I love when Lovejoy releases a new song/EP and I have to wait until someone does the lyrics because all I can understand is *angry British yelling*
i finally can listen to wu&io after a full day of work so here are my rankings (i am not original at all) from my first two listen throughs:
1. Portrait of a Blank Slate: i was fully prepared to put consequences first but i was won over on my second listen. i see why phil likes this song. i was blown away from the first riff, and the bass line in the verses are just MMH IT'S BECAUSE IT'S SO BASS-DRIVE THAT'S WHY I LIKE IT SO MUCH (i'm a huge sucker for bass but i can't play for shit) AND THE WALK DOWN AT THE END yup sold, completely sold
2. Consequences: sorry, this has been my absolute favourite since i first heard it months ago, I'M BIASED. never gets old, i would listen to this on repeat until i die. can't believe i get to hear joe's guit lines in proper studio recording. PLUS A SYNTH I DIDN'T REALISE WAS THERE REALLY ADDS TO THE SONG
3. Warsaw: INTRO DRUM LINE JUST DRAGGED ME IN AND THEN Now i'm here. WILL'S FALSETTO IS SO CLEAN YES KING. wishing for a day i get to shout "she hopes to god that i just choke" in a crowd at a lovejoy gig
4. It's Golden Hour Somewhere: i'm a big fan of the main groove of the song and the main plucking pattern and the general dynamics of the song. the change in vibe always hits so good, like it somehow links so well
5. Call Me What You Like: riffs always hit so good, and the bridge will always be a classic. HEADBANGER as per usual
6. Scum: the only reason this is last is because it's the "noisiest" song (which is on the lower end of my preferences) but i love the cuts in the verse and the 16ths (i think that's the term but i might be so wrong) by mark at the end of each line in the chorus. the usage of the synth for the really distorted/dissonant sound in the instrumental break is SICK
and here are more thoughts too:
this EP is so so well done. every song got me vibing from the first few seconds and i couldn't stop smiling. i love the minor chords or 7s or whatever chords they've put in the songs, they're just so tasteful. EVERY SONG IS SO UNIQUE like it has it's own special "wow factor"
also mark really popped off goodness me he just really goes off in every single track it's beautiful
on that note, the sound mixing is GREAT i don't think any instrument was overwhelmed even during the really loud parts which is awesome (especially the synth, which from someone who has done sound mixing before is challenging to not let it be overwhelmed by the other heavier instruments)
the album has just been such an experience I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT
socially ingrained gender roles are real because I spent two hours tonight running around the sky platform in TOTK just gathering arrows and apples and stuff and now I have over 150 arrows meanwhile yesterday we put my brother's copy up on the tv and he ran directly into combat on 1/4 heart no clothes and two sticks
after getting the first chest I spent like a full 10 minutes trying to find the chest with a shirt. then I finally found a shirt half an hour later and it only covers half of link’s body.
Totk is really a one tit out kind of game.
My Favorite Non-Spoilery Things in TotK so far (but I’ll still tag it just in case):
- Link now hums bits of iconic songs from past Zelda titles when cooking.
- When you get a weapon from a chest but don’t have any room in your inventory, the game automatically opens your weapons stash for you so you can swap out an old weapon with the new, if you so desire.
- Any horses you registered in Breath of the Wild will carry over to the stables in TotK (with the exception of the White Horse and Giant Horse). EDIT: My bad, turns out these two do carry over. I forgot that I only had them registered on my Master Mode save file (TotK only checks the Normal Mode file).
- You can fuse flowers to your weapons. It doesn’t offer much combat advantage, it just looks pretty. Unfortunately the flowers fall off after the first couple of strikes. :(
- Towers no longer need to be climbed in order to retrieve their map data.
- Inventory menu is now easier to navigate.
- When taking out items to hold (such as for a cooking pot), you can also put them back into your inventory one at a time, instead of having to put everything away and start over.
- Weapons seem to have a little more durability than last time (I could be wrong about this one, but it sure seems like I’m not breaking things as often as I did in BotW).
- Most of the NPCs know who Link is this time, making him a fully integrated member of their community rather than just a wandering stranger. This makes Hyrule really feel like his home, which in turn makes me care that much more about protecting everyone in it.
Me, at the start of Tears of the Kingdom, young, bright-eyed, full of hubris and naivete: I'm the fucking Hero of the Wild. I eat golden lynels for breakfast. You think a bunch of bokoblins can stop me?
Me: a few minutes later, older, wiser, staring at the game over screen: Okay, new plan. Let's avoid the bokoblins.
LINK IS SO EXPRESSIVE. HE'S COMFORTABLE. HE'S NOT A KNIGHT ANYMORE. SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE BOTW AND WE DON'T EVEN KNOW.
There’s something so beautiful about the familiarity of tears of the kingdom.
There are npcs you have never seen before, but then there’s Hudson, Karson, Molli, the five Rito girls we helped sing, Traysi… there are new items and mechanics, but we have the same apples and rushrooms that I’ve now grown to love. Hyrule is rebuilding. Tarrey town is still there. It’s full of life even with new calamities striking, and it feels like home.
Im so emotional about tears of the kingdom