When Breath of the Wild released in 2017, it was a major shakeup for the series,
with exploration and player freedom being emphasized more than ever before.
Now six years later, Tears of the Kingdom serves as a direct sequel,
taking players back to the same Hyrule for a new adventure.
It may seem a bit too familiar at first glance, but once you dig into it,
Tears of the Kingdom quickly reveals ambitious changes
and improvements across the board.
Tears of the Kingdom takes place several years after Breath of the Wild,
as Link and Zelda explore the ruins under Hyrule Castle
just as an ancient evil is about to awaken.
The world and characters clearly show evidence of the passage of time.
However, some changes are oddly swept under the rug and never explained,
like why most of the Sheikah stuff and the Divine Beasts are gone.
While many characters remember Link, some very familiar faces like Hestu
don’t seem to recognize him, which makes for some awkward reunions.
It's understandable that Nintendo doesn't want newcomers to feel confused
or left out of the story, but these aspects aren’t consistent throughout the game.
Overall though, the story is a big improvement from Breath of the Wild
with a more engaging narrative throughout.
Scenes are divided up into past and present events again,
but this time, story events happening in the present
feel far more substantial and relevant to the overall plot than they did in Breath of the Wild.
Taking place in the same Hyrule as Breath of the Wild,
a lot of the geography is roughly the same as before -
landmasses and various settlements like Rito Village and Gerudo Town
remain in the same spots.
However, the passage of time is clearly conveyed with changes to the world,
and locations have been bombarded by ruins falling from the sky
and other disasters following the game’s opening events.
The once peaceful and sleepy town of Hateno Village has become a fashion landmark,
bursting with mushroom-themed decorations.
While the seaside settlement of Lurelin Village has been ransacked and overrun by pirates.
Scattered throughout Hyrule, there are also numerous new caves to explore now,
as well as all new landmarks like Lookout Landing
which sits right in the middle of Hyrule Field.
Along with the changes on the surface, the overall map has grown substantially in scope.
High above, various floating islands and structures now litter the sky
for you to explore,
many of which are quite large with various treasures to find and enemies to fight,
while others provide small puzzles or trials
like skydiving through rings.
The largest addition to the map, though, is the Depths,
a massive underworld deep below the surface of Hyrule.
You're free to explore as you wish,
but the Depths are much harsher than the green fields and wide open skies above.
It’s dark and filled with perils, requiring you to use light sources
like Brightbloom Seeds to light your way.
Placed throughout the Depths are Lightroots,
which act as checkpoints you can warp to freely
that also light up areas, making it easier to see.
Venturing into the dark can be beneficial to find rewards and light up more areas,
but spreading across the ground is a gooey substance called Gloom
that reduces your maximum number of hearts when you touch it.
Most enemies here are also covered in Gloom, making them even more deadly.
This effect can be dispelled in various ways, such as activating a lightroot
or returning to the surface.
So, it's not too punishing.
Additionally, the Depths house several mini-bosses and combat challenges,
adding an extra layer of tension to the area.
Most of Hyrule can feel relatively peaceful and comforting
throughout your adventure,
so wandering through the pitch-black expanses of the Depths serves as a nice contrast.
Link's right hand now acts as the conduit for his abilities.
Gone are abilities like Cryonis and remote bombs.
Instead, Link has an all-new set of tools at his disposal.
Recall, for instance, allows you to reverse time on objects;
Ascend lets you move through surfaces above you;
and Ultrahand lets you freely move objects and stick them together.
These are all great new additions
and shake up the gameplay in unique and interesting ways.
For example, seeing a piece of rubble fall from the sky
and using Recall to ride it back up into the air is great.
Or wandering into a cave and then using Ascend to pop back up on the surface
is impressive, especially since you can use it pretty much anywhere.
Another new addition to Link's arsenal is Fuse.
Unlike Breath of the Wild, weapons can be further enhanced
by fusing additional materials to them.
Adding a monster part or sticking two weapons together
can increase the damage or extend the reach of a weapon.
You can add jewels like rubies to add elemental magic,
combine a stick with a sharpened stone to make an axe,
or try combining all sorts of random objects,
with some surprisingly effective results.
Arrows can also benefit from this,
such as fusing a Bomb Flower to make a bomb arrow
or Keese Eyes to make a homing arrow.
Weapons still have durability to contend with,
but you're constantly rewarded with materials and weapons throughout the game.
So, you're never really left empty-handed.
However, to fuse items from your inventory,
you need to drop them on the ground first.
It isn't a big deal,
but it would be nice if you could fuse from the menu to save time.
