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

[Vash]

Not what I'm saying.

i know lol im kidding because i actually dont want playable zelda

 

[Skittzo]

Thinking about the vehicle crafting again, and it makes me wonder if you can take the parts with you. You have to, right? Otherwise it would mean that you would have to look around and see what you have around you. Which would require the devs to strategically place things you can play around with here and there so you don't have to, like, drag stuff across the map.

Having huge crafting materials and machine parts "on you" like you would have boko horns or weapons, feels like one hell of an ask for suspension of disbelief. But hey.

I think they'll be strategically placed. Part of that is that I don't think vehicles will ever be strictly necessary for progression, more like part of the improvisational systems.

 

[Rubbersoul]

I was thinking about how the new shiekah slate could have an upgraded camera rune to see spirits and it’s interesting that nothing like that ever came up in botw. Seems like it would be a cool way to give it more of a gameplay purpose. Like certain enemies are only visible through the camera lens.

 

[Irene]

I think there's a reason you see two fans sitting next to each other in the shot of Link grinding on Death Mountain. There will be parts placed strategically that you have to scavenge for in those locations. Having the parts in your inventory to make an entire flying machine doesn't seem feasible for several reasons.

I think they'll be strategically placed. Part of that is that I don't think vehicles will ever be strictly necessary for progression, more like part of the improvisational systems.

Maybe a combination? Like, stuff like inflatable balloons and propellers and car headlights and weapon parts you can take with you, but you have to find wheels and platforms in the world.

 

[Skittzo]

Maybe a combination? Like, stuff like inflatable balloons and propellers and car headlights and weapon parts you can take with you, but you have to find wheels and platforms in the world.

Right, you can take materials with you in BOTW too, I'm guessing some materials will be able to function like crafting parts similarly to the octorok balloons and chu jellies in BOTW.

But the big stuff doesn't seem likely to me, I don't think they want you to have to go through your inventory and pop out 4 wheels or fans every time you want to make a vehicle. It's gotta be more freeform than that.

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

They would do that on Mar10 day..?

It's not like Nintendo actually ever celebrates Mar10 day I mean at most tickets for the movie will go on sale that day

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Right, you can take materials with you in BOTW too, I'm guessing some materials will be able to function like crafting parts similarly to the octorok balloons and chu jellies in BOTW.

But the big stuff doesn't seem likely to me, I don't think they want you to have to go through your inventory and pop out 4 wheels or fans every time you want to make a vehicle. It's gotta be more freeform than that.

Yeah that tracks for me

But on the same token I do kinda want there to be a "vehicle stable" system so you can register and pull out your creations at certain points. Like, literally just a port of the stable system honestly, with maybe the change of being able to register your vehicles anywhere (but still only pull them out at certain points). There's the more emotional reason of "hey if I build a tank I want to keep the tank" but also just having to make a similar vehicle over and over again will probably suck the fun out of the system.

 

[ZeldaPY]

Thinking about the vehicle crafting again, and it makes me wonder if you can take the parts with you. You have to, right? Otherwise it would mean that you would have to look around and see what you have around you. Which would require the devs to strategically place things you can play around with here and there so you don't have to, like, drag stuff across the map.

Having huge crafting materials and machine parts "on you" like you would have boko horns or weapons, feels like one hell of an ask for suspension of disbelief. But hey.

Thinking about SS for a second and our new ability to reverse objects to there previous state I just had a thought that you triggered with this post that I think is a real possibility.

The pieces of the vehicles have fallen from the sky because they were not there in BotW, and instead like in skyward sword we had to have that Robot fly down and pick things up for us, we simply use our reverse object power on the parts and they return to the sky to where they were either in their completed form again or in front of the Green Golom who puts them back together for us. The Green golom has the same symbol on him as the parts, so he could be the one makes the machines for us. The Golom has always seemed friendly to me and his long claws/ hands alway reminded me of the worker robots in the desert in SS when we use the time shift stones.

