• 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.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Reader mode
Sabre said:
Out of curiosity, what exactly did you want it to be? You obviously have experience in the industry - describe your absolute perfect entry into the series?
Click to expand...

I wanted a more traditional Zelda game in an open world, which is obviously never going to happen. So now I'm just going hope that the comprise will be something I can enjoy almost as much as a traditional Zelda game, and it's looking like that could happen, but it's too early to say.

No Zelda game is perfect for me. Skyward Sword was my favorite for a while, but I have grown to appreciate more downtime during gameplay so I don't feel the same way about it now as I did back then. I also want to see more innovation in puzzle design like we got with Spirit Tracks. I also think we're due another art style change and graphical leap, so the "perfect Zelda game" for me would be one that could combine the best elements of the previous classic Zelda games in a living, breathing, world that feels a bit like a cross between Indiana Jones and Lord of the Rings. I want to feel like I'm on a grand adventure that started from humble beginnings. Also, I want to play as Zelda.

All that being said, I don't want Nintendo wasting their resources on a game that's my ideal of "perfect" when they're much better designers than I am and there are other people who have different preferences than me, so I just want them to appeal to established fans and new fans alike. Hopefully TOTK can do that if we can't splinter the series, but even if it doesn't, Nintendo can always try again with their next game.
 
What's got me hyped is thinking about the evening of May 11th... that excitement bubbling and just waiting to explode come midnight. I'm buying the game digital, and I just know I'll be up until some ungodly hour doing stupid shit.

The wait is almost over, guys. We're almost there.
 
SammyJ9 said:
I get that, but at the same time that enclosed themed area is exactly what a lot of people really really want. Kind of like what Elden Ring did: For example Raya Lucaria is a magical academy castle you can see in the distance from miles around, it’s this sort of “ooh that looks really cool and I can’t wait to go there” and you have to work out how to get to it and get inside. And then once you do it’s a self-contained dungeon that feels distinct and unique. That’s precisely what I want in TOTK, or at least a Zelda-fied version of that.

It’s not a deal-breaker, I’m super excited for the game and it looks great. But I don’t think that wanting something like that experience in a new Zelda game is outlandish or anything.
Click to expand...
I loved Elden Rings dungeons, but i don't think it translates well to botw/totk. ultimately mobility is very limited in ER and they don't even let you use torrent inside, but that limitation allows for a more linear path-based experience. even the open world in ER is more limited in how little areas connect, this let's them setup set piece moments. botw/totk is so wildly open it's hard to recreate that even in shrines botw needed to limit mobility. so a totk dungeon would either need to remove mobility or be designed completely around it...I hope we get the latter, but it'll be very different from ER.
 
Tess said:
What's got me hyped is thinking about the evening of May 11th... that excitement bubbling and just waiting to explode come midnight. I'm buying the game digital, and I just know I'll be up until some ungodly hour doing stupid shit.

The wait is almost over, guys. We're almost there.
Click to expand...
If you bought the game on japanese eShop digital you would play it like 14 hours before midnight (if you are US), it would be around 7 hours for me (Europe). I was planning to do it like this but I got BOTW digital so I need TotK physical + some nice preorder bonuses.
 
Awesomegames23 said:
It's 8PM Friday May 12th. What you drinking?
Click to expand...

60fdefa6ebf23e5a9f073abf775b7bae.png
 
My theory is that these new “towers” are actually the Sheikah Towers from BotW while under construction.

I think this game takes place before BotW, which I know is a common sentiment but I feel this might play a part. In TotK, the towers are still being built, and by BotW, we see them fully completed.

But that’s just a theory
 
0
touchfuzzy said:
I'm really not sure why people get stuck on this dungeons thing here -- they've shown off new types of puzzles, new mechanics, and new boss battles, and people go "Okay that's all the things I want, but is there also a specific enclosed and themed area for me to do all those things in?"

