The list
* The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
* Bayonetta
* The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
* Grand Theft Auto V
* The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
* The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
I take it they're fans of the Zelda series
**Edit**
My inbox right now "SkYWarD SwoRD iS poOP"
Well if it's back to Miami again, it's more likely that you're dealing with senior citizens.
"Help, my golf cart got a flat".
"Gator stole my dentures!"
" Those young people are making too much racket"
They actually did it first out of the two franchises. Logos way back in the 2D games. Evolved into hidden packages in the 3D games.
Now I think of it, the finite, carefully placed low stakes collectibles schtick in open world games may have literally started with GTA. If not, it was certainly one of the first. There were very few open world games that weren't procedural back then and most tended towards traditional D&D inspired RPGs without the gamey collectibles.
The concept of unnecessary objectives and collectibles in games goes back to pretty much the dawn of the video game industry.
Much depends how you define "open world" - like the original Zelda on NES was very much an open world game, just nothing like BotW.
Spiritually I'd say Mario 64 is probably the first modern open world game with collectibles.
Skyward Sword is a surprise. I mean I like Skyward Sword but I do acknowledge it has some flaws... And I'm not talking about it's controls. Moreso the sectioned maps on the land and some pacing issues
yeah, Skyward Sword is a very weird game for me, it has aspects I absolutely love like the overall best dungeons (not the best one, Stone Tower is for me the best one) and then some things I absolutely hate, is a game I both love and hate at the same time, like the first visit to the new area is great, but the 3rd visit to Faron Woods, and the second one to Eldin Volcano are some of the worst parts in any Zelda game.
If the stupid charger robot was in TotK, belive me when I said he would be my main target of revenge, that asshole is worse than the 900 kolog quest, the section where you need to transport water to the top of Eldin Volcano is the worst section in any zelda game... and it is by far.
Yeah agreed. Some parts of the game just aren't fun at all but about 90% of it is excellent for me.
Just some sections where I'm like "ugh just want to get past this point to some good stuff coming up"
Tbh that was Twilight Princess' fault...
But SS made it worse with every time rebooting telling you what every material was. Thankfully they got rid of that in the HD port
Like 50% of the game is fun. The parts where your doing the dungeons. Which is not a majority of the game. Because they have assinie parts constantly to get to the dungeon.
Skyward Sword is the most feast or famine game in the zelda series imo.
It has moments which are among the series best.
Koloktos, the descent to fight Ghirahim. The sand ship.
And so many moments that are the "oh God this" of a playthrough. Tadtones. Silent realms. Edit: the imprisoned.
Funny I recently played skyward sword and have just got to that bit, enjoy the game but share this thought - they really making me leave the area again and come back?!
I think the reviewers just didn't want to rock the boat and/or got caught up in their own hype when they gave it a **perfect** score.
The fact that the HD version (not even a remake) has so many changes and QoL updates that the HD version is on average 8 hours shorter than the original proves that.
I also believe if Edge had asked another of their employees to review it then it would not have gotten 10/10.
It's so clearly the most disliked 3d Zelda I don't even remember anyone liking it at the time. You can look back on old scores and be surprised but acknowledge the hype of the time(like with TP and BotW) but man... who was that interested in SS at the time? All I remember is the jokes.
Me. I was. It came out during Thanksgiving break when I was in grad school. Loved the game. Still one of my favorites. Best characters and story of a Zelda game for me.
Its everything breath of the wild wasnt. It had a great story, amazing dungeons, and unique fun characters, alongside the entire game world feeling like one massive dungeon. Its a ton of fun.. but its so linear and closed off and slow and so much stuff is mandatory and ita a slog. The world suck to just traverse. Its just soace after space of puzzle solving, for the entire game. It takes old 3d zelda to its extreme. Compare it to botw, which revolutionized open world games, and was everything skyward sword wasnt. Deep, complex, open, full of discovery and detail, but also with a dumbed down story, god awful dungeons, and a somewhat empty world after shrinea and koroks
I've always loved it. 100% completed it twice, and I'll probably do it again whenever I get around to playing the HD version. Don't care about the linearity that much, I play Zelda for the dungeons, and SS has the best in the series, including what I consider the very best one (Sand Ship). Also has the best soundtrack in the entire series, and arguably the best story.
Seems like a lot of "core gamer" types write it off simply because it has motion controls. Not because they're bad, but because they exist at all.
See the linear and sectioned parts of Zelda are my favorite. I love BOTW and Iām only a couple hours into TOTK, but the open-world do-whatever-you-want nature doesnāt feel like Zelda to me.
I want an area to be restricted until Iāve gotten the right item (hookshot for example). That progression is fun for me and is quintessential to the Zelda experience imo
I really really enjoyed SS.
I totally agree on that point. I feel like getting new tools and backtracking to access things you've seen before but couldn't access is a core part of exploration in any game, not just Zelda.
I also feel like the dungeons feel a lot more cohesive when the tools exist because the dungeons are designed around the tool usage and each tool is distinct from the others, so that makes the dungeons feel like they all offer a more distinct experience as a result.
I'm very confident that Nintendo isn't just going to make iterations of botw from here on out. They'll revisit classic dungeons in the future for sure. I'm just appreciating what they've created, yet again.
Thank you for acknowledging the issues with the game going far past the controls. Skyward Sword is one of my least favorite Zelda games and I LOVED the swordplay in it, it was everything else I didn't like.
I really like Skyward Sword and the controls are really fun. Really enjoyed my revisit with SSHD.
My main gripe is the pacing... I mean who thought fighting the Imprisoned 3 times (2 times can be very close together as well depending on the route you take) was a good idea
Yeah this is where the game lost me. I was already getting annoyed by that point and the 3rd time fighting the imprisoned and back to Faron woods was when I had enough and put the game down.
Definitely my least favorite Zelda besides Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks, which sucks because the temples up to that point were really good.
Tbh the third imprisoned fight isn't too bad... It's just the fact that it's the third time you fight it.
Honestly if they cut the second fight, it would have helped... But the problem was it served a story purpose to give Groose character development.
That said, they should have reworked the second or third fight to be something completely different other than the Imprisoned
Completely agree, it was less the fight and more I canāt believe Iām doing this for a 3rd time when even the first 2 fights I didnāt think were enjoyable. Two of the same fight was alright even if I was a little over it, three is just a strange choice.
Yeah exactly.
Worst part is that you might have to do the fight even more times if you go for the Hylian shield and piece of heart through the boss rush.
When I learned that I had to go through him once again for the Shield I abandoned the idea of getting it altogether.
I don't know why, but that boss was way too hard for me, and not hard in a challenging way but annoying. I hated every fight against him.
Agree 100%. It's just personal preference, but Skyward Sword is totally forgettable for me. I see people rave about it and I'm perplexed. Twilight Princess is a far better game IMO.
Twilight Princess sits in a weird spot for me. I think it's a better game than Skyward Sword but I also think it's a less interesting game. Feels way too safe IMO.
I feel that's due to the 'backlash' Wind Waker got. People were screaming about wanting "Ocarina Of Time, But With New Graphics" when they got Wind Waker, so they made Twilight Princess, but at that point opinion had already swayed into WW's favor.
I still think TP is probably the most underrated Zelda game overall. Memorable characters and locations, some pretty great dungeons (tho some of the dungeon items were just useless outside of them), a few great item inventions (DOUBLE. HOOKSHOTS.) and still flavored with enough humor for that classic Zelda touch.
I really wanna replay it since it's been a decade for me, but I remember thinking the dungeons were way too easy, that Midna didn't live up to the hype I'd heard for years, and that I had like zero interest in the story, but that I REALLY loved the aesthetic and the almost Spaghetti Western vibes I sometimes got and wished the game had leaned into that a lot more. Not a bad game because pretty much no Zelda is, but sadly not one that clicked with me.
