Tears of the kingdom is open world perfection, not because it has a good open world, but because you can crucify your enemies on a cross

I read in an interview with Eiji Aonuma that his main inspiration for TOTK was the wacky glitch machines players would make in BOTW, such as the 2 minecarts together turning into a flying machine with magnesis.

This game absolutely fucking rules, can’t put it down

The sequence of events that lead up to getting the Master Sword back are some of my favorite moments in any Zelda game ever.

It’s kind of incredible how Overwatch and Breath of the Wild released one year apart, won GOTY in their respective years, and got iterative sequels 6 years later, where the distance between them in quality is so enormously vast.

any game that allows for such ruthless torture is a masterpiece in my book

Dude the dragon tear memories basically ARE the story, you've gotta finish that, the final scene is insane, especially in context if you kind of do things "in order". Totally agree that the end cutscenes for each of the temples was weird though, the same dialogue each time really broke the immersion.

One of my favorite fusions in the game is just attaching a rocket to your shield and how it lets you fly up and skip climbing tall walls.

Tears of The Kingdom is the first game in a very long while to keep me up all night playing it nonstop

Once I saw that you can fuse a minecart to your shield to grind on rails I realized this was a masterpiece

I think the tears story line is actually incredible. The demon king boss end fight was super powerful if you knew what was going on. A+ no notes.

Just finished it, i can say is not only the best open world yet but that ending tho.... loved it 100/100

he gave it a 90% for those who only care about the score but realized he just took out the meter to stop people from skipping straight to it.

Charlie is right about the puzzles. There's times were I solve a shrine and then I have to sit back for a moment and think, "Is that REALLY what was intended?" But unironically that makes it way more fun

i know its a small detail but when zelda went to pick up the stone in the beginning, she felt it before actually picking it up to check if it was dangerous, that sort of small attention to detail just really made me like the game more. they didnt have to add it in but they did. what a great game, this is what we get when we let developers take their time making games and not rush them.

I think the fusing system majorly helps a little further into the game in terms of durability. When you get to a point where you have a bunch of really good treasures for fusing, you can make a good weapon out of literal sticks without worrying about it breaking and losing your loot. It takes away major amounts of stress for finding powerful weapons in some small corner of the map.

Played 10-15 hours before remembering to go do the actual main story, the scope of TOTK is absolutely insane. There is so much to do

The fact that this works on the switch is an incredible feat. 30fps or not its insanity

I love the durability system. It encourages you to use different weapons and actively change how you play on the fly.

So I was crossing a cold river once, and suddenly though to myself, what if I throw an ice chu-chu jelly in the water? So I did that not expecting much and HOLY SHIT was I surprised 2 thin layers of ice popped up out of the water and I could cross the river easily. This game is a masterpiece and no one can tell me otherwise

“The only thing good about nintendo is that the games are so good” - charlie

The depths and gloom mechanic make the game so much better combat wise. The new temples also VASTLY outpace the old divine beasts. Amazing game

I agree with just about everything, my only issue with this game is sometimes the sage AI will just kind of go wherever they want when you need them most💀 but otherwise 10/10

I bought the switch just for this game and oh man its such a great game i can't even, what i REALLY love about it is how you are not getting your hand held there no 0 markers showing you what to do you only get general marker indicating where the quest was taken and after that you got to read and talk to people and they will tell you what to do thats awsome for actually soaking the world instead of just looking at the minimap and going from one marker to next

To be fair, getting this game to work on the switch was a huge accomplishment especially with the size of the map and the amount of things to do in it

The shrines have absolutely slapped. I'm like 'oh that's classic Zelda right there' so many times. Also the combat shrines are a masterpiece. Love the Zonai soldier music.

i think the amount of things you can do in the game is so cool and you’re so right about it being completely up to the player on how to solve puzzles.

the master sword/light dragon storyline is actually amazing and the most emotional ive felt for a zelda game

This is honestly one of the best games I've ever played. I've played almost non-stop aside from work and stuff and have only done three story quests. There's so much to do, everything is interesting, it's so stupidly good.

I loved breath of the wild and I was pretty sceptical about how they could possibly improve upon it for tears of the kingdom, and dear god were my expectations annihilated . this game is an absolute masterpiece

It's the same topography, not the same map, and even then they tweak it a fair bit. The way they pulled this off was incredible.

