Fischer: The Waiting Game

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The day is here at long last!

After six years of waiting, the sequel to “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” has launched.

It’s a physical thing that you can buy in stores, right now.

“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” has been on my list of most anticipated things to look forward to since before its title was even known to the public. For literal years I’ve been watching and waiting for any scrap of information about what will be new in the next entry of the series.

And now the day is here.

(Note, this column is generally written on Fridays.)

I should be playing it right now. I should have woken up before dawn and made a special trip to Mason City to be there when the doors open at Target. I should have arranged my workload so I’d have nothing to do today but dive into the depths of the new game.

That’s how it usually goes with my most anticipated games.

And yet, here I am.

I didn’t rush out to play it today. I probably won’t even pick it up this weekend.

I’ll get to it eventually, but my sense of urgency is effectively nil.

Part of my ambivalence is due to, at least in my humble opinion, a misfire of a promotional campaign on Nintendo’s part.

Unlike its predecessor, where Nintendo went above and beyond to showcase what players could look forward to, the company has been aggressively tight-lipped about the new game. After the announcement teaser in 2019, Nintendo went radio-silent for nearly two years before giving us the next look, which still offered little in the way of concrete information.

It wasn’t until last September that we even knew what the game would be called, and it was only a month ago that Nintendo offered any kind of gameplay demonstration.

Even then, what few details Nintendo released have done little to get me excited. After six years of development, confirming that the game would take place on an updated version of the same map as its predecessor is not exactly putting your best foot forward. Especially for a game with such a heavy emphasis on exploration.

Leaks of the game in the week or so before launch spoiled some of the major unrevealed new additions that actually sound interesting, and, honestly, Nintendo should have been up front about them from the start. I may have been more excited had they done so.

There is merit in the policy of holding back details to ensure the player has surprises to enjoy when they sit down with the game, but it really feels like Nintendo is taking for granted the idea that the millions of people that bought “Breath of the Wild” would buy its sequel sight-unseen.

I mean, they’re not wrong. I’ll get the game eventually, but the minimal effort Nintendo has put into selling me on the game has definitely resulted in a minimal sense of urgency to buy it.

I have things to do this weekend. Like laundry and taking my mom out for Mother’s Day margaritas. I’m already struggling to find the time for the four or five other games I’m currently working on. Adding a hundred-hour open world adventure into the mix is a tough sell.

“Tears of the Kingdom” isn’t going anywhere and I guess if I’ve waited this long I can wait a little longer. Maybe by then the people playing it today will be able to sell me on what Nintendo couldn’t be bothered to.

— Travis Fischer is a news writer for the Charles City Press and can still get another 50 hours out of “Breath of the Wild” before moving on to the next game.