Goddamn, Jacob. This is exceptional. I understand. It can be very scary for a creator to step out of their comfort zone with the type of content they release, but this was an unironically, delightfully entertaining video essay, and I would absolutely love to see more in this vein.
I remember getting the last Dragon Tear and realizing that Zelda is the Light Dragon just shattered me. I had a moment after getting the Master Sword where I was like, "Zelda's gone, and the sword is restored. Why do I fight now?" It truly did break me near the end. But even with the Insane Demon Dragon battle, she still came to help as a Dragon. And I just lost it when she was reverted back, and we saved her. A Fucking Masterpiece of a Game this is.
I remember going through the memories and at a certain point it clicked for me where I thought to myself, "omfg Zelda's the Light Dragon" and I didn't stop playing until I had gotten all the memories because I just had to know why she did it. That foreshadowing was so satisfying too because it didn't just fulfill the theory I had about Zelda but you're also rewarded with the Master Sword
@@bigbabymustache9284 The second Mineru mentioned that dragon thing, it clicked for me. "OMG that new dragon that's waaaaay high up is her, isn't it?" And then I realized she was present at the Great Sky Island and lost it.
SPOILER WARNING, please, dangit, not all of us have finished the plot! Game's not 2 months old. Though I did get that himt from a couple of the Tear scenes.
I actually didn't realize that the light dragon was the one flying around the beginning of the game, I saw yellow and my brain said Farosh, and basically rewrote my memory to be Farosh, so going through the dragon tears in order and seeing the light dragon, realizing that it was her who parted the clouds for us, watching over us from above the whole game, it absolutely nailed me in the gut.
I thought it was Dinraal because it seemed dark and I couldn't see the front facing horn or Farosh, nor Naydra's crown of horns. I kinda forgot that Dinraals horns also stand up a bit because I hadn't been playing BotW for a while and saw the flame emitter with the curved horns so I was like "oh, yeah, that's Dinraal! We're closer to his area of the map, right?"
When you drop down from the shine where you awaken, and you get the quest to Find Princess Zelda, she's literally center in the frame. It's incredible.
I absolutely love that every single monster drops fuse parts that match the strength and challenge of that monster actively incentivizing seeking out strong monsters to take them out. It doesn't feel like you have to baby all your stronger weapons because who knows when you'll find another, just fuse with something strong and you have it again! BTW you can recall the ranged attack of Taluses and ascend through their bodies, it is so satisfying to pull off. You can even muddle bud the ones with Bokoblins and it'll just absolutely launch them off.
The fuse ability has got to be the single best ability in TotK. Sure ultrahand is fun and honestly quite amusing sometimes, but the fuse ability allows for so much variation in gameplay. I remember when I first began playing, I fused a piece of amber to a giant boomerang and it honestly became one of my most memorable weapons. Compare that to BotW, where I can't think of any weapon being my favorite beyond the Korok leaf. Great observation. I never thought to recall Talus arms like that. I've recalled the rocks that Boss Bokoblins and Horriblins chuck at you, but not Talus arms. Fighting Talus's have never been easier.
Ascend has made me laugh so hard several times. Discovering someone who has been stuck in a cave, and they ask how you got here, as they were sure they had checked all the possible ways out, I just can't help but think about Link shrugging and flying through the roof of the cave. If I had more talent, I would draw link just being the most mind-fucky cryptid in Hyrule, dropping out of the sky in front of people, disappearing through the roof, climbing on a big rock and just riding it into the fucking sunset.
