The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Review

Initial Release Date: May 12, 2023

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Mode: Single-Player Campaign

Composer: Manaka Kataoka

Genres: Action-Adventure Game

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT!

Introduction

The last The Legend of Zelda video game that I completed was the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker back in 2002 when I was attending the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I really enjoyed that particular Zelda game which was a highlight for me during the Gamecube’s generation. Since Then, Zelda has undergone a plethora of changes to it’s core gameplay mechanics and overall presentation within world design.

I have to say no other Zelda game has undergone such a massive world design than The The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sets itself apart from any open world video game I’ve played having a surface, a below and an above to explore seamlessly.

Question for me was is Tears of the Kingdom perfect? It’s not due to it’s combat gameplay mechanics but I’d be lying if I didn’t say this game isn’t a masterpiece video game still.

Presentation

Borderline perfection is how I would describe The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s presentation. Let me tell you, for a game as massive as this to only have slowed downed performance I could count on one hand is a damn feat for the Nintendo Switch.

Let’s be real. The Switch is an old ass dusty last gen hardware much like myself if I’m being frank! The surface is huge and explorable. The sky is vast and explorable. The depths are a dark vast network of underground caves. Above the surface and below are seamless in transitions with no loading times.

I loved skydiving off the sky islands onto the surface then diving down below into a chasm seamlessly. It’s amazing the Switch ran this game. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a last gen game make no mistake here.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is just a very very impressive last gen game. What kept me from giving Tears of the Kingdom a perfect score has nothing to do with the Switch’s power but instead the game’s combat which didn’t jive with me during my dozens of hours of playtime.

The combat sucks. There I said it. The rest of the game in my opinion was perfect. I also hate weapon durability breaking. I spent hours on Side Adventures and finding secrets to acquire special legendary weapons only for them to break. Really? Hell nah!

Save for the Master Sword everything breaks in Tears of Kingdom. Ganondorf smashed my Hylian Shield. But thank god for Octoroks as they can repair broken gear. The story in particular I loved was from the questline Tears of the Dragon really shows the power of Tears of the Kingdom’s story telling.

The Visuals, sound, music and world atmosphere were masterclass. All ideas fed off each other in Hyrule creating a visceral enthralling presentation save for the actual combat.

Story

I really enjoyed the story of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The game starts out with Princess Zelda and Link investgating ruins under Hyrule Castle which leads to Zelda’s secret stone accidentally reawakening Ganondorf after a long slumber. Also causing Hyrule Castle to float.

Zelda get’s shifted back in time where she helps the founders of Hyrule King Rauru and Queen Sonia along with the original Four Sages to fight Ganondorf. Realizing they will lose, King Rauru seals Ganondorf which completes the Imprisoning War.

Princess Zelda after conversing with Mineru chooses to become an Immortal Light Dragon and consumes her secret stone. Zelda flies through present day upheaval Hyrule with the Master Sword embedded in her Immortal Dragon head form which Link eventually finds and uses to slay present day Ganondorf.

Ganon himself ends up consuming his secret stone becoming a Demonized Dragonid. Much of the The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has to do with visiting various regions and helping present day Four Sages acquire their ancestor’s secret stone’s power.

The secret stones help the Four Sages form a pact with Link in defeating Ganondorf giving them the power to do so. I loved the “whole” Zelda turning into a dragon sacrificing herself to make sure Link get’s the Master Sword in present day. Time travel trope for the win!

By the way Princess Zelda does return to her human form at the end of the game meeting the four present day Sages and vows to protect Hyrule while visiting the sky islands. Credits roll. I can’t remember a Zelda video game with so many cinematic cutscenes and voiced lines. I loved it!

Gameplay

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s gameplay was masterclass with terrible combat mechanics. When it comes to third person sword and shield combat I start at games like Dark Souls (Zelda never was or is I know). Just talking “feel” here.

The combat in Tears of the Kingdom felt floaty, sloppy and bad janky. Many times I felt my shield should’ve been raised only to get one shotted by a Silver Bokoblins non telegraphed wild janky swing.

Asides from the bad combat I loved everything about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s gameplay. Hyrule is made like a real open world planet to explore. You have a fully explorable sky, a surface and vast chasms below the surface to explore.

Each area has quests, various gameplay mechanics of their own. For instance the depths have Lightroots you have to activate to fast travel and light the darkness. The surface and sky has Shrines filled with puzzles you can activate for fast travel.

