Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.
Hey everyone, welcome to the spoiler thread for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom! When you have beaten the game, this is the place to talk all of the spoilers you want! Staff is making this the official spoiler thread now with the game officially out. Have fun!
Are zelda and link officially a thing romantically in this games universe. Some of the cut scenes i watched felt like they were heavily hinting at it, but of course nintendo still leaves things appropriately vague lol
Also, im confused, are the zonai, the minish, and the people from skyloft meant to be one in the same, or is it safe to assume this takes place in a different universe than that game does?
why no tektites? why no deku babas? why does the depths only have 1 miniboss and only 1 regular enemy (horriblins can be found elsewhere, like likes can't be found outside of depths from what I've seen)
I have a question which can only be answered here.
I wanna go through all the 4 elemental dungeons in first weekend, and then do side quests, I just wanna know though is there just a final dungeon after those 4 or are there other dungeons that aren’t the 4 elemental ones (because if there’s just one left I don’t want to blast through them)
Having finished the game-- Ganondorf and Ganon are different entities now, yeah? And the ending basically confirmed Fi is still in the sword, that means one of the two has to be demise yeah? I'm guessing Ganon is demise? They call Ganondorf the demon king but they also say he's a gerudo which didn't exist in SS.
edit: Hmm, I suppose if Botw is a completely new continuity, then maybe Calamity Ganon is the traditional Ganondorf and Ganondorf is the Demise role. And the sword could still be smart but not Fi explicity.
Having finished the game-- Ganondorf and Ganon are different entities now, yeah? And the ending basically confirmed Fi is still in the sword, that means one of the two has to be demise yeah? I'm guessing Ganon is demise? They call Ganondorf the demon king but they also say he's a gerudo which didn't exist in SS.
edit: Hmm, I suppose if Botw is a completely new continuity, then maybe Calamity Ganon is the traditional Ganondorf and Ganondorf is the Demise role. And the sword could still be smart but not Fi explicity.
Calamity Ganon is pretty clearly the result of the Malice pouring out of Sealed Ganondorf over the years. (Ganondorf is under Hyrule Castle, and that's where Calamity Ganon always came from). But it does seem like this Ganondorf never physically transforms into Ganon.
And I'm fully on the "reboot" train, but there's a LOT of debate.
Having finished the game-- Ganondorf and Ganon are different entities now, yeah? And the ending basically confirmed Fi is still in the sword, that means one of the two has to be demise yeah? I'm guessing Ganon is demise? They call Ganondorf the demon king but they also say he's a gerudo which didn't exist in SS.
edit: Hmm, I suppose if Botw is a completely new continuity, then maybe Calamity Ganon is the traditional Ganondorf and Ganondorf is the Demise role. And the sword could still be smart but not Fi explicity.
Calamity Ganon is pretty clearly the result of the Malice pouring out of Sealed Ganondorf over the years. (Ganondorf is under Hyrule Castle, and that's where Calamity Ganon always came from). But it does seem like this Ganondorf never physically transforms into Ganon.
And I'm fully on the "reboot" train, but there's a LOT of debate.
TotK's past happens relatively shortly after the foundation of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Hyrule Historia is very clear that Hyrule was founded after the Era of Chaos, before Minish Cap. Note that the foundation of the Kingdom of Hyrule is a different event than the people of Skyloft colonizing the surface and calling it "Hyrule" (again, that's from Historia), which happens at the end of SS.
This placement also explains why nobody mentions the Triforce or the Master Sword: to end the Era of Chaos (when the Interloper War from TP happened), OoT!Rauru hid them away. They aren't featured in Minish Cap or Minish Cap's backstory (the Hero of Men) either. MC!Link and the Hero of Men resorted to the Picori / Four Sword instead. Thanks to TotK, MC fits better in the timeline. Before, it was sandwiched between SS and OoT (well, there is FS too, but that game barely had a plot), two games that featured the Triforce and the Master Sword prominently. MC felt like a spin-off given a place in the timeline. With TotK, we have another game taking place roughly around the same time (very early days of Hyrule) in which the people of Hyrule are unaware of both of them.
TotK!Rauru and OoT!Rauru are two different characters sharing the same name. Just like OoT!Kaepora Gaebora (who's OoT!Rauru in disguise) and FSA!Kaepora Gaebora (who's just a random talking owl). They are both sages of Light, so perhaps "Rauru" means "Light" in Ancient Hylian? I mean, we had two completely unrelated races named "Zora"; we can have two Sages of Light named "Rauru".
