totk in general act well as foils to the champions of botw, particularly regarding themes, but that really does feel like a post for another time sdflkjd and it is tragic! it is very tragic! revali was doomed by the narrative in more ways than one :')

I remember the diary where he speaks how the town began praising him for his achievements- that type of validation can be good but to an extreme and left unchecked, it can spiral someone into depending of it. And yet at the end of that diary... he still spoke how he need to continue perfecting himself. Something that AoC made me think in more depth was how almost everyone was "chosen" by destiny (or have a unique ability) and carried a title. But when I look at Revali he seems somehow an abstract to them. Even though in his diary such things were not something he cared for- he mostly valued folks by their responses and actions. (Note: Found cute how he appreciated the scarf and gave one to his bow... It really meant a lot to him// Also I do think Revali appreciated all the Champions including Zelda & Link).

YEAH. YEP. and the way he at first speaks about it, how he contradicts himself in tone despite trying to sound so self-assured — "as one would expect" VS the "i...could get used to this." that follows in the same entry — that's the attention and glory he's always wanted! now he's gonna affix it to the meaning of loving and being loved. which he's also going to attach to his abilities and what he can offer, which is deeply connected to his perceived self-worth. and he's going to make sure he'll never run out of ( tbf real and well-earned ) confidence in that self-worth by constantly pushing himself to greater, more impossible heights. i'm going to put this bird in a washing machine.

he's literally just a guy!! it's one of my favourite things about him, he's Just Some Guy in the group of people who were born into wealth; powers; blessings; respect. they all had their trials, but he earned his place among them from the comparative nothing he started out with and he's justifiably proud of this!

i do think he's also insecure about it at first, tbh ( which he reacts to by laying on the conceit even thicker ), even though his belief in hard work being a supreme indicator of one's "true strength" isn't actually shaken. he is genuinely like i more than deserve to be here but he's also like. and there's nothing you can do about it. don't you forget it. don't you forget it. don't you ever forget it. i wouldn't say it mellows out, but the more he gets to see the champions in action ( thus confirming that they are on his level — that he's fit to make a constellation amongst these that've already been mapped ), the less inclined he feels to explicitly remind them.

and oh my god. the things i could say about what the blue scarf likely means to him. it was handcrafted by zelda, hyrule's princess, for him specifically. it's part of a matching set with other big powers of hyrule. titles and uniform do nothing for him, he claims, but isn't this like being told you are one of us? that you have much to offer? it's "meaningless pomp", he says.

it's also still a gift.

the cloth he ties to his bow is the same shade of blue. i should really make another study post speaking about this more in depth, but i've always interpreted it to be a memento the same way teba and saki's feathers on tulin's quiver are! in tulin's time, this might mean, "these people are always with me." in revali's time, on the brink of a calamity, i imagine it might mean, "( if i fall, you who finds me, ) i belonged with these people."

And yet when Teba & Tulin show up- there is this subtle change on him(?) I wished the game had dwelled a bit more on Teba and Revali. Seeing their interactions was always interesting and in a way, Teba seemed to understand the rito champion. While I felt Teba was that friend or even family member(?) that Revali needed in a way or I could be just over reading, ahaha sorry. But sincerely, I always felt Teba & Tulin were that family or friends- that in a way Revali needed and it makes me think so hard on the "What ifs" and "What could have been"...

what i wouldn't have given for more content and interactions between these three as well!! it's especially fascinating to think about it from teba's side — there is so much recontextualising he has to do and does do about revali, because the one he's grown up idolising and hearing Songs about is uh. well, he's certainly there in the revali he meets, but i doubt he's really prepared for things like how painfully young he is.

he handles it very well honestly asfklsdjg i would not have taken to the realisation that my champion is a warrior hardened only by constant work and the battles he throws himself into, and kind of a fucking brat because he's like the 18yo who thinks being 18 is a decade away from being 17, and died distressingly young back in my timeline with the same grace he gives when he says — of the entire wild experience that is aoc — "this has been enlightening".

you are not over-reading, do not be sorry fr!! i do think revali found an opportunity for companionship in teba that he couldn't find anywhere else when he's built relationships and dynamics he can't change because he has an image to uphold! teba already comes with a dire respect for revali, the knowledge that his story does not end nicely, AND HE'S AN ACTUAL DAD. that sort of thing can bleed into your behaviour and the way you process things without meaning to asflkdjgs

