What I did in the game: Zelda Notes Navigation 100% completed.
The One Picture I have taken: Stats tab in My Play Data section of Zelda Notes, which show pretty much everything, including my name and the Quests count.
Two weeks without posting, but just before the end of August, I finally managed to complete the big project I was working on. Completing 100% The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom! A little backstory before I delve in my experience. When I finally got the Switch 2 in June, instead of focusing on the big releases like Mario Kart World, Cyberpunk, Bravely Default or everything else I bought Day 1, I was caught in a weird completionist spiral of getting back into Breath of the Wild and finally try to reach 100% thanks to the new Zelda Notes app. I did kinda reach my own goal back on release in 2017 like all 120 Shrines and completing all Quests, but I was sure not getting all 900 Korok Seeds since even with an online guide, trying to compare what you have already with what was online was so much of a pain, I just gave up on reaching a true 100% in it (I think it may also be why I never started Tears of the Kingdom, because I didnt wanted another Zelda game that I couldnt complete 100% without pain). But the app, it makes the experience so much easier. It tracks your progress in real time, and auto-check everything you're getting, and so it becames like doing some geo-caching. The game shows you the position of everything, but you still have to do the thinking once there. It was so much fun that once I've reached 100% in BotW, I was finally ready to start Tears of the Kingdom...but even with Zelda Notes I was not ready for the completionist ride in front of me...
As soon as the intro sequence ended and I was thrown into one of the floating island in the sky, I activated the app, and from there, I was trying to get as much collectables as I could before moving forward to the next story beat. While the tutorial zone was pretty straight forward (it was like the Great Plateau in BotW) when you finally reach Hyrule proper, the app just "vomit" thousands of icons on the map. And from there, I was like playing Pac-Man, trying to eat all the dots and moving even more slowly to the next story part. But what could have been a tedious experience what such an amazing one. The app made me go through so many wonderful place that I surely wouldnt have gone normally. Exploring caves, fighting giant enemies, solving puzzles. And all that in three giant worlds. Because yes, the big thing in this game is that now you're not limited to the ground. You also have an entire open world in the sky and underground. It truly feels like BotW was tiny compared to everything you have to do in TotK to complete everything.
One of the thing I was scared upon starting the game that I had seen in all the trailers was the building aspect. I don't like building stuff, period, and I was affraid that it would be a stop to my progression. But not at all. If it's true that you can build some great things in the game, you can also solve everything by doing always the same thing. 90% of what I was building was just one stone bird with 2 fans, 1 rocket and the thing to control them. With that simple construct, I was able to fly pretty much anywhere. And you don't need to find the materials out in the world. You actually have "gacha" machines that give you prize bubbles with all the artefacts you will ever need. So the building fear I had was quickly put to rest. BUT, I still had another fear, the return of the weapon-breaking system. It was still there yes, but now you can actually fuse items to every weapons/shields you have. And since almost all the weapons in the game now are rusty and really weak, they're just lying around everywhere and their strength is not important at all. Instead you're just experimenting, and try to create Frankestein weapon and it become kinda addicting.
So with those two worries behind me I was just sucked into 3 vast worlds to explore at my pace. And even with the app telling me where to go, it took me 188 hours to 100% it. And the amount of amazing moments I had exploring them are too much to count. The first time you encounter a Gleeok, three-headed Dragon that instant-killed me at first, only for you to come back way later when you're stronger and fell them in an amazing aerial battle. Or when you start truly exploring both the sky and underground of Hyrule, the first forcing you to find creative way to reach the next island in the sky, and the second really giving you that oppressive feeling that you're alone in the dark and the something could kill you anytime, hiding in the shadows. Or above everything else, the moment you're getting the Master Sword, which may be one of the most breath-taking scene I've ever seen in a video game. These are just a few, but the game just never stop giving you "WOW" moment, even more than BotW ever could.
So yes, TotK was pretty much a perfect game, which is even more awesome since it had such big shoes to fill. The only tiny dark spot in the game for me, and it may not even be for some, is that I feel that the story, even though it was enjoyable, with lot of epic moments, doesnt connect at all to what was built in BotW. While it's a sequel yes, it almost feels like the events of BotW are of no importance. There is references yes, but TotK just create its own world and lore, almost totally disconnected from everything else. At this point, forget BotW and TotK ever connecting to the official timeline. And I don't mind, I'm not one of those who plays Zelda games for their stories. But I do like some continuity in games, and I feel it was not here in TotK. But that's only my opinion, and surely a lot of Zelda ultra-fan could just prove me wrong with 100-pages of theory.
And that's it for me. Tears of the Kingdom was a big Masterpiece, and I'm glad I finally played it, even more now on the Switch 2 at 60FPS and with the Zelda Notes app, since I feel I would have finished the game feeling frustrated again for not being able to 100% it. I hope that Nintendo continue to release useful app like this if they ever do more giant open world games in the future. Give us a way to 100% games without crawling online guides in pain (I'm looking at you Mario Kart World, what the heck were they thinking). But now, after Breath of the Wild, Fantasy Life, Donkey Kong Bananza and Tears of the Kingdom, I need a GIANT break from big games. I will need small experience for a long while...
Comments