Our Thoughts on Zelda TOTK, One Year Later...

hey everyone Zeon over here from Nintendo life and today we're here to talk all about the Legend of Zelda tear of the Kingdom because the game just turned an entire year old I know adults always say that time is the most precious and important thing and as I get older they are so right uh but thankfully I'm not alone today I'm joined by The Fantastic Mr Felix oh I am over one year old I hope I think I don't know I always go talking about how young I am yeah yeah but we at least at least we didn't yeah you're old enough for this chat uh but we're also joined by the always astounding Alex only I'm over 30 times older than tears of the Kingdom ooh wow so when you put it that way that that's kind of that kind of hurts sobering thought isn't it so tears of the Kingdom launched on May 12th of 2023 how does how does that make you guys how does that make you guys feel it makes me amazed that um my holiday Barcelona was that long ago cuz I was technically on holiday when it launched right we booked it before the we booked it before they announced the release date and we it had to be that time we booked the flights and the accommodation and everything and then Nintendo went oh do you know it would be funny if Alex wasn't around so um yeah I remember uh getting my code on launch day and uh downloading it off the Wi-Fi in the in the Airbnb I was staying in and then uh playing it as as often as I could within reason but at the same time I was there to see all the gouty stuff and all that sort of thing but then on the flight back oh it was tears of the Kingdom the whole way back the most enjoyable flight I've ever had good good Alex come on we have to go to the gy museum hold on a second I'm play te of the Kingdom I had very little choice in the matter because we were there for my um my mother-in-law's birthday so it's not like I could go I'm not coming with you guys I don't feel so good today got to work imagine if tears of the Kingdom wasn't a like console handheld hybrid game release I mean obviously the switches is what we we owe the credit to for that but yeah that would we take that for granted so much we really do yeah it's a nice thing that we have now but you're totally right like it's it's we're spoiled we're spoiled now we can we can have our cake and we can eat it anywhere we don't need plates and napkins I found it insane that it has been an entire year but not in the sense that it is just felt so short no it is it feels ages ago this game came out at least for my sake like I was fortunate enough to do the review and uh I still really appreciate that I got to do that it was a big task that feels so so long ago I remember I stayed up until uh I stayed up the entire night making that review cuz he was like yes this has to be done and I had so much stuff I wanted to to include like visually and stuff and uh I was just battered and then uh and then Felix put it down and never played it again just kidding we all we all know that didn't happen no no no but it is you did get a bit of burnout though didn't you I definitely did get burned out on this game I mean for we've made videos for a month that was all tears of the kingdom and in the end I was just like I'm just not having fun anymore make it stop yeah we had so many videos we had planned to do on the channel that we just didn't get around to get because it was like if you took the hype or like the relevance of just of the Kingdom I felt it went very much up a graph and then very much down it was very quickly where I felt like breath of the was talked about much more I mean t of the kingdom is still talked about but I felt it was much quicker like okay now everyone is playing it and now no one is talking about it you know what I mean that's a really good point yeah I I suppose maybe maybe it comes down to the fact that like breath of the wild I I shouldn't say it was so revolutionary but it you know it did things that the Zelda series should say it was revolutionary well it just it did things that the Zelda series hadn't done before but it did so many things that other games were doing and then just kind of pulled a bunch of ideas together and and did and eventually you know it did breath of the wild did make its own thing um but uh but I do remember like a lot of talks around breath of the wild being compared to all these other games back then and now kind of Tears of the kingdom is is is here and it's it's just kind of a it's it's the Banjo Kazooie nothing and bolts meets uh breath of the wild or Zelda breath of the wild game um for for a moment I thought you meant in terms of it reception it was like B we got some BS and I was like whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa sorry defin definitely the gameplay Department um but you know like I I think if if tears of the Kingdom launched without breath of the wild maybe the discussions would still be you know and and the interest would still be so absolutely yeah yeah I think I think with bre uh breath of the wild Not only was it so fresh and different for the um for the Zelda FR Zelda series overall um but also the switch was still kind of it wasn't selling like hot cakes when it first came out it sales weren't bad but they were definitely not like well not like what they were years later you know um it definitely had a bit of a slower start than I think some people maybe remember but it wasn't like it was well received critically and people