Don't forget Literally Teleporting immediately post-conversation. Shop keep finishes selling arrows, link teleports, comes back a day later dropping hundreds of cooked meals and monster parts, only to ascend through the roof and paraglide to a mountain, build a Hovercraft and attach a rocket to it, fly off into the sunset--then teleport Back to the shop because he forgot to buy some cooking oil. Can you imagine??
during that final dive to catch zelda i was sobbing. link diving like a madman desperate to correct the mistake of losing her in the beginning of the game, the music, the emotion. i was a wreck
As a fellow Zelda need, D&D nerd, and father (congrats), I have a lot of the same thoughts on the game. I wish more games, especially TTRPGs, had the flexibility we see in TOTK.
check out some other great immersive sims like Deus Ex 1, Prey 2017, Fallout New Vegas, and Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines for a similar experience. That flexibility is the defining feature of the genre, and its a truly unmatched experience. As a strange but great man once said, "There are a lot of different definitions of an immersive sim, but there's only one real one. Can you solve a challenge the devs intended to be solved by shooting by stacking boxes and climbing over it." I think that sums up pretty much how well totk fits into the genre
I’m a bit confused about the father bit. He said he and his sister still played Zelda and sheik at 2:10 and then said ‘we have kids now’. Am I an idiot or is this ambiguous as hell
I've never played Wind Waker, so I didn't get the nostalgia, but when I made the connection that the ice in Colgera's weakspots was the same thin ice I'd been seeing around the region *and you can damage the boss by skydiving through it?* Single best boss in the game, for me. Who needs weapons when you've got a parachute, gravity and the courage to do something completely insane?
I also cried many times during my first playthrough. All the story beats were so great! From losing so much, to slowly gaining strength, wisdom and courage to find Zelda. Then realizing she sacrificed herself to help you succeed! Just wow! And finally facing the big bad and rescuing Zelda in the final moments of the game. It was so emotional and rewarding. A true masterpiece of media!
Man you absolutely NAILED how I felt playing this!!! The moment I realized what Zelda had to do I just felt every possible emotion and it was absolutely incredible!!! And the way her yes changed during that cutscene sent shivers down my spine and it reminded me of Majora’s Mask with how it was just so bone chilling and I absolutely ADORED IT!!!
Tears of the Kingdom's story made me cry *multiple* times. And the ENDING??? I cried for like. 20 minutes straight after I beat the game. The whole credits, I was just sobbing. And then the post credits cutscene made me cry even more... Even just watching the footage you showed of the ending in this video made me tear up again. You put it so perfectly. It was just... The fact that the story came full circle. Link failed to save Zelda at the beginning... and once you collect the Dragon Tears, you - or at least I did - feel like it might be *impossible* for Link to save Zelda this time around. He can save the day, he can save Hyrule, save the Kingdom and it's people, stop Ganondorf in his tracks... But he might not be able to save *Zelda* . So when he does... It just made me *sob*.
About Zelda. Then you didn't pay attention to the story. There was no way Zelda would not be reverted back to normal. Sonia has the power to revert time, and she just disappears off screen, presumed dead. Rauru's spirit appears, it was obvious that her spirit would return given that Zelda has a near identical secret stone.
I think what makes the gameplay of BOTW and to a bigger extent TOTK excellent is that it takes the best part of the immersive sims genre (organic world, crisp systems, emphasis on player figuring it out by themselves) and mixes it with the epic adventure that is the Zelda series. The result is the ultimate world to explore, both physically and mechanically.
Hey Jacob just in case you’re wondering I love that you’re doing what you want and not feeling compelled to just do DnD, of course I love you’re dnd stuff but it’s great that you’re doing what you’re passionate about
You're so right I LOVE this masterpiece. The bossfight was super intense and the ending it was so awesome. The way the story was told made me really feel like I had to save Zelda and that she wasn't just the princess that needed saving but also another hero that fought with you just at a different time. Honestly I could go on and on about this game it is just so good.
Relatedly, I can't wait until AI lets you generate the game assets on the fly as you play in response to your actions (and initial content filters + story prompts) Fully possible within our lifetime if society doesn't collapse before then.
*cough* fallout New Vegas *cough* TOTK is absolutely a masterpiece no doubt about it but it's nowhere near DND in terms of actual freedom of action. You can't influence the story in any way. Best you can do is skip to the end and to wherever you want. You can't even make your own character how is that anything like DND I don't get at all
I super recommend Fallout New Vegas if TotK hit those notes for you! Different aesthetic for sure and quite a bit older, but it really does hit that DnD spot for freedom, immersion, and ability to choose how you interact with the story. It is by far my personal favorite of the Bethesda-era Fallout games.
