I cannot describe in words how impactful Ocarina of Time was to me as a kid, how intensely I got sucked into that world to the point that I even wrote some (bad) fanfic set in that universe back in the days. When Majora's Mask came out I was almost bursting with excitement until I was actually able to play it and was again totally blown away by a unique experience.<p>When I played Breath of the Wild, I felt ... nothing. It's not that I hated the game, it was even enjoyable up to a point, but I just can't seem to get as excited about it as many others, and it seems to be missing everything I loved about Zelda. I'm also not a huge fan of open world games in general and to this date, the only one that I think pulled this of well is IMHO Witcher 3 where every side quest feels meaningful.<p>So I wish everyone a ton of fun with Tears of the Kingdom, but I feel no particular urge to play it right now, given that it appears to largely copy BotW's formula from what I've read. Maybe I will pick it up at some later point.
I caved and bought a Switch last week. It’s the best tech purchase I’ve made in years! The games on it are fun, the versatility of the Joycons is incredible, and the loading speed is a breath of fresh air. My main console is an original PS4. I upgraded to PS5 last year and returned it. It’s just more of the same. Huge game downloads, huge update downloads, a huge console, and long load times. And tbh, I didn’t see a lot of difference in terms of graphics. If you want to play super realistic games then Nintendo doesn’t seem to be the way to go, but if you want to have fun and don’t care about frame rate/whatever other performance metric people complain about, the Switch is amazing.
I was listening to a gaming podcast last week and they were talking about how this release was pirated and available for the last week or so on torrents. That in itself wasn't surprising, but the interesting point they talked about is that the game is much more enjoyable when played on PC with an emulated copy because modern gaming PC hardware is much smoother and higher resolution than the stock Switch.<p>It really makes me think Nintendo has an untapped market here to sell a little box you plug into your PC that plays switch games, interfaces with their controllers, etc. They've done oddball stuff like the SNES Gameboy player and GameCube GBA player add-ons in the past. It feels like there would be people willing to pay to properly play Switch games on their gaming PCs.
According to reviews so far this game would be a Top 5 on the Nintendo Switch and Top 50 game on any platform. (<a href="https://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/all/switch/filtered?view=detailed" rel="nofollow">https://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/all/...</a>)<p>That’s an impressive achievement for a team that had to beat the high bar they set with <i>Breath of the Wild</i>. Kudos to them!
Has Nintendo ever talked about how they do software development? Can we all drop the thousands of books that have been written about software engineering in general and just figure out what they do?<p>Game aside, the reviews have been pointing out how the game performs well (after day 1 patch) and is not pestered with bugs, which is an impressive feat for such an open world game where most things are able to interact with everything else.
Apparently the game is just 16GB and runs seamlessly on a decade old hardware with no loading screens between game areas.<p>How does Nintendo pull it off?
HN audience may appreciate the "Ask the developer" series in the News section:
<a href="https://www.zelda.com/tears-of-the-kingdom/en/news/" rel="nofollow">https://www.zelda.com/tears-of-the-kingdom/en/news/</a>
My god. This almost brings tears to my eyes. I haven't played games for years. Small children and adult life kind of came in the way... I don't miss gaming that much, but I miss Zelda.<p>The sheer perfection of the Zelda games are just mindblowing to me. I replayed The Legend of Zelda many years ago and it was obvious that the gameplay was still holding up. They got it right from the absolute beginning. And not only that, it is basically the same gameplay still used (at least up to Twilight Princess which is the last major Zelda game I played. They are so consistent.
I just played it for an hour. It's like a remix Breath of the Wild, which isn't a bad thing considering BotW might be the best game I've ever played. But because of that there's no initial mind blowing experience of learning the mechanics for the first time, understanding how you can go anywhere, climb anything, etc. Hard to replicate an experience like that I suppose. But it still seems like a ton of fun, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it plenty.
BOTW was almost perfect, but the weapon breaking system left me so tired of managing it. What a constant distraction! I get that they wanted to encourage experimentation, but they overtuned it, and it became a chore.<p>If TOTK has the same system, I'm returning it.
My preorder (the first game I preordered in 20 years) came one day early. It was the closest I've come to that childhood feeling of a birthday or Christmas present. Spent a few hours on it after putting my kid to bed and it's definitely succeeded in drawing me into that world again.<p>I'm somewhat amazed how each Zelda (or Mario for that matter) title is essentially exactly the same story over and over, but still with enough changes to make it feel totally new again. Sure, a lot of the mechanics are the same as in BOTW (the good and the bad), maybe more of an evolution than a revolution, but critics saying it's like a DLC for BOTW are wrong.
I slowly grinded my way through BOTW over the last years, every few months a few steps forward, then getting bored. Left the plateau, tamed a horse and have now the full picture of the princess and a long sleep. Nice, but still little curiousity what happens next. I wish I could feel what everyone else seems to enjoy…
That new Zelda seems to be very inspired by Ghibli's aesthetics. It's definitely a void in the video game world that was begging to be filled. A few elements that pop out:<p>- Flying islands and robots remind Laputa's castle in the Sky<p>- Villains with lots of tentacles look like demons in Mononoke<p>- Small villages have a Nausicaa feel<p>- The music borrows a lot from joe hisaishi.<p>I wish I had the kind of time I had when I was a kid... That stuff looks amazing.
