New video! Why Tears of the Kingdom's Empty Space is So Important (Patreon)

Hey everyone!

Just letting you know that the new video is now available, ad-free via the video link above! That new Legend of Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom, sure is special. That said, with the scope of its new powers requiring players to fundamentally examine the world around them differently, the relatively empty space that came to so define its 2017 predecessor Breath of the Wild, ends up taking on a whole new purpose. If BotW's space felt like a response to the open world genre as a whole, then TotK's space feels like a means of allowing the player to adapt to Aonuma and team's new vision for the series—empowering all players to craft their own adventures through gameplay and mechanics.

As I say in the video, I feel like this piece is as spoiler-free as it's possible to get when the game is centred around the concept of player-driven discovery. There's no plot discussion and all the footage is from the early game. Going with the idea that if people consider anything in this video a real deal spoiler, I'd question why they were clicking on any video to do with TotK in the first place, because I guarantee they're going to contain more spoilery stuff than this video. That said, as always, viewer discretion is advised.

So this was a bit of a surprise even for me! I knew I wanted to do something on Tears of the Kingdom, but I didn't expect the idea to materialise so quickly, almost in the same way it did way back in 2017 for Breath of the Wild (if you watch my patron-exclusive video on TotK and nostalgia, you'll get the gist of that).

After the Armoured Core video especially, while I like long form stuff every so often and am definitely planning more in the very near future, I also kinda miss the challenge of trimming something down to a tight ten minutes. This was really fun to make on multiple levels, and I hope it comes through when you watch it.

As always, your continued support is what allows me to do this kind of work, to keep challenging myself to create things I'm proud of and that hopefully you get a kick out of too. You make this happen, and I am eternally grateful.

New videos soon, but for now I've gotta go play a ton more of Tears of the Kingdom!

Thanks so much,

Hamish

Writing on Games