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Discussion Tears of the Kingdom and its marketing (or lack thereof) - how do you feel?

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Tears of the Kingdom has had very sparse marketing up to this point, in the way that we haven't seen much at all, and the game is a mere 3 months away from release. What's your personal takeaway here? Is this low-key approach frustrating, or do you think it makes perfect sense for a game all about exploration? Nintendo is keeping cards close to their chest here, but is it smart to do that from a marketing perspective? Do you think it's just fine to let the game speak for itself when it releases, or would a more open marketing cycle do a better job at igniting interest?
 
the doomposting of the Zelda team is my favorite part of the cycle

They are good with showing so far, this was not BOTW 2017 trailer but it was not meant to be one. Not sure why people expected that we will get huge 10+ min. blowout or anything. One more trailer, and gameplay from Treehouse and maybe the game will be playable at PAX. That's it.
 
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I -feel- like it's just another part of the lead up to a new 3D Zelda game, especially when there's two on the same console.

The good news is that there's 90 something days left until release, but it's more like 80 something because it will leak at least a week before the official date.

And that's when true pandemonium begins.
 
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Actually... I think I enjoy not knowing too much, takes me back to simpler times where I saw an advertisement in a magazine and that was it. And we're far from that, this game might do good in staying a bit mysterious as we know the premise.

The rest of the Internet markets the game quite well I think...
 
I dont really understand why everyone wants to be spoonfed with everything and have all the information going in to the game, we're not in a botw situation. Nintendo can and will keep as much as they can close to their chest - this game is going to be dark and I love what they've shown so far, I can keep my cool for another month or two before the obvious full range marketing Zelda Direct. It's happening.
 
Honestly, I'd love to watch some gameplay while listening to Aonuma commentary at this point. I think we need to understand the underlying logic of this game. We got that early on with BoTW in E3 2016, but ToTK just looks so crazy that it's hard to make sense of what the developers had in mind when they developed this game.
 
It is exactly what I hoped for so far. They are showing interesting and exciting new little bits and pieces with each new trailer, without having given away too much so far.

The fact that we are ~3 months from release and don't know all that much about the game is a massive positive, imo.
 
Awesomegames23 said:
Honestly, I'd love to watch some gameplay while listening to Aonuma commentary at this point. I think we need to understand the underlying logic of this game. We got that early on with BoTW in E3 2016, but ToTK just looks so crazy that it's hard to make sense of what the developers had in mind when they developed this game.
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It kinda looks like the Mario 3 of open world games to me. Just tons of wild ideas all over the place. I'm not sure there is too much of an underlying logic.
 
This was one of the best directs ever for me despite TOTK looking pretty meh. I hope those still excited for it enjoy it though. Xenoblade 3 and FE DLC were way more hype IMHO.
 
It’s been weird.

The trailers are structured weirdly and I kinda want one that knocks my socks off and gives me the same chills the BotW one did

But I’m not worried about the actual game itself
 
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I think they know being the sequel to BotW is enough to generate insane noise. Also they'll probably want the reviews to speak for themselves. Gameplay ideas look very good, even if, so far, they didn't do a great job at trying to differentiate the game to BotW.

All it needs now is a great cinematic story trailer and great reviews. It will probably get both.
 
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The trailer felt a bit incoherent in its pacing, but I guess the idea was ‘here’s several cool, creative things you can do in it’ rather than ‘here’s the story setup followed by a ‘vertical slice’ of some gameplay’. Still, there’s three months to go, I’m sure we’ll see it again before release. The main thing I took from the trailer is that it seems to be as much a playground of a fantasy world as BOTW was, and as much as I like hearing Zelda talk about the plot and seeing Link looking determined, that sounds cool to me!
 
To answer the OP, the only question I wish I knew the answer to was how the dungeons are. Everything else has been just about right in terms of info. I can tell enough of what's going on to get excited about the direction (in particular, the way traversal between the overworld and sky islands will affect gameplay has huge potential), without specifics spoiling actual scenarios.

This game very well might be everything I wanted back in 2011. Even if it's not, it looks damn close enough, and appears to be more imaginative than I was back then.

If there's a TotK Direct, it's one of the few game specific Directs for a title I'm purchasing that I won't watch - and I watched the Xenoblade 3 Direct. There's just something special about not knowing with Zelda.
 
Marketing sort of sucks, honestly.

We have well over 15 minutes of trailers at this point, and none of them really sell me on the feeling of Tears of the Kingdom, nor the core identity.

You take a look at the first BotW trailer, and you immediately get the game, the vibes it's going for, an amazing sense of the story, how gameplay works, and new mechanics. All while being even more "secretive" than TotK.