loved it but it wasn't common to see a switch out and about whereas nowadays it's really not that rare you know unless you go unless you don't go out Denmark it is I I don't see a switch ever I don't think I've seen a switch in the wild maybe like a kid played it once but that just Al shows is the exception that proves the rule then but and you know if if the switch had Street pass you'd see people on the streets with them but you don't so it cuz it doesn't so but sorry what was your point Al my my point being is that um people were picking up the switch and therefore breath of the wild as brand new things for a lot longer than tears the kingdom you know that the instore base was growing then and so there were a lot of new people coming in and I mean a lot of new people coming in for even a couple years after breath of the wild came out whereas with tears of the Kingdom this massive install base is already here and yeah you know it's sold pretty damn well all things considered you know um 20 million units to put that in context 20 million units is just a little bit shy of what God of War sold on PS4 and that game is significantly significantly older um and yeah that that is not to be sniffed at I mean you know I'm looking at the graphic here um Super Mario Bros Wonder sold 13 million units which is still great you know people have this very strange perception of sales when it comes to Nintendo because you sort of think well in Nintendo game that's going to sell well and by default you have to kind of like raise your expectations a bit or I think rather you have to lower them cuz everyone's expectations are already higher but even 20 million units is not to be sniffed at however it is not as good as breath of the wild breath of the wild has had a lot longer in order to you know [ __ ] accumulate those sales but its sales even after all these years are only 31 million which is still a lot don't get me wrong but 31 million it sold 2/3 of that in a year that's crazy yeah and I was kind of thinking wasn't it like 15 million in the first two weeks or something it was absolutely bong I I don't know I don't know I do I do remember the numbers being very high though at the very least but um and I I suppose like one thing that I I always find interesting and maybe it's just because of like the retail background I'm always so obsessed with sales numbers right I find them really fascinating um and it's it's interesting to see that like Nintendo would always consider like um duck hunt and uh new super or uh like new Super Mario Bros and Wii Sports and things like that they would consider the the system sale um with or like the the the system sales that those games were packed in on those they would consider those those sales as a game sale as well because the game is being sold with it um but with breath of the wild and tears of the Kingdom um breath of the wild never had a system bundle and tears of the Kingdom did have a special edition system but the game if I remember right wasn't bundled with it so all these sales are it's really just organic just just unit numbers I think there's only like two like two uh bundles for the switch that Nintendo's released actually come with a game like I think there's a Mario one and it was like uh a standard switch a number of years after the OLED came out I just remember the red joycon and everyone being like Oh it's a standard switch and you can choose which game you get oh right um but yeah that's one of the only sort of bundles that I can think of but yeah they did they did Mario Kart and then SM the Smash Bros ultimate the most recent one came with uh the the game as well so that's changing a bit now and then they have these switch lights that come with Animal Crossing but um but yeah there aren't many bundles basically I just wanted to add on to your point but but one thing that often gets brought up and I I don't think it's unfair is that tears of the Kingdom quote unquote isn't as good as breath of the wild in fact Felix you made an entire video about it it's true and you're right I I do think that's that's a valid point of view I'm not discrediting it or anything like that but I do think it is in you know it is unfair to make those comparisons oo because um well tears of the kingdom was a sequel it came out and it couldn't possibly because it was riding off the ideas of breath of the wild being open world you know having the same high Rule and things like that it could never be as different as breath of the wild it's you know it's arguably almost like kind of like the diff the difficult second album um is a term that's used in the music industry Felix I'm sure you understand that in fact yeah I SP yeah you're both music men um because you know sort of breath of the wild came out as this big new thing and if you know sort of for a lot of people in their eyes it was quote unquote their first Zelda game even if they you know even if they're aware of other games in the series it could be their first one and then the second one wasn't as revolutionary and even for fans of the series you know we went from skywood sword linear arama to breath of the Wild what a difference and you always humans always consider things in contrast you know it's it's easier to tell the difference between um coffee and orange juice than it is between two different kinds of coffee yeah definitely that was a weird example but my point stands so we know how I feel with the game uh I you know I