The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Photo: Nintendo

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review: Breath of the Familiar

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: After waking up from a long slumber incurred by the Great King of Evil, Ganondorf, a scantily clad Link stumbles out of a dark cave and emerges in a sun-drenched landscape that serves as his and, by extension, our introduction to the kingdom of Hyrule. It’s then that Link begins to explore a self-contained sandbox that functions as a testing ground for the game’s central mechanics and collects a few basic necessities needed for survival, before, then, taking a leap of faith off of a ledge into the wild blue yonder and landing smack dab in the middle of an even larger sandbox.

You’d be correct in identifying that broad outline to essentially be a description of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s first hour or so of playtime. But outside of one small tweak added to the start of it for the sake of continuity—mostly to help explain away how Link has lost the majority of his stamina vessels during his slumber—these are, more or less, the exact same beats that the game’s direct sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, follows as well.

To be fair, there’s one major and notable difference between the opening sections of both games: This time around, your first taste of the mechanics occurs on Great Sky Island—a giant floating landmass located several hundred feet above Hyrule—so that Link’s opening plunge is from a substantially higher elevation than that of the earlier game’s Great Plateau. This inciting action serves as a nice analogy for Tears of the Kingdom, which promises so much more than it actually delivers by promising that the grander the spectacle, the more rewarding it will be.

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The prevailing ethos of today’s triple AAA sequels is that bigger is always better, though bigger usually translates to things of the “more” variety. And in the case of Tears of the Kingdom, that means a whole lot more forgettable fetch quests from flavorless NPCs, more nondescript ruins to explore with little tangible payoff, and more copy-pasted land to traverse between missions. Simply put, it’s a hearty serving of even more of the exact same thing that’s come before.

Even though each game in the Legend of Zelda franchise may seem like it’s just using a variation of the same formula, none has so closely followed another’s moves quite like Tears of the Kingdom does. The three main characters remain constants in about all of the games, along with some basic lore, but the path that one takes through them is almost always given a major shake-up. If anything, it’s the direct sequels that have thrown the biggest curveballs at players—the ones afforded the greatest amount of breathing room to try new things and explore paths untaken (demonstrated most resoundingly with the spartan Majora’s Mask).

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While Tears of the Kingdom isn’t even close to being the most disappointing game that’s ever donned the Legend of Zelda namesake, it often feels like the safest and least adventurous. The question here is not how the game advances and contributes to the franchise, or gaming as a whole, but a far less interesting one: How does it build off of Breath of the Wild?

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Turns out, outside of a few neat new bells and whistles, the game too often feels like a glorified DLC. The side characters you encounter in Tears of the Kingdom are largely the same ones you dealt with in Breath of the Wild, except now instead of Teba you get his brat son Tulin. The collectathon of Korok seeds still allows for more slots for rusted swords and shields that will continue to break after what feels like five or hits. And, yes, if you so desire, you can skip the entire hoopla of defeating dungeon monsters and hoarding heart containers and walk straight on in to fight the final boss. Also, the likelihood of a swift defeat still remains rather high—the equivalent of a fly going up against a fly swatter and lasting all of about 10 seconds.

So how does Tears of the Kingdom actually differ from Breath of the Wild? For one, there’s the mercifully improved climbing system, meaning that Link doesn’t keel over almost immediately upon scaling anything higher than a one-bedroom hut. And even better is how Tears of the Kingdom vertically expands Breath of the Wild’s map with the addition of vertigo-inducing islands that dot the skies above Hyrule and an entire expansive subterranean cave system below.

The first time you find yourself down in The Depths, probably after you jumped through a random well or a massive, Gloom-shrouded hole in the ground, it really is quite the mysterious sight. This pitch-black environment, which isn’t given a proper introduction unless you happen upon the right side mission, emits a dangerous charge right from the get-go. Powerful enemies seemingly strike from nowhere, and you may run into an invisible wall or get stuck in an unidentifiable rut—that is, until you activate your first Lightroot, which helps illuminate a small portion of the darkened area. After this, you’ll be able to avoid possibly perilous encounters pretty easily and zip right on through as if you were on the surface above.

Tears of the Kingdom’s other significant gameplay addition comes in the form of MineCraft-esque building elements, which are provided to players as five new power-ups for Link. There’s some true untapped potential for some of these, like a Fusing ability for weapons that ultimately amounts to taping one long object onto another and raising its attack power, but Ultrahand, the more fleshed-out mechanic of the five, will likely be the most frequently used of the group. With it, you’ll be supergluing spare Zonai tools together—which take the form of spare fans, big wheels, hot air balloons, and more—in order to make flying or land-traversing contraptions that single-handedly render Hyrule’s horse stable business obsolete in the process.

