@@misthiosinred8655 it's vastly different to BOTW in that way though. There were many shrines in BOTW that you could only do one way, have yet to find a shrine in TOTK that you can't do several ways yet because of the expanded toolset.
Exactly, I hate how most games force you to complete things the way they intended with invisible walls, off bounds areas, or other ways they hinder creativity.
I've activated a wind turbine by blowing air sideways thru a closed grill gate because the turbine was near the closed gate. It's only logical that that wind pass thru a grill and if the wind is strong enough, it'll turn the fan even if it's blown kind of sideways. But i think i wasn't supposed to do that. I think the intended way was to open the gate first otherwise they should position the turbine facing the gate. It's awesome that the game let's you mess with it.
The building is kind of weird at first, but what I like is that it doesn’t really force you to do it too often. You can kinda do it however much you want but the game still makes sure to show you just about all the possibilities at least once
I like how with some of the shrines it will show you how to do something, and then right outside of it are the required parts for what you just learned. They really thought of everything!
@@testoftimegaming5219 its just better botw. The first game was physics based tomfoolery and this is just more physics based with more tomfoolery! I find it really fun.
@@yoshicrafter7608 seriously. In stead of moving on w the story, first thing I did when I got back to Hyrule was build a car with a flamethrower to ravage bokoblin camps.
MILD BUT NECESSARY SPOILER: If you hate building things manually and think it feels like a laborious process, go down to the first chasm into the Depths just South of Lookout Landing, follow the large statues in the directions they are pointing until you find a structure with 2 Hylian people trying to figure something out. You will thank yourself later getting this thing earlier! WHAT WILL I FIND THERE?: When you get there, you will get your last Ultrahand ability called Auto-Build, which lets you make templates out of anything you build, so you can quickly build anything you've built in the past, or save favorites, built instantly using Zonaite or any parts sitting around.
One of the best features I've found thus far is that the stables carry over any horses you had in BOTW! So awesome to get back on Epona and not have to run/walk everywhere! Update: there is currently a bug with stables carrying over horses from BOTW to TOtK, it's affecting many players, but the Devs are working to fix it; I was lucky and early on got my horses to transfer over before the bug started affecting players.
Reviews should always be spoiler free. After all the main audience is gonna be people who haven't played it and are indecisive on whether to buy or not. Same with trailers. I'm glad I haven't watched any but the first 2, because as far as I could tell they've shown every main boss 🤦♂️ I'm over 80 hours in, and have still only beaten two of the temples
I spent a lot of time on the initial sky island as well. It was such an amazing tutorial area. Much better than the great plateau, which is really saying something.
Personally, the tutorial area in totk is slightly worse than botw. It has very good mechanics and level design, but I didn't prefer how linear it was. Still very good starting area.
I like to be changing weapons and being adapting, I remember i had a few strongf weapons and i was at a bokobling camp, i didn't want to spend my useful weapons in such weak enemies so i picked up a lance and attched a bomb, trow it and did super damage. It was gratifiying, and in this game that the core damage is from strong enemies that just make beating mini-bosses or white bokobling all the more enticing. Critics that complain about weapon durabilities just want easy weaponry, or are just wastful and get punished by a system design correctly. If you're an idiot that goes around hardly caring about your weapons and just shoving one thing with another for the sake of it, then ovciously ending in a camp with only a stick as defence it's solely your fault.
Took too long. It really felt like a chore by the end, I was legitimately annoyed when I tried to open that door and was told to do another shrine, I just wanted it to be done.
The most impressive thing about this game in my opinion is the fact that Nintendo was able to make such a beast of a game to run on essentially an outdated tablet.
I love that there's three entire maps to this game the depths are super creepy the over world is even better than the last game and the sky islands are amazing
Three entire maps but they basically just repeat themselves. The monsters are all the same just different colours, the things you find are all the same (a stable, a few shrines, a well, a cave and a geoglyph). The game is great but the overhype is ridiculous
@@mikepriestey2547thats not really true. There are many specific items you can only get in certain places. I thought the depths were actually really fun. Was a lot harder at first but also where I got the most gear. But yeah stables,caves and geoglyphs are only really on the surface. And 152 shrines isn’t really “a few”.
@@Solidsteakx The depths just repeat, mine here, mine there. Same monsters. Bit of lava in small sections, it's all exactly the same. Yes, there's a lot of shrines but they get boring after the first few. The game is great fun but it's ridiculously overhyped, nowhere near the best game ever as people say. Not even the best open world game ever.
Couldn't agree more. Zelda to me hasn't felt anything near what Miyamoto pulled off with A Link to the Past since that era. 3D zelda for me is just... eh in general. FROMSOFT is just so much better at it. Now if we could get an actual new Zelda game in the style of say Octopath Traveler, or even A Link Between Worlds, now THAT would make me lose my shit. Zelda is just so much better in that style. Maybe I'm just becoming a curmudgeon, but sorry it's how I feel 🤷🏼♂️
i remember when i was a kid and id beat a linear game and id always have a joke thought of 'haha what if thats when the title of the game popped up and i just completed the tutorial' totk actually DOES that
Yup... taking it slow with this game...I LOVE the new abilities. I just got down to the surface and just realized how insanely big this game is. This will take me several hundred hours
Best before you buy / kind of review on youtube, you sell the human emotion within your videos and say exactly how we would feel if it was us first playing.
this game was everything i wanted it to be. like jake im not the most creative person but im on the opposite end and found it really interesting and engaging with the building mechanics. my only complaint so far is occasionally mounts like horses will randomly get stuck on tiny rocks.
What I like most is that while Nintendo did patch a lot of the movement exploits, they still allow you to use the built in mechanics to move around the map quite fast.
I got really exhausted with open world games as most are empty places. When I played BOTW, I was a kid in awe of all the places I'm discovering. When TOTK dropped, I never thought Nintendo can capture that feeling but they did. Absolutely amazing. Im also not the best in building stuff but damn, doing a hover bike easily helps exploration better.
Do you feel like there’s a lot of new places to explore? I want to buy it but I only finished my first play through of botw last year so I’m worried it will feel kind of the same and not like a brand new world
@@jkelly3319 don't know if you ever did buy TOTK but for someone who has been playing it nonstop and did 2 playthroughs of BOTW I can say this game really tranforms the world set by BOTW and throws it out of the park even more. Yea a lot of areas are the same like major areas; towns, major land masses, etc but this game takes a lot of the same areas and transforms them into its own unique experience. I will say if you loved what BOTW offered I think you will love TOTK even more.
@@brettbrett678 I bought it in the end! But I haven’t had a chance to play it because my gf has taken over unfortunately. From what I’ve played so far it def feels different though
I actually really enjoyed the beginning of the game. I liked it a lot better then the beginning of BOTW. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the games holds for me.
I think it was better at preparing you but overall it wasn't mind bending or game making for me like the great plateau was, which honestly is a good thing, the great plateau shouldn't be the most memorable place of botw but it is, in tears of the kingdom all the temples, shrines and even some of the koroks and world hold their own a lot better. I'm about 50 hours in with 3 temples complete I have 10 hearts rn
When I made it to the underground caverns it all came together for me. Going down there forced me to use more of the game mechanics than breath of the wild did and it felt like a total eye opener.
“Where there’s a will there is a way” is pretty much what I’ve been experiencing in this game so far, and thats what has kept me glued to the tv for hours
I am absolutely loving exploring and the new areas and enemy types. It's super cool that they let you transfer over ALL your horses from botw. Love it so much dude.
The first 10 or so hours felt like botw but reskinned. Same concept just different place and enemies/NPC. But once you get deeper in… oh my. So much going on ❤
I’m so far loving the cave system. I haven’t been down a chasm yet but even the small caves have proved to be an interesting and sometimes scary experience. Small spoiler- but I went into a cave and found some monster hands that try to grab you and the music kicked in and well - I ran away. It really seems there’s new finds around every corner!
I’ll be honest; I never finished Breath of the Wild. I feel I should finish that before starting Tears of the Kingdom. Your overall review justifies this! I do look forward to playing this someday though.
I just finished BOTW last night after leaving the entire game in my backlog for 6 years because I didn’t have patience. I can happily say that it’s worth seeing it through to the end. I beat it only completing 21 shrines and without the master sword, but I’m definitely gonna come back and do more, even after finishing TOTK
The best review of Tears of the Kingdom. Thank you for being honest, despite you enjoying the game just like everyone else, you still admit its flaws, you admit it isn't perfect, and praise it only for the things it does well, please keep up with your reviews, we need more unbiased reviews like this.
I love how there is so much more narrative going on and it almost creates a system of progression no matter where you go. Like the stables with a guy reading the newspaper and updating you on things that have happened (reminded me of RDR2), or your "partner" with a new silly mission adding lore to the story and mystery of Zelda. I really love that from TotK, makes exploration even better than BotW
I'm loving this game every time. I was impressed that all the horses from BOTW were already in the stable. I wonder what other things the new game will pull from the older one.
meh i feel like this and breath of tbe wild are more like spineoffs rather than a true zelda kinda like how you hace mario with full 3d world run around collect stars but then he has like mario rpg
First Review that actually captures my experience and doesn´t idealize every part of this Game. Most reviewers are so caught up by the creative tools of this game that they completely ignore the way in which this Game is basically a lot more Breath of the Wild. Yes sure if you love to building stuff you might have a totally different experience with it but if not it actually is not all that different from BOTW.