What about Ganondorf? This is what's throwing people off. We are so used to OoT!Ganondorf as the character's first incarnation, it's hard to think that might be false. And TotK shows it's false. TotK!Ganondorf is Ganondorf I, OoT!Ganondorf is Ganondorf II and FSA!Ganondorf is Ganondorf III. This also explains Twinrova's plan, they want to revive the "spirit" of the original 'Dorf. So, wait, does that mean have Ganondorf I's corpse buried deep below Hyrule castle during basically every game in the series? Yes, just like we had the sleeping Zelda during Zelda II (and, to a lesser extent, the wandering spirit of the Hero of Time between MM and TP). AFAIK nobody in-game draws a connection between Ganondorf I and Calamity Ganon. We also know that Calamity Ganon is the result of countless battles between Chosen Hero of a given era and Ganon, who, logically, cannot be Ganondorf I, as he's stuck below the castle. Both Creating a Champion and BotW itself (via the Zora tables) suggest Calamity Ganon is OoT!Ganondorf. Alternatively, OoT!Ganondorf could be the result of TotK!Ganondorf's hatred and malice given a new, corporal form (Hyrule Historia suggests a similar relationship between FSA!Ganondorf and OoT!Ganondorf).
Yeah, Ganondorf I and Ganondorf II's plans are awfully similar but, look, Tingle also behaves the same in every game he appears in. This also means that TotK!Imprisoning War and the post-OoT pre-ALTTP Imprisoning War are two different, similar events sharing the same name. This is nothing incredible if you think about it. Our world had two World Wars, and both of them can be described as "US+UK+France+Russia against Germany; Germany invades Poland and Belgium; US enters late but plays a vital role".
So, tl;dr:
• A game showing what happened shortly after the foundation of Hyrule takes place when the official timeline puts the foundation of Hyrule: before MC, after the Era of Chaos;
• Nobody mentions the Triforce nor the Master Sword because OoT!Rauru hid them to end the Era of Chaos;
• The only other game where this happens? Minish Cap, which also takes place in the early days of Hyrule;
• As long as we accept the TotK incarnations of Ganondorf and Rauru as separate characters from their OoT incarnation, there are no plot holes, and everything fits together nicely, giving further context to Twinrova and explaining where Calamity Ganon comes from;
• If we go the reboot route, we have left with several things unexplained -- Fi, direct references to SS and OoT, the idea that Hyrule fought some forms of Ganon countless times between the TotK!Ganondorf and the Calamity 10000 years ago.
TotK's past happens relatively shortly after the foundation of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Hyrule Historia is very clear that Hyrule was founded after the Era of Chaos, before Minish Cap. Note that the foundation of the Kingdom of Hyrule is a different event than the people of Skyloft colonizing the surface and calling it "Hyrule" (again, that's from Historia), which happens at the end of SS.
This placement also explains why nobody mentions the Triforce or the Master Sword: to end the Era of Chaos (when the Interloper War from TP happened), OoT!Rauru hid them away. They aren't featured in Minish Cap or Minish Cap's backstory (the Hero of Men) either. MC!Link and the Hero of Men resorted to the Picori / Four Sword instead. Thanks to TotK, MC fits better in the timeline. Before, it was sandwiched between SS and OoT (well, there is FS too, but that game barely had a plot), two games that featured the Triforce and the Master Sword prominently. MC felt like a spin-off given a place in the timeline. With TotK, we have another game taking place roughly around the same time (very early days of Hyrule) in which the people of Hyrule are unaware of both of them.
TotK!Rauru and OoT!Rauru are two different characters sharing the same name. Just like OoT!Kaepora Gaebora (who's OoT!Rauru in disguise) and FSA!Kaepora Gaebora (who's just a random talking owl). They are both sages of Light, so perhaps "Rauru" means "Light" in Ancient Hylian? I mean, we had two completely unrelated races named "Zora"; we can have two Sages of Light named "Rauru".
What about Ganondorf? This is what's throwing people off. We are so used to OoT!Ganondorf as the character's first incarnation, it's hard to think that might be false. And TotK shows it's false. TotK!Ganondorf is Ganondorf I, OoT!Ganondorf is Ganondorf II and FSA!Ganondorf is Ganondorf III. This also explains Twinrova's plan, they want to revive the "spirit" of the original 'Dorf. So, wait, does that mean have Ganondorf I's corpse buried deep below Hyrule castle during basically every game in the series? Yes, just like we had the sleeping Zelda during Zelda II (and, to a lesser extent, the wandering spirit of the Hero of Time between MM and TP). AFAIK nobody in-game draws a connection between Ganondorf I and Calamity Ganon. We also know that Calamity Ganon is the result of countless battles between Chosen Hero of a given era and Ganon, who, logically, cannot be Ganondorf I, as he's stuck below the castle. Both Creating a Champion and BotW itself (via the Zora tables) suggest Calamity Ganon is OoT!Ganondorf. Alternatively, OoT!Ganondorf could be the result of TotK!Ganondorf's hatred and malice given a new, corporal form (Hyrule Historia suggests a similar relationship between FSA!Ganondorf and OoT!Ganondorf).