enjoyed it but in the end I got a bit burned out but I want to hear how you guys feel after year like how how what do you guys feel off the game after he beats it so I booted the game up last night for about an hour and played and I it I think it's been since like last September or August since I've played the game uh and I think it's purely just like because I I have all these other games that I want to be playing um so I've just kind of it's not that I'm never going to play tiar of the Kingdom again there's so much still for me to go back and do but um but yeah I think I the I checked the 165 hours that I put into it uh was good enough for you know a couple months and um I like forgot I forgotten all of my side quests I forgotten like how to play the game I was I was down in the depths digging around and I was shooting arrows for to throw blight boom Bloom seeds um like non-stop I forgot how to throw items I was like wait can you do that I feel like I didn't always have to waste arrows yeah I felt really uh really silly when I realized uh and I it was of course it wasn't until I ran out of arrows that I realized you could throw throw things um but uh yeah it's um I I'm ex I'm feeling feeling kind of the same way I felt about breath of the wild after I finished that game I wanted to take it slow and I wanted to find all the shrines and just do things without a guide um and just so that way breath of the wild could kind of like live on forever almost in my head like I would always have something I could go back and do and tears of the Kingdom I feel similarly but there's so much to do in the game that um I think I'm like a little overwhelmed at the thought of like where do I even start I don't know if you guys have had those feelings with uh with the game either but yeah there's so much to collect and yeah there really is a lot of stuff uh I never quite felt overwhelmed with breath of the wild but I've heard multiple people say that they are overwhelmed with tear of the Kingdom just cuz there are there is really so much so much stuff to do I don't think I've booted up TI of the Kingdom since I beat it back in I want to say June so almost a year I haven't touched it wow yeah and it was cuz that moment when I got the burnout it it was such a weird feeling it was just like nothing I really did spark that joy in me when playing I was really there was nothing it's like that feeling wel to the industry it's that feeling of when you're at home and you know you have free time but you don't really you don't want to do anything you don't have to drive to do anything it's a it's a horrible feeling but that was the feeling when I played the game the other day though when I was playing maor's mask I thought back on tear of the kingdom and for a split second I had that hype tear of the Kingdom feeling and I remembered man it was such a special time when the game released there was I kind of forgot that feeling and then I had it again and was so special cuz it really was amazing when the game came out and the first two weeks I was having the time of my life in the game anyway Alex what do you think I think that it is an exceptional video game all right then thank you so much for watching the video everyone no um I I Adore this game it's it's really interesting because despite it being so long between the games breath of the wild and tears of the Kingdom I often find myself you know thinking about the games almost as a single game and then I think about breath of the wild and I'll think about um the you know sort of like the Divine beasts and stuff like that and I sort of think oh yeah and you did this and then you could do that no no no that was something that you could only do in tears of the Kingdom but yeah and then you go into a no that no that was only in tears of the there's so many things that you just kind they sort of fit so organically and the game makes no sort of like Fan Fair about like the caves and things like that um I would say that the depths you know I don't think the The Depths were in breath of the wild ever anything like that but like the caves and everything there were very few caves in breath of the wild just full stop you know I think there were a handful in bits and you know in bit there were a handful in different places but in tears of the Kingdom they're everywhere and it just it just feels like such an obvious part of the game now and it's it's stuff like that I think the fact that the game so you can say it's a criticism you could say it's not but the fact that the game is feels so much like breath of the wild but at the same time is as different as it is is only a good thing it is so recognizable but then it makes when the differences like the obvious differences come up it's just all like oh my God I can you know what what when I first got it I was like what's the point of the Ascend um Power you know what was even the point of that and then it's just like oh my God I could I could I could just go I could just go up anywhere I could just go up anywhere and that's an incredible feeling and it's the same with the ultra hand I think I went back and did some breath of the wild maybe it was for work maybe I was just curious that I was checking something I can't remember what and I came across an object I think it was just like a wooden plank or something and I was like okay got magnesis out and I was like why isn't it what oh it's mag nesis it only works you just it's so silly but that