Like, probably not. The whole game is the dungeon, guys.
Click to expand...
I get the idea of wanting themed areas, honestly. It's a nice feeling to explore an area dedicated to a single concept or theme

That being said, I don't particularly relate to the "enclosed" part so I think Tears has already shown it'll fulfil that for me
 
touchfuzzy said:
I'm really not sure why people get stuck on this dungeons thing here -- they've shown off new types of puzzles, new mechanics, and new boss battles, and people go "Okay that's all the things I want, but is there also a specific enclosed and themed area for me to do all those things in?"

Like, probably not. The whole game is the dungeon, guys.
Click to expand...

They're not removing dungeons. They are a staple of the entire franchise. The structure within them may change, but it is pretty much the one invariant thing of the entire 35 year franchise. Even BotW, which gets massively derided, stuck to the "entire, achieve one objective that unlocks an ability, then do a more puzzles, then fight a boss" structure.

I just cannot, for the life of me, understand how so much of the pre-release speculation is people thinking the game won't have dungeons.
 
BRRRRRING said:
They're not removing dungeons. They are a staple of the entire franchise. The structure within them may change, but it is pretty much the one invariant thing of the entire 35 year franchise. Even BotW, which gets massively derided, stuck to the "entire, achieve one objective that unlocks an ability, then do a more puzzles, then fight a boss" structure.

I just cannot, for the life of me, understand how so much of the pre-release speculation is people thinking the game won't have dungeons.
Click to expand...
Yes, exactly: BotW had as many dungeons as Majora's Mask.
 
BRRRRRING said:
They're not removing dungeons. They are a staple of the entire franchise. The structure within them may change, but it is pretty much the one invariant thing of the entire 35 year franchise. Even BotW, which gets massively derided, stuck to the "entire, achieve one objective that unlocks an ability, then do a more puzzles, then fight a boss" structure.

I just cannot, for the life of me, understand how so much of the pre-release speculation is people thinking the game won't have dungeons.
Click to expand...
Because the divine beasts didn’t satisfy people in the way a ‘traditional’ dungeon would.

I don’t think that’s particularly controversial to say?
 
maidhhc said:
How easy is this to do? Could I cancel my current digital preorder and reorder from Japanese eShop without too much trouble?
Click to expand...
You can cancel your current pre-order. For japanese download you need a japanese account (easy to do) you can switch region of your current account but creating new one is better. (you need to have 0 balance when switching regions). And since the japanese eShop only takes japanese credit cards (I believe it's the same for PayPal - you actually need japanese Paypal). So you can either buy japanese eShop cards - from site like PlayAsia, with small fee (they charge a little more than the actual price of the eShop card). For example for 8000 yen cards you pay around $70, when the real currency of the cards is around $60. Or buy it from Amazon Japan (the price you pay is the same as the eShop credit there). I have a pretty simple tutorial for that somewhere, if you need that. TotK on JP eShop costs roughly $60 when converted, 7900 yen is around 59$ and you can buy eShop card of 5000 and 3000 yen, which is 8000 = 60$.
 
Last edited:
It’s kinda hilarious to me how visual theming must be so important to people that it’s always glossed over how the divine beasts, are, in fact QUITE distinctly themed mechanically.

Vah Ruta’s puzzles involve water, Naboris electricity, Medoh wind and Rudania fire.
 
LukasManak22 said:
You can cancel your current pre-order. For japanese download you need a japanese account (easy to do) you can switch region of your current account but creating new one is better. (you need to have 0 balance when switching regions). And since the japanese eShop only takes japanese credit cards (I believe it's the same for PayPal - you actually need japanese Paypal). So you can either buy japanese eShop cards - from site like PlayAsia, with small fee (they charge a little more than the actual price of the eShop card). Or buy it from Amazon Japan (the price you pay is the same as the eShop credit there). I have a pretty simple tutorial for that somewhere, if you need that. TotK on JP eShop costs roughly $60 when converted, 7900 yen is around 59$ and you can buy eShop card of 5000 and 3000 yen, which is 8000 = 60$.
Click to expand...
Thanks a million! If you have the tutorial it would be amazing. Do I need a VPN or anything?
 
