r/truezelda

We know that there is a massive amount of new fans that came to the series thanks to BOTW and TOTK. But i know that a huge portion of those new fans, havent actually played the older games, or simply dont want to, because well... they "old" and "dated"

If the remake actually happens, and they leave all the core elements intact, like the item gated progression, the structured dungeons, and the linear/present time storyline. But expand Hyrule a bit more, add more caves and maybe more enemy variety and even mini dungeons, and making the game overall way more polished. Is a perfect way to sell people (especially the newer fans) to the classic Zelda formula and feeling, aswell as reminding older fans how good it was.

If it sells well, which obviously will, i mean is a remake of OOT for gods sake lol. This would definetly tell Nintendo and the Zelda team that there is definetly still a big audience for that classic Zelda format, and would take it in mind for their decisions going forward. Im also excited to see reactions of newer Zelda fans that never touched a game before BOTW/TOTK.

"Breath of the Wild is just a modern take on Zelda 1" is probably my biggest Zelda pet peeve alongside "the timeline isn't real". People always justify this with the vague definition of "open world", when the two games couldn't be any more different. At that point, you might as well say the Elder Scrolls series is a successor to Zelda 1. Zelda 1 is absolutely not open world in the modern definition of the word. It was "open world" when compared to most other NES games at the time that were linear sidescrollers. But you know what, OoT was also "open world" by 1998 N64 standards. The fact is, "open world" as in the modern genre we know it today did not exist yet (I believe it was GTA3 that created the modern open world genre). BotW is definitely the first Zelda game in the modern open world genre.

People also ignore that Zelda 1 literally follows the Zelda formula. It has a huge focus of dungeons that take up a majority of the playtime (just look at any Zelda 1 playthrough on Youtube, the majority of playtime is spent in dungeons. Very different from BotW). Dungeons are firmly traditional dungeons with small keys, dungeon map, compass, and a dungeon item (many times the dungeon item is needed to progress the dungeon or beat the boss). The world has a metroidvania progression, and while there is flexibility in dungeon order, you cannot do the dungeons in any order. You need the raft from dungeon 3 to get to dungeon 4, you need the stepladder from dungeon 4 to do dungeons 5, 6, and 7, you need the flute from dungeon 5 to access dungeon 7, etc. The narrative that Zelda 1 is some open world game focused on freedom that the series abandoned with ALttP and OoT, but then finally returned to in BotW makes zero sense. Zelda 1 is literally the proto ALttP/OoT formula.

The reason why Zelda 1 feels more open ended/nonlinear compared to its successors is not due to some massive change in design philosophy. It's because Zelda 1 barely has a story being an NES game from 1986. The series evolved to have a greater focus on story, which naturally leads to more linearity. The Final Fantasy series is the same. Final Fantasy 1 barely has much story, and it is quite open ended with a focus on talking to NPCs to figure out where to go next. But then around the SNES era (Final Fantasy 4) the series became much more story focused and thus a more guided/linear experience. You don't see people saying they want Final Fantasy to go back to the roots of Final Fantasy 1's minimal story. In fact when people say they want Final Fantasy to go back to its roots they usually mean more like the SNES and PS1 games.

Funnily enough if you remove the story in most of the pre-BotW Zelda games, the experience is very similar to Zelda 1. Like take the randomizer mods. The randomizers of games like OoT, MM, WW, etc. are functionally not much different at all to how Zelda 1 plays. Certainly much more similar to Zelda 1 than BotW is.

I'm not going to mention TotK since I probably don't have to explain why a game that is focused on vehicle crafting has little to no similarities with Zelda 1.

"Because Zelda sent Link to the Child Timeline" Yeah I understand that, but acording to the info I was able to gather, Ganon broke his seal several generations after his imprisionment, so the Hero of Time would be dead anyways at that point.

The way I always understood the spirit of the hero is that it is a metaphysical force or "mechanism" that manifest on a hero (Link) in order to protect the descendant of the Goddess (Zelda) whenever she and the kingdom are threatened by evil (usually but not exclusivelly Ganon).