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There’s something to be said for a game that sets you down in an open environment, gives you a mission that’s located several land masses away, and tells you to get there by any means necessary. In that sense, there’s a degree of freedom to Tears of the Kingdom that can seem innovative. But the game as a whole is too nervously kissing the ring of its predecessor to ever stand on its own two legs as a distinctive entry in a revolutionary action-adventure series.

It’s easy to wonder if this game’s sequel will be even more grandiose, if it will have Link go the cosmic route of Nintendo’s plumber mascot Mario and end up in outer space. Maybe we’ll get to see him jump off of the moon before gradually descending upon Hyrule yet again. If so, one can only hope that more than just the path back down to Zelda’s kingdom will be littered with truly novel, go-for-broke creative highs of the sort that not just Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel rode, but earlier Legend of Zelda games as well. Because balancing tradition with innovation doesn’t make a game like Tears of the Kingdom, or any other for that matter, soar if the most transparent thing about it is how it chooses to ride in on another’s coattails.

This game was reviewed with code provided by Golin on May 12.

Score: 
 Developer: Nintendo  Publisher: Nintendo  Platform: Switch  Release Date: May 12, 2023  ESRB: E10+  ESRB Descriptions: Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes  Buy: Game

Paul Attard

Paul Attard is a New York-based lifeform who enjoys writing about experimental cinema, rap/pop music, games, and anything else that tickles their fancy. Their writing has also appeared in MUBI Notebook.

67 Comments

  1. I think this review is not about the same game I reached 100+ hours. There is no reason to agree with this. I respect your experience and all I can do is unfollow when I don’t agree.

  2. Did you spent more than 2 hours with this game? It’s one of the most extraordinary creations of the 21st century.

  3. Paul if you’re reading this, great job and keep it up.

    The Zelda fans are only here because of their game’s precious Metacritic score, they couldn’t care less what you have to say unfortunately.

    But I read your review and people need to respect that everyone has a different opinion, unfortunately, it is hilarious to imagine that their lives have been shattered by “yellow” video game reviews.

    Have a great weekend.

    • It is fine that everyone has their own opinion. Opinions need to be honest though and rooted in reality to be respected. For example, I don’t respect someone’s opinion when it is that the earth is flat.

  4. As always you guys miss the point, it seems like you live by putting out scandalous reviews at the latest time possible to generate some clicks. This might work at first but in the long run no one will read your newest Zelda Review while it gets drowned in over 70 reviews that are a 10/10 or 5/5. Perhaps the reviewer should stick to movies, they aren’t as demanding as games like TotK. But fear not the next cinematic movie game that basically plays itself is on the horizon with Spider-Man 2.

    • Spider man does not play itself. You must have not played it. I mean, there are lots of Sony exclusive games which are very cinematic (like The Last of Us). Spider-man isn’t one of them. It is pure gameplay, just like Ratchet and Clank from the same developer (Insomniac)

  5. Interesting prospective, but it really feels like you didn’t “get” this game, and that’s a shame.

  6. Good review. The game is obviously flawed and nowhere near as good as the Meta scores says it to be. Much of the rough edge coming directly from the world and engine of BotW has seen little to no polish and is showing its age fast. Their attention to innovation lies not in exciting combat, playing with loved and missed timeless Zelda concepts (the items, dungeons, and bosses), or breaking from the typical gaming tropes in every game made today. Rather we see a quite identical repeat of stale combat, mob design, and tic for tac feel of traversing the same world, in an alternate (expansion/dlc-esque) state.

    • Why is it “obviously” flawed and “nowhere near as good” as the vast majority of reviewers say it is? Because you and this guy said so? No, really, enlighten me. Why is it so “obvious”? What kind of data points to that level of obviousness, in which you cans easily dismiss the record amount of perfect scores and mind-blowing impressions of most critics? Maybe learn a bit of humility.

      • Maybe you should learn a bit of humility in respecting how people feel about a certain product. I promise you that it is not controversial to do that.

      • He literally stated his reasons already (and they’re all accurate). It’s obvious to many of us how flawed the game is. Many think Wes Anderson movies are incredible cinema when their just tired wannabe art-house trash. To each their own, but how bothered you are because someone else’s opinion varies from yours is sophmoric.

  7. 3/5? Really????? You are out of your mind pal. You just can´t appreciate a great and awesome videogame. That score is not fair, I believe you gave that score only to get more visits and get some attention.