Yeah, Ganondorf I and Ganondorf II's plans are awfully similar but, look, Tingle also behaves the same in every game he appears in. This also means that TotK!Imprisoning War and the post-OoT pre-ALTTP Imprisoning War are two different, similar events sharing the same name. This is nothing incredible if you think about it. Our world had two World Wars, and both of them can be described as "US+UK+France+Russia against Germany; Germany invades Poland and Belgium; US enters late but plays a vital role".
So, tl;dr:
• A game showing what happened shortly after the foundation of Hyrule takes place when the official timeline puts the foundation of Hyrule: before MC, after the Era of Chaos;
• Nobody mentions the Triforce nor the Master Sword because OoT!Rauru hid them to end the Era of Chaos;
• The only other game where this happens? Minish Cap, which also takes place in the early days of Hyrule;
• As long as we accept the TotK incarnations of Ganondorf and Rauru as separate characters from their OoT incarnation, there are no plot holes, and everything fits together nicely, giving further context to Twinrova and explaining where Calamity Ganon comes from;
• If we go the reboot route, we have left with several things unexplained -- Fi, direct references to SS and OoT, the idea that Hyrule fought some forms of Ganon countless times between the TotK!Ganondorf and the Calamity 10000 years ago.
This is a really good write up! Thank you. I think I'm still in team reboot though since it wouldn't make sense to see those races all together around that time in the original time line. That does help clarify what Ganondorf's role was though, which is nice.
Oh, the race issue is a lost cause. The same races keep appearing and disappearing, sometimes in different forms. But that applies to the games in the official timeline. Fitting BotW/TotK in the Hyrule Historia timeline is contrived, but no more than placing the Oracle games anywhere or trying to reconcile the 2D games to the 3D games.
Zelda games make the most sense as a set of independent story arcs:
1. OoT - ALTTP - LA - ALBW - Zelda 1 - AoL
2. OoT - WW - PH - ST
..........\- MM - TP
3. MC - FS - FSA
4. BotW - TotK (with OoT taking place in some forms in the very distant past)
With SS as a prequel of the entire series and the Oracle games happening... somewhere.
Each of these story arcs has its own story with a beginning and an end, and sometimes even an overarching theme. For example, the 2D games + OoT, taken in a vacuum, work as a single narrative, with each new Link dealing with the fallout of the previous generation and Hyrule progressively declining. The 3D and DS games pre-SS also connects nicely to each other -- the Child / Adult split makes diegetic sense, and both WW and TP elaborate on the fate of Ganondorf and Hero of Time's legacy in each timeline.
When you try to stitch everything together, you get a convoluted mess.
Still, with TotK I think that they deliberately depicted an early Hyrule which works as a pre-MC Hyrule and left the details about Ganondorf - Calamity Ganon relationship vague enough that it's possible to reconcile everything with OoT. After all, Fujibayashi directed every game taking place before OoT. If someone knows the history of early Hyrule, it's him.
Oh, the race issue is a lost cause. The same races keep appearing and disappearing, sometimes in different forms. But that applies to the games in the official timeline. Fitting BotW/TotK in the Hyrule Historia timeline is contrived, but no more than placing the Oracle games anywhere or trying to reconcile the 2D games to the 3D games.
Zelda games make the most sense as a set of independent story arcs:
1. OoT - ALTTP - LA - ALBW - Zelda 1 - AoL
2. OoT - WW - PH - ST
..........\- MM - TP
3. MC - FS - FSA
4. BotW - TotK (with OoT taking place in some forms in the very distant past)
With SS as a prequel of the entire series and the Oracle games happening... somewhere.
Each of these story arcs has its own story with a beginning and an end, and sometimes even an overarching theme. For example, the 2D games + OoT, taken in a vacuum, work as a single narrative, with each new Link dealing with the fallout of the previous generation and Hyrule progressively declining. The 3D and DS games pre-SS also connects nicely to each other -- the Child / Adult split makes diegetic sense, and both WW and TP elaborate on the fate of Ganondorf and Hero of Time's legacy in each timeline.
When you try to stitch everything together, you get a convoluted mess.
Still, with TotK I think that they deliberately depicted an early Hyrule which works as a pre-MC Hyrule and left the details about Ganondorf - Calamity Ganon relationship vague enough that it's possible to reconcile everything with OoT. After all, Fujibayashi directed every game taking place before OoT. If someone knows the history of early Hyrule, it's him.
Yeah, the race thing is frustrating but I guess you kind of have to deal with it. What makes you think those art books are referring to OoT Ganondorf in particular? They do say that TotK Ganondorf used to be a Gerudo that became the demon king as well, and he's certainly aware of the Master Sword. I didn't see any of the flashbacks during my playthrough so I'm not aware of how he was actually sealed.
