The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)

Some thoughts after ~10 hours of play:

• The tutorial felt like a bit of a slog but the game becomes super fun once it lets you go.
• Didn't think it was possible, but this game makes BotW feel like a proof of concept in the best way possible. There's so much more life to Hyrule, from enemy variety to the sheer diversity of NPCs roaming around and available quest.
• The underground area is SO, SO good and fun to explore, it's challenging in all the right ways.
• Currently exploring the NW region, haven't challenged any Temples yet.
• The main plot has been really engaging.
• I'm trying to defeat a fire breathing dragon I found randomly on the map that has been kicking my ass. Haven't had any luck yet, lol.
• The building mechanic feels a bit clunky to be honest. It's been getting slightly better as I get used to it but I wish it was completely optional.
• I enjoy the weapon fusion mechanic but I wish there was a way to do it from the menu without having to actually drop the materials on the floor to fuse them. It's so annoying having to do that every time. Similar issue with the arrows, I wish the game would let me craft them in bulk instead of having to create each one individually at the time of shooting. In a way it makes the combat feel less streamlined than it was in BotW.
• Link is super cute. So is Zelda. I love them.

I've started playing only very briefly and never played BOTW since I lent my dad the cartridge upon purchase and he is still playing through... So this may never have been possible but I wanted to ask:

Do I have to go into the plus menu and select hold on any item I want to pull out, or is there a way like weapons where I can hold the up arrow and pull out one of the items I select?

Sorry if my question is not clear...

I had to restart the whole game because I misunderstood where I was supposed to go during the tutorial and the game let me get deep into snow and save at a point without access to enough materials to leave the snow without dying.

Turns out the game is a lot easier when you don't accidentally sequence break.

Very minor spoilers about an area of the game below.

Being back in Hateno has not disappointed. I count Hateno from BotW as one of my favourite spaces in a video game and I was looking forward to revisiting it. To say the least, it has certainly changed, yet the feeling remains the same and I feel comfort when I’m in the village. I’ve spent a bit of time chasing down quests in Hateno instead of following the main storyline and I’m in no rush to leave just yet.

The fact that Nintendo was able to recapture the feeling I experienced from BotW is significant to me. I knew that TotK would never feel exactly like BotW because as essential layer of initial discovery is stripped away. Yet it’s managed to make rediscovery very satisfying. Nintendo has significantly transformed the world while still reassuring me that not all is in upheaval. And they’ve managed to do that with not just locations and story. They’ve done it with the mechanics of the game, reassuring me that while they may introduce changes, weapon fusing, they won’t do away with things I love, like breakable weapons. I think that’s careful balance is going to matter over the long run and play a significant part of whether or not my experience will be memorable.

(Tagged with spoilers just to be careful but there is nothing about story only some light mechanics)

This game wasn’t doing much with me until I started getting creative and GTA-like. Built a double decker jet car and then attempted to do a drive-by on some Bobokins using bomb fused arrows but proceeded to shoot my own car and blow myself up. Good times.