 

[Mango]

I think the wheels and propellers will be scatter around Hyrule like the metal crates were or barrels and basic junk like that. They'll likely be treated as artifacts that fell from the sky. Some of them you could probably hold on to. Heck they could even have NPCs who could store them for us or sell them to us. The vehicles we construct tho I think won't be permanent things. They'll be temporary means of transportation that have a certain threshold of damage that be done to them before they break apart.

Either way all I know is I'm sailing across Hyrule field with a fan attached to the back of a raft.

I never thought that I would switch sides in this theory as I have always thought she would be sidelined again, but seeing the new Sheikah slate in her hand in the official art work pretty much is game over in my mind and that she will have a pretty big role with some playable portions.

The other big thing that could be done which I also never thought would be possible would be to have two distinct games one played as Zelda, the other as Link. I still don’t see them doing them doing the switching between character thing, but to me right now anything and everything is on the table of possibilities.

I'm not 100% how I feel on the idea. I think it would be cool, and I've always wanted Zelda games to experiment with multiple playable characters, but I feel like their stubbornness when it comes to not wanting the player to see Link outside of a playable role, might prevent Zelda from being playable. That said I do want to bring up one thing, this:

There's this weird sense of duality in this game that just isn't making sense to me. It might be something relating to why we have tunic Link and toga Link, but this symbol is just bizzare. The second eye being split in two each with the same pattern but different text is suspicious. Moreover if you overlay the Triforce and it's corresponding pieces together you'd have one side of the eye on the left representing Zelda or wisdom, the hand in the middle representing Ganondorf or power, and then the mirrored other half of the eye on the right representing Link or courage. Then if you put the two eyes together, i.e. you put Link and Zelda together, you get the middle eye, which appears to be sealing the hand in the middle. I don't think this confirms she's playable but it's a weird symbol with weird parallels.

 

[Rubbersoul]

It’s really interesting to me that the Hinox have their horns shielded. If you look close, you’ll see that their horns haven’t really changed so I wonder why they have protection for it now? There’s definitely some gameplay reason for why the horn is now a weak point. All I can think of is using it as a grapple point. Latching onto it and pulling yourself right towards its eye.

 

[maidhhc]

The Green golom has the same symbol on him as the parts, so he could be the one makes the machines for us. The Golom has always seemed friendly to me and his long claws/ hands alway reminded me of the worker robots in the desert in SS when we use the time shift stones.

i think you’ve cracked it! Makes so much sense. At the very least he teaches us how to build vehicles.

 

[Phendrift]

I hadn’t considered it, but the Mario movie coming out in April will take a good chunk of Nintendo’s mindshare, I wonder if we’ll get a big TOTK blowout in March then

 

[maidhhc]

I think the wheels and propellers will be scatter around Hyrule like the metal crates were or barrels and basic junk like that. They'll likely be treated as artifacts that fell from the sky. Some of them you could probably hold on to. Heck they could even have NPCs who could store them for us or sell them to us. The vehicles we construct tho I think won't be permanent things. They'll be temporary means of transportation that have a certain threshold of damage that be done to them before they break apart.

Either way all I know is I'm sailing across Hyrule field with a fan attached to the back of a raft.


I'm not 100% how I feel on the idea. I think it would be cool, and I've always wanted Zelda games to experiment with multiple playable characters, but I feel like their stubbornness when it comes to not wanting the player to see Link outside of a playable role, might prevent Zelda from being playable. That said I do want to bring up one thing, this:

also looks a bit like a hand scanner that could act like a sheikah terminal equivalent to activate Zonai equipment with the hand

 

[Serif]

Here's the seal Mango was just talking about, ripped from the site.

I love how positively mysterious this looks.

(This is my phone wallpaper now)

 

[Decoyman]

Duality is definitely a running trend in this game it feels like. The logo of the game is two dragons intertwined, in multiple trailers there's imagery of hands reaching out and holding onto each other, in the survey the story emphasizes Link and Zelda's loyalty, etc.