Now, I am not worried about this game one bit. But the marketing has kind of sucked honestly, and I have felt that way about Nintendo games for 2 years now.
 
I guess they obviously have a clear and coherent vision about their own game. However, at this point, so close the release, I don´t know if the are just putting really bad trailers together or they are playing their cards way too close to the chest.
 
I know I'm getting the game and I know it will be good, but I really think they need just one thing that makes you go "wow, I can't wait to play it."

Think about the second Mario Odyssey trailer.



Not only do they show off the game's main selling point - Captures - but the way they reveal it was perfect, with the buildup with the dinosaur.

That's what TOTK needs. I didn't pay attention to the BOTW marketing cycle, so I can't compare. And I don't want all the great and cool stuff spoiled for me, but it really could use something. I'm assuming we will get a Zelda Direct around March to go more in depth, so maybe it will be there.
 
I'm thinking they're planning a massive blowout with its own direct sometime in April. I had a feeling Nintendo wasn't just gonna show their full hand with that game that easily. They want an opportunity to isolate its hype.
 
Phendrift said:
It’s been weird.

The trailers are structured weirdly and I kinda want one that knocks my socks off and gives me the same chills the BotW one fid

But I’m not worried about the actual game itself
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This is how I’m feeling too. I was expecting a bigger, more informative bit, but this trailer was still good; probably the best one yet. It just felt more… teaser-y still rather than a full trailer. A good final teaser trailer, though.

I just want a slower-paced, more in-depth trailer that shows things more coherently, gives more of a story hook with actual details, and gives us an idea of what we’ll actually be doing (dungeons, goals, etc.), and maybe some more details on the new abilities. Not TOO much info, but some! And we’ll probably get it either end of March/early April I’d say.

Also interesting that the special edition was revealed but not the OLED model? That seemed pretty legit.
 
I think it is the best way promoting that game. Really. Like you have your normal Switch releases here and there and then as the bigger story you have TOTK of which they share bits as special occasion.

It is maybe tiresome TEARSome as a fan but from a marketing perspective I can see some sense in that. I mean yeah they showed very little, but it‘s still one if not the most anticipated title of the year. The hype is there. Now they have like 3 months to promote the game in all kinds of way. They can share from now on something about the game every week and I assure that it will be covered like everywhere as valuable information. Zelda is like perfect for that I think, that‘s why those IGN videos about BOTW work so well.

Then in march they can do some Zelda direct, after that a treehouse stream or even a demo of the tutorial island (in my mind the game starts on one of the islands) and then is every fear forgotten like always with Nintendo.
of course the game can still turn out much worse than BOTW, but personally I don‘t care at this point.
 
SammyJ9 said:
This is how I’m feeling too. I was expecting a bigger, more informative bit, but this trailer was still good; probably the best one yet. It just felt more… teaser-y still rather than a full trailer. A good final teaser trailer, though.

I just want a slower-paced, more in-depth trailer that shows things more coherently, gives more of a story hook with actual details, and gives us an idea of what we’ll actually be doing (dungeons, goals, etc.), and maybe some more details on the new abilities. Not TOO much info, but some! And we’ll probably get it either end of March/early April I’d say.

Also interesting that the special edition was revealed but not the OLED model? That seemed pretty legit.
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I'm guessing the OLED model will be revealed in a Zelda Direct.
 
Being brutaly honest, I am extremely lukewarm about the game. Ever since it became clear that they were reusing the map.
Sure, they'll switch a few things around and add those floating bricks in the sky, but I doubt they'll be able to emulate that feeling of discovery and wonder that made me sink over 700 hours in the original.

The marketing so far has made the game look like a more involved DLC to BotW. The few hints about the new mechanics were a bit too sparse for my liking.

Happy to be proven wrong, and I even if the game turns out as I fear, I'll absolutely get my moneys worth out of it.
 
I don't think they need to do as much as with BotW. That game established the formula - it has been played by 30 million people and discussed at length by countless outlets.

This is clearly BotW 2, which tells you most of what you need to know. That being said, I think they will up the marketing effort soon and will give it a dedicated Direct in April.

I do also wonder if there is an element of allocated marketing budget being kept low this year in preparation for a Switch 2 blow out next year.
 
I think the game still really needs to prove itself as more than just “BOTW but you can go in the sky now.” We’re four trailers in and that’s what it seems like to me. The new mechanics look cool and all but if Nintendo want to match the magic of exploring Hyrule again they’re gonna need more than that.
 
