New and tentative game announcements (V2)

All other video games not related to the main farming series - Pokemon, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other indie-developed games.
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Mikodesu
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I tend to be of the opinion that Nintendo is run by the whims of the Japanese audience, not any amalgamation of the global one, and Zelda just isn't as popular as some of Nintendo's other IPs in Japan, so I would bet this is going to be it. (Basically why we get a longer direct for the Mario MOVIE or Mario THEME PARK.) A streamer I watch some mornings is going to be streaming it, though, so I'll watch.

I just want to see something about gameplay. Does combat have more depth to it? Are weapons still breakable? I need something to sink my teeth into. All the trailers to now have been big nothing burgers. Like concept trailers.

Which, I don't know if I'm gonna go back and watch them again, but I wonder if we've seen any gameplay where someone is in control of Link. (Nothing from a cutscene, or a context sensitive animation.) Likely Link running along some surface, but that's probably it. Maybe that's what has been making me blasé about the game? No gameplay, no hype.
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Always a bafflement to me, how Mario could be more popular than LoZ. Mario is so boring. Jumping on things, woo. I think the reason I got such a late start on video gaming (I was in my late twenties before I got into it, even though I enjoyed some Breakout on Atari at age 3 or 4, and started gaming regularly on PC by age 8 ) was because the first console game I ever tried was Super Mario Bros at 12, in my friend's basement, and I found it boring and pointless. It took me about 20 years to bother trying it again, and Ocarina of Time was one of the first ones I ever played. Certainly the first one I ever loved.
Mikodesu wrote: Mar 27, 2023 1:47 pmWhich, I don't know if I'm gonna go back and watch them again, but I wonder if we've seen any gameplay where someone is in control of Link. (Nothing from a cutscene, or a context sensitive animation.) Likely Link running along some surface, but that's probably it. Maybe that's what has been making me blasé about the game? No gameplay, no hype.
It's hard to tell if some of what we've seen has been gameplay or cutscene, so I dunno. Him being shoved head first into the rock/earth comes to mind (it always makes me snort, every time I see it)...that looks like gameplay, but there's no way to know; perhaps it's a second or two from the first scene after he goes to a sky island or something.

I think you're not into it because it's a direct sequel to a game you didn't love, no? Plus it reuses the existing map, though it looks like it's basically been blown into new bits, to me...even the parts I recognize from the first game look changed. I still feel like there are going to be regular ground areas to explore, sky areas to explore, AND underground areas to explore, though I don't think we've seen any actual evidence of being able to explore underground, other than what's probably an opening cutscene that may have no connection to gameplay. For some reason I got the idea that we'd play most of the game as Link, on the surface and in the sky, and play as Zelda underground, although...I'm not sure why that idea got stuck in my head when there doesn't appear to be any actual evidence of it.
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Mikodesu
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Kikki wrote: Mar 27, 2023 3:34 pm
Mikodesu wrote: Mar 27, 2023 1:47 pmWhich, I don't know if I'm gonna go back and watch them again, but I wonder if we've seen any gameplay where someone is in control of Link. (Nothing from a cutscene, or a context sensitive animation.) Likely Link running along some surface, but that's probably it. Maybe that's what has been making me blasé about the game? No gameplay, no hype.
It's hard to tell if some of what we've seen has been gameplay or cutscene, so I dunno. Him being shoved head first into the rock/earth comes to mind (it always makes me snort, every time I see it)...that looks like gameplay, but there's no way to know; perhaps it's a second or two from the first scene after he goes to a sky island or something.
That's what I mean when I say "context-sensitive animations". Think the sort of game where you run up to a wall, are prompted to push a button, and wait while you watch the character climb up. You had real involvement in that. Every wall you go to, the same animation plays out. Which can be fine, if it's kept to a minimum.

I want to see what makes the game different from BotW from a gameplay standpoint. What exactly went into a full six year development cycle? When the physics engine is done, the vast majority of assets are done, the vast majority of the map is done. This is NOT a Majora's Mask moment, I know that, but what IS it?

I enjoyed BotW enough, I played about 80 hours of it, but I'm done playing it. I enjoyed it for the exploration, which doesn't really replay as well. Been there, seen that. And to me, for people who want to play BotW again, awesome! Do that. I want Nintendo to make a new game. What's so special about the LoZ series to me is their persistence in making every game different from the last, even when they reuse assets. Zelda games are always enjoyable enough that I'm sure I'd get my money's worth no matter what, I just don't want a traditional sequel. It helps at least that I haven't touched BotW since 2017, probably about as fresh and interesting to revisit as it's gonna get.

