Tears of the Kingdom Review – A Bracing Second Breath

It’s hard to think of another game that’s been as anticipated, analyzed, and argued over prior to launch as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Given how groundbreaking and popular The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was, hype levels were always going to be, well, legendary, but Nintendo happily stoked the flames, announcing the game early and holding back every scrap of Tears of the Kingdom info for maximum impact (we didn’t even learn the real title of the game until last year).

Well, the waiting, leaks, and pre-launch discourse is almost at an end, as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom finally launches tomorrow. Will Nintendo’s latest adventure leave Zelda fans crying tears of joy or disappointment? Time to see if this Breath of the Wild follow-up is just as fresh.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the franchise’s relatively-rare direct sequels, picking up not long after the events of Breath of the Wild. An ominous gloom is seeping out of a series of unexplored caverns beneath Hyrule Castle and Zelda and Link decide to head down alone to see what’s going on, which turns out to be as bad an idea as it sounds. It seems Calamity Ganon from BotW was just an appetizer, as Ganondorf himself lies dormant beneath the castle and Zelda and Link arrive just in time to witness his resurrection. While the awakened Ganondorf is still weak, he manages to destroy the Master Sword and Link’s arm in the process. Zelda is plunged down a chasm but disappears mid-drop, and before things can get really bad for Link, he’s also whisked away by a mysterious force.

We cut to Link’s awakening (thankfully, he doesn’t sleep for 100 years this time) and the revelation that he has a funky new arm. Link soon discovers that arm belongs to the spirit of Rauru, the leader of the Zonai, an ancient (and rather odd-looking) people who lived in the sky and helped found Hyrule. It was Rauru who saved Link and he lent him his appendage for a good reason. While Link was resting, Hyrule has been beset by the great Upheaval, which raised Hyrule Castle into the sky, covered the land with corruption, and dotted the clouds and land with ancient Zonai ruins, which Link can interact with his new arm. Where has Zelda gone, and what are her mysterious goals? Where is Ganondorf hiding and how can the gloom spreading across the land be stopped? And what’s the deal with the Zonai, anyway? Those are just some of the questions you’ll explore as you play through Tears of the Kingdom.

Like most Zelda games, Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t aim to overwhelm players with its complex narrative, but it’s telling that the game doesn’t really push the idea that you can skip directly to the final boss like Breath of the Wild did. While I believe it’s still technically possible beeline to the end of Tears of the Kingdom, it would be a very difficult task (even more than in BotW), and the game’s story and missions focus more on the mystery of Zelda’s disappearance while eliding where Ganondorf might be hiding. In other words, Nintendo has more of a story to tell this time around, and it seems they’d like players to actually experience it. This is a bigger, grander tale than the one we got in BotW, full of big implications, Hyrule history, and a few surprises. Admittedly, I would have liked a touch more character-driven drama, particularly between Zelda and Link, but Nintendo does eventually deliver a few poignant moments.

In terms of gameplay, it’s quite clear The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was built on its precursor’s sturdy foundation, with its controls and mechanics staying largely familiar. Combat remains solid, albeit occasionally finicky, and Link can still clamber up nearly every surface like a Hylian Spider-Man. Some of Breath of the Wild’s more divisive quirks also return – yes, you can still be killed by random lightning strikes and weapon degradation remains very much a thing. In fact, you’ll spend more time fiddling with your gear than ever, as the Upheaval has corrupted all the weapons in Hyrule, meaning you’ll almost never just stumble upon something decent anymore. Granted, you can use Link’s new Fuse power to enhance the junk you find by gluing it to rocks or salvaged enemy parts, but most of it still breaks fairly quickly.

Don’t expect any major leaps in terms of tech or presentation, either. That isn’t necessarily a knock as Breath of the Wild had a signature graceful beauty and Tears of the Kingdom has plenty of its own striking moments, but some of Hyrule’s chunky objects and low-quality textures stick out more in 2023. Tears of the Kingdom’s performance is also largely on par with BotW, with many of the problem areas from six years ago being largely unchanged (Karariko Village chugs as hard as ever). For the most part, the game still feels perfectly playable, but there are a few areas where TotK arguably reaches for too much, resulting in distracting framerate dips.

