I'm a Goron

Hi! I'm new to this subreddit but I don't really use Reddit all that much any ways so it's my first time posting. I'm currently writing a logical argumentative essay about a comparison of the enjoyment and immersion of players in Tears of the Kingdom compared to Breath of the Wild, and if anyone's got some time I would love your responses if possible :) thank you!!!

And I have BOTW and TOTK on my Switch 2. I’d like to grab the remake of Ocarina of Time, so should I play this first before BOTW and TOTK for any continuity?

This will be my first time on all of them, really looking forward to it!

(This is all in my opinion and experience, of course)

Whenever I get burnt out of gaming, the older 3D Zelda titles scratch an itch that no other games really do. The linear nature of them means that the more you play them, the more you remember how to play them, and subsequent playthroughs almost start feeling like youre watching a playable movie (or playing a watchable video game?). You can just turn your brain off and flow through the game like water, knowing where the keys are, where the chests are, where you need to go next, what enemies are where, etc. These actions become automatic in a sense, and for me, it's incredibly meditative.

Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword all have this effect on me- but I constantly find myself replaying OoT in particular multiple times a year, and its been this way my whole life. I haven't always had a 3DS either so I've mostly gravitated toward the N64 version, and since that version came out on NSO, that's been my go-to.

Now here we are in 2026, 28 years after the original's release, and as the release date approaches its dawned on me that while I'm definitely still going to replay the original 1998 game, this new 2026 remake is what I'm likely going to be playing and replaying over and over again for the next few decades of my life every time I feel burnt out.

Not sure if anyone else feels the same way, but its as if I'm getting pre-nostalgia for the fact that this game is going to have such a prominent role in my recreational life for quite a long time, and for all I know, I may not even live to see the next remake two or three decades down the line. I intend to be around in two or three decades, but life's weird like that. Sometimes you don't get to choose when you exit this game.

It's a strange feeling, as if I'm self-aware of being present in the past of a future I can see in my mind's eye so clearly. Nine days away until I get to meet the new sanctuary of my escapism, soon to be eight days away as the planetary cycle spins anew.

TLDR: Despite being over a week away from its release, I'm already nostalgic for the fact that I'm going to be replaying the 2026 remake for many, many years.

I'm not saying like a full rework of the swimming system, but maybe some underwater parts in the ocean on the eastern part of the map, like a mini dungeon or something, that requires a key item or armor piece that lets you dive. And I was also thinking about fishing, which I believe isn't the favourite part of games like OoT... But still could've been cool. What do you guys think ?

Estoy emocionado por el remake, aunque no lo voy a poder jugar (tengo 19), pero lo jugue en un emulador en mi celular hace unos años.

Quise hacer esto para conmemorar su salida 😁👍

It's now one day prior to release, and at this point it's clear that Amazon's "pre-order guarantee" was a lie to manipulate people into overpaying significantly for their consoles, as the price has remained steady at £499.99 which is £70 above RRP & it seems very likely to remain there given that they should start shipping within 24 hours.

Don't encourage these manipulative & predatory business practices, this is no better than the scalpers on eBay, cancel your preorders before it's too late. While most retailers are currently out of stock, GAME isn't & ordering from them would mean overpaying by only £20 rather than £70, but also there's been no confirmation that this is going to be a limited release, so there's a good chance that other retailers will get more stock after the initial release date anyway & most of those retailers won't price gouge you just because they can.

Just a PSA for anyone in the same position as me, who preordered their console via Amazon trusting that the "pre-order guarantee" would mean that the obscenely overpriced listing would drop to be in line with other retailers before release, when it's now clear that isn't going to happen. Save your money & cancel the order before it's too late.

I was one of the lucky few who were able to secure a special edition switch when it first went live for preorder right after the direct. The console comes out in 2 days and it’s still showing it’s in Washington and FedEx hasn’t picked the package up yet. Has anyone gotten an update past the label being created yet or is it just me. I ordered directly from Nintendo

So my zelda 40th anniversary switch 2 and controller still says preparing to ship and it’s 2 days away from release day. I ordered off the nintendo website on september 8th. Is it depending on where I live (OR)

Anyone have any idea when Walmart (specifically in the US if that matters) takes money for pre orders? I just want to know when to expect the money to be taken because I've been screwed by places like Best Buy and Amazon before.

Is this normal?

I got a “Your order shipped” email from Nintendo for the Zelda controller last Wednesday. And here almost a week later, it still just says “label created.” Is this normal for orders from Nintendo, or should I be concerned?

My Zelda 40th Switch 2 preorder from Best Buy says it’ll ship by Thursday. Does anyone know if Best Buy generally gets it to you on release day? Also, my OOT preorder is on Nintendo’s site. Does anyone know if they’re good with preorders as well? Thanks!

Does anybody use/make actual music when they create a scarecrow song or just an easy to remember pattern ike I do?

I want to try playing all of the games in chronological order starting with the fallen hero timeline then go to the child timeline and finish with the adult timeline. Please don't use the abbreviations cause I don't know them. I am also including the emulators on the switch 2. I would like to know where the wild era stands in the timelines.