I enjoyed exploration in BotW a LOT, just not the little...niggling tedious bits of the game. Farming money for arrows, farming items for upgrading armor, korok puzzles... I don't mind grind or tedium per say (clearly, as a Genshin Impact fan) but I think in that case the grind feels more like I'm building toward something -- that being unlocking new team comps (new ways to play, imo), rather than lowering damage taken or more inventory slots like BotW...

Edit: A large part of why I want to know about gameplay is having played games that smooth out BotW's gameplay issues. 6 years later, BotW's systems are antiquated. If there's more to explore, I could put up with a stamina meter and arbitrary inventory limits and breakable weapons, but...that's about it. Otherwise I need fresh gameplay. We shall see. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Mikodesu wrote: Mar 27, 2023 4:02 pmAnd to me, for people who want to play BotW again, awesome! Do that.
I don't think anyone wants to play BotW again, though. They want MORE BotW, not to replay old content that they've worn to bits already. I've put over 250 hours into the game, trying to squeeze every bit out of it...not including glitch exploits or extreme battle challenges since I'm not interested in stuff like that...and there's nothing left for me, so certainly that's what I wanted: for there have been more to BotW. More to land to explore, more story, more game to play after that ending. Plus for the first time, I suspect the rumors about a Switch 2 are actually true...I think we're gonna get a new console in 2024, something backwards compatible with Switch, because it's so monstrously popular. I feel like the decisions they've made that don't make sense, with LoZ and Animal Crossing in particular, suddenly DO make sense if a new console really is coming and they're wrapping up any development for current Switch and saving any bigger new ideas for Switch 2. Plus they feel like they're testing the waters with some of the things they've done, lately.

TotK feels like something they were planning on since they were working on BotW, to me. Like the game just got too big and so they cut a bunch off and made it into a second game, but had to add new ways to explore the map to make it worthwhile. I suspect they have another LoZ game brewing already. I was already surprised they really did to such a direct sequel to BotW (much more direct than any of the other LoZ games they call direct sequels, in my books, at least with how things appear right now, before we know the exact set-up.) so I'm sure they'll be coming out with a different type of LoZ before too long. Though I guess they may be about due for some kind of spin-off type like...uh, what would the others have been called? That one with the 3 coloured Links, or that one with the bow training.

I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted from the newest LoZ installation in any case, Mikodesu. Well, unless TotK has more surprises in it than we'd guess and it actually turns out to be perfect for you; I guess that's still possible since they haven't shown us much. I know you're an invested fan of the series.

I think I'm most curious to see what will replace shrines. New types of shrine, or more like older, larger dungeons? The Divine Beasts weren't really the best of either world, for me, but I did like shrines.
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Don't worry, I don't feel bad about it anymore! :) If I didn't have Elden Ring, if I didn't have Genshin, I would legitimately be upset. And probably feel unjustifiably cheated out of a new game. But I have other games to fill the void that are just as good in all the ways I enjoyed BotW. And if BotW2's gameplay doesn't suit me, and it doesn't seem sufficiently different enough, I'll have my pick of the litter of people to watch play it. All the streamers I watch are playing it, half will stream it.

Nintendo is such a wild card, though. I guess it'll make tomorrow interesting! I do feel bad for people in my situation who don't like combat very much. Hopefully they'd be open to trying something like Genshin, at least. Elden Ring is very forgiving for a Souls game, but for a Souls game. It only goes so far.


I'd also be very curious to see what replaces shrines. And to that end, fast travel points. I'm hoping we get a better build up in puzzle complexity... BotW was severely lacking there. I know people had a lot of fun breaking puzzles. It did help you make the boring « Cow Poopoo » more fun at least.
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I'm glad you're not feeling too unhappy about it at this point, and hopefully it'll have enough change-up to be fun for you. Or be super entertaining to watch someone else play, at least! That was one fantastic thing about BotW. It was genuinely fun to watch someone else play that game. Most video games just make you want the controller, ime, but BotW was a different kind of fun when you're the spectator. Almost as much fun to watch be played as to actually play. I can't say that about any other game.
Mikodesu wrote: Mar 27, 2023 5:07 pmI'd also be very curious to see what replaces shrines. And to that end, fast travel points. I'm hoping we get a better build up in puzzle complexity... BotW was severely lacking there. I know people had a lot of fun breaking puzzles. It did help you make the boring « Cow Poopoo » more fun at least.

