INTRO

• What impressed you?
  • 3:44 "okay this is a great intro especially in comparison to the previous Zelda game I love you can see the flashes on my face from this um they funnel you in here so you've got a whole Overworld map but they funnel you pretty pretty solidly" (0:39 implied lasting appeal of intro in top game)
  • 4:05 "obviously very dramatic intro in a world where cinematic intros was not exactly common due to technological barriers this is a pretty cool intro" (4:21 "it's still gameplay it's not just like a cut scene they didn't just script a thing")
  • 4:47 "Zelda is talking to you in your head and um points you towards where you're going to very soft-handed" (6:26 "halflife concept of the cinematics the cinematics uh happen in real time and not freezing the game")
  • 20:35 "okay I love this there's so much mystery secrets and the music is just intense this is a really solid intro to this game" (20:47 "as usual Nintendo has just managed to make ... such a solid tutorial here")
• What would you change?
  • (missing information here)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

GETTING GOING

• What impressed you?
  • 3:58 "they funnel you pretty solidly" (4:53 "you don't really have a lot of places you can go")
  • 6:10 "first puzzle in the entire game is figuring out where this is and it's right off the bat"
  • 8:26 "they got you got you pretty quick in this game"
  • 10:50 "they they really make the castle feel a lot more complex than it actually is" (11:54 "they' funneled you pretty solid")
  • 13:05 "the combat in this game is actually so it's pretty nuanced compared to the first game"
  • 14:20 "it's it's important that you play um you play it with a similar control scheme if you can"
  • 20:59 "they managed to make such a solid tutorial here" (22:21 "Nintendo's polish and understanding the players um current level understanding of the game")
  • 25:33 "such a lightweight dungeon but it does walk through a lot of the mechanics of the dungeons the the darkness the little little um the mystery nature of it"
  • 28:17 "tutorial done so what did we learn we now have a sword we know how to spin slash we know how to pull levers we know how to kill enemies we know that there are puzzles we know this is a top- down mystery based exploration game with combat almost arcade likee combat mechanics uh we know we have a magic meter ... we definitely know that there are hearts that you need to manage and there is a way to get more hearts"
  • 29:36 "they give me a map X whatever marker a map marker to walk towards so let's head that way let's do what they say"
• What would you change?
  • 22:26 "this is the problem that I had with both Skyrim and The Witcher that are open world RPGs is there's so many options to do and I don't really know what I should do or want to do" (implied contrast, not specific change)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

FUN

• What impressed you?
  • 7:52 "there's something very satisfying about just slashing bushes and this will this feature becomes a lot more more useful in the future"
  • 15:54 "love that boss key the big key oh they call it a big key"
  • 20:35 "so much mystery secrets and the music is just intense"
  • 1:05:51 "woohoo first pendant let's go"
  • 1:07:40 "Pegasus boots now you can execute a devastating Dash attack" (1:08:10 "I love that you hold your sword out in front of you when you run devastating Dash attack")
  • 1:13:36 "I love that that those three blocks has multiple Solutions"
  • 2:47:23 "that was a good run good stuff good monologues good thoughts"
  • Multiple excitement: 1:34:47 "excellent excellent timing to get tons of hearts", 1:41:20 "most delicious okay the big ke is in the top left corner great", 2:15:30 "lovely mechanical storytelling" (panic heart sounds 2:30:29 "that heart sound is panic inducing")
• What would you change?
  • (missing information here)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

VISUALS

• What impressed you?
  • 3:52 "love you can see the flashes on my face from this"
  • 8:26 "the heart's kind of like they have 3D depth and they sway back and forth until they land on the ground like feather or something a little more tangible"
  • 8:40 "the graphic Fidelity and depth of this game in comparison to Zelda 1 is just off the charts"
  • 33:32 "dungeon feels open air it's not technically but I like the way that it feels that way thematically they've done very well with these dungeons" (1:36:02 "that that shows the floors ... give you the impression that you're underground more")
  • 2:14:27 "what's nice effect" (2:15:04 "love the way they do this")
• What would you change?
  • (missing information here)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