I had to stop at the spoiler warning sadly, but I'll be back to finish this soon!! Wonderful video, feels magical. Really enjoyed myself :) I would totally be okay with more videos like this if they happened.
When I found the shrine that teaches you about the rocket shields I yelled in surprise. The moment I clicked the button that made the shield launch me in the air, my mind was completely blown. The absolute freedom this game gives you is outstanding. Every moment just kept impressing me over and over. Also OMG the LTTP remix of the Hyrule castle music is GODLIKE.
Thank You Jacob for this video. The feelings you envoke through your creations can't be put through words. Congratiulations to you and Spencer with the baby
The story of Tears of the Kingdom is absolutely brilliant. I love it so freaking much. It's so mindblowing and I would give a lot to experience it for the first time again. This one is truly the Legenda of ZELDA.
As someone who just finished the game today, it’s a masterpiece. I obviously don’t have the emotional attachment to it that you have, but it blew my mind time after time. It was so good.
You *really* are a magnificent storyteller. Thanks a lot for this video, it really hammers home just how special this game was, and even how special BotW was, even if you had problems with it. And really, how special this entire series is, even with how every entry does something different. It's crazy to think where they even go from here and if they can even manage to capture this kind of magic again, but, how many times have they surprised us already? Let's sit back and enjoy.
I think my main issue with the Yiga clan hideout in BOTWwas it felt like I was doing the right things and still not succeeding. I remember using the bananas to lure guards away and then them immediately turning around as I tried to sneak past or another guard coming off his patrol path across the room just to alert everyone as to my presence. That being said it felt great to actually get through once I finally got lucky
29:41 I genuinely don’t get why people hate Patricia summersett’s voice acting so much. This was amazing (It might be her faux royalty British accent, but I never found that dumb or cringe, just a voice actor voice acting)
Because her voice is not good? She has moments, but overall her voice is not very fitting. Her emotion is lacking at times. Especially since, this is her 3rd time with this character. Compare the crying scene to the Japanese version from the first game and you'll understand why others don't like her voice.
While the accent is out of place and jarring, her actual acting is just kinda.. bad. In the opening cutscene where they discover the cave relics, her idea of showing excitement is just to speak louder. Not faster or higher pitched, no emotion, just louder. All of her lines sound like they recorded one take and called it good. Compare her acting to Sam Witwer's as Starkiller in the Force Unleashed games. Hell, just compare her against Matt Mercer as Ganondorf.
Talking about the post game depression reminded me of how much I didn't want the game to end, to the point that I started getting unintentionally sloppy during the final fight with Ganondorf because I was having so much fun in it. It was pulse pounding, gut wrentching, edge of my seat fun that I hadn't had in gods know how long. This was a wonderful video Jacob.
@@Miss_Trillium They said that they couldn't let people pet dogs because it's actually a more complicated interaction than you might think (it involves the dogs cooperating with your movements and they have to program a whole new code just for that one thing. That's why most games have dog petting as something that only happens in cut scenes) anyway, they said that they would only program actions into the game that serve multiple purposes. (this info comes from an interview that was done after BOTW was released, but I'm sure it's the same with TOTK because they have to put a lot onto that little game cartridge and they can't spare the space for things that only have one function, like dog petting.
I really like this video, it's super good and probably my favorite on the channel to date. I hope you make more of these essay style videos, your passion really shone through with this one.
This video is a masterpiece of reflection. I felt as though I experienced the game all over again, but with you - your emotions and points resonating deeply. Simply splendid, Jacob.
The decision to go on unspoiled and end the video short was a difficult one. Watching you react to this game is as entertaining as it is nostalgic I can not wait to wait to watch the Arcane Arcade videos.
