Tears of the Kingdom – glorified DLC, vs the most groundbreaking game ever? I definitely lean more into the latter side of the argument, but I do have my reservations from being completely blinded by the light.
Since what should Tears of the Kingdom be in my opinion? What the game already is – one giant combination.
Deliver what many have been dreaming of since long before the game was announced.
The Best of Zelda’s present and past.
But what does that imply? Well, let me explain after you leave a like, subscribe, and press that notification bell to bring this video to 2023 likes and our channel to 333,333 subscribers by May 12th for our Zelda Switch OLED giveaway.
Let’s begin with the Present as this is our template that we have to work with to fit what is worth bringing back from over 30 years preceding Breath.
It goes without saying, the Zelda team nailed the deeply varied 72-square kilometer open-world map of Hyrule.
Interactive and filled to the brim with things to distract you from whatever main objective you were aiming for.
The job with this map was in fact so good that they didn’t dare to go horizontally when expanding the world for Tears of the Kingdom, but instead, went vertically, seeing that we already know too much of the surface.
The New Vehicle building system and possible weapon crafting from materials and enemies that will collect on the surface are there to re-explore Breath of the Wild’s, well, altered surface.
Combined, all of these are moves aimed at preserving the wonder of non-linear exploration and discovery that Breath of the Wild nailed to perfection as it all comes down to our will to reach for the sky islands.
Brilliant changes that add so much to the present-day open-air formula – one that even series producer, Eiji Aonuma, admitted sells much better than the linear and is hence here to stay.
But does it represent The Legend of Zelda? The open surface of the original from 1986, yes, but not so much what the franchise later evolved into.
When discussing the best Zelda games of all time, there are many reasons as to why the first Zelda game is rarely people’s favorite.
Ranging from it being too cryptic, to the lack of story in the game.
Naturally, the latter had to do with the system limitations of the time, but interestingly for us, a number of the shortcomings of the first Zelda describe many of the issues people had with Breath of the Wild.
An interactive world that still has no equal in the Video Game world, but is limited in its replay value compared to other Zelda’s when first-time exploration was its main value.
And that isn’t really there in the subsequent playthroughs after exploring the full map plus underground shrines and side-quests.
Breaking of conventions established as early as 5 years into the franchise or if you prefer, A Link to the Past, resulted in the Zelda team removing a little too much.
And this has been a big issue for many Zelda fans who were part of this community before Breath of the Wild.
I have heard the same argument time and time again from people when asking them why they don’t replay Breath of the Wild, and the answer is often the same.
The lack of Top of the class Bosses and Dungeons, and story / storytelling.
Or the Power, Wisdom, and Courage of the Best of Zelda’s Past.
Three key magical aspects that Breath of the Wild tried to reinvent and where all of the replacements showed massive weaknesses.
Naturally, changes were needed as Zelda by 2017 had been surpassed by leaps and bounds in so many fields of the adventure genre by games like Skyrim, The Witcher, and even Dragon Age.
Still if there was one element that the Zelda Team should not have messed with as they were still best in the class, then it was bosses and dungeons.
Let’s begin with the forces of Power, so bosses summoned by the villains.
Yes, in Skyward Sword, the Ghirahim fight was the same opponent three times, but when did we fight him? In the first, and then the last regular dungeon and as the first phase of the final two bosses.
In other words, as a dungeon boss who was used sparingly but with great gameplay finesse on the other dungeons we found fitting to the temple’s opponents.
The best example here was no doubt Koloktos at the end of the Ancient Cistern – a boss that topped an already fantastic dungeon.
A massive surprise, and that is exactly what Breath of the Wild lacked.
Since with the bosses of Malice, when you had seen one of them, you had seen all of them.
So the first thing we need to bring back the best of Zelda’s past are bosses of scale, gameplay, and most of all, shape, look, and color variety that will surprise and have a better chance of entering the list of the best bosses of all time.
Interestingly enough, you already surprised us in the Champions ballad with Monk Maz Koshia, as you turned a monk into something unexpected, but we need the same in the main game; not the climax of the final paid DLC.
Over to the element of wisdom, so dungeons.
2011’s Skyward Sword perfected the formula of the linear dungeons and provided the overall most creative dungeons in the series, but also a super solid flow from the first dungeon, middle dungeon, and final dungeons.
This and the story is why we go through the pain that is replaying Skyward Sword with its many mundane mandatory filler sections.
Or in other words, the highlights of the 25th anniversary Zelda game.
