The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was one of the most anticipated video games of this console generation. Being the sequel to the universally acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it had high expectations to live up to. Fortunately, fans aren’t going to leave their TOTK experience disappointed.
The events of Tears of the Kingdom occur some years after its predecessor with Hyrule rebuilding following the previous dark times. Link and Zelda investigate a dark mystery beneath Hyrule Castle and, in the process, reawaken a mummified Ganondorf, causing the castle to float into the sky. When we next catch up with our hero, the kingdom is in chaos due to the event called the “Upheaval.” Once again, it’s up to Link to save the day.
If you played Breath of the Wild, there is plenty of familiarity throughout Tears. It’s pretty much the same map as Breath of the Wild‘s Hyrule with changes and tweaks to locations and terrain. There are a variety of landscapes to travel including vast plains, scalable mountains, and lakes. Each has their own distinct conditions from icy snowstorms to dry and heat-intensive deserts.
The controls and combat are very similar and just as smooth although the finite use weapon system is still intact. You’ll utilize an assortment of edged and blunt weapons along with a trusty bow and arrow to fight your enemies. Make the right selection as certain foes have specific weaknesses. Need an immunity or a little boost in combat? You can concoct elixirs from a myriad of items you collect on your journey.
Tears even hits some of the same beats with the search of memories in the form of Dragon Tears, collaborations with the four tribes, and like any plot in The Legend of Zelda series, you have to rescue the princess and defeat Ganon. There is the return of Shrines and Korok seeds to improve hearts and stamina and inventory slots respectively. Both of these involve brain teasers to solve to be successful. Instead of Sheikah towers Tears has Skyview towers that have the same function illuminating the map of each region.
Like any good sequel, Tears of the Kingdom goes bigger, and all the new additions make the game better. The scale is much bigger with the three distinct areas containing their own sets of challenges to overcome. The world is much more expansive with the areas of the Sky Islands above and the Depths below.
The Sky Islands play a big part of the story as they’re the origin of much of Hyrule’s problems. You’ll travel to dizzying new heights and test your wits to access some of the more remote locations. Certain items can only be found on the Sky Islands, enticing you to explore.
Below Hyrule, The Depths is one of the more challenging areas being shrouded almost completely in darkness. You will need sufficient items to illuminate your path while avoiding stronger enemies infected with the Gloom. If damaged, your hearts will temporarily reduce in number, but Link is equipped with means to counter the effects. Despite the dangers, navigating The Depths can reap high rewards, including some of the rarest treasures in all of Tears of the Kingdom.
Because of the new areas and reward to unlock, it’s even easier to become fully immersed in the world. So much of the joy in playing Tears is organically coming across missions, treasures, and side quests during your travels. This fits perfectly with the nonlinear gameplay and customizing the experience to you.
The biggest new feature is Link’s array of abilities. Some will be helpful but not utilized as frequently such as Ascension, which helps you reach higher places, and Recall, which resets the position of an object backwards in time. Fuse is important in creating stronger weapons and shields since you can combine them with the numerous objects you interact with throughout the game.
Fuse provides more versatility turning any weapon into an ax or hammer. Furthermore, whether it’s building material or items enemies drop after being defeated, part of the fun is finding the oddball combinations that make your equipment effective and creative. Turn your shield into an offensive weapon that shoots fire and cannonballs as you defend, for example.
The ability from Tears of the Kingdom everyone is talking about is Ultrahand, which allows you to pick up, manipulate, and attach different objects together, including the newly introduced Zonai devices. You can build all sorts of fancy contraptions to help with your tasks or for your own amusement. This is an element where the imagination can go wild, such as creating your own game of Beyblade.
But Ultrahand’s inclusion has practical value to the gameplay. There are various puzzles to tackle and finding how to properly use the devices is quite the challenge. The physics engine is admirable taking into effect weight, gravity, and real-world influences. There must be a degree of precision when engineering the machines because even a slight angle change can affect how it functions. This makes even simple mini quests such as keeping a sign standing an engaging yet difficult endeavor.
The more elaborate your constructs are, the more you admire the mechanics. Creating an intricate Hyrule bomber to rain down artillery on unsuspecting bokoblins? You have to make sure you have enough lift and fans to keep your plane in the air. Wreak havoc on the oceans with a pillaging ship? The sails have to generate enough force to keep you moving. Sure it will test the limits of your imagination, but there is still some semblance to the real world.
The story that unfolds is compelling bringing insight to the history of Hyrule, Zelda’s current state, and Ganon’s motivations. However, since you can go off on so many tangents, it can be a lengthy period between moving from one chapter to the next, taking away momentum from the main narrative. Though with so much to do, you’ll never have a dull moment and Tears can provide a hundred hours of gameplay before you even decide to head off to the final battle.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had the unenviable task of following one of the greatest video games ever made. It proves bigger is better with a more expansive world to get lost in, a captivating story, and new abilities that provide innovative and creative facets to the gameplay.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.