Pre-Release The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Pre-Release Discussion Thread

[BY2K]

Every Zelda game starts with Link waking up.

We will start the game with shirtless Link+Zonai underpants.

Would kind of suck if they pulled the "you woke up somewhere without your memories, now go to these 12 spots to get your memories back and learn what happened" shit again.

 

[Dark Cloud]

Now that I’m replaying BotW, I’ve encountered what I now remember to be the most frustrating aspect of the game: these Nayru forsaken, forced motion control table-top segments in some of the Shrines. I just want to pull a Bokoblin’s teeth out with a pair of rusty pliers. I would pray to the goddess Hylia every night until the release of TotK if it means these things are no where to be found in that game.

I’m mean it’s like a handful at most out of 120 shrines.

 

[Rareware]

I’m mean it’s like a handful at most out of 120 shrines.

A handful too many lol

 

[Serif]

Wouldn't be surprised if gyro shrines are a relic of Wii U-specific features, like runes on the second screen or potentially a Beetle with a camera. It does make more sense to rotate an entire gyro-enabled controller around, and the Wii U Pro controller doesn't have gyro, so the gamepad would've been the only option. Those shrines didn't translate well to handheld mode. Meanwhile the rest of the game's gyro features, like aiming, were a toggle.

Here's the runes and beetle concept (and the 'ancient energy' vials which appears to be brought back in TotK)

 

[Rareware]

Wouldn't be surprised if gyro shrines are a relic of Wii U-specific features, like runes on the second screen or potentially a Beetle with a camera. It does make more sense to rotate an entire gyro-enabled controller around, and the Wii U Pro controller doesn't have gyro, so the gamepad would've been the only option. Those shrines didn't translate well to handheld mode. Meanwhile the rest of the game's gyro features, like aiming, were a toggle.

Here's the runes and beetle concept (and the 'ancient energy' vials which appears to be brought back in TotK)

They’re definitely Wii U things. The Switch version even has an icon of the Wii U GamePad during these segments. Or well actually… I guess that could be meant to resemble the Sheikah Slate, which as far as I know was inspired by the GamePad anyway, so it all comes full circle one way or another lol

Nice catch there with the vials in the artwork! Their definitely bringing cancelled BotW ideas into TotK.

 

[Selarmor]

Every Zelda game starts with Link waking up.

We will start the game with shirtless Link+Zonai underpants.

I was really hoping some part of Link and Zelda finding Ganondorf would be playable but I'm starting to think everything up to Link waking up with the hand and Zonai clothes will be cutscenes.

 

[Rareware]

It just occurred to me, but if we really are going to be playing underground in parts, we’re very likely to see some of Zelda’s darker enemies make a comeback. I’m very keen to see what artistic direction they take with a Redead this time. Maybe the Gibdo would be back as well.

 

[Nickle]

I was really hoping some part of Link and Zelda finding Ganondorf would be playable but I'm starting to think everything up to Link waking up with the hand and Zonai clothes will be cutscenes.

The underground area seems like a nice constrained area to put a brief tutorial in. We probably don't need another Great Plateau style tutorial because most people now know how BotW mechanics work. A small linear cave with a couple weak enemies should be enough to get people used to the controls again. Then, once the Ganondorf stuff happens, you'll get sent into a building into the sky that you can escape by using some of your new abilities. After that, the main tutorial is done, and you can explore the world.

 

[BY2K]

I definitely think the game will start with Zelda and Link in the underground of Hyrule Castle after a small cutscene showing them enter said underground. Then there will be a small tutorial showing how to make Link jump, climb and fight enemies (maybe just some giant rats or something, hell, maybe even a boss of some kind), then the shit hits the fan with Ganondorf, Link gets attacked by malice, Zelda falls, the hand saves Link and he's somehow brought to the sky where the mystery tribe saves him and gives him his brace for the arm.

It would be very similar to Metroid Prime 1's opening. Samus has her regular gear, fights small enemies, fights the Parasite Queen, gets blown by Ridley, loses her equipment.