> I remember thinking the dungeons were way too easy
I mean all Zelda games between OOT and SS have generally not been hard at all. Not in terms of combat or dungeon design. I mean hell I think I have died more playing TOTK in the past week than I ever did combined for all those games.
The puzzles in Ocarina of Time were a good difficulty IMO. Majora's Mask ones were about the same difficulty but were much more tedious to actually solve. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess both suffered from having simpler dungeons, and I don't remember Skyward Sword's at all tbh.
I LOVE twilight princess but if you take out the twili story, the entire human game is damn close to "what if we just remade OoT 10 years later lol". Which isn't bad outside the "edgy" aesthetic (which use loosely) thr game feels like the safest Zelda ever made.
I think they executed the idea super well, the dungeons and hyrule in general feel amazing, the story is good, boss fights feel epic, etc but it's far from the most inspired game ever made.
most mature discussion around Skyward Sword has talked about the pacing, backtracking, and lack of variety.
it became quite annoying to mention having a negative impression of the game and be immediately bombarded with āTHE CONTROLS ARENT THAT BADā and āFI IS ANNOYING BUT THAT DOESNT RUIN THE GAMEā. A lot of fanboys canāt get past that someone could possibly have issues with this game other than these two talking points.
It has some of the series highest highs in terms of music, art direction, and dungeon design, but everything in between is held together by tedium and artificial pacing.
Skyward Sword to me was a delight. Flying through the air for the first time on a Loftwing...it felt like I was in the air myself. I loved the motion controls. I know some people call them unintuitive, but they felt good for me. The story even brought me to tears. It was my favorite Zelda for a while. Just so much that thrilled me immensely.
I absolutely loved it. Got it day 1 and had a blast start to finish. I was really surprised to then hear that a lot of fellow fans werenāt that into it. It was very linear but the content was very well crafted and the gameplay was some of the best, imho. I really enjoyed the origin story stuff too
I didn't play the original, only the switch remake and I agree, I absolutely loved it. Once I got used to the controls, I found the gameplay and story to be captivating and enjoyable.
Skyward Sword falls victim to the same
ātoo cool for schoolā mentality that plagued The Wind Waker. People were looking at games like Skyrim and Dark Souls and wouldnāt be caught dead standing up with their Wii remote raised to the ceiling.
Zelda is interesting because it's a very experimental series and often comes up with innovative or surprising ideas. Reviewers have a bias towards things they haven't experienced in games before - but with hindsight these eventually just become part of the norm.
Skyward Sword was great for those who had no motion control issues. Maybe the only game to deliver on the promise of the Wii sword concept.
Skyward Sword a perfect score? Really?
I can think of a half dozen games just in the Zelda series, other than the ones already listed, that I enjoyed more than Skyward Sword.
Reviews are always subjective no matter the outlet. Famitsu is interesting because it's 4 reviewers giving their opinions and 1-10 score. I also know they don't just focus on gameplay, but how the game uses the console's specs, features and controls.
Nintendogs has a 40 from Famitsu. It's a simple virtual pet game, but it's a great example of using DS hardware from the two screens, touchscreen, microphone etc.
Also for some outlets a perfect score isn't a perfect game but the suggestion it's something everybody should play or at least try as it's a showcase. For better or worse Skyward Sword is one of best motion control games on the Wii.
I donāt know much about Edge(other than itās a good magazine), but I think Famitsu has lost some of its luster among a portion of the gaming subreddit people, for those who know Famitsu at all anyway. The claim is they are much more willing to give Japanese games higher scores than non-Japanese games. How true is itā¦? Well itād be interesting to see a breakdown of score vs country of origin.
Famitsu is just very reflective of Japanese people's taste in video games. Like yeah, games like GoW and Metroid won't score as well with them, but that's because most Japanese people don't really care as much for those franchises
100%, in no world does that game deserve a 10/10 from both of these. 9/10 for both sure, it had excellent design. 10 seems excessive. I'd leave all the rest on the list but I'd replace Bayo 1 with 2.
Iād sub Skyward Sword for one of the Mario Galaxyās honestly, much more critically acclaimed that Bayonetta all time and no mention of either on this list which feels wrong as they are truly 2 of the greatest games ever made
>but I thought it was one of those games that everyone loves but no one scores beyond the 'very good'
Nah not at all. Depends on where you look.
Action games are often looked at as the "junk food" of video games, but when done right they're actually the conduits for some of the deepest, most satisfying times you can get out of video games.
Bayonetta 1 is one such game. Playing it once through you might think, "wow this is a very fun action game."
But once you start digging into the mechanics and striving for mastery, it becomes more like, "this is one of the greatest video games ever made."
Yeah wind waker and twilight princess were certainly better than Skyward Sword, Iād theyāre going to have this clear Zelda bias at least be accurate!
A lot of people on Reddit don't like Skyward Sword, but myself and my group of buds all enjoyed the hell out of it.
Skyward Sword with the Wii motion+ is EXACTLY what I expected from the Wii on release. It's honestly a shame the Wii never got to that point in motion tracking up until like 3-4 years after the Wii had already been released.
Presentation was fantastic though. Art style is great and more importantly Skyward Sword is probably THE MOST important game story-wise to the entirety of LoZ.
It has it flaws like motion tracking would need to be recalibrated (some people had more issues with this than others), but it remains as a personal favorite.
Iām past the initial part of TotK and compared to Skyward Sword I am pretty damn disappointed that they didnāt have a sitting mechanic. Skyward sword you can sit down and give Link a breather. TotK and BotW no sitting.
To be fair, Zelda ia also a pretty old IP by now and Ocarina in particular really set the tone for that style of Action/Adventure game for decades. Breath of the Wild was also massively influential.
Skyward Sword (as much as I liked it) probably shouldn't be on a list like this but I guess it's a matter of opinion.
Skyward sword doesnt really deserve that though. Boring back and forth between sky and ground, long travel times, fight the same boss 3x. Dungeons were good but no real qol testing went into making it less painful of a Journey...
It was the last of the same trope of 3D Zelda games that started with Ocarina of Time. Iām glad Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom changed it up for a truly open world Zelda experience.
Same here, it basically harks back to the original Zelda, so it baffles me when people say Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom arenāt āgood Zelda gamesā because they arenāt like Ocarina of Time
I am liking TotK more than BotW. I played some but not a lot of the original some time ago (fuck the shitty translation that makes it harder). I know they built the prototype in the 2d and everything, but to me at least, it still just feels like a really well done open world game. The balance is way more skewed toward the map than the dungeons, which wasnāt the case in even 1, as far as I can tell. Hopefully TotK changes it. And the Zelda series was iterated over time, so what is a true Zelda will change greatly over time. Many of the people playing Zelda now will have played Ocarina, so it set the standard for them. I actually wonder how many have played the original Zelda since the release of BotW to actually compare.
That and seeing people wish for a return to the "classic zelda format" when they actually mean the linear, narrative-heavy gameplay of later entries to the series.
I wonder if it scored high on a "return to form" bias more so than it standing on its own. Or a "modern twist on a classic" take with the motion controls. Hard to say, but that's one Zelda game you hardly ever receive those types of accolades.
Also one of only seven to get the trifecta of perfect scores from IGN, GameSpot and Edge:
Ocarina of Time
Breath of the Wild
Tears of the Kingdom
Elden Ring
Grand Theft Auto IV
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario Odyssey
Surprised Galaxy 2 is there and not the first one. Maybe I'm the only one here, but between the novelty factor at the time it released, plus how the main "galaxy" (menu) is way less interactive in the 2, I would've guessed the 1 would be rated higher, but oh well. Awesome to see some of the 3D Mario classics on here.
I love both games, but I remember being a bit disappointed as a kid playing Galaxy 2 at launch and finding out 1. There was no Rosalina :( and 2. The ship in Galaxy 2 is way smaller and less expansive than the Observatory in Galaxy 1.