All that could certainly only be story texture and theming more than anything, and I'm still predisposed to not expecting Zelda to be playable; I'll consider it a nice surprise if it happens. But I often think about one of Aonuma's more flippant justifications on why she hasn't been playable up until now, with one comment being along the lines of "what's Link going to do if Zelda is playable", and between the knowledge that it was considered for Skyward Sword, as well as the overall narrative of this game from what we can gather, I think they just casually gave us an answer: go on her own journey to reignite her powers, and help out Link from the depths below. In Breath of the Wild she left the story saying she was content with not having her powers anymore, but in Tears of the Kingdom, with her not even sure that Link can defeat Ganondorf anymore, that seems to have changed. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.

Zelda's really been the narrative centerpiece of this story a lot more than she has been in most other games. Probably one of the most interesting incarnations of her.

Maybe a combination? Like, stuff like inflatable balloons and propellers and car headlights and weapon parts you can take with you, but you have to find wheels and platforms in the world.

I could see Link having access to a highly limited "inventory" space of vehicle specific parts, perhaps you can store a few but not much more than that. Then again depending on the components they might share some space with crafting.

 

[maidhhc]

If she is playable, will she also be crafting weapons? It seems like they would have usually given her magic-based combat, but with magic now being such a significant part of Link‘s new featureset, I wonder how will they differentiate her play style.

 

[Kevin]

It’s really interesting to me that the Hinox have their horns shielded. If you look close, you’ll see that their horns haven’t really changed so I wonder why they have protection for it now? There’s definitely some gameplay reason for why the horn is now a weak point. All I can think of is using it as a grapple point. Latching onto it and pulling yourself right towards its eye.

Enemy horns can be used to craft weapons so maybe it makes a damn good weapon.

 

[Jbone916]

If she is playable, will she also be crafting weapons? It seems like they would have usually given her magic-based combat, but with magic now being such a significant part of Link‘s new featureset, I wonder how will they differentiate her play style.

Shiekah slate powers + stealth gameplay in the underground areas exclusively seems to be the leading theory. Zelda wouldn’t focus on combat.

 

[Serif]

Listening to the music deconstructed like this is somehow very fun. I love hearing BotW's wild piano in the midst of the main theme. Hoping the game has full 5.1 surround like the trailer, and like Prime.

(@manfromthedam this might interest you)

 

[DrDave]

Enemy horns can be used to craft weapons so maybe it makes a damn good weapon.

They weren’t used for that in BotW (but rather to improve your equipment via the great fairies), but they very well could be used for this in TotK seeing how weapon-like they seem to be (on Bokoblins anyway).

 

[Serif]

Maybe you could make a spiky shield from the moblins' pachycephalosaurus skulls.

 

[Layalseif]

No, I'm not one for merch and I prefer the plain standard design

I do agree the standard design is nice. Those white joycons

 

[Layalseif]

There's a catch with this wood.



It's made from the Deku Tree.

That's why he's not in the game
He gave us the ultimate sacrifice, allowing us to have him near, giving us courage, strength and power to beat Ganon and Tears of the Kingdom. He became immortalized in Lego.

 

[Layalseif]

For the record, Gamestop is the last place I'd expect to receive wood.



I'll stop.

They should change their name to Gamestump.

 

[LukasManak22]

POV: It's the end of 2017 and Aonuma is randomly ponting to the map and telling what needs and will be replaced.

 

[Klax0nKlax0ff]

So what will be this game equivalent of this cutscene? Of course it's gonna be sky islands or skydiving for the first time. But this BOTW cutscene happened fairly quickly from the beggining, not sure if this would work after like 20 minutes when we end up from underground to sky. I assume that in the end it will be Link jumping for the first time to Hyrule with main theme music.

My guess: the game opens with Link waking up dazed, with the new arm already transplanted. His memory is fuzzy, a voice or character of the Zonai guides him, he exits whatever building he’s in to discover he’s in the sky. Cue epic shot of the sky islands and the logo. He does the equivalent of the Plateau tutorial and then remembers what went down in the cave with Zelda/Ganondorf. Main objectives of the game are laid out and we dive off the islands down to Hyrule.

 

[Layalseif]

I did think about that, but not in this case.