Yeah, the race thing is frustrating but I guess you kind of have to deal with it. What makes you think those art books are referring to OoT Ganondorf in particular? They do say that TotK Ganondorf used to be a Gerudo that became the demon king as well, and he's certainly aware of the Master Sword. I didn't see any of the flashbacks during my playthrough so I'm not aware of how he was actually sealed.
Long, long ago... In a past more distant than even the Great Calamity or the creation of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta... There was a Zora princess named Ruto. We know that she was an attendant to the Zora patron deity and that she was a fair and lively girl, beloved to all. Around that same time, an evil man with designs on ruling the world appeared, bringing disaster upon Zora's Domain. It is said that Ruto then awoke as a sage, facing this foe alongside the princess of Hyrule and the hero of legend. Her achievements are remembered not only by the Zora, they are also forever etched in the history of Hyrule.The Divine Beast Vah Ruta, built ages later to face off against Calamity Ganon, was named in honor of Ruto. That the Zora princess—my sweet daughter Mipha—was chosen to pilot Ruta is surely the work of fate.
Creating a Champion further elaborates, describing the origin of the Calamity as a Ganondorf sealed by "the princess of Hyrule and the chosen hero". This rules out TotK!Ganondorf. CaC also highlights than after Ganondorf was first sealed and before the return of the Calamity 10000 years before, Ganon was revived and sealed many times (echoing Impa's words in BotW: "The history of the royal family of Hyrule is also the history of Calamity Ganon, a primal evil that has endured over the ages").
Chronology of Hyrule:
Ganondorf, king of the Gerudo, transforms into Dark Beast Ganon and threatens Hyrule. The princess of Hyrule and the chosen hero combine their power to seal Ganon.
In a seemingly endless cycle of darkness and light, Ganon continues to be revived and then sealed away.
A boy is born to the all-female Gerudo tribe, as happens every one hundred years. He is named Ganondorf.
Ganondorf plans to take control of Hyrule. He transforms into Dark Beast Ganon and is sealed.
Ganon, having long lost his reason, becomes Calamity Ganon, a pure incarnation of hatred and malice for the royal family of Hyrule and die chosen hero.
As for the Master Sword, Ganondorf knows about it in the present. But he also knows about Link. I think neither Rauru nor Ganondorf knew what the Master Sword was before meeting Zelda.
Minor spoiler about one memory:
In fact, Ganondorf's words at the beginning of the game seem to mirror what Rauru tells Zelda, something among the lines of "Don't worry, one day Link and the Master Sword will defeat Ganondorf for good". In the context of that memory, Rauru was trying to calm Zelda, likely repeating something she told him in the first place.
I think the only really big disappointment to me is the lack of new towns.
There’s a lot of cool new stuff going on in the old ones, but the only thing that could really match up to having a new town without actually having them would be a complete vibe shift. New music, massively expanded etc. Which doesn’t seem to be the case outside of the pre-dungeon main 4 towns.
I’ve only done the Rito segment, but that was so cool at the beginning. New vibe and music in the town, but then it reverts back to BotW-state after the dungeon. Can’t complain much about that because it makes story sense, but yeah. I would mind the old towns staying mostly structurally the same if we got a couple more new ones other than just lookout landing.
I think they could’ve done something really cool with a bunch of constructs forming their own society over the span of thousands of years and a village of them in the sky, for instance. Or one in a previously underutilized area of BotW like the Gerudo Highlands. Or a really quirky and mysterious one in the depths with a new species that you could interact with and do quests for, but that has an aura of mystery that never quite fully gets solved and has fan theorists going for years.
I think the only really big disappointment to me is the lack of new towns.
There’s a lot of cool new stuff going on in the old ones, but the only thing that could really match up to having a new town without actually having them would be a complete vibe shift. New music, massively expanded etc. Which doesn’t seem to be the case outside of the pre-dungeon main 4 towns.
I’ve only done the Rito segment, but that was so cool at the beginning. New vibe and music in the town, but then it reverts back to BotW-state after the dungeon. Can’t complain much about that because it makes story sense, but yeah. I would mind the old towns staying mostly structurally the same if we got a couple more new ones other than just lookout landing.
I think they could’ve done something really cool with a bunch of constructs forming their own society over the span of thousands of years and a village of them in the sky, for instance. Or one in a previously underutilized area of BotW like the Gerudo Highlands. Or a really quirky and mysterious one in the depths with a new species that you could interact with and do quests for, but that has an aura of mystery that never quite fully gets solved and has fan theorists going for years.
There is a Hylia statue in the Zonai's Temple of Time! Not sure how I missed it. This confirms that the Zonai worshipped Hylia, and further suggests a post-SS placement.
Two Zelda Universe users noticed two familiar characters in the memory where Ganondorf pledges his alliance. There are two green-skinned Gerudo behind him (14:32 here). They wear a golden mask and a shawl with their name: Koume and Kotake! In my previous post, I theorized that placing TotK past before OoT gives further context to the Twinrova. This is close to an in-game confirmation!
