Welcome to another edition of Paula’s Games Ramblings; you can find the other ramblings here.
Did you watch the Nintendo Direct on February 8th? They showed us some great games to look forward to playing later in the year.
One of those games is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom; I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to be able to play the next instalment of the series.
Returning Home to Hyrule
I loved The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when it was released. Furthermore, watching the Tears of the Kingdom in the Direct and hearing the music drove me back to play BOTW.
Initially, when Breath of the Wild was released, I didn’t own a Switch, so I bought the game for the Wii U. I played nearly 1000 hours on the Wii U and then bought myself a Nintendo Switch with BOTW, and I started playing it all over again. I’ve completed the game numerous times, then played it again when the Champions DLC was released.
Master Mode
So lately, since the direct, I’ve been playing BOTW’s master mode. Also, I’m completing my regular save file; mainly the Champions DLC left to complete on that file.
I love many, many things about BOTW. There are numerous things in the game that players who may not be familiar with the Zelda series will not generally notice, such as the subtle references to previous games, the music and the characters.
For instance, in the shrines on the plateau, each monk’s hands are placed in the shape of a triangle, put them all together, and you get the shape of the Triforce. Or that all the NPCs at Zora’s Domain are named after musical notes.
Memories of First Playthrough
Additionally, with BOTW, I clearly remember specific parts of Hyrule from my first play-through, like the nightmare of stumbling upon a Guardian for the first time when the battle music starts. I wondered what it was and what I was meant to do, then ran away as quickly as Link’s legs could carry him. Or seeing a dragon and thinking, is it friend or foe?
Then there is the weapon durability, which no one particularly liked when the game was released. For me, the weapon durability makes the game more fun and gives the player options for workarounds.
Durability
In BOTW, every battle is approached with thoughts about how I engage and what to use. For instance, I’d hate to waste precious durability on a high-powered sword if I don’t have to. So how to engage in combat, what to use, and how to find replacements are essential to the Breath of the Wild experience.
Annoying Bokoblins, Moblins and Lizalfos are among my favourite things to do in BOTW. Unfortunately, well, unfortunate for them, Bokoblin’s aren’t the most intelligent enemies and are easily tricked. For example, the fun begins by standing across a river from a Bokoblin camp and Link whistles to get their attention. You see, once they spot Link, they will attack, but they don’t consider the water, dive in and meet a watery end by drowning. The result is that the camp’s enemies are killed without any weapons being used.
I’ve watched Bokoblin’s burn themselves repeatedly by lying beside a campfire to sleep, and their wooden weapons catch fire. If it weren’t for the Blood Moon bringing them back and saving the species, Bokoblin’s wouldn’t exist as they aren’t the brightest sparks.
Feeding Mobilin’s is fun, too; wearing Majora’s mask lets you get close to them without being attacked.
In addition to that, Nintendo made it pretty easy to take out enemies without using a weapon. Leaving explosive barrels sitting around in specific spots helps the player out by saving on weapons. Lighting strikes are also helpful. Especially if it strikes near a metal box beside an explosive barrel; cue fireworks and lots of screaming Bokoblin’s.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
So, I wonder what Tears of the Kingdom will be like. Will it carry on the weapon durability and all the other things we saw in BOTW? Nintendo doesn’t want to give too much away about the game. Will it be more of the same? The trailers show that islands in the sky will play a prominent role in the game, and Hyrule castle is in ruins.
More Lore
It makes me wonder where did they take the inspiration for the game’s sky exploration from; was it Skyward Sword. Tears of the Kingdom might expand upon the lore and history of Skyloft or weave a whole new tale, we will have to wait and see.
I also noticed that Link no longer seems to carry the Sheikah Slate and uses his hand to control objects across the lands of Hyrule. Are his arm and hand corrupted, or is it a new way to control Magnesis or the Stasis abilities?
New enemies are present in the trailer. Like the flying enemy, and thankfully, Bokoblin, Moblins and Lizalfos all appear again. Seeing them in the trailer gives me hope that there will be many opportunities to fool them into killing themselves repeatedly.
What are you looking forward to in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?