Can’t remember the last time I saw one of your videos and disagreed with so many points, but hey, differing opinions is part of the beauty of video game dialogue. Your honest thoughts are always appreciated and it’s a big reason why I keep coming back to this channel. Never change, Jake.
As someone who really struggled to stay interested in BotW, this game scratches an itch I didn't know I had. The ultrahand crafting system is just beautiful. The abilities by themselves are great, but the real beauty is learning to combine the abilities together. Like using ascend to fly through a boulder that an enemy chucked at you, only to have it rewind back into their face with you on board, and jump last second into a bullet time arrow barrage, only to paraglide back down to safety afterwards. The fuse mechanic, as you said, seems very simple at first, but eventually you'll start doing some crazy techniques with your weapons, and get some insane combinations together. My favorite is using a cart attached to my shield to "shield surf" across the landscape like a skateboarder, moving over the pools of gloom in the depths without danger.
I've been playing LoZ since link to the past. There's a special place in my heart for each game. But I did struggle with finding BotW interesting and engaging. The art direction, the cel shading, the saturation of colors are some of the things I honestly don't like. The enemy variety were minimal-boring. The bosses were all the same. You go to one dungeon, you went to all of them. But I love the rest of exploration aspects of every nook amd cranny. What I do like is the dark-souls like combat. If you died, it was your fault. It was very fair. This game looks like it improved on everything except the art direction. I am going to buy it.
@@equanimity5057 Honestly, BotW story has shockingly little impact on TotK story. I personally find TotK more enjoyable for a variety of reasons (obviously) so my answer is obvious there. However, Skyward Sword does have a lot, and I mean a LOT of references in this game, so if you have not played it, and are willing to try it out, Skyward Sword feels like it's more closely tied to this game than any of the other pre-botw games. But you can jump into any of them. Whatever is most interesting to you.
I didn't think the world and story could get better than the first, but somehow this game has blown my mind even more than the first, it is awe-inspiring and incredible, something you need to experience
I couldn't get through BotW at all. It bored me and felt too empty at times. TotK here has let me do some wild things so far! Building contraptions to help you get through the game and do some wild things, it's a blast. I build a raft and learned the hard way that you have to be careful. Also my first encounter with a flamethrower shield caught me off guard. I love it!
@@cjc4426 this is a great question. Blast originates from the old Norse word blastr, which is a sudden gust of wind/a blowing. In the 1600s this came to also mean an explosion. By the late 1600s we had it talking about smelting iron > "blast furnace" a few years later. The idea behind it probably was the extreme force of smelting in said furnace, because what came next was "full blast" in the 1830s, or "to the extreme" American slang seemed to adapt this into "party" in the 1950s. The only examples I could find of this though was in some university class of 53 documentation, as well as a 1970s newspaper discussing war and their peers in the 50s
@@xbree_to me thats what makes the game so awesome, you can solve the puzzle they way they intend or just figure out a better way to them lol. Perfection imo
BOTW literally took me 6 hours to actually start enjoying it. I am now 25/30 hours in and really enjoying it. Hoping I don’t have the same problem with this game in the beginning.
@@Sephiroso. you clearly haven't played the game the only part that's the same is that base maps appearance but the actually gameplay and things on the map are completely changed not to mention how expanded the map is, the abilities completely change every puzzle and dungeon and boss fight in the game and there's hundreds of caves to explore and all new side quests that take advantage of the abilities
I'm so happy that I like the weapon durability system. I have to imagine it would be frustrating to get a game made with so much passion and with so many unique ideas only for breakable weapons to be the deal breaker that keeps you from enjoying it as much.
Makes cool looking and interesting weapons disposable and temporary. Oh, you really like this spear? Better not ever use it or it will be gone forever? Feels like counter intuitive design
@@halo2bounceguy completely ruins the point of the sandbox. Might as well turn on God mode and unlock everything, just skip playing the game while you're at it.
I’m about 15-20 hours in and I’m honestly shocked how similar it is to BotW. Wish some of the reviews mentioned it. The mission structure is identical (and without spoiling one main quest is literally copied from BotW).
I like this one slightly more than the last one. However, I'm ready for the next zelda game on a next-gen Nintendo console. Switch 2? I'm hoping the next Zelda will be an overhaul and completely rebuilt from the ground up for 4k.
It took me a little while to warm up to fusing weapons because I thought they all looked really stupid. Once I understood how they want you to use it, I absolutely love it. Using strong horns on light level hilts 👌 I think this game is a masterpiece, which is insane before BotW was a masterpiece and they somehow made it better.
It's a great review. There's a lot of ppl criticizing anything that isn't a 100/100 score, but the way it's structured and explained here makes it hard to argue with. Not every game mechanic is for everyone, and you don't have to give smth a perfect review just bc "in theory" there's nothing wrong with it. This review tackles the most important aspect of TOTK: Either you enjoy the crafting in this game a ton, a decent amount or not very much, in any way - it's still a GREAT game, and that's what makes it worthwhile no matter what.
It's not because every single sheep in the world parrots how great it is that you have to agree, at some point you have to stand by yourself and not listen to the herd. I found botw and witcher 3 shit personally.
I was never a huge Zelda fan to begin with, but I played breath of the wild just because I had a switch and I figured I had to see what all the fuss was about I liked it well enough, I think I got about 20 hours or so into it. But I got tired of all the puzzle shrines and I really got tired of the weapon durability system So while I still got a fair amount of enjoyment out of it, 20 hours is solid, clearly I did not play it for as long as it was intended to be played and it lost my interest rather quick in comparison to other open world games I wanted to hear that some of the things I wasn't a fan of were changed for this sequel but it does look like it is just more built on top of what was already there Which I also understand, they're not trying to cater this game just to me, however it does mean that I will likely not check it out anytime soon either Glad to hear people who did like the first one however are pleased with this one
@@AreaNeraTV Yeah I keep telling myself that I'm going to boot it up again and give it another shot, because ultimately I didn't hate it or anything. In fact a lot of it I did really like. It definitely encourages a lot of experimentation. I had some pretty creative ways that I was able to get through obstacles or camps of enemies I gave it another fair shot and made it a decent way through the critical story path a while back, however while trying to get to where I was supposed to go I fell off of something I was climbing as it started to rain and ended up in an area with some tough enemies and of course no decent weapons to fight them with That was the last time I touched it lol
Hi sir. I am pretty much the same person when it came to BOTW. Thank you for making me feel not alone. Would someone who ALSO didn't like the weapon durability system and played TOTK comment if they did or did not like the game?
@@Williamjacob7789 I'm hoping the same can happen in my scenario I will boot the game up again at some point and give it another try Like I said I don't dislike it, it just didn't capture me the way everybody else seem to have it capture them. The two big things to really get over though are definitely going to be the fact that the shrines are all about puzzles. I don't mind a few puzzles in a game. Survival horror titles for example click with me, or games like Hitman that are kind of a big puzzle with multiple solutions. I tend to not enjoy however when adventure games or RPGs are filled with them. So all the shrines at a certain point start to get kind of annoying to me rather than enjoyable. And then there's the weapon durability. Same thing I don't mind in RPG that has weapon durability overall, but I dislike the inability to actually repair them. It also makes me hesitant to ever use decent swords or other weapons that I find because I don't want them to break and I always think I'm going to be able to save them for some enemy where I'll really need them When I do decide to use them and they break and then I'm fighting some kind of goblin camp with a stick that's not great either lol But I am paying attention to the sequel here because I was interested to see if they really changed much at all or if other improvements to it would make everything that I didn't like so much more tolerable
Ya know, I admit I was immediately excited to start sticking stuff to my shield, including other shields. But I did not even consider putting a bomb on that plank of wood I strap to my arm. Jake, you're a genius!
@@adultlunchables In one of the trailers we saw that if you fuse a rocket to your shield you can use it to quickly ascend but did you know if you do the same thing and shield surf it launches you forward at a massive speed.
@@Jackie_XIII Holy shit, the Zelda team is insane. Who'da thunk that 20+ years after the release of OoT, they'd be making one(two) of the best open sandbox RPGs ever created?!
@@Jackie_XIII honestly i've always used them for upwards mobility, never was in a situation with a rocket on shield where i needed to go forwards so i never thought of it. thanks
I love this game, they manage to keep the same atmospheric vibe of botw since it’s a sequel, but added so much more with the sky islands, the huge underground area, all the new mini bosses, all the new wells you can discover to go underground, and the amount of more bad guys to fight is insane. The shrines I love too, I wasn’t a big fan of them in botw, but the new vibe added to them and how much interesting they are really helps the game out. Totk is truly a much more interactive, fun, harder, larger, and darker game then botw in my opinion!
Honestly, the thing that feels like it's most missing from this game is the atmosphere for me. The first game (to me) felt like it had a dark and mysterious theme. You are all alone, against ancient tech, and the 4 beasts improved on that with their dark themes and the mystique of Hyrule Castle. It felt almost like I shouldn't go near it, and that it's a bad spot to go. I loved the dark theme and the exploration, even if there was essentially no story. I wish this game would have kept the darker theme with the ancient tech and having no idea what's going on. Just my opinion, love both games.
