Reviewing EVERY Zelda Game - Tears of The Kingdom (Switch) 

Unlike BotW which blew me away I could not play TotK to the end. I cannot criticize such a well made game but I can say that the atmosphere of the overworld wasn’t as melancholic (and new) to me anymore and the mechanics made me feel like playing a crafting game instead of an adventure too many times. Perhaps I will complete the game in the future, at least I hope I can motivate myself to do so. I’m happy for Nintendo that they managed to produce another amazing game and make so many people very happy.

Great video Ryan, for music lightning temple act 4 theme is the standout for me

Very well made video.

Absolutely loved the story summary it was a great recap

I disagree with the gear being lazy because the were all totally optional and felt like a real reward vs just the shrines. That said needing to upgrade them was absolutely brutal.

That point about curing Zelda as dlc was exactly what I was thinking! Maybe you could’ve worked with purah to find dungeons in the skies and depths and talk with dinraal, farosh and naydra, learn why they became dragons, and possible ways to reverse it. It could’ve been awesome! Aonuma saying they had done enough in the world was total malarkey.

Very fair review. This game has some of the highest highs of any game I've played, but also has some baffling missteps that makes it look amateur. Overall though a very solid game. Let's hope for an even better game next time!

Looking forward to oot claiming first place again

Sidons sage ability has the most utility out of any item in the series. -water shield -water projectile -heat resistance Buffs to water weapons Give me Sidon over miphas grace any day of the week!

What game are you doing for your next Zelda Ultimate ranking? I really like this series

_TOTK_ is definitely an improvement over _BOTW,_ but it’s lacking the sense of magic and wonder that the first game had… mostly due to the reused world map, but _BOTW_ also had a sense of peaceful calm that _TOTK_ is missing. and a side thought… what if there was one final quest _after_ defeating Dragon Ganon, and that was to bring Zelda back from her dragon form… it wouldn’t have a full dungeon or anything, but maybe it just tests your knowledge of the world to gather parts of some relic, and then unveils one final “Spring of Regeneration” or something like that, and saving Zelda is the last thing you do in the game… would that be anti-climactic, or rather poetic?

What an awesome and polished video, i can really tell you put a ton of time and care in it! ❤ For me, tears was way too much of a grinder game and a long list of objectives to complete. I felt the rewards were also mediocre, and the mechanics of the game felt rather punishing at times. I didn’t know how fast to put it up for sale after completing the final battle😂 i really wish Nintendo would listen more to the players, but i think they kind of lost themselves in the “a good modern game is an open world game” narrative. Luckily the world was MUCH more lively than in BOTW, but the game could have definitely use some more structure i think.

I largely agree with your review. TotK may end up being my go-to example for how bad storytelling ruins an otherwise good story. What is most frustrating is that the problems seem relatively easy to fix. Like... maybe the Sages can tell different stories about the Imprisoning War? From their own point of view? With unique events? Also, I'd like Zelda to try using checkpoints akin to the bonfires in Dark Souls, and only let the player change equipment there. This would greatly reduce menu usage during gameplay (which really hurt the game for me), require the player to plan around their limited inventory, and reduce the need to manage saves. Nintendo could put their own spin on it obviously; Link can already carry wood to make campfires, so maybe he can save there too?

My rating corresponding to your categories: Story: 2 (your arguing also tells 2) World: 3,5 You cannot give a perfect score while complaining for the world to be repetetive. It is not a flawless world! This world screams quantity over quality and kills the exploration for me, espescially when you want to discover EVERYTHING. Too many places were left unchanged and unused and did not differ enough from botw. Artstyle: 3,5 Again, you mention the flaws of the repetetive artstyle underground, but still give a perfect rate. Plus: Copying the artstyle of the prior game doesn't justify the same ranking since there is no new experience to it. I would delete this category in this specific case. Items: 4 Your arguing is great, but despite the flaws still perfect score? Lazy gear take over, game in a nutshell: copy&paste! The abilities were amazing, but there was too much stuff copied and pasted again. Gameplay: 5 Dungeons: 2 Wow, Iam surprised! You rated lower than me. ^^ I try to ignore the cheesabilty. It's easier to enjoy them then a bit more, at least fire and lightning temple. The rest was "meh" to "bullshit", but still a stepup to the divine beasts, which were a 1 to me. The dungeons in windwaker also felt empty to me and espescially the last two annoying due to the partner mechanic, which required to play the song AGAIN and Again. Enemies/Bosses: 3,5 For a three layer worldmap there is not enough variety. It's lacking at least three more overworldbosses and unique monsters for the dungeons. Side Content: 4 Rewards disappointed a lot Music: 3,5 Pace: 4 is also ok Makes a total of 35, or a 7/10 Its not fair to rate a game higher than the game it copy&pastes from even after six years of development, despite the fact, that BotW was a unique and completely new experience. Totk felt too repetetive and lazy too often and it did not solve the many flaws its predecessor had, despite the fact the fans were asking for it.

