I really wanted to love this game. I couldn't. Here's why.
This is my first ever video essay, and my first attempt at making any sort of long form content, ever. It took me over a year to make, but Tears of the Kingdom broke me down so bad that I had no choice. Thanks so much for watching! If you really REALLY liked this video, consider supporting me on Patreon! https://patreon.com/ittybittyskitty
That epic kazoo cover of the main theme can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFuYiMpLn40
Featuring Voltage as Rauru https://www.youtube.com/@VoltageVO
Orion’s TotK Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JApPduAM6H0
Nerrel’s TotK Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiIfnG1XTSc
Rat Zaddy’s video about the house-building minigame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tzYnECRXY8
JWittz screaming WHAAAAAAT??: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssKt88ZGI3U
Table of Contents:
0:00 - Intro
3:16 - The Hype (was) Real
5:24 - My Suffering Begins
17:20 - A Necessary Disclaimer
20:24 - Link's Abilities
24:09 - More Like Loser Interface
31:32 - (Re)exploring Hyrule
44:23 - A Video Game World
47:57 - Dropping The Ball
58:13 - The Zonai
1:05:06 - The Sky
1:11:57 - The Depths
1:19:23 - The Air Bike
1:22:18 - The Dungeons
1:49:42 - Shrines
2:20:11 - Sidequests and Rewards
2:31:19 - Combat (sort of)
2:37:34 - Story and Characters
3:08:22 - How I'd Fix It
3:16:34 - Final Thoughts
SOURCES (in order of appearance)
https://www.reddit.com/r/truezelda/comments/61i83v/spoilers_about_the_spring_of_power/
https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/o3h4dd/botw_ss_comparison_of_the_sealed_temple_and/
https://www.polygon.com/legend-zelda-tears-kingdom/23861486/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-totk-dlc-nintendo-switch
https://www.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/comments/15dyp59/totks_shrines_are_named_after_corresponding/
https://apnews.com/article/nintendo-bowser-mario-donkey-kong-universal-interview-8aeaa03f3ad4a3032c08c77945a3e787
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/05/20/eiji-aonuma-zelda-tears-kingdom-producer/
https://kotaku.com/hookshots-wii-u-maps-and-other-things-nintendo-cut-fr-1793056895
https://www.ign.com/articles/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-director-explains-why-sheikah-tech-is-strangely-absent-in-the-sequel
https://www.nintendo.com/my/interview/totk/04.html
https://www.famitsu.com/news/202309/06314767.html
https://www.nintendo.com/my/interview/totk/03.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/tearsofthekingdom/comments/14z20oe/messages_from_an_ancient_era_what_do_the_tablets/
FOOTAGE (in order of appearance)
Pokemon S/V: https://www.youtube.com/@Betabrawler
MySims Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m9WC9QmWmQ
WiiU Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3qaPg_keg
Tulin blowing items away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ziDWoz29kY
Game Grumps TotK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr2hn-zuvNw
Zeltik’s TotK review: https://youtu.be/Q1mRVn0WCrU?si=4cksNN6tuDalKpml
Zeltik saying funny bad words: https://youtu.be/-RJlvav2rtc?si=K6H2vBPGTn9oUOFl
Skyward Sword: https://www.youtube.com/@ZorZelda
Kaam Ya’tak Shrine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbs2U_4y5Xk
ALttP Master Sword: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF9uBMW6OrY
Blue Coins in Super Mario Sunshine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaA0fqA0I9w
Korok Torture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8hb_h_Ar5c
TotK in 39:50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omrMebkHYAc
KH1 Gummi Ship menu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfvbyVldWGE
All other footage is either watermarked or was recorded by me!
Copyright Disclaimer: under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.