One of the most criminally underrated and underappreciated gaming gems of the 6th generation of video games. Level 5's magnum opus that deserved all the adulation and praise that Ni No Kuni received... if you look up the term: "pure fun", it should display a picture of this game.

There were so many different gameplay systems that were expanded and improved upon from the first game. And they didn't stop there! Introducing an incredible array of new, ambitious ideas and additions to the gameplay variety, such as: improved dungeon exploration, weapon upgrades - with a tighter focus with there being only 1 melee/1 range weapon for the 2 main characters: Max and Monica, Ridepod customization, monster collection, town-building (and jumping back and forth in time to see what your town becomes in the future), recruiting townspeople to move into the places you build, Spheda (golf mini-game), fishing, fish raising/racing, and the photography/invention mechanic.

This game constantly keeps things fresh by having no shortage of things to do. With the absolutely gorgeous and timeless cel-shaded graphics, it all comes together perfectly. Level-5 put their entire heart and soul into making this masterpiece.

I'll always look back on this game with great memories, whether it be playing it for hours by myself back in middle school, or introducing it to my cousin when he was younger and us passing the controller back and forth. The only thing that saddens me when thinking back to this game, is that we never were given a Dark Cloud 3... after 20+ long years, and 3 console generations, I would have loved to see this franchise continue to grow and evolve from here. Alas, we shall never see it happen.. :(

A real treat from start to finish. I love how it's been built on top of Breath of the Wild, but still feels completely fresh. Yeah, there's a lot of familiarity to some areas, but it's near enough all had changes in some way or form.

The sky areas are great, and really add some more puzzle elements on top of shrines and koroks etc. Not to mention the depths, which surprisingly were completely missed out in the promotional stuff leading to launch, as I had a lot of fun exploring them and lighting the areas up.

Ultrahand was a cracking feature. I'm sure everyone has seen numerous videos on that by now. My experience was often one of over thinking and fucking it up for myself more often than not. Often overcomplicating things when the solution is usually a lot simpler.

I enjoyed the story and the videos were nicely done. Similar to the previous game in the way that they're accessed, but I like that they were compulsory rather than optional in this one.

It's a brilliant game. Looks incredible, really fun to play and explore. It usually took me hours to do anything because I was too busy doing everything else. Every time I see something new and different I just had to check it out and would often end up off track many times, despite already having set myself a different goal. So much fun. A game I'm looking forward to mopping up. Getting the rest of the shrines and side quests done, as well as finding a few more koroks. I'm sure I could spend another 100 hours just doing those.

I didn't want to buy this game.

After I had finished Breath of the Wild, obtaining all 120 shrines and doing about 95% of the side quests, I told myself that it was a wonderful experience that I didn't need a second time. You could imagine I wasn't super excited when Tears of the Kingdom was announced. I love The Legend of Zelda series, but BOTW was something I felt I didn't need more of. I was perfectly fine with Nintendo moving on to whatever the next series entry would bring. I have to admit I also got pretty annoyed with all the praise it received, not that it didn't deserved it, but many people started acting like no other open world games existed before it. And with the developers saying they were reusing the map and most of the early gameplay shown looking very similar, I truly told myself I wouldn't buy this game... Then a friend purchased it for me.

I picked up my controller, grumbling to myself "Let's get this over with." And to my own surprise (and no one else's), I f***ing love this game.

They truly did make a game that is superior in almost every way to the last. It doesn't need to be stated that the amount of freedom of creativity this game affords you is mind-blowing. Exploration is still extremely rewarding like it was in the first while offering many new ways to do so as well. Combat is still pretty much the same except for the fact that Link's new powers, as well as all the new items, allow you to mix things up. It is truly brain over brawn in every situation, as your power in combat is truly only limited by your own creativity. And it absolutely cannot be overstated that the physics in this game are in another realm, hell another multiverse in terms of sheer game development accomplishments.

I've never found Zelda stories too engaging. They're usually all similar to the point where you don't need to focus too much. I've also never cared much for the lore like the people who try to dig deep and connect all the games, I usually take each story in on its own unless it's a direct sequel like Majora's Mask or Phantom Hourglass. More emphasis is usually on the characters. Not only was I locked in for this story, but I feel like it might just be the best in my eyes. There was one specific moment where I can confidently say, though it is a moment that has been done in many Zelda games, it was done by far the best in this story. It truly was a moment that earned all the emotional build-up and payoff it delivered. Many of the story moments came full circle in a deeply satisfying way.

The only minor gripes I can say I have are that the menu could've used some better item management with the sheer number of items you need to go through for both combat and cooking. The Sage system is cool, but the way it's implemented makes it an absolute pain to make use of in combat. Plus, the map icon on the ability wheel definitely could've been switched with something more useful. Other than that, it's hard to hate on much else. It's honestly a miracle this game not only runs as well as it does, but on the Switch no less.

All that said, even if I have problems with Breath of the Wild, I'd have to be an absolute fool to think this game is any less than one of the best games ever made. I'll be wrong any day if it means I can play a game like this.

Peak fiction, fulfilled my hero fantasy. Well done, Nintendo

Expands on Breath of the Wild to an exponential degree, but at the same time doesn’t entirely obsolete it, trading some of that game’s laid back serenity and environmental storytelling for more immediacy and showy moments. Tons of new enemies and bosses, some of the best puzzle design I’ve experienced in a game since The Outer Wilds, a world, expansive, dense, wondrous, endless at dishing out surprises. The building mechanics, I’ve made everything from hoverbikes to battlebots already, I can only imagine what people online have come up with. The weapon fusing, at first I thought it would annoy me but eventually I became obsessed with hunting down new creatures to see what crazy new thing I could make out of it’s parts in a vein kind of similar to Monster Hunter. Above all though it’s great for that unparalleled freedom to do what you want when you want. The dungeons are incredible, the Wind Temple is probably my favourite overall just for the atmosphere, the build up to it, the boss it climaxes with, the music through all of it, unforgettable. And the final boss had at least three moments that blew my mind, these is easily my favourite incarnation of Ganondorf. This game is so overflowing with unforgettable moments, big and small, scripted or improvised, that just evoke things from me.

It’s not entirely perfect, I think the first hour is weaker than BOTW’s, the building can sometimes be finicky, and I’m a touch disappointed in the rewards you get for certain challenges (like the Labyrinths). But it otherwise does virtually everything I look for in a video game to such an above and beyond degree to which nothing else even really compares. Marking it as complete here honestly feels dubious because even after putting 70 hours into it and beating the final boss, I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this game is hiding from me.