Loving the game so far BUT... I wish there was an option to turn the shadows off, they look really jaggy and distracting when playing on my TV... I turned my TV sharpness all the way down and it helped a bit. The framerate drops are also pretty bad, I know its not gonna be 4k 60fps but id prefer a less detailed basic art style to maintain higher performance. Great video as always gameranx 💙
I’m actually enjoying the Sky Island. The game doesn’t just throws you off into an overwhelming open world but prepares you well for whats to come. I was not expecting Zelda to have something like this considering how short the tutorial was for Breath of the Wild.
BotW didnt super click with me but I did eventually make my way through it. Having ascend is a game changer for me. I think im all in now. Definitely been a charming and fun game.
I had the same problem with BOTW. It was the stupid constant struggle to simply have a weapon to fight with. The weapon damage thing simply ruined that game. In TOTK I'm making weapons out of any old object and I'm loving it.
@@adultlunchables yes, same! I love feeling like a mad genius mixing things. And also fusing things to the arrows is amazing. When I die I always think of another way to approach the fight differently, maybe fusing something different, or using certain arrow. And the "aha!!" that Link says everytime you fuse something is perfect too
So happy with this review. I too am not too into sandbox mechanics and gameplay. Really refreshing to hear a viewpoint that's not riding the (however deserved) hype train
Some reviews are just basically Nintendo dick riding. Wich is exhausting. This game is definitely not a masterpiece. It’s made for the worst console possible. And yet some people still think it it’s 100/10. It’s a good game and for some people it’s probably going to be a fantastic game but it’s not the game of games.
I'm a 32 year old man. I'd say besides Def Jam Fight For NY (nostalgia purposes), this is the best game I've ever played. I'm 40 hours in with the master sword and haven't even completed any regions. I just found all towers first, while looking for shrines along the way. I recommend starting off this way, unless you're the type to unlock the map as you progress.
@@OnePieceGuy55 I don’t think it’s “worse”. It’s very similar to the original game with more weapons, enemies and abilities. Feels like how it was rigidly intended: a huge DLC expansion
I haven’t been able to progress the story or get new abilities because I keep getting distracted with stuff, much like Elden Ring did. Fantastic experience 👏🏻
Elden ring destroys this 20fps borefest, its botw 2.0 nuts and bolts edition, and yes I have and am currently playing it but dont know for how much longer
@@Spacecowboyy69 to each their own. Some people can’t stand From’s story telling or obscure quests. It is a better game but doesn’t mean this one is bad at all. Very like GOTY
@@Spacecowboyy69 More shrines and koroks and it literally looks the exact same as BoTW. Weapons still break too easy and there is no way to stash weapons in an open world? I played BoTW for about 200 hours and I am scared to buy this because it looks like too much of the same.
@@Spacecowboyy69 agreed that Eldin Ring is better in almost every way especially with it's combat and bosses, but Zelda is Zelda. It's a chill game and i'm loving it.
Love this game as much, if not more then the first game. My only complaint (aside from graphics/performance) is the reward for exploring. Same thing in the first, a lot of times it feels unrewarding to explore. You can go through a whole cave just to find a chest with 5 arrows. It’s definitely more about the journey and just enjoying going around the world more then what you actually receive but it definitely diminishes the exploring much like the first game
I think if we had fewer reviewer bombers, we have few 10/10s and reviewers with out the reviewer bomber tip. It is hard but it is a Zelda game. It is enormous you get so sidetracked on you planned objectives. The construction can be a little annoying or awkward it isn’t consistent axis-wise and in tight areas often you can’t see what you are joining. Sometimes you just use brute force to get through a puzzle but the game is flexible to let you. Combat weapons I find not enough, but so many arrows but no good combos. But love it, happy with it, for me it is a great game.
I’ve had this game for like a week now and while it pretty much is BOTW, the additions are extremely fun to me. Love building contraptions on the surface and it’s so fun to get thru shrines. "Let’s see if this works" and having it actually work is so satisfying.
@@thomassmith4654 I've had it 10 whole days before it's official release, I decided to beat it the day before it came out. Amazing what Google can do for you.
Of course and thank you for the great reviews you and the Gameranx crew give us! This is the only TOTK video I have watched cause I have to wait awhile to play the game and want no spoilers. But I know you guys are pretty good about not doing that.
My only problem with BoTW was the control scheme being a bit much for a Zelda title. I feel like it's my problem but I can't seem to get over it, and it's not a mapping issue. It's the fact there are so many commands tied to DIFFERENT buttons. What happened to using A to do multiple things (i.e. open something, throw something, talk to people)
What are you saying? A is your interact button, and plenty of inputs do multiple things in one category or do one thing different enough from the rest of the inputs. You don’t want your jump button to also be your sprint button. There is a whole controller, why would they skip out on using easily accessible buttons in favor of mapping multiple unrelated functions to one?
Since this is a direct sequel I definitely recommend playing BOTW first. Totk has a entire new story but characters from the original make there way into story and there’s the world building. All up to you though :) there’s a full story recap video you can watch on UA-cam also.
I had a friend when i was younger it was always Zelda this and Zelda that with us we started up on the 64 days.. botw came out years later and same thing he flipped over the game...he then saw the trailer for totk...he just couldn't be more excited...then he passed away before he could play..i ran got totk on drop day the only game I had bought that was physical and put the case at his gravestone and balled my eyes out...its moments like this one and the 1st leap off the sky islands that make me cry because we shared countless moments playing the Zelda titles..wish he could have experienced it with me..R.I.P Kenny we miss you down here in hyrule.
I was kind of hoping they changed it, but I just couldn't deal with the constant weapon breaking and new weapon farming in BotW and was hoping they'd change that in this one. The one mechanic just so completely sinks it for me
I will say this. As someone who heavily disliked weapon durability in BOTW. In TOTK, you'll always have a weapon to use thanks to the fuse ability. It really does make all the difference. Sure, it sucks when they break, but it takes much longer now. There's no weapon in my inventory that isn't fused.
I haven’t played this first game cause I’m not much of a Zelda fan but now I’m super interested into this game, so do I need to play the first one??? Before I play this one??
When a new thing comes out and it’s amazing, it’s fresh, it’s not like anything else. That was Breath of the Wild. Amazing game! Tears of the Kingdom is more of the same and still is an amazing game as well, but the shock and awe factor isn’t as much there anymore because we’ve already seen it with the first game. Kind of like with GOW Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West, both great titles but because they are the second thing, the initial unexpected amazingness of the game isn’t there anymore. That’s how I feel with TOTK
Have you gotten to the underground levels yet? Have you met the new enemies yet? You did played with the new abilities right, have you unlocked the last ability yet? If you say no to any of those questions, you haven’t played deep enough to see the difference.
@@stefanlynch3210 sure, i beat the game too, everyone can beat the game online, i even have an uncle working at nintendo. joke aside, that is the problem with open world games, first time is magic, the second time is a bit hard to continue. But to me TOTK is difference enough that it feel fresh.
No man i do not agree with you in this review this game is gamebreaking and why is what all the other company’s do wrong Zelda does right no copy paste from another games out there like ghost of tushima assassins creed horizon zero dawn all got the same set up , Zelda is so original in all its creatures caves things to do style this is not a game this is ART
I got mine on Wednesday, and I've been having a blast. The story has way more gravity to it, and the new enemy types have been keeping me on my toes. All of the gloom caves are sick af.
I think you said it best at the start - it's more Breath of the Wild, which will be fine for a lot of people. I hope with the next game, the dungeons that were always meant to be there will finally be there in their full glory because by that time they would have had almost two decades working on this one world?
I love the ultrahand and the weapon fusion system, seems like endless possibilities in this game. Amazing, surprisingly better than BOTW which I didn't think they were going to be able to do.
Thank you! You are the only one who isn't praising the game to high heavens. I'm also not hot on the building mechanics - and I didn't think BotW was the best game ever - in my opinion it wasn't even the best Zelda...
I was really looking forward to you guys talking about the game. You're honest and human about everything, so I know that you'll talk about the good and the bad, not just the hype Thanks for everything, guys!
If you liked Breath of the Wild, you'll likely like this game, no pun intended. If you didn't, then well, a game that was just titled "Sequel to Breath of the Wild" for four entire years might not be your best bet.
Being a sequel doesn't mean shit. Majora's Mask was a direct continuation/sequel to Ocarina of Time and the approach to gameplay in both games was incredibly different and not similar at all due to the time mechanic in Majora's Mask.
@@Sephiroso. Still there are a lot more similarities than differences. You still have stamina, weapons break, you have shrines and map towers, the old map is reworked, same graphics, same combat, lots of the same materials, enemies, structures, animals, same korok puzzles etc. Of course there are all new additions but i'd think if you didn't like the gameplay formula of Breath of the Wild, then this isnt far from it.
As a person who never played any Zelda games and my switch is mostly played by my 10yr old who really loves games with build mechanics on it. Is it required to play the first game or is it more worth to just get TotK right ahead?