THE BIGGEST MOOD!! wow i'm so glad writers ( it's me, i'm writers ) can create literally anything they want and so can explore these what ifs and what could have beens and give a resolution to a story cut short. this is what my the champions survive au is all about, i hope to have you stay long enough to see these things come out of it ♡

As for the Flight Range & Saki's dialogue; I've always been emo about the F.Range specially when you walk in and hear his theme playing in this music box style... it's like part of his soul is also there but that flame that burnt passionately has subdued and waits to pass to torch to the next generation. In ToTK it made me cry- specially when Kaneli comments (when you pick the bow,arrows) how they been collecting dust... But on the bright side, made me happy that even with the damages- they still hold dearly to the place and is currently being used as training grounds for flight. Which... is what Revali wanted for his people for them to reach the sky and break the limits (or that how I interpreted it).

AUGH EXACTLY, YOU GET IT!! 😭 he never gave it his name but it'll always be his! it's the most melancholic we ever get to hear his theme, full of the wistful yearning that was definitely present but more muted in its botw version! it's lost potential. an unsaid goodbye. revali's gone. but it's also grounds for hope, a tiptoeing hello: his legacy lives on still! i will always go fucking feral over the music in these games!!

YES!! YEAH!! [HOLDING YOU BY THE SHOULDERS] he calls his journal "the diary of revali, the rito legend" BUT HE DOES NOT. GIVE THE FLIGHT RANGE LITERALLY MADE FOR HIM HIS NAME. because it was never going to be something solely for him. he loves his people, he was never going to stymie their prospects! this loser is so good at making me infuriatingly sad AUGH

Re-reading Saki's dialogue with the context you given me- hit me like a ton of bricks. Because it was a new pov. When I first read her dialogue, I took it more of a "Remembering our Champion- one we couldn't help" rather than "commemoration of what he couldn't do". But I also remembered how contrasting are Teba and Saki; Teba being a warrior with pride, reckless at times - who admired greatly Revali's feats and aspired once to surpass him. Meanwhile Saki is more calm and is concerned with the concept of engaging battle- nervous about the training her son was exposed to. So, when re-reading her dialogue I take it more of a wife and mother concerned of losing her companion/husband and son to a similar fate to Revali's.

i swear we are on the same wavelength. yes, exactly!

another thing about revali's landing that makes me so, so deliriously emo — it's a physical permanency given without request: in the best way they can afford to grant it. the rito notably have very little tangible representations of themselves. they don't have statues or effigies like the zora or gorons ( and why would they, when they have Songs and the Windlines and are also probably restricted by their morphology ), and revali does not have any family to be likened to. link remembers him through seeing the landing, which was there, a part of rito village, before it was ever deemed revali's. it wasn't made for him. but they gave it to him! and i'm!! [BLUBBERING]

Revali's love for his people and Rito Village- it breaks me. I can understand that sentiment of loving someone or something from a far (?) - Even when challenging W.Blight and listening to his lines (both english and spanish for me), one can hear that hidden sadness. It's hearing someone who wants to go back home. "But even so, it will always be my home." - the entirety of those lines really hit me so hard the first time I've heard them.

I KNOW. I KNOW. [head in hands] a century has passed and he can't fathom it. "there's no one left who would even know me." he sounds so struck by it, in both the original jpn and english audio, i want to wrap him up in a blanket and toast him like a marshmallow! how much of that is grief? how much of that is longing? how much of that is some strange solace, in knowing he's alone but there's nothing he could've done about it this time?

Also, it makes me glad seeing a Tulin who can see the good in Revali- even if the champion can have a bit of a thorn like exterior. I've read some of the threads! They been wonderful and brought me a lot of joy. It makes me happy to see Tulin taking flight and moving forward. When you mention your student-disciple, are you referring to Kido? I know there were two names but I've lost the post with the cups. I would love to hear about them all!

thank you!! it heartens me to know that you've dipped into some of my ic writing too! i hope you'll continue to enjoy your stay here!! ♡♡

SLFKJKSDLG SO I'VE CHANGED IT IN THE POST NOW, but i meant master-disciple! apologies for the confusion!! kido is an original character of mine who would actually rather fall into totori lake than be revali's student alfjsdkg but that's how it be when you're a kid with a complex, turned-less-than-pleasant background with the concept of revali. if you're interested and up for it, please do give his dossier and study tag a peek! this is by no means a request that you do; it's totally fine if you leave him be!