Apparently, there's yet another Zora table recounting OoT from Ruto's point of view, but I have yet to find it.
Is there an item you can get to call horses from anywhere? There was dlc armor in the first game but I was hoping they'd make something not tied to one set of armor. I really hope so because I was certain being able to call horses regardless of how close they were would be something they fixed. It's a no brainer and probably the biggest complaint about horses in BotW.
After spending close to 100 hours in this wonderful, breathtaking new version of Hyrule, I think I'm ready for the spoiler thread!
This game is the best game I've ever played, and conveyed to me the very same magic and wonder that BotW instilled in me so many years ago, despite the reused overworld, which is an extremely impressive feat. Tears of the Kingdom sure managed to reach my incredibly high expectations - some of the areas perhaps fell a bit short, while others blew past what I could possibly dream of.
I mean, an underground section that covers, like, the entire damn overworld map? An underground section that was a constant, complete thrill to explore? Caves and wells everywhere, just begging you to dig deep into them in order to unearth what they contain? Puzzles that vastly outdo anything that BotW could come up with, centered around abilities that I think, again, vastly outdoes the abilities from BotW? Ultrahand? ULTRAHAND?
These things just knocked me out flat. FLAT! I had so much fun just exploring the game, taking it all in - the mechanics, the puzzles, the environments, everything. I think the whole Mineru stretch was the happiest I've ever felt playing a game, ever.
When the four phenomena was done, and we basically got a bit of dry exposition about the imprisoning war I was like, please don't end here, please don't end here.. I SO desperately wanted a mid-act plot twist, and I went to do the Hyrule Castle main quest, hoping and hoping for more.. and I GOT it. I faced Phantom Ganon and there was a fifth sage! YES! And the whole section following was just non-stop hits. I loved doing the tall dragon neck riddle, the thunder islands quest was so epic (the music!) and making my way to the construct factory was just one of those moments that will be forever burned into my mind. Then followed an unconventional yet amazing boss battle, and to top it all off I got to meet Mineru herself, and she gave some more story tidbits that were more exposition, but nevertheless very interesting stuff.
But okay, I have already gushed enough about the game elsewhere, so I wanted to talk about the story. Something felt off about it. It's like they soft-retconned the Zonai or something. They were this mysterious, ancient barbarian tribe in BotW that were capable of magic, which felt cool and super intriguing. But seeing Rauru and Mineru, it struck me as, like, these were not really what anyone expected, they were polite and saint-like and Rauru had some tea. It's not a bad thing to defy expectations like that, but it caught me off-guard, in a way that I'm still not entirely on board with.
And it felt a bit jarring that these humble creatures made giant-ass tractor wheels and fans and springs and stabilizers and other weird shit in some super mysterious factory underground, it was a bit like a foolproof example of how Nintendo always puts gameplay before lore continuity. Again not a bad thing to do - on the contrary, please do this - but it still leaves some marks in the story.
Additionally, the whole deceit scene was very weirdly pulled. Like, Ganondorf invaded everyone with Moldugas, then said sorry, bowed and Raru was like, okay? And then Sonia got stabbed (I think) in the back out of nowhere. It felt like Ganondorf pretty much walked his way to victory, and it seems to me like they could've done more here.
But other than that, story was positively amazing, it really hit some high highs. Zelda swallowing the tear was incredibly impactful, up there with some of the most magical moments in the entire series - descending to Hyrule Castle in Wind Waker, the ending of Ocarina of Time... and the ending of this game, when you have to dive to Zelda and reach for her hand and plunge into the water was likewise such a heart-stopping moment. The whole final stretch was just off the charts to me, the descent into Hyrule's deepest depths, the combat gauntlet, your friends showing up, and the fight against Ganondorf was tense and exciting, and then a freaking dragon fight in midair?! So cool. Sure, it was a bit of a "victory lap" battle, like Dark Beast Ganon in BotW, but it made up for it both because of the narrative impact (Ganondorf swallowing his tear) and also for the sheer scale and epicness of it. Another one of the game's endless wow-moments.
Didn't complete it yet, but have collected five sages and the Master sword, so I think storywise only the descend to Ganondorf is left.
Have a lot of areas that I didn't explore yet. Like most of the depths but also the labyrinths, the great plateau from BotW and so on.
I loved it so far but I am a little disappointed that there are not more story dungeons in the game (I kind of rushed through them because I had the strong feeling the game opens up even more afterwards - which was pretty dumb ). Now I have a huge to do list of sidequests etc.
And I am really confused why there aren't more flying enemies in this game.
Why aren't there constructs soaring through the air further up in the sky, attacking you with laser beams? You almost never need the new mid-air fighting pose...