 

[ZeldaPY]

Would kind of suck if they pulled the "you woke up somewhere without your memories, now go to these 12 spots to get your memories back and learn what happened" shit again.

I know your just kidding but we aren’t fully out of the woods completely on it being a repeat, ”let’s take inventory shall we.”

We got Link back in his Calvin Kliens’ possibly with longer hair having been there awhile, getting a new make over and healing for his arm on a table, And YES, there’s only one Link. CHECK
We got Link standing in front of what could be a memory fuzzy golden Aura, during the delay announcement looking like, “Why the heck am I carrying this broke ass sword around?” CHECK
We got Zelda conveniently out of the picture again taking another 100 year vacation. CHECK
And we got Gannon partying it up with his buddies Bokoblins, Moblins and Lizalfos at the the Castle again. CHECK
That‘s CHECK, CHECK, CHECK and CHECK. I’d say it’s pretty much confirmed! And the sad part about this, is this is all that’s really been confirmed story wise in almost 6 years!

 

[Deleted member 341]

Now that I’m replaying BotW, I’ve encountered what I now remember to be the most frustrating aspect of the game: these Nayru forsaken, forced motion control table-top segments in some of the Shrines. I just want to pull a Bokoblin’s teeth out with a pair of rusty pliers. I would pray to the goddess Hylia every night until the release of TotK if it means these things are no where to be found in that game.

I really enjoyed some of them. The biggest problem with them is that they are almost unplayable in handheld mode and I think thats reason enough for them to not do those again.

I think they are a Wii U relic.

EDIT: didn't see @Serif's answer. Completely agreed.

 

[Irene]

Now I remember that Monster Maze made the case that they're not beneath Hyrule Castle. They packed an ox with equipment to travel for days. Unless it's, like, way underground.

 

[Deleted member 341]

Now I remember that Monster Maze made the case that they're not beneath Hyrule Castle. They packed an ox with equipment to travel for days. Unless it's, like, way underground.

I still think it is under the castle because in the first two teasers where we also saw Ganondorf, the castle was quite a prominent feature at the end of both trailers.

If I would have to guess I would say the disappearance of all the Shiekah stuff opened up an undiscovered path down into the underground.

Also in BotW Calamity Ganon reappears at the Castle in the memory scene of his returnal.

 

[Rareware]

I still think it is under the castle because in the first two teasers where we also saw Ganondorf, the castle was quite a prominent feature at the end of both trailers.

If I would have to guess I would say the disappearance of all the Shiekah stuff opened up an undiscovered path down into the underground.

Also inBotW Calamity Ganon reappears at the Castle in the memory scene of his returnal.

Isn’t Hyrule Castle located at the very place where the giant landmass in Skyward Sword landed at in the world below? Basically serving as the birth place of Hyrule? If so, then Hyrule Castle covered the entry point from which Demise and his demons would enter the world above from the underground. So it’s not just an underground we may be going to, but it’s Demise’s old home turf.

Yeah… I’ve pretty much convinced myself that this game is going to have a strong focus on Zelda’s versions of “Heaven & Hell”. We’ll be exploring the very depths that Demise came from in the underground aka ”Hell” to probably get rid of the Malice at its very source because it’s corrupting Hyrule. Then we’ll be exploring the Heavens because the Malice is too strong so we’ll need the help of the Goddesses who will instruct us to collect their tears which hold the power to permanently destroy Malice.

It sounds so far-fetched typing it out but I don’t care… I’ve sold myself on it so looking forward to seeing just how wrong I am lol

 

[ZeldaPY]

I think it just looks like it’s underneath the castle with the way the trailer was cut up. If it’s underneath Castle, then how deep does that pit go down that Zelda falls into? It doesn’t make sense that the castle would be sitting on top of a massive underworld with what looks like a bottomless pit. I think it’s somewhere in Faron. But I do kind of like the idea of going after Demise in his Hellish home world. Maybe kill Demise before he can in act the curse as a way of breaking the curse.