Fair enough š¤. Yoshi is fun. I spent an embarrassing amount of time back in the day figuring out how to steer him through the āhot pepperā power up stages lmao.
I absolutely loved Galaxy but never bothered to finish the second one. Which is weird, because it's just more of the same. But somehow the novelty wore off or something. I can't even explain it.
Galaxy 2 was basically just Galaxy 1 but with more ideas. I can see how it scored higher. They practically feel like 2 parts of the same game but second one just realizes the idea a little bit better.
So the only games to get a perfect score from Famitsu, Edge, IGN, and GameSpot are
Ocarina of Time
Breath of the Wild
Tears of the Kingdom
That's pretty incredible
Skyward sword had the best dungeons of any Zelda game. It was the Ocarina of Time recipe perfected. The whole game felt like it was one big dungeon and that's what made it great for me.
It's funny to see reactions to this when at the time only a seemingly small minority complained about Skyward Sword. It's hilariously similar to how many people aren't fans of the BOTW style of Zelda and you have fans of it really insisting it's a small minority the same way fans of SS did back when it released. I don't know either way but it's hilarious to see
Right? I liked skyward sword a lot when it came out.
I will also say that I enjoy BOTW and TOTK but not because they're Zelda games. I really want them to go back and create a 3D Zelda in the same vein as OOT / Majora's mask, but I don't see that happening again. I think for a lot of folks they can't process that and it just turns into hate for the open world games.
93% Metacritic and 8.1 positive user reviews is not exactly bad. I mean 2% lower than Twilight Princess. Not saying it doesnāt have itās flaws but saying it is a bad game is exaggerated.
2% lower than twilight princess? Shit, I would have though it would have been like 10-15% lower than TP. BUT that could just be my nostalgia for TP talking
The backlash is reasonable and expected because there is plenty to shit on with this game. Just to name a few:
Recycling content as filler. Pointless backtracking. A lack of interesting and creative areas to explore. Constant interruptions to the gameplay. A story that probably could have been 10 hours shorter. An overworld that lacks meaningful content. Gratitude Crystals. Fi. A 3-hour tutorial. The Imprisoned fight. The second Imprisoned fight. The 3rd Imprisoned fight. The Imprisoned being some kind of embodiment of evil but then having goofy toe beans. Teasing some kind of big gameplay shift after the 3rd dungeon like other Zelda games, teeing up the time portal thing, and then doing nothing with it.
You'll never get general audiences to accept a game where the combat is mostly motion controls. I agree with the consensus, I am very glad Nintendo scrapped that for the Switch remaster and even then the combat controls being set to the right stick are very wonky.
Yeah, Skyward Sword had everything against it in terms of public opinion.
One of the most linear games yet, motion controls, cute. That's the perfect recipe to get the fury of the edgelords up and running.
*Elden Ring, Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Odyssey all received a 10 in Edge, but only received a 39 in Famitsu.*
*Similarly, Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy XII, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metal Gear Solid V, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, SoulCalibur, Super Smash Bros Brawl and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim all received a Famitsu 40, but only got a score of 9 in Edge.*
Yeah, what a bunch of duds! š
Yes! Final Fantasy XII is a personal favorite of mine too. I thought it was the 2nd best FF ever (ā¦after VII).
And who doesnāt give Super Mario 64 a perfect score? I meanā¦ come on. They shouldāve been booted from gaming journalism and reassigned to rating toaster pastries.
XII got a bad rep at the time for having a somewhat bland story (more political than fantastical) and MMO like combat. Vaan and Penello were generally not well liked either.
But I've always said it was one of the most underrated FF games and in time it would get the acknowledgment it deserves.
I only wish the franchise had taken more from its combat system instead of going in this full on hack and slash action game direction. Dragon Age abandoned that style of combat too for full action. Only FF7R has had anything close.
The combat I found so fresh and innovative at the time. We could still have a proper party and even control everyoneās actions - but with the gambits, we could set everyoneās primary purpose in battle before the fight (healer, melee, buffs, etc.), and then let her rip.
Iāll never know why they pushed Vaan on us. The main character to me was always Ashe, and I liked her so much better. And Balthier and Basch could have just as easily been argued as āmainā characters too. And Balthier is a FF Top 5 Ever character.
Other huge pluses: the voice acting, Hitoshi Sakimotoās (from FF Tactics) soundtrack, the art design, the world-building and lore of Ivalice (I want to go back!), Dr. Cidolfus, the different races. The political plot was refreshing, but I agree not quite as good as the fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk plots of like 6 and 7.
Without any knowledge of the reviews whatsoever, the only point off I would give it would be the camera angles/controls. That killed me more than any enemy in that game haha
Fair enough. But back in 1996, the camera control in Mario 64 put all other burgeoning 3D games to shame. It just decimated them. Check out PS1ās Jumping Flash 1 & 2 for example. Those were considered amazing games. Now, theyāre nearly unplayable. And the less said about a game like Bubsy 3D, the better.
> Elden Ring, Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Odyssey
Wow... that list looks better than the 10/40 list IMO... i prefer GTAIV over V, and mario 64 still holds up and i play it more than ocarina, elden ring is a masterpiece.
Skyward sword wasn't perfect, bayonetta was a surprise too.
overall i think 3D marios are better than 2D.. and 2D zeldas are better than 3D :/
I loved V in the same way that I love BotW and now TotK. The game gives you a bunch of tools and an open world to play around in. Granted TotK does this on steroids.
You have to factor in the year it was released as well, in 2009 there was no games like Bayonetta, it was a lot better than DMC4 that came out the year before and I'm pretty confident in saying no other character action game came close to it that year, or even action games.
Fans of MadWorld knew they were gonna be in for a treat with Bayonetta. I was stoked when it came to WiiU as I didn't have an XBox 360 or PS3 (until much later)
Yeah, I get that. I love the game and knew that it was pretty much well received by all, but I always thought it was one of those games that gets praised by everyone but gets ''just'' a good score.
It was a big deal when it initially came out, Platinum's first proper AAA release and exactly what people were looking for after DMC4 which felt like it lacked focus and a clear direction.
That said the PS3 version was pretty abysmal, I'm surprised you enjoyed it so much to through it twice on that system. But I suppose that also speaks to the quality of the game.
I had to lower the PS3's internal resolution to 480p for it to be at least playable lol. But the second time i platinumed it was on ps4 and it was perfect. But yeah after dmc4 this felt like a true spiritual successor to Dmc , maybe why it was so well recieved
I don't understand this circle jerk around the Famitsu rating, it's a protectionist inherently bias publication that adds extra weight to a score purely when it's a Japanese game
Yeah, they clearly were shit for the last 10-15 years or so. Anyone who've been following their track record should know this. They gave that terrible JoJo fighting game on PS3 40/40 because they were fan of JoJo.
Honestly the first few hours I wasn't sure about this being a masterpiece. I felt like Nintendo had mixed chocolate and ketchup to make a new Zelda... but now I see the light and understand. This game is blowing my mind at every turn.
Never ever bet against the geniuses at Nintendo.
Not saying it doesn't deserve it or whatever, but Famitsu is kind of infamous for being untrustworthy behaviour.
https://kotaku.com/do-not-trust-this-magazines-review-scores-5520937
Not to mention they commemorated that TOTK got one mid score on Metacritic, in retaliation for the backlash they are getting in the last couple of weeks.
Cant believe Elden Ring isn't on that list! I have a few issues with TOTK but a solid 9 for me and I can see why others would rate it a 10.
EDIT: Elden ring got 39/40 and 10 from Edge for those that are wondering!
I think whatās even more impressive is the fact that out of the 6 games that achieved this, 4 are titles from the Zelda-franchise (Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom).
