The Legend of Zelda. One of gaming’s most admired series and a revolutionizer in the industry with every title released, The Legend of Zelda has constantly been improving upon itself since its first title. With Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda has never been better, but how did we get to this point? Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario, said in an interview in 1989 what inspired him to create the series:
I wanted to create a game world that conveyed the same feeling you get when you are exploring a new city for the first time. How fun would it be, I thought, if I could make the player identify with the main character in the game and get completely lost and immersed in that world?
A Breath of Fresh Air and a New World
In the year of 2017, the world was introduced to Nintendo’s newest console, the Nintendo Switch, along with the first Zelda game that took Miyamoto’s original idea to the fullest with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Breath of the Wild’s open world format was a complete transition from Zelda’s usual formula of a linear adventure game with dungeons and puzzle-solving to tackle to complete the journey you go on with Link, the main character, clad in a green tunic and hat. For those unfamiliar with the series and want to jump in with the regular Zelda format, here is a review for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD.
Breath of the Wild was a complete transformation of the Legend of Zelda series to an open world format
When first starting Breath of the Wild, everything you thought you knew about Zelda was thrown out the window as there is no direction given. Nintendo simply gives you the opening cutscene showing you how huge the world is, and then you go. No main quest given to you, no looming threats to think about, no characters to block your gameplay. The immersion of the world, along with the calming piano notes that play throughout your adventure, draw in the player to play for hours and hours to simply walk around its massive world and discover all the little treasures the game had to offer.
The glaring point that proved this Zelda was different than the others? Link not wearing his iconic green outfit, telling the player that this is a game different from anything they have played before. The game received perfect scores from almost every gaming review, praising its non linear exploration and its plethora of different approaches you could create with any situation in the game. For an in-depth video essay on how Breath of the Wild changed Zelda forever, check out Liam Triforce’s “Yet Another Breath of the Wild Retrospective”.
Attempting to Copy a Masterpiece
Over time, games would release attempting to capture the magic that Breath of the Wild created with its open world. The genre of open world became mainstream, and it became overwhelming with how many games came out. But nothing seemed to come close to Breath of the Wild, as the other games would be riddled with quest markers, map checklists, and RPG elements such as skill trees. This ultimately would take away from what the game was supposed to be all about, the simple exploration of the world. And then, Nintendo released the sequel to Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom. And with Tears of the Kingdom, the perfection we thought Breath of the Wild to be was improved upon dramatically.
Tears of the Kingdom’s abilities from Link’s new arm improves on Breath of the Wild entirely
Improving Travel through Hyrule
Tears of the Kingdom, just as its prequel, released with perfect scores from gaming review companies. However, it is better than Breath of the Wild in every way. Improving traversal and expanding the creative ideas players could do was a big change for Tears of the Kingdom compared to its predecessor. The Ultrahand ability in Tears of the Kingdom took the freedom of the prequel and the idea that there are multiple solutions to a problem, and expanded on that vastly. The player could glue almost any object in the world together, along with offering devices to create vehicles, traps, weapons, and any more ideas the player can think of. This ability alone opens the world up tenfold compared to its prequel, allowing players to tackle every fight and dungeon they come across in any way they want.
On top of this, traversal around the world, which is now three times as larger as its predecessor, becomes extremely inviting as the player can create planes, cars, and more to quickly travel to their next location in any fashion they want. The ideas are limitless, and the sharing of creations on Twitter and other social media platforms has inspired many players.
Welcome to #MarioKart in #Zelda #TearsOfTheKingdom pic.twitter.com/yJaZJxoR3Z
— NinSonyFan (@NinSonyFan) June 30, 2023
The Stakes of Being the Hero
Another point is the story of the game. Breath of the Wild’s story was told through memories found throughout the world, as Link remembers his time one hundred years ago and how the land of Hyrule became how it is. Tears of the Kingdom is no different with a very similar storytelling in the Dragon’s Tears. However, the way Tears of the Kingdom begins draws the player in more than Breath of the Wild because of the stakes given to you.
Most players will begin playing Tears of the Kingdom after spending a good amount of time with its prequel. The beginning of the game sends Link and Zelda into a deadly scenario that shocks the player. When Link reawakens on the Great Sky Island, he gets introduced to his new abilities and dives back into Hyrule Kingdom. This experience leaves us more motivated than ever to tackle any challenge the game throws at us.
Link’s adventure begins with higher stakes then ever after the opening minutes.
Tears of the Kingdom offers many hours of content and makes it more accessible than before to allow the player to enjoy their time to its fullest. Whether you are a veteran gamer or someone who rarely picks up the controller, the game offers a great experience no matter how much time you have on hand. There is always something to do and almost everything is possible as long as you can think of it. This article does not even tackle the reimagined dungeons, Link’s other abilities, and music, but I want to leave that for the player to discover as they play through The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
