This review contains spoilers
This first paragraph is gonna be entirely spoiler free just general thoughts. Idk how the fuck you make a 5 star video game and make a better sequel but u can ask the devs on the zelda team. This game was such a fucking treat overall with so many different parts coming together to help serve the game as a whole. To a lot of me going "THERES MORE??" to alot of fucking things in this game. There is absolutely such a plethora of things to find and explore in the game and tinker with especially. The amount of solutions/content they've added with just letting u Gmod shit together is worth the purchase alone. But at it's core its a love letter from the devs to a legendary series and with a lot of heart in the story and world. Please buy this game.
NOW THIS IS ULTRA SPOILERS NOW!!! IF U HAVENT PLAYED THE GAME AND ARE PLANNING ON IT DONT READ THIS PART!!!! THIS IS UR FINAL WARNING!!!
What a fun combination of old zelda game design with the BOTW template. With the reintroduction of temples (despite divine beasts technically being that in botw). Also the inclusion of just them jamming as much possible content into the entire world. To the sky islands to the depths. You get so much shit to run into in this game. I swear you can not go more than like 20 fucking feet before running into something you can do. Also man the story really hit for me. I'm gonna be honest I shed a good amount of tears. A very beautiful story of sacrifice and what it means to save the world. I love the buildup to the absolute fucking monstrosity of a being Ganondorf is. With his power seeming omniscience and it feels like his eye is always on you. To the final showdown which felt like a "alright everybody complained calamity ganon was way too easy" and challenging the player with a proper close range fight with the Demon King himself. Also god I never thought the Hyrule Warriors design for Ganondorf would ever be overtaken but god he just looks so GOOD. His design is so gorgeously designed with a regal look combined with the feeling of something ominous in his silhouette. The plethora of side characters you run into that simply add to the world as a whole. I absolutely adore all the side characters and like seeing an old friend with all the returning ones. I even smiled hearing beedle's familiar "WOW" when you run into him for the first time. Even all the new characters were a treat and added to the feeling of these are the people you need to save. I loved the general design style of the world too, the serene almost heavenlike design of the sky islands to the peaceful but overcome with evil hyrule to the suffocating murky depths where you have no idea what is lurking in the darkness. Also all of that I haven't even talked about the fucking mechanics! The godhand adds so much to the game and the recall and fuse options. Having the option to just combine shit to your weapons and make your own fucking doohickey contraptions to solve things. I absolutely loved making my own confusing but effective contraptions with what the occasion called for. Also the ascend ability brought so many funny moments of just going into something and seeing 20 enemies and going "dont mind me nvm" and zipping back out. And the fucking music oh my GOD. Such a powerful soundtrack that is an absolute delight and I feel is needed to be heard when playing through. The sweet strings of the overworld music and then as you get closer to anywhere with ganon's presence the music starts to warp and becomes more booming. With Ganondorf's music being so fucking good and conveying the absolute threat he is. I don't know how the zelda team pulled it off but they made the perfect fucking zelda game. I never thought Link Between Worlds would ever get beaten for me personally but they pulled it off. They gave the whole cake with another layer of cake on top. What an amazing fucking videogame and was a thrillride start to finish. Definitely will be revisiting to go back and find all the side content I didn't do.
NOW THIS IS ULTRA SPOILERS NOW!!! IF U HAVENT PLAYED THE GAME AND ARE PLANNING ON IT DONT READ THIS PART!!!! THIS IS UR FINAL WARNING!!!
What a fun combination of old zelda game design with the BOTW template. With the reintroduction of temples (despite divine beasts technically being that in botw). Also the inclusion of just them jamming as much possible content into the entire world. To the sky islands to the depths. You get so much shit to run into in this game. I swear you can not go more than like 20 fucking feet before running into something you can do. Also man the story really hit for me. I'm gonna be honest I shed a good amount of tears. A very beautiful story of sacrifice and what it means to save the world. I love the buildup to the absolute fucking monstrosity of a being Ganondorf is. With his power seeming omniscience and it feels like his eye is always on you. To the final showdown which felt like a "alright everybody complained calamity ganon was way too easy" and challenging the player with a proper close range fight with the Demon King himself. Also god I never thought the Hyrule Warriors design for Ganondorf would ever be overtaken but god he just looks so GOOD. His design is so gorgeously designed with a regal look combined with the feeling of something ominous in his silhouette. The plethora of side characters you run into that simply add to the world as a whole. I absolutely adore all the side characters and like seeing an old friend with all the returning ones. I even smiled hearing beedle's familiar "WOW" when you run into him for the first time. Even all the new characters were a treat and added to the feeling of these are the people you need to save. I loved the general design style of the world too, the serene almost heavenlike design of the sky islands to the peaceful but overcome with evil hyrule to the suffocating murky depths where you have no idea what is lurking in the darkness. Also all of that I haven't even talked about the fucking mechanics! The godhand adds so much to the game and the recall and fuse options. Having the option to just combine shit to your weapons and make your own fucking doohickey contraptions to solve things. I absolutely loved making my own confusing but effective contraptions with what the occasion called for. Also the ascend ability brought so many funny moments of just going into something and seeing 20 enemies and going "dont mind me nvm" and zipping back out. And the fucking music oh my GOD. Such a powerful soundtrack that is an absolute delight and I feel is needed to be heard when playing through. The sweet strings of the overworld music and then as you get closer to anywhere with ganon's presence the music starts to warp and becomes more booming. With Ganondorf's music being so fucking good and conveying the absolute threat he is. I don't know how the zelda team pulled it off but they made the perfect fucking zelda game. I never thought Link Between Worlds would ever get beaten for me personally but they pulled it off. They gave the whole cake with another layer of cake on top. What an amazing fucking videogame and was a thrillride start to finish. Definitely will be revisiting to go back and find all the side content I didn't do.