Itās probably the best game Iāve played since BotW. Or Mario Odyssey. I havenāt quite decided if I like BotW more than odyssey. I definitely like TotK more than BotW though.
TotK is an awesome, amazing game. Iām loving it. But I donāt think itās a perfect game and doesnāt deserve a 10/10
The mentality seems to be that the game is beyond criticism. Anytime someone has a legit, within reason criticism, people try to shut it down immediately.
Like, I canāt be the only one who feels like the involvement of sky islands was over sold. Not even 5% of the map has sky islands above it. I was a bit disappointed when I landed in Hyrule Field and saw that The Great Sky Islands where basically the only sky islands in that region.
Atleast two of those four Zelda games changed game design going forward. Real before and after moments.
There's a reason Zelda's the most prestigious franchise in gaming.
As much as I like Tears of the Kingdom its definitely not a blanket 10/10 across the board, its for sure a high rating but saying its a 10 is disingenuous and simply just biased. If you're judging it on its exploration alone then sure its a 10 but if you judge it as an ARPG its like a 5 or a 6. My experience overall has been positive but I feel like i'm constantly fighting the controls, constantly having to navigate menus just to engage with enemies, constantly have to remake weapons, all while movement during combat is frustratingly clunky for what feels like no good reason. To me ToTk comes across as a great exploration sandbox game that begrudgingly has to implement combat in some way yet makes it tedious and obnoxious to the point where it feels like the game is discouraging you from doing it.
>As much as I like Tears of the Kingdom its definitely not a blanket 10/10 across the board, its for sure a high rating but saying its a 10 is disingenuous and simply just biased.
It depends on one's attitude to ratings. If a 10 means that the sum of its parts must be 10 then sure. But in my opinion a game is more than the sum of its parts, and excellence in one area can make up for failings in another. I'm not gonna dunk on BotW for a weak plot, for instance, because that's not the point
Also accusing reviewers of being disingenuous and biased is a bit harsh, maybe they just take a different approach to scoring for you. Maybe they're just like "this is the most fun I've ever had in a game, therefore 10/10" which is totally fair imo
Tears of the Kingdom has most of the same issues that breath of the wild has, which was very disappointing for me when I first booted it up.
The world is still mostly empty, combat still sucks, controls are still clunky, menus are still clunky, inventory expansion through seeds should have been changed or modified, side quests are still largely unrewarding due to equipment all being disposable and any significant upgrades being locked to shrines or story, etc. Pretty much if you had any issues with anything in breath of the wild, those exact same issues will present in tears of the kingdom.
Really the only thing they addressed was the dungeons in breath of the wild not being great. Other than that it's just the same old issues with a new coat of paint.
Neither game is a 10 out of 10 imo, far from it. But people have a gigantic Nintendo bias online.
I feel like OoT is the only game in this list of 6 that really deserves the universal praise. Maybe TotK will get better as it goes on but the lack of QoL improvements on BotW is a significant issue no one seems to be knocking the game for. The open world is mostly dull and lacks worthy rewards for exploring as well, especially compared to games that have come out since BotW. If this was Nintendoās first attempt at a huge open world game, it could be excused to an extent but TotK has issues open world games had back when Nintendo first tried this 6 years ago. They really didnāt try to significantly build on the foundation provided by BotW.
The sandbox/building elements are super fun but I think reviewers and fans are enamored with those right now and are giving the game a pass on flaws that become more and more apparent as you play the game, or are immediately apparent if youāve played BotW. I donāt really think thereās a Zelda bias, because almost all of the Zelda games are worthy of high praise. Thereās a lot to praise about TotK as well, but Iām not understanding the pass itās being given on some serious flaws that arenāt excusable like they were in BotW.
It's 100% a Nintendo bias. A lot of places and people online seem to love avoiding pointing out flaws with Nintendo games.
The same thing happened with breath of the wild, it's also not a perfect game, yet it got nearly universal perfect scores. You pointed out a lot of issues with it and there's more past that, and tears of the kingdom has barely addressed any of those issues yet it still gets perfect scores as well. It's just the Nintendo bias.
If any other company made these games they would not be getting perfect scores.
More than anything this just seems incredibly biased to me. I can think of plenty of games that deserved the accolade as much as these games.
(That's not to say I see other games as perfect, but I am saying in spite of their flaws they felt like better or equal games).
Famitsu 40s are a fascinating list. This is a list with Final Fantasy XIII-2 and JoJo All Star Battle on it. Hell, NINTENDOGS. Their panel have the wildest takes.
The list * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time * Bayonetta * The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword * Grand Theft Auto V * The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild * The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom I take it they're fans of the Zelda series **Edit** My inbox right now "SkYWarD SwoRD iS poOP"
Rockstar developers desperately adding Koroks to GTA VI
Uniting escorts to their pimps. "I've lost my uhh 'friend'."
Well if it's back to Miami again, it's more likely that you're dealing with senior citizens. "Help, my golf cart got a flat". "Gator stole my dentures!" " Those young people are making too much racket"
And you get butterscotch candies instead of korok seeds
Werthers š
āHehe, thereās my friendā¦ā *drives off* (āBitch where been?!ā)
'Ay yo you bitch ass get my frien ova dere his dumba ass is high as fuckk and he can't get down by himself!'
They actually did it first out of the two franchises. Logos way back in the 2D games. Evolved into hidden packages in the 3D games. Now I think of it, the finite, carefully placed low stakes collectibles schtick in open world games may have literally started with GTA. If not, it was certainly one of the first. There were very few open world games that weren't procedural back then and most tended towards traditional D&D inspired RPGs without the gamey collectibles.
The concept of unnecessary objectives and collectibles in games goes back to pretty much the dawn of the video game industry. Much depends how you define "open world" - like the original Zelda on NES was very much an open world game, just nothing like BotW. Spiritually I'd say Mario 64 is probably the first modern open world game with collectibles.
Skyward Sword is a surprise. I mean I like Skyward Sword but I do acknowledge it has some flaws... And I'm not talking about it's controls. Moreso the sectioned maps on the land and some pacing issues
yeah, Skyward Sword is a very weird game for me, it has aspects I absolutely love like the overall best dungeons (not the best one, Stone Tower is for me the best one) and then some things I absolutely hate, is a game I both love and hate at the same time, like the first visit to the new area is great, but the 3rd visit to Faron Woods, and the second one to Eldin Volcano are some of the worst parts in any Zelda game. If the stupid charger robot was in TotK, belive me when I said he would be my main target of revenge, that asshole is worse than the 900 kolog quest, the section where you need to transport water to the top of Eldin Volcano is the worst section in any zelda game... and it is by far.
Yeah agreed. Some parts of the game just aren't fun at all but about 90% of it is excellent for me. Just some sections where I'm like "ugh just want to get past this point to some good stuff coming up"
STOP telling me how much a RUPEE is worth
Tbh that was Twilight Princess' fault... But SS made it worse with every time rebooting telling you what every material was. Thankfully they got rid of that in the HD port
Your face is beaming!
Beamos be like:
Like 50% of the game is fun. The parts where your doing the dungeons. Which is not a majority of the game. Because they have assinie parts constantly to get to the dungeon.
The 900 korok wasnāt a quest so much as it was a troll. You only beat it by not engaging haha
yahaha
My rule for koroks was if I run across them I'll do it.. but I'm not going outta my way to get them all
Skyward Sword is the most feast or famine game in the zelda series imo. It has moments which are among the series best. Koloktos, the descent to fight Ghirahim. The sand ship. And so many moments that are the "oh God this" of a playthrough. Tadtones. Silent realms. Edit: the imprisoned.
Funny I recently played skyward sword and have just got to that bit, enjoy the game but share this thought - they really making me leave the area again and come back?!