It's implied that the different Links aren't necessarely descendants of eachother (except TP's Link and the Hero of Time) so Link leaving the timeline without descendence should not prevent another Link carrying the spirit of the hero, yet WW's Link is commonly agreed by the fanbase to not carry the spirit of the hero and instead just being a guy that became one by chance and circustances without divine intervention. However if that's the case it's weird that not that many years later the Hero of Trains showed up too.

So this leaves me with a few different possible conclusions:

1. The Hero of Winds DOES carry the spirit of the hero and there is an unknown reason for why a hero didn't show up when Ganon escaped.
2. The Spirit of the Hero wasn't made to be time travel-proof and Zelda just glitched it out of existence when he removed OOT Link from the timeline (always do extensive testing for your software folks).
3. Ganon actually broke the seal only a few years after OOT so there was not enough time for another hero to manifest. (I can't find official sources of how many time actually passed until Ganon escaped but it's seem to be well agreed upon that it took at least 100 years)
4. Number 2 and 1 are both correct and the Hero of Winds made the spirit materialize again by exhibiting a hero's traits and being chosen by the triforce of courage and the Master Sword
5. The spirit of the Hero is bound specifically to the Triforce of Courage, and the Hero of Time leaving the timeline and making the triforce shatter into 8 pieces also removed the spirit, and it showed up again when Link reunited the fragments in WW.
6. We have too little information about what the Spirit of the Hero actually is or how it works to really know the answer.

So what are your thoughts about this topic?

To elaborate, in the King's English 'obliterate' means to remove all trace from existence, even from memory. You can answer with one or two titles you would have obliterated if you could, or with one or two you want decanonised but not obliterated.

Ever since the 2010s Nintendo barely tries to give Link other types of adventures anymore and explore other lands (and no, LA remake doesnt count). It has been Hyrule again and again, and in cases like BOTW and TOTK with exactly the same map copy pasted. And that without mentioning that ALBW already had a copypasted world from AlttP.

Nintendo used to be more flexible and creative with the Zelda settings and stories before the 2010s arrived. We havent got any new unique and original worlds with their own stories like in LA, MM, the oracle games, and hell even PH. Even WW and SS which were more in line with the Zelda mythos, were able to give us original settings.

If we look at Mario, you can see how he is not glued to Mushroom Kingdom. Hell there hasnt even been a 3D Mario game set in Mushroom Kingdom since Super Mario 64, not to mention all the spin offs and rpg likes he has featuring other worlds. It would be nice if Link (or Zelda) is allowed for more of that.

At this point im just tired of Death Mountain, Lake Hylia, Kakariko village, Faron Woods, Gerudo Desert, Hyrule Castle and the likes. Let us go to another new location like how was Koholint island, Termina, Holodrum and Labryna back in the day. A brand new land with its own history, characters, and its own 6 - 8 unique dungeons.

Since Nintendo doesnt seem to want to go back to the older formula, other studios be it triple AAA or Indie, or passionate people missing the older style of games shouldve had taken advantage of it, and trying to create new IPs to fill that spot. If only stuff like that existed, then the pain of Nintendo abandoning the formula wouldnt hurt as much.

You could say, "Well, there is the souls games" And no, it doesnt really fit, they got similarities but dont really fill that very Zelda esque niche of exploration + dungeon crawling + puzzle solving + lock and key progression that only Zelda knows to do, and with its unique dungeons.

The closest thing we got are very old games like Darksiders which is pretty much a dead and forgotten series at this point, and Okami which is also old and there seems to be a new entry coming, but other than that nothing.

The Final Fantasy fandom had a similar issue going on , when the franchise changed, alienating old school fans, but atleast they have proper replacements for that crowd like the recently acclaimed Expedition 33, and other turn bases RPGs being created. But we got nothing of the sorts...