This review is so honest and no fluff... As Jake has said, "it depends on who ask"... for an older gamer like me... this speaks perfectly to me.. and I think it will be a good game to jump into, without all the marketing hype to pre-raise my expectations.
I definitely felt super underwhelmed at first but after I made a flame thrower whip and my first car I couldn’t help but fall madly in love with this game
It's weird I had the same feeling botw is my favorite game of all time...but playing this I thought it was way too similar... But after a while I am all in... It does take a while to find your groove but once you do it's impossible to put down
Refreshing to hear. I'm still on Sky Island and am incredibly disappointed. Seeing Link run around with rocks attached to his sword and shield seems incredibly corny, the building seems arduous and frequent, and it just feels like a chore rather than something enjoyable.
@@carns518 trust me there’s a lot more to it than just making rock clubs the game puts off a shit first impression it wasn’t until I put a few hours in that I felt better and now after beating my first dungeon in the game I can confidently say it’s a better story this time around and the dungeons are amazing so far and the world looks very familiar but the more you play the more you see just how much more there is to do in it
A refreshing review in all honesty. I enjoyed BOtW but have it nowhere near my greatest games of all time. The constant pushing of how great these games are is almost a turn off. BOtW was fun and a great game on switch, I imagine TOTK is going to be the same but the non-stop slurpage is annoying. We’re talking about games that hardly hold 30 fps with no voice acting in 2023. Every other game is reviewed critically, I feel like this game was a 10/10 before it even came out simply because its Zelda. Still excited to give it a try!
I was really turned off Breath of the wild due to the weapon breaking system. I am going to try to push past that as Tears of the Kindom looks amazing!
There are ways to keep weapons from breaking if that’s a deal breaker Super mild spoiler Rock Octoroks, if you drop a weapon, bow, or shield in front of them, they will inhale it and spit it back at you repaired and with a bonus.
This one was so much better than BOTW. Much more narrative driven. Closer to actual dungeons than in BOTW. I beat BOTW in a month and then sold it. Once you finished the game, it was just more of the same. But in TOTK, the world is more interesting and mysterious. I can explore some random thing I see from the air and more likely than not, I'm going to be rewarded for my curiosity. It still doesn't scratch the Zelda itch I might have gotten from OoT or TwPr or WW. But it's a vast improvement. I hope in the next one they return to a more "Dungeons unlock items that unlock dungeons" kind of game.
Excellent content as always. My favorite channel, it just keeps getting better and better. I don't have a switch, but I'd get one to try it out (and also BOTW)
Tbh I think if you’re gonna play botw you may want to lower your expectations coming out of totk. I’m not saying botw is bad, I’m just saying since totk is kind of a sequel the first game might be a little different for you if you know what I mean
I’ve never played a Zelda game in my life due to always having PlayStation, been thinking about getting a switch for the new Zelda game. I know I should play breath of the wild but do I have to play any other Zelda games to get the story? Or is the story always different?
The best part about these shrines is that there’s always a intended way to complete it, but they let you be creative and complete it anyway you want
Same as BOTW🥴
@@misthiosinred8655 it's vastly different to BOTW in that way though. There were many shrines in BOTW that you could only do one way, have yet to find a shrine in TOTK that you can't do several ways yet because of the expanded toolset.
Exactly, I hate how most games force you to complete things the way they intended with invisible walls, off bounds areas, or other ways they hinder creativity.
Fr thats why i love the shrines so much. If something seems like a logical solution, it probably is.
I've activated a wind turbine by blowing air sideways thru a closed grill gate because the turbine was near the closed gate. It's only logical that that wind pass thru a grill and if the wind is strong enough, it'll turn the fan even if it's blown kind of sideways. But i think i wasn't supposed to do that. I think the intended way was to open the gate first otherwise they should position the turbine facing the gate. It's awesome that the game let's you mess with it.
The building is kind of weird at first, but what I like is that it doesn’t really force you to do it too often. You can kinda do it however much you want but the game still makes sure to show you just about all the possibilities at least once
I like how with some of the shrines it will show you how to do something, and then right outside of it are the required parts for what you just learned. They really thought of everything!
i dont get why everyone is raving about it 😂 like oh yay i can do banjoo kaziooe nuts and bolts but zelda 😂
@@testoftimegaming5219 its just better botw.
The first game was physics based tomfoolery and this is just more physics based with more tomfoolery!
I find it really fun.
@@yoshicrafter7608 seriously. In stead of moving on w the story, first thing I did when I got back to Hyrule was build a car with a flamethrower to ravage bokoblin camps.
@@testoftimegaming5219 "Man just admitted he hates fun"
MILD BUT NECESSARY SPOILER:
If you hate building things manually and think it feels like a laborious process, go down to the first chasm into the Depths just South of Lookout Landing, follow the large statues in the directions they are pointing until you find a structure with 2 Hylian people trying to figure something out. You will thank yourself later getting this thing earlier!
WHAT WILL I FIND THERE?:
When you get there, you will get your last Ultrahand ability called Auto-Build, which lets you make templates out of anything you build, so you can quickly build anything you've built in the past, or save favorites, built instantly using Zonaite or any parts sitting around.
OMG wait, this actually sold me on the game, like i hate building things but if there's this feature, i think ill get the game
This is a spoiler i can live with. 😊
appreciate you
Thanks! Was wondering where they were pointing but never followed
@@jenfersmith best game ever made.
One of the best features I've found thus far is that the stables carry over any horses you had in BOTW! So awesome to get back on Epona and not have to run/walk everywhere! Update: there is currently a bug with stables carrying over horses from BOTW to TOtK, it's affecting many players, but the Devs are working to fix it; I was lucky and early on got my horses to transfer over before the bug started affecting players.
Omg they do!!?? That's epic
RLLY?!
Wait how tho..? I went to a stable and it made me tame one
this is not true lol
the first stable I went to did not have my horses...the second one did
You have no idea how much I love spoiler free reviews . Thanks guys 🙏🏻
Reviews should always be spoiler free. After all the main audience is gonna be people who haven't played it and are indecisive on whether to buy or not.
Same with trailers. I'm glad I haven't watched any but the first 2, because as far as I could tell they've shown every main boss 🤦♂️ I'm over 80 hours in, and have still only beaten two of the temples
The moving trees were spoilerish
This game is amazing. I played it from 7 in the morning to 11 that night. One of the better experiences with gaming as of late
7am to 11pm? Those are rookie numbers gotta step those numbers up 😂
@@lilstudymanok Mr. 24 hours 💅💃
@@lilstudyman tell me your joking💀
@@lilstudyman 🤣🤣🤣 u right
Couldn’t stay up til midnight?
I spent a lot of time on the initial sky island as well. It was such an amazing tutorial area. Much better than the great plateau, which is really saying something.
the best mechanics tutorial in the history of gaming. seriously.
the first island also has a lot of detail which i love.
Personally, the tutorial area in totk is slightly worse than botw. It has very good mechanics and level design, but I didn't prefer how linear it was. Still very good starting area.
I like to be changing weapons and being adapting, I remember i had a few strongf weapons and i was at a bokobling camp, i didn't want to spend my useful weapons in such weak enemies so i picked up a lance and attched a bomb, trow it and did super damage. It was gratifiying, and in this game that the core damage is from strong enemies that just make beating mini-bosses or white bokobling all the more enticing.
Critics that complain about weapon durabilities just want easy weaponry, or are just wastful and get punished by a system design correctly. If you're an idiot that goes around hardly caring about your weapons and just shoving one thing with another for the sake of it, then ovciously ending in a camp with only a stick as defence it's solely your fault.
Took too long. It really felt like a chore by the end, I was legitimately annoyed when I tried to open that door and was told to do another shrine, I just wanted it to be done.
Before you buy is consistently the best game reviews on UA-cam thank you Jake we appreciate everything you do
I beg to differ. He is WAY to positive.
ACG is probably the best well rounded reviewer.
@@Socialsocialsblahblah No, Bland-ino gave redfall a decent score.
AYYYYY JAKEEEEE
BigFry is the opposite
The most impressive thing about this game in my opinion is the fact that Nintendo was able to make such a beast of a game to run on essentially an outdated tablet.
I love that there's three entire maps to this game the depths are super creepy the over world is even better than the last game and the sky islands are amazing
Three entire maps but they basically just repeat themselves. The monsters are all the same just different colours, the things you find are all the same (a stable, a few shrines, a well, a cave and a geoglyph). The game is great but the overhype is ridiculous
@@mikepriestey2547thats not really true. There are many specific items you can only get in certain places. I thought the depths were actually really fun. Was a lot harder at first but also where I got the most gear. But yeah stables,caves and geoglyphs are only really on the surface. And 152 shrines isn’t really “a few”.
@@Solidsteakx The depths just repeat, mine here, mine there. Same monsters. Bit of lava in small sections, it's all exactly the same.
Yes, there's a lot of shrines but they get boring after the first few. The game is great fun but it's ridiculously overhyped, nowhere near the best game ever as people say. Not even the best open world game ever.
The sky islands are the coolest part
Couldn't agree more. Zelda to me hasn't felt anything near what Miyamoto pulled off with A Link to the Past since that era. 3D zelda for me is just... eh in general. FROMSOFT is just so much better at it. Now if we could get an actual new Zelda game in the style of say Octopath Traveler, or even A Link Between Worlds, now THAT would make me lose my shit. Zelda is just so much better in that style. Maybe I'm just becoming a curmudgeon, but sorry it's how I feel 🤷🏼♂️
I spent 7 hrs on sky Island and i loved every minute of it.
