It's difficult to review Tears of the Kingdom without acknowledging my bias. After playing Breath of the Wild for several years and completing multiple playthroughs, I started feeling a sense of exhaustion with the game. Having explored everything and completed all the shrines, the magic of Breath of the Wild had faded. Sadly, I experienced a similar feeling around the 93-hour mark in Tears of the Kingdom, which left me somewhat disheartened.
Tears of the Kingdom offers an abundance of content, but this is where the game falls short for me. While the sandbox mechanics allow for inventive and absurd creations, they are not enough to carry the overall gameplay. Unlike many others on Twitter, I didn't find myself engrossed in making outlandish inventions to bother Koroks or obliterate enemy civilizations. Instead, I spent most of my time re-exploring a map that felt around 80% the same, excluding the Depths. The exploration in Tears of the Kingdom lacked the magical feeling of discovery I had cherished in Breath of the Wild. Very few locations brought about that exhilarating moment of stumbling upon something extraordinary. Hateno Village was overrun with mushrooms, Kakariko Village had ring ruins, and Hyrule Castle was elevated. Most locations remained largely unchanged, leading to accusations of the game being a DLC asset flip, and unfortunately, it did little to refute those claims.
Additionally, I found the Depths to be quite underwhelming. Initially, the concept of a creepy, pitch-dark world that was mostly optional and provided rewards seemed intriguing. However, the layout quickly became frustrating. Even with the aid of Brightbloom Seeds, I frequently encountered massive walls and blockages that appeared impassable unless I took a detour through a completely different chasm. I recall a specific scenario recently where I was attempting to head west from a northern lightroot I activated, only to be confronted by the seemingly endless expanse of the Forest Coliseum. It felt like a dead end, so I gave up and redirected my path to a lightroot south of my intended destination. While the Depths had an impressive aesthetic, exploring them often felt like a chore.
It's important to note that these criticisms might stem from my recent fatigue with Breath of the Wild. I should have anticipated that this game might not resonate as strongly with me. Nevertheless, there were positive aspects worth acknowledging. The soundtrack in Tears of the Kingdom, already a strong suit in Breath of the Wild, is phenomenal. It significantly enhanced the otherwise dull moments of the game. The finale boasts some of the best music I've heard in 2023 thus far. I particularly enjoyed the tracks featuring reversed vocals, which were not only eerie but also progressively intensified. Furthermore, considering that this game runs on a Nintendo Switch, with areas like the Depths essentially constituting two maps, it pushes the console's limits. It leaves me wondering how it would perform on a more powerful system.
Despite the lackluster exploration, I appreciated some aspects even by the end of the game. This included the memories found in the Tears, as well as the new abilities that replaced those in Breath of the Wild, especially the weapon fusing mechanic. This fuse feature genuinely astonished me, such as the ability to turn any weapon into a makeshift katana using Lizalfo horns or transform a weapon into a fire-blade with a fire horn. It significantly alleviated the tedium of combat compared to Breath of the Wild.
The game's writing initially showed promise. However, after completing the first main objective of resolving the phenomena, the writing lost its potential and became overly simplistic, similar to Breath of the Wild. The cutscenes when encountering new sages were redundant, with each one repeating the same information. By the time I reached the third and fourth sages, I found myself rolling my eyes. These cutscenes explaining the Demon King's story felt superfluous if one had already watched all the Tears cutscenes. This sense of pointlessness permeated various aspects of the game. While the dungeons did show improvement, they were not exceptional, except for the Wind Temple. The Spirit Temple, in particular, proved tedious and unengaging, making me contemplate abandoning the game. Fortunately, the game concluded shortly after. The final boss fight was captivating, particularly during the dragon encounter, but the battle against Ganondorf beforehand was frustrating and tedious due to the agonizing flurry rush face off.
It saddens me that Tears of the Kingdom initially felt like a masterpiece during the first half of my 93-hour playthrough, only to lose its charm around the 50-60 hour mark. Everything seemed to overstay its welcome, and even the side quests failed to maintain the game's magic. Despite completing around 30 side quests, none of them left a significant impact as I pushed through the main story. However, the ending was undeniably incredible, with the final cutscenes evoking intense emotions and leaving a lasting impression. While I ultimately consider this game to be decent, it falls short of being a masterpiece and is plagued by issues inherited from Breath of the Wild, which are even more apparent in this 70-hour experience. I sincerely hope the next Zelda game deviates from this formula and remains a duology, as I can't envision myself purchasing a third game built upon Breath of the Wild's foundation. With that said, I acknowledge that many people will view this game as perfect, but for me, it stands as one of the biggest letdowns in recent years.
