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

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Some fun questions I jotted down on my phone yesterday. Just removed five questions that were answered by the previews

-will there be a blood moon for a set period of intensity each night? Ganondorf Power Hour
-how would underwater combat work if there's expanded swimming?
-is there a wider twist on korok puzzles?
-how will Zelda's side of the story progress? through her own gameplay or maybe somehow through Link's interaction with the glyphs?
-what's in Hyrule Castle now? I am expecting/hoping that it is now more of an earlier-story area instead of the setting for the final showdown
-do both parts of a fused weapon break simultaneously?
-how will upgraded hearts, stamina and batteries work? will there be one token that we can choose to spend on any of the above, or will they be 'won' separately
-will there be some sort of significant world, story or gameplay shift after we complete a certain amount of dungeons?
-are the dungeons accessible in some sort of tiered system, or all at once?
-are islands 'unlocked' area by area? how? the cloud barrier seems like it is destroyed all at once, but they islands don't seem to be available in the sky all at once
-are important sections of the underground related to glyphs overhead? (not convinced anymore)
-is the visibility of certain sets of islands related to something underground? (maybe)
-can companions be summoned anywhere or just in set missions? is it an arm ability?
-can you save certain outfits for a quick change? hot, cold, climbing etc
-will Link encounter Ganondorf several times throughout the course of the main story?
-I wouldn't mind Zelda somehow sacrificing herself in the past to seal Ganondorf with Mr. 'Rory Dragonarm', and the twist being that her interacting with the seal in the present somehow broke it.
-where are the Minish?
-will there be late game loftwings?
 
TheCongressman said:
Oh hey, my rune concept. I was just about to post it myself lol

The radial menu would make it so the abilities are always in the same place, you wouldn't have to scroll from the current selection. You can just pick one with the flick of a stick. Which might make it easier to pull off combos you see in those wild botw combat videos. I don't see how people do that with the linear menu.

Here's the updated version of the concept in case anyone wants it:

yLyoJBN.png
Click to expand...

buddy this aged incredibly well. Treat yourself tonight
 
ZeldaPY said:
someone please do a semi spoiler free review of the previews here would be very helpful.
Click to expand...
Hopefully this answers your Qs without spoiling anything. Feel free to ask if you want to know anything in particular. :)

  • They mostly say that the game seems absolutely huge and that there is a big upgrade in emergent gameplay. There are many more different ways to achieve your goals than BotW and a lot more freedom to play around with different tools.
  • It looks really, really fun.
  • Previewers were given two areas to play around with, an enemy camp surrounding a tower, and a section of sky islands.
  • They were not allowed to leave these areas, but were allowed to do whatever they wanted within them, with some missions as a guide.
  • They also weren't allowed to show us several things that they came across within these sections, but we still got extended slices of gameplay.
  • They've shown a lot more examples of how vehicle building works on some early islands. They show how parts can be obtained, how fuel functions, how vehicles control etc.
  • Some previewers said that the gameplay controls in general feel more complicated than botw because there's a lot more you can do, and as such, they take a bit longer to get the hang of. They said this is especially true of ultrahand and vehicle building, but that it gets easier with a small bit of practice.
  • 'Link is also considerably more difficult to control. The game demands dexterity as the player uses every shoulder button alongside the directional pad, and every button has multiple uses depending on the mode Link is in.'
  • -Framerate is janky in the footage provided by Nintendo for some reason, but not in the footage captured by previewers, a few of whom said it was very smooth to play, especially in the sky - but a small bit less so in one intensive fight.
  • New foods and materials shown, some which have pretty fun uses.
  • Ability wheel :)
  • The menus have been improved visually and are functionally easier and quicker to navigate.
  • The upgraded map has been shown, with a layered system.
  • The towers have been shown.
  • Some footage was released by IGN Japan which showed a bit too much, and they have taken it down and some screenshots have disappeared. I have seen them and it all looks cool, no major major spoilers, just an extension of one ability,some chest items which hint at story spoilers, a new item and a new way to reach the islands.
  • The box golem fight is not shown, but we were told that it's much more fun than you might expect. It takes several forms and each requires different abilities to defeat. One previewer mentioned that they couldn't defeat it and gave up.
  • Cooking has been streamlined.
  • You have a travel medallion, which is useful to use in case you fall off an island.
  • Graphics look improved, with an especially beautiful transition when you move upwards through the cloud layer. The weather changes and the world below takes on an improved visibility, which we have kind of seen before.
  • The animations, objects, outfits, sounds, etc feel very similar to Breath of the Wild. Much more of everything but not a huge upgrade according to some previews.
  • No dungeons or story elements shown, several previewers say they are still in the dark to these elements, but one has said that they reached a dungeon entrance but weren't allowed to enter.
  • Game is probably bigger than Elden Ring, but it's just a guess based on a small area.
  • Gameplay in the sky is a lot more dense and puzzle-based.
  • No cave footage was shown, but some previewers said they had access to 'cave networks' that felt more evidently 'designed' than botw.
  • In the footage I have seen, the puzzles and intensity of combat seem like there has been a slight step-up in difficulty from BotW. It feels like it has been designed for people who have already played the original. The enemy camp has a lot of moving parts and a reasonably large number of enemies for an early-game section, and the puzzles seem like they take a bit more imagination to solve.

