When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildlaunched alongside the Nintendo Switch in 2017, it was nothing short of a masterpiece. The game accomplished the impossible by delving into the roots of the original Zelda by using its classic and unapologetic open world to once again revolutionize a genre and perhaps gaming as we know it.
While I’d personally stop short of calling it the best game in the series, it’s definitely the Zelda title I’d most love to experience again for the first time. Of course, that, in itself, is impossible… but not to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
More than six years in the making, which is the longest wait ever in between new mainline Zelda games, Tears of the Kingdom is the highly anticipated direct sequel to Breath of the Wild. Boasting an unprecedented $69.99 MSRP, expectations remained high, and it easily has surpassed all expectations.
The game is a sequel by every meaning of the word. Taking place a few months after the events of Breath of the Wild, we find Link and Zelda exploring the depths of Hyrule in Zelda’s hopes of truly understanding Hyrule’s origins. Eventually, the two come to a floating, seemingly mummified being, that notices the Master Sword and unleashes a spell that separates Link and Zelda while also destroying the legendary blade. Link also finds himself sporting sort of a mechanical arm, and his journey begins in the skies of Hyrule, where we find that multiple floating islands are scattered throughout the land.
Living in these floating islands are the Zonai, a race making their debut in Tears of the Kingdom, and their technology goes above and beyond what the people living on the surface of Hyrule are used to. Breath of the Wild fans should remember the Sheikah Slate, which has been replaced by the Purah Pad, and together with Link’s new mysterious arm, he’ll uncover abilities essential to what becomes his biggest quest yet. Instead of the aforementioned Sheikah Slate’s runes, Link will learn and utilize Purah Pad abilities such as Ultrahand, Ascend, Fuse, and Recall in ways that’ll make you wonder how you played a Zelda game without any of these abilities.
Ultrahand allows you to interact with most items in the environment and stick them together in ways that’ll make them function to your liking. My most common use of Ultrahand was sticking wooden boards together to create bridges to otherwise inaccessible areas, but the possibilities are virtually endless once you come across the full spectrum of pieces to interact with. They can be as simple as creating a carriage to have your horse drag around, to even mechs and other flying machines when you mess around with Zonai technology. In an age where Fortnite and Minecraft are all people play because of creativity, Zelda skillfully borrows that and makes it its own. I don’t even care about building in most games I play, but Zelda made it palatable.
Ascend might be the most interesting ability found in any game. With Ascend, Link can essentially sort of warp himself on top of a standing surface above him. For example, if Link were in a house and used Ascend, he’d end up on top of the roof going through whatever is in his path. If he was on the base of a mountain with layers of land above him, he can end up on top of that land by going through all that earth and soil. Do you see floating platforms otherwise inaccessible? Link can probably Ascend to them if they aren’t too high. It’s the “hackiest” thing in the game that lends itself to all sorts of creativity. It absolutely shouldn’t work, but it does.
The Legend of Zelda: Pro Skater
The Fuse ability is as simple as it’s named, and allows Link to Fuse just about any item in his inventory with something in the environment. Wooden sticks are fairly useless in battle, but if you attached it to a boulder or a knife, Link can be so much more formidable. Suck at shooting? You can fuse arrows with Keese eyes to turn them into homing arrows. The same thing applies to things like bombs to create bomb arrows and such. Link can even fuse things to his shield, so if you fuse his shield with say… a minecart, it turns into a skateboard, and yes, you can grind the various rails you see in the game. Again, almost anything you think of can be done, opening up the world to all sorts of possibilities.
Finally, there’s the Recall ability. Link can use Recall to reset time a few seconds, and while it’ll mostly be used to correct mistakes done with any of his abilities, it can also be used to solve a multitude of puzzles you’ll find both in Hyrule and the many shrines in the game.
