The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom makes its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, look like an unfinished tech demo. I know what you’re thinking. “How can this possibly be? BotW was immaculate and reinvented open world (inventing ‘open air’) gaming!” You’re correct. I stand by my opening statement. Nintendo really went above and beyond over the last six years to produce something truly spectacular.
See that thing over there? You can go to it just like before. Biggest difference is now there are 1001 things for you to do between point a and b. In BotW it was probably a clear shot. You might encounter a Korok or an interesting landmark; now you’re bound to run into at least: two enemy camps, a slew of fallen skyland debris, Koroks that need to find their friends, huge chasms, deep caves, and piles of materials to build everything you can think of and then put it on wheels.
The Powers
Everything that made Breath of the Wild work is still here, and has been massively improved on. Remember your runes? They’ve been replaced by supremely upgraded Zonai powers via your sick new hand. Magnesis has been replaced by the far superior “Ultrahand.” With this, Link can pick up virtually anything in his view and attach it anyway they want to anything else they can pick up. With this, you can build everything from simple bridges to elaborate flying death machines.
The Remote Bombs have been replaced by the incredible new “Fuse” ability. (Don’t worry. Bombs are now a collectible resource in TotK, and they’re much stronger now too.) Using Fuse, Link can combine any 2 weapons or inventory items to make them stronger, longer, more durable, or to add an entirely new effect. Only have a fragile tree branch? Fuse it to that giant boulder for some extra attack power. Shield not cutting it? Fuse a metal plate or a puffshroom to it to give yourself some extra defense or create a cloud of smoke to hide in. And this can also be done with arrows. Individual elemental arrows are gone to make way for all of the fused arrows. Anything from a skyshroom to a diamond can be put on the end of your arrows to deadly and sometimes hilarious effect.
Cryonis, bless its heart, has been replaced by Link’s new “Ascend” ability. With Ascend, Link can propel himself upward through almost any surface to appear on top of it. Stuck in a cave that you can’t figure out? Ascend up and appear on top of the mountain. Trapped in a cage? Not anymore. Just want to get higher up to scope out those amazing views? Go for it. No longer are you limited by Revali’s three charges and limited range or Cryonis’ necessity for water. Now, if the ceiling is low enough you can go through it and eliminate that pesky need to climb the whole mountain.
Last, but surely not least, is “Recall.” Recall takes BotW’s Stasis and puts it on steroids. You can briefly freeze time and reverse the flow of specific objects. Moblin throw a bomb barrel at you? Recall that back at them for an explosive dose of their own medicine. Need to get up to a sky island? Find a fallen stone and ride it back up into the clouds. Octorok launch a rock at you. Give it back with a vengeance.
The Story
The biggest change to Tears of the Kingdom is the story and how it plays out. I won’t spoil any major details here. Link and Zelda venture into some newly discovered caves below the castle in search of the source of a sickening mist they refer to as “gloom.” The gloom has been coming up from underground and making people sick. From there things go absolutely insane. You wake up on an island in the sky and it’s off to the races.
The story in Tears of the Kingdom is MUCH more active. As opposed to figuring out what happened a century ago, the story is happening in real time. People are still figuring out what’s going on, and in turn so are you. Your mission is much more pressing, and the effect you have on the world overall as you go is incredible.
You’ll radically alter the state of the different regions you venture to, and this makes for a strong sense of accomplishment as well. Rather than having a giant elephant robot shoot his laser pointer at a castle, we now see dramatic changes to the environments that “the Upheaval” has caused.
The Gameplay
Tears of the Kingdom takes advantage of everything the Nintendo Switch can do. Every single button on the JoyCons has some kind of function, and it all works very well. There are a few moments where things slow down a little bit, but it’s nothing game-breaking. Scrolling through your weapons, shields, etc is much easier now, and you can even freely drop items (like some of those tree branches I mentioned earlier). Remember when your inventory was full and you found that awesome sword in that shrine? Now you don’t have to pause, drop something, and then reopen the chest just to claim your prize.
Horseback riding has a slew of new functions too. You can use your horse to tow cargo or passengers (mostly Koroks who are too overburdened) as well as other things. And… if you have save data from BotW ALL OF YOUR HORSES PORT OVER! That’s right, gang. Giant Ganon horse and all. If you don’t have any save data on your Switch, that’s ok. You can still find and tame wild horses for yourself to take advantage of the new point system at the stables. Everytime you use a stable for anything you accrue points that can be redeemed for various different prizes or accessories (the first of which is an absolute necessity).
Shrines make a return, but rather than being sort of mini-dungeons scattered across the landscape, they now serve as teaching tools for all of the different game mechanics. Each shrine teaches you how to do something that you’ll almost immediately use in the world around you, and makes you feel more confident doing some of the crazier things this game is capable of.
Tears of the Kingdom makes us all feel like we’re the crazy streamers who figured out how to do seemingly impossible things from Breath of the Wild almost immediately. It gives you an insane amount of freedom to play however you want and to explore to your heart’s content. Don’t feel like engaging with the story right away? You don’t have to. You can hit the ground running in any direction you want as soon as you have your trusty paraglider.
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While still having the same visual style as Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom manages to somehow look even better and utilize its style even more effectively. Pop-in is still a thing, but it is nowhere near as bad as BotW, and the overall draw distance has been greatly improved. You can see for seemingly miles around to lure you into all of the fun things this game has to offer.
Movement animations are also greatly improved, and not just for Link. Every single character animation has been improved on. Villagers look and feel so much more alive. The Great Fairies are STUNNING. Animals and enemies move smoothly and naturally, and it is genuinely impressive.
Also, there are virtually NO LOADING SCREENS. Apart from entering shrines, every transition is seamless. You can dive straight from the highest sky island all the way down to the surface and into a chasm with no loading screens and it is glorious.
Many songs and sound effects make a return from BotW, but even those are improved on. The existing music has all been elevated with longer and more involved scores, there is much more present music everywhere, and it is fantastic. You get everything from melancholy and mysterious themes to incredibly triumphant swells. It’s beautiful. The music alone is a HUGE leap forward. Familiar sounds and music also help to tie this adventure more directly to the previous and I think it works really well. It does a great job of accenting the familiar with new and more active movements that compel you to keep going.
The Final Word: 10/10
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a monumental achievement. It is nothing less than INCREDIBLE. As a long-time Zelda fan, I cannot express how much this game does right. The developers clearly listened to fans and players of Breath of the Wild. Everything that people asked for is here and then some. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to Hyrule. (The Fierce Deity armor won’t find itself!)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a monumental achievement. It is nothing less than INCREDIBLE. As a long-time Zelda fan, I cannot express how much this game does right.
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GVN Rating 10
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I’ve worked my whole life to become a comic book illustrator, writer, and stand-up comedian. Batman and Captain Benjamin Sisko helped put a good head on my shoulders. I spent most of my childhood saving Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom and seeing the Justice League save all of creation time and time again. I live in Johnson City, TN with my wife Kary and daughter Laila enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery and occasional show. Three puppies round out the family and take up the rest of the time that isn’t spent debating which Wes Anderson or Studio Ghibli movie to watch. I spend an inordinate amount of time binge watching SVU, Futurama, and Letterkenny, and when I’m not watching I’m listening to “My Brother, My Brother, and Me” or playing the occasional game of D&D. If there’s a nerdy endeavor out there, I’ve probably at least tried it.