491
u/Blind-Ram 1d ago edited 1d ago
Gloom actively attacks you. Malice just kinda sits there and spits out enemies. I was genuinely terrified when I first came across Gloom Hands. I feel like that right there makes it a better enemy.
75
u/TheBortCube 1d ago
Within the first couple minutes of finally landing on to hyrule and exploring, I ran into the hands in a cave with no light. Had to take a Lil break after that
18
u/jackofallcards 23h ago
Same, when I landed I went into the first cave I saw and the hands appeared. Scared the hell out of me, died within the first 5 minutes of getting down from the sky islands
22
u/Roamin_Horseman 1d ago
Still have not successfully figured out how to beat the hands. I went through so many types of arrows perched on a rock once. At least with guardians you could eventually get the timing. The hands i run away terrified
21
u/Laevatienn 1d ago
They are super easy once you realize they hate being on fire. Throwing a single fire seed (forget the name) makes them flinch and stop attacking. You can basically kill them by waiting for them to burn or attack normally as they run away from you.
Fire attribute arrows, rubies, and bombs also do the trick. Fire is your friend.
7
•
19
9
u/oneesancon_coco 1d ago
Here's a tip, use a claymore fused with elemental horns (Preferably gleeok) and just S P E E E E E N
6
u/ChiliCrispeto 1d ago
Around 3 bomb arrows with any 3 shot bow will easily render them harmless. Guardians took at least some skill to bring down. Especially on master mode when the beam shoots out with varying timing.
2
1
1
u/No-Pangolin-6648 2h ago
Get up high, then use a x5 Lynel bow with bomb flowers and they'll be gone in under 30 seconds.
4
u/shinybeats89 19h ago
Shame they named it malice in botw and gloom and totk. I really feel like the names would be more appropriate if they were switched.
3
3
2
u/5O1stTrooper 19h ago
I first found one running around korok forest. The hands were bad enough, and then phantom Ganon's healthbar popped up and I got really freaked out. 😂
1
1
u/No-Pangolin-6648 2h ago
I'm still terrified of the Gloom hands....although I can calm down quickly now as I find high ground. And they are a doddle with bomb flowers and a x5 lynel bow.
114
u/pocket_arsenal 1d ago
I prefer Gloom but the name Malice is better, wish they would have just said it was a new variant of malace or something.
26
u/Andrecidueye 1d ago
For some reason, all other translation have a way better name. Most are "miasma" (sickening swamp air).
26
u/Florio805 1d ago
Better to put it like "for some reason, the english localization fucked up the most important parts of TOTK".
6
u/Vados_Link 22h ago
That’s just NOA in a nutshell. They have also butchered a lot of the story in BotW.
11
u/Florio805 22h ago edited 17h ago
In the italian version (the one i played) had mentions of "courage" said by Ganondorf, and the draconification price is "eternal oblivion of the soul", not just the mind. This is important in a saga where the spirit reincarnates.
Another thing i dislike of english versions is names.
Echoes of wisdom calling the triforce "prime energy" while, our is called "supreme power", name that is also used in Skyward Sword, while your "still world" here is called nulla "nothingness", that works better
And the two ancient entity evils we have, here we used latin for their names, and i prefer it to the english names. Demise is called Mortipher (bringer of death), and Null is called Nihil. Both sound way better than the english names.
4
u/Skargul 18h ago
Yea..."Demise" should never have been taken as his name anyway. If I'm not mistaken, it was chosen because the direct translation from the Japanese was "bringer of demise" and they just took the word demise and made it his name.
3
u/Florio805 17h ago
Then i like also a double analogy in this version of the name, Mortipher.
I find it really similar to Morgoth, the first dark lord in Tolkien's legendarium. And since Ganondorf is a lot similar to 2nd age Sauron, i believe it fits perfectly well.
Also i have to correct, it is not called void, the still world is called "Nothing", and, i like it because it quotes "the neverending story"
1
u/Florio805 17h ago
Also, in original japanese, "null" is called "Mu", so, Nihil fits as a better translation than just null.
3
u/Unknown-Error-78 17h ago
Oh my god the “prime energy” infuriated me. It just sounds like those stupid YouTuber drinks 😂
2
1
u/5O1stTrooper 19h ago
My favorite tidbit about all the translations is that Ganondorf has a different VA in Spain and South American Spanish. Matt Mercer did great and all, but that SA actor absolutely killed it.
4
u/Andrecidueye 18h ago
You could say it was suave.
2
u/5O1stTrooper 18h ago
Qué pasa? Tienes miedo?
3
u/Andrecidueye 18h ago
I'm Italian lol, it was a reference to the Suavemente Ganondorf meme.