Yes, you can make a death tank and use it the way you want it to. (Screenshot Credit: PC Invasion)
One of the funnest parts about Breath of the Wild in its heyday was watching videos from content creators utilizing Link’s runes in creative ways to perform some surprising stunts, and instead of patching everything, Nintendo rolled with it. Tears of the Kingdom takes these new abilities to create even more possibilities for the player to find new ways to break the rules—and here’s the kicker, there are no rules; there is no intended solution. Just play, and see what’s possible. One of the main aspects that made Breath of the Wild great makes Tears of the Kingdom even greater.
Still, no game is without its criticisms and though it was close, Breath of the Wild wasn’t perfect. Tears of the Kingdom addresses several of Breath of the Wild‘s issues. One of the big criticisms was its scope. Sure, the game was truly open world, but a lot of it seemed empty. Save for a few towns, it was just green pastures, with cliffs, and snowy mountains. Fair. In all honesty, Tears of the Kingdom addresses this with the bare minimum–there are more towns, more campfires, and more things to do, but they also address this by making you consider what’s above and below you much in the same way A Link to the Past doubled its scope with the Magic Mirror.
A big chunk of the game takes place in the sky, where the Zonai live. If you were to jump off one of the many sky islands, you’ll end up in those same exact coordinates on the Hyrulian map. You literally can jump from map to map with no load screens and no slow down. As impressive as that may be, there’s also the Depths to consider.
Hyrule’s Depths are pretty damn dark and scary.
Another big chunk of the game takes place in Hyrule’s Depths, essentially giving you a third map to explore, and exploration once again is the name of the game here because it’s completely dark under there, and the main way to light the map up is by finding copious amounts of Lightroots in these depths. Of course, it’s easier said than done. They’re filled with gloom, the dark substance harmful to just about every living thing, along with enemies way more formidable than the ones you see in the surface. To give you an idea of the increased scope, there are as many Lightroots in the depths as there are Shrines in the surface, and there’s 152 shrines in the game–meaning you have over 300 places to simply explore in the game. That’s sort of a hint and spoiler, but hey, we didn’t tell you what they represent.
If you’re not really all about the exploration and just want to stick to the Zelda‘s traditional 3D guns brought about by games like Ocarina of Time, you can do that as well. (We say sticking to traditional 3D guns, because Breath of the Wild is actually a modern version of the original game–which arguably makes it more traditional). We didn’t spend too long talking about it, but Tears of the Kingdom just might have one of the most interesting stories in the series. While that isn’t saying a lot, it’s worth noting I’ve never used the Switch’s screenshot function more times than I did playing Tears of the Kingdom. The set piece moments in the game are truly epic, and even if you’re someone not caught in the game main exploration loop and would rather follow the golden path to complete the story, it’s hard to imagine anybody really being disappointed.
Perhaps the biggest criticism people had with Breath of the Wild was the argument that weren’t really any dungeons in the game. The Divine Beasts were definitely those, but they just didn’t have the same feel. In Tears of the Kingdom, there are a bunch, and the best part is that the process of looking for a dungeon feels like a dungeon of its own as far as its puzzles go. It’s a real joy, because as stated earlier, the game has over 150 shrines to find and while not every one of them is a mini-dungeon, a good amount of them are, so having these along with the real puzzles found in these dungeons and pre-dungeons really is something. I mentioned epic set pieces earlier, and a lot of the boss fights, especially the one players face in the Wind Temple, simply left me in awe.
Cooking is back and you can make pizza.
Honestly, that’s pretty much it. I can go on and on about how great this game is, but words can’t really express the joy players will have until they actually play it. If you liked Breath of the Wild, you’ll love Tears of the Kingdom. Tears of the Kingdom was everything Breath of the Wild was, turned up to 1,000 percent. Everything about the game just works and flows so nicely and so perfectly that I almost can’t think of any change I’d make to the game. The only change I would make is probably letting me use another character, like Zelda or Ganondorf in scripted parts of the game. I’m not gonna lie — I didn’t actually want to do this review because it meant I’d have to finish Tears of the Kingdom, but all good things must come to an end. I just don’t see this game not winning Game of the Year. It was well worth the six-plus-year wait.
