Thank you Nintendo for sending us a review code!

Just seven years ago, Nintendo’s future was uncertain. The Wii U was an utter flop. Though the dual-screen home console had its share of unique and exciting games, these games were unable to sufficiently drive sales for the system. It is likely no exaggeration to say that the next console would decide Nintendo’s fate.

Things started to look bright when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the Nintendo Switch were shown off in 2016, with both releasing on the same day. Breath of the Wild changed everything we knew about Zelda. The series went from a linear adventure game containing puzzles with pre-made solutions to a fully open world, one where you could go anywhere you wanted at any time. Though this re-imagining of Zelda didn’t sit well with some, it became many players’ favorite Zelda game, and in some cases, such as my own, their favorite video game ever. With the many Switch sales driven by Breath of the Wild, Nintendo’s future was saved!

It did not take long for Nintendo to confirm the development of a sequel, and after six years of waiting, sparsely placed trailers, and delays, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom released for the Switch on May 12, 2023.

Following the defeat of Calamity Ganon several years ago, Link and Zelda find themselves exploring the depths below Hyrule Castle. Down here, they find artifacts of the Zonai, a long-forgotten race, along with the mummified corpse of the Demon King, Ganondorf. Ganondorf suddenly awakens, and he shatters Link’s trusty Master Sword and causes the ground to collapse, causing Link and Zelda to fall into the abyss. When Link comes to, he finds himself on an archipelago of islands in the sky. He soon learns that Zelda has mysteriously disappeared, along with the appearance of islands in the sky and chasms in the ground in an event known as the Upheaval. It is up to him to explore Hyrule in search of Zelda.

Just like its predecessor, Tears of the Kingdom is built around one design philosophy: freedom. Though the beginning holds your hand a little more than Breath of the Wild, you are soon able to go anywhere you desire and do just about anything you want. You will likely find yourself spending a lot of time doing things on the side, like completing side quests, solving puzzles in the 100+ Shrines, or just discovering landmarks. There are main quests you can follow, but you can choose to ignore them and do your own thing.

Rather than having a permanent sword and shield throughout your adventure, you need to make use of expendable weapons, shields, and bows that you find on the ground and dropped by enemies. Instead of Link’s iconic green tunic, you will acquire a wide variety of armors, which can increase your defense, along with giving you special status effects. Some are even needed to safely explore areas with extreme weather conditions.

Along with your armor and expendable equipment, there are several new abilities which you will use during your adventure. Ascend allows you travel through ceilings to reach a surface, and Recall allows you to reverse time on any object. The two biggest game-changers, however, are Fuse and Ultrahand.

Fuse allows you to augment your weapons and shields by attaching materials, objects, and even other weapons. Just some possibilities include attaching a boulder to create a hammer, attaching a monster horn to improve its damage, or attaching a gem to apply an elemental effect. Fuse makes durability much less aggravating, as not only do fused weapons have increased durability, but any weapon can be given any attribute you need simply by attaching a material from your inventory.

With Ultrahand, you can move around any object. You can also attach objects to each other. This mechanic already allows you to create simple builds to help solve puzzles, but it truly shines when combined with powered objects, called Zonai Devices.

There are many different Zonai Devices including wheels, fans, wings, and cannons. You can use them in conjunction with each other to make all sorts of contraptions and vehicles. For example, you could attach wheels and a control stick to a wooden platform to make a car, or you could instead attach fans to make a raft. Attaching some fans, wheels, and a control stick to a wing allows you to pilot a simple plane. With enough ingenuity, effort, and resources, you can create pretty much anything you want, including elaborate mechs and tanks.

While not very fitting to a fantasy world such as Hyrule, this system of welding objects together to make contraptions allows for a ton of creativity, from solving puzzles, to fighting enemies, to simply moving around. That said, it’s not without its issues. While it is possible to unlock the ability to save blueprints of contraptions so you can recreate them later, you can only save a mere eight designs. To create a saved design requires consuming a material called Zonaite for each object you don’t have on hand, discouraging you from making complex designs. This is made worse when you consider that your vehicles despawn whenever the world reloads, forcing you to spawn them in again using more resources.