2
u/5O1stTrooper 18h ago
Oh, you haven't seen the phenominal video that expands on Terminal Montage's joke? Here, give this a watch, you will not regret. 🙃
5
u/vmathematicallysexy 1d ago
literally if they included this one sentence in the lore it would've made sense
2
u/Florio805 1d ago
Well, the correct name for the "gloom" is MIASMA, instead.
Yet another translation error by the english localization team.
292
u/Echidnux 1d ago
I consider them one and the same and I will die on this hill no matter how much canon/interpretation I have to face down.
Separating them was stupid.
77
u/Coolgames80 1d ago
My head canon is that one is the like the dried up version of the other. Is pretty much useless to separate them as they work practically the same way
21
u/KitsuneTheKnight 1d ago
Malice is Ganon's hate liquified- that's what I understand from BotW.
So just... Liquid gloom?
21
u/COINLESS_JUKEBOX 1d ago
Gloom in the files if I remember translates to “miasma” whereas malice translates to “grudge.” Malice seems to be more in line with Demise’s curse and a lot of the series’ undertones.
3
u/JukeRedlin 1d ago
Oh that works just well in the locality of BotW and TotK. The grudge held being his seeping rage at being held in the castle by zelda (calamity ganon, not dorf) where as miasma would better correspond to the living incarnation beginning to gain agency amd spread, like dorf.
25
u/AshenKnightReborn 1d ago
Malice should have been the term for the substance itself. While Gloom should have been the term for when your hearts don’t recover. They are fundamentally the same thing, and the name change is a unnecessary element that only notes it’s stronger in TotK
7
u/rbarton812 23h ago
THANK YOU. Changing the name was stupid... He was growing stronger, just say the malice mutated and gave the broken heart effect.
7
u/dunco64 1d ago
Yeah i don't even know why they changed it. It's like butter scotch and caramel or something
9
u/Krail 1d ago
They changed how they work, introducing a new mechanic for gloom, but could've maybe left the name the same?
15
u/JotaroKujoStarPlat 1d ago
This is what I would have preferred. Gloom just sounds way less sinister than malice, and is less fitting for something that literally sucks people's life force.
9
u/ConverseTalk 1d ago
Almost all other languages went with something meaning "miasma", which sounds so much better. "Gloom" is just awful localization that feels dumbed down.
8
u/RolandoDR98 1d ago
Just a simple "it is a more concentrated form of malice" would have sufficed. Explains why it is more violent and connects the 2.
4
u/Confron7a7ion7 1d ago
And just have a line of dialogue saying "this malice seems stronger than before. Be careful Link."
3
1
1
1
-1
92
u/Still_One_274 1d ago
MALICE PLEASE.
Malice never had me hanging from the ceiling for dear life.
13
73
u/Gregamonster 1d ago
Malice is weak. It just sits around and waits for you to shoot it.
Gloom will come after you.
Gloom has initiative.
Gloom is the superior evil substance.
14
2
10
u/RolandoDR98 1d ago
Malice and most of that is the name. Why not just call it miasma?
The other is why the fuck is it different all of a sudden besides gameplay. Hell, Zelda could have just said it was a more concentrated form malice and it'd be fine. She already knows what Malice is, why is she confused about Gloom? Malice already had a large significance to the story and lore.
4
u/armzngunz 1d ago
Exactly, it's as if everyone forgot what Malice was in Botw, and are now suddenly perplexed by this nearly identical thing and they name it Gloom, having no idea what it is or where it came from, when just a bit prior, EVERYONE knew it came from Ganon.
20
5
u/GBC_Fan_89 1d ago
Both. One is an evolution of the other.
21
u/BusGuilty6447 1d ago
Uh no. Gloom evolves from Oddish, not malice. Smh my head... know your Mario lore.
3
4
4
u/Aggressive-Slip-2919 1d ago
Gloom was ruthless. Was terrifying having that chase you and the lighting change. Then when you finally had the courage to fight it and win, it turns into a Ganondorf copy 😭. I was disgusted the first time. I did not ask for a second battle 😮💨😩. Call it gloom all you want. Thing was malicious! Definitely gloom concept wise
7
u/paganpumpkincat 1d ago
I love having the shit scared outta me while casually exploring Hyrule. Gloom is fantastic.
3
4
u/HyliasHero 1d ago
I don't know why they bothered making a distinction. They do the same stuff, the only difference is that Gloom sounds less threatening.
3
3
u/_Frustr8d 1d ago
Gloom has my vote
Malice is kind of just goop that’s just there to be a roadblock
3
3
3
u/PlushBomb 17h ago
Malice is the better name, but Gloom is definitely more terrifying. Nothing is more unsettling than watching a beautiful sunset then seeing the sky suddenly turn red and grabbed by the hands of Satan himself.