 

[Rareware]

I think it just looks like it’s underneath the castle with the way the trailer was cut up. If it’s underneath Castle, then how deep does that pit go down that Zelda falls into? It doesn’t make sense that the castle would be sitting on top of a massive underworld with what looks like a bottomless pit. I think it’s somewhere in Faron. But I do kind of like the idea of going after Demise in his Hellish home world. Maybe kill Demise before he can in act the curse as a way of breaking the curse.

The underground that Demise came from has to be rather large to house not only himself, but an entire army. Here’s the backstory of him as seen in Zelda Wiki:

“Long ago, he and his horde of demons broke through a fissure in the earth and sought out the Triforce.”

“Demise was an eternal entity who had conquered time itself.[6] When the Golden Goddesses departed from the world, they trusted their ultimate power, the Triforce, in the hands of Hylia to protect it.[7] However, Demise, wanting the Triforce to make the world his own, gathered an army of monsters and together launched an attack against the people of The Surface, murdering them and causing misfortunes to get their hands on the power guarded by Hylia.[8][9]

To prevent the great power from falling into the hands of Demise, Hylia and the five tribes who lived on the Surface joined forces and fought back against the Demon King and his forces in a war, which would end with Demise sealed away and peace restored to the land”

 

[ZeldaPY]

Now I remember that Monster Maze made the case that they're not beneath Hyrule Castle. They packed an ox with equipment to travel for days. Unless it's, like, way underground.

Monster Maze has really improved over the last year with his videos, he did such an amazing job in his 3 videos describing Links new abilities from the patents filed and the mechanics involved. It’s what really got me hyped back up for the sequel, the way he explains and illustrates each one you really get a sense of the full potential of this game. I’ll put them here if anyone hasn’t seen them yet, once you watch one you’ll definitely want to see the other two and should be considered as Cannon IMO.
From Monster Maze
Phasing through ceilings
Object reversal mechanic
Air combat in skydiving

 

[Kongo B]

I hope TotK allows for multiple save files. It was so difficult for me to overwrite my original save earlier this week so I could replay the game for the first time.

You can just add a new user profile from the Switch menu and play the game from there!
My switch has, like, 5 extra profiles just for that.

 

[Hermii]

Now that I’m replaying BotW, I’ve encountered what I now remember to be the most frustrating aspect of the game: these Nayru forsaken, forced motion control table-top segments in some of the Shrines. I just want to pull a Bokoblin’s teeth out with a pair of rusty pliers. I would pray to the goddess Hylia every night until the release of TotK if it means these things are no where to be found in that game.

While making botw, the team was probably obligated to utilize unique Wii U/ Switch features. I doubt they are anymore, especially with the Switch Lite existing. Those puzzles are even worse on a Switch Lite, or a regular switch in handheld mode for that matter.

 

[Serif]

Yeah… I’ve pretty much convinced myself that this game is going to have a strong focus on Zelda’s versions of “Heaven & Hell”. We’ll be exploring the very depths that Demise came from in the underground aka ”Hell” to probably get rid of the Malice at its very source because it’s corrupting Hyrule. Then we’ll be exploring the Heavens because the Malice is too strong so we’ll need the help of the Goddesses who will instruct us to collect their tears which hold the power to permanently destroy Malice.

I think this too. It wouldn't be the first time - the Ancient Cistern had a very distinct Heaven/Hell layout. It's still one of my favorite dungeons. A 'global' version with Malice nests underground leaking to the Surface and needing to purify Hyrule by visiting the literal heavens sounds great.

 

[Irene]

Revisiting the GDC talk.

Some of the concept stuff is just so dang good, I really wish they will ride the "unused content ideas" train all the way through.

I mean.. imagine stumbling across something like this:

And have the interior be a full dungeon that looks like this:

Sick.

Also, remember Hyrule Wars? I would be down for something like that happening, like, what if Hyrule Field at one point got crowded with this game's version of Guardians, and it would be impossible to traverse unless you take them down by air one by one, or solve some kind of puzzle in the sky that would cause a storm that would destroy all of them.