Activating surface Skyview Towers launches Link into the sky so he can scan the sky and surface below updating the world map. The latter are fast travel points as well. Weapon durability needs to just die in Zelda video games.

I completed a Gerudo Side Quest involving the “Arms of the Seven” for Gerudo sword and shield weapons. It takes over an hour to do the quest and the weapons and shield can break in minutes depending what you fight.

That’s not respecting my time. Granted you can have the vender remake the weapons but that takes even more time as you have to hunt for materials like diamonds. I know item glitching is a thing. Just saying.

Okay now to the brilliant new gameplay mechanics featuring Ultrahand, Ascend, Recall and Fuse. I unlocked the Autobuild ability while chasing Kohga in the Depths for a side mission. Very helpful ability by the way.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get enough time with Breath of the Wild to compare abilities. I did love using Fuse to create dozens of different types of stronger base weapons. I probably used Ultrahand the most for creating wheeled, water and flying machines.

Unlocking and using Zonai Dispensers add things like steering sticks and fans like LEGO pieces for Ultrahand creations. Recall let’s you rewind time for puzzles or in case of mistakes. I used Recall to rewind falling debris to reach the sky map.

Shrines are scattered and serve as fast travel points and ways to hone link’s skills. Completing shrines nets you a shard of light and when you collect four you can either add a health container or stamina increase.

Ultrahand, Ascend, Fuse and Recall will be used throughout your adventure and rightfully so. They are integral whether in traversal or combat. there are so many quests in Tears of The Kingdom.

You have Main Quests, Side Adventures (long ass side quests), Side Quests, Wanted Quests and many more. Quests can be a mixed bag while some being great while others being shit.

Weapons ranged in hundreds of different types when using Fuse. The thing is, weapons all feel the same along with bows. If it wasn’t for Fuse being involved within the weapon’s combat whether using bows, shields and hand weapons I would’ve docked another point off the final review score.

I really did not enjoy the combat. Fuse pretty much saves the combat gameplay from itself. As for Main Temples I only completed the ones from the Main Quests. I’m not a fan of the Temples. They seemed tedious and not interesting to complete.

The Scourge boss fights were better than the temples featuring decent action set-pieces but were sorta easy to defeat. I mean, when I learned about cooking sundelions Gannon was pretty easy to defeat.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is about knowledge and not so much challenge. Or knowledge is the challenge? Hyrule’s enemies are color coded by strength with Silver being the highest I fought.

You have Bokoblins, Moblins, Octoroks, Keese, Yiga Clan members, Constructs and Lynels which I conquered. Hyrule overall is amazing to explore, it’s weather, it’s varied locations from snowcapped mountains to lush jungle and sandy beaches. Collecting Korok Seeds helps expands Link’s inventory.

Hyrule as an open world is amazing to explore. It’s visceral, challenging at times and fun. Cooking various foods and acquiring different outfits help with traversing through Hyrule’s weather.

You do have mounted steeds for traversal. I actually acquired Princess Zelda’s Gold Horse during a Side Quest in the northern stables. Stables, villages, merchants all liven up Hyrule making the world even more organic.

Visuals/Graphics

I’m not so impressed by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s visuals and graphics compared to current gen. With that said for a Switch game it looks amazing from a artistic point of view. I loved the designs of NPCs, Ganon, the wildlife throughout Hyrule. Everything was pleasant to look at. Even the ugly Bokoblin Bosses.

Sound/Music

The sound design along with the music is subtle creating a lived in Hyrule experience. The world sound alive from the skies to the surface and it’s depths. Voice acting wise it was great to see Zelda and especially Ganon speak in cinematic cutscenes.

Tips & Tricks

There are so many tips and tricks for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I would check some youtube videos on how to farm, duplicate items and rupees. I did the Master Sword quest as soon and possible along with the Hylian Shield which helps with weapon durability issues throughout playthrough.

Don’t rush this game. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is meant to be played slow and methodical. Meh, I know you’ll just glitch your way through this game lol.

Final Verdict

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a masterclass video game with sub-par combat gameplay. If it wasn’t for the combat I would give this game a perfect score, well, because it would be perfect in my opinion. Hyrule is amazing.

I never played an open world video game with a explorable sky, surface and below. I loved Link, Princess Zelda and Ganon. Definite GOTY contender in an already unbelievable 2023. If you want to watch my gameplay visit The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Video Playlist. Thank you for visiting my site – Jason