game has just kind of infected my memories of breath of the wild some of them not all of them obviously um and I think that that's a really really impressive thing to do you could argue that it's not a good thing um but I personally don't think it's a bad thing it means that I uh I really appreciate how well they did it how well they integrated it and just you know things like the ultra hand technique and you know sort of building all the stuff with the Zoni devices I remember thinking what you can make Vehicles being such a stupid idea um before release mhm now I don't give it a second thought it's like well yeah of course I'm going to create a weird Mech which has a flamethrower that's just what you do in this game um but to put to make a long story short I like it I wonder if Felix feels a little bit of that with Majora's Mask and acarina of time now cuz you know you have so many items that did carry over but then some that didn't in in Majora's Mask and I I guess Felix will keep discovering that as he plays the game but um but yeah have you ever have you had that happen yet where like you thought you had something in your inventory Felix and then you're like oh just kidding this is a different game not really I mean the thing with breath of the wild and TI of the kingdom is that it reuses I mean it reuses the entire Overworld map and then does stuff with it maor's mask feels very different and it had been almost a year since I played uh of time before then you do get a lot of the I backs though you get the arrow you get well now I can't remember exactly but like some yeah you're right you know you you the stuff that I would want I mean I don't have the boom Boomerang yet I don't know if you get that later I guess we'll see that's a really interesting point Zeon because I remember the last time I played Ocarina of Time I was like oh yeah no the the running Mask doesn't do a thing and being like what the hell why doesn't the running mask do it it's not hang on it's the running mask even in the game the buny hood yeah it doesn't do anything and it's like what but no it so yeah I think that's that's a really interesting point I think that has definitely happened to me before yeah I actually just got the bunny mask uh in the last stream so uh I know but noise just just the footstep it's just yeah you're so quick yeah I think after playing Major's well I'm playing majoras mask now but after seeing the two side by side yes they using the same engine but major Master does so much different I think that's what I had hoped that tear of the Kingdom would have done and uh I I just wish they did like another world using the same map in the end it just wasn't the right decision uh for me at least it took a lot of the joy out of it unfortunately but as Alex says it was still cool to see you know how how similar like all your memory starts breaking and you can't remember what once um but what I want to say is that even though these games are so similar the feeling you have while playing them is very different and it's a bit of hard to explain but I play breath of the wild right before tears of the kingdom and I I feel like all my memories of breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom are very separate CU they felt very different even though it uses the same map and everything it was just the vibe I think the vibe was just very different instead of being in This calamity thing you know there's people going around it feels more lively so uh yeah yeah it's just very fascinating I and even though I didn't personally enjoy that they used the same map they did a really really good job with it yeah I think the um the way that you describe the different feelings is a really apt point for Me Breath of the wild is very much it's kind of empty and desolate and that that that definitely adds into the gameplay it was a criticism that many people had but I actually felt it was a benefit um and yet they still felt like there was stuff around every corner it was very well done but tears of the Kingdom feels it feels more alive doesn't it whereas breath of the wild felt like um kind of like a ghost of a world tears of the kingdom it feels like oh the the world is is coming back it feels like if I were to use a season um as a metaphor I would say that breath of the wild felt like winter and um tears of the Kingdom feels like spring yeah yeah new good way of putting it yeah yeah you know yeah there's you know daffodils coming up and uh lambs and Coro every remembers those from tears of the Kingdom cororo everywhere that are just trying to get from point A to point B I still like the Coro I know some people hate them they should have had something else than the Coro again I collected so many breath of the wild and to boot up tears of the Kingdom again it's like like no what what's going but the thing is is that these tiny micro challenges and they're great and I love the ones with the backpacks they're my favorites cuz they're just like I need to reach my friend and it's like I'm going to help you you know you just feel good about it you know yeah it's just like yes I'm going to help you get to your friend you it may hurt but I'll get you there yeah I do enjoy strapping a rock kiss on that bad boy there you there you go that's all that's all you needed then you know you like it but s of the Kingdom added so much to an already Brilliance game and made it so much bigger and what I'm trying to lead into is that what