 

[manfromthedam]

Revisiting the GDC talk.

Some of the concept stuff is just so dang good, I really wish they will ride the "unused content ideas" train all the way through.

I mean.. imagine stumbling across something like this:

And have the interior be a full dungeon that looks like this:

Sick.

Also, remember Hyrule Wars? I would be down for something like that happening, like, what if Hyrule Field at one point got crowded with this game's version of Guardians, and it would be impossible to traverse unless you take them down by air one by one, or solve some kind of puzzle in the sky that would cause a storm that would destroy all of them.

There's so much excellent stuff in Creating a Champion. To be optimistic about the re-used overworld for a second, the sheer scale of TotK has the potential to be mind-boggling. If they created a Hyrule-sized map in the sky and underground plus a remixed Hyrule and this time had the development resources to go ham on unique environments both indoor and -out, with a wide variety of moods, SHAMONE.

Also I'll keep repeating: Ancient Cistern The Game =P .

 

[BY2K]

Now I remember that Monster Maze made the case that they're not beneath Hyrule Castle. They packed an ox with equipment to travel for days. Unless it's, like, way underground.

Doesn't the King say that Calamity Ganon first appeared from "deep beneath Hyrule Castle"? It makes sense not only narratively, but symbolically that Ganon's remains would be under Hyrule Castle.

 

[Deleted member 2181]

There's so much excellent stuff in Creating a Champion. To be optimistic about the re-used overworld for a second, the sheer scale of TotK has the potential to be mind-boggling. If they created a Hyrule-sized map in the sky and underground plus a remixed Hyrule and this time had the development resources to go ham on unique environments both indoor and -out, with a wide variety of moods, SHAMONE.

Also I'll keep repeating: Ancient Cistern The Game =P .

The thing is though, I feel the original overworld is very deliberately developed around the shrines and towers. Which aren't there any more. I honestly don't know what they're going to do about that.

 

[Uncle Squingis]

Revisiting the GDC talk.

Some of the concept stuff is just so dang good, I really wish they will ride the "unused content ideas" train all the way through.

I mean.. imagine stumbling across something like this:

And have the interior be a full dungeon that looks like this:

I thought I watched the GDC talk but I don't remember these images. That is definitely what I want and what I was expecting from BotW.

 

[Serif]

Places like the labyrinths and thyplo ruins captured that kind of feeling for me, of just finding an uncharted place and delving in. I would have preferred if the endpoint of these weren't a shiekah shrine, but just a simple altar or underground cave that had a spirit orb.

120 spirit orbs and corresponding mini dungeons are fine, but I didn't think they all needed the Shiekah aesthetic.

 

[Deleted member 540]

But when will we get a REAL soundtrack?

While making botw, the team was probably obligated to utilize unique Wii U/ Switch features. I doubt they are anymore, especially with the Switch Lite existing. Those puzzles are even worse on a Switch Lite, or a regular switch in handheld mode for that matter.

Probably the biggest problem is the lack of a clutch button. In Skyward Sword, when fitting the boss thingymajigs into the boss doors, you had to press A to activate the motion controls. That meant when you wanted to reset your wrist, you could do so by just releasing the button. But with the apparatus shrines, you have to come out of the apparatus completely.

I thing a few work fine with limited motion but there are a few that require turning the apparatus at all angles. I pretty much only played with split joy-cons and if there had been a clutch button, that would have been fine. But it is too awkward I think even for the WiiU gamepad, let alone handheld.

 

[HockeyBird]

Reggie is thirsty for more Link

 

[chocolate_supra]

But when will we get a REAL soundtrack?




Probably the biggest problem is the lack of a clutch button. In Skyward Sword, when fitting the boss thingymajigs into the boss doors, you had to press A to activate the motion controls. That meant when you wanted to reset your wrist, you could do so by just releasing the button. But with the apparatus shrines, you have to come out of the apparatus completely.