When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched alongside the Nintendo Switch in 2017, it was nothing short of a masterpiece. The game accomplished the impossible by delving into the roots of the original Zelda by using its…
When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildlaunched alongside the Nintendo Switch in 2017, it was nothing short of a masterpiece. The game accomplished the impossible by delving into the roots of the original Zelda by using its classic and unapologetic open world to once again revolutionize a genre and perhaps gaming as we know it.
While I’d personally stop short of calling it the best game in the series, it’s definitely the Zelda title I’d most love to experience again for the first time. Of course, that, in itself, is impossible… but not to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
More than six years in the making, which is the longest wait ever in between new mainline Zelda games, Tears of the Kingdom is the highly anticipated direct sequel to Breath of the Wild. Boasting an unprecedented $69.99 MSRP, expectations remained high, and it easily has surpassed all expectations.
The game is a sequel by every meaning of the word. Taking place a few months after the events of Breath of the Wild, we find Link and Zelda exploring the depths of Hyrule in Zelda’s hopes of truly understanding Hyrule’s origins. Eventually, the two come to a floating, seemingly mummified being, that notices the Master Sword and unleashes a spell that separates Link and Zelda while also destroying the legendary blade. Link also finds himself sporting sort of a mechanical arm, and his journey begins in the skies of Hyrule, where we find that multiple floating islands are scattered throughout the land.
Living in these floating islands are the Zonai, a race making their debut in Tears of the Kingdom, and their technology goes above and beyond what the people living on the surface of Hyrule are used to. Breath of the Wild fans should remember the Sheikah Slate, which has been replaced by the Purah Pad, and together with Link’s new mysterious arm, he’ll uncover abilities essential to what becomes his biggest quest yet. Instead of the aforementioned Sheikah Slate’s runes, Link will learn and utilize Purah Pad abilities such as Ultrahand, Ascend, Fuse, and Recall in ways that’ll make you wonder how you played a Zelda game without any of these abilities.
Ultrahand allows you to interact with most items in the environment and stick them together in ways that’ll make them function to your liking. My most common use of Ultrahand was sticking wooden boards together to create bridges to otherwise inaccessible areas, but the possibilities are virtually endless once you come across the full spectrum of pieces to interact with. They can be as simple as creating a carriage to have your horse drag around, to even mechs and other flying machines when you mess around with Zonai technology. In an age where Fortnite and Minecraft are all people play because of creativity, Zelda skillfully borrows that and makes it its own. I don’t even care about building in most games I play, but Zelda made it palatable.
Ascend might be the most interesting ability found in any game. With Ascend, Link can essentially sort of warp himself on top of a standing surface above him. For example, if Link were in a house and used Ascend, he’d end up on top of the roof going through whatever is in his path. If he was on the base of a mountain with layers of land above him, he can end up on top of that land by going through all that earth and soil. Do you see floating platforms otherwise inaccessible? Link can probably Ascend to them if they aren’t too high. It’s the “hackiest” thing in the game that lends itself to all sorts of creativity. It absolutely shouldn’t work, but it does.
The Legend of Zelda: Pro Skater
The Fuse ability is as simple as it’s named, and allows Link to Fuse just about any item in his inventory with something in the environment. Wooden sticks are fairly useless in battle, but if you attached it to a boulder or a knife, Link can be so much more formidable. Suck at shooting? You can fuse arrows with Keese eyes to turn them into homing arrows. The same thing applies to things like bombs to create bomb arrows and such. Link can even fuse things to his shield, so if you fuse his shield with say… a minecart, it turns into a skateboard, and yes, you can grind the various rails you see in the game. Again, almost anything you think of can be done, opening up the world to all sorts of possibilities.
Finally, there’s the Recall ability. Link can use Recall to reset time a few seconds, and while it’ll mostly be used to correct mistakes done with any of his abilities, it can also be used to solve a multitude of puzzles you’ll find both in Hyrule and the many shrines in the game.