There so many questions and facts, I would love to talk about... but as I scrolled up- I noticed this is becoming a long one. I am so sorry. I'd been trying to simplify and cut a bit ;-; Plus, I know this blog is a multiverse but focused on Tulin and I don't want to bother. So once again, thank you so much for taking your time in answering these asks. If anything if you ever do the academic-paper length study on lonely birb, I'll run over to read it X'D !!! But I'd been enjoying everything of the meta- the studies on rito's culture and behaviour. Also been curious on your views on Kass taking the role of a bard... Yeah, looking forward to keep reading. Thank you once again.

please, never be sorry for giving me your thoughts, no matter how long they end up being!! i mean it! i enjoyed reading through every line, it means a lot to me that you'd take the time and energy to send something of this scale to me ♡ you did not bother and will not bother, i promise! any of my muses are up for discussion, and so are their people in general! i have an itch to talk about these birds at all times, lurkers like you give me a great scratch ♡

one more time, thank you for your kind words!! i'm so happy to know that my thoughts are received this well!!

KASS MY BELOVED. i'm not sure if you've seen my study on what Songs, Songkeepers, and Scriptweavers are, but if you have, then here's some paraphrased disco ramblings on my Thoughts on him! with how important a role he played in keeping and invoking memories of the champions in botw's dlc, i'm of the belief that he's rito village's primary Songkeeper! ahaha, on this note ( and this is more of a fun roleplaying easter egg than anything ): my botw verse is named Song of the Reclamation — i keep the headcanon that kass, specifically, writes this Song after the game's events tucked away with other misc. details that inform how i run things here :)

this is already long enough, so i think i'll end it here asfljkd but feel free to bounce your thoughts off me anytime! this has been an absolute pleasure, looking forward to seeing you in the inbox again whenever you drop by! thank you!! ♡

#* arrowhead / study.#* vanes / study.#* roosting / ooc.#i hope you're sitting down or in bed because this a probably a good piece to read #when you're like. about to sleep. or when you're stuck in traffic sflkdjg #~2.7k words long excluding the ask! it's a bit of a monster!#BUT GOSH. thank you so much again for indulging me and letting me ramble my HEAD off about my blorbos of all time!! <3 #GENUINELY I APPRECIATE THIS SO MUCH. NEARLY CRIED WHEN I FIRST SAW THE ASK (AFFECTIONATE)#i hope this will be as enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to write! thank you! LOVE MY LURKERS. I LOOOOVEEEE MY LURKERS #someone better give me an absolutely UNHINGED about tu.lin and rev.ali medal at this point slfkjdlkg #long post cw

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ghirahimbo · 2 years

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For the fanfic asks: E (pinesong)pinecone, I, M, and X?

💐 stay strong I hope the plague is of short duration :(

Thank you! It's not been too terrible yet, so here's hoping 🤞

I've done E and I already, so:

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

Link, probably? Revali, definitely :')

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

Ohhh, I've had a revalink one waiting in the wings for years that I think I might have mentioned before? Champions return, Link goes full-on hermit mode after defeating Ganon until world events force him out of retirement, the Yiga have shenanigans, a worm is there. It's maybe a little bit similar in concept to Umbreonix's Finding Link, actually, though very different in execution, I promise ;)

In fact, since I'm sick and apparently in the mood to post writing snippets (again, very rough draft):

A ruby glinted against the Hylian's forehead, only a shade or two darker than his ruddy, windburned cheeks. His golden hair had grown longer since their last meeting on Medoh, and his blue eyes stared up with more glittering expression than every other time Revali had seen him put together—but it was, undeniably, Link.

"Revali." Link mouthed the name more than spoke it, staring at Revali in wide-eyed wonder as if… well, as if he'd seen a ghost. Reluctantly, Revali's anger slipped away, replaced with that same sense of awe. Link was here, alive, despite Revali's sullenly and insistent belief to the contrary. Somehow, his luck hadn't abandoned him after all.

Then Revali remembered the wild goose chase Link had led him on to get there, and felt all his irritation from before come rushing back.

"Where have you been?" he demanded, thrusting a forceful finger at Link’s chest. Link grunted, blinking quickly as if coming out of a trance. "All this time, you… and then you almost fell off the… What were you thinking?"

