Does Tears of the Kingdom's depths succeed as an open world dungeon crawler?
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When I played the game I kept waiting and waiting for some big variation in the depths to happen. A new biome, some brand new enemies, something. It never came. It felt and looked exactly the same, and I eventually resorted to just using one of those infinite flight hoverbike thingies to just get through the rest of it.
Depths were incredible. Many of my favorite moments of the game had to do with them.
Really TotK worked so well though because the Sky/Land/Depths all provided different twists on the core gameplay. It's what made it a 200+ hour experience for me that only got a little repetitive/stale towards the very, very end.
Really TotK worked so well though because the Sky/Land/Depths all provided different twists on the core gameplay. It's what made it a 200+ hour experience for me that only got a little repetitive/stale towards the very, very end.
First few hours in and I was amazed, but that feeling quickly faded exponentially. I spent a lot of time in the depths despite the lack of variety, just because the concept was appealing to me. I kept hoping to stumble on something new even though I knew there likely wasn't anything new to discover. So, I'm left pretty sour on it now.
The caves on the other hand, are the best part of the game. Focused and purposeful design, with a surprising amount of variety. Different elements, gimmicks and scenarios, and even wildly different layouts. There's very few that don't have something unique going on.
I would have rather the depths been an extension of caves, like a hub area connecting to various cave systems. Larger chambers but with intentional design rather than just inverting the entire existing map and slapping random bits in.
The caves on the other hand, are the best part of the game. Focused and purposeful design, with a surprising amount of variety. Different elements, gimmicks and scenarios, and even wildly different layouts. There's very few that don't have something unique going on.
I would have rather the depths been an extension of caves, like a hub area connecting to various cave systems. Larger chambers but with intentional design rather than just inverting the entire existing map and slapping random bits in.
in addition to there being very little variety down there, there's also very little reason to be there at all. i feel like dungeon crawlers need some sort of consistent rewards to motivate the crawl, but you're not stumbling upon juicy treasures in the depths, you're beelining to the next point of interest where you know you'll find an armor piece or whatever
I liked the depths to a point, but I wish they did more with it. It was fun lighting the zone and filling the map out, but there really wasn't all that much down there besides crafting materials.
the idea of the depths was exciting but the final execution of it was pretty lacking, in hindsight.
Like, it was supposed to be this hidden world that was inhabited at some point, but other than the oddly placed mining structure, there's little to indicate this.
Like, it was supposed to be this hidden world that was inhabited at some point, but other than the oddly placed mining structure, there's little to indicate this.
I got pretty bored down there pretty quick. I applaud them for keeping it a secret basically until release, but on the flip side there isn't a whole lot there to talk about
I was yawning in the first cave and that experience definitely had a part in me dropping the game pretty early.
Biggest recent disappointment I can think of. I dived into the depths excited as hell only to realize 20 minutes in that it was a complete waste of fucking time. There's a few cool things you can find in there but most of it is just miles and miles of shit.
Your first 6 or so roots are really great (like all things BoTW and ToTK, the earlier you go the better) but it doesn't last for the entire map. If you go late enough that you already have figured out the hover bike, then probably little of it is as interesting as getting there in your first couple of hours.
Depending on where you land first it could be better or worse since some areas have key points of interest and others are really barren. So you could inadvertently connect to the main quest or wander into nothing.
Depending on where you land first it could be better or worse since some areas have key points of interest and others are really barren. So you could inadvertently connect to the main quest or wander into nothing.
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The way you enter them and the initial reveal is really cool, but it's a genuinely bad game area. Not even bad by Zelda standards, it's just plain bad. It had no business being that huge, it's extremely boring to traverse, extremely boring to look at (the little you actually can see), there are barely any memorable set pieces or interesting lore connected to it, and the gameplay is tedious and repetitive and didn't really need to exist as part of that environment at all. It could just as well have been as part of the overworld or better yet in an expanded sky.
The developers deserve all the cred in the world for their good work, but I truly hope they are seeing all the criticisms that have come out for TotK especially in the recent months and take that into account (not just all the praise), I don't want a bloated mess like this in a Zelda game ever again.
The developers deserve all the cred in the world for their good work, but I truly hope they are seeing all the criticisms that have come out for TotK especially in the recent months and take that into account (not just all the praise), I don't want a bloated mess like this in a Zelda game ever again.
It has great atmosphere and some fun treasures but not fun to kill enemy bases or anything else there. It's very satisfying to collect poes though, specially it was for my girlfriend. :)
I'm not going to say much to avoid spoilers but
It was a very freaking smart way of going at it from a design perspective. Once I figured it out I was very impressed and almost blown away.
Maybe it deserved some more cooking but it was all good fun in the end and served as a nice contrast to the already lovely open world of breath of the wild.
I kinda liked how it was a mirrored version of the world above.
It was a very freaking smart way of going at it from a design perspective. Once I figured it out I was very impressed and almost blown away.
Maybe it deserved some more cooking but it was all good fun in the end and served as a nice contrast to the already lovely open world of breath of the wild.
I really liked the overworld, but the sky islands and the depths were boring. Sky islands are the same islands over and over again and the depths are bland. I would have favored a bigger overworld. like a big (flying?) island to explore or something like that.