Yes, you can make a death tank and use it the way you want it to. (Screenshot Credit: PC Invasion)
One of the funnest parts about Breath of the Wild in its heyday was watching videos from content creators utilizing Link’s runes in creative ways to perform some surprising stunts, and instead of patching everything, Nintendo rolled with it. Tears of the Kingdom takes these new abilities to create even more possibilities for the player to find new ways to break the rules—and here’s the kicker, there are no rules; there is no intended solution. Just play, and see what’s possible. One of the main aspects that made Breath of the Wild great makes Tears of the Kingdom even greater.
Still, no game is without its criticisms and though it was close, Breath of the Wild wasn’t perfect. Tears of the Kingdom addresses several of Breath of the Wild‘s issues. One of the big criticisms was its scope. Sure, the game was truly open world, but a lot of it seemed empty. Save for a few towns, it was just green pastures, with cliffs, and snowy mountains. Fair. In all honesty, Tears of the Kingdom addresses this with the bare minimum–there are more towns, more campfires, and more things to do, but they also address this by making you consider what’s above and below you much in the same way A Link to the Past doubled its scope with the Magic Mirror.
A big chunk of the game takes place in the sky, where the Zonai live. If you were to jump off one of the many sky islands, you’ll end up in those same exact coordinates on the Hyrulian map. You literally can jump from map to map with no load screens and no slow down. As impressive as that may be, there’s also the Depths to consider.
Hyrule’s Depths are pretty damn dark and scary.
Another big chunk of the game takes place in Hyrule’s Depths, essentially giving you a third map to explore, and exploration once again is the name of the game here because it’s completely dark under there, and the main way to light the map up is by finding copious amounts of Lightroots in these depths. Of course, it’s easier said than done. They’re filled with gloom, the dark substance harmful to just about every living thing, along with enemies way more formidable than the ones you see in the surface. To give you an idea of the increased scope, there are as many Lightroots in the depths as there are Shrines in the surface, and there’s 152 shrines in the game–meaning you have over 300 places to simply explore in the game. That’s sort of a hint and spoiler, but hey, we didn’t tell you what they represent.
If you’re not really all about the exploration and just want to stick to the Zelda‘s traditional 3D guns brought about by games like Ocarina of Time, you can do that as well. (We say sticking to traditional 3D guns, because Breath of the Wild is actually a modern version of the original game–which arguably makes it more traditional). We didn’t spend too long talking about it, but Tears of the Kingdom just might have one of the most interesting stories in the series. While that isn’t saying a lot, it’s worth noting I’ve never used the Switch’s screenshot function more times than I did playing Tears of the Kingdom. The set piece moments in the game are truly epic, and even if you’re someone not caught in the game main exploration loop and would rather follow the golden path to complete the story, it’s hard to imagine anybody really being disappointed.
Perhaps the biggest criticism people had with Breath of the Wild was the argument that weren’t really any dungeons in the game. The Divine Beasts were definitely those, but they just didn’t have the same feel. In Tears of the Kingdom, there are a bunch, and the best part is that the process of looking for a dungeon feels like a dungeon of its own as far as its puzzles go. It’s a real joy, because as stated earlier, the game has over 150 shrines to find and while not every one of them is a mini-dungeon, a good amount of them are, so having these along with the real puzzles found in these dungeons and pre-dungeons really is something. I mentioned epic set pieces earlier, and a lot of the boss fights, especially the one players face in the Wind Temple, simply left me in awe.
Cooking is back and you can make pizza.
Honestly, that’s pretty much it. I can go on and on about how great this game is, but words can’t really express the joy players will have until they actually play it. If you liked Breath of the Wild, you’ll love Tears of the Kingdom. Tears of the Kingdom was everything Breath of the Wild was, turned up to 1,000 percent. Everything about the game just works and flows so nicely and so perfectly that I almost can’t think of any change I’d make to the game. The only change I would make is probably letting me use another character, like Zelda or Ganondorf in scripted parts of the game. I’m not gonna lie — I didn’t actually want to do this review because it meant I’d have to finish Tears of the Kingdom, but all good things must come to an end. I just don’t see this game not winning Game of the Year. It was well worth the six-plus-year wait.
by Danreb Victorio