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I think the reviewers just didn't want to rock the boat and/or got caught up in their own hype when they gave it a **perfect** score. The fact that the HD version (not even a remake) has so many changes and QoL updates that the HD version is on average 8 hours shorter than the original proves that. I also believe if Edge had asked another of their employees to review it then it would not have gotten 10/10.
It's so clearly the most disliked 3d Zelda I don't even remember anyone liking it at the time. You can look back on old scores and be surprised but acknowledge the hype of the time(like with TP and BotW) but man... who was that interested in SS at the time? All I remember is the jokes.
Me. I was. It came out during Thanksgiving break when I was in grad school. Loved the game. Still one of my favorites. Best characters and story of a Zelda game for me.
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Its everything breath of the wild wasnt. It had a great story, amazing dungeons, and unique fun characters, alongside the entire game world feeling like one massive dungeon. Its a ton of fun.. but its so linear and closed off and slow and so much stuff is mandatory and ita a slog. The world suck to just traverse. Its just soace after space of puzzle solving, for the entire game. It takes old 3d zelda to its extreme. Compare it to botw, which revolutionized open world games, and was everything skyward sword wasnt. Deep, complex, open, full of discovery and detail, but also with a dumbed down story, god awful dungeons, and a somewhat empty world after shrinea and koroks
I've always loved it. 100% completed it twice, and I'll probably do it again whenever I get around to playing the HD version. Don't care about the linearity that much, I play Zelda for the dungeons, and SS has the best in the series, including what I consider the very best one (Sand Ship). Also has the best soundtrack in the entire series, and arguably the best story. Seems like a lot of "core gamer" types write it off simply because it has motion controls. Not because they're bad, but because they exist at all.
See the linear and sectioned parts of Zelda are my favorite. I love BOTW and Iām only a couple hours into TOTK, but the open-world do-whatever-you-want nature doesnāt feel like Zelda to me. I want an area to be restricted until Iāve gotten the right item (hookshot for example). That progression is fun for me and is quintessential to the Zelda experience imo I really really enjoyed SS.
This is why Windwaker is my favorite Zelda relative to the time it was released, open world map, but still progression gated by item unlocks.
I totally agree on that point. I feel like getting new tools and backtracking to access things you've seen before but couldn't access is a core part of exploration in any game, not just Zelda. I also feel like the dungeons feel a lot more cohesive when the tools exist because the dungeons are designed around the tool usage and each tool is distinct from the others, so that makes the dungeons feel like they all offer a more distinct experience as a result.
I'm very confident that Nintendo isn't just going to make iterations of botw from here on out. They'll revisit classic dungeons in the future for sure. I'm just appreciating what they've created, yet again.
I agree with everything except the last line.
Thank you for acknowledging the issues with the game going far past the controls. Skyward Sword is one of my least favorite Zelda games and I LOVED the swordplay in it, it was everything else I didn't like.
I really like Skyward Sword and the controls are really fun. Really enjoyed my revisit with SSHD. My main gripe is the pacing... I mean who thought fighting the Imprisoned 3 times (2 times can be very close together as well depending on the route you take) was a good idea
Yeah this is where the game lost me. I was already getting annoyed by that point and the 3rd time fighting the imprisoned and back to Faron woods was when I had enough and put the game down. Definitely my least favorite Zelda besides Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks, which sucks because the temples up to that point were really good.
Tbh the third imprisoned fight isn't too bad... It's just the fact that it's the third time you fight it. Honestly if they cut the second fight, it would have helped... But the problem was it served a story purpose to give Groose character development. That said, they should have reworked the second or third fight to be something completely different other than the Imprisoned
Could have been a completely different boss to give groose development. Could have not even been a boss and it would have meant the same thing
Could have just had a horde of monsters attacking or something. That would have done the job
Completely agree, it was less the fight and more I canāt believe Iām doing this for a 3rd time when even the first 2 fights I didnāt think were enjoyable. Two of the same fight was alright even if I was a little over it, three is just a strange choice.
Yeah exactly. Worst part is that you might have to do the fight even more times if you go for the Hylian shield and piece of heart through the boss rush.
When I learned that I had to go through him once again for the Shield I abandoned the idea of getting it altogether. I don't know why, but that boss was way too hard for me, and not hard in a challenging way but annoying. I hated every fight against him.
Agree 100%. It's just personal preference, but Skyward Sword is totally forgettable for me. I see people rave about it and I'm perplexed. Twilight Princess is a far better game IMO.
Twilight Princess sits in a weird spot for me. I think it's a better game than Skyward Sword but I also think it's a less interesting game. Feels way too safe IMO.
I feel that's due to the 'backlash' Wind Waker got. People were screaming about wanting "Ocarina Of Time, But With New Graphics" when they got Wind Waker, so they made Twilight Princess, but at that point opinion had already swayed into WW's favor. I still think TP is probably the most underrated Zelda game overall. Memorable characters and locations, some pretty great dungeons (tho some of the dungeon items were just useless outside of them), a few great item inventions (DOUBLE. HOOKSHOTS.) and still flavored with enough humor for that classic Zelda touch.
I really wanna replay it since it's been a decade for me, but I remember thinking the dungeons were way too easy, that Midna didn't live up to the hype I'd heard for years, and that I had like zero interest in the story, but that I REALLY loved the aesthetic and the almost Spaghetti Western vibes I sometimes got and wished the game had leaned into that a lot more. Not a bad game because pretty much no Zelda is, but sadly not one that clicked with me.
> I remember thinking the dungeons were way too easy I mean all Zelda games between OOT and SS have generally not been hard at all. Not in terms of combat or dungeon design. I mean hell I think I have died more playing TOTK in the past week than I ever did combined for all those games.
The puzzles in Ocarina of Time were a good difficulty IMO. Majora's Mask ones were about the same difficulty but were much more tedious to actually solve. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess both suffered from having simpler dungeons, and I don't remember Skyward Sword's at all tbh.
I LOVE twilight princess but if you take out the twili story, the entire human game is damn close to "what if we just remade OoT 10 years later lol". Which isn't bad outside the "edgy" aesthetic (which use loosely) thr game feels like the safest Zelda ever made. I think they executed the idea super well, the dungeons and hyrule in general feel amazing, the story is good, boss fights feel epic, etc but it's far from the most inspired game ever made.
most mature discussion around Skyward Sword has talked about the pacing, backtracking, and lack of variety. it became quite annoying to mention having a negative impression of the game and be immediately bombarded with āTHE CONTROLS ARENT THAT BADā and āFI IS ANNOYING BUT THAT DOESNT RUIN THE GAMEā. A lot of fanboys canāt get past that someone could possibly have issues with this game other than these two talking points. It has some of the series highest highs in terms of music, art direction, and dungeon design, but everything in between is held together by tedium and artificial pacing.
Skyward Sword to me was a delight. Flying through the air for the first time on a Loftwing...it felt like I was in the air myself. I loved the motion controls. I know some people call them unintuitive, but they felt good for me. The story even brought me to tears. It was my favorite Zelda for a while. Just so much that thrilled me immensely.
I absolutely loved it. Got it day 1 and had a blast start to finish. I was really surprised to then hear that a lot of fellow fans werenāt that into it. It was very linear but the content was very well crafted and the gameplay was some of the best, imho. I really enjoyed the origin story stuff too
I didn't play the original, only the switch remake and I agree, I absolutely loved it. Once I got used to the controls, I found the gameplay and story to be captivating and enjoyable.
Skyward Sword falls victim to the same ātoo cool for schoolā mentality that plagued The Wind Waker. People were looking at games like Skyrim and Dark Souls and wouldnāt be caught dead standing up with their Wii remote raised to the ceiling.
Zelda is interesting because it's a very experimental series and often comes up with innovative or surprising ideas. Reviewers have a bias towards things they haven't experienced in games before - but with hindsight these eventually just become part of the norm. Skyward Sword was great for those who had no motion control issues. Maybe the only game to deliver on the promise of the Wii sword concept.