But i liked the overworld like i liked it in BotW, i had a lot of fun exploring it again
But i liked the overworld like i liked it in BotW, i had a lot of fun exploring it again
I think my first 10 hours in the Depths was creepy and exciting. The next 50 less so, but still enjoyable. I really like all the ruins like the Gerudo Cemetery, the lava areas, the ancient mines and fortresses. There are some really cool locations and the giant statues are really intriguing. Lots of the Depths get boring quick, but I enjoyed the side quests down there and the little treasure maps. The entire Master Khoga side adventure was fantastic. Pure exploration of the Depths was not amazing, but the story stuff and side quests that guided me there or took place down there were all good stuff.
Dear god no it doesn't lol, like you said the first few hours are alright in the depths but then you quickly realize its all the same NMS style procedurally generated environment and encounters. Very little of it feels hand crafted. I really hope Nintendo rethinks doing that sort of thing again in future titles. It surprised me it was so bare bones to begin with considering how well curated the overworld is. They really didn't need to stretch it across most of the topside map. Keep the same number of sinkholes but make the bottoms of each much smaller and closed off, treat it more like a cave system than some vast interconnected hyper repetitive mess. Add more POIs, some mini dungeons etc. Not like it needs to be nearly as dark in tone/aesthetic but look what Elden Ring did with its underground areas, great flow and none of it overstays its welcome imo.
The Depths was a novel element of the game - I don't see the sense in ranking it for dungeon crawling.
It was intimidating initially. The mechanic of illuminating it was engaging. Trying to find your next way out was interesting - I even left the Depths through a chasm in one instance.
It's also a cool gameplay oriented mystery. You can master the Depths when you figure it out, and that's cool part of the game.
It was intimidating initially. The mechanic of illuminating it was engaging. Trying to find your next way out was interesting - I even left the Depths through a chasm in one instance.
It's also a cool gameplay oriented mystery. You can master the Depths when you figure it out, and that's cool part of the game.
I feel like the challenge and fun of the depths is more akin to something like death stranding. It's not really about exploration but moreso about getting from point a to point b and the challenge involved there. I enjoyed the depths as a change of pace in the gameplay loop. I really just spent that time unlocking the light roots and searching the occasional area, taking out yiga hideouts, getting the loot from the points marked by the old maps in the sky, but never wandering into every nook and cranny. If you approach exploring the depths the same way you would the ground level map, I could absolutely see it being very boring.
The depths are terribly boring and just no fun at all.
I wish they would have scrapped that whole thing and instead put the effort into making the sky islands more interesting. They had potential but are also underdeveloped.
The game is kind of a mess because the two new areas fall flat.
I wish they would have scrapped that whole thing and instead put the effort into making the sky islands more interesting. They had potential but are also underdeveloped.
The game is kind of a mess because the two new areas fall flat.
Yeah to me this what the depths was mainly for, variety.
It is not meant to be judged on it own. It's another playground (like air and land) to build your vehicles and fuse your weapons for.
For me, it provided the need for light-focused builds. And I ended up using vehicle and boat builds a lot to transverse in the depths, because air vehicles struggled with limited vision versus being the obvious best choice on land and air. So I really appreciated that it forced to me use all the tools provided to me.
I also think the resource and quest balance was absolutely brilliant. The game did a good job of something you discovered on land or in air revealing something new in depths, encouraging you to revisit it. The materials down in the depths were also necessary to increase your battery life which also approved you time using vehicles on the other surfaces. Lastly, some of the best side quests with the best rewarda in the game take place in the depths, so it's not like it wasn't worth exploring (contrary to some of the posts in this thread).
All the depths have to do is be there. I don't explore it but the game would be worse without because the constant looming threat and potential is enough.
Though I enjoyed it, it was a massive anticlimax to realise the Colgera I saw swimming through the darkness like a Subnautica leviathan was tied to a dedicated arena/rematch, and not a natural inhabitant hinting at terrors to come...
Idk about succeededing as an open world dungeon crawler, but it was a ton of fun to explore for me. Just kinda chill vibes, material grinding, and map uncovering, with enough distractions to keep things interesting imo
Also a fun place to test death machines
Also a fun place to test death machines
Like most said, starts off extremely exciting and scary and then you learn it's extremely repetitive and mostly devoid of anything. Has some great specific moments though.
The depths would have been awesome if was smaller and more focused. Shooting the light seeds to reveal your surrounding could have been an awesome mechanic if there was something worth discovering.
Making it the exact size as the overworld but having it be the same biome made me burnout quickly.
Making it the exact size as the overworld but having it be the same biome made me burnout quickly.
I loved The Depths. But I do think it's one of those loves that won't work on a second time around. I had a blast discovering every single things the Depths had to offer, but now I think I do have it pretty well memorized how each thing in the Depths connects to something in the world above, so it'll never have that same mystery as it did before.
Man, I really liked the depths. I agree it would be better with more variety, but I think it helped TOTK that the player could at any point change pace between the depths, surface, and sky. Tired of koroks and shrines? Great, go throw lights in the dark for a bit. Bored with light roots? Cool, launch yourself to a new archipelago.
I think it would've worked better had it been more of a rouge-like, resource gathering mechanic. A lot of the sense of danger kind of evaporates when you know you can just warp out at anytime. If they made it that you can only leave via the columns or hitching a ride on a dragon, and that dying eliminates any non-treasure chest item you've collected while down there, it would've really felt more oppressive and risky to venture down there.
You are correct in essence. The problem for me is that, after doing it the first few times, "throwing lights in the dark" and opening up light roots is never not boring. The same goes for the repetitive content up in the sky, it doesn't start being fun again just because I did something else for a while. Once I realized how empty the Depths are (in all respects) there was no going back from that feeling.
