Tears of the Kingdom – Korok Puzzles Returning?

So far we don't really know what you're going to collect in Tears of the Kingdom or how you're going to upgrade your inventory this time, but the latest commercial suggests that Korok Seeds might have a comeback. Take a look at this shot:

I've instantly recognized this area, because this is where I've been landing after finishing the Great Plateau ever since the DLC became a thing. It's Lake Kolomo, where you can find Majora's Mask in a chest at the Kolomo Garrison Ruins to the left...

But some things have changed here. Most noticeably, the small island upfront has a stone circle on it, as it gets used by Koroks for one of their little puzzles. In Breath of the Wild there is a Luminous Stone Talus on this island, so that's definitely new.

Well, I've greatly enjoyed looking for the Koroks, so much that I've collected all 900 twice already and I'm currently working on the third time. But I can't say that I'm excited for them to return, mainly because I don't want this game to do the same things as Breath of the Wild just in different locations. It already looks like we're having the Sheikah Towers back, only in a different form, and getting 900 (or more) new Korok puzzles would feel very uninspired.

Plus, it will make things super confusing for whenever I'm going to replay either of these two games. It's already bad with the Pieces of Heart in A Link to the Past, Ancient Stone Tablets, and A Link Between Worlds, where they were all in different spots on roughly the same overworld map. But those were just small games, where this is on a whole other level.

Part of me hopes that this is something similar to the Korok Puzzles, but not actually Koroks. Maybe we will get Poes or something, just to make things more distinct, you know. We could see those spirit flame thingies in the underground for example, which also looks like it could be some environmental puzzle, but nothing related to Koroks:

In any case, whether you're collecting Korok Seeds, Poe Souls, or the many tears of the Zelda fans who hated the Koroks in Breath of the Wild, there is two things that I really need them to do differently this time:

• An item that helps you find Korok Seeds, like the Korok Mask, should be part of the base game and not added as paid DLC.
• The map completion rates should be visible for each area, so you have a better understanding where you might be missing something in the end.
  
   

If they do this, I probably won't complain much. And no, I don't expect there to be a meaningful reward for collecting all of them. The golden poop as an ingame "achievement" was fine. You should collect them all, because you're having fun doing so, not because you feel inclined to.