Mekanos said:
I'm guessing the OLED model will be revealed in a Zelda Direct.
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That seems likely but don’t special editions usually launch several weeks before the game itself they’re linked to? I would imagine we’ll have to hear about it decently early for preorders and the like.
 
Something about this game feels completely off with how perfect BOTW is as a damn near complete package. Tears of the Kingdom kind of feels frantic but also lacking in wow moments in my opinion but I have to believe they are holding much back because so far it's not really doing much for me like the first game did in 2017. I'm not wowed or all that excited. Hopefully I get there by May.
 
SammyJ9 said:
That seems likely but don’t special editions usually launch several weeks before the game itself they’re linked to? I would imagine we’ll have to hear about it decently early for preorders and the like.
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Direct could be in March, allowing for preorders up through late April.

boris_feinbrand said:
Being brutaly honest, I am extremely lukewarm about the game. Ever since it became clear that they were reusing the map.
Sure, they'll switch a few things around and add those floating bricks in the sky, but I doubt they'll be able to emulate that feeling of discovery and wonder that made me sink over 700 hours in the original.

The marketing so far has made the game look like a more involved DLC to BotW. The few hints about the new mechanics were a bit too sparse for my liking.

Happy to be proven wrong, and I even if the game turns out as I fear, I'll absolutely get my moneys worth out of it.
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Yeah, for as long as the game has been in dev (even before COVID, since it most likely was in dev since BOTW came out or soon after), it is a little puzzling that they seem to be reusing a lot of the map and same assets. It's likely been in dev longer than the first BOTW, for a point of comparison.

Obviously there is a lot they aren't showing us and I can't judge the game fully until it comes out. But if I hadn't played the first BOTW, I'd be feeling meh on it.
 
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Mekanos said:
I know I'm getting the game and I know it will be good, but I really think they need just one thing that makes you go "wow, I can't wait to play it."

Think about the second Mario Odyssey trailer.



Not only do they show off the game's main selling point - Captures - but the way they reveal it was perfect, with the buildup with the dinosaur.

That's what TOTK needs. I didn't pay attention to the BOTW marketing cycle, so I can't compare. And I don't want all the great and cool stuff spoiled for me, but it really could use something. I'm assuming we will get a Zelda Direct around March to go more in depth, so maybe it will be there.
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That's the best videogame trailer ever made. Period. It's fun just watching it. You don't even need to play it. You just watch that and you know that game is pure distilled FUN.

It helps also that most of Mario Odyssey feels all-new not even in relation to the previous 3D entry, but to the whole Super Mario series. Worlds, enemies, mechanics... is almost a full departure from everything Mario has been before. All the trailer is full of moments of "what's that?!" followed by "that looks so fun!!".

DAMM, Mario Odyssey is trully incredible.
 
They could tell us more without spoiling the sense of exploration and discovery. We have very little idea of what to expect, and they keep showing teaser trailers with almost no context or info. It wouldn't hurt to do a gameplay trailer or Treehouse-style demonstration to show us what's new this time around. Not to belittle the team, and I know COVID delays and all, but I'm wanting to see why this took so many years to make because so far it's fairly hard to discern what's really setting it apart from BOTW besides teases of things like phasing through walls, and vehicle construction.

I also can't help but feel a bit of concern that maybe the game is only shown in these teaser trailer forms because it may have performance issues on the aged Switch hardware. Nintendo apparently was so confident in the Prime Remaster they shadowdropped it. The cynic in me says their main indication of confidence in TOTK was giving it a last minute price hike.

I was super excited for BOTW. I wanted to see this new take on Zelda (or return to its roots, depending on who you ask). I loved the new blue tunic design for Link. I loved the cel-shaded graphics. I even just loved the title. Conversely, Tears of the Kingdom has been striking me as rather "meh", because I don't know if they can capture lightning in a bottle twice, and I'm not seeing much that makes me feel that they did. Nintendo's tight-lipped nature about it isn't helping matters.
 
I don't like it much. Initial trailers were far better than that last one, though.

First of all, they revealed too early, then left it too late to show much of anything, leading to a long period of frustration. A game should be revealed about a year before release, then the marketing should start in earnest about 6 months prior to release, and build from there. I would have liked to have seen today's trailer a couple months ago.

Secondly, my take on marketing/trailers in general is as follows:
Show what the set-up of the game is. What the first hour will tell you. Nobody minds being spoiled the basic set-up or first hour.
Then tease stuff from the first half of the game.
Show nothing from the back half of the game.
And most of all, focus on what's new.

With this game, we're still totally in the dark about what the set-up here is, and I don't think that's necessary. Secondly, while they've shown very promising sky islands, a lot of what they've shown really looks like more BotW - a lot of the overworld stuff looks like it could have been DLC for the first game.