That was the thing I was second-most curious about, after wondering about shrines/dungeons. Well...kind of? I've been wondering about the map, not specifically fast-travel points, but they're half-way the same thing. I feel like it's impossible for the whole map to be just open to you as soon as you start the game, so...what's going to replace the towers, for opening new sections of map as you explore? Or is that not how it's going to work and it'll be so different from towers that they won't be considered a replacement for them at all?

And of course, I assume you'll start weak again, with low hearts and stamina (assuming that stamina is still in the game, that is.) So...do you get more via shrine-type conquests, or will it be more like finding pieces of heart, or...what? I think you should already have found all the orbs the monks had for you, so it seems to me that the way you get stronger has got to be different.

Lots to wonder about. In theory, the game could be a lot like BotW AND also very different, at the same time. There were still some things I wanted to know and see about the world of BotW itself, but I think that'd be ideal...if it has just enough of the stuff from the first game to give a similar feeling, but with a lot of changed-up gameplay in terms of how you become stronger, how you open new regions, how you encounter story bits, etc.
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Okay! If anybody missed it, the TotK video from today is available HERE.

If you don't know if you want to see it or not, it contains NO glimpse at story. At all. In fact, it shows almost nothing about how the game will proceed...it didn't show how you'll gain hearts or stamina or how you expand the map or anything.

All it shows is new abilities Link has in this game. Like before he had bombs, magnesis, cryonis, etc. No idea if he still has those ones, but they showed 3 new abilities. Won't describe them here in case you want to avoid them, but that's basically ALL that is in this not-quite-14-minute video. I still don't feel like I know how the bulk of this game is going to feel to play. I don't know how the game will be encouraging us to explore. In the first game it wanted us to go around to free the divine beasts and activate the towers as we made our way toward freeing Zelda, but we still know nothing about what Tears wants us to do.

However, I did spot something I considered very interesting. If you watched the video, then it was when Link was riding past the stable. I spotted this, that I'll put in a spoiler (sorry it's ugly, I'm not good with screenshots!):
Spoiler:
Image As you can see! There on the right, there's a spot that looks like a construction site. This wasn't the only one! I spotted one more for sure. It was a different shape, more rectangular, but basically the same thing...what looks like a platform or site, heaped with construction materials, with a blank sign in front.

So um...are we going to be building things at certain spots? One way or another? Via Fuse or just automated once you have the required materials or something?
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At this point I think I'm feeling pretty confident Zelda is going to be fridged. Pretty satisfied with the gameplay trailer. Still feels like ridiculously overpriced DLC, but well made overpriced DLC for sure. Exploration is NOT the reason to get this game for anybody who played the first but for people who loved the sandbox side of things, this is a great expansion. Legend of Zelda: Nuts & Bolts it is.

Iirc if you've seen all the other trailers there's only one new mechanic and one new enemy type that will be spoiled for you in this trailer. Everything else is pulled from other trailers. We do have names for mechanics we've seen before though.

The stream I watched with...the big focus was on
Spoiler:
What exactly are meat arrows? :lol: Which is honestly hilarious. I will be a BIT pissed if you can't eventually craft arrows. That would somehow be very Nintendo though. Going to all the effort of letting you combine arrows with everything you pick up in the wild...but making you go to town to buy arrows to combine them with. I can hear the critique videos now.
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The 'TotK Direct' (if we can call it that...not sure if we're gonna get more later or if this is all we can expect, pre-release) did at least further convince me that Tears is going to be a very good game to watch other people play. Particularly if you have a silly or inventive friend/family member/streamer playing.

I feel very unsatisfied as to the things I wanted to know, though. They weren't touched at all. What does Tears want us to do? I assume the motivation is again 'save Zelda', because it always is, but there's always a means to doing so. In the first game it was the Divine Beasts. And to get through everything, you kind of needed to activate towers and complete some shrines so you could have a map and a reasonable amount of stamina and health.

We know nothing about how Tears is going to do that, though. We basically just learned about the gadgets Link is going to have in this game. Which is neat and nice to know, but...for me, unsatisfying. Plus I'm dying to know if what it showed in the screenshot I took is what I thought it was. (Might be too good to be true, for that to be an option all around Hyrule, now...)