A in-depth research theory about the posible materials that the Ocarina of time could be made of.

It is not in English (I'm Spanish), but it can be understood with youtube's automatic translation tools. (The voice sounds a little drunk and some jokes can be missed)

I post this here because I think some people could be interested ^^

Playing TOTK. I’ve completed 3 temples, have the Master Sword, and have knocked out roughly 70 shrines. I love this game just as much as BotW.

I just have one problem, and I’m curious if anyone else is experiencing it.

When I’m fusing arrows and scrolling through the menu to find whatever I want to attach, my eyes fucking hurt. Like, really bad. And sometimes I have to scroll so fucking far that I start wondering if the item is in a different Zelda game.

For example, to unlock the Water Temple, I had to find the King’s Scale. By the time I scrolled far enough to find that motherfucker, I needed a heart container for my god damn eyeballs.

Is anyone else getting severe eye strain and pain from scrolling through the arrow-fusing menu? I’m trying to save Hyrule, not fuck up my vision.

I bought my console on September 11th. Nintendo sent me an email that it "shipped" on October 23rd, but FedEx still shows Label Created in WA. I'm in SoCal, so it's not close to me. I still don't even have a shipping date. Anyone else seeing that?

my game will randomly just freeze for a good 3 seconds, im playing with all the default settings and i don’t have any mods installed. i get a solid 60 fps, it runs flawlessly except for these random freezes, it’s not really connected with doing anything it’ll just freeze outta nowhere, anyone have any ideas for a fix?

Video

I think it’s finally the time!! Just received shipping notification from Nintendo online store (Canada). Would it arrive tomorrow or on launch day? Wireless controller is still showing as preparing to ship (it’s on separate order). Is everyone getting tracking #?

Edit: it’s for 40th anniversary switch 2

I really thought i had a chance this time...

I put my pre-order in on day 1 when it released and swear it said it would be arriving on launch day but I changed my payment method to a different card today just cause I wanted to use that card instead and noticed it says it's now delivering November 9th. Did this happen to anyone else?? I pre-ordered early to get the foil, what are the chances that I'll still get the foil if I cancel and pre-order again to fix the delivery date?

As the title says. If you have a local store near you that sells a preorder, always put a pick up at store option.

I have done this with most of my preorders and I was among first people who got the game. My friends do deliveries to a home adress and they get a game 2-3 days later.

Just a small tip if you have the named option available.

We all know we're gonna get the classic "final boss screenshot in the thumbnail" videos as soon as the game releases on November 5th. Do you guys know any good way to prevent those videos from popping on the YouTube feed ?

I've started clicking on "not interested" on every OOT remake video, but I guess the algorithm won't understand why because I watch the trailer everyday lol

Any help would be appreciated !

Theory: Hyrule's History Has Three Ages and One Convergence Event

The biggest contradiction in Zelda lore is simple:

• Skyward Sword establishes the original foundation of Hyrule.
• Ocarina of Time creates multiple timelines.
• Tears of the Kingdom says Rauru was the first king of Hyrule.
• Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom contain evidence from multiple timeline branches simultaneously.

Most theories attempt to solve this from the top down using Nintendo's timeline.

I think the better approach is archaeology.

If we start with the ruins, political systems, forests, monuments, and cultural layers left behind, a different picture emerges:

Hyrule has existed in three major ages.

The kingdom collapses once.

It is later refounded.

Then every Ocarina timeline converges into a single reality.

The Three-Age Model

First Age

The First Kingdom of Hyrule

Skyward Sword → Twilight Princess

This is the original kingdom.

Foundation

Skyward Sword establishes:

• the Master Sword
• the Zelda bloodline
• Demise's curse
• permanent surface civilization

This is the earliest layer of Hyrulean history.

Classical Era

• The Minish Cap
• Four Swords
• Ocarina of Time

The kingdom reaches its height.

The Triforce sits at the center of political and religious life.

Most of the legendary temples, traditions, and sacred institutions originate here.

Late First Age

• Majora's Mask
• Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess already feels ancient.

By this point:

• Arbiter's Grounds is ancient
• the Mirror Chamber is ancient
• the Oocca are nearly gone
• the City in the Sky belongs to a fading civilization

The kingdom is no longer expanding.

It is surviving among its own ruins.

The Fall of the First Kingdom

After Twilight Princess, something changes permanently.

My working assumption is:

• the Triforce is reunited
• the Triforce is hidden or sealed
• central authority collapses
• the kingdom ceases to exist

The people survive.

The kingdom does not.

The First Age ends.

Second Age

The Dark Age

This is the least understood period in Zelda history.

There is no unified Hyrule.

Ancient sites remain standing but are no longer maintained.

The old royal institutions disappear.

Knowledge becomes myth.

The races persist:

• Hylians
• Gerudo
• Gorons
• Zora

Civilization survives.

The state does not.

This age exists primarily because there must be enough separation between Twilight Princess and Rauru's founding for an entirely new kingdom to emerge.

Third Age

The Second Hyrule

Year 0 - Rauru and Sonia

This is the Second Kingdom of Hyrule.