  8. A lot of criticism but I just don´t get it. I mean the main story is way better than Breath of the Wild, the sidequests are much better as well and the world size is like 3 times that of Breath of the Wild. Also the new abilities (Ultrahand, Fuse, Recall and Ascend) are amazing and the freedom for the player is almost infinite. Tears of the Kingdom improves in many ways what BoTW did. The score you are giving to the game doesn’t make justice and recognizes all the great stuff the game offers.

    • On the story: It’s awful, as demonstrated by the horror-movie silliness of the poorly written opening.

      • Strong disagree. I have an MFA in creative writing and I think the writing in the opening is great. The dialog from the Demon King is more or less exactly what I would expect from a psychotic being who has been trapped underground for 10,000 years. Zelda’s consternation over the fact that he already knows their names beautifully foreshadows her role as the Sage of Time. The scene is particularly compelling from the full context of the circular time travel narrative—it’s both a beginning and an ending. Rauru’s arm letting go of the Demon King reads as an act of relief at the arrival of Link after all this time. He can finally rest.

  9. This gets a 3/5, yet Jedi Survivor, unplayable at launch for many across multiple platforms gets 4.5/5. Did you even play more than 2 hours of the Tears of the Kingdom? Make it make sense. Literally no credibility with these reviews. What a joke!

  10. Everyone is entitled to their opinion so, I don’t fault a different one than the masses, however I wish you luck as it’s an uphill battle. The hardware may be aging and the art style lacks detail in favor of a large sprawling world. While Nintendo is far from perfect, they know how to make the best with what they have. The fact that this game can run even at a mere 30 fps on this ancient hardware is wizardry so, I give them credit where it’s due. Expect to see TOTK remastered as a launch title when their next hardware releases. Bad news going forward for ppl that don’t like this style. Sales speaks volumes so, expect botw to continue to be the standard indefinitely. Sounds like a lot more 3/5 reviews coming outta Slant in the future. Cheers.

  11. A glorified DLC? Are you serious? This game is much bigger than Breath of the Wild and expands Hyrule in such impressive ways. How can you say it is a DLC? Maybe you don´t like the game, but saying it is a glorified DLC is disrespectful.

  12. This site always has a high dose of hate for Nintendo. After 130 hours, believe me when i say: Tears of the Kingdom is the greatest game ever made. 10/10

  13. Reviews finally comes out, I always expect this website rate it 3/5 or worse no matter how good TOTK is. You guys don’t need to write such a long review to justify the score, as everybody knows what you want to rate. But my suggestion is that, if you didn’t get BOTW, why not save your time and let somebody else to take the review. For example, I won’t bother GTA VI if I don’t like GTA V. If I never get the point of Euro Truck Simulator, I will rate it 0/5 but that’s not fair. What I should do is let somebody who gets the point and rate it.

    • Yeah, heaven forbids anyone ever express a dissenting opinion about anything. You guys never pipe up like this when you see wall-to-wall gush, which is all you want to see.

  14. Spot-on review! Thank you for putting the frothing nintendo fanbase in their place and proving the point of every single sane person out there whose voice been drowned among the screams and shouts of this series rabbid followers: Zelda games are single-handedly the most overrated games to every walk this earth. From the very first one to this latest installment. My advice to the psychotic zelda fans? “Less REEEEEEEE and more READ!”

    • So this review, and a few other mixed ones, in a sea of 95s, 98s, 100s, etc. puts Nintendo fans in their place and proves that Zelda games are the most overrated?

      It is actually one of the highest rated games of all time.

      • Tom, this review does 50% of the job, the cancerous comment section and your ignorant reply finish the job.

        *Zelda games are the most overrated?

        It is actually one of the highest rated games of all time.

        What exactly do you think overrated means?

        • You aren’t really addressing my point.

          I replied to someone who pretends this review is the ultimate smack down to prove once and for all that Zelda is the most overrated franchise of all time!!!!

          It is rated high by 95+% of professional reviewers on Metacritic. This review provides the lowest score out of over 130 reviews, with no real arguments as to why. It does nothing to put anyone in their place, to prove anything, and therefore comes off as trolling. That’s why I replied to frothing-at-the-mouth Nintendo-hater kodi, and why you are seeing some of the other comments that you are.

  15. Another agenda-driven review from Slant which will join the ranks of The Jimquistion and Gfinity as opinions that no one takes seriously.

    “Turns out, outside of a few neat new bells and whistles, the game too often feels like a glorified DLC.”