I was running around in TotK checking out some voice memories, and I ran into the one on the Temple of Time altar. In the voice memory, Rauru mentions this:

>This altar is considered the most holy place in the temple, and it is where we give offerings as part of our prayers for a bountiful, peaceful world.** I have heard ancient legends that it could interact with a sacred power, allowing travel back and forth through time... Though how this was done is a mystery to me.**

Is this suggesting that the altar is related to the Pedestal of Time? At first, I thought it was just through Zelda's recall power that she was able to bring the Master Sword to the past, but it was both her power and the altar itself that this was possible.

We know that the Zonai ToT was originally constructed on the ground, eventually lifted into the air, and in its original place the BotW ToT was built. Notably, the BotW ToT was never built with a chamber housing the Master Sword or any sword for that matter, indicating this ToT never served the same function as OoT's ToT. However, we do see that the Zonai ToT does have an altar that holds the power of time travel. The only altar-like object in the Zelda series I can think of is the Pedestal of Time, which obviously is also in its own ToT. It'd also be very fitting considering this altar is where the Master Sword was transported, and if it is the Pedestal of Time, it would be as if the Master Sword returned to its original home. I just find it very interesting that the altar's time traveling ability is brought to attention in this memory about the ToT, as if the devs are trying to get the player to draw a connection between it and the Pedestal of Time.

I'm thinking that the Zonai ToT may have been constructed on top of the original OoT ToT, similar to how the OoT ToT was built on top of the Sealed Temple by Sage!Rauru, and that the altar in the Zonai's ToT is the Pedestal of Time with heavy alterations to both the chamber and the pedestal itself. It wouldn't be the first time the Master Sword's resting place was altered. In other words, the temple's life cycle would look like Sealed Temple -> OoT ToT -> Zonai ToT (surface) -> Zonai ToT (lifted to the sky), where the BotW ToT ruins is a totally separate thing entirely.

Also, if it is the case that the altar = Pedestal of Time, this would be more evidence towards the refounding theory. It wouldn't be possible for the altar to be referencing the Pedestal of Time in its relative future.

I really dislike how broken Link is from the start in both BOTW and TOTK, they were so fixated in this philosophy of "going everywhere doing anything" that basically killed any attempt at proper level design, because you could cheese your way through every kind of obstacle thanks to the abilities and gadgets you get from the get go.

So far Aonuma said that the next Zelda wont have neither Ultra Hand nor Fuse, which is already a good start for me. But also i would like for them to limit Links climbing ability, which is too broken, and get rid of abilities like ascend aswell. Especially when it comes to dungeons, i hope we go back to that classic dungeon structure of locks and keys and without much options to cheese your way through.

However i dont know if doing that would bring too much backlash from the modern fans that came because of BOTW/TOTK

I'm currently replaying Zelda II for the second time. I had already completed a fairly full playthrough of the game, but I stopped because the last Temple was very confusing. I decided I would complete it later, but I never went back.

I am currently on a second playthrough starting from scratch, I still remember many things so I haven't needed guides for the Quests, the most I've needed has been to use maps for the temples.

Although difficult, I find it quite fun. The movement mechanics are interesting, and the side-scrolling level design is engaging. I really love the magic system; I think it's the only time Link can use his own spells and not magic he evokes through artifacts.

But my god, the combat in this game is titanic. The sword's terrible range makes getting close to an enemy incredibly difficult. At least the shield works excellently, although it frustrates me a bit that it doesn't block all types of projectiles. Why can't I stop an axe with the shield?

But overall I'm having a good time. I don't think I've ever played such a stimulating Zelda game.

Ignoring the Wild games, because those are meant to be ambiguous (although I do think the Downfall Timeline makes the most thematic sense, what with Ganon constantly reappearing).

Why has there never been a game that takes place after the NES games? Even Echoes of Wisdom, the most recent game in the Downfall Timeline, is officially set before the NES era. What gives?

I mean, I don't really have a problem with it. Prequels are cool and all. I just find it interesting how we've never seen the timeline advance past Zelda II, which results in the very first games being the last chronologically.