LukasManak22 said:
I think it will take me at least 2 weeks to complete the game, by the time everyone will be discussing whole theories and impressions and I will just be finishing.
Click to expand...

I honestly think I'll take a month and a half, at least, to finish the game. Mind you I don't think I'll play for more than 2 hours a day.
 
Awesomegames23 said:
It's 8PM Friday May 12th. What you drinking?
Click to expand...
At that time I will be tossing and turning in bed like a kid before Christmas day.

I plan to wake up the next day super early and get a somewhat significant session in before work. So I gotta try to force myself to get some sleep.

So maybe a liquiified melatonin?
LukasManak22 said:
I think it will take me at least 2 weeks to complete the game, by the time everyone will be discussing whole theories and impressions and I will just be finishing.
Click to expand...

2 weeks? I'm envious.

For me it's gonna take me at least 2 months to see and do everything.

I'll remerge back on the internet and people will be having heated debates on ToTK versus FF16 while I have still yet to even open my copy of the latter.
 
BloodMoon said:
Because the divine beasts didn’t satisfy people in the way a ‘traditional’ dungeon would.

I don’t think that’s particularly controversial to say?
Click to expand...

That isn't the argument I'm responding to, though! People that want "Dungeon Items" back is a serious debate, but I'm talking about people wondering if there's any dungeons at all, and how many pages of discussion there are about whether or not they exist at all. None of that is founded on anything at all. Like "Oh, my, that thing that looks like multiple previous Zelda dungeons in a dramatic cutscenes. OH MY GOD ARE THEY BRINGING BACK DUNGEONS?"

People should specify exactly which issue they are wondering about, rather than letting "dungeon concerns" be this giant catchall for people to sweep together a whole truckload of independent dislikes about dungeons in some previous Zelda games.

Phendrift said:
It’s kinda hilarious to me how visual theming must be so important to people that it’s always glossed over how the divine beasts, are, in fact QUITE distinctly themed mechanically.

Vah Ruta’s puzzles involve water, Naboris electricity, Medoh wind and Rudania fire.
Click to expand...

Rudania fucking sucks for a lot of reasons, but I generally agree. Distinct themes and distinct mechanics based on what mechanic you unlock, with a similar structure to traditional dungeons except you upgrade a new dungeon-specific ability to your sheikah slate rather than getting a new item generally.
 
Skies said:
At that time I will be tossing and turning in bed like a kid before Christmas day.

I plan to wake up the next day super early and get a somewhat significant session in before work. So I gotta try to force myself to get some sleep.

So maybe a liquiified melatonin?
Click to expand...

@Kevin had the right answer, Moo-Moo Milk, but for you, warm.
 
BRRRRRING said:
People should specify exactly which issue they are wondering about, rather than letting "dungeon concerns" be this giant catchall for people to sweep together a whole truckload of independent dislikes about dungeons in some previous Zelda games.
Click to expand...
I agree with this, and apologise if I misinterpreted your point!

I guess my overall feeling is that Nintendo took my favourite part of Zelda, and made it objectively worse with the divine beasts. I’ll admit items such as the dominion rod and spinner were under-utilised outside of their respective dungeons in TP and I’m sure there are many other examples such as this.