I think this could and should be DLC. Some major sky island coming down from heaven above central hyrule where you try to get up and get your jetpack for the Mineru mech to fight some huge flying constructs. The mech then becomes the master cycle of TotK.
Edit: Little nitpicky rant:
please - for the love of god - in your next Zelda game, don't put items with inventory limitations (aka weapons, bows, shields) in treasure chests, Nintendo!!
Give me rupees, give me gemstones, give me elixirs, rare cooking ingredients or monster parts for fusing. Give me zonai devices, old maps, fabrics, schematics or unique clothing. At least give me arrows and bomb flowers - both always appreciated in this game.
There is so much you can give me that would be rewarding - but getting the fifth bow of the same kind with a full inventory is just not fun - even with the quality of life upgrade to drop items right then and there.
Enemies can drop weapons, they can be stucked into the ground or leaned against the wall (this way I can immediately assess if I want it - unlike in a treasure chest), they are already offered by these shadowy figures underground (very cool imo), you could have shops for some basic weapons in towns, etc.
There is no need to put them into treasure chests!
Rarely feels like a reward.
the best dungeon was probably the Lightning Temple, but the best dungeon sequence (i.e. dungeon including everything leading up to it) is the Wind Temple
the post-regional phenomenon content (ring ruins quest, finding the fifth sage, getting to the Spirit Temple, getting into Korok Forest, getting the Master Sword) was fantastic
less fantastic was the Master Kohga quest. It wasn't bad per se, but it was pretty repetitive (didn't help that I did most of it after the Spirit Temple stuff which was similar but better). I know it wasn't technically ~main quest~ but it seems to be the intended way to discover Ganondorf's whereabouts (although let's be honest, it was pretty obvious?!)
the endgame sequence (descent into the Depths beneath the castle, three-phase fight against Ganondorf, fight against Dragon King, skydive to save Zelda) was amazing. A much stronger ending than BOTW
Question: does the post-credits scene only occur if you do all the main quests, like in BOTW? This one was more involved, I quite liked it. Really interested to see how the game plays out if you just beeline for Ganondorf, though
This games story kinda sucks imo. I was so excited to see Ganondorf again, but instead we got Newdorf, who isn't nearly as interesting or cool. He has no character motivation or reason for wanting to take over Hyrule and he just seems like a angsty kid. The lore is a absolute mess too, and there's far less overall world building and connecting the story to the world as there was in BOTW, which speaking of BOTW, since Newdorf and Calamity Ganon are one and the same, that retroactively makes me like BOTW less.
This games story kinda sucks imo. I was so excited to see Ganondorf again, but instead we got Newdorf, who isn't nearly as interesting or cool. He has no character motivation or reason for wanting to take over Hyrule and he just seems like a angsty kid. The lore is a absolute mess too, and there's far less overall world building and connecting the story to the world as there was in BOTW, which speaking of BOTW, since Newdorf and Calamity Ganon are one and the same, that retroactively makes me like BOTW less.
Nah, I completely disagree with this - TotK Ganondorf is the best Ganondorf in the Zelda series imo. Every time he was onscreen he just had this powerful menace, and the final battle was up there with Twilight Princess in epic-ness.
Nah, I completely disagree with this - TotK Ganondorf is the best Ganondorf in the Zelda series imo. Every time he was onscreen he just had this powerful menace, and the final battle was up there with Twilight Princess in epic-ness.
How can you genuinely believe this, he's nothing. He's evil for the sake of evil. He has no goal no ambition no actual reason for why he's doing anything at all. The presentation may be good but the actual writing is the worst he's ever been.
How can you genuinely believe this, he's nothing. He's evil for the sake of evil. He has no goal no ambition no actual reason for why he's doing anything at all. The presentation may be good but the actual writing is the worst he's ever been.
How can you genuinely believe this, he's nothing. He's evil for the sake of evil. He has no goal no ambition no actual reason for why he's doing anything at all. The presentation may be good but the actual writing is the worst he's ever been.
I mean, the only game where this description doesn’t fit him is WW.
TotK Ganondorf may not be as in-depth in his characterization as I was hoping for, but his presentation and design is the best it’s been and it’s him at his most intimidating. This is the most “Evil Demon King” Ganondorf has been.
WW Ganondorf probably still wins overall but this one comes pretty close.
I mean, the only game where this description doesn’t fit him is WW.
TotK Ganondorf may not be as in-depth in his characterization as I was hoping for, but his presentation and design is the best it’s been and it’s him at his most intimidating. This is the most “Evil Demon King” Ganondorf has been.
WW Ganondorf probably still wins overall but this one comes pretty close.
And even WW Ganondorf is still just pure evil, he just has a cool monologue on top of it with weak justification for being pure evil. I'm sure TOTK Ganondorf would say something similar, and he kind of does in the flashbacks. WW ends with him trying to kill children out of spite lol
-Vaati in Minish Cap wants the power of the light force
-Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time wants the power of the Triforce.