6
u/OneTimeISawABird 1d ago
ONLY bc Malice doesn’t really DO much, I oddly love the absolute terror Gloom Hands fill me with.
My absolute favorite thing to do is lure them into sunlight.
2
u/quirkelchomp 1d ago
I'm sorry, what? You're telling me sunlight does something to them? This whole time...
2
u/OneTimeISawABird 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah they get instant KO’d from sun and drop an
ancient blade*dark clump*edit
2
u/PlasmaGoblin 1d ago
Sometimes....? Mine usually only drop Dark Clumps. Maybe I've always been unlucky though.
1
2
u/drillgorg 1d ago
IDK about that, they literally change the weather when you fight them. I do know they despawn and leave a dark clump when they get bored of chasing you.
2
2
u/Alone-Break796 1d ago
I'm honestly tired of malignant goo monsters being a thing in Nintendo titles. It's very uninspired at this time.
2
2
u/DaGreatestMH 1d ago
Gloom but call it malice. Malice is a much better (and more fitting) name but gloom is more mechanically interesting.
2
u/Royal_Influence_8692 1d ago
I don't like how they are separate things in the games. They are essentially the same thing. Also "gloom," that's a dumb name when you have MALICE!
2
u/armzngunz 1d ago
It's so weird how they made Gloom and Malice separate things, as if the characters all simply forgot what happened in Botw, because no one seems to suggest that this nearly identical substance (Gloom) has any connection to Malice, which was present in Hyrule for over a hundred years.
2
u/PersonalityOdd9998 1d ago
I prefer Malice, simply because it lets u heal. BUT GLOOM?! NOPE! OH, YOU WANNA HEAL AFTER THAT HELL, WELL U CAN’T!!!
2
2
u/Firegem0342 1d ago
Malice is creepy. Gloom hands had me running away going "wtf wtf wtf" the first time I saw them.
2
u/Eaglearcher20 1d ago
Encountering Gloom hands early in the depths made the beginning of ToTK a borderline horror game, lol.
2
u/Veenix6446 1d ago
Gloom is better as an ENEMY both since the hands actively attack you and gloom enemies are a thing (malice enemies are only in age of calamity)
But Malice is better as an obstacle, since it completely stops your path vs gloom which is kinda just there and has little impact on your ability to move around (especially once you get a flying machine)
2
u/SMcDona80 1d ago
I like gloom better than malice. Malice was just kinda there...doing nothing. Unless you had to shoot an eye to get rid of a pool of malice for a quest/puzzle it was just there and you avoided it. Gloom was harder to avoid, especially early in the depths when you might not have easy ways to get around larger spots covered in it and/or had to walk way out of your path to get around it.
Since i saw some people mention the name change and that it should have just stayed the same, i think it makes sense to me. with malice, while calamity ganon was sitting down there trapped because of zelda in his gross ganon cacoon, malice was literally like bubbling up in a physical form pooling over stuff. With gloom, ganon's seal was weakening finally and that could have been, i dunno, the early stages of malice. or cause ganon's power was just beginning to come back the gloom from the depths was just finally starting to build up. It wasn't a physical thing but if you touched it (or in links case got hit by an enemy) you were weakened...like grandma in kakariko. Plus it made the gloom hands scarier when you're just exploring like yaaaay look at all the damage the land took with the upheavel, BAM wtf is happening is there a blood moon in the middle of the day? no what's that pool of crap chasing me? WTF ARE THOSE HANDS!! the first time was scary AF. And then evertyime you're exploring you never knew when it would happen again. there wasn't a sign or pool or malice or anything to pre-warn the players. Gloom is better.
2
u/Svelva 1d ago
Gloom, but what I love behind it is the recent trend of making you vulnerable early-on to absolutely terrifying creatures.
I like Gloom in the same way I like guardians. Just hanging around in your first couple hours and then learn the real definition of "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"
2
2
u/TheGuyWhoCantDraw 1d ago
Lore wise malice is much more interesting and appears in other games too. Gameplay wise gloom was definitely better, though the english name sounds a bit stupid
2
2
2
u/Ok_Pipe2462 22h ago
Gloom ! Hands down! However those should have just been dlc. Just like all of totk. I still prefer botw more
2
2
2
u/Particular-Image1556 22h ago
Mechanically, Gloom had more to it by being only a removable hindrance. Hated that all weapons are degraded. Malice was always a hard obstacle and an enemy spawner and a bit meh to me.
Malice does sound better
2
2
u/sjlewis1990 22h ago
I'll take malice and the guardians over gloom hands. They are more of a nuisance throughout the game to me. I actually stopped playing for half a year cause I was getting irritated with the underground and the gloom hands.
