The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I mainly just build the wing/fans/steering stick thing or the dirigible to get up really high. An occasional boat. All the other stuff is cool, but I don't have the patience for it. So much rotating objects in space.

Speaking of balloons reminds me : are the black areas on the depths map completely inaccessible, ie stuck to the "roof" and can't be climbed over? I think I have been futilely trying to climb walls I shouldn't bother. I know they correspond to deeper bodies of water. I ran into issues because I was trying to find the lightroot corresponding to the shrine next to Duelling Peaks stable. It seems either there isn't one, or I cant find it.

the black spaces on the depths map are impassable, as far as i can tell

if the map is black and the wall is covered with stalactites that usually means it's not passable

Ive seen people make things like spinny wheels with frcking lasers on their heads, and laser homing carts - do they also damage oneself if you get in the way?

As far as combat contraptions go, I have an Autobuild favorite that I'll drop in sometimes, it helps. Looking forward to having more battery to truly melt things.

Yunobo on a vehicle has no cooldown apparently, could be a fun way to take down a big guy.

Was exploring and accidentally went to the last battle unprepared. Lost in the second demon ganondorf phase. MF’er.

Ok the last part of getting the master sword was one of the most mf'ing epic things I've ever done in a game.

I eventually got the schema for the 'autobuddy' autobuild or whatever it's called - the one built from a homing cart + stabiliser + flamethrower - and found it super handy for battles with lots of enemies.

I finished most of the quests and the main story on the weekend. The despair and darkness in the last stretch before the final boss felt oppressive and interminable and losing access to the sages made it even more uncomfortable.

And that last stretch felt super long and very tense! By the time I got to the real battles I was actually shaking from the build-up and the pressure, like did I bring enough healing items? If I die how far back do I have to start from? Do I have to go through the unpleasant doom tunnel again? Or am I stuck here forever? etc

Fight was challenging but not insurmountable. Ganon v2's health bar extending across the screen was a great touch, did not expect that. Also OF COURSE Ganon was going to eat his stone and go dragon, but I am slow and completely didn't even consider that until it was happening, but I'm kind of grateful for that because it was a cool surprise.

The whole endgame experience was weirdly really emotional for me, but maybe that's just what happens after 80? 100? 120? hours of investment.

errrrmmm oops, that second to last line was supposed to be in an H tag

It does feel like I’ve spent a lifetime on this game. And I’m still finding wells and caves I hadn’t previously.

I was actually pretty burnt out for the last couple weeks of it, like, I was feeling panicked about how much time it was sucking away from other hobbies. A sensible, non-obsessive person would've parked it and come back to it, or balanced it better with other things, or said 'hey maybe you don't need to finish nearly all the side quests before you finish the main story', but that is not me. And now that it's done I'm a bit sad. Can't win!

i bounced off of it after getting two of the sages. i'm sure i'll come back to it eventually, but i wasn't feeling naturally drawn to it or getting any immediate satisfaction from it and i don't play games out of a sense of duty to complete them. it's a very impressive game, but for whatever reason the feeling of endless possibilities in a massive world filled me less with the joy of freedom and more the dread of pointlessness. i'm not sure why this hit me that way and botw didn't, maybe just too much of a good thing, or maybe it's just me. i think it is just me. my favorite part of totk so far was the depths, something about how my options were curtailed down there made it feel more like something to chew on, steady progress rather than just randomly doing fairly easy things in whatever order punctuated by a somewhat more annoying thing here and there. if i could pinpoint a moment when it started to lose me a bit, the first time i encountered a section that indicated i should build a four-wheeled vehicle and then drive it over nearby terrain i was not impressed by the experience

sorry for being a bummer!

although salsa shark's description of the endgame does make me wanna get there

I finally built an updated version of the fan bike where you only need one fan and one bit of fence from a shrine or something and damn if it ain’t great.

The dissolving thing on the flying vehicles is so annoying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99BO4-R3Vwc

People are creative. These builds get crazier and crazier.

ok that thing at 18 minutes is fucking wild, holy shit

It’s certainly starting to remind me of the Minecraft community and the crazy shit they build. I wonder if Nintendo will lean into it further and release updates/expansion just to focus on making stuff.

i've been playing through a second time, trying to do the 4 main dungeons with no paraglider and no fast travel. it's fun!