Revali didn't expect an answer, of course, and was floored when he got one anyway.

"I was thinking you wouldn't think to look up," Link muttered, letting his head fall against the rock as he fingered a jagged tear in his woolen doublet that Revali's talon had left. "Thought you'd go back through the village instead."

While Revali stood in dumb silence attempting to process that answer, Link's eyes wandered. The wind-weathered gap in the pillar supporting Rito Village didn't look much like a heart from the inside, but Link seemed to know exactly where they were—and worse, what it meant.

"Meeting me at the heart… that's a bit forward, isn't it?" And to Revali's dismay, Link smirked up at him. "You here to make a true Rito out of me?"

Revali's beak hung open, his face heating up as his feathers puffed out ominously.

"Of course," he said at last, his voice strained. "In fact, I'm two seconds away from throwing you off myself and teaching you how to fly!"

Link actually laughed, another sound Revali had never expected to hear.

"Well now you're just sending mixed signals." Worming out from beneath Revali's finger, he jumped nimbly to his feet, brushing himself off. "Looks like you changed your mind though, so I'll get out of your hair—feathers?—and be on my—"

"Link."

Whatever Link heard in Revali's voice stopped him short. The levity faded from his eyes, and he regarded Revali with a wary, wooden expression that more closely matched with the knight from Revali's memories.

#ask meme #more food :')#revalink

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vigilantdesert · 8 months

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i run the risk of sounding like a broken record but your voice for urbosa!! is SO rich and present, it's been an absolute joy to witness her in writing! AND ALL THE THOUGHTS YOU HAVE FOR THE GERUDO gahhh truly wonderful, you really take so many things that would be important and make sense for them into account and it's like. physically feeling an epiphany in motion when i happen to come across one your lore posts!

Confirmation is Always Appreciated

Thank you so much ahhhh ;w; I love my funky little desert lesbians so much I just slkdjfsd. They deserved so much more in canon but they also clearly had designers who loved them work on them, and I want to really make them breathe you know?

And this is coming as really high praise anyway! Your Rito work is incredible, and I always love reading about it! I've always liked them but as someone who didn't get into Windwaker, I've watched from afar, and you put so much life into their community!!!

#answered asks #out of character #positivity tag #saved tag #flockrest #ahhhhh ;w;

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theeeveetamer · 11 months

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If you've been wondering where I am: the answer is Zelda

I kind of want to do a quick comparison of what I think TotK did better (and worse) than BotW so here it is. I'm not finished with the plot yet so I won't be talking about the story, but I think I've played enough to make a comparison when it comes to gameplay and characterization.

No story spoilers or quest spoilers or anything. Just general discussion about the kinds of puzzle contents of dungeons and shrines and some of the features you can find in the overworld, but I'll put it under a cut anyway.

Starting with what I think TotK does worse than BotW so we can end on a positive note:

1) The shrines. I'm probably at least 50 shrines in at this point and I hate how they're all basically a variation of either a physics puzzle or a combat trial.

It's like the devs looked at how cool everyone thought Eventide Island was in BotW and said "do that, but again, and 20 times just to make sure it gets really stale." The physics puzzles are all really short and, by nature of the game's design, you have to put at least some Zonai devices used for the "intended solution" into the shrine itself so players can't get stuck. This means the game basically hands you the solution to every shrine right at the start.

If I could improve this game's design, I would just give players 99 of every Zonai device capsule while they're in the shrine that they can take out and use as they see fit (removed once you leave the shrine).

I don't mind some of the underpants trials or basic physics puzzles, but I'm dying for a more meaty experience that takes a bit of actual thought to solve. Speaking of...

2) The dungeons. Admittedly I've only done two so far (the Rito and Zora ones) but somehow I find them even easier than the BotW ones. At least the BOTW ones had the kind of neat mechanic where you can flip and move and rotate parts of the dungeon to open up new areas or do different things. So far the two TotK dungeons I've done have been more incredibly basic physics puzzles. The lead up to the dungeons themselves can be kind of neat but other than that, I'm craving something more complicated and time consuming. Like, something I'd be able to burn an entire play session on instead of just an hour or two.