I held off on finishing this video and just beat the game with my 9 year old absolutely giddy with joy for that entire final battle. Jacob your opinion aligns directly with my feelings for the game and I feel like this really is a once in a lifetime experience. I'll always have small critiques of a game but my goodness did you nail it with this video. Your work is not in vain and please show us what you're passionate about. I feel like those videos are so enjoyable. I still sing "sneak attack run away" every once in a while.
I got the master sword and did all the memories super early, and the entire rest of the game really immersed me as I was thinking the entire time about how much I wanted to dropkick Ganon and save Zelda wich made the boss fight so worth it.
Despite being such a departure from your regular stuff, this was great! Totk is a huge game with a lot to talk about, but you really nailed down the most important things about the game for you succinctly, whilst not compromising on expressing the depth of emotions that you felt. That’s certainly no easy task, but the effort on your part is apparent and really paid off!
Never seen your content before but this was really beautiful. I love how sincere you were about the emotions it brought you and your history with the series.
Your passion shines through in this video. I couldn't help but be happy for you that you had such a profound experience playing Tears of the Kingdom. We should all have something in our lives that makes us feel the entire spectrum of emotions that this game clearly made you feel. Awesome video and well done.
Jacob takes the plunge and completely transitions into "this channel is trying to be more positive". Truly, what a great video. You shouldnt be nervous, its your perspective, not your topic association that we respect
Link: Battle Master Fighter/Monster Slayer Ranger Zelda: Light Cleric Tulin: Maybe Hunter Ranger Yunobo: Storm Herald (Desert) Barbarian Sidon: There’s an Oath of the Open Ocean Paladin in D&D Beyond I think Riju: Some kind of Fighter/Draconic (Blue or Bronze) or Storm Sorcerer Ravioli: Samurai Fighter (purely for its mechanics) Daruk: Totem Warrior or Ancestral Guardian Barbarian Mipha: Life Cleric Urbosa: Same classes as Riju, except she takes different fighting styles and stuff
I have loved watching your progression as you grow, you seem like the kind of person that interacts with the world in such a genuine way and grasps all life has to offer and I aspire to be like you.
Bombs work well in the early game, but they scale terribly, even when upgraded, in the late game. Sure, it preserves resources, but they are hardy the best choice for any situation besides blowing up some barrels or demolishing a destructible part of the landscape.
Ocarina of Time has the highest level of storytelling of the entire series, Tears of the Kingdom has the highest level of gameplay design. Those games are in a class of their own.
I am 100% there with you on hating BOTW shrines but LOVING TOTK shrines. They ALWAYS felt like they were teaching you something, I ALWAYS felt like I had a massive BRAIN BLAST moment in them coming up with a cool solution.
By far my favorite part about the wind temple was the boss theme, having it mix the main theme from dragon roost Island which is a rito inhabited island with the boss theme that you fight with a rito was crazy. Like the original theme was very happy, but this theme felt very powerful. The first section of it where it's not playing the flute was amazing and very well orchestrated but as soon as it added the flute in for the second verse it felt like this was a resurgence of the rito and wind waker. It's like Koji kondo said to us personally, hey do you remember wind waker, I sure do, And guess what these guys are back.
Started this video a few weeks ago, just beat the game 20 mins ago and came back to this. The effort and commitment you obviously put into this script and stuff deserves all the credit it gets Jacob. God fucking damn I love video essays and this has got to be my favorite. ❤❤❤ I’d love to see more of these in the future
Hands down one of my favorite xp to level 3 videos, I had just finished the game today and started feeling the emptiness seep in but this video made me smile harder than ever knowing someone had been transported back to those old days just sitting in front of the TV on a rainy day and going on a unforgettable journey. thank you ❤
I love how the TotK devs saw people complaining about the BotW music and simply chose to score the SHIT out of TotK. The music in this game is so damn good and it really does create an amazing power fantasy. Unfortunately, the difficulty is quite lacking but whenever they release the DLC it's gonna be sick.
