im thinking ill try to beat tears of the kingdom this weekend
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what are some games channeling 2D Zelda energy i should know about?
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look out, here comes some Thoughts about TOTK
like BOTW before this game could obviously be played for hundreds of hours, but i dont think i have the energy. maybe it's too much too soon. maybe my tastes have changed. i can clearly see how nintendo has really analyzed "flow state" and optimized BOTW and TOTK to keep you in them as long as possible.
i miss older zelda games
i just wish this wasn't at the cost of like... what i used to love about zelda. having more rigid puzzle rooms and the intricacies of dungeons. boss fights that were tough and rewarding. constantly earning new abilities. both BOTW and TOTK give you basically everything right out of the gate, and the only thing you could really add later on is... knowledge about how to wield your existing tools. this is cool but not as cool to me. i love collecting the new loot from every dungeon in older Zelda games, and i love how the rigid order of dungeons meant that each dungeon could build upon the last.
linearity...
modern game design is so scared of linearity, but i think a linear level structure connected to a larger world that can be explored is a fantastic formula, and it pains me to see zelda throw out its fantastic formula for another one that doesn't please me as much. im happy for all the people that love BOTW/TOTK but i just keep wishing they were different kinds of games (in particular, 2D Zeldas like LTTP, OOA, OOS, or LA)
indie scene?
we've seen the "metroidvania" genre explode in the indie scene, but i'm not sure there's that many zelda-likes? i was "ok" on Ittle Dew, but not enough to bother with the sequel. and Blossom Tales was pretty good, though i still haven't gotten around to its sequel.
