Zelda Team......I kneel.
I'm not even sure where to begin for this one. Aounuma and Zelda Team really just put out peak fiction like it was nothing. Tears of the Kingdom expands on all of Breath of the Wild's strengths, as well as strengthening the main story tropes found throughout the series.
Like in BotW, you can do anything you want, except this time they mean it. The Zonai Arm abilities are far more flexible than the Sheikah Slate abilities and not one of them manages to feel useless (RIP Cryonis lovers). Ultrahand is just Better Magnesis, Fuse creates one of the greatest gameplay loops ever while simultaneously improving on the durability system from BotW. Recall at first looks lamer than Stasis and while it has virtually no application in combat, it makes up for with sheer versatility. With unlimited range and no cooldown, there is so much you can do with this ability, especially when combined with others. Ascend is basically the Wall Merge from A Link Between Worlds but vertical instead and just like it, it completely changes how you approach the landscape and how levels are designed. Autobuild just ties back into Ultrahand, allowing you to recreate anything you've built (and i mean literally anything) in exchange for Zonaite, which i'm about to get into that.
Fuse is one of the best gameplay loops in the game. It turns out there's a second gameplay loop that's also just top-tier. The world is far more expansive than in BotW obviously but what's truly impressive is how they all connect to each other on a gameplay level. Transitioning between the Sky, Surface and Depths is completely seamless and they all have things that feed into the other. On the Surface is most of your adventure. This is where the main story primarily takes place. On the Surface you can find Skyview Towers that launch you into the Sky while filling in the map. From there, it's easy access to the Sky Islands. The Sky Islands is where most of the Zonai Dispensers are, literal gacha machines that give you Zonai Devices that you can use to build machines that violate the Geneva Convention. But to use them you need Zonai Parts and to use the Zonai Devices themselves, you need Energy Cells and Zonaite if you want to recreate them via Autobuild. So you jump into a chasm on the Surface to reach the Depths, which is basically just it's own video game down there. It's pitch black save for very few lights, so to see you need to bring Brightbulb Seeds that are found in caves on the Surface. As you explore the Depths, you'll come across Lightroots that are directly below the Zonai Shrines on the Surface, their names being mirrored too. The Depths is where you'll find Zonaite deposits, which you can mine and then head to the.....mines to exchange them for Energy Crystals and Zonai Charges. You then return to the Surface to exchange those Energy Crystals for Energy Cells, which allow you to use the Zonai Devices you get from the Zonai Dispensers that take your Zonai Charges as payment longer and that is a sentence i just wrote. Oh and any Zonaite you have left with you can then be used to replicate those war machines you just built. Actual genius gameplay loop, it just works.
The Surface in particular gets extra points for how it's used. Yes it's the same map as in BotW but there's quite a few geographic changes here and there and i love how the game uses previous knowledge to it's advantage. Central Hyrule Field felt completely new because i hardly spent time there in BotW on account of Guardian threat. Other locations challenge your expectations of what you thought they were, some big, some small. It just works.
The Zonai Shrines are a massive step up from the Sheikah Shrines, both aesthetically and mechanically. While there's more, there's also a greater ratio of Shrines that are actually good and practically all of them can truly be solved however you see fit. The only limit this game has is your imagination. Nothing is impossible. The mechanical complexity of the Zonai Shrines was reminding me of CrossCode which means i really have nothing but praise in this department (keep in mind with the comparison i am comparing a 3D game to a 2D one).
The main story dungeons are improved from the Divine Beasts in every aspect, and i say this as someone who likes the Divine Beasts. What i really like about the Temples in this game is that they all feel like big events rather than just "thing you do because plot". In most Zelda games, accessing the dungeons is fairly quick and easy. Usually it's talking to an NPC for directions but in the 2D games especially, you really just....walk in. In this game, the dungeon sequence feels like a proper story arc, focusing on each of the Sages. From a gameplay perspective, the companion system allows you to use each of the Sages' abilities when you need them while they also fight for you. It feels like an expanded version of the Wind Waker companion system. This time, the Sages actually feel like your companions, more on that later.
