The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom -Switch- 10

September 26, 2023

After initially beating TotK a couple months ago, I went back and finished the last 12 shrines I missed, as well as complete all the side adventures and side quests, and I activated all the light roots. Now I’ve put 170 hours into it, and that puts it just under Shining Force 3 for the most hours I’ve put into a single run. (SF3 took me 175 hours.)

Consider this a review part 2, if you will. Since doing my part 1 review of the game, I’ve noticed a lot of criticism online towards the game using the same map as BotW. To be honest, I didn’t even notice this in my initial run of TotK, as I last played through BotW in 2017, six years ago. And after beating the last bit of extra quests in TotK, and popping in BotW occasionally to compare the maps this past week…I can still say that I stick with my 10/10 score of TotK, and I still stand by my statement of this being the best Zelda ever.

The numerous caves and wells, fallen debris from the sky, completely different puzzles and quests, and other subtle changes made the whole map feel fresh again, in my opinion. And that’s without mentioning anything about the new abilities changing the way the game is played, the sky islands, the depths, the bigger dungeons, and the deeper complexity of the quests. This is the most incredible world I have ever explored in a videogame.

Some areas in Hyrule looked completely different from the BotW map. The Thyphlo ruins are no longer shrouded in darkness, Death mountain no longer has lava running all over it, the upper crest above Zora’s domain has stairs and fountains built, Lookout Landing has a whole town built, the canyon leading the Gerudo valley has a river running through it, Gerudo valley itself also has a canyon ripped open in between Gerudo Town and the Kara Kara Bazaar. Those are just the examples that I picked out and noticed. Some areas in the snow region and hyrule field also had fallen debris from the sky islands. And as I mentioned earlier, the newly opened caves and wells really added a lot to the exploration factor. Many of them would just keep going deeper and deeper, with endless fun items to hunt for.

Using the same but slightly altered map gave me a different, but equally powerful sense of wonder and curiosity this time around. Revisiting some of the old places like the Great plateau and the Flight Range hit me with nostalgia. Seeing where all these old characters and civilizations had been several years later was also interesting, and you get really cool side quests when you go back to certain key locations that make the whole experience of revisiting these areas feel fresh. It reminded me of how Nintendo made A link between worlds a direct sequel to LttP, which were both great games. As stated in my first review, the side quests were more expansive this time around, and it was a joy to finally complete all of them. Some of my favorites included ones where you defend villages from pirate invasions. The “Bring peace” side adventures had great little skirmishes with you helping other soldiers attack forts. Finding treasures in some of the little mini-stars in the sky islands was brilliant. Side quests like The Mysterious Eighth were multi-layered and connected to other side quests like Lost in the Dunes. This reminded me of how Vice City and San Andreas expanded on the complexity of the missions in Gta3. And of course the main dungeons and main quest lines were also more engrossing than BotW. My favorite quest to get one of the sages was Tulin, with the amazing climb up into the sky to wind temple. The water temple also had some cool parts that reminded me of hanging waters from Ecco defender of the future on ps2. And finally, does this beat out Elden Ring as the best contemporary open world action adventure game? I would say so. The one leg up that Elden Ring has is the deeper and more complex combat and challenging boss battles. But TotK is no slouch in that department. For example, getting the secret treasure majoras mask was a great battle with lyonells. King gleeoks were also really hard. Finding the king gleeok up in the sky and fighting him was amazing. And nailing parries and fighting enemies is just as fun as it was in BotW, plus you get far more weapon variety and creativity with the fuse mechanic. I also like how you can scale the difficulty by disabling sages. I only kept Turin and gerudo on most of the time during my playthrough. The magic abilities also add a lot of fun possibilities to the combat, such as Ascension through Rock enemies. The time reverse mechanic also can in handy if i suddenly lost control of a vehicle. I think the magic abilities, the building mechanics, the puzzles, the means of flight, the ability to climb, the physics, the sky islands, and having solid combat anyway give TotK the edge over Elden Ring, for me. TotK is absolutely a 10/10, and I’m sticking by my statement as it being the best Zelda ever.

July 30, 2023

I have just beaten Tears of the Kingdom, which took me 125 hours. I got three full stamina wheels, 35 hearts, fully upgraded miner’s outfit, and I did a good amount of side adventures&quests, but not all of them. I went ahead and defeated the final boss just now, and here is my review… Tears of the Kingdom starts off feeling very similar to Breath of the Wild, but eventually spreads it’s wings and surpasses the previous entry with an overwhelming amount of variety, creativity, and content. This game is enormous. The new abilities offer so much freedom to think outside the box that going back to BotW’s arsenal feels downright limiting. The side quests and shrines are more interesting, multilayered, and involve bigger dungeons here than I remember from the previous game. I remember BotW feeling like a game I could play forever, but it is absolutely dwarfed by TotK. This game basically triples the size and depth of the previous installment with the sky islands, underground depths, and new caves to explore. I had such a thirst to explore this beautiful world that made it almost impossible to put down for the 125 hours I logged in the last month. There is only one extra main dungeon compared to before, but these are much bigger this time, and the quests for finding some of the little shrines feel like little mini-dungeons themselves. The themes of travel and flight are amplified from the first game. Once again, the hang glider is the go-to here, but the new Sage of Wind enhances it. And the surveillance towers shoot you into the sky to soar astonishing heights. The enemy variety is also upped here, and there are some truly epic battles that make use of the fun abilities and tight swordplay. This game reminds me of the sense of wonder and awe I had while exploring Elden Ring. That game had the deeper combat, but TotK brings with it the sky islands, vehicles, flight, and the magic abilities. I suddenly feel handicapped when I pop in another game and can’t use ascension or fusion. TotK is a monumental achievement, and one of the biggest games I have ever played. I say it’s the best game in the long, storied series. 10 out of ten.