Tears of the Kingdom’s structure also feels rather familiar, at least initially. While the large Sky Island you wake up on at the beginning of the game may seem novel at first, it quickly becomes clear it is essentially the new Great Plateau, complete with the helpful specter of a past king to guide you and multiple tutorial-style shrines to complete before you can venture into the wider world. Once you make it down to the surface, you’re once again sent on an open-ended quest to visit the four quadrants of the map, where you’ll have to solve the problems of the local residents (the Rito, Gerudo, Zora, and Gorons) and complete a dungeon. Of course, this all worked well enough in the past, but there are moments when it feels like you’re simply playing a Breath of the Wild remix.

That said, I don’t want to overemphasize the feeling of familiarity, as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom also charts its own path in a myriad of ways, both big and small. The most immediately-noticeable change are Link’s abilities, which have been completely revamped. The most game-changing of these is Ultrahand, which allows you to pick up objects, manipulate them in 3D space, and paste them together to create various simple structures. Once you add the new Zonai Devices to the mix, which range from balloons, to fans, to full-on steering systems, a whole new world of wacky contraptions is at your fingertips. The Ultrahand building controls take some getting used to, but they become second nature soon enough, and the amount of versatility Nintendo offers without breaking your immersion or sending you to another menu screen is impressive.

In addition to Ultrahand, Tears of the Kingdom also adds Recall, which causes moving objects to retrace their recent paths, Ascend, which allows you to phase through almost any flat surface above you by literally swimming through solid material, and the aforementioned Fuse ability. Recall and Ascend aren’t quite as useful as Ultrahand, but they change the way you think about getting around and are put to good use in shrines and dungeons. Overall, Link’s new suite of powers is much more cohesive than those in BotW and generally put to more consistent use.

Of course, Hyrule itself has also changed, with one of the smaller-sounding changes actually being one of the most significant. The Sheikah Towers from Breath of the Wild have been replaced by a new set of towers that aren’t just in new locations but literally shoot Link into the sky like a giant circus cannon. This not only lets you get a lay of the land, but it allows you to glide nearly anywhere once you boost your stamina enough. The new towers, combined with your Ultrahand building ability, almost trivializes exploration. Add the fact that the intimidating Guardians are no longer lurking around, and that feeling of danger you got from BotW, that every new discovery is truly earned, is sometimes missing.

Thankfully, the surface of Hyrule isn’t the only place to explore in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The addition to the map most heavily promoted by Nintendo are the new Sky Islands, although the island you start the game on is slightly misleading. Most sky islands are relatively small, usually only housing a single challenge or puzzle. The few larger, more complex clusters of sky islands are typically tied to story missions. The reality is that the amount of time you spend freely exploring the sky is relatively limited.

But there’s another way Nintendo has expanded Hyrule, which they’ve kept oddly quiet about in their marketing. In addition to the sky islands, there is now an entire underground world beneath Hyrule that seems to span the entire map or close to it. These murky Depths are accessed through gloom-filled chasms dotted around the map and are bathed in darkness, with Link having to make his way with a Zonai flashlight or “brightbloom seeds” which can be attached to arrows and act as makeshift area lights wherever they land. The only way to permanently shoo away the dark is to find a Lightroot which will illuminate an area and provide a fast-travel point.

Darkness isn’t all you’ll have to contend with underground, as it’s also awash in life-sapping gloom, unique monsters, and even some rather freaky roaming minibosses. Those who enjoyed that slight tang of Dark Souls in Breath of the Wild should enjoy exploring the Depths, as they deliver some of that FromSoftware feeling of mystery and foreboding. It seems like the majority of Hyrule’s new secrets are underground rather than in the sky, and I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of this dark world. Between the surface, Sky Islands, and Depths, there’s no denying that Tears of the Kingdom’s Hyrule feels much more complex and multilayered (literally) than it did before. Nintendo has done a rather admirable job of creating a world that feels familiar and different at the same time.