The main takeaway is best summarised in this line: 'With every puzzle and conflict having such a ridiculous array of solutions, the results will likely be endlessly astonishing and entertaining.'


Edit: just added a bit more
 
Last edited:
maidhhc said:
Some fun questions I jotted down on my phone yesterday. Just removed five questions that were answered by the previews

-will there be a blood moon for a set period of intensity each night? Ganondorf Power Hour
-how would underwater combat work if there's expanded swimming?
-is there a wider twist on korok puzzles?
-how will Zelda's side of the story progress? through her own gameplay or maybe somehow through Link's interaction with the glyphs?
-what's in Hyrule Castle now? I am expecting/hoping that it is now more of an earlier-story area instead of the setting for the final showdown
-do both parts of a fused weapon break simultaneously?
-how will upgraded hearts, stamina and batteries work? will there be one token that we can choose to spend on any of the above, or will they be 'won' separately
-will there be some sort of significant world, story or gameplay shift after we complete a certain amount of dungeons?
-are the dungeons accessible in some sort of tiered system, or all at once?
-are islands 'unlocked' area by area? how? the cloud barrier seems like it is destroyed all at once, but they islands don't seem to be available in the sky all at once
-are important sections of the underground related to glyphs overhead? (not convinced anymore)
-is the visibility of certain sets of islands related to something underground? (maybe)
-can companions be summoned anywhere or just in set missions? is it an arm ability?
-can you save certain outfits for a quick change? hot, cold, climbing etc
-will Link encounter Ganondorf several times throughout the course of the main story?
-I wouldn't mind Zelda somehow sacrificing herself in the past to seal Ganondorf with Mr. 'Rory Dragonarm', and the twist being that her interacting with the seal in the present somehow broke it.
-where are the Minish?
-will there be late game loftwings?
Click to expand...
This is a good list of unknowns and questions I have as well.
I would add the Spiral Stones, Time manipulation, Story if it’s played out in real time, how are they going to make it work, do we deal with two separate Gannondorfs. I’m very tempted to watch the previews because I really want to see the UI as well.
 
ZeldaPY said:
I’m very tempted to watch the previews because I really want to see the UI as well.
Click to expand...
Here's a vid that mainly just shows the menus and map. Spoiler warning: a few seconds of an enemy fight at the beginning, and some details on vehicle building and cooking mechanics in the menu, but nothing major shown.