Tears of the Kingdom offers an abundance of content, but this is where the game falls short for me. While the sandbox mechanics allow for inventive and absurd creations, they are not enough to carry the overall gameplay. Unlike many others on Twitter, I didn't find myself engrossed in making outlandish inventions to bother Koroks or obliterate enemy civilizations. Instead, I spent most of my time re-exploring a map that felt around 80% the same, excluding the Depths. The exploration in Tears of the Kingdom lacked the magical feeling of discovery I had cherished in Breath of the Wild. Very few locations brought about that exhilarating moment of stumbling upon something extraordinary. Hateno Village was overrun with mushrooms, Kakariko Village had ring ruins, and Hyrule Castle was elevated. Most locations remained largely unchanged, leading to accusations of the game being a DLC asset flip, and unfortunately, it did little to refute those claims.
Additionally, I found the Depths to be quite underwhelming. Initially, the concept of a creepy, pitch-dark world that was mostly optional and provided rewards seemed intriguing. However, the layout quickly became frustrating. Even with the aid of Brightbloom Seeds, I frequently encountered massive walls and blockages that appeared impassable unless I took a detour through a completely different chasm. I recall a specific scenario recently where I was attempting to head west from a northern lightroot I activated, only to be confronted by the seemingly endless expanse of the Forest Coliseum. It felt like a dead end, so I gave up and redirected my path to a lightroot south of my intended destination. While the Depths had an impressive aesthetic, exploring them often felt like a chore.
It's important to note that these criticisms might stem from my recent fatigue with Breath of the Wild. I should have anticipated that this game might not resonate as strongly with me. Nevertheless, there were positive aspects worth acknowledging. The soundtrack in Tears of the Kingdom, already a strong suit in Breath of the Wild, is phenomenal. It significantly enhanced the otherwise dull moments of the game. The finale boasts some of the best music I've heard in 2023 thus far. I particularly enjoyed the tracks featuring reversed vocals, which were not only eerie but also progressively intensified. Furthermore, considering that this game runs on a Nintendo Switch, with areas like the Depths essentially constituting two maps, it pushes the console's limits. It leaves me wondering how it would perform on a more powerful system.
Despite the lackluster exploration, I appreciated some aspects even by the end of the game. This included the memories found in the Tears, as well as the new abilities that replaced those in Breath of the Wild, especially the weapon fusing mechanic. This fuse feature genuinely astonished me, such as the ability to turn any weapon into a makeshift katana using Lizalfo horns or transform a weapon into a fire-blade with a fire horn. It significantly alleviated the tedium of combat compared to Breath of the Wild.
The game's writing initially showed promise. However, after completing the first main objective of resolving the phenomena, the writing lost its potential and became overly simplistic, similar to Breath of the Wild. The cutscenes when encountering new sages were redundant, with each one repeating the same information. By the time I reached the third and fourth sages, I found myself rolling my eyes. These cutscenes explaining the Demon King's story felt superfluous if one had already watched all the Tears cutscenes. This sense of pointlessness permeated various aspects of the game. While the dungeons did show improvement, they were not exceptional, except for the Wind Temple. The Spirit Temple, in particular, proved tedious and unengaging, making me contemplate abandoning the game. Fortunately, the game concluded shortly after. The final boss fight was captivating, particularly during the dragon encounter, but the battle against Ganondorf beforehand was frustrating and tedious due to the agonizing flurry rush face off.
It saddens me that Tears of the Kingdom initially felt like a masterpiece during the first half of my 93-hour playthrough, only to lose its charm around the 50-60 hour mark. Everything seemed to overstay its welcome, and even the side quests failed to maintain the game's magic. Despite completing around 30 side quests, none of them left a significant impact as I pushed through the main story. However, the ending was undeniably incredible, with the final cutscenes evoking intense emotions and leaving a lasting impression. While I ultimately consider this game to be decent, it falls short of being a masterpiece and is plagued by issues inherited from Breath of the Wild, which are even more apparent in this 70-hour experience. I sincerely hope the next Zelda game deviates from this formula and remains a duology, as I can't envision myself purchasing a third game built upon Breath of the Wild's foundation. With that said, I acknowledge that many people will view this game as perfect, but for me, it stands as one of the biggest letdowns in recent years.