Of course at the end of each Temple is a boss. And the bosses are so good. Wind Temple boss legit one of the best in the series while the only boss in the game that i don't feel too strongly on is the Water Temple boss. What's great is that in this game you can refight the bosses in the Depths, of which at least one of them drops exclusive parts that you can Fuse (there's that gameplay loop again). The optional bosses you can find in the world are about the same as they were in BotW, except this time Taluses get cheesed so hard by Recall. On the other hand, Gleeoks and Flux Constructs can prove to be a great fight. And of course, the man himself, Ganondorf. Actually the best final boss in the series and it's not even a contest. Bro he broke my Hylian Shield. Ganondorf can Flurry Rush your Flurry Rush. For the first time ever, Ganondorf is actually on Link's level, Link doesn't just curbstomp him like he does in the other games. I was reminded of the fight with Demise in Skyward Sword and this was that but like 10x better.
As for the story, well, which one? Like BotW, TotK does have it's memory flashbacks that you have to find. It's both better and worse executed here. On one hand, it makes a lot more sense contextually, as it feels like another side to the story as opposed to just the story. On the other hand, they definitely shouldn't have let you see these out of order. Ultimately however, the way it's executed allows the main story to still feel like it's happening, which is something that BotW lacked. As a whole, the story is pretty good and at worse, you could just argue there's just a storytelling issue.
But wait, there's more! This game has sidequests that actually matter. I didn't think they'd do it again. It's the thing Majora's Mask did and no other Zelda game did......until now! The sidequests are so good in this game, fleshing out the world for real while tying into the game's main theme: cooperation. In the main story, the Sages fight alongside you but even before then, the four affected regions dealing with their problems are being handled by the people already there. Think about how many times some monster caused chaos in a Zelda game and the people affected by it just go "oh well nothing we can do". Not here, the people are already working to solve their own problems before Link gets there. You see this in the main story but even the sidequests as well. Monster Control Squads patrolling various regions of Hyrule, journalism uncovering secrets and rumors, a musical troupe travelling around bringing joy, an entire town figuring out their future, etc. The Upheaval was a massive event that unleashed hordes of monsters into Hyrule and Ganondorf himself is at his most terrifying in this game and yet, people don't give up. Unlike basically every other game in the series, the people of Hyrule are not sitting around wallowing in misery until the Hero arrives. No, they all do their part. For the first time in the entire series, the people of Hyrule fight back and that makes this version of Hyrule easily the one that i give a shit about the most. It is the most lived in version of Hyrule and it makes this the most lived in game in the series since Majora's Mask (albeit for different reasons, MM admittedly still had Link be the sole savior of the land). Even the Yiga fit into this theme, granted they are working against you instead of with you but they feel like an actual organization now as opposed to just a throwaway group. With all that, plus the actual greatest Master Sword pull in the series (it legitimately feels earned in this one), plus other narrative beats that i won't talk about, i can pretty confidently say that this game has one of the best stories in the entire series.
Oh and the music? It's pretty good. Most of it is minimalistic like in the last game but when the music hits, it hits. Especially in the Temple themes.
If there's any criticisms i have about this game, it's minor stuff. I did a mostly no fast-travel run of this game but leaving the Depths without fast-travel is very rough. The storytelling could've been done better. The Depths could've had more visual variety and Combat Trial Shrines suck because they slowly teach me things i already know. Why are there like 8 Combat Trial Shrines when there was only one in BotW? At least the Proving Grounds (this game's version of Tests of Strength) are way, way, way better.
I spent 110 hours on this game before i beat it. There is still a lot for me to do left. But now that i've beaten it, i am confident in one thing: this game dethroned Majora's Mask for me. Majora's Mask held on to it's "best Zelda game" spot for almost a decade and Tears of the Kingdom surpassed it. What made me sure of that, after all those 110 hours, was the climax and ending. Actual peak.
Crazy how the two best games in the series are both asset flips.
