A Ten News Review -> Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 🎮

LISTEN HERE

The Ten News Season 3: Episode 60

🤩 Do you know your Zelda history? Correspondent Nathalie Alonso breaks down the impact of Zelda. 🎮 Ten'er Zach & Ryan Willard give a Ten News review on the video game, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom 💭 Trivia with Tessa: do you know what character is the inspiration behind Link from Zelda?

Follow Along with Us

📧 Do you have something to tell us? Email us at: hello@thetennews.com

📝 Sign up for The Ten News-letter!

📸 Join us on Instagram

Links

https://www.thegamer.com/the-legend-of-zelda-fun-facts-trivia/#the-wii-version-of-twilight-princess-is-mirrored

TRANSCRIPT:

Pamela Kirkland  00:00

Well, good morning, Ryan. What are you doing here so early?

Ryan Willard  00:10

I got Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and I've been playing it all weekend so I can do a Ten News Review on it.

Pamela Kirkland  00:16

You haven't left the studio all weekend? And why does it smell like microwaved salad in here?

Ryan Willard  00:23

Well, I did leave to go to my friend Naomi's Bar Mitzvah and in the game Link has new cooking features. So, I've been experimenting myself in real life. You are smelling my first-ever sizzling salad.

Pamela Kirkland  00:35

I hope you didn't smell like this at the bar mitzvah.

Ryan Willard  00:38

I might have. I wonder if that's why they sat me at the kid’s table.

Pamela Kirkland  00:41

Okay, maybe it's time to take a break and start the show.

Ryan Willard  00:46

Actually, this is my most-anticipated game of the year and I'm technically doing research for my review. So, I'm gonna start the show while I build this rocket-powered minecart to get to the next time.

Pamela Kirkland  00:58

I'm Pamela Kirkland, and I do not understand what he's talking about.

Ryan Willard  01:02

And I'm Ryan Willard. It's Wednesday, May 17th.

Pamela Kirkland  01:06

This is The Ten News. 

Sound Bit  01:09

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Pamela Kirkland  01:16

Hey, does anyone know why Ryan is so obsessed with the Zelda games? I think he's just obsessed with all video games. He's been talking about this one since last year. Something about Princess Zelda and Tink, or Shrink?

Nathalie Alonso  01:34

I think you mean, Link.

Pamela Kirkland  01:36

Nathalie. I'm so glad you're here. Do you know anything about the Nintendo game, The Legend of Zelda? 

Nathalie Alonso 01:42

Yeah, I know 8-bit. The latest installment of The Legend of Zelda is finally here. And as someone who's been playing these games forever, I'm so excited about this release. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, for the Nintendo Switch, gives us more to do and explore than any Zelda games today. You can even craft your own tools and weapons. In case this is your first time playing a Zelda game, let's go over the basics. The Legend of Zelda is a series of action-adventure video games. As a player, you assume the role of a boy named Link was charged with rescuing a magical princess named Zelda. Here we stand in protecting an enchanted land called Hyrule from a demon known as Ganon. Ganon is always looking to get his hands on a magical artifact called the Triforce. That is the source of all power and Hyrule. All of the games featured dungeons filled with puzzles and monsters’ tobacco. Each game takes place at a different moment in time and has its own self-contained storyline. The series was created in the 1980s by Shigeru Miyamoto, who also gave us other classic Nintendo series like Super Mario and Donkey Kong. When he created the original storyline and design the mysterious land of Hyrule, Miyamoto drew inspiration from his childhood hikes to the mountains and forests of his native Japan. The game encourages players to get out and explore. The release of Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986 marked the beginning of the adventure. That game was played by millions all over the world. It was such a smash hit that over the next few years, Nintendo released several other Zelda games, including the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for Super Nintendo. Then in 1998, came the game that made me a lifelong Zelda fan. And that was the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64, which was the first Zelda game with 3D graphics. A few years later, we got Legend of Zelda: Majora in Mask, in which Link has three days to save the world before the moon comes crashing down. No pressure right? The Legend of Zelda continued to grow and included games like, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii. In Skyward Sword, Link and Zelda live on an island in the clouds known as Skywalk, which is similar to the log landmass as you'll see in Tears of the Kingdom. Before Tears of the Kingdom, of course, there was the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which took open-world gameplay to another level. An open world means that there isn't an order in which you have to complete tasks. And there are many areas to explore when and how you want to use Tears of the Kingdom to take the open world concept even further. While the Legend of Zelda has evolved over the years as video game technology has become more advanced. The goal is still the same. Rescue Princess Zelda and say hi world.

