This is probably my most difficult review so far. Breath of the Wild is one of my favorite games, so I had high expectations. And I'm happy to say that it handled this heavy load almost masterfully. The strengths of the predecessor became even better, but the weaknesses became even more obvious as well.
Tears of the Kingdom can't decide if it really wants to be a sequel or an independent experience. Thus, almost all the characters are masterfully integrated into this sequel and the world actually feels like an evolution. However, there are almost no connections to Breath of the Wild, I was partly afraid that the names of the champions would not be mentioned at all. It just felt strange.
My biggest fear was the reused overworld and I think partly that was justified. At the beginning of the game I was so hyped that I thought everything was great and enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny again, but that wore off. Some areas are almost identical in places. Eldin is one of the few exceptions to this. The new parts of the overworld vary greatly in quality. The sky islands were touted as the new big feature and ended up being really disappointing. The best island was the very first one you start on, and after that you move through copy and pasted islands that you get sick of very quickly. The underground seemed to be the exact opposite, I spent most of my early game hours there and couldn't get out of my amazement. I found unique treasures and structures, had exciting battles, and could hardly tear myself away from the captivating atmosphere. The best quests in the game take place there, but there's a catch here as well. If you stay there too long and explore too much, you realize how empty and the same everything is. Almost everything is just a single biome, and it quickly loses its charm.
The shrines and puzzles are a bit more chaotic and free-form, but are still very entertaining. Unfortunately, I personally lacked the creativity to build something really great with the new abilities. Most of the time they felt like unnecessarily powerful tools that you never really needed. But I'm still excited about them and glad they exist. The dungeons vary greatly in quality, some of them are already some of the best in the whole series, but others were rather lame and forgettable.
I could probably go on writing for hours, but who reads through all that? The battle system is the same, the music is still fantastic, and I had a great time for over 200 hours. Tears of the Kingdom is a phenomenal experience, but unfortunately has some problems that I can't ignore. Problems that are more prominent for me than they were in Breath of the Wild. Maybe this game still deserves five stars, but I think Breath of the Wild is the better game. The ingredients for my favorite game were there, but perhaps this gigantic game was a bit too ambitious.
Tears of the Kingdom can't decide if it really wants to be a sequel or an independent experience. Thus, almost all the characters are masterfully integrated into this sequel and the world actually feels like an evolution. However, there are almost no connections to Breath of the Wild, I was partly afraid that the names of the champions would not be mentioned at all. It just felt strange.
My biggest fear was the reused overworld and I think partly that was justified. At the beginning of the game I was so hyped that I thought everything was great and enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny again, but that wore off. Some areas are almost identical in places. Eldin is one of the few exceptions to this. The new parts of the overworld vary greatly in quality. The sky islands were touted as the new big feature and ended up being really disappointing. The best island was the very first one you start on, and after that you move through copy and pasted islands that you get sick of very quickly. The underground seemed to be the exact opposite, I spent most of my early game hours there and couldn't get out of my amazement. I found unique treasures and structures, had exciting battles, and could hardly tear myself away from the captivating atmosphere. The best quests in the game take place there, but there's a catch here as well. If you stay there too long and explore too much, you realize how empty and the same everything is. Almost everything is just a single biome, and it quickly loses its charm.
The shrines and puzzles are a bit more chaotic and free-form, but are still very entertaining. Unfortunately, I personally lacked the creativity to build something really great with the new abilities. Most of the time they felt like unnecessarily powerful tools that you never really needed. But I'm still excited about them and glad they exist. The dungeons vary greatly in quality, some of them are already some of the best in the whole series, but others were rather lame and forgettable.
I could probably go on writing for hours, but who reads through all that? The battle system is the same, the music is still fantastic, and I had a great time for over 200 hours. Tears of the Kingdom is a phenomenal experience, but unfortunately has some problems that I can't ignore. Problems that are more prominent for me than they were in Breath of the Wild. Maybe this game still deserves five stars, but I think Breath of the Wild is the better game. The ingredients for my favorite game were there, but perhaps this gigantic game was a bit too ambitious.