INTELLIGENCE

• What impressed you?
  • 13:45 "this can actually be a fairly challenging game in comparison to other Zelda games um making sure that"
  • 37:52 "it's a game of positioning with these guys"
  • 54:31 "good tip on those armored foes" (1:04:23 "there's a delay ... invulnerability time before and after that guy has his eye fully open")
  • 2:21:35 "those skeleton guys I definitely come in with a very specific battle strategy" (2:21:47 "doesn't seem to be a core tenant of their enemy design but I do approach them differently because I I know there's an optimal strategy")
• What would you change?
  • (missing information here)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

IMMERSION

• What impressed you?
  • 1:09:35 "why is it that this world I feel so comfortable just Dorking around in but the witchers or Skyrims I was like uh what do I do" (1:14:47 "one thing that makes exploring this map easier is that it's kind of like um it's not really just like giant side quests" 1:15:15 "in this game and in breath of the wild most of the stuff you discover is just there for the sake of being there")
  • 43:38 "there's an interesting Geographic what what is it navigation hack you can do which is if you can lead a player straight through the center of a of your map then they will always have some sort of reference to go back to"
  • 1:52:13 "optimized for 1 hour play sessions which I always find interesting when you can find those kinds of patterns in design"
  • 2:42:09 "storming the castle with my magic sword pretty cool I'm pretty cool"
• What would you change?
  • (missing information here)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

CAMERAS

• What impressed you?
  • (missing information here)
• What would you change?
  • (missing information here)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

CONTROLS

• What impressed you?
  • 6:50 "this sword is much better so you see you go from 90 to the right to in front of you and it sort of slashes to the left but not as far and that is an fairly accurate hit box"
  • 14:00 "using the d-pad specifically to to match the um the experience from mess days as opposed to playing with the joystick because I find the joystick to be less precise"
  • 1:31:29 "when your sword's out your Shield goes away that's cool cool detail"
  • 1:57:21 "you can only face the four cardinal directions but you can run in diagonals that is kind of interesting"
• What would you change?
  • 21:35 "still getting used to the controls pushing the wrong buttons a lot"
  • 1:39:47 "wrong keep pushing the wrong button"
  • 2:00:44 "no map is still this button every time"
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

IDEAS

• What impressed you?
  • 4:21 "still gameplay it's not just like a cut scene" (6:26 real-time cinematics)
  • 16:11 "this is a convention that's unique to this game and not in other Zelda games" (big key opens small doors)
  • 24:50 "those bombable walls in the first dungeon that's an interesting like man you got to be dedicated"
  • 41:27 "key item progression that's a thing"
  • 50:41 "Zelda games traditionally pre- breath of the wild have a very understood structure it was defined in Zelda 1 Polished in this one"
  • 51:42 "key item that you get from the Zelda dungeon that helps you progress in the story" (52:11 pendants like "three a three of three multisig")
  • 1:46:12 "lantern related puzzle ... light all four"
  • 2:19:34 "in the dungeons you can gaze into the magic mirror to return to the entrance at any time"
• What would you change?
  • 42:47 "wish there were more puzzles with the with the lanterns like lighting different lanterns patterns or something seems like kind of a missed opportunity"
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

MEMORY

• What impressed you?
  • 14:44 "it's great it's a great game it's solid"
  • 2:47:23 "that was a good run good stuff"
• What would you change?
  • (missing information here)
• How could it be better?
  • (missing information here)

(High-point in 50 words: Great intro funnels solidly with real-time cinematics, solid tutorial teaches sword spin slash levers puzzles combat hearts, nuanced challenging combat satisfying bush slashing, optimized 1hr sessions, compelling dungeons key items pendants master sword (1:52:28 implied))