3) The tutorial segment. It's literally just the Great Plateau 2: Electric Boogaloo, except this one is extremely on rails. There's a very obvious intended path you're supposed to be taking around the islands and there's really not much you can do to deviate from it, at least from my experience. Which I get; TotK has much more complicated mechanics to explain and naturally the more complicated a mechanic the more babying the player needs initially. I just think it was kind of a bad introduction to the game. It's at least two or three hours of extremely linear tutorial, the island isn't really even fully explorable since you don't get the paraglider until after you're done, and I wish they'd allowed a bit more freedom right off the bat.

4) This is kind of hard to explain, but I feel like in general the path to some key features are a bit more on rails than I would expect?

Just as an example from the early game: You jump down to mainland Hyrule and you still don't have a paraglider. You actually have to do parts of the main quest before you can even have access to it. Sure you can continue running around without it, but you won't be able to fill out your map AND you're functionally locked out of 65% of the map (since there's no way to get to the sky or the depths safely without it).

The game doesn't force you to go do the main quest either, and there's no indication that the main quest will be what gives you the paraglider or that you need the paraglider to activate the towers and get map pieces. I probably played for a good 7 or 8 hours before I finally gave in and looked up where to get it, which is kind of a shame because I was really not having that much fun until I hit the first Depths section. I wish they'd just given it to you when you finish the tutorial section or the first time you talk to Purah, instead of making you do a whole run around for it.

That's not the only aspect of the game that feels like that. E.g. you can't activate the Fairy Fountains until you go to one specific stable and start a quest line, or you can't get rewards for those spirit frog gems you keep picking up until you go to one specific place and start a quest line. Sorta takes the fun out of exploring and finding new things when you're basically told "oops, come back later I guess" when you find something cool. That said though, this is probably the least egregious of my complaints because it ties into something I think TotK actually did better.

5) The UI in some places is hot garbage, I'm sorry. Why do we not have different tabs for food, bugs, and monster parts at this point? It is a nightmare 100 hours in trying to organize your shit. Not to mention attaching something to your arrow lays out EVERYTHING in your inventory in one big long line that you have to scroll through, which means you might have to shuffle through a hundred different items to find the one you want. It should not take me 10+ minutes in the middle of combat to find a shock fruit to throw/attach to my arrow.

Now for the things I think TotK did better than BotW:

1) I actually think the quests are LEAGUES better than BotW. This is the reason why complaint #4 above doesn't bother me that much. For an example of what I'm talking about: the great fairy fountains have a quest tied to them specifically. Because of that you need to go to that one specific stable to start it. So it's more on-rails, but as a result you get a better and more involved side quest.

To be honest, I'm okay with the tradeoff (a little less freedom for a little more quality). I was really, really craving more quests on the level of Tarrey Town in BotW and pretty much every town I've visited in TotK has at least two or three semi-sizable quests to dig into. And there are far fewer "catch ten bugs for me" quests, thank god.

2) Overall the world just seems more lived in. The towns are bustling with activity and all of the NPCs have their own little schedules and problems and dialogue. You see a lot more travelers roaming around, and it's actually worthwhile to talk to them (I just found out yesterday that some will mark where you can find clothing sets on your map!). You can encounter travelers fighting monsters and merchants and whatnot.

BotW's big problem really was that there was like no one out and about when traveling, and you were pretty much always punished for talking to anyone because 95% of the time they turned out to be Yiga Clan.

3) The sky islands are kinda meh, but the depths are REALLY cool. Admittedly I haven't replayed BotW in a hot second so I'm not really bothered by them mostly recycling the main map, but I can see why that would bother some. However, I say the devs more than make up for it by essentially creating an entire second map below the surface. And kudos to them too, because it's genuinely unsettling and cool to be down there. I just wish there were more sky islands/more variety in the ones we do have. I mean like every region has one with a central wheel with a piston that you can spin to launch yourself, I've encountered like three moon ones, etc.

4) Maybe this is just me, but I felt like BotW strayed kind of far from previous Zelda games. I like that TotK has a lot of little references and easter eggs for players to find.

And it's not overbearing enough that a new player wouldn't be able to understand what's going on, but they're neat little things for the long time fans. Like I howled when I got the Windwaker PJs and I adore a lot of the visual references to Skyward Sword.

5) I still don't love weapon durability, but it is better this time. The fuse mechanic does make it so you can turn pretty much any crap weapon into something usable. This definitely gets me using my powerful weapons more often, whereas in BotW I would pretty much never grab two handed swords and I would cling to my powerful weapons like a hoarder.