 
Last edited:
maidhhc said:
Hopefully this answers your Qs without spoiling anything. Feel free to ask if you want to know anything in particular. :)

-They mostly say that the game seems absolutely huge and that there is a big upgrade in emergent gameplay. There are many more different ways to achieve your goals than BotW and a lot more freedom to play around with different tools.
-Previewers were given two areas to play around with, an enemy camp surrounding a tower, and a section of sky islands.
-They were not allowed to leave these areas, but were allowed to do whatever they wanted within them, with some missions as a guide.
-They also weren't allowed to show us several things that they came across within these sections, but we still got extended slices of gameplay.
-They've shown a lot more examples of how vehicle building works on some early islands. They show how parts can be obtained, how fuel functions, how vehicles control etc.
-Some previewers said that the gameplay controls in general feel more complicated than botw because there's a lot more you can do, and as such, they take a bit longer to get the hang of. They said this is especially true of ultrahand and vehicle building, but that it gets easier with a small bit of practice.
-'Link is also considerably more difficult to control. The game demands dexterity as the player uses every shoulder button alongside the directional pad, and every button has multiple uses depending on the mode Link is in.'
-Framerate is janky in the footage provided by Nintendo for some reason, but not in the footage captured by previewers, a few of whom said it was very smooth to play, especially in the sky - but a small bit less so in one intensive fight.
-New foods and materials shown, some which have pretty fun uses.
-The menus have been improved visually and are functionally easier and quicker to navigate.
-The upgraded map has been shown, with a layered system.
-The towers have been shown.
-Some footage was released by IGN Japan which showed a bit too much, and they have taken it down and some screenshots have disappeared. I have seen them and it all looks cool, no major major spoilers, just an extension of one ability,some chest items which hint at story spoilers, a new item and a new way to reach the islands.
-Cooking has been streamlined.
-Graphics look improved, with an especially beautiful transition when you move upwards through the cloud layer. The weather changes and the world below takes on an improved visibility, which we have kind of seen before.
-The animations, objects, outfits, sounds, etc feel very similar to Breath of the Wild. Much more of everything but not a huge upgrade according to some previews.
-No dungeons or story elements shown, several previewers say they are still in the dark to these elements, but one has said that they reached a dungeon entrance but weren't allowed to enter.
-Game is probably bigger than Elden Ring, but it's just a guess based on a small area.
-Gameplay in the sky is a lot more dense and puzzle-based.
-In the footage I have seen, the puzzles and intensity of combat seem like there has been a slight step-up in difficulty from BotW. It feels like it has been designed for people who have already played the original. The enemy camp has a lot of moving parts and a reasonably large number of enemies for an early-game section, and the puzzles seem like they take a bit more imagination to solve.

The main takeaway is best summarised in this line: 'With every puzzle and conflict having such a ridiculous array of solutions, the results will likely be endlessly astonishing and entertaining.'


Edit: just added a bit more
Click to expand...
Perfect just what I needed. Thank you!
 
0
Based on the preview footage, it looks like specularly reflective metals are in the open world now, further confirming higher resolution cubemaps. These were previously only seen in Shrines and the cubemaps were very low res. Now the outdoor environments are clearly reflected on these materials. This is gonna be really handy when I start analyzing my copy of the game.

Also, volumetric lighting got a boost as well.
 
All I want to do right now is take one of those floating cubes and Ultrahand as many rockets as possible to them in opposing directions and watch the chaos unfold.
 
I wonder if and when Nintendo will detail all Amiibo functionality and announce an expansion pass. Just over two weeks left. Maybe this game won't receive an expansion pass? Though I'm finding that hard to believe.
 
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Bonejack said:
Anyone willing to explain to me why the file size is so interesting and/or important for some of you?
Click to expand...

It’s interesting because we’re butting against them requiring 32GB cards.

Had wondered if that factored into the $70 price tag, but if they were that close to fitting it into a 16GB card they’d move heaven and earth to get there.
 