Same, I made it back to the Temple of Time, turned around and went exploring some more.
7 hours????? I spent 4 hours on it lol. I did absolutely everything you can on it too, including the koroks.
i remember when i was a kid and id beat a linear game and id always have a joke thought of 'haha what if thats when the title of the game popped up and i just completed the tutorial'
totk actually DOES that
Yup... taking it slow with this game...I LOVE the new abilities. I just got down to the surface and just realized how insanely big this game is. This will take me several hundred hours
Yeah to be honest that has been the peak of the game for me, once you're in Hyrule its just more BOTW
Best before you buy / kind of review on youtube, you sell the human emotion within your videos and say exactly how we would feel if it was us first playing.
?
How he would feel if it was him first playing*
Speak for yourself, dude
🌽
After all, I think it is important to discover by yourself !
this game was everything i wanted it to be. like jake im not the most creative person but im on the opposite end and found it really interesting and engaging with the building mechanics. my only complaint so far is occasionally mounts like horses will randomly get stuck on tiny rocks.
Or under a tent flap mine wandered into rendering it unusable meaning I had to run miles back and get another one lol.
“Occasionally”? I’ve had more trouble traversing the terrain on mounts in this game than I ever would’ve imagined possible
I felt the same way. I was surprised to be as blown away at the opening as I was when you first walked out of the cave in BOTW.
@Cwavy_619 no bro it's you who don't know the game mechanic.
IF YOUR HORSE IS STUCK, HOLD ZL WHILE MOVING THE HORSE
First video I didn’t agree with you on… and that’s okay.
What I like most is that while Nintendo did patch a lot of the movement exploits, they still allow you to use the built in mechanics to move around the map quite fast.
I got really exhausted with open world games as most are empty places. When I played BOTW, I was a kid in awe of all the places I'm discovering. When TOTK dropped, I never thought Nintendo can capture that feeling but they did. Absolutely amazing. Im also not the best in building stuff but damn, doing a hover bike easily helps exploration better.
Do you feel like there’s a lot of new places to explore? I want to buy it but I only finished my first play through of botw last year so I’m worried it will feel kind of the same and not like a brand new world
@@jkelly3319 don't know if you ever did buy TOTK but for someone who has been playing it nonstop and did 2 playthroughs of BOTW I can say this game really tranforms the world set by BOTW and throws it out of the park even more. Yea a lot of areas are the same like major areas; towns, major land masses, etc but this game takes a lot of the same areas and transforms them into its own unique experience. I will say if you loved what BOTW offered I think you will love TOTK even more.
@@brettbrett678 I bought it in the end! But I haven’t had a chance to play it because my gf has taken over unfortunately. From what I’ve played so far it def feels different though
@aricaice6447 Thanks for your reply! You gave me a tip that makes me want to try this game!!
I agree, the beginning doesn't set it up for success but as you keep going it gets better and better and its actually really hard at points, I love it
I actually really enjoyed the beginning of the game. I liked it a lot better then the beginning of BOTW. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the games holds for me.
I think it was better at preparing you but overall it wasn't mind bending or game making for me like the great plateau was, which honestly is a good thing, the great plateau shouldn't be the most memorable place of botw but it is, in tears of the kingdom all the temples, shrines and even some of the koroks and world hold their own a lot better. I'm about 50 hours in with 3 temples complete I have 10 hearts rn
I hope. I just open the time temple door and I almost rage quit because of the crafting
When I made it to the underground caverns it all came together for me. Going down there forced me to use more of the game mechanics than breath of the wild did and it felt like a total eye opener.
@@mr.flyhigh28 I have done verry little crafting besides what I have had to and most shit I've made is just stuff I've seen before
“Where there’s a will there is a way” is pretty much what I’ve been experiencing in this game so far, and thats what has kept me glued to the tv for hours
I am absolutely loving exploring and the new areas and enemy types. It's super cool that they let you transfer over ALL your horses from botw. Love it so much dude.
This. I was so surprised to see my old BOTW horses sitting in the stable, like what!?
@@taima7700 and the fact that you can take that out and use them right from the start of using the horses, is great.
@@DRossGaming Too bad my previous switch with BOTW still in it got robbed before Nintendo dropped cloud saves
Guess I'll just tame new horses 😅
@@rannel7644 you can save the data to an SD card too. Just so you know. I have all my stuff saved on a SD card.
@@DRossGaming A bit late now
thanks anyways for the tip
The first 10 or so hours felt like botw but reskinned. Same concept just different place and enemies/NPC. But once you get deeper in… oh my. So much going on ❤
I felt very overwhelmed at first with all the new things, plus old mechanics i had to remember about
I’m so far loving the cave system. I haven’t been down a chasm yet but even the small caves have proved to be an interesting and sometimes scary experience. Small spoiler- but I went into a cave and found some monster hands that try to grab you and the music kicked in and well - I ran away. It really seems there’s new finds around every corner!
You should continue, I think the Cave your in has a shrine
Get down that first chasm, there's tons of great flowers in there that are super helpful during fights.
the hands remind me of dead hand aka every kids trauma
I recommend going back and beating those hands. ; )
Bomb arrows are your best friend against those hands. That, and.the elemental keese eye arrows, or the time bomb gadgets.
I’ll be honest; I never finished Breath of the Wild. I feel I should finish that before starting Tears of the Kingdom. Your overall review justifies this!
I do look forward to playing this someday though.
I’d just start this one tbh
@@reke9592 nah man breath of the wild is great you should consider playing it first
Im on the same boat
Bruh just play the game. You won't regret it
I just finished BOTW last night after leaving the entire game in my backlog for 6 years because I didn’t have patience. I can happily say that it’s worth seeing it through to the end. I beat it only completing 21 shrines and without the master sword, but I’m definitely gonna come back and do more, even after finishing TOTK
The best review of Tears of the Kingdom. Thank you for being honest, despite you enjoying the game just like everyone else, you still admit its flaws, you admit it isn't perfect, and praise it only for the things it does well, please keep up with your reviews, we need more unbiased reviews like this.
Been waiting for this review, it’s finally here! Thanks Gameranx ❤
LEGEND OF ZELDA TEARS OF THE KINGDOM SUCKS😂😂😂😂
@@OnePieceGuy55 ur just mad he commented before you
@@OnePieceGuy55 just because your daddy cant afford it doesnt mean that it sucks
I love how there is so much more narrative going on and it almost creates a system of progression no matter where you go. Like the stables with a guy reading the newspaper and updating you on things that have happened (reminded me of RDR2), or your "partner" with a new silly mission adding lore to the story and mystery of Zelda. I really love that from TotK, makes exploration even better than BotW
My biggest “wow” for this game was the music. The soundtrack ROCKS
Love the honesty and real feeling of this review. Refreshing
I'm loving this game every time. I was impressed that all the horses from BOTW were already in the stable. I wonder what other things the new game will pull from the older one.
Whoa, from like your BotW saves on your Switch, the horses you had before? Or do you mean in general?
@docmars it's your horses from your BotW save
@@docmarsbotw horses, Good for me since I had epona
Yeah i was so surprised when i saw my horses from botw
This did not happen for me at all 😔
I can't wait to get this. Love the LOZ series since I got my GameCube as a kid. Played them all since
_All_ of them?
meh i feel like this and breath of tbe wild are more like spineoffs rather than a true zelda kinda like how you hace mario with full 3d world run around collect stars but then he has like mario rpg
@@testoftimegaming5219 that’s like saying Mario 64 is a spin off of the original because it took the game in a different direction 💀
@@Zekon05 lmao ikr
First Review that actually captures my experience and doesn´t idealize every part of this Game. Most reviewers are so caught up by the creative tools of this game that they completely ignore the way in which this Game is basically a lot more Breath of the Wild. Yes sure if you love to building stuff you might have a totally different experience with it but if not it actually is not all that different from BOTW.
Can’t remember the last time I saw one of your videos and disagreed with so many points, but hey, differing opinions is part of the beauty of video game dialogue. Your honest thoughts are always appreciated and it’s a big reason why I keep coming back to this channel. Never change, Jake.
Agreed, I don’t think I’ve disagreed with his videos but I had a much different first impression
As someone who really struggled to stay interested in BotW, this game scratches an itch I didn't know I had. The ultrahand crafting system is just beautiful. The abilities by themselves are great, but the real beauty is learning to combine the abilities together. Like using ascend to fly through a boulder that an enemy chucked at you, only to have it rewind back into their face with you on board, and jump last second into a bullet time arrow barrage, only to paraglide back down to safety afterwards. The fuse mechanic, as you said, seems very simple at first, but eventually you'll start doing some crazy techniques with your weapons, and get some insane combinations together. My favorite is using a cart attached to my shield to "shield surf" across the landscape like a skateboarder, moving over the pools of gloom in the depths without danger.
do you think for a first time LOZ player i should start w BOTW or if i knoww the story i can jus start w TOTK?