It would be fresh if instead of using Ganon/Ganondorf for the 13548 time or another random wizard ala Agahim or Yuga who wants to revive Ganon or a random monster. It would be cool if atleast for a game, we get an antagonist that is a member of the royal family.

The closest we got is AoL, but im thinking about going beyond that. Like, imagine the antagonist is Zeldas brother or family member who wants the throne, and is willing to try in getting rid of Zelda so she doesnt get on his way.

He then rises to power and is a very Joffrey Baratheon type of antagonist. He probably would be an extremist who would want to order hunting the Gerudos so a new Ganondorf isnt born again, and also tries to turn Hyrule into a very totalitarian regime. And is up to Link and Zelda who are on the run trying to overthrow him and give Zelda the power of the kingdom. The final fight is Link and Zelda vs her brother who filled with too much power he transform into a powerful monster.

Now i know this would be very unlikely of Nintendo to do, considering how rigid they are in regards to who the good guys and bad guys are supposed to be. And i doubt seeing Link fighting and killing Hylian soldiers, unless they are transformed beyond saving. Although Zeldas brother still secretly uses monsters to do certain tasks for him.

But still a fun though i had.

I was thinking about what the next mainline Zelda game would look like, especially since the community seems torn between the old and the new formula.

I thought it would be interesting if the team took this struggle and fully embraced it, making a mechanic of travelling between two parallel worlds, one with wild era cell shading and an open world, and the other with traditional linearity and a more folklore-like tone.

The single final boss is accessible through both worlds, so players get to engage in each as much as they want.

Thoughts? It’d shake the formula enough for attention, and the nature of switching worlds and art styles would bring a surrealist spice that would distinguish it from the wild era.

Hi, I posted this in the normal Zelda reddit and (not too surprisingly) got no replies. I understand it's a real shot in the dark but maybe this is the better place to try, so here goes...! I know anything about Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland is already niche. In fact, the reason I'm asking about this is because googling and searching youtube has turned up nothing. Hoping one of the handful of people who played and remember this game might have some insight. Please strap in for some lengthy context.

Sooo, there's this minigame called Joy Joy Land that shows up in Rosy Rupeeland twice (or at least twice so far--I haven't finished the game yet) where Tingle can hit balls shot out by Octoroks at targets with a bat. The minigame shows up once in Deku Forest and then again with different target patterns in Gooey Swamp.

Far as I can tell from reading wikis and walkthroughs, you don't get any items (e.g., a jar--most of the items in this game are jars) from doing well in these minigames aside from some rupees (although as this whole game is about collecting rupees, that's still a decent reward). However, you do definitely get more rupees and a unique message from the guy running the minigame if you hit every target and get a perfect game.

Now the thing is, in the iteration of the game on Gooey Swamp (which the minigame guy says is "Joy Joy Land, Shop Number One"), there's the option to play a Normal version of the game or an Expert version. In the Normal version, Tingle can move up, down, left, and right and always swings his bat straight ahead. The ability to move up and down gives you a lot of freedom with timing your hits. Add to this the fact that it's pretty easy to ensure a straight hit with Tingle always facing forward, and it means that scoring a perfect game isn't all that hard, with some practice.

However, in Expert mode, everything gets much more horrible. Tingle can now ONLY move left and right, making the timing window much narrower. Furthermore, Tingle now faces sideways, like a real-life batter. This means how close you are to the balls, plus the direction you come at them from, affects the trajectory in lots of tiny ways. There's all kinds of minute, fancy physics stuff involved and I personally find it extremely difficult to time and angle my balls exactly how I want to consistently.

A near-perfect game requires just hitting every target within the time limit. The last target is a bear who advances slowly toward you down the center of the screen and then shoots out one last ball you must hit straight back at it. The game has, I think, three point tiers that count as wins, each one giving you more rupees and a unique message from the minigame guy. The first tier is getting above 100 points. I don't know exactly what the second tier is but it's probably however many points you get from hitting every regular target. However, there is the potential for a third, truly perfect game.