I think my ultimate problem with the divine beasts, and ultimately BotW in general, is that by making so much of the game optional, it made a lot of it feel meaningless.
 
phyl0x said:
I loved Elden Rings dungeons, but i don't think it translates well to botw/totk. ultimately mobility is very limited in ER and they don't even let you use torrent inside, but that limitation allows for a more linear path-based experience. even the open world in ER is more limited in how little areas connect, this let's them setup set piece moments. botw/totk is so wildly open it's hard to recreate that even in shrines botw needed to limit mobility. so a totk dungeon would either need to remove mobility or be designed completely around it...I hope we get the latter, but it'll be very different from ER.
Click to expand...
I believe we kinda saw a potential solution already with sky islands (and potentially caves?). It's a sureproof way to limit mobility and design around it. Sure you can still technically go anywhere but the developers are in complete control of the progression of the player and they can design all kinds of environmental puzzles within some defined boundaries and/or even linear paths. We got some glimpses of this kind of gameplay already, I hope they went the extra mile with it and incorporated into whatever the dungeons end up to be.
 
0
Traditional dungeons definitely have their place but I'm also a little over them in the context of 3D Zelda. I've already played like 30+ of them and have become too familiar with how the sausage is made. In isolation, Skyward Sword has some of the best dungeons in the series but even in 2011 I recognized the formula and felt I was being led by the hand. I know many don't mind but it definitely puts a damper on my enjoyment. Nintendo had the right idea to abandon some rather restrictive elements of traditional dungeons in BotW but also went a little bit too far in the opposite direction in some areas. If TotK makes its dungeon-equivalents bigger, brings back unique theming (for the setting and the bosses) and the buildup/pacing of a great Zelda dungeon I will be more than happy.

That said, I still hope they find a way to continue making OoT-style games and I've been saying for ages that they should do it in a different IP. StarTropics has become kind of a meme but any series where the protagonist doesn't go around swinging a sword and opening chests with maps, compasses and boss keys would go a long way to make it feel fresh. Okami doesn't have a single dungeon that comes close to Zelda but it still feels exciting because of the way you interact with them.
 
Last edited:
Phendrift said:
It’s kinda hilarious to me how visual theming must be so important to people that it’s always glossed over how the divine beasts, are, in fact QUITE distinctly themed mechanically.

Vah Ruta’s puzzles involve water, Naboris electricity, Medoh wind and Rudania fire.
Click to expand...

Why is it hilarious that people want visual identity between areas? Like we understand there's mechanical differences between them, that just isn't the point when we're talking about how they all look the same.
 
Last edited:
Phendrift said:
It’s kinda hilarious to me how visual theming must be so important to people that it’s always glossed over how the divine beasts, are, in fact QUITE distinctly themed mechanically.

Vah Ruta’s puzzles involve water, Naboris electricity, Medoh wind and Rudania fire.
Click to expand...
Aesthetics being so important isn't surprising at all. It's a very strong part of the identity
 
ILikeFeet said:
Aesthetics being so important isn't surprising at all. It's a very strong part of the identity
Click to expand...
TheCongressman said:
Why is it hilarious that people want visual identity between areas? Like we understand there's mechanical differences between them.
Click to expand...
I get that, the actual differences are just glossed over and are just as important imo.

It’s funny that it’s like never mentioned
 
Phendrift said:
I get that, the actual differences are just glossed over and are just as important imo.

It’s funny that it’s like never mentioned
Click to expand...

Because it isn't relevant to the conversation. They all look the same, that is the issue. We aren't saying they all have the same mechanics.
 
I think Divine Beasts suffered from the short amount of time it took to solve them, very few enemies, mediocre bosses, and worse, no new enemies (I love mini-bosses). They had themed mechanics (well Rudania was in a Volcano to give it its theme), but the interiors weren't themed very well. Overall, I think they just weren't memorable on the inside, however on the outside they looked amazing.
 
Last edited:
BloodMoon said:
I agree with this, and apologise if I misinterpreted your point!

I guess my overall feeling is that Nintendo took my favourite part of Zelda, and made it objectively worse with the divine beasts. I’ll admit items such as the dominion rod and spinner were under-utilised outside of their respective dungeons in TP and I’m sure there are many other examples such as this.