Pamela Kirkland  05:03

Thanks, Nathalie. Wow, who knew that Zelda was a 37-year-old game? And that it basically revolutionized a whole genre of video games.

Nathalie Alonso  05:13

Yep, Zelda is a game-changer!

Tracy Kaplan  05:23

All right, Ryan, are you and Zach ready to do the Zelda review?

Ryan Willard  05:26

Yeah, Kap. I'm just gonna finish my third playthrough and I'm good 100%. At this time, so I should be done sometime next year.

Ten'er  05:34

Yeah. Well, Ryan said...

Tracy Kaplan  05:36

You sure you don't want to pause? I've got two bowls of popcorn. One plain and one is Kap style with layers of butter in between the popcorn because you know, I did work in a movie theater.

Ryan Willard  05:49

You made his Kap corn!? Sweet. Wow, I feel like I just warped here from another dimension.

Tracy Kaplan  05:56

So, what did you think of the game?

Ryan Willard  05:57

I think we should do Ten Things You Need to Know About The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. You want to start, Zach?

Ten'er  06:03

Absolutely. Number one, I think we should keep this spoiler free. So first off, this game is awesome.

Ryan Willard  06:14

Number two, the map is really big. It's ginormous. It IS the same map of Hyrule from Breath of the Wild, but at the same time, it’s not... Familiar characters and locations have evolved and grown since the fall of Calamity Gannon and the upheaval. For example, the familiar town of Lurelin has been taken over by pirates, so it’s up to Link to rescue and rebuild it. But that’s just the surface level of the Hyrule map! Now you can explore the sky islands, as well as the caverns underneath the map. It’s almost like there are three different maps.   Awesome. Number three, The depths and caverns are a little scary but really awesome. Here’s a tip when you’re underneath Hyrule: You will face a red substance called GLOOM. And whenever you take damage from it, it lowers your maximum health. You have to either return to the light or eat a gloom-removing meal to recover your health. Also, it’s really dark in the depths, so make sure you have some Brightbloom seeds to throw around, so you can see where you’re going. We gotta talk about the weapons, dude. They’re crazy. 

Ten'er  07:20

Number four. Weapon fusion is one of my favorite parts of Tears of the Kingdom. You can attach any item or object to any weapon, shield, or arrowhead.

Ryan Willard  07:31

You can do crazy things like putting a minecart on a stick or turn a boomerang into a flamethrower. Yup! Any weapon can become a fire weapon if you have the horn of a fire dragon to snap on to it! So anything you find in Hyrule can be useful, or just hilarious to fight with. You can also throw items, one of my favorites is the Muddlebud, which makes enemies fight each other. 

Ten'er  07:57

Cool. What about the Ascend ability? You gotta tell them about that! 

Ryan Willard  08:01

Oh, yeah. You can unlock the Ascend ability after completing the Gutanbac Shrine on Great Sky Island. With the Ascend ability, you can basically warp, vertically. So you don’t need to climb to the top of a structure and use all your stamina, you can aim to the top of the structure and ascend to the top. Fun fact: the developers of Tears of the Kingdom created the Ascend ability as a cheat code to help them speed through a debug version of the game, and enjoyed it so much that they incorporated it into the full game!  Zach, do you have any tips for our Ten'ers? Number 7. Oh, here’s something to make things a liiiiiittle bit easier, early on in the game: The main line of the story until you get the paraglider, AND be sure to unlock the camera for the Purah pad. That is excellent advice, I wish I did that on my first play-through. 

Ten'er  09:18

Number 8. Also, check out the side quest where you become a reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette, and don’t ignore the guy holding up signs on the side of the road.  