I thing a few work fine with limited motion but there are a few that require turning the apparatus at all angles. I pretty much only played with split joy-cons and if there had been a clutch button, that would have been fine. But it is too awkward I think even for the WiiU gamepad, let alone handheld.

Same thing with the aiming. The motion-controlled aiming with the bow feels SO GOOD in BotW, and it's only activated while holding the trigger down. Compared to something like Splatoon where it's all the time or none of the time. The motion-controlled camera in Splatoon drives me nuts because it's so wobbly whenever I'm just walking around, but then aiming doesn't feel precise enough without it so I'm never fully satisfied with the controls in this games. But you know what would help? Motion-controlled camera only activating while the trigger is pulled. Like BotW.

Never heard it called a "clutch button" before, though. I like that.

(btw as someone who played on WiiU, those shrines felt pretty good, I think because I was moving a wide slate around and so it felt easier to control the smaller twitch movements and stuff. I can't imagine how wonky it'd feel with joy cons. Hell, even the pro controller doesn't feel as stable to me for that sort of thing as the gamepad did.)

 

[Deleted member 341]

But when will we get a REAL soundtrack?

I'll never stop saying that BotW has my favorite soundtrack and sound design in gaming.

Can't wait for TotK!

 

[Irene]

Y'all..

What it the world we will explore is a cube?

Like, if the sky is as high as Hyrule is wide and broad.

Dang.

 

[Deleted member 341]

Y'all..

What it the world we will explore is a cube?

Like, if the sky is as high as Hyrule is wide and broad.

Dang.

Personally I think it will be more like a cone. Really high but fewer and more challenging islands the higher we go up with a very wide underground world underneath Hyrule as the base.

EDIT:

Spoiler: bad iPhone drawing

 

[Uncle Squingis]

Personally I think it will be more like a cone. Really high but fewer and more challenging islands the higher we go up with a very wide underground world underneath Hyrule as the base.

Ah, and maybe,Hyrule castle rises higher and higher as you complete dungeons and by the end it's the highest of all the islands.

 

[chocolate_supra]

Y'all..

What it the world we will explore is a cube?

Like, if the sky is as high as Hyrule is wide and broad.

Dang.

That would be cool, a CubeGame

 

[Irene]

Personally I think it will be more like a cone. Really high but fewer and more challenging islands the higher we go up with a very wide underground world underneath Hyrule as the base.

EDIT:

Spoiler: bad iPhone drawing

That’s a great call, and makes way more sense, thank you!

 

[Pennington]

How are they going to fit this game on a cartridge?

 

[Magic-Man]

How are they going to fit this game on a cartridge?

Vertically

 

[Mercury_Sagit]

Personally I think it will be more like a cone. Really high but fewer and more challenging islands the higher we go up with a very wide underground world underneath Hyrule as the base.

EDIT:

Spoiler: bad iPhone drawing

On top of this, I kinda hope that it doesn't stop at 1 pyramid, but 2 in form of an octahedron. The deeper you go down the closer you get to Ganondorf and see more wicked monsters. The guy obviously would sit at the bottom (i.e the top of the inverted pyramid).

 

[Nickle]

Monster Maze released a new video about what Link's main objective on the surface of Hyrule will be, it's worth checking out.



If you don't want to watch the video,

Spoiler

he mainly talks about the giant storm we see in the artwork, and how each of the 7 races (Korok, Goron, Shiekah, Zora, Gerudo, Rito, and Hylians) could have their own disaster/crisis that is caused by Ganondorf. The giant storm is likely over the Hebra region, and would be causing trouble to the Rito. The other 2 crisis we've seen so far are ones effecting the Gorons and the Koroks, with Death Mountain erupting in malice and the Deku Forest being totally missing. The number 7 is important because there are 7 tears surrounding the figure in the new trailer. The number 7 is commonly used in BotW, from references to the 7 sages and the 7 Heroines in Gerudo. However, Monster Maze also notes that the number 8 is important because of the secret 8th Heroine and the fact that Hyrule is separated into 8 regions. In this case, the Zonai could be the 8th race. In summary, each of the 7-8 races would have it's own disaster/crisis for Link to solve, and each of these events could involve a dungeon. Monster Maze thinks that the main purpose of the sky islands is to hold items or powers that help Link solve each crisis down below.