Well, uh...44 more days. A month and a half. I guess if I have to just wait until the game releases to find out what the core goals of the game are, it won't kill me.
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My dumb little thoughts on the Tears of The Kingdom feature:

You know, I was thinking of replaying BotW before getting into this game, but after seeing the QoL features + the absurd new abilities, I don't think I can now lol. To be fair, BotW is still pretty fresh in my mind as it's one of the few games I did literally everything available, so I don't NEED to replay it, I was just thinking it might be fun to do. But I'm a grumpy gamer now with little time, so I'll just jump right into the new game.

New traversal looks fun, especially the diving from the islands. I don't know what it is with me, but I love free fall diving in games that allow you to do it safely. Both BoTW, Genshin, Pokemon Scarlet&Violet, allow this and it's always fun to toss myself off somewhere and either leisurely glide down or nosedive at my own convivence. I guess I like the freedom of it? Regardless, it's fun, I look forward to it!

All of Link's new abilities are insane and I can't wait to see how speedrunners mess with the game. I am gonna miss his old stuff though, as I'm assuming we'll lose them. Stasis, my beloved, you shall be missed. Other than that, my only complaint so far is the reused music. I heard the horse theme, stable theme, and cold weather theme all reused. All the music in that game is engrained into my brain and I heard absolutely no difference with the small samples we heard. I mean, I guess you don't need to fix what's broken, but it's kinda disappointing. I did notice that the battle theme is different, so there's probably plenty of new tracks, I'm just a little bummed not everything is new. That being said, it's a direct sequel within the same world, so I get it. Maybe it'll feel more nostalgic than disappointing once I get around to actually playing it.

Side note: Sidon, Yunobo, Riju, Teba, and Kass has better still be in the game. I am far too attached to them and I'd better find all of them safe and sound! >:0
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Watched it a few more times now and I think that Nintendo's pretty cunning. They act all cute and innocent, but I'm pretty sure every single bit shown in that 'gameplay trailer' was specifically chosen and deliberate. They even showed him catching a ride in a specific place, then when he got there, switched off-screen to a different place, so either they didn't want us to see how they got to the 'island' they went to, or they specifically DID want us to see the spot where they actually went up on the video. Where they chose to catch that ride, which island they chose, what items they picked up, what camera angle they used, what plant names they let show as opposed to which they didn't, etc. Which makes me think there were several very obvious things they really wanted us to notice and talk about. They know what LoZ fans are like! There's no other fandom as nutty for deep theories based on the odd shape of a ladybug's shadow or the 0.5 second chirp of what at first sounds like a cricket. Nothing is ever missed, and SOMEONE will always guess right.

There were at least three things they were super obvious about showing not just once, but at least two or three times each. Quite sure each of those is important to the story or the gameplay, somehow. Those bits get me more excited than the look at the new tools/abilities. Everyone's so excited about the one ability in particular, but I'm finding I don't actually care about it. Certain other things, though, that they're just teasingly hinting at as things we might want to think about...
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I did think there would probably be another before release. Only a trailer, only 3 minutes, but watch the LoZ community squeeze an entire game and a half's worth of theories out of it.
EDIT: Okay, watched it. Rubbing arms...chill won't go away! WANNA PLAY NOW PLEASE.
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Ohhhhhh my « Harvest Goddess », there was SO MUCH to chew on in that trailer. I'm going to lose my mind.

I think the biggest thing that stood out to me is how they seem to be making the NPCs more... important? Involved? I mean don't get me wrong there were a thousand little things in there I could go crazy over, but that seemed to be featured multiple times.

Hhhhhhhh one month left! Just one! Oh man I can't wait.
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For me, the big thing was (well, okay, there were several!) how incredibly CHANGED Hyrule is. Everywhere you look, you think you may know where you are...like...was that the Master Sword pedestal? So...this area we're in now is the Korok Forest?? But...!!

So many remnants of what was, but so very different from BotW, too. Every single area is altered, and frankly, seeing the strange changes is more interesting to me than an entirely new world. Plus...no, I don't even know what I was seeing, in some of those scenes, so I don't want to even guess, yet. But it was fantastic, imo.

They certainly succeeded in making me want the game. Hype is pretty much maxed for me at this point!
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Jack Jeanne, the otome rhythm game, has a release date. I've been waiting on that one. :) It's June 15th. Not sure I'll be ready for another new game only a month after TotK, but a month is quite a while, so...maybe. Plus otoges are a game you can 100% in under a week, so not a huge time investment.

Not like it can't wait on my wishlist for a while, though. I'm not sure it's worth full price, so I might want to wait for a sale, since my budget is snug this year. Glad to have the date anyway!

EDIT: Oh, and...
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