Tears of the Kingdom had the almost-impossible task of one-upping the highest praised game in recent years– Breath of the Wild. Despite this impossible task, Tears has been the most-anticipated game in recent years. But the same magic trick won’t work twice, and Tears has had to reckon with this. Since the events of Breath of the Wild, much has changed in Hyrule. The towns have been ravaged by monsters, fallen to fashion frenzies, and even become titans of industry. New worlds have been added both above and below ground, bringing new monsters, treasures, and adventures, but even with these numerous changes, there is still the feeling of deja vu– I’ve seen this before.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom –
To grapple with the endless changes and additions, I’ve broken down my review into sections:
Tears of the Kingdom Vs Breath of the Wild
The Changing of the Guard
As a sequel, Tears must do more than Breath of the Wild, without doing too differently than Breath. It’s a delicate balance, and thankfully they’ve built directly on Breath’s strong foundations. Breath’s Great Plateau elegantly introduces players to the map in miniature, and begins immediately with amnesiac Link simply waking in a cave, and walking out onto a green hillside to see the fresh, new world. The storytelling and tutorials took a backseat to experiencing the game. But in Tears, Link has regained his memory, so instead of three short minutes for introduction, Tears spends twenty minutes. First it teases a storyline with Zelda, but instead the new big bad is woken, and Link wakes in another cave alone. Lastly, we’re treated to another glorious view of the world, this time from an island in the sky– It’s a circuitous route to the same result, and instead Link could have mysteriously woken in the sky to find his strength sapped, and Zelda missing, leaving interested players to seek out the truth— Which the game does anyway by leaving story breadcrumbs around Hyrule.
Despite this weak start, and a handful of failures to eclipse Breath of the Wild— The map towers are uglier, the heartstopping Guardian Stalkers are missing, and rapid-firing bomb arrows is fiddly– Tears of the Kingdom excels beyond Breath on all fronts.
The fact that Tears is clearly a direct upgrade to Breath seems to have been a point of concern among the developers. So much so that Tears seems to be torn between being a sequel and a reboot. The ancient Sheikahs have (almost) been retconned in favour of the new Zonai, though they were pervasive in the first game; Major characters and monuments have vanished, never to be referred to again; few townsfolk recognise Link, the international hero; and those even Link’s close friends simply call him “you”– It’s clearly a ploy to allow for new players, and in this regard it works excellently with new players having almost no need to play Breath, but it’s jarring nonetheless.
Mechanics
Unlimited freedom has become freer
Magnesis, Cryonis, and the other powers of the first game have been made redundant or obtuse by Tears’ new powers. Instead of only moving magnetic objects, your Ultrahand can pick up and throw anything laying about. Ice weaponry can now form platforms on water, items can be paused in midair as well as rewound back in time, and roofs can be flown right through. The changes are so elegant and exciting that you might forget how limited the first game’s powers really were. The crown jewel of the game’s new mechanics is its toy box-like building ability. More than just building forts or cars, there are rockets, stabilisers, time bombs, hot air balloons, and rocket launchers to create with. Aerial bombers, absurd monster traps, mazes of lasers, and stupid statues can be dreamt and designed; The only thing you can’t do is play with a friend, which you could imagine them adding if the hardware allowed.
Graphics
Technical visuals and hardware constraints
Breath of the Wild was pushing the Switch’s hardware to its limit (and sometimes beyond it) to render the lush, flowing grasses, the wind through the trees, and the shadows from clouds overhead. It’s still one of the prettiest games on the Switch, and Tears hardly surpasses it. Digital Foundry has done the heavy lifting to see exactly what has changed, but few will notice anything at all. What is noticeable however, are the tweaks they’ve made behind the scenes, load times are cut down and pop-in is minimised. It’s safe to say that it’s a total upgrade from the original in this respect.
Dynamics
Does it recapture the magic?
The freedom to explore and play among a densely reactive work is still endlessly fun, even if the similarity to Breath means diminishing returns in some areas– Learning to perfect parry and dodge was exciting in Breath, but means battles in Tears are much easier. To offset the familiar faces and places, the depths– a Hyrule-sized map of caverns below– has been added, and is filled with new threats, monsters and minerals. The breadth and frequency of the new sights and sounds and adventures sneaks up on you, and the appearance of Tears being a retread or an expansion is slowly broken piece by piece: The temples are atmospheric and challenging, and their boss battles are far more original and exciting; With the help of some Zonai constructions, shield-surfing can become skateboarding or even hoverboarding; And many lovely quality-of-life changes have been made.
One of the most pleasant changes is how useful all items have become. While the trinkets, treats, and trash you’d pick up in Breath of the Wild were excessive or useless, even things like the worthless Keese Eyeball can now be lifesavers– these eyeballs turn your arrows into head-seeking missiles. Precious gems are now just as valuable as weapon-upgrades, and pinecones create windy updrafts when burnt. It’s clear that endless fine tuning, and playtesting has gone into allowing every interaction and pleasant surprises are often.
Aesthetics
Narrative, Visual Art, Sound & Music
Though the technical graphics of the game remain relatively unchanged, the design and details have been buffed out to a mirror sheen. For the first time, the wildlife you see make the sounds you hear. Blue sparrows chirp until they scatter, wells are filled with croaking frogs, and night in the forest is more than just the odd cricket and an invisible owl. The soundtrack is also fuller, bringing over the original’s songs, and adding new themes and variations on top. On the other hand, the story still suffers from light melodrama and underdevelopment, but it’s supported by the history that Breath of the Wild set up, and works better than the first– Though the voice work hasn’t improved, and is often tooth-grinding overacting (Nintendo still hasn’t learned to hire quality english voice actors like their beloved Studio Ghibli does).
Conclusion
Save some retreads and some exclusions, Tears of the Kingdom has improved on Breath of the Wild on all fronts. If only one could be chosen, it would be wrong to recommend the first one, when the second brings across the world and builds upon it (and saves you shelling out for the DLC). It’s 150% more adventure, with added attention to detail, but even so, those that were bored by the first game, will not find a new angle to appreciate in Tears, only a further realised version of the first game.
Branden played Tears of the Kingdom on Nintendo Switch with a review copy.
Score: 90/100
Pros:
- +Keeps the strengths of the original
- +Adds more monsters, mechanics, and locations on top
- +Wonderful quality-of-life changes
Cons:
- -Struggles between being a sequel and a reboot
- -Painful Voice Acting
- -Misses some of the original’s highlights