Ocarina of Time Remake: Zelda Notes Support

Other than Miyamoto and Aonuma, our hero Hidemaro Fujibayashi came also on the 40th Anniversary Direct stage, for the first time in the role of a producer. He has been a director ever since the Oracle games, so this is a huge promotion for the guy, where he may even replace Aonuma once he retires.

However, he had the questionable honor of introducing the newest additions to the Zelda Notes app, where Ocarina of Time will support it for various features. This is what's on the app:

• Map
• Gossip Quests
• Hall of Fallen Foes
• Today's Record
• My Play Data
• Global Play Data
• Photo Studio
• Threads of Time
• amiibo
• Play Ocarina
• Ocarina of Time Quiz 

Some of it looks like fun. I'm looking forward to the quiz and also the Gossip Quests, even though the latter seems a bit trivial due to the size of the world. Learning to play an actual ocarina via the app is also an oddly charming addition.

But there is also some questionable stuff in here. The "Today's Record" would have been nice-to-have for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. It would have even been super useful for me personally when I first had blogged about playing these titles. But it doesn't necessarily make much sense for a 20 hour game, which some people will have 100% completed right on November 5th.

I'm also not a fan of how this is effectively spying on me with the automatic screenshots, so I'm not sure if I will even turn this feature on, given that you can turn individual features on and off, and not just the Zelda Notes connectivity in general.

It's also interesting how you can pay for retries in the quiz with your Rupees from the game. I was hoping that they would find some more usages for Rupees in the remake, but this was certainly not on my list...

 

PS: I really hope that one day they will update Link's Awakening again to also support Zelda Notes. The QR code sharing would be perfect for the Chamber Dungeon.

Tears of the Kingdom – Voice Memories Tour

After exploring all the Voice Memories in Breath of the Wild over the weekend, I went on to do the same in Tears of the Kingdom. And this was arguably more important in preparation for Age of Imprisonment. It was also a bit more interesting, because you get memories from Rauru and Master Kohga in addition to Zelda's, where every character is responsible to entertain you on a different layer of the map.

Rauru's were probably the least interesting. He only got 35 of the 240 Voice Memories and they felt a bit pointless, at least most of the time. Also, with the sky islands it didn't make much sense to travel from one memory to the next, so I teleported quite a lot. And Rauru's memories were often right next to the warp point, making this quite effortless.

Well, it was interesting how Lightcast Island got used as training grounds for Rauru's (and Zelda's) light power. Maybe this will play a role in Age of Imprisonment, but it's doubtful that the Warriors engine will properly be able to implement light reflections. He also mentions that there used to be more Crystal Refineries, but the vendors are just a menu point in Hyrule Warriors anyway, so I also doubt that this will have any relevance.

Oh, and they've used Frost Emitters to create the snowy sky islands, also as a training ground, but for Constructs. Zelda mentioned something similar about Mt. Hylia in her Breath of the Wild Voice Memories, where she suspects that the snowy landscape is not a natural phenomenon, but instead was potentially created by ancient technology to provide such proving grounds for heroes.

As for Zelda's new Voice Memories, they felt a bit more lively and closer to the heart, mainly due to them happening only recently. It bridges the two games quite nicely and there is a lot in here where you'd wish that this were part of the main game.

The most important point by far is the confirmation that all the Sheikah technology has turned to dust and disappeared some time after Calamity Ganon had been defeated. I don't understand why they couldn't have mentioned this in Purah's diary as well, because this should have been the minimal effort to give the players some sort of connection to the events of Breath of the Wild.

It also gets explained that the wells were all freshly dug up in their attempts of rebuilding Hyrule. Well, it doesn't make much sense that it never occurred to anyone to do this any earlier, since water is essential to everyone's survival. But I do appreciate that they didn't ignore the fact that the wells were all buried in Breath of the Wild.

They even tried to explain how the Horned Statue moved from one place to another. When it was calling out to Zelda, trying to steal her life energy, there was some divine intervention in the form of a lightning strike. And then it toppled into the water... I don't see how it would end up beneath Hyrule Field from Hateno even if it were able to float, but anyway.

Zelda also talked about the Horned Statue in Breath of the Wild and the majority of the Voice Memories share the exact same locations, often referencing each other. For example, you can find one at the inn in Zora's Domain, in both games. First Zelda lamented how hard the beds were, suggesting that they should come up with something that feels like floating in water. And 100 years later she is rejoiced to find water beds.