I'm not even sure where to begin for this one. Aounuma and Zelda Team really just put out peak fiction like it was nothing. Tears of the Kingdom expands on all of Breath of the Wild's strengths, as well as strengthening the main story tropes found throughout the series.
Like in BotW, you can do anything you want, except this time they mean it. The Zonai Arm abilities are far more flexible than the Sheikah Slate abilities and not one of them manages to feel useless (RIP Cryonis lovers). Ultrahand is just Better Magnesis, Fuse creates one of the greatest gameplay loops ever while simultaneously improving on the durability system from BotW. Recall at first looks lamer than Stasis and while it has virtually no application in combat, it makes up for with sheer versatility. With unlimited range and no cooldown, there is so much you can do with this ability, especially when combined with others. Ascend is basically the Wall Merge from A Link Between Worlds but vertical instead and just like it, it completely changes how you approach the landscape and how levels are designed. Autobuild just ties back into Ultrahand, allowing you to recreate anything you've built (and i mean literally anything) in exchange for Zonaite, which i'm about to get into that.
Fuse is one of the best gameplay loops in the game. It turns out there's a second gameplay loop that's also just top-tier. The world is far more expansive than in BotW obviously but what's truly impressive is how they all connect to each other on a gameplay level. Transitioning between the Sky, Surface and Depths is completely seamless and they all have things that feed into the other. On the Surface is most of your adventure. This is where the main story primarily takes place. On the Surface you can find Skyview Towers that launch you into the Sky while filling in the map. From there, it's easy access to the Sky Islands. The Sky Islands is where most of the Zonai Dispensers are, literal gacha machines that give you Zonai Devices that you can use to build machines that violate the Geneva Convention. But to use them you need Zonai Parts and to use the Zonai Devices themselves, you need Energy Cells and Zonaite if you want to recreate them via Autobuild. So you jump into a chasm on the Surface to reach the Depths, which is basically just it's own video game down there. It's pitch black save for very few lights, so to see you need to bring Brightbulb Seeds that are found in caves on the Surface. As you explore the Depths, you'll come across Lightroots that are directly below the Zonai Shrines on the Surface, their names being mirrored too. The Depths is where you'll find Zonaite deposits, which you can mine and then head to the.....mines to exchange them for Energy Crystals and Zonai Charges. You then return to the Surface to exchange those Energy Crystals for Energy Cells, which allow you to use the Zonai Devices you get from the Zonai Dispensers that take your Zonai Charges as payment longer and that is a sentence i just wrote. Oh and any Zonaite you have left with you can then be used to replicate those war machines you just built. Actual genius gameplay loop, it just works.
The Surface in particular gets extra points for how it's used. Yes it's the same map as in BotW but there's quite a few geographic changes here and there and i love how the game uses previous knowledge to it's advantage. Central Hyrule Field felt completely new because i hardly spent time there in BotW on account of Guardian threat. Other locations challenge your expectations of what you thought they were, some big, some small. It just works.
The Zonai Shrines are a massive step up from the Sheikah Shrines, both aesthetically and mechanically. While there's more, there's also a greater ratio of Shrines that are actually good and practically all of them can truly be solved however you see fit. The only limit this game has is your imagination. Nothing is impossible. The mechanical complexity of the Zonai Shrines was reminding me of CrossCode which means i really have nothing but praise in this department (keep in mind with the comparison i am comparing a 3D game to a 2D one).
The main story dungeons are improved from the Divine Beasts in every aspect, and i say this as someone who likes the Divine Beasts. What i really like about the Temples in this game is that they all feel like big events rather than just "thing you do because plot". In most Zelda games, accessing the dungeons is fairly quick and easy. Usually it's talking to an NPC for directions but in the 2D games especially, you really just....walk in. In this game, the dungeon sequence feels like a proper story arc, focusing on each of the Sages. From a gameplay perspective, the companion system allows you to use each of the Sages' abilities when you need them while they also fight for you. It feels like an expanded version of the Wind Waker companion system. This time, the Sages actually feel like your companions, more on that later.