There's a bell on the left side of the arena. If you hit this, a UFO comes out and circles around the arena three times before flying off. If you hit this UFO you get a bunch of points at once (I think maybe 50?). So a TRULY perfect game means hitting every regular target as well as also hitting the bell and then the UFO. You only have one chance to hit the UFO each time you play the minigame. If you hit the bell again, the UFO does not reappear.

I managed to get a TRULY perfect game on Normal mode (both in the Deku Forest minigame--which doesn't have an Expert mode--and in the Gooey Swamp minigame). I haven't kept track of how many rupees and point totals there are for everything because it's not a real concern to me. The real concern, because I'm nuts, is that it feels a bit like I haven't 100%'d the game for real-real if I haven't gotten a truly perfect score in every iteration of the minigame. And I cannot, for the life of me, get a truly perfect game on Expert mode. The physics and timing are insane and unwieldy and the stupid little target jerks constantly get in the way of me hitting their friends.

One time I actually hit the UFO and hit every single target... then the final bear came out. I attempted to hit the ball straight back at him and it instead went careening off to the side. I still got a unique message and more rupees than I did for the first winning tier, but, based on how things work in Normal mode, I feel pretty certain there will be a different message and reward (of course, I imagine it's just even more rupees) if I hit literally everything. I've tried to do this without success for maybe like 3 weeks straight while on my commute to work. Yes, I am an insane idiot! As of right now, however, I've given up. I can't do it to myself anymore.

Still, I am really curious, even though I have every reason to believe it'll be completely anticlimactic, what actually happens if you get a truly perfect score in Expert mode on the Gooey Swamp, Joy Joy Land, Shop Number One minigame. I would try to cheat my way to success with save states but I'm actually playing this on a real New 3DS and I have no such luxury! I would suggest maybe someone try it on an emulator to find out, but of note is that you can't access this minigame until quite late into the game. Gooey Swamp is the second level in the second area of the game (and the 7th level overall), but you can't actually access the minigame until you get a little bit into the first level of the final area (Mount Desma, Level 9), at which point you are made to return to Gooey Swamp to do another dungeon and then, once that's done, you are gifted a boat which allows you to travel to a tiny island where you drop down a hole and that's where the minigame is located. So, in other words, unless you're someone who already happens to have a Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland saved game/saved state that's well into the game, you have to play nearly the entire game just to get to this minigame!

There's so little coverage and discussion of Rosy Rupeeland that I cannot seem to find much info about this minigame or any footage of someone perfecting it (it could be buried in someone's playthrough somewhere but it's hard to track that down--and I assume few people have been bonkers enough to try and do the minigame perfectly). It's certainly possible there are Japanese gamers out there who managed it and that if I knew what to search for in Japanese I could track it down, but I don't!

I know this is a crazy, niche ask for a crazy, niche Zelda game, but I banged my head against this minigame like a psycho for ages and still came out empty-handed (well.. I did get enough points to earn a bunch of rupees so I guess that's not entirely true, but still). It's possible this would be much easier for someone who plays baseball games, for all I know! Maybe the physics make perfect sense to the average sports gamer, but I find it extraordinarily fidgety and impossible!

So yes, this stupid minigame in Tingle's stupid game is my white whale!! If anyone can help track down a video or screenshot (a video would be more satisfying of course) or feels brave enough to actually play this minigame and try to get a perfect, I'd be very interested to see it! I could finally relax and stop obsessing over something so silly... that or I'd instead feel like I still have to do it myself and I'd go back to attempting the minigame again and again for the rest of my life--either is possible!! Even more terrifying to consider is the possibility there's yet another Joy Joy Land later in the game with yet another Expert mode. The Deku Forest minigame is called Shop Number Zero and the Gooey Swamp one is Shop Number One, so another iteration of this minigame certainly isn't impossible! If so, I shall never know peace!