It hurts, but I can't watch this yet, have yet to beat Ganondorf. All in all TOTK has been more of a disappointment and wasn't able to live up to its hype for me. The depths have been nothing but a boring, almost endless busy work, the sky's been too empty and most of the puzzles got old very quickly like getting an object from A to B by building a suitable device. The game offers oo many collectathons too: signs, wells, caves, Koroks, maps to collect armour, sage's wills, OOOOOF! Also I didn't like the music as much as BOTW's. But I don't wanny shit on the game, th dungeons were pretty good, some of the bosses were fun and Zelda's story was really touching (if you forget about the lore clashes with other Zelda games). For me it's a 7/10 A-tier game (S being the highest), #8 of the 20 Zelda games. Solid, but not the banger I had hoped for. If you disagree, that's fine, glad you enjoy the heck out of it.

Bang on with the story Essay. I saw Sonya die in the second cutscene. Ruined the story completely for me. I was quite devastated. Within 5 hours of gameplay, the story was shot to hell for me. I Melee the gloom hands. Charge and spin attacks. Keep hammering them. I'm writing this as I'm watching. I just found out what OST meant 2 days ago. Great video Essay. Oh and uh... Link to the Past is still on the top. I was just thinking I doubt another game will beat that... but I looked at what's missing from your list... See ya Dude.

Great video and I'd say pretty fair across the board. That being said, I just think dungeons were significantly better than BOTW's. I get by comparison's sake it's still lower than WW's in your eyes, so I get the 1 in relation to the others. But it was a huge step up in my opinion. I'm very interested in seeing how I feel in my second run through because I actually didn't like BOTW in the first run, but it really grew on me. So loving TOTK my first play through will make the second play through feel more positive than the second play through of BOTW.

This game was definitely a bit of a disappointment for me, considering how similar it was to BOTW and how a lot of the additions TOTK made didn't really suit my personal taste. But the copying doesn't specifically have to do with how the game plays, so I can't factor that in. Story- 3 (I think your assessment is super fair, there were elements I thought were GREAT but the way it stitched together and integrated with the gameplay was not. Comparatively, BOTW's story works better with the gameplay and the ambience, but has less high highs) World- 5 (some good and not so good additions- love the caves, but they are all additions to an already amazing world) Art Style- 5 Gameplay- 3 (it may be crazy as I gave BOTW a 5, but while I admit the ultrahand is really creative and allowed for some unique puzzles, it felt cumbersome and slowed the game down. The game felt super super repetitive with the korok escorts, the sign supporting, the light roots, the enemy camps on the side of the road instead of blocking you directly, it felt sandbox-y and I don't enjoy sandbox games as much as those with linear challenges. Elements like arrow fusing and the sages running around also felt like a step down from BOTW) Items- 5 (think Ultrahand will leave a permanent legacy regarding possible item types in Zelda games) Dungeons- 1 (it's a step up, but just barely) Bosses & Enemies- 5 (NAILS it, gave BOTW a 3, but the Gleeoks, ultrahands, dungeon bosses, final boss, etc. perfectly round it out) Side Content- 4 (my absolute favorite part of BOTW is the mysterious shrine quests with Kass, this game lacks it. I loved Tarrey Town, sorry Lurelin didn't feel the same. There is a lot a lot of side content, but it feels quantity over quality for the most part) Pacing & Progression-3 (yes it's open world so there's a lot of freedom, but the game is so big and so formless- sandbox-y, that pacing gets lost a lot of the time. I also don't like how the new towers let you fly over pretty much any obstacle and go wherever you want) Music- 2 (outside a few good tracks, it's repeated from BOTW, and the ambience doesn't match) OVERALL: 36 Gave BOTW a 39, TOTK feels like The Legend of Overkill, adds too much extra on top of a game that already felt more immense than you could ever dream, makes the game feel like a repetitive chore which detracts from the gameplay and pacing. That said, it has better enemies/bosses, and Ultrahand gives the game a unique identity, even if mech building is not totally my thing. For reference, BOTW scores here: Story- 3 World- 5 Art Style- 5 Gameplay- 5 Items- 4 Dungeons- 1 Bosses & Enemies- 3 Side Content- 5 Pacing & Progression- 5 Music- 3

Why are they called “Secret Stones” if everyone knows about them?

I just can't get onboard with this new style at all unfortunately. Based on the comments made by the creators this past year it sounds like this is the way the games will be going forward. I guess Zelda just isn't for me anymore :/

I’m sorrry but a 1/5 for dungeons!???? Don’t get me wrong the lack of enemy variety is a flaw with these dungeons but 1/5 just because it doesn’t do the “get a key,mini boss, get big key” format is a bit unfair and biased. Especially since the old format has a problem with unecessary padding and backtracking The water temple in TOTK is the worst dungeon in the game and I’d still rather go through that dungeon over dodongos cavern,arbiters ground, earth temple and some others that are objectively worse