Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

IUMogg wrote:

Has anyone done any significant exploration of the depths? I just started exploring a few chasms. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing besides finding the light roots. I don’t want to look anything up yet and will keep poking around, but so far it’s been a little underwhelming.

I did a bit more of the chasm last night - there's a fairly significant, and very useful, power to be found there. It was just something I basically stumbled upon, but it's definitely something useful.

So, thought I'd share here so that my obtuseness might cause some laughter in my fellow g'jers.

Started this game on Friday last week, played maybe an hour or three, taking it slow, got to the bit where I needed to do a certain number of shrines at the beginning to unlock the place that I have to unlock for apparent story progress. Did the first shrine I found, all looking peachy, explored, figure ghost dude is a good indicator of where I'm supposed to go, seeing as it's the starting area... Next thing I know, I've only found one other shrine in the distance that I'm trying to get to and I'm in a snowy spot and seemingly unable to reach any of the areas I'm able to see in the distance, either due to stamina or simply unable to gather/produce enough materials.

I figure I must be going about it the wrong way, backtrack, think of going a different way yet end up getting to the same spot. Try again, same result. Alright, time to think outside the box or something... Diving into what I guess must be cold lakes equals pretty quick death. No go on that approach. Chop down trees and make ad-hoc bridges to areas I probably shouldn't get to yet, arrive to them, but no nearer the quest goals. Stranded.

Let's try the rails, I think to myself. I keep arriving at the same cave without really making any headway. I think I must be missing some significant interaction, so I chat up all the constructs I can to see if I missed something. Nothing that I can ascertain.

I've spent a good 6 hours and have made very little progress compared to what I think anyone with half a brain cell has. I don't think I've been stuck in a tutorial area so badly in, well, I actually can't recall. There must have been a game or two in the past decade, of that I'm fairly certain.

I'm stubborn, so I'll keep trying to get around this somehow - likely hitting my head against a wall I am not aware of - but refuse to look up a video or a guide to see what it is I am doing wrong. Will come back to it tomorrow. Maybe.

Don't know if this is a testament to how open-ended the game design is or just how dumb I can be - perhaps both -, but it sure feels like the game might not be for me right now. Might throw it in the backlog and take it back up in a month or so when my daughter comes for Summer Vacation so she can explore her copy and very much likely get through this bit in record time and show me how it's done hahahaha.

Just venting here. I've enjoyed the mechanics so far and the abilities hold countless possibilities. I'm sure there are tons of videos I'm ignoring, showing how people make living machines that do their taxes and whatnot. I bet I'll go head over heels once I manage to get over this relatively small hurdle. I just seem to be in the wrong headspace to meet the game where it wants me to. Or I'm just plain dumb.

I think I've died more in the introductory areas of this game than during my first try at Demon's Souls starting area way back when, or at least a comparable amount. Maybe I'll start a video series of Tears of the Kingdom jackass-like stunts that are just me trying to get something done

The sunsets sure look pretty, though!

zeroKFE wrote:

Oh, two settings recommendations I've been meaning to make:


First, if you haven't tried the pro UI mode, give it a go. It changes to a super minimalist setup, with even core items like your heart gauge only showing when needed. As for the information that doesn't ever show (mini-map, heat and stealth gauge, etc), a lot of it is pretty extraneous or obvious from in game clues -- you'll know when pretty fast if Link is too hot or too cold, for example, and the world design is so good that you rarely if ever need a mini map. And, in a pinch all the information is instantly visible by pausing, so you can see it in a pinch.

I was actually initially hesitant on this one mostly because I worried about not having control guidance for the complex item manipulation modes, but I quickly realized I really didn't need it. Those controls became pretty intuitively remembered quickly, and now I just get to enjoy the beautiful art direction of the world without obstruction or distraction.


Second, try the Japanese voices. Older Zelda games were much more inspired by western mythology and medieval fantasy, but Breath of the Wild definitely shifted into a space more stylistically influenced by Japanese cultural touchstones, and this game leans into that even further, so it feels good to have the characters speaking in Japanese when they are voiced -- and the lip sync matches a lot better too. Also, the game doesn't let you turn off subtitles anyway, which is hugely distracting for me when people are speaking in English.

Granted, Zelda does have a super charming British accent in the English dub, but really, once you hear how perfect and awesome the Japanese voice work for characters like Ganon and Rauru are, you'll quickly see it as a fair trade.

Yeah, I switched to Japanese right away because I don't like the English voice acting for Zelda which is what you hear most off the bat. No regrets.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FwG8a6TaAAAbeID?format=jpg&name=small)

*edit - I watched these and several others today at work. I didn't see any spoilers for story but darn I learned a lot about things I can do. It is quite nice for those of us with limited time (or attention spans) to find it all for yourself.

64 EARLY Game Tips YOU Must Know in Tears Of The Kingdom

Mine cart shield.

Shield surf anywhere.

(Probably also with the zonai sled device?)

Wind Temple down. Boss took 3 tries. Once I misjudged distance and fell. Once the 2nd phase add damaged me too much. Could see what to do from the start and was smooth sailing 3rd time.

Give me the third axis of rotation please. I’ll use ZL and ZR while I hold R if I really have to.

zeroKFE wrote:

(Probably also with the zonai sled device?)

Yes. 3 of my 4 shields currently have sleds attached to them. I ride my shield more than my horse.

We are four posts away from having a number of posts that equal the max rupees from OG Zelda.