 

[Christo750]

Monster Maze released a new video about what Link's main objective on the surface of Hyrule will be, it's worth checking out.



If you don't want to watch the video,

Spoiler

he mainly talks about the giant storm we see in the artwork, and how each of the 7 races (Korok, Goron, Shiekah, Zora, Gerudo, Rito, and Hylians) could have their own disaster/crisis that is caused by Ganondorf. The giant storm is likely over the Hebra region, and would be causing trouble to the Rito. The other 2 crisis we've seen so far are ones effecting the Gorons and the Koroks, with Death Mountain erupting in malice and the Deku Forest being totally missing. The number 7 is important because there are 7 tears surrounding the figure in the new trailer. The number 7 is commonly used in BotW, from references to the 7 sages and the 7 Heroines in Gerudo. However, Monster Maze also notes that the number 8 is important because of the secret 8th Heroine and the fact that Hyrule is separated into 8 regions. In this case, the Zonai could be the 8th race. In summary, each of the 7-8 races would have it's own disaster/crisis for Link to solve, and each of these events could involve a dungeon. Monster Maze thinks that the main purpose of the sky islands is to hold items or powers that help Link solve each crisis down below.

Yeah I dig this theory.

 

[Kevin]

So I never played Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and I was just wondering if it's worth playing for the additional "Zelda: Breath of the Wild" back story/world building or if it's something that isn't very good?

 

[Dark Cloud]

How high will Link get in this game?

 

[Kevin]

How high will Link get in this game?

Very High!!!

 

[Dark Cloud]

So I never played Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and I was just wondering if it's worth playing for the additional "Zelda: Breath of the Wild" back story/world building or if it's something that isn't very good?

I really liked AoC and the story. The issue is the story doesn’t connect to BotW.

 

[NabiscoFelt]

So I never played Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and I was just wondering if it's worth playing for the additional "Zelda: Breath of the Wild" back story/world building or if it's something that isn't very good?

It's decent backstory, but pretty clearly non-canon, so if you're just looking for that you might be disappointed

But the game itself is pretty excellent imo and definitely feels like a good translation of BoTW to a Musou

 

[Kevin]

I really liked AoC and the story. The issue is the story doesn’t connect to BotW.

It's decent backstory, but pretty clearly non-canon, so if you're just looking for that you might be disappointed

But the game itself is pretty excellent imo and definitely feels like a good translation of BoTW to a Musou

It's weird that they would make it non canon. I wonder why they would do that? That's actually really disappointing. Is that ever even explained away in the game itself?

 

[NabiscoFelt]

It's weird that they would make it non canon. I wonder why they would do that? That's actually really disappointing. Is that ever even explained away in the game itself?

I mean, the divergence from canon is pretty clearly explained, yeah

Not sure why they'd decide to make it non-canon but imo it doesn't hurt the game too much. You just kinda miss out on the ending you might expect from BoTW

 

[Dark Cloud]

I really hope we get underwater exploration in this game. I really want a hidden cave underwater with an optional boss. One of those super creepy ones from the concept art.

 

[HockeyBird]

It's weird that they would make it non canon. I wonder why they would do that? That's actually really disappointing. Is that ever even explained away in the game itself?

I don't think they have actually confirmed whether the game is canon or non-canon but it deals with time travel so the story of Age of Calamity branches off from the events that are talked about in BOTW. The story does not connect with BOTW but not in the way you probably expected. The events of BOTW have to happen for things to work out in AoC and that's all I'll say about that. Regardless whether or not it's canon, I still enjoyed the story and the characters you meet along the way. It gives you time to play alongside and as much of the cast you see in BOTW.

 

[karmitt]

I, for one, am glad Age of Calamity is non-canon, and I don't want any of that version of the story leaking into Tears of the Kingdom :]

It was a mildly entertaining Musou game built around fan-fiction in my mind.