was your favorite thing from Tis of the Kingdom um I one one thing I was going to bring up which I suppose probably covers this covers what exactly what you're asking um you know how like a lot of us were confused by the the lack of marketing and just like yeah the fact that Nintendo wasn't really telling us a whole lot about this game um I know Felix that you got spoiled um you know by this just because of having to work on the the video review but the fact that like just being able to organically discover the depths and find caves and things like that that that's probably my favorite thing is the fact that they were that Nintendo was able to take this game that we already knew so well and and inject like new Mysteries and new excitement into it um in in such in such an exciting way um I think that that's probably my favorite part in the end like now I can I wish Nintendo gave you know us more information and more Hands-On opportunities with it and stuff before before launch but um but I'm still be careful what you wish for I got Co when I did that oh no um I am still I'm I'm still thankful with the way that it all panned out cuz I yeah just I remember discovering the depth was was such a magical and scary thing for me that um like it anytime a game makes me feel emotions is is is a good thing um and so I think that's I was so cagy with talking about the depths around anyone that I met um just cuz I didn't want to spoil that for them um and uh yeah I think when a when a game gets you to like just care that much or or feel feel that excited for something I think it's it's doing a good thing and um yeah so I think honestly the marketing and just like the the surprises of the game that the game had to show even even the story The the twists and turns that it takes um I really I enjoyed it quite a bit but what we what about you guys uh I'll let Alex go first but uh no good points see I I wish I was there to experience it like that uh it's oh it's honestly difficult for me to pick out a particular thing um I had great fun pushing the game's boundaries but I think I think the the best part for me is is going to be is I don't know was the best you know who's your favorite child it's something you you find very difficult to answer um oh that's almost like a thing you probably shouldn't answer right could you imagine if Alex went I'm not I'm just not going to answer then actually I loved the boss fights um for the most part um the boss fights in breath of the wild were okay um the final one uh in breath of the wild not the final final one obviously that was just pointless but the one beforehand against um um uh Calamity Ganon that was really cool but that was like the only really good boss fight for me in breath of the wild whereas tears of the Kingdom overall I would say that they were you know sort of some of them were dead simple you know but a lot of Zelda bosses are but they were really good fun Kera that music the atmosphere oh my God yeah I I try doing that without a parag glider it's flipping hard I'll tell you that but it can be done yeah um but yeah I I think for me can I be really annoying and just say the atmosphere was my favorite part because it's not one specific part of the game no definitely valid the bosses and the atmosphere or the the the bosses come in second atmosphere while fighting the bosses the atmosphere including when fighting the bosses my favorite boss was the big blocky one I really enjoyed that one like discovering that you could use your Ultra hand to pull it apart after I had done so much more like work to get on top it was such a I do wish that some of those um some of those constructs were harder I felt like um once you figure that out they become really easy but before they they actually quite a challenge to be honest the same was um with the gleo um they I had to like stop myself from using certain items that I had just because it made it trivial and I understand you know sort of like the game can't be too hard this is why I really wanted a master mode and that's something I think that's my biggest regret um or rather what I feel to be the biggest missed opportunity um but we'll get on to that in a minute what about what was your favorite moment uh Felix my favorite moment was definitely going to The Villages again and seeing how much they had grown since breath of the wild cuz I found it so intriguing going to these different know regions and there was these Regional phenomenas like going to retto Village and everything was just in snow suddenly and that been snowstorm one of my favorite moments in the game going to gudo and there's a giant now everything is encapsuled in sand you go to Goron Village and everyone is just I don't know where they are they're just out of their G yeah yeah they they're not themselves so it was just that was just lovely that was what I did first I just visited all the villages like um they they also had a useful lurin Village yeah yeah lurin actually had a purpose now yeah and uh Terry town build up you have hero village with fashion there was just so many great moments in those those towns and regions that no those were the moments where I was the just pure happy one I think that's a good answer thank you Alex so is yours and C so what about what I said earlier what's what's everyone's biggest regret I've already said that mine was a lack of Master mode um uh Felix how about yours mine was definitely that there wasn't uh that they reused