Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – it’s almost time (pic: Nintendo)

The Wednesday letters page is very happy to find Tears Of The Kingdom has proper dungeons, as one reader wishes the Spectrum got more love.

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No time for caution
So the big day is almost here and I’m fulling expecting Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom to be a huge critical and commercial smash. But does that mean it’s an instant buy? With most games I prefer to wait a few months until they’re cheaper and all the bugs and kinks have been worked out. Except Nintendo games almost never go down in price and they very rarely have any bugs, so it kind of doesn’t matter when you buy it.

I wouldn’t normally pre-order a game either, as I don’t see the point, but I may actually do so this time just so I can pre-load the game and guarantee I can play it over the weekend. The Switch’s servers are going to get hammered as soon as the game launches, so I don’t want to be waiting days to actually download what I’ve paid for it.

So my question practically answers itself: since there’s no benefit in waiting I might as well buy it straight away. The other thing I’d normally do with a game is wait for the review but, let’s face it, there’s no pointing doing that either with this game.
Ongold

Right and proper
Very happy to hear the news that Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom has proper dungeons. I didn’t hate the Divine Beasts in Breath Of The World but they were a bit lightweight compared to a proper dungeon and I don’t know why they didn’t just make them like usual. I was fine with there only being four of them too, that wasn’t the problem.

The only thing that slightly worries me about the game is the idea that the open world map is the same but I’m sure there’ll be changes and really, if you can’t trust a Zelda game what can you trust? These moments don’t come round often but I’ve already got the game on pre-order and I’m looking forward to having a very enjoy gaming session this weekend.
Headly

It’s false, all of it
Very much looking forward to Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom on Friday (and hopefully the review today?) and especially finding out that all of the fan theories about the game are completely wrong. I’m not expecting Midna, playable Zelda or anything like that. It should be obvious by now that rumours don’t work with Nintendo. It’s almost like that’s the true form of their magic: that no prediction ever works.

You can see it with the Switch 2, which I would’ve bet good money was coming out this year, but apparently isn’t. I’d almost say they were lying but if it was legal thing then I guess they’re not. So Christmas 2024 is it then, I guess? Not that I really care. I’m not looking to spend money at the moment and Zelda should keep me busy for a very long time. Which I imagine is basically Nintendo’s plan for the rest of the year.
Lewin

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GAAS attack
I realise it’s the same for any big game now but the length of time it’s taking to make Dragon Age 4 and Mass Effect 4 really brings home to you just how out of control things have got. It takes so long to make a AAA game that people could have easily lost interest or ideas fallen out of fashion. We’ve seen this with all the live service games that have had to turn themselves into normal games and it makes me wonder if that’s not the reason we haven’t see The Last Of Us multiplayer and Sony’s other GAAS games.

And what happens if these games aren’t a success? You can’t spend eight years making a game only for it to be a flop and expect things to carry on as normal. It’s basically sink or swim for any big developer nowadays, where failure means death. I fear what’s going to happen to Rocksteady once Suicide Squad comes out and it’s a flop. And the same goes for anyone else in a similar position.
Otis

New look
Recently completed Metroid Prime Remastered. The game is as good as I remember it when it was originally released. The thing that got me was the boost ball half-pipe sections seem really difficult, these were for missile upgrades and not the main story related parts. I gave up trying to collect all the weapons upgrades. I must have had a lot of patience 20 years ago or I just didn’t have anything better to do. The controls needed adjusting to, as well, as I couldn’t do dual controls especially when switching between the different beams, muscle memory also kicked in too. The GameCube pad was perfect for Prime.

The other thing that got me was the Samus reveal at the end, they changed the face. Samus must be the only Nintendo character that doesn’t seem to have a consistent look despite being within the same timeline for her games. There seems to be a different look from release to release, I am sure Prime is on a different story arc but the others are part of the same story arc. Link doesn’t count as it’s a different version of the Hero of Time. I may be the only person, but I don’t like the new Donkey Kong, to me look he looks cross-eyed every time I see his image.
Alek Kazam

Half the battle
Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is currently free on Xbox Live Gold. It’s a remaster and holds up pretty well. Looks and plays good. I would definitely recommend if you loved the original and especially if you have Gold or Game Pass, since it’s free. Perfect for a bit more Star Wars after finishing and platinuming Jedi: Survivor and for something that’s pick up and play before you-know-what launches on Friday.

The first half of 2023 has been a great year in my opinion. I’ve played Dead Space, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. All great and potential Game Of The Year contenders. At the moment I think I’d go with Resident Evil 4 but Jedi was pretty damn great.

But, of course, The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is likely to take the lead. Great time for games and we’re only halfway through and know little of what’s to come in the second half. Spider-Man 2 and Starfield, of course, should be great and I’ve an eye on Armored Core 6 despite not ever being into mech games. The trailers caught my eye and it’s FromSoftware, so it has my attention. If those three are as good as the first half games I’ve mentioned I’ll be a very happy gamer this year!
Big Angry Dad82 (gamertag)

Last minute prediction
As we’re having a mass debate about Zelda, I predict the reviews will be released at about 3pm UK time and will be 9s and 10s across the board.

I don’t care really, as I have my copy on pre-order anyway, but I will probably be a bit gutted when it turns up at 8pm after I’ve spent all the day I’ve booked off to play it waiting for it to arrive.
John Atkinson

GC: Well, you’re wrong about at least one of those things.

America’s favourites
GQ have just published a list of the 100 greatest games of all time on their site, put together using rating from over 200 industry insiders.

It’s difficult to argue with any of the games on the list, but must admit I’m slightly disappointed but not surprised that there are no Spectrum (or C64) games in the list.

Appreciate the Spectrum has two big disadvantages; it’s heyday was nearly 40 years ago (the oldest game in the list was 1985’s Super Mario Bros.) and wasn’t a success in the US or Japan, so was sort of inevitable.

Would be interesting if there was a similar list compiled using the rating of UK industry insiders only, I imagine you’d get one or two make the grade.

Lords Of Midnight and Knight Lore would be in mine, and not just for their influence on subsequent games, but for being great titles in their own right – this isn’t the rose spectacles talking.

As I say, it’s a very solid list and well worth a look (would’ve been nice to see all 652 games that received at least one vote but get why they restricted it to the top 100. The top 652 games of all time doesn’t have the same ring to it).
TheTruthSoul (PSN ID)

GC: The Last Of Us and The Witcher 3 are up way too high for us, but otherwise it’s not a bad top 10. As you suggest, the fact that the Spectrum, in particular, was only big in Europe means it always gets ignored.

Inbox also-rans
I didn’t enjoy the shrines or beasts in Breath Of The Wild so wasn’t going to bother with Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom but the announcement of traditional dungeons might just have changed my mind. I hope it can be played using Labo VR too.
Mark Matthews

Need I say more.
woz 007 (gamertag)/woz_007 (NN ID)

Not long to go now (pic: Nintendo)

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Kyrt, who asks what’s your favourite video game music track?

Rather than an entire soundtrack what individual piece of music is your favourite from a video game? How much is your enjoyment due to the music’s inherent quality and how much because of how it’s used in the game? Did you enjoy it from the first moment or did it take a while to grow on you?

If you don’t know its name, or it’s not just the theme tune, try to describe where it comes in the game. If you do know the name, does that mean you’ve bought the soundtrack or listened to it outside of the game?

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The small print
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The Wednesday letters page is very happy to find Tears Of The Kingdom has proper dungeons, as one reader wishes the Spectrum got more love.