Then, around 2 years later, the Zelda team delivered the perfect non-linear formula for dungeons in A Link Between Worlds – a recipe which we expected would be used for open-world Zelda when it was revealed in 2014.
Item rental, followed by the option to purchase which granted us the ability to beat dungeons in both Hyrule and the second half in Lorule in any order we desired.
Right there, back-to-back, you had the perfect two sides of the coin – linear and nonlinear.
But then, this great dungeon streak was ruined by Breath of the Wild.
and it can still be mended as 2011 and 2013 offer the best of Zelda’s past by not going back further than to the previous decade.
So here is how Tears of the Kingdom can nail this formula if it isn’t doing it already.
For one, variety in its interiors – let each tribe or province have a unique dungeon of their own.
Both on the outside and inside, as the entrance is also a part of the experience and the Skyward Sword Sandship featured both.
The greatest weakness of the Divine Beast, apart from the lack of variety, was that it only tied to the ingenuity of one tribe – the long gone Ancient Sheikah.
To put it in simple terms, it is all about being surprised and wowed every time we enter a new building or structure where we will spend the next hour or more within.
Give us interior colors that differ and aren’t just another Zonai stone equivalent of what we saw with the Sheikah Divine Beasts and shrines interiors.
I want my forest temple, fire temple, water temple, but in a creative version that blends together the best of Skyward Sword’s dungeon quality with the semi-nonlinearity of A Link Between Worlds’ dungeons.
So a combination of the best of the past, though not distant Zelda past.
But only back to the 16th and 17th Zelda games, since this is the 20th.
Alright, time for the courage to tell an engaging story.
Gameplay was almost always a priority over story, but Breath of the Wild simply gave up on the latter.
With non-playable memory sections from 100 years ago where we simply watched clips of a tragedy that we, as the player, never got to take part in.
I cannot stress this enough: when pieced together, Breath of the Wild has a great story but it was way too fragmented and only a tiny part of it was even provided in the form of cutscenes.
Also, if we are telling a story of the past through cutscenes, then let us play through those sections to immerse ourselves in them.
The Witcher 3 handled it flawlessly with the Ciri sections which had already taken place, but where we played through her struggles in greatly entertaining and engaging gameplay sequences – exactly what Breath of the Wild’s memories didn’t allow us to do.
If Tears of the Kingdom will provide us something similar as The Switcher, if we are to see the return of memories, then this will be ten times better storytelling, as we will be playing through it, but it shouldn’t be the only story told.
Since at least 60 to 70 percent of the story should take place and evolve in the present as we play.
You can easily make these nonlinear as certain sections are only unlocked after fulfilling certain requirements, but damn, I want to be excited to see what is next, or more so, be surprised by major turning points and plot twists in the present time as all good stories need them.
In fact, all 3D Zelda games up to Breath of the Wild, had them.
And when I’m talking about this, you need to know I am really passionate.
Do not waste Ganondorf and the potential he poses when you nailed the villain twists of him, Majora, Zant, and Ghirahim in the past.
All brilliant scenes and where Zant and Ghirahim showed up unannounced, introducing two of the boss fights by resurrecting the monstrosities.
We live for moments like these in Zelda, and if we can get the perfect balance from Ganondorf with more emotional and heartfelt moments with Zelda, you know, like the ones we had with Midna in Twilight Princess and Zelda in Skyward Sword, then we have the story we want.
This goes in particular in adding more depth and character development to the trinity of Ganondorf, Zelda, and Link in Tears of the Kingdom.
We need bosses with character and gameplay brilliance, dungeons which surprise and wow us and finally, a story that will make us remember this particular quest and 20th Zelda game forever.
That is how we get the undisputed best Zelda, along with a bigger enemy variety, and the one thing that we all want, but are still completely in the dark on whether will return – underwater exploration, by adding verticality as well to the layer of water – a feature that was present in 4 out of 5 3D Zelda games that preceded Breath of the Wild.
All Best of the Past that could remove any non-organic boundaries found in a 72-square kilometer map and the feeling of fighting the same enemies over and over again.
But what do you think? Is Tears of the Kingdom combining the best of the series present and past? We want you to join the debate in the comment section down below and please share any additional ideas you may have.
If you haven’t already, then be sure to leave a like, subscribe and press that notification bell as it helps the channel to grow and make this crucial video more visible! Last but not least, a big thanks goes to all of you who watched until the end and to all our Patreon.
com/commonrealm patrons and in particular, Royal Producer, Charles Szasz.
You rock! And please enjoy one or both of these two awesome videos!