Haha I still remember seeing "A Link to the past" the first time, watching my big brother playing it. Immediately fell in love and the whole series is still one of my favorites ever!
I think it's also important to point out that Zelda games since the 80s have been one of the best pieces of software humans have ever invented. So many classic titles that have enthralled generations of gamers. You wouldn't get an immersive experience if these games were buggy or didn't have compelling stories and art.
I've attempted to play through BOTW a couple times and ended up giving up due to weapons breaking, endless shrines, generally rather boring gameplay. The hype here is fascinating. I guess nostalgia and liking what everyone else says they like is a powerful thing. I just finished Horizon Zero Dawn, which I found to be a far superior open world game, the graphics alone are jaw dropping, the gameplay is exciting, quite an incredible production. I'm curious if any of The Zelda fans here have played it?
One day Nintendo games will be free of the shackles of Nintendo hardware and we will all be so much better for it.<p>Tears is an absolutely <i>brilliant</i> game that suffers from 20-30fps and incredibly conspicuous pop-ins.<p>I’ve been using a PS4 controller which really helps with avoiding cramping on tiny controllers. Though I’ve heard the Pro Controller is great too. But in general I find myself enjoying the game <i>despite</i> the hardware.
Nintendo nailed it again. Almost every single outlet gave it a 10.<p>And the fixed the performance issues too, even Digital Foundry was impressed at how drastic of a change the day one patch was compared to the cartridge version.
For people wanting to see details of the game with minimal spoilers: <a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/" rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/</a> (0)<p>For people wanting to see spoilers and the cool craziness that can be achieved in the game:
<a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/TOTK/" rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/TOTK/</a><p>(0) Not sure if this is going to change immediately after release
Nintendo proves over and over that it's not the computing power of the system, or the "realism" of the game, or blood and guts that makes a game fun.
Has anyone else here taken the day off to play this? I have taken a rare day off to play this all day.<p>"But why are you here on Hackernews idk1?"<p>Well let me tell you, according to a text message, Terry from DPD is delivering my game between 9:53am and 10:53am so I'm currently perched in my front window waiting for it.<p>(I'm not a digital copy person for all the normal reasons, I can't lend it out, I can't re-sell it in a year, I lose it if I lose my Nintendo account, etc.)
I wish I have the time to sink 100+ hours on this game. I still haven't finished BOTW after playing it on and off for a few years. Hoping the next Zelda would be more brief like the old Wind Waker.
I'm maybe a bit nostalgic but I think the Nintendo Switch from a form-factor standpoint along with the tiny game cartridges is the best console made to date. Of course others are more powerful, etc. and I think Nintendo needs to up it just a little bit (1080p on the Switch screen, etc.) but it's just such a pleasure for me to play.<p>I also like that some games like Disco Elysium, Neverwinter Nights, etc. - these older PC games which work fine on Switch are being ported over. Happy to pay a little more to get the physical cartridge and play it on the Switch - though paying $55.99 for Skyrim seems a little steep to me so I'll continue playing that on Gamepass.<p>Waiting for my copy of Tears of the Kingdom to arrive today. In the meantime I'm finishing up Metroid: Dread and enjoying that quite a bit too!
Despite being 50yo and much more of a PC guy than a console gamer, I actually pre-ordered TOTK. Even though BOTW was my first Zelda game and also my first open-world console action/RPG, I really enjoyed it and was impressed with what they were able to accomplish.
What makes the Switch fun to play is that it's a handheld that you can dock.<p>I couldn't care less whether the graphics are hd, 4k, hdr, dolby whatever, 120fps.<p>The game is fun on the Switch.
I'm so upset that I'm really sick right now and can't play it. I mean I guess I could, but I wouldn't enjoy it, my throat is in so much pain. I'll binge it next weekend I suppose. To everyone already playing it, enjoy.
For me 'Zelda' will always be the gold NES cartridge I purchased used from my neighbor after two weeks saving from doing yard work. It endures as my all time favorite game; the legend of 'The Legend of Zelda'.
For anyone not owning a switch but still wanting to experience BoTW esque gameplay and world, I cannot recommend - Immortals: Fenyx Rising - enough .... It's probably the best game ubisoft has made in a long while.
I haven't found any info on how it runs on the 1st gen Switch.<p>All of the reviews, including the Digital Foundry one were playing it on the OLED model, which - including the 2nd gen one, have higher clock rates and improved many FPS dips in BOTW.
Here I am waiting for another top-down Zelda like Link's awakening, since my nostalgia is really for the NES game. Or Tekken. Looks like I'm not getting either.
This plays on my machine, with a 3080 and recent I can't remember which i7 (I'm out and about), at 4k60fps solid.<p>Nintendo's ability to make games is undeniable. Their raw numbers hardware though has been lacking for every generation starting with GameCube. I just don't get it.<p>This and breath of the wild are completely different games when played at 60fps and a reasonable resolution.
GameStop - Dying brick and mortar.
This reminds me when GTA came out and there were lines everywhere at midnight to get the game. Digital downloads are nice but half the fun was waiting and not knowing if you'd get a copy lol