Ryan Willard  09:30

Okay, Zach, you could’ve told me that YESTERDAY. But I do appreciate the tips.  Number 9. The Main Quest took me about 54 hours, I could’ve beaten it a little bit faster but I also could’ve played it WAAAY longer. I explored less than half of the full game before beating it, so the replay value is really, really high.  

Ten'er  09:50

Did you hear that a speed runner already beat the game in 1 hour 34 mins and 33 seconds? It was done by Gymnast86 on YouTube, it’s full of spoilers though!

Ryan Willard  10:04

Number 10. Tears of the Kingdom lives up to the hype. It’s awesome for all ages and has something for almost everyone! There’s so much stuff to do that it can seem overwhelming, but it’s intuitive enough to keep you locked in. The story is really engaging too, whether you’ve played Breath of the Wild or not, this is one of the best games that’s ever come from Nintendo. I’m honestly overwhelmed by it and I’m about to play some more. I’m giving the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom… 10 out of 10. It's that good.

Ten'er  10:38

I agree. And I would even say it's even better than Breath of the Wild.

Ryan Willard  10:45

Thanks for playing Zelda with me, Zach. Do you by chance know how to get the Master Sword? 

Ten'er  10:49

Of course. I know how to get the Master Sword. But I don't think we should spoil it for everyone else.

Ryan Willard  10:55

Yeah, you're right

Tessa Flannery  11:03

Well, I'm gonna go to the trivia room.

Nathalie Alonso  11:05

Hey, Tessa, can I play? I love trivia.

Tessa Flannery  11:09

Absolutely. Natalie, hop on up on the trivia throne for today's Zelda-inspired trivia question. 

Sound Bit  11:18

What is going on here?

Tessa Flannery  11:28

The main character in the game Zelda is adventurer Link. Link’s character design - with pointy ears and a green outfit - was inspired by another green-clad character. But do you know which other character inspired Link? Is it A) Robin Hood, B) Yoda, or C) Peter Pan? Nathalie, did you guess it? Ten’ers, what’s your answer?

Sound Bit  11:53

My guess is Robin Hood.

Tessa Flannery  11:55

The answer is… C! Peter Pan was one of the inspirations behind the character Link. Link’s design has been basically the same since the game came out - waaaay back in 1986! Ten'ers, do you want to sit on the trivia throne and share your trivia knowledge? Visit thetennews.com/contact to get in touch and we might have you on the show.

Ryan Willard  12:26

Hey Pam, it’s time to–wait. What’re you doing?

Pamela Kirkland  12:31

I’m just…testing out this Zelda game…it’s ummmm, really cool and immersive. I just need 15 more minutes…did you need something?

Ryan Willard  12:40

Ummmm, yup, we’ve gotta give Ten News Snaps to one of our listeners.

Pamela Kirkland  12:44

Of course! Before we do, here’s a quick note for the grown-ups…

Ryan Willard  12:49

Time for Ten News Snaps.

Pamela Kirkland  12:54

Ten’er Toby Gerstein wrote this review of The Ten News: “I Love This Podcast - I listen to this podcast every Tuesday and Wednesday! I learn about so many things that are happening or happened in the real world. If I could give more stars I would. I would give 60 stars!” 

Ryan Willard  13:12

Thanks, Toby (also great spot the difference game)! And thanks for listening to The Ten News! Ten Things You Need to Know drops every Tuesday and our in-depth reports drop every Wednesday. But if you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten’ers Club on our website or on Apple Podcasts.

Pamela Kirkland  13:28

The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts.

Ryan Willard  13:33

The Ten News creative team is STILL playing Tears of the Kingdom and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Logan DeYoung, and Tessa Flannery. Special thanks to Nathalie Alonso and Ten’er, Zach.

Pamela Kirkland  13:43

Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. 

Ryan Willard  13:52

I'm Ryan Willard.

Pamela Kirkland  13:53

And I’m Pamela Kirkland; thanks for listening to The Ten News. Ryan, I’m hungry and can’t stop playing. Please help.

Ryan Willard  14:01

I got you Pam, get ready for some sizzling salad.