Why Tears of the Kingdom is DEEPER Than You Think (Examining The Depths)

That horn blast that plays as you cross the barrier between the surface and the depths is really unsettling, it always make me feel uncomfortable

nintendo's confidence to just keep these ungodly massive chunks of game entirely under wraps purely to let players have such a natural genuine discovery on their first experience gives me so much respect for them as devs.

It’s just remarkable that The Depths were absent for all the game’s marketing. Amazing. Also, brilliant job connecting your infatuation with the depths to actual cavers. Great video.

It feels like they added old school checkpoints back into the game. Trying to get past a challenge to find the glory of a safe area. Its incredible.

I jumped into the first chasm by lookout landing thinking that they were just gonna be new mini dungeons like the shrines. So I started using brightbulbs to try to light up the area, and after using 5 I started to realize that the area was pretty big. After about 10 I realized that this might be a whole subarea instead of a dungeon. Around 15 I finally noticed the Lightroot and lit up the area and checked my map. I then started to zoom out the map... and zoom out again, and again with the slowly dawning, and incredibly exciting realization that the depths was a whole new map that I just didn't know about because I was avoiding trailers and spoilers. I have spent most of my time exploring the depths, and chasms are always my first stop after mapping out a new region, to the point that I'm underpowered because I'm not doing shrines. The depths are a great addition that really emphasizes the exploration in this game.

A couple of tips for navigating the depths: If there is a mountain in the overworld, the same place where that mountain is located will be a chasm in the depths, the opposite rings true as well. If there is water in the overworld, then that place in the depths is actually a solid wall. You'll have to find another Chasm to go in if you want to go there. There are mines under each settlement and ruins, in fact you'd be pleasently surprise with what type of things you find~ In the Depths, Lynels spawn under Stables.

The dread of the Depths first truly hit me at, ironically, the moment when I activated a Lightroot. Seeing the camera switch to a pitch black abyss and suddenly seeing light flowing down the root made me think “if something this big could be so easily concealed…then what else am I not seeing?” I can still vividly remember quite literally walking into an armored Lynel that I couldn’t see until I was toe-to-hoof with it.

one thing that I find absolutely integral to the Depths is the way the gloom fades-to-black at the edges, making it blend seamlessly with the actual darkness throughout. Without using a brightbloom, it’s hard to tell where any safe ground ends and the gloom begins, which makes it even more intimidating. Even after you complete the map, many areas are just naturally dark (either due to enclosure or due to distance), which makes the place still unsettling even in lategame stages.

The really interesting thing to me was that while my experience definitely started out similar to how the video describes it all- That slowly changed over time, as I learned the systems more, figured out how the depths were laid out, and slowly mapped everything. At first, the depths were a terrifying void of unknown scale, and every time I thought I had a handle on how big and dangerous they could be, I was proven wrong. By the end of the game, they were the easiest place in all of Hyrule to traverse, the unknown giving way to a relaxed road trip as I went around on a victory lap to clear out all the points of interest. A full bar of batteries, a couple good flying machines, a fast 'bike' for flatter terrain, and knowledge of how the two maps relate to each other transforms the experience entirely. ...Also, man. Running into a dragon in the depths is a completely different experience from doing so in the overworld. Especially if it's in an area you haven't lit up yet. First time I spotted one down there, I just landed on its back and sat back to watch the scenery drift by for a while.

One thing they really nailed with The Depths was the identity. It had a clear and concise message that is communicated by every facet of it, from the cave walls all-but-fighting you to be climbable to the choking darkness to the fauna and the Yiga Clan running short of rations. The message is simple. You are not meant to thrive here. You made a choice to be here, and if you die down here, alone in the dark, you'll have only yourself to blame. Absolutely incredible.

the tradition of sewer levels continues

I remember the moment I realized that the Obsidian Froxes EAT BRIGHTBLOOMS. The realization that the very resource I was using as a lifeline was also leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for a massive monster that was nonetheless near-invisible in the shadows was amazing. This was then followed by the realization that I could use brightbloom arrows to distract the creatures, which added a whole new layer of strategy to navigating the region.

The thing that really captured my interest with the Depths is that they perfectly mirror the environment of the Surface. Which, as far as I know, is never explained in-story. It’s a detail that really blurs the line as to whether the Depths are just a really big cave under Hyrule or some kind of alternate dark realm.

Last night, I found a giant Bargainer statue near one of the lightroots. I had already met one at a mine during a side quest, but seeing this one not merged to something, and shrouded in darkness no less, made me feel uneasy. I wonder if this is what megalophobia feels like.

When i realized the Depths were a full underworld i sat back in complete awe. My first couple times exploring it gave me Subnautica vibes. I just wish that it wasn't so easy to predict its layout (cause once you understand how it works the depths are easy to explore) and i wish that there were more distinct areas rather than an unchanging biome of blue with "peacock trees" and such. Other than that it was amazing.

the fact a well in this game can literally just plummet you into the depths when every other well in the game just drops you into a safe peaceful cave is… truly terrifying

Caves to me IRL: nuh-uh! Never. Gonna die in there. Terrible Caves in video games: yes please! big space underground please want find terrors beyond imagining

My first big impression of the Depths was when I saw Naydra fly into the Chasam in Kakariko. I thought I would get a scale or something off of it, and the I fell into the Depths. I used a few big seeds to light the area around me, and I realized I was in a canyon surrounded by Zora statues. My mind took a few seconds to let everything sink in. I hadn't done Josha's quest yet so I had no idea what the Zora statues ment, and decided to go off exploring in the dark. I got my butt kicked a lot, but I eventually made it to a wall of the map. When I checked where I was I saw that I was under Hateno. I was floored by that revelation.

One thing I found striking about the Depths is how much they resemble the Dark World of a Link to the Past: They are a dark, inverted, corrupted reflection of the surface that make you feel disempowered, scared even when you first enter. Considering how many elements of lore and gameplay are borrowed and remixed from previous games, I doubt his similarity was mere accident.

My heart rate naturally goes up the instance I enter the depth. Even though objectively I know that there's nothing to be afraid of and that the gloom hands don't really spawn in the depth (except only at a few locations), my brain somehow conditioned itself to feel the sense of "fear" and even reluctance especially under the help of the subtle but encompassing background soundtrack and the sound and visual effects of the gloom that's littered all over the place. I find myself unconsciously picturing gloom hands appearing around the corners, especially when I turn the camera around and see a new puddle of gloom that wasn't in my view before. Yet this kind of feeling is constantly relieved when I toss a brightbloom seed and the area around me becomes known and safe. Even seeing a boss can be relieving, as now that enters my familiar territory. It never truly felt "scary" by any means, but the atmosphere of the depth I think is done very well, just enough so that I don't feel entirely comfortable, but the positive feedback was able to keep me wanting to explore more, go to the next light root, take out that next enemy mining camp, go pillage that next Yiga camp. But more essentially, just toss out that next brightbloom seed into the darkness in front.