Wait what??? How do you do the Gerudo desert one without the paraglider???

fancy zonai vehicles, maybe?

the gerudo one is the only one I've done so far! it doesn't require a paraglider. i'm more concerned about the rito dungeon boss tbh. when i first started out, i assumed i could get the glider suit and level it up to be impact proof, but the great fairies are locked behind the newspaper quest which i believe is locked behind the paraglider

You are a maniac

Thank you for your service.

Arent large parts of the main quest locked til you get the paraglider though?

Or just the prompts for them?

some things are, but the four main dungeons aren't

finally found all the shrines and lightroots. i am still addicted enough to play for a little while longer and collect some more armor sets, but i'm not motivated to find all the wells or hudson signs or whatever.

i think the link's awakening remaster is next on my list

finished the dungeons without the paraglider. i was able to upgrade my armor after all, thankfully.

the link's awakening remaster is just about perfect

Okay wtf why am I so bad at this game? I’ve gone through all the fromsoft games with relative ease but combat in this game just ruins me.

Pls give me tips on how to be better at this, it’s killing me atm

Co-sign links awakening remaster being amazing. One of my favourite plays from this year

explore the depths, pick up lots of muddle buds and puffshrooms. they will help a lot vs all regular enemies

attaching a frost emitter to a shield makes combat maybe too easy

or a sapphire if you wanna look cool

Latest "did not know" weapon combo I found was the forest dweller spear - you can fuse it to "burst" items like dazzlefruit and it wont disappear, it'll recharge!

Was handy in the depths against mini frox and skellies.

Sorry by "it" i mean the fruit you attach.

I think I was just doing things I wasn’t supposed to yet. Trying to clear out lurelin village while only having 5 hearts. Just finished my first temple (water) and feeling I am playing the game more as intended now. Lots of fun!

gotta get the hearts

Heck yeah my first task was to find and knock over as many shrines as I could, main quest be damned.

Still have 5 hearts but now I have an extra stamina wheel (ocd meant I needed to finish it after getting one extra part). Hearts from here on out. Currently meeting the founders of hyrule in a cutscene. Looks like Zelda’s travelled further than imagined. Oh well she can wait; shrines to explore!

Finally opened this, put about 200 hours in over the last month. Just excellent. Amazed that they really nailed it.

I finally decided to give Ganondorf another shot (after initially stumbling upon him earlier). Lost again, not enough gloom busting food.

I really just spend the majority of time just exploring. I’m still finding new caves and wells. Still need to beat a bunch of the Gleeoks. Many side questions remaining, but I think I’ve finished all the main ones, with the exception of the final battle. Need to find all the damn armor too.

I've been putting off fighting Ganondorf for weeks now. I'm still running around doing sidequests. Amazing game

The Ganondorf battle really is something else — they went above and beyond atoning for the disappointing final battle in Breath of the Wild

This game is to BOTW what A Link to the Past was to Zelda 1

Just picked this back up on a flight after playing Elden Ring for so long. I really need to be in the right mindset for this game after switching it up. I can't easily go "back and forth". It's so much easier to get side tracked in this game too.

BTW given I've started up Elden Ring this year, and will likely dive into BG3 once I've beaten that and TotK, this is looking to be a completely ridiculous year in gaming for me. And I'm really looking forward to that new Mario game and Dave the Diver once it's on Switch.

I bought this months ago & have just started playing it. First Zelda game too. I love exploring the islands even if I don’t know where the fuck I’m going. When I managed to fly to Time Temple it felt incredible.

Intriguing! I imagine most people don't start with this one, or at least play "Breath of the Wild" first. Most of the complaints I've seen about "Tears of the Kingdom" come from people who prefer "Breath." I wonder if the converse will be true? You are a living experiment!

those people are nuts, frankly, Tears is better on almost every metric imo

I actually never finished Tears. I got deep into Elden Ring which ended up scratching the itch way better. Breath of the Wild is still my all time favorite though, and perhaps I'd feel differently myself about TotK if I had started it first.