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

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ZeldaPY said:
I don’t know, I sure hope that Nintendo rewards the big 3 of Zeltik, NBC and MM for not discussing the Art book leaks on their channels, the three of them have been suspiciously quiet overall since the last trailer analysis they all did and have proven they can be trusted if Nintendo wanted to do something nice for once for YouTubers.
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Nintendo should give us regulars here free copies because this thread will be nearly 400 pages by the time the game is out.
 
I’ve been doing a lot of ruminating - inspired just by thinking a lot about changes TOTK could make, discussions here, discussions era… just about the big picture future of the series and I’ve arrived a point that I think captured my feelings the best. 6 years later.

The systems in which you can use to interact with the world are by far the most important addition to BotW, much moreso than the wide open structure.

Now, this requires elaboration. Obviously, the multifaceted physics and chemistry systems have to coincide with openness on some level - specifically removing the lock and key structure from puzzles. That I agree with, should stay gone. As should over-tutorialization and extreme linearity.

The structure of the games themselves though, I don’t think should be bound to “go do anything in literally any order” forever. I think that does run the risk of feeling extremely stale. I’m not saying it was a bad decision to do that in BotW - it was fucking cool in Botw, and really worked for the game! But not every Zelda game after should be bound to a similar tone and story structure.

I can honestly see, ironically, how a commitment to being completely open main quest every game, can be severely limiting and eventually get old just like the OoT structure did. It would face the same issue of just not structurally changing the game enough between entries, and become formulaic in its own right - we wouldn’t be surprised, we’d know what to expect. You get the main quest laid out in front of you at the beginning and you immedaitely know “well, these are all the main quest objectives I can do before the final boss!”

It would be so cool to have a feeling of progression in a massive world - completing a main quest resulting in a massive, world changing event or something. And of course, gameplay wise allows them to implement a more polished difficulty curve.

And of course - this isn’t black or white. Completing 4 dungeons in any order, unlocks another 4 dungeons in any order! Or hell, completing one of the first four still unlocks it’s equivalent second one without completing the other first 3. There’s still tons of player choice in how to approach a more progression based structure - and importantly, there’s quite literally nowhere to go but more limiting after BotW. They absolutely have to eventually, if they’re going to keep these games structurally fresh and full of surprising moments.
 
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ZeldaPY said:
I don’t know, I sure hope that Nintendo rewards the big 3 of Zeltik, NBC and MM for not discussing the Art book leaks on their channels, the three of them have been suspiciously quiet overall since the last trailer analysis they all did and have proven they can be trusted if Nintendo wanted to do something nice for once for YouTubers.
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NBC is finishing up work on a huge trailer analysis video. Monster Maze is working on some specific theories, and he doesn't like to rush out videos.

I don't think it would be appropriate to just give exclusive previews to just the most popular Zelda-tubers, but it would be nice to invite them and other members of the Zelda community to press exclusive events if Nintendo plans to have those.
 
Phendrift said:
I’ve been doing a lot of ruminating - inspired just by thinking a lot about changes TOTK could make, discussions here, discussions era… just about the big picture future of the series and I’ve arrived a point that I think captured my feelings the best. 6 years later.

The systems in which you can use to interact with the world are by far the most important addition to BotW, much moreso than the wide open structure.

Now, this requires elaboration. Obviously, the multifaceted physics and chemistry systems have to coincide with openness on some level - specifically removing the lock and key structure from puzzles. That I agree with, should stay gone. As should over-tutorialization and extreme linearity.

The structure of the games themselves though, I don’t think should be bound to “go do anything in literally any order” forever. I think that does run the risk of feeling extremely stale. I’m not saying it was a bad decision to do that in BotW - it was fucking cool in Botw, and really worked for the game! But not every Zelda game after should be bound to a similar tone and story structure.

I can honestly see, ironically, how a commitment to being completely open main quest every game, can be severely limiting and eventually get old just like the OoT structure did. It would face the same issue of just not structurally changing the game enough between entries, and become formulaic in its own right - we wouldn’t be surprised, we’d know what to expect. You get the main quest laid out in front of you at the beginning and you immedaitely know “well, these are all the main quest objectives I can do before the final boss!”

It would be so cool to have a feeling of progression in a massive world - completing a main quest resulting in a massive, world changing event or something. And of course, gameplay wise allows them to implement a more polished difficulty curve.

And of course - this isn’t black or white. Completing 4 dungeons in any order, unlocks another 4 dungeons in any order! Or hell, completing one of the first four still unlocks it’s equivalent second one without completing the other first 3. There’s still tons of player choice in how to approach a more progression based structure - and importantly, there’s quite literally nowhere to go but more limiting after BotW. They absolutely have to eventually, if they’re going to keep these games structurally fresh and full of surprising moments.
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Well said and I agree with everything you said, that’s why personally for my tastes everything I have seen so far for TotK tells me there is going to be a better balance between the openness and more linear progression that to me just by default of adding in underground and the Sky Islands will provide.
 
I feel like hype is leaking into mainline consciousness. I hear people actively talking about the game now, even people who otherwise didn't even have this game on their radar.
 
