Tears of the Kingdom: Deja Vu

[aubergion]

This isn't a spoiler imo, since it's in the trailer. But I am not a fan of Zelda's Zonai dress.

After seeing all those memories in Breath of the Wild, I can't help but associate that white-dress look with everything Zelda was pressured to be by other people, whereas her Champion-blue jacket is the life she enjoys living - her research, her curiosity, her friendships with the other champions. It's telling IMO that once she gets out of the battle with Ganon, she goes back to that jacket. It looks good on her. She looks happy.

So, not even being off the Great Sky Island and seeing Zonai-white-dress Zelda there, I don't know. I didn't like how it felt. I just extracted her from a hundred years of captivity and combat with Ganon and now she's trapped again, in something that feels very similar to the life that I only ever remembered her as wanting to escape, in some alternate dimension/temporal displacement/idek. Actually, this kind of reminds me how I felt in that moment when I realized that BotW had no post-game, which was the very first time I was genuinely disappointed with the game. Zelda's freedom is everything I, as Link, have been fighting for, for according to my Switch, over 100 hours of playtime. And I never get to live what it's like to succeed. I can't help Zelda find her real clothes in that infested castle, or take her to visit Impah or Purah, or give her a frog. I can't go on quests for her, or with her. Ten minutes in a dark tunnel at walking speed and she's gone, trapped, a voice in white again.

Given that Zelda gives us Recall (which, similar to how Ultrahand is Magnesis on steroids, Recall is a souped-up Stasis down to the color scheme), I am strongly leaning towards a temporal displacement theory. Here's hoping Zelda knows what to do with the stubby end of the Master Sword, where/whenever she is. The magatama thing she seems associated with, what I presume is the eponymous Tear of the Kingdom, is a cool note too. I'm going to keep my eye out for a matching mirror.

NGL, I am relieved to get the fast travel finally. After how long it took me to get the first three shrines, I did not want to circumnavigate this giant island again. This time it's a quick zap-zap back and forth and I'm done. Naydra piercing the cloud and letting me dive below was a nice touch. The complete absence of surface tension is still throwing me a bit, but given that I don't have a paraglider, I'm not going to complain. The landing point is just outside Wetland Stable, and... I don't recognize the horizon any more.

I think, more than anything, that's how I know this isn't the Hyrule I remember.

Comments

[canadian_jay]

The fact that the (lack of) surface tension keeps throwing you really says a lot about your level of science knowledge. XD

Wasn't even gonna comment here, 'cause I can't address the bulk without Hinting At Spoilers, but I did have to go look up magatama and have now learned a thing! Did not know the curvy stone bead thing was referencing a real world something, neat!