Beyond the expanded map, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom also makes notable strides in dungeon design. Breath of the Wild served up the Trojan-Horse-like Divine Beasts, which some have argued don’t count as real dungeons. I wouldn’t go that far, but they weren’t particularly great dungeons. While Tears of the Kingdoms’ dungeons aren’t quite top tier Zelda material, they’re more interesting than the Divine Beasts, featuring unique themes, sometimes-complicated layouts, and a diverse array of challenging bosses. Some of the dungeons, like the Wind Temple, which is set on a not-terribly-complex floating ship, aren’t too far removed from the Divine Beasts. Others, like the railcar-puzzle-focused Fire Temple and satisfyingly-tricky multilevel Lightning Temple, feel like proper Zelda challenges of old. Unfortunately, some of these more elaborate dungeons (particularly the Fire Dungeon) play host to TotK’s worst performance issues, but they’re still deeply satisfying to tackle in that classic Zelda way.

Speaking of Zelda traditions, earning special weapons or tools in each dungeon doesn’t return, but each one now unlocks a new companion for your adventure. These sidekicks follow along after you and help you fight, and each has a special power you can utilize. For instance, the Rito Tulin creates a horizontal column of air you can drift on, while Goron Yunobo gives you access to a rock-smashing attack. Eventually, the number of helpers tagging along with you (five in total) becomes a bit chaotic, but overall, they’re a positive addition.

Tears of the Kingdom’s campaign really hits a confident stride in its middle hours as you take on its four elemental dungeons. For 20 to 30 hours, TotK feels like a fully successful and satisfying mesh of classic Zelda, BotW mechanics, and a host of new ideas. Unfortunately, that stride becomes a bit more erratic in the game’s final hours. While the final act of TotK isn’t as obviously padded as some past Zeldas like Wind Waker or Skyward Sword, there is a fair amount of busy work and some challenges, particularly a few of the late-game bosses, are more frustrating than fun. That said, not all, or even most, of the late-game content is bad, just inconsistent. This is best exemplified by TotK’s final major dungeon, the Spirit Temple, which is set in the Depths and really quite excellent, with a focus on complex use of Link’s abilities and Zonai Devices. That’s great, but the end goal of this dungeon is to build a strange mech, which you then have to use in an irritating and thematically out-of-place Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots boss battle.

Ultimately though, despite the number of 10 out of 10 reviews the franchise has received over the decades, most Zelda games aren’t immaculate, perfectly-consistent adventures. They’re fantastic overall experiences, each with their own quirks and issues. The same can be said about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which has its brief rough patches but pulls off the “make a new game using an existing map” gambit better than anything I’ve played before.

Still, you do start to feel the strain of everything Nintendo is trying to load onto the BotW framework. As much as I enjoyed the vast majority of my time with Tears of the Kingdom, toward the end of my playthrough, I felt something I don’t often feel with a Zelda game – a desire to wrap things up. To be done. I didn’t feel that with BotW, which I played for far longer than I had to before I finally tackled Ganon, because I was just so immersed. Some of the enchanting, indelible moments I experienced exploring this Hyrule the first time around just aren’t replicated in this sequel, but perhaps expecting that of TotK isn’t realistic given the nature of the project.

And hey, it’s not like I didn’t play a ton of Tears of the Kingdom. My Switch gameplay log says I’ve devoted over 60 hours to TotK and I’m sure to sink even more hours into the game, even if I don’t tackle it with quite the rabid enthusiasm at BotW before it. Any concerns that Tears of the Kingdom is merely “Breath of the Wild DLC” is misplaced as Nintendo is offering multiple full AAA games worth of new things to do. There are easily hundreds of hours of content for those who want to explore every nook and cranny of the revamped Hyrule. I’m just not sure everyone’s going to have the stamina reserves for another full tour.

This review was based on a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from publisher Nintendo.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sticks closely to the blueprint established by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it’s a richer, more rewarding game in most ways that count, offering a more intricate world, versatile suite of abilities, epic story, and satisfying dungeons. The familiarity of this Hyrule and a handful of frustrating sections keep Tears of the Kingdom from feeling quite as surprising and magical as its predecessor, but make no mistake, the wait has been worth it. While it probably behooves Nintendo to carve out an entirely new Legend next, Link’s latest should fill most fans’ heart meters nicely in the meantime.

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