I still wish there were a couple of unbreakable "bases" you could use and just the materials you attach would break, cuz it doesn't feel good to get something really cool and rare like the fierce deity sword and have it break.

6) I CAN BUILD A HOUSE!!! Also the customization in general is fantastic. I love that you can have different paraglider cloths and there's soooo much FASHION!

7) I found the guardians very unfun and I'm glad they're gone. I'm not a big fan of the big bad enemy that you either die to immediately or you take them out FAST. Encountering a guardian was always more stressful than fun for me.

I'm not sure if this was in BotW as well, but I notice that in TotK if something really strong hits you from full health you'll always survive with a quarter of a heart. Cuts down a lot on the unnecessary deaths and is a good indicator to players on what is and is not currently safe for them to take on.

And just in general there wasn't a lot of enjoyable strategy to the guardian fights for me. Meanwhile in TotK I've been taking on stuff waaaaaaaay above where I should be for hours now, and while it's hard/a bit frustrating sometimes it's very doable.

8) Link! I like TotK Link a lot better than BotW link. Maybe it's just me, but he feels so much more expressive and interesting. One of my big complaints about BotW was that Link was very flat, which stood out even more since they added voice acting. So characters would just talk at him like a brick wall. A bit jarring if you're coming off of Skyward Sword or Wind Waker link.

#legend of zelda #totk #just some thoughts

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thegeminisage · 11 months

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they call it the river of the dead bc i died 10000 times trying to get korok seeds here

ANOTHER shrine in a cave on the great plateau. 10/10 i love that

i keep getting nothing but shields in chests and its starting to piss me off. i dont use them much, i havent broken a single one this whole game. give me literally ANYTHING else!!

died in the shrine when i was alllmost done. smh

DIED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

deeply tempted to turn around and leave but No. i'm so close

I FUCKING. GOT IT. FUCK THAT SHRINE!!!!

placed one of my travel medallions at the REAL temple of time. i never have to walk back here again lol

not that i need to come back...i'm finishing up the great plateau korok hunt right here. i have one left that starts elsewhere and ends on the great plateau but im at nearly 200 seeds rn and ive been making myself cuckoo bananas hunting seeds so i deserve a sidequest break. i'm thinking the rito bridge is a good place 2 start

BUT FIRST, MY AMIIBO! i keep foprgetting to do these lol

YOOOOOO mirror of twilight fabric!!! sexy

AND demon king fabric.....

accidentally spawned another epona. rode hr out to where the other horses were so she has community support lol

AWWW there's another monument near the great plateau...

ok, so i talked to karson in lookout landing ages back abt building this bridge. i think now they need supplies?

oh, i like how these guys refer to each other by name! i love the community feeling in totk...the way everybody wants to be a helper...

oh lmao i literally have enough wood already <3 maybe this is why they made trees enemies, to give us reasons to chop them up so we dont have to level entire forests at a time

OH HE SAID ACES!!!! good for him

SCREAM this dialogue. wings come in handy! or...wingy! don't sit your tail there, it's a support beam, not a perch! chaotic gay people <3 happy pride <3

had the brief thought "since i'm in hebra i should get some korok seeds here" no <3 not without <3 snow boots <3

which i havent seen any sign of...UGH i hope they arent still in gerudo desert...

im going to hateno!! i've been meaning to give this guy acorns for his cow feed for foreverrr

but, to do the school quest, i need to swing by kakariko first...thank goodness4 fast travel

ugh so many sidequests in kakariko i wanna do but i feel like i should wait until this 5th sage nonsense SIIIGH

ok, got the pic of the tapestry in paya's house! also accidentally saw the cuccos running by, followed them to their hideout. extremely tense trying to bust thru the rock wall with them standing there. no way was i using yunobo

BUT i was at a perfect angle to take a ring ruins pic for the stable guy!

found lasli who needs the anti-gloom stuff...UGH i hate that nobody remembers link!!! ugh and i need milk for this which i dont have >:(

well, i bet there's some in hateno and i was going there anyway lol

NAYDRA WAS HERE WHEN I SPAWNED........snaged myself a scale. UGH i can't believe they fucked dragon farming i'm in such deep shit i don't have ANY parts

acorns delivered, milk received! omg nice he'll trade me anytime.......reminds me of the rito lady trading arrows for chillshrooms lol now THAT was a bargain

got my mirror of twilight fabric put on 💪

oh man it is LOVELY. it has a nice rainbow-pearl sheen to it...it might be my fav yet

time to go appease schoolchildren

scream that link is listening in on this calamity lecture like he wasn't the main character in it without so much as a single acknowledgement of it by this dude. yet another way theyre alienating old players by trying NOT to alienate new ones

this guy talking up the hero's achievements WITHOUT ACTUALLY MENTIONING THAT IT IS LINK. this is my villain origin story

oh boy. for the next lesson i have to get monster extract from tarrey town. i have the car quest there i never finished, but maybe i should do more shrines/seeds first...

