The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom delivered in more ways than one. It was already a challenge to build off of one of the perfect video games of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, Tears of the Kingdom stepped up and managed to overcome all expectations leading up to its release.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Masterpiece Upon Masterpiece
Nintendo surely had a hard time following up on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with another game. After all, the 2017 Game of the Year was a masterpiece, and its sequel should be nothing short of that.
To be fair, Tears of the Kingdom did not revolutionize the franchise as much as BOTW did but there is more to that story. While it did not offer a grand reimagining, it built upon the foundation of a masterpiece and then some.
All of the masterful features of Breath of the Wild were further enhanced in Tears of the Kingdom. While that may sound impossible, that is exactly what happened. The game features a better open-world map, better gameplay mechanics, and a better overall experience.
While both games share the same Hyrule, exploring it does not feel repetitive or the same experience. The developers did a great job in reimagining Hyrule after Calamity Ganon. There are plenty of new areas, caves, and sky islands waiting for your arrival. The latest installment will make it worth your while to explore the map even if you do so for hundreds of hours.
If the large area of Hyrule is not enough for you to explore, Nintendo got you covered. Tears of the Kingdom introduced The Depths. As the name suggests, the Depths is the entirety of Hyrule’s Map but underground.
If you had your hands full in exploring above ground, the Depths will give you a run for your money. It is a pitch-black and dangerous area that is filled to the brim with treasures, monsters, and plenty of new possibilities.
Tears of the Kingdom – Features Upon Features
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a wide variety of monsters and opponents for you to vanquish. Personally, this feature is what I wanted the most in Breath of the Wild. It feels repetitive and boring when you see multiple monsters with similar features in one go. Thankfully, we do not have to go through that anymore.
From their design to their actions, the enemies that you will face in Tears of the Kingdom are in no way repetitive. The combat in Tears of the Kingdom feels fresh thanks to its roster of enemies. In addition, there are also more boss-like monsters for you to encounter all over the map. This adds more thrill and excitement to your adventures.
While Zelda is not known for overly complicated combat, its simple combat system is extremely rewarding. Additionally, there is a new weapon fusion system because of the Fuse ability. Basically, if you want anything attached to whatever weapon you have you can do it.
It adds more depth to the incredibly deep game that is Tears of the Kingdom. If you want a bomb attached to your sword, you can do it. And if you want to make your spear even sharper, you can add something to do that too. Basically, this feature will let your creativity run wild with ideas.
Since we are talking about creativity, there is also a new crafting system thanks to the Ultrahand ability. Ultrahand lets you piece together just about anything you find, including a vast array of new building materials and ancient Zonai machine parts.
Thanks to this ability, you can now craft vehicles to aid you in your exploration. You can build a raft, a flying car, or whatever you want. Again, you are only limited by your imagination. These features are optional and not mandatory, but that is what makes it so rewarding.
Tears of the Kingdom – A Story for the Ages
While the story features the eternal Link saving Princess Zelda and the world, the game’s storytelling is up there with the best of them. The story of the game will tell you about the history of Hyrule and what brought out the Upheaval.
The Upheaval is a cataclysmic event that caused massive chasms, islands in the sky, and many more anomalies in Hyrule. Similar to Breath of the Wild, the story and cutscenes are unlocked as you go about in your exploration of the specific points of the map.
The main questline will have you scour the entirety of Hyrule for hundreds of hours and that still may not be enough to finish it. While that sounds tiring, it definitely isn’t with a lot of fresh new features and visually beautiful textures for you to enjoy.
Breath of the Wild was a masterpiece, and Tears of the Kingdom made an even better game off of it. Nobody can overstate the overall experience of playing this game even with all the glowing reviews it received. All in all, it is one heck of a game and it is something that people will talk about for years after its release.
If I were to give a numbered rating for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it is definitely a 10/10. The game left no stone unturned, and it turned a masterpiece into a story for the ages. This game is definitely worth sinking your teeth into for hundreds of hours.