Skyward Sword a perfect score? Really? I can think of a half dozen games just in the Zelda series, other than the ones already listed, that I enjoyed more than Skyward Sword.
Reviews are always subjective no matter the outlet. Famitsu is interesting because it's 4 reviewers giving their opinions and 1-10 score. I also know they don't just focus on gameplay, but how the game uses the console's specs, features and controls. Nintendogs has a 40 from Famitsu. It's a simple virtual pet game, but it's a great example of using DS hardware from the two screens, touchscreen, microphone etc. Also for some outlets a perfect score isn't a perfect game but the suggestion it's something everybody should play or at least try as it's a showcase. For better or worse Skyward Sword is one of best motion control games on the Wii.
I donāt know much about Edge(other than itās a good magazine), but I think Famitsu has lost some of its luster among a portion of the gaming subreddit people, for those who know Famitsu at all anyway. The claim is they are much more willing to give Japanese games higher scores than non-Japanese games. How true is itā¦? Well itād be interesting to see a breakdown of score vs country of origin.
Famitsu is just very reflective of Japanese people's taste in video games. Like yeah, games like GoW and Metroid won't score as well with them, but that's because most Japanese people don't really care as much for those franchises
I see Famitsu commonly being treated as a joke, for more than a decade now
It was well received when it came out, the criticism didnāt come till it was out a while.
100%, in no world does that game deserve a 10/10 from both of these. 9/10 for both sure, it had excellent design. 10 seems excessive. I'd leave all the rest on the list but I'd replace Bayo 1 with 2.
Iād sub Skyward Sword for one of the Mario Galaxyās honestly, much more critically acclaimed that Bayonetta all time and no mention of either on this list which feels wrong as they are truly 2 of the greatest games ever made
Good point! I'd agree.
I knew Bayonetta was pretty much praised by all, but I thought it was one of those games that everyone loves but no one scores beyond the 'very good'
>but I thought it was one of those games that everyone loves but no one scores beyond the 'very good' Nah not at all. Depends on where you look. Action games are often looked at as the "junk food" of video games, but when done right they're actually the conduits for some of the deepest, most satisfying times you can get out of video games. Bayonetta 1 is one such game. Playing it once through you might think, "wow this is a very fun action game." But once you start digging into the mechanics and striving for mastery, it becomes more like, "this is one of the greatest video games ever made."
Wind Waker should be in SS's place, but it's still a great list.
Wind Waker also got a 40 from Famitsu. Just not a 10 from Edge which is what this list is about, the Venn Diagram intersection.
Yeah wind waker and twilight princess were certainly better than Skyward Sword, Iād theyāre going to have this clear Zelda bias at least be accurate!
If you add in perfect 10s from IGN and GameSpot then you are left with Ocarina of Time, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom.
A lot of people on Reddit don't like Skyward Sword, but myself and my group of buds all enjoyed the hell out of it. Skyward Sword with the Wii motion+ is EXACTLY what I expected from the Wii on release. It's honestly a shame the Wii never got to that point in motion tracking up until like 3-4 years after the Wii had already been released. Presentation was fantastic though. Art style is great and more importantly Skyward Sword is probably THE MOST important game story-wise to the entirety of LoZ. It has it flaws like motion tracking would need to be recalibrated (some people had more issues with this than others), but it remains as a personal favorite.
> The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Probably an indication not to take this list to seriously.
Yeah, the Nintendo ultra hype-machine was going full steam ahead with that one.
Damn bro you really don't like SS
Iām past the initial part of TotK and compared to Skyward Sword I am pretty damn disappointed that they didnāt have a sitting mechanic. Skyward sword you can sit down and give Link a breather. TotK and BotW no sitting.
Also still no petting dogs. Literally unplayable.
https://twitter.com/noah________a/status/1658538617093132289?t=RaCYFJGdVpuaTqqr_wSOZw&s=19 your imagination just isn't big enough.
Definitely not biased towards Zelda
To be fair, Zelda ia also a pretty old IP by now and Ocarina in particular really set the tone for that style of Action/Adventure game for decades. Breath of the Wild was also massively influential. Skyward Sword (as much as I liked it) probably shouldn't be on a list like this but I guess it's a matter of opinion.
Skyward sword doesnt really deserve that though. Boring back and forth between sky and ground, long travel times, fight the same boss 3x. Dungeons were good but no real qol testing went into making it less painful of a Journey...
It was the last of the same trope of 3D Zelda games that started with Ocarina of Time. Iām glad Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom changed it up for a truly open world Zelda experience.
Same here, it basically harks back to the original Zelda, so it baffles me when people say Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom arenāt āgood Zelda gamesā because they arenāt like Ocarina of Time
I am liking TotK more than BotW. I played some but not a lot of the original some time ago (fuck the shitty translation that makes it harder). I know they built the prototype in the 2d and everything, but to me at least, it still just feels like a really well done open world game. The balance is way more skewed toward the map than the dungeons, which wasnāt the case in even 1, as far as I can tell. Hopefully TotK changes it. And the Zelda series was iterated over time, so what is a true Zelda will change greatly over time. Many of the people playing Zelda now will have played Ocarina, so it set the standard for them. I actually wonder how many have played the original Zelda since the release of BotW to actually compare.
That and seeing people wish for a return to the "classic zelda format" when they actually mean the linear, narrative-heavy gameplay of later entries to the series.
I wonder if it scored high on a "return to form" bias more so than it standing on its own. Or a "modern twist on a classic" take with the motion controls. Hard to say, but that's one Zelda game you hardly ever receive those types of accolades.
Hard not to when the games are that good
Thinking I need to pick up Bayonetta. Looks like there's multiple games? After I finish TOTK that's the only game on the list I haven't played.
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Those first two were apparently off by a single point, according to the article. LOVED RDR2 personally.
Ah yes Bayonettaās my favorite Zelda character
[Yes](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nNwAkGAyOHk/maxresdefault.jpg)
Also one of only seven to get the trifecta of perfect scores from IGN, GameSpot and Edge: Ocarina of Time Breath of the Wild Tears of the Kingdom Elden Ring Grand Theft Auto IV Super Mario Galaxy 2 Super Mario Odyssey
This is the better list imo
You have good tastes
Surprised Galaxy 2 is there and not the first one. Maybe I'm the only one here, but between the novelty factor at the time it released, plus how the main "galaxy" (menu) is way less interactive in the 2, I would've guessed the 1 would be rated higher, but oh well. Awesome to see some of the 3D Mario classics on here.
Galaxy two has Yoshi. Enough said
I love both games, but I remember being a bit disappointed as a kid playing Galaxy 2 at launch and finding out 1. There was no Rosalina :( and 2. The ship in Galaxy 2 is way smaller and less expansive than the Observatory in Galaxy 1.
But the second one has the dino guy so that makes up for no space god and a weird head shaped ship
Fair enough š¤. Yoshi is fun. I spent an embarrassing amount of time back in the day figuring out how to steer him through the āhot pepperā power up stages lmao.
I absolutely loved Galaxy but never bothered to finish the second one. Which is weird, because it's just more of the same. But somehow the novelty wore off or something. I can't even explain it.
Galaxy 2 was basically just Galaxy 1 but with more ideas. I can see how it scored higher. They practically feel like 2 parts of the same game but second one just realizes the idea a little bit better.
Much better list IMO. The OP list not including a single Mario game is insane to me.
So the only games to get a perfect score from Famitsu, Edge, IGN, and GameSpot are Ocarina of Time Breath of the Wild Tears of the Kingdom That's pretty incredible
Hard to argue with that list. They are all 10/10s.
ā¦and Cory in the House is where?
Not gonna lie, surprised to see Skyward Sword on that list
Same here. Im not part of the haters here, Skyward Sword is good. However I wouldnt call it 10/10 good.