the map I think it was missed opportunity to just make a a new exciting map yeah exactly what about you Zeon um I think as excited as I was to explore the depths the more and more I explore them the more like disappointed I become um I know I know people are disappointed about the skies but like I I can't tell you how much of like a gut punch it is for me to I just personally to like go and do a big side quest in the depths to get a treasure chest and then to find an item or like a a a a mask or like a piece of clothing or something that I already had in a different game or something that I just re received with an amiibo like hours earlier or something like that um so I wish I wish that the like the the item rewards were a bit more exciting as well um but yeah so much of it feels reused and I wish there was I wish there were more unique uh unique items in the depths and just yeah just more stuff to do down there I know you're playing animal well at the moment and the best thing about that is finding some cool new items totally that would have been awesome if they were just like really cool items in the depths and that would encourage you to go out instead of just like this costume you already had in breath of the wild yeah but but that's all right I mean for the I I think for the most part here it sounds like we all really love tears of the Kingdom even with its even with the changes yeah definitely don't get us wrong don't get us wrong it's a brilliant brilliant game it's just you know sometimes sometimes we look at our children and we go you know I wish I wish you really took those swim lessons seriously cuz you know then maybe you'd be able to dive underwater tears of the Kingdom but you didn't so here we are yeah instead you're just sitting there drowning and you're embarrassing me yeah God look at look at that stamina wheel go down you were talking about the depths I feel it was really missed opportunity with the sky islands I know I already said mine but I've had to choose something not like oh just make another map like the sky islands were really disappointing to me like you get on this big sky island in the start and think yes this is awesome this is the new stuff I'm talking about and then that's it you have these small puzzles around the floating around but there not really any I was hoping for like a town in the sky I think that was I I or a town in the depths that would have been so cool oo yeah I've just had a random thought but I think the biggest problem with the depths is it size because it does feel empty one one it would be cool if um I can think of one or two ways they could have done it if the depths did mirror um what was above the ground but was smaller like everything was scaled down and so when when you um uh so you know you Traverse through the depths and every step you take is the equivalent of five or 10 steps on land so it could be more condensed and there could be more things and you could use it as a way of moving around the map super quickly uh to areas that you've never been to before CU you could go down I think I've just descri I think I've just described the nether in Minecraft nice that wasn't my intention um but I just just saying that out loud I think that's literally where I've got the idea from literally never but I think that would have been cool and they could have like you know there's a couple ways they could have done it uh they could have scaled link up as you were going down uh but then that probably would have led to some problems when going back up and some people exploited it and then there's giant link you know um but they also could have just had I don't know like portals you know sort of so it looks like it's all one consecutive thing but it's not you're going to a different map you know all that sort of thing well boys we could be sitting around talking about tears of the Kingdom all day um but instead we're going to let our viewers go and go find something else to enjoy their their time uh with today U so let us know before you go though what you thought of Tears of the kingdom in the end let us know if you finished the story if you've uh if you've done all of the things uh I'm I'm very curious still to learn someday like what all these side quests do but I'm I don't want to look them up cuz I just I want to keep it pure um but let us know if you're still having fun with the game let us know where you sit on all that and of course if you enjoyed this video and you want to see more videos like this this then why don't you copy paste that subscribe button and then go ahead and and P like I said paste it somewhere but change it up a little bit and then and then click it cuz why why not why not subscribe twice thank you all so much that's how hyperlinks work thank you all so much for watching I'm zeen from Nintendo life stay safe out there and we will see you all next [Applause] [Music] time the Legend of Zelda be of the Kingdom Alex no no

Channel: Nintendo Life

Views: 130,416

Keywords: Nintendo Life, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Switch, Nintendo UK, Felix, Alex, Zion, Zelda, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda Tears of the kingdom, totk, botw, breath of the wild, Zelda Breath of the Wild, Zelda totk, Zelda botw, still good?, holds up?, adventure, open world, revelutionary, the depths, sky islands, thoughts, good, bad, opinon

Id: On8e4Uw7418

Length: 32min 2sec (1922 seconds)

Published: Wed May 15 2024