Whether you're simply fusing monster parts to weapons for extra damage
or a rocket to a shield to blast off into the sky,
fusing adds some nice freedom and strategy to your playstyle.
Aside from being used to move objects around,
one of the key features of Ultrahand is gluing stuff together.
Unlike weapon fusing, Ultrahand is about putting objects together like logs
to make a raft or stone slabs to make a bridge.
Aside from basic objects in the world, things get more in-depth with Zonai devices
like fans, rockets, and wheels,
alongside a number of other wild machines with all sorts of unexpected functions.
The contraptions you can create are impressive,
like flying machines or car-like vehicles to help you get around.
The caveat, though, is that these devices drain a battery meter.
So, you can't overly rely on Zonai tech for everything.
You can increase your battery capacity significantly, but it takes time.
Aside from using Zonai parts laying around the world,
you can collect stored ones in capsules that you can use anytime you wish.
You can also unlock Autobuild to quickly rebuild past works
or use schematics for new structures and vehicles.
Overall, sticking structures and devices together with Ultrahand is a brilliant addition
that transforms the approach to puzzles and problem solving,
giving players much more room to be creative.
The amount of wacky stuff you can make is great,
and the building process is smooth so that you never feel bogged down.
It's also expertly integrated into the world, enhancing the overall exploration.
Like Breath of the Wild, one of the core concepts is player freedom and discovery.
You're free to go anywhere you please, but it's incredibly easy to get distracted
with so much to see and do.
There are various side-quests to find like lending a hand to a traveling band of musicians,
two monster-obsessed brothers,
and fighting alongside the people of Hyrule against monsters.
One of our favorites, though, is a series of encounters with Addison,
a construction worker who needs help building structures
to hold up his company’s signs.
Furthermore, there’s also lots of loot to find in various caves and sky islands,
as well as other activities like a gliding mini-game
and of course, hidden Koroks,
including some that put your new building skills to work.
Shrines also make a return and function similar to how they did before,
providing challenges to overcome and rewarding you with items to trade in
to increase your maximum hearts or stamina.
Once again, the Shrines are very creative with fun puzzles like
using hot air balloons or Recall to reach high places,
or whacking a giant ball to hit a target.
In many cases, these shrine puzzles serve as creative tutorials,
showing you new possibilities for powers and devices
that you may not have thought of before.
While at the same time, they give ample room to experiment and find alternative solutions.
If it works, anything goes.
There are also combat-focused shrines
where you lose all your equipment and are forced to battle your way through a gauntlet,
renewing a sense of threat without relying on high-level gear.
Replacing the Divine Beasts, themed Temples make a return.
Similar to the Divine Beasts though, these temples are very open,
allowing you to tackle specific objectives in pretty much any order you wish.
They're much more enjoyable to go through with some nice theming, like a giant wooden ship,
and some sort of distinct gameplay hook tied to each of them,
like bouncing off sail cloths or having low gravity.
You also have a companion accompanying you through each one,
who offers an extra ability for you to use
like a wind gust to glide farther.
Boss battles have also been improved with unique monsters for each,
rather than the repetitive Ganon Blights from the last game.
These temples are larger than the Divine Beasts,
particularly if you include the levels that lead up to them,
but still feel like they could be further expanded -
and they never come close to the heights of past Zelda dungeons.
Regardless of their shortcomings, they're a good improvement overall.
From a technical standpoint, Tears of the Kingdom is a very ambitious game,
especially for the aging Switch hardware.
Being able to seamlessly drop from high in the clouds all the way down to the Depths is fantastic,
and some of the physics Nintendo has managed to pull off are incredible.
However, there are noticeable dips in performance,
especially when using Ultrahand.
It's still very playable, but the occasional rough spots are hard to miss.
The music is once again fantastic
and takes a more subtle approach when wandering Hyrule or the sky islands,
and an ominous horn welcomes you to the Depths.
There are plenty of more traditional tracks, too,
helping set the mood in towns, and dungeons,
while big character themes do a lot of the heavy lifting during cut-scenes.
Building off the foundation of Breath of the Wild,
Tears of the Kingdom improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way.
It's filled with wonder and discovery throughout, constantly rewarding your curiosity.
New mechanics like Fuse, Ascend, and Ultrahand
transform how you interact with the world
and give you even more opportunities to think differently about traversal and problem solving.
Temples are a good upgrade and feel more clever and fleshed out,
and the new sky and underground areas are excellent and serve as stark contrasts to the surface.
Some technical aspects can get in the way at times,
but not nearly enough to diminish the experience.
It's been a long time coming for Tears of the Kingdom,
but Nintendo has once again delivered a fantastic adventure that shouldn't be missed.
Final score: 9.5 out of 10.
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