NateDrake said:
My poll never lies.
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"We'll get previews second half of April"

I see you, Nate! I knew I was right to fixate on those poll options lol. Previews next week, y'all. Not much longer to wait for more info.

The real curiosity is how early or late does Nintendo drop the review embargo. With review codes going out rather late for such a massive game, I have to imagine it's once again the Wednesday or Thursday before release.

Whenever you're well enough to record a new episode (hopefully soon), I hope a topic of conversation is the latest TotK trailer. An all timer, if you ask me.
 
I've waited patiently for this game for years, not at all feeling the itch like I need to have it... but these last 3 weeks are killer. 😞
 
Wait, what does Nate's poll say? Hoping it's cool with Nate if someone chucks it here, I don't know how to see YouTube polls (not for a lack of trying though).
 
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I was just thinking back to about this same time period for the wait for BotW in the middle of Feb 2017. It was kind of a double edge sword for me because on the one hand we had so many 20 minute clips on YouTube from people who played the demo at E3 2016 that I could endlessly watch their play throughs of the Great Plateau and time seemed to pass by very quickly.
Basically, anytime I wanted to I could watch BoTW being played and it didn’t matter if I had seen all those play through a 1000 times, I still was able to imagine me playing the game and what I would do.
On the flip side I knew every blade grass of the Great Plateau and the mystery of the Great Plateau was very anti-climatic for me as I was able to basically speed run right through it. To this day tho, I still remember the exact landing spot I landed on in the Outpost Ruins when jumping off the Great Plateau for the first time.
So I’m pretty relieved that there wasn’t a playable demo at Pax for that reason, but other than Link riding his horse on surface from the gameplay demo with Aonuma we never got anything substantial as far as continuous gameplay to really sink my teeth into. Yah, we see Link using some of the new abilities which was great, but it was just more of a How to do this type thing, rather than having the feel of actually playing the game if that makes sense.
I have rewatched the final trailer now over a hundred times and seen every reaction video on YouTube and the pain is intense on Waiting for this game. I can’t tell if it’s because I don’t have anything to watch on Zelda anymore, as I’m avoiding spoilers like the plague, or if I could somehow be even more excited to play TotK then I was for BotW.
 
I don’t suppose we have any word on whether the game supports HD Rumble or not, do we? That was, like, the one big disappointment with BotW for me; despite it being the big Nintendo Switch launch title, it didn’t use one of the system’s most notable new features at all. I’m sure that’s mainly because it was ultimately just a Wii U game ported to Switch, though it’s kind of shame that because of that, neither version of the game got to use its system’s controller’s unique features at all. Hopefully that changes with Tears of the Kingdom since it’s been developed exclusively for Switch…
 
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Tye said:
Ah, so that new art seems to confirm that Ganondorf’s Tear is indeed black, but it glows red upon his awakening and during the Blood Moon.

Also, I’m surprised people seem to still be so unsure about a timeline placement, because Ganondorf’s existence in this game strongly supports a Child Timeline placement for BotW/TotK—even ignoring other evidence in favor of that timeline placement, which I’ve always believed has had the most going for it—since it’s the only timeline where Ganondorf appearing again would really make sense.

Ganondorf, along with the Triforce and old Hyrule in general, was left behind in the Adult Timeline, and to go back to that would kind of defeat the point of the games on that timeline, plus there’s just a lot more that would have to be explained away for BotW/TotK to take place there compared to the others.

And on the Downfall Timeline, Ganondorf used the power of the full Triforce to permanently transform into Ganon, with no trace left of his original Gerudo form, said to have become more and more mindless after multiple resurrections. That timeline sees an ongoing cycle of the one and only full Triforce-empowered Ganon being unsealed/revived—the Gerudo Ganondorf no longer exists in that timeline.

It’s only in the Child Timeline where we see another reincarnation of Ganondorf, and the Ganondorf in TotK seemingly has to be a different one from OoT, because he was either killed or only exists as a mindless Ganon by the end of each timeline.

Now that we know that Calamity Ganon from BotW was purely a manifestation created by malice flowing from Ganondorf’s sealed body and not actually Ganon, it seems clear that this is either a new, third Ganondorf, or the Ganondorf from FSA—though it’s unclear if that one was permanently transformed into Ganon or not; possibly not, since like in TWW and TP he didn’t have the full Triforce as in ALttP, and not even the Triforce of Power as far as we know, just the trident that gave him the power to become Ganon. If he was unsealed from the Four Sword and lost his trident, he could potentially revert back to Ganondorf. But it might be more likely that this is just a new Ganondorf entirely.

Either way, both options seem to only really be compatible with the Child Timeline. The Gerudo don’t even seem to exist anymore by the end of the Adult and Downfall Timelines, after all, so they couldn’t birth a new Ganondorf in those timelines anyway (or go on to appear in BotW/TotK themselves, for that matter). And even if a new Ganondorf was somehow born in either of those timelines, it would go against the ongoing theme of the timeline; like I said, the Adult Timeline moved on from old Hyrule, Ganondorf, and the Triforce, and the Downfall Timeline specifically features the full Triforce-empowered Ganon being unsealed/revived over and over rather than Ganondorf being reincarnated. It’s not impossible if Nintendo really wanted to put BotW/TotK on either of those timelines…but it would be weird and require more explanation, and the Child Timeline certainly seems to be the path of least resistance at this point.
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You also have Zelda saying the phrase: "Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight.." in one of BOTW's memories. So the legends of the Link that was present during Twilight Princess/the Child Timeline must've happened for BOTW Zelda to acknowledge those events, right?
 