There's something I really like about this game over the first one that I don't see many people point out. Now most kinds of weapon have a special property (Royal weapons become more powerful when you flurry rush, Rito weapons produce wind, Zora weapons gain an attack boost when wet). This gives you an actual reason to have more variety of weapons for each situation. Instead, in Botw the Royal weapons were basically the best, only being beaten by Royal Guard weapons in exchange for durability.

Since you didnt do any of the side quests, i think you will be very pleasantly surprised. Ive been addicted to the little side quests that you can do and they sometimes even lead into like more even cooler side quests

You know a game is awesome when the only complaint is not even about the game itself.

My first trip to the underground was absolutely amazing. They didnt show much of it in the trailer. And i didnt expect it to be a full map of darkness and crazy encounters.

I found at towards the mid-game to late game the durability systems not that bad because with the fusion system you can make any weapon a really good weapon with fuse.

The opening music where you’re exploring the tunnel is some of the best PG horror music I’ve ever experienced. Also there are THREE maps instead of one. 30/10.

It seems like being ambitious has its quirks, despite hardware limitations.. I will always advocate this sort of creativity because it adds alot of replay value..

The art style really carry this game when it come to how it looks

Much love from Portugal Charlie! You're the best and keep up fighting the good fight!

It's amazing how many different ways you can solve some of the puzzles in this game. I watched 6 people play through the starting sky island, and saw 6 different solutions to the hook puzzle.

Dude the soundtrack blew me the fuck out of the water. I honestly thought I'd never feel this moved in a new way by a soundtrack ever again, this game definitely has its epic sections. I had high expectations and it exceeded pretty much every single one of them.

Its the best game I played in years. Jumping from breath of the wild to this has just been a joy.

The Ultrahand system feels like the pinnacle of open world crafting. It absolutely will be used as an entirely new base floor for years to come, exactly like how minecraft was. I am genuinely amazed that the Zelda team was able to stick the landing this well after the litany of developmental difficulties. Breath of the Wild felt like the best video game ever made and this is just better in *almost* every way.

For the story i believe the side quests are essential. They are way more fleshed out than botw and make the world more immersive. Ive been doing them all together somewhat getting memories in order and i gotta say its a blast. There are a lot of things I fell are missed without it.

6:15 what Charlie mentioned here is legitimately the best vehicle in the game. depending on how hard you pull back on the joystick, it's an air, land, or sea vehicle. it's only 2 moving parts so it's incredibly fuel efficient. it's only 3 pieces so it's very material-light. and it's made of such common components that if you want to autobuild it but don't have the parts, it costs barely anything. it's two fans angled slightly, attached to a joystick. experiment with the angle and you'll get it. attatch a Giant Brightbloom to the front for easy Depths exploration. it's an Omni-Vehicle, all-purpose. if you're not using it, start.

I love how everyone in this comment section immediately switched sides as soon as BG3 came out faster then switching Lego characters by pressing triangle in a LEGO game 😭 They’re both good games, you can like one without shitting on the other.

I am so thankful my buddy grabbed me a collector's edition at the last moment. I remember one of my first Halloween costumes was the original Link (My uncle built a real shield out of plywood and leather) and it was sickkkk!

So far my favorite thing about this game is the "Can this work?" Aspect of the game. thinking of something and it usually working is truly one of the best feelings in a game

I never thought in my life that I would spend $70 on a game and actually think it's worth it. I usually only spend $1 - $30 on a game. (I mostly game on PC where the games are much cheaper because of constant sales.) But this game is just packed with stuff. Ive never seen a game this loaded with unique sights and activities. Ive played thousands of games and TOTK this is one of the most unique gaming experiences of them all.

Dude the chapter breakdown or whatever you call in the the moist meter is so goated

30 fps is as good as 60 fps. Me personally, i can barely see the difference and don't even pay attention to it

The story I think was still incredibly charming even if not as well written as I'd have hoped. Everything involving the demon king had me on the edge of my seat, not because of incredible dialogue or anything but just the presentation of it is so perfectly executed.

Charlie should definitely get the memories. Watching the cutscenes for them has been one of my favorite parts of the game. I feel like anyone who doesn't watch them is missing out on so much

So far I have noticed that if you fuse a common weapon to an epic weapon the common weapon will take the durability damage for the base weapon so you can use those epic weapons as much as you like

Great review!