You did prompt me to think about why the English word 'light' is related to both 'illumination' and 'having less weight'. Turns out there were separate words for these ideas in an ancestor of English, Proto-Germanic, that sounded similar (leuht vs liht), and them ending up being the same word in English is more of a convenience / coincidence because of how pronunciation changes over time. Latin being related to English means it has similar words for light as in illuminate - lux - and light as in not heavy - levis. That's where we get lustrous and levitate. In this case the Latin word 'levis' does also mean 'unimportant' or 'trivial' so that connotation has stuck around when we say "I made a light comment."

Hope my Classics teacher is proud of me, lol. Apologies for the tangent.

No apologies necessary. I love learning stuff like this and find it fascinating. I'm thanking you instead. And don't stop posting interesting ideas/thoughts like this, or any other thought/idea. We can make anything relevant to Tears of the Kingdom

Plus language and the history of language is relevant. How else are we to decipher these runes.

 

[Serif]

TotK's file size is 18.2 GB compared to BotW's 14.4 GB. I have seen arguments about this being 'disappointing' and some implication of a lack of new content. However we have to remember that a non-trivial portion of BotW's data was taken up by the maps and assets for 120 Shrines and Divine Beasts, even with some shrines sharing the same structure, that's a decent chunk. The Shiekah Shrines will not appear as interiors to visit in this game. So it's not the case that TotK is just BotW + 3.8 GB, as some believe. It's more like... BotW overworld - shrines - cutscenes - audio + [ all the new stuff ]. Not to mention Nintendo's own compression methods reaping the efficiency gains of developing solely for the Switch.

 

[BY2K]

No yeah, 3.8GB bigger than BOTW is huge.

 

[Skittzo]

I think the wheels and propellers will be scatter around Hyrule like the metal crates were or barrels and basic junk like that. They'll likely be treated as artifacts that fell from the sky. Some of them you could probably hold on to. Heck they could even have NPCs who could store them for us or sell them to us. The vehicles we construct tho I think won't be permanent things. They'll be temporary means of transportation that have a certain threshold of damage that be done to them before they break apart.

Either way all I know is I'm sailing across Hyrule field with a fan attached to the back of a raft.


I'm not 100% how I feel on the idea. I think it would be cool, and I've always wanted Zelda games to experiment with multiple playable characters, but I feel like their stubbornness when it comes to not wanting the player to see Link outside of a playable role, might prevent Zelda from being playable. That said I do want to bring up one thing, this:

There's this weird sense of duality in this game that just isn't making sense to me. It might be something relating to why we have tunic Link and toga Link, but this symbol is just bizzare. The second eye being split in two each with the same pattern but different text is suspicious. Moreover if you overlay the Triforce and it's corresponding pieces together you'd have one side of the eye on the left representing Zelda or wisdom, the hand in the middle representing Ganondorf or power, and then the mirrored other half of the eye on the right representing Link or courage. Then if you put the two eyes together, i.e. you put Link and Zelda together, you get the middle eye, which appears to be sealing the hand in the middle. I don't think this confirms she's playable but it's a weird symbol with weird parallels.

I don't think the left and right eyes are split in half, I always pictured it like they were each separate eyes looking left and right. Like, in profile view.

 

[korok]

All this talk about duality has reminded me of something I had completely forgotten but now it is starting to make too much sense. In March 2022 there was a rumour from a respected journalist, Paul Gale, saying that at some point the title was internally named "Breath of Duality".
https://www.gamerevolution.com/news...the-wild-2-name-leak-breath-of-duality-sequel

Back then I didn't gave it too much importance, but now that we know the llgo and other things about the game that point to some kind of "duality", and given that he is not a random Twitter user, I think it could very well be true.

 

[LukasManak22]

TotK's file size is 18.2 GB compared to BotW's 14.4 GB. I have seen arguments about this being 'disappointing' and some implication of a lack of new content. However we have to remember that a non-trivial portion of BotW's data was taken up by the maps and assets for 120 Shrines and Divine Beasts, even with some shrines sharing the same structure, that's a decent chunk. The Shiekah Shrines will not appear as interiors to visit in this game. So it's not the case that TotK is just BotW + 3.8 GB, as some believe. It's more like... BotW overworld - shrines - cutscenes - audio + [ all the new stuff ]. Not to mention Nintendo's own compression methods reaping the efficiency gains of developing solely for the Switch.