But there are some new places as well, where some of the Voice Memories make you revisit the "video memory" locations from Breath of the Wild, which was a nice touch. It didn't cover absolutely all of them, however. And they make you also visit all the memorials that were placed all over Hyrule to commemorate the people fallen in the Great Calamity. This was a good detail in Tears of the Kingdom, but also something that you could just ignore completely before. And I like that this is given more significance to the Voice Memories now.

As for other details, you will learn that Misko was imprisoned in the Hyrule Castle Lockup a long time ago. And I liked the joke about Eventide Island, where Link was afraid that they might be stripped of their possessions again, so he covered his eyes when approaching the island together with Zelda... but didn't warn her beforehand.

Oh, and there was this joke about the old man's hut. In Breath of the Wild Princess Zelda absolutely trash-talks the thing, how they should have it teared down for safety concerns. And in Tears of the Kingdom she has learned by now that her father had built the thing and felt a bit sorry.

If you're looking for some comedy gold with these Voice Memories, then you want to be traveling the Depths. What Master Kohga has to say has zero value, but it is absolutely entertaining, also thanks to his fantastic English voice actor, Erik Braa.

It is very different from the rest, because it's more like an actual journal, where you can follow his steps through the Depths right from the spot where he fell down in Breath of the Wild, still cursing the cursed Link. Well, a lot of it is about his obsession with Zonai Devices, which makes sense, since effectively half of the Depths and all of the Yiga installations down there simply exist for the Autobuild stuff.

His obsession with the "Magnificent One" is equally funny, especially with how Kohga tries to not be annoyed by the Gloom, because it has to be a blessing from the Demon King. And it's irony of fate how he turned around at the Gloom's Approach, because some from the Yiga thinks they have figured out the Zonai terminals. But I like to think that Ganondorf didn't care about the Yiga at all and probably would have just killed Kohga if he came any close.

Interestingly, Master Kohga was traveling back to the surface and down into other chasms, in order to reach the Abandoned Hebra Mine and the Gloom's Approach. And no one took note... So much for the observation from Lookout Landing. Well, to be fair, the Yiga know how to be stealthy.

But what I didn't understand how Kohga knew of the "Magnificent One" in the first place. He mentions him very early, when he first ran into some hostile Bokoblins as he was still alone down there, but how did he know about Ganondorf at that point in time? After all, they were worshiping Calamity Ganon before, not the Demon King. So, that seems to be a plothole, but otherwise I liked this part quite a lot.

It also reminded me that I'd really like to learn more about the Depths in general. What is this whole place even supposed to be? Remnants of past Hyrules? What's the deal with the Bargainers? And can we have a Bargainer as a playable character in Age of Imprisonment? Maybe I can discover some answers tomorrow already...

Breath of the Wild – Voice Memories Tour

In order to get attuned to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, I had decided to play the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. My main goal was to discover all the Voice Memories that come with the Zelda Notes app and get back into the world of these games while doing so.

Sadly, I didn't have much time during the weekend, so I'm only finished with Breath of the Wild for now and will have to rush through Tears of the Kingdom before Thursday. But I also don't want to rush, where I try to wander, glide or drive from one Voice Memory to the next, getting a good look at this Hyrule in 4K resolution and 60FPS. And it's certainly quite nice.

Funnily enough, I had originally purchased my current 50'' TV to play Breath of the Wild on it almost nine years ago. And Breath of the Wild was now the first game where I made use of its 4K resolution... Its visuals have aged well, but it's probably a good thing that its textures got updated for this.

Anyway, I'm not going into detail about the Switch 2 Edition here, since my focus was on experiencing all 125 Voice Memories. And this was more fun than I thought it would be. The problem with such recorded audio messages is that you just stand there listening, which pauses the gameplay and feels a bit awkward. It is not a good design choice, where other games are guilty of this as well (for example the Horizon series). The actual Memories, which show you a cutscene, work much better in this regard.

However, that would not have been the right format for the information conveyed here, which is about the smaller details of Hyrule, from the time before the Great Calamity. And listening to Zelda makes it feel like an audio guide for a museum or tourist attractions. You look around, while she gives you some history about it.

Since these Voice Memories were recorded after Tears of the Kingdom and during the development of Age of Imprisonment, they have used this as an opportunity to hint at certain things. For example, Zelda mentions that Mipha was rather embarrassed by how publicly they have displayed her statue at Zora's Domain, where in Tears of the Kingdom Sidon moved it to a more remote location.

Speaking of Sidon, they are even teasing a scenario from Age of Calamity here, by stating that little Sidon was intrigued by the Lynel at the Shatterback Point.

