Is Zelda finished?

No more tears

Why does it seem like so many games are released in a terrible state these days?

Are developers getting lazy? Are publishers putting studios under too much pressure? Are we to blame for repeatedly buying broken games?

The launch state of Redfall last week was not good, prompting widespread backlash and an apology from Xbox boss Phil Spencer just two days after its release. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, released the week before, is supposedly a great game, but launched on PC as - in Digital Foundry’s words - the worst triple-A port of the year so far. And this is a year that includes The Last of Us’ PC port, which garnered similar criticism back in March.

You’d have thought after the much-publicised disasters of Cyberpunk 2077, GTA: Trilogy and many others over the last few years that lessons would have been learned.

So many games are launching seriously undercooked, and consumers are expected to suck it up and wait for the onslaught of updates to gradually paper over the cracks. It’s a situation that’s particularly hard to swallow given the industry’s almost-unanimous decision to bump game prices up to £70.

Ok, games are more expensive to make now - we get it, but at least make sure they work properly, eh?

In case you haven’t heard, today is New Zelda Day. An occasion that hasn’t happened since way back in March 2017. Yep, after a couple of delays Tears of the Kingdom has arrived, more than six years after its predecessor Breath of the Wild. Nintendo has a long history of taking its sweet time and delaying games, but it also has a long history of releasing fully-formed, highly polished, finished games.

This is particularly true when it comes to Zelda, a series boasting a staggering number of incredible games that are usually huge, ambitious, wonderfully polished, and yes, often delayed.

Breath of the Wild was all of those things, but not only that, it added an incredible physics system and experimental mechanics not seen in previous titles. Systems that just begged to be played with and stretched to their limits. It almost encouraged you - dared you - to try and break it.

It was a big risk, but one that showed Nintendo’s complete faith in the robustness and solidity of the game they put out. It’s why Breath of the Wild released to such immediate acclaim, and why people are still finding new things to do in it six years later.

It’s also why - hopefully, considering the sheer amount of new abilities and mechanics it brings to the table – the same will be true of Tears of the Kingdom, and we’ll still be finding new things to do in it six years from now. Judging by the early reviews, it may well be longer than that.

Happy New Zelda Day to those who celebrate. Have fun out there.

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As always, thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy the rest of the issue.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jeff

THE WEEK IN GAMES

The best news, deals and gaming content of the week

NEWS

DEALS

MORE!

GQ’s 100 Greatest Games

100 greatest games lists are always fun. No matter how the list is compiled, nobody agrees, arguments ensue, and everybody falls out. People are passionate about the games they love, and seeing that other people don’t agree can sometimes be hard to take or understand.

Still, they’re always interesting to look through, and you’re sure to find a gem or two that you’ve either never heard of before or you’ve forgotten about.

GQ are the latest to put out such a list, which you can check out here. Pitchforks at the ready.

Frame-A-Game Store Discount

A final reminder that you can still get 15% off at the Frame-A-Game Store using the exclusive code TWIG15. You can check out the full range here.

INDIE SPOTLIGHT

Shining a light on new and upcoming indies

The crowdfunding campaign for Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is now live on Kickstarter, and it looks utterly delightful.

If beautiful 3D platformers where you “outwit traps, manoeuvre dangerous environments and explore a series of dazzlingly different landscapes to recover stolen pirate loot” are your thing, then this one is definitely worth checking out.

At the time of writing, Koa is already over 600% funded, and the campaign doesn’t end until June 3rd. You can check out the Kickstarter page here.

NEW RELEASES

All the major releases arriving this week and next

OUT NOW:

OUT NEXT WEEK:

  • Humanity (PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR, PC) – May 16

  • Firmament (PC, Mac) – May 18

  • Lego 2K Drive (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – May 19

A new Zelda! Out NOW!!

SUPPORT TWiG

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If you value honest, independent games writing and enjoy what I do, please consider supporting my work.

Thank you 🙏

…and that’s it for this week!

If you have any comments or suggestions, or if you’re interested in advertising your game, product or service to The Week in Games' passionate readers, contact me at [email protected], reply to this email directly, or catch me over on Twitter!

Thanks again, and see you next week!

Jeff

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