@@equanimity5057 start with ocarina of time lol
I've been playing LoZ since link to the past. There's a special place in my heart for each game. But I did struggle with finding BotW interesting and engaging. The art direction, the cel shading, the saturation of colors are some of the things I honestly don't like. The enemy variety were minimal-boring. The bosses were all the same. You go to one dungeon, you went to all of them.
But I love the rest of exploration aspects of every nook amd cranny.
What I do like is the dark-souls like combat. If you died, it was your fault. It was very fair.
This game looks like it improved on everything except the art direction. I am going to buy it.
@@mauimitch89 bro.. i know the story but i do not got the time and patience to start ffrom there
@@equanimity5057 Honestly, BotW story has shockingly little impact on TotK story. I personally find TotK more enjoyable for a variety of reasons (obviously) so my answer is obvious there.
However, Skyward Sword does have a lot, and I mean a LOT of references in this game, so if you have not played it, and are willing to try it out, Skyward Sword feels like it's more closely tied to this game than any of the other pre-botw games. But you can jump into any of them. Whatever is most interesting to you.
I didn't think the world and story could get better than the first, but somehow this game has blown my mind even more than the first, it is awe-inspiring and incredible, something you need to experience
Story?
Lmao the stories sucked
*spoilers*
The Demon King Merked the master sword.
BotW had a story?
@@DeadVoivod story in BOTW is bland. But it’s really good this time.
It's amazing to think this latest game will be a lot of people's childhood someday.
I wouldn't swap for my childhood of Mario and Sonic, but ye, what a thing to look back on in time.
Much like ocarina of time was for me
2:54 I appreciate that you have the balls to use the word "dull" in such a review/first impression. You're not afraid to be honest.
True bravery, deserves a medal honestly 🏅
4:26 - man, you are really good at conveying your personal bias without sounding biased. Such a great thing. Always appreciate this.
I couldn't get through BotW at all. It bored me and felt too empty at times. TotK here has let me do some wild things so far! Building contraptions to help you get through the game and do some wild things, it's a blast. I build a raft and learned the hard way that you have to be careful. Also my first encounter with a flamethrower shield caught me off guard. I love it!
Good to know because I felt the same. LoZ is my favorite franchise but BotW was kinda boring.
@@Wandervenn as long as you enjoy the puzzle aspect of LoZ, I think you'll like this a lot more than BotW
Why do people always say they had blast? Like the game blast you or what??
@@ItalyHastaLaPasta oh yeah, the puzzle aspect is the best aspect. I'd love if we got another game in line with some of the classic favorites one day.
@@cjc4426 this is a great question. Blast originates from the old Norse word blastr, which is a sudden gust of wind/a blowing. In the 1600s this came to also mean an explosion. By the late 1600s we had it talking about smelting iron > "blast furnace" a few years later. The idea behind it probably was the extreme force of smelting in said furnace, because what came next was "full blast" in the 1830s, or "to the extreme"
American slang seemed to adapt this into "party" in the 1950s. The only examples I could find of this though was in some university class of 53 documentation, as well as a 1970s newspaper discussing war and their peers in the 50s
I usually hate puzzle games but I absolutely love solving the puzzles in this game. It feels so rewarding.
that sound effect when you solve a puzzle also really adds a lot!
I’ve been cheesing shrines by putting a rocket on my shield before going in lol
@@xbree_to me thats what makes the game so awesome, you can solve the puzzle they way they intend or just figure out a better way to them lol. Perfection imo
BOTW literally took me 6 hours to actually start enjoying it. I am now 25/30 hours in and really enjoying it. Hoping I don’t have the same problem with this game in the beginning.
It's 80% the same game. You will.
@@Sephiroso. you're wildly wrong with that statement
@@The_MEMEphis I'm not but think whatever you like.
@@Sephiroso. you clearly haven't played the game the only part that's the same is that base maps appearance but the actually gameplay and things on the map are completely changed not to mention how expanded the map is, the abilities completely change every puzzle and dungeon and boss fight in the game and there's hundreds of caves to explore and all new side quests that take advantage of the abilities
@@The_MEMEphis no it is the same. A map full of empty nothingness with a shrine as a reward with a item chest that won’t even be worth keeping
Jake, this is why you are my favorite bro. Everything you said about the crafting and the resource management I resonated 100% with.
I'm so happy that I like the weapon durability system. I have to imagine it would be frustrating to get a game made with so much passion and with so many unique ideas only for breakable weapons to be the deal breaker that keeps you from enjoying it as much.
It makes the master sword seem more special
Waiting for it to get modded and emulated nicely because you can turn off or fortify durability.
Makes cool looking and interesting weapons disposable and temporary. Oh, you really like this spear? Better not ever use it or it will be gone forever? Feels like counter intuitive design
@@halo2bounceguy completely ruins the point of the sandbox. Might as well turn on God mode and unlock everything, just skip playing the game while you're at it.
@@xChirox You can easily make 12 of them.
I’m about 15-20 hours in and I’m honestly shocked how similar it is to BotW. Wish some of the reviews mentioned it. The mission structure is identical (and without spoiling one main quest is literally copied from BotW).
By mission structure do you mean something along the lines of how the divine beasts were handled?
You’re actually shocked by it? A direct sequel?
Oh man, reading that the main quest is a copy of the first game worries me since I wasn't a big fan of it.
Tbf I feel like they didn't hide the fact they were reusing the BotW map but understandable if you've been dark on it or not really keeping up.
I like this one slightly more than the last one. However, I'm ready for the next zelda game on a next-gen Nintendo console. Switch 2? I'm hoping the next Zelda will be an overhaul and completely rebuilt from the ground up for 4k.
This game is so awesome. I had to turn it off once I reached the third shrine because of epicness overload🤘🏼I’m jumping back into it after this video.
DONT WASTE YOUR TIME ON THE NEW LEGEND OF ZELDA GAME... IT SUCKS😂😂😂😂
@@OnePieceGuy55 eww
@@OnePieceGuy55 clown 🤡 🤣 bro has alr played the game and he is loving it
It took me a little while to warm up to fusing weapons because I thought they all looked really stupid. Once I understood how they want you to use it, I absolutely love it. Using strong horns on light level hilts 👌 I think this game is a masterpiece, which is insane before BotW was a masterpiece and they somehow made it better.
You can make weapons look insanely cool with the right match
This game reminds me like Banjo Kazooie: Bolt and Nuts mechanic. Zelda Building Vehicles like boat, car, plane. I like Puzzle Games
I love your honesty. I think it takes a lot of courage to say that about a Zelda game, let alone BoTW.
It's a great review. There's a lot of ppl criticizing anything that isn't a 100/100 score, but the way it's structured and explained here makes it hard to argue with. Not every game mechanic is for everyone, and you don't have to give smth a perfect review just bc "in theory" there's nothing wrong with it. This review tackles the most important aspect of TOTK: Either you enjoy the crafting in this game a ton, a decent amount or not very much, in any way - it's still a GREAT game, and that's what makes it worthwhile no matter what.
It's not because every single sheep in the world parrots how great it is that you have to agree, at some point you have to stand by yourself and not listen to the herd. I found botw and witcher 3 shit personally.
he did say he was not creative
which is kinda important in this game
@@pranze3484what didn’t you like about Witcher 3?
@@pranze3484 man I wish I could find the witcher 3 good but I've tried 3 times and just cannot get into it
I was never a huge Zelda fan to begin with, but I played breath of the wild just because I had a switch and I figured I had to see what all the fuss was about
I liked it well enough, I think I got about 20 hours or so into it. But I got tired of all the puzzle shrines and I really got tired of the weapon durability system
So while I still got a fair amount of enjoyment out of it, 20 hours is solid, clearly I did not play it for as long as it was intended to be played and it lost my interest rather quick in comparison to other open world games
I wanted to hear that some of the things I wasn't a fan of were changed for this sequel but it does look like it is just more built on top of what was already there
Which I also understand, they're not trying to cater this game just to me, however it does mean that I will likely not check it out anytime soon either
Glad to hear people who did like the first one however are pleased with this one
Same I player around 25h and got tired of it. Copy paste shrines and durability system put me off it. Maybe I will go back one day.
@@AreaNeraTV Yeah I keep telling myself that I'm going to boot it up again and give it another shot, because ultimately I didn't hate it or anything. In fact a lot of it I did really like. It definitely encourages a lot of experimentation. I had some pretty creative ways that I was able to get through obstacles or camps of enemies
I gave it another fair shot and made it a decent way through the critical story path a while back, however while trying to get to where I was supposed to go I fell off of something I was climbing as it started to rain and ended up in an area with some tough enemies and of course no decent weapons to fight them with
That was the last time I touched it lol
Honestly I was the same way at first. I dropped the game but like a year later I came back and everything just clicked. I don’t know why.
Hi sir. I am pretty much the same person when it came to BOTW. Thank you for making me feel not alone. Would someone who ALSO didn't like the weapon durability system and played TOTK comment if they did or did not like the game?
@@Williamjacob7789 I'm hoping the same can happen in my scenario
I will boot the game up again at some point and give it another try
Like I said I don't dislike it, it just didn't capture me the way everybody else seem to have it capture them.