    “… it often feels like the safest and least adventurous (Zelda game).”

    Heh. Give me a break.

    • Why does everything have to a major conspiracy with you people? Does that make it easier to justify throwing a fit when Metacritic number goes down rather than up?

  16. It’s honestly refreshing to see someone not completely planting their lips on Nintendo’s butt over this game. There are soooo many zine reviews that are like “GOTY! GOTY! ZOMG GOTY!!! GOAT!!!” while providing exactly zero critical analysis. Its review scores are wildly inflated across the board, showing without question that not only are these people not even playing the game and are just writing these fluff pieces to pump up their own hype for future early access, but still have this unearned reverence for Nintendo that no amount of mediocre mustard could taint. Nintendo could serve crap on a plate and call it a Zelda recipe and it’d get 5 star reviews and a Gordon Ramsey endorsement so it’s nice to see someone not towing the line.

  17. Please beat the game before reviewing it. I’m sure you don’t watch half a movie and review it or read half a book or listen to half an album. As someone who reviews media you have one job. If you would have played the game through you would have legitimate complaints because there are some, but nothing you said was a real complaint about the game.

  18. Claiming that Tears of the Kingdom feels like DLC for Breath of the Wild is like saying the Lord of the Rings is DLC for the Hobbit. This is the main event, my guy. Yes, it’s the same world, but a world so vastly enriched and expanded, so complex, so deep—that it takes what came before and shows us just how much greater it could be.

    I can’t help but wonder how much time this reviewer actually spent with the game. How many of the 400 new caves did he visit? How Many of the 152 new shrines? How many of the 120 light roots in the depths? How many of the sky archipelagos? How many of the abandoned mines? How many of the new dungeons? How many of Zelda’s memories? Even without all that, just about every single location on the surface world map has evolved and offers a new piece of story. This game is a paragon of what it means to allow a world to live and grow.

    People are angry about this review precisely because it says the opposite of what is true. Nintendo has accomplished a marvel of balancing tradition and innovation—this is a masterclass in how to do it.

    I’ve been playing video games for 35 years, and I certainly am no slave to the Zelda series. There have been Zelda games that I simply do not care for.

    I have no problem, not doubt, declaring that Tears of the Kingdom is the greatest game ever made. You’re welcome to disagree … but please take the time to actually explore what the game has to offer before trashing it in public.

    • 400 new caves???? Wow!!!! And None of them feel samey, right? 152 *new* shrines? You mean totally new dood???

      Sounds like DLC to me…expand the same stuff…it’s just a review, your enjoyment of shouldn’t be bothered by his (spot on) review.

  19. Every cave/trial/puzzle I come across I scan for possibility and thought regarding different angles of approach. I respect the amount of coding and development that went in to creating what has been a glitch-free experience in such a playful world.

    It helps to keep in mind that the format of the game (regarding shrines/seeds) is there for new players to try different methods without fear of taking damage or losing progress. I know plenty of people that jumped in with Tears that were overwhelmed by the lack of hamstrung tutorials.

    The fact that it plays this well on the Switch cannot be understated. I’ve experienced -1- noticeable framerate drop in 50+ hours of wacky off-the-wall gameplay.

    I scan the horizon for floating islands, toy around with zonai flight parts, and still use my horses (which unexpectedly carried over from BOTW) in beautiful grasslands.

    If this is clickbait then well done (and shame on you, I suppose) but I highly recommend watching a few TOTK engineering videos and/or protip videos to stir up some creative juices. There is something or everyone to appreciate.

    Happy gaming

    • It is clickbait. I’ve been following this site for years (often defending their reviews to peers) and it’s easy to see what it’s become over time. I left a – very tame, with no derogatory language – comment here stating as much, but apparently they saw fit to not even allow it. Maybe it was overlooked and/or hasn’t been cleared yet, but I highly doubt it. The difference in opinion from general consensus is truly beside the point now, but how could what IS the point even be argued in a way that would be heard? It’s just very sad, to me.

  20. A true shame. This used to be such a great place to glean some real depth within the reviews, whether I was ever in agreement or not. To anyone who’s been following along for as many years as I have, it’s obvious what’s going on, just not why. I share the same exact disdain for anyone who’d rush to their keyboard to digitally spew out slurs at a critic per the tweaking to their precious metacritic score. In equal measure, the actual overall quality of [insert whatever] ceases to be the point. The dishonesty is palpable and it’s just a real shame.