And even the room behind the Goddess Statue in the Forgotten Temple gets mentioned, even though this is of no significance to this game. It may even cause first time players to try and find a way in, not knowing any better. 

There is also talk of how the ruins north of Gerudo Town once used to be part of the town, before a tyrant unleashed a Molduga and destroyed it. That tyrant was certainly Ganondorf and maybe we will see this happening in the new Hyrule Warriors.

But the Voice Memories also raise some questions that may get answered. For example, there are multiple theories as to how the Rauru Settlement got its name. It could have been the king's residence, Queen Sonia's birthplace, or simply the village of place of great support for Rauru. The truth might be something else entirely and maybe we are going to find out. 

And then there are the Dueling Peaks, of course, where we already saw in Tears of the Kingdom how it was one mountain in the past. Maybe some event in Age of Imprisonment will cause the mountain to split. Maybe it was even Zelda herself, which would be hilarious.

I also thought it was interesting how the nearby Deya Lake got artificially created to prevent a drought of Lake Hylia, as a reservoir. So, I expect this lake to not be a thing in Age of Imprisonment.

One Voice Memory, "The Divine Beast of Lightning", even confirms the excavation site of Vah Naboris. It's a shame that they couldn't do the same for the others, because I thought this was quite interesting. In hindsight this seems like the most obvious spot for it, but I actually never took note of it.

Another very interesting reveal comes with the Springs of Power, Wisdom and Courage. Zelda explicitly states there that these were sights to worship the three Goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore. of course, this makes sense for every Zelda fan, but I don't think these Goddesses were ever mentioned by name in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

What I also liked is how the Voice Memories will take you to the locations on the map that you can potentially miss for the 100%, because there is nothing else there, just a name on the map. Those are the Shadow Hamlet Ruins, Stolok Bridge and the Gerudo Desert Gateway. Thanks to the Voice Memories there is now something else there... Well, technically.

You don't see anything in the game itself, which is probably the biggest complaint I have about this feature. It reminds me of how certain things worked in The Wind Waker. On the GameCube you had the additional secrets that you could only see via the Tingle Tuner. And on the Wii U you could use the map on the GamePad to navigate to treasure spots that you only see from a distance. In both cases you had to use a second screen to find something that you couldn't see on the TV.

However, the Zelda Notes app doesn't update in real time. It only updates your location on the map every two to three seconds. And the radius that triggers these Voice Memories is actually quite small. In some places it's obvious where you need to stand, in others you might run back and forth until you finally hit the spot...

There was also one memory that was quite difficult to find, in the throne room of Hyrule Castle's Sanctum. You can't just walk there, because it will trigger the final battle. Instead, you have to go to the room above the Sanctum and take a staircase that leads down from there. This let's you safely approach the throne without triggering anything.

This was my final memory, by the way. I started at Hateno Village, went to Lurelin Village from there, to the Faron Woods, to West Necluda and Kakariko Village, to Zora's Domain, Akkala, Death Mountain, Hyrule Forest, Mount Hebra and Tabantha, the Gerudo Region, the Great Plateau, Hyrule Field and finally Hyrule Castle. 

Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Editions Announced

Last year we had some rumors that Nintendo might be working on a new version of Breath of the Wild for the Nintendo Switch 2. Not only turned this out to be true, but they are also going to release an enhanced version of Tears of the Kingdom at the same time, as part of the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition program. You can watch a full overview trailer on Youtube, which wasn't featured in the Nintendo Direct, and these editions will launch together with the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5th.

"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" and "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition." That's quite a mouthful. I would have called these "2nd Edition" if it weren't for the fact that this is the third version of Breath of the Wild, counting the one on Wii U, which already had less features than the Switch version.

Anyway, those are not full-fledged remasters. Like with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, these are the same old Nintendo Switch games with some graphical updates installed on top of them. They don't go into any specifics here, only mentioning higher resolutions and frame rates, as well as HDR support, but I suppose it will be similar to Metroid Prime 4 (either 120FPS or 4k in 60FPS). They also have improved the texture quality for Breath of the Wild and the load times of both games are now much faster.

In addition, both games will now support a second save file, which comes with the usual number of automatic and manual save data entries. This will allow you to start a new game without losing your old data or using a second user profile on your system, which is handy. Your old save data will also carry over. Plus, it sounds like you will technically be able to continue on your adventure on an old Nintendo Switch after playing on the Switch 2, but the data in the second save data slot won't be accessible in that case.