The two big things to really get over though are definitely going to be the fact that the shrines are all about puzzles. I don't mind a few puzzles in a game. Survival horror titles for example click with me, or games like Hitman that are kind of a big puzzle with multiple solutions.
I tend to not enjoy however when adventure games or RPGs are filled with them. So all the shrines at a certain point start to get kind of annoying to me rather than enjoyable.
And then there's the weapon durability. Same thing I don't mind in RPG that has weapon durability overall, but I dislike the inability to actually repair them. It also makes me hesitant to ever use decent swords or other weapons that I find because I don't want them to break and I always think I'm going to be able to save them for some enemy where I'll really need them
When I do decide to use them and they break and then I'm fighting some kind of goblin camp with a stick that's not great either lol
But I am paying attention to the sequel here because I was interested to see if they really changed much at all or if other improvements to it would make everything that I didn't like so much more tolerable
Ya know, I admit I was immediately excited to start sticking stuff to my shield, including other shields. But I did not even consider putting a bomb on that plank of wood I strap to my arm.
Jake, you're a genius!
I stuck a freaking minecart to my shield. That was the moment I was sold on the game.
@@adultlunchables In one of the trailers we saw that if you fuse a rocket to your shield you can use it to quickly ascend but did you know if you do the same thing and shield surf it launches you forward at a massive speed.
@@Jackie_XIII Holy shit, the Zelda team is insane. Who'da thunk that 20+ years after the release of OoT, they'd be making one(two) of the best open sandbox RPGs ever created?!
@@Jackie_XIII honestly i've always used them for upwards mobility, never was in a situation with a rocket on shield where i needed to go forwards so i never thought of it. thanks
I love this game, they manage to keep the same atmospheric vibe of botw since it’s a sequel, but added so much more with the sky islands, the huge underground area, all the new mini bosses, all the new wells you can discover to go underground, and the amount of more bad guys to fight is insane. The shrines I love too, I wasn’t a big fan of them in botw, but the new vibe added to them and how much interesting they are really helps the game out. Totk is truly a much more interactive, fun, harder, larger, and darker game then botw in my opinion!
Honestly, the thing that feels like it's most missing from this game is the atmosphere for me. The first game (to me) felt like it had a dark and mysterious theme. You are all alone, against ancient tech, and the 4 beasts improved on that with their dark themes and the mystique of Hyrule Castle. It felt almost like I shouldn't go near it, and that it's a bad spot to go. I loved the dark theme and the exploration, even if there was essentially no story. I wish this game would have kept the darker theme with the ancient tech and having no idea what's going on. Just my opinion, love both games.
Loving the game so far BUT... I wish there was an option to turn the shadows off, they look really jaggy and distracting when playing on my TV... I turned my TV sharpness all the way down and it helped a bit. The framerate drops are also pretty bad, I know its not gonna be 4k 60fps but id prefer a less detailed basic art style to maintain higher performance. Great video as always gameranx 💙
I’m actually enjoying the Sky Island. The game doesn’t just throws you off into an overwhelming open world but prepares you well for whats to come. I was not expecting Zelda to have something like this considering how short the tutorial was for Breath of the Wild.
Short? How was the great plateau short?
@@Simpon four shrines get glider done it took maybe 15 minutes and most of that is running
I appreciate Jake so much because we have the exact same preferences with games, I can always trust his evaluations
BotW didnt super click with me but I did eventually make my way through it. Having ascend is a game changer for me. I think im all in now. Definitely been a charming and fun game.
I had the same problem with BOTW. It was the stupid constant struggle to simply have a weapon to fight with. The weapon damage thing simply ruined that game. In TOTK I'm making weapons out of any old object and I'm loving it.
@@adultlunchables yes, same! I love feeling like a mad genius mixing things. And also fusing things to the arrows is amazing. When I die I always think of another way to approach the fight differently, maybe fusing something different, or using certain arrow. And the "aha!!" that Link says everytime you fuse something is perfect too
So happy with this review. I too am not too into sandbox mechanics and gameplay. Really refreshing to hear a viewpoint that's not riding the (however deserved) hype train
Some reviews are just basically Nintendo dick riding. Wich is exhausting.
This game is definitely not a masterpiece. It’s made for the worst console possible. And yet some people still think it it’s 100/10.
It’s a good game and for some people it’s probably going to be a fantastic game but it’s not the game of games.
@@Manie230Some people just don’t like good games 🤷♂️
I'm a 32 year old man. I'd say besides Def Jam Fight For NY (nostalgia purposes), this is the best game I've ever played. I'm 40 hours in with the master sword and haven't even completed any regions. I just found all towers first, while looking for shrines along the way. I recommend starting off this way, unless you're the type to unlock the map as you progress.
Bought on day of release so not a “before you buy”, just a gaming video by a channel I love ;)
LEGEND OF ZELDA TEARS OF THE KINGDOM IS WORSER THAN BREATH OF THE WILD😂😂😂😂
@@OnePieceGuy55 I don’t think it’s “worse”. It’s very similar to the original game with more weapons, enemies and abilities. Feels like how it was rigidly intended: a huge DLC expansion
@@star_wars_fan184 He's trolling. Ignore them.
Nice pfp
@@badwolf9956 thanks
I haven’t been able to progress the story or get new abilities because I keep getting distracted with stuff, much like Elden Ring did.
Fantastic experience 👏🏻
Elden ring destroys this 20fps borefest, its botw 2.0 nuts and bolts edition, and yes I have and am currently playing it but dont know for how much longer
@@Spacecowboyy69 to each their own. Some people can’t stand From’s story telling or obscure quests. It is a better game but doesn’t mean this one is bad at all. Very like GOTY
@@Spacecowboyy69
More shrines and koroks and it literally looks the exact same as BoTW. Weapons still break too easy and there is no way to stash weapons in an open world?
I played BoTW for about 200 hours and I am scared to buy this because it looks like too much of the same.
@@ltlsWhatltIs I've played about 8 hours and its literally botw dlc
@@Spacecowboyy69 agreed that Eldin Ring is better in almost every way especially with it's combat and bosses, but Zelda is Zelda. It's a chill game and i'm loving it.
Great video! Thank you for being spoiler free. It’s so hard to find videos that do that for this game.
Is this game also fun for someone new to zelda?
This is what I'm wondering.
What an amazing game! Thank you for your honest reviews, Jake!
Jake isn't honest, clown lies about buying pizza every video he does
@@z216ghost lol i hope this is a joke because if so, good job that’s funny
Seeing this game makes you wish for a switch upgrade, cuz it could be eye candy, it still looks good but just imagine it on better hardware
And better framerate on top of it.
@@flufflenuggit6499 i’ve heard it has a consistent 30 fps, which is the target. So, yeah.
Yes imagine it on PS5 with no load times and huge draw distance etc...
@@Enderia2 it dips below 30 quite a bit actually. 60 fps should be standard atp.
It definitely doesn’t look good. Nintendo has done such a massive disservice to their great 1st party titles by tying them to trash hardware.
Love this game as much, if not more then the first game. My only complaint (aside from graphics/performance) is the reward for exploring.
Same thing in the first, a lot of times it feels unrewarding to explore. You can go through a whole cave just to find a chest with 5 arrows.
It’s definitely more about the journey and just enjoying going around the world more then what you actually receive but it definitely diminishes the exploring much like the first game
I think if we had fewer reviewer bombers, we have few 10/10s and reviewers with out the reviewer bomber tip. It is hard but it is a Zelda game. It is enormous you get so sidetracked on you planned objectives.
The construction can be a little annoying or awkward it isn’t consistent axis-wise and in tight areas often you can’t see what you are joining. Sometimes you just use brute force to get through a puzzle but the game is flexible to let you.
Combat weapons I find not enough, but so many arrows but no good combos.
But love it, happy with it, for me it is a great game.
I’ve had this game for like a week now and while it pretty much is BOTW, the additions are extremely fun to me. Love building contraptions on the surface and it’s so fun to get thru shrines. "Let’s see if this works" and having it actually work is so satisfying.
You’ve had the game for a week, but it’s only been out for two days. Sure buddy.
@@thomassmith4654 it got leaked ppl had it for a while now on pc
@@thomassmith4654 I've had it 10 whole days before it's official release, I decided to beat it the day before it came out. Amazing what Google can do for you.
@@thomassmith4654 emulation silly sh*t. Game got leaked couple weeks ago.
Of course and thank you for the great reviews you and the Gameranx crew give us! This is the only TOTK video I have watched cause I have to wait awhile to play the game and want no spoilers. But I know you guys are pretty good about not doing that.
You get the game yet?
My only problem with BoTW was the control scheme being a bit much for a Zelda title. I feel like it's my problem but I can't seem to get over it, and it's not a mapping issue. It's the fact there are so many commands tied to DIFFERENT buttons. What happened to using A to do multiple things (i.e. open something, throw something, talk to people)
It feels like a builder sim. Idk i feel like its too different from normal zelda games. Its like how fallout 4 became a base builder game
What are you saying? A is your interact button, and plenty of inputs do multiple things in one category or do one thing different enough from the rest of the inputs. You don’t want your jump button to also be your sprint button. There is a whole controller, why would they skip out on using easily accessible buttons in favor of mapping multiple unrelated functions to one?
This game brings out the little kid in me. I had the same reaction to building the first flying machine. That moment filled me with glee.