All of that said, I wasn't a fan of the marketing for the first game either, which many other people loved. But it was better than this.
 
My thought process about it is basically that I don't understand any arguments supporting the marketing. They usually rely on people's expectations or not wanting to know what the game is about, but like, the entire point of marketing is to blow people's socks off so they want your game, and you can easily just ignore the trailers if you don't want to see them.

The fact that we even have to argue if the marketing is good is not a good sign to begin with, even if the game will sell a bajillion copies anyways. At this point I'm just getting it because it's Breath of the Wild 2 and the marketing has actually made me less excited.
 
boris_feinbrand said:
The marketing so far has made the game look like a more involved DLC to BotW. The few hints about the new mechanics were a bit too sparse for my liking.
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People get really upset about TOTK being compared to DLC, but that's honestly how it comes across to me too. If I saw screenshots or quick video clips of BOTW and TOTK together, I would have trouble discerning them apart besides Link's costume difference.
 
Kevin said:
Something about this game feels completely off with how perfect BOTW is as a damn near complete package. Tears of the Kingdom kind of feels frantic but also lacking in wow moments in my opinion but I have to believe they are holding much back because so far it's not really doing much for me like the first game did in 2017. I'm not wowed or all that excited. Hopefully I get there by May.
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“Frantic” is a good word for these last few teasers, especially this one. I just want them to slow down a little and give us something meaty that can breathe, lol.

It kind of feels like they’re desperately trying to show as much as they can while also showing very, very little and keep a ton of it secret. Which I can appreciate, but at some point you have to blow the lid off at least a little.

But hey, we’re only three months out now. There’s not a lot of time left, we’re going to get more of the kind of stuff I’m looking for before long, probably in a month and a half or so. That’s nothing compared to how long the wait has been, so I’m pumped and ready.
 
SammyJ9 said:
“Frantic” is a good word for these last few teasers, especially this one. I just want them to slow down a little and give us something meaty that can breathe, lol.

It kind of feels like they’re desperately trying to show as much as they can while also showing very, very little and keep a ton of it secret. Which I can appreciate, but at some point you have to blow the lid off at least a little.

But hey, we’re only three months out now. There’s not a lot of time left, we’re going to get more of the kind of stuff I’m looking for before long, probably in a month and a half or so. That’s nothing compared to how long the wait has been, so I’m pumped and ready.
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In fact, what makes Breath of the Wild so special and unique in relation to the other entries in the franchise, it's the sense of travel and discovery. The first BOTW trailers nailed this having a slow tempo and making something special from the space to breathe they offered you: landscapes with almost no music, showing birds flying, lonely creatures walking slowly through a mountain, flags being moved by the wind in a solitary desert... those trailers translated perfectly what BOTW was meant to be.

TOTK trailers are something totally different... they have a faster tempo and it feels like they are trying to show you what's new with the fear of not spoiling too much. At the end, you have a feeling of not having seen much at all because you can't even remember what "tone" the trailer had, what it wanted to communicate or tell you.
 
I agree the marketing seems slightly odd for the game- at the same time I'm confident in the Zelda team's ability to deliver. It feels like they are holding their cards very close to their chests this time out.

I expect we'll get a longer video nearer release akin to the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Direct which gave a deeper dive into what makes it different from BOTW, as well as giving more clarity on systems.
 
I think reactions to the marketing would be way different if we didn’t have the awkward, covid-induced E3 2021 teaser that was two years from the first one but also two years before release that pretty much screamed “we don’t want to show the game right now because development was pushed back, but we feel obligated to”

It just felt like a stopgap that really gives the feeling that we’ve been strung along by small teasers for 4 years, when we honesty probably shouldn’t have seen the game from E3 2019 til the Sept 22 direct.
 
Phendrift said:
I think reactions to the marketing would be way different if we didn’t have the awkward, covid-induced E3 2021 teaser that was two years from the first one but also two years before release that pretty much screamed “we don’t want to show the game right now because development was pushed back, but we feel obligated to”
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They are kinda victims of revealing the game too early, and obviously covid messed up timelines for them.
 
I kind of wish they just skipped this trailer or combined the last two together as someone suggested in the Direct thread. I think we’d be in a better position then.

The game looks clean and polished which I’m pleased with. I haven’t played BOTW since Champion’s Ballad so I may be misremembering, but parts of the world look different which is important. But I don’t think this was enough. This game was always going to struggle with reusing the same map because it won’t capture that full feeling of discovery and uniqueness of BOTW and now it is battling the $60 versus $70 perception battle too. I secured it at $60 so I’m good, but I’m not remotely convinced yet this is a $70 game when I know very little about it. There were a lot of activities in this trailer that looked similar to BOTW like fishing something out of the water, seeing a blood moon, and battling familiar enemies. What’s generally new? What’s improved? I don’t know yet.

