I wasn’t a huge fan of Breath of the Wild. I liked it well enough, but there were a variety of small things sprinkled throughout the game that annoyed me. I know I’m probably in the minority there, but when Tears of the Kingdom was announced I was willing to see how Nintendo improved Breath of the Wild’s formula. Now that the game has been released in full, I can honestly say that the wait was well worth it.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, as you might expect. Picking up at some unspecified point after the end of BOTW, you play as Link in an adventure that tackles Hyrule’s beginnings. The world is changed irrevocably by the awakening of Demon King Ganon, the mummified conqueror that was sealed away during the time of Hyrule’s beginning. In the process of Ganon’s awakening, Zelda disappears, and Link’s right arm is corrupted and replaced by the arm of Rauru, the first king of Hyrule.

Rauru is of the Zonai race, a mysterious godlike race who helped to create the Kingdom of Hyrule. As you progress through the game you discover what has happened to Zelda, while also learning more about Hyrule’s beginnings. Like in Breath of the Wild, part of the story is told through memories that you find as part of a game-long puzzle-related quest. Additionally, the present-day story allows you to meet new characters, while also discovering what became of characters like Sidon and Tulin from the previous game.

As we get into the gameplay elements of Tears of the Kingdom, I want to address something I’ve seen in a lot of discourse from before and after Tears of the Kingdom’s release. This is not a “glorified DLC”. The map of Tears of the Kingdom is massive, with an underground layer as well as a sky layer. You’ll be exploring the Depths which have their own dangers and mysteries, as well as sky islands.

There are new enemies too, and while there are returning elements, it feels like a truly expansive sequel, not a DLC. To say it is a DLC undercuts the enjoyment of the game, and all the hard work people have put into it. The story is also very engaging as well.

Traversal elements like the Paraglider return, as well as Link’s stamina gauge which depletes while swimming or climbing. Shrines also return, this time giving “lights of blessing” which are used just like Breath of the Wild’s orbs to trade in for heart containers or more stamina. While the Purah Pad replaces the Sheikah slate from Breath of the Wild, all of Link’s more mystical abilities are tied to his Zonai arm.

These abilities range from Ultrahand, which allows you to grab, manipulate, and connect items and objects together, as well as Recall which allows you to reverse an object’s movement through time. There is also the fuse mechanic, which allows you to fuse materials onto your weapons (or arrows) to strengthen them or give them new effects.

This is vital to your success because all metal weapons found in the overworld are now decayed by Demon King Ganon’s dark magic and gloom. This means they break more easily and because of that, you’re always experimenting. The fuse mechanic requires you to consistently try new fuse combinations to figure out which weapons work best for you and your current situation.

For mining, you might fuse a rock with a stick to make a hammer. Alternately, you could use a Moblin horn, which would increase the weapon’s damage and make it viable for more than just breaking rocks. There are other intricacies to this, but part of the fun of Tears of the Kingdom (and this mechanic) is experimentation and discovery.

After a while, Breath of the Wild had players coming up with a lot of ways to do things and crazy exploits of in-game mechanics. Tears of the Kingdom turns this up to 11, but it is entirely by design. Nintendo gives you a massive array of tools and options and then turns you loose. There are so many options that there isn’t really one correct way to solve a puzzle or problem. Additionally, Nintendo gives you the freedom to solve things in whatever way you can imagine, even if that may not be how they intended it to be done.

I don’t entirely agree with people that call Tears of the Kingdom a sandbox, but I do agree that it gives you a lot of freedom and choice. That’s what makes it so hard to put down. With that being said, I do have a few complaints. Most of the complaints I have are things that were a problem in Breath of the Wild that have seemingly continued on though.

For one thing, the weather in Tears of the Kingdom still rains way too often. Of course, when it is raining you are more likely to slip when climbing. There are elixirs you can take to offset this, as well as a new armor set that makes it less annoying. However, the fact that when I play for 4 hours it rains at least 2.5 of them gets a little ridiculous.

The durability of the weapons is also somewhat frustrating because it continues the problem from Breath of the Wild of trying to hoard your strongest weapons. Alternately, if you’re too cavalier with them, then you’ll wind up without strong-enough weapons for unexpected fights. The fuse mechanic does offset this somewhat though, and there are some weapons (such as the Master Sword) that aren’t entirely breakable.

I have also seen people complain about frame rate issues, but for a game as dense as Tears of the Kingdom I think it actually runs pretty well. The amount of freedom you’re given with the various mechanics and tools at your disposal also makes it so you never really feel stuck. The map is large, with so much to do like finding over 100 shrines and lots of Koroks, yet it never feels like a chore.

Overall, I really adore Tears of the Kingdom. Every time I put it down I find myself wanting to pick it right back up and keep going. Even now (despite having a lot of reviews and content to write) I find myself wanting to dive right back into Hyrule.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was provided by Nintendo for this review.

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

$69.99 USD

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Huge Multi-layered Map
• Lots of Quests and Side-Content
• Tons of Ways to Play
• Fuse and Ultrahand are Amazingly Fun
• Engaging Story

Cons

• Rains too Often
• Minor Frame Rate issues
• Durability System is Still Annoying