Incidentally, all this said, I actually quite like Rosy Rupeeland on the whole and have been enjoying it... This minigame put my playthrough to a frustrating standstill for a while, but everything else I think has been a fun, weird take on Zelda. I like how it's like a farming sim mashed up with the Zelda formula, a concept I feel nearly positive an indie dev must've tried by now--pretty cool that Tingle was already doing it back in 2006!

That's all! Thank you for reading this foolhardy diatribe if you got this far! And thank you in advance for all your Tingle help! Kooloo-Limpah and so on and so forth!

It just feels like it cheapens the story and turns it from one of the best games ever made that touches on topics like despair and sorrow like no other game ever did into some early 10s creepypasta like Sonic.exe, especially because the theories barely touch on the story itself and just focus on very minor things like that elegy of emptiness statue (guess we have to thank Ben Drown for that one)

I have no clue how these theories even got popular, even if we look at this game in the lens of "most of the game never really happened and it was all in his head" kinda like Silent Hill it would be much more meaningful to say that the game is about Link overcoming all the trauma he went through in OoT, dealing with the loss his childhood and Navi's death

Echoes of Wisdom has an structure of: "First dungeon > 2 more dungeons that can be done in any order > halfway point of the game (Hyrule castle) > 3 dungeons that can be done in any order > final dungeon + final boss"

Maybe not exactly the same, but somethig similar, i think if the next Zelda has atleast something like:

"Brief tutorial > 2 first dungeons that can be done in any order, any of the two could be your first > major plot development > 4 new areas and dungeons that can also be done in any order > final dungeon + final boss"

You still would have a big world from the get go, with multiple sidequests and mini dungeons/caves (no more shrines tho) but the last 4 areas with its dungeons would still be locked until you beat the first 2 dungeons. And of course you wont be able to go for the final boss from the get go this time.

I think this definetly could be a perfect mix of the two formulas, not too linear like OOT/MM/WW/TP/SS, and not too open like BOTW/TOTK, just a mix. Also with a story that happens in present time, each area has its own cutscenes and story developments. And each dungeon has its special ability that helps you explore other parts of the world. A well balanced game of 6 main dungeons + final one

It feels like the vast majority of challenges and secrets in TP lead to almost useless rupees which devalues the entire experience to me. If exploring or doing challenges doesn't give me anything besides 100 Rupees I don't feel like the world is worth exploring, the extra puzzles aren't worth solving. Meanwhile, in Majora's Mask, the secrets in the dungeons give you fairies which you can collect to get sick upgrades later, making the dungeons so much more dense with content.

^(*Main Menu theme, or Overworld theme depending on where you look at.)

I've been listening to a few OSTs on Youtube and noticed that if a game has a focus more on non-Hyrule locations, they have a different theme in play with the LoZ Overworld theme only showing up during Link's amazing feats. Or how Zelda's lullaby shows up during Zelda's moments.

It is just me, right?

Over the last few days I’ve been playing two games: Dusk, the recently released PC port of Twilight Princess, and Star Wars Jedi Survivor. In this time it’s occurred to me how much more similar Jedi Survivor is to the older type of Zelda games, particularly Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, than those games are to the major Switch releases, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom in particular.

Previously I’d considered it more of a “soulslike” because of its combat and save point structure, but this game has an emphasis on using new abilities for puzzle solving and unlocking the exploration of new areas on the map, a classic Zelda trope. In the main planet which features a fairly large open area reminiscent of Hyrule Field, the player even gets a mount, which is actually primarily used for puzzle solving or to access higher areas.

What strikes me also going back to Twilight Princess is just how much that game focuses on its story. I’d always understood it as a story-driven game but after playing through much of Botw and Totk through their Switch 2 editions, seeing Twilight Princess’s cutscenes rendered in HD 60fps with higher resolution textures reminded me of how much the cinematic nature of this game impacted me as a kid. The plot is not only intriguing with the slow build of a mystery as to who the “king of darkness” really is, but it’s fundamentally a character story about Midna and Link coming to trust each other. Kakariko village may be small in TP in comparison to the big village areas in the Switch games, but each character in TP has more detail written into them by the game’s story focus.