Yeah, people should not be looking into file size. Splatoon 1 was 1.8GB, Splatoon 2 was 3.1GB and Splatoon 3 was only 4.3GB. Nintendo are wizards with their compression systems. Not to mention that BOTW was literally port of a game for a Wii U and a quick one not even made by EPD, this is whole another story.

One more thing, when Splatoon 3 was dated in April 2022 the file size on eShop was roughly 6GB, then closer to launch it was changed to 4.3GB. Not saying this will happen too with TotK since it's very close to launch but would not be surprised if the size is not final yet.

 

[Deleted member 2181]

Nintendo saved a lot of space by removing all the towns

 

[Layalseif]

These next few months will be perhaps the worst waiting period I've experienced in some time for a new game. Maybe Wind Waker or Oracle of Ages/Seasons comes close, but that's it.

Edit - what are you playing (beyond BOTW) to alleviate the wait? Minish Cap and Oracle of Ages/Seasons are my plan from the Zelda series, along with Metroid Prime when physical copies ship.

Probably only Octopath Traveler 2, depending on how long that game takes. Afterwards I'll take a break and get excited for Tears of the Kingdom. Might spend a week in Breath of the Wild and I'll rewatch all the trailers again. Pity we don't have Piggyback guide to leak anything new about the game.

 

[takriel]

All this talk about duality has reminded me of something I had completely forgotten but now it is starting to make too much sense. In March 2022 there was a rumour from a respected journalist, Paul Gale, saying that at some point the title was internally named "Breath of Duality".
https://www.gamerevolution.com/news...the-wild-2-name-leak-breath-of-duality-sequel

Back then I didn't gave it too much importance, but now that we know the llgo and other things about the game that point to some kind of "duality", and given that he is not a random Twitter user, I think it could very well be true.

Sorry but that would have been a pretty stupid name, I'm glad we got Tears of the Kingdom.

 

[LukasManak22]

All this talk about duality has reminded me of something I had completely forgotten but now it is starting to make too much sense. In March 2022 there was a rumour from a respected journalist, Paul Gale, saying that at some point the title was internally named "Breath of Duality".
https://www.gamerevolution.com/news...the-wild-2-name-leak-breath-of-duality-sequel

Back then I didn't gave it too much importance, but now that we know the llgo and other things about the game that point to some kind of "duality", and given that he is not a random Twitter user, I think it could very well be true.

Paul Gale is not legimate source, never was imao.

 

[karmitt]

Anybody discussed the weapon at 1:31? Perhaps a charge-up ability for a new weapon type?

Sorry can't host the imagine anywhere right now, but here's the timestamped video.

 

[Awesomegames23]

Nintendo saved a lot of space by removing all the towns

Run

 

[Mango]

I don't think the left and right eyes are split in half, I always pictured it like they were each separate eyes looking left and right. Like, in profile view.

I could see that, no pun intended, but then it just makes the weird parallel nature of the logo stronger.

---------------

About the file size. Isn't the 14.4 including the DLC? The original game was only 12 GB IIRC. TOTK base game being 18 should be seen as a point of excitement not something to worry about, as what's shared between the two games is only a fraction of that original 12 GB, the rest of TOTK will be all new.

 

[Layalseif]

I'm guessing it would all be tied to his arm and use Zonai imagery this time around. The amiibo is a clear sign that the arm is the central gimmick and gameplay focus for Link, so menu design and context will likely be related to that.

Also I just realized the entire point of the toga costume is to showcase that arm design and gameplay focus. Nintendo really does operate on another level when it comes to mechanics informing game design.

New Amiibo confirmed. Surely they would produce Toga Link Amiibo.

 

[korok]

Paul Gale is not legimate source, never was imao.

No?I didn't know the guy, it's just what I read.