-Ganondorf in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess: more or less the same as OOT.
-Yuga wants to create a beautiful world by rulling it with power.
-Demise hates the world because he's the opposing force of Hylia.
-Ganondorf in ToTK wants to rule Hyrule...because...?
I mean, the only game where this description doesn’t fit him is WW.
TotK Ganondorf may not be as in-depth in his characterization as I was hoping for, but his presentation and design is the best it’s been and it’s him at his most intimidating. This is the most “Evil Demon King” Ganondorf has been.
WW Ganondorf probably still wins overall but this one comes pretty close.
-Vaati in Minish Cap wants the power of the light force
-Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time wants the power of the Triforce.
-Ganondorf in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess: more or less the same as OOT.
-Yuga wants to create a beautiful world by rulling it with power.
-Demise hates the world because he's the opposing force of Hylia.
-Ganondorf in ToTK wants to rule Hyrule...because...?
Again no, his primary goal has always been the Triforce, he has no goals or general motivation here.
All of these characters want a powerful thing so they can rule the world. For TotK Ganondorf he wants the magic stone. No difference between that and any of the other all powerful items like triforce or light force. And it's much better motivation than Demise who is literally "he's the bad guy and Zelda is the good guy".
I would recommend finding all the tears for the flashbacks. I didn't for my first playthrough and the story made a lot more sense after I did.
And we not getting into Bellum or Maladus or any of those guys...
All of these characters want a powerful thing so they can rule the world. For TotK Ganondorf he wants the magic stone. No difference between that and any of the other all powerful items like triforce or light force. And it's much better motivation than Demise who is literally "he's the bad guy and Zelda is the good guy".
I would recommend finding all the tears for the flashbacks. I didn't for my first playthrough and the story made a lot more sense after I did.
And we not getting into Bellum or Maladus or any of those guys...
His decision to seek out one of the stones happens after he's set his sights on randomly trying to take over Hyrule. It's not what he's after. His primary goal seems to be the exact thing you mentioned for Demise. He literally monologues about how the world should be "bathed in darkness."
As for Bellum, that's a mindless parasite hellbent on corruption, and Malladus is a literal Demon much akin to Demise, him and demise have at least that to fall back on. Ganondorf the human does not.
-Vaati in Minish Cap wants the power of the light force
-Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time wants the power of the Triforce.
-Ganondorf in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess: more or less the same as OOT.
-Yuga wants to create a beautiful world by rulling it with power.
-Demise hates the world because he's the opposing force of Hylia.
His decision to seek out one of the stones happens after he's set his sights on randomly trying to take over Hyrule. It's not what he's after. His primary goal seems to be the exact thing you mentioned for Demise. He literally monologues about how the world should be "bathed in darkness."
As for Bellum, that's a mindless parasite hellbent on corruption, and Malladus is a literal Demon much akin to Demise, him and demise have at least that to fall back on. Ganondorf the human does not.
Demise's motivation is what you are accusing Ganondorf of having: he's the bad guy who is Satan and therefore evil. Ganondorf wants to rule the world for the same reason OoT Ganondorf did, as explained in WW. Only difference is the triforce isn't available so he wants the other object of power. You literally see the moment he realizes he needs a powerful object to realize his objective, so if anything his motivations are better explored than any other Ganondorf.
edit: Majora Mask is different I guess. But only that in that game the object of power is the evil one instead of the person using it.
Demise's motivation is what you are accusing Ganondorf of having: he's the bad guy who is Satan and therefore evil. Ganondorf wants to rule the world for the same reason OoT Ganondorf did, as explained in WW. Only difference is the triforce isn't available so he wants the other object of power. You literally see the moment he realizes he needs a powerful object to realize his objective, so if anything his motivations are better explored than any other Ganondorf.
edit: Majora Mask is different I guess. But only that in that game the object of power is the evil one instead of the person using it.
He has the same motivation as Demise, did you not get to the end? Where he has a whole monologue about "insufferable light?"
Also he's already trying to take over Hyrule before he sees the stone. Why? The whole motivation behind OG Ganondorf trying to take over Hyrule, ever since ALttP, has been the Triforce, you take that away and he really has nothing. The stone doesn't make up for it because he only becomes aware of their existence after he's already for some reason trying to take over the world.
Basic as they may be they're better with macguffins than without.
He has the same motivation as Demise, did you not get to the end? Where he has a whole monologue about "insufferable light?"
Also he's already trying to take over Hyrule before he sees the stone. Why? The whole motivation behind OG Ganondorf trying to take over Hyrule, ever since ALttP, has been the Triforce, you take that away and he really has nothing. The stone doesn't make up for it because he only becomes aware of their existence after he's already for some reason trying to take over the world.