Likewise Jedi Survivor is very story driven, but not in a way that modern games can be overbearing. A game like Red Dead Redemption 2, or Uncharted, can feel like the player is playing some parts up until they get to a cutscene or story section that is basically railroaded and only needs the slightest player input. It’s also not like Botw, where the story is divided into different parts that basically never intersect, leaving the player in a game where they can skip every cutscene and never be confused about what they’re doing next. Jedi Survivor is more like Twilight Princess, where the cutscenes come at impactful times but never too much or not enough. There are plenty of moments in Survivor that echo the immense story driven impact of scenes like King Bulbin storming through Kakariko, where a cutscene directly leads to an intense situation resolved through gameplay.

I’m curious if anyone here has played the Star Wars Jedi series and has made this connection. Jedi Fallen Order felt more like a Metroidvania to me with how linear and separated its level designs were in comparison to its sequel. I’m about 20 hours into Jedi Survivor and so far it’s the best Star Wars game I’ve played and it gives me hope that Zelda as a series will be carried on in spirit.

As one last question, do you think Twilight Princess’s story would’ve been just as enjoyable with voice acting?

so first time playing im playing via 2s2h and for the first few bits i did use a guide to find a few heart pieces and what i could collect so far, but i decided from now on im just gonna drop it and smash my head against a wall as much as possible anyway

over the years ofc ive seen and heard things about mm

but one thing i heard a lot was about its gritty lighting, but i dont fully get it. am i misunderstanding it or what? because there doesnt really seem to be a lot of lighting, at least not in the modern sense with shadow casting etc

and just in general yeah the vibe is a bit gritty, but not nearly as much as people made it sound. is that because im playing on an oled and not an old crt? or because i have it set to 5x draw distance and a 360fps cap at 1440p?

i dont think its the mm reloaded 4k pack either, since i sometimes toggle between them. im fine with the old textures but i do prefer the reloaded ones. if anything they make the game feel more gritty, and even then it still isnt as gritty as i heard people say

anyway props to the people, or person idk, who made mm reloaded. i think it fits really well and is really faithful imo. hell i think it even adds to the eeriness a bit because of the higher res textures mixed with the low poly models. theres something unsettling about it

anyway yeah, why do people say that? or am i completely misunderstanding what they mean

To this day, i believe that the success of BOTW was mostly due to having Zelda in the name, and for being the one where the franchise went full open world, something that was very trendy and many people during that time were asking for. But here is the thing, if BOTW gave us the open world, yet still kept somewhat the old formula, it wouldve still be very successfull.

The problem was never exactly the formula per se, but the way it was presented in games like TP and SS. TP was too traditional and trying to be too much like OOT, on top of being too linear and with 1 hour long tutorials. And then they doubled it down with SS by being borderline claustrophobic, with barely any choices, variety, recycled content, shitty forced motion controls, and FI treating you like a toodler. Nintendo clearly tried to overcorrect everything, but in the process they ended up getting rid of everything that made Zelda feel like Zelda. Yet it ended up succeding because BOTW, was still "Look, Open world Zelda!" And open world was the trendy thing at the time.

I swear to god i can guarante you that if BOTW and TOTK were a different IP, barely anyone wouldve give a damn about it, or atleast it wouldnt make much noise in comparison to having the Zelda brand attached to it, instead it would probably been more slandered from the get go for not being too different from your average Ubisoft slop open world.

If BOTW were to keep the big open world, the engine, the physics and the shrines of the modern games, but also keeps the structured dungeons, and more structured story and progression of the older games, it would still be a very successful game. Because lets be honest, doing certain dungeons out of order like in Z1, Alttp or OOT is one thing, but the series never needed BOTW letting you go to fight Ganon from the get go, and make 99% of the game optional.

If only BOTW was atleast just A Link Between Worlds but 3D, it wouldve been enough, but they couldnt even do that, having the blueprint right there in the 3Ds.