Following the September trailer we needed a blow out or a cool reveal for its next showing and we didn’t really get either. I hope they go dark again until like mid April now. Get people hungry again and I think they can turn this around…well except for the $70 part. I think that was just a straight up mistake regardless of how much we will all inevitably enjoy the final game and however much time we spend with it. You can’t just let retailers sell it for months at $60 and then raise it to $70 with less than a hundred days to go and expect people to be thrilled about it.
 
Mmm..what?
It just started, as usual
With amiibo, LE, trailer closing the Direct and will have other promotion activities from now on, now that pre orders opened
 
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3 months is a long time, especially for Nintendo. And the most important marketing is going to be just before launch and post-launch. I don't think someone is not going to buy the game because Nintendo didn't market more 6+ months before launch.


LonkFromPA said:
I absolutely LOVE Zelda, but man am I worried. It truly does look like DLC so far. 😔
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it has an enormous team so i wouldn't really worry much. i'd be a lot of trouble comes from them trying to tame and expand the emergent gameplay options. i remember seeing the devs talk about RDR2, too, and for me, taking from RDR2 would be to make the world more naturally alive, and with more moment to moment things to do.
 
I'd like to see more of it, but I'm still gonna get the game, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Which is usually the opposite of how I feel about games. I knew I was gonna get Dread, so I tuned out of what seemed like ample promotion. I guess the difference is I know TotK will be good, but I just haven't seen anything that's really excited me yet gameplay-wise, so seeing some more would just help me get more hyped about the purchase.
 
If anything I’m excited that the Zelda team seems to be keeping a lot of things close to their chest. Every glimpse of a newfangled gizmo or gameplay mechanic has got me giddy.

I still hope there’s a TotK-focused presentation, but I’m hyped enough as it is.
 
I'm kinda confused as to how people can look at the sheer scope of the sky islands along with everything else and say it looks like DLC

$60 DLC, maybe, but at that point what's the difference? I don't know if I'm just connecting dots that aren't there or what, but I see a full new game here easily.
 
TOTK, so far, looks like a big pile of nothing. I'm still getting it day one and everything because I'm a huge simp for Zelda but nothing so far makes me think it'll be enough of a departure from BOTW so as to justify 6 years of wait and 70€. It's just BOTW... iiiiiiin spaaaaaace the aaaaaair. I'm sure it'll be polished and good and all but coming off of BOTW, this feels mid.

Here's hoping they manage to go completely bonkers but I doubt it.
 
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It's a bit frustrating they're being so cagey, but to be honest it's a sequel to one of the greatest games of all time and they can coast off that all the way to release if need be.
 
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Jersh said:
I'm kinda confused as to how people can look at the sheer scope of the sky islands along with everything else and say it looks like DLC

$60 DLC, maybe, but at that point what's the difference? I don't know if I'm just connecting dots that aren't there or what, but I see a full new game here easily.
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I honestly feel that when it comes to trailers be it in movies/games that there is a subset of people that want it all spelt out for them. ToTK is not the first game to fall victim to this GoW Ragnarok had the same last year until they finally had a blowout a month or so before release.
 
Each trailer they've shown has made me less excited. I don't know why, they just aren't very interesting trailers. I don't really feel like this type of marketing is working.

I went back and watched the old BotW trailers, and those actually did a better job reminding me how much I loved BotW and its world. I really like the e3 2016 trailer, it just shows them playing the game and gives a pretty solid overview of what BotW is.
 
Marketing costs money. like, millions.
I'm sure they will ramp up in the month before the game, but remember, this game is basically selling itself. They dont need to spend money to sell units here.

What we are really talking about is "im in fan, i want to see more content now!". and i am also in that boat.
 
What irks me a bit is this total lack of confidence in the Zelda team that some people have.

Could marketing so far have been better? Yes, absolutely.
Could or should they have had a bit more meat in yesterday's trailer? Yes, again, i'm with you.

But somehow writing/thinking that this game will suck based on ... dunno ... a total of 5 minutes of footage we've seen is flat out unreasonable.
That is big "Mario Odyssey is an auto-runner"-energy.

I definitely expect them to have a dedicated TotK Direct with a Treehouse Live afterwards sometime in March or April.

BotW got it's big story blowout and the meatiest trailer two months before release. If they want to keep this timeframe, March would be the month for this.
 
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