If I've never played Breath of the wild, would you recommend playing this? Do I have to play breath of the wild first?
Since this is a direct sequel I definitely recommend playing BOTW first. Totk has a entire new story but characters from the original make there way into story and there’s the world building. All up to you though :) there’s a full story recap video you can watch on UA-cam also.
Do you think this games worth buying a switch for? I played the first one but sold my switch last year
yes
I had a friend when i was younger it was always Zelda this and Zelda that with us we started up on the 64 days.. botw came out years later and same thing he flipped over the game...he then saw the trailer for totk...he just couldn't be more excited...then he passed away before he could play..i ran got totk on drop day the only game I had bought that was physical and put the case at his gravestone and balled my eyes out...its moments like this one and the 1st leap off the sky islands that make me cry because we shared countless moments playing the Zelda titles..wish he could have experienced it with me..R.I.P Kenny we miss you down here in hyrule.
Oh cool! Whispy Woods made it into a Zelda game.
Appreciate the review.
I was kind of hoping they changed it, but I just couldn't deal with the constant weapon breaking and new weapon farming in BotW and was hoping they'd change that in this one.
The one mechanic just so completely sinks it for me
I will say this. As someone who heavily disliked weapon durability in BOTW. In TOTK, you'll always have a weapon to use thanks to the fuse ability. It really does make all the difference. Sure, it sucks when they break, but it takes much longer now. There's no weapon in my inventory that isn't fused.
I agree.
I haven’t played this first game cause I’m not much of a Zelda fan but now I’m super interested into this game, so do I need to play the first one??? Before I play this one??
Bless the editor for lining up the word "crash" with the clip of the minecart crashing into the wall @ 6:14. Satisfied
When a new thing comes out and it’s amazing, it’s fresh, it’s not like anything else. That was Breath of the Wild. Amazing game! Tears of the Kingdom is more of the same and still is an amazing game as well, but the shock and awe factor isn’t as much there anymore because we’ve already seen it with the first game. Kind of like with GOW Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West, both great titles but because they are the second thing, the initial unexpected amazingness of the game isn’t there anymore. That’s how I feel with TOTK
Have you gotten to the underground levels yet? Have you met the new enemies yet? You did played with the new abilities right, have you unlocked the last ability yet? If you say no to any of those questions, you haven’t played deep enough to see the difference.
@@pencilcheck I've beat the game and can answer yes to every question. I agree with elote here.
@@stefanlynch3210 sure, i beat the game too, everyone can beat the game online, i even have an uncle working at nintendo. joke aside, that is the problem with open world games, first time is magic, the second time is a bit hard to continue. But to me TOTK is difference enough that it feel fresh.
@@pencilcheck feels pretty much the same as botw but with magnesis that works on everything and a minecraft mechanic.
@@pencilcheck
So other than that it is just more BoTW. More shrines and koroks.
No man i do not agree with you in this review this game is gamebreaking and why is what all the other company’s do wrong Zelda does right no copy paste from another games out there like ghost of tushima assassins creed horizon zero dawn all got the same set up , Zelda is so original in all its creatures caves things to do style this is not a game this is ART
Finally. A really honest review. Love it. You're my go to and thousands of others for this reason.
So whats the basis of the story? What's the conflict after botw?
I got mine on Wednesday, and I've been having a blast.
The story has way more gravity to it, and the new enemy types have been keeping me on my toes.
All of the gloom caves are sick af.
How challenging can the game get? Are there any accessibility options? My right hand isn’t really that capable & I wanna be able to enjoy the game
I think you said it best at the start - it's more Breath of the Wild, which will be fine for a lot of people. I hope with the next game, the dungeons that were always meant to be there will finally be there in their full glory because by that time they would have had almost two decades working on this one world?
Still waiting for Amazon to deliver my copy… The pain of not being able to play is absolutely excruciating 😥
I love the ultrahand and the weapon fusion system, seems like endless possibilities in this game. Amazing, surprisingly better than BOTW which I didn't think they were going to be able to do.
Thank you! You are the only one who isn't praising the game to high heavens. I'm also not hot on the building mechanics - and I didn't think BotW was the best game ever - in my opinion it wasn't even the best Zelda...
I can't help but notice the fuzziness, especially the grasses. Is this recorded handheld or docked?
I was really looking forward to you guys talking about the game. You're honest and human about everything, so I know that you'll talk about the good and the bad, not just the hype
Thanks for everything, guys!
If you liked Breath of the Wild, you'll likely like this game, no pun intended. If you didn't, then well, a game that was just titled "Sequel to Breath of the Wild" for four entire years might not be your best bet.
Being a sequel doesn't mean shit. Majora's Mask was a direct continuation/sequel to Ocarina of Time and the approach to gameplay in both games was incredibly different and not similar at all due to the time mechanic in Majora's Mask.
@@Sephiroso. Still there are a lot more similarities than differences. You still have stamina, weapons break, you have shrines and map towers, the old map is reworked, same graphics, same combat, lots of the same materials, enemies, structures, animals, same korok puzzles etc. Of course there are all new additions but i'd think if you didn't like the gameplay formula of Breath of the Wild, then this isnt far from it.
I’m loving this game! The sky islands deff an interesting n fun upgrade from the great plateau. Having so much fun exploring n experimenting
As a person who never played any Zelda games and my switch is mostly played by my 10yr old who really loves games with build mechanics on it. Is it required to play the first game or is it more worth to just get TotK right ahead?
This review is so honest and no fluff... As Jake has said, "it depends on who ask"... for an older gamer like me... this speaks perfectly to me.. and I think it will be a good game to jump into, without all the marketing hype to pre-raise my expectations.
I definitely felt super underwhelmed at first but after I made a flame thrower whip and my first car I couldn’t help but fall madly in love with this game
It's weird I had the same feeling botw is my favorite game of all time...but playing this I thought it was way too similar... But after a while I am all in... It does take a while to find your groove but once you do it's impossible to put down
Did you find the big donk wheels? They are sick
@@Juanpopspacks I can’t stop finding new parts it’s insane
Refreshing to hear. I'm still on Sky Island and am incredibly disappointed. Seeing Link run around with rocks attached to his sword and shield seems incredibly corny, the building seems arduous and frequent, and it just feels like a chore rather than something enjoyable.
@@carns518 trust me there’s a lot more to it than just making rock clubs the game puts off a shit first impression it wasn’t until I put a few hours in that I felt better and now after beating my first dungeon in the game I can confidently say it’s a better story this time around and the dungeons are amazing so far and the world looks very familiar but the more you play the more you see just how much more there is to do in it
A refreshing review in all honesty. I enjoyed BOtW but have it nowhere near my greatest games of all time. The constant pushing of how great these games are is almost a turn off. BOtW was fun and a great game on switch, I imagine TOTK is going to be the same but the non-stop slurpage is annoying. We’re talking about games that hardly hold 30 fps with no voice acting in 2023. Every other game is reviewed critically, I feel like this game was a 10/10 before it even came out simply because its Zelda. Still excited to give it a try!
I was really turned off Breath of the wild due to the weapon breaking system. I am going to try to push past that as Tears of the Kindom looks amazing!
That is literally the reason I stopped playing botw. Running out of weapons while you're fighting a boss is a pain in the ass.
There are ways to keep weapons from breaking if that’s a deal breaker
Super mild spoiler
Rock Octoroks, if you drop a weapon, bow, or shield in front of them, they will inhale it and spit it back at you repaired and with a bonus.
This one was so much better than BOTW. Much more narrative driven. Closer to actual dungeons than in BOTW. I beat BOTW in a month and then sold it. Once you finished the game, it was just more of the same. But in TOTK, the world is more interesting and mysterious. I can explore some random thing I see from the air and more likely than not, I'm going to be rewarded for my curiosity. It still doesn't scratch the Zelda itch I might have gotten from OoT or TwPr or WW. But it's a vast improvement. I hope in the next one they return to a more "Dungeons unlock items that unlock dungeons" kind of game.
totk looks really fun but i never played botw. is it worth it?
if you are going to try one, play botw
Excellent content as always. My favorite channel, it just keeps getting better and better.
I don't have a switch, but I'd get one to try it out (and also BOTW)
Waste of time imo, Tears is better in every way, just look up a lets play or recap from BotW
@@belgamsafn thanks for the advice, friend! I'll keep it in mind!
I never got to play the first game yet but picked this up being very curious and it's been a great game so far. Definitely impressed by it so far.
You will love BOTW too
@@fap9067 fr fr
Tbh I think if you’re gonna play botw you may want to lower your expectations coming out of totk. I’m not saying botw is bad, I’m just saying since totk is kind of a sequel the first game might be a little different for you if you know what I mean
Can’t wait to play this next year when the new Switch releases (hopefully)
I have never played botw, is this still good to play then?
No play the first one
I’ve never played a Zelda game in my life due to always having PlayStation, been thinking about getting a switch for the new Zelda game. I know I should play breath of the wild but do I have to play any other Zelda games to get the story? Or is the story always different?
i already bought it but i still want to watch
LEGEND OF ZELDA TEARS OF THE KINGDOM SUCKS😂😂😂😂
@@OnePieceGuy55 bruh it’s goty