Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are both fantastic games - and Tears of the Kingdom really does feel (to me) like they just took Breath of the Wild, and added a few more years of dev time to it.
Where do you think Nintendo will take Zelda from here though? Can they keep with the same new formula? Should they? Will a more traditional game feel disappointing after this?
I don’t really know what I want myself. I think they should try something different though. At the same time, I can’t help but think I’d be disappointed if the next game was more similar to something like Twilight Princess. Have they boxed themselves in?
I haven’t finished TOTK yet and I feel the same. It’s a good sandbox game of zonai tech, but IMO it’s not a good “Zelda” game. I know people might argue that traditional approach of dungeon puzzle or boss design makes it too “linear” or not exploring the creativity of player. Basically, designer designed how a puzzle or boss should be dealt with. BUT, at least it was done in a meaningful way that you learn along the way of different mechanism and how older Zelda shine.
I will probably try finished all the shrines and story and put it away. Since the side quests I run into so far are mostly copy paste side quests. (photo quests I will probably do them all if I can find them. I like photo quests)
To be honest, other than theming, the old Zelda dungeons are overrated. Every dungeon from LttP and on – you’re going to get an item, and that item is critical to unlocking the 2nd half of the dungeon. It’s exceedingly linear. I don’t consider boomerang lock-on for 5 targets or using fire arrows to light torches amazing gameplay.
I do love totks crazy spinning fan torch puzzles.
I’m convinced lately the fan praise of Twilight Princess is due to youth having this as their first game. It doesn’t hold a candle to what OoT or Majora’s Mask was. Even then, OoT is LttP in 3d (for the first time, and it was phenomenal).