Tears of the Kingdom – glorified DLC, vs the most groundbreaking game ever?
Tears of the Kingdom – glorified DLC, vs the most groundbreaking game ever? I definitely lean more into the latter side of the argument, but I do have my reservations from being completely blinded by the light.
Since what should Tears of the Kingdom be in my opinion? What the game already is – one giant combination.
Deliver what many have been dreaming of since long before the game was announced.
The Best of Zelda’s present and past.
But what does that imply? Well, let me explain after you leave a like, subscribe, and press that notification bell to bring this video to 2023 likes and our channel to 333,333 subscribers by May 12th for our Zelda Switch OLED giveaway.
Let’s begin with the Present as this is our template that we have to work with to fit what is worth bringing back from over 30 years preceding Breath.
It goes without saying, the Zelda team nailed the deeply varied 72-square kilometer open-world map of Hyrule.
Interactive and filled to the brim with things to distract you from whatever main objective you were aiming for.
The job with this map was in fact so good that they didn’t dare to go horizontally when expanding the world for Tears of the Kingdom, but instead, went vertically, seeing that we already know too much of the surface.
The New Vehicle building system and possible weapon crafting from materials and enemies that will collect on the surface are there to re-explore Breath of the Wild’s, well, altered surface.
Combined, all of these are moves aimed at preserving the wonder of non-linear exploration and discovery that Breath of the Wild nailed to perfection as it all comes down to our will to reach for the sky islands.
Brilliant changes that add so much to the present-day open-air formula – one that even series producer, Eiji Aonuma, admitted sells much better than the linear and is hence here to stay.
But does it represent The Legend of Zelda? The open surface of the original from 1986, yes, but not so much what the franchise later evolved into.
When discussing the best Zelda games of all time, there are many reasons as to why the first Zelda game is rarely people’s favorite.
Ranging from it being too cryptic, to the lack of story in the game.
Naturally, the latter had to do with the system limitations of the time, but interestingly for us, a number of the shortcomings of the first Zelda describe many of the issues people had with Breath of the Wild.
An interactive world that still has no equal in the Video Game world, but is limited in its replay value compared to other Zelda’s when first-time exploration was its main value.
And that isn’t really there in the subsequent playthroughs after exploring the full map plus underground shrines and side-quests.
Breaking of conventions established as early as 5 years into the franchise or if you prefer, A Link to the Past, resulted in the Zelda team removing a little too much.
And this has been a big issue for many Zelda fans who were part of this community before Breath of the Wild.
I have heard the same argument time and time again from people when asking them why they don’t replay Breath of the Wild, and the answer is often the same.
The lack of Top of the class Bosses and Dungeons, and story / storytelling.
Or the Power, Wisdom, and Courage of the Best of Zelda’s Past.
Three key magical aspects that Breath of the Wild tried to reinvent and where all of the replacements showed massive weaknesses.
Naturally, changes were needed as Zelda by 2017 had been surpassed by leaps and bounds in so many fields of the adventure genre by games like Skyrim, The Witcher, and even Dragon Age.
Still if there was one element that the Zelda Team should not have messed with as they were still best in the class, then it was bosses and dungeons.
Let’s begin with the forces of Power, so bosses summoned by the villains.
Yes, in Skyward Sword, the Ghirahim fight was the same opponent three times, but when did we fight him? In the first, and then the last regular dungeon and as the first phase of the final two bosses.
In other words, as a dungeon boss who was used sparingly but with great gameplay finesse on the other dungeons we found fitting to the temple’s opponents.
The best example here was no doubt Koloktos at the end of the Ancient Cistern – a boss that topped an already fantastic dungeon.
A massive surprise, and that is exactly what Breath of the Wild lacked.
Since with the bosses of Malice, when you had seen one of them, you had seen all of them.
So the first thing we need to bring back the best of Zelda’s past are bosses of scale, gameplay, and most of all, shape, look, and color variety that will surprise and have a better chance of entering the list of the best bosses of all time.
Interestingly enough, you already surprised us in the Champions ballad with Monk Maz Koshia, as you turned a monk into something unexpected, but we need the same in the main game; not the climax of the final paid DLC.
Over to the element of wisdom, so dungeons.
2011’s Skyward Sword perfected the formula of the linear dungeons and provided the overall most creative dungeons in the series, but also a super solid flow from the first dungeon, middle dungeon, and final dungeons.
This and the story is why we go through the pain that is replaying Skyward Sword with its many mundane mandatory filler sections.
Or in other words, the highlights of the 25th anniversary Zelda game.