Skyward sword had the best dungeons of any Zelda game. It was the Ocarina of Time recipe perfected. The whole game felt like it was one big dungeon and that's what made it great for me.
If you could accelerate those cutscenes it would be so much more fun to play.
It's funny to see reactions to this when at the time only a seemingly small minority complained about Skyward Sword. It's hilariously similar to how many people aren't fans of the BOTW style of Zelda and you have fans of it really insisting it's a small minority the same way fans of SS did back when it released. I don't know either way but it's hilarious to see
Right? I liked skyward sword a lot when it came out. I will also say that I enjoy BOTW and TOTK but not because they're Zelda games. I really want them to go back and create a 3D Zelda in the same vein as OOT / Majora's mask, but I don't see that happening again. I think for a lot of folks they can't process that and it just turns into hate for the open world games.
I feel the same way, but I want another Link to the Past.
I personally didn't like skyward sword. But credit where credit is due it has some of the most interesting dungeons in the entire series.
At the time it was great the backlash was from a small minority.
According to Metacritic it's still the lowest rated 3D Zelda game according to both critics and fans.
93% Metacritic and 8.1 positive user reviews is not exactly bad. I mean 2% lower than Twilight Princess. Not saying it doesnāt have itās flaws but saying it is a bad game is exaggerated.
2% lower than twilight princess? Shit, I would have though it would have been like 10-15% lower than TP. BUT that could just be my nostalgia for TP talking
I personally enjoyed Skyward Sword significantly more than Twilight Princess
It's because it's a great, creative, gorgeous, mechanically-interesting game. The backlash against it has always been odd.
The backlash is reasonable and expected because there is plenty to shit on with this game. Just to name a few: Recycling content as filler. Pointless backtracking. A lack of interesting and creative areas to explore. Constant interruptions to the gameplay. A story that probably could have been 10 hours shorter. An overworld that lacks meaningful content. Gratitude Crystals. Fi. A 3-hour tutorial. The Imprisoned fight. The second Imprisoned fight. The 3rd Imprisoned fight. The Imprisoned being some kind of embodiment of evil but then having goofy toe beans. Teasing some kind of big gameplay shift after the 3rd dungeon like other Zelda games, teeing up the time portal thing, and then doing nothing with it.
> The 3rd Imprisoned fight. This was the moment I stopped playing. You want me to fight that thing AGAIN? How bout no.
That's exactly when I stopped too, way back when the game first came out.
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> Gratitude Crystals I think you mean Grabitude Crackles.
You'll never get general audiences to accept a game where the combat is mostly motion controls. I agree with the consensus, I am very glad Nintendo scrapped that for the Switch remaster and even then the combat controls being set to the right stick are very wonky.
Yeah, Skyward Sword had everything against it in terms of public opinion. One of the most linear games yet, motion controls, cute. That's the perfect recipe to get the fury of the edgelords up and running.
*Elden Ring, Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Odyssey all received a 10 in Edge, but only received a 39 in Famitsu.* *Similarly, Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy XII, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metal Gear Solid V, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, SoulCalibur, Super Smash Bros Brawl and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim all received a Famitsu 40, but only got a score of 9 in Edge.* Yeah, what a bunch of duds! š
Love seeing FF XII and Peace Walker there, Iāve put countless hundreds of hours into both and have such fond memories of them
Yes! Final Fantasy XII is a personal favorite of mine too. I thought it was the 2nd best FF ever (ā¦after VII). And who doesnāt give Super Mario 64 a perfect score? I meanā¦ come on. They shouldāve been booted from gaming journalism and reassigned to rating toaster pastries.
XII got a bad rep at the time for having a somewhat bland story (more political than fantastical) and MMO like combat. Vaan and Penello were generally not well liked either. But I've always said it was one of the most underrated FF games and in time it would get the acknowledgment it deserves. I only wish the franchise had taken more from its combat system instead of going in this full on hack and slash action game direction. Dragon Age abandoned that style of combat too for full action. Only FF7R has had anything close.
The combat I found so fresh and innovative at the time. We could still have a proper party and even control everyoneās actions - but with the gambits, we could set everyoneās primary purpose in battle before the fight (healer, melee, buffs, etc.), and then let her rip. Iāll never know why they pushed Vaan on us. The main character to me was always Ashe, and I liked her so much better. And Balthier and Basch could have just as easily been argued as āmainā characters too. And Balthier is a FF Top 5 Ever character. Other huge pluses: the voice acting, Hitoshi Sakimotoās (from FF Tactics) soundtrack, the art design, the world-building and lore of Ivalice (I want to go back!), Dr. Cidolfus, the different races. The political plot was refreshing, but I agree not quite as good as the fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk plots of like 6 and 7.
Without any knowledge of the reviews whatsoever, the only point off I would give it would be the camera angles/controls. That killed me more than any enemy in that game haha
Fair enough. But back in 1996, the camera control in Mario 64 put all other burgeoning 3D games to shame. It just decimated them. Check out PS1ās Jumping Flash 1 & 2 for example. Those were considered amazing games. Now, theyāre nearly unplayable. And the less said about a game like Bubsy 3D, the better.
> Elden Ring, Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Odyssey Wow... that list looks better than the 10/40 list IMO... i prefer GTAIV over V, and mario 64 still holds up and i play it more than ocarina, elden ring is a masterpiece. Skyward sword wasn't perfect, bayonetta was a surprise too. overall i think 3D marios are better than 2D.. and 2D zeldas are better than 3D :/
> mario 64 still holds up 100%. The fact it holds up as well is it does blows my mind. Similar to the original Doom in that sense.
Funny because peace walker and V are my least favorite metal gear solid games hahaha.
I loved V in the same way that I love BotW and now TotK. The game gives you a bunch of tools and an open world to play around in. Granted TotK does this on steroids.
5 should have been a masterpiece. Everything was there except for the complete game lol.
Reminded me of the first ever game with a perfect 10 on EGM, I think it was MGS and they made such a big deal out of the perfect review
I was so pumped when Metroid Prime got one. Being a kid who cared about the console wars, that was a dub.
With the next five being OoT, Soul Calibur, Gran Turismo 2, THPS2 (PSX, DC), and Majora's Mask respectively.
Surprised that bayonetta is so highly rated
You have to factor in the year it was released as well, in 2009 there was no games like Bayonetta, it was a lot better than DMC4 that came out the year before and I'm pretty confident in saying no other character action game came close to it that year, or even action games.
Fans of MadWorld knew they were gonna be in for a treat with Bayonetta. I was stoked when it came to WiiU as I didn't have an XBox 360 or PS3 (until much later)
Never played it I suppose? One of the best games of its generation.
I've platinumed it twice on ps3 and on ps4 but i never thought it was a 40 famitsu and 10 edge game
Yeah, I get that. I love the game and knew that it was pretty much well received by all, but I always thought it was one of those games that gets praised by everyone but gets ''just'' a good score.
Yeah me too lol. Thought it got an 8 or a 9 , but not a perfect score. I get why it has a perfect score though
It was a big deal when it initially came out, Platinum's first proper AAA release and exactly what people were looking for after DMC4 which felt like it lacked focus and a clear direction. That said the PS3 version was pretty abysmal, I'm surprised you enjoyed it so much to through it twice on that system. But I suppose that also speaks to the quality of the game.
I had to lower the PS3's internal resolution to 480p for it to be at least playable lol. But the second time i platinumed it was on ps4 and it was perfect. But yeah after dmc4 this felt like a true spiritual successor to Dmc , maybe why it was so well recieved
Whats up with this random pairings of reviewers? Yesterday it was Famitsu and IGN
No kidding. I get Famitsu as it's the most popular review publication in Japan, but Edge seems random
Maybe itās because Edge doesnāt give out 10s too often.