I find it funny how for the last year or so we have been reading article after article about how the Switch is woefully underpowered and Nintendo was basically terrible for not putting out a more powerful version. Now we are just seeing articles about how absolutely incredible this game is, how instantly classic, etc.

I know a few places talk about how to get it running on the Steam Deck or other hardware but generally things are just about how great the game is.

I'm not sure why people are always so insistent on combining the two issues. The Switch is incredibly underpowered compared to all other available hardware. TotK is an incredible game. One truth does not contradict or invalidate the other.

Elden Ring was similarly incredible last year. That game also had major performance issues.

Both games will go down as some of the best games ever made. It'd still be awesome if both of them performed better.

For me it is because Nintendo is the developer of both the game and the hardware.

farley3k wrote:

*edit - I watched these and several others today at work. I didn't see any spoilers for story but darn I learned a lot about things I can do. It is quite nice for those of us with limited time (or attention spans) to find it all for yourself.

OMG. The spinning platform about 6 min in.

And of course the gacha gives you more when you put 5 at a time. I should have leaned from Fire Emblem mobile. Doh!

Cheesed a Hinox during lunch today. Been fighting him for awhile and realized that if I stand at just the right height he starts throwing rocks at me. I just recall the rocks and after about 10 of them he died. I felt like the greatest cheater and the smartest man alive simultaneously.

From that tips video: The Light Roots and Shrines are paired and even share a name!

Orphu wrote:

From that tips video: The Light Roots and Shrines are paired and even share a name!

I got that when I first caught up to Robbie down below. He framed it as a vague theory, but that's how NPCs tell you truths in these games.

For whatever reason, I am finding the lack of bomb flowers or time bombs extremely frustrating early game because of all the bomb-destroyable gate walls. I thought I could draw the time bombs in the gum machine bit apparently not. Need to get a regular supplier... It is killing my access to unlocking the sky towers.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

For whatever reason, I am finding the lack of bomb flowers or time bombs extremely frustrating early game because of all the bomb-destroyable gate walls. I thought I could draw the time bombs in the gum machine bit apparently not. Need to get a regular supplier... It is killing my access to unlocking the sky towers.

You can attach a stick to a rock to create a hammer and smash them

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

For whatever reason, I am finding the lack of bomb flowers or time bombs extremely frustrating early game because of all the bomb-destroyable gate walls. I thought I could draw the time bombs in the gum machine bit apparently not. Need to get a regular supplier... It is killing my access to unlocking the sky towers.

You might find a trip down a chasm useful.

IUMogg wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

For whatever reason, I am finding the lack of bomb flowers or time bombs extremely frustrating early game because of all the bomb-destroyable gate walls. I thought I could draw the time bombs in the gum machine bit apparently not. Need to get a regular supplier... It is killing my access to unlocking the sky towers.

You can attach a stick to a rock to create a hammer and smash them

Oh!

I need to get better at rewind. I have been trying to build a really long bridge in the temple of time but after watching some videos about rewinding to reach places it occurred to me that I could put a plank over there, bring it to me, rewind jump on it and ride over.

At least that is my hope I will try it tonight.

I put a few more hours in, got the glider, did a couple shrines, found a stable which still has my horses Zelda and Big Jack and Booboo in it, explored the underdark some, got some quest markers and map stamps to investigate... finally feel like I'm playing the game.

I found a couple carts in the underdark and slapped them on my shields so I could shield surf on rough terrain. I wish I'd marked the spot where I found them on my map so I could find them again, they've almost run out.

I finished Breath of the Wild on Tuesday and immediately jumped into this. I have gotten off the starter island, have been to Rito and have got about 10 shrines done so far. I am loving the new powers, rewind in particular has been a brain wrinkler with all the a-ha moments I've had with it.

I got really excited at one point, I came across a shrine that basically had an apple orchard outside of it. In BOTW early on I would cook 5 apples and sell the simmered fruit for 50 rupees because it was so easy to gather 50 or so apples every time you got to Hateno, I think, cook them and sell them for a tidy little profit. So imagine my reaction when I came away with 120 apples only to cook them all and find the selling price has been reduced to 27. This made me think maybe the game was going to be nicer about money than BOTW until I saw the price of cold resist armor in Rito.

Also, f*ck those cave troll things, they creep me out.

Yeah I ended up selling some rubies just to buy the cold resist head piece in Rito. But between that and the found pants I didn't have to cook any cold resist food through all of the wind Temple. Worth the 650 I guess. But damn yeah I'm not buying complete sets and feel very pressed for rupees so far.

I like that rupees feel meaningful in this and BotW. I'm sure eventually I'll stumble into whatever this game's equivalent of farming those big elk things in the northwest corner of the map for meat is, but in the meantime, I kinda like that every armor piece purchase feels like an event.

I found a place to easily make 80 rupees 2-3 minutes. I'll put it in spoilers below for anyone curious.

Spoiler:

Head to Eventide Island in the far southeast corner of the map. Finish the quest chain for the guy on the beach, then head back up to the tallest point on the island. There will be a repeatable gliding challenge that gives 80 rupees for the best result, which I was able to pull of 9 out of 10 times with ease.

I really like how intuitive some of this stuff is, someone else mentioned it up thread, things work more or less the way you'd expect them to.

For example, I ran across a monster tree house that was swimming in red explodey barrels. No fire arrows....but wait I have fire fruit and arrows....fuse and boom!

I wish there were a way-- and maybe there is and I just don't know about it?-- to tell it to go ahead use, for example, fire fruit arrows until I tell it different. It's kind of a pain having to hit that up button and go into the item fuse menu for a second for each and every arrow shot.