  21. It’s always the same song and dance number, isn’t it? And you would think that this was the first unenthused review of this game out in the wild given some of the responses. I, personally, am having a perfectly fine time with this game, but I would say that my love of it begins and ends with the shrines. I’m approaching tackling my 120th and I continue to appreciate the incentive and creativity that they invite out of us. It helps that the mechanics, clumsy as they can be at times, are so imaginative (and I would say they’re better than BOTW’s).

    Still, I’m left cold by the overall experience, and in large part because the game is so foundationally similar to BOTW. I don’t dislike sinking into its world at the end of the night, but I’m surprised that anyone finds rapture in it given that the sheer breath of collecting so much stuff is stitched together with such a paltry story. And yet, I don’t deny anyone that rapture.

    This reviewer, though I wish they had gotten more into what actually worked for them, does a fine job of voicing their dispassion for the game. By contrast, I’ve read more than a few comments here and elsewhere screaming “clickbait” (oh, that word) alongside some variation of “this game is the best of all time,” and you wouldn’t know what spiritual/emotional/whatever betterment they’re deriving from the game outside of OCD satisfaction to justify that hyperbole.

    I’ve spent more time than I care to admit in this game reuniting a villager with their lost boat, their lost shirt, their lost horse, their lost whatever, then resenting that I set out to do so in the first place. But that’s a frustration I often feel playing open world games, which for me almost always die by their fetch quests for so often being for their own sake, and for being so unenthusiastically weaved into the game’s story. I guess I keep falling for them because I hope that I will encounter the rare one that breaks this curse, and I can’t say that this one has.

    • I appreciate that that you frame this as part of your larger distaste for open world games. There is an inherent tension between narrative and openness—more of one means less of the other. So maybe this just isn’t your thing.

      But I’m surprised by the examples you give: the lost boat, the lost shirt, the lost horse … in my 160 hours in the game, I don’t recall doing any of those things. If I did them, or things like them, they took up so little time relative to the joyful hours spent doing what I love that my brain didn’t bother making a memory. What confuses me is this: why did you do those fetch quests at all? Why didn’t you turn and run in the other direction, climb a mountain, shoot into the sky, plunge into the depths, build a weird thing? The reason the gaming world is going crazy about this game is because it offers an unprecedented amount of creativity to the player. You make the game what you want it to be.

      For me, for a while, my own spiritual/emotional betterment came in the form of tracking down and lighting up all 120 lightroots in the depths. It was hard, and totally irrational, but there was something about struggling through the dark and lighting it up, bit by bit, that I found profoundly meaningful—it felt like a metaphor for my life. I had activated every single light root before I completed the second Temple. For a while, that was the game I wanted to play. For someone else, it could be something completely different. The game is extraordinary in that if offers so many different kinds of emergent gameplay—and, if you use your imagination—emergent stories.

      And still that’s not going to satisfy some people. Some folks are just naturally more inclined toward a linear narrative structure, and that’s cool. But then why review a kind of game you’re not inclined to enjoy? I don’t play sports video games, I don’t understand them, I don’t want to—so why would I review one? In my view, that is what this reviewer has done—misunderstood the game completely.

      • Jonathan, I appreciate your response, especially your honest description of your exploration of the Depths and what it drew out of you (I have barely touched that part of the game, but I get where you’re coming from). But you’re also making quite a few presumptions here. I’ve enjoyed my time with this game just fine. I don’t disagree with you that there aren’t different kinds of emergent gameplay going on within it. I just wanted something more. That you found it meaningful is terrific, but isn’t it arrogant to assume that if someone didn’t experience it in the same exact way that you did, then they have fundamentally misunderstood it? And how do you know that the critic was inclined not to enjoy the game? I imagine most critics review a game with some sort of expection of liking it and that disappointment is something that settles in during the gameplay.

        • Hi Carlos,
          To be clear, I didn’t say that YOU fundamentally misunderstood it. Everyone gets to have their own experience and preferences obviously, and nobody should be chastised or shamed for that. My only objection to your post was that the example you gave about fetch quests seemed extremely narrow, a complaint about a single, optional dish offered in a smorgasbord. But hey … maybe you’re just not a buffet kind of guy. Even if there are things on that table that you would ultimately like, if you tried them, rooting around through all the options for something good just isn’t what you want out of a meal. Totally valid and more power to you! This is not the game for you and I completely respect that.

          I hold published reviews to a higher standard. I actually do expect professional reviewers to root around and offer a more comprehensive examination of what’s on offer. There is nothing in this review that suggests to me the author spent more than a handful of hours with the game. So yes, based on what is written here, I do think he fundamentally misunderstood it.