He has the same motivation as OoT Ganondorf. They're both evil guys who want to rule the world. You're also wrong about your OoT Ganondorf lore-- he wants to rule the world so he sets out to get the triforce because that can give the world to him. That is explained in Wind Waker. That is also why in Wind Waker he wants to use the Triforce to restore Hyrule, not just use it's power. This is also why FSA Ganondorf tries to take over the world by getting the trident, it's a different magic power to help him get power so he can rule the world.
All of these characters have the same motivation, your issue seems to be that Totk explained a little bit more. This is very similar to Demise but at least Ganondorf is a man who wants something rather than just Satan imo
Ganondorf always wants to rule the world. His reason is always because he is evil. In most games, the means by which he plans to achieve this is by possessing some Macguffin, and the game revolves around stopping that from happening. In TOTK, he already got the Macguffin. He succeeded! And now we see what happens after he gets the Macguffin.
Look, you can feel free to prefer one as a plot device over the other, but they're all essentially the same thing and the level of anger it feels you have that this version doesn't play out exactly the same as all the others is frankly a little bizarre
Wanting to rule Hyrule is a similar motivation to wanting the Triforce imo - they’re both just wanting power and control for the sake of power and control at the end of the day.
less fantastic was the Master Kohga quest. It wasn't bad per se, but it was pretty repetitive (didn't help that I did most of it after the Spirit Temple stuff which was similar but better). I know it wasn't technically ~main quest~ but it seems to be the intended way to discover Ganondorf's whereabouts (although let's be honest, it was pretty obvious?!)
I don't know, I think having Master Khoga being this Team Rocket analogue was pretty funny. Every other minion is out there sowing chaos, destroying environments, and here's Master Khoga, FORKLIFT CERTIFIED! That being said, probably would have appreciated more zoanite equipment in the arenas. I wanted to take him on with my own vehicles.
Look, you can feel free to prefer one as a plot device over the other, but they're all essentially the same thing and the level of anger it feels you have that this version doesn't play out exactly the same as all the others is frankly a little bizarre
I really dislike it when being passionate about something is misconstrued as seething anger. I just don't like how he's handled that's all. I don't like the plot at all to be honest especially how it's seemingly implying every other game isn't canon and didn't happen, but with Ganondorf especially after 16 years of no appearances and being in a game set far far far in the future, I was hopeful for some level of him being reminiscent about how many times he's fought and been beating by Link and Zelda, but even tho it's still a canon part of the BOTW that he has fought them a lot, TOTK handwaved that for a story that's pretty lackluster imo.
I really dislike it when being passionate about something is misconstrued as seething anger. I just don't like how he's handled that's all. I don't like the plot at all to be honest especially how it's seemingly implying every other game isn't canon and didn't happen, but with Ganondorf especially after 16 years of no appearances and being in a game set far far far in the future, I was hopeful for some level of him being reminiscent about how many times he's fought and been beating by Link and Zelda, but even tho it's still a canon part of the BOTW that he has fought them a lot, TOTK handwaved that for a story that's pretty lackluster imo.
It's cause honestly, your argument is nonsense. TotK Ganondorf is depicted the same as basically every other version of the character. A guy who was born evil who wants to power to rule the world. It's one thing to want your villains in 2023 to have more depth then they did in 1998 and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. The problem is you can't make that argument since you walked into an Animal Crossing pitfall talking about the lack of mcguffin when TotK Ganondorf is clearly depicted as wanting one (the sacred stones, or did you think he was horny staring at Zelda and Sonia's chest in that one memory?). In the memories we see him long for them in multiple scenes, trick Sonia and Zelda to get one, use it to become the Demon King and unleash his invasion of Hyrule.
You also completely misunderstand the timeline if you think this is the same Ganondorf from older Zelda games. TotK Ganondorf predates every other one and is currently the first reincarnation of Demise (hence the similar look in demon form). Like Link and Zelda, we already know Demise is fated to reincarnate over and over (in the form of Ganondorf/Ganon), and all of the dorf's have no knowledge of this. The fact OoT, WW, and TP dorf are the same dorf from different timelines does not mean TotK dorf is that dorf.
Wanting to rule Hyrule is a similar motivation to wanting the Triforce imo - they’re both just wanting power and control for the sake of power and control at the end of the day.
Totally. I literally don't see any difference between wanting to rule the world and wanting the Triforce in order to rule the world. Pretending like Ganondorf was deeper than just being evil for the sake of being evil is something I didn't see coming.
The only Ganondorf with any depth was WW, and that depth extended to "I was jelly that Hyrule wasn't an unfucking bearable desert like where I grew up".
The only Ganondorf with any depth was WW, and that depth extended to "I was jelly that Hyrule wasn't an unfucking bearable desert like where I grew up".
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
). Now I have a huge to do list of sidequests etc.