I was a little worried about Nintendo using the same world for Tears of the Kingdom, but my fears were thankfully unfounded. Hyrule is a grander and more exciting place to explore than ever before! For starters, there is an entire realm of sky islands above Hyrule, which can be accessed by using Recall on rocks that fall from the heavens. You can use these islands to traverse the skies before descending to the surface (similarly to Skyward Sword), or you can simply take in the beautiful view.

There are also many chasms across Hyrule. Hopping down one will take you to the Depths. This eerie subterranean area is pitch black by default, requiring you to use fluorescent items to see. You can also activate Lightroots, permanently lighting up areas of the map. Enemies here are particularly dangerous, as getting hit will temporarily lower your maximum health.

Along with the addition of two new layers of the map, the surface has improved in these six years. Many areas have undergone drastic changes, thanks to the Upheaval, and there are countless wells and caves you can explore. Breath of the Wild’s limited enemy variety has also been fixed with the addition of many new and returning enemies, such as the Gibdos that stalk the desert, or the rather frightening Gloom Spawn, creepy hands that can emerge from the ground before attacking you.

While I’ll avoid going into too much detail (this game is best experienced on your own, after all), the dungeons are greatly improved over their Breath of the Wild counterparts. The concept of solving puzzles to reach a boss room while collecting an important item is still dropped in place of open-ended dungeons where you must activate four objects to fight the boss, though these dungeons are given unique themes, and the bosses are unique and creative. Also, the quests preceding the dungeons are much more substantial. The story itself still takes a backseat to the gameplay, but it’s a little more interesting than Breath of the Wild’s.

Another common complaint that has been addressed is the issue of rain. While rain can still prevent you from climbing, there are many ways of overcoming this annoyance, such as using rain-resistance elixirs and armor, or creating simple contraptions with Zonai devices to gain height.

Breath of the Wild had a very appealing cel-shaded art style with a focus on vibrant colors, rather than detailed textures. As expected, Tears of the Kingdom retains the same look as its predecessor. In spite of this timeless look, the Switch has shown its age with Tears of the Kingdom. The draw distance for enemies is rather short, and major frame drops are all too common, especially during rain or when moving around contraptions.

Much like with the visual style, the sound design is identical to Breath of the Wild’s. The same satisfying sound effects are used during combat, when sifting through menus, or when picking up items. The music is generally comprised of subdued and subtle tracks, rather than the bombastic music Zelda is known for. It isn’t always very memorable, but the music is well suited for a game designed to be played at your own pace.

While you’ll be swinging swords around, shooting explosive arrows, or even running over your enemies, the violence isn’t gruesome. All the enemies, which consist of monsters, skeletons, and in rare cases humans, disappear in a puff of smoke after death. It is worth noting that some enemies can drop cartoony monster guts used in upgrading armor and making elixirs.

The spiritual elements are par for the course for Zelda games. The Link and Zelda of this game are the reincarnations of the Links and Zeldas from every previous game in the series, and Ganondorf is similarly an incarnation of the demonic entity, Ganon. Magic is used frequently, from Link’s abilities to magical rods used by wizard-like enemies. Practically everyone in Hyrule worships the goddess Hylia, and increasing your hearts or stamina (which is now mandatory to leave the opening area) requires praying to statues of her. There is also a statue of a demon you can visit in order to swap hearts for stamina (and vice versa).

Although the infamous feminine disguise from Breath of the Wild appears to be absent, I have come across a bizarre piece of headgear that gives Link a pink wig and lipstick. The Great Fairies, whom you must visit to upgrade your armor, also have revealing designs. It seems to be implied that Zelda moved into Link’s unlockable house from the previous game.

Though I was worried that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would not live up to the excitement and sense of discovery Breath of the Wild gave me, Nintendo managed to knock it out of the park once again. I almost always had a childish grin on my face as I climbed, fought, and built my way through Hyrule’s surface, Depths, and skies. I’ve clocked in over 80 hours, yet I’ve only experienced a little over half of the story, and it feels like there are an endless number of things to do. It’s a bummer that Nintendo charges $69.99 for Tears of the Kingdom, rather than the usual $59.99, but I would say it is worth it for anyone who enjoyed Breath of the Wild.

-Tyler Ferguson