  22. I get that it’s boring AF if you don’t like fucking around crafting shit. It’s a fine toybox, but a shite game.

  23. Every game has flaws. However, any reviewer who scores this game below 9 out of 10 either doesn’t know what he is talking about or is driven by some other motivation.

    Very shameful.

    • LOL so everyone must rate it 9/10 or higher or they are wrong or inauthentic? What is wrong with your brain?

    • Really now? I hope you’re just trolling or otherwise being “satirical”, because you just ran head first into Godwin’s Law. Surely, you know what that means?

  24. I gotta say, this is well written and you did good work, however I feel that viewing this game as riding its predecessor’s coattails is a bit disingenuous. I will start with this, the physics engine is not very updated, the visuals and items are widely from the last game, and it is still very much in Hyrule. This is in most active players’ minds, however, overshadowed greatly by the wonderful storytelling, lore building, and outright now mechanics the game offers. When I started on the sky island, aside from the initial drop, I was relatively underwhelmed by the similar start. But after 75+ hours I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, this game is the product of likely among the fullest 6 years of development any game studio (barring Hello Games) has ever had. The recycling of fundamental items and the primary landscape and characters does little more than make it a SEQUEL and does not detract from how transformative, immersive, and emotionally compelling this game is. Would I have liked to see a whole new map, cast, and items? Yeah! Would that stand true as a sequel? No. This game filled its role to perfect corners, aside from the one bit with the intro taking so much from the last game, and maybe the sage cutscenes were a bit dry. Aside from those few things, this game takes the world we had and turns it into a new experience. If we got a whole new world, it would be a new series in the franchise, not a sequel.

  25. Thank you for this honest review. I agree with all, and as a longtime Zelda and videogame fan I would have been even more surgically critical than this. All in all, a decent game, but a more honest approach would have been to release this years earlier as a DLC, with some of its fluff removed. 3/5 is the only fair score for BOTW 1.5.

  26. Although I have been enjoying Tears of the Kingdom I concur that it does feel a lot like a continuation of Breath of the Wild. There is some predictability to TOTK such as starting the main objectives in Hebra and working one’s way through the game in a clockwise direction, getting the master sword, ect. And the quests and physics shrines are a bit too easy to complete, however, the game is just as expansive as its predecessor so it will still provide a lot of value and entertainment but overall I was a little disappointed.

  27. 3/5 is generous…. I like Loz for slashing monsters, completing dungeons etc… not for Playing Minecraft..
    Everything about Totk is tedious and a chore ….. and the amazing and addictive musical score has been replaced with 95 percent music of boredom. I have never been so disappointed with a Loz

  28. Isn’t even close to being the most disappointing game ? Have you try solo kill the Lynel without 0 damage ? Rude article man

  29. I’m glad someone has the balls to give this game the critical review it deserves. It is not a bad game, and I can understand why players who have never played BotW would enjoy it. That said, I wholeheartedly agree that this game is lazily shallow. I do not feel intrinsically compelled to explore Hyrule like I did back in 2017. Adding islands and an underground area, which are mostly unrewarding filler, did little to ameliorate the issue. There were a few fun surprises and interesting puzzles, but they felt overshadowed by an overall blandness. I’m convinced that anyone giving this game a perfect store either hasn’t played BotW or is being paid. Some might just be absorbed in the echo chamber.

  30. I dunno man. I was half-way through the game before I even realized it was the same map. Didn’t feel rehashed to me at all. Tonally, felt completely different as well. Gave me the same creepy sensation that Majora’s Mask did. There’s something about the way they do horror in Zelda games that gets right under my skin. Not just in the straight-up horror sections but just generally. The simplest thing like the maid accidentally “dusting” a wall so hard in the emergency shelter that a sketchy little hole appeared in it. So innocent and weird, yet once you explore that hole and find out what’s in there you can never feel safe in that emergency bunker again. They’re so good at making you feel cozy and then using that against you to creep you out. It’s a level of subtle emotional gameplay that I’ve never experienced in another series and it’s on full display here.

    And the actual game design…I just find it remarkable. A masterful display of institutional knowledge and technique. It’s funny you mentioned the korok seeds negatively, because I think they’re brilliant. It’s like…how did they know I’d know to look there? Incredible design. delightful. If it’s not your cup of tea, okay. But it’s so incredibly well done.

    I dunno man! There’s so much here. So, so much. Your opinion is what it is blah blah blah but it your take on this seems shallow to me.

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