Rauru is the first king of this kingdom.

Not the first king in Hylian history.

That single distinction resolves nearly every conflict between Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, and Tears of the Kingdom.

A new royal line begins.

The Zonai are present.

Their architecture is still active.

Their technology is still understood.

A new age starts.

The Royal Forest Hypothesis

One detail that helps estimate the age of this kingdom is the Royal Forest tradition.

If:

• the founding king and queen plant the first tree
• each ruler adds another tree

then the massive royal forest seen in the Wild Era represents a very long period of continuous monarchy.

Not merely centuries.

Potentially several millennia.

Trees are physical evidence.

Unlike legends, they leave measurable growth.

The Imprisoning War

Early in the Third Age:

• Ganondorf murders Sonia
• Ganondorf steals her Secret Stone
• Rauru sacrifices himself to seal him

Most interpretations focus on Ganondorf's increase in power.

I think something else happened.

Sonia's power is time.

Corrupting that power damaged reality itself.

The Convergence

This is where the theory departs from most timeline explanations.

The Child Timeline happened. The Adult Timeline happened. The Fallen Hero Timeline happened.

All three were real, but they no longer remain separate.

When Ganondorf murdered Sonia and stole her Secret Stone, which was attuned to time itself, he didn't just gain power. The corruption of that power, combined with the Blood Moon and the creation of his army, triggered a convergence event.

The timelines merged.

Not gradually. Instantly.

People, histories, bloodlines, kingdoms, artifacts, and surviving species were pulled into a single reality. Species that had already disappeared remained extinct, but surviving peoples and traditions became part of the merged world.

Whether the Hero's Spirit, Zelda's bloodline, and Demise's curse originally operated as separate cycles across different timelines or as simultaneous manifestations of the same force no longer matters. After the convergence, only a single cycle remains.

One world.

One history.

One reincarnation cycle.

The conflicting legends, races, locations, and references found throughout Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are not continuity errors. They are the surviving evidence of a world created from multiple timelines collapsing into one.

Why BOTW and TOTK Feel Contradictory

Because they exist after convergence.

The contradictions are expected.

Not mistakes.

Not retcons.

The merged world now contains:

• memories from multiple timelines
• architectural influences from multiple timelines
• legends from multiple timelines
• cultural remnants from multiple timelines

The apparent contradictions are actually evidence that convergence has already happened.

The Sheikah Age

Sometime after the founding of the Second Kingdom:

• Guardians are built
• Divine Beasts are built
• Sheikah technology reaches its peak
• Calamity Ganon is defeated

This occurs entirely within the Third Age.

The famous "10,000 years ago" story belongs here.

Whether the number is exact or symbolic, it represents a deep historical layer of the Second Kingdom rather than the First.

Wild Era

Breath of the Wild

The converged world exists in a stable form.

The First Age survives as myth.

The Third Age survives as imperfect history.

Nobody possesses a complete record anymore.

Only fragments.

Tears of the Kingdom

The oldest sealed wound reopens.

Ganondorf returns.

Layers of the past begin surfacing simultaneously:

• First Age ruins
• Zonai ruins
• Sheikah ruins
• forgotten histories
• sealed memories

The buried foundations of Hyrule become visible again.

Separate Continental Development

Wind Waker

Phantom Hourglass

Spirit Tracks

These remain the outlier.

Rather than merging into the history of the original continent, New Hyrule develops independently after the flood.

It shares the reincarnation cycle but follows a separate historical trajectory.

TL;DR

First Age

• Skyward Sword
• Minish Cap
• Four Swords
• Ocarina of Time
• Majora's Mask
• Twilight Princess

Collapse of First Hyrule

Second Age

• Long Dark Age
• No unified kingdom

Third Age

• Rauru and Sonia found the Second Hyrule
• Imprisoning War
• Sheikah technological peak
• Ancient Calamity

Convergence Event

• Child Timeline
• Adult Timeline
• Fallen Hero Timeline

All collapse into one reality.

Wild Era

• Breath of the Wild
• Tears of the Kingdom

Core Claim: Rauru did not found the original Hyrule. He founded a second kingdom built atop the ruins of the first. Later, all three Ocarina timeline branches converged into a single reality, creating the unified world seen in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

As for dates, my current best estimate puts Skyward Sword around 10,000 years before TOTK, Twilight Princess around 5,000 years before TOTK, and Rauru and Sonia's founding of the Second Hyrule around 4,500 years before TOTK.

Most of that is coming from archaeological layering rather than written history, along with the Royal Forest tradition, assuming those trees were planted by successive monarchs and didn't simply spread through natural self-seeding. It's very much a working model, but it's the timeline that currently fits the evidence best.

One thing I'm not adding yet is a possible connection between the Depths and the convergence event. I have a theory forming there, but it needs a lot more research before I'm comfortable including it. My current suspicion is that the convergence wasn't perfectly clean, and that both the Zonai and the Depths may be connected to new timeline layers created during the merge. That's still very speculative, though, so I'm keeping it separate from the main theory for now.