Of course at the end of each Temple is a boss. And the bosses are so good. Wind Temple boss legit one of the best in the series while the only boss in the game that i don't feel too strongly on is the Water Temple boss. What's great is that in this game you can refight the bosses in the Depths, of which at least one of them drops exclusive parts that you can Fuse (there's that gameplay loop again). The optional bosses you can find in the world are about the same as they were in BotW, except this time Taluses get cheesed so hard by Recall. On the other hand, Gleeoks and Flux Constructs can prove to be a great fight. And of course, the man himself, Ganondorf. Actually the best final boss in the series and it's not even a contest. Bro he broke my Hylian Shield. Ganondorf can Flurry Rush your Flurry Rush. For the first time ever, Ganondorf is actually on Link's level, Link doesn't just curbstomp him like he does in the other games. I was reminded of the fight with Demise in Skyward Sword and this was that but like 10x better.
As for the story, well, which one? Like BotW, TotK does have it's memory flashbacks that you have to find. It's both better and worse executed here. On one hand, it makes a lot more sense contextually, as it feels like another side to the story as opposed to just the story. On the other hand, they definitely shouldn't have let you see these out of order. Ultimately however, the way it's executed allows the main story to still feel like it's happening, which is something that BotW lacked. As a whole, the story is pretty good and at worse, you could just argue there's just a storytelling issue.
But wait, there's more! This game has sidequests that actually matter. I didn't think they'd do it again. It's the thing Majora's Mask did and no other Zelda game did......until now! The sidequests are so good in this game, fleshing out the world for real while tying into the game's main theme: cooperation. In the main story, the Sages fight alongside you but even before then, the four affected regions dealing with their problems are being handled by the people already there. Think about how many times some monster caused chaos in a Zelda game and the people affected by it just go "oh well nothing we can do". Not here, the people are already working to solve their own problems before Link gets there. You see this in the main story but even the sidequests as well. Monster Control Squads patrolling various regions of Hyrule, journalism uncovering secrets and rumors, a musical troupe travelling around bringing joy, an entire town figuring out their future, etc. The Upheaval was a massive event that unleashed hordes of monsters into Hyrule and Ganondorf himself is at his most terrifying in this game and yet, people don't give up. Unlike basically every other game in the series, the people of Hyrule are not sitting around wallowing in misery until the Hero arrives. No, they all do their part. For the first time in the entire series, the people of Hyrule fight back and that makes this version of Hyrule easily the one that i give a shit about the most. It is the most lived in version of Hyrule and it makes this the most lived in game in the series since Majora's Mask (albeit for different reasons, MM admittedly still had Link be the sole savior of the land). Even the Yiga fit into this theme, granted they are working against you instead of with you but they feel like an actual organization now as opposed to just a throwaway group. With all that, plus the actual greatest Master Sword pull in the series (it legitimately feels earned in this one), plus other narrative beats that i won't talk about, i can pretty confidently say that this game has one of the best stories in the entire series.
Oh and the music? It's pretty good. Most of it is minimalistic like in the last game but when the music hits, it hits. Especially in the Temple themes.
If there's any criticisms i have about this game, it's minor stuff. I did a mostly no fast-travel run of this game but leaving the Depths without fast-travel is very rough. The storytelling could've been done better. The Depths could've had more visual variety and Combat Trial Shrines suck because they slowly teach me things i already know. Why are there like 8 Combat Trial Shrines when there was only one in BotW? At least the Proving Grounds (this game's version of Tests of Strength) are way, way, way better.
I spent 110 hours on this game before i beat it. There is still a lot for me to do left. But now that i've beaten it, i am confident in one thing: this game dethroned Majora's Mask for me. Majora's Mask held on to it's "best Zelda game" spot for almost a decade and Tears of the Kingdom surpassed it. What made me sure of that, after all those 110 hours, was the climax and ending. Actual peak.
Crazy how the two best games in the series are both asset flips.