Dark Cloud said:
Omg I can’t believe we’re getting previews this week (well I kind of can that’s what I expected lol)!!
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Yeah previews 2 weeks before launch are like, the standard procedure for Nintendo titles

Still very much eager to see and hear more about this game
 
I’m really really curious what previews will be allowed to show.

Like, will we finally know just how the game starts? Or are they just gonna be vertical slices with no context like the gameplay demo?
 
Phendrift said:
I’m really really curious what previews will be allowed to show.

Like, will we finally know just how the game starts? Or are they just gonna be vertical slices with no context like the gameplay demo?
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It's a good question

I could see it being the tutorial island since it's a good spot for a press preview, but since it's a press event I don't think they'll show the actual opening
 
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If we get previews with people saying “if you were concerned about this being dlc and trust me it ain’t” will be great to hear for some people.
 
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SirShorse said:
You also have Zelda saying the phrase: "Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight.." in one of BOTW's memories. So the legends of the Link that was present during Twilight Princess/the Child Timeline must've happened for BOTW Zelda to acknowledge those events, right?
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I would agree that that is absolutely evidence that points towards the Child Timeline as well, yes, and that scene was the very first thing that suggested a specific timeline placement to me in the game, but others like to dismiss it because after that, while the Champions are talking over her, Zelda also recites lines that reference ALttP and TWW, too. You could also make the argument that the Twilight Realm exists in all timelines, so it’s theoretically possible for some unseen events similar to TP to have occurred on other timelines, just as you could say the same for the ALttP and TWW references on the Child Timeline.

But despite that, only the lines referencing SS, OoT, and TP are presented front and center for the player to fully hear, and listed in timeline order. The ALttP and TWW bits are separated from the others in a later part of the speech, not presented in timeline order, and are audibly obscured by other characters talking over it. To me, that show clear developer intent that the former part of the speech is important for the player to hear, while the latter is nothing more than background speech that isn’t supposed to be fully heard or considered. The way they framed that scene, it immediately calls to mind the Child Timeline for anyone knowledgeable about the Zelda timeline playing the game. They had to have been aware of how that scene would be taken and intentionally wrote it as such.

It also aligns with the Goron rock carvings exclusively featuring characters from the Child Timeline plus Daruk, with one Goron from TP and two from MM. (As for how and why there are Gorons from Termina depicted in the first place…I don’t know, lol; maybe Link had photos of them on his Pictograph Box that he somehow retained? lol) In this case we even know that the contracted 3D artist who made that rock formation for the game was specifically supplied with those particular Goron models by Nintendo, because the artist posted about it online (I can’t seem to find the original source on that right now, but I’m very sure I saw it before), so that suggests that those specific Gorons were chosen to be depicted for some reason, and like Zelda’s speech, it comes with obviously timeline implications.

That said, I don’t really like to use those two things as main points of evidence much anymore because so many people will just hand-wave them away as meaningless references, but I don’t think those are quite on bar with, say, minor location names and similar things that are obviously just fun references and not indicative of any timeline placement since they often contradict each other. In comparison, Zelda’s speech and the Goron rock carvings are more tangible, notable elements of the game that are given a focus for the player to specifically notice and both align with a single timeline, and, to me, that’s significant and likely implies a deeper meaning behind their inclusions. But a lot of people don’t see it that way, so I would hope that the Ganondorf/Gerudo thing can be more compelling evidence.

Really, I just wish Nintendo would come out and confirm the timeline placement already, lol. Even though I would say there’s much stronger evidence for the Child Timeline than any other, it’s clear at this point that people won’t come to a consensus until it’s officially declared by Nintendo (though even then some people will still reject it as they do with the Zelda timeline in general, lol).
 
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Breath of the Wild nerds/perverts how’s y’all’s anxiety leading up to previews? I am feeling reasonably assured I must say. 🐐 incoming.
 
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FuVY8s-aUAADjnO


Did he know it was 16GB? and it's more than botw 2GB.🤣🤣🤣🤣​

 
i think i will try to watch or read exactly one preview and then use as much will as I can muster (and liberal use of the ignore thread button) to forget this game exists until the 11th . . .
 
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BY2K said:
john-travolta-meme.gif
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Nate's latest poll on YouTube which I've been saying probably bears significance for weeks lol, one of the options was "previews in 2nd half of April" when the polling question had nothing to do with previews. Nate then confirmed what I extrapolated earlier today when he replied "My polls never lie" or something to that effect
 
BY2K said:
I meant the way to hint at it.
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Nate has hinted through polls several times in the past but this one was pretty lowkey. It is also pretty standard lately for previews two weeks before release, but it's nice to have confirmation
 
So if there were specific events that press were invited to, would it also make sense for us to get some dev interviews as well?
 
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