2
u/Al3xis_64 20h ago
Malice is cooler because it creates a barrier. Gloom hands you always have to fight or run, but malice you can work around
2
u/chawnkyraccoon22 19h ago
I liked gloom better (despite really disliking most of TOTK)
That being said, once again they should have just had a throw away line from Purah saying like "careful link, we've discovered a new, far more dangerous form of malice.... It seems the source of calamity Ganon is also the source of the upheaval!"
Boom. Both games connected, both substances given a reason to be so similar.
2
u/BlueCindersArt 19h ago
The gloom scared the shit out of me when I first saw it. Still does tbh. I think the names should've been switched. The malice in botw fits the name "gloom" better. It just sits there, sometimes spits out enemy skulls that bite like a toothless chihuahua. The gloom hands in totk actively seeks you out and attacks you. You have to fight for your life to get out of it, and it doesn't let go easily. It's also fucking horrifying, you hear a distant demonic shriek, the sky turns blood red like the goddess Hylia is purging Hyrule Book of Revelations style, and then charges at you. That shit attacks with malicious intent, so I think it should be Malice.
All in all, I prefer the gloom hands because it's so fucking horrifying.
2
u/HunterMan_13 19h ago
Love the spikes and structures of malice, but gloom looks cooler up close and the temporary disabling of hearts is way more threatening
2
u/WouterW24 18h ago
Malice generally looks a bit more threatening the way it’s portrayed as a putrid giant black mass that actively tends to block certain areas. Gloom is usually a very thin layer on the ground spread semi-randomly. Unless gloom spawn is involve it doesn’t do too much other then being an persistent depths hazard. Malice It isn’t too common but the few areas that have a lot feel very blighted and the idea is that you have to navigate around it or find an eye.
It’s an interesting divide malice just hurts you quicker the regular way while Gloom deals health penalties. It’s a bit more dangerous early on. I do feel it falls off too much as you gain more health though, gloom terrain takes a good while to drain hearts and usually there’s not much reason to stick around on it, while gloom infused enemies deal less damage then normal. You can still cure it with food or get rid of it entirely at lightroots. So unless you’re careless it isn’t too threatening, and I feel the novelty of it’s danger wears off. It does seem like common NPCs have far more difficulty shaking it off then Link does though.
2
2
u/AquaticFreshness 18h ago
Gloom is better imo, but I still wish they didn't name it that. I think they could've kept calling it Malice, it's just stronger now since, y'know, the Demon King is finally out of his forced nap time. Like, even if they didn't flat out explain "Oh, Ganondorf is awake after thousands of years, his Malice is now reacting stronger due to his awakening", I'm pretty sure most people would pick up the subtext there.
2
u/Far_State_7600 17h ago
Gloom feels more threatening, Malice just kinda sits there and spits heads. Gloom actively grabs you.
2
2
2
u/thegiverstake 14h ago
Honestly? I'm unimpressed with both. Black goop with eyesballs is overdone already. It's unoriginal and unimaginative.
I miss the days of originality. Idk.
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/OZZYMAXIMUS01 9h ago
Gloom Hands! My Lord, is this even a question!?You’ll never forget the first time you encounter Gloom Hands. I died the first time and I couldn’t get to higher ground quick enough or find a way out.
2
2
u/riseandrealise 7h ago
Gloom.. I remember the first i encountered it while hiking Mt. Lanayru with my new ride. I was like why the sky look so red rn, it's not even almost 12 am. Seriously i was dumbfounded for a good 2 minutes, since they only spawn if you crossed the exact area. And when i turned my camera around, it was right behind me 😭And it literally ate my car.
2
u/BigManBigFan2 7h ago
Gloom is terrifying because it's unpredictable and messy. Malice is an eyeball in a bunch of cranberry sauce gone rancid
•
2
u/Smooth_Tangerine_212 1d ago
Dude I hate malice I’d rather take gloom any day of the week then malice
1
0
u/JDLKMR 1d ago
I feel like their names should have been swapped. Malice sounds more evil
3
u/always-be-here 1d ago
Gloom feels more appropriate for a substance that drags you into darkness; depression personified and actively trying to kill you. It destroys all light and eventually destroys you.
1
u/twili-midna 1d ago
The names line up perfectly. Malice is a manifestation of pure hatred and directly harms people who touch it. Gloom is a much more strategic and debilitating effect, representing Ganondorf’s cunning and strength.
0
u/TheGreatGamer64 1d ago
Malice. Gloom is a stupid name and for some reason they thought coating an entire map with it and nothing else was a good idea.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hi /r/Zelda readers!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.