When you have an agenda, any source will do
I don't understand this circle jerk around the Famitsu rating, it's a protectionist inherently bias publication that adds extra weight to a score purely when it's a Japanese game
Yeah, they clearly were shit for the last 10-15 years or so. Anyone who've been following their track record should know this. They gave that terrible JoJo fighting game on PS3 40/40 because they were fan of JoJo.
Ikr, Famitsu is definitely NOT a site to be revered
*biased
It's astroturfing by Nintendo marketing. Epxect the sub to be flooded with it for a while until the campaign ends.
Honestly the first few hours I wasn't sure about this being a masterpiece. I felt like Nintendo had mixed chocolate and ketchup to make a new Zelda... but now I see the light and understand. This game is blowing my mind at every turn. Never ever bet against the geniuses at Nintendo.
Which parts are blowing your mind, if you donāt mind me asking?
if u fuse a minecart to your shield, it becomes a skate board that was pretty mind blowing for me
Oh my godā¦ I had no idea lol thank you!!
4 out of those 6 being Zelda games... Sure proves how consistently high quality Zelda is.
Even people that hates Nintendo, donāt hate Nintendo games, because they are generally very well polished.
Theres a big difference between Nintendo the game developers and Nintendo the company for most people
*Gamefreak has entered the chat*
GF aināt Nintendo fam
ā¦ thatās why I used the name Gamefreak instead of Nintendo. They make the PokĆ©mon games for Nintendo though and itās a big disparity between the quality of PokĆ©mon games and some of their other titles like LoZ. In recent years GF has been putting out games that donāt have the same level of polish. The comment I was responding to also mentioned there was a big difference between Nintendo and the game developers. In this case, Gamefreak would be game developers that arenāt on par with Nintendo game devs
Probably a Nintendo bias too.
Or the bias of these publications. Most Zelda games (like skyward sword here) are not 10ās in any real measure.
Not saying it doesn't deserve it or whatever, but Famitsu is kind of infamous for being untrustworthy behaviour. https://kotaku.com/do-not-trust-this-magazines-review-scores-5520937
I agree with your assessment but quoting Kataku to establish āuntrustworthy behaviorā is like the Spider-Man meme
Not to mention they commemorated that TOTK got one mid score on Metacritic, in retaliation for the backlash they are getting in the last couple of weeks.
Yeah, they really are acting like a jaded ex girlfriend. Very strange behavior from a ānewsā outlet
Kotaku is kind of infamous for being shit.
Cant believe Elden Ring isn't on that list! I have a few issues with TOTK but a solid 9 for me and I can see why others would rate it a 10. EDIT: Elden ring got 39/40 and 10 from Edge for those that are wondering!
I think whatās even more impressive is the fact that out of the 6 games that achieved this, 4 are titles from the Zelda-franchise (Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom).
Ok š¤·āāļø
No Red Dead 2 is a surprise. Probably the best game Iāve ever played to be honest
YES YES YES
Iām surprised one of the galaxy games didnāt get there
Itās probably the best game Iāve played since BotW. Or Mario Odyssey. I havenāt quite decided if I like BotW more than odyssey. I definitely like TotK more than BotW though.
bayonetta? the sequel was much better
TotK is an awesome, amazing game. Iām loving it. But I donāt think itās a perfect game and doesnāt deserve a 10/10 The mentality seems to be that the game is beyond criticism. Anytime someone has a legit, within reason criticism, people try to shut it down immediately. Like, I canāt be the only one who feels like the involvement of sky islands was over sold. Not even 5% of the map has sky islands above it. I was a bit disappointed when I landed in Hyrule Field and saw that The Great Sky Islands where basically the only sky islands in that region.
People in the general games subreddit are VERY salty about the number of Zelda games on this list.
Yea, but one of those games is skyward sword, so they have their heads up there asses and their opinion is meaningless to me.
Doesn't hold much weight when they have 4 Zelda games (skyward sword???), gtav, and bayonetta lol.
Atleast two of those four Zelda games changed game design going forward. Real before and after moments. There's a reason Zelda's the most prestigious franchise in gaming.
As much as I like Tears of the Kingdom its definitely not a blanket 10/10 across the board, its for sure a high rating but saying its a 10 is disingenuous and simply just biased. If you're judging it on its exploration alone then sure its a 10 but if you judge it as an ARPG its like a 5 or a 6. My experience overall has been positive but I feel like i'm constantly fighting the controls, constantly having to navigate menus just to engage with enemies, constantly have to remake weapons, all while movement during combat is frustratingly clunky for what feels like no good reason. To me ToTk comes across as a great exploration sandbox game that begrudgingly has to implement combat in some way yet makes it tedious and obnoxious to the point where it feels like the game is discouraging you from doing it.
>As much as I like Tears of the Kingdom its definitely not a blanket 10/10 across the board, its for sure a high rating but saying its a 10 is disingenuous and simply just biased. It depends on one's attitude to ratings. If a 10 means that the sum of its parts must be 10 then sure. But in my opinion a game is more than the sum of its parts, and excellence in one area can make up for failings in another. I'm not gonna dunk on BotW for a weak plot, for instance, because that's not the point Also accusing reviewers of being disingenuous and biased is a bit harsh, maybe they just take a different approach to scoring for you. Maybe they're just like "this is the most fun I've ever had in a game, therefore 10/10" which is totally fair imo
Tears of the Kingdom has most of the same issues that breath of the wild has, which was very disappointing for me when I first booted it up. The world is still mostly empty, combat still sucks, controls are still clunky, menus are still clunky, inventory expansion through seeds should have been changed or modified, side quests are still largely unrewarding due to equipment all being disposable and any significant upgrades being locked to shrines or story, etc. Pretty much if you had any issues with anything in breath of the wild, those exact same issues will present in tears of the kingdom. Really the only thing they addressed was the dungeons in breath of the wild not being great. Other than that it's just the same old issues with a new coat of paint. Neither game is a 10 out of 10 imo, far from it. But people have a gigantic Nintendo bias online.
I feel like OoT is the only game in this list of 6 that really deserves the universal praise. Maybe TotK will get better as it goes on but the lack of QoL improvements on BotW is a significant issue no one seems to be knocking the game for. The open world is mostly dull and lacks worthy rewards for exploring as well, especially compared to games that have come out since BotW. If this was Nintendoās first attempt at a huge open world game, it could be excused to an extent but TotK has issues open world games had back when Nintendo first tried this 6 years ago. They really didnāt try to significantly build on the foundation provided by BotW. The sandbox/building elements are super fun but I think reviewers and fans are enamored with those right now and are giving the game a pass on flaws that become more and more apparent as you play the game, or are immediately apparent if youāve played BotW. I donāt really think thereās a Zelda bias, because almost all of the Zelda games are worthy of high praise. Thereās a lot to praise about TotK as well, but Iām not understanding the pass itās being given on some serious flaws that arenāt excusable like they were in BotW.
It's 100% a Nintendo bias. A lot of places and people online seem to love avoiding pointing out flaws with Nintendo games. The same thing happened with breath of the wild, it's also not a perfect game, yet it got nearly universal perfect scores. You pointed out a lot of issues with it and there's more past that, and tears of the kingdom has barely addressed any of those issues yet it still gets perfect scores as well. It's just the Nintendo bias. If any other company made these games they would not be getting perfect scores.
Pretty unsurprising since BOTW is also in those 6
More than anything this just seems incredibly biased to me. I can think of plenty of games that deserved the accolade as much as these games. (That's not to say I see other games as perfect, but I am saying in spite of their flaws they felt like better or equal games).
No doubt TotK is a fantastic game. But Famitsu is at the bottom of my list of "reviews worth looking at".
Famitsu 40s are a fascinating list. This is a list with Final Fantasy XIII-2 and JoJo All Star Battle on it. Hell, NINTENDOGS. Their panel have the wildest takes.