Mango said:
All I want to do right now is take one of those floating cubes and Ultrahand as many rockets as possible to them in opposing directions and watch the chaos unfold.
Click to expand...
I mean I'm pretty sure if it's balanced you'll just stand still

Dramatically

Otherwise it'll move based on the combined vector I'd think

Interestingly, I think with enough patience you can technically get just about anywhere with a floating platform and some fans, right? Unless a fan isn't enough to move a platform no matter what, you can just keep moving the fan around to direct yourself, and the floating platform means you won't fall when your batteries run out
 
I guess that puts me 0-1 so far. I was certain we would be using the floating platform giant fans to move sky islands around, lol. That theory was based on such sound science too😞
 
ILikeFeet said:
I don't think I seen anyone answer if the enemy parts disintegrate if you unfuse, but I would assume so. so I guess?
Click to expand...
Pretty sure that how it works. I watched to many previews to remember which one showed it, but one preview stated that the fused monster part is what breaks first with a fused weapon, at which point you can fuse another thing to that weapon. And if you unfuse through the menu, the fused part disappears.

So the way I understand it you can think of your base weapons as different platforms for fusing stuff onto, and you will be able to keep the platforms indefinitely basically if you are careful.
 
0
Sorry if already answered but I don’t want to have spoilers so I skip some posts of this thread

Can we spam fused arrows? Like “use always the latest fused element” or stacking some arrows?

Do we need to drop elements on the ground to fuse them or can we do in from the inventory?

Thanks
 
If you find a decent weapon “base” like a sturdy stick that you like and stock up on monster horns, then you can continually fuse parts as they break without the base ever breaking? I wonder if this will placate people that hate the durability mechanic. It does seem like it could provide some psychological relief for the hoarders that just have to save that royal claymore for 40 hours.
 
I swear, this is somehow the longest April in the history of humanity...

karmitt said:
It’s interesting because we’re butting against them requiring 32GB cards.

Had wondered if that factored into the $70 price tag, but if they were that close to fitting it into a 16GB card they’d move heaven and earth to get there.
Click to expand...

I don't think Nintendo is shy about using a 32 GB cart, regarding that topics, it's the third parties that i fear. ^^
 
0
futurehawk said:
Sorry if already answered but I don’t want to have spoilers so I skip some posts of this thread

Can we spam fused arrows? Like “use always the latest fused element” or stacking some arrows?

Do we need to drop elements on the ground to fuse them or can we do in from the inventory?

Thanks
Click to expand...
No

I don't know, I don't think I seen that option, just unfuse. There are a lot of fusible items that can't go in your inventory, so maybe not
 
EPD3 going all in on emergent gameplay so we're forced to entertain ourselves for the next decade it takes them to make a new Zelda

Don't @ me
 
MisterSpo said:
EPD3 going all in on emergent gameplay so we're forced to entertain ourselves for the next decade it takes them to make a new Zelda

Don't @ me
Click to expand...

Aonuma and the other head people after TotK has released and raked in the best reviews of all time:

finding-nemo-bags.gif
 
futurehawk said:
I'm not sure this is what the game will look like

Seems there is a ton of compression

Do we have additional info for performances by various sources?
Click to expand...

Most previewers say performance was fine during their sessions, but there were/can be drops during the Ultrahand crafting mode or during big fights with explosions and all.
 
Seeing how much of an upgrade Zelda has gotten in the years since BotW, they must be hiding away a really exciting Mario somewhere behind the scenes. Next time we see him, he's gonna be like an Italian Simone Biles made out of indestructible Flubber.
 
Would be fun if they created just one amazing traditional-style Zelda dungeon with locks and keys, unclimbable walls, minimal Zonai stuff, a traditional item and a boss with a vulnerable eye, and just hid it somewhere in the world for us to find. One breathtaking traditional dungeon to please the old stock, and then plenty of boundary-pushing multi-option puzzle dungeons based on the new mechanics for progressing the main story .
 
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Please note that this thread is completely spoiler-free, and that includes tagged spoilers. If you want to discuss spoilers, we refer to the spoiler thread.
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