If you have the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, then you will get access to these updates for free, as long as you stay subscribed. So, this will work similar to DLCs like the Booster Course Pass or Happy Home Paradise, where the access to them can be revoked. We've seen that there is going to be a new version of Breath of the Wild, version 1.7.0, which enables all this and may only be offered on Nintendo Switch 2. Version 1.6.0 was already exclusive to the Switch and never made it onto the Wii U (it contained the VR feature).

There has yet to be a confirmation on this, but it looks like the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Breath of the Wild won't come with the DLC on the card. At least the box or the website doesn't mention anything about the DLC (Update: the site even warns about in-game purchases). Curiously, there have been editions of the game that also came with the DLC on card, so this would feel like a rip-off if it were true, because you would still have to pay more for Breath of the Wild than Tears of the Kingdom if you want the full experience.

 

ZELDA NOTES

There is an additional aspect here and this is the new "Zelda Notes" app, which is similar to the NookLink app for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You will be able to access it via the existing Nintendo Switch Online app.

This offers a variety of new features for both games, some of which are useless gimmicks, but others are actually quite interesting. The not-so-interesting stuff is an amiibo boost, where you can scan any amiibo a second time per day after using it five times. You can also edit your screenshots in the Photo Studio. And there is an Item Sharing feature, which seems to be the spiritual successor to the Tag Mode from Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, where you can trade consumable items and weapons with your friends.

The Autobuild Sharing is probably more interesting, because this lets you turn your builds into a QR code, which then can be scanned and transferred into the game by other players. This is really nice to have and makes we wish that Link's Awakening will be added to the Zelda Notes app at a later date, because this would be awesome for sharing Chamber Dungeons.

Then there's the Play Data, which keeps track on a number of statistic and even features a set of medals that you can earn based on them. So, both games are now basically getting achievements, the uncreative kind. I'm mostly curious about how this will behave in relation to your existing save data. Both games do track a number of hidden statistics, mainly in relation to the level scaling system, and maybe everything this new play data needs is already there. It would be very unsatisfying if the hundreds of hours I have put into both games were for nothing with these play statistics.

Many players are not even done with their existing playthroughs, but maybe the Navigation app will help with finally getting to the 100%. It's essentially like all the fan-made guide maps out there, or apps like the Breath / Tears Companion. So, this isn't anything new, but the main advantage is that this can be connected to your game, so the apps knows what things you have already found and what you still need to discovers. It's very convenient and absolutely perfect for finding your last missing shrines or Korok Seeds.

For those who have already completed the game or aren't as interested in collecting golden poops, there are also the Voice Memories, offering a new experience. These play special diary entries in certain locations, featuring Princess Zelda, King Rauru and even Master Kohga. However, these are not an actual part of the game – you have to visit the corresponding locations in the game and the app will then play the voice entries. It's a bit weird and disconnected, which reminds me of the Tingle Tuner in The Wind Waker. There you also had these little story segments happening on your Game Boy Advance, but with nothing visible in the game. It's weird. Still, this might be the most worthwhile addition and a good reason to revisit all these locations, where it looks like there will be a lot of them.

My Thoughts & Plans

Overall, these new editions make a lot of sense. They could have gone with completely new remasters of these two games and they certainly would have sold well, where in case of Breath of the Wild I also had a number of ideas how to improve the game while they are at it. And some of that may still make it into the upcoming update... (More on that later.)

But I also dreaded the idea of there already being a third version of the game, while I haven't even started Master Mode on the Nintendo Switch yet. Turns out that this is actually a good thing, because when I now replay this massive title for the fourth time, I will be able to do so with better frame rate, nicer graphics, and some new features, which is a great incentive. Collecting all 900 Koroks again will also be easier with Zelda Notes.

But I'm not sure I ever want to replay Tears of the Kingdom, unless there is a major remaster, which gives you a new experience. This game was just too much for me. I will check out the new Voice Memories in any case, which should work in the existing save files, and then let's see how these new medals will work. Luckily, I will be able to play the upgraded versions right away, once I have a Nintendo Switch 2, with the NSO Expansion Pack. Though, in the long run it makes sense to purchase the upgrade packs or even the physical editions, so you don't require the subscription. I also own the Booster Course Pass and Happy Home Paradise...

Anyway, these upgrades also makes sense when you're looking outside the bubble of the Zelda fandom. Even inside the Zelda community the number of players who have fully completed both games is quite low, mainly due to the Korok Seeds. And the more "casual" players are either still in the middle of playing these games or have lost interest at some point, because it was all too much. And these people were certainly taken into consideration when making these new versions of both games, not just the fans. Being able to pick up from where you've left off in 4k graphics and with additional guidance certainly sounds appealing.