Maybe the coincidence between the name he gave and the clues we are getting with the latest trailers is just that, a coincidence. But to me, Breath of Duality as a working title that establishes a general theme for the game is not crazy at all.

Either way it's not an important subject right now. I just found it curious.

 

[Serif]

What does it mean for 'duality' to 'breathe'? Duality is some abstract concept not tied to some physical world idea like 'wild' or 'kingdom' and isn't metonymous with living beings like the inhabitants of nature or subjects of a civilization. It makes sense to say 'wild's breath' or 'kingdom's tears', you can take it as literal as wind or rain or as metaphorical as life or sadness. So what is 'duality's breath'? The emergence of duality? Is it supposed to be the emergence of Link and Zelda?

 

[LukasManak22]

No?I didn't know the guy, it's just what I read.

Maybe the coincidence between the name he gave and the clues we are getting with the latest trailers is just that, a coincidence. But to me, Breath of Duality as a working title that establishes a general theme for the game is not crazy at all.

Either way it's not an important subject right now. I just found it curious.

I feel that "Breath of" is too similar to Breath of the Wild. I always believed they will keep the "of the" but not Breath. That could have been a huge marketing mistake.

 

[Christo750]

Anybody discussed the weapon at 1:31? Perhaps a charge-up ability for a new weapon type?

Sorry can't host the imagine anywhere right now, but here's the timestamped video.

Symbol at the top of the hilt under the dragon head is the same one from the green golem looking thing from the E3 2021 trailer, dragon head looks Zonai in origin, it's likely that you can craft certain Zonai weapons. Another example of this is the dragon head on the shield that is also a flamethrower from the E3 2021 trailer.

 

[Skittzo]

What does it mean for 'duality' to 'breathe'? Duality is some abstract concept not tied to some physical world idea like 'wild' or 'kingdom' and isn't metonymous with living beings like the inhabitants of nature or subjects of a civilization. It makes sense to say 'wild's breath' or 'kingdom's tears', you can take it as literal as wind or rain or as metaphorical as life or sadness. So what is 'duality's breath'? The emergence of duality? Is it supposed to be the emergence of Link and Zelda?

Pretty sure it's just BS tbh.

 

[Christo750]

All this talk about duality has reminded me of something I had completely forgotten but now it is starting to make too much sense. In March 2022 there was a rumour from a respected journalist, Paul Gale, saying that at some point the title was internally named "Breath of Duality".
https://www.gamerevolution.com/news...the-wild-2-name-leak-breath-of-duality-sequel

Back then I didn't gave it too much importance, but now that we know the llgo and other things about the game that point to some kind of "duality", and given that he is not a random Twitter user, I think it could very well be true.

100% false.

The only "Breath of" title Nintendo would've done for this is "Breath of the Wild 2"

 

[Serif]

Pretty sure it's just BS tbh.

I try to give the BotD - Benefit of the Doubt

 

[karmitt]

The trailer has heaps more interesting stuff to pick apart than a fake title lol

 

[manfromthedam]

Listening to the music deconstructed like this is somehow very fun. I love hearing BotW's wild piano in the midst of the main theme. Hoping the game has full 5.1 surround like the trailer, and like Prime.

(@manfromthedam this might interest you)

It does, thanks a lot! It seems they've mixed the soundtrack in 5.1, not sure if they did that for BotW. Lots of musical details that'd otherwise be hard to pick up on, like taiko drums during the choir and the exact notes the piano plays in the E3 2021 part.

Would love to know how they extracted this, and when the game releases I'd be extra obsessed with analysing the soundtrack if I can get my hand on the 5.1 files =O .

 

[Riton]

I can‘t find the tweet anymore but since i saw it i can’t stop thinking about it.

It was regarding the scene with the guardian legs in the latest trailer. There was a plattform on the ground that reads „transport“ which was present in one of the divine beasts. Its very strange because why would that plattform appear outside the divine beast?
The tweet was a theory that maybe the NPCs found shelter in the divine beasts and now use them as towns. That might be a reason why we can’t see them in trailers.
Its very far fetched but the idea seems very interesting