Notes on "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom"

2025-01-08

After 2 years of The Legend of Zelda ("Breath of the Wild" and now "Tears of the Kingdom") in Spanish, I have my Switch in English, and I have to say that while it's a very good approach to train my Spanish, it was a bit of a chore. Now, the immersion deepened greatly. I also have an impression that both translations create their own worlds and are not direct translations from Japanese. Interesting. It also feels that Spanish translation is a bit better.

2025-01-10

For example, those two mountains (or rather a mountain broke in two) in Necluda are called Duelling Peaks in English but Picos Gemelos* in Spanish. This gives a different vibe to the world, to the ways that its denizens are naming things. It's more violent.

*Literally, Twin Peaks which is close to Japanese Twin Mountains. Maybe they didn't want to infringe some intellectual property.

2025-01-20

I found Majora's Mask.

2025-01-26

I accidentally did a quest from the main group when I was exploring the floating islands in the clouds. I assumed there'd be only 4 sages (because there were 4 divine beasts in "Breath of the Wild"), but no. My wife reminded me that I actually remarked at some point that there are only 4 rings but 5 fingers, and that there might be something else still. So now I have a mecha suit. Sweet.

But Zelda's voice in English is horrible. This booming voice with a British accent just lands really badly after the Spanish princessy voice.

2025-02-05

Typically to me, I went to explore (which is fantastic in "Tears of the Kingdom"), and I found the location of the final boss. Or so I think. I retreated to make a couple of side quests.

What I like in both "Breath of the Wild" and "Tears of the Kingdom" is that clothes are not merely armour but also have functional utility: they make you warm, they make you cold, they allow you to walk over gloom, or fly better. Speaking of which, at 4 missing hearts, I finally found the blue tunic. And I wouldn't hadn't I read Zelda's diary.

2025-02-10

Thanks to exploring first, I get to places that quests should lead me later. Oftentimes, I end up with a quest solved immediately. Yesterday I cleared up the sky above the tropical part of Hyrule… after exploring the whole archipelago using the map and various skills which highlight the shapes around. I was still up for a surprise (the shape).