Then, around 2 years later, the Zelda team delivered the perfect non-linear formula for dungeons in A Link Between Worlds – a recipe which we expected would be used for open-world Zelda when it was revealed in 2014.
Item rental, followed by the option to purchase which granted us the ability to beat dungeons in both Hyrule and the second half in Lorule in any order we desired.
Right there, back-to-back, you had the perfect two sides of the coin – linear and nonlinear.
But then, this great dungeon streak was ruined by Breath of the Wild.
and it can still be mended as 2011 and 2013 offer the best of Zelda’s past by not going back further than to the previous decade.
So here is how Tears of the Kingdom can nail this formula if it isn’t doing it already.
For one, variety in its interiors – let each tribe or province have a unique dungeon of their own.
Both on the outside and inside, as the entrance is also a part of the experience and the Skyward Sword Sandship featured both.
The greatest weakness of the Divine Beast, apart from the lack of variety, was that it only tied to the ingenuity of one tribe – the long gone Ancient Sheikah.
To put it in simple terms, it is all about being surprised and wowed every time we enter a new building or structure where we will spend the next hour or more within.
Give us interior colors that differ and aren’t just another Zonai stone equivalent of what we saw with the Sheikah Divine Beasts and shrines interiors.
I want my forest temple, fire temple, water temple, but in a creative version that blends together the best of Skyward Sword’s dungeon quality with the semi-nonlinearity of A Link Between Worlds’ dungeons.
So a combination of the best of the past, though not distant Zelda past.
But only back to the 16th and 17th Zelda games, since this is the 20th.
Alright, time for the courage to tell an engaging story.
Gameplay was almost always a priority over story, but Breath of the Wild simply gave up on the latter.
With non-playable memory sections from 100 years ago where we simply watched clips of a tragedy that we, as the player, never got to take part in.
I cannot stress this enough: when pieced together, Breath of the Wild has a great story but it was way too fragmented and only a tiny part of it was even provided in the form of cutscenes.
Also, if we are telling a story of the past through cutscenes, then let us play through those sections to immerse ourselves in them.
The Witcher 3 handled it flawlessly with the Ciri sections which had already taken place, but where we played through her struggles in greatly entertaining and engaging gameplay sequences – exactly what Breath of the Wild’s memories didn’t allow us to do.
If Tears of the Kingdom will provide us something similar as The Switcher, if we are to see the return of memories, then this will be ten times better storytelling, as we will be playing through it, but it shouldn’t be the only story told.
Since at least 60 to 70 percent of the story should take place and evolve in the present as we play.
You can easily make these nonlinear as certain sections are only unlocked after fulfilling certain requirements, but damn, I want to be excited to see what is next, or more so, be surprised by major turning points and plot twists in the present time as all good stories need them.
In fact, all 3D Zelda games up to Breath of the Wild, had them.
And when I’m talking about this, you need to know I am really passionate.
Do not waste Ganondorf and the potential he poses when you nailed the villain twists of him, Majora, Zant, and Ghirahim in the past.
All brilliant scenes and where Zant and Ghirahim showed up unannounced, introducing two of the boss fights by resurrecting the monstrosities.
We live for moments like these in Zelda, and if we can get the perfect balance from Ganondorf with more emotional and heartfelt moments with Zelda, you know, like the ones we had with Midna in Twilight Princess and Zelda in Skyward Sword, then we have the story we want.
This goes in particular in adding more depth and character development to the trinity of Ganondorf, Zelda, and Link in Tears of the Kingdom.
We need bosses with character and gameplay brilliance, dungeons which surprise and wow us and finally, a story that will make us remember this particular quest and 20th Zelda game forever.
That is how we get the undisputed best Zelda, along with a bigger enemy variety, and the one thing that we all want, but are still completely in the dark on whether will return – underwater exploration, by adding verticality as well to the layer of water – a feature that was present in 4 out of 5 3D Zelda games that preceded Breath of the Wild.
All Best of the Past that could remove any non-organic boundaries found in a 72-square kilometer map and the feeling of fighting the same enemies over and over again.
But what do you think? Is Tears of the Kingdom combining the best of the series present and past? We want you to join the debate in the comment section down below and please share any additional ideas you may have.
If you haven’t already, then be sure to leave a like, subscribe and press that notification bell as it helps the channel to grow and make this crucial video more visible! Last but not least, a big thanks goes to all of you who watched until the end and to all our Patreon.
com/commonrealm patrons and in particular, Royal Producer, Charles Szasz.
You rock! And please enjoy one or both of these two awesome videos!
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