13:43 for the percentage and conclusion.

It should be noted that the overworld has the same overall structure but every single location has changed in at least some way, whenever I go to a familiar area it feels completely new because of all the little changes

Heads up to any other people with epilepsy or photosensitive conditions: there's some flashing during the Godslap ad at the end. Awesome video. Liked the points you brought up.

I think the thing that makes me believe TotK is pretty much perfect is that if you aren't big on creative problem-solving and having too much to do, there are still linear ways of beating every challenge the game throws at you, which truly allows ultimate player freedom. You can do the simple, intended thing and have a blast. You can make the stupidest contraption ever that only half-works and forces you to improvise partway through, and it's a blast. No matter what kind of player you are, the game is designed with you in mind. The only real issue I can see people having with the gameplay is its vastness being overwhelming and/or sometimes annoying to traverse. I may be biased, but I genuinely having a hard time seeing people's preferred playstyle clashing with the game in any other way, and that's an incredible feat. Of course, this is coming from someone who's happy with any quality above 360p at 15FPS, so my input may not be the best on that front, haha

I do agree that is annoying how the switch holds back the game graphically and with the performance, but you can't deny that diving from a sky island with beautiful soundtrack while taking a poop has to be one of the most magical experiences.

The Legend of Zelda games (specifically BotW and TotK) are some of the only games that can be 75% random filler content and still make it way better than the vast majority of other games and leave fans wanting more of it lol. The Switch hardware lets them down, definitely, but they're so amazingly and artistically crafted that 99% of the time it's hard to care; you just want to keep playing anyway

One of the best parts in my opinion about the video is not only that he explains things incredibly but also that he only shows clips of him on the great sky island (the tutorial area) so not to spoil too much of the game

I feel like durability is necessary in this game. It encourages experimentation with the fuse mechanic. In the first game it was mostly just a way to have Link find new weapons instead of using the same ones the entire game, but in this game it actually makes sense.

5:18 Charlie explains Ultrahand while using his own Ultrahands to take his cat off his desk. His metaphors are always on point.

I think the fuse mechanic is the perfect answer to weapon durability. In BotW, it sucked because if there was a sword you like and it breaks, you’re SOL and have to find another one. But in TotK, as long as you pick up sticks you will always have a good weapon available. Your stone axe broke? Fuse a soldier construct horn to a stick, bam you’ve got a damn good weapon. And of course the stronger the enemy type your monster part comes from, the more damage it does. So you have more incentive to go after higher level monsters instead of avoiding them, knowing that defeating them will give you materials for a damn good weapon. As far as fusing like a rake to your sword or whatever, yeah that stuff can be kind of dumb. But that’s just not where Fuse shines, in terms of practicality. I just love that ability. Another great thing about this game is how interesting the open world feels. I can’t walk to one point of interest without seeing 2 or 3 others that I want to visit along the way. It’s exponential and at times I feel overwhelmed. But it just means I have way more stuff to get to later. I absolutely love this game.

I love the Depths SO MUCH!!!

A vast majority of the side quests in this game are either really well written or just fun to complete. Usually it’s both

"TotK is not a $70 DLC" Thank you. So many people stating it is just a DLC do not appreciate how much time and effort went into this game. There is so much more than BotW could offer in this masterpiece. 🥰

Weapons breaking in this game is alot less annoying than in BOTW, it feels like it takes longer, and you can increase durability by fusing. You still gotta be mindful of what weapons you're using to like break hard objects, that'll wear them down faster, but like a stone hammer will go through many crates and hard rock but you'll lose your spear in short order trying to do the same.

Let's also give props to the fact that they crammed it into 16GB

I think I've played TotK for around 60 something hours now and I havent even gotten close to finishing it. I have literally done two of the temples and i think like 54 shrines. I just enjoy exploring tbh. There is so much in this game that it is incredible. Like Charlie said the only downside is performance

I like that they focused more on giving players freedom to just have fun however they want to have fun. There is so much to do in this game, but you don't even need to do any of it. Just the base mechanics alone are fun enough that you can just use those and go have fun doing whatever the hell you want to without even aknoledging the story. I also really appreciate, that, while it's no masterpiece, they did add a pretty good story with some genuine twists if you go through and collect all the memories to piece it together. I feel like so many games try to restict the player as much as possible these days, but I'm so incredibly relieved to see they did just the opposite, giving us as much freedom as possible while still having real puzzles that take effort and thought and have so many possible solutions. Overall an amazing game.

