I liked Breath of the Wild a fair bit, but it’s kinda slid down my ranks over time. I think it had a really amazing first 10 hours filled with experimentation and discovery… then past that I somewhat felt like I’d seen everything and the game felt a little “solved”. Still a great game, just not my favorite.
Tears of the Kingdom alleviates any issues I had with it, elevates what was already good, and then some.
One of those once-in-a-generation games that feels so wildly ambitious I feel like it’ll be awhile before I play anything that even attempts to match it. The ability to bend puzzles to your single brain cell desires with the game's surprisingly functional building features is an absolute treat on its own, but everything surrounding it is somehow comparably excellent. I loved the increased difficulty, which forces you to engage the game’s interesting systems more fully. The music, while still a little sparse for my taste, was also more plentiful and great when used. The sidequests are a huge area of improvement as well, I fully enjoyed almost all of the ones I did and felt adequately rewarded for doing them. So many times I would try to end a late-night session but end up in a string of quests leading into each other. Absolutely everything here is just a treat. Not to mention the main story is even more of a treat than before, with memorable locales and gameplay segments. I loved it.
I do think Link’s stats are a little funky in this game; even with many upgrades under my belt I rarely ever felt completely comfortable. The game is also still a bit low on QOL and clunky in areas, some new and some familiar. I’m not huge on the zonaite economy either, I think too many things rely on it and the way they did the crystallized charge system is kinda baffling. Finally, I think the fact that half the story content here seems to be optional is really weird, and even weirder when they seem to have realized it and try to catch you up near the end. There must have been a better way, right?
But most of my issues are just small gripes, I loved this game. A true masterpiece, maybe my new favorite Zelda and yet another strong GOTY contender in 2023.
Tears of the Kingdom alleviates any issues I had with it, elevates what was already good, and then some.
One of those once-in-a-generation games that feels so wildly ambitious I feel like it’ll be awhile before I play anything that even attempts to match it. The ability to bend puzzles to your single brain cell desires with the game's surprisingly functional building features is an absolute treat on its own, but everything surrounding it is somehow comparably excellent. I loved the increased difficulty, which forces you to engage the game’s interesting systems more fully. The music, while still a little sparse for my taste, was also more plentiful and great when used. The sidequests are a huge area of improvement as well, I fully enjoyed almost all of the ones I did and felt adequately rewarded for doing them. So many times I would try to end a late-night session but end up in a string of quests leading into each other. Absolutely everything here is just a treat. Not to mention the main story is even more of a treat than before, with memorable locales and gameplay segments. I loved it.
I do think Link’s stats are a little funky in this game; even with many upgrades under my belt I rarely ever felt completely comfortable. The game is also still a bit low on QOL and clunky in areas, some new and some familiar. I’m not huge on the zonaite economy either, I think too many things rely on it and the way they did the crystallized charge system is kinda baffling. Finally, I think the fact that half the story content here seems to be optional is really weird, and even weirder when they seem to have realized it and try to catch you up near the end. There must have been a better way, right?
But most of my issues are just small gripes, I loved this game. A true masterpiece, maybe my new favorite Zelda and yet another strong GOTY contender in 2023.