I have not the slightest intention of giving you an introduction to the subject; for that we have the first part of this reviewYes, I am going to tell you to prepare a cup of coffee for the reading that is coming up.
The day D
May 12 was without a doubt one of the most anticipated moments for every owner of a Nintendo Switch; the return of the owner of GOTY 2017. In any case, the access was an uncontrolled prelude during the previous days; cracks and leaks flooded the net with people who “somehow” had managed to get hold of the game file; Developers from all over the world stopped sleeping a wink under the pressure of having a viable emulator to support the new installment, thus allowing everyone who could to travel to the new world of Hyrule. Zelda TOTK it was already all the rage and hadn’t even been officially released.
A shattered Hyrule, a defeated Link and a missing Zelda
The plot begins with a setting that already gives overtones to a sequel. We don’t start out in a happy, calm, evolved world like most sequels. It is as if we began narratively in that minute before the moment of the climax.
Chronologically we are immediately after the events of Breath of the Wild, the kingdom is at peace, but still resurfacing from the final fight with Ganon, with an air of celebration and doubts; on the contrary, Zelda and Link continue to investigate in depth the history that is hidden in the walls of the castle.
Zelda TOTK was already all the rage and hadn’t even been officially released yet.
We find that the narrative takes us to the Zonnan, an ancient civilization that had ruled Hyrule hundreds of years ago; and for the regulars of BOTW that do not miss a single detail, a name introduced in the jungle Region of Farone.
Our heroes find in the last of the hidden caves of the castle a scene that will start their worst nightmares.
On a large altar they see a petrified being, with strangely familiar reddish hair and mummy-like, decrepit and lifeless, or so they consider. In the center of the cave, like a Renaissance painting, the strange being has a shining floating hand squeezing his chest, imprisoning his heart and leaving it immobile in what would be a frozen and painful scene.
Nothing lasts forever, including peace. Moments later said hand weakens, leaving the body it contains free so that it immediately wakes up. At this moment, both Link and Zelda know that they are not alone and that this enemy already knew them. Our swordsman is affected by a kind of miasma created by his new enemy, destroying the Master Sword and taking away all the hearts obtained in BOTWZelda on the other hand falls into a precipice, leaving Link in a life or death situation, but being saved by the strange hand that imprisoned the unknown being.
Some time later, he awakens in an abandoned cave, with a body eaten away by evil energy, a useless Master Sword and a new “arm”, which would be the key to recover Zelda.
In the distance our hero recognizes the voice of the princess, realizing that she is not dead. What he doesn’t know is that they are not in the same world and thousands of years separate them.
Gameplay 2.0
After a few and tiny hours of play, we noticed the great evolution that permeates the delivery. The game commands were reverted only in some small and necessary things. Menu navigation is much more intuitive than the previous version; a more polished, candid, minimalistic HUD that ticks off any and all functions that were a pain in the ass in BOTW. Some things remain the same, such as the basic commands for actions or the native way of navigating each menu, but with much more intuitive shortcuts.
Broadly speaking, several previous dynamics are maintained except for a few small gameplay details. We will continue to increase stamina and hearts in the conventional way, except for the small plot detail that everything that was before an ancient artifact today is a Zonnan artifact, from some weapons to the sanctuaries where we will get orbs to raise the characteristics.
And last but not least, the skill system is completely new. This time we are introduced to 5 new skills:
- Ultramano: Possibility of moving any type of object at a distance.
- Infiltration: The ability to penetrate ceilings of any type of thickness.
- Combination: The cherry of the dessert, with it we can combine any type of object.
- Rewind: The ability to rewind the time of an object in question, mimicking its previous movements and physics.
- Schematic Generator: An ability that allows you to craft items at a higher speed, based on a Zonnan blueprint.
Crafting 3.0
One of the things that caused the most commotion in the networks on the day of the official presentation of the gameplay of TOTK was the previously named Combination skill. Almost from the beginning of the game we have the ability to create almost any type of object that we can think of, and even more importantly, combine any object with a weapon; resulting in a completely new and improved weapon.
When Nintendo tells us that the possibilities in this ability are endless, it’s because they really are. From the use of shield-rockets to rise without problems to great heights and to flying vehicles that have nothing to envy to a Boeing, TOTK brings with it a mentality of freedom that I find difficult to overcome at the moment.
Map 4.0
If there is something that I think was difficult to improve, it was the feeling of enormity that the map gave us in BOTW; not only because of its size, but because of the way he presented it. from time zero BOTW it presented us with a vast world, exaggeratedly enriched and even laughing at the power of the Switch; We all questioned how something so big could fit into such a small power. All this seemed to me impossible for Nintendo to overcome, or at least taking as a premise that we continue to stand still in this generation.
A few days ago when leaving TOTK we heard in a report how Nintendo took BOTW as a prototype, that everything was put together specifically as a prelude to TOTK; It seemed impossible to me to consider, Nintendo does things well… but not THAT well.
This new number leaves in check any characteristics that we have seen as negative to Breath of the Wild. The map is huge, but on a completely and exclusively vertical scale. Hyrule is the same, extensive, rich and colorful; but now even more. The biomes of each region were touched up with a large number of nature and foliage; every corner of the map looks new and gives us an eerily similar feeling. What am I going with this? I played a large part of its prequel a month before its release, with which I had the layout of the map perfectly fresh; it was impossible to remember key locations or settlements on the new map; everything was new and it was designed in such a way that it gives a breather to the visual of the players.
On the other hand, we talk about verticality. We have 3 maps in total, which are overlaid as stickers for better navigation. One is the Subsoil, which is governed under the floors of ALL Hyrule, the second, and most expected by all since its presentation, belongs to the aerial formations that we find throughout the map, which we can reach freely .
The way of resolution for a map of this type does not really enter my head, not in design but in development. We all know that the Nintendo Switch lacks power, that everything that today should run natively at 30 FPS is not really what happens; and it doesn’t happen here either. But the mere fact of thinking that all this can be developed in such a way that it fits in the same space as BOTW is incredible.
If there is something that I think was difficult to improve, it was the feeling of enormity that the map gave us in BOTW; not only because of its size, but because of the way he presented it.
We can go through any of the 3 maps, one after the other without loading screens or without situations like the typical one of walking along a ledge to give the game time to load what is coming, a tool used continuously in deliveries such as god of war, Uncharted either The Last Of Us. Everything is continuous, although at the cost of some FPS (and yes, everything is not perfect either).
Lastly, I don’t plan on stopping to tell you what the story is amazing or what’s next. I’m not interested, since it’s something for personal experimentation. What I can tell you is that, without a shadow of a doubt, Tears Of The Kingdom He has no opponent for the GOTY this year. It’s impossible, and not impossible for me, it’s impossible for someone to create something up to par. The story is based on the native lore of the saga, the soundtrack is so verbose it’s disgusting, and Nintendo’s level of affection towards this prodigy son is truly insane.
THE BEST
- Extensive maps at overwhelming levels
- A compelling story with characters that really have a certain charisma and add to the plot.
- Physics with a large number of freedoms