I think my ultimate problem with the divine beasts, and ultimately BotW in general, is that by making so much of the game optional, it made a lot of it feel meaningless.
Click to expand...
Awesomegames23 said:
I think Divine Beasts suffered from the short amount of time it took to solve them, very few enemies, mediocre bosses, and worse, no new enemies (I love mini-bosses). They had themed mechanics (well Rudania was in a Volcano to give it its theme), but the aesthetics weren't themed very well. Overall, I think they just weren't memorable on the inside, however on the outside they looked amazing.
Click to expand...

I definitely agree with dungeons being my favorite part of the series. I'd prefer them to be each meatier, as I think having so many micro dungeons in Shrines made it more imperative that the dungeon experiences be longer than usual, due to needing to contrast better, when in practice we got shorter-than-usual dungeons.

As for the aesthetics that people bring up, I also agree, but that is a problem with BotW in general that is fixed in TotK. Everything about BotW screams the game expanding in scope throughout development, leaving the actual asset variety in the dust. From the start I think Nintendo is more cognizant of how much variety they actually need to support this scale of game (which we've already seen with the three different domains, and both of the underground zones we've seen feeling and looking vastly different. The things we believe to be dungeons seem themed to the different cultures or regions in a way that Divine Beasts were not.
 
Last edited:
I hope that if there are dungeons, they appear more "natural-looking." By this, I don't mean they need to be situated in the wilderness, but rather that they seamlessly blend into the world.

One of my favorite dungeons in terms of setting and atmosphere is the yeti mansion from Twilight Princess. I am almost ashamed that it took me quite some time to realize I was actually in a dungeon, and that was something I truly appreciated.

Just being in the mountains and stumbling upon an abandoned mansion. You enter and find a group of yetis busy cooking. I genuinely believed I was in a "regular" building. It wasn't until I acquired the compass or map that I understood it was a dungeon. This is the kind of experience I'd like to see in dungeons for TotK. Another excellent example is the pirate boat from Skyward Sword.

On the other hand, an example of a dungeon that doesn't integrate well into the world is the Deku Tree in Ocarina of Time. You see an ancient talking tree with a moustache, you go inside and discover that the interior could easily serve as a hotel if the Kokiri were interested in tourism.
 
Ced Naru said:
On the other hand, an example of a dungeon that doesn't integrate well into the world is the Deku Tree in Ocarina of Time. You see an ancient talking tree with a moustache, you go inside and discover that the interior could easily serve as a hotel if the Kokiri were interested in tourism.
Click to expand...

Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly nearly confused me when I was a kid for this reason lol
 
Awesomegames23 said:
I think Divine Beasts suffered from the short amount of time it took to solve them, very few enemies, mediocre bosses, and worse, no new enemies (I love mini-bosses). They had themed mechanics (well Rudania was in a Volcano to give it its theme), but the interiors weren't themed very well. Overall, I think they just weren't memorable on the inside, however on the outside they looked amazing.
Click to expand...
Their quests to get them were also amazing.

But yeah.

The final divine beast from the DLC really already solved a lot of those issues as well too.
 
Lozjam said:
Their quests to get them were also amazing.

But yeah.

The final divine beast from the DLC really already solved a lot of those issues as well too.
Click to expand...

I agree for the most part, in my opinion the Rudania and Ruta pre-entrance quests were fun, Naboris pre-entrance quest was the best, Medoh pre-entrance...task was like, "that's it"?
 
Awesomegames23 said:
I agree for the most part, in my opinion the Rudania and Ruta pre-entrance quests were fun, Naboris pre-entrance quest was the best, Medoh pre-entrance...task was like, "that's it"?
Click to expand...
It is kind of silly that Medoh was basically the flight range, but way easier. They could have done something even more cool, considering you are literally flying in the air above Hyrule.
 
Reader mode
Status
Not open for further replies.
Staff Communication
Please note that this thread is completely spoiler-free, and that includes tagged spoilers. If you want to discuss spoilers, we refer to the spoiler thread.
Last edited:


Back
Top Bottom