i haven't been to the depths in awhile.

that is DEFINITELY the devil (and many korok seeds) talking. actually i can decide tomorrow bc i have to <3 go to bed

#personal #loz blogging #totk lb #totk spoilers

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geryuthespacesquid · 1 year

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Okay okay I'm having too many thoughts on tears to contain them I'mma put something here Spoilersssss

If I'm being quite honest I keep seeing posts saying this game is better than BoTW entirely and I simply cannot agree I think they're genuinely about the same for a number of reasons.

BEAR IN MIND: I have completed the Rito and Zora areas, but unfortunately I have not been able to find any of the dragon tear memories or whatever they're called, I have been looking but i have no damn clue.

I will say that I think Tears of the Kingdom has better characters overall but I do think there is some flimsiness that comes with having so many npcs to focus on that was also present in BoTW and that's why the vast majority of BoTW character personalities are pretty severely headcanoned or flanderized in fan media, I feel like the same thing is gonna happen for tears. On that note, I also think that it's a good thing that the old sages are pretty hazy. The dialogue the old water and wind sages had was pretty fuckin similar, if not identical, and their personalities don't show much, and in some capacity I think that's smart. The greatest folly of BoTW imo was making the most compelling characters the dead or inactive ones, it's why I say AoC was a better story than BoTW, because it uses all the best characters to the fullest extent, and takes the ones that weren't as strong and lifts them up. Because of that, I think it was smart to not make the dead characters as lively again, because now people won't get hung up over them again.

But, on that note, I think that it genuinely makes them pretty unnecessary. I feel like there would've been better mileage just making Rauru narrate that and tell the new sages what their ancestors did so we have one super strong character compared to a few ones that feel a bit unnecessary. And while Rauru is only going to get stronger, probably, I think it could be cool to just have him mirror Link a bit and remember and lament his friends some.

So far, these stories feel very identical, it's just a With Friends sort of deal that I like mechanically and think is being played very well, I just also think that pretending these two stories are super different is a little far fetched. The new sages have more potency because you work with them for the whole dungeon and boss, which I love, it gives them more energy and supports their personalities a lot more, and does more to convey the idea that yes, Hyrule was attempting to move on from the champions by no longer having the mindset that only a champion can save them. The new guys are here to help, and they're not abandoning their fate to one guy anymore. BUT, in my mind that feels like a retooling of BoTW's story to better convey a point that didn't land right in BoTW.

Gameplay, I have nothing to say or complain about. It's the most flawless part of this game, they took botw and made it better in basically every way. If I had to say something, I do miss premade elemental arrows, because pressing up on the D-pad every time is such a time waster that I just forget half the time. Also these monsters are fuckin spooky and I hate it. /pos

Finally, the world. I won't say that I'm happy with, or understand why none of the shiekah tech is anywhere anymore. I get it, with the new shrines and towers, it'd be so much shit just all over, but it's still hard to believe that all vanished and just deactivated, especially because there's really no reason to have new towers, but of course, that's for a gameplay feature rather than a lore feature, so I suppose that's a moot point. What really gets me about this fuckin world is HOLY SHIT WHY IS THERE SO MUCH TO DO. I cannot focus at all and that's both a benefit and a detriment to me because botw let me laser focus on things which is good for my easily distractable mind and I've yet to hear one person say otherwise on the idea that there's too much to focus on. It's never a negative thing when mentioned by folks, and I don't think it is, but FUCK I need an alternate game mode that just hides like 70% of the quests until you complete some because having these all accessible means I will never finish this main story.

Also, fuck the depths. That's it, fuck the depths.

I like this game. It's just kinda weird, something is preventing me from loving it, and I hope that resolves by the end because I really would like to love it, and say it's better than botw, but as far as I'm concerned I don't think I have a severe preference for either one.

#totk spoilers #squidzard.txt #loz #loz totk

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