I absolutely love when you find a new game, or book, or movie, and so deeply and personally connect with it. I've never played TOTK, but I'm glad you got to have this experience! For me, the most recent example was Elden Ring. I'm a casual gamer, but since it's release I have sunk 200+ hours into Elden Ring. It's not a lot compared to some, but the last game I played that much of was CS:GO around 2014-2016. It had been so long since I played a game where it was all I could think about as I went about my day. The sense of discovery and challenge was absolutely wonderful, and beating the game for the first time felt like an honestly huge personal victory for me, especially since I had never played or beaten another souls game before. Just everything about it is perfect to me, and I could gush for hours about everything I love about Elden Ring. But for now I will just say video games are fucking cool and I'm so glad to have been born in a time where I get to have these experiences.
Jacob!! I have been watching your content for years and I just want to say this is now my favourite video of yours. I feel like we had the same childhood experience with Zelda (I even loved Skyward Sword) and playing TOTK brought me right back to that time. Well done for making this video - it is always scary and a risk when you step out of your creative comfort zone, but I think you nailed it 😊
Bro I have been sub for long, iwanna be honest since you were during your video... I don't often watch everything you do, but this new style of video has made my whole day! You real made me emotional and nearly dropped a tear with you because I, too, have finished TOTK and felt the way you felt . I have the chance of reliving tho thanks to you , your edit, the soul you've put into that video made me shiver. I hope you got to relive it too by making this. Well done, please make more of this format of just pure love for what you like!! Hope you go far.
Liked and commented for the great video you did. Honestly one of your best ones i have seen and it shows this is a passion project executed to perfection. Your commentary left me with a few tears of my own
I've been subscribed for a long time but this is the first video you made that made me cry. Your sentiments about this game match mine in a way I've found hard to put to words. Thank you for a wonderful video! I hope you, Spencer and Marcy are well, keep making great videos❤
Jacob, this is probably my favorite video you’ve ever uploaded! Please do more like this! It was so fun to watch and to see/hear how passionate you are about Zelda. 9.5/10 video, please do more
Jacob, every single thing you said on this video resonated true with me, from the criticism to the experience with Breath of the Wild compared to the bliss that was Tears of the Kingdom. In fact the only thing that was different is the timeline since I'm a tad younger than you, but between this and your DnD videos, I wanted to thank you for expressing your thoughts on this game that so much resembled my own that I just couldn't put to words. To see you being a father is so inspirational, and the final words you impart in the video have given me the strength to pursue going to a 4 year university that I've been on the fence about for a year now. Thank you so much for making this. Tears of the Kingdom is Game of the Year.
Such a great lesson to take from this game and the series overall! I have always loved the balance of dark and light in the games, and the ways they must persevere to get through. They did an incredible job for sure, here. It's almost like a culmination of the entire series in one game, and REALLY drives home the meaning of Link being the "Link" in a way i haven't felt since Ocarina of time and Maybe Skyward Sword. Im so glad you share in the appreciation :)
I haven’t played a Zelda game since SNES but I love the way you describe these games. Thanks for putting the time into this and sharing something that meant so much to you. I really enjoyed it.
This is a really well put together video! I loved hearing your thoughts not just BotW and TotK, but also on the lineup of timeless Zelda games I enjoyed as a kid. Ocarina of Time was one of the first Zelda games I ever played, and I still nearly cried relistening to that old intro. There is so much to the franchise and I can't get enough. After watching this video, I can't help but feel absolutely pumped about The Legend of Zelda all over again.
This video definitely got me all emotional and reminded me of a feeling I've lost myself. I love this so much. The game really does just give off this entire vibe of wonder and courage, and the thing you mentioned about Zelda games being about overcoming failure and losses reminds me why I love these games so much. Thank you for this video. This was certainly something I needed to see.
Okay so I've literally never played Zelda and I legit cried watching this. I absolutely loved this video. Way to go man, Love to see you keep growing and being vulnerable with us. Cuz that be scary. Came here for the DnD content, stayed for Your content.