After learning they had oil in this game (not in BotW) and thinking nothing of the chicken legs as they were being counted as beef for most meals, I experimented and put them together, along with a spicy pepper. No joke my mouth flew agape when I made spicy chicken wings. Like idk why that made me so amazed but it was kind of a moment for me. Love this game

To: Nintendo about 30 fps. You can’t keep getting away with this!!! - Jesse Pinkman

Memories? Link didn’t forget anything in totk.

Exceeded all my expectations. Absolutely phenomenal experience

The fact that this game maintains a mostly solid 30 FPS on the switch, is a technological miracle and the devs of this game are actual wizards. The amount of computational complexity going on especially due to the way the different systems interact with each other naturally - and yet the game doesn’t crash or glitch out of control is amazing. Haven’t seen any bugs in my play through so far. Nuff said, probably one of the best games ever made, period.

I literally didn't know you could use ultrahand on the Flux construct lol

The devs really said, "It is wackadoodle time", and I am here for it 👏👏👏

The opening of the game up until you fall down to Hyrule was amazing!

Let’s go, this game is way better than I could have ever imagined! They looked at the players and what they did in Botw and said, “Fuck it, let’s see what you can do in this game.”

I said this on someone else's video, but I'll say it again. I outsmarted and did most of the shrines I came across with the op traversal combo of Ultra Hand and Recall. Basically making makeshift elevators/flying carpets. 👍🏻

nah, the true ending after all memories is a masterpiece, ive had my jaw dropped multiple times during the cut scenes

I just wanna say - I think the graphics ARE amazing. That's probably because I don't have incredible expectations. Literally anything can look amazing if you understand the basic art direction.

Thanks for the intro, it's good you agree that it's not a $70 DLC

Hated breath of the wild, love tears of the kingdom. Not sure how that works, but here we are

You're in awe most of the time. Yeah quality(graphics) is low but the gameplay makes up for it 10x !

In my opinion, the storytelling in the memories really were good. Once I started getting them and piecing together the broader story, it was pretty awesome.

Ive always really liked the side quests. They can be silly and charming

This game is soooooo literally good and filled with so much content that you legit get lost and caught up into so many new things or sidetracked from interests that catch the eye or exploration, it’s a way that keeps players in tune and consistently spending hours and time with gameplay since so much will catch you up and intrigue you, that’s what I love so much of the game that for sure makes the game worth it’s full price for me, same beloved map switched up with many fun changes and new spot replacements and enemies, newly added sky/depths exploration giving even 10x the content, it’s just all so good 😭😭

I just bought BOTW for the first time excited to try it out , I’ll run thru that then maybe buy TOTK if I like it

One of my favorite parts about breath of the wild was the freedom to play the game however you want- the fact that you can literally fight the final boss the second you finish the tutorial is so cool and I'm really happy to see you have just as much freedom in this game as well

ngl this game gives me chills on regular occasions. i just got done collecting all the dragon tears.... and holy balls that reveal was crazy!!

I think the champion dialogue being the same is due to being able to do them in any order. It's not a good thing, mind you, but I believe that is the core reason. I wish you learned more about them as people and characters in the curscenes. That would have made it better.

TOTK did a sequel correctly. Instead of creating an entirely new game unrecognizable from the other, they more or les made the same game but added a TON onto it.

The durability system isnt something i like, but its something i find necessary to keep players in that mindset of wanting to experiment with everything you find in the game.

Honestly I don’t mind the durability system in TotK, because there’s so many items and silly combinations I’d like to try, it’s so fun to combine every single possibility and I don’t mind losing a certain weapon because I know I’ll find another one on the way. And the fusion mechanic also fix the problem of storing a lot materials. They now push you to use every single item just for the sake of curiosity.

Plauge seeker's premise has me hooked

Finding out and understanding where Zelda actually was, was some of the coolest sh*t ever. Also the ending was SO cool. Mechanically Ultrahand is extremely funny. And I LOVE the fuse ability. It makes it so monster hunting is truly engaging, every time is saw a new enemy i just wanted to go fight it for a new weapon attachment, and its honestly the best solution to how limiting the durability system was, by just letting you lego your weapons together at a moments notice