Tears of the Kingdom Anyone else feel like TOTK is just a reskin of everything?

[BloodyRed]

Ive noticed in the short time I’ve enjoyed the game, every concept is there from BOTW, just with a different look and name, the shrines, the towers, the paraglider, the runes, the tablet you use, its all the same but reskinned. Not complaining though, the game is still awesome.

 

[LordErec42]

I totally agree, playing TotK feels very much like playing BotW again. There's enough changes to the world and other small tweaks to keep it fresh and interesting, but I am a bit disappointed that it feels so much the same after such a long development cycle.

I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it, but personally it feels like most of the pain points I had with BotW haven't been addressed in TotK for me. Weapon durability is still a terrible mechanic and makes combat a tedious chore I prefer to avoid, and in many cases is worse in TotK with the decayed weapons. The shrine, rupee and resource grind is still a tedious grind that just adds a lot of time wasting busywork to the game loop.

Climbing at least appears to have been improved between ascend and the new climbing gear/elixirs that let you climb in the rain.

Overall I'm still mostly enjoying the game, but I'm pretty disappointed that combat and the grind (worst parts of BotW) haven't been addressed at all.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

yeah you're pretty much going through the same exact motions of botw, just a bit altered

we might as well have kept calling it botw2

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

It does feel an awful lot like a reskin of Breath of the Wild. Most of the content is just stuff from BotW dressed up with the hope that we won't notice how the original game isn't mentioned. Towers? Same thing and none of the BotW towers are mentioned. Shrines? No one remembers what a shrine is. Ganon? Who the **** is Ganon? Even the plotline with the new sages is just recycled from BotW.

 

[Fun Link]

Yea, I get the similarities, and I wish they did something more interesting with elixirs… why would I ever make an elixir when I could just use a food version that’s more powerful? Amiright?

also if that Gordon says “goro“ one more time I’ll never get the fire sage on any future playthroughs

it is a sequel though, so I get it’s going to be fairly similar

the depths is something I really enjoy though, and while caves in the over world are a bit tedious to find and explore I like how there’s no map for them, you gotta figure that out in your own!

 

[Thrix]

I dunno, to me it hits different from Botw. It sounds similar when you break it down to its basic structure but how you interact and engage with said structure is very different. Not to mention how much new content is packed into it. You could break down the oracle games in the same way and make them sound like they're the same game. Once you play them however I think most can agree that they feel distinct.

 

[Fierce Deity Link]

Sounds like gone are the days when the next installment is radically different than the previous game:

Zelda to Zelda II
Orcarina to Majora’s Mask
Majora’s Mask to Windwaker

 

[Thrix]

Sounds like gone are the days when the next installment is radically different than the previous game:

Zelda to Zelda II
Orcarina to Majora’s Mask
Majora’s Mask to Windwaker

I think it's too early to claim that. If the next mainline installment is Botw 3 then yes, that is when I would start to worry.

 

[Fierce Deity Link]

I think it's too early to claim that. If the next mainline installment is Botw 3 then yes, that is when I would start to worry.

True, but having two installments be so much alike in a row does not bode well.

 

[BloodyKun]

Maybe if you’re way into being a reductionist, sure. The towers are the same in the way that idiots claim that they are lifted from Ubisoft games, which is to say not at all. Each of the towers in BotW had the challenge of actually reaching them and climbing up them…the ones in TotK are often either not much trouble or have entirely different ways to activate them. Never mind those in BotW only serve as a vantage point for so much area and landmarks on the horizon, whereas those in TotK give you way more freedom in where you can go and are actually far more crucial in getting to sky islands, things not at all in the other game.

Ultrahand changes up the core of the game, puzzles and traversal immensely, among the other powers, making a lot of loot far more useful too and giving a trade off. That’s to mention nothing if all the caves or depths or new sidequests or changes to the surface, etc. I just don’t get those calling this some expansion pack.

 

[Thrix]

Maybe if you’re way into being a reductionist, sure. The towers are the same in the way that idiots claim that they are lifted from Ubisoft games, which is to say not at all. Each of the towers in BotW had the challenge of actually reaching them and climbing up them…the ones in TotK are often either not much trouble or have entirely different ways to activate them. Never mind those in BotW only serve as a vantage point for so much area and landmarks on the horizon, whereas those in TotK give you way more freedom in where you can go and are actually far more crucial in getting to sky islands, things not at all in the other game.

Ultrahand changes up the core of the game, puzzles and traversal immensely, among the other powers, making a lot of loot far more useful too and giving a trade off. That’s to mention nothing if all the caves or depths or new sidequests or changes to the surface, etc. I just don’t get those calling this some expansion pack.

Not to mention that many parts of the map have been altered enough to where it feels like a new area. All the actual new areas (not counting caves and the depths or the sky). I mean the depths themselves are the size of the entire overworld, kinda like an inverse dark world map filled with late game challenges, bonus gear, schematic stones, boss rematches, full on side quests and dungeons. The sky is like a slightly smaller Wind Waker map on top of the main one. It's honestly kinda insane.

I really loved the addition of caves though. They're actual mini dungeons